《Path of the Berserker》 Chapter Prologue - The last night on Earth November 4th 2023 Denver, Colorado, United States Thest night on Earth I was eight years old when the cultivators first arrived. It was a Friday night, a fun time to rx and chill after a boring week at school. Dad was in the living room with Mom, watching a movie. My older sister, Jess, pretended to be watching the movie with them, sitting the wrong way on the love seat, dangling both legs over the padded armrest as she thumbed away on her cell phone. I yed Minecraft in the adjoiningputer room, just out of sight and earshot of the PG-13 movie. That¡¯s why it took me a few extra seconds to realize something was wrong. I was too busy clicking away at blocky pixels to notice the loud beep of the emergency broadcast warning. It was only when my mother let out an rming gasp, did I look up and see all three of my family members standing and gawking at the tscreen on the wall. My heart sped a little as I joined them, confusion turning to apprehension as I entered the living room. My dad, a plumber by trade who sported a grey-streaked beard and a beer gut, upped the volume on an Asian-American anchorwoman on the news. She was visibly distressed, but clearly doing her best to remain professional as she read from an unseen teleprompter. ¡°¡­reports as far as Australia, China, parts of the Middle East. As far as our sources can confirm, this is a global phenomenon we are witnessing.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked my mother.She didn¡¯t respond to me, her hazel eyes wide as they remained glued to the TV. ¡°Mo¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up, Max!¡± my sister snapped. Normally I would have snapped right back at her, but something in the way she said it caused me not to. That strange tremble of fear in her voice said to do exactly what she said. So I did. And for the next thirty minutes I stood in dead silence as I watched the end of the world y out on the TV. The first anomaly detected were the golden pagodas floating in the sky. Minutes of chaos ensued as footage rolled in from TikTok and YouTube stars filming the strange objects. It took them a few minutes more to realize they were not in the sky, but in space. And getting closer. White House press secretaries and Department of Defense personnel came on next, blubbering about the sightings, mostly trying to downy it. That¡¯s when the first of the attacks happened. I can¡¯t recall which country was first. Indonesia? China? It didn¡¯t really matter. They all folded just the same. The only thing I truly recall were the images on the TV screen. It was like something out of a bad sci-fi movie. I watched the snow-capped peak of Mount Everest get cleaved off like a watermelon being sliced by a katana. Later I learned that the actual truth wasn¡¯t too far from that. A shaky image of an aircraft carrier taken from a helicopter, I assumed, came next, depicting a man-sized figure hovering over it, suspended by nothing. It was an old man as far as I could tell, with loose flowing white hair and a matching beard that undted as if underwater. Robes made of some unknown, sparking material moved in sync with the beard as three golden rings rotated in a circr pattern behind him. Missiles and anti-aircraft guns fired on the old man at point-nk range, only to detonate prematurely as they collided with an unseen barrier expanding several meters around him. After the assault, he raised his hand and huge bolts of purple lightning crackled from the sky, shaking the footage with static as they struck the deck of the carrier. Huge explosions engulfed the vessel and a hundred thousand tons of steel upended and sank into the sea. Another image caught a woman with cat-like ears, wielding a sword against a battalion of tanks, slicing through them like they were made of y-Doh. A group of warriors in ancient bronze armor and spears faced off against apany of modern-day soldiers with assault rifles and tactical gear¡­the warriors won. At one point some country panicked andunched a nuke, I think, but as it detonated the enormous mushroom cloud was consumed by a vacuum, generated from the palm of a bare-chested old man wearing a rusted crown who flew through the sky like a Greek god. My young mind didn¡¯t know how to make sense of it all, still in that stage of deciphering fact from fiction. They were like superheroes to me, or superviins, I suppose. I kept waiting for the real superheroes to appear. To arrive at the veryst minute and save the day, just like in myics. But no heroes came that night and things only got worse. Reports of strange creatures began to appear. Giant leviathans crawling out of the sea, wildlife mutating and attacking people in the streets. The footage grew more and more graphic as the editors, I assume, gave up and let the reports stream in uncensored in real time. There were ghastly scenes of carnage my young mind couldn¡¯t handle, and I recall my mother pulling me to her chest at one point to shield me from it. But she couldn¡¯t shield me from the sounds. I can still hear those screams to this day. Yet strangely it was still all just like a movie to me at the time. Unreal. Perhaps almost¡­not real. Or so my young mind sought to protect itself. Only when I saw the reactions of my family did the reality of the situation finally hit me and my heart began to race. I vaguely remembered my sister crying and my mother desperately trying to console her despite the tears streaking down her own face. My father was as I¡¯d never seen him before. The blue-cor tough guy reduced to a man trembling and fearing for his family¡¯s safety, yet not having the slightest clue as what to do. He stayed fixed to the TV as if waiting for answers. Only when the lights flickered and the power cut off, did he finally spring into action. ¡°Everyone, get to the truck. Grab what you can. Now!¡± ¡°What?¡± my mother cried. ¡°Where the hell are we going to go, Steven?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± my father fired back aggressively, but more out of fear than anger, I could tell. He thenposed himself a little. ¡°Look, we can¡¯t stay here. We need to get out of the city. Maybe head into the mountains or something.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Steven, it¡¯s November!¡± My father ignored her. ¡°Kids, grab your things now. Come on! Move it!¡± That¡¯s when I finally began to cry. The next ten minutes went by in a flurry of sobs, tears, and hasty confusion. By the light of cell phones, we tossed canned goods, sleeping bags, and whatever we could think of into the back of my dad¡¯s plumbing truck parked in the garage. I remember packing my iPad, someic books, and a stuffed walrus named Sammy that I was growing too old for, but that night, I clung to like he was my veryst friend on Earth. After wrestling the garage door open with no power, we hopped in the truck and my dad gunned it in reverse and onto the street. It¡¯s hard to remember what happened next, because there was a loud bang and my head flew into the side of the car door. The ring sound of an unyielding car horn woke me and I realized I must have cked out for a moment. My head hurt and felt wet when I touched it. ¡°Mom?¡± My mother was there in an instant, already outside the truck, helping me and Jess out of the wreck with tears in her eyes. My sister was screaming and crying almost hysterically, causing me to do the same when I saw blood gushing from her nose, having smashed it into the back of the headrest. When my mom finally got us out, I saw a convertible had mmed into the back of the truck, spinning us in a 180. My father was outside yelling at the driver, a guy in his 20s that was holding his own head and bleeding while shouting aggressively in my dad¡¯s face. Fear and pain paralyzed me. All I could do was cry and cling to my mother and sister. ¡°It¡¯s alright, babies,¡± she said, trying her best to console us. ¡°Everything¡¯s going to be alright.¡± I stared up at her and the vacant, fear-soaked look in her eyes did the opposite of fill me withfort. I looked past her instead to the night sky beyond. In that odd moment I recall never seeing the stars so vividly before. The entire street was pitch ck, with only the sound of sirens filling the cold November air. Then I saw it. One of the golden pagodas floating in the sky. It had looked so fake on the TV, but now with my own eyes, it looked both real and unreal. It was small yet huge, looming like a second moon in the sky. The moon itself was also odd-looking, tinted a deep orange-red. Small objects streamed out of the pagoda like a trail of ants and in the sky, shooting stars whipped by like lightning. The ring car horn must have alerted something, because the next moment an object the size of a semi-truck dropped violently out of the sky. It decelerated rapidly, stopping just meters before impacting the ground. It was shaped vaguely like a sailing ship, made of what looked to be wood with a mast and sails of stiff, white cloth. A loud humming emitted from several glowing rocks lining the bottom of the hull. All of us grew silent then, even my dad and the man arguing with him. My breath caught as a gangnk lowered from the strange craft and visions of all the horrors I¡¯d witnessed shed through my mind. Two men in ck robes trimmed with jade descended the nk, curved scabbards held tightly by their sides. They looked somewhat Asian to me, but darker skinned, like Mysian perhaps. A woman then followed behind them and as soon as she looked in our direction, my blood froze with an inexplicable fear. Her face was what you¡¯d think an angel would look like, narrow with elegant features, her skin so pale it was nearly paper white. In the darkness she seemed to produce a light of her own, entuated by her silvery eyes. Her body was as slender as her face and moved with a grace that made her float more than walk in her silver robes. Her tinum hair was pinned in a top knot and held in ce by a small crown of jade and gold. I could hear only sniffles from my sister as the woman approached us, nked by the two men with swords and although I could see no sword of her own, something told me she was far more dangerous than the two men with her. They shared quick nces between themselves, speaking in a clippednguage I didn¡¯t understand. Finally, the woman took hold of a small jade bead on her ne and began speaking into it. While her lips moved, sound came from the bead itself in perfect, ent-less English. ¡°This One is known as Silver Tear, Seventh Warden and Silver Leaf sect elder, Chief Administrator for Cultural Appropriation of this¡­¡± She paused and whispered something to one of the men who whispered something back. ¡°¡­of this formerly known to you as Earth. You are now wards under the protection of her divine majesty, Third Princess Lunh, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seventh heir to the Imperial Yee Dynasty.¡± No one said anything, stupefied by what the woman had just said. The guy in the car made a sudden break for it, his fight or flight response choosing thetter. He got all of five steps before one of the men literally shed across the street twenty meters to reach him and stomped him into the tarmac with a swift kick to the back of his thigh. The man cried out, wailing in pain, cursing about his leg being broken. My sister shuddered against me, whimpering even more. ¡°I want to go home¡­¡± The silver-eyed woman spoke again. ¡°You are mortal savages unfamiliar with our ways. Thus, only due to your tremendous ignorance, shall This One pardon your transgressions for not showing proper respect. This one shall spare your lives, but you will pay for this insult with something else.¡± ¡°What?¡± my dad said. ¡°What are you¡ª¡± ¡°Luckily This One has need of what you possess.¡± She then turned to her subordinate. ¡°Deliver the children to me.¡± ¡°What?¡± my mother screamed. ¡°No!¡± Her cries went unheeded as the other man zipped across the distance to us and grabbed both my sister and I by the arm. We screamed and struggled in unison, our feet skidding across the asphalt as he dragged us towards the vessel. My father let out a primal cry as he rushed the man. He mmed a fist into the back of the man¡¯s head and suddenly his eyes shot open with pain like he¡¯d just punched a bowling ball. He cursed, grasping his wrist, but that didn¡¯t stop him from trying again. He lunged into the man with a shoulder tackle. My mother joined him, screaming as she thumped the man repeatedly on the back. ¡°You can¡¯t do this!!¡± my mother screamed hysterically. ¡°Max! Jessie!¡± The man finally pushed them both aside with a gentle sweep of his arm that somehow threw them back ten meters across the road, mming them forcefully into the side of the truck. It was Jess and I¡¯s turn to cry out now, wailing for our parents. They stirred slowly, stumbling to get back on their feet, but both clearly had broken bones or more. ¡°Mom! Dad!¡± My vision blurred as I cried uncontrobly, tears filling my open mouth with salt. Just as we were being dragged up the gangnk the silver-eyed woman stopped and gripped my sister forcefully by the chin to stare directly into her bloodied face. ¡°Not this one,¡± the woman said. ¡°Too old. She will remember too much. Never learn our ways. Leave her.¡± The woman stared into my face next and pinched her slender brows together curiously. ¡°How old are you, boy?¡± I¡¯d always been small for my age, but I prayed that somehow, just this once I¡¯d look older than I was. I steeled myself, purposefully trying to hold back my sobs. ¡°Twelve,¡± I said. The woman smirked, amused. ¡°Clever, but not very wise. You barely look half that age. You¡¯d have been better off saying seven. Even then you¡¯d be too old.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± I shouted. ¡°I¡¯m eight! I¡¯m really eight!¡± She chuckled. ¡°This one has spirit. Take him. He may have potential to assimte even at his age.¡± ¡°No!¡± I cried. My sister screamed, reaching out for me as they pushed her down the gangnk. ¡°Max!¡± Our fingers barely touched before they pulled us apart. I screamed my lungs out, crying for my sister and my parents. As the gangnk raised my father made a desperatest attempt to rush the boat. He got halfway up the gangnk just a few feet from the silver-eyed woman, fist cocked with a punch. In a sh, one of the men jabbed him lightly in the stomach with his scabbard, causing my father to keel over with blood leaking from his mouth. ¡°Daddy!¡± My sister and mother rushed to his side, cradling him as he wheezed in pain on the ground. ¡°Shall I kill him for attempting toy hands on you, Lady Silver Tear?¡± The man¡¯s words caused my heart to stop. I looked desperately up at the woman¡¯s cold, steely eyes. ¡°No,¡± she said finally before gazing at the sky. ¡°The Bloodmoon is nearly formed. The aberrations shalle to devour them soon enough.¡± I didn¡¯t know what that word meant but images of those frightful monsters came to my mind and I began to wail uncontrobly. ¡°No! Please, no! Don¡¯t leave them! Mommy! Daddy! Jessie!¡± ¡°This One will waste no more time here,¡± Silver Tear said as she turned her back to me to depart. ¡°Go.¡± With that, the gangnk was secured and the craft began to rise. I dashed to the side of the boat, screaming over the railing for my parents and sister, my stomach sick, my mind filling with the horrors of what would soon happen to them. I cried out for them futilely, their figures growing smaller and smaller in the darkness as the screeches of monsters began to fill the night. Chapter 1 Year 14,754 of the Imperial Yee Dynasty, Native Housing District, Jurin Province, Terra Twelve yearster¡­ The final memory of my sister and parents shed through my mind as I endured another hard p of bamboo across my back. My bare skin screamed, but I refused to let my mouth do the same. I gritted my teeth instead, breathing hard through my nose in a vain attempt to diffuse the pain. I balled my shackled hands into fists, squeezing the wooden stump between my legs and arms as the public flogging continued. ¡°Two!¡± the robe-d Enforcer shouted as he struck me again. ¡°Three!¡± The count continued up to eight. By that time, the overweight Enforcer was desperately out of breath and half the poption of the Native Housing District had gathered to watch. The Enforcer¡¯s face was concealed behind a ck veil, the same color as his robes, but by his sloppy build and the force of his strikes, I knew he was Terran just like the rest of us. That made him all the more pathetic in my eyes. But although he was the one administering the strikes, the true instigator of my punishment was the low-tier Foundation Realm cultivator smirking behind him, Li Fet. Li looked human at first nce. He could pass for a middle-aged Asian man with a broad face and double chin, but a closer inspection would reveal a slight point to his ears, pegging him as one of the many alien races the Yee Dynasty had conquered over the millennia. Li Fet looked down at me smugly as he approached the stump, hands behind his back. ¡°That was to let you know that I am not joking with you, Chun. Now I¡¯ll ask you again. Where is my money?¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll tell you again,¡± I said, huffing through my nostrils. ¡°I lost it gambling.¡±I probably shouldn¡¯t have said that. Sassing him in front of an audience would cause a loss of face that would demand a lot more than an eight-tap beating. But to hell with it. I was having a bad day and was on a roll. Li Fet ordered more strikes for my insolence and the Enforcer got back at it. Through grunts of pain and watering eyes I saw her looking back at me in the crowd. In all honesty, she was probably the only one truly looking at me. The rest were shuffling by and pretending not to look. After all, a frown of sympathy or disapproval couldnd them on the stump next to me. But Yu Li had nothing but concern in her deep brown eyes as she stared back at me from the edge of the public square. She was a couple years younger and from the old world like I was. I asked her once where she came from, and she thought California, but was too young when they took her to truly remember. Her sandy brown hair and tanplexion said she was Hispanic though. In her arms, her baby cried. A newborn barely three months old now. Yu Li had named her Su Ling. The enforcer finally ran out of steam at 21 and by that time my back was raw and screaming for ice. My body trembled with the pain, my forehead dripping sweat onto the dusty asphalt that used to be the center of an intersection in old downtown Chicago. Or so the old maps said anyway. ¡°Perhaps now, Chun, you will answer more sensibly. Where is my money?¡± He said my Yee name with the alternate tone that changed its meaning to stupid. It was a joke I¡¯d grown ustomed to from the time I was force fed the Yeenguage in Foundational school at the age of nine or so. I forced myself into a submissive tone to respond¡ªmy back couldn¡¯t suffer another loss of face today. ¡°This One lost it gambling, honorable Li Fet. This One will have double the rent for you next month. This I swear by the heavens.¡± Li Fet nodded, seemingly appeased. He then shouted for all the crowd to hear. ¡°Let it be known that Li Fet is a mercifulndowner. I have spared the life of this irresponsible wretch for two moons. Let any of you fall behind in payment and you shall receive the same just and merciful punishment.¡± As if on cue, the entire gathering performed small bows of thanks towards the cultivator for his great demonstration of grace. ¡°Release him,¡± Li Fet said and then lowering to me he whispered, ¡°this month is your back. Next month, will be your head.¡± * * * The Enforcer threw my overcoat at me after he pushed me back into the crowd. I winced trying to pull it on over my throbbing wounds. That¡¯s when Yu Li suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. ¡°Hey, take it easy. This freaking hurts, you k¡ª¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± she said, cutting me off in a hushed whisper while bouncing Su Ling on her hip. ¡°Are you crazy?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I mean, why did you give me all of your money if you were short yourself? If I knew you were giving me your rent money, I wouldn¡¯t have even asked much less taken it!¡± I chuckled through the sting on my back. Yu Li hade looking for me the day before. She¡¯d run out of silver a week after payday as usual. I¡¯d stuffed the entire contents of my coin purse into her palm no questions asked. ¡°Look, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I said. ¡°You haven¡¯t been able to work because of the baby. How else were you going to pay? Unless you wanted to be the one on the stump back there.¡± I gave her a cocky smile and Yu Li looked at me with an infuriated scowl, before quickly huffing out a sigh and then pulling me into a hug that made me wince again. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve you,¡± she said. ¡°Thank you, Chun. As soon as I can find someone to look after Su Ling, I¡¯ll pay you back double. I promise.¡± ¡°You bet you will,¡± I said, but I had no intention of asking for a single Wen of copper back from her. Yu Li was about the closest thing to family that I had¨C¨Ca younger sister to me. ¡°And you should be making plenty soon. You were close to breaking through the 9th Tier of Body Refinement and into the Foundation Realm before you had to quit school, right? Nothing but big money after that.¡± She huffed out augh, bouncing Su Ling who started to fuss. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me. I¡¯ll never be able to show my face in that ce again. I¡¯ll be lucky to ever break through on my own at this point.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. What Yu Li said was probably true. Cultivation took years of focused meditation and training to absorb the ambient energy of the universe and refine it into the usable form of Qi. Higher-level techniques could make the process faster, but that only came with formal education and training. Trying to break through to the next realm of cultivation, from mere Body Refinement to Foundation Establishment, took massive amounts of Qi and mental focus. For Yu Li, now with a kid, it was probably next to impossible. Still, I wasn¡¯t going to let her get discouraged over it. ¡°Hey, who needs ¡®em,¡± I said, folding my arms. ¡°Bunch of control freaks in that school anyway. Besides, it¡¯s supposed to be all self-study past that point, right?¡± Yu Liughed. ¡°This from the guy who still hasn¡¯t broken through the 7th tier of Body Refinement yet.¡± I shrugged with a smile. ¡°What can I say? I like living up to my name.¡± We bothughed until an intrusive voice came from behind me. ¡°And what name would that be?¡± The voice was familiar and caused my lip to curl. If I had been able to break through to the 9th Tier of Body Refinement like Yu Li, I¡¯d probably be able to sense the massive well of Qi to my rear. But dumbass as I was, I sensed nothing. Except the stink of arrogance. I turned about slowly, careful not to lift my gaze too fully to meet the eyes of the cultivator as I performed an obligatory bow. ¡°Young Master Hein.¡± He was about the same age as Yu Li, fair skinned and dressed in the robes of nobility from one of the minor families within the greater Silver Leaf n. His baby face wore a smile of confidence that only wealth and privilege could provide. Two other simrly aged boys were with him, dressed in the same air of refinement. The three of them stood out like flies in congee being in the middle of the Native Housing District, but perhaps only those of even higher status would truly care about them being here. ¡°Master Hein,¡± Yu Li said, performing a small curtsey that made my stomach sick. ¡°You do recall my friend Chun, don¡¯t you?¡± The prick had met me at least three times already. ¡°Ah yes,¡± he said with an exaggerated smile. ¡°Chun!¡± The three boysughed at the great joke and I humored the young master with a smile. ¡°Good one.¡± ¡°Yes, of course I remember you, Chun,¡± he said, patting me on the back and I resisted the urge to wince as the sting set my brain on fire. ¡°Chun here was an upperssman of Yu Li. Sadly you had to drop out of the Foundation academy quite early, didn¡¯t you, Chun?¡± He wore a smirk that caused his two friends to grin. If I bought into the same cultural norms that they were ustomed to, the loss of that much face would force me to have to challenge him right there on the spot. But as a mid-tier Foundation Realm cultivator, Hein¡¯s strength, young as he was, would make even the likes of Li Fet, ¡®the graciousndowner¡¯, quiver. ¡°I did,¡± I answered simply with a smile. ¡°Like I said. I live up to my name.¡± The threeughed again and I simply grinned, ying the fool. ¡°Anyway,¡± he said, turning from me and gesturing towards Yu Li. ¡°Did I not tell you that there were great beauties amongst the natives?¡± This caused Yu Li to grin and blush, while Hein¡¯sckeys nodded like idiots, stroking their peach-fuzzed chins. I hated this guy, even though he was likely Su Ling¡¯s father. Although Yu Li had never admitted it, not even to me. To this day she¡¯d never said who the father was, which made the answer all the more obvious. To have a concubine at Hein¡¯s age was revolting, but to father a child was even more so. Plus, as detrimental as it was to Yu Li, it was perhaps even more so to him. If people who mattered ever found out, that was. But the fact that he¡¯d brought his friends to parade her about was a testament to the likelihood of that ever happening. The thought caused ire to burn deep in my soul. I wanted to snatch him by the cor and pound him in the face until he exined why Yu Li had to ask me for rent money while he flew home every night to the great gold pagoda in the sky. But I knew the answer. Hein wasn¡¯t rich; his family was. At his young age, there¡¯d be no decent reason for him to be giving money to a young mother in the Native district. Not that his family would miss the paltry sum that would allow Yu Li and Su Ling to live a good life. No, hisck of financial support stemmed from an even deeper rut of depravity. Hein didn¡¯t pay¡­because he didn¡¯t have to. My temples throbbed with simmering anger as I watched him continue to flirt with her. Yu Li was merely a thrilling pursuit to him before, but now she had be a proof of conquest to show off to his friends. It sickened me. All Yu Li could do now was pretend that Hein had no obligation to her at all¡ªto keep his secret and allow him to save face before his family, in hopes that one day he would honor her discretion with a show of charity. Damn cultivator society. And they call ¡®us¡¯ the savages? My hands balled into fists and I became acutely aware of how much anger and hatred was welling up inside of me. I wanted toy this bastard low for what he¡¯d done and if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he or any one of his family members could kill me in an instant, I¡¯d probably go for it too. He¡¯d robbed Yu Li of her innocence. Ruined her future. But worst of all. He had stolen Yu Li¡¯s heart. ¡°Perhaps some tea?¡± Yu Li offered. Hein smiled and nodded along with his friends. She finally extended the offer to me, but I shook my head and made sure I didn¡¯t let my disappointment or anger show as I put on a smile. ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I have to get to work. I¡¯ll see youter.¡± * * * Rain fell as I ran through the old streets of downtown. I weed it as it soaked through my overcoat and cooled the rawness of my back and the anger burning in my soul. By the time I neared the city¡¯s edge however, the coat started to chafe and I began to regret choosing today to tell Li Fet that I didn¡¯t have his rent money. Towering edifices of the old worldy in crumbled ruin all around me as I made my way east towards the fields. Skyscrapers with shattered windows, abandoned storefronts painted with graffiti and strewn with old banners for the Tournament of Mortal Championsst year. Even remnants of rusted war machines and burnt-out cars littered the streets, which were now overgrown with tall grass and weeds. The entire ce was a dump, but the cultivators had no need to beautify this part of the city. It instead was home to those unable to afford even the paltry rent of the Native Housing District. Meanwhile the cultivators themselves dwelt within the golden pagoda that hovered eerily several hundred feet above the old city. Even in the grayed out, rain-drenched sky it glowed with the otherworldly light of a second sun. Small crafts and high-tier Core Realm cultivators flew back and forth from it, looking like flocks of tiny birds from this distance. I assumed that it was one of the same that had arrived to attack us that night. I wondered just how many there were now, each one hovering over the ruins of major cities from Old Earth. Regretfully, such details were never mentioned in any of my Dynasty reeducation sses, where my traumatized, young mind was forcibly remolded to conform to the society of our new cultivator masters. My first re-education consisted of learning the hieroglyphic-like script of the Yeenguage, and then from there learning about the hierarchy of cultivation and the ranks of power within them. The five realms of Mortal-level cultivation: from Body Tempering, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Sacred Soul, Lesser Deity and then beyond. I realized now that the superheroes I saw on TV that night were perhaps of the Lesser Deity Realm, on loan from the centrals at the core of the Dynasty¡¯s domain. That godlike figure that stopped the nuke for example was likely some elder half-brother of the current Yee Princess that now ruled our world. Big bro doing little sis a favor by clearing her newly gifted of its native pests. That¡¯s what most of them saw us as. Pests to be eliminated with a few to be tamed as pets. Apparently, while humans weremon throughout the universe, the aptitude to detect and cultivate Qi was not. Our species, now dubbed Terran, was woefully inept at it, earning an overall D rating on average. That meant that less than 10% of the poption could truly aspire to be Qi cultivators. Maybe that¡¯s why we excelled at science and not magic in our past. Magic, I thought, chuckling. That¡¯s what it still all was to me. Yu Li had fallen into that lucky 10%, which made it all the more infuriating that Hein had ruined her chances at a better life in this new world. As even a low-tier Foundation Realm cultivator she could find a decent job as an artisan or crafter. Maybe even more if she were allowed to continue her education, or God forbid, participate in that stupid Tournament of Mortal Champions that promised true Yee citizenship to the winner. She¡¯d be able to join even a sect then. But for me? I knew I was a dumbass when it came to Qi early on. Chun had be my schoolyard nickname by the age of 12, as did the daily beatings that came with it. But the feeling was mutual. I despised not just the cultivators, but the very idea of the thing. Sucking up the life force of the universe for selfish gains? To hell with that. Maybe that¡¯s why I had no aptitude for it. It just rubbed me wrong, in the worst kind of way. My entire family died for their savage gluttony and I wanted nothing to do with it. Still, this was my reality now. And angst didn¡¯t pay the bills. Chapter 2 Banners with directions to the Jurin Province proving grounds littered the dirt road as I passed through the lush farnds on the outskirts of the city. Wheat, rice, vegetables; every crop you could think of was grown by the farming sects, which, despite their low ranking in terms of martial status, more than made up for it in terms of economic power and control. Most of what was left of humanity worked here now, ving away in the sun for paltry sums of silver per month. Some of the farmers waved to me as I passed by, a few of them older than I was. They could still make a decent living in time, maybe even cultivate if they had the aptitude. But for a Qi-less wonder like me, my prospects for employment were much worse. I approached the wooden structure that housed the guard post of the City¡¯s eastern gate. It was the shape and size of a small barn with a roof but no walls. Already I could see cultivators from various sects milling underneath the shelter, while guides and handlers were being assigned to them for their excursions beyond the wall. I was one such handler. And I waste. I picked up the pace and hoped the supervisor wouldn¡¯t notice as I slipped into the routine with my fellow guides. The giant pagoda that floated in the sky provided one more vital function besides being a secondary sun for our dreary city. It created a protective barrier that shielded us from the effects of the Bloodmoon. Everything beyond the low stone wall marking the edge of the barrier was a no man¡¯snd. The realm of monsters, demons, and spirit beasts. And it was my job to guide Qi-hungry cultivators through it each day. ¡°I told him your dog died,¡± whispered Mu Lin¡ªone of my co-workers¡ªas she rushed past me and pushed my uniform into my arms. ¡°Again?¡± I said, as I slipped it on over my overcoat. ¡°I told him you had three.¡± She then paused thoughtfully. ¡°Well, I guess that means you only have one left now. So don¡¯t screw up again, okay?¡±I chuckled at that. Thank God for Mu Lin. The slightly stocky Indian girl with sses was another old Earther like me. If not for her and my other co-worker, Lee, I probably would have given up on this world a long time ago. Lee was already leaving thepound, tethered to a trio of cultivators from the Golden Sparrow Sect. He spotted me and gave me a head nod and eyeroll that told me to look out for the boss. The boss in question was named Sumatra: a tall, gray-skinned mountain of a man from some other world. I looked over at him and the big, bald-headed bastardughed and then made a ¡°boohoo¡± gesture, by rubbing his knuckles under his eyes. Geeze, what an a-hole, I thought. I acknowledged the gesture with a slight nod and wave, wanting the day to be done with already. ¡°Well at least he¡¯s not punishing you,¡± Mu Lin said with a grin, as she fiddled with a backpack full of provision, maps, and other essentials for venturing into the wild. I did the same, wondering where and how far this day would take me, or if I¡¯d even make it back at all. Most times only highly seasoned Core Realm cultivators were allowed permission to venture into the Bloodmoon zones for arge fee and a small tax on whatever they would bring back with them. It was actually the¡¯s main source of ie. So much so, that the Dynasty propaganda that the cultivators had actuallye to Earth to save it from the Bloodmoon, seemed almostughable now. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they caused the damn thing. Either that, or they had found an ingenious way to turn a cataclysmic, species-ending event into an opportunity for profit. Both possibilities sickened me. Apparently, Earth had now be to the Yee Dynasty what the Caribbean was to the old world. A distant locale with exotic attractions for cultivators toe and ascend to new heights. For me that meant tagging along while visitors from other worlds tore apart monsters by day and then retreated to the safety of the protective barrier by night, avoiding the full influence of the Bloodmoon which turned the already scary monsters into even scarier Demons. Sometimes though, overzealous young masters like Hein would hire tours just to show off to their friends. The result was usually the cultivator running off while the handlers were killed by creatures far too powerful for them to be messing with. Or it could be as simple as people ventured too far out and got caught outside the barrier when night fell. Regardless of the cause, there were a multitude of ways to die if you ventured out alone, which made our job dangerous, yet essential. You¡¯d think with abination like that it would pay a lot to be a handler and in the old world it probably would have, like that skan fishing show I used to watch on TV. But in a hierarchical society, there was no need to pay. You simply left the dangerous jobs to those without the wherewithal to do anything better. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°So, who we got today?¡± I asked, looking at the small handful of cultivators left. Across the shelter from us was a group of three locals from the Fire Bird Sect, known by their mboyant red and orange robes. Joining them were two other cultivators who looked like they were from off world. One was a man who wore monk¡¯s robes with a bald head and a long wispy beard. He looked to be in his eighties, which in cultivator terms could mean literally ten times that for his actual age. ¡°Hey, how powerful is he?¡± I asked, nudging Mu Lin. Unlike me, Mu Lin was already a Foundation-level cultivator who did this job by choice, not default. A chance to ¡°learn from the masters,¡± as she called it, before she applied to some fancy post-Foundation school to be a schr. I didn¡¯t care about any of that, but with her skills, Mu Lin could gauge a cultivator¡¯s rtive strength just by looking at them. For me, it was an easy way to ensure that I got attached to someone skilled enough to not end up on the wrong side of a spirit beast¡¯s jaws. Plus, I knew she got a bit of a kick out of it too. Mu Lin squinted at the old man while adjusting her wire-framed sses. ¡°Really strong. Low-tier Core Realm at least. Perhaps 3rd or 4th tier even.¡± ¡°Looks like I found my guy,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Who said you¡¯re going to get him?¡± I was just about to start haggling with Mu Lin, when thest cultivator suddenly stood from a crouched position and caused me to do a double take. It was a woman, but she was a good head taller than my boss Sumatra, who himself was a head taller than me. She looked to be built like him too, muscles on top of muscles with the same dull gray skin. She wore a leather breast te and tartan instead of robes and strapped to her back was thergest sword I¡¯d ever seen, nearly as long as she was tall and as thick as a nk of wood. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± I said in a hushed whisper, fearful she might hear me. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Sumatra¡¯s big sister?¡± Mu Lin said with a grin. ¡°You can have the old guy. I¡¯ll take her. How strong is she?¡± Mu Lin squinted again and a puzzled look shed across her face. ¡°Huh? I think she¡¯s mortal.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t detect any Qi concentration in her at all. I thought she¡¯d be high-tier Foundation Realm cultivator at least, looking like that.¡± I shook my head. ¡°You¡¯re telling me she¡¯s not a cultivator?¡± Mu Lin shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Maybe she¡¯s just really big and strong?¡± I looked at the giant woman again, who was alien even for this strange world in more ways than one. Her skin was covered in ritual scars or tattoos and her face, which might have been pretty once, was covered in the same. In fact, the only thing feminine about her was the shock of messy white hair that spilled to her mid-back. ¡°Nevermind. I want the old dude back. I don¡¯t care how big and strong you look. No way you¡¯re going to survive out there against a pack of raplings without Qi Body Refinement. How did she even get a pass?¡± ¡°Beats me. But I guess the silver talks as usual?¡± Mu Lin said, jutting her chin towards Sumatra. I thought about that for a moment. One had to take certain tests to even qualify for a Bloodmoon pass. But even after that there was the fee, which would be about ten years¡¯ worth of wages at my sry. I nced at Sumatra. I¡¯d seen the bastard make these kinds of exceptions before¡ªturning a blind eye to an ¡°extra¡± guest if the group tipped a little ¡°extra¡± coin. Maybe this was the same. A favor for a fellow countrywoman from his home world. Man, the corruption here never ends. But then something else urred to me. If Sumatra truly had done something like that, then he was not just putting that woman¡¯s life in jeopardy, but our own. A slow ire began to build in my gut as my eyes narrowed at him. Had he sold our lives for a few extra Taels of silver? I watched as he joked and cajoled with the Fire Bird members, buttering them up for a healthy tip. Why wouldn¡¯t he do it? All he cared about was the money. And if a couple of natives had to die to give some muscle-headed idiot a crack at a swift death, then why not? I bit my lip the more I thought about it, drawing the coppery taste of blood. Suddenly the giant woman snapped her head to the side, as if someone had just called her name. She then turned about fully and her te-gray eyes fell directly on me. I stiffened, unnerved by the sudden movement. An uneasy feeling then came over me as she continued to stare, her face made of stone. Then, as quickly as it happened, she turned away again and focused back on Sumatra. ¡°Wow, that was creepy,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°She must have overheard you or something.¡± ¡°Overheard me say what?¡± Mu Lin shrugged just as Sumatra called us over. ¡°This is Chun and Mu Lin,¡± he introduced us. ¡°Two of my best handlers. Since it¡¯s so few of you, I¡¯ll give you both of them for the price of one if you travel as a group. What do you say?¡± The cultivators began to confer with one another, discussing how they¡¯d split the cost between them. I felt slightly relieved. Maybe Sumatra wasn¡¯t as bad a guy as I thought he was. At least he was trying to group us all together with the real cultivators for protection. ¡°No,¡± the tall woman suddenly said. That caused everyone to pause. Sumatra chuckled. ¡°What do you mean, no?¡± ¡°I need no guide. I¡¯ll travel alone.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t do that, I told you already, there are rules,¡± Sumatra said, and then he added something else, slipping into another tongue that I didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Vul wert ist?¡± The woman responded in the samenguage and a heated discussion took ce between them, ending with both of them looking frustrated. Finally, Sumatra shook his head, huffing out a long sigh. ¡°Look, the Imperial Guard patrols the proving grounds. If they find someone without a handler, it¡¯ll not just be your head but mine. It can¡¯t happen.¡± A few more tense seconds passed as the woman¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Fine,¡± she said eventually and then her gray eyes fell on me again. ¡°I¡¯ll take this one.¡± I expected Sumatra to protest some more, but then he paused a moment before slowing nodding. ¡°A fine choice,¡± Sumatra said with a smile before giving me a wink. ¡°No one is better than Chun here.¡± Chapter 3 I cursed non-stop in the back of my mind as I huffed down the forest trail like a madman. Why did shit like this always happen to me? I bit my lip, pumping my hands into fists that I wanted to bury into Sumatra¡¯s face. I made a vow that if I ever did make it back alive, I¡¯d do just that. The satisfaction of pummeling that greedy, gray bastard would be well worth the reciprocation it would no doubt bring. I nced over my shoulder at my so-called cultivator. The giant oaf of a woman hadn¡¯t said a word since we departed. She lumbered along with slow, deliberate steps, which, due to her height I suppose, matched my own hurried pace quite easily. And that was fine with me. Standing still for too long was a surefire way to attract the kind of attention I just didn¡¯t want today. As for where I was headed, that was something I hoped to keep a mystery for as long as possible. Before we had left, the woman didn¡¯t give very specific instruction as to what she was looking for out here in the wild, but what she did say, caused me to tense and Mu Lin to grow pale with fright. ¡°Take me to wherever the strongest monsters lie,¡± was all she¡¯d said. That had sealed the deal for me. This woman was either delusional or suicidal and I wanted nothing to do with her. Thus, I made a concerted effort do the exact opposite of what she¡¯d said. The barrier was marked by the low stone wall ringing the city, but from years of taking cultivators into the Bloodmoon zone, I knew there was a residual effect that spread slightly beyond it. It was a thin sliver of perhaps only a quarter mile or so wide, a space where the monsters wouldn¡¯t dare approach during the day. At night that was a different story, especially on a full moon where the demons would sometimes attack the barrier en masse. This meant I was now spending my time trying to wind a long yet imperceptible loop within that thin space. If this woman was truly delusional then hopefully she wouldn¡¯t even notice and I could waste the day away and chalk theck of monsters up to simply bad luck. The terrain we were currently traversing through was helpful in that regard. What used to be the suburbs was now transformed into a juvenile forest, with young spruce and oak trees vaulting through the rooftops of decades-old duplexes and apartment blocks. The semi-uniformity of it all gave the forest an indecipherable sameness that hopefully I could keep backtracking through unnoticed.But that wasn¡¯t my only task. Most of the monsters in this area were not the truly mutated kind, like those found deeper in the wilderness. They were usually C rank and lower and more like giant animals, which was perhaps another side-effect of the barrier¡¯s influence. Still, giant beasts were no joke. Once I¡¯de across a giant stag the size of an elephant. It took a group of five Foundation-level cultivators to bring it down and none of them walked away unscathed. Against something like that, Bodybuilder Barbie and I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance. So while I navigated, I also actively tracked and scouted ahead. What Icked in Qi detection, I more than made up for in wilderness survival skills. It was mostly just survival instinct at first, but now after nearly five years of doing this crap, I had developed a sixth sense as what to look for when it came to seeking out prey and ensuring you didn¡¯t be the same. Traces of stool, hoof prints, even a broken twig were all telltale signs I could use to decipher exactly what type of creature had passed, its direction, and how long ago. But where I¡¯d be normally using those skills to follow a beast, I was now using them to do the exact opposite. After a few hours of doing this a loud thunk! suddenly came from behind me. ¡°This is far enough.¡± I turned to see the woman had nted her massive sword into the ground. I stiffened and feared that she might have figured out my ploy, but I was actually more impressed that she had finally decided to say something after all this time. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You heard me. You can leave now. Go back to the city. I told you I need no guide.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say for a few seconds. Should I really just leave her here? Not like I could stop her from doing so anyway if she so chose. Non-cultivator or not, the woman was still three times my size. But crazy as she was, I couldn¡¯t just leave her here to die. ¡°Look,dy. I really can¡¯t let you stay out here. You need toe back with me. It¡¯s not safe.¡± ¡°Do I look defenseless to you?¡± I really didn¡¯t want to answer that question, because the truth might give her the wrong idea. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what I think you look like. My friend could detect your Qi concentration, or more urately, your absence of it. We both know you¡¯re not a cultivator. And trust me when I tell you that you will not survive out here as a mortal.¡± And then I added, to hopefully convince her further, ¡°We both won¡¯t.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the vition. ¡°What you say may be true. I may not survive,¡± she said with a subtle smile. ¡°We shall see. So long, young man.¡± I sighed, frustrated. ¡°Lady, please. That pal of yours Sumatra might not give a damn if you get killed out here, but I really can¡¯t have that on my conscience. So pleasee back with me, okay? Please¡­¡± Her eyes softened as her smile grew warm. ¡°You have a kind heart, don¡¯t you? Tell me, young man, do you believe in destiny?¡± ¡°What?¡± The woman stared up at the sky. ¡°I knew my path would lead me here, to the furthest reaches of the domain, but never would I have imagined, that it would lead me also, to the embers of an unkindled me.¡± What?Was that a freaking poem? ¡°What are you even talking about?¡± I really didn¡¯t have time for this. ¡°Look,dy, we really just need to¡ª¡± ¡°I sensed your anger from before the time we left and it¡¯s only grown since then. A deep seething rage building up inside of you. Tell me¡­if you had the strength to match that rage. What would you do with it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You heard me. If you had the strength to be a cultivator. To put into action the rage burning in your heart, what would you do?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t underst¡ª¡± ¡°Humor an old woman¡­please. Tell me what is it that ignites your [Frenzied me].¡± I licked my lips wondering if this was some kind of trick or mind game by the strange way she said it, but she soundedpletely sincere too. More than that I could feel a sudden burning in my chest, like a memory bringing on a heated resentment and anger. My mind began to churn. What would I do if I had the strength of a cultivator? My first thought was of Sumatra and punching him in the face without fear of retaliation or reprisal. Then I thought of Hein and doing the same. That sparked an even greater resentment as I thought about how much he¡¯d ruined Yu Li¡¯s life and got away with it scot-free. The hypocrisy and injustice of it all. The entire cultivator society and their arrogant sense of superiority and privilege. The society they imposed upon us in the name of saving us, forcing us to rely upon them by destroying our world. ¡°I¡¯d burn it all down,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d rip every damn pagoda right out of the sky. I¡¯d free my people and crush the cultivators for what they¡¯ve done to us.¡± ¡°I see,¡± she said. ¡°And what have they done? Tell me what it is that drives your fury? Tell me your [Sorrow and Pain].¡± My mind began ying backwards, reliving the torment and humiliation of my short adult life. I went back further to my teens, facing the ridicule and abuse of privileged young masters eager to remind me of my ce. My earlier years as a young child, terrified and alone, filled with the constant fear and confusion of being thrust into a world I just didn¡¯t understand. And finally, to that night twelve years ago, where an eight-year-old me had my life torn apart. Thatst glimpse of my parents and sister shed through my mind again. I relived every second, my young psyche shattered by the terror and grief of knowing how horribly my family soon would die. Mommy¡­ Daddy¡­ Jessie. I had tears in my eyes now, the deep pain pulling me back through time. I looked up at the woman. ¡°What is this?¡± She merely nodded. ¡°Thou art indeed an unkindled me, a frenzied spirit, tempered by struggle and sorrow, fueled by rage and pain.¡± She said it like a poem again and something seemed to open up inside of me. ¡°I will make you an offer that can change your destiny, unkindled one, if you so choose. I can reveal to you a path to strength, but you must be willing to sacrifice everything for it. Even your life.¡± ¡°What?¡± She then turned from me and withdrew her sword from the ground. ¡°I n to remain here until the Bloodmoon rises and will face the Demons thate for me. I do not know if I will survive. I do not care. I will fight them regardless. For this is my path. My Dao. If you wish to follow the same, thene with me, and bear witness to what you may be¡­if you survive. Else, leave now and be in peace.¡± I wiped my tears, trying to understand what she¡¯d just said. ¡°Wait, you came out here just to see if you could survive or not? You don¡¯t even know if you can? And you want me to hang around with you to find out?¡± The woman smiled. ¡°You still have doubts. I understand. My strength is not something I can reveal without recourse, but just know that Qi is not the only path to power.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Cultivation can take many forms, but few travel the path that is difficult and narrow. Qi may be the widest and swiftest route to progression, but it is not the only.¡± I huffed out a causticugh. ¡°Yeah, well¡­wouldn¡¯t matter to me anyway. I can¡¯t cultivate Qi.¡± ¡°Neither can I¡­¡± She then reached into a pouch at her side and produced a metal ball that fit within her palm. ¡°Take this¡­¡± She tossed the ball to me and when I caught it, I realized it was muchrger and heavier than I first thought, being closer to a shotput in both weight and size. I winced, barely cradling it as I absorbed the throw. I looked at it more closely in my palms. It waspletely smooth and made of a highly polished metal like chrome or steel, but it seemed to weigh even more than steel would. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked. ¡°It contains instructions that will guide you on this path. Follow them and you will gain strength and power¡­ even immortality¡­ the same as the cultivators you so despise.¡± Was this for real? ¡°How do I open it?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t. But if you wish for it to reveal itself to you, then follow me. When the Bloodmoon rises, we both shall see if we survive or not. If this is not something you can do, then return to the city now.¡± I looked hard at the giant woman, trying to decipher if she was a sage or merely insane. ¡°Think not long on this, unkindled one. There is neither shame nor glory in either choice. Let your destiny be your guide.¡± She then hefted the massive sword onto her shoulder and began heading deeper into the forest. A rush of conflicting emotions filled me as I stared down at the metal orb. Could this thing really teach me a different path to cultivation? Or was this woman still just a delusional and/or suicidal freak? Mu Lin said she sensed nothing from her, and I trusted Mu Lin. But I couldn¡¯t deny the strange sense of conviction and memories I¡¯d just experienced either. Still, was I really willing to risk my life on just that? She clearly didn¡¯t seem to care much about her own. I hesitated a moment, before finally shaking my head. No, this couldn¡¯t be real. And I couldn¡¯t trust my life to a stranger from off world who I¡¯d just met either. Hell, I didn¡¯t even know her name! ¡°Spend a night outside the barrier?¡± I huffed out a scoff. ¡°I must be as crazy as she is to even think about it!¡± I took onest look at the giant crazy woman, wished for her a painless death and then tossed the orb aside as I turned and walked away. Chapter 4 Sweat beaded on my brow as thete afternoon heat took hold. I tried not to let the strange encounter y on my mind as I made my way back to the gate. A small part of me worried about what Sumatra would say when he saw me returning without her. No doubt he¡¯d panic about losing his position or something. Ironic that losing both a handler and client was perfectly eptable and even preferable to losing just the client. With no witnesses to report the facts to the authorities, almost anything could be written up as death by misadventure within the Bloodmoon zone. A sudden sh of lightning stirred me out of my thoughts, followed by an immediate boom of thunder. I at first thought it was another rain shower approaching but the sky above was still clear as day. The thunder came again and this time I saw the lightning itself. Not a vertical sh but horizontal, up on a small hillside perhaps less than a quarter mile away. Squinting, I saw figures in red and orange robes dancing back and forth using martial techniques and qinggong. It was the Fire Bird Sect members that were a part of Mu Lin¡¯s group. The lightning shed yet again and this time I saw it emanating from the old man who had joined their group as well. I figured they must have stumbled upon something. I was about to pay it no mind and start off for the gate again when a new sound caught my ear in between the cracks of thunder. A sudden high-pitched scream. Mu Lin. * * * My legs pumped like pistons, driving me up the hill side. I wasn¡¯t a cultivator, but I¡¯dpleted most of the Body Tempering Techniques they forced upon us in school. That made me what was perhaps an Olympic-ss athlete back in the old world. I prayed that would be enough to get me there in time. In the few minutes that it took me to reach the hill, I¡¯d heard Mu Lin cry out at least twice more, but after that there had been only silence.My worst fears began to take hold as the silence continued, but I rejected them immediately. No, she¡¯d be alright, I told myself, but I couldn¡¯t deny the facts either. Mu Lin was here with not just one but four high-tier cultivators. For her to have screamed like that, they had to have run into something so powerful that even the four of thembined couldn¡¯t handle it. The list of things capable of that was quite short in my mind. A corpse demon, or a reaper beast perhaps? Nothing that should be this close to the barrier. But whatever it was, it was already far too powerful for me to even make a difference. Yet still I pressed on. I had to help my friend. I crested the rise where I saw them fighting earlier and my mind did a double take when I saw the huge swath of blood spilled all over the ground. My fears grew stronger. ¡°Mu Lin!¡± I called out for her. No answer. I followed the blood. Someone had been crawling on their stomach, the trail leading to a tree with faint and shallow breathinging from behind it. Please don¡¯t be you, Mu Lin. I rounded the trunk and was somewhat relieved to see it was the old monk gasping and wheezing on the opposite side. But my relief was short lived when I saw that his insides had been torn out. I wanted to retch immediately from the stench of his bowels. He could barely register that I was even there. ¡°Old man¡­¡± I stooped down to him. ¡°What did this to you?¡± I feared to think what his answer would be, but his eyes were already zed and growing fixed. ¡°They¡­ they took it¡­¡± ¡°Took what? Who?¡± ¡°My core¡­¡± What the hell¡­? I looked at his stomach again. It indeed wasn¡¯t a gore or bite wound, but the clean cut of a de. His innards too looked like something had been pulled out from inside of them. I thought back when I saw the sect members fighting on the hillside. Were they actually fighting each other? ¡°Did the Fire Bird Sect members do this to you?¡± I¡¯d heard of such things before. Murderers who would rob Core Realm cultivators of the solidified lump of Qi they had spent decades or even centuries cultivating. They could fetch high prices on the ck markets, but the punishment for such a crime was steep. It could bring down the wrath of entire sects or the empire itself. Were the Fire Birds really that stupid? I waited for a response, but the old man kept going on about his core as he continued to bleed out and die. I didn¡¯t have time for this. ¡°Hey!¡± I shouted to get his attention again. ¡°Where¡¯s the girl? Where¡¯s Mu Lin?¡± He merely kept babbling. Screw this¡­ I didn¡¯t wait for him to respond any further. I needed to find her. I drew on my skills of the wild to piece together what had taken ce. It was a chaotic scuffle that had ensued, but through the chaos I began to make sense of the conflict. The three members of the Fire Bird Sect must have surrounded the old man, gotten behind him perhaps. Even out-numbered though, it was surprising that they were actually able to defeat him if he was as powerful as Mu Lin had said. That increased my concern for Mu Lin. She was a cultivator, but she was more a schr than a fighter. I left the dying old man and followed the trail, looking for any trace of her. Eventually I found something: the faintest sliver of her thick, dark hair. I tracked it further, where she looked to have broken into a run and I did the same. I descended the leeward side of the hill and eventually heard voices. ¡°Do it, just make sure she can¡¯t run again. The little bitch is quick.¡± My heart thundered with panic at the sound of that. I dashed into the small copse of trees where the voice hade from, just as a muffled cry filled the air. I finally saw Mu Lin about a hundred feet away, surrounded by the three Fire Bird Sect members, their orange robes now stained with a deeper shade of red. One of them, who was bald, held Mu Lin from behind, his hand cupped over her mouth. Her sses were missing and tears streamed from her eyes. Just in front of her, another man with a thick beard was busy driving a sword deep into her thigh. ¡°Not too much!¡± thest man, who was white haired, and much older than the other two said as he began removing his robes. ¡°I don¡¯t want her bleeding all over me.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition. My mind snapped, realizing what he was about to do. ¡°Get away from her!¡± I charged forward, no weapon in hand but I didn¡¯t care. I was going to tear them apart with my teeth if I had to. The cultivator holding Mu Lin nced up, but merely grinned as I bore down on him. ¡°Look! The other one showed up! Guess it¡¯s a two for one special, just like Sumatra said.¡± He beganughing at his own joke and the slight distraction was enough for Mu Lin to sink her teeth into the flesh of his palm. ¡°Ah! You filthy bitch!¡± He let loose his hand and Mu Lin yelled. ¡°Chun, just run! They¡¯ll kill y¨C!¡± The cultivator coldcocked her hard across the temple and her body hit the ground like a sack of rice. ¡°Mu Lin!¡± She wasn¡¯t moving. An uncontroble rage filled me as I watched her lying there either unconscious or dead. I fixed my sights on all three of the cultivators as I ran towards them and suddenly nothing else mattered to me besides their deaths. The sect member with the beard lunged at me with his de from thirty feet away, moving so quickly that he was behind me before I knew what happened. I didn¡¯t even feel the pain until a momentter when a huge gash opened up in my side. I belched blood as my body lost all strength and I copsed to my knees. Jeeringughs came next, as if I¡¯d just be thetest source for the trio¡¯s entertainment. ¡°You¡¯re as stupid as your name, you dumb bastard,¡± the man who cut me said while standing over me. ¡°You really think you can do anything to stop this? The best you can do is watch yourdy friend enjoy thest moments of her life, right before we take yours.¡± I heaved and wheezed, shaking with rage as the pain in my side zapped all strength from my body. But as my blood began to pool on the thick grass, a new strength began to take hold. I thought back to the giant woman and her offer and wished I could have that power right now. As a cultivator, I would y these scum no matter how powerful they were. No, forget that. I would y them now! A primal grunt escaped my lips as I forced myself onto my feet and then drove my head deep into the bearded man¡¯s stomach. It was like headbutting a wall and I saw stars, but the move must have surprised him too, because it was enough to make him lose his bnce for a second. I felt another surge of energy within me as a desperate thirst for violence and vengeance took hold. Ished out with my fists and hands, wing at his throat, and managed to tear off a piece of his beard. ¡°Gah!¡± he cried. He then volleyed a kick into my stomach, and the world spun as he sent me tumbling backwards and onto the ground. As Iy there heaving on my back, a smile crept onto my lips. I raised the clump of hair in my hand as if in victory. ¡°See? You¡¯re not so tough. I¡¯ll tear you all apart. Even if it¡¯s piece by piece.¡± Somehow saying that made it feel like it was true and a renewed strength returned to me. ¡°Beat the hell out of him!¡± the cultivator said, rubbing the hole in his beard. ¡°Don¡¯t make his death quick!¡± All three came at me at once and my world became a shitstorm of blood, gore, and pain. It was all I could do to merely cover my face with my arms. I cried out as the blows fell, but something inside me made meugh instead of wail, which only goaded them on further. It was a beating far worse than any I¡¯d received at the schoolyard or in the square. Each blow felt as if delivered by a hammer. My ribs snapped, my arm broke. The world began to tunnel into ckness. I refused to let it fade¡­. not until¡­ somehow¡­ I killed them all¡­ Then abruptly the pummeling stopped. After a few seconds I cautiously pried open my eyes to see why. When I did, I saw all three cultivators had now turned their backs to me to face the giant woman standing behind them. She¡¯d returned, but as for how she got here this fast I didn¡¯t know and didn¡¯t really care. There probably wasn¡¯t much she could do against the three of them anyway. But maybe, between the two of us, we could kill at least one of these sick bastards before we both died. That¡¯d be enough for me. One final, well overdue act of retribution against the cultivators before my sad joke of a life finally came to an end. The thought made me smile. It was a nice thought. A shame I couldn¡¯t move anymore. The older cultivator snorted as my vision began to darken further. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s going to a be a three for one special today, boys,¡± he said. ¡°Too bad you¡¯re as worthless as these damn Terrans, you big bitch. I wonder how much you even paid that idiot Sumatra to let youe out here and die.¡± ¡°Hey, we should get it back from him,¡± the bearded man said. ¡°She¡¯s got no core to sell. He should owe us for doing this.¡± The murderous scum. Even their sensible ideas sickened me. ¡°She looks strong though.¡± The bald man dropped into a martial stance, the air around him stirring, undting his robes with Qi. ¡°Let¡¯s see how long shests.¡± He leapt into the air with a w-like weapon in his hand, spinning like a top. ¡°[Fire Eagle meets the Mountain]!¡± he cried. The giant woman didn¡¯t even try to move as he raked the w hard across her face, the Qi-infused technique sending blood flying. Then in a blur, her hand snatched him right out of the sky, gripping him by the neck. ¡°[My Turn],¡± she said, before burying her forehead deep into the man¡¯s face with a sickening wet crack. The back of his bald head exploded from the force of the hit, sending its contents spraying into the air. Holy shit¡­! A deathly silence took hold as the woman dropped the cultivator¡¯s body unceremoniously to the ground. ¡°Well¡­I hope thatsted as long as he thought it would.¡± A palpable sense of horror and dread descended as the remaining two cultivators backed away, their eyes widening in fear. I stared at the giant woman wide-eyed myself, but not with fear. My heart swelled with an unbelievable sense of awe and disbelief instead. The man she just killed had been at least a high-tier Foundation Realm cultivator. To do what she just did, everything she said had to be true. Everything¡­ An immense pressure thickened the air as she drew the massive sword from her back. A sensation of hate and rage filled me like never before. But it wasn¡¯ting from within me. It wasing from her. Her eyes zed with a light of their own as she let out a feral cry. She rushed forward, her massive body moving with a speed that seemed impossible. She leapt and spun in the air with her greatsword in tow. The two cultivators barely managed to leap to the side with qinggong as she brought the de crashing down where they¡¯d stood just seconds before. The sword sundered a tree in two, throwing dirt and debris high into the air. She roared, taking huge swipes of the air, leaving a trail of destruction behind her as she chased after the cultivators. ¡°Hold nothing back!¡± the older one cried. ¡°She must have a beast core!¡± The two cultivators began using martial techniques of their own, slinging mes from their palms while desperately trying to keep their distance from the woman. One summoned a spinning wheel of fire that hit her dead in the chest. She hollered with irritation, but little more. Nothing they did seemed to slow her down. In fact, the opposite seemed true. The more they attacked her, the more vicious and incensed she became. ¡°It¡¯s no beast core!¡± the older cultivator screamed, his voice high pitched with panic now. ¡°She¡¯s a Berserker!¡± As he said the name everything clicked. Her ferocity and rage. Her brute strength and raw power. I felt every ounce of the primal energy coursing through her as the battle yed out¡ªthe power resonating within me, seeming to almost fill my own veins. The Fire Bird members kept their distance, peppering the giant woman with Qi techniques from afar. Although they didn¡¯t seem to be harming her, she wasn¡¯t able to catch them either, it seemed. Finally, the woman stopped and lifted her sword towards the sky. ¡°[Furnace of the Frenzied me]¡­¡± As she spoke the words, the entire sky darkened and became streaked with veins of yellow fire. I thought that perhaps I was hallucinating from blood loss at first, but then the cultivators reacted to it too, ncing about in abject terror. ¡°A pocket reality!¡± one of them cried. ¡°She possesses an inner world!¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what that meant, but when I looked to the woman again, she appeared to have transformed. She looked even bigger than before. The tattoos on her body had turned into some kind of ethereal armor, metallic bracers and pauldrons floating just above her skin, which had now turned a deep shade of red and on either side of her head, a set of bull¡¯s horns had emerged. Releasing a savage howl, she drove straight into the cultivators with superhuman speed, fear locking them in ce. It was all they could do to scream andsh out wildly with techniques and weapons. The woman took a sword strike deep to her chest and a swath of mes right to the face, but she pressed on unfazed. Then with a single cleave of her massive sword, she cut them in two at the waist, killing them instantly. The woman stood there breathing heavily as she stood over the severed bodies, her eyes wild as if still craving more. In that moment, as I beheld the fearsome being of raw anger and rage, I knew what it was that I needed to be. If I wanted to fight against the cultivators, to avenge my family, to protect my friends, then I would need that same strength. As the darkness finally took me, I made a vow. If somehow fate allowed, I would be what she is. I would be a cultivator¡­I would be a Berserker. Chapter 5 Imperial Yee Pce, Li Wan Province, Terra Third Princess Lunh, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seventh heir to the Imperial Yee Dynasty, studied the Qi-infused tablet hovering before her while sitting in lotus position upon her gilded throne. Hovering about her, six jade urns, each filled with the remnants of ancient artifacts centuries old, circled her body slowly, constantly imbuing her with their essence. She cycled her Qi through them, refining the Qi further through her meridians before feeding it slowly to the secondary soul found deep within the solid core of her Dantian. She did so without thinking, her abilities now so advanced that she could cultivate passively while her present mind focused on something else. In this case, the Qi tablet hovering before her, now held her attention. Across its marbled surface, charts and figures from thetestmerce reports shed by as she mentally scrolled through its contents. She was not impressed by what she saw. ¡°Arrival figures have decreased again this month, exin.¡± Through ornate windows, the first rays of dawn spilled onto the jade-infused marble of the imperial throne room floor. Seated on ornate cushions upon it, the six members of her imperial cab looked towards her with apprehension. Her question was directed at Wui Lang, the Minister of Commerce. The tan-skinned Dharmian was thin even for hisnky race, his back¡ªarched from decades of inactivity as a schr¡ªseeming to only emphasize the fact. Besides that, he was near indistinguishable from a human, appearing as a man in his middle years. His gray-streaked hair was grown long and pinned in a topknot, but his beard was shorn short and dyed red, as was the custom of his people. It was something Lunh prided herself on¡ªto allow for small semnces of indigenous cultures to coexist within their own. Diversity made for a more interesting tapestry to behold. ¡°Your majesty,¡± he said in his frail and quivering voice. ¡°Despite the subsidies you have graciously afforded, the expense to reach here by vessel from the core worlds is still not proving insignificant. Despite our efforts, those who embark on the voyage are still very few. In addition, we rely upon the word of return travelers to attract new prospects. With so few arriving, growth is expected to be slow. But with time, I believe we will¡ª¡± ¡°You are wrong!¡± Lunh snapped. Her voice resonated powerfully within the throne room, causing the urns to glow faintly with the passive strength of her heightened Qi. ¡°It is slow, because so few visitors ever leave.¡± She then spun her Qi tablet for them to see. ¡°Already there are seven more reports of off-worlders lost to the wilds in Jurin and Zhan Provinces alone. How are we to attract more cultivators from the core worlds if none return with a good report?¡± Her cab ministers all lowered their heads at the rhetorical question. So useless and weak, she thought. If not for their various position of rank within the major sects, she would have long since reced them. But the tendrils of feudal tradition ran deep within the empire. How ludicrous was it that those decrepit old sect patriarchs and elders in the core worlds could exact their influence even here. ¡°My apologies, your majesty,¡± Wui Lang finally spoke, prostrating himself before her. ¡°You are correct, of course. But unfortunately, the figures do not tell the full reality of the story.¡± Her eyes sharpened, ring with Qi. ¡°You dare to contradict me?¡± ¡°This One would never imagine to do such,¡± Wui Lang said in an even more obsequious tone. ¡°The truth is, your majesty, the majority of cultivators who arrive are not from the core worlds. Those who can afford the voyage do so from only the neighborings. Most are but mid-tier Core Realm cultivators at best. But the beasts grow stronger with each moon. As you well predicted long ago, this is a ce for higher-tier immortals to advance. I am certain that once weplete construction of the Omni Gate and create a bridge to the core worlds, immortal cultivators will venture here and we will see extremely high returns.¡± Lunh brooded inwardly. What Wui Lang said held logic, but it still did not sit well with her. To simply ept such losses was a sign of weakness. ¡°And what is the status of the gate construction?¡± Xi Liu, a former general and mid-tier Core Realm cultivator within the Iron Mountain Sect, spoke with a deep and authoritative voice. ¡°Ahead of schedule despite the resource issues we encounteredst year, your highness. The mines in the southern continent have proven fruitful, with the extraction of over a hundred Jin of high-quality spirit stones each month. We anticipatepletion in now only nine years instead of twelve.¡± If youe across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Nine years. A mere blink in her lifespan of nearly 300, but to suffer losses for so long was uneptable. She was already but a Third Princess of a Sixty-Fourth concubine, given the scraps of her father¡¯s domain to cultivate and control. To produce nothing after two decades would be a loss of face that she could not bear to suffer before even her siblings, much less her peers within the lower courts of the core worlds. She had held high hopes for this, but she was beginning to lose sight of that hope. The indigenous species of humans she had found here were somewhat advanced. Although, they had advanced in the wrong direction, choosing to follow the mundane arts rather than the divine. Few such civilizationssted long. Some would even progress to the point of space travel as this one had, throughplicated and convoluted means. But like a man holding his breath underwater and then diving deeper to somehow find air, their advancement could end only in folly. It was the duty of the Dynasty to find such backwards worlds and save them from their own conceit and ignorance before they destroyed themselves. Within her short lifetime alone, the Dynasty had sessfully integrated three such civilizations, one which had remarkably expanded to popte its moon before being enlightened with the gift of cultivation. This world was no different. It held potential. And it supposedly possessed something of even greater value. Supposedly. The species of this world held remarkable growth capability. A natural elerant of some kind perhaps born from their mundane roots. Her father, the Great Soul Emperor of the Yee Dynasty, had sensed it decades ago. He had gifted her this knowledge in advance of her making the voyage across the stars from the core worlds. These were a frantic people, constantly on the edge of their short mortal lives. If they could learn to progress in cultivation, the same rate at which they progressed mundanely, then who knew what prodigies this world could eventually produce. So far however, it was proving fruitless. The mortals of this were weak. D ss at best. It had been over a decade already and no prodigies had emerged from the schools or the tournaments. That meant the value of this world nowy only in its flora and fauna which shared the same characteristic as the humans but were perhaps more fruitful in that regards. Under the influence of the Bloodmoon the monsters and spirit beasts had grown exponentially, some already to the point of developing their own highly sought-after cores. These monsters were now her only means of saving face. ¡°Min Wei!¡± she called. The fair-skinned woman with ruby hair and crimson eyes, indicative of her high ranking within the inner core of the Fire Bird Sect, snapped upright. ¡°Yes, your highness?¡± ¡°As Minister of Culture, Imission you to venture to the Core Worlds as my envoy. Once there, deliver this message to the lower courts.¡± Min Wei immediately produced her Qi tablet and began scribing. ¡°The Terra, sovereign domain of Third Princess Lunh of the Yee Yu Lun n, shall hold a special tournament to take ce in conjunction with the annual Tournament of Mortal Champions. One hundred high-tier Core Realm cultivators are invited to participate. All expenses, including travel, shall be paid for by her royal majesty, Third Princess Lunh. The winning prize shall be 100,000 spirit stones.¡± Wui Lang¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°Your majesty! If I may, the royal treasury can scarcely¡ª¡± ¡°I am well aware of the state of our treasury. Put the Omni Gate on hold for a year if you must. It will take far too long to help us at this rate. If we are to be sessful as a new arm of the empire, then I will need for this¡¯s bounty to be known throughout the core worlds. And what better way than to host a tourna¡ª¡± Something abruptly interrupted her thoughts. A sudden burst of energy. It was distant and faint, yet somehow very distinct. Like the opening of a sudden void in existence that should not exist. ¡°Did you sense that?¡± Her cab stared back at her as if she were mad. It was a foolish question. None in her cab were over two hundred years old and most had not surpassed even the middle tiers of the Core cultivation Realm as yet. But Lunh¡ªwho had long since awakened her nascent spirit and had now broken through to the higher tiers of the Sacred Soul Realm¡ªpossessed the Qi sensitivity to detect what she had. Closing her eyes, she cycled her Qi through her meridians and then further through the circting jade urns, heightening her senses to their peak. She felt it again, a strange, chaotic energy. Was it an awakened demon? Or a devil? Surely the Bloodmoon had not advanced to that stage as yet? She focused again, seeking a location. Far to the west it seemed. As the general location settled in her mind, she reopened her eyes and essed aary map on her Qi tablet. Jurin Province. Why was she not surprised? Those western continents and their inhabitants were even more barbaric and uncivilized than the rest of the. It was why she had set her capital within the eastern continents, whose lineage was clearly descended from the Yee progenitors who seeded the universe eons ago. Or so the holy scriptures said. She nced again at the reports of the missing off-worlders. Was there a connection perhaps? ¡°Under whose domain is Jurin Province? The eastern district specifically.¡± ¡°That would be the Silver Leaf Sect, your majesty,¡± Min Wei answered ncing down at her tablet. ¡°Lady Silver Tear. She is Seventh Warden of the Eastern District.¡± Lunh grimaced. She had relegated that troublesome Sect to those barbaric provinces for a reason. She hoped that decision was now not returning to bite her. ¡°Send Lady Silver Tear word to increase security within the city, especially the Bloodmoon zones. There is something amiss within her domain.¡± Chapter 6 I awoke slowly to the fading hue of twilight. It took me a moment to stir at first, but when I recalled myst unearthly vision of the giant woman and the frightful beast that she had be, my eyes popped wide open. I found myself still in the wild and it was nearly night. My heart jumped with rm as I sat upright. I immediately winced from the action, a stabbing pain shooting through my side and arm. ncing down, I found my torso wrapped tightly in green bandages that seemed to be producing a heat of their own. At the same time my left arm was cradled in a makeshift sling made of the same material. As my thoughts coalesced, I nced about in another panic. Mu Lin! To my instant relief I found her lying asleep on the grass next to me, her leg and head dressed in the same green bandages. ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± I turned to the voice that called from behind me and saw the tall silhouette of the Berserker woman leaning against the stone wall of the city¡¯s protective barrier. She had transformed back to her normal self again, it seemed. No more horns or red skin. We were now several miles from where we were and I nearly asked how we got here, but that was a stupid question. A couple of lightweights like Mu Lin and I would have been no problem for someone like her to carry. I instead did something else that I would have considered quite stupid just a few hours ago. Over my twelve years of forced integration into the Yee Dynasty, I had learned the customs and practices of the cultivator empire. The concept of face, of showing respect, and I despised every bit of it. But for once in my life, I truly understood what it meant to show respect towards someone you truly considered worthy of it. I huffed out a groan as I repositioned myself on my knees and performed a painful one-armed kowtow before the giant woman, touching my forehead to the grass.¡°Honored warrior,¡± I said with the highest order of tonal respect I could utter. ¡°I beseech you to be my master. Take me with you now. I am ready to face whatever is out there. I want to gain your strength. To be what you are. Please teach me. Train me to be a Berserker.¡± A low chuckle was all I heard in response. ¡°Arise,¡± she finally said. ¡°There is no need to honor me so.¡± She then stepped forward and crouched before me, bringing herself closer to my eye level. ¡°I will not be your master and I no longer need for you toe with me.¡± I looked up at her, confused and more than a little concerned. Had I already missed my chance to ept her offer? The thought caused my blood to pound in my ears with the fear of loss and regret. ¡°Please, I just need¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯ve already achieved a breakthrough on your own,¡± she said, cutting me off. ¡°And besides. You most certainly would have died if you came with me.¡± Now, I was really confused. ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­¡± ¡°Perhaps this will help¡­¡± she said. Then, reaching down, she offered something to me in herrge hand. ¡°You seemed to have dropped it.¡± There in her palm was the metal orb again, but it appeared to be glowing now and on its surface were thousands of tiny characters, etched in the finest print. ¡°It changed,¡± I said, cautiously taking it from her. I resisted the urge to try and read what was written there. It had to be several books¡¯ worth of text. ¡°No. It hasn¡¯t changed. You have. I but stirred the embers of your Frenzied me in what I spoke to you, but you managed to kindle it all on your own by mastering the first step of the [Death Mastery] Technique. You have gained mastery over the fear of uncertain death. Congrattions.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°When you fought those sect members, your fury overcame your fear and death no longer mattered to you. And I must say, you put up a good fight, considering.¡± ¡°You were watching me?¡± She nodded. ¡°You took the first step of [Death Mastery] all on your own. Also, I cannot train you to be a Berserker. No one can. To be a Berserker one must master this first step. Thus, you are one already now.¡± My head suddenly felt light with euphoria and disbelief. Was I really already a Berserker somehow? I didn¡¯t think of it consciously at the time, but I supposed she was right. I nced at Mu Lin. I was really only trying to save her, but I knew deep down I couldn¡¯t, but still I wasn¡¯t going to let that stop me. Not anything. Not even death, apparently. ¡°When I invited you to join me, in truth, that was all I was intending to do. To help you reach this first step of enlightenment.¡± ¡°How was that supposed to work? Didn¡¯t you just say that I would have died if I went with you?¡± ¡°Indeed you would have. And thus I wouldn¡¯t have taken you if you had agreed to go.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°If your conviction would have driven you to say yes then you would have broken through and kindled your Frenzied me, the same as you have now. But I see your destiny has perhaps an even greater pathid ahead of you. Your ascension came through struggle and pain and on your own terms. You are well on the way to following your own Dao already.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°And pardon mynguage, but¡­you really said all that cryptic crap just to try and help me?¡± She smiled. ¡°I did. But clearly, I failed. As well I should have, perhaps. The Path of the Frenzied me is a solitary one, after all. One can only advance ording to their own effort and struggle.¡± I shook my head with a littleugh. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got to be honest with you. Trying to encourage me like that did kind of the opposite. I thought you were crazy. Maybe if you had hacked a tree down in one blow or turned into that demon goddess or whatever, I would have believed you.¡± She chuckled, her deepugh lines creasing her face in a matronly way. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have worked then. I was intentionally vague for that reason. If you knew my true strength, you¡¯d have no reason to fear death. And that was my spectral form you saw by the way.¡± She then paused, her eyes squinting and shifting to the side in thought. ¡°Or perhaps it was a step too far. Perhaps in your mind it was not uncertain death, but certain?¡± Stolen novel; please report. I thought about it as well. ¡°I think you¡¯re right. I¡¯ve never seen any cultivator survive a night out here. But seeing your spectral form¡­I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m starting to think you could be the first.¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± she said with augh. ¡°I hope you are right. I hope also you see now why I would make a most terrible teacher for you.¡± Iughed along with her. This close, I could see now that what I first thought were ritual scar or tattoos, were in fact real scars of battle, the three fresh shes across her cheek no exception. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying all this to say that you won¡¯t be my master¡­got it.¡± ¡°Not just won¡¯t. Can¡¯t. A Berserker has no master, we have no sect. Even the manual I have given you, is but a guide. Rage, pain and struggle are our only true teachers.¡± ¡°I see...¡± I said, nodding. To be honest, I kind of liked the idea. ¡°Better than joining a Sect, in my opinion. I would have despised the idea of having to do that to learn how to cultivate.¡± ¡°And they will despise you equally. Qi cultivators look down upon Dao cultivators such as we. Berserkers especially.¡± I nodded again, liking how she kept using the word ¡®we¡¯ but¡­was I really a cultivator already? I mean, I hadn¡¯t even learned anything yet. ¡°How do I know if I can really cultivate? I never could before.¡± ¡°Well, you can sense it, can¡¯t you? The power of rage, pain, and fear?¡± I thought back to when I was watching her fight the sect members, the intense rage I felt exuding from her. ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡± ¡°What you felt, that is our form of Qi. The essence that we use to refine into our own frenzied energy. In time and with diligence you will learn to cultivate your own Frenzy and use it to strengthen yourself.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°But keep your me well hidden, kindled one. As I said, Berserkers are hated and feared amongst all Sects. Reveal your strength only when necessary or when you can be assured there will be no witnesses thereafter.¡± The way she said it made me think of how quickly and definitively she had dispatched those three sect members. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°But they fear us with good reason. It is a narrow path we tread¡­¡± She then stood from her crouched position, rising to her full height again. ¡°Many who travel the path grow addicted to the power of the Frenzy and are eventually consumed by their own me, bing Demons. It is why there are so few of us. Your Frenzy must always be tempered with Struggle. This is the core of our Dao. As an elder practitioner, the best advice I can give you is this: trust and follow the path of Frenzied me, but ensure the Struggler wrestles always with the Demon. Without struggle there can be no true growth, only descension into madness.¡± I swallowed a little when she said that, wondering if I had just joined a pathway straight to hell. ¡°But fear not,¡± she said, perhaps noticing the look on my face. ¡°I would not have shared this path with you had I thought you apt to fail. It is why I asked first, what it is you would do with this power. And I believe that you shall find struggle in great abundance in the path you have chosen. To exact retribution against the Dynasty and free your world from its control, will bring you many hardships indeed.¡± I chuckled a bit nervously. It was easy to spout lofty goals when you were fired up, but in truth I didn¡¯t know where to even start or if it was even realistic at all. I wouldmit myself to thinking more on itter, I decided. Gaining power was one thing, but I would still need a n. Even if it was as simple as being able to protect Mu Lin and Yu Li as a start. Perhaps yanking the pagodas right out of the sky was a bit ambitious for now¡­but hell, I watched an old man swallow a nuke with his bare hands. Anything was possible with cultivation¡­given enough time. ¡°And what is your struggle?¡± I asked and then added quickly. ¡°If I may ask¡­that is.¡± She looked up slowly at the darkening sky. ¡°I seek to y a god.¡± I nodded slowly with a low whistle. ¡°Yeah, that sounds a hell of a lot more badass than mine.¡± She suddenlyughed out loud and the sheer volume of it frightened me. ¡°I do enjoy your humor andpany, kindled one. It is not often I can speak so freely. Oh¡­ and speaking of your struggle, I have something else that may aid you.¡± She reached again into her pack and handed me something wrapped in a rune-covered cloth. When I opened it, a crude blue gemstone illuminated my palm with miniature crackles of lightning bouncing within its crystalline surface. My chest tightened. ¡°Is this what I think it is?¡± ¡°A lightning core,¡± she said. ¡°I found it within one of the Fire Bird members¡¯ possessions. I assume it came from the monk who was with them.¡± An image of the dying old man shed through my mind and I said a short, mental prayer for his passage. ¡°Poor old guy. But really¡­ I can¡¯t take this thing. The enforcers will detect it a mile away. That¡¯s like, instant execution, I¡¯m pretty sure.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Perhaps you are not ready for that level of struggle as yet, but fear not, the cloth that it is wrapped in will mask it from the Qi cultivators.¡± Okay, that was good to know. ¡°Fine, but still, what am I supposed to do with it? I can¡¯t use it right?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I have no idea, but yes, you have no use for it in a traditional sense. As neither do I. As Dao cultivators our energyes from the adherence to our path, not Qi. But it is valuable to many, especially to those who seek the power of concentrated Qi for breakthroughs to higher realms of cultivation.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure those Fire Bird dickheads had the same idea.¡± Sheughed loudly again. ¡°You use such strange and colorfulnguage, kindled one. Still, you¡¯ll need to decide what is best to do with it. Overthrowing a 14,000-year-old dynasty sounds like a big task, though. I just thought some extra resources might be helpful.¡± It was my turn tough now. ¡°Well, thank you. I guess.¡± I wrapped the core tightly in the cloth and stuffed it into my sling. It still felt like I was holding a bag of cocaine in a customs line, but I guess I¡¯d have to deal with itter. ¡°Thank you also for bandaging me,¡± I said as I stood shakily to my feet. ¡°You did a good job.¡± ¡°You can thank your friend there.¡± She nodded towards Mu Lin. ¡°She came well prepared. These bandages are expensive. Hopefully you will both mend quickly.¡± She then looked back to the sky, where the stars were now almost formed. ¡°You should both return to the gate now. It is not far from here.¡± I nodded. ¡°Are you still going to stay out here and wait for the Bloodmoon to rise?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°The [Death Mastery] technique I mentioned earlier is one of our core ts. You cannot break through into higher realms of cultivation without advancing it. Your next advancement will be to gain mastery over the fear of certain death. At higher tiers you will fear no death at all. Thest step is known as the Wish for Death.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Death wish. Makes sense.¡± She smiled. ¡°It¡¯s why I came here. Like you, I must achieve a breakthrough on my own. I must go well beyond facing certain death if I am to advance.¡± ¡°What stage are you at now, if I may ask?¡± ¡°I¡¯m within the 9th tier of the Lesser Deity Realm.¡± My eyes bulged and I nearly choked on my own spit. ¡°What? Are you serious! You¡¯re a god?¡± She chuckled. ¡°Demi god,¡± she corrected. ¡°But by morning, who knows? I¡¯ll either be ascended into the next realm of the heavens or dead.¡± My mind was still whirling. That glimpse of her in spectral form was perhaps just the tiniest fraction of her true strength. Suddenly I had the urge to still go with her, if only just to see what she was in her true unbridled state. ¡°Perhaps my destiny leading me here to find you is a good sign. It¡¯s no small coincidence that I meet an unkindled me on a newly cultivated world, right before my final attempt at ascension. It¡¯s confirmation, I believe, that I will be leaving this world shortly ¡­ one way or the other.¡± I still didn¡¯t really know this woman at all, but the way she said that caused a sadness to fill my heart. I suddenly had a million questions to ask her. How long did it take her to reach this stage? What was this spectral form and the inner world those cultivators spoke of? Where was her homeworld even? But there wasn¡¯t time for any of it. Still there was perhaps something more important that I could ask her. ¡°Please. What do I call you? I don¡¯t even know your name.¡± She smiled. ¡°My name is Threja. But you may call me simply sister, or big sister if you like. We are brethren now. Fellow cultivators of the Frenzied me. And you, little brother? What shall I call you?¡± ¡°My name is Chu¡­ my name is Max,¡± I said. ¡°Max.¡± She nodded as ifmitting it to memory. She then cupped her hand over her fist and performed a mid-tier bow, signifying us as equals. ¡°I wish you well on your path, Brother Max. I will look forward to if destiny shall ever see fit to make our paths cross again.¡± ¡°As do I, big sister.¡± I performed the same bow but couldn¡¯t help but do so ever so slightly lower than her own. ¡°I pray for your ascension.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. She found her sword and hefted it onto her shoulder, but as she turned to walk away, she paused briefly again. ¡°Oh, and congrattions once more.¡± ¡°On what?¡± I asked. ¡°On your own ascension.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve broken through to the first Tier of the next realm. You are now a Foundation-Realm cultivator.¡± Chapter 7 A giddy excitement filled me as I hobbled towards the city gates. Even the extra weight of Mu Lin, slung over my shoulder in a fireman¡¯s carry, didn¡¯t seem to slow me down. Luckily most of the damage was limited to my torso, leaving my legs rtively functional. Luckily? The logic of that was probably backwards, but whatever, the pain was still there as a reminder of how close I¡¯de to actually dying. Each shuffled step was a lesson in agony but with my newfound knowledge it was also a chance to cultivate. Or so I hoped. I could still remember the basics of the nine tiers of cultivation mastery within the Body Reformation Realm and the grueling exercise regime that came with it. The first five tiers were rtively mundane and were devoted to bringing the body to its peak performance through physical effort alone. 1st Tier, Breathing Exercises. 2nd Tier, Muscles Refinement. 3rd Tier, Bone Strengthening. 4th Tier, Skin Hardening. 5th Tier, Organs Refinement.I suppose I was a natural athlete of sorts because those tiers came somewhat easy to me in school. The endless running and the repetition of basic martial forms, the lifting and carrying of weights. Even my routine beatings, I suppose, had added to my Bone Strengthening and Skin Hardening mastery. The next few tiers were a bit more challenging for me, though. The 6th Tier was the Focusing of Mind which involved meditation and studying mantras. Although I had struggled with the memorization at times, I got the practice down at least. The next tiers however I knew in theory only, but I could see them clearlyid out in my mind. 7th Tier, Meridian Opening. 8th Tier, Meridian Channeling. 9th Tier, Qi Perception. I was stuck on the 7th Tier, knowing where the meridians were on the body, but no matter how much I meditated I could not sense them, much less open them. Until now. If what Threja had told me was true, then I had not just skipped the 7th and 8th Tiers of mastery and mastered the 9th Tier of Qi Perception¡ªor our version of Qi perception anyway¡ªbut I had also broken through to the First Tier of Foundation Mastery, which was Qi Gathering. So, for thest half mile or so, I had been testing the theory out, trying to detect the pain coursing through my body. I didn¡¯t think I could detect anything at first, the pain running through my side so sharp that it caused me to hiss with each step. Finally, I tried to ignore the pain, focusing my mind on something else, the same way I had endured the beating in the square by focusing on my childhood loss. I knew I could slip into a state where I could feel almost nothing at times. I tried that, but the effort of trying to walk while at the same time bncing Mu Lin kept breaking my focus. It was too much, I thought. I could passively transport myself to somece else when someone else was causing the pain, but not when I seemed to be causing it myself. I needed something simpler perhaps, something more focused. I thought back to something Threja had said and paraphrased it within my mind, turning it into a mantra of sorts. A Berserker has no master, we have no sect. Rage, pain, and struggle are our only teachers. I repeated it over and over again with each step, but then I personalized it some more. I am a Berserker. I have no master, I have no sect. Rage, pain, and struggle are my only teachers. I continued until I began speaking it aloud and hearing my own voice seemed to reinforce my belief. ¡°I am a Berserker. I have no master, I have no sect. Rage, pain and struggle are my only teachers.¡± Suddenly I began to feel something. The pain was still there but I could detect something else as well. A prickly sensation that was almost like pins and needles began forming on top of the pain. I focused on that as my chanting continued and the more I did the more pronounced it became. Holy crap, am I really doing this? I tried not to let my excitement break my focus as I sought to attempt the next tier of mastery. If I could sense this energy, could I now try to gather it? I knew the theory as to how, by redirecting it through the meridian points of the body and gathering it at the central point known as the Dantian. I knew where it was: three finger widths below and two behind the navel, but it was a bit like trying to drive a car by reading only a book and also having no idea of the basic concepts, like what a steering wheel looked like, or what a hand brake was. I knew the meridian points and could sense them now, but I didn¡¯t know how to match what I was sensing to the mental images of them in my mind. The energy flowed wildly as a result, sometimes concentrating in a single leg or arm, or bouncing in between. But I was really doing it. I was cultivating my own Qi! Well, sort of. Threja had called it something else. Frenzy¡­ Normal cultivation absorbed the life force energy of all things and then through refinement turned it into your own personal form of energy: Qi. But the Qi was vored by the particr process used¡ªno different than how the lightning core had taken on the characteristics of the martial arts form that monk had practiced for perhaps most of his life. If this tingling sensation was Pain Qi, then how exactly did I go about processing it into Frenzy? I knew where the answersy. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The metal orb was now almost burning a hole in my backpack for how desperately I wanted to put everything else aside and just dive into it. I was almost tempted to read a few verses now, but with the Bloodmoon on the rise I needed to get both Mu Lin and I to safety. Still, the fine script I¡¯d seen on its surface reminded me of theplicated cultivation manuals that they used to force us to memorize in school. I had hated it at the time. It was pointless to me after all, plus I had an axe to grind against the whole damn system. But now it was a godsend. I at least knew the basics to start to attempt to understand this new form of cultivation and my thirst for knowledge had me on the brink of turning into a bookworm. But even more than that there was the tion of feeling true power. To finally feel for myself what was simply ¡®magic¡¯ to me before. The things I just couldn¡¯t do, were now possible. I can now do this, I thought. ¡°I can actually do this!¡± ¡°Ugh, Chun¡­¡± Mu Lin suddenly groaned. ¡°What are you shouting about?¡± ¡°Mu Lin?¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on? Put me down...¡± The tingling of the pain energy quickly dissipated as I lost focus and the full-on regr hiss-through-your-teeth pain returned. I stifled it as I stooped to rest Mu Lin as gently as I could against the side of the barrier wall. The sun was nearly gone now, and the shadows stretched long across the ground. It hadn¡¯t really registered before, but it had been at least 4 hours or more since we fought with those sect members. Mu Lin was still opening and closing her eyes groggily and holding a hand to her head. ¡°What happened?¡± It took me a moment to answer, not knowing quite what to say. As shey there in the grass against the fading light though, I realized that I had never really seen her without her sses before. I also wondered why she even wore them at all, but I supposed even Body Refinement mastery could only take you to your peak natural ability. It would perhaps take her reaching the 3rd Tier of Foundation mastery or Qi Body Refinement to enhance her eyes to the point of not needing sses anymore. But without them, I realized for the first time how pretty she was. Deep sparkling brown eyes, a slender nose and highset cheekbones despite the couple of extra pounds. I immediately felt like a bit of an asshole though for looking at her in that way, especially in the state she was in. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± I said and then more importantly added, ¡°Do you remember anything?¡± It took her a few more seconds toe around, but then her eyes shot open. ¡°Those men! The Fire Bird members, they killed the old monk and ripped out his core! Where did they¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, they¡¯re gone now.¡± ¡°How? What happened to them?¡± Her eyes then darted back and forth, growing even wider as she studied me. ¡°Heavens, Chun! What did they do to you? You look awful!¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± I said with a cheesy grin. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m okay, and they¡¯re all¡­¡± I paused a moment, pondering just how much I should share with her. Telling her about Threja being a Berserker and killing them was probably a bad idea. ¡°¡­they¡¯re all dead,¡± I said. ¡°I managed to get them to chase me and I ran them into a rapling nest.¡± ¡°You what?¡± she said, her dark brows pulling together with a furrow of skepticism. ¡°You actually managed to do that?¡± It felt bad as hell lying to her, so I just gave her a sort of nod. I probably should have picked a more usible monster too. Raplings were dog-sized lizards that hunted in packs; faster and more vicious versions of a Komodo Dragon that could also spit fire. Against a normal human, even one was deadly, but they were only D-rank monsters, which meant against three cultivators at the level of the Fire Bird members were, even a pack of them would give only a ¡®lively¡¯ challenge at best. Still, I had to stick to my story now. ¡°Yup.¡± I could tell her schrly mind was already ticking away behind those dark eyes of hers, tearing my story apart. Mu Lin probably knew all this ranking stuff andparative power levels way better than I did. The imperial government had published rankings on all the known creatures in the wilds. If there was one thing I could say for the cultivators, it was they liked to categorize damn near everything. It was like an endless dick measuringpetition that crossed all segments of their society, from cooking to the magic kung fu I could now wield. Or at least I soon hoped to wield anyway. I wondered if it was kind of racist or something to say magic kung fu these days. People didn¡¯t even use the word kung fu anymo¡ª ¡°Chun! Did you hear me?¡± ¡°What?¡± I said, realizing it was lost in my own thoughts. ¡°I said are you sure they¡¯re all dead? For what they did to that old man, they¡¯d want no witnesses. Trust me.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure.¡± ¡°Gods, I hope so¡­¡± She breathed out a sigh and seemed to calm down some. ¡°I¡¯m not sure they even were true Fire Bird Sect members. They were more like thugs.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Hey who knows what kind of ilk they fill their outer disciple ranks with these days?¡± ¡°Come on,¡± she said. ¡°We need to go and report this.¡± She then nced up at the twilight sky. ¡°Nine hells! It¡¯s thiste? Why are we even out here talking, Chun? We need to get to the gate! Quick!¡± ¡°Come on then, let¡¯s go,¡± I said, weing the shift in focus. I lifted her up and was about to hoist her over my shoulder again when she stopped me. ¡°No, let me ride on your back. Your shoulder digs into my stomach too much carrying me like that.¡± I did as she asked and after a few painful winces from her as she locked her wounded thigh about my waist, she then wrapped her arms around my neck while I supported her weight the best I could with my good arm. I then started my shuffle again, enduring the full pain without trying to cultivate this time. Luckily there wasn¡¯t much farther to go anyway and the lights from the gate were already in view. Still, I pressed on with rtive speed as the wind picked up and the echoing howls of unnatural creatures drifted upon it. The eerie sound had my imagination stirring. Normally, hearing them at night would have reminded me of my family again, but for some reason it didn¡¯t give me that same sense of fear anymore. Perhaps it was my [Death Mastery] kicking in or something, but I thought instead of Threja and wished her well against her soon-to-be demonic foes. ¡°Thank you, Chun,¡± Mu Lin suddenly whispered softly and her grip around me tightened with what I supposed was a kind of hug, her face nestling into my back. ¡°You saved my life.¡± I heard her sniffle a little and then realized she must be crying. With the initial shock wearing off, I guess the full impact of the trauma she¡¯d been through was just now starting to take hold. ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t know if I can take credit for that,¡± I said while cracking the cheesiest smile I could, hoping that she could hear it in my voice. ¡°Running blindly for your life from three maniacs and then having the misfortune of diving right into a rapling nest just happened to work out for me this time.¡± Sheughed and I counted the lie well worth telling to change her mood. I then added to soothe my own conscience a bit and perhaps give credit where credit was due, ¡°I guess you could chalk it up to some divine intervention being involved.¡± Sheughed again and then as if our minds were connected, Mu Lin said: ¡°Hey, what happened to your client? The big giant woman.¡± ¡°Dunno,¡± I said. ¡°She ran off after a bit. Guess she was hell bent on going at it alone.¡± ¡°Seriously? What an idiot. I guess that¡¯ll be thest we¡¯ll ever see of her.¡± I chuckled half-heartedly, the thought bittersweet. I then stared out into the darkness. ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡± As we finally approach the light of the gate, I saw something that made my chest tighten. I had been preparing myself for dealing with Sumatra¡ªthe big idiot was no doubt going to throw a fit when he saw us returning without the clients, but never did I expect to see him like this. Standing just outside the gate, he was surrounded by no less than ten enforcers and one high-ranking member of the Imperial Guard, who also appeared to be a member of the Silver Leaf Sect. ¡°Oh crap,¡± I whispered as my heart rate sped¡­ The lightning core tucked away in my sling seemed to start burning a hole against my arm. My stupid bag of cocaine in a customs line analogy had just be very, very real. Chapter 8 Shit, shit, shit, I cursed. I thought about trying to toss the core, but we were already too close. I wished I had thought to climb over the wall earlier or tossing it over the wall at least. Not that I could have scaled the barely twelve-foot wall in my condition, much less with Mu Lin. And forget tossing it. I honestly had just forgotten I even had the damn thing! And who would have expected an actual Imperial Guard to show up like this? We¡¯d lost a group of nearly ten cultivators before and it took the enforcers over a month to show up just to sign the paperwork. I was beginning to wonder if my struggles against the Dynasty was about to start in earnest. ¡°Mu Lin? Chun?¡± Sumatra rushed forward ahead of the Enforcers, both his face and countenance dark with rage. ¡°How in nine hells did you two make it back? What happened? Where are the clients?¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if he was putting on a show for the Imperial Guard or not. The guard in question was dark skinned and looked to be in his early thirties. He didn¡¯t look like one to mess about with either. Looking back to Sumatra, I realized that I could actually sense the rageing from him. Or was it truly rage? It looked like rage but as I sampled the energy itself it, tasted? different. It was actually more like¡­fear. ¡°Yes, indeed¡­¡± The Imperial Guard stepped forward, casually asserting his authority over Sumatra. ¡°Tell me what transpired. Where are the cultivators who hired this excursion?¡± ¡°The three Fire Bird members,¡± Mu Lin began, ¡°they a¡ª¡± ¡°All died,¡± I spoke over her, giving her thighs a quick squeeze, signaling for her to keep quiet. ¡°The off-worlders too. Mu Lin¡¯s group came across a rapling den with a broodmother. Me and the other client happened to be close enough to try to assist. There had to be over a hundred of them. None of the cultivators survived.¡±I tried to control my speeding pulse and prayed Mu Lin knew how to keep a poker face. Not that they even yed poker anymore. I checked on Sumatra and as I suspected his ¡®rage¡¯ turned quickly to a look of confusion and then suspicion. ¡°How the hell did you both survive then?¡± he said. I nced at the guard. There was only one thing I knew that would convince him of my fantastical story. ¡°We survived¡­because we are weak¡­¡± Both their eyes shot open then. ¡°¡­and because we are cowards.¡± ¡°Exin,¡± the guard demanded. ¡°The cultivators stayed to fight,¡± I said. ¡°The monk with them even protected us, but when he got us to safety, we both fled fearing for our lives.¡± The guard seemed to consider this for a moment and then nodded. ¡°So, you abandoned your posts and your clients?¡± He then huffed out a snort through his nose. ¡°Typical. You natives truly are spineless and weak.¡± I released a sigh within. He¡¯d bought it. ¡°Also ipetent,¡± he added and then turned to Sumatra. ¡°How is it that your handlers led a group into such dangers? Have you not trained them in the study of rankings?¡± It was Sumatra¡¯s turn toe up with a lie on the spot now. ¡°It was the monk,¡± he said without missing a beat. ¡°The off-worlder. He came looking for enough spirit stones to break through to the Sacred Soul realm. Mu Lin, she did her job. I¡¯m sure of it. She gave them what they wanted. Ain¡¯t that right, Mu Lin?¡± I nudged her subtly again and she spoke in a quivering voice. ¡°Y-yes. They wanted a challenge.¡± I noticed the Guard¡¯s countenance shift and I quickly covered for her with another lie. ¡°It was the broodmother. That¡¯s what changed everything. Right, Mu Lin? What was it, a C-ss right?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said, sounding a bit more confident. ¡°It was a C-ss together with the hundred or so D-ssesbined. That would have been the equivalent of an A-ss encounter. It was clearly unexpected. That¡¯s what shifted the battle.¡± Sumatra¡¯s poker face was on now as he gave a nod. ¡°Cursed luck is all.¡± ¡°Where did this take ce?¡± ¡°Beneath the underpasses,¡± I answered first, giving a general area that was within the range of our travels. He raised a brow. ¡°Sorry, the ruins that are about ten miles or so to the southeast.¡± I had used the old Earth term purposefully to throw him off, following up with something even more vague. ¡°And you can show me this area?¡± he asked. ¡°Not right now, of course,¡± I said, hinting up at the Bloodmoon. ¡°But perhaps in a few weeks when I heal, sure.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I was d that I had picked raplings now. They were a transitory breed. If I did have to follow through with that ¡®tour¡¯ of the crime scene, I could simply im the broodmother must have moved on. The guard didn¡¯t look satisfied, but he didn¡¯t seem too suspicious either. ¡°Search them and let them go. I suppose the wounds they have received is punishment enough for their failure.¡± He then turned to Sumatra. ¡°For you, however. I shall be submitting a review of your records to the Warden. There have been far too many mishaps ofte.¡± Sumatra gave a bow of humility before the guard. ¡°Yes, of course.¡± My heart pounded in my throat as the group of enforcers approached us. I lowered Mu Lin from my back and a trio of them quickly began poking and prodding us while a couple more began rummaging through our backpacks. I wished that I knew some kind of Berserker technique to swallow up the fear rising in my stomach, because I was afraid it would soon show on my face. ¡°Hey, take it easy,¡± I said with an exaggerated wince. ¡°These are fresh wounds.¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± The prodding continued, getting dangerously close to my sling. I tried to keep the core pinned between my elbow and my body as inconspicuously as possible. The enforcer searching me was just about to start poking inside it, when another one of them called out, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± The enforcer in question was holding the glowing metal orb in his hand. Shit, I thought. I didn¡¯t know which was worse: finding the orb or finding the core. I dropped my jaw to try and make something up when a voice called out. ¡°Hey, you found another one. Congrats.¡± Everyone turned to see who had spoken. It was Lee. The somewhat tall, red-haired kid with freckles and azy smile winked at me, encouraging me to y along with whatever he was concocting. ¡°Yeah, I did,¡± I said. ¡°What luck huh?¡± ¡°And what is it?¡± the guard asked. ¡°It¡¯s one of those Be balls, right?¡± Lee said and I nodded to him in confirmation, ying along, even though I had no idea what a Be ball was. Lee turned to the guard and gave a small bow. ¡°Apologies. It¡¯s an ancient game from our world. You need a bunch of them to y. Chun here has been collecting them.¡± Thank goodness I didn¡¯t say anything stupid. I forgot that to everyone else this thing still just looked like a shiny metal ball. And thank goodness for Lee. I owed him a solid for sure with that save. The guard rolled the orb in his palm a few seconds before shaking his head with a scowl. ¡°It is no wonder your kind is so weak. Wasting time ying games.¡± He tossed the orb back into my backpack. ¡°Get them out of my sight.¡± * * * We got about a mile away from the gatepost before the tornado of questions began. ¡°What the hell was that, Chun?¡± Mu Lin demanded, who now rode on Lee¡¯s back instead of mine. ¡°You had me lying to an Imperial Guard!¡± ¡°Whoa, you guys lied?¡± Lee said, cracking a grin. ¡°That¡¯s kind of nuts. What did you lie about?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to know,¡± I said. Lee probably wouldn¡¯t care anyway. He never took anything too seriously. It was one of the reasons I liked the guy so much. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Mu Lin shouted. ¡°And why did you stop me from telling them what really happened? Those men were dangerous. The Fire Bird Sect needs to take responsibility for what their members did!¡± ¡°What did they do?¡± Lee asked. ¡°Nothing, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t do ¡®nothing¡¯! They tried to¡ª¡± ¡°Okay stop,¡± I said,ing to a physical stop as well. We were still out in the middle of the fields and after dark so hopefully there wasn¡¯t anyone in earshot, but I lowered my voice anyway. ¡°Alright Lee, for your sake this is what happened. Those three Fire Bird members killed the monk and then stole his core. Then they tried to kill Mu Lin to cover it up.¡± ¡°No shit?¡± Lee said, his eyes widening. ¡°Yeah, but then I led them into a rapling nest and they all died.¡± ¡°Oh, so that part was true?¡± ¡°Yeah, pretty much,¡± I lied. ¡°That¡¯s crazy.¡± ¡°But the main point is this. They seemed to know Sumatra pretty well. They were talking about him and stuff.¡± ¡°When?¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°I don¡¯t remember that.¡± ¡°You were knocked out by then. Anyway, I don¡¯t think Sumatra was expecting us toe back, Mu Lin,¡± I then added for emphasis. ¡°Any of us. You noticed the first thing he said when he saw us? ¡®How in the nine hells did we make it back?¡¯ Plus I don¡¯t think he was expecting the Imperial Guard or the enforcers to be there either. He was pissing his pants just as much as we were just now.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t like the idea of us lying to an Imperial Guard, Chun. We could get into big trouble for this! And I don¡¯t need anything that¡¯s going to mess up my chances of getting into the academy. Or that will get me thrown in prison!¡± I had to remember that not everyone hated and mistrusted the cultivators like I did. Most didn¡¯t, in fact¡ªall of them taken too young to remember life before the attack. Or what little they did remember was wiped clean by years of social reprograming. To Mu Lin, the Dynasty wasn¡¯t an oppressor, it was a savior that was protecting us from the Bloodmoon and giving us a path to immortality if we worked hard enough. Her goals and aspirations were far different than mine. Maybe even opposed. ¡°Hey,¡± I said. ¡°We were lying more to Sumatra than to the guard. We can¡¯t let him think that we know too much. Chances are he was in on that deal. Maybe all these botched tours have been his doing. That off-worlder has no n or sect to back him up here. If he goes missing, who¡¯s to know any better? Or even care?¡± ¡°We know,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°And we should care. If they are doing something illegal like this, then we need to expose it.¡± I sighed. ¡°Mu Lin, there¡¯s no other witnesses besides us and the bodies will be eaten before morning. No evidence. You think they¡¯ll believe the word of two Terranmoners against the likes of the entire Fire Bird Sect?¡± Plus, I have the damn core on me, so that wouldn¡¯t look too good,now would it? I almost added. But I wasn¡¯t going to put my friends in any more danger than they already were. The fewer people who knew about both the core and the orb the better. I guess my suffering in solitude is beginning already, I thought with chagrin. Mu Lin frowned but seemed to ept the logic after a bit. ¡°So what should we do then?¡± ¡°We do nothing,¡± I said. ¡°We take what really happened to our graves. So long as Sumatra doesn¡¯t find out that we know, we¡¯ll be safe. Plus, I think he¡¯ll have his hands full with the authorities now anyway. By the time we¡¯re fit to get back to work, hopefully this will all have blown over. Just be careful taking excursions involving any off-worlders, okay, Lee?¡± ¡°You bet.¡± ¡°And thanks,¡± I said. ¡°For covering for me. How the hell did you know about that game? Is it real?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s real,¡± he said. ¡°Pretty fun too. So what is it anyway? Really.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just thought it looked kind of cool.¡± Lee stared me a moment beforeughing out loud. ¡°Seriously? You really are an idiot, Chun.¡± I grinned andughed with him. Being a Chun was a far better exnation than the truth for sure. ¡°Come on,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s get home.¡± Chapter 9 We made it back to the Native Housing District within an hour and Lee offered to take Mu Lin home while I headed for my own hovel just across the square. I was stiffening up something awful now. I wanted nothing more than to dive into my cot and start reading the orb, but I needed something in my stomach if I was going to survive the night. The square was now filled with night vendors and the smell of wood smoke from their wok fires cause my stomach to growl. The light din of conversation mixed with the airy notes of a zither somewhere off in the backdrop, creating a weing atmosphere, especially when returning from the destion of the wild. I dropped a few pieces of copper for a bowl of rice, pickled vegetables, and a thin strip of braised pork. Finding a table, I powered through the meal with the voracity of a starving man, my chopsticks clinking against the bowl. As I ate I idly thought of how back in the day, we¡¯d call this Chinese food, but now it was just food¡­and pretty shitty food at that. ncing up at the glowing pagoda, I wondered what they dined upon every night. Perhaps the same stuff, I figured, but likely infused with Qi to make it taste ten times better. I was just about finished when a loud raucousughter drew my attention across the square to a group of cultivators ying dominoes. ¡°No frigging way,¡± I said, when I saw who it was. There was Hein and his two buddies, shitfaced and mming dominoes onto the table. But that¡¯s not what really irked me. Yu Li was there also but not seated with them. She was instead cing bowls of rice liquor onto the table, grinning andughing at their jokes. Su Ling was on her back, slung in a harness and screaming her head off. Hein and his friends seemed oblivious to it, and just kept onughing and drinking while she served them. Had those pricks been here all damn day? By the exasperated look on Yu Li¡¯s face, I would say that they had. For a split second, I almost considered just letting it be. I may have unlocked my Frenzied me but I still didn¡¯t know jack about magic kung fu yet. But who was I kidding? It just wasn¡¯t in my DNA to allow something like this to go on. And besides, I didn¡¯t give a shit about death anymore. I was on my feet and halfway across the square before I knew it. There were at least a hundred-odd people in the square and the closer I got, the more I saw the appalled looks on all their faces. They were as disgusted by Hein and his friends as I was. And Yu Li pandering to them like a damn ve while her baby was screaming brought up a wave of heated anger in the pit of my stomach.I couldn¡¯t even focus on it properly, but it felt different now. It wasn¡¯t just emotion. I was feeling Frenzy. ¡°Young Master Hein,¡± I greeted him, sans the bow. ¡°Still here I see.¡± ¡°Oh, look! It¡¯s Chun!¡± Hein pped his hands togetherughing. ¡°Wee, my boy!¡± Yu Li looked up with a nervous smile, but it vanished immediately when she saw my bandages and sling. ¡°Chun! What happened?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± I said. ¡°Just a rough day at the office.¡± ¡°The what?¡± I had to remember that not everyone remembered the old colloquialisms from Earth. Sometimes it didn¡¯t trante too well either. ¡°Nevermind. I¡¯m fine though.¡± Worry and concern shed through her eyes as she tried to bounce Su Ling on her back. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Getting kind ofte, isn¡¯t it?¡± I said directly to Hein. ¡°Think maybe it¡¯s time to start packing this up?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be foolish, the night is just starting.¡± He then reached sloppily into his robes and threw a few Wen of copper onto the table. ¡°Yu Li, fetch us more wine. We¡¯ll entertain this oafish friend of yours.¡± His two friends startedughing again. Yu Li began reaching for the coins, but I mmed my hand down on top of them, making the dominoes jump. ¡°How about you go get your own damn wine and then get the hell out of here?¡± I said. ¡°Or better yet, why not just get the hell out of here period? Like right now.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Chun!¡± Yu Li eximed, her face white with fear. A bit of chatter died down as a few people close by overheard what I¡¯d said. I could sense the anger boiling off of Hein as well as his two friends as they stared at me in silent outrage. I tried to match them with a stare of my own, feeling the Frenzy filling me with confidence and resolve. Hein¡¯s hand moved so fast that I felt it before I even saw it. The ringing backhand across my face sent me flying back through a couple of tables andnding hard on my side. ¡°Insolent dog!¡± he screamed. ¡°You dare to give memands! Teach him a lesson!¡± They were on me in a second. I winced as Hein and his buddies kicked at my bandaged sides and through the pain I vaguely mused what the chances were that I was receiving my second beating of the day from three cultivators. I focused on my meridians, trying to turn the pain to Frenzy as I endured the pounding. ¡°Master Hein!¡± Yu Li cried. ¡°Please stop!¡± She reached out to him, catching Hein by his sleeve. The cultivator wheeled on her, a look of disgust on his face as he raised his hand high to strike. ¡°Don¡¯t interfere, you bitch!¡± As his hand came down, something inside me snapped and an image of a raging fire appeared inside my head. I was up on my feet in a sh and threw a punch straight into Hein¡¯s jaw. It felt like I was punching a wall as his head snapped back. The punch must have hit harder than he expected though, because he touched his face slowly in disbelief. I felt a surge of rage erupt inside of him as he literally flew at me with a martial strike. He froze in midair as he delivered two rapid kicks to my chest that sent me sailing into a couple more tables behind me. Steel shed as he drew his sword and then from twenty feet away, he suddenly appeared before me, moving without moving, in a sudden burst of Qi. Even his friends let out gasps of panic as he drew the sword back, ready to plunge it into my chest. Strangely, I didn¡¯t care and leered at him all the same. The look must have unnerved him slightly, because I felt a pang of fear bubble up inside of him, disrupting his rage and resolve. The entire square was watching now. Deathly silence took hold. He nced at the crowd as he continued to breathe heavily while standing over me. Finally, his body loosened. ¡°You will count yourself lucky that This One¡¯s station is too high to snuff out a wounded and insignificantmoner such as you.¡± There it was. What he was really afraid of. The loss of face. He spat on me instead, but with a flick of steel I felt something sharp slice my cheek. A few secondster, the hot wetness of fresh blood poured from it. ¡°Take you that,¡± Hein said, staring down at me with a hateful re. ¡°Let that scar remind you each morning of your ce and how merciful I was to have spared your pathetic life today.¡± If he was expecting some kind of groveling, he wasn¡¯t going to get it. I grinned at him instead as I touched my cheek. One down, one thousand more to go, I thought. I¡¯ll catch you up yet, Big Sis. Hein finally sheathed his de and then stormed out of the square with his twockeys in tow, kicking tables over as they left. ¡°Childish pricks,¡± I spat. A murmur of cautious conversation resumed as everyone tried to pretend like nothing had happened. A woman came up to me and handed me a cloth to press against my cheek, giving me a smile as she did so. It was then that I sensed a different kind of energy flowing through the crowd. It was fear but slightly different, fear mixed with anger and resentment both. I felt the same spilling off of Yu Li as she stooped down to me. ¡°What the hell was that, Chun? Are you crazy?¡± I gave her my cheesy smile again. ¡°You¡¯re always calling me that.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea what you¡¯ve just done? You¡¯re lucky he didn¡¯t kill you. Or all of us for that matter. What are we to do now if he returns still vexed? Or brings one of his family members with him? Did you think of that?¡± I huffed out a sigh. I thought at first that maybe I had instilled some kind of defiance in the crowd. But it was the opposite, it seemed. They were more scared than ever from fear of retribution and their anger was directed at me. I understood their fear, but I just didn¡¯t feel it the same way anymore. ¡°Let theme,¡± was all I said. I got myself off the ground and an old man tipped his straw hat to me. He wasn¡¯t Terran but he didn¡¯t look like a Yee citizen either. A lowlymoner just like us. ¡°Well at least someone did something,¡± he said. I smiled. That made it all worth it, in my mind. ¡°Go take care of Su Ling now,¡± I said to Yu Li. ¡°She sounds hungry.¡± * * * I left the square with Yu Li and half the Native Housing District drilling holes into my back from their stares. I could tell she was still pissed off something proper, but I didn¡¯t really care. I did what needed to be done and had taken the beating to pay for it. One day she¡¯ll thank you, I hoped. But she wasn¡¯t wrong to be afraid either. None of them were. Who knew what Hein or his family might do once word got out? But that just got me to focus more. Once I had reached my small 10-by-15 room in the retrofitted Days Inn hotel, I quickly stashed the lightning core under a floorboard and then whipped out the orb. Finally, I thought. There was nothing like lighting a fire under yourself for motivation. My body would have liked nothing more than to fall dead asleep from the exhaustion and pain. But a new thirst was running through me now. I stared at the tiny script until it began to make sense, characters superimposing themselves within my mind. If Hein was going to return, as I was sure he would. Then I was going to be prepared. Chapter 10 I stayed up half the night reading and then resumed as soon as I woke again the next morning. By noon I had consumed at least half the scriptures while scanning lightly over the rest. By that time my brain felt fried, but after having reached the 6th Tier of Body Refinement and Focusing of the Mind, I thought I hadmitted a fair potion of it to memory as well. The introduction spoke to me especially, reminiscent of my first conversation with Threja. # ¡°Thou art indeed a kindled me, a frenzied spirit, tempered by struggle and sorrow, fueled by rage and pain¡­¡± -Unknown # Shura 1 Think not that we speak for the me, for the me of Frenzy has no master nor does it seek to create masters of its own ord. We who speak, have through consult agreed to these doctrines, not by direction, but through independent revtions of the me. Know with confidence then, that these words are true and are fit for enlightenment along your path. # Shura 2They call us Berserker, we who follow the Frenzied me. Let us embrace the moniker, for it instills fears in our enemies. And fear is our strength. # I noted that the Yee word for Berserker was made of two separate characters. The word for demonbined with the word struggle. The demon that struggles, literally. The first few passages or Shuras were close to what Threja had exined to me already, warning of the dangers of bing addicted to Frenzy and going full Demon. But the pendulum swung the other way as well. Too much failure, defeat, and hardship without the fury of the Demon and you became what was known as a Waning Ember and if that continued you could extinguish your mepletely, bing unkindled yet again. I feared what hardships you¡¯d have to go through to reach that phase of demoralization. Once I¡¯d read enough of the philosophy, I had moved onto the parts I more eagerly wanted to know. Practical application. There were three distinct forms of energy that I could detect at my level as a 1st Tier Foundation-level cultivator. Pain, Fear, and Rage. I could also begin gathering them and convert them into Frenzy. At the next Tier up I¡¯d be able to channel it efficiently to all parts of my body and at the 3rd Tier I would be able to start using Frenzy to strengthen my body. That became the goal for me. I needed to reach 3rd Tier as quickly as possible if I wanted to stand up to the likes of Hein, or any true cultivator for that matter. And the more Frenzy I could gather the faster I could reach that breakthrough. But the key to gathering Frenzyy in the techniques. There were a multitude of techniques listed under each tier, broken up into stances and actions. After a brief summary, which described the technique and its purpose, the manual then used a series of diagrams to show exact body positioning and movements to perform the technique correctly. Scanning through the list of basic techniques under Foundation Establishment, I found a few that caught my eye. # [Frenzied me] ¨C the most basic of all techniques within the Berserker¡¯s domain. Use it to instantly channel your internal energies of Fear, Rage, and Pain into Frenzy. Evoking this technique can also stir the embers of an Unkindled or even reignite the fallen me of a Waning Ember. # [Fear the me] ¨C the simple baring of one¡¯s fangs is sometimes all that is required to defeat one¡¯s foe. Gather your Frenzy and with a mere look or phrase, exert your dominance and feed from the fears of your enemies or bolster the resolve of your allies. # [Mask of the Despised] ¨C take heed always, kindled one, for the hatred of the Frenzied me is great amongst those who follow the path of Qi. Use this technique to mask your strength while in their presence, for their own arrogance shall paint you as a mere fool, simpleton, or dull brute in their eyes. Use this to your advantage to move freely among them while posing no threat. # [Lust for Battle] ¨C not a true technique, but a trait shared by all kindled of the Frenzied me. The drawing of blood in battle, even one¡¯s own, can trigger a burst of Frenzy. And to y one¡¯s enemy will produce even more so. Yet take heed, kindled one, for the pull of the bloodlust is strong and the need to draw blood can easily extend to a friend as well as foe, if left unrestrained. Let not the Demon within you take full control. # [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] ¨C the path of the Struggler is forever filled with tribtion. This technique will convert your Frenzy into an iron will of determination that even others can feel and see. # [Indifference] ¨CThink not, dear kindled, that your power lies in aggression and hostility alone. To induce rage and fear in others can be many more times as effective, for nothing offends the proud and powerful more than indifference. Use this technique to withstand attacks and to demoralize your foes through your apathy when you disregard even their strongest techniques with a scoff. # This all sounded cool as shit. It was like reading an instruction manual on how to be an absolute badass. As I read through the details of each technique, I found the most subtle actions were involved. A well-timed turn of the head or even where and how you held your hands all mattered. Thinking back to Threja, everything she did was perhaps a different kind of stance or technique, even the way she walked. I understood also why she had used that poem on me now. She had used the [Frenzied me] technique to help ignite my me and thinking back I did kind of feel something ¡®open up¡¯ inside of me when she did that. Under the 17th Shura, I found something else of interest. # On Empathy Think not, dear kindled, that your strength lies only in your fury. While fury is what is beheld by others, your true strength lies in your empathy. Your ability to sense the pain, fear, and anger of others can be your greatest asset. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. # Below it were listed three techniques that all had simr functions and names. [Your Pain is my Strength], [Your Fear is my Strength] and [Your Rage is my Strength]. By focusing on certain meridian alinement sequences, I could actually absorb the Pain, Fear, and Rage energy of others and refine it into Frenzy of my own. There was one catch though. I couldn¡¯t just suck up random emotions, if that¡¯s what they really were. The trigger had to be me. I was beginning to understand the limitations of the Dao route now. Qi cultivators could just meditate and suck up energy willy-nilly. I, on the other hand had to work for it. There were other limitations too, a few listed in the 3rd Shura which outlined the philosophy of the Frenzied me. # Shura 3 Know this, kindled one. A Berserker can never back away from a challenge, or an injustice which ignites one¡¯s me. Even if victory is unlikely, press forth, for even in defeat, survival is never your aim. The destruction of your enemy is all that matters. If destruction is yet impossible you may retreat to gain more strength and return once again, but return you must, until victory or death. But to turn your back on a challenge or injustice, untested, is to stray from the path of the me. # That sounded a bit hardcore. And maybe the first verses about these revtionsing from the me itself were right too. I didn¡¯t need to read any of that to already feel that same way in my soul. The same way how I didn¡¯t even think to back down from challenging Hein in the square no matter the cost. But I don¡¯t think I would have reacted the same way if I hadn¡¯t already ignited my Frenzied me. But just below the text there was a technique that seemed tailor made to deal with not backing down from a fight. # [Odds Against Me] ¨C there is no greater thrill than a challenge. Without challenge, without struggle, there can be no progression. The cowardly prey on those who are weaker to ensure easy victory, but the Berserker seeks to oppose strength far above his own. When facing greater odds, either by strength, numbers, or both, this technique will generate enormous amounts of Frenzy by suppressing your inner fears and unleashing your me¡¯s full potential. The power of this technique is limitless, bound only by the strength of your foe and your ability to withstand him. # Holy crap¡­limitless? That sounded like some kind of cultivation hack. I made a note of it to study it fullyter. I then saw another technique that looked a bit familiar. # [My Turn] ¨C a retaliation technique used best whenbined with [Indifference]. Unleash a mighty burst of Frenzy with your next strike by releasing the stored Pain energy of any previous attacks endured. # The image of that savage headbutt Threja unleashed on that cultivator shed through my mind. I wondered if she had used [Indifference] before it, taking that w technique right to the face. Probably. She didn¡¯t even try to block it. I wondered also why she¡¯d spoken the phrase as I didn¡¯t see it as a requirement within the instructions of the technique itself. After a bit more searching, I found the answer under the 76th Shura. # On Evocation It is not necessary to proim thy stance or technique, but a well-timed phrase may enhance a technique¡¯s oue by manyfold, and further instill fear in others. Do so sparingly, however, for there is no impact greater than a word unexpected. # So that¡¯s why cultivators were always yelling out their attacks and shit, I thought. I always found it somewhat stupid to tell your enemy exactly what you were nning to do next, but I guess it made sense within this context. Who cared if the guy you were attacking knew you were going to pummel him with ¡°ming Qi Fist¡± or whatever if you stood a better chance of killing him with it? When I got towards the end of the manual, I found an entire section devoted to the [Death Mastery] technique. # [Death Mastery] ¨C the fear of death grows only stronger the closer ones gets to immortality. Power over this fear defies not only the Heavens, but mocks it to its face. Consider it no small wonder then, dear kindled, that your path shall be blighted with misfortune, for the Heavens are not lightly mocked. In exchange for this rebuke, you shall enjoy the bounty that is rity of mind, body, and soul in ces where others falter and fail. Your words and actions will instill fear and respect in others and your me will burn yet brighter with each evolution, heightening the potency of all your abilities. # It seemed [Death Mastery] was a core passive ability just like Threja had said. I confirmed the higher forms of [Death Mastery] existed in the manual also: [Mastery of the Fear of Certain Death], [Fear no Death] and [Death Wish]. The instruction of how to achieve each one was vague, but I probably wouldn¡¯t have to worry about obtaining them to break through to the next cultivation realm any time soon. My curiosity got me and I began skimming ahead through the manual for the [Furnace of the Frenzied me] Technique I saw Threja use to transform into her spectral form, but I didn¡¯t see it. Perhaps the manual didn¡¯t teach up to a level like that or maybe as the introduction said, there were some things that came as a revtion of the me all by themselves. As I flipped back to start reading through again, I contrastingly found a technique that I could perhaps take advantage of right away. # [Pain soothes the Frenzied me] ¨C Pain shall be in abundance upon your journey, but think it not a means of loss and suffering only. Gird thyself with this technique to mend thy wounds with the very pain that they cause. # Now that sounded useful, especially in my current state. I spent the next two hours focusing only on that, practicing the meridian opening techniques as I sat in lotus position on my cot. After a while, I was finally able to feel the Pain in my arm convert into Frenzy within my Dantian. Following the next instructions of the technique, I then used that Frenzy to focus on mending my arm. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was workingpletely or not, but just as I was starting to hone my focus a knock came at my door. Releasing a huff of irritation, I quickly stashed the orb then nced between my bamboo shades to see who it was. Yu Li was standing outside. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I greeted her casually as I opened the door. She smiled as she looked up at me, Su Ling on her hip. ¡°I¡¯m ah¡­ doing the wash. Was wondering if you needed anything done.¡± I chuckled inwardly. This was typical Yu Li. She was nothing if not proud¡ªher inability to ask Hein for money perhaps the most bone-headed example of that. But I knew her lovenguage. Her offering to do myundry was her way of saying sorry. It was probably the closest I¡¯d get to a real apology, so I epted it and gave her a pile of my soiled clothes. ¡°You need anything else?¡± she asked, peeking into my hovel of a room. ¡°No, I¡¯m good.¡± She nodded and turned to leave, but then paused at the doorway. ¡°Hey¡­ thanks by the way,¡± she said. ¡°For what you didst night. I know you were only trying to help. And I know Hein can be a little over the top too sometimes, but¡­.¡± She didn¡¯t finish her sentence. I couldn¡¯t believe it. Even after nearly striking her she was still in love with that clown. ¡°You know you can do a lot better than him. You deserve better. Su Ling too.¡± Yu Li huffed out a sad littleugh. ¡°What? Better than a young master? If only.¡± I felt a sudden pain growing inside of her and I realized then that it wasn¡¯t love she was feeling towards Hein, but desperation. When she finally left, I returned to my cot with more on my mind than just cultivation. The rules of this world had warped her thinking. Perhaps everyone¡¯s thinking. She and everyone else just didn¡¯t see a way out. That¡¯s why they feared so much and did the nonsensical things that they did. Frenzy built within me as I curled my hand into a fist. The only rule the cultivators truly respected was the rule of might. To give Yu Li even the hope of a better life, I had to show her that one was possible by growing more powerful than the ones who oppressed us, starting with our fatndlord and going right up to the damn princess if I had to. But I had to be smart about it too. The world was fixed within a giant pecking order now and I was on the bottom rung. Pick the wrong fight too soon and someone much higher on the food chain could easily swoop down to snuff me out. Not that I cared about dying anymore. But Yu Li and Su Ling, hell even Mu Lin and Lee¡ªthey all deserved a better life than what they knew was even possible. And I¡¯d have to show them that possibility. But to do so, I¡¯d needed to be strong, both quickly and quietly. I used the Frenzy building in my gut to speed the healing of my arm while I contemted my options. There was a lot to think about. But one thing was certain. It wouldn¡¯t be enough to merely overpower the... Chapter 11 Over the next four days, I focused on creating my master n while studying the orb, cultivating Frenzy and practicing every technique I could. I started with the stances, repeating the small movements over and over by shifting between them. I then added in some of the more advanced techniques, which involved just a bit more movement but mostly all internal opening and closings of meridians. It actually became more of a mental workout than physical to memorize each sequence correctly. I began by doing just ten repetitions of each technique at a time, but then slowly worked my way up to doing fifty before having to take a break. During the breaks I would ¡®rest¡¯ by cultivating more Frenzy to mend my arm. I kept the routine going, hour after hour, day after day. By the third day my arm had stopped hurting and by the fourth I amazingly had full use of it again and could even perform a push-up or two in between my technique practice. Although I had expected a somewhat faster healing process using the technique, I was honestly shocked by just how effective it was. Cultivation was way more powerful than I even thought. I had expected my arm to be in a sling for weeks, but now it had nearly fully healed in only days. The gash in my side was stilling though. Although I felt it getting better with my constant use of the [Pain soothes the Frenzied me] technique it would perhaps take a bit longer to heal than my arm. Or maybe I just needed a lot more Frenzy. I found that while I could generate some Frenzy on my own using the [Frenzied me] technique and focusing on what happened to me in my past, the results were minuscule. It seemed that, just like with the limitations of the absorption techniques, I needed active, real-time interaction to make it work. So much for brooding my way to immortality, I thought. On the plus side, the cut on my cheek was scabbing over nicely and would add a fine bonus to my [Fear the me] technique once it formed a scar, or so the finer details of the technique exined anyway. When using the technique, seek always to impose your might through the beholding of your form alone. A hulking physique is superior in this regard and wear not borate robes or thick armor, for they are a sign of weakness or the reliance on artifacts. Disy instead your bare form and let your enemy see the scars of battle you have already survived and how willing you are, to endure yet more, to ensure his defeat. Yup, Threja had gotten that one down pat, I thought. I read further into the manual seeking the best ways to progress and generate Frenzy. While I couldn¡¯t find anything specific, I did find somewhat of an answer hinted at in the 189th Shura. Shura 189 Think it no mystery that many mes are kindled upon the field of battle, for there is no better ce to harness one¡¯s strength than within the throes ofbat. That¡¯s all it said, but the message was pretty clear and made a lot of sense too. Getting into fights, getting my ass kicked and eventually kicking other people¡¯s asses was probably the best way to generate Frenzy. I cracked a grin. Too bad I hadn¡¯t learned the [Your Rage is my Strength] technique before picking that fight with Hein. I probably missed out on massive amounts of Frenzy with how badly I pissed him off. Still, getting into random fights with cultivators probably wasn¡¯t a good idea. Immortal pecking order and all that. I had already painted a bullseye on my back and maybe for the whole neighborhood too. No way could I go adding more without gaining more strength. But how do I gain more Frenzy without getting into actual fights? And then it hit me as quick as Hein¡¯s backhand to my face. What the hell was I thinking? Cultivators traveled light-years toe here and do just that, to train not by fighting people, but monsters. And my job gave me front-row ess. The thought caused my me to stir. Not that I would expect to generate much rage fighting a monster, but I¡¯m sure a lot of fear and pain might be involved. I grinned like a maniac and suddenly understood Threja¡¯s suicidal thinking a bit more. I couldn¡¯t wait to get back to work now. Although I¡¯d need to find a weapon of some kind first. And then I¡¯d need a way to sneak it in and out of the proving grounds with me. Or maybe I could throw it over the wall and just stash it outside. But then I¡¯d also need a way to somehow find and fight my own monsters all while hiding it from my client. Okay slow down, I told myself. One problem at a time. Before I could even think of doing any of that, I needed to heal up and then at least get strong enough to not die in a single bite from something. And to do that I needed to reach the 3rd Tier and Qi Body Refinement. Or Frenzy Body Refinement for me, I supposed. But I¡¯d studied the orb and there wasn¡¯t anything that spoke specifically to that. It was written like an advanced text where the basics of cultivation methodology was already assumed to be understood and well known. And while I had a fairly good understanding of the Body Refinement Realm from school, I got kicked out long before the Foundation sses. Maybe I was doing something wrong. Or was missing somethingpletely. Hell, I didn¡¯t even know how to tell when or if I had broken through to the 3rd Tier or not. I sighed and wished I hadn¡¯t been such a dumbass back in school. But there was one person I knew who definitely wasn¡¯t a dumbass when it came to all this stuff. I cursed myself for not going to visit her sooner and for more reasons than one. Bouncing out of my cot, I threw on a freshlyundered overcoatpliments of Yu Li, and then headed for the door. It was time to go check on Mu Lin. * * * I realized I hadn¡¯t been out of my room in days. Yu Li had continued to ¡®apologize¡¯ by bringing me dinner each night from the square. And thank goodness for that too. I had almost considered investing in a stove and cooking pot just so I could stay in my room and keep studying by cooking my own food, but that type of thing was more suited for country living, like the people who lived and worked on the farms. In urban areas like these, there just wasn¡¯t the space for it, plus I¡¯d probably just end up burning down the ce eventually. It was much easier and cheaper to buy freshly cooked meals from the vendors each day. Plus, they knew how to cook and I didn¡¯t. The whole concept made me think about just how much the cultivators had set us back as a people. We had the damn Inte and DoorDash, and now here we were living like peasants back in the Dark Ages, eating half-rotten meat and cooking with wood and fire. I often wondered why that was. The cultivators had achieved space travel, yet still they forced their society to live in such a crude and backwards way. Or at least that¡¯s how we were forced to live, down here on the surface. I red up at the giant pagoda again. Perhaps that¡¯s how the cultivators truly maintained their control. It was mid-afternoon now and as I walked through the square, I felt several sets of eyes fall on me. I knew most everyone by name and they knew me, but when I greeted them they either looked away quickly or pretended they didn¡¯t see me at all. I didn¡¯t even need to sense their fear to know what they were thinking: Dead man walking, here¡¯s the guy who¡¯s going to get himself killed by the Silver Leaf Sect and take us all with him. I tried to use [Your Fear is my Strength] on them but either I hadn¡¯t mastered the technique quite yet or their fear just wasn¡¯t the right type to absorb, or maybe range was a factor. Didn¡¯t matter though. That kind of fear was a shitty way to collect Frenzy, I decided. I recognized the old man who had tipped his hat to me earlier however and he gave me a friendly smile and a polite bow. Strangely I sensed fear from him as well. But it was different. If fear tasted like lemons, then this was more like lemonade. I almost dismissed it as just an oddity at first until I recalled the description from the [Fear the me] technique. With my Focus of the Mind mastery I could recall the text with near perfect rity. [Fear the me] ¨C the simple bearing of one¡¯s fangs is sometimes all that is required to defeat one¡¯s foe. Gather your Frenzy and with a mere look or phrase, exert your dominance and feed from the fears of your enemies or bolster the resolve of your allies. If Fear could also work on your allies, then maybe this was a positive form of fear¡­ like reverence maybe, or respect, or awe? Whatever it was it felt kind of cool and when I tried [Your Fear is my Strength] again as I passed by him, I was rewarded with a tiny burst of Frenzy. That put a bit of pep in my step, both literally and figuratively as I sent the Frenzy directly to my still slightly aching legs. * * * Mu Lin¡¯s ce was just a block or so over, past an abandoned gas station and nestled within what was once an apartment block, but to get to it, I had to pass through the central market first. The familiar scent of wood smoke from the food vendors immediately caught my nose, mixing with the more earthy aromas of livestock and fresh produce brought in from the farms. There were perhaps a few thousand people in therge open space, that I think used to be the parking lot of a strip mall. The sounds of buying and selling echoed through the air¡ªshouting and haggling, the squealing of pigs and the crowing of roosters before they were quickly silenced by the falling chop of a cleaver. It was a den of chaos and confusion, yet somehow the exchange of coin for goods urred seamlessly and without turmoil or strife. That was perhaps due to the Imperial Guard who stood watch over the market as well as the ck-veiled enforcers who roamed through the crowds. I stayed well clear of them, more from habit than from having a lightning core being stashed on me this time. I pushed against the sea of bodies as I passed by carts piled full of various herbs, vegetables, and grains. There wasn¡¯t a lot of variety, but what was there looked fresh. I found someone selling persimmons and dropped a few coppers to buy a bag full. A cultivator yelling at the top of his lungs drew my attention. He was dressed in the neutral-colored robes of the imperial dynasty, beige and off white and stood on a small dais. nking him were several enforcers who kept a watch over the crowd while thrumming their bamboo clubs on their palms. ¡°Tired of being amoner? Wish to join a sect and gain immortality?¡± he shouted while tossing sheets of paper into the crowd. ¡°Find your courage and fight in the Tournament of Mortal Champions! Be a citizen of the Dynasty!¡± I was about to steer clear when the cultivator leaned forward and pped one of the sheets of paper to my chest. ¡°Hey! You look like a scrapper!¡± he said, pointing at the scab on my cheek. ¡°Take it. Many offers of citizenship this year. A special event too. You might be victorious. Who knows?¡± I gave him a polite smile and bow in front of the enforcers and then gave the paper a quick nce before tucking it away into my overcoat. It was the same crap as every year, except there was some special expo with high-level cultivatorsing from the core worlds. I suppose that could be entertaining, but for me that probably meant a whole lot more work as a handler. Then the thought hit me. More excursions made for more opportunity for me to train and fight monsters. That could be a good thing. As I strolled away, a smirk of confidence curled my lip. I didn¡¯t need to join their damn sects to be immortal now. I had my own path to power. Still, an opportunity to battle low-tier cultivators might be a good way to grow my skills too. Or a good way to expose yourself as a follower of the Frenzied me, I thought more sardonically. I sighed. Too bad the prize wasn¡¯t something more valuable, like tons of money. It might be worth the risk then. But citizenship? To hell with that. I was trying to tear down the Dynasty, not join it. Just as I was about to leave the market, I spotted something that caught my attention far more than the tournament did. An artisan cultivator from one of the smithing sects had set up shop. This was a rarity of sorts as most of the smiths stayed within the artisan district, selling their goods there. But from time to time, one would venture out to sell their wares on the road. There were no weapons to be had of course. As ¡®lowlymoners¡¯ we weren¡¯t able to carry real weapons. But what constituted a weapon was all in the eye of the beholder. ¡°Afternoon,¡± I greeted the man with a short bow. ¡°How much for that woodcutting axe?¡± The man nced behind him to his collection of logging and farming tools on disy. He was middle aged and fit-looking, with a good bit of muscle and apletely bald head. He had a beard but part of it was patchy, which kind of reminded me of that cultivator I had fought. But the hair didn¡¯t seem to be pulled out. On closer inspection it looked like the patch was due to a burn and the scar tissue had now scabbed over, preventing hair growth. ¡°That one is half a Tael,¡± he said. ¡°That much?¡± ¡°It¡¯s made with Qi-imbued steel. 2nd-Tier grading.¡± He lifted the axe, which had a sizable shaft but a rtively small de. Not ideal, but it would do. As I took it from him, it felt much lighter than I would have expected it to. ¡°You could cut forever with that de,¡± he said, smiling at his own handiwork. ¡°It will never dull. Hells, with an axe of this quality, it will practically chop the wood for you.¡± I handed it back to him. ¡°Seems nice, but a bit out of my price range. Got anything a little cheaper?¡± He jerked his head back as if offended. ¡°I only produce quality wares. And for a good price. You cannot find cheaper. Besides it¡¯s barely a week¡¯s wage!¡± Or a month¡¯s rent, I thought to myself. I barely had enough money left to eat for the month, much less afford this. Still, what he said was true. A Qi-infused tool like this was rare toe by, especially at this price. Iughed inwardly at my predicament. If there was an easy way to convert that lightning core into cash, I could probably afford to buy the whole damn district, but here I was sweating over half a Tael. ¡°How long will you be here?¡± I asked. ¡°Just for today,¡± he said. That figured. ¡°Hold it for me then. I¡¯ll be back for itter.¡± I left the market with no idea how I was going to afford it, but if I¡¯d learned one thing from Threja it was to not let an opportunity pass. One way or another, I was going to get that axe and then I was going to go fight monsters with it. The human variety too. Chapter 12 Rapping on Mu Lin¡¯s door, I stood back a bit and waited while somemotion came from inside. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± I said. ¡°Chun? W-what are you doing here?¡± What am I doing here? ¡°What kind of question is that? I came to check up on you. See how you were doing. Bought you something too. Come on, open up.¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± There was a pause and then a curse came from behind the door. ¡°Mu Lin?¡±I could sense fearing from her as well. What the hell was going on? I was just about to start banging on the door again when slowly it opened and Mu Lin poked her head outside. ¡°Hey,¡± she said somewhat sheepishly. Her face was flushed and it looked like she had just climbed out of bed. She didn¡¯t look too thrilled to see me either. I was just about to ask her what was wrong, when slowly she swung the door open fully and then let out a sigh. There standing timidly behind her was another girl. She looked close to Mu Lin¡¯s age or perhaps a bit older, but she wasn¡¯t Terran like us. She was a cultivator and from a well-to-do family by the looks of her robes, which were ck and trimmed with copper. She was fair skinned, Asian with bright green eyes and had a pretty if not nervous smile. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry.¡± I gave an apologetic bow. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you hadpany. I could just drop these off ande back¡ª¡± ¡°No need,¡± the girl said quickly, performing a small bow of her own. ¡°I was just leaving. You must be Chun. Mu Lin has told me much about you. It¡¯s quite amazing what happened to you both¡­ with those raplers.¡± ¡°Raplings,¡± Mu Lin corrected her. ¡°Yes, raplings.¡± The girl smiled. ¡°Mu Lin said you carried her back to the city while wounded. That was very heroic of you. Especially as a mortal. Impressive.¡± I raised a brow at Mu Lin. How much had she told this girl? And who the hell was she anyway? But Mu Lin kept her gaze between her feet as she stood to the side to let me in. ¡°I¡¯m Xi Xha, by the way,¡± she said, introducing herself. ¡°I¡¯m pleased to meet you. You look much older than Mu Lin said.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know quite what to say to that. I brushed it off with augh. ¡°Must be the beard growing in. I¡¯ve been stuck in bed healing up, so I haven¡¯t shaved in a few days.¡± It was the truth. My face was now covered in a light stubble from studying and cultivating constantly. She smiled again, studying me with her green eyes. ¡°I like it. It suits you well, I think.¡± ¡°Thanks¡­¡± I said as another awkward pause took hold. ¡°Thanks foring,¡± Mu Lin said to Xi Xha. ¡°¡­to check on me. I¡¯ll see you again¡­ sometime?¡± ¡°Yes, of course,¡± Xi Xha said, bowing again. ¡°Nice to meet you, Mr. Chun.¡± With that she left, leaving Mu Lin and I in another strange and awkward silence. ¡°It¡¯s not what you¡¯re thinking,¡± Mu Lin said with an eye roll as she limped to close the door. ¡°What?¡± I said. ¡°What am I thinking?¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking!¡± ¡°What, that you had a friend over?¡± ¡°She¡¯s not a friend.¡± I thought back to how flustered or perhaps embarrassed she looked when she opened the door just now. I¡¯d never taken Mu Lin for being attracted to girls, but maybe it kind of made sense. As pretty as she was, I¡¯d never seen her with any guys before. ¡°So, is she your girlfriend then?¡± Mu Lin huffed out a sigh. ¡°See, I knew it was going to look weird like that to you.¡± ¡°Look weird like what?¡± I said. ¡°And why ¡®to me¡¯? It¡¯s okay if you like girls. I don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± she said with another sigh. ¡°Look, I¡¯mfortable with who I am. And yes, as much as I¡¯d love for someone as gorgeous as Xi Xha to be my girlfriend; one, she was clearly more into you than into me just now and two, she¡¯s not even a girl.¡± Okay, that was two shocking pieces of information all at once, I thought. But I took it in stride. ¡°What do you mean, not a girl?¡± ¡°I mean she¡¯s older than you are. Like almost forty or something. She¡¯s an inner disciple from the Sacred Scroll Sect and works at the Academy.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ no shit?¡± I handed Mu Lin the bag of persimmons. ¡°I brought those for you, by the way. I know how you love ¡®em.¡± ¡°Oh! Thanks, Chun!¡± she said, sounding genuinely appreciative as she looked inside the bag. She pulled one out and bit into it right away. ¡°Mhmm, so good¡­ anyway¡­she¡¯s not really supposed to be here and having contact with me and stuff.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°She¡¯s kind of coaching me to pass the academy entrance exam. If I manage to score high enough to get in, her family is willing to sponsor me for citizenship. Then I can get free tuition. She may even be able to get me into her sect as an initiate.¡± As much as I couldn¡¯t get with the idea of joining a sect or bing a citizen, I honestly felt happy for her and it sounded halfway normal as well. No martial tournament or cooking with wood and rocks. Like real civilization again. ¡°That sounds like a pretty good opportunity actually.¡± ¡°It is, but it¡¯s also one I shouldn¡¯t have.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Xi Xha works for the academy so if anyone found out she was even friendly with me, much less tutoring me, it could mean her losing everything. Normally I¡¯d go to meet her somewhere more discreetly in the artisan district. But with my leg she decided toe here. I told her not to, because she¡¯d just stick out like a sore thumb around here, but whatever, she came anyway.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you stick out like a sore thumb over there?¡± ¡°Hell no,¡± she said, lowering her brows at me. ¡°I do have proper clothes, you know. I don¡¯t dress like a bum like you and Lee all the time. But anyway, she insisted to stille because the exams are only a few weeks away. I just didn¡¯t want anyone to see us together around here. It would look way too conspicuous her being in these parts. If word got back to the academy, I¡¯d never forgive myself. So that¡¯s why I was acting kind of nervous at the door.¡± ¡°I see,¡± I said, nodding, but something else didn¡¯t quite make sense to me either. ¡°Why¡¯s she doing all this?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ it would probably make more sense if she actually was your girlfriend or something, but why¡¯s Xi Xha taking such a risk to do this? To help you. Are you paying her or something?¡± Mu Linughed with a mouth full of persimmon. ¡°With what money?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Just finding it a bit hard to believe, that¡¯s all. Cultivators aren¡¯t usually known for looking out for their fellow man.¡± She scrunched her brows together, looking almost offended. ¡°Xi Xha¡¯s not like that.¡± ¡°How do you know? How long have you even known her? And how¡¯d you even meet anyway?¡± ¡°Look,¡± she said with a huff of agitation. ¡°She came to teach a special ss in Foundation school one day, like a year ago. I talked to her afterwards, told her I would love to do what she did and she said she could help me. And about six months ago she started doing just that. Helping me. That¡¯s it.¡± She then rolled her eyes at me. ¡°Not everyone¡¯s a money-grubbing ahole like Sumatra, y¡¯know?¡± ¡°Okay, okay, fine.¡± I raised my hands in surrender. ¡°I just want you to be careful is all. Speaking of Sumatra though,¡± I said, eager to change the subject. ¡°Have you heard anything from himtely?¡± ¡°Yeah, Lee popped by and said he¡¯s acting really stressed out because there are enforcers there every day now. Not like before with just the spot checks every other month. He said Sumatra wants us back to work pronto because things are starting to get hectic. I told him I was going to need another week to rest. You seem to be doing okay though? Hells, you look even better than before you got beat up.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I stretched a bit. ¡°Guess I¡¯m a quick healer. Another week and I should be good to go too. Give old Lee a break.¡± Mu Lin chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯d be d to hear that.¡± ¡°Hey, there¡¯s something else I was wondering if you could help me with,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I exined to her the issue I was having understanding the different tiers of the Foundation level and what it took to break through them. She responded by raising one of her thick brows at me. ¡°Since when do you care about this stuff?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to help a friend,¡± I said honestly, thinking of Yu Li. She shrugged. ¡°Okay,¡± she said while adjusting her sses. ¡°First you need to understand there is a major difference between advancing between realms and advancing between tiers.¡± ¡°All right¡­¡± ¡°Realms are limited by breakthroughs. You physically can¡¯t do anything of a higher realm until you reach that breakthrough point. But tiers are more fluid. You can essentially attempt to do anything within the 9 tiers of each realm, but you just might not be that sessful at it until your gain experience, or enough Qi, or strengthen your body enough or whatever. But you can still do it. Or try to do it, anyway. Some people have been known to almost kill themselves trying something way too advanced for them.¡± ¡°So why did people keep saying I was stuck on the 7th Tier?¡± ¡°Because you still are,¡± she said, and her tense made me realize that I had used the past tense by ident. ¡°That¡¯s as high as your natural ability took you. Here let me show you.¡± She then hopped up and grabbed a well-thumbed text from a small bookshelf on her wall. She flipped through the pages to some tables and showed them to me. Realm Level/stage/Tier Qi Cultivator Body Refinement 1st Breathing Mastery 2nd Muscle Refinement 3rd Bone Strengthening 4th Skin Hardening 5th Organs Refinement 6th Focus of Mind 7th Meridian Opening 8th Meridian Channeling 9th Qi Perception Foundation Establishment 1st Qi Gathering 2nd Qi Channeling 3rd Qi Body Refinement 4th Qi Mental Refinement 5th Qi concentration 6th Qi Manifestation (internal) 7th Qi Manifestation (external) 8th Qi Condensing 9th Qi Hardening Core Formation 1st Core Formation 2nd Core Body Refinement 3rd Core Mental Refinement 4th Core Density Refinement 5th Inner Soul Detection 6th Inner Soul Focus 7th Inner Soul Refinement 8th Inner Soul Projection 9th Secondary Soul Germination ¡°These are all the realms and tiers up to the Core Formation realm,¡± she said while running over her finger over the tables. ¡°Once you have a breakthrough and advance to the next realm, you have ess to the abilities within that realm and can start training in any or all them. They call it breakthrough when you master one of the tiers but that¡¯s just nomenture. There is nothing physically separating them like how it is with the realms, so you don¡¯t go through them sequentially.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ so I could master 8th Tier before 2nd Tier?¡± ¡°Technically yes, but not really in practice. Not because you couldn¡¯t attempt it. It¡¯s because to do anything of the tier above, you usually need the skills of the tiers below it.¡± I thought on that some more. ¡°So, hypothetically, if my friend were to say just have broken into the Foundation realm. They could start Qi Body Refinement right away?¡± ¡°Well sure,¡± she said and then added with air quotes in a stupid voice, ¡°¡®your friend¡¯ could do that but it just wouldn¡¯t be very efficient, because to refine your body with Qi, you first need to a) gather it¡±¡ªshe pointed to the First Tier¡ª ¡°and then b) channel it.¡± She pointed to the Second Tier. ¡°But in practice that¡¯s what you¡¯re supposed to do anyway. You focus on the actions of the highest-tier function you can manage, which naturally epasses the actions of all the tiers below it. That way you progress faster with everything.¡± I thought about that for a moment. Shit, she was right, I realized. I had been Frenzy body refining all along just by healing my arm using the [Pain soothes the Frenzied me] Technique. I was gathering Frenzy, channeling it to where I wanted it to go and then using it to enhance my physical form. I couldn¡¯t contain the smile on my face, so much so that it made Mu Lin frown. ¡°Why are you grinning like that?¡± she said, eyeing me warily. ¡°Hey, you mind if I borrow this for a bit?¡± I pointed to the textbook. ¡°To help my friend?¡± She rolled her eyes again. ¡°You¡¯re lucky you brought me persimmons. Go ahead. Just don¡¯t lose it. It¡¯s worth a lot.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°And hey,¡± she said as she got up to let me out. ¡°Xi Xha stays between us, okay?¡± I smiled at her. ¡°We got bigger secrets to keep than that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t remind me,¡± she said with a sigh. ¡°See youter, Chun.¡± Iughed at her joke and we said our goodbyes. As I walked out of her apartment building I was feeling like I was on cloud nine. I was already there. I was already doing it. I was strengthening my body with my Frenzy. I just needed to find a bigger source of Frenzy so I could do more of it. I knew there was a whole section on Body Refinement in the orb too, that I had skipped over earlier. But I could go back to it and focus on it in earnest now. I was so caught up in my own head that only when I felt the huge wall of rageing from ahead of me, did I stop to look up. I had been wondering how to find more Frenzy, but it seemed the Frenzied me had already put some in my path. A smile came to my lips as I picked up my pace to meet my destiny. There, waiting for me at the end of the block was Master Hein. And about a dozen armed men. Chapter 13 First rule of engagement? I thought. Assert dominance. That was the n. I casually unbuttoned my overcoat and let it fly open as I approached, showing off my still-bloodied bandages for all of them to see. Using [Your Rage is my Strength] I channeled into the hatred pouring off of Hein and began turning it into my own. It was nasty-tasting stuff and it felt like I could almost vomit from it, but once refined, Frenzy was Frenzy. I used it as I changed my step to take on the passive form of [Fear the me]. I wasn¡¯t too sure how well it was working at first, but the closer I got, the more I could sense tiny pockets of fear start to exude from the other men in the group. Unfortunately there seemed to be a limitation on just how much I could target with [Your Fear is my Strength], but I focused on the closest two men to me that I could, and used my [Frenzied me] technique to convert their fear into even more Frenzy to keep both techniques going while still swaggering with [Fear the me]. I was grateful now for how much I had practiced these techniques over thest four days. At the moment, I was juggling what I would have considered a mid-level workout. Whether I could keep my focus and fight while doing all this though¡­ ¡­well, I guess we¡¯ll see, my inner Berserker spoke to me with a leer. It was either time to fly or time to die.I scanned over the men Hein had brought with him. They all wore simr garb, simple pants and overcoats the same gray and ck of Hein¡¯s n colors of whatever lower branch of the Silver Leaf n that he was. But they looked unkempt and undisciplined, all of them holding what looked like thick broomsticks in their hands. They were likely low-level outer disciple members or initiates from their sect. Little more than glorified thugs like those Fire Bird Sect members turned out to be, albeit many tiers lower than them in terms of strength. They were more like sect member wannabes right off the streets. And I supposed they would have to be to be falling directly under the authority of a youngster like Hein. Still there were still a dozen of them and they had sticks and there was just one of me. I smiled inwardly as I tried to recollect theplex activation of the [Odds Against Me] technique. This would be a great time to test it out. ¡°Chun, Chun, Chun,¡± Hein chided me theatrically in front of his crew. ¡°So this is where you¡¯ve been hiding? I paid your square a visit earlier and you were nowhere to be seen. Luckily one of my men spotted you running into that rat hole back there. I hope you¡¯re not trying to avoid me.¡± ¡°Avoid you? Never. I just didn¡¯t think you¡¯de back around for another punch to the face so soon.¡± ¡°Silence!¡± one of the men shouted and swung his stick at me. I forced myself not to react to it, taking the full swing of the hit right to my side with [Indifference]. I managed not to wince from the pain but instead increased my smile as I channeled the flux of Frenzy right into further healing my wound. This must have pissed them off because six of them jumped in and started beating me with their staffs. I grimaced and grunted, taking the hits, shielding my head with my forearms. One of them hit me in the back of my legs and I buckled, falling to one knee. It hurt like hell as they continued to wail on me, but I was used to beatings and gauging from the force of their hits, these guys weren¡¯t Foundation-realm cultivators¡­most of them probably weren¡¯t even true cultivators yet at all. But I dly sucked up all the Frenzy they gave me, cultivating it into my aching muscles and skin. When they finally backed off Hein came to stand over me, hands behind his back. ¡°You do take very long to learn, don¡¯t you, Chun?¡± I used [Indifference] to keep my face neutral as I looked up at him. ¡°So are we done here? Or did youe looking for me for a reason?¡± He seemed put off by my direct questioning, and I could sense his anger as he paused, trying to formte some kind of wittyeback perhaps. He eventually seemed to give up though and just said inly, ¡°I came to give you an opportunity to apologize to me.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t expect that anytime s¡ª¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be now,¡± he cut me off. ¡°And it won¡¯t be here. As I told you before, This One¡¯s station is above beating a wounded dog, like you.¡± ¡°So I guess theirs isn¡¯t?¡± I said with a grin as I gestured to his now out of breath men with a jut of my chin. Thement went over the head of half of them, but a few I could see paused in thought, grimacing as they realized Hein had just insulted them as well. ¡°I will give you a month to fully heal before you face me,¡± Hein said, quick to move on. ¡°In that time, I¡¯d encourage you to reflect on your future and how you¡¯d wish for it to unfold. If you are uncertain as to how it will unfold, then let me educate you now, Chun, in the future I see for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m all ears,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°One month from now I will visit your hovel of a square. There you and Yu Li, before the full assembly of your people, will prostate yourselves before me and apologize for your insolence and disrespect. Then your entire square will apologize to me and thank me for my patience and mercy for sparing your lives.¡± Fresh ire built within my soul, quickly shing into Frenzy as it touched my inner me. I didn¡¯t mind him messing with me like this, but pulling Yu Li and the rest of the neighborhood into it really got my blood boiling. The only thing that showed on my face however was a leering smile of [Indifference]. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re setting yourself up for a big disappointment.¡± ¡°I warn you, Chun, that should you refuse to apologize, I would be within my right to beat you to death for disrespecting the authority of the Silver Leaf n. Do you understand me?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Sounds fair.¡± He grimaced as I gave him another smile. ¡°Gui Zu!¡± he shouted and a thick, muscr-looking guy with a goatee stepped forward. ¡°Give Chun here a reminder of the date so he won¡¯t forget. Something that should take a good month to heal.¡± I chuckled as I slowly stood to my feet. ¡°I¡¯m d you brought someone who looks like they can finally do some damage. Take your best shot, big man.¡± I grinned at him with a jut of my chin and the man, Gui Zu, became enraged. He rushed at me with a yell, using some kind of martial technique. ¡°[Wheeling Spin!]¡± he cried, twirling the staff behind his back for extra force and speed. I didn¡¯t try to duck as I saw the hiting. I turned my head towards it instead, as if bored, stiffening my body with [Indifference]. Pain exploded through my jaw as I took the hit, the staff snapping in two with the force of the technique. My lip burst and blood flew. But I kept focus on my own technique, maintaining my form, not a reaction on my face. I spat out a piece of my tooth on the ground, using [Fear the me]. Gui Zu¡¯s eyes went wide as fear exuded off of him. He looked at the broken stick and then back at my face, no doubt trying to figure out how I was still standing. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re done?¡± I said as I casually took a step towards him. ¡°Guess it¡¯s [My Turn] then¡­¡± As I said the words, I released the technique and all pain in my jaw subsided as an immense burst of Frenzy exploded inside me. I sent it with an uppercut straight to his chin, so fast that he didn¡¯t even have a chance to raise the other half of his staff to block. My knuckles cracked under the force of the hit, but I lifted him right off the ground and sent him flying back behind the rest of hisrades ten feet or more. He hit the ground in a heap out cold or maybe even dead for all I knew¡­ or even cared. Huge amounts of fear began dripping off of Hein and the rest of his men as whispers of shock and disbelief rippled through their ranks. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Is he a cultivator?¡± ¡°I think he killed Gui Zu with a single strike!¡± ¡°How? He¡¯s just a mortal, isn¡¯t he?¡± I tasted both lemons and lemonade, some of them actually impressed and in awe of what I¡¯d done. I sucked it all up regardless, replenishing all the Frenzy I had just released in that massive one-tap hit. I then stepped towards Hein and the bunch of them backed away from their master, moving in unison like a school of fish. ¡°Let me tell you now, Master Hein, what¡¯s actually going to happen in a month¡¯s time.¡± I channeled my Frenzy into [Fear the me]. ¡°When you show up for your apology as nned, and you will show up, you¡¯re not going to get one. You¡¯re going to get a punch to the face instead and end up like your man Gui Zu back there. Maybe you¡¯ll even be dead, who knows? That¡¯ll be up to how well your body is attached to your head. But this will be your future, no doubt. You can count on it.¡± I could sense his insides quivering, reacting to my technique, producing even more fear. ¡°Now if you¡¯re too chicken shit to face this destiny, I understand,¡± I continued. ¡°So I¡¯m going to give you onest opportunity to change it¡ªby killing me right here and now, while you still can. In a month¡¯s time you won¡¯t be able to. So the choice is yours.¡± I didn¡¯t even need to sense the sudden anger rushing through him, the piercing re in his eyes said it all. I stood unmoving as his hand flexed, wishing for his de. But I had him in a checkmate and he knew it. He¡¯d already proimed in front of his men that he had given me a month to heal and to apologize to him. To go back on his word now and kill me defenselessly in cold blood would be a loss of face that would not only undermine his own word, but highlight his own cowardice, acknowledging that he was indeed afraid that what I said mighte true. I waited a good half a minute and when he didn¡¯t say or do anything, I nodded. ¡°Good¡­¡± I gave him a bloodied grin. ¡°d to see you¡¯re not as big a pussy as I thought you were, Hein. See you in a month.¡± As I turned my back and walked away, his rage went off the charts. Chapter 14 My hand and jaw were begging for ice by the time I made it to the markets. I went to one of the more expensive fishmongers who could afford to buy the stuff from the artisan sects who controlled the preciousmodity and asked if I could borrow a little. The woman had a look of revulsion when she saw my face and probably gave me the ice just so I could stop bleeding all over her catch. I wrapped the ice in a cloth she gave me and pressed it soothingly to my jaw while also using [Pain soothes the Frenzied me]. My innards felt spent from all the channeling and I could feel my cot beckoning me. No more studying tonight, I thought. My body was calling the shots now and I had abused it for too long. But there was still onest piece of work I needed to do. I approached the tool smith from earlier and he had the same look of revulsion on his face as the fish monger. ¡°What did you do?¡± he said. ¡°Try to rob someone to get the money?¡± ¡°Eh,¡± I mumbled with my busted jaw. ¡°Was just setting a date for a future engagement.¡± He furrowed his brow. ¡°Nevermind. You said that axe was half a Tael. Only a week¡¯s wage, right?¡± ¡°I told you I¡¯m not staying here long. Especially not a week. Pay now or forget it. I¡¯m done my rotation through the districts. I¡¯m headed home tonight.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pay you with a week¡¯s worth of work then.¡±¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You heard me,¡± I said, borrowing a line from Threja¡¯s vocabry. ¡°You¡¯re a smith. You must have a furnace to run. A lot of wood that needs chopping. Maybe even a tree or two? Or some iron that needs lugging here or there?¡± I probably could have found a dozen other ways to scrape together the half-a-Tael I needed to buy the axe, but I needed to obtain resources that went far beyond mere money now. I¡¯d just signed a check I knew I couldn¡¯t cash when it came to Hein. Not yet anyway. As annoying as the little punk was, he was still a Foundation Realm cultivator with years more experience than I had. More than that, he was a n member in the Silver Leaf Sect, which meant he¡¯d been trained in mystic kung fu since before he could even walk. Still, I was pleased that I¡¯d stuck to my path. No backing down. Now all that was left to do was to gain the strength to back up my words and for that I needed opportunities that would provide me with the means to grow. ¡°I¡¯m not looking for an apprentice,¡± the man said. ¡°And I¡¯m not looking to be a smith. I¡¯m just looking for some hardbor to pay off the debt for obtaining that fine piece of Qi-steel right there.¡± I pointed to the axe. ¡°So can you help me out?¡± I focused what little Frenzy I had left into [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. I recalled its description in my memory and hoped it would work. [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] ¨C the path of the Struggler is forever filled with tribtion. This technique will convert your Frenzy into an iron will of determination that even others can feel and see. After staring at him with it for almost a minute, he finally just threw his hands up and said, ¡°Alright fine. My forge is in Misato Vige, in the artisan district, right on the edge of the forest. I suppose I could use an early restocking of the lumber piles before winter sets in.¡± He then wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to me. ¡°Show that to the enforcers when you arrive. It¡¯ll grant you permission to enter the district. Tell them you are looking for Master Edrik.¡± I smiled and gave him a bow. ¡°Thank you, Master Edrik. I¡¯ll be there first thing in the morning.¡± * * * I knew something was wrong the minute I entered the square. The normal amount of people were there, but it wasn¡¯t lively, or at least not anymore. It looked like I¡¯d just missed a party. But not the good kind. Food and splinters of wooden furniturey strewn all across the ground. A few of the storefronts lining the square had their windows busted in and people were milling about as if in a daze. Then came the familiar sense of hate and fear as all eyes turned on me. Something wet and slimy hit me on the back and I saw a rotten peach hit the ground next to my foot. I turned to see one of my neighbors, a ck girl around Yu Li¡¯s age scowling at me. ¡°There he is! It¡¯s him!¡± The crowd riled up and began pelting bits of random crap at me while shouting in a fervor. ¡°Go apologize now!¡± ¡°You did all this to us, Chun!¡± ¡°Look! Hein must have beaten him already!¡± ¡°Apologize to Master Hein!¡± ¡°Apologize, you dumb bastard!¡± Through the chaos, Yu Li found me, grabbing my arm. ¡°Chun, look at this! They all hate us now!¡± I noted then that even Yu Li was being pelted by the fruits and vegetables as she cradled Su Ling to her chest, the baby crying and adding more confusion to the chaos. I shielded them both as best I could as the physical and verbal assault continued. ¡°What happened?¡± I said. Although I didn¡¯t really need to ask. I just needed confirmation. ¡°Did Hein do all this?¡± Yu Li scowled and then crouched down to pick something off of the tarmac. She thrust it into my hands and when I looked, I saw it was a printed leaflet. Residents of D Block, Native Housing District In one month¡¯s time, I shall return to this domain for an official apology from the two offenders, Chun and Yu Li, who have tarnished my honor and insulted my family. As amunity, you shall, at noon, gather to witness this event and shall also apologize for harboring such insolent natives within your sect. Upon apology from all parties, I will be merciful and pardon these transgressions. Should any party fail to apologize, however, there shall be further consequences. The merciful Master Hein of the Silver Leaf n Iughed out loud the moment I finished reading. No wonder he¡¯d been so pissed-off when I checkmated him. He didn¡¯t just announce his ¡®Apology Party¡¯ to his men, he put it in writing and sent an invite to the whole damn square. ¡°That ass went through the trouble of making flyers? No wonder it took him four days toe and¡ª¡± ¡°Chun!¡± Yu Li nudged me with her elbow. ¡°Are you even here right now? Look at all this. Look at what you¡¯ve caused!¡± I let out a sigh. Something else stirred within me as I endured my neighborhood¡¯s collective ire. Sadness. As much as I was trying to do all this to protect them, they still couldn¡¯t see past the fear and I couldn¡¯t me them. I¡¯d done nothing to earn their trust as yet, but I would. I picked a table from off its side and jumped on top of it. It made me an even bigger target and the pelting increased. ¡°Hear me out!¡± I shouted to them. When they wouldn¡¯t stop I converted some of that ire in the air into Frenzy and then repeated again with [Fear the me], ¡°Hear me out, I said!¡± The result was immediate. The pelting stopped and they all looked me like I was some kind of madman. And hell, maybe they were right. I then switched to [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to hopefully convey that what I was about to say next was indeed my word. ¡°I know you¡¯re all angry and maybe scared too,¡± I said. ¡°But you¡¯re right. What Master Hein did here today, was indeed all because of me.¡± And totally uneptable, I wanted to add, but I didn¡¯t want to take the speech in that direction. ¡°I take full responsibility for what has happened. And as such, I will promise you this. I will on that day one month from now, be here to take full responsibility for everything. And when that day is over, I promise you that you will no longer bear the ire of Young Master Hein.¡± The reception went about as well as I figured it would. The curses and food throwing resumed along with a call for me to apologize right away. But it didn¡¯t matter. I had made my promation and my path was now bound by my own word. I jumped off the table andnded next to Yu Li. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this. I got a n.¡± ¡°A n?¡± ¡°Best get Su Ling out of this mob,¡± I said, pushing her towards the safety of an overturned vegetable cart. ¡°They¡¯ll calm down eventually.¡± I didn¡¯t wait for her to respond and instead drew everyone¡¯s friendly fire by throwing my hand into the air and waving to them with an asinine smile. The word Chun was spat out like a curse as I parted the crowd and made my way towards my apartment, enduring their insults with [Indifference] and shoring my mind with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. I smiled inwardly at the abuse though. I¡¯m on my way, Big Sis. I¡¯d found my first struggle on my path towards greatness. And with the amount of Frenzy I¡¯d need to unleash to defeat Hein, I was probably going to need as much struggle as I could endure to keep the Demon in check. * * * After getting a quick wash in themunal bathroom, I crashed onto my cot and let the pain of the day finally sink in. My jaw felt like it was the size of a house and my body was on fire from all the pain. As I started to stiffen up, I thought I could feel just the tiniest bit of Frenzy still present within me. It wasn¡¯t being generated by anything though, and yet there it was¡ªa small flicker of Frenzy tucked away in the hidden me of my Dantian. I smiled. I realized I had just managed to take my first step towards Frenzy storage. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was a start and one day, me willing, it would grow to be a solid core. The small progress filled me with a renewed vigor and somehow I got the energy to roll out of my cot and retrieved the orb. I know I¡¯d already promised myself not to study tonight, but I just couldn¡¯t help it. I had a full day of hardbor ahead of me, a neighborhood that hated me and a mid-tier Qi cultivator who probably wanted me dead. I had to use every second I had to stay one step ahead. I found the section on Body Refinement and studied as much as I could before my eyes finally grew heavy and I drifted off into oblivion. Chapter 15 Master Hei Dong surveyed the interior field of the tournament grounds from atop the highest seating tform in the arena. Even thiste in the day, the sunlight still seemed a sufficient source of lighting, not requiring the addition of Qi stones ornterns. That would do well to cut down on cost. And it was not a bad view from here either, he supposed. The seats could perhaps fetch the price they were seeking, but he didn¡¯t particrly like the way the field itself was shaped. It was arge rectangle instead of an oval. The primitive Terrans had built this ce long ago to y a sport they called ¡®football¡¯ which ironically did not involve using one¡¯s feet at all apparently, or so some mortal had exined to him once. Such idiocy, he thought. If Hei Dong were to have it his way, he would have demolished the entire structure and built a proper arena from the ground up. But time was limited now and the smaller yet more well-suited arena that they used for the local tournaments would not berge enough to house the crowds they anticipated. Throngs of cultivators from around the and perhaps even the core worlds would soon find their way here. He just prayed that the space would be sufficient. As if to tempt his fate, a small skiff appeared over the lip of the stadium awning and hovered swiftly towards him. Three people rode atop it, but only one was of any significance at all. His heartbeat sped as the craft hummed to a stop before him and a gangway lowered for the passengers to disembark. Two mid-tier Core Realm cultivators stepped off first, the men dressed in simple ck robes with jade trim. Just behind them came a woman of modest stature but of exquisite grace, elegance and beauty. Her silver eyes and hair matched her sparking robes and as she approached, Hei Dong fell to his knees to prostrate himself before her. ¡°Venerable sect elder,¡± he said. ¡°This One is pleased that you have arrived.¡± Lady Silver Tear gave only the slightest nod to acknowledge his greeting. ¡°Arise nephew-inw, there is no need to show such respect. We are not here on sect business now. You may address me inly by my imperial office. We are here to discuss Dynasty matters, are we not?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Hei Dong said, rising to his feet. He bowed again, bending deeply at the waist this time. ¡°Apologies. This One wees you, Seventh Warden.¡±¡°Thank you, Vice-Warden,¡± she said, addressing him by his imperial title as well. ¡°Please, show me what you have prepared.¡± Hei Dong went through the small speech he had rehearsed for hours, giving Lady Silver Tear an overview of how he envisioned the grand tournament would beid out. From where the officials would be seated, tomoners and mortals and how each function of the event would be handled. ¡°There will be teams of enforcers that I will train personally to assist with the event coordination. Each team will be overseen by an Imperial Guard. Themon workers shall all be Silver Leaf Sect members of course.¡± ¡°Very well and the Qi stone projectors?¡± Silver Tear queried. ¡°The Princess wishes to give an address from the capital to open the tournament.¡± Hei Dong nched. He had honestly given no thought to the devices at all. In the normal arena they were permanently affixed to the awnings, but here there were none. ¡°Oh? Her majesty will be making an address?¡± he said, desperate to shift the focus of her question. ¡°We are only hosting a preliminary round for the invitational event, are we not? I didn¡¯t think the princess would go through the trouble.¡± ¡°Why do you think it is only via Qi projector?¡± she said as a look of irritation shed across her face. ¡°I¡¯m certain she will visit the Eastern provinces in person.¡± ¡°No doubt,¡± Hei Dong said with an agreeable scoff, careful to show where his true allegiancey. He then nced at the skiff and had an idea. ¡°At any rate, we shall be mounting the Qi projectors on skiffs. They will circle the arena slowly to give every spectator a good vantage.¡± Silver Tear¡¯s eyes lit up with a smile. ¡°How very novel. I knew I could count on you to bring something special to this event, Vice-Warden.¡± Hei Dong let only the smallest of smiles touch his lips but inwardly he grinned profusely. He was nothing if not clever. His ability to rise from a lowly outer disciple, to wooing and marrying one of Silver Tear¡¯s great nieces to be not only an inner sect family member but now a Vice-Warden of the empire was a testament to that. But he had to work hard to keep his position. He was not gifted in martial talent like his wife, being a mere artisan and crafter, but his cunning and quick wit had seen him through many dangers and adversaries on his way to the top. Earning and maintaining Lady Silver Tear¡¯s favor was now key to his protection and sess. ¡°I aim to serve and please, Seventh Warden.¡± ¡°What of the concessions and preparation areas?¡± ¡°Perhaps I can show you from the air?¡± Hei Dong suggested, gesturing to the skiff. She smiled, again looking pleased. Once boarded, one of her men worked the controls at the rear of the craft and took them high above the arena. Hei Dong cycled his Qi to maintain his bnce, ensuring his footing with one of the rudimentary stance techniques. For Silver Tear and her retainers, the act was perhaps subconscious, but for a low-tier Core Realm cultivator and artisan like himself, Hei Dong needed to focus to not get swept from the skiff like some Qi-less mortal. The vantage from the skiff gave a true depiction of the vastness of the city they had imed. It still amazed Hei Dong that mere mortals had even built it. Still, it reeked of their mediocrity and there was nothing splendid nor beautiful about it. Merely functional. Perhaps in a century or so it would more resemble their home world of Utara. But there would be much work needed to remold this crude world to resemble Utara¡¯s elegance. Hei Dong actually looked forward to the challenge. He pointed to the blocks of small buildings surrounding the arena. ¡°We shall clear those areas and make stables to house the major sects. Any dignitaries will have private quarters avable to them, for an additional fee of course. The major culinary sects will also have their own area designated for food preparation. Meals for the concession stalls shall be delivered to the stadium and stables alike, all from the same area. It should cut down on our costs considerably.¡± Silver Tear nodded, seemingly impressed. ¡°Sounds very efficient.¡± ¡°I have also ensured that all pricing will be in local currency. The vendors will ept silver and copper only. That way the foreign guests will be forced to convert their spirit stones at the money lenders. I estimate we shall earn a good return by doing so.¡± ¡°Excellent,¡± she said. ¡°I also took the liberty of ordering 200,000 Taels of silver and 1 million Wen from the imperial bank to bolster the local currency supply. I expect to see much wealth in cirction once we fill this arena.¡± ¡°I hope so as well, Hei Dong.¡± She gave him a firm nod of approval before signaling for her men to return to the arena. Inwardly, Hei Dong breathed a massive sigh of relief. He had pleased her. His position and safety had once again been secured. As they approached the tform they had left, he spotted one of his men waving to the skiff with both arms. It was a young steward he had put in charge of erecting themoners¡¯ stables. When the man saw who was on the skiff with him, his eyes shot open widely and he immediately fell to his face in a kowtow. ¡°One million apologies, illustrious sect elder!¡± the man said with his face to the floor. ¡°This One would never have been so bold as to have gestured in such a brash manner had I been skilled enough to detect your presence from afar. This One begs your forgiveness.¡± As Hei Dong disembarked, he turned and was about to fall to his knees next to his subordinate to beg for forgiveness as well, but Silver Tear merely chuckled. ¡°Arise, young one. You may thank your Master for your forgiveness today.¡± She then looked directly at Hei Dong. ¡°His message seemed urgent. I hope it¡¯s not a problem with the preparations.¡± Hei Dong felt like pummeling the fool for his timing. Lady Silver Tear was just about to leave with a good report of the progress. He steeled himself for whatever the steward was about to say next. ¡°What is it then? Why were you beckoning so?¡± ¡°Apologies again,¡± he said, rising to his feet. ¡°It is your son, Master Hei Dong. He arrived below and asked to summon you urgently.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Silver Tear said from behind him. ¡°I hope it¡¯s not something sect-rted then.¡± The steward shook his head. ¡°I do not know, illustrious sect elder. He did not say.¡± Hei Dong fumed inwardly, but he kept a nonchnt smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just some childish matter, Seventh Warden. Hein is still but ad, after all.¡± ¡°Ah yes, young Hein.¡± She smiled in a more familial way that put Hei Dong somewhat at ease. ¡°That one always did have my niece¡¯s temperament. How is she by the way?¡± ¡°Rhi is well, mydy,¡± Hei Dong said, addressing her more casually now as well, thankful for the shift in the conversation¡¯s tone. ¡°I will certainly give her your regards.¡± ¡°Please do. And your eldest? How is Fia? She must be old enough to take part in the senior matches by now.¡± ¡°You know her all too well.¡± Hei Dong smiled. ¡°She is the image of her mother. She will bepeting in the Gold Bracket this year.¡± ¡°I shall look forward to seeing herpete then. Hopefully she will y many of her rivals. And some of our own,¡± she said with a grin. ¡°In these times of peace, the tournaments are our only chance to openly decimate the other sects. Ensure she shows no mercy in the arena, Hei Dong.¡± Hei Dong gave a bow. ¡°She is her mother¡¯s daughter. I needn¡¯t say a thing.¡± Silver Tear let out a sharp and callousugh. ¡°Very well. Do take good care of my niece now, Hei Dong. And her son. You know her temperament when ites to the welfare of her precious baby boy.¡± * * * Hei Dong swelled with anger as he mbered down the steps of the arena to the vacant lot just outside. There waiting for him was his son and a dozen or so initiates, one of them lying prone in a wooden hand cart. ¡°Hein!¡± he called sharply. The boy straightened with rm before dropping to one knee in a bow. The initiates followed suit, falling to both knees and pressing their palms to the ground. Hei Dong looked at the initiate in the cart. The man was still breathing it seemed, but unconscious, blood dripping from a mouth full of shattered teeth. ¡°What is the meaning of this!¡± he demanded. ¡°You interrupted a very important meeting with the sect elder just now.¡± ¡°Apologies, Father,¡± Hein said. ¡°But I needed to show you this immediately.¡± ¡°Show me what?¡± ¡°How weak these initiates are. Their ipetence has shamed me. I demand to have better representation of our sect apanying me while I¡¯m in public.¡± The boy was making no sense at all. ¡°What is it you mean?¡± ¡°A filthy, native mortal did this!¡± he shouted, gesturing to the man in the cart. ¡°How can we allow such weakness to stand within our ranks, much less deign to act as my protection?¡± ¡°A mortal?¡± Hei Dong looked at the wounded man again. ¡°How did this even happen? Where were you? Not in those slums again, I hope! I told you already to stop wasting time there!¡± The boy¡¯s face turned red with anger and wounded pride, no doubt shamed at being bawled at in front of the initiates. Hein raised his eyes in a re. ¡°Father, a member of our n was assaulted. Be it by a mortal or not, it demands a response. But as it is but a mortal, it is far below your station to address this. I will deal with it personally. All that I ask is for your support.¡± For a sliver of a moment, Hei Dong saw his own cunning reflected back at him in those dark eyes. He had no idea what Hein was really up to and frankly he was far too busy to care. It was probably a squabble over some lowly native whore or something. Whatever it was he had no time for it. ¡°What is it you want of me, Hein?¡± ¡°Allow me permission to punish these initiates for their failure by dismissing them all,¡± he said. ¡°And then allow me tomand but two of my sister¡¯s disciples in their stead.¡± The initiates couldn¡¯t contain their gasps of shock, but they remained obediently on their knees. Hein was indeed his mother¡¯s child, Hei Dong thought. Born into privilege and power. But Hei Dong had to work for his. It was only a few short decades ago that he had been the one on his hands and knees awaiting the words of a master who would soon decide his fate. ¡°Come with me,¡± he said. He led Hein away from the men, far out of earshot. The boy looked furious, but he was getting far too old to be sulking like a child. It was time he had some instruction. ¡°Young Master Hein,¡± Hei Dong addressed him formally. ¡°The initiates and outer disciples of this family were put under your charge. Their failure is a reflection of your own ipetence as a leader.¡± Hein¡¯s mouth fell open as if he¡¯d been pped in the face. ¡°You have clearly been too soft on them, or not been paying attention to them at all. You must learn wisdom if you are tomand men and derive the best from them. You wished to dismiss them all just now, but you do not throw out an entire pot of rice for a few burnt grains. Heed me now. This is what you shall do.¡± ¡°Yes, Father,¡± Hein said, casting his eyes to the ground. ¡°When the wounded man awakes, punish him severely in front of the others for the embarrassment he has caused. And then dismiss him. But him only. Say to the others that you have decided to show mercy and will give them a second chance. This will bolster their fear of you and will cause them to work ten times harder for your approval. This will in turn improve their performance and themselves.¡± A sly grin came to Hein¡¯s face, seeing the logic. ¡°You are very wise, Father. Thank you. But¡­what of my sister¡¯s men? Surely you can make her spare at¡ª¡± ¡°I will allow you only one,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°And you shall receive the very worst of her disciples.¡± ¡°The worst?¡± He looked indignant. ¡°Yes,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Your sister will agree to this because it will also give her an opportunity to openly humiliate and punish the weakest of her disciples by demoting him to your charge. As with your group, it will cause her remaining disciples to fear her more and incentivize them to better themselves to avoid a simr punishment. She may even thank you for the opportunity.¡± Hei Dong felt that familiar sense of satisfaction as his cunning turned a small problem into a significant means of strengthening the sect. It was maneuvering such as this, that allowed him to cripple, oust, and even assassinate rivals far more skilled with a de than he. He had won Rhi¡¯s affections and hand in marriage that way. He wondered if Hein would ever develop this same cunning, like his sister had, or if he would remain a mere simple-minded brute like his mother. ¡°Thank you, Father,¡± Hein said with a bow while grinning. ¡°This will do for now.¡± Hei Dong grimaced. The little brat was beyond spoiled. ¡°Get out of my sight,¡± Hei Dong said coldly, reinforcing that this was discipline and instruction he was administering, not pandering affection like Hein was used to receiving from his mother. ¡°Never disturb me with this trivial nativemoner nonsense again. I am far too busy for it. Interrupt me again and the punishment administered shall be your very own.¡± Chapter 16 The next day I was up and out the door before dawn. I skipped getting breakfast in the square to avoid another one-sided food fight and sat down for a bite to eat in the central market instead. I sacrificed a few more coppers for a thick bowl of noodles and a pork bao, wolfing them down before the sun came up. The artisan district was about ten miles away and I decided to try and jog it despite my full stomach. It was a mistake. By half a mile my side was cramping and I felt like throwing up. I pushed on regardless and used my new-found well of stored Frenzy to send some energy to my side and legs. The result was amazing. My pain subsided instantly and I found I could almost hold a sprint for a minute. But as soon as the Frenzy depleted, I was back to holding my side and walk-running again. I stopped every now and then to catch my breath and after about two miles, I guess my food had digested well enough so that I could run somewhat normally again, with only a slight pain in my side. I was actually surprised at how good I felt overall. The massive amounts of Frenzy I had channeled into healing my wounds must have lingered while I slept or something, because although my side hurt from my cramping stomach, the pain from the gash in my side was nearly gone and even my busted lip didn¡¯t look too bad. I tried using my memories of Hein to stir my Frenzied me and produce more Frenzy, but just like before, memories could only do so much. I even tried using the pain from the stitch in my side, but it seemed self-inflicted pain was no good either. Still my Frenzy seemed to refill after about ten minutes or so and I rewarded myself with another burst of sprinting. I then gave up trying to brew my own Frenzy and instead just eased into a slow jog and set my mind to recalling what I had studied the night before. It did wonders to take my mind off the difort in my side as I recalled the chart ouying the various stages of progression for Frenzy Body Refinement. Simr to normal Body Refinement, there were various categories and different stages to each. With my Mental Focus I envisioned them in my mind as I ran through the mostly deserted streets towards the artisan district. Body Refinement Category Stages Description Muscle Strengthening I to V Increases your passive casual strength and your ability to do damage through Frenzy-infused techniques. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you will have the strength of ten men. At 5th stage you are able to snap iron as easily as twigs in your palms. Train by infusing Frenzy with strenuous exercise. Reflex Sharpening I to V Increases the swiftness at which your body moves and reacts. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can snatch arrows out of the air. At 5th stage you are able to run faster than a swallow and move a de quicker than the eye can see. Train by infusing Frenzy into quick attacks and actions which test your speed and coordination. Body Hardening I to V Increases the durability and hardness of your skin and bones. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can resist mes and the blows of dull objects. At 5th stage your body has be as strong as iron and can resist most des and even arrows. Train by using Frenzy to mend your broken skin and bones. Internal Strengthening I to V Increases the body¡¯s ability to withstand prolonged exertion, toxins and the strain of high-level Frenzy-infused techniques. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can consume strong spirits without intoxication. At 5th stage your body can utilize multiple techniques at once without ill effects. Train by using Frenzy to mitigate the effects of toxins and by performing techniques that use high bursts of Frenzy. Just looking at how much I had to grow was both daunting and exhrating. I also realized that I was probably ying with fire by using some of those techniques I¡¯d used yesterday when I faced off against Hein. I nearly broke my hand when I punched that Gui Zu guy with [My Turn]. It meant I would need to focus on Body Hardening as well as Muscle Strengthening if I wanted to put my full damage potential to use. But Internal Strengthening seemed just as important. In fact, ording to the orb it was one of the limiting factors to everything. Unlike Qi cultivation which relied mostly on stored Qi to be used for techniques, Frenzy could be produced instantly and used in vast quantities regardless of storage. The drawback of course was you usually needed to be in a life or death situation to generate that kind of Frenzy. But the limit to how much Frenzy you could wield was really up to what your body could take. I was lucky I didn¡¯t end up breaking my arm or worse punching that guy. But the thought of that made me only more eager to get to training and to progress. I had a date with Hein in a month and I figured I¡¯d need to reach at least 3rd stage in all the categories to stand a fighting chance. The scenery changed considerably when I reached the edge of the artisan district. City blocks and burnt-out cars were reced with well-manicured orange-blossom trees and winding paths as I entered what used to be a park. A group of enforcers stopped me at the gates, but after showing them the letter from Master Edrik, they let me go after threatening me with their bamboo clubs and warning me not to make any trouble. Punk-ass enforcers, I thought. But the tiny bit of indignation that stirred within me, caused a little flicker of Frenzy to surge. I grinned and quickly diverted into another sprint, training my Reflex Sharpening ability once again. I headed in the direction Master Edrik had told me, northeast towards the edge of the district, which was bordered by arge forest. The forest itself was still under the protection of the barrier, but as I gazed on it from afar, it looked as thick as the forests in the wilds. Small houses made in traditional Yee architecture dotted the area, each of them seeming to run a small industry of some kind. One house clearly belonged to a potter by the number of urns and jugs on thewn, another had a small farm growing what I think were spirit herbs. There were bright flowers and things that looked like lemon grass and rosemary. I waved to the young woman working the field, but she gave me a distrusting look. She then quickly looked away and went back to tending her crops. She began pushing a plough that would likely have needed two oxen to drag through the earth, but she did so all on her own, moving it with ease. I had to admit, cultivators were amazing at some things. It was no wonder they didn¡¯t need machines, factories, and AI like we did in the past. A cultivator working as a farmer could probably produce in a month what normally took a whole year. Not only could they use their Qi to push a plough faster than a tractor like that woman did, but they could use it to speed the growth of the crops as well. Too bad most of them are assholes, I thought. A Qi-based society could be pretty amazing if they believed in things like basic dignity, fairness, and human rights. Iughed at myself. Since when did I be a social activist? Besides, these people had existed like this for over 14,000 years. They were beyond changing, probably beyond saving too. I passed through a small vige square next, where many of the artisans were setting up stalls to sell their goods. The people there were surprisingly a mixture of ethnicities and cultures. While most were still Yee, there were also humanlike races from other worlds, like the tall tan- skin Dharmians and even some from Sumatra and Threja¡¯s home world. Most distinctive however were the Naja people who looked human but had cat-like ears. They made up at least a quarter of the crowd of a few hundred or so people in the market. I drew quick stares; my ratty clothes and thickening beard probably pegged me for a native right away. Maybe the busted lip too. While no one was overly offensive to me, they weren¡¯t quite friendly either, staring at me with a confused sort of interest, as if to say, ¡°who let you in here?¡± I sampled the air with my me and caught the slightest sense of fear amidst their mild disdain. Using [Indifference] to keep my head straight, I quickly converted it into more Frenzy to apply towards my gains. I thought then that it probably wasn¡¯t surprising that most of the people here were of the ¡®conquered¡¯ variety. Just like Yu Li, being simply gifted as a cultivator was no guarantee into the martial sects. And most people didn¡¯t want to follow that path of brutality anyway. It was far easier to be an artisan¡¯s apprentice and earn your way into one of the crafting sects instead. I stopped to ask a Naja man where I could find Master Edrik and after looking initially surprised that I had spoken to him, he flicked his ears and then pointed in a general direction. ¡°Edrik¡¯s ce is beyond the end of this path. Keep going till you reach the forest. You can¡¯t miss it.¡± After thanking him with a bow, I performed another quick jog and true to what he¡¯d said, just beyond the vige square, which was in a sort of cul-de-sac, I found a small dirt trail and followed it to a stone-walled house with a smoking kiln in its front yard. The distinctive ring of hammering metal filled the air as I approached and there in the dusty front yard was Master Edrik, pounding away at a glowing piece of steel atop an anvil. As he worked the material, his eyes seemed to glow with a faint light of their own and I noticed with each strike of the hammer there was more than just natural sparks flying. If I could detect Qi, I¡¯m sure it would be pouring out of him. ¡°A man of your word,¡± he said without looking away from his work. ¡°You¡¯re here early. Good. Lysa! Bring the axe!¡± A momentter a woman appeared from inside the house, brandishing the axe in both hands. She appeared middle aged, but still quite youthful, with a head of thick dark hair and sparkling blue eyes. She handed me the axe while giving me a warm smile. ¡°Here you are, son.¡± ¡°My wife will show you what to do,¡± Edrik said, still focused on his work. ¡°That axe has a spring attached to it, by the way. That means, it stays here at the end of the day. You give me a good week¡¯s work, and it¡¯s yours to take home at the end. Fair deal?¡± ¡°Fair deal. Thank you, Master Edrik.¡± I bowed again. ¡°This way, ah¡­ what was your name?¡± the woman, Lysa, asked. ¡°You can call me Chun,¡± I said. ¡°Where do I start?¡± Lysa showed me to the back of the house where a bunch of thick logs were ced sloppily next to an old stump. Just behind it was a lean-to that was only a quarter filled with split firewood. ¡°Have at you,¡± she said with a yful smile, nodding to the logs. ¡°You can fell another tree from the forest if you run out.¡± She then leaned closer with a whisper, ¡°And thanks by the way. Edrik likes to do damn near everything himself, but a little extra help around here would do wonders.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best,¡± I said, giving her a smile. When she left, I couldn¡¯t help but think how nice she was, and how lucky Edrik was to have found such an attractive wife. I hoped I¡¯d get so lucky one day. I grabbed a thick log and ced it on the stump. I had chopped my fair share of firewood in my life, but this time I was going to do it in ir. It was time to cultivate my Frenzy. * * * I chopped wood for three hours straight. The axe was as light and sharp as Edrik had imed and it made short work of the logs, but I wasn¡¯t focusing on production. I was instead channeling whatever stored Frenzy I had into my blows. I¡¯d go in savage bursts of about a minute at a time before the Frenzy ran out and then I¡¯d have to chop normally while I tried to focus on mere memories to fill my small well of Frenzy back up. It was admittedly not as productive as I was hoping it would be, but it was doing something. When I had split enough logs, I carried as many as I could at a time to the lean-to, using Frenzy to build my muscles. It was slow going in terms of cultivation though. I had to work normally for ten minutes waiting for more Frenzy to build, just to get a minute of cultivation in. I started trying different ways to try and generate the Frenzy. I tried to think of the log as my enemy, painting it with Hein¡¯s face in my mind. While it was satisfying to some extent, it still wasn¡¯t generating much Frenzy. I was starting to understand now why cultivation took so long, especially for Qi cultivators. While their energy source was always present, they had to wait days for their Qi reserves to fill before they could perform techniques, or so Mu Lin¡¯s textbook had exined anyway. I at least had the ability to generate and use massive amounts of energy. I just needed the right catalyst. Unfortunately, Edrik and his wife were turning out to be too nice to help me in that category. A few minutester, as if to prove my thoughts, Lysa came out of the house with a sweating ss of ice water mixed with lemon slices. ¡°Thought you might be thirsty.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, taking it from her. The cool water, hinted with fresh lemon and sweetened with what tasted like honey, was just the kind of thirst quencher I needed. I let out a sigh of satisfaction after gulping nearly the whole thing down. ¡°This really hits the spot. Thanks again.¡± ¡°You work very fast,¡± Lysa said, surveying my progress. ¡°And you¡¯re wee.¡± As she smiled at me, I started to taste lemonade again, but it wasn¡¯ting from the ss. As I saw the way she was staring at me, I took a risk and decided to test something out. Slowly I began undoing my shirt. ¡°Sure is hot out here. I need to cool down.¡± I¡¯d always been pretty slimly built, but after cultivating for thest week and healing myself with Frenzy, I noticed that I was getting pretty cut. I did a little flex and gave her a smile as I handed her back the empty ss and sure enough there was another burst of lemonade again. Holy crap¡­ I thought. Was I turning the old girl on? Okay, so maybe it was a little pathetic to farm Frenzy by getting Mrs. Edrik¡¯s motor running. But hell, I could tell she wasn¡¯t really interested in me like that. This was more like her looking at a fireman¡¯s pinup calendar or something. And heck, maybe I could pay old Edrik back in more ways than one by doing so. I used [Your Fear is my Strength] to generate a good portion of Frenzy and quickly channeled it into my muscles. I then had another idea. ¡°Time to speed this up,¡± I said, giving her a wink. Lysa cocked her head at me quizzically. I took two logs and stacked them on top of one another. I then hefted the axe onto my shoulder with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], mimicking the way Threja used to carry her sword. Then with a yell I leapt into the air and channeled my Frenzy into a swift downward strike. [Two-Log Chop!], I thought in my head. The axe split the logs with a massive thwack! sending splinters flying. Lysa let out a yelp of shock which quickly turned into a squeal of delight as she pped her hands together for me, lemonade flowing like a waterfall. Ipped it up as I performed a little bow and gave her a cocky smile. She then gave me a mischievous grin. ¡°Can you do it again?¡± I spent the rest of the afternoon entertaining Lysa with my over the top antics, using the Frenzy she gave me to train both my reflexes and my strength as I performed chop after chop. After all the screaming, even Edrik came around to see what all the fuss was about. He was much harder to win over, but after pulling off my first three-log chop, he eventually gave me a little chuckle before heading back to his anvil. By the end of the day the wood pile went from a quarter to a third full. ¡°Looks like you might have to start taking down some trees soon,¡± Edrik said as I handed him back the axe. ¡°You did a good job. Come the same time tomorrow.¡± * * * I left early again the next morning, but this time I was smart enough to run on an empty stomach and got breakfast once I had reached the artisan¡¯s square. I¡¯d gotten a good night¡¯s sleep too, after spending only a couple hours studying right after having a meal with Yu Li and Su Ling. Yu Li was still upset by the whole apology thing, but I reassured her that it was all going to be fine. By the time I reached Edrik¡¯s ce I saw that my inclination might have been right. The two were beaming and Lysa kept giving Edrik constant pecks on the cheek that he pretended not to like. I chuckled when I saw it. Such a cute and happy middle-aged couple¡ªthey reminded me of my parents a bit. I set to chopping wood and again focused on honing my reflex and strength by chopping multiple logs at a time. With a small but steady flow of Frenzy thanks to Lysa¡¯s cheerleading, I found myself able to work faster and faster, chopping more wood and carrying more weight with each load. By the end of the second day the lean-to was half full. By the third day three quarters. In between chopping wood, I helped with other chores around the house. Movingrge baskets of ore for Edrik. Digging a new foundation for an expansion to the house that he hadn¡¯t gotten around to yet. I was dog tired by the time I jogged home each night, but after a few hours of study and a good night¡¯s rest I woke uppletely rejuvenated again. By the fourth day I¡¯d run out of logs to chop and had to set about getting some more. After gaining some Frenzy from Lysa, by moving around some baskets of steel with my shirt off, I then headed into the forest to quickly use it before it dissipated. I had decided the night before that I was going to teach myself a new technique, which I was tentatively calling [One-Cleave Chop]. Maybe it was kind of a stupid name, but like the log thing it was just a literal description of what I was nning to do. I nned to focus on being able to fell a tree in a single two-handed cleave. I started with small saplings that I knew I could cut down easily, building my swinging technique and confidence. I then found a small tree that was about three inches thick. ¡°[One-Cleave Chop!]¡± I shouted with Frenzy and my axe went clean through. I felt a little burst of aplishment by doing that. From across the distance at the house I heard ppinging from Lysa. Iughed. She was too far away for me to gather any Frenzy from her, but her encouragement was enough for me to try a bigger tree. I one-chopped about three more about the same size, and then managed to chop one down that was about 4 inches before finally spotting a tree that was as thick as a telephone pole. Could I do it? I wondered. I thought about it for a bit before deciding that it was way too big and started instead looking for a smaller tree. Something strange happened then. I felt something inside me diminish. Like my me had been suddenly quenched with a bucket of water. What the hell¡­? I looked back at the bigger tree again and suddenly felt my me reignite. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding,¡± I said. Did I just subconsciously make the tree a challenge I couldn¡¯t back down from? I looked at how thick it was. Maybe four or five of those massive chops and I could do it. But one? I shook my head and immediately felt my me diminish again. Ah screw this. I started to walk away and the feeling grew even worse. What am I doing? I looked back to the house and saw Lysa eyeing me in anticipation. Damn, I had an audience too. I couldn¡¯t back down now. I walked back to the tree with my axe on my shoulder. I recalled Shura 247. ¡°Remember, oh kindled,¡± I recited the verse aloud. ¡°A Berserker¡¯s couragees not from his confidence in victory, but of his disregard for defeat.¡± I squared up on the tree, not caring if I seeded or not. But I sure as hell was not going to back down. Still the tree was thick and the [Odds were Against Me]. As I thought the phrase, I opened my meridians in the sequence of the technique and suddenly from nowhere a huge rush of Frenzy burst from within me. I let loose a feral cry as I spun with the axe. ¡°[One-Cleave Chop!]¡± My entire body screamed in pain as my de hit the bark. Time seemed to freeze as every bone in my arms seemed to break. Then in a sudden burst of heat and energy, the axe drove straight through the tree trunk with a sudden explosive Bam! Wood splintered and flew, the sound as loud as a thunderp. I stood shakily, my feet still moving with the momentum of my swing. A loud creaking sound filled the air as the huge trunk began to tilt and fall. My heart was pounding as loud as Edrik¡¯s hammer in my ears and I felt lightheaded. I looked to Lysa and saw her starting at me in shock, before suddenly jumping up and down, pping her hands in glee. Residual Frenzy surged through my body, suddenly making my stomach feel sick. I tried to hold my axe triumphantly in the air as the world darkened. Blood then filled my mouth and nose as every organ in my body seemed to explode. I vomited noisily on the ground as my legs gave way. Thest thing I remembered seeing was the expression on Lysa¡¯s face change from tion to fright as the tree and I fell together as one. Chapter 17 I awoke groggily to Lysa and Edrik standing over me. ¡°Are you crazy, boy?¡± Edrik red down at me, blue sky and clouds ying backdrop behind him. ¡°Looks like you damn near killed yourself. Tree almost fell on you too.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah¡­?¡± I croaked, my mouth still full of blood. I leaned to the side and spat it out. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Come let¡¯s get you inside,¡± Lysa said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you did that, but you fainted something awful. Have you eaten much today?¡± ¡°Yeah, I had some breakfast.¡± I looked over my shoulder and saw the thick tree trunk lying not a few feet from me. I wasn¡¯t quite sure who won the battle, me or the tree¡ªmaybe it was more of a tie. ¡°Must not have been enough,¡± Lysa said. ¡°Come on. Get into the house. Now.¡± I followed her orders and after cleaning me up a bit, Lysa sat me at a table and then popping into her kitchen and returned with a bowl of stew and some bread. When I tasted the stew, it was like heaven in my mouth. Savory and spicy and filled with chunks of meat, I gulped it down, realizing I hadn¡¯t eaten something that tasted this good in ages. Maybe there was even Qi in it. After I¡¯d finished, I felt ten times better and my bodyplimented the meal with arge burp.¡°Excuse me,¡± I said. ¡°Lysa, that was wonderful. Thank you.¡± She smiled. ¡°I¡¯m d you enjoyed it.¡± My eyes grew suddenly heavy then and I felt like passing out again. ¡°Let¡¯s get you a nap,¡± Lysa said and before I knew it, she¡¯d led me to the living room and tucked me into a small cot next to the firece. I stared for a moment at the flickering mes, my freshly cut wood being put to use. I was out in seconds. When I awoke sometimeter, the embers in the firece were just barely glowing and from the window it looked to bete afternoon outside. Both Lysa and Edrik were there, sitting infortable-looking rocking chairs sipping from steaming mugs of what I imagined was tea. ¡°There he is,¡± Lysa said with a smile. ¡°How are you feeling, love?¡± I sat up, half wondering where I was. I only briefly took notice of everything before in my stupor, but now looking at their living room it was like being transported back in time, to an Earth 12 years ago. The furniture looked all hand crafted and made to a more western design, like something you¡¯d expect to find in a log cabin. Landscape portraits hung on the walls and the wood floor was covered with a thick and cozy rug. I stretched and all the pain I¡¯d felt earlier was gone. ¡°I¡¯m feeling great to be honest,¡± I said. ¡°Sorry for passing out like that. Don¡¯t know what came over me.¡± ¡°Yep, trying to chop a tree down in one go will probably do that to you,¡± Edrik said with a chuckle. He then squinted at me. ¡°I didn¡¯t take you for a cultivator at first, but you must be to have done that.¡± I should have known this would catch up to me eventually. I probably shouldn¡¯t have tried to push my limits in front of Lysa, but the path was the path. ¡°I¡¯m not really,¡± I said as honestly as I could. ¡°My friend lent me a book and I was just trying something out. Probably shouldn¡¯t have.¡± I gave a smile and theyughed. I wasn¡¯t sure if they believed me or not, or if they simply didn¡¯t care. Either way that¡¯s all they mentioned of it, and I was d for that. We chatted a bit more over some tea and I asked about the furniture and even the food. Lysa told me she made it all herself, crafted it in the traditions of their homeworld which was a ce called Ulm. It had been renamed of course, and was home to some other Yee Princess now. I found that they had bounced between several cultivation worlds before finally settling down on Earth about eight years ago. ¡°Master Edrik,¡± I said after a while, ¡°tell me something. How is it you¡¯re able to live like this?¡± He raised a bushy eyebrow at me. ¡°How do you mean?¡± ¡°Like you don¡¯t seem to worry about following the culture of the dynasty at all. You¡¯ve kept your own. How is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not easy,¡± Lysa said. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be willing to sacrifice.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Well, we wouldn¡¯t be able to live like this in the imperial city,¡± Edrik said. ¡°The imperial city?¡± It was the first time I¡¯d heard that term. He pointed to the sky. ¡°Up there. As a citizen that¡¯s where we¡¯re all supposed to be. But if you¡¯re willing to give up some luxuries you can live a simple life ording to your own code. Own your ownnd. Cost us damn near everything to buy this plot, but it was worth it for us.¡± I nodded and thought about my own situation. ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem possible for me. For any of us.¡± Lysa gave me a sympathetic frown. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s hard for you and your people. It¡¯s been well over a century for us now, so those old wounds are long since closed, but trust me when I say it. It will get better with time. And I¡¯m sorry we had toe to your world to do it, buting here has given us hope for rebuilding some of what we lost on our own. I¡¯m sure you can too in time.¡± A bit of ire stirred within me. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can settle for that.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lysa said. ¡°I mean I want it all back,¡± I said. Edrikughed. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You heard me,¡± I said, making the vow more to myself than to them. ¡°I¡¯m going to take it all back one day.¡± Edrik looked at me strangely as if not sure if I was being serious or not. Finally, he justughed. ¡°Ah, the invincibility of youth. You keep that spark for as long as you can, son. Whatever you need to believe to get you through.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll certainly try.¡± But I had more than a spark. I had a me. And I was going to do more than just get through. I was going to seed¡­or die trying. * * * I finished the tea and took another nce out the window. There was still plenty of daylight left. ¡°Well, I think I¡¯ve rested enough,¡± I said. ¡°Time to get back to work.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you take it easy for today,¡± Edrik said. ¡°Go home, rest up, finish off tomorrow.¡± He was probably making sense, but somehow from that brief rest and food I was feeling better than ever. I stood and felt like I could go on for hours. I wondered then if I¡¯d just had a breakthrough of some kind. The thought made me eager to get back to my axe to find out. ¡°No, I¡¯m good,¡± I said. ¡°Plus, I owe you for sleeping on the job.¡± Theyughed with me as I cracked the joke and then I made my way back outside. Grabbing the axe, I headed back to the tree and began hacking it into man-sized logs about six feet long. There seemed to be a bit more Frenzy stored in my Dantian than there was before and when I used it to pick up the log, it felt as light as a pillow on my shoulder. ¡°Holy shit,¡± I said. I must have reached stage two of my Muscle Strengthening or something. Even the smaller logs I had been chopping before felt heavier than this. And this was at least five times their size. I lugged the giant logs back to the house two at a time, enthused by my new-found strength. I then went to work, breaking the logs down into smaller ones, before finally chopping them into firewood. I practiced my homemade axe techniques with each one and sure enough I was cutting even faster than before, my reflexes perhaps at stage two now as well. When I regained some Frenzy I tried a [Three-Log Chop] technique on the thick tree trunk and managed to cut it over halfway. Definitely stronger, I thought. But it wasn¡¯t mere physical strength either, it felt like I could actually put more Frenzy behind my techniques as well. I thought back to the excruciating pain I¡¯d felt after executing the [Odds Against Me] technique and wondered if I¡¯d increased my Internal Strengthening level as well. Something was different for sure. But I wasn¡¯t going to attempt another [One-Cleave Chop] anytime soon. Maybe I should have called it [One-Chop Cleave]? I thought absently. Yes, that had a better ring to it. ¡°[One-Chop Cleave],¡± I decided with a nod. I went back to the forest to harvest more trees when the logs ran out. I chopped them normally, without the use of Frenzy and even with my casual strength and speed I was making short work of the job. As I worked my mind wandered and I thought about what Edrik and Lysa had said about being able to carve out your own destiny. If their lives were any example, it certainly wasn¡¯t something to scoff at. They seemed at peace andfortable. For me, it was almost like being with normal people again. ¡°Own my ownnd,¡± I pondered to myself. I thunked my axe into a log and sat down next to it to contemte the idea for a while. Owning my ownnd and living free and peacefully like Edrik and Lysa was certainly appealing, but it wouldn¡¯t get me to my goal. Still there was an idea there that might lead me closer to it. To buynd would cost a ridiculous amount of money, but amazingly I had that already. The lightning core had to be worth over a thousand spirit stones. Maybe even more. With that much money, I could buy the whole of D block from our fatndlord, Li Fet, and maybe even Mu Lin¡¯s block too. It could be a start for us. As a people, living in our own way, on our ownnd again. But there were a few problems too. One, I had no idea how to offload a hotmodity like the lightning core. The world of cultivators was a cut-throat one and that was when they were acting above board. To dip into the seedy underworld of ck markets and criminal cultivators was to venture into the dangerous and unknown. My me, not surprisingly, flickered brightly at the idea. But even if I did manage to hawk it without ending my journey prematurely, I couldn¡¯t just buy thend from Li Fet. Not without bing a citizen first. I released a dreaded sigh as I fumbled in my overcoat pockets and found the crumpled-up flyer for the Tournament of Mortal Champions. I had loathed the idea of joining the dynasty before. It was against my very principles and ideals. But perhaps it was time to be more strategic. I couldn¡¯t just fight my way to the top. At least not yet. Not until I became as strong as Threja, or stronger even. Till then, I had to y the game and get wins where I could. And having a ce to truly call our own would be a start to reiming the Earth. I checked in with the me. It seemed to like the idea. I was still on my path. I focused on the flyer again and formted a new goal. Defeating Hein was now just the warmup. I had a tournament to win. * * * When I resumed work, I had a new vigor. I had so much to aplish and seemingly so little time. My mind was moving so fast formting ideas that I didn¡¯t even realize how much work I¡¯d done until I packed away thetest batch of chopped firewood and realized the lean-to was now full. I let Edrik know and when he came by to have a look he let out a long whistle. ¡°I have to admit. When I gave you the job I didn¡¯t expect you to get but half of it done. Looks like I¡¯ll be set for two winters now.¡± I chuckled, handing him the axe. ¡°You keep it,¡± he said. ¡°The day is done and so¡¯s the job.¡± ¡°I still got a day left.¡± Edrik smiled and patted me on the back. ¡°We¡¯ll call it a bonus. Come wash up and have supper with us before you go.¡± Lysa put on a spread like I¡¯d never seen before. There was more of the lovely stew, plus some grilled pork to go along with more of her freshly baked bread. Edrik then cracked open a bottle of homemade cider, that was fizzy and had a hint of both apples and pears. Weughed and talked while we enjoyed the meal and for the first time in years it felt a bit like home again. I asked if they had any children and they had not just children, but great-grandchildren now spread all over the empire. It was a bit mind boggling to think of it like that, but when you could live hundreds or thousands of years, a family never truly died, it just got bigger and bigger. I suppose that was also why the dynasty had to simply keep expanding. If people didn¡¯t die naturally then what other option was there than to simply grow and grow. We finished up with a freshly baked pie filled with nuts and raisins and when we were done, Lysa gave me a piece to take with me wrapped in a napkin. ¡°You take care of yourself, son.¡± She gave me a warm hug as I stood at the door to depart. ¡°Youe back to visit anytime. We¡¯d love to have you.¡± ¡°Thanks so much, both of you. You have no idea how much you¡¯ve truly helped me.¡± They really had, too. I¡¯d managed to cultivate and break through to new tiers of power, I¡¯d found a new purpose to better aplish my goal, but most importantly I¡¯d met them, people who made the world worth living in again. I vowed to myself to seed the same kind of peace once I took back the Earth. But I had a heck of a long way to go before then. ¡°Here you go,¡± Edrik said and pressed something in my hand. ¡°Another bonus.¡± When I looked, there was a crescent-shaped lump of silver in my palm. ¡°A full Tael?¡± ¡°I figured you did about three weeks of work, so with the axe, I say we¡¯re square.¡± ¡°Master Edrik, thank you so much!¡± I gave him a bow of respect but he didn¡¯t return it. He instead held out his hand and grabbed me by the wrist when I extended my own in kind. ¡°This is our custom,¡± he said with a firm grip. ¡°You take care of yourself,d. And if that de ever needs sharpening, or if you need any smithing done, you know where toe.¡± * * * It was well after dark by the time I started my jog home. Before I left, I used some rope and a few pieces of firewood to fashion a makeshift backpack of sorts, looping the axe through the rope beneath the bundle of chopped firewood on my back. While the axe wasn¡¯t illegal for me to carry as amoner, it certainly might draw unwanted attention just holding it openly in my hands. The wood gave me the perfect guise of a woodcutter returning from work with his tools upon his back. The streets were especially dark and barren as I entered the patch of no-man¡¯snd between the Artisan District and where the Native Housing District began. The Bloodmoon was on the rise, slowly recing the darkness with an eerie red glow. I stared up at it and wondered for a moment just what it was. What gave it the power to turn normal animals into monster and demons? I suppose I might never know, but I was going to take advantage of it tomorrow. I had my axe and my newfound strength and tomorrow I was going to increase it even more by killing mon¡ª A loud thunk! came from behind me and I stopped, wondering what the hell it was. It was extremely close, like right behind my ear. ncing over my shoulder to the wood on my back, I could see a long, slender object sticking out of one of the logs, like a metal chopstick or pin. A sudden vip! cut the air and my right shoulder exploded in pain as another pin flew out of the darkness and hit me with the force of a baseball bat. Before I even could react, a shadow sprinted towards me at a speed unimaginable. It was all I could do to raise my forearms in a block as the figure leapt at me. I felt a rib crack as I got hit by what I imagined a speeding car would feel like. I flipped end over end like a rag doll, firewood and axe flying into the air as Inded hard on the asphalt. I nced up and saw the figure was now at a standstill some thirty feet away, the same distance that kick had sent me. The person was small whoever they were, covered in tight-fitting ck apparel like the Enforcers wore, but this was no enforcer. The face was concealed like one though, their head wrapped in ck bandages, leaving only the space around the eyes uncovered. In one hand was a fist full of pins,ced between the fingers, in the other a slim de that glinted crimson in the moonlight. I was probably screwed. I had no idea who this was, but it didn¡¯t seem like a pompous-ass cultivator like Hein or one of his flunkies. This was more like one of the Fire Bird members I¡¯d fought out in the wild. A mid-tier Foundation Realm practitioner at least, possibly more. My Frenzied me consumed my inner fears as my heart hammered in my chest, but I shrugged it all off with a smile of [Indifference]. ¡°Well, shit,¡± I said as I spat out a wad of blood. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you all had ninjas in the empire now.¡± I didn¡¯t get much of a rise from the stupid joke. The word ¡®ninja¡¯ probably didn¡¯t make sense in Yee anyway. But although they didn¡¯t have a name for them in Yee, martial assassins dressed all in ck was an all toomon sighting in the bad parts of town. And now one of them hade for me. ¡°This One heard you had a big mouth.¡± A woman¡¯s voice, young but authoritative, oozing with confidence. Thedy assassin then flexed her Qi, her weapons glowing with a silvery light as she dropped into a martial stance. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can shut it for good.¡± Chapter 18 I cycled my Frenzy as I slowly picked myself off the ground, an amused grin on my face. I didn¡¯t have much Frenzy stored in my Dantian and the pain in my body was already being utilized for healing. If I wanted even a chance at killing this woman, I needed to start generating more Frenzy and fast. I started by channeling my meager reserves into [Fear the me] as I casually pulled the pin out of my shoulder, using [Indifference] to not show any reaction on my face. ¡°Damn¡­guess I shouldn¡¯t have pissed off the knitting club,¡± I said as I tossed the ten-inch pin to the ground. Still no rise out of her. Guess I needed to be more direct than stupid jokes. ¡°Before we start, I need to ask you a question,¡± I said, locking my eyes with hers. ¡°Are you sure you want to do this, sis?¡± The woman let out a little scoff. ¡°Your vacant bravado does not impress This One. I know exactly what you are. A mere mortalmoner ying at games you do not understand. You should feel lucky to have your life taken by one such as I.¡± ¡°Is that right? And does ¡®this one¡¯ have a name?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t share my name with dead men.¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m assuming Hein sent you then. Guess he¡¯s a pussy, after all.¡± I chuckled as I undid my overcoat, slowly peeling it off to reveal my fresh wound and the jagged scar across my ribcage. I idly mused that this might be a great opportunity to add some more scars to my collection, if I survived, that was. I did a quick check of my surroundings. The axe was a good ten feet away, firewood scattered all around me. We were in the middle of the street, just behind us a busted-up gas station and across from what looked to be a used car lot, full of half-torched vehicles. ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°Listen carefully, ¡®nameless¡¯ one. I¡¯m not trying to impress you with bravado. I just want to be sure you know what you¡¯re getting into. Because once I reveal what it is I truly am¡­I¡¯ll have no choice but to kill you. Do you understand?¡± I backed my words up with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and I sensed a touch of fear finally bubble up within her. It was just enough to fortify my body with [Indifference] as I quickly converted her fear into Frenzy. What I¡¯d said was still mostly bullshit though. I had found new strength, but I didn¡¯t know jack about how to fight. The most they taught us in Foundation school was some Tai Chi crap and maybe how to do a backflip, but I wasn¡¯t good at either. This woman on the other hand was a trained assassin sent by Hein, a man who wanted me dead. Truly the [Odds were Against Me]. As Ipleted the technique a well of Frenzy surged from within me and I used it to further bolster my defenses, reinforcing and hardening my skin while increasing the healing of my wound. I had no finesse, no skill. If I were going to kill her, it was going to be by brute force alone. And that was just fine with me. ¡°Go on then, if you¡¯re so sure.¡± I grinned at her and prepared myself for death if this was to be the end. ¡°I¡¯ll let you take the first swing.¡± There was a second of hesitation from her, fear and uncertainty increasing, but then with a blur she suddenly disappeared. ¡°[Third Heaven! Silver Cross Strike!]¡± The words echoed with power and something shed past me. Blood and pain erupted from my side as the woman reappeared several feet to my rear, her sword raised with the follow-through of her technique. A wound opened up deep in my side and I tasted more blood in my mouth, but I held my form with [Indifference]. She was much faster than I had expected and that martial attack was no joke either. Had I not advanced to the second stage of Body Hardening perhaps and fortified my skin with Frenzy, I doubt I would have survived it. But survive I had. The taste of blood cause something new to trigger within me, a new source of Frenzy emerging as the [Lust for Battle] kicked in. I let out a gleeful cackle and the woman looked at me like I was possessed. ¡°[My Turn], bitch!¡± I grabbed the closest log and flung it at her with a huge burst of Frenzy. It flew like a missile and her eyes widened with shock as she shed to the side to avoid it. The log mmed into the door of a parked car behind her, making the entire thing bounce on its wheels and burst its windows as the piece of wood lodged halfway through the door with a massive crunch of metal. Shit, I thought, amazing even myself. The woman had a simr reaction, a bit of lemonade mixed with her fear as she nced behind her. I used the opportunity to scramble to my axe, snatching it up just as several silver pins hit the ground around me, one of them piercing me in the back. I howled with rage and pain as I dashed towards her, wild swings from my axe cutting the air ahead of me. She backed away from me with quick shes of Qi, shooting needles at me the same time. I ignored them with [Indifference] as I pressed on, taking two right to the chest. I felt a sudden weakness inside, but somehow the surge of Frenzy and bloodlust kept me on my feet. ¡°Pathetic!¡± she said with a disdainfulugh, dashing past me with her movement techniques and slicing at my leg. The cut was painful but not deep. I kept after her and she did it again, while still throwing pins and cackling, toying with me I realized. Rage burned inside me, fueling me with more Frenzy as I growled and gave chase. She dipped between the parked cars, forcing me to slow down. I yelled and cursed at her, jumping over the cars and pushing a couple of them out of the way with a massive kick, like I was breaking down a door. She returned to the street then and still, I couldn¡¯t catch her. After over a minute of chasing my Frenzy was starting to wear thin. She was ying smart. Keeping her distance while egging me on, waiting for me to tire out. I had to end the stalemate soon. Go for broke. All or nothing with no regrets. I delivered what was left of my Frenzy into my meridians to increase my speed and leapt into the air, targeting not where she was, but where I expected her to be with her next backstep. ¡°[Three-Log Chop!]¡± I brought my axe down upon nothing, missing her by a hair. Shit! The asphalt exploded, sending rocks and debris high into the air as a spiderweb crack formed a five-foot crater around me. My axe was stuck in the ground and as I tugged on it, the woman disappeared again. ¡°[Fifth Heaven! Seven Point Strike!]¡± The woman shed around me faster than I could see, sharp paining from each sh of her de. It was no taunting cuts this time. It was all I could do to try and maintain focus, sending my remaining Frenzy to my skin as my [Indifference] technique finally broke and failed. I cried out and dropped to one knee, clinging to my axe as pain exploded through my entire body. Weakness sapped my strength as blood poured from me like a stream, forming a pool at the bottom of the crater I¡¯d made. The pain was enough to almost cause me to ck out and I could feel numbness taking hold as my vision darkened. No¡­not yet¡­I told myself. She¡¯s still alive¡­you can¡¯t stop¡­not until she¡¯s dead¡­ ¡°You have strength, I¡¯ll admit,¡± the woman said as she suddenly reappeared about ten feet in front of me. Her statement caused a wee bit of lemonade to flow from her and I gobbled it up hastily with [Your Fear is my Strength], but it was barely enough Frenzy to keep me alive. She then slowly unwrapped her head dressing, revealing her face. There was nothing remarkable about her, save for her eyes, which at this distance I could now see were a silvery gray and intense with focus. ¡°And you take a good beating as well,¡± she continued, ¡°but you are as skill-less as a child ying with a toy.¡± Her tone then became smug with arrogance. ¡°Do you know how many men I¡¯ve killed, little boy? Men of both strength and skill? Foundation Realm cultivators much higher tier than my own have fallen to the quickness of my impable de techniques. And here you, a mortal savage from a backwater seed world, would dare have the gall to dere that you shall be the one to kill me?¡± She sh-stepped forward, stabbing me twice through my chest in rapid session before spitting right in my face. ¡°You are not even worthy of death by my hand, you filthy worm!¡± I tried to keep focus, my body trembling as I looked up at her. ¡°Then why did youe? Did Hein promise to free you from his harem if you did this? Or, shit, with that ugly face, maybe you had to do it just for him to let you in.¡± Anger exploded within her as her face twisted with rage. ¡°Silence your filthy mouth!¡± She wheeled on me in a flurry and I expected to feel the slice of her de across my throat, but I felt the hard p of her palm across my face instead. Blood spurt from my burst lip and I careened to one side with the force of the blow. ¡°You are not even worthy of knowing my name, you wretch.¡± She glowered at me as her rage seethed and I sucked up every bit that I could, replenishing my me. ¡°But I will tell you, so that you know who ended your miserable little life and put you in your grave. I am Zu Tien of the Silver Leaf n, Inner Sect Practitioner and Tenth de of the Silver Shadows Enve. I do this task for Young Master Hein not for his favor or honor, but only to regain my own and to restore my ce at my true master¡¯s side. This is the only reason that I havee to kill someone as weak and insignificant as you.¡± The anger welling up within her was immense. There was some deep resentment there and I¡¯d only scratched the surface it seemed, but it was more than enough for me. As I siphoned it from her, I regained a bit of my focus, but my body was failing me, perhaps even beyond repair, but I had to push on. I had but one chance at this. She¡¯d proven her superiority when it came to fighting and now I was near death if not dead already. The [Odds were Against Me] like never before. The thought caused a new surge of Frenzy within me, spewing up from somewhere deep inside my soul. I quickly diverted it into both speed and strength, steeling myself with [Indifference] as I dropped [Pain Soothes the Frenzied me] and allowed myself to feel the full brunt of my wounds. I nearly fell over from the pain, my breath bing abored wheeze. ¡°That¡¯s a cool story, sis¡­.¡± I strained to talk normally. My brain was on fire with the intensity of my wounds, each one a burning, pulsing volcano of pain. I opened my meridians to perform two techniques at once. I wasn¡¯t sure if my body could handle it in my current state, but I didn¡¯t care. I was probably dead anyway and this was thest thing I could do to try to ensure she ended up the same. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to tell Hein that you died whining about your wounded pride like the little bitch you are.¡± Her face contorted with a scowl of indignation and rage. ¡°You insolent shit!¡± The insult spiked her anger, creating thest bit of Frenzy I needed to let it all fly. I spun in a sh, using [My Turn] and [One-Chop Cleave] at the same time. The move surprised her, but she was quick enough to react at just thest second, but not quick enough to avoid the techniquepletely. My axe hit something hard and a horrified shriek filled the air as blood flew everywhere. Zu Tien screamed again and again, staring in mortified disbelief at where her left hand used to be. Blood pulsed in streams from the twisted clump of bone and sinew that ended at her wrist. The sight caused a new rush of Frenzy within me as my [Lust for Battle] returned. I released a savage cry as I focused on nothing but killing her, my axe swinging wildly. The woman¡¯s pain and fright became my own, a new vigor filling my veins with Frenzy instead of blood. I caught her once more on the arm and then her side, before she stirred from her state of shock, and began defending herself with the sword still in her good hand. Sparks flew as our des met, the force of my heavy strikes enough to make her wince and slide across the ground as she blocked them. Every curse-filled statement she¡¯d made returned to me, fueling me with more Frenzy from my own source of rage. I watched her face change from grimaces of pain to outright fear and terror as I wailed on her relentlessly, chopping at her again and again. An exhration filled me like never before, like the Demon within me had finally slipped free of the Struggler¡¯s hold. The intoxicating rush of exceeding Frenzy. I was barely in control of my own thoughts, as I chopped with abandon. It was all the woman could do to block me with her de, her martial skills as good as she¡¯d said to keep up with the speed of my hacking. Zu Tien finally seemed toe to herself, as if realizing she was in a battle of attrition she could not win and that she had other skills at her disposal. She disappeared in a burst of Qi, backstepping from me twice to put her about forty feet away. She stared at me a moment, a confused sort of shock on her face, as if unable to make sense of what had happened to her and how. Finally, she sheathed her sword and grasped her wrist to stem the flow of blood as she turned tail and ran. ¡°Come back, you bitch!¡± I started after her, my inner me demanding her demise with hatred and bloodlust. But it wasn¡¯t just the me. She¡¯d seen what I could do and there was no telling what that could lead to now. She moved with lightning speed, utilizing both Qi and qinggong, jumping up the side of a building and running across the roof. There was no way I could catch her. I pointed the tip of my axe to her back instead and screamed as she disappeared into the night. ¡°Know this, Zu Tien, you one-handed whore! You¡¯ve been marked and I will finish what we started here today!¡± My me stirred with the conviction of my words, the promise of her death strengthening my path. But if I was ever going to fulfil it, I somehow had to now stay alive. Frenzy boiled within me in an amount I had never had before. I was sure it was the only thing holding me up, but it would dissipate in time and I was still a mile or so from home. I found my overcoat and took off running in a sprint, burning precious Frenzy while still trying to conserve what little I had left¡­just to stay alive. Chapter 19 I was half dead and nearly out of gas by the time I stumbled through the mostly empty square to try and make my way to Yu Li¡¯s. What few of my neighbors were still outside all turned a blind eye to me, not one of them offering to assist as I slowly bled out and died. I guess seeing me with a busted jaw was one thing, but seeing me sliced up like this was probably something no one wanted to be a part of. Even the cool old dude with the hat could give me but a grimace of sympathy as I shuffled by. Still, I weed the shunning. The Struggler was back in control it seemed, which was probably a good thing. I could barely remember what happened clearly after I¡¯d cut off that bitch¡¯s hand, the Demon nearly taking full control. I¡¯d have to be careful not to let that happen again. Yu Li screamed, waking Su Ling, when she finally opened the door from all my banging. I could barely even say anything to her as I stumbled inside. ¡°Need¡­ some help. Get a doctor.¡± ¡°Chun!¡± Yu Li yelled. ¡°What is this? Who did this to you?¡± I dropped my bloody axe and reached into my pocket for the Tael of silver. ¡°Use this. Go on, I¡¯ll watch Su Ling.¡± I couldn¡¯t really remember what happened next. I copsed in a sort of heap as darkness took me today for the third time that day. Time passed. Yu Li was suddenly there looking over me, holding Su Ling with an anxious look on her face. An old woman knelt on the floor next to me, dressing my wounds.I went in and out¡­glimpses of consciousness. Bandages and stitches, ointments and pain, then finally¡­sleep. * * * Master Hei Dong bristled with irritation as he stormed behind the servant leading him to the training wing of thepound. He often considered himself a patient man and in most things he was. Why was it then that when it came to Hein, his patience always seemed to wear thin? It was as if the boy sought to provoke him intentionally. Or perhaps he was simply expecting too much of thed. At over eighty years old, it was sometimes hard to recall what it was like to be young. Or perhaps at his age, getting roused from his sleep in the dead of night was something Hei Dong could no longer tolerate. Muffled moans echoed from down the corridor ahead. When Hei Dong entered the training hall, he found Hein already on one knee bowing to him. Beside him was the disciple from his sister¡¯s enve, Zu Tien. The girl was on her knees, trembling with what could only be tremendous pain as she cradled her left wrist, which was now little more than a bandaged, bloody stump. ¡°What has happened here!¡± Hei Dong bellowed. ¡°An ident, Father.¡± Hein lowered his head to the floor in a kowtow. ¡°I was sparring with Zu Tien and managed to sever her hand. She is truly as weak as my sister predicted.¡± Hei Dong looked to the girl. Her body trembled with more than just pain, her eyes burning coals of anger and resentment. ¡°Is this true?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Speak freely, girl.¡± Zu Tien¡¯s face twisted into a scowl as long seconds passed. Finally she spoke, spitting her words out as if they tasted bitter in her mouth. ¡°It is true. This One¡­was careless. This One, underestimated the boy¡¯s strength and ferocity.¡± Hein snapped his head towards her as if wanting to p her. And he probably would have if not for Hei Dong¡¯s presence. But Hei Dong allowed the insult. Calling him a ¡®boy¡¯ was more than appropriate in this case. ¡°This One begs your forgiveness, Master Hei Dong.¡± Zu Tien lowered her head in a kowtow. ¡°It will not happen again.¡± Hein let out a harumph. ¡°Zu Tien has clearly shown she is notpetent. She is not worthy to be my sister¡¯s disciple nor my own. I request to have her expelled from the sect immediately for her weakness.¡± Hei Dong could sense the chaos in the girl¡¯s Qi, her spirit struggling internally. Hein was well skilled with a de, trained in the sacred arts of the Silver Leaf n by his mother from birth, the same as his elder sister Fia some ten years before him. Fia in turn had trained Zu Tien for barely five years, but as a member of her inner enve of Silver Shadows, her skills were superior to most. Hei Dong would consider her a good match for Hein in terms of skill, just a step lower perhaps. Where they differed greatly however was in their cultivation base. Hein held much greater internal power, benefitting from the enhancement pills that only being a family member could afford. Hei Dong nced at Hein. The boy was clearly lying, as was she. He wouldn¡¯t put it past him to have used a Qi-focused technique on purpose to punish the girl for losing to her in a match. Him requesting her dismissal further reinforced the idea¡ªan open attempt to hide the shame of his defeat by a subordinate. ¡°I will not allow it,¡± Hei Dong said. Hein raised his eyes defiantly. ¡°But she is a cripple now!¡± ¡°True and your sister will never take back a cripple into her fold. Thus, Zu Tien remains your responsibility now. Permanently.¡± The girl, Zu Tien, let out a sharp gasp or perhaps even a sob as tears streamed down her cheeks. Hei Dong pardoned her pitiful disy of weakness. She had indeed suffered a great loss this night. But loss could be cultivated into great strength if given the right motivation. An inner grin came as his cunning went to work. He would once again turn the boy¡¯s folly into a means of strengthening the sect. ¡°Give Zu Tien a month to heal and recover. In that time, you shall personally retrain her to ovee her loss.¡± ¡°What?¡± Hein said indignantly. ¡°That is not all. She will then retrial. If Zu Tien is unable to match the least of her former peers, she will be removed from the sect.¡± Hein¡¯s countenance softened a little, seeming to agree with the consequence. ¡°But you also will lose your position, Hein.¡± The boy¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°If she fails, then you will be your sister¡¯s disciple instead, taking Zu Tien¡¯s ce as the 10th de of the Silver Shadows.¡± ¡°What? Father, that¡¯spletely uneptable! I am your heir. I will not be made subordinate to my sis¡ª¡± ¡°I have spoken!¡± Hei Dong said, silencing him. ¡°And the choice to be Fia¡¯s subordinate will bepletely your own. Fail your subordinate and she will fail you. It¡¯s as simple as that.¡± Hei Dong paused to let his words sink in for the both of them. ¡°You will learn to take better care of this family¡¯s assets, Young Master Hein. And you will start by cleaning up the messes you make.¡± * * * I awoke not knowing where I was for a moment. Warm nkets covered me and from the light that spilled into the room from the small window overhead, I figured it had to be morning. Memories came back to me. The assassin. The unleashing of Frenzy and the chopping off of her hand. And then somehow making it to Yu Li¡¯s. I tried to move but my body felt like it was cast in concrete. I raised my head a little and saw Yu Li tending to Su Ling in the corner, rocking the infant to sleep in her arms. I kept quiet until she finallyid the child to sleep in the simple wooden box that served as her crib. ¡°Hey,¡± I said, my voice raspy, my throat sore. ¡°Got any water?¡± When Yu Li turned to me, her mouth fell open and she quickly rushed to my side. ¡°Gods, Chun!¡± she shouted in a hushed whisper, trying not to wake the baby. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re awake. What the hell?¡± ¡°Yeah, I know. I¡¯m sorry aboutst night. I didn¡¯t know where else to go. Didn¡¯t have a whole lot of time toe up with alternatives either.¡± ¡°Last night? Try four nights ago. You¡¯ve been asleep for almost five days, Chun.¡± ¡°No shit?¡± I tried to move again and saw what I thought was early morning light was actuallyte afternoon. ¡°No wonder I¡¯m so stiff.¡± Her brows lowered into a scowl. ¡°I have the urge to beat the crap out of you right now. What did you get yourself into? You nearly died! You¡¯re damn lucky I was able to find someone to help you.¡± ¡°Yeah, thanks for that. Did the Tael cover it?¡± ¡°What happened to you? Was it Hein? Did you do something else to provoke him?¡± Her re said it all. She¡¯d put two and two together alright, but wasing up with five instead of four. Forget that Hein had tried to kill me, what really mattered was that I must have done something to have earned it. I guess she wasn¡¯t technically wrong there either, but screw her for even thinking that. ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t him,¡± I said, being technically honest with her as well. She narrowed her eyes. ¡°I know when you¡¯re lying to me, Chun.¡± I sighed. ¡°What do you want me to say?¡± ¡°I want you to say that you¡¯re going to stop all this.¡± ¡°Stop what?¡± ¡°Whatever this is that you¡¯re doing, Chun. You¡¯re getting beat up like every other day. No one even knows where you are. You know your coworkers came by looking for you? They said you hadn¡¯t been to work allst week. Supposed to be out recovering. But I saw you running out of here every morningst week. So where were you even going?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about all that.¡± ¡°Hey, look at me.¡± She grabbed me by the chin, forcing my eyes to meet hers. ¡°I know you¡¯re trying to do this to protect me. Just like you always have. And I love you to death for it. But this isn¡¯t the schoolyard anymore. And Hein isn¡¯t some schoolyard bully. He¡¯s a young master of the ruling n of this entire province. Do you have any idea what that means?¡± I gave her a cocky grin. ¡°Enlighten me.¡± She fumed and threw a cloth full of Su Ling¡¯s burp juice right at my face. ¡°Will you at least try to take this seriously?¡± ¡°Okay. I am. I am,¡± I said, tossing away the puke-smelling cloth. ¡°Man, that¡¯s disgusting. Hey, how about that water?¡± Yu Li rolled her eyes but got up to fetch me some in a metal bowl. The water tasted like heaven going down my throat and as soon as it hit my stomach, I felt it rejuvenating me. Without asking, Yu Li brought me some cold rice and vegetables. I downed the food like I hadn¡¯t eaten in days and technically I guess I hadn¡¯t. When I was done, Yu Li let out a flustered sigh as she collected the empty bowls from me. ¡°I¡¯m going to go and apologize to him.¡± ¡°Who, Hein? What are you going to do? Fly up to the pagoda and start looking for him?¡± She cut her eyes at me, but other than that didn¡¯t entertain my stupid rhetorical question. ¡°He¡¯ll listen to me. I know he will. When we¡¯re alone he always does. Whatever you¡¯ve done, I¡¯m sure I can get him to forgive you for it. We¡¯ll just smooth this all out. Then we can just go back to normal, like nothing ever happened.¡± It was the saddest words I¡¯d ever heard. ¡°Are you even listening to yourself? Back to normal? What even is that? Him treating you like a damn ve while he yaks it up with his pals?¡± It was kind of a low blow, but she needed to hear the truth. To my surprise, she didn¡¯t get angry but instead spoke in a measured and serious tone that hit me right back with a gut punch. ¡°It¡¯s better than him killing you, Chun.¡± I resisted the urge to counter right away and let her words sink in. Yu Li was one of the first people I met in Foundation school. I¡¯d stopped a bunch of Yee kids from picking on her one day, teasing her for her darker skin and curly hair. A few dayster, she came to my rescue in the ssroom, telling off the entire ss in perfect Yee for making fun of me for struggling with the words. We¡¯d been looking out for each other ever since. And while her idea of talking to Hein was ludicrous to me, that¡¯s all she was trying to do really. Protecting me the same way I was trying to protect her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Hein isn¡¯t going to kill me,¡± I said. ¡°He will if you keep pushing him.¡± She said it with no anger, only concern. It was my turn to sigh now. ¡°Yu Li, I know everything you see me doing must look absolutely crazy to you. But you¡¯re just going to have to trust me that I know what I¡¯m doing. One day you¡¯ll see that we don¡¯t need to settle for this. And I won¡¯t stop fighting until you can see that dream for yourself.¡± ¡°What dream? What fighting? What are you even talking about?¡± I thought a while longer, pondering what I should share with her and what I shouldn¡¯t. The less she knew the better, of course. But this was Yu Li not Mu Lin. She was like a sister to me and I owed her some kind of exnation for what the hell I was doing. ¡°I¡¯m going to enter the Tournament of Mortal Champions. And I¡¯m going to win.¡± Yu Li¡¯s eyes darted back and forth, searching my own as her brows lowered in disbelief. ¡°You¡¯re actually serious, aren¡¯t you? Have you really gone and lost your damn mind?¡± ¡°Maybe. But I¡¯m still doing it anyway. I¡¯m going to win my citizenship and then I¡¯ll buy this ce from Li Fet, the whole damn block. We won¡¯t need to worry about being pushed around ever again after that.¡± I then looked over to Su Ling. ¡°None of us.¡± ¡°Are you hearing yourself? Now who¡¯s the one beingpletely stupid? Buy the block, win the tournament? Did you see yourself four nights ago? You don¡¯t know how to fight, Chun. All you know how to do is get your ass kicked and somehow survive.¡± Ouch, that one kind of hurt, but she had a point too. Yu Li fumed and stood. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on with you, Chun, but if you¡¯re on some kind of self-destructive crusade, I don¡¯t want any part of it. Don¡¯te back here if you get yourself messed up again. You hear me? I have a baby to think about. And I can¡¯t take care of Su Ling if I have to worry about babysitting you too.¡± Funny that she said it like that, but I suppose after thest five days I couldn¡¯t argue. I tested my body again, cycling my Frenzy. To my surprise it responded with a pleasant warmth and took away all the aches. I then sat up and after a brief, sharp pain, my body felt fine. It was like it was breaking out of a cocoon or something. I then stood fully, enduring the stretching of tightened skin and the popping of stitches, grimacing instead of screaming by using [Indifference]. Yu Li looked up at me like I was a walking corpse. ¡°How are you even standing right now?¡± ¡°Guess it wasn¡¯t as bad as it looked.¡± But truthfully, I was wondering that as well. Had I just broken through to the third stage of Body Hardening from healing all those wounds? It certainly felt like it. But there would be no way to test it until I fully healed. I stretched in a yawn as I looked down at my bandages. They were caked with old blood, still needing to stay on for another day probably, but I could move around at least. I hobbled towards the door, grabbing my axe that was beside it. ¡°I¡¯m headed out, Yu Li. Thanks again for taking care of me. I¡¯ll let you know when I win the tournament.¡± * * * I blocked out an earful of angry yelling as Yu Li called me an idiotic, selfish prick from behind, predicting my death if I didn¡¯t give up on my stupid dream. I continued to pay her no mind as I slowly made my way back to my apartment, the Struggler firmly in control with its [Resolve]. I guess I shouldn¡¯t have been too surprised by her reaction. It was probably a perfectly normal thought process she was going through. And she wasn¡¯t wrong either. I¡¯d fought that assassin Zu Tien to a stalemate, but it wasn¡¯t because of my skill and she¡¯d damn near killed me in the process. As I entered my apartment, I wondered for a moment if I should pack up my stuff and relocate. I was a marked man now after all and Hein knew where I lived. But then again, he¡¯d had five whole days to kill me easily in my sleep if he wanted to, but he didn¡¯t. It was probably for the same reason that Zu Tien had attacked me in the middle of nowhere while I was all alone. Hein wanted no witnesses to my execution. Far better for me to simply disappear and not show up to our apology party out of ¡®cowardice¡¯, than for him to reveal his own by killing me prematurely in front of everyone. And besides, if I was going to own this ce one day, I was going to have to defend it too. And you didn¡¯t do that by running away and hiding like a little bitch. I plopped down on my cot, pulled out the orb and began searching for answers. As much as I¡¯d progressed in my training, I now felt woefully ill prepared for whaty ahead. Zu Tien had pretty much kicked my ass, and Hein was likely far more powerful than her. And in the tournament, there were going to be people far more powerful than Hein. Yu Li was absolutely right. The only thing I was getting good at, was getting my ass kicked. If I was going to beat Hein and win the tournament, then gaining power and Frenzy alone wouldn¡¯t be enough. Somehow¡­I had to learn how to fight. Chapter 20 The next morning, I woke up feeling a little bit better about life. My body had healedpletely and when I removed my bandages my skin was covered in a mosaic of wicked-looking scars. I huffed out augh. Guess I should thank that crazy bitch for helping me level up, I thought. But it wasn¡¯t just my own ability that had healed my wounds. Whatever medicine that old woman used on them must have helped a ton too. It made me wonder just how much assistance the likes of Hein and other rich cultivators had enjoyed in their cultivation journey by the use of expensive elixirs and pills. It was the whole reason this even existed in the cultivator ecosystem after all. Rare materials from the monsters were used to make such items. Threja had said that I couldn¡¯t use them to gain Qi like most cultivators did, but apparently they could still help me with stuff like healing faster. Which was a good thing as I¡¯d probably need to do a lot of that from now on. While I was fairly confident Hein wouldn¡¯t attack me here in the square, he now also knew I wasn¡¯t just a mortal now either. That meant that if and when the next sneak attack came, it might be from someone much stronger than Zu Tien. Which meant I needed to get skilled right away. As I started a morning routine of push-ups and calisthenics, I mentally recalled what I had gleaned from the orb the night before. I had searched the verses for anything on fighting techniques or martial styles, but as with my search for cultivation fundamentals, there were none. The text was an advanced manual, assuming one already possessed such skills. The best advice I could find was in the 321st Shura. Shura 321On weaponry¡­ We who follow the Frenzied me are not bound by sect nor tradition when ites to our weapon of choice inbat. Be it a closed fist, a short de, or a mammoth hammer, all weapons can be used to channel one¡¯s Frenzy into the defeat of his foe. Yet take heed, kindled one, for some are more effective than others. For this reason, eschew the bow or any means of attacking from afar, for such will never satisfy the cravings of one¡¯s bloodlust. Choose instead that which brings you close to your foe and that which can withstand the full might of your fury. And think not that every de can withstand your might. In time, even the strongest of weapons will be brittle in your grasp. The metal from which you doth glean is essential, for it alone can withstand the forge of the Frenzied me. Choose then carefully your weapon of choice and when all is understood, forge your own totem of rage with it, and mold it in the image of your choice. Although it was talking mostly about weapon choices and thest bit was a bit hard to understand, the basic concept was clear to me. The path of the Frenzied me was open to any style ofbat. Unfortunately for me I knew none, but at least that left the options wide open. Not that I could use anything but the axe for now. Did they even have an axe fighting style? I wondered. I wasn¡¯t sure but I knew somebody who would know. As I dressed for work, a new sense of urgency filled me. I needed to catch Mu Lin before she left on her first excursion of the day. * * * The sight of the guard post was almost alien to me as I approached the eastern gateway. New buildings had been erected with amenities such as a storage and changing facility and even a small infirmary, it seemed. A number of enforcers were on duty and there was a line of patrons waiting to be served. The bright morning sun was starting to bring on the heat of the day already and many of the cultivators took shelter under the barnyard-like roof of the pavilion for shade. There had to be at least a couple dozen or so of them and from off world it looked like, many of the cultivators wearing the robes of sects I didn¡¯t recognize. Scrambling in between them were the more familiar uniforms of handlers, rushing back and forth under the orders of Sumatra who was barking them out over the general din of the crowd. I took advantage of the chaos and slipped in unnoticed, joining my fellow handlers with prepping for the work for the day. As I stuffed my axe into a backpack, a sudden rush of excitement ran through me. I¡¯d been so focused on myck of fighting skill that I¡¯d nearly forgotten my other path to progression. While I needed martial skill to fight cultivators and win the tournament, from my years of experience as a handler, I was pretty sure that when it came to fighting monsters, brute strength and power reigned supreme. And for that I¡¯d grown considerably since thest time I had ventured into the wilds. I had reached second stage in Muscle Strengthening, Reflex Sharpening, and Internal Strengthening from all my log chopping, and thanks to my scuffed battle with Zu Tien had reached third level in Body Hardening as well. All told I was in pretty good shape to tackle my first monster, I hoped. Although I still needed to figure out a way to do that while also handling a client. Before any of that though, I needed to find who I was looking for. I feared that Mu Lin may have left already as I began scanning through the crowd, but finally I spotted her towards the rear of the prep area, stuffing provisions into several sets of backpacks. ¡°Hey!¡± I called to her and as she turned about, her eyes widened with shock and surprise. ¡°Shit! Chun!¡± She ran to me and gave me a hug, squeezing me hard, before stepping back and staring at me much the same way Yu Li had yesterday, like I was a dead mane back to life. ¡°Man, it¡¯s good to see you. Are you even okay? You were like in aa or something when we came to see you. What happened to you?¡± ¡°Kind of a long story but I¡¯m all good now. How about you? How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Feeling great,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m all healed up, but it¡¯s been crazy around here as you can see.¡± She gestured to the line of cultivators waiting under the pavilion. ¡°You should probably go see Sumatra about getting assigned, he¡¯s been asking about you too.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± ¡°Chun!¡± a voice came from behind me. I nced over my shoulder to see Lee approaching with a big goofy grin on his face. He was in uniform and already attached to a group of cultivators it seemed, but he rushed over to quickly to give me a bro hug. ¡°Damn, man! What happened to you?¡± ¡°Hey, like I told her,¡± I said. ¡°A long story. But I¡¯m all good now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me,¡± he said with augh as he yfully squeezed one of my biceps. ¡°When¡¯d you get all this? You¡¯re starting to catch up to me, bro.¡± Both Mu Lin and Iughed at that. Lee was as skinny as a pole. ¡°And speaking of catching up, let¡¯s do thatter, yeah? I¡¯ve got to head out now,¡± Lee said, thumbing towards his group of cultivators. ¡°You guys stay safe out there.¡± As I waved to him, I noticed he joined up with another handler I didn¡¯t recognize. In fact, there were a lot of new faces in uniforms that I didn¡¯t know. ¡°How many people are working here now?¡± Mu Lin shrugged as she went back to distributing the provisions amongst the backpacks. ¡°It¡¯s like someone new shows up every day. Guess doubling the wage will do that.¡± My eyes widened. ¡°We¡¯re getting double pay?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, you weren¡¯t here. Sumatra announced itst week. Double pay leading up to the tournament. Oh, and other new rules too. No more solo handlers leading groups. We have a buddy system now. Think the Dynasty enforced that one after our little mishap.¡± ¡°Yeah, no doubt,¡± I said, marveling at all the new handlers. Maybe hooking up with a total noob could be a way for me to sneak away and kill monsters while I left them with the cultivators somece rtively safe. ¡°Hey speaking of tournaments. You know my friend I¡¯ve been helping with cultivating, right?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± she said, not looking away from her work. ¡°Well, they¡¯re thinking about maybe trying it out. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have any books on fighting styles that they could borrow, would you?¡± Mu Lin stopped packing and looked at me like I¡¯d just asked her how to use chopsticks. ¡°Well of course I do, Chun,¡± she said sarcastically. ¡°I just happen to have a sacred training manual lying around in my crappy apartment.¡± ¡°Okay, so how would I get one then?¡± ¡°You mean how would ¡®your friend¡¯ get one?¡± She shook her head at me. ¡°Chun, is that what really happened to you? Did you try out for the tournament or something?¡± ¡°No,¡± I said, but then I felt a bit bad for lying to her while still asking for her help so I added, ¡°But I might.¡± She merelyughed. ¡°Well, I suppose even you might have a shot in the Wooden Bracket, I guess.¡± ¡°Wooden Bracket, what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like the shit-tier league. Most sects pick up their initiates from there. It¡¯s for people who kind of suck at cultivating but are physically pretty strong, so yeah, you might just have a shot, Chun.¡± ¡°Gee thanks,¡± I said, but couldn¡¯t help but chuckle a little at her ribbing. ¡°What are the other brackets?¡± Mu Lin looked skyward squinting. ¡°Think they go Wood for dummies, Iron for Foundation level, Gold for Core, Jade for Sacred Soul Realm and anything above that is considered the Diamond Bracket, I think.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said, realizing just how low on the totem pole I was at the moment. ¡°So anyway, if I want to learn how to fight toplete in this shit league or whatever, how would I get a manual?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t, Chun.¡± Mu Lin paused, tapping her finger over each backpack, recounting something. ¡°Why do you think so many people join the Wooden Bracket in the first ce? They¡¯re all trying to get into a sect just to learn how to fight. That¡¯s the only ce martial styles are taught and the texts are kept like supersecret. You¡¯d probably have to be a high-level inner disciple or something to even nce the actual texts.¡± ¡°Come on, you¡¯re telling me I have to join a sect to learn kung fu?¡± ¡°Learn what?¡± ¡°Nevermind.¡± I huffed out a sigh of irritation. Gaining citizenship on my own terms through the tournament was one thing, but groveling before cultivators to join a sect? ¡°I don¡¯t know if I could stomach that.¡± Mu Lin shrugged. ¡°Well unless you want to try your luck in the Jianghu, it¡¯s the only way.¡± ¡°In the what?¡± She gave me that chopstick look again. ¡°Damn, Chun, were you likepletely asleep in school? The Jianghu, the underworld. Like the ck market and gangs and stuff?¡± That sounded a hell of a lot more appealing than joining a sect, and plus I needed to figure out how to offload the lightning core eventually anyway. ¡°So how would I go about doing that?¡± ¡°What?¡± Now she looked at me like I was just in crazy. ¡°Like I would know? Why don¡¯t you ask your pal Sumatra over there, he seems pretty shady. But it¡¯s a bad idea all around, Chun. I was just using it as an example. I didn¡¯t mean it literally.¡± ¡°So they don¡¯t have ck market manuals then. They don¡¯t exist?¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Well of course they do. But it¡¯s not like something you can just go and buy.¡± ¡°So how do you get one?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Come on, you¡¯re a schr. You know everything about everything.¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you,¡± she said again, sounding a bit irritated, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Well, who would know then?¡± ¡°I¡ª¡± Then she paused a moment, her mouth still open while she nced to the side in thought. ¡°Actually, Xi Xha might know.¡± ¡°What? Really?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ she mentioned before that the university has contacts within the Jianghu. It¡¯s how they get a lot of their rare texts and artifacts sometimes.¡± ¡°Think you can ask her for me then?¡± ¡°Me ask her?¡± Sheughed. ¡°I¡¯ll do you one better. You can ask her yourself. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d jump at another chance to see you again.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You and that stupid beard of yours must have made quite the impression on her. She asks about you like every time we meet now. She even wanted toe and see you when you wereid out.¡± ¡°No shit?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s really kind of bizarre if you asked me.¡± Iughed. ¡°Well, can you tell her to meet me after work then? Maybe in the central market?¡± ¡°What? I can¡¯t just summon her like that. She¡¯s not at my beck and call, you know?¡± ¡°Can you try please? It¡¯s kind of urgent.¡± Mu Lin sighed but finally nodded. ¡°Okay I¡¯ll send her a note. Like I said, for you she¡¯d probably do it.¡± I could onlyugh. ¡°Thanks, Mu Lin. I really appr¡ª¡± ¡°Well, if it ain¡¯t the damn miracle twins reunited again.¡± I didn¡¯t even need to look to know it was Sumatra, his big booming voiceing from behind me. As I turned to face him, I couldn¡¯t help but flex a little [Fear the me] as I stared him in the eye. ¡°Hey boss. Long time, no see.¡± He jerked his head back slightly irritated, but other than that didn¡¯t seem too affected by my technique. Not that I was pushing it with much Frenzy anyway. ¡°I see it took you twice as long to heal up as her.¡± He jutted his chin towards Mu Lin. ¡°Guess you¡¯re made of weaker stuff.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess so,¡± I said with [Indifference]. He squinted and I could sense more irritationing from within him. ¡°You¡¯re damn lucky that I need all the help I can get right now, or I would have fired your ass.¡± ¡°Yeah, you know how I am when ites to luck, boss.¡± He flinched as I used [Fear the me] again. ¡°Alright, enough with the bullshit. You two aren¡¯t working together today. I got too many damn new people to get trained up. Mu Lin, you¡¯re heading out with the two new girls, Di Ling and Xian Shu. Make sure they know all the D-ss monsters in the book before they return today. If they don¡¯t, tell them they¡¯ll be fired.¡± Mu Lin straightened and gave him a proper bow. ¡°No problem. Will do, boss.¡± ¡°As for you, Chun,e with me.¡± He turned and gave me a shit-eating grin while looking back over his shoulder at me. ¡°I¡¯ve got a special assignment for you today.¡± Chapter 21 As I approached the line of cultivators following behind Sumatra, I could see one of them was standing toe to toe with the Imperial Guard on duty. He was dressed in sky blue robes, with purple and gold trim and wore a golden hat shaped like a half-crescent moon on his head. He was Yee and in his twenties by the looks of him, but his style of robes was different to any I¡¯d seen before. Far more flowing and ¡®priest-like¡¯ if I could put a word to it. Just behind him were two women about the same age and dressed in simr-looking gowns. They wore small tiaras that pinned their dark hair in tight buns and their makeup was thick and painted, vibrant red lips and blue blush on pale white skin. But it wasn¡¯t the beauty of the women or the funky dunce-cap-looking hat that really caught my attention. It was instead what the cultivator was yelling into the guard¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s bad enough that I¡¯ve had to pay full price for my concubines,¡± he shouted. ¡°But now you wish me to pay admission for my porters as well?¡± His face contorted with a sneer. ¡°They are not part of my entourage. They are my property. How else are we to travel in the sedan?¡± He jutted his hand at a carriage resting on the ground not far from him, four poles sticking out the sides instead of wheels. Sitting on the ground next to it were four tired-looking bastards whose job it was to carry the damn thing, I imagined. It had a roof, but no sides, the openings covered with see-through mesh curtains. Two couches faced each other on the inside, the space big enough to seat four. ¡°A thousand apologies,¡± the guard said in ackluster manner without so much as a bow. ¡°Perhaps you may consider travelling without it. The terrain is not well suited for a sedan.¡± ¡°Such is not fitting of my station! I am here by royal invitation. I will not be subjected to this inconvenience.¡± ¡°Then perhaps you¡¯ll consider paying.¡± ¡°Sen Cho!¡± the cultivator shouted and then nced down to a short, middle-aged man with a graying beard standing next to him. ¡°Remind this person again, who I am.¡±¡°Yes, master.¡± The man, Sen Cho, bowed his head before looking to the guard. ¡°Officer, you are perhaps unfamiliar with royalty from within the inner core worlds. This is Young Master Li Gong Qui of the Heavenly Cloud n. Second in line to seed his father, Thai Gong Qui, Grand Patriarch of the Frozen Cloud Sect. His mere presence here should be an honor worthy of a hundred kowtows. And yet you choose to quibble over mere trivialities? I am certain Her majesty, Princess Lunh, would not be pleased to hear that a royal guest from the core worlds was treated in such an undignified manner by one as lowly as you, amon guard.¡± I could sense the guard¡¯s insides bubbling with fear, but his expression remained stone cold. ¡°Again, a thousand apologies. But by order of her majesty, all who enter the¡ª¡± ¡°Must I summon the princess herself to tell you?¡± Li Gong Qui shouted. ¡°Do you not understand who I¡ª¡± ¡°Exalted young master!¡± Sumatra rushed before the cultivator, speaking in an obsequious tone I¡¯d never heard him use before. He then bowed deeply, holding his sped hands high above his head. ¡°This One proposes a solution. Please allow my handlers to act as your porters. They will dly ferry you into the wilds and safely back again. They wille at no extra charge to you, of course.¡± The bastard. I should have seen that oneing. Li Gong Qui nced at Sumatra and huffed out a scoff. ¡°This One is pleased by your proposal, sullied one. I will instead file only aint with your local Warden and not alert the princess to your transgressions.¡± Sullied one? I expected to see some measure of disdaine from Sumatra at being called that, but there seemed to be no register of it at all. He instead replied without missing a beat. ¡°Young Master, I assure you that after your experience today, you will find no need.¡± Sumatra grinned and hammed it up by gesturing to me. ¡°Today you will be served by the great Chun here.¡± ¡°Chun?¡± The cultivator let out a shortugh. ¡°Is it a jest?¡± He turned to smile at his women, sharing the joke and they obliged him with grins and giggles. ¡°Yes, a jest,¡± Sumatra said, pping me on the shoulder. ¡°But despite the name, Chun here is one of my most experienced handlers. He¡¯ll lead you to the materials you¡¯re looking for and keep you out of harm¡¯s way. Ain¡¯t that right, Chun?¡± He prompted me with a p on the back, and I used [Indifference] to ignore the disrespect, performing a bow that stirred fresh Frenzy in my soul. ¡°This one is honored to serve such a unique and iparable cultivator such as you, Young Master Li Gong Qui. It is clear only a sullied one such as the great Sumatra has the insight to glean your true worth.¡± I used [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I said it and the result was Li Gong Qui ncing at me warily before cracking a smile and then nodding, simultaneously baffled yet satisfied by my choice words of praise. I still didn¡¯t understand the connotation of ¡®sullied¡¯ though. Didn¡¯t that mean dirty or scuffed? Maybe it was referring to his race. Sumatra leaned down to me and whispered, ¡°Hey, stop with the bullshit. If you hadn¡¯t noticed, these people are damn rich. So don¡¯t screw this up likest time. You understand?¡± I had the urge to deliver a [One-Chop Cleave] to the entire lot of them, my ire building in my gut, but I settled for the free Frenzy instead. I supposed the free work out carrying theirzy asses wouldn¡¯t hurt either. But more irritating was how this was going to affect my extra-curricr activities. I was nning on skiving off and killing monsters today, not babysitting three new handlers and entertaining the likes of a literal asshat like Li Gong Qui. The three handlers in question joined me, all of them Terran and much younger than I was, all around sixteen or so. They gave me polite bows, respectful of a senior, producing small quantities of lemonade. ¡°Now that that¡¯s settled, let us be away then!¡± Li Gong Qui said. ¡°One moment,¡± the guard said and then pointed to Sen Cho. ¡°What of his fee?¡± Li Gong Qui¡¯s brows lowered with irritation again. ¡°He is not a guest. He is my man servant!¡± ¡°And what is his purpose? Is he to ferry you as well?¡± ¡°He manages my affairs, which will include what I shall decide to tip this establishment at the end of this already unpleasant ordeal.¡± ¡°In that case.¡± Sumatra grinned as he threw an arm over the guard¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can work out something less than half price.¡± * * * It took a few more minutes of haggling before they settled on a quarter of the entrance fee for the old man. In that time, I got to know the names of my new handlers. Two of them were brothers, a couple of curly-haired kids named Ren and Rho. The third was blond haired and called Yi Fu. When Sumatra had said special assignment, I was expecting another death trap, but this shit was possibly worse. Already I could feel my ire feeding me with fresh Frenzy as I tried to figure out how I was going to carry the sedan while scouting at the same time. I finally organized our quartet to make it happen, me taking the front end of the sedan with Yi Fu while the two brothers carried the back end. The youngers groaned as we lifted the sedan for the first time, but it didn¡¯t feel very heavy to me at all. Even with four people onboard, my casual strength at Second Stage Body Strengthening was enough to lift my portion without any strain. I couldn¡¯t say the same for myrades though and as we left the gate and navigated into the wild, I could hear them puffing with exertion already. I yed tour guide to provide my team opportunities for breaks, stopping to point out random stuff like an old diner and an abandoned train station when I noticed them getting tired. The cultivators seemed amused at first but by the third stop Li Gong Qui lost his patience. ¡°Sen Cho!¡± he shouted. ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°Inform the boy of the quarry we seek. I tire of these mortal distractions.¡± ¡°Handler,¡± Sen Cho said, peeking through the curtain at me. ¡°My master seeks a core from the creatures here. Take us to find one.¡± ¡°A core?¡± I didn¡¯t know the books as well as Mu Lin did, but I knew cores were rare and found in B-rank monsters and higher. ¡°I doubt you¡¯ll find that here.¡± ¡°Well tell him that¡¯s what I¡¯vee for.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what my master has¡ª¡± ¡°I heard him,¡± I said, readjusting the sedan roughly on my shoulder to give them all a slight jostle. ¡°What cultivation level is your master?¡± ¡°What was that?¡± Li Gong Qui said. ¡°Does the boy dare question my strength?¡± ¡°My Master wishes to know why you have asked this question?¡± ¡°Are you just going to keep repeating whatever he says?¡± ¡°Answer now!¡± Sen Cho said more forcefully. ¡°What you have asked is of great offense to my master.¡± I released a sigh as more Frenzy stirred, but I masked my irritation with [Indifference]. ¡°The reason I asked is because I need to be sure I don¡¯t put your master against something too strong for him to handle. I¡¯ve seen creatures here kill even Core Realm cultivators before.¡± Li Gong Quiughed. ¡°Tell him then, Sen Cho.¡± ¡°Young Master Li Gong Qui has already broken through to the high tiers of the Core Realm. But that alone is no measure of his true strength. He has mastered the sacred arts of the Frozen Cloud to the highest tier and in only three years. He is also favored to win the tournament within the Golden Bracket. I am certain any beast found here will be no match for him.¡± I almost had the urge to put that to the test, but I had my own objectives today. ¡°Here¡¯s what I can do,¡± I said. ¡°There are creatures known as belrugs in a swamp near here. They¡¯re like giant toads. Your master should find them easy to kill. There¡¯s a small chance one may contain a core.¡± ¡°A small chance?¡± Sen Cho said. ¡°Yes, but there are lots of them. So he¡¯ll have lots of chances to try. Maybe he¡¯ll get lucky.¡± It wasn¡¯tplete bullshit. Belrugs were D-ss monsters, but I¡¯d heard a rumor that someone had found a core in one once. In that case, it was likely the core of an unlucky Core Realm cultivator who¡¯d somehow got eaten by one, but the odds were still the same, I guessed. ¡°Just tell him to get us there quickly,¡± Li Gong Qui said. ¡°I grow impatient. I have travelled a week across the stars to experience this world¡¯s bounty and I will not be kept waiting a minute longer!¡± ¡°My Master says to get us there qui¡ª¡± ¡°I heard!¡± I used my frustration to drive us along faster. Most cultivators were dicks in general, but these people from the core worlds seemed over the top even by cultivator standards. It reminded me of something I used to hear my fatherment about all the time, about how celebrities were worshipped on the screen but in real life they could beplete assholes due to how much money they had. I was too young to consider any of that at the time, but now I could definitely see a parallel between cultivators and the rich and famous of old Earth. Their wealth made them arrogant, but cultivators weren¡¯t just rich either, they were powerful as well, both literally and figuratively. They were constantly vying for power and position amongst themselves. Endless pissing matches to proim self-importance, as if to ward off one another from even attempting a challenge. In a world where anyone could literally challenge someone to a deathmatch to determine who was truly on top, I supposed having an air of constant threat and superiority was perhaps a defense mechanism of sorts. It still didn¡¯t make them any less annoying to me though. As we crested a small rise, Yi Fu looked like he was about to pass out next to me, his hair matted to his forehead with sweat, his mouth open and panting. ¡°Here, take a break,¡± I said and shuffled over to take the full weight of the front end of the sedan from him. ¡°Go help the guys in the back.¡± As I bnced the two poles between my arms in a military press, I felt the slight burn of exertion take hold, my muscles tensing and bulging. I used some of my stored Frenzy to feed into my workout, strengthening my body some more. I heard giggles behind meing from within the sedan. I couldn¡¯t see what the two women were doing, but I imagined they were sneaking a peek at my sweat-glistening arms through the curtains. The gushes of lemonade from them confirmed it. I converted it into Frenzy and used the energy to power me along. I swapped the three kids in and out, giving each one of them a break for five minutes or so while the other two carried the back and I continued to carry the front solo. It gave me a much better vantage to track and keep on the lookout for predators as well and after about an hour we reached the site I was looking for. ¡°This is it,¡± I said, lowering the sedan. We were atop a small cliff overlooking a vast swamp filled with dead trees and stagnant water. The entire swamp was ringed by cliffs of varying heights, almost as if the entire thing were the remnants of some great meteor strike. And hell, with the cultivator attack twelve years ago maybe it was. There were already a couple of belrugs hopping around below. They were each about the size of a small car, with brown leathery skin, pocked with bumps and warts. ¡°They are revolting,¡± one of the women said as she approached the edge of the cliff. ¡°Master, you must kill each and every one of them. They are an offense under the heavens and to me!¡± Li Gong Huiughed. ¡°They seem more an irritation than a challenge. Ask the boy if he is certain these things contain cores.¡± Sen Cho cleared his throat. ¡°The Young Master¡ª¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a chance.¡± I turned about to face the group, putting on [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to ensure they paid attention. ¡°Where we are now is rtively safe. The belrugs can¡¯t climb this cliff. In case you get overrun, be sure to just climb back up here.¡± ¡°Over run?¡± Sen Cho said. I pointed to one of therge thirty-foot-high mounds of mud and debrisying deeper into the swamp. ¡°You see all those big hills over there? Those are belrug nests. There can be hundreds of them inside. They¡¯re cannibalistic in nature, so when you start killing them, they¡¯ll attract more who want to feed. If you start killing them too close to a nest you can find yourself in the middle of a feeding frenzy. Would not rmend.¡± Li Gong Qui smiled. ¡°That sounds like something worthy of my prowess. Let¡¯s test these fiends.¡± Before I could give another word of warning, the cultivator leaped off the twenty-foot-high cliff and performed a somewhat graceful midair spin as he literally floated to the ground in a puff of frost and snow. He withdrew a short staff from within his robes as he approached the edge of the swamp and immediately three belrugs began leaping towards him. They moved surprisingly fast for their size, covering over fifty feet in just a couple of hops. ¡°Young master!¡± one of the women cried with rm. But Li Gong Qui merelyughed. ¡°Fear not, Su Wen. Witness the true majesty of the most advanced Frozen Cloud techniques.¡± He didn¡¯t crouch into a martial stance like I was expecting him to, but instead waved his hand in a series of formations, the staff glowing with Qi as he did so. ¡°[Binding Frost]!¡± A small avnche of ice and snow erupted from the staff and nketed the three belrugs as they closed in on him. They froze in ce, their limbs trapped in ice as they croaked and struggled to free themselves. Li Gong Qui then raised his arms high. ¡°[Crystal Rain]!¡± A small white thundercloud formed above the toads and with a crack of thunder, shards of jagged ice began pelting them from above. Blood and ichor spewed as the beasts burbled and croaked violently, their bodies torn apart as if by machinegun fire. After a few seconds it all stopped, the air then cleared and the belrugsy there dead. Su Wen leapt into the air pping along with the other woman, whose name I¡¯d gathered was Lai Qi. ¡°Well done, master!¡± Lai Qi shouted to him while cooling herself with an ornate fan. Li Gong Qui let out anotherugh. ¡°Child¡¯s y. I barely had to expend much Qi at all for that.¡± I had to admit, it was somewhat impressive. I wasn¡¯t quite familiar with his sect or style, but most cultivators I knew used weapons when they fought. This was the first time I¡¯d encountered a cultivator who was more like a mage. ¡°Let¡¯s go, guys,¡± I said to my team and began edging my way around the side of the cliff. The smell of blood was strong in the air, but it didn¡¯t seem to trigger my [Lust for Battle]. I guess I needed to be involved in the blood spilling for that to ur. I pulled out a small skinning knife and sliced open one of the belrugs along the stomach. After holding my nose, I worked through the foul-smelling guts and found the small sac-like organ that I was looking for. ¡°Did he find a core?¡± Li Gong Qui asked, looking over my shoulder. Sen Cho shouted from atop the cliff, ¡°Handler, did you find a core?¡± ¡°Tell him no!¡± I shouted back, irritated. Shit, how asinine could these guys get? I showed the organ to my handlers. ¡°This is the gall dder. It stinks like hell, but it¡¯ll attract these things even more than their blood. You guys find the dders in the other two. We¡¯ll make a trail of them leading up the closest nest over there to keep a steady stream of theming.¡± They all nodded to me with quick bows. ¡°Yes, boss.¡± We got to work while Li Gong Qui entertained his concubines with more magic tricks, creating a mist of foggy ice to keep them cool. Once we got things into ce, I washed my hands in the filthy water and waited to ensure my trap was working. It took about ten minutes but slowly belrugs began to emerge from the nest and hop their way towards us. Li Gong Qui went immediately into action, again immobilizing them with his [Binding Frost] technique, before dispatching them [Crystal Rain] when there were several of them, or using a more focused attack called [Ice Lance] when they were solo. The technique looked exactly as the name sounded, producing a javelin of ice that pierced the beasts through like they were made of paper. I supervised Ren, Rho, and Yi Fu as they butchered the newly fallen belrugs, ensuring they knew how to retrieve the gall dders and ce them before setting my mind to what I¡¯d been itching to do since I¡¯d gotten the axe in my hands. ¡°Alright you guys seem to have this covered,¡± I said to them. ¡°It looks like he¡¯ll make short work of that nest. I¡¯m going to go scout out the next one. I won¡¯t be too far away, just yell for me if something happens. And remember to get everyone back up the cliff where it¡¯s safe if something does.¡± ¡°I can call you with this,¡± Yi Fu said, holding up a small whistle around his neck. ¡°Guess that makes you in charge.¡± I gave the kid a grin. I then cupped my hands to my mouth, shouting, ¡°Sen Cho, tell your master I¡¯ve gone to find him more belrugs to kill. Yi Fu will keep an eye on you.¡± I left while he was still repeating the stupid message to Li Gong Qui who was well within earshot of me. I picked up speed once I was out of sight, using Frenzy to get me quickly around the edge of the swamp. I found another belrug nest and circled to the far side of it, ensuring Sen Cho and the women couldn¡¯t see me from atop the rise. I removed my backpack and pulled out the axe. ¡°Finally...¡± I said. It was time to kill some monsters. A new excitement filled me as I waded into the ankle-deep water of the swamp spying my first belrug. It was a good fifty feet away, but my movement entering the water must have alerted it and it began hop-sshing in my direction. The logical side of my brain went immediately into panic mode, conditions from years of being a weak, mortal handler running away from predators when out in the wild. But my me ignited, sh converting my panic into Frenzy. I charged at the beast, axe firmly in hand, releasing a battle cry. I channeled my Frenzy into my reflexes as it hopped tond on top of me. I leapt to the side, the beast shaking the ground as itnded next to me, missing me by just a foot shy. I spun with [One-Chop Cleave], catching the belrug in the shoulder. Blood erupted as my de sliced clean through, causing the monster to burble and more Frenzy to surge as my bloodlust kicked in. It hopped again at short range, the belrug¡¯s huge mouth opening to engulf me whole. I backed away at thest second, but its jaws mped down on my arm. I cried out, expected to feel the needling pain of its tiny little teeth biting into my flesh, but I felt only the pressure of its bite, nothing more. A new awe filled me as it tried to thrash me around, but I held my ground, boosting my strength with my Frenzy. ¡°Third Stage Body Hardening, bitch!¡± I shouted into its face before letting loose a cackle. I felt near invincible as I hacked away at the beast at close range, impervious to its jaws, blood flying everywhere. I freed my arm and doubled up on my grip, spinning with another [One-Chop Cleave]. The beast fell to the side with the force of my hit and I followed up with a [Three-Log Chop] right to its skull. Bone and brains spattered with a sickeningly satisfying Skrunch! A tremendous amount of Frenzy surged through me as Inded my first kill, my [Lust for Battle] going out of control. I quickly cut open the belrug and found its gall dder, tossing it towards the nest to lure out some more. As I waited for them toe, I cultivated the massive excess of Frenzy into my muscles and then pushed what was left over into my dantian, expanded it further and increasing my stored Frenzy capacity. Two belrugs came bounding out of the nest next, fighting over the gall dder before smelling the blood of its fallen kin and leaping towards me with hunger. I had no hatred for these things, so I couldn¡¯t generate any Frenzy from that. And I didn¡¯t fear them as much either from already killing one, but taking on two of them at once caused some room for doubt. Were the [Odds Against Me] now? The idea channeled fresh Frenzy into my system and I used it tosh out at the belrug closest to me as it tried to pounce. I flew into a literal Frenzy as blood sprayed from my attacks. I tried to focus on avoiding the belrugs¡¯ bites as they lunged at me, but fighting two at once had only partial sess. One of them managed to m into me from behind, and I fell face forward into the muck and mire. I turned over just in time for one of their huge mouths to m over the top of me. My heart rate spiked at the thought of my demise, filling me with indignation and rage instead of fear, fueling my Frenzy further as I refused to die before this thing did. I wedged my axe in between its closing jaws and grabbed hold of its slimy tongue, ripping it right out of its throat with a vicious war cry. ¡°Die, you shit!¡± I got to my feet and leapt into the air, using the Frenzy-burst from my kill and channeled all of it into a single [Three-Log Chop]. The tip of my axe found the beast¡¯s spine and in a huge volley of energy, the belrug split neatly in two, as if sliced from the sky by a giant cleaver. I marveled at my own destruction as the two halves fell apart, blood and guts everywhere. I was still considered a low-tier cultivator in terms of progression, I figured, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever seen a cultivator that level pull off what I just did. A high-tier one maybe. Or a Core Realm for sure. But was Frenzy that much more powerful than Qi? I didn¡¯t waste time to think on it as my Frenzy began to dissipate. Luckily there were already more belrugs on their way to the feast. I quickly cultivated the excess into my muscles but utilized the rest for pure reflexes as I engaged the next group of toads. While their bites couldn¡¯t break my skin, I still made every effort to avoid their jaws. Not only was it developing my reflexes and fighting instincts, but unless I could actually get wounded, there really would be no gain from getting bitten anyway. A new understanding of cultivation and progression clicked inside of me. I couldn¡¯t just will my Frenzy into whatever attribute I wanted to grow stronger. I had to earn it, through blood, sweat, and tears. I lost track of time as I went into a near autonomous mode butchering the belrugs, using my [Lust for Battle] Frenzy from their deaths to quickly kill the next in line and keeping them alling by throwing their guts towards the nest. I was so engrossed that I only faintly heard the blow of Yi Fu¡¯s whistle. Shit. I was soaked in blood and mud, but I didn¡¯t have time to clean it off. Luckily there seemed to be more mud than blood at the moment. I stowed my axe in my backpack as I snatched it up, and then took off running in a Frenzy-fueled sprint towards the cliff. As I crested the rise, I saw Yi Fu and Sen Cho running towards me, their faces white with fear and panic. ¡°What happened?¡± I said. Yi Fu pointed behind him. ¡°The cultivator! He blew it up!¡± I looked to Sen Cho. ¡°What¡¯s he talking about?¡± Sen Cho looked as equally distressed by my blood and mud-covered attire as whatever it was he was about to tell me, but quickly he snapped to his senses. ¡°Young Master Li Gong Qui grew rightfully impatient with the small amount of creatures emerging from the nest. So he sundered it open with his [Divine Avnche] technique.¡± ¡°Rightfully impatient?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe this shit. There had to be hundreds of belrugs crawling around out there now. I looked to Yi Fu. ¡°Hurry and get everyone up the cliff! Even if it¡¯s a ton of them they¡¯ll still have a hard time getting up here.¡± ¡°No that¡¯s not it,¡± Yi Fu said, tears of panic in his eyes. ¡°The cultivator killed all the belrugs already. There¡¯s something else that came out of the nest. Something huge!¡± Real panic took hold of me now, fueling my Frenzy as I raced towards the edge of the cliff. There below me towards the middle of the swamp was something the size of a school bus. Its head was t and smooth like a tadpole and its body long and sinewy, ending in a tadpole-like tail. ring waves of heat poured off its orange-red skin as torrents of mes spewed from its mouth as it unleashed an ear-shattering roar. The mes hit a wall of ice that seemingly appeared from nowhere. Just behind it was Li Gong Qui, straining under the exertion of maintaining his technique as the mes continued to roar against it. At his sides were the two women, Su Wen and Lai Qi, their hands aloft, strengthening the ice wall with Qi techniques of their own. But what really caused my heart to drop, was the sight of the two young handlers, Ren and Rho. The brothers cowered for dear life behind the three cultivators, holding each other as they huddled on the ground. But worst of all, there was nowhere for them to run. All five of them had their backs against a towering cliff face, the giant monster seconds away from roasting them all alive. And then with a sound like thunder, a massive crack formed within the ice wall. Chapter 22 I didn¡¯t have time to think or pick sides. I was running off the cliff in a leap before I knew it. In some other time and space, I would have been gleeful to see the annoying cultivators die within the jaws of the beast, but now they were the only things keeping those two kids from getting killed. I thought as fast as I ran, kicking up mud and water in my wake as I weaved between the hundreds of belrug corpses Li Gong Qui had already in. The creature was a fire smander, but as for what rank it was, I didn¡¯t know. C Rank? B Rank maybe? I¡¯d never even seen one of them before, much less fought one. And if Li Gong Qui was having trouble holding it back, there was a pretty good chance I was going to die. The thought fueled me with Frenzy. I somehow had to kill this thing before that happened. A wave of heat hit me as I got closer, the glow of its scales hot like coals on its back and sides. The beast suddenly spun about, whipping its thick tails towards the ice wall and with the sound of a thousand falling panes of ss the wall shattered, sending the cultivators flying into the cliff face hard andnding next to the boys. They were still moving, but just barely it seemed, all of them either dazed or unconscious. There was no way I could defeat this thing. It was toorge. Too powerful. But I was going to fight it anyway.As [Odds Against Me] kicked in, I felt a tremendous surge of Frenzy like never before. The passage of there being no limit to the technique came to my mind, its power limited only by the strength of my foe and my ability to withstand it. I focused on those words like a mantra as I let out a massive war cry and leapt into the air, aiming at one of the creature¡¯srge, wed feet. My [Three-Log Chop] struck what felt like steel, but it gave way under the force of my strike and I cut straight through one of its ws. The beast reeled as I drew its attention, but I didn¡¯t stop there, using the well of Frenzy churning inside me to propel me quickly under its belly. It felt like I was running under a broiler as I chopped upwards at its underscales, using pure rage to try and make a dent. I had to get it away from them. That was the only thought in my head. Then something struck me from the side, sending me tumbling over the swampy terrain. I realized a half-secondter that the beast had spun again and pped me with its massive tail. My bones ached, but if not for my Body Hardening, I¡¯m sure I probably would have been killed just now. In another brief moment of rity, I looked to the cliff. Sen Cho and Yi Fu were still up there. If I was going to try and defeat this thing I needed to go all out and for that, I needed to be out of their sight. And to do that, I had to lead it away from the easy meal of the knocked-out cultivators and my handlers by somehow keeping its attention. The beast was still somewhat facing me, its mouth a roaring furnace of heat. I used [Fear the me], channeling my Frenzy into a primal scream of rage that I hoped would sound like a predatory challenge. The monster focused on me entirely then and I could sense somethinging from within it. An anger of some kind. Had it actually responded to my technique like a human would? There was definitely some kind of intellect behind those dark reptilian eyes. Then I realized this wasn¡¯t just a monster. It was a spirit beast. A creature with an awakened soul of its own. I didn¡¯t know if that helped or hurt me in the long run, but I was going to use it to my advantage now. I channeled [Your Rage is my Strength] to feed from it as I hurled part of a sunken tree log at it. The monster snapped it out of the air, revealing multiple rows of needle-like teeth in its jaws. ¡°Come on and chase me so I can kill you, you giant piece of shit!¡± I shouted the curse with [Fear the me] hoping to enrage it more as I turned tail and ran towards another belrug mount in the distance. The ground trembled beneath my feet, confirming my technique had done its job and the giant monster was now giving chase. As I lost sight of Yi Fu and Sen Cho, I poured on the speed with Frenzy, distancing myself from the monster¡¯s jaws. A wave of heat and me washed over me as a loud roar came from behind. I screamed in shock as my vision was blinded by it, but through the heat I somehow kept running. When I finally turned to glimpse the beast, I could see several of the dead trees were now on fire, as was a portion of my clothes. Holy shit, I thought as I patted out the mes. Did I just survive it breathing fire on me? I thought back to the Shuras and sure enough the third stage of Body Hardening did give me some kind of immunity to mes. Iughed out loud. ¡°Thank you, Zu Tien, you ugly one-handed whore!¡± I switched direction and instead of running from the beast, turned to charge at it with a renewed vigor in my soul. The sheer size of it was intimidating enough to keep my Frenzy going with a constant stream of fear, but I didn¡¯t feel it myself. All I felt was the rage of bloodlust as I determined to kill this giant monster with everything I had. I got in another chop at its stubby leg before the creature lunged at me with a giant bite. It took all my wherewithal to redirect my Frenzy into my reflexes and somehow I managed to duck just under its jaw, enduring another broiling wave of heat from its underside. Instinct took over and with its head so close to me, I scrambled right up on top of the thing. The sensation of walking across hot coals consumed every inch of my body, but [Pain Soothes the Frenzied me] helped me endure it. Grabbing onto one of its thick scales for support, I wielded my axe in one hand and began chopping savagely into its thick neck. ¡°Die! Damn! You! Die! Die!¡± My words came out like a stato mantra, reinforcing the strength of each chop. [Odds Against Me] and my [Lust for Battle] then seemed tobine as I let the Demon loose from the Struggler¡¯s control. I was either going to cook to death on this thing or kill it and now was my only chance. Rock like scales and blood flew as the creature whipped me from side to side. I screamed like a madman, hammering away with my axe like I was a cksmith striking an anvil. I finally lost my grip and was tossed to the muddy water,nding about twenty feet away from the monster. A strange sort of hissing filled the air as I raised my head to look back at the smander. One side of the beast¡¯s neck had been cut wide open, a jugr exposed from my hacks. Fresh blood gushed from it by the gallon, but as soon as it hit its glowing scales, it sh-evaporated inrge plumes of steam. The beast staggered towards me drunkenly, all the fight taken out of it, slowly dying from my mortal wound. I felt much the same way, all my Frenzy spent and my body refusing to generate any more. A loud cry then filled the air. ¡°[Divine Avnche]!¡± The words echoed like thunder as Li Gong Qui appeared over the top of the belrug nest, flying on a cloud of icy condensed Qi. From above the smander, what looked like the inverted peak of a frozen mountain top appeared and then promptly fell out of the sky. It copsed onto the beast with a tremendous boom and the shock wave sent me skidding across the swamp a good thirty feet or more. A huge wave of cold air came with it, soothing my blistering skin. When the frost cleared, I saw the beast¡¯s torso was twisted at odd angles, the residual heat of its scales sizzling against the huge chunks of ice that had impacted its body. It didn¡¯t move. The fire smander was no more. * * * A haughty and triumphantugh came from Li Gong Qui as he hovered over the smander¡¯s body, admiring his handiwork. A few momentster Ren and Rho, along with the two women, rounded the side of the belrug mound, followed closely by Yi Fu and Sen Cho. The two women cultivators made short work of any belrugs greedy enough to emerge from the nest and when they were done, they quickly gathered beneath where Li Gong Qui was still hovering in the sky. To my amazement, Su Wen pped and cheered at seeing the giant monster¡¯s corpse, like it was a stuffed animal she¡¯d just won at a fair instead of the deadly beast that had nearly killed her a moment ago. Lai Qi joined her and Li Gong Quinded in between the two women, enjoying a victory kiss from each of them as he grinned with pride. ¡°Your skill is unmatched, young master,¡± Su Wen said, beaming. ¡°You defeated the beast in a single technique!¡± ¡°That I did,¡± he said and then his eyes fell on me, a look of amusement on his face. ¡°And This One thought the beasts here would be too strong for me. Witness now, Chun, what it means to be a royal cultivator of the Frozen Cloud Sect.¡± The womenughed, pointing at me jeeringly, causing a sickening ire to build in my gut. I¡¯d just saved all their lives and here they were mocking me? It was enough to make my blood boil and wish for all their deaths, but I restrained myself with [Indifference]. I needed to let the Struggler take back his control. The Demon had to be contained and in the end, I weed the humiliation. Because it meant I¡¯d won. I had pretty much killed the beast with none of them being the wiser, the cultivators¡¯ own inted egos ignoring or perhaps refusing to believe that a mere mortal could have done anything worthwhile in the situation at all. And under the circumstances, that suited me just fine. But not everything I did went unnoticed by all. ¡°You were brave to have distracted the beast when you did,¡± Sen Cho said as he helped me from the ground. ¡°And you are lucky to be alive. My master needed time to prepare his ultimate technique. You should be thanking him for saving your life.¡± ¡°Indeed!¡± Li Gong Qui said. ¡°Bow to me now, all of you. Show This One respect for saving your lives.¡± The women and Sen Cho were the first to fall to their knees. My juniors quickly followed suit, well indoctrinated in the ways of the cultivator¡¯s world. But I hesitated, every being in my body wanting to rebel and thumb my nose at the arrogant, clueless bastard. But I swallowed my hate, fueled it into Frenzy and dipped my forehead into the mud in a kowtow. ¡°You are all wee,¡± Li Gong Qui said with a smug and satisfied smirk. ¡°Now chop this beast open. I want to know if it possesses a core.¡± * * * The bastard Li Gong Qui turned out to be as lucky as he was arrogant. After regaining some of my strength, I together with my junior handlers went about the mammoth task of dissecting the smander. It took about an hour of hacking away with my axe, but I finally exposed where its center would be and sure enough, there inside was a small red nugget about the size of a golf ball of raw unrefined monster Qi. Li Gong Qiughed and tossed it in the air like he was a child ying with a new toy once he had it in his hands. ¡°My ascension is at hand, Sen Cho!¡± he said gleefully. ¡°Come, we must away. I need to find an alchemist to brew this into an elixir at once.¡± ¡°Congrattions, master,¡± Su Wen said. ¡°You have earned a great victory today. The very heavens guide your path towards ascension.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Sen Cho said, nodding in agreement. ¡°But honorable young master, the affinity of this beast was clearly of the fire aspect. Its Qi would be in contrary to your own, would it not?¡± Li Gong Qui¡¯s face went nk for a moment, as if just realizing he¡¯d made a huge miscalction. His features then contorted into a scowl as he red at Sen Cho. ¡°Do you think me a fool, Sen Cho? Do you think I do not know¡­that I cannot use this core? At all?¡± The words came out punctuated, bitter with hostility, the realization clearly just dawning on Li Gong Qui himself. Sen Cho lowered himself to the ground immediately. ¡°I would never dare, Young Master! Surely This One is not wise enough to understand your great logic of brewing the core into an elixir.¡± ¡°You surely do not!¡± Li Gong Qui grimaced. ¡°Perhaps I am also not wise,¡± Lai Qi said meekly. ¡°But, Master, please tell me, what is the logic of creating an elixir from this core. Its fire will surely not meld with your spiritual core.¡± Li Gong Qui looked on the spot again, his face growing tense with anger. ¡°Sen Cho! Tell her! Clearly you must not be such a durd as to not understand why I would suggest such a thing.¡± Sen Cho¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°I¡­I.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what I was witnessing. Li Gong Qui looked like he was about to hit the man. ¡°Answer her! Answer her, now!¡± I stepped forward using [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] bowing my head slowly as I stepped next to Sen Cho. ¡°What Sen Cho was no doubt about to tell you, Master Li Gong Qui, was that by refining the fire smander core into an elixir you could fetch a much higher price in the markets when you sell it. And with that money you could then purchase a simr-grade elixir that is more attuned to your spiritual core.¡± Li Gong Qui looked at me dumbfounded for a moment as did Sen Cho. I then nudged the man and Sen Cho bowed once more. ¡°Yes, of course! That was what I was going to say. You are most wise, young master.¡± Li Gong Qui nodded with another smug grin. ¡°That¡¯s right. Now let us be off to the alchemist as I said. I must fetch the highest price for this to afford my elixir of ascension.¡± * * * The trip back to the gate was brutal. With all my adrenaline worn off, I was actually starting to feel the few hits the smander hadnded on my body. Thinking back, I wondered if I was maybe a half step to level three in my Reflex Sharpening to have avoided the beast as I had. Or maybe I was just getting better at avoiding getting hit in general after fighting all those toads. Either way, I was struggling as much as myrades as I hauled the sedan chair solo from the front again. Thankfully, Li Gong Qui¡¯s constant gloating about how impressive he was to single-handedly kill the belrugs and smander kept me fueled with a steady flow of Frenzy. It made me wonder just how many cultivators were not only arrogant but incredibly stupid. His bizarre handling of the situation with the core still baffled me. I was also kind of baffled at how quickly I¡¯de up with a solution for the problem, saving Sen Cho¡¯s skin by saving his master¡¯s stupid ¡®face¡¯. Perhaps all my studying of the orb and the cultivation manual was progressing my mental refinement as well. There were not as many categories when it came to mental refinement. As I tried to recall just how many there were, the table from the manual appeared with crystal rity in my mind¡¯s eye. Mental Refinement Category Stages Description Mental Capacity I to V Increases your ability to store, retain and recall information. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you have the ability to recall small portions of information withplete rity. At 5th stage you are able to recall several tomes¡¯ worth of information with rity. Train by memorizing techniques, texts and transcribing the same. Mental Quickness I to V Increases the swiftness at which you can recall and corrte information you have retained. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can quickly recall and corrte information, even under duress. At 5th stage you are able to performplexputations with ease and corrte information with the subconscious mind. Train by performing calctions or split decision making while under duress. I could definitely see how I¡¯d been passively training my Mental Capacity all along just by studying, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure how I was enhancing my Mental Quickness. Maybe just my thought process while I was fighting was cultivating that. By the descriptions, I figured that I was perhaps already near the third stage of Mental Capacity and perhaps the second stage of Mental Quickness. I noted there was nothing mentioned to train one¡¯s wisdom, which made sense after meeting the likes of Li Gong Qui. No matter how smart you were, wisdom andmon sense were different. No fixing stupid. Having now advanced not only my body but my mind, it had me wandering just how far I was progressing through my Foundation training. As I subconsciously carried the sedan, I pictured the Foundation table in my mind. Realm Level/stage/Tier Qi Cultivator Foundation Establishment 1st Qi Gathering 2nd Qi Channeling 3rd Qi Body Refinement 4th Qi Mental Refinement 5th Qi concentration 6th Qi Manifestation (internal) 7th Qi Manifestation (external) 8th Qi Condensing 9th Qi Hardening I was still considered a low-tier Foundation cultivator perhaps, but I was speeding along. And like I¡¯d experienced, my equivalent power in Qi was perhaps at a much higher tier in terms of effectiveness. Although, I hadn¡¯t even begun to test the mastery of Qi or Frenzy manifestation as yet. Li Gong Qui was clearly a master of that though and demonstrated how powerful and godlike cultivators could be at the manifestation stage. I though back to Threja and wondered if her spectral form was some kind of manifestation of her Frenzy. Slipping further into autopilot, I began cycling my Frenzy while practicing my Mental Capacity, searching through the mental images of the orb that were now imprinted into my mind. At first, I had doubts as to whether I would be able to recall anything with any sort of reliable rity, but as I focused, I found that I could see the Shuras as clearly as if I were staring at the orb itself. I searched for manifestations and found them in the 453rd Shura. Shura 453 On Manifestations Whether they be internal or external the use of concentrated Frenzy to produce physical manifestations must be well thought, for while they may well exceed the limits of mortality, they may undoubtedly mark you as a follower of the me. Take note also, that if sufficient strength is reached, the sight of your manifestation alone may be enough to crumble your foe¡¯s resolve intoplete despair. At higher levels of Frenzy, manifestation may even be used persistently. I thought about how those Fire Bird members starting panicking when they saw Threja¡¯s spectral form and understood immediately what the text was talking about. A big risk, big reward kind of thing when it came to revealing your ¡®true¡¯ form. The text then listed several techniques below it. [Iron Core] ¨C (internal) use concentrated Frenzy to temporarily form ayer of protective armor around vital organs and bones to withstand tremendous blows. [Death¡¯s Door] ¨C (internal) should you suffer a fatal wound use concentrated Frenzy to rece any bodily function that is lost. [Iron Skin] ¨C (external) use concentrated Frenzy to temporarily form ayer of hardened armor on a specific part of the body. Use defensively to avoid critical strikes or offensively on the knuckles, feet, or palms when fighting unarmed. I then noticed three external techniques were lumped together. Marks of the Berserker Take special care when utilizing the marks. While initially only one Mark may be used at a time, higher levels can sustain as much as two. In very rare practitioners, all three marks can be manifested, but take heed, as such will quickly Frenzy thy me towardsplete madness. [Mark of the Beast] ¨C (external) take on the likeness of a frenzied beast, greatly increasing one¡¯s reflexes and speed. [Mark of the Giant] ¨C (external) grow in physical size, greatly increase all of one¡¯s physical strength and power. [Mark of the Demon] ¨C (external) take on the likeness of a demon, greatly increasing the potency of one¡¯s Frenzy and the effectiveness of Frenzy techniques. Considering how tall Threja waspared to even Sumatra, I wondered if she had been running Mark of the Giant permanently. And perhaps her spectral form was a mix of Mark of the Beast and Mark of the Demon. Just the idea of gaining that much power had me itching to try it out the next time I got to fight monsters, but I¡¯d have to figure out how to concentrate my Frenzy first, since all the techniques seemed to call for it. Still the idea of new growth and power ignited my me with a passion to progress like never before. The body enhancing was amazing enough, but the manifestations were more like real superpowers. I chuckled inwardly at the thought of one day being able to withstand even Li Gong Qui¡¯s [Divine Avnche] technique with a smirk of [Indifference]. One day, I thought to myself. One day. I was so lost in my own head that I didn¡¯t even realize we had reached the gate until Sumatra¡¯s voice boomed from ahead of me. ¡°What in the nine hells happened to you, Chun?¡± he said with augh. ¡°You look like shit. And is that mud or shit on you?¡± I had half the mind to tell him it was shit and then smear it all over him, but it was half dried now anyway and the blood had oxidized, turning a shit-colored brown. ¡°Yeah, wee back home to you too, boss.¡± Li Gong Qui went onto another bragging session as soon as weid down the sedan, drawing the quick attention of the Imperial Guard and enforcers who immediately seized the core for inspection and began haggling with Sen Cho about paying taxes. ¡°Elder brother Chun.¡± I paused and turned at the unexpected title. There standing behind me in a line was Ren, Rho and Yi Fu. They all performed a coordinated bow in front of me, bringing forth a fresh burst of lemonade. ¡°Thank you so much for taking care of us today,¡± Yi Fu said. ¡°You saved all of our lives.¡± The brothers Ren and Rho nodded emphatically with quick bows. ¡°Yes, thank you, elder brother! We both hope to be as courageous and strong as you one day. You are an amazing handler. Please allow us to work with you again.¡± I wasn¡¯t too sure how much the kids had actually seen. I figured not much since they didn¡¯t really say much earlier, but perhaps they had been holding it in until they were off duty and away from the cultivators. I yed off thepliments with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Hey, I just got lucky out there today. But you all did great too. Nice working with you. We¡¯ll team up again for sure.¡± That caused more gushes of lemonade as they grinned at me in admiration and then ran off together, recounting tales of their first day on the job. As they left, another voice came from behind me. ¡°They speak the truth.¡± I looked back to see Sen Cho. The manservant had finished haggling for the taxes to take the core it seemed and was about to depart, Li Gong Qui and his two concubines already waiting for him in the sedan as the normal porters prepared to haul them away. ¡°I¡¯m not certain how you did it,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯m d that you did. Please take this¡­¡± He then thrust something heavy into in my hand. ¡°For saving my master¡¯s skin.¡± He then winked at me. ¡°And my own.¡± He smiled as he left, joining Li Gong Qui in the sedan. When I looked, there was therge, crescent-shaped lump of a five-Tael silver coin sitting in my palm. * * * I could barely contain my excitement as I waited for Lee and Mu Lin to return from the field. When they finally did, I called them over immediately. ¡°Damn, Chun,¡± Mu Lin said with a disapproving shake of her head. ¡°What happened to you today. You look like shit again.¡± Leeughed in agreement. ¡°When does he not look like shit?¡± ¡°Nevermind all that,¡± I said. ¡°Did you get the message to Xi Xha for me?¡± ¡°Yeah, I sent it earlier,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°She¡¯ll meet you in the central markets in a couple of hours.¡± ¡°Well, I need you to send her another one. Tell her there¡¯s been a change of ns.¡± Mu Lin¡¯s eyes narrowed like she wanted to kill me. ¡°What!? Do you know how much trouble I went through to¡ª¡± ¡°Tell her we¡¯re all going to meet her, but in the restaurant district instead.¡± I then showed them the coin and their eyes nearly fell out of their heads. ¡°Food and drinks are on me, guys. We¡¯re hitting the town tonight.¡± Chapter 23 I used the next two hours to get ready. After the day I¡¯d had, I couldn¡¯t believe it wound up ending so well. I headed back home and dumped off my gear before getting a quick wash, ridding myself of most of the mud and blood. I kind of wanted to invite Yu Li toe with us, but I decided against it. For one, she still wasn¡¯t even speaking to me yet and two, she had no one to look after Su Ling and where we were headed was no ce to take a kid. Still, I reminded myself in advance to bring her back something nice and to tuck away next month¡¯s rent money inside of it. I still couldn¡¯t believe how easy it was to think like that now. I had enough money for three months¡¯ rent for both of us and plenty to spare. Maybe I was splurging a bit going out tonight, but damn it, for what I¡¯d been through today, I deserved a little celebration and R&R. I even deserve a hot bath, I decided. I got out of the tepid water, threw on some fresh clothes and headed for the bath house closer to the center of town. Most of the folks in the square still looked at me cross-eyed as I passed through but I didn¡¯t care, I was on top of the world right now. I stopped at the money lenders in the central market and broke up the coin, my purse never feeling so heavy as I left with four and a half Taels of silver and almost 500 Wen of copper. I was careful to stash it in a rented locker when I hit the bathhouse. I¡¯d been to the baths only a few times before, on the rare asions when I had the extra coin to spare. But now, not only could I enjoy a nice soak in some expensive herbal bath salts that helped soothe my body, but I also had a massage. The young girl who performed it gave me a nice bonus of lemonade too, frequentlyplimenting me on my muscles as her hands glided over them. I used her lemonade to add even more. When I finished, I decided to treat myself further and got a haircut and shave. I kept the beard but instructed the barber to trim it neatly, especially since Mu Lin said Xi Xha seemed to be into it. I then looked at my hair. I had grown it long and kept it pinned back in the customary Yee fashion that most people wore it. Not out of style, but necessity. I couldn¡¯t afford to go to a barber every month and I didn¡¯t have the skills to cut it myself. But now that I had some cash, why not? I told the barber to cut it short on the sides and leave a bit on top. By the time I finished instructing him with exactly what I wanted, I felt like I was looking at my old self again when I gazed in the mirror. A younger, and perhaps cooler, version of my dad. I ended my self-indulgent splurging spree on a trip to the tailors and waited for half an hour while the artisans made me a fresh set of clothes suitable for a night out. Nothing too shy to tip people off that I¡¯de into a lot of money, but ten times better than the old rags I wore to work each day. By the time I met up with Mu Lin and Lee, their jaws nearly hit the floor when they saw me. ¡°Holy shit, Chun!¡± Mu Lin said, her eyes peeled wide like she was looking at an alien or something. ¡°Is that really you?¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re really trying to show me up,¡± Lee said, ruffling my short haircut yfully. ¡°Who is this badass and what did you do with our Chun?¡± Iughed, flexing with a little [Indifference]. ¡°Come on, guys. Let¡¯s have fun tonight.¡± * * * The restaurant district wasn¡¯t a true district per se. More like a sub section of the city center. The portion we had ess to as natives was perhaps considered within the rougher part of town, butpared to where we lived, a visit to the restaurant district was like a trip to Las Vegas. Qi-powered signs lit up the night like neon, joined by strings ofnterns hung across the street. The atmosphere was already lively with music andughter from the sizable crowd. There seemed to be a mixture of people here. While most weremoners or low-tier citizens of the empire, I spotted a few cultivators that stood out in their fine robes and dress, some of them even apanied by an entourage of beauties and manservants, like that idiot Li Gong Qui. The usual enforcers were on duty as well, but they didn¡¯t seem to be eyeing the crowd as oppressively as they did in the market district. After a few minutes of crowd watching, Mu Lin began hopping up and down, waving to someone. ¡°There she is! Xi Xha! Over here!¡± When I turned to see Xi Xha stepping through the crowd, I thought I was looking at a fashion model. Her hair was pinned up elegantly and her makeup was wless, the look all pulled together in a sheer-fitting ck gown. When she caught sight of me, I figured the feeling must have been mutual, because her lemonade hit me like a tidal wave. ¡°Oh my,¡± she said, her gorgeous green eyes stared at me with a hunger. ¡°You look¡­ Even better than I remembered, Chun. That hairstyle is so Terran. I love it.¡± That caused augh toe from Lee and a bit of irritation toe from Mu Lin. ¡°Thanks.¡± I gave her a smile and a polite bow. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again as well, Xi Xha.¡± ¡°A new friend?¡± She gave a bow to Lee. ¡°I am Xi Xha.¡± ¡°Pleasure,¡± he said bowing as well. ¡°I¡¯m Lee. I work with these two idiots.¡± ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get going,¡± Mu Lin said, dragging both Lee and I by the arm. ¡°This idiot is starving.¡± Xi Xha helped us pick out a nice restaurant that specialized in seafood and I dropped two hundred Wen on the meal in advance. The ce was half full, but big enough to seat at least fifty. The wait staff hauledrge tters of amazing-smelling food while a small group of artisans yed Qi-infused tunes on zithers and fiddles. The music added to the rxed ambiance and by the time our food arrived we¡¯d already finished off a bottle of rice wine, entertained the entire time by Lee¡¯s stories of his adventures in the wild. As I drank, I used the energying off of Xi Xha to train my Internal Strengthening by nullifying the alcohol in my system. I suppose it was a waste of booze and a good buzz, but I was probably getting something more worthwhile out of the deal in the end. If I could break through to the third stage of Internal Strengthening, the power of my Frenzy techniques would probably increase four-fold. ¡°You all live such adventurous lives,¡± Xi Xha said. ¡°I feel almost embarrassed to say what it is I do all day.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you teach?¡± I asked. ¡°That probably makes far more of a difference to society than what the hell it is we do.¡± I then gave them a redacted version of my adventures with the great Li Gong Qui, which had them all in stitches, especially Xi Xha when I reenacted Li Gong Qui¡¯s ridiculous use of Sen Cho as his mouthpiece. ¡°I guess some people are just like that,¡± Xi Xha said, still beaming with augh. ¡°Especially from a core world. They¡¯re a different breed.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Tell me about it.¡± As the food came out, they ced it in the center of the table on azy Susan. Mu Lin, Lee, and I tore into it like starved prisoners, while Xi Xha picked through with far more etiquette and poise. Family-sized tters of noodles, shrimp, crab, duck and pork¡ªwe sampled it all with ck vinegar, mustard and hot sauce, the food tasting better than anything I¡¯d eaten in ages. It even gave Lysa¡¯s home-cooked meal a run for its money. Weughed, drank and ate, Mu Lin on one side of me and Xi Xha on the other. I could feel Xi Xha inching closer to me as the evening went on, using every opportunity to pat my hand whenever sheughed at one of my stupid jokes. Suddenly Mu Lin stiffened next to me, squeezing my bicep in a death grip. I was about to ask her what was wrong, but I sensed the fear in her even before I saw what she was looking at. And when I did, Ipletely understood why she had tensed up. Just entering the restaurant were three men in red and orange robes. Fire Bird Sect members. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s okay,¡± I whispered to her. ¡°They got nothing to do with us.¡± But it probably wasn¡¯t just the thought of them somehow learning about our little secret that had her all shook up. Mu Lin had experienced a rough trauma through them and just seeing them was obviously some kind of trigger for her now. But I¡¯d spotted a few Fire Bird members in the district already, so I didn¡¯t think much of theming in here. Maybe it was the fact that it was three of them that was triggering her as well. But they didn¡¯t look like the same type that had attacked her in the wild. These guys all looked young and sloppy. No better than the clowns Hein had brought with him to intimidate me. I whispered to Mu Lin again, hoping to alleviate her fears. ¡°Tell me how strong they are.¡± Mu Lin leaned forward, adjusting her sses. ¡°Hmm¡­ one of them is barely Foundation level. The other two not even Foundation level, I don¡¯t think.¡± I gave her a smile. ¡°See. Nothing to worry about. You¡¯re even stronger than those guys.¡± ¡°What are you two whispering about?¡± Xi Xha asked yfully. ¡°I was just asking her where your favorite tea house was,¡± I said quickly, throwing her off the subject in case she heard anything. ¡°But Mu Lin said she wouldn¡¯t tell me until I took her there first.¡± ¡°What!¡± Mu Lin shouted in protest. I cracked a cheesy grin causing the whole table tough while Mu Lin continued to feign anger. ¡°I did not say that! Xi Xha, don¡¯t listen to this idiot.¡± I kept an eye on the Fire Birds as the jokes andughter resumed. They were weak, but something did strike me as odd as I watched them. They didn¡¯t find a table to sit down. Instead, they seemed to be going from table to table, bothering the patrons about something. I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what they were doing, but a few of the people gave them bows before handing over a few coins. ¡°So, I was most surprised when Mu Lin said you wanted to see me,¡± Xi Xha said distracting me from my Fire Bird watching, as she ran her foot atop mine. I didn¡¯t need the lemonade spewing from her to sense what she thought my motives might have been and at the moment she wasn¡¯t entirely off base either, but the truth wasn¡¯t something I could talk about openly. Still perhaps I could kill two birds with one stone. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s something a bit sensitive though. I¡¯d originally nned this to be a more intimate affair, just you and I, but I owed these guys a night out.¡± Xi Xhaughed after I smiled to let her know I was hamming it up. ¡°You sure did owe us!¡± Lee blurted while downing another cup of wine. ¡°To the Chun!¡± ¡°The Chun!¡± Mu Linughed, clinking sses with him. ¡°Well,¡± Xi Xha said. ¡°I did enjoy thepany and the meal. But the night¡¯s still young. Perhaps we might find some time to talk afterwards?¡± Her hand touched my knee under the table, her soul oozing so much lemonade I was having a hard time converting it all into Frenzy. I gave her only a subtle smile though, containing myself with [Indifference]. ¡°Perhaps.¡± That caused even more lemonade to flow. Just as I was about to suggest we all call it a night, a palm mmed onto the table. ¡°Looks like someone¡¯s having a good time, eh?¡± I nced up and sure enough, it was the barely Foundation-level Fire Bird member. He seemed to be the leader, the other two stepping back. He was tall and wiry, sporting a goatee and shaved head that reminded me a little of the dude Threja had headbutted straight into the afterlife. ¡°What¡¯s it to you?¡± I said, leaning back in my chair with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve.] His features instantly contorted into a scowl, clearly not expecting my response. ¡°Don¡¯t you see these robes? The Fire Birds are the protectors of this domain, your first words to me should be words of respect.¡± He then snorted out augh. ¡°But since you all look like shit-ass Terrans, you probably wouldn¡¯t know that.¡± He then looked to Xi Xha. ¡°Except for this one. What are you doing with this trash, prettydy?¡± Xi Xha surprisingly didn¡¯t cower, but she didn¡¯t stand up defiantly like I did either. She instead let out a tired sigh before sping her hands in a bow. ¡°Honorable Sect member. How delighted we are to see you providing protection for us tonight.¡± ¡°See that?¡± The man looked at me with a wide smile. ¡°That¡¯s how you show respect to the Fire Bird Sect. Live and learn, Terran. Now since you¡¯re all first timers, you probably don¡¯t know about the tax either. Your protectiones at a cost and we¡¯re here to collect it.¡± I looked to Mu Lin. She seemed to be almost hyperventting next to me. Lee was frozen in between bites of his chopsticks. Xi Xha leaned over and whispered to me, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but this is normal. A few Wen from each of us should do.¡± Ire built within me. To hell with that shit. I looked around the restaurant. Still only half full. ¡°How about we make a little wager instead?¡± I asked. ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°You heard me. I wager you all the coin you just collected from the patrons in here. I¡¯ll match it. If you win, you get it all. If I win, I get it all. What do you say?¡± The guy¡¯s eyes bulged as anger pumped his insides. ¡°You dare challenge me, you filthymoner?¡± I grinned at him with [Fear the me]. ¡°Challenge? If that¡¯s what you want to call it, sure. I¡¯m just talking about a little friendlypetition. Entertainment if you will. Unless you don¡¯t think you can win, of course.¡± ¡°Win at what?¡± ¡°An old Terran game. Called face pping.¡± He paused and thenughed. ¡°Is this a joke?¡± Face pping had its own connotations in Yee society, but I was talking about something very literal. Something I had seen on a YouTube video once, back when the world still made sense. Although a face ppingpetition probably wasn¡¯t the best example of that. ¡°No joke,¡± I said. ¡°We take turns pping each other in the face. One p at a time. Last one standing wins.¡± All three of themughed now. ¡°You must be an idiot. Do you even know who we are?¡± ¡°No, not really,¡± I said with [Indifference]. ¡°Don¡¯t really care either. So you want to y or not?¡± That caused a swell of anger toe from the Fire Birds and fresh fountains of fear toe from my friends. Ipped it up all the same. ¡°How much you got in that purse? Unless you¡¯re afraid of losing it all.¡± Now, it¡¯d be more than just a challenge. Now he had to save face as well. He grimaced. ¡°I doubt you¡¯d even have this much coin.¡± ¡°Try me.¡± He smirked and dropped the equivalent of two Tael on the table. Much to his surprise and my friends¡¯ dismay, I reached into my purse and matched it. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Mu Lin said in a hushed whisper. I stood. ¡°Let¡¯s go then. This should be fun. I¡¯ll let you go first.¡± Heughed. ¡°The weaker should go first. That means you, asshole.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Fair enough.¡± The entire restaurant went quiet as the guy then shouted: ¡°This dumb Terran has challenged me to a face pping match. Can you believe that? I¡¯ve allowed him to go first. I hope this entertains you all. It should be quite short.¡± Fear filled the room and I drew it all in, but not for my first hit. ¡°You ready?¡± I said. ¡°Do your best, weakling.¡± I drew back my hand and released a grunt of effort as I struck him with what I hoped was only half my strength. The loud p resonated throughout the restaurant. It had the effect I hoped. The guy barely flinched and then bellyughed along with his buddies. ¡°Easiest two Tael I¡¯ve ever made!¡± he proimed. ¡°Prepare yourself.¡± He wound up as I presented my chin, bracing for the hit with [Indifference]. I barely felt it, but I went with the momentum of the p, it echoing much louder than my own. I feigned weakness as I rubbed my jaw, pretending to stagger. He looked amused, but a bit off put that I was somehow still standing. ¡°That was a good hit,¡± I said, rubbing my jaw. ¡°You ready?¡± The crowd were on their feet now. Screams and yells were spilling from the patrons as was some lemonade. The music started back up and I egged it on with a p of my hands. What started out as a showdown was slowly turning into a form of crude entertainment, which was exactly what I was hoping for. I used [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to rile them up more. Now that I¡¯d established this as some kind of sportsmanlikepetition between two men, him taking it any further than that if he lost would result in a loss of face he couldn¡¯t afford. And that meant it was now safe for me to p the shit out of him. He snorted. ¡°I went way too easy on you. Go ahead then. My next hit will be thest you¡¯ll ever taste.¡± I leaned back and struck him with all of my casual strength, trying not to kill him. The force of the hit was enough to knock him sideways and crash into the table next to us. The patrons at the table jumped up in rm, but more than a few cheers came as well. I sensed anger boiling within him as he straightened himself, his face fixed in a sneer. He didn¡¯t say anything this time and immediately wound up for his hit. And then I sensed something else welling up inside him, something familiar. Something that smelled like¡­ Frenzy? The p hit me so hard I saw stars, distracted by what I¡¯d sensed. I didn¡¯t even have time to use [Indifference] as the blow sent me straight to the floor. Iy there for a moment, the room spinning with cheers and jeers. Mu Lin, Lee, and Xi Xha were all standing over me. Xi Xha knelt down, stroking my face, asking if I were okay. Fear poured from her as concern filled her green eyes. But I was more concerned about what it was I¡¯d just sensed. It was still lingering there within him. It wasn¡¯t Frenzy exactly, but was something like it. Far more raw and when I tried to siphon some of it, it tasted bitter like death in my soul. Like Dark Frenzy if I could put a word to it. The manughed triumphantly, reaching for the coins. ¡°Know your ce, you filthy Terr¡ª¡± I pped my hands over the coins as I pulled myself back onto my feet. ¡°Not done yet. It¡¯s [My Turn]!¡± The room burst into cheers, rooting for the underdog, filling me with Frenzy. I had no idea what strength this guy truly possessed, but I let it all fly. I clocked him so hard he did an involuntary cartwheel before crashing into the table next to us out cold. The same kind of Frenzy-like energy came from the other two as they lowered reflexively into abat stance. But I backed it off with [Fear the me]. ¡°You two want to go next?¡± They looked at each other, and their Dark Frenzy was reced with regr old fear. ¡°Didn¡¯t think so,¡± I said as I scooped half the coins off the table. All fear turned to lemonade as wild cheers filled the room, especially from Xi Xha who was staring at me now like I was her own personal hero. And hell, maybe I had been for about a minute. I tossed half the money to the two remaining Fire Bird members. ¡°Give all these people back their money. And when he wakes up, tell him to think twice before messing with Young Master Hein of the Silver Leaf n.¡± Both their eyes widened before immediately dropping to the floor with a bow. ¡°Great apologies! It won¡¯t happen again, young master. We didn¡¯t know who you were. The Fire Bird Sect would never dare to disrespect the Silver Leaf n so.¡± I looked back to Lee, Mu Lin, and Xi Xha, their faces nk, their eyes still wide with shock. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± * * * ¡°Oh, my shit, bro! I can¡¯t believe you did that!¡± Lee wasughing like a madman, pping my back while gushing with lemonade. Xi Xha was more reserved in her admiration, giving me an amused smile while holding onto my arm, but her lemonade was gushing all the same. Mu Lin however looked back towards the restaurant warily, fear bubbling up inside of her. ¡°Are you sure they¡¯re not going toe looking for us?¡± ¡°Not with the name I just dropped. Come on, you saw their reactions for yourself, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah, who the hell even is that?¡± Lee asked. I shrugged with [Indifference]. ¡°I dunno. Some asshole probably.¡± Leeughed again but I wondered if I had just caused some kind of trouble for that prick Hein by doing this. I sure as hell hoped so. ¡°Well, it¡¯s been a fun and eventful evening,¡± Xi Xha said. ¡°But I do have ss to teach in the morning. So, I must bid you all good night. Would you mind escorting me home, Chun? Perhaps we can have that talk along the way.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°Sure thing. Lee, you¡¯ll make sure Mu Lin gets home okay?¡± ¡°I got you,¡± Lee said with a slick grin, giving me a bro hug. I hugged Mu Lin as well, but she gave me the stink eye. ¡°Careful now. That¡¯s my teacher, okay?¡± Iughed, ruffling her hair. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Xi Xha then extended her arm. ¡°Shall we?¡± * * * Xi Xha took me through a section of the central district that I had only asionally visited before. The whole area was considered the low-ss entertainment capital of the city and that went for all kinds of entertainment. The Qi-lit signs slowly shifted from restaurants and eateries to bars and brothels. I had to force myself to keep my head straight as the various service providers disyed their ¡®wares¡¯ out front. Luckily, having Xi Xha on my arm kept most of them at bay, especially the guys who were always more brazen than thedies. ¡°So you wish to make contact with someone in the Jianghu?¡± Xi Xha said, repeating my request. ¡°That¡¯s why you wanted to see me?¡± ¡°Well Mu Lin said you might have some contacts there.¡± Xi Xha chuckled. ¡°You perhaps made a few of your own just now.¡± ¡°What? The Fire Bird members?¡± ¡°They do control much of it. But I¡¯m intrigued. What are you looking to do?¡± I made sure we were out of earshot of anyone before I spoke. ¡°I¡¯m looking to buy a manual on fighting styles. I want topete in the tournament.¡± Her eyes widened but the smile on her face only increased as did her flow of lemonade. ¡°You¡¯re quite the risktaker aren¡¯t you? But by the way you handled those Fire Bird initiates, I guess I shouldn¡¯t be surprised.¡± ¡°So, can you help me?¡± She stopped and took both my hands in hers as she turned to face me. ¡°Is that the only reason you wanted to see me tonight?¡± Her confident smile already knew the answer and I wondered if Xi Xha didn¡¯t have some schrly ability of her own to detect lemonade. Still, I yed it cool with [Indifference]. ¡°Primarily. But I do like to kill two birds with one stone whenever I can. So, I guess I should apologize for inviting Lee and Mu Lin on our first date.¡± Xi Xhaughed as I gave her a cheesy grin. ¡°Oh, is that what this was?¡± ¡°You tell me. If you liked it, it definitely was. If not¡­¡± Her smile didn¡¯t leave her face as she wrapped her slender arms around my waist, rubbing her body against mine. ¡°How¡¯s this for an answer.¡± Her lips found mine as she stood on her tip toes. By her eagerness, I could sense she¡¯d been wanting to do that for a while. When we pulled apart, she was still smiling. ¡°You know, I heard they have rooms in these ces that you can rent for a night.¡± Xi Xha sure wasn¡¯t the shy and quiet type, but I wasn¡¯tining. Taking this ¡®route¡¯ home through the red light district was probably no coincidence either and I didn¡¯t need my powers to catch the intent of her overtures all night. I had to remember that while Xi Xha looked young, she was a grown woman nearly twice my age. This wasn¡¯t the start of some puppy love romance. Xi Xha was looking for something else. And I was fitting to oblige her. ¡°Is that so?¡± I gave her a grin, and then feeling slightly like one of the gigolos on the street next to us, flexed with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°You paying?¡± A flush of lemonade came from her as she gave me a wicked smile. ¡°Let¡¯s see if they¡¯ll give us a couple¡¯s discount.¡± And with that Xi Xha took me by the hand and led me into one of the establishments. Chapter 24 Xi Xha woke early the next morning to continue what we ended up doingte intost night. By the time we finished, she copsed onto my chest, both of us breathing heavily as the first rays of dawn peered through the windows from outside. ¡°Ugh, I have to get going,¡± she said with a groan. ¡°I really do need to teach sses today.¡± ¡°Same¡­ well, kill monsters, not teach kids.¡± Sheughed giving me a quick peck on the cheek while tickling my abs with her fingertips. ¡°Thanks for the great night.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± I said with a grin. As I watched her getting dressed, I had to admit that Xi Xha was in many ways nothing like the person I expected her to be. My first impression of her intentions when it came to Mu Lin especially. ¡°Hey, thanks for what you¡¯re doing for Mu Lin, by the way. I know you¡¯re taking a big risk by helping her. It¡¯s really nice of you.¡± She smiled as she slipped on her underclothes. ¡°Mu Lin¡¯s a smart girl. She deserves a chance at the academy. She may even surpass me. Take care of her for me, out there, will you? She¡¯s so close to being able to pass this exam. I really hope she can focus.¡± ¡°Yeah. Timing¡¯s not great for that. Work is picking up like crazy with all the off- worldersing in for the tournament.¡± ¡°I can imagine.¡±¡°Speaking of which¡­ you never really answered me. Can you help me out or what?¡± Sheughed, shaking her head. ¡°You really are something, you know that? But who am I to stand in the way of a man and his ambition? Yes, I can help you, Chun. But the most I can give you is a contact. From there you¡¯ll be on your own. Are you sure you want this, though? These can be dangerous people.¡± I flexed with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], showing off my scars while giving her a cheesy grin. ¡°Does it look like I fear danger?¡± Sheughed with lemonade again, yfully whipping one of her stockings at me. ¡°Give me a few days. I¡¯ll arrange something. I¡¯ll contact you through Mu Lin.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I then thought back to those Fire Bird members and that strange Frenzy I felting from them. I still had no idea what it was. Could they have been unkindled? All three of them? Maybe I wasn¡¯t the only Berserker here, but three altogether seemed unlikely. Although I had no idea how likely or unlikely finding another Berserker even was. I gazed at Xi Xha as she fixed her hair. If there was ever a chance to ask an expert on the matter, now was the time. It was a risk but screw it. I was already risking enough just trusting Xi Xha with the Jianghu connection. ¡°Hey, have you ever heard of Berserkers before?¡± She paused, looking at me bemused. ¡°That¡¯s an odd question.¡± I quickly came up with a lie. ¡°A client I was with mentioned them once. I¡¯d never heard of them.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I¡¯d be surprised if you had. I don¡¯t think anyone has even seen one of those Daoists in centuries.¡± ¡°Centuries?¡± Perhaps Berserkers were not as wide-spread or well known as I had assumed. ¡°From what I can recall, yes. They were quite an obscure group. More the realm of myth and legend now.¡± ¡°I see. And what¡¯s a Daoist?¡± ¡°Sorry. I forget you might not know these terms.¡± She rushed about, kicking on her sandals. ¡°They¡¯re like¡­ knock-off cultivators that utilize unorthodox practices. Usually form cults and such.¡± ¡°Cults. Are they illegal?¡± ¡°Illegal? No. Well some may be depending on what they practice. Some artisans are Daoist, but martial Daoists like the Berserkers you mentioned are rare and not tolerated. That¡¯s why the Dynasty put an end to them centuries ago.¡± ¡°How would you even recognize one?¡± Sheughed. ¡°I truly do not know. But I must go.¡± She leaned down to give me another kiss on the lips. ¡°We should do this again sometime.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°Definitely.¡± She then gave me a wink. ¡°But next time, let¡¯s just skip the dinner.¡± * * * After Xi Xha left, I meditated a bit on what she¡¯d said. While the warnings from Threja and the orb were quite pronounced, perhaps they were both speaking from a more historic perspective, especially considering how old Threja might actually be. ording to Xi Xha, Berserkers seemed more like boogie men from the past. Although knowing that didn¡¯t mean I was going to start advertising my Frenzied me, it at least made me feel a bit better that no one would instantly point at me and shout ¡°Berserker¡± if I pulled off something a mortal shouldn¡¯t be able to do. Although those Fire Bird members did just that, I mused. They were able to peg Threja for exactly what she was. Perhaps that had given me a false impression about howmonly known Berserkers were. But after having experienced that strange Frenzy, maybe they knew something about Berserkers. Xi Xha just said they hadn¡¯t officially existed in centuries, but could the Fire Birds be some secret sect of Berserkers? It didn¡¯t quite gel with my me though. First, Berserkers didn¡¯t have sects. And what I sensed was ¡®like¡¯ Frenzy, but it definably wasn¡¯t the exact same thing. If Frenzy was wine then what I tasted from them was more like vinegar. The same substance just corrupted. It made me wonder even more exactly what the hell it was. But one thing was clear. They must have found a way to mask it somehow. Unless only I could detect it due to my me. Something else became clear to me too. While people might not recognize me as a Berserker right away, a guy with no Qi cutting loose like I could, was eventually going to raise enough brows for people to start looking deeper. Plus, if I was going to pull offpeting in the martial tournament at anything above the shit-tier league or do anything significant for that matter, I¡¯d have find some way to exin my abilities. Hell, evenst night I¡¯d gotten lucky that those three Fire Birds were less than Foundation Realm. Me knocking one of them unconscious could be exined away. But I wasn¡¯t always going to get so lucky, and my path wouldn¡¯t allow me to back down from a challenge. As I thought some more, the beginnings of an idea started to take form, but then I realized I was alreadyte for work. ¡°Shit,¡± I cursed. I¡¯d have to ponder that some more while on the trail. Right now, I needed to get to killing more monsters. * * * Sumatra gave me the usual shit for showing upte, making fun of my new haircut especially. I ignored him with [Indifference] and went straight to work with my three handlers from the day before. Today¡¯s client seemed of the sane variety thankfully. A low-tier Core Realm cultivator from off world who used a spear style she called the Heavenly Lance. When she told me that she wanted something to test her agility, I took her past the swamps to an estuary that was home to horse-sized crabs and man-sized birds. The birds were for her. They were quick and annoying things, like giant angry seagulls that attacked in mobs. It proved the perfect prey for her, keeping her on her toes with her shy spear techniques. The beaks and livers were also valuable and once I showed my guys how to harvest them, I set them up in an assembly line to process her seemingly never-ending stream of bird corpses as she went to work. Satisfied they had everything under control, I then skived off to go ¡®scout¡¯ for more prey. When I got far enough away from all of them, I went to work on the crabs. They were a lot faster than the belrugs and their pincers proved able to pierce my skin after one of them managed to snag my forearm right before I cut off its w off. I used the opportunity to build more Frenzy from the pain and then utilized that to add to my reflexes and strength. It dawned on me then that if I were able to use [Iron Skin], I might have been able to withstand the w attackpletely. That got me to focus on developing concentrated Frenzy. Recalling the chapters from Mu Li¡¯s Foundation manual, the process of concentrating one¡¯s internal energy involved a sort of refinement technique. That meant cycling my Frenzy through various meridians and purifying it before eventuallypressing it into my Dantian. I set that as my next goal. As an hour went by, every few crabs I gave myself a break to trypressing my Frenzy while it was still freshly circting within my body. Finding a nearby bay-leaf tree, I sat upon the branches in lotus position as I focused on my meridians. Opening my mind¡¯s eye, I visualized the process of my Frenzy circting through my body. I imagined it being like heated water running through pipes and as the pipes passed beneath the pores on my skin, the heat was enough to let the bad parts evaporate away, leaving pure concentrated Frenzy behind. After about ten minutes of this I forced it all into my Dantian and imagined the walls of my mystic core squeezing down on it. Sweat beaded on my brow as I strained with the process, trying to cycle in more concentrated Frenzy to increase the pressure. I wasn¡¯t sure how long I was at it, losing all sense of time as I focused on nothing else. And then with a strange ¡®pop¡¯-like sensation, the pressure in my Dantian suddenly decreased. Shit, I thought. Had I just ruptured it or something? As I fearfully tested my Frenzy again, I found that everything still worked fine, but where my Dantian had once been full, now it felt like my Frenzy barely filled a tenth the volume it had before. When I sampled it however, it was like taking a shot of straight plum wine. ¡°Man, that¡¯s powerful,¡± I said, my eyes squinting. Had I just done it, though? Had I just made my first batch of concentrated Frenzy? Hopping out of the tree, I set about fighting a new crab, utilizing my techniques from my stored Frenzy alone. Sure enough, I could perform far more techniques than I could with the small amount of Frenzy in my tank. Once I killed the crab, I used the fresh Frenzy from my [Lust for Battle] to cultivate and concentrated some more. It was a slow-going process as the crabs took some time to fight and kill. But their quick movements and hard shells forced me to make use of both evasive defensive skills and strong axe techniques to bust open their hard shells. This cultivated both Body Strengthening and Reflex Sharpening at the same time. Once stored in a concentrated state, I found my Frenzy seemed to be stable within my Dantian. With it now half full, I experimented a bit and found that I could use it normally, greatly increasing the number of techniques I could perform, or I could chug the stuff straight and greatly amplify a single technique. But I wanted to do more with it than that. After taking a break to make a brief check on the cultivator and my guys, I decided to move locations, finding her even more birds to kill. Thankfully they seemed a decent challenge for the cultivator and she was happy to stick with the same quarry. By the time I managed to get back to crab killing, I was eager to put my concentrated Frenzy to use in the form of a manifestation technique. I spent a good half hour studying the meridian technique for [Iron Skin] from memory and when I figured I had it down, I set up for a test. Turning to the tree I was sitting in, I focused on a branch that was a good five inches thick. Exhaling, I focused directing my concentrated Frenzy to the heel of my palm. The techniquested only a second, but it felt like it had worked. There was no visual confirmation of it though, just the feeling of my hand bing as hard as rock. ¡°Time to really test this out,¡± I said, squaring up with the tree. I leapt into the air, performing [Two-Log Chop]. Mind reeling, I applied theplex meridian sequence to perform [Iron Skin] at the same time. My hand hit the tree and I cried out as if felt like every bone inside it shattered. ¡°Ah, shit!¡± I swore, dancing around in a circle while holding my swelling hand. ¡°Dammit!¡± What the hell was it with me and trees? I thought. The branch in question looked none the worse for wear, my hand instead taking the full brunt of the technique. Thank goodness I didn¡¯t use [Three-Log Chop]. I focused my concentrated Frenzy on healing as I dissipated the pain. After twenty minutes I worked up the nerve to give it another go. One thing was clear, this technique had very tight timing. If I was ever going to make use of it, I would have to be very fast at its execution. That made me think of the value of Mental Quickness as an attribute. If I wanted to be able to perform multiple techniques in quick session, I¡¯d definitely have to increase my prowess within it. Once I was ready, I jumped into the air once more, performing both techniques near simultaneously this time. Concentrated Frenzy flowed into my palm and my entire hand went numb just as it struck the tree branch. With a splintering crack it broke in two, not quite a clean chop, but what was left was hanging by only a sliver of bark. My heart pumped vigorously as the remnants of the technique surged within me. I looked at my hand, expecting for it to start throbbing again, but there was nothing. No pain at all. I smiled with satisfaction. I could now sessfully use manifestation techniques, but more than that, I realized that I had just reached mid-tier in my Foundation Realm training. * * * I practiced the technique a few more times, getting down the timing just right before deciding to call it quits for the day. I rounded up my troops and the cultivator, stuffing our backpacks full of bird livers and beaks before heading back for the gate in the mid-afternoon sun. As I led the way, I thought more and more about how quickly I was progressing, but I was about to hit a wall soon. While I was now able to hack down a tree with a damn karate chop, the more powerful I became the more danger there was of revealing my secret to the world. When I was just starting out my skills could easily be interpreted as just a very strong mortal, but now I was really getting into true superhuman territory. I would soon no longer be able to progress easily if I couldn¡¯t start acting out in the open. At least somewhat anyway. As we neared the gate my brain was nearly fried trying to think of a solution. How did people even detect various Qi levels anyway? Was it simr to how I detected Frenzy? Perhaps I could ask Mu Lin. A strong sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu hit me as I approached the gate. I recalled how panicked I was trying to hide the new-found gifts I¡¯d just received from Threja, just a few weeks ago. I was starting to feel that way permanently now. Like at any moment I could be exposed. And then a wild and radical thought urred. An idea maybe. But could it work? As we got inside, I rushed around looking for the only person who could answer that question for me. ¡°Mu Lin!¡± I found her knee-deep in backpacks, stowing supplies for the next day. She frowned when she saw me. ¡°Dammit, Chun! You made me lose money.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I bet Lee you weren¡¯t going to show for work today, but I guess you just came inte as usual.¡± Iughed. ¡°Yeah, that was a pretty wild night.¡± ¡°Yeah, it was. Thanks for taking us all out.¡± ¡°Hey, are you busy tonight?¡± ¡°What, again?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No way. Go check Lee. I barely dragged myself through work today. I¡¯m going straight home and going to sleep.¡± ¡°No, no,¡± I said. ¡°I want toe over.¡± She looked at me like I was stupid again. ¡°What part of ¡®going home and going straight to sleep¡¯ did you not understand?¡± ¡°Seriously, it won¡¯t take long. I have something I want to show you.¡± She furrowed her brow at me suspiciously now but there was some curiosity there as well. ¡°Show me what?¡± I grinned, throwing off my uniform. ¡°You¡¯ll find out when I get there. See you in about an hour.¡± Chapter 25 After making sure my three handlers were all set for the next day, I stopped briefly at home before heading to Mu Lin¡¯s. With a quick change of clothes and some money in my pocket, I then stopped at the central market for some more persimmons and a jug of rice wine. ¡°Yo, I¡¯m here!¡± I called while banging on her door. Mu Lin answered after a few moments, bags under her eyes, ¡°I was praying you weren¡¯t stilling.¡± ¡°Here,¡± I said, presenting her the bag of persimmons. She took the bag and tossed it onto her bed before plopping down next to it yawning. ¡°Okay, so what¡¯s so important? And if it¡¯s got anything to do with Xi Xha¡­ I don¡¯t want to know.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I said, but thenughed when I recalled she¡¯dst seen Xi Xha hanging off my arm while leaving with me the night before. ¡°Nah, nothing to do with her. But if you want to know, after you left, we had a great time. Especially¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± Mu Lin shouted, covering her ears while closing her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t want to know. Don¡¯t want to visualize anything.¡± Iughed again, pleased with her predictable reaction. Not that I was really going to spill the beans on that night. Mu Lin still needed to respect Xi Xha as her teacher, after all. ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t want to keep you too long. I just need to ask you a few questions first.¡±¡°Fine, but hurry up, I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°Alright, how do you actually go about sensing the strength of other people¡¯s Qi?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean, can anyone do it? Or is it just a special skill that you have as a schr? And can you sense different types?¡± ¡°I swear you ask the weirdest, most random shit sometimes, Chun.¡± ¡°Humor me, please. This all has a point, I swear.¡± She sighed gazing upwards in thought. ¡°Yes, but it depends. Yes. And yes, sort of.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Look, yes, anyone can sense Qi once they¡¯ve reached 9th Tier in Body Refinement, but it¡¯s a skill like any other. The more skilled you are, the more sensitive you be to small amounts and at greater distances. What my additional skills as a schr allow me to do is to quantify that sensitivity.¡± ¡°Like how you¡¯re able to tell if someone is just Foundation Realm or mid-tier Core Realm from a distance?¡± ¡°Exactly. But it¡¯s sort of like an art. I don¡¯t have some magic meter that pops into my head when I see someone. You just get a feel of what rtive strengths are like after a while. The better you get, the better you are at doing it from a distance too.¡± ¡°Okay, so for most other people, they¡¯d have to be really close to sort of detect what level a person truly is?¡± She breathed out heavily again. ¡°Yes. Why is this important?¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting to it. And can you detect like different vors of Qi? Like if it¡¯s fire or ice based?¡± Mu Lin looked genuinely intrigued by the question, tapping her chin. ¡°That¡¯s like an even deeper level of sensitivity. I can¡¯t yet, but maybe Xi Xha could, if she could really study the person, but it¡¯s kind of a moot skill to have.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Because you can usually figure out a person¡¯s aspect by the techniques they perform or hell, even the names of their styles are dead giveaways. Path of the Icy de, Way of the Fiery Talon, h h h.¡± I nodded, considering that for a moment. ¡°Will definitely need to take that into ount.¡± ¡°For what?¡± Shit, I¡¯d said that out loud. ¡°For what I¡¯m about to show you. You know I¡¯m thinking about entering the tournament, right?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­which, full disclosure, I do have money on, by the way.¡± ¡°What? You and Lee are betting on me again?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell you the odds and which side I¡¯m on so don¡¯t ask.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Damn, I thought you guys were my friends.¡± ¡°Nope, you¡¯re just our entertainment,¡± she said deadpan with a smirk. ¡°Speaking of which, will you get on with it? I¡¯m falling asleep here. And I still have plenty of studying to doter.¡± ¡°Okay, okay,¡± I said. ¡°So anyway. You know the book you lent me?¡± ¡°You mean the one I lent to your friend?¡± ¡°Yes¡­my friend. Anyway. I thought about what you said about the shit-tier league and I wanted to give cultivating another shot. So, I started studying the book and I think maybe I¡¯ve had a breakthrough, but I can¡¯t be sure. Can you¡­study me to see if you can sense anything?¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± I nodded, slipping my hands into my pockets and then leaned forward with a look of determination on my face. ¡°Just tell me when you¡¯re ready.¡± She shrugged with another sigh. ¡°Okay.¡± As she leaned forward adjusting her sses, I cycled my Frenzy within me. ¡°Sense anything?¡± ¡°No. Why are you standing with your hands in your pockets like that?¡± ¡°Shush! It¡¯s the only way I¡¯ve been able to focus doing this.¡± She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t seem to be working, Chun.¡± As I maintained my focus with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] I fumbled with the lightning core wrapped loosely in the rune-covered cloth in my right pocket. Feeling for its rough surface, I exposed a small sliver of the core. ¡°Anything?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± I exposed a little bit more. ¡°Anything?¡± ¡°I told you n¡ªwhoa!¡± She suddenly leaned forward, her eyes shooting open. ¡°What the hell, man?¡± ¡°What? Is it working?¡± Her eyes darted back and forth. ¡°It¡¯s fluctuating but damn, Chun! You did it! You actually did it!¡± ¡°How strong?¡± I said, straining my voice artificially. ¡°I¡¯m pushing it. Want to see what my peak is.¡± She got off the bed, staring at me like I was a rare specimen at a zoo. ¡°Foundation Realm, mid-tier even? Chun, what the hell, man? How did you do this?¡± Perfect! I thought. I copsed in a heap, rolling my eyes into the back of my head. ¡°Chun!¡± I felt like an ass faking in front of Mu Lin like this, but it was all necessary. Now that my test was sessful, I needed to protect her from the truth. I made a mental picture of the exposed area of the core as I circled it with my thumb and then covered it fully with the cloth again. ¡°Chun!¡± Mu Lin shouted again, trying to rouse me. As she shook me, I stirred, hoping to look bleary eyed when I stared up at her. ¡°Damn, what happened?¡± ¡°You passed out.¡± ¡°Did you see anything? Did you see my strength?¡± ¡°Mid Foundation. But¡­¡± She stared at me again. ¡°I don¡¯t sense it anymore. What the hell was that?¡± ¡°Maybe it was just a fluke,¡± I said. ¡°Or that elixir I bought just didn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°Wait, you spent your money on an elixir?¡± I shrugged, knowing she would take the bait. ¡°Well, I figured I needed something to help get me across the line. Do you think it worked?¡± ¡°Holy hell, Chun. I don¡¯t know what kind of elixir you can buy for under five Taels, but that stuff was likelyplete shit. You¡¯re probably lucky to be alive.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it worked, didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Temporarily, I guess.¡± She shook her head at me. ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve got to promise me you won¡¯t do something dumb like this again, Chun. That¡¯s seriously dangerous stuff. Where¡¯d you even get it?¡± Shit, I didn¡¯t think that far ahead yet. ¡°Probably best you don¡¯t even know. But I hear you. Guess I just got desperate, that¡¯s all.¡± She kneeled down next to me. ¡°Desperate? Desperate about what?¡± I didn¡¯t really want to pull on Mu Lin¡¯s heartstrings with this, but I supposed I was being honest in a way. It was a bit of a desperate gambit that I was ying at here, even if she didn¡¯t understand the full context. ¡°You¡¯ve found your way out, Mu Lin. And I¡¯m behind you 100 percent to see that you seed. But I need to find my own path to freedom.¡± And then I couldn¡¯t help but adding, ¡°To all of our freedom.¡± She crinkled her nose at that quizzically, but then her eyes softened as she nodded. ¡°I understand, man. Just don¡¯t try so hard. Cultivation takes time, you know? There¡¯ll be another tournament next year. If that shit-tier elixir somehow gave you a breakthrough then take that as a win, but don¡¯t gamble on it anymore. You¡¯d be gambling with your life. Just keep studying and training. That¡¯s the best way to progress. No shortcuts.¡± I smiled at her. She didn¡¯t even realize how applicable those words were to me. ¡°Thanks, Mu Lin.¡± As I faked struggling to get up off the floor, I reached for the jug of wine. ¡°Hey, I bought this in advance to celebrate my ascension. Go get some cups.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say you were trying to help me pass my exam? I¡¯ve got to study!¡± ¡°Come on. One drink.¡± She rolled her eyes and brought us back two bowls which I generously filled with the rice wine. ¡°To freedom!¡± I toasted. Sheughed, clinking our bowls together. ¡°To freedom and a clear head when Ie toter.¡± We gulped down the wineughing together. ¡°Hey, you know what?¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s gotten into you thesest couple of weeks, Chun, but you really are changing. And for the better, I mean.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she said with a half-drunk head nod. ¡°Here¡¯s to you, Chun. May you always be the amazing, imusible, unpredictable miracle of reality that you are.¡± I could onlyugh. ¡°To Chun!¡± * * * Phase one of my n was aplete sess. The concept worked. I could use the core as a means to mimic having a Qi Foundation. But now came the hard part. Phase two. Before I began, I stopped by the market again and picked up a crab and shrimp dish before heading to Yu Li¡¯s. It wasn¡¯t the restaurant-district quality like I had envisioned giving her earlier, but it was still pretty good. When I knocked on her door to surprise her with it, her eyes said she was still a little mad at me, but as soon as I gave her a grin and she smelled the food, her features melted into a smile. Salt and pepper seafood was her favorite. We had dinner together and she even enjoyed a little bit of the wine, mindful that she was still breastfeeding. We didn¡¯t discuss the tournament again and ate mostly in silence, just enjoying the food while entertaining Su Ling. Which was fine by me. When I was about to leave, I slipped her a Tael of silver. ¡°For the next two months¡¯ rent,¡± I said. Her mouth hung open a little bit. ¡°Chun, how are you getting all this money?¡± I shrugged with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Work¡¯s been goodtely. Don¡¯t worry about it. I even have enough for my own rent this time.¡± She shook her head as Iughed it off and then she pulled me into a hug. ¡°You¡¯re a crazy idiot but I love you, Chun. Thanks for looking out for me again.¡± ¡°This is just the start.¡± I grinned at her. ¡°Like I said. We¡¯re going to own this ce one day.¡± She smirked at me, but more yfully this time. ¡°You know, I¡¯m actually starting to believe you.¡± I felt a bit of lemonadee from her as she said it, genuine admiration and faith in her words. It was a wee primer for what I knew had toe next. After saying goodbye for the night, I locked myself in my apartment and prepared. I started by feeling for the core in my pocket, unwrapping it to the point I had memorized with my thumb. When I pulled it out, I saw that barely a tenth of the core was exposed. That was good. It meant I¡¯d still have a good bit to sell afterwards. Scoring around the core with my skinning knife, I focused my Frenzy to saw at the hardened crystal. Small bits of lightning still shed within it and I wondered if it was a good idea to even try breaking off a piece of this thing. Nothing in the manuals said you couldn¡¯t break a core in two, but I didn¡¯t suppose it was a verymon activity either. I was just going to have to find out. ¡°No guts, no glory,¡± I said to myself as I held down the core and raised my axe above it to strike. I channeled my Frenzy as I brought it down and with a sh of lightning my axe bounced off of it. Shit! Steeling myself with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] I focused again and this time raised the axe even higher. Sweat beaded on my brow as I aimed at the small sliver of blue crystal at the edge of my fingers. One slip and I was joining Zu Tien¡¯s club. Releasing a breath, I let the axe fall. ¡°Two-Log Chop!¡± With a loud crack the axe mmed down, the small piece of core flying off with a clean break. My heart was pounding with relief and exhration. Wrapping up the core, I grabbed the sliver that had bounced onto the ground. It was the size of a Wen coin and perhaps twice as thick, small sparks of lightning running through it. Phase twopleted, I thought. I grabbed the jug of rice wine and began chugging to prepare myself for phase three. I didn¡¯t know much about the human anatomy, but I¡¯d skinned enough animals and monsters in my life to know the variousyers of skin and how deep they went before you hit muscle. I was counting on that knowledge now to pull off the unthinkable¡ªburying a piece of someone else¡¯s core under my own skin. I prepared a needleced with thick thread in advanced and then downed half the jug of wine. Exhaling, I grasped my skinning knife, pinched a piece of flesh just below my navel. And started cutting. * * * I came to on the floor sometimeter, wallowing in a pool of my own blood. Fiery pain immediately engulfed my stomach and I cried out in a moan as I curled into a fetal position. I¡¯d forgotten just how much pain truly hurt without the mitigation of rage and Frenzy. Looking at how much blood I¡¯d lost, I was perhaps lucky to still be alive. I¡¯d drunk the wine to steel my nerves more psychologically than anything else. Taking blows in a fight was one thing, but willfully cutting into your own stomach took a whole new kind of mental fortitude. The wine had worked, I¡¯d done it, but I didn¡¯t give thought to how hard it would make trying to sew myself back up afterwards. [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] saw me through the worst of it and I trained my Internal Strengthening to burn off the alcohol so I could give myself a crude stitch or three. Considering the condition I was in, I did a half-decent job, I figured. I decided to leave cleaning up the mess until the morning. I was way too zonked out now. Pulling myself into my cot, Iy there still in pain but with a smile on my lips. Phase three wasplete. I now had my mask. As I touched the tender area below my navel, I figured it would leave a rather nice scar that would be camouged by all the rest. I was one huge step closer to my dream. The training wheels were off. I could now cut loose as a full-blown cultivator. Tomorrow, once I healed up, it was time to sign up for the tournament. Chapter 26 Master Hei Dong sighed warily as the three cultivators entered through the gates of his familypound, each one d in the orange and red robes of the Fire Bird Sect. Two inner disciples nked a master who walked in the center, a tall man with a flowing, gray-streaked beard and hair to match. His slim features bordered on being gaunt, almost sickly in appearance, his age of someone in his seventies. His eyes shifted about the courtyard hungrily as Hei Dong approached, as if he were taking stock of Hei Dong¡¯s wealth by counting the number of ornate statues adorning the front yard alone. Hei Dong was nked by his own entourage of skilled retainers. In this case it was two disciples from Fia¡¯s cohort, the women dressed in dark robes as was the signature of the Silver Shadows Enve. He came to a stop before the trio of Fire Bird members and stered on a pleasant smile. ¡°Master Lo Feng, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit so early in the morning?¡± Lo Feng, the local sect leader of the Fire Birds, sped his hands and performed a customary bow. ¡°The pleasure is certainly all mine, Honorable Vice-Warden. My thanks for entertaining me unannounced.¡± Hei Dong noted he had referred to him by his imperial title rather than his sect position, a clear indicator of what this visit was about today. ¡°I always have time for old friends.¡± Lo Feng smiled, a predatory-like gesture that barely concealed the contempt behind it. ¡°I bring a gift.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± At the snap of his fingers, one of his disciples stepped forward and unwrapped a piece of ornate cloth to reveal a glittering chunk of metal within it. The man held it towards him, head bent low. Hei Dong couldn¡¯t contain the stirring of his Qi at the immense power exuding from the material.¡°Aurorean Silver,¡± Lo Feng said with a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure the old smith in you would find great use for such a thing.¡± Hei Dong grimaced inwardly but yet smiled. The old bastard knew him well. He had forged Hein¡¯s de, the Silver Tear Talon, from a simr material decades ago. This much Aurorean Silver was likely plucked from the corpse of some unsuspecting off-worlder and smelted down to conceal its origins. But Lo Feng¡¯s reason for gifting him this was perhaps two-fold. One was clearly for a favor he still had yet to ask, but the other reason was to deliver a backhanded insult; a reminder that Hei Dong was not a martial artist, but an artisan crafter who got by upon the protection of his wife¡¯s family. Hei Dong epted the gift regardless, the saving of face demanding it. ¡°You are most considerate, Master Lo Feng. I¡¯m sure I will find use for it indeed. Although these days my formal duties call me much farther away from the anvil than I would like.¡± Hei Dong smirked, hinting that his power was seated in things far superior to either martial or artisan prowess now. He held the strength of office. Something that could cause even a high-tier Core Realm cultivator like Lo Feng to bow to him. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we all wish for more time in a day if we could,¡± Lo Feng said chuckling. ¡°And I know yours is limited, what with all the preparations for the tournament.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Hei Dong said, waiting patiently for the man¡¯s request. After a few seconds of silence, it inevitably came. ¡°I note that there have been no contracts for the tournament security issued as yet.¡± ¡°Why would you expect such, Master Lo Feng?¡± Hei Dong answered him quickly, leaving no room for negotiation. ¡°It¡¯s not a normal tournament this year. It¡¯s sponsored exclusively by the Dynasty. Security will be imperial.¡± Lo Feng snorted. ¡°Even though it is to take ce squarely in our territory?¡± Hei Dong seethed inwardly. He¡¯d expected this conversation as soon as he had selected the venue. Lady Silver Tear allowed the Fire Birds to control most of the surface city and the illicit trades that transpired therein, but during the tournaments their control was officiated through another form of appeasement¡ªwarranting them a security contract to keep peace and order over the less savory masses. ¡°The rulinges from the princess herself.¡± Hei Dong merely shrugged. ¡°There will be no security contract this year.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Lo Feng folded his arms slowly. ¡°Does the Silver Leaf n not hold favor with the princess? Surely, local sensitivities can bemunicated and respected by the throne. I¡¯m certain manpower alone will be an issue. Does the Warden even possess enough Enforcers to police such an event?¡± ¡°Any shortfalls will be filled by the Silver Leaf n this year, Master Lo Feng.¡± The cold, sharp words came from behind him. Hei Dong didn¡¯t need to look to see who it was. Stepping next to him was his wife, Rhi Dong, still a radiant beauty at over eighty years old, sharp features and wless, pale skin, but she was nothing more than a right meddling woman at the moment. Her silver eyes glinted with delight as she leered at Lo Feng, their color matching her long hair which flowed to her mid-back in a warrior¡¯s braid. Lo Feng replied with practiced grace, performing a bow. ¡°Ah, Lady Silver Moon, the true beauty¡­and strength of the Dong family.¡± Hei Dong held his tongue at yet another backhanded insult, but his wife foolishlypped up the false praise, smiling cockily. ¡°This One is pleased at your recognition.¡± Hei Dong matched Lo Feng¡¯s obsequious tone. ¡°My dearest wife, what a pleasure it is for you toe and see Master Lo Feng off.¡± ¡°Oh, is our conversation at a close already?¡± Lo Feng said. ¡°I can¡¯t see much reason for it to continue.¡± Hei Dong smiled but his eyes remained fixed in a deathly stare. Lo Feng chuckled. ¡°Well, I suppose we should be thankful that security will fall into the hands of the most powerful Silver Leaf n this year. As perhaps it should. After all, the more intolerant segments of our fine city may find much dissatisfaction with the grip the princess has ced on our tournament this year. Surely a much stronger security force will be needed tobat the inevitable unrest it will bring.¡± Rhi Dong frowned, her tone then bing grave. ¡°What is it you speak of, Master Lo Feng? Is it a threat?¡± Hei Dong sighed inwardly; the woman had foolishly taken his bait. At times he wondered if she was any better than Hein when it came to subtlety and tact. ¡°No threats are being spoken here, my love.¡± Hei Dong smiled at her to save face. ¡°Only Dynasty matters.¡± He emphasized the word and gave her a prating stare to convey she was overstepping her bounds. Miraculously she caught on and smiled back at him. ¡°Very well, dear husband. I will leave these small matters to you as the Vice-Warden.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± As his wife turned to depart, Lo Feng, perhaps sensing an opportunity for discord, struck again. ¡°Strange that Dynasty matters would involve so much of the Silver Leaf n¡¯s involvement this year,¡± he said. ¡°One would almost think the Lady Silver Tear is trying to push aside long-standing agreements and traditions just to personally take advantage of the huge bounty to be had this year.¡± Rhi Dong turned about sharply. ¡°You dare to make such an usation of my n¡¯s honor? Of the Lady Silver Tear herself?¡± Lo Feng grinned. ¡°A thousand apologies, Lady Silver Moon. If you mistook my words as an usation, please forgive me. It was a mere observation from my own personal perspective. If I am wrong, please do correct me.¡± ¡°That will be enough,¡± Hei Dong said, sensing his wife¡¯s Qi shifting violently inside of her. ¡°These matters cannot be discussed nor remedied here.¡± ¡°Indeed they cannot,¡± Rhi Dong said, her eyes narrowing to slits. ¡°But if Master Lo Feng feels aggrieved, then perhaps he should petition the courts for a Trial by Might. With the tournament approaching he would be sure to find a venue and we would most certainly entertain defending any im he would bring against our house.¡± Curse the woman, Hei Dong thought. He needed to deescte this quickly. ¡°I am sure Master Lo Feng would have no need to go through such troubles. Any losses this year can surely be recouped in the following¡ª¡± ¡°No, no,¡± Lo Feng said. ¡°Your honorable wife speaks wisely, Vice-Warden. What better way to demonstrate to the princess herself, that the rules of imperial civility prate to even this far-flung region of her domain. After all, gone are the days of sectarian violence in the streets born of petty disputes and retribution. Are they not?¡± His words were filled with venom, but Rhi Dong seemed top them up with a fervor. ¡°I am certain your sect is most grateful for those days to be behind us, for we know who would prevail in any such dispute. But the Silver Leaf n stands ready to embrace the modern era. If you wish to put forth a champion for your im, we will match it in a Trial by Might. My daughter Fia ispeting within the Gold Bracket this year. I am certain she would relish the opportunity to put any one of your members to the test in a trial.¡± ¡°So be it,¡± Lo Feng said with a smirk. ¡°We have memberspeting in the Gold Bracket as well. My very nephew, Hong Feng, would certainly be a good match for your Fia.¡± ¡°Consider it settled then,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°If you wish to push forth in this silly matter, we stand ready to contest it.¡± Lo Feng looked to Hei Dong directly. ¡°I will prepare a manifest of what we estimate we have lost this year in ie. Expect a writ from the magistrates.¡± The Fire Bird Sect leader performed a bow, which Hei Dong begrudgingly returned. Once he had departed, Hei Dong dismissed the two Silver Shadows before turning his full attention to his wife. ¡°What have you done, woman?¡± he said, vexed. She merely leered at him. ¡°What you should have done ages ago, my dear husband. The Fire Birds grow more brazen with their demands each year. It is time we remind them who holds their leash.¡± Hei Dong shook his head while releasing a sigh. ¡°Do you have any idea how much we rely upon them to keep this city afloat? And I¡¯m not talking about the tournament. I mean the rest of the year. There¡¯s barely enoughmerce to keep anything in working order. If not for the shadow economy within the Jianghu, we¡¯d all be living like the damn Terrans.¡± ¡°You fret too much, my love,¡± Rhi Dong said, stroking his cheek softly. ¡°The Fire Birds will be allowed to continue in their vocation. Only next year, Master Lo Feng wille groveling on his knees before you, begging to serve, instead of wearing that smug grin on his ugly face.¡± ¡°And Fia? Would you risk her life over this?¡± Rhi Dong let out a sharpugh. ¡°I often forget these ways are still yet foreign to you, love. Our Fia is bristling at a chance to im her own honor within the n. Even more than cing in the Gold Bracket, I¡¯m sure she would relish the opportunity to strike down the nephew of a rival sect leader to defend Lady Silver Tear¡¯s honor.¡± She was probably right, but it was a distraction he scarcely needed at the moment. ¡°Then I shall leave you to see to it, my love,¡± he said. ¡°I have much yet to do to ensure this tournament is a sess.¡± ¡°And it shall be.¡± She smiled at him before kissing his cheek. ¡°No one is more clever than you, Vice-Warden Hei Dong. And no one is stronger than our Fia.¡± Chapter 27 I surprisingly woke up early the next morning. I even had a few minutes to spare to clean up my mess before heading to work. My wound still pained me something awful, despite me spending every drop of Frenzy I had on mending my skin back together. Maybe due to the fact that it was a self-inflicted wound, my Frenzy wasn¡¯t affecting it as much. Which kind of made sense. Either that or the Qi in the core was affecting it maybe. But although it wasn¡¯t fully healed, I felt like I had achieved some kind transformationst night¡ªand not just the figurative kind. Perhaps my Internal Strengthening had finally increased to stage three from burning off all that wine. I¡¯d have to wait before attempting any techniques to confirm that though. Thest thing I needed was to bust open my stitches and have a sliver of lightning core fall straight out of my guts. That meant taking it easy for today. At work, I headed into the field with my usual trio, leading a group of four mid-tier Foundation Realm cultivators to find some rare crafting materials for advancement. With no ns for advancement myself, I spent the day teaching my handlers the basics of tracking by finding a C-ss monster that would give our clients what they were looking for. We ended up spending the morning on the trail of a giant boar which we finally managed to corner at the base of an old quarry. We stood back as the four cultivators went at it and true to the ranking books, they were able to take it down pretty easily as a group. They appeared to have a great time doing it though. I guessed nothing made you feel more powerful than kicking the shit out of a giant spirit beast. I had to admit that the day was somewhat enjoyable for me as well, just doing my normal job and teaching the new handlers some of my skills. The way their eyes gleamed with interest and their appreciativeness for me taking an interest in them was a satisfaction that couldn¡¯t be beat. Except for the free lemonade that came with it, of course. But by the time we finished up for the day, I was itching to get on with what I was really nning for today. After spending a few minutes catching up with Lee and Mu Lin, who had, not surprisingly, shifted the odds on her bet due to my ¡®breakthrough¡¯, I bid them both farewell and headed off towards the arena. * * * The Official Jurin Province Arena was located in the southern part of the city, a few blocks away from the restaurant district. Beingte afternoon, the streets were already abuzz with people transitioning from the markets to the fields, while simultaneously the food vendors assembled to take the farmers¡¯ ces, setting up shop for the night. I practiced my use of [Mask of the Despised] as I sauntered through the crowd, my steps slow and ponderous, more out of necessity due to my wound than anything else, but it was just like how Threja used to walk. That made me think about her for a moment, my one-time mentor and brief friend. I prayed that she had made it, that she was out there kicking ass in the celestial realm somewhere. I wondered what it was like in the worlds beyond. Perhaps I would find out for myself one day. The outside of the arena was already packed with people by the time I arrived. So much so that I wondered if I had missed something or if this many people were a normal urrence this time of day. My question was answered when I got close enough to see that the people waiting outside were actually in a queue. ¡°Hey, what is all this?¡± I asked a middle-aged guy standing in front of me. He nced back at me warily, as if not wanting to speak once he saw that I was a Terran, but I kept staring at him with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] until he eventually said something. ¡°The qualification matches,¡± he said. ¡°They started early this year. Didn¡¯t you hear? It¡¯s half price to get in if youe early.¡± I honestly had so much contempt towards the tournaments before that I avoided everything about thempletely in the past. Now I was beginning to regret that I hadn¡¯t paid a bit more attention. ¡°So, you¡¯re just here to spectate?¡± The man chortled. ¡°Do I look like a fighter to you?¡± ¡°So where do the fighters go to sign up?¡± The man looked me up and down a moment, sizing me up, and then after producing a squirt of lemonade, pointed to a much shorter queue a distance away, towards the side entrance of the arena. ¡°Go there. Good luck.¡± As I approached the new queue, I could definitely tell there was a difference between the types of people in this line versus thest. Most were young men that resembled the initiates Hein had brought with him:te teens, rough around the edges with a desperate hunger about them, a few women too. I supposed I was no different. But what really surprised me were the number of damn kids in the line. There were at least twenty of them, all looking around twelve or so. Some of them were standing with whom I assumed were their parents, most of them farmer-looking types and dirt poor by the quality of their dress. As I entered the line, more than a few sets of eyes fell on me, the only Terran in the bunch. They sized me up like the old guy just did, but there were no words spoken or lemonade to be had. We werepetitors already, it seemed. As I got closer to the front of the line a huge Qi-infused card disyed the information I was looking for. 12th Annual Tournament of Mortal Champions Registration Rules and Guidelines [Wooden Bracket] Entry Fee: 1 Tael Qualification Requirements: Top 5 Ranking in Qualifying Match Rewards 20th Rank and higher - ss-C Citizenship Winner ¨C Free Entry to Iron Bracket [Iron Bracket] Entry Fee: 50 Spirit Stones Qualification Requirements: Previous Top 20 Ranking in [Wooden Bracket] Rewards 20th Rank and higher - ss-B Citizenship Winner - 1000 Spirit Stones [Golden Bracket] Entry Fee: 1000 Spirit Stones Qualification Requirements: Previous Top 20 Ranking in [Iron Bracket] Rewards 20th Rank and higher - ss-A Citizenship Winner ¨C 10000 Spirit Stones [Special Invitational Jade Bracket] Entry Fee: Compliments of Her Imperial Majesty, Third Princess Lunh, 257th heir of the Glorious Imperial Yee Dynasty Qualification Requirements: By royal invitation only Rewards Winner ¨C 100,000 Spirit Stones Additional Fees Storage Facilities - 10 Wen per night Weapon/Equipment Rental ¨C 30 Wen per night Sparring Court Rental ¨C 500 Wen Martial Court Rental ¨C 1 Tael Trial Court Rental ¨C 5 Tael I scanned over the list and wondered what the hell was the difference between the different ssifications of citizenship. I¡¯m sure I must have learned it in school at some point, but I¡¯d be damned if I could recall what any of them meant now. I wasn¡¯t expecting the entrance fees either. One Tael was starting to feel like a whole lot of money again. As I scanned the various brackets, I couldn¡¯t help but feel at the bottom of that totem pole in my mind. An overwhelming sense of despair overcame me for a moment, the Struggler suppressing my me. My meager goal at the moment was only to acquire citizenship just so I could carve out a foothold in the cultivator¡¯s world. A ce for Terrans to call our own while I further advanced and grew strong enough tounch my true ns for liberation and rebellion against the empire. But if I was going to be strong enough to pull any of that off, then winning an event like even the Jade Bracket would have to be like child¡¯s y to me. And I felt a million miles away from that right now. ¡°You native?¡± a voice called from ahead of me, snapping me out of my depressing thoughts. It was a heavyset man dressed in imperial robes, one of three attendants standing behind a counter serving the would-be participants in queue. He then squinted at me in a way that reminded me of Mu Lin. ¡°That¡¯s some Qi you have. What are you? An artisan?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Shit, I guess this guy really was like Mu Lin. I thought quickly, grabbing hold of my axe and spinning it in the air. ¡°Yeah, I am. I¡¯m a Foundation Realm Woodcutter. I study the path of the Falling Tree. Even mastered the [Three-Log Chop] technique in only one day.¡± I grinned, turning it all into a joke, and the man huffed out an amused snort. ¡°The hell are you doing here then? Or do you really know how to use that thing and are looking to qualify for the Iron Bracket?¡± I nced over my shoulder to see if anyone else was within earshot. ¡°To be honest with you, I have a question about the different levels of citizenship.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°What do they give you?¡± The man eyed me like I was trolling him or something. ¡°Are you truly so ignorant?¡± I bowed, pressing my palms together. ¡°Please, This One apologizes for his ignorance. If you can exin to me what each one¡ª¡± ¡°ss-C citizenship grants you eligibility to enter into a martial sect or imperial service,¡± he said. ¡°But I would be puzzled if you entered the tournament for just that.¡± ¡°Why? What do you mean?¡± ¡°A crafter of your progression could gain the same through apprenticeship with the artisan sects easily, I would imagine.¡± ¡°Really? Can you ownnd with a C-ss citizenship?¡± ¡°Ownnd?¡± He then nodded his head back in an ¡®Ah-ha¡¯ gesture. ¡°So that¡¯s why you want in the tournament. To ownnd.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He smirked at me. ¡°An ambitious one for your kind.¡± I didn¡¯t know what he meant by ¡®your kind¡¯ exactly, but the condescending connotation was clear. Still, he was helping me out, so I wasn¡¯t going to throw a fit about it¡ªjust yet. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m looking to achieve a lot of stuff,¡± I said. The Berserker in me couldn¡¯t help but flex [Fear the me] as I said it, imagining my future self, swooping in and destroying the whole damn arena one day. I had to y the game for now though. This was a marathon not a sprint. ¡°Only B-ss and A-ss citizens can ownnd,¡± the man said. I looked up at the board. That meant I had to enter the Iron Bracket, not the Wooden Bracket. Although I had figured that much as soon as Mu Lin had called it the shit-tier league. Nothing good coulde from something with a name like that, but I had to confirm it regardless. ¡°What else does B and A ss give you?¡± The man shrugged. ¡°Lots of things. B-ss citizens can hold higher levels of imperial office or be inner disciples with a martial sect, travel between cities. A-ss citizens may own property within the imperial city itself and are allowed ess to travel freely throughout the entire empire.¡± ¡°Damn¡­like space travel?¡± He scoffed at me, as if that were an impossibility that I shouldn¡¯t even be considering. ¡°So how do I sign up for the Iron Bracket?¡± He raised a brow. ¡°You don¡¯t just sign up. You¡¯d have to qualify first and then pay the fee. You know anything about fighting?¡± ¡°A little but not too much,¡± I said honestly. Still needed that damn manual, I thought. ¡°What do I have to do to qualify?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all up there.¡± He jerked his thumb at the board behind him. ¡°If you want topete in the Iron Bracket you¡¯d have to have ranked within the top 20 of the Wooden Bracket within thest three years, but you¡¯d need to qualify for even the Wooden Bracket first. You look strong and your Qi concentration is impressive for a Terran, but trees don¡¯t fight back. You sure you¡¯re up for this?¡± I grinned at him. ¡°Hey, you¡¯d be surprised what a tree can do to you.¡± He chortled. ¡°You¡¯re a funny one.¡± ¡°What do I need to do to qualify for the Wooden Bracket?¡± ¡°ce top five in a fifty person all-for-one match.¡± ¡°All for one? You mean like a Battle Royale?¡± ¡°I have no idea what that means.¡± ¡°I mean does everyone fight at the same time?¡± ¡°Yes. Fifty enter,st five standing qualify.¡± Damn, that sounded brutal, especially considering all the kids involved, but it seemed a good way for me to qualify without gaining too much attention. I casually felt for the tenderness of my wound¡ªtonight probably wasn¡¯t a good night to try it though. I could barely manage a slow walk, much less fight. ¡°I¡¯lle backter for that.¡± ¡°Later?¡± The manughed. ¡°Don¡¯t know if there will be ater.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The Wooden Bracket opens next week. The qualification rounds are nearly over. Only ten more spots left. That means two more qualifying matches. We have over forty already for a match tonight.¡± ¡°So what about tomorrow?¡± He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s early yet. If fifty more show up, we¡¯ll have enough for two matches and bepleted tonight. Or if not enough show, then you may get lucky if youe early tomorrow to get a spot.¡± ¡°Shit,¡± I swore. Bad timing, but on second thought it was perhaps my me guiding me here. I hadn¡¯t given much thought to even signing up for the tournament until I imnted that corest night. If I¡¯d waited, I would have missed the opportunitypletely. I nced around at my would-bepetitors¡ªdesperate washouts and overachieving young masters in training ten years my junior. I could barely walk, much less fight and tonight was pretty much myst opportunity to qualify. I huffed out a sigh. This wasn¡¯t how I envisioned my public debut, but nothing worthwhile came easily, I supposed. As I prepared to take the plunge, I couldn¡¯t help but think how aptly Mu Lin had nicknamed the Wooden Bracket. Tonight was going to be a shitshow indeed. Chapter 28 The official led me into the lower depths of the arena where I was assigned a number and given a sort of uniform to wear. It was nothing more than in white shirts and pants, simr to a karate gi. After I paid to stow my gear, they assembled all of us together and another attendant took us to arge room filled with racks of weapons all made out of wood. ¡°Listen carefully!¡± the woman shouted to us from the front of the room. ¡°You are about to enter the qualification round for the Wooden Bracket. As the name suggests, this is a non-lethal match. If you kill someone, you will be disqualified and will face a simr fate via trial. You may choose only one weapon. Also, you will be required to wear a mask. You may select any mask you wish. This mask is not only to conceal your identity, but to conceal the identity of others from you. Be it a brother, uncle, or cousin, the people you enter the ring with will be your enemies and you must fight them as such. No preference is to be given.¡± The atmosphere in the room shifted to one ofplete focus. With a statement like that, I expected to see a few of the younger kids perhaps grow uneasy, but the opposite seemed to be true. The kids, which made up more than half the group were the ones with the set jaws and steady eyes. The dropouts instead were filled with nervous energy, sweating, and fidgeting. Perhaps some of them had been through this before¡ªand had failed. ¡°If you leave the ring, you are out,¡± the woman continued. ¡°If you are thrown out of the ring, you are out. If you are injured to the point of debilitation, you will be tagged by an official and will be out. And of course, if you are knocked unconscious, you will be out. Thest fivepetitors will qualify for the Wooden Bracket. A bell will sound when that point is reached. Until you hear it, you are to fight.¡± Those were the extent of the rules, it seemed. With that the woman then told us we had ten minutes to select our mask and weapon and to assemble in the arena for the match. There was a wild scramble as she departed, thepetitors bum-rushing the weapon racks. Wooden straight swords and staffs seemed to be the weapons of choice for most. As I picked through the equipment, I finally found something resembling an axe, although it was a bit smaller, more like a hatchet. Good enough, I figured. The masks were various assortments of demons, gods and spirit beasts, all made of wood and painted colorfully to the point that you really couldn¡¯t tell one from another easily, even though they were all quite different in shape and form. Someone bumped into me from behind as I was reaching for a mask. I turned to see a little girl of about twelve or so staring up at me, long brown hair with hazel eyes. The look on her face was one of disdain, her brows lowered into a scowl. ¡°Let me see your mask,¡± she demanded. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I said show me your mask, Terran.¡± What the hell was this? My me stirred within me as I stared back at the girl, but I hid my seething with [Indifference]. I was perhaps growing sofortable with my sess that I¡¯d forgotten what kind of world I was still in. This wasn¡¯t just some little girl. This was likely some prodigy cultivator as arrogant and shitty as Hein was. ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°So I can pick you out,¡± she said. ¡°You seem the strongest here, besides me. Although I don¡¯t know how.¡± She wrinkled her nose at me, like I smelled bad, no doubt sensing the power of my hidden core. ¡°I will deal with you first. Your very existence offends me.¡± Holy shit. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d ever be in a situation where I wanted to beat the crap out of a kid before, but the world of cultivators was filled with endless surprises, it seemed. Giving her a smirk, I casually showed her my mask, a red-faced bull. ¡°You¡¯re defeating the point of these things, but challenge epted.¡± The girl lifted her chin defiantly. ¡°You clearly think too highly of yourself. I shall take pleasure in putting you in your ce.¡± She then showed me her mask, a green bird of some kind. ¡°Remember this, so you will know it is me who defeats you.¡± I chuckled and then used some of the stored, concentrated Frenzy within me to trigger [Fear the me]. ¡°Can¡¯t wait, little girl.¡± Her eyes widened in shock and for the briefest of moments, she became just a kid again, frightened by something she didn¡¯t understand. But as quickly as it came it went, the look of shock reced by a twisted scowl that would give Hein a run for his money. ¡°You will pay for that insult, Terran. Count yourself lucky that this is only a Wooden Bracket match.¡± She turned her back in a huff before disappearing into the crowd of white uniforms, but then she reappeared, jumping atop one of the weapon racks. ¡°This is a warning to all of you old people,¡± she shouted, quieting the room. ¡°If you value the use of your limbs, you¡¯ll leave the ring immediately when the match starts. We¡¯ll being for all you weaklings first.¡± We¡¯ll? As she donned her mask and jumped down, I noticed at least three other girls do the same, all of them wearing green-colored masks. What the hell was this shit? The mean girls club? I nearlyughed out loud at the absurdity of it all, but used [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to keep my emotions in check. Thest thing I needed was to bring more attention to myself. I then thought back to that fool Li Gong Qui and his constant boasting. This was perhaps the same pre-emptive defense mechanism at work here¡ªusing intimidation to cull the weak and put doubt in the minds of the strong. The sad part was, she was still just a child yet able to wield such sinister weapons of maniption already. And it got results too. I could sense fear from more than a few people in the room after she¡¯d said it. What kind of messed-up world was this? I thought. It was a clear reminder of my path. This was why I despised cultivators. No¡ªcorrect that. Why I despised martial cultivators in particr. My path got even more clearly defined as they led us into the arena. Qi-infused lighting blinded me as I entered the ring, the sound of the crowd alive with the pounding of drums and cheering voices. There had to be well over three thousand people filling the stadium¡ªa stark reminder that this was what counted as entertainment these days. They lined us up on an elevated stage the size of an Olympic swimming pool, the boundaries clearly defined by a five-foot drop to the floor. Faded brown patches of dried blood littered the white canvas, so much so that it looked beige in some areas. An announcer took to a megaphone and shouted for the crowd to stand. As they did, the all too familiar chorus of the imperial anthem began to y. The crowd stood firmly at attention, singing along, but I refused to mumble the words like I usually did, my face concealed behind the mask. Once it was over the huge Qi-illuminated screens hanging off the awnings began to y something that made my stomach even sicker. ¡°Her Imperial Majesty, Third Princess Lunh, graciously provides your entertainment for this evening,¡± the announcer boomed over the images of the princess in her regal attire on screen. She was what many Yee called a ¡®fairy¡¯, a woman of such unearthly beauty that she transcended being human anymore. It wasn¡¯t hard to agree with the sentiment either. Her features were so well crafted they looked surreal, her hair literally golden and her eyes which were a deep jade, glittered like precious stones. The announcer then continued: ¡°This preliminary match of the 12th annual Tournament of Mortal Championsmemorates the great vision of the true savior of the Terra; the wise and almighty visionary leader, and father of our beloved princess, His Imperial Majesty, God Emperor Yin Yee!¡± The screen changed to an illustrious image of the supposed God Emperor himself, seated on a massive gold and jade throne set against the backdrop of a billion stars. His features were ancient, his beard long and white but his eyes were like shimmering emeralds. I couldn¡¯t tell if they were mere special effects for the production but I would guess they weren¡¯t. The image then shifted to a view of the Earth from space with the moon in the foreground, its gray surface slowly being eaten up by a gue of red carpet slowly engulfing its surface. ¡°The Great God Emperor foresaw that the vile scourge of the Bloodmoon had reached even this far-flung, but he took mercy on the mere mortals of this fledging world. He sent his most beloved daughter, Princess Lunh, to oversee the protection and survival of the Terran people by granting them the gift of cultivation to fight against the Bloodmoon.¡± The images changed to scenes on Earth with people dying to monsters. Moms and dads ripped to pieces in front of their children before they too were consumed by the beasts. It was almost too real for me to watch and I found myself reliving the horrors of my eight-year-old self again. The clips were likely made after the invasion was over, real people being sacrificed to the monsters for the sake of propaganda. A big show was made of one of the pagodas descending from the sky with the princess herself flying out of it, decimating a giant, three-headed dragon single handedly with a powerful beam of golden light emitting from her palm. ¡°With her great strength, Princess Lunh defended the helpless mortals of Terra from the creatures spawned by the Bloodmoon and now her towers stand vigil over these bountifulnds.¡± The final image zoomed in on the heart of one of the giant pagodas where a giant yellow crystal, the size of an iceberg was suspended within it. ¡°Let us be grateful for the God Emperor¡¯s great vision and his daughter¡¯s strength and courage, without which we would not be able to exist upon this fair world. All praise the mighty Emperor! All praise his beloved daughter, Princess Lunh!¡± The crowd pped in response and I reluctantly forced myself to do the same, my inner me igniting with something I hadn¡¯t felt since meeting Threja¡ªthe genesis of my pain and anger taking hold. Rage filled me as the lies I¡¯d been fed my entire life flooded back to my mind; the ignorant masses, Terran and Yee alike,pping it up like fools. I looked around at mypetitors and they ceased being just dropouts and kids to me. They were the enemy indeed and they would pay for what they did to my family. For the sake of my greater goal, I only had to stop short of killing them. But that left plenty of room for everything else. The bell rung and I ignored the pain from my stitches to grab some kid in an owl mask next to me and sent him flying straight out of the ring with a throw. I regretted it immediately, the flexing of my torso sending lightning bolts of pain through my stomach. ¡°Damn it!¡± I cursed. I flushed my body with Frenzy to soothe the pain yet still it wouldn¡¯t subside. I was beginning to think that not being able to use Frenzy to heal the wound wasn¡¯t a result of it being self-inflicted. Perhaps it was some kind of interference from the lightning core itself, after all. But I didn¡¯t have time to think about that right now. I avoided a strike to my head by a guy wielding a staff, jerking my head to the side. I pummeled him in his gut with a sucker punch, lifting him off the ground before finishing him off with a hatchet strike to his leg, causing him to cry out in pain. Two youngsters then leapt onto him from behind, pulling him to the ground before beating the hell out of him with the edges of their wooden swords. Holy crap, these little bastards are vicious! I thought. The image was surreal, like something out of a horror flick. I caught sight of several other olderpetitors being mobbed by the youngsters, three on one in most cases. And it wasn¡¯t just the little green bird bitch and her friends, it was all of them, as if they all instinctually knew to prey on the weak. Or maybe Green Bird Girl¡¯s speech had given them the idea. A teen cried out as a boy half his size bent his leg backwards at the knee with a powerful kick. He fell to the floor screaming hysterically, right before the boy kicked him off the mat like he was a fish flopping on a pier. Something struck the back of my calf, sending my foot flying high into the air. I fell hard onto my back, winded, just in time to see Green Bird Girl following through with a sweeping strike from her wooden sword. Before I knew it, two of her friends jumped onto my arms, pinning my forearms to the ground with their knees, two more jumping onto my legs. I cried out in pain as I flexed to get them off and then nearly puked as Green Bird Girl mmed on top of me, sending both her knees into my stomach. ¡°Gurgh!¡± It hurt like hell even through my Body Hardening, all of them perhaps using their Qi to hold me down. Green Bird Girl raised her sword into the air and then jabbed its tip repeatedly into my chest like a woodpecker going to town. The blunt force was probably enough to shatter bones and rupture organs. If I wasn¡¯t Stage Three in Body Hardening already, she would have killed me for sure. And then I heard it. A high-pitched giggleing from behind her mask. The creepy little bitch was enjoying the hell out of this! I suddenly snapped, my inner rage sh converting into Frenzy as [Odds Against Me] kicked in. Ipressed it into concentrated form and hardened my torso with [Iron Skin]. Her blows became ineffectual and with a primal burst of rage I mmed my arms together, pulling both little girls with them to careen into the Green Bird Bitch. Their heads knocked together, disorientating them, and I siphoned a satisfying measure of pain from them all. Clenching my gut with one hand, I got to my feet and whipped out with my wooden hatchet at one of the girls, winging her in the arm. She cried out and I grinned with satisfaction, certain I had broken it. Ished out again, but she was nimble enough to avoid my strike this time. Morepetitors flew in from nowhere, forcing me to back away from Green Bird Bitch and her gang. I switched up my tactics as the scene grew chaotic. I couldn¡¯t move fast with this damn core wound and these kids were all faster and more skilled than me anyway. I channeled my Frenzy into [Indifference] and [Iron Skin]. Then,ughing like a madman, I used [Fear the me] as I casually sauntered through the fray like a juggernaut. I took hit upon hit, ignoring them all. Then when one of the kids made the mistake of overmitting to a desperate attack, I snatched them with a grab and pulled them in for a devastating [Two-Log Chop] to the arm or legs. Frenzy flowed freely from the broken bones and I lost count of how many little kids I grabbed and how many sword swipes and wooden staffs were broken across my head. The numbers began to dwindle and the visibility on the mat cleared. Blood stains were all over the ce, a broken mask and a stray tooth here and there. I finally caught sight of the Green Bird Girl and her gang again, assaulting another victim the same they had me. He was on his back already, two girls holding down his arms, a third on his leg. Green Bird Bitch was at the side, preparing for her cannon ball leap onto his stomach. But then she did something strange. She spun in ce, pulling her feet tight together in a martial stance, her sword held behind her back. Then with a loud shout, she thrust her palm towards the guy on the ground. ¡°[Breath of the Storm]!¡± A huge gust of wind swirled from behind her, whipping her gi like a hurricane as she directed the wind through her palm. It hit the guy as well as the other girls with the force of a speeding payloader, knocking them all off the edge of the mat some twenty feet away. Her high-pitched cackle filled the air as she rushed to the side of the mat to look down at them. ¡°Zin Cha!¡± one of the girls cried out from off the mat, pain cracking her young voice. ¡°Why have you done this? We were all supposed to advance together!¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re all too weak,¡± the girl, Zin Cha, said contemptuously, spinning the air with her Qi. She then began tough. ¡°Why are youining anyway? You never had a chance. You should all be thanking me for allowing you to leave thepetition so freely. I¡¯ve spared you all a far more painful and humiliating defeat by my hand.¡± There it was. Another young Hein in the making. As she turned her back to them, my insides erupted into mes. To hell with this cultivator world and that little girl in particr. This little bitch had to be stopped! I felt a stitch pop loose as I went all out, channeling my Frenzy into speed as I closed the thirty-foot distance between her and I in a single bound. The gasp of shock that came from behind her mask was all worth it, as I grabbed her arm like a vice. I held her by the wrist of her sword arm, dangling her in the air before me as she punched and kicked ineffectually off of my hardened skin. ¡°Let go of me!¡± she screamed and then her frustration elevated to the point of curses. ¡°You filthy Terran! How can one of you be this strong?¡± ¡°News sh, kid,¡± I said as I channeled [Fear the me]. ¡°We Terrans aren¡¯t as weak as you think.¡± I then spun her about, facing her away from me. ¡°Now, I¡¯m gonna give you something that you should have gotten in your terrible twos, you rotten little bitch.¡± The Green Bird mask stared over her shoulder at me. ¡°What?¡± Using the t of my hatchet de like a paddle, I gave Zin Cha the Green Bird Bitch the ass whipping of a lifetime. She cried out more from shock than pain at first, but her screams of outrage and protest quickly turned to sobs of embarrassment as I pressed on and then sure enough, after a dozen or so spanks, the arrogant, miniature cultivator reverted to being just a twelve-year-old girl again. ¡°Let that be a lesson to you,¡± I said as her sobs continued, tears streaking down the edge of her mask. ¡°Treat others with respect and you might just be worthy of something other than qualifying for the shit-tier league one day.¡± I knew she had no idea what I was even talking about, but I didn¡¯t care. I tossed her like a rag doll off the mat and shended right next to her pals. They all pounced on her like something out of a nature show¡ªa pack of rabid wolves ripping apart one of their own. They punched and kicked her, screaming obscenities until an official finally broke them apart. It was a wonderful sight to see. As I turned about, I saw a half dozenpetitors standing silently behind me. The fear pouring off of them was immense and I used it to further bolster my presence as I rested the wooden hatchet on my shoulder. ¡°I count six of you. That means there are two too many of us, boys. If you all want to take me on at once, feel free. But either way, only five of us are making it through. Maybe less¡­if you push me.¡± I sensed the fear in them increase as they stared back at me. A few of them then looked to each other. And then, the next thing I knew, a frantic six-man brawl broke out in front of me. * * * The fear of the otherpetitors turned to lemonade as the final bell rang. Two of theirradesy on the ground, unconscious, but the battle was over. The crowd stood to their feet cheering and whistling for our victory and the officials encouraged us to raise our weapons top up the glory. My powers didn¡¯t have the range to sample the crowd, but I could hear the faint chanting of ¡°bull-man¡±ing from within the bleachers. After rushing us off the mat, I got cleaned up and noticed the bloodstain leaking through the front of my gi. I repatched the wound as best I could and was thankful it hadn¡¯t turned out worse. But with as much Frenzy as I was pumping just now, it had to be the lightning core blocking my powers to heal. I guess I¡¯d have to splurge on some medicinal herbs or something to speed the healing the natural way. Or maybe I could ask Mu Lin to swipe me some of those expensive green bandages from off the job. ¡°Well done, number 47,¡± the same guy from earlier greeted me as they led us back to the enrollment counter outside. ¡°You¡¯ve qualified for entrance into the Wooden Bracket. Only two things remain to secure your spot within the tournament.¡± ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°First, the fee, of course. It will be one Tael of silver. You do have that much, right?¡± I resisted the urge to throw it at him as I ced the lump of silver on the counter. ¡°Hey, can I keep that same mask for the rest of the tournament?¡± The man shrugged, looking at me like it was a strange request. ¡°I suppose.¡± ¡°Good,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s the second thing?¡± ¡°Your name. What is it?¡± I didn¡¯t have to think long. Tonight was a new eye-opener for me. My macro ns of fighting against the empire and liberating the Earth would take tactful strategy and patience; working within the system until I was finally strong enough to break it. But here, in the arena¡­here I was free to unleash the raw fury in my heart. Free to make pay the ones I hated the most¡ªthe proud and arrogant cultivators that callously killed my family and destroyed my entire world. ¡°Max,¡± I said as my me red brightly within me. ¡°My name is Max.¡± As I left the counter my new twin sets of goals solidified within my mind. In the outside world, I would fight for the justice and freedom of my people. But in the ring¡­I would have my revenge. Chapter 29 I stopped by the market on my way home and after spending myst full Tael of silver on a ¡®potent¡¯¡ªording to the alchemist vendor, anyway¡ªhealing balm, I was officially broke again. The cost turned out to be worth it though. The next morning my wound had finally sealed itself up and with the additional aid of some bandages kindly ¡®donated¡¯ by Sumatra¡¯s medical supplies at work, I was pretty much mended by the end of the day. After work, I paid another visit to the arena as a spectator. The qualifying matches for the Wooden Bracket were over, but there was still plenty of action to be had in the ring. Without an official battle royale match, the arena was transformed into an array of smaller rings where individualbatants faced off. Most were groups of two or four, set up for sparring and using wooden weapons. I watched with keen interest as the cultivators went back and forth, trying to memorize their martial forms as they jousted with one another in a choreographed dance of blocks, feints, and parries. The practitioners weren¡¯t using any form of Qi as far as I could tell, besting one another with pure skill alone. A hunger grew inside of me the more I watched. I was able to bulldoze my way through the qualifiers thanks to the strength of my me, and I could probably do the same for the Wooden Bracket itself too¡ªface-tanking hits and winning by brute force. But that wouldn¡¯t cut it for the Iron Bracket. There my adversaries would be able to match my power and it would alle down to martial skills. Skills that I severelycked at the moment. The point was driven home as a far more interesting match took ce. Arge area was cleared next to the mats and an official in imperial robes took to a megaphone at its center to make an announcement. ¡°By order of the courts, this Trial by Might, entered into by practitioners of equal ranking, is hereby sanctioned by the throne,¡± the official dered. ¡°May justice be served and the victory im to end this dispute. The result shall be enforceable by Her Majesty¡¯s will. I will now read the writ as prepared by the magistrate.¡±The announcer then went into details about the dispute. It took forever to read out, filled with background detailsying out the justice being sought by the aggrieved party, but in the end, it all boiled down to something as trivial as not showing proper respect at a dinner party. I nearlyughed when I heard it, but when the two cultivators took to the ring, the matter became deadly serious. The bell rang and the two men went at it with a ferocity that I¡¯d only seen out in the field. mes met lightning bolts as the two faced off, both of them clearly Core Realm cultivators at least. They moved so quickly it was hard to keep track of them, sweeps and kicks inteced between shes of their straight swords. The battle went on for nearly half an hour and by the time they were finished, the y surface of the arena was scorched with the coteral destruction of theirbined Qi. Bloodied and battered, one of the men finally conceded and then both were hauled off on stretchers. So this was the cultivator¡¯s version of people¡¯s court, I mused with a chuckle. Sanctioned duels to the death to settle petty differences. I wondered why Hein didn¡¯t try to drag me into something like this, but then I figured it¡¯d probably be an even greater loss of face for him to challenge a mortal in a formal setting like this. Or maybe it wouldn¡¯t be possible at all considering the official had mentioned the two men being of equal ranking. But whether that meant social status or cultivation ability I wasn¡¯t sure. Still, it reminded me that Hein would likely be in the top tiers of the Iron Bracket if he were in the tournament. And, as entertaining as it was to watch cultivators beat the living crap out of each other over dumb shit, I wasn¡¯t going to learn how to fight this way. I needed that manual. * * * The opportunity to obtain it finally came the next day, with Mu Lin passing me a message from Xi Xha. ¡°She said to meet her after work,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°She didn¡¯t say where, but she said you¡¯d be able figure it out.¡± She then rolled her eyes. ¡°Whatever that means.¡± I cracked a grin. ¡°It means she wants to charge me twice.¡± Mu Lin¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What? She charged you money?¡± ¡°Not exactly.¡± Mu Lin scrunched up her face and used her air quotes again. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®not exactly¡¯?¡± I merelyughed but didn¡¯t bother to exin. A few hourster I was lying in bed with thedy in question, sumbing to the drowsiness of post-coital bliss. I was thankful I¡¯d found the remedy to my core wound problem the day before. It would have been a tragedy not being able to satisfy Xi Xha on the ount of a tummy injury. And a self-inflicted one at that. ¡°So¡­do you trust this guy?¡± I asked Xi Xha the question as she was getting dressed, me staring at the name and address on the piece of paper that she had given me. Xi Xha looked over her shoulder at me with a furrowed brow as she buttoned her shirt. ¡°As much as you can trust anyone associated with the Jianghu, I suppose.¡± ¡°How do you know him?¡± She gave me a sly grin. ¡°The same way I know you.¡± Damn, I thought. I guess Xi Xha got around, but I wasn¡¯t going to judge. I looked at the details on the card again: Kai Wong, River City Tea House, 8 o¡¯clock. ¡°How will I recognize this guy?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t. But he¡¯ll recognize you.¡± She then gave me a wink. ¡°You¡¯re a bit easier to describe than he is.¡± I gave her a look of mock offense. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Sheughed and blew me a kiss. ¡°Not too many Yee men have a body like yours. Or such a handsome face.¡± ¡°You sure you¡¯re not just attracted to Terrans?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯m attracted to at least one,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°Now stop flirting with me or you¡¯re going to end up beingte. Kai Wong won¡¯t appreciate being kept waiting and neither will the people he¡¯s taking you to.¡± * * * I arrived at the River City Tea House with ten minutes to spare. It was in the middle of the restaurant district and as I entered my senses were overwhelmed with the aromas of steamed dumplings, noodles, and the constant cacophony of ttering china. The din was so loud that people had to shout over it as they conversed. Servers circted around the room filled with dining tables, setting down tea pots, cups, and saucers filled with steamed delights. One of the servers looked at me strangely as I entered, like I wasn¡¯t supposed to be there. But with a quick flex of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] he immediately seated me next to a table with a bunch of old men ying dominoes while smoking Qi-infused herbs. I ordered some tea while I waited, the old men pretending not to stare at me while they continued their game. A few patrons were less discreet about their perturbance at my presence. An older, heavy-set man in particr kept ring at me while pointing and whispering to his friends. I kept sipping my tea and stared right back at him. Eventually the fat bastard got up and started walking towards me. Ah shit, here we go again. I refused to look up at him as he came to stand next to me. I sipped my tea with [Indifference] instead. Eventually he grew impatient, the anger boiling over inside of him. ¡°You need to leave. This is no ce for your kind.¡± ¡°Your name Kai Wong?¡± The man looked puzzled. ¡°My name is none of your¡ª¡± ¡°Well if it ain¡¯t Kai Wong, I ain¡¯t got shit to say to you, friend.¡± I fueled my words with Frenzy, triggering [Fear the me]. ¡°Now, I suggest you go sit back down and enjoy your tea, else you¡¯re going to start pissing me off. And you won¡¯t like me when I¡¯m pissed off.¡± My me burned brighter, reinforced by my adherence to the path. The man reacted to my technique with a mixture of anger and apprehension. I stared him in the eye and could sense the conflict there. He was being called out by a Terranmoner, but I was no longer just a mortal. This close to me, he could no doubt sense the power of the lightning core within me and was probably trying to backpedal, weighing up the cost of losing face to a Terran or the risk of trying to teach me a lesson. He chose thetter. His clumsy punch moved like slow motion to me, but I let it hit me anyway, fortifying my jaw with [Iron Skin]. His wrist buckled and he cried out in shock and pain, shaking his hand. ¡°Nine hells!¡± he screamed. I gauged his strength by the force of his hit¡ªa low-tier Foundation Realm cultivator at best. I stood slowly as he continued to nurse his hand and he looked up at me like I was something that shouldn¡¯t exist. ¡°You finished?¡± His mouth fell open lost for words. ¡°Oh¡­so you are finished¡­¡± I swiped the teapot off the table and smashed it against the man¡¯s head with [My Turn]. The scalding hot water puffed into a cloud of steam as he cried out in a wail of agony. With a swift kick, I knocked his feet from under him and he crashed hard onto the wooden floor, causing every cup and saucer in the ce to jump. All noise ceased as the patrons froze, only the pathetic cries of the man filling the void of silence. The man¡¯s friends stood up, but I cast a re at them while pouring concentrated Frenzy into [Fear the me.] ¡°Anyone else want to tell me that I should leave?¡± The silence extended for a few seconds more, my aura of fear permeating the room, and then like someone hit the y button again, the conversation and the clinking of china resumed. No one even looked at me, except for the guy¡¯s friends who bowed apologetically to me before collecting him off the floor. ¡°You must be Chun.¡± I turned about slowly to see a man dressed in ck robes with a neatly trimmed beard. He looked at the man being carried away. ¡°Looks like you had a bit of trouble, but Xi Xha did say that you could handle yourself.¡± ¡°When there¡¯s cause for it,¡± I said. ¡°You must be Kai Wong.¡± He pressed a fist into the t of his palm and I did the same in greeting. ¡°Now, please don¡¯t hit me for saying this,¡± he said. ¡°But I really do think you should leave.¡± As he turned to exit, I downed the rest of my tea and then dropped a few coppers to my server. ¡°For the teapot,¡± I said and then followed Kai Wong outside. * * * Two things dawned on me after my brief visit to the River City Tea House. One, they made pretty damn good tea. And two, when it came to cultivators, strength trumped everything, even racism and ssism it seemed. If I¡¯d done something like that as an outsider in some redneck bar back on old Earth, the whole ce would have turned against me and kicked the crap out of me. But just like those sixpetitors who chose to fight against each other instead of against me, or even how Green Bird Girl chose to betray her friends, cultivators would rather do anything besides team up, it seemed. Solidarity was non-existent. It was every man for himself and only strength reigned supreme. Even when that strength came in the form of a lowly outsider like me. I smiled with satisfaction at the investment of my fake core. The thing was paying dividends already. For a mortal to defeat a cultivator was an affront that needed to be stomped out at all costs. But for a cultivator to best another cultivator, even as a Terran, it was simply the way of the world. I pondered these things in silence as I followed Kai Wong deeper through the side streets that made up the backside of the restaurant district. Heat from kitchen woks flooded the narrow alleyways where chefs smoked on breaks, or cut the heads off live ducks and chickens while letting their blood run into the gutters. ¡°So where are you taking me exactly?¡± I asked. ¡°Xi Xha told me what you were looking for,¡± Kai Wong said. ¡°I¡¯m taking you to a ce where you can find them.¡± ¡°The manuals, right?¡± ¡°Yes. And I hope you have the money to afford them. They are not cheap.¡± ¡°Not on me,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not stupid. I¡¯m here to make a connection, not get robbed.¡± Kai Wong huffed, but I couldn¡¯t tell if he was amused or insulted. Maybe neither. After a few twists and turns, we arrived at a nondescript ck door at the back of a red brick stone building. ¡°This is it,¡± he said. ¡°And I would advise you assume better manners than you did in the tea house. There would be no pardon given for insolence here.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be asking for any,¡± I said, unsure if I was liking this Kai Wong dude or not. He rapped on the door and a bald man with a goatee, dressed in orange and red robes opened it. ¡°I have a buyer,¡± Kai Wong said, but the guy at the door was already looking at me funny. And then the recognition hit. ¡°Hey,¡± I said, pointing at him with a grin. ¡°You¡¯re the cartwheel guy.¡± ¡°You!¡± he shouted his eyes going wide. ¡°You damn cheat! I want a rematch! And you¡¯re not Young Master Hein!¡± I shrugged. ¡°Never said I was. I just advised you not to mess with him.¡± Kai Wong folded his arms, bemused. ¡°You two know each other?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°You owe me money, you bastard,¡± the Fire Bird said. ¡°I¡¯ve been busted down to door duty because of you!¡± ¡°You want to y again? Regain your honor?¡± ¡°No time for games,¡± Kai Wong said. ¡°Whatever this is, it will have to wait. We¡¯re here to see the boss, Du Mak. He should be expecting me.¡± The Fire Bird member, Du Mak, red his nostrils at me, his anger building within him. I sensed that strange Dark Frenzying from him as well. ¡°This isn¡¯t over. I¡¯ll have that rematch. Whatever the hell your real name is.¡± With that he turned and led us both inside. A narrow corridor opened up into a sizable trainingpound,plete with a ring and weapons mounted on the walls. A lion¡¯s den of angry faces greeted me as at least fifty or so Fire Bird members briefly stopped their training regime to size me up. I could read the confusion on their faces, each of them looking at me as if to say, ¡®What the hell is a Terran doing here? And why the hell is he so strong?¡¯ Or that was what I imagined they were thinking anyway. I yed it all off with [Indifference] and that seemed to only infuriate them more. But more than their disdain, I sensed that same Dark Frenzying from within all of them. What the hell was it? And could they sense mine as well? Before I could ponder the question further, Du Mak took us through to a back room where a trio of cultivators were drinking and smoking at a small table, women seated on theirps. The women pandered to them,ughing at their crude jokes while the men gambled, ying some kind of card game. ¡°Wait here,¡± Du Mak said and meekly shuffled over to the trio, bowing low before them. A burly man with a thick beard and a deeply receding hairline ushered Du Mak forward. Du Mak whispered into the man¡¯s ear and the cultivator¡¯s thick brows raised in surprise before shooting down in a scowl. He nced over at us and then threw his cards onto the table with disgust. Finally, Du Mak beckoned us over and I followed Kai Wong¡¯s lead by performing a deep bow before the cultivators. ¡°Thank you for this meeting, Master Hong Feng,¡± he said. ¡°This man is Chun. He is the one who wishes to make the purchase.¡± Master Hong Feng eyed me in silence for a moment, perhaps examining the strength of my core. ¡°Whores¡­leave us.¡± The women instantly shot up and exited the room, one of them tossing me a bit of lemonade on the way out. The man Hong Feng eased back into his chair, taking another draw on his pipe as he looked me up and down. ¡°So,¡± he said, his voice coarse and gravelly. ¡°Tell me why a Terran is looking to study martial techniques from a book.¡± I shrugged, meeting his stare. ¡°I dunno. Guess I like to read.¡± He chortled. ¡°Perhaps you¡¯ve just had no luck joining a sect.¡± ¡°Not interested in joining a sect,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe you haven¡¯t found the right one yet. Du Mak here told me what you did to him in the restaurantst week. I didn¡¯t believe him until just now. Having a look at you, I may be willing to take you on as an initiate if you can pass a trial.¡± I couldn¡¯t sense if he was being sincere or not, but Iid on [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to make my intentions crystal clear. ¡°Appreciate the offer, but just looking for a manual right now.¡± ¡°I see.¡± He stared at me a moment more. ¡°And what do you n to do with this knowledge?¡± ¡°Win my citizenship in the tournament.¡± I kept it as clean and simple as that. ¡°Ah¡­ ambitious. You would make the empire proud. A conquered native pursuing the track of citizenship. I¡¯m sure you¡¯d be the stuff of Princess Lunh¡¯s wet dreams, or at least the star of her next propaganda broadcast.¡± Heughed at his own joke, but I didn¡¯t respond any further, not sure if the anti-imperial sentiment was some kind of bait or not. ¡°What type of manual do you seek?¡± ¡°What types do you have?¡± He snapped his fingers and one of the men at the table got up and then returned a momentter with arge chest. He ced it on the table and Hong Feng flung it open, revealing what had to be over a hundred manuals within. They were all stored neatly with the spines facing upwards, their titles on disy. ¡°Come and see,¡± he said. My heartbeat sped as I approached. This was the secret knowledge I¡¯d been craving. I scanned over the books, trying to find what I was looking for, but my heart sunk a little when I didn¡¯t see anything obvious. ¡°You have anything pertaining to axes?¡± ¡°Axes?¡± The man who brought out the chest snorted in amusement. ¡°An ancient weapon. Not verymon now.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be too picky on what I can get my hands on.¡± The man ran a finger across the spines and then pulled a book free. The title read Basic Infantry Weapon Techniques. ¡°You should find it in there.¡± As he handed it to me, I flipped through the pages and saw three different weapons within: the spear, the mace, and sure enough thest one was the war axe. I hid my inner smile. What I needed was in my hands. As I scanned across the remaining books within the chest, I saw all manner of techniques and styles. Crimson Fire Spear Technique, Lotus Fan de, Earthen Hammer. I almost wished I could take them all., but one of them caught my eye in particr¡ªa bookbeled simply: Lightning Techniques. I pondered a moment. I had no idea if I could even learn such a thing, but I had a lightning core in my stomach. I could at least learn enough about the techniques to bluff my way through any challenge to the origin of my powers in the future. And hell, if I could actually manage to pull off a lightning bolt I wouldn¡¯tin. ¡°How much is this?¡± I asked, pointing to the book. ¡°Interesting choice,¡± Hong Feng said, pulling it out of the chest and handing it to me. ¡°150 Taels for that one. I¡¯ll throw in the other manual for 20. Now¡­ I¡¯m very much interested in how someone like you will be able to afford all this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just shopping for prices right now,¡± I said. ¡°What?¡± one of the men at the table shouted, his anger swelling within him. ¡°You dare to waste Master Hong Feng¡¯s time?¡± ¡°Not waste¡­I¡¯ll be back with the money.¡± Hong Feng merelyughed. ¡°Is that right?¡± Initially I was going to offer the lightning core as a trade, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that these were probably the same guys who arranged stealing the damn thing in the first ce. And offering it back to them with a slice cut out of it probably wasn¡¯t a good idea. I hadn¡¯t figured out a backup n as yet. Maybe I could use Kai Wong to sniff out a different buyer. But as for right now I needed to end this interaction. ¡°I¡¯lle back tomorrow. I¡¯ll have the money then.¡± I bowed and prepared to leave, but Hong Feng raised his hand. ¡°Wait. I have a proposition for you,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re one of Sumatra¡¯s guys aren¡¯t you? The great Chun.¡± My insides shook at the mention of my nickname. Hong Feng bellyughed along with his gang as my hackles went up. I was only specting about Sumatra¡¯s involvement before, but this was full-blown confirmation. And if Hong Feng could somehow sense the unique vor of the lightning core within me, then maybe the jig was already up. Just too many coincidences there. I channeled my building apprehension into Frenzy before funneling it into [Indifference], maintaining my poker face. Hong Feng¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Oh,e now. No need to be so offended. Sumatra said all your friends call you that in jest. Don¡¯t they?¡± ¡°No offense, but you¡¯re not really a friend.¡± The cultivator grinned and I felt a huge swell of Dark Frenzy growing within him. ¡°Indeed we are not. But I have something you want. And you are in a unique position to give me something that I want. Plus, you¡¯re a unique sort of fellow in general. Someone I might be willing to invest in.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what he meant by that, but there was no way he¡¯d take interest in a mere Terranmoner. He either suspected I knew about the missing lightning core, or he somehow could sense my Frenzied me¡ªperhaps both. Either way I had to y it cool. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I have need for handlers to take care of specific clients from time to time,¡± he said. ¡°Having a man like you on the inside would make things run a lot smoother. Especially with all the new safeguards Her Majesty has put in ce.¡± Shit¡­he wanted me to help them kill cultivators out in the field. But I couldn¡¯t let him know I knew that much. I just shrugged. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too bad.¡± ¡°Good, good,¡± he said. ¡°So you¡¯ll agree?¡± ¡°I get both of these for doing that?¡± I held up the books. ¡°Not to keep,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll loan them to you. For a year. And you¡¯ll give me a year¡¯s service in return.¡± Damn, this was really sounding bad now. I didn¡¯t want to be involved with ilk like this, but no one said the path to immortality woulde with clean hands. Although when it came to cultivators like Li Gong Qui, I would dly assist. But it wasn¡¯t really them I was concerned about. It was the other handlers. I thought some more. Perhaps this could be a good thing. If I were the contact, then at least I could ensure that my people would be protected no matter how bad things got. Right now, it was left to Sumatra to pick which handler went with which client, and they would just kill the handlers to leave no witnesses. This way at least I could control the oue. Plus, I needed the books. Whatever woulde with this, I¡¯d just have to work it out. ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°You have yourself a deal.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Hong Feng smiled widely. ¡°We¡¯ll be in touch through Sumatra when we need your services. Until then¡­happy reading.¡± * * * ¡°That was quite the score,¡± Kai Wong said as we left the Fire Bird den, Du Mak threatening me with another rematch as we did so. ¡°Never seen anything like it.¡± ¡°Yeah, guess I¡¯m just lucky like that.¡± But I was no fool. A cultivator like Hong Feng didn¡¯t be a boss of the underworld by being altruistic. These manuals had all kinds of strings attached, some of which I was sure I wouldn¡¯t like when they were finally pulled. But to hell with it. I was one step further on my path. And besides, I was going to be strong enough to kill all of them one day. Then the strings wouldn¡¯t matter. ¡°Thanks for the introduction,¡± I said. ¡°I can find my way back from here.¡± Kai Wong gave me a polite bow. ¡°I¡¯m sure you can.¡± ¡°How do I get in touch with you again?¡± I thought about still needing to offload the lightning core. ¡°I might have need of your services in the future.¡± ¡°Going through Xi Xha is fine. But this was as a favor to her. The next trip into the Jianghu will cost you.¡± I smiled. ¡°No doubt.¡± As we departed, I couldn¡¯t help but feel the Struggler¡¯s grip as the irony of his words took hold. This trip into the Jianghu was bound to cost me indeed. Chapter 30 Something felt off the moment I neared the square. It was gettingte, approaching the hour most of the food vendors and residents cleared out for the night, but the crowd looked to be almost triple what it usually was. But that wasn¡¯t the really odd thing about it all. It was deathly quiet and as I neared the entrance I could finally see why. There in the center of the square, seated on a makeshift throne was Young Master Hein. Standing behind him was the bitch Zu Tien and seated at his side was my fat-assndlord, Li Fet. Four enforcers added window dressing to the trio, along with an Imperial Guard. I couldn¡¯t care less about Hein and Zu Tien, but the enforcers and Li Fet caused apprehension to stir within my me. What the hell was this now? I tucked the manuals tighter against my skin, adjusting my overcoat to hide them. As I entered the square every eye fell on me and a wall of anger and resentment came my way. A slow p filled the air as Hein gave mock apuse for my entrance. ¡°And there he is finally,¡± Hein said. ¡°The man of the hour himself. You¡¯ve kept your neighbors waiting, Chun.¡± ¡°Perhaps he was busy gambling away my rent money as usual,¡± Li Fet said with a chortle.I ignored him with [Indifference] while Heinughed at the joke. Finding Yu Li within the crowd, I made eye contact with her, but she gave me only a helpless headshake. Whatever this was, she had no clue what was going on either. I stepped into the square with a hint of [Fear the me] and grinned inwardly as the enforcers and Li Fet eased back a little, Li Fet¡¯s face growing pale. Hein and Zu Tien, however, seemed strong willed enough to resist it. I looked to the woman and noticed a glove-like prosthetic with des attached to the end of her left arm. ¡°Long time no see, Zu Tien. How¡¯s the hand?¡± She scowled at me and worked her prosthetic to give me a one-ded salute. I gave her a shit-eating grin in return. ¡°You bring all these guys here to get a matching set?¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Hein rose to his feet, his anger spiking. ¡°You will not address her! I am of the highest standing here. You will address me as a representative of the ruling n of this province. Show your respect!¡± ¡°Great apologies, Young Master.¡± I gave him a halfhearted bow and a leering smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re soon to tell me why you¡¯re here. Or are you perhapsing to call off your apology?¡± ¡°You should be the one apologizing to him!¡± someone yelled out from the crowd. ¡°Silence!¡± the Imperial Guard barked, and one of the enforcers threw his bamboo baton indiscriminately into the crowd. I wasn¡¯t sure if he hit who had spoken or not, but it shut the entire crowd up quickly. ¡°This One will forgive that disrespectful outburst only because it speaks of the truth,¡± Hein said more calmly as he surveyed the crowd. ¡°Your apology, Chun, should be well forting, but I am a man of honor. You still have ten days left to prepare to humble yourself before me.¡± ¡°So why are you here?¡± The direct question seemed to take him aback, but he steadied himself and then looked to Li Fet. ¡°I am not here of my own ord. I have been invited by the honorable Li Fet, thewful owner of this property. Li Fet, you may speak freely.¡± I focused on the fat man with a prating stare and his eye grew wide, his mouth hanging open. ¡°I said speak!¡± Hein shouted again and Li Fet broke into a stutter. ¡°I-I heard of the great disrespect thismunity has shown towards Young Master Hein. It has alsoe to my attention that you, Chun, have especially failed to demonstrate even the slimmest amount of contrition or remorse for your actions.¡± Li Fet paused to clear his throat, unable to keep eye contact with me as he continued, ¡°Thus, to make it clear to you the gravity of your offenses, I today have signed before this Imperial Guard, an official representative of the throne, a rent increase for the entire block.¡± A wail of gasps and moans erupted from the crowd. ¡°Let him finish!¡± Hein shouted and his words were quickly backed up with action by the enforcers, the ck-robed men threatening the residents with more violence, yelling at them while swinging their clubs. When it all died down, Hein resumed speaking. ¡°I assure you it will be in your best interest to hear Li Fet in his entirety. Continue, Li Fet.¡± Li Fet made a big show of holding up a paper with his signature on it. ¡°See here! It is an imperial order to double your rent to one Tael per month.¡± More gasps emerged, but quieter this time and the anger in the crowd quickly slipped towards cold-blooded fear. ¡°But, as you all know, I, Li Fet, am a mercifulndowner,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°If in ten days from now you all apologize and show the proper respect due to Young Master Hein, then I, Li Fet, will be inclined to tear up this order.¡± His eyes then focused on me. ¡°But¡­if This One, known as Chun, refuses to apologize or show respect, then not only will I not rescind this order, but I will triple your rent instead.¡± The roar from the crowd grew uncontroble as their fear boiled over into anger directed entirely at me. I suffered through it with a poker face, channeling the Frenzy from them into [Indifference]. ¡°Or¡­!¡± Hein shouted and then waited for the noise to die down. ¡°Or, you, Chun¡­You can simply apologize now. Just you¡­on behalf of everyone¡­ and all will be forgiven. This is myst great mercy to you and your people.¡± His leer grew wide, relishing the victory of his chess move. Or what he thought was a victory anyway. Murmurs in the crowd grew more pronounced and when Hein stayed the Guard¡¯s hand, who was about to silence them, the people grew even more vocal. ¡°Do it now!¡± ¡°Speak, you fool!¡± ¡°Apologize!¡± ¡°He¡¯s giving you a chance!¡± ¡°Show your respect!¡± I looked to Yu Li, bouncing Su Ling on her hip. She looked torn and I could feel her insides quivering with fear. They were all afraid. But unlike Hein I didn¡¯t need to save face or rely on the approval of others. The only thing I needed to do, was to stick to my path. ¡°I already told you what you¡¯re going to get from me ten days from now, Hein. I suggest you not bete to receive it.¡± I backed my words up with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and the crowd went wild with fury. ¡°Do you see?¡± Hein shouted, a mad grin on his face. ¡°Do you see the insolence? The selfishness? He will not humble himself. He would rather sacrifice you all in the name of his own pride!¡± I grimaced as his second chess move went into y. Touch¨¦, Hein. Touch¨¦. ¡°Residents of D-Block, feel free to show the great Chun how you all feel!¡± Li Fet shouted. ¡°It is only you who can convince him now. Show him with your fists!¡± Holy shit, I didn¡¯t expect that¡­ I hardened my body with Frenzy as the crowd surged forward as one, preceded by a hail of bottles and bowls. They swarmed me as a mob, their curses biting even deeper than their punches and kicks. I hunkered down as I took the ms, the Struggler fully in control. Being mortals, I could barely feel their hits through my Frenzy-infused skin, but a dark part of me began to emerge from deep within me as their assault continued, their hatred and vitriol gnawing at my soul. These people were clueless. Why did I put up with them? If not for them, I could throw caution to the wind and just exact my vengeance and not care about any form of retaliation. They didn¡¯t even understand that I was doing this all for them. But would they even understand? Would they care? Or was it toote for them? Maybe it was toote for the entire Earth. Maybe everyone was already too far gone and too brainwashed to care. Too young to remember the old world, too ignorant to know there was more than this. More than being manipted by cultivators and being turned against one another for survival. The thought of it burned hot ire in my soul. A deep resentment at the injustice delivered to us by people much stronger and much crueler. A people who saw us as savage animals to be domesticated and controlled. And then in that instant, I understood. I understood why I still struggled for the freedom of these people, even though they couldn¡¯t yet understand it. This was the core of my Dao. My righteous struggle. The burden that tamed the Demon in my soul. Without it, I would be no Berserker, no follower of the Frenzied me, but simply another madman out for revenge. Then, as if the me were acknowledging that truth within my heart, I spotted Yu Li through the mayhem. She had tears in her eyes as she clutched Su Ling, her free hand raised in protest against the mob. ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t do this! Don¡¯t hurt him! He¡¯s fighting for us!¡± Her words stirred my me and soothed my spirit. She¡¯d found some faith in me and was clinging to it. Even if doing all this was just for her and Su Ling, it would all be worth it in the end. But there were more people to inspire and encourage just like her. There was a whole city full of Terrans to inspire and show the truth, with multiple cities beyond that. But if I were going to make it that far, I needed to start with the angry mob writhing on my back. I focused not on them¡ªthat was Hein¡¯s ploy¡ªto turn us against each other. But we weren¡¯t cultivators. We didn¡¯t think or act selfishly like they did. When facing a greater enemy we stood together, not fight amongst ourselves to be scattered apart. The spike of anger for what he was trying to do, fueled my system with Frenzy of its own. I had my mask. There was no need to hide my strength before my people now. If I was going to instill faith in them like I had with Yu Li, I needed to show them what was possible. I let free the Struggler¡¯s grip, releasing the Demon as my inner me surged with rage. ¡°Enough!¡± I stood to my feet, throwing the entire mob off of me in a single flex, sending people flying back ten feet or more. I focused on Hein and leapt toward him in a burst of Frenzy, closing the thirty-foot gap in an instant. I stopped just short of him, my momentum sending a cloud of dust into the air. The cultivators reacted by taking quick martial stances, Hein¡¯s chair flying backwards as he stood and Zu Tien drawing her sword. But Li Fet and the enforcers recoiled in fear. Only the Imperial Guard seemed non-plussed, as if merely an observer to the events. ¡°I have a counterproposal for you, Li Fet,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], but then nced towards Hein. ¡°There will be an apology ten days from now. But it will not being from me.¡± I then focused directly on my fatndlord. ¡°I challenge you for the ownership of this residence, an unofficial Trial by Might with Young Master Hein as your proxy.¡± ¡°W-What?¡± ¡°You heard me. If I lose, I¡¯ll not only apologize, but I¡¯ll pay the extra month¡¯s rent for all the residents and then I¡¯ll leave myself. For good.¡± I paused to let it all sink in. ¡°But if I win, you hand over the keys to me.¡± Li Fet shook his head, shrinking back in his chair. ¡°This is nonsense! You cannot im a Trial by Might. You¡¯re no citizen. And you hold no ranking to match the likes of Master Hein!¡± ¡°I said unofficial, didn¡¯t I?¡± I looked to the Guard, who merely shrugged. Li Fet was perhaps panicking too much to realize not being a citizen prevented me from owning thend too. If he had, he probably would have agreed right away. But it didn¡¯t matter. I¡¯d have my citizenship by then. ¡°Since the guard here don¡¯t seem to care ether way, I¡¯ll sweeten the deal for you, Li Fet. I¡¯ll take on both Hein and hisckey Zu Tien.¡± ¡°Master!¡± Zu Tien said, rushing to Hein¡¯s side. ¡°Take heed. I sense he is stronger than before.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a fool, Zu¡ª¡± Hein¡¯s dismissive tone dropped instantly as he no doubt flexed his Qi to sense the lightning core within my stomach. ¡°What is this? How is this possible?¡± ¡°I told you,¡± Zu Tien said. ¡°He is odd. Has strength beyond his means. He was a mere mortal a few weeks ago. He must be some kind of cheat!¡± ¡°Or maybe I¡¯m just better at this cultivation bullshit than the both of you,¡± I said with a cocky grin. The anger inside Hein boiled over but Zu Tien¡¯s insides chilled with fear. Ipped up Frenzy from both their reactions. ¡°So, I guess this means you want to reconsider your position now?¡± ¡°Reconsider?¡± Hein¡¯s brows lowered, his breath whistling through red nostrils. ¡°You¡¯ve just signed away your life, you fool. I took pity on you before as an ignorant mortal. But now, you wish to challenge me as a cultivator? With your fledgling Qi and nonexistent skill?¡± He leaned his head back andughed to the sky. ¡°So be it! You have chosen death, Chun. And I don¡¯t need Zu Tien¡¯s help to deal with the likes of you.¡± I ignored him and looked to Li Fet instead. ¡°So, you heard him¡­do you agree?¡± ¡°Yes, he agrees!¡± Hein shouted. ¡°Agree, you fool! Agree!¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Li Fet looked at Zu Tien. ¡°I¡­I would feel morefortable if she were still involved, Master Hein.¡± ¡°Yes, please, Master Hein!¡± Zu Tien dropped to one knee. ¡°Allow me to regain my honor. Allow me to challenge him before you. If I am killed, I will have proven I am unworthy to serve you or the sect. I only ask a bit more time toplete my own recovery and training. An additional week perhaps.¡± Hein harrumphed, looking down at Zu Tien like a dog begging for her supper. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll allow it.¡± He then looked to Li Fet who nodded before finally looking back at me. ¡°It¡¯s settled then. You¡¯ll have your Trial. And consider yourself lucky, Chun. This is a mercy extended to my subordinate, not to you, although you may well benefit from it all the same. The date is moved back by one week. That¡¯s Twenty days from now.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t wait,¡± I said. ¡°If you do not show up, expect to be hunted down¡­by my entire family.¡± He snapped his fingers and walked off, Li Fet and the enforcers following behind him. As Zu Tien walked by, she stopped to give me a nasty sneer. ¡°Know this, fool. Before I take your life, I will take what you took from me¡­and more.¡± She then nced down at my crotch. ¡°You¡¯ll be begging for your death before I¡¯m through with you.¡± ¡°Sure thing,¡± I said with augh. ¡°Give my regards to the knitting club.¡± * * * A shitstorm of chaos erupted once Hein and his entourage finally cleared out of the square. People were screaming and shouting, most of them filled with fear, but a few were bubbling with the beginnings of hope as well. I took to a tabletop and cupped my hands to my mouth. ¡°Everyone shut the hell up!¡± I said the words with a healthy dose of [Fear the me]. The result was instantaneous, everyone got the point real quick and I drove it home with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Most of you weren¡¯t old enough to remember our true home, but this ain¡¯t it.¡± I pointed up at the pagoda. ¡°And these people aren¡¯t gods who came to save us either. Far from it. Now I¡¯m not asking you to believe any of that. All I¡¯m asking you to do, is to wait Twenty days and allow me to show you what true human potential can be.¡± ¡°You really think you can defeat that girl?¡± someone shouted out. ¡°Defeat Master Hein?¡± I grinned like a bastard. ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell you what I think. But I¡¯ll tell you what I believe. I believe we will see an Earth ruled by Terrans once again. A ce where we no longer cower in fear of losing our homes or our lives for offending someone¡¯s honor.¡± I found Yu Li in the crowd and met her gaze. ¡°A ce where our children will be free to follow their own dreams and not enved to the spiteful wills of arrogant Young Masters to decide our fates.¡± I felt confidence surge from within her as she broke into a sob. ¡°We may not all live to see it,¡± I continued. ¡°But I¡¯m starting the ball rolling, right here in D-block.¡± I then paused to look out over all of them, their faces rapt with uncertainty, fear, anger even, but there was a glimmer of hope in some of them as well. ¡°There is more to life than mere existence. But if we want more, we have to be willing to fight for it.¡± ¡°Fight for what?¡± a slim ck girl shouted out. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask to fight! None of us asked for this!¡± ¡°Yeah! You¡¯re gambling with our lives, Chun!¡± ¡°Who the hell put you in charge?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get us all killed!¡± Arge segment of the crowd yelled in agreement as others began to vocalize their dissent. I grimaced at the sight of it, but I couldn¡¯t deny what was being said either. I was asking them to fight for a dream they didn¡¯t want or even understand. And worst of all, I was forcing them to bet their lives on me¡ªa two-time loser most of them knew only as Chun. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong!¡± I shouted. ¡°My vision may not be your own and you have no reason to trust that I can achieve it. And I¡¯m not your leader either, I have no right to ask you to risk your lives. But I do have one thing that qualifies me to do what I¡¯m doing.¡± I paused, waiting for them all to hang on my words. I tried to think of a positive way to say it; to tell them the truth without sounding like aplete asshole, but there was no way around it. ¡°I can do this¡­because I¡¯m stronger than all of you.¡± I said the words coldly with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and the temperature in the square plummeted. Silence reigned as fear built within the crowd, fear caused by me, some of them no doubt recalling the ineffectual mob-beating they had just given me. ¡°In this jacked-up world that we live in now, strength is the only thing that matters,¡± I said. ¡°Twelve years ago, our world ended because of that truth. We just weren¡¯t strong enough. And we should all be dead now, but fate has given us all a second chance. And I¡¯ll be damned if I¡¯m wasting mine living my life like a ve. My strength gives me the option to fight, an option you may never have. So that¡¯s why I¡¯m taking the option for you¡­to fight for you who can¡¯t.¡± I expected a vicious bacsh and while there were a few prating res, the cultivator mindset was strongly imnted in all of them¡ªidentifying with the fundamental truth that we were all taught as kids: bow down to those stronger than you. And as much I hated it, I was using the same logic as the cultivators themselves now. It gnawed at me, but within it I felt the Struggler¡¯s embrace. This was my penance. Perhaps to achieve my goals, I would indeed have to be the very thing I despised. Not just in power, but in practice. I could restore the freedom of Earth, but perhaps I could never be a part of it again. I was a part of the cultivator¡¯s world now. ¡°To those of you who can trust the vision, I thank you for your faith. To those of you who can¡¯t, you can choose to either fear Hein or fear me. The choice is yours, but know this. In twenty days from now, I¡¯ll either be killed and all your lives will go back to normal anyway, or I¡¯ll seed, and you¡¯ll all have your first taste of true freedom. What you do with it after that will be up to you. This is my Dao. My path. And this is my oath to you. Whether you believe in me or not, I will fight for you, for the Earth¡­or die trying.¡± With that I hopped down and started making my way off the square. The crowd burst into an uproar of uncertainty, anger and confusion again, but I didn¡¯t care. Words could only do so much. Even I had my doubts when I first met Threja. This was no different. They would have to see to truly believe. And to those who couldn¡¯t, they¡¯d just have to get out of my damn way. ¡°Wait!¡± someone shouted from behind me. ¡°How can we help you?¡± I stopped and turned around and saw the same old guy in the hat. Damn, he wasn¡¯t even Terran, but he believed. Or maybe it was the fact that he wasn¡¯t Terran that gave him more faith than the others. He¡¯d seen things. Seen what cultivation could do to change a man. ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can do to help me,¡± I said. ¡°But you can help each other. Stay strong. Stay together. Solidarity is a trait the cultivators know nothing about. Show them what it means to band together to be stronger.¡± I gave Yu Li a smile as I passed by and she pulled me into a wordless embrace, tears in her eyes but hope in her heart. ¡°Twenty days,¡± I said again. ¡°That¡¯s all I ask.¡± And with that I finally left the square. * * * When I got to my apartment, I immediately pulled out the manuals. I¡¯d lit one hell of a fire under myself again, signing more nk cheques I knew I couldn¡¯t cash. Not yet anyway. But screw it¡­that was the kind of fire I needed to progress. To push myself beyond what even I thought was possible. Twenty days. That¡¯s all I had to be a top-ranking Iron Bracketpetitor strong enough to defeat both Hein and Zu Tien¡ªmaybe even at the same time. And all of this while enduring the ire of amunity I had just prized with fear and put on edge. But I guess no one said this would be easy. I sat in lotus position on my cot and channeled all my Frenzy into enhancing my Mental Capacity. I cracked open the book entitled Basic Infantry Weapon Techniques and began reading. Frenzy surged as I opened my mind¡¯s eye, taking in the hundreds of diagrams of positions and forms. It was almost too much at once, but I endured the headache as I flipped through. Conviction and determination solidified within my heart as the Struggler stirred my me. This entire book was going to be memorized¡­tonight. Chapter 31 I left for work early the next morning, my mind exhausted from barely catching a few hours of sleep. But despite my fatigue, I maintained my razor focus on my goal. Images of the prior night¡¯s reading shed through my mind as I made my way through the square, eager to put them into practice. A few of my neighbors stopped conversing the moment I neared them, the subject matter obvious as they all gave me the stink-eye as I walked by. One of them, a ck girl named Jian Yi, stared at me especially hard. When I had my back to her, she muttered something under her breath and I paused. ¡°You got something to say?¡± I nced over my shoulder at her. Dark skinned, slimly built, hazel eyes with hair pressed t against her scalp in a tight bun. I could sense some fear within her, but it was matched with an equal amount of anger and to her credit, not an ounce of either showed on her face. ¡°I said you¡¯re an idiot, Chun.¡± She narrowed her eyes at me, lifting her chin defiantly. ¡°What? Are you going to kill me for saying that now?¡± I chuckled at her. ¡°Luckily, I don¡¯t work that way.¡± It was true too. She was challenging me in a sense, but she was of no challenge to me. The me didn¡¯t grow stronger by preying on the weak. ¡°So, enlighten me then,¡± I said as I stepped back towards her and all of her friends quickly disappeared. ¡°Why am I an idiot? Besides my name, of course.¡±She huffed out a scoff, but I could sense her fear reduce when I smiled, cracking the joke. ¡°You¡¯re an idiot for challenging Master Hein.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Maybe. I guess time will tell.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get what I mean,¡± she said, folding her arms. ¡°You know that even if you somehow manage to defeat him, all it¡¯ll do is draw more attention to us, right?¡± Jian Yi then grimaced, chewing her bottom lip. ¡°What will your n be then, big man? You may be stronger than all of us mortals, but are you stronger than Master Hein¡¯s family? Or a hundred Imperial Guards? Or the Warden herself?¡± I didn¡¯t answer her right away. It was a question I mulled over myself at least a half dozen times a day. The price of failure for me was clear, but perhaps even more costly would be the price of sess. Or more urately, the price of too much sess too quickly. I gave Jian Yi a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m well aware.¡± ¡°Then why don¡¯t you stop. Before you paint an even bigger target on all our backs.¡± ¡°Because that¡¯s not my path,¡± I said. ¡°And I¡¯m not going to let that happen either.¡± ¡°Oh really? How?¡± Another good question, but for me, there was only one answer. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just have to be strong enough to kill them all before I eventually piss them all off.¡± I shrugged with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and then grinned. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, once I¡¯m that strong, the target will be squarely on my back. Not yours.¡± Or so I hoped, but I didn¡¯t have time to think about all that right now. What would be, would be. As I turned to go about my way, the curses Jian Yi yelled at my back were priceless, but I was starting not to care. I wasn¡¯t going to win everyone over and this wasn¡¯t some poprity contest either. Still, what she said was true. After I defeated Hein, it would likely be full steam ahead and I would have to grow exponentially stronger to stay one step ahead of the curve. The totem pole would be on disy and one swoop from someone up high enough and it would be game over. The key would be in not pissing off too many powerful people too quickly¡­or too many at once. But still, could I do it? Could I really grow that strong, that quickly? I wasn¡¯t sure, but the bar just got raised a few notches in my mind. I didn¡¯t just need to shoot for the Iron Bracket. I had to shoot for Diamond. One thing was certain though. If I didn¡¯t grow strong enough, it wouldn¡¯t be from anyck of effort on my part. The idea spurred me into action. I needed to start my training. * * * From my memorization of the Basic Infantry Weapon Techniques manual, the Axe technique was broken down into a set of twelve forms. Each one was a series of finely choreographed movements, defined right down to foot cements, turns, and swings. After finally gathering my handlers together and picking up my client for the day I was finally ready to get to practicing. Until Sumatra called me over. Ire built within my gut at thest-second dy and as I approached the gray-skinned giant, I noticed he had a peculiar smirk on his face. What the hell was this now? ¡°Come with me,¡± he said. I followed him towards the edge of thepound. As I passed by Lee and Mu Lin, I gave them both a questioning nce, but they gave me only confused shrugs in return. Whatever this was they didn¡¯t know anything about it. When we got a fair distance away from all the clients and other handlers, Sumatra gave me a look up and down, like he was assessing me for the first time. ¡°So, I understand we have a mutual friend in the restaurant district now.¡± It was more a statement than a question, but I nodded anyway. ¡°I guess so?¡± His eyes then narrowed. ¡°Don¡¯t think that this changes anything between us, understand? We¡¯re not equal-ranked disciples in some secret sect. If anything, it makes me your boss, twice. Got it?¡± I could sense anger building within him, but I yed it cool. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been watching youtely, Chun. You¡¯re changing. Quick like too. I wonder how you¡¯re able to do that.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Self-improvement is a virtue of the empire, isn¡¯t it? Maybe I just like to work hard.¡± He eyed me oddly again and I began to wonder if he was sensing the Qi within my stolen core. ¡°Most people need help to advance as fast as you have. The kind of help you have to venture into the wild for.¡± I channeled some Frenzy into [Indifference] to mask my pulse from rising. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know. I¡¯m pretty new at all of this.¡± He harrumphed. ¡°The Fire Bird Sect has too much riding on this operation to have it blown open because some dumb-shit Terran wants a free ride, understand? If I find out you¡¯ve been smuggling materials from the outside and selling them, I¡¯m going to have your ass.¡± I actually breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. I was figuring he might be hinting to me knowing what happened to the lightning core, but if this was all it was then maybe he suspected less than I thought. But just when I thought our conversation was over he added, ¡°When the timees, I expect you to do exactly what¡¯s required. No rapling nest bullshit, understand?¡± It took me a half second to even register what he was talking about, before I finally recalled the lie I¡¯d told. Perhaps he suspected after all. I used [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I nodded. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Good,¡± he said, turning back toward the camp. ¡°Now get back to work.¡± * * * About an hourter, I finally got my handlers in position to babysit the duo of cultivators we had picked up. We were back in the swamp again, killing my favorite cannibalistic toads. I found a grassy clearing atop a cliff a fair distance from where my guys were set up, giving me a good vantage of what they were doing. My mind was still jumbled with the worries of thest 24 hours. My meeting with Hong Feng, the trouble in the square, my brief run-in with that girl Jian Yi this morning and now the subtle threatsing from Sumatra. If I was being honest, it was adding a new level of stress I didn¡¯t need. But if I was going to be sessful, I needed to harness that stress and turn it into determination¡ªjust like my me was able to turn my worst fears into Frenzy. Finding afortable spot on the grass, I sat in lotus position to clear my mind and to do just that. Maybe it was the fact that things were finally starting to happen for real, or perhaps happen all at once, but I could sense I was approaching a threshold of some kind. A step that once taken, there could be no return. People¡¯s lives and livelihoods were depending on what actions I would take next. One mis-maneuver and I could doom us all to a quick demise. But the Demon in me was craving to toss it all out the window and simply grow strong enough to kill all the people I hated¡ªjust roll the dice and not care if I survived or anyone else. The Yee word for Berserker formed in my mind as I meditated on both those thoughts, the twin characters of the Demon and the Struggler juxtaposed in an eternal battle for control. Focus too much on my cares for themunity and I could feel my me smoldering with inaction threatening to be a Waning Ember, but to lose that carepletely and focus only on revenge and I could already envision the monster I would be. Exhaling, I looked to my only source of strength and guidance for support, my one-time mentor¡­Threja. I wished she were still here for me to glean some more wisdom from her. But perhaps she had given me as much as she could already. As I cycled my Frenzy, I tapped into my Mental Capacity and just like with the manuals I could see her image clearly within my mind¡¯s eye as if she were standing right there with me now. Threja, the surprisingly gentle giantess with the heart of a Demon. If there was anyone who knew how to walk the fine line of the Berserker it was her. And then, like I was reliving the moment in real time, I saw her speaking before me. ¡°It is a narrow path we tread,¡± she said. I watched her rise from a crouched position, her massive bodying to her full height as she stood to look down at me. ¡°Many who travel the path grow addicted to the power of the Frenzy and are eventually consumed by their own me, bing Demons. It is why there are so few of us. Your Frenzy must always be tempered with Struggle. This is the core of our Dao. As an elder practitioner, the best advice I can give you is this: trust and follow the path of Frenzied me, but ensure the Struggler wrestles always with the Demon. Without struggle there can be no true growth, only descension into madness.¡± Never did those words make more sense until now. And then I felt something open up inside of me. Like a breakthrough of some kind. Perhaps not physical, or even mental. My me burned brighter and when I envisioned it, it had transformed from a thick yellow wick of a burning candle to a me that was bluish at its base with dancing yellow on top. A spiritual breakthrough. A me burning hotter and brighter than before. Through the stress and conflict of my thoughts, I had advanced. I was now one step closer to fully understanding the core of my Dao. Opening my eyes, I felt refreshed, my Frenzy seeming to have doubled in concentration. I used it to finally begin my practice of the Axe techniques, my mind finally clear. I recalled the images from the manual withplete rity. But while I could recall the information just fine, transforming them into knowledge usable on a battlefield was an entirely different thing. I began with the first four forms, starting with a rudimentary stance that ced my left foot and hand out front, with my right foot and arm back, holding my axe ready to strike. Each form was a set of motions that moved my positionterally left or right, or backwards and forwards while always keeping up my guard. It was a new way of thinking for me. While my reflexes had gotten pretty quick thanks to my Reflex Sharpening and Frenzy, I was still mostly reacting out of instinct, jumping to the side to avoid things rather than making efficient use of body mechanics like this. I got to work, slowly at first, taking an inordinate amount of time to run through each form, ensuring I had it just right before moving on to the next. Once I was sure I had performed each one correctly I then began to repeat them over and over,mitting them to memory while speeding up each time. Hours passed as I practiced the simple movements over a hundred times each, converting them from mere memory to muscle memory, until I was able to perform them without thinking of the movements consciously. I thought only of the names of the forms themselves and my body would do the rest. [1st form]! I shifted to the left in a series of quick steps. [2nd form]! I shifted to the right. [3rd form]! I shifted back. [4th form]! I advanced. I practiced some more until I was able to transition between all of them seamlessly. First, Third, Second, Fourth, First! It was just moving around in a square, but the fluidity and speed in which I could do it was amazing, even for something so basic, my martial training was beginning to pay off. It made me eager to put into practice what woulde next. The Axe itself wasn¡¯t a defensive weapon, which suited my preference of style just fine. There were no blocks per se. Its defense involved either maneuvering quickly in and out of your opponent¡¯s range or parrying their attacks. I focused on learning those techniques after lunch: the 5th Form being abination of a roll and slide that ended in an attack and the 6th Form a reactive ncing blow directed at the enemy¡¯s weapon. In between my practicing of the forms, I snuck in a few belrug kills to generate Frenzy and maintain my cultivation growth. It wasn¡¯t as much as I would normally generate during a day out in the field, but it was enough to train my Reflex Sharpening and Mental Quickness every time I ran through a form. After a while, I found that by using my Frenzy I was able to increase the speed in which I could perform the techniques by nearly tenfold. That got me through memorizing them much faster, but at the expense of giving me a cardio workout. Eventually I hadmitted the 5th and 6th to muscle memory andbined them with the first four. I created a routine, fighting an imaginary foe for over an hour, dashing between the forms while using Frenzy, tearing up grass as I rolled, quick-stepped and swung. I was drenched in sweat by the time I was finished for the day, but I felt that I had fully mastered the first six forms and advanced to the fourth stage of Reflex Sharpening and the third stage of Mental Quickness to boot. I left the field a happy man. * * * That evening, after avoiding the silent but angry mob that was my neighbors, I gave my body a rest but exercised my mind by starting my study of the Lightning Technique manual. It was a much different bookpared to the Axe techniques. Where the Axe manual focused on forms, the Lightning manual was all about controlling and transforming internal energy. There were countless pages on how to harness one¡¯s Qi and refine it into a form that could be utilized to create actual lightning, but I only half paid attention to it all. Most of the techniques were not applicable to me and some of the meridians mentioned I¡¯d never even heard of before. But the goal was not to try to create my own lightning, just to learn enough to be passable if I was ever questioned about my fake core. Still the more I studied the more the idea interested me and I finally found a passage that gave me an inkling of hope. Origins of the Lightning Arc Technique The great founder, Zen Ju Xian, was originally a fire worshiper whose descendants eventually formed the Fire Bird Sect. But Zen Ju Xian was dissatisfied with the limitations of fire techniques and sought to refine them further. It is through his experimentation with increasing the strength of fire techniques that he discovered the ability to concentrate me to the point of producing lightning. Thus, all lightning techniques find their roots in fire. While the mastery of fire techniques is not necessary to manifest lightning, a fundamental understanding of fire manifestation will be of great benefit to any lightning practitioner. Holy shit¡­I thought. The Frenzied me was a kind of fire wasn¡¯t it? Perhaps not literal fire, but I did recall seeing yellow mes in the sky when Threja transformed. The idea spurred me into action. Perhaps there was a technique that I could mimic to produce mes from Frenzy and then substitute that with the techniques in the lightning manual. That got me looking into the orb under external manifestations again. I searched for over an hour, but after a while had to conclude that either those mes I saw in the sky were not real, or she had developed something herself beyond what the orb could teach me. That got me thinking of the problem in reverse. Perhaps I could apply the meridians in the lightning manual to those within the orb. But again, some of them just didn¡¯t match up. But what if they could? I reached for Mu Lin¡¯s fundamentals book. That text contained every meridian in existence. If I could line up what the lightning book was referring to, then perhaps I could trante that into its equivalent within the orb techniques. It seemed worth a shot. I began reading, but by the time I got to the second page of meridian locations my head was swimming and my body was aching for sleep. Reluctantly I closed the fundamentals book. As much as I wanted to research further, I couldn¡¯t spread myself too thin. I still had half the Axe manual to master and that required an intensive physical workout that required my body to be in peak form. Master one thing at a time, I told myself. Still, as I drifted off to sleep, I couldn¡¯t help but dream that lightning mastery might be somehow within my grasp. Chapter 32 The next day I was up and at it early again. I resisted the urge to resume reading the manuals, my mind still hungry for more knowledge, but I knew if I started reading, I¡¯d probably end up spending the whole day with my nose in a book. And with the start of the Wooden Bracket tournament just five days away, I couldn¡¯t afford to do that. I needed to prioritize my time wisely. I made it to work with a few minutes to spare and used the extra time to have a quick powwow with my team. Yi Fu, Ren, and Rho stared up at me attentively as I called them together and I couldn¡¯t help but feel a mixture of guilt and pride as I looked at the three kids. Guilt for how badly I¡¯d been neglecting them in pursuit of my own goals, but pride for how well they had progressed regardless. ¡°Okay listen up,¡± I said. ¡°You guys have been doing great. You¡¯ve all been able to manage the clients pretty well on your own while I¡¯ve been out scouting, but now it¡¯s time to take it to the next level.¡± They all looked at me expectantly and I felt like even more of a heel for what I was about to ask them to do next. Although it would result in the oue I would promise, the motivation for it waspletely selfish again. ¡°You¡¯re getting to the stage now where you can take clients out on your own, but I want to ensure you can do itpletely solo before I tell Sumatra.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Yi Fu said, looking excited. ¡°Will it be more pay if we can do that?¡±I shrugged. ¡°Probably not. Sumatra¡¯s a pretty cheap guy, but you¡¯ll at least have a bit more freedom to do what you want when out in the wild. And trust me, that can be a reward in and of itself.¡± And I should know, I almost wanted to add. I¡¯ve been abusing it this whole time. Damn, maybe pursuing cultivation was really turning me into an a-hole. ¡°So this is what¡¯s going to happen,¡± I said, breaking myself out of the negative train of thought. ¡°For the next week, when I take you guys out, I¡¯m going to hand the clients over to you as normal, but I¡¯ll be moving much further away. I want you to be able to operate like I¡¯m not even there.¡± ¡°But you still will be right?¡± Rho asked, looking nervous. I chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll tell Sumatra to give us low-end clients so we won¡¯t end up in any ce hairy. But yes, I¡¯ll be there, but you probably won¡¯t see me. I want you to gain the confidence you need to survive out there on your own.¡± That part was true. They did need to break off from me at some point and honestly, with the amount of solo time I¡¯d given them already they would probably be fine. Still, I felt a bit nervous about it¡ªlike a parent about to send their kid off to school for the first time or something. Although it probably wouldn¡¯t feel much different to them, for me it would be taking my supervision from afar aspect to an all-new height¡ªor perhaps depth, depending on how you looked at it. The training I needed to do was intense and I had to maintainplete focus. Where I was maybe checking on them every hour or so before, I needed to trust that they¡¯d be ok so that I could spend as much time as possible learning my kung fu. ¡°We¡¯ll meet up at the end of the day,¡± I said. ¡°Until then, I¡¯m trusting you guys to take care of the clients on your own.¡± All three of them beamed with pride as they gave me polite bows. ¡°Yes, Elder Brother!¡± I felt unworthy of the lemonade they spewed, but I had to put that to the back of my mind. I had to haveplete focus if I was going to advance. Still, I made a promise to reward them for this someday, somehow. Even though they didn¡¯t know it, these three kids were helping me tremendously along my path. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it then,¡± I said with a smile, reinforcing them with confidence as Iid on [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°We got a long day of work ahead.¡± * * * Once we got back into the wild, I found a rtively calm area of the forest with C and D-ss monsters and let my team loose. I then booked it about a mile away, to an area close to some belrugs that I could use for fast Frenzy generation. Finally, I sat in lotus position and recalled the next six forms within the Axe technique manual. They were all various types of attacks, most involving spinning movements and juggling my axe from hand to hand to confuse the enemy. None of them resembled anything like my crude [Three-Log Chop] and [One-Chop Cleave] techniques. While those were powerful and effective against things like monsters, they were pretty slow and easy to dodge. These skills on the other hand, were designed to fight other martial artists, using feints and misdirection to expose weaknesses. I started as I did the day before, practicing the forms slowly at first to master the movements and then picked up speed once I got it down, before repeating them over and over again. Hours flew by as I practiced all day, but I managed to get down three of thest six forms, fueling my training with Frenzy as I did so. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was normal practice to ¡°speed-train¡±, as I decided to call it, but it was effective. I was sacrificing the Frenzy I gained from killing the belrugs to speed up my muscle memory instead of using it to develop my inner me. All in all, I considered it a good tradeoff though, but performing the maneuvers at ten times the speed was exhausting. By the time I met back up with Yi Fu, Ren, and Rho, I waspletely spent, but was happy to see that they had managed just fine without me checking up on them. That gave me confidence to continue my training regime throughout the week. When I got home, I barely had enough energy left to study, but I got at least an hour in, researching the path to lightning techniques, before I eventually passed out. I repeated everything the same the next day with me learning the next three techniques. The day after that I finally started putting everything together. I was truly beginning to appreciate the notion of mental capacity now. Although I had trained my body to perform the motions, keeping all twelve of the forms straight in my mind was a challenge and putting them together even more so. I tried a simplebination routine of shifting between Fourth, Eleventh, First, and Eight forms, andpletely screwed it up, winding up spending a full ten seconds just standing still wondering what the hell I should be doing next. I took a break after that and began to question if I were truly making decent progress or not. As I sat in lotus in the middle of a grassy clearing, I searched further within the Axe manual through my mind¡¯s eye. I had learned all twelve forms now, but they were merely the basics. The next section wasbining those forms into true techniques. There had to be a couple dozen of them, listed simply by name and attached with the corresponding formbinations. [Sliding Guard Break] for example was a shift to the left using [1st Form], a quick turn before advancing using [4th Form] and then a series of diagonal chops using [9th Form] and [10th Form] before spinning and retreating with [3rd Form]. It sounded simple on paper, but again when I tried to put it into action, I was fumbling all over myself. ¡°Damn it!¡± I cursed loudly as I copsed onto my ass, tripping over my feet. Maybe I didn¡¯t have the forms down as good as I thought. Or maybe it was just too much to remember in too little time. After all, it took years to master this stuff, right? I was trying to do it in a week. Still, I was mere days away from my first real tournament match and I had to get this right. I breathed deeply and considered where I was in my overall progression now, forming the tables inside the manuals within my mind¡¯s eye. Foundation Establishment 1st Qi Gathering 2nd Qi Channeling 3rd Qi Body Refinement 4th Qi Mental Refinement 5th Qi concentration 6th Qi Manifestation (internal) 7th Qi Manifestation (external) 8th Qi Condensing 9th Qi Hardening Considering what I could actually do now, perhaps I had progressed much more than I thought in total. In my Foundation training I had already achieved internal and external manifestation and was able to condense Qi, or Frenzypetently. That left only a single step of Frenzy hardening before I was able to advance to the Core Realm. Although if I recalled Threja¡¯s teaching as well as the orb¡¯s, I still needed to conquer the Fear of Certain Death to make that breakthrough happen. I wasn¡¯t sure what that would even entail, but to get there did I need to fully master all the steps within Foundation mastery first? That had me recalling the tables for Body Refinement and Mental Refinement next. Body Refinement Category Stages Description Muscle Strengthening I to V Increases your passive casual strength and your ability to do damage through Frenzy-infused techniques. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you will have the strength of ten men. At 5th stage you are able to snap iron as easily as twigs in your palms. Train by infusing Frenzy with strenuous exercise. Reflex Sharpening I to V Increases the swiftness at which your body moves and reacts. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can snatch arrows out of the air. At 5th stage you are able to run faster than a swallow and move a de quicker than the eye can see. Train by infusing Frenzy into quick attacks and actions which test your speed and coordination. Body Hardening I to V Increases the durability and hardness of your skin and bones. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can resist mes and the blows of dull objects. At 5th stage your body has be as strong as iron and can resist most des and even arrows. Train by using Frenzy to mend your broken skin and bones. Internal Strengthening I to V Increases the body¡¯s ability to withstand prolonged exertion, toxins and the strain of high-level Frenzy-infused techniques. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can consume strong spirits without intoxication. At 5th stage your body can utilize multiple techniques at once without ill effects. Train by using Frenzy to mitigate the effects of toxins and by performing techniques that use high bursts of Frenzy. Mental Refinement Category Stages Description Mental Capacity I to V Increases your ability to store, retain and recall information. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you have the ability to recall small portions of information withplete rity. At 5th stage you are able to recall several tomes worth of information with rity. Train by memorizing techniques, texts and transcribing the same. Mental Quickness I to V Increases the swiftness at which you can recall and corrte information you have retained. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can quickly recall and corrte information, even under duress. At 5th stage you are able to performplexputations with ease and corrte information with the subconscious mind. Train by performing calctions or split decision making while under duress. I could confidently say I was around level IV in all of my Body Refinement categories now thanks to all the monsters I was killing in between my practice sessions. And with the ¡°Speed-Training¡± methods I was likely closing in on level V when it came to Reflex Sharpening. My Mental Refinement was simrly advanced. When I had first read the table in the orb I was wondering how I was even going to train that, but memorizing the various manuals, recalling them and now putting them into practice by learning the forms had caused me to advance to at least stage IV in each. I eased back on my elbows and stared up at the sky as I reflected on all of my aplishments. I could hardly believe it to be honest. If I tallied everything up, I was what cultivators would call being a half-step away from being a Core Realm cultivator already. For someone who¡¯d been a Qi dummy for years just a few weeks ago, it was almost too hard to believe. Had I truly advanced so quickly? Or was the method of gaining Frenzy just that much more powerful than Qi. Regardless which was true, I had pushed far beyond what my fake core was telling people now. And that meant that I was likely much, much stronger than anyone I would face in the Wooden Bracket. That meant that even winning it should be a cake walk, but I knew that already, even before I knew I was this strong. The purpose of fighting in the Wooden Bracket was not for me to get stronger but to be more skilled. And at that, I think I was still at barely a novice level. I huffed out a sigh. Only two days left until I¡¯d know for sure whether I had learned anything useful or not. Practicing forms from a book was one thing, but being able to employ them inbat, knowing which ones to use and how to counter someone else¡¯s techniques was somethingpletely new to me. Hell, even the little kids I would be up against would have more experience at it than me. Still, I made a decision. If I was going to learn, then I needed to pay the full price. That meant I needed to use only my skills to defeat my opponents when fighting in the Wooden Bracket. Using my Frenzy to overpower them would be robbing myself of an education I so desperately needed. But to do even that, I needed to at least be proficient at the basics first. That strengthened my resolve and reignited the forge of my inner me. Two days left. I could do it. I would have to. My future sess would depend on it. Renewed with inner focus, I picked myself off the ground and started the forms again. * * * Master Hei Dong approached the trainingpound with something rarely felt stirring within his soul. It was an almost alien sensation¡ªan emotion not felt for years, it seemed. But today he would give in to it, for he was certain now that it was a sentiment truly worthy to uphold. For once in a very long time, Hei Dong felt pride. As the servants opened the double doors to the trainingpound, that same pride surged again as the sounds ofbat came from within. There, across the hard y surface of the training yard was Hein sparring with the girl Zu Tien. He paused to watch them a moment, both of them wielding wooden swords, with Zu Tien additionally having the apparel of her prosthetic glove fitted with wooden des. When he had first tasked Hein with training the disgraced girl, he did not think he would take to it as fervently and seriously as he had, but now, looking at the results, Hei Dong was sure that Hein must have found some new purpose of his own within her. The two cultivators faced off against one another, dancing across the tops of an array of elevated stone pirs shooting up from the ground nearly thirty feet high. Their yells of techniques echoed powerfully off the perimeter walls of thepound and soared into the open air above. They moved like hummingbirds, quicker than the eye could see, exchanging positions on the pirs as they shed with one another again and again. The girl, Zu Tien was bathed in sweat, her breathing ragged as she lunged at Hein with martial strikes, her elegant sword patternscking only the luminous shes of Qi indicative of the Silver Leaf n technique. Hein deflected her attacks with the calm confidence of a master, shing from pir to pir in the blink of an eye. Zu Tien paused for a split second, and even from this distance, Hei Dong could sense the building of her Qi. She disappeared, causing Hein to drop into a more defensive stance. Then in an instant she reappeared in seemingly eight ces at once, simultaneously diving at Hein with a crisscross pattern of attacks. ¡°[Eighth Heaven! Zero-Point Strike!]¡± Hein became a blur of motion as his wooden sword deflected each attack with precision, his Qi speeding his movement to godlike proportions. With a final strike, he deflected her attack and then kicked Zu Tien in her abdomen, sending her crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust. ¡°Still weak!¡± Hein shouted down to her, but then after a pause he added, ¡°¡­but better. You may regain your honor yet by defeating that clown.¡± Zu Tien rose to her feet, wiping a streak of blood from her mouth. ¡°I have sworn my life to do so. I will not fail, master.¡± Hein chortled. ¡°For your sake, you¡¯d better not.¡± ¡°Who is this clown you speak of?¡± Hei Dong said as he approached the pirs casually. ¡°Surely you would not be referring to one of your sister¡¯s retainers in such a manner, Hein.¡± The boy straightened with a look of shock on his face and near simultaneously, both he and Zu Tien vanished in a burst of Qi, before reappearing before him crouched on one knee. ¡°My deepest apologies, Father,¡± Hein said. ¡°We did not perceive you entering.¡± ¡°So I noticed, but you did not answer my question either.¡± ¡°It was but a jest, Master Hei Dong,¡± Zu Tien said quickly. ¡°It was I who began to refer to my elder sister as a clown. The one I am to face to regain my honor. I deeply apologize.¡± Hei Dong grimaced. ¡°You y a dangerous game to disrespect any member of this n in such a way, Zu Tien, especially in your position.¡± He then looked to Hein. ¡°And you¡­you should not be perpetuating such disrespect.¡± ¡°I apologize, Father,¡± Hein said, ncing up at him. ¡°It was a mere tool to build Zu Tien¡¯s confidence in facing a greater foe.¡± As Hein looked up at him, he couldn¡¯t help but sense that flicker of familiar cunning in his eyes. The pride which had momentarily begun to slip was quickly restored. Hei Dong smiled. ¡°Fine. But let not a word of it transpire beyond the two of you. Your sister would be most insulted to have one of her elite referred to as such.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Satisfied, Hei Dong withdrew the weapon he had been concealing within his robes and held it before Hein. The boy¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°Is¡­is that my de?¡± Hei Dong smiled knowingly. ¡°It is what was once your de, yes.¡± Flipping the slim two-edged jian over in his hand, Hei Dong himself marveled at his own handiwork. The de, reinforced with over ten thousand spirit stones¡¯ worth of Aurorean Silver and ten full measures of his own hardened Qi, gleamed with a hue of its own, its power pulsating within his palm. ¡°I have been pleased with your rehabilitation of Zu Tien, thus I have decided to give you a reward. I have reinforced your de, to the fifth tier. It is now no longer known as the Silver Tear Talon, but the Luminous Silver Tear Fang.¡± Hei Dong offered the weapon to his son and he took it eagerly into his hands. ¡°Father¡­when did you do this?¡± ¡°While you slept, of course.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but smile at the notion. The Aurorean Silver would likely cost him far more dearly than what it was worth, but there was no need to let it go to waste. And, if he was being honest, simply being able to craft was a wee distraction from the daily pressures of organizing the tournament. The preliminaries werepleted and the Wooden Bracket would soon start. Although the Fire Birds had made no disruptions during the preliminaries, it was still yet to be seen if Lo Feng would stand by his word and issue a Trial by Might to settle their dispute, or if he would simply sink low enough to strong arm him by sabotaging the event. With no writ yet received from the courts, Hei Dong had made precautions to heighten security regardless. Still, who knew what the Fire Birds would truly do. In any case, being able to gift his son with a de this strong was a constion of sorts. Even a high-tier Core Realm cultivator would be envious of such an exquisite weapon. It was a reminder of his value as an artisan. A cultivator was only as strong as his weapon. Or so Hei Dong liked to believe. ¡°Why don¡¯t you test it?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°On the pirs.¡± ¡°Are you certain?¡± Hein said. Hei Dong chuckled. ¡°If you can break one, I would consider it money well spent.¡± Hein cracked a sly grin as he rose to his feet. He leapt into the air and froze in ce, the force of his Qi pushing Hei Dong back. ¡°[Ninth Heaven! Silver Moon Arc!] He spun in ce with a violent horizontal sh of his de. From its tip a blinding arc of light sailed outwards and struck three of the pirs, their bases shattering before the arc hit two more behind them. All five then fell and copsed to the ground in a ruble of thunder. Hei Dong¡¯s heart was in his throat. His pride surged with a mixture with something more. Awe and wonder. He looked at the boy. ¡°Since when have you be this strong, Hein?¡± Hei Dong had expected that he could have deeply scored and perhaps toppled one of the pirs with the power of the new de, but to fell five in a single technique? Hein merely shed him a cocky grin. ¡°Do not look so surprised, dear father,¡± he said. ¡°Zu Tien has not been the only one advancing.¡± Chapter 33 Nerves built within my gut as I approached the arena, but I didn¡¯t bother to turn any of it into Frenzy. I wouldn¡¯t be touching that stuff tonight. Or so was the n, anyway. I had taken it easy with the practice at work, training till mid-afternoon before reserving the rest of my strength for the tournament. After getting cleaned up at home, I took a quick nap, got up, got dressed and made my way to the stadium just before dusk. Now the Qi-infused street lighting was already being illuminated to usher in the night and the air was abuzz with the chatter of the quickly building crowd lining up to get inside the stadium. The numbers were at least twice that of what I saw for the preliminary rounds with a few more artisans and cultivators from the upper end of society mixed in as well. There were two distinct lines funneling the people inside, and the disparity between the two in clothing alone was enough to tell who was within the upper echelons of cultivator society and who was not. As for me, I joined the much shorter line ofpetitors waiting to be granted ess to the bowels of the stadium to prepare for the night¡¯s entertainment. I sized up thepetition as I approached and the head turns I got in response was evidence that they were doing the same. Just like before, there were arge number of teens and adolescents, but there were a couple guys my age and even older. One of them, a tan-skinned fieldworker by the looks of him, stared at me especially hard, but I couldn¡¯t tell if it was out ofpetition or kinship, seeing as he looked to be in histe twenties or early thirties. The disdain from the youngerpetitors was much easier toprehend, so much so that I wondered if Green Bird Girl hadn¡¯t paid a few of them off to give me the stink-eye as I approached. I paid it all no mind however and instead focused on the memorization of my forms. Tonight was make or break for me¡ªproof that myst two days of intensive training could finally bear fruit. Eventually the doors opened and we were let inside. Officials in Imperial-colored robes verified our names before giving us numbers ording to the order in which we qualified. I was given number 93. The same attendant from a week ago must have recognized me because he grunted when he handed me the keys to my locker. ¡°Ah, the bull guy,¡± he said, chuckling. ¡°You can find your mask and weapon inside your locker. Good luck.¡±I gave him a nod and then followed the otherpetitors into the stadium. * * * The dank smell of sweat and fear greeted me as I entered the locker room. The ce was crowded, barely enough room for me to dress in my white uniform and store my clothes before grabbing my mask and wooden hatchet. Just as I was about to don my mask, a sudden spike of fear emanated from beside me. I turned to see a beefy guy with a goatee staring back at me. His eyes were wide and trembling, like he¡¯d just seen a ghost or something. I was about to ask him what his problem was, when his jaw fell open to reveal a mouth full of jacked-up teeth. The face and teeth lined up and then the recognition hit me like a truck. ¡°Holy shit! You¡¯re that guy from Hein¡¯s crew.¡± I narrowed my eyes at him. ¡°What was your name again? Gu Zu or some shit?¡± He backed up immediately, stumbling over people as if trying to flee. ¡°Hey!¡± I caught him by his cor, forcing him to stay put. ¡°What the hell are you doing here? Did Hein send you?¡± I stared at him with [Fear the me] and his insides turned to mush, leaking Frenzy-rich fear all over the floor. ¡°Please, I don¡¯t want to fight you.¡± His voice came out in a mumble, like his mouth was full of marbles or something. ¡°If you¡¯repeting, I¡¯m gonna forfeit.¡± ¡°Answer my question!¡± ¡°No, no!¡± he said quickly, raising his hands in surrender. ¡°I¡¯m not in the Silver Leaf Sect anymore. I was kicked out¡­after what happened.¡± He then looked down at the floor. ¡°I¡­I was deemed unworthy.¡± I let go of his cor. ¡°So Hein kicked you out because I kicked your ass?¡± The big guy nodded sheepishly and I had to admit I felt a little sorry for him. ¡°Tough break, man,¡± I said, patting him on the shoulder. ¡°Sorry you had to be on the receiving end of that. Nothing personal by the way.¡± He stared back at me as if not knowing how to respond. Perhaps he didn¡¯t. Cultivators didn¡¯t normally apologize for anything, I supposed. ¡°Anyway, good luck to you, Gu Zu.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ah¡­ it¡¯s Gui Zu,¡± he said. ¡°My name is Gui Zu. And thank you for sparing my life. One day I hope to be as strong as you have.¡± He sped his hands together and gave me a low bow, his fear turning into lemonade. It was my turn to stare back nkly now. Well look at that, I thought. I returned the bow with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, Gui Zu.¡± A sharp whistle drew our attention. There standing on a tform at the front of the room was the same stone-faceddy from before. She waited for the noise to die down and everyone to focus on her before she finally spoke. ¡°Congrattions, qualifiers!¡± she shouted. ¡°You are entering the first round of the Wooden Bracket. There will be fifty matches to determine which of you will advance to the semi-final round. Unlike the qualifiers, there are no ring outs. Each battle will conclude when an opponent is either knocked unconscious, injured to the point of not being able to continue or the ten-minute time limit is reached. At that point a judgment will be made for who is the victor. There will be four rings set up to move through the matches quickly tonight. Pay attention to the officials as they call for your numbers. If you are called three times and you do not show, you will be disqualified. Semi-final matches will also happen tonight following the intermission. Finals will be held tomorrow. You may at any time withdraw from the tournament and retain your highest ranking. Rankings 20 and above will qualify for ss-C citizenship and entrance into the Iron Bracket. The winner will gain free ess to the Iron Bracket, a value worth 50 spirit stones.¡± Damn, I had nearly forgotten about the entry fee. 50 spirit stones was like 500 Taels. I was already nning to steamroll this thing, but now I had to win it for sure. ¡°You may view the tournament from the pits as you wait for your match to be called,¡± she said and then, just like before, leaving no room for questions, the woman turned her back to us and began to walk away. ¡°Follow me.¡± As we left the locker room, Gui Zu stuck by my side like a puppy. We took a turn away from the stadium floor and entered a subfloor that ran beneath it. As we passed the doors to the arena though, I caught a glimpse of the crowd and there looked to be a full stadium gathered already. ¡°Big crowd tonight,¡± I said, turning to Gui Zu. ¡°It always like this?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°Back when I firstpeted, the Wooden Bracket matches always drew a crowd, but nothing this big. Must be all the off-worlders.¡± ¡°No doubt,¡± I said. ¡°What do you mean by firstpeted?¡± ¡°Three years ago. Back when I was still in school I entered the Wooden Bracket for the first time. This would be my second time entering now.¡± I looked at Gui Zu again. For as big as he was, he looked all of about seventeen in the face. It made me feel even worse for busting his teeth in now, but such was the world of cultivators, I supposed. ¡°So why are you back here again? You didn¡¯t qualify for the top twenty to enter the Iron Bracket before or something?¡± ¡°Oh no, I did,¡± Gui Zu said with a small hint of pride. ¡°That¡¯s how the Silver Leaf n scouted me. As a hopeful. But I still wouldn¡¯t be able topete in the Iron Bracket. Not even today.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Heughed, pointing to his teeth. ¡°You must be joking, right? Did you see what you did to my face?¡± Iughed along with him and couldn¡¯t help but think that I¡¯d merely taken him for a clueless meathead crony before. But clearly this guy was a real person with hopes and aspirations of his own and a decent sense of humor to boot. Maybe there was less distinction between us Terrans and the bottom rung of Yee society than I thought. ¡°Even if you qualify for the Iron Bracket that doesn¡¯t mean you are ready for it,¡± he continued. ¡°Most who do, spend years training within a sect to be ready topete at that level.¡± Years? That gave me pause considering my own goals. I needed to hit top 20 in the Iron Bracket in a matter of weeks. Was that even possible? Nah, screw that negativity, I thought. I would have to make it possible. After the Wooden Bracket I would need to focus on my internal training like never before. I needed to harness that lightning. ¡°Okay so if you¡¯re not here to qualify, then what are you here for?¡± ¡°Hopefully to get scouted again,¡± he said. ¡°It will be much harder this time though. I¡¯m too old to be inducted into one of the major sects now. But maybe one of the minor sects might see some value in my skills.¡± He then paused and looked up at me sheepishly again. ¡°I was never that gifted when it came to cultivating.¡± ¡°Neither was I,¡± I said without thinking but regretted it immediately when his brows lowered in confusion. ¡°What do you mean?¡± he said. ¡°Even I can sense how strong you¡¯ve be. How did you do it so quickly?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Just lucky I guess.¡± He didn¡¯t look satisfied by the answer, but I didn¡¯t want to go too far down that road. As we traversed through the dimly lit hallway, a group of cultivators ahead of us cried out in unison as they jumped to the opposite side of the corridor. ¡°Keep moving!¡± the woman leading us shouted, without even looking back at them. ¡°Nothing to be rmed about.¡± Curiosity gripped me as we neared the area that they had passed and when I finally got to see what had startled them, I couldpletely understand why they tried to jump into the next time zone. There, behind a grid of rusted iron bars was thergest rapling I¡¯d ever seen. The creature was as big as a crocodile, with leathery green skin and a yellow underbelly. If not for the distinctive colors, I would have almost taken it for a smander. But this was no ordinary rapling either. It was a brood mother. The sight of it didn¡¯t fill me with the same fear as Gui Zu and the others around me as they backed away¡ªI was way too desensitized for that¡ªbut it was surreal to see a C-ss monster here in the heart of the city, behind the dome. It just didn¡¯t make sense. ¡°How is this possible? The barrier should be driving this thing crazy.¡± ¡°Special Qi stones negate the effect of the barrier.¡± Gui Zu pointed to some faintly glowing rocks inside the cage as we passed by. ¡°You never seen an intermission before?¡± ¡°Never,¡± I admitted. I¡¯m sure that if I could sense Qi, the stones would probably be radiating like kryptonite. ¡°Is that what it¡¯s here for?¡± Gui Zu merely chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± * * * The tournament started much the same as the preliminaries. The Imperial Anthem was yed followed by a propaganda-filled fairy tale,pliments of our lord and savior, Royal Princess Lunh. I viewed all this with disdain from the so-called ¡®pits¡¯, which were actually the old dugouts used back when the stadium hosted baseball games instead of blood sports. The blood sport in question soon started with the first four matches being called. I watched with rapt attention as the fights yed out, trying to get a sense of the level ofpetition. Now, being more versed in what forms and techniques actually were, I could truly appreciate how skilled some of these kids were. Most used the sword or staff and the hollow cks of wood on wood echoed throughout the stadium as cheers and whistles went up from the crowd. The matches went quickly and soon Gui Zu was called. ¡°Wish me luck, eh?¡± he said with a jacked-up smile. I gave him a thumbs up, which I¡¯m not sure he quite understood, but he smiled at me again anyway. I watched as he entered the ring with a kid at least five years his junior, wielding a staff as he was. The matchmenced and Gui Zu became a whirling dervish, moving across the mat with impable footwork and precisely controlled forms. The kid he was up against was no slouch either, matching Gui Zu¡¯s movements to a tee. The two staffs clicked and cked against one another for a good five minutes, Gui Zu proving surprisingly nimble for his size. But eventually it boiled down to endurance and the fight became a battle of attrition. Gui Zu finally imed victory bynding a heavy strike to the kid¡¯s thigh that took him out of the match with a broken leg. Above the ring, the Qi-infused score boards moved his number 82, to rank 16 on the score boards. I barely had time to congratte him before my own number was called. ¡°Numbers 93 and 94!¡± the official shouted. ¡°Ring number one!¡± Gui Zu gave me a fist bump. ¡°Good luck!¡± ¡°Thanks, man.¡± Donning my mask, I mbered up the steps and entered into the stadium. The intensity of the lights was almost blinding as I made my way into the ring. Not surprisingly, across from me was another adolescent¡ªa boy of maybe fourteen who chose to go without a mask. I noticed the mask wearing itself was split about fifty-fifty. For me it was a requirement. The less people who knew I was doing this the better. But I imagined if people were looking to be scouted like Gui Zu, they wanted their faces to be seen. I prepared myself as I waited for the bell to ring, forcing my mind to focus on the fight. No Frenzy. All skill. The bell rang and the boy advanced with an aggressive strike for my head. I forced myself not to react with instinct, using [3rd Form] to retreat instead of merely hopping backwards as I normally would. The split second of hesitation cost me, and I took a p to my arm as a penalty. It was a killing blow, enough to break my arm, but it didn¡¯t hurt of course. Still, it was a failure in my mind. The kid came at me again and I maneuvered out of his reach using [1st Form]. He wheeled behind me, and cracked me across the back. Shit! Irritation filled me as we repositioned and the kid gave me a smirk of superiority. The little punk. I could power through his attacks and put him on his back, but that wasn¡¯t the point here. Fact was he was winning and I needed to up my game. Using a six-foot staff against my two-foot hatchet, he already had a huge advantage over me, but I decided to revel in it instead of growing perturbed. This was the kind of challenge I needed. The difficulty to grow stronger¡ªnot just in strength but in skill. I stopped just reacting and started to attack, using my techniques to slip in and out of his range. The boy was good though and recognized the patterns, deflecting my hatchet strikes with poise. I took a few more careless hits as I tried to adjust to the quick tempo of livebat. It was so alien from my savage instincts to just go in for the kill. Were I not already so advanced in my Body Refinement and the fact that I was fighting a kid I would probably have long since lost the match, but I swallowed my pride and kept at it. [4th Form] [Swinging Cleave] [3rd Form] retreat. [6th Form] parry! The forms and techniques rolled through my mind milliseconds too slow, but eventually my speed increased. I stopped thinking and started reacting, but not with instinct like before. My muscle memory kicked in and soon I started performing the techniques as naturally as leaping to the side or throwing a careless chop. After a few minutes we were engaged in that deadly dance that I had witnessed from the stands barely a week ago. A cultivator versus a cultivator. I was doing it. I was actually doing it! The thought gave me more confidence, even if I was just fighting against a kid. I kept an eye on the timer, using every opportunity to develop my skills before it hit zero. I had a new revtion while fighting him though. It wasn¡¯t just enough to memorize my own techniques. Recognizing and being able to interpret and anticipate my opponent¡¯s attacks was important also. I hadn¡¯t studied the spear or sword technique out of the manual yet, but I would after today. The battle wore on and the countenance of the kid¡¯s face changed. Gone was the overconfident smirk of superiority and a sweat-creased scowl of frustration took its ce. Finally, hemitted to a powerful spinning attack, leaping through the air. ¡°[Spinning Leaf Falls]!¡± I executed [Sliding Guard Break] in response, shifting to the left to avoid his strike which hammered the floor where I¡¯d stood. I then advanced behind him with [4th Form] and spun, hacking him in the back of his neck with a cleave. My casual strength alone was enough to knock the poor kid unconscious and the bell sounded with just seconds to spare. ¡°Winner! Number 93! You advance to the next round!¡± Looking up at the board, I saw my number jump to rank 17 just behind Gui Zu. I returned to the pits with a feeling of true aplishment. I¡¯d done it. I¡¯d won by skill alone. Well¡­mostly. There was no way the kid could have beaten me anyway by knocking me out or breaking my bones, but that didn¡¯t count. Winning the Bracket was part of my path. ¡°Nice work!¡± Gui Zu said with another jacked-up smile as I re-entered the pits. ¡°Looks like we both advanced.¡± I smiled in return. ¡°Guess so.¡± It was then that I noticed a new fluster ofmotion all around us. I¡¯d drawn out the match so long that I didn¡¯t realize we were thest one for the entire round. Presently the entire dugout filled with the winners was starting to leave, each one going to speak with one of the officials. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked. Gui Zu merely sighed as he looked up at the score board. ¡°Take a look.¡± When I turned about, I was just in time to see every contestant number ranked above us suddenly disappear to be reced with the word ¡°Withdrawn¡±. ¡°What the hell, man? What does this mean?¡± ¡°Everyone has withdrawn except us it seems.¡± He then stared at the ground. ¡°It would be my cursed fate to have to fight the likes of you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why has everyone withdrawn?¡± ¡°The Wooden Bracket is a stepping stone. A ce formoner children to disy their skills in hopes to be scouted by a sect like I was, or youngsters from more prestigious families to quickly and quietly qualify for the Iron Bracket. But to actually win the Wooden Bracket and have your name eternally associated with it, is a mark of shame.¡± ¡°What?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe this, but then I remember Mu Lin. ¡°Right. Who would want to be remembered as King of the Shit-Tier League.¡± Heughed. ¡°That¡¯s funny, but such is the way, I suppose.¡± He then shrugged. ¡°Shamefully, I have no further face to lose. And I think winning the Wooden Bracket might be enough for me to draw the attention of the lower-ss sects. Having that badge of shame would at least be proof of my skill.¡± He then gave me a crooked smile. ¡°But, that was before I knew I was going to have to fight against you¡­¡± His words trailed off and I could see the hopelessness and desperation in his face. This kid was broken and I had a small hand to y in that. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen,¡± the announcer came over the loudspeaker. ¡°Due to therge number of withdrawals, there will be no semi-final round. After the intermission we will have the final match of the Wooden Bracket Tournament to determine the overall winner.¡± The Qi board shed and changed again. Wooden Bracket Finals Rank 16 Rank 17 Number 82 Number 93 A heaviness filled me as I looked up at the board. My path was clear. I needed to win this match to afford the entry fee into the Iron Bracket. But I knew that there would be a price to pay for that now. Following the intermission, I would once again have to fight and defeat poor Gui Zu. Chapter 34 I could barely pay attention to the entertainment on stage as the intermission yed out, my mind still fixed on the idea that I would have to crush Gui Zu¡¯s dreams to fulfill my own. They had transformed the arena yet again, removing two of the rings to be reced by arge metal cage that was at least twenty feet high and covered at the top. A group of three cultivators locked themselves inside, right before a trap door opened up in the floor to allow the rapling broodmother to join them. The crowd went wild at the sight of the monster and I figured the cage must have been fitted with those same special Qi stones to block the effects of the barrier. The monster was riled up nheless, and the cultivators from the Silver Leaf Sect danced around it, throwing those same knitting club needles that Zu Tien had thrown at me. With its thick hide, they seemed to be more irritating the monster than actually hurting it, which was the whole point, I guessed¨C¨Ca fun show and spectacle for the crowd. But it became a bit more than that as the announcer took to the loudspeaker again. ¡°Yes, you too can test your skill and strength against the mighty spirit beasts that only Terra can provide,¡± he said, turning the whole thing into a live advertisement. ¡°Be you a fledgling Foundation cultivator or a Sacred Soul looking for that final catalysis for ascension, you can find all you need and more within the wilds. See an official for details.¡± Damn that was cringey, I thought, but I supposed the empire didn¡¯t have to worry about appealing to people¡¯s sensibilities too often. They could brute force anything they wanted, but they could probably learn a thing or two about advertising from the old world if they wanted to drum up business properly. ¡°Is it true what they say?¡± Gui Zu asked, sitting next to me in the dugout. I shrugged. ¡°If you¡¯re lucky, I guess. I¡¯ve been with cultivators who¡¯ve bagged a core once before.¡±He looked back at me oddly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You know¡­.a monster core?¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean about that. I meant, is it true what they say about you?¡± ¡°Me?¡± It was my turn to give the odd look now. ¡°Why? What do ¡®they¡¯ say?¡± ¡°That you¡¯ve challenged Master Hein to a Trial by Might.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I guess word travels fast. Who told you? One of the residents?¡± His eyes widened. ¡°So, it is true then?¡± I looked at him strangely. This wasn¡¯t something he should be that surprised about. After all, he was there when I made my first promise to Hein when he jumped me with his crew, but then I remembered that by that time, Gui Zu was already syed out on the ground out cold. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s true.¡± A mixture of lemonade and fear bubbled up within him as Gui Zu continued to stare at me, no doubt trying to decipher if I waspletely mad or just delusional. Even I wasn¡¯t too sure sometimes. I chuckled and was just about to say more when a strange sensation filled the air. It was familiar, yet strange, a dank pungent aroma to it. Dark Frenzy. I nced around me to see where it wasing from, but I couldn¡¯t pinpoint it exactly. It was radiating seemingly from everywhere, but more concentrated near the edges of the arena. Suddenly a cacophony of screams sounded from the crowd as a torrent of mes billowed from the broodmother within the cage. The monster hissed and snarled aggressively, belching fire like that smander I¡¯d killed. The three cultivators seemed just as frightened by it and started yelling to one another as they went from toying with the monster to actively trying to flee from it. The creature seemed to almost grow in size, its skin darkening and reddening as the Dark Frenzy within the air increased. What the hell is this? I felt sick to my stomach, nausea permeating my soul as the dark energy pushed on me from all sides. I focused my mind to fight it off, but then as quickly as it came the sensation ceased. The broodmother stopped chasing the cultivators, who were by now clinging to the sides of the cage like monkeys. The monster¡¯s skin reverted back to a normal green and yellow color and the beast switched from actively pursuing the cultivators to running away from them again. The announcer came back onto the loudspeaker, his voice shaky with artificial cheer. ¡°All part of the show, everyone. That was to demonstrate just how unpredictable these beasts can be. Remember, never attempt to venture beyond the barrier on your own. Not only is it an offense against the throne, but you could be throwing your very life away. Seek the services of our experienced handlers and they will most certainly guide you to the best experience in the wild.¡± With that ad hoc public service announcement finished, the cultivators opened up the trap door again and forced the broodmother back inside. I was still trying to figure out what the hell just happened, but clearly no one else had sensed that wave of Dark Frenzy like I had. Where had ite from? I scanned through the crowd on the opposite side of the arena and there standing at the edge, was a cluster of red and orange robes. ¡°Hey you alright?¡± Gui Zu asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. ¡°Yeah,¡± I said absently, still focused on the Fire Birds. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Well, I suppose this is it,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°Our match is next. I¡¯ve never been so nervous.¡± I barely heard him as he went on about his nerves, a million questions still running through my mind, but I couldn¡¯t focus on any of that now. As Gui Zu said, we had a match about to start. The arena staff began dismantling the cage and clearing the area for us to fight. It was going to be muchrger than a normal ring, yed out on the hard y surface of the arena itself instead of one of the mats. Gui Zu suddenly stood and then looked out at the arena for a moment before turning back to me and dropping to one knee. ¡°Brother Chun,¡± he said, lowering his head. ¡°I know I am no match for you. Especially if you intend to fight the likes of Master Hein with no reservations at all. I clearly am not worthy to fight with someone of that courage and strength. In fact, I believe I would only embarrass myself further by even attempting to fight you. Please, allow me to withdraw from this match. I can always try again next year.¡± I looked down at Gui Zu and couldn¡¯t believe what I was hearing. Part of me wanted to just agree and take the easy win, but there was more at stake here than just winning and not only for him. ¡°Hey look,¡± I said. ¡°I joined this bracket for a reason. I need to hone my skills and when ites to straight-up fighting, you might have more of a chance against me than you think.¡± That wasn¡¯t bullshit either. I¡¯d seen Gui Zu in action and he was as good as anyone in the ring I¡¯d seen thus far. He looked up at me quizzically. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean, when I fight you, I¡¯m not going to use my Qi. Pure fighting skill. That¡¯s it. A fair match, man to man.¡± My me surged with a renewed sense of challenge. I made a promise I wasn¡¯t going to steamroll through this thing and I had to stick to it, no matter what. Gui Zu beamed as he gave me a smile full of jacked-up teeth and lemonade. ¡°Y-you¡¯d really do that for me?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Not just for you, if I¡¯m being honest. But yeah, if it gives you a chance to showcase your skills to a potential sect, then why not?¡± ¡°Oh, thank you! Thank you!¡± he said, bowing his forehead to the ground in a kowtow. ¡°Thank you, brother Chun!¡± ¡°Hey, stop all that,¡± I said and helped him to his feet. ¡°That shit¡¯s embarrassing, man.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ sorry.¡± ¡°Look¡­this is how we show respect in my culture,¡± I said and extended my hand to him. He cautiously did the same and I grasped it in a firm shake. ¡°Good luck to you, Gui Zu. May the best man win.¡± * * * Actual nerves flittered through my stomach as I made my way to the center of the arena. I knew I was doing the right thing both for myself and Gui Zu, but I had to acknowledge what I was putting on the line as well. Not winning would mean having to find five spirit stones to enter the next bracket. And while I still had that chunk of lightning core to sell, at the rate I was advancing, I could end up needing to sew the whole damn thing into my stomach soon. But be that as it may, I couldn¡¯t afford to lose this match. [Odds Against Me] started to kick in the more I thought about the skill difference between us, but I refused to channel any of the surging Frenzy into my abilities. I tucked it away into my Dantian instead, passively cultivating while waiting for the match to start. Just stay focused, I told myself again as I stared across the distance at Gui Zu. He opted to wear no mask and what I¡¯d quicklye to know as his normally cid face had shifted to an expression of extreme concentration. He wasn¡¯t looking to pull any punches either. We both needed this win and would have to fight earnestly to achieve it. ¡°Competitors to your starting positions,¡± the loudspeaker boomed. ¡°A time limit of twenty minutes will be set for the final match of the Wooden Bracket Tournament. Active scoring will mark the winner in the case the time limit is exceeded. Prepare forbat!¡± I held my hatchet in a low stance, matching Gui Zu¡¯s own as he flipped his staff behind his back. Long seconds passed as the crowd silenced to the pin drop level, the thud of my quickening heartbeat the only sound in my ears. ¡°Commence!¡± Gui Zu came at me like a bull, staff swinging. I used all of my restraint to not simply leap away or charge back at him. I shifted to the side with my forms instead and then forced him to retreat with the [Twin Axe Cleave] technique, cutting the air twice with my hatchet. Gui Zu responded with a powerful parry, nearly pping my weapon out of my hands, and then drove the technique home with a solid strike to my chest. The force would have been enough to knock me down if I were mortal, or winded me at the very least. I gave a point to Gui Zu in my mind and the official monitoring the match did the same, raising a white g in his hand in Gui Zu¡¯s direction. Above us the score board tallied the decision as well. Wooden Bracket Finals Time - 19:48 Number 82 Number 93 1 0 There was no way that Gui Zu could disable me due to my Body Refinement level, but too many hits like that and he could win on a technical basis when the time ran out. I had to stay on my toes to ensure that didn¡¯t happen. He came at me again and I performed a backflip to gain some distance before charging right back in with a low chop at his legs using [Reaper¡¯s Revenge]. Gui Zu was quick enough to avoid it and followed through with a downward swing at my exposed cor. I lifted my axe just in time to deflect it with a [6th Form] parry and then performed a roll to get under his guard and stung him on the leg with a chop at his calf. I pulled my strength but even so, it was enough to make him wince in pain and momentarily retreat. The official lifted his g in my direction and the score went even. Wooden Bracket Finals Time - 19:17 Number 82 Number 93 1 1 We reset and got back to our starting positions before facing off again. I took an aggressive posture and charged at him this time. It was a mistake. Gui Zu danced around me like I was standing still and cracked me hard across the back for another point. I cursed as I tried to regain focus, throwing a couple of sloppy techniques at him that didn¡¯tnd and was punished with a few more hits. I looked at the board again. Wooden Bracket Finals Time - 18:23 Number 82 Number 93 5 1 Shit! Was I really about to screw this up? A true sense of dread started to build within me as I realized just how good Gui Zu was. He may have only been an initiate when I met him, but he was an initiate within the Silver Leaf Sect and with over three years of experience at that. And while hecked the internal strength and agility of Qi, his movements were sharp and precise, at least on par with Zu Tien. The thought made me focus as we went through another reset. This was it. If I couldn¡¯t defeat Gui Zu with skill alone, then I couldn¡¯t hope to defeat that one-handed bitch, much less Hein. Ire built within my gut the more I thought about it. To hell with that. This was just one more hurdle along my path. I needed to dig deep to ovee it. But this wasn¡¯t a battle of strength. I needed to use my head. In that moment I rethought my whole game n. I¡¯d been so focused on the forms and techniques that I was losing focus on the battle itself. I breathed deeply as the seconds ticked by. I had natural fighting instinct. I knew that. I had proven it by killing hundreds of monsters and even ying a damn B-ss smander well before I was ready to take on something like that. I¡¯d been trying to use these forms and techniques instead of my instincts. But now I understood that that was where I was going wrong. The forms were not supposed to rece my fighting instinct, but to enhance it¡ªlike a bare hand lengthened by a weapon, the forms were merely an extension of me. Something opened up inside of me as the revtion hit, like I¡¯d just reached a new level of understanding. Suddenly all those hours I¡¯d spent training my muscle memory seemed to be imprinted into my soul and my me burned a shade brighter. I viewed the battle totally different now. I was no longer just armed with newfound skills; I could now apply those skills to my battle experience. I leapt at Gui Zu like I would have any monster in the wild, throwing my techniques at him as easily as I would have a single chop in the past. The effect was instant, Gui Zu¡¯s eyes widening with shock as he tried desperately to block. I stuck him twice before he knew what was happening and suddenly, he seemed to take his game up a notch as well. His staff became a flurry of movement, the weapon whistling through the air like a whip. I watched it all in seemingly slow motion as I dodged and weaved with my forms, executing well-timed parries and quick strikes. Above it all the roar of the crowd filled the arena as the throng of spectators came alive, the people standing to their feet as the action went into high gear. The intense back and forth between us went on for what seemed like ages, the stress and strain of executing my forms in high-speed making me break out in a sweat. For every hit hended I made sure to pressure him until I couldnd one of my own. I got into a zone. Even the roar of the crowd I couldn¡¯t hear anymore as I simply focused on fighting¡­surviving. When I finally remembered to look at the board again, I couldn¡¯t believe the score and the time. Wooden Bracket Finals Time - 02:37 Number 82 Number 93 157 155 Holy shit, I thought. My white uniform was stained beige with sweat and across from me Gui Zu looked much the same. The big man was breathing heavily, swaying on his feet like he¡¯d just run a marathon. ¡°I think you lied to me,¡± he said. ¡°You are much better than you let on.¡± I cracked a smile and couldn¡¯t help but use [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°You¡¯re not so bad yourself, Gui Zu.¡± He gave me a grin full of broken teeth, his soul filling with lemonade. ¡°Whatever the oue, you truly are an honorable man, Brother Chun. Whoever the winner is today, I will always be in your debt.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see what happens when the final scorees.¡± I gave him a grin. ¡°Nowe on! I¡¯ve still got two minutes left to beat your ass. Let¡¯s do it!¡± I released a warcry as we re-engaged, attacking with a desperate savagery. I had a hundred and twenty seconds tond three hits and take none myself. We went back and forth for over a minute, neither of us giving ground, both of us refusing to give up. I finally managed to slip behind his guard with a feint, knocking his staff to the side with a parry and thennded two taps on his chest with [Chipping Cleave]. Wooden Bracket Finals Time - 00:34 Number 82 Number 93 157 157 The score was even. The stress ofnding just one more hit to win in less than thirty seconds had my stomach swimming in knots. Focus damn it! I told myself as I shifted back and forth across the arena. Don¡¯t screw this up! I had the disadvantage of shorter range, but the advantage of unpredictability and speed. I had to use that now. 20 seconds left. If I rushed in for a quick hit it came with the risk of another hit to myself. And this close to the bell I couldn¡¯t afford that. But I couldn¡¯t afford to do nothing either. But neither could Gui Zu. The battle couldn¡¯t end in a draw. 15 seconds. I had to attack. And I had to do it now! Diving forward, I threw out a [Triple-Chop Cleave] and as expected, Gui Zu fended it off with a series of quick pokes of his staff, our wooden weapons cking. I then put it all on the line and paused briefly, feigning being thrown off bnce by the counterattack. Gui Zu took the bait for the easy win andmitted to a downward strike. I shifted blindly at thest moment, more sensing his attack than seeing it, the swing of the staff cutting a breeze across my ear. I spun behind him and hit the back of his heel with [Reaper¡¯s Revenge], throwing him off his feet with the sweeping cleave. The bell sounded just as Gui Zu¡¯s back hit the floor and the final score lit up the board. Wooden Bracket Finals Time - 00:00 Number 82 Number 93 157 158 Relief and tion filled me as I fell to my knees, throwing my arms up in victory. The crowd screamed with cheers as lemonade flowed like a river, the masses chanting ¡®Bull Man¡¯ over and over again. ¡°What a spectacr and entertaining fight!¡± the announcer shouted over the loudspeaker. ¡°All congratte the winner of the Wooden Bracket, number 93¡­ your Bull Man!¡± I got to my feet and acknowledged the crowd and then offered a hand to Gui Zu. ¡°Good fight, man,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and Gui Zu took my hand with a smile,ughing as I helped him up. ¡°I¡¯ve never been so d for a fight to be over in all my life,¡± he said. ¡°My congrattions to you, Brother Chun. That was some match. You fight like a demon!¡± He cupped his fist and gave me a low bow, recognizing my victory. I returned it in kind. ¡°Thanks. You¡¯re pretty damn good yourself, bro.¡± He gave me onest busted-up smile, before turning to walk out of the arena. I was about to follow after him, but decided to pause to soak up some of the praise and free lemonade in the air. It tasted like victory twice over, a reward of free Frenzy for winning the battle without using any of it at all. As Ipped it up, I tasted a hint of something bitter. The taste grew stronger as all around me that same dark pressure came again. Oh shit.... A couple dozen feet from Gui Zu, a patch of ground lifted into the air with a tremendous bang before falling t again. The bang sounded again, apanied by a horrid screech as the broodmother suddenly erupted from the ground, the trap door flying off its hinges and soaring high into the air. The giant beast moved erratically as itnded on the arena floor, flipping onto its back and squirming like an insect dying from bug spray. The effects of the barrier was driving it mad, but the Dark Frenzy was driving it as well. The beast belched fire indiscriminately as it battled between the two opposing forces before finally flipping onto its feet again. Officials and Imperial Guards rushed onto the field as the announcer called for everyone to remain calm. The beast finally seemed to focus on the closest thing to it¡­Gui Zu. ¡°Gui Zu!¡± I shouted to him as the beast began to charge in his direction. ¡°Gui Zu, run!¡± But it was toote. The monster was moving too fast and the guards too far away. Thest thing I saw was the nk expression on Gui Zu¡¯s face as he turned in despair towards me¡­the jaws of the broodmother opening up behind him. Chapter 35 ¡°Gui Zu!¡± I moved without thinking, covering the thirty-yard distance between us in a massive burst of Frenzy. I mmed into Gui Zu with the force of a speeding truck, sending him flying and bouncing across the ground. I looked back towards the beast just in time to see nothing but teeth. White-hot pain erupted throughout my entire body as the broodmother snapped my torso up between its jaws. I cried out as the Frenzy inside me spiked and almost instinctively I manifested my [Iron Skin] technique. The world went topsy-turvy as the beast shook me back and forth in its jaws, the iron scent of blood filling my nose and mouth. The pressure of its jaws was threatening to crush my insides even through my hardened skin. I cycled my Frenzy to harden my organs with [Iron Core], the pain only slightly subsiding as I finally put up enough defenses to withstand the savage attack. I didn¡¯t know what to even ssify the thing as now. I should have been able to withstand the bite with just my normal Body Refinement alone, but whatever this Dark Frenzy was, it was driving the broodmother up a few notches on the ssification scale as well. I struggled to free myself, but the thing had chomped me sideways, trapping both my arms tight against my sides as my legs kicked ineffectually in the air. Through the glimpses of the outside world, I could see Gui Zu slowly getting back to his feet after being jettisoned about thirty feet away. More people in ck uniforms circled me. Enforcers and Imperial guards along with members of the Silver Leaf Sect. They were all standing at a distance though, the Silver Leaf members throwing their stupid knitting needles while the Guards were attempting to p the beast ineffectually with iron rods.¡°Make sure you don¡¯t kill it!¡± a familiar voice cried out and I caught a glimpse of the same dour-faced woman who¡¯d led us from the locker room. ¡°Keep using the stun needles. It will calm down soon.¡± ¡°No, please!¡± Gui Zu appeared at the woman¡¯s side, falling to his knees. ¡°It¡¯s killing my friend!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a fool. Your friend is dead already.¡± Son of a bitch¡­ Her callous words caused me to focus my ire and suddenly I wanted this damn thing dead more than ever, even if it wasn¡¯t already trying to eat me. I struggled to get free again but there just wasn¡¯t any leverage. My arms were locked in ce, the monster¡¯s grip on me reinforced by my hardened skin. Desperate seconds passed as the beast continued to thrash me about, trying its best to break me in half while the dumb-ass cultivators kept pinging it with toothpicks to put it to sleep. To hell with this. They were content to let me die. I needed to do something to get my arm free. I braced myself, mentally preparing for what I was about to do next. Gritting my teeth, I released the [Iron Skin] technique on my right arm. Blood and pain erupted as the beast¡¯s teeth sank deep into my flesh. I cried out hellishly, even through [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I pulled my arm up and outwards with all my might. The creature¡¯s teeth raked through my soft skin, cutting my arm to ribbons. My cries rmed the woman and the enforcers who immediately jumped back like I was turning into a demon or something. I pulled what was left of my arm free from the creature¡¯s mouth, blood gushing from it like a fountain. I couldn¡¯t care. This monster was my sole focus now and killing it was all that mattered. Frenzy flowed faster than the blood pumping through my veins and spilling all over the ground, my healing taking up the ck where muscle and organs had already failed. I hardened my fist with [Iron Skin] and mmed it into the beast¡¯s eye socket. My ordeal became a rodeo ride as the monster bucked in response and I replied by mming it repeatedly in its eye, over and over again. ¡°No!¡± the woman cried. ¡°Kill him! Kill him before he kills it!¡± The guards and Silver Leaf cultivators hopped back and forth like they were attempting to join a double-dutch game, trying to swing at me while also trying to avoid the beast itself. Rage and painbined to form a single thought in my mind. This piece of shit monster had to die! The bloodied eye finally gave way and I plunged my arm deep into its skull through its eye socket. I grabbed whatever I could get a hold of inside and then screamed like a maniac as I tore it out. The beast quivered like it was being electrocuted as it lost its primary nerve center and I thrust the blooded pulp of flesh and brains into the air like a trophy when it finally copsed and went still. Frenzy and rage still boiling, I used my free arm to pry its upper jaw from the rest of my body. Bone snapped like dry kindling as I tore its jaw right off its hinges, tossing it into the air like that trapdoor a few moments ago. Dead silence greeted me as I slowly rose to my feet. I was standing in a swimming pool of my own blood. The crowd was gawking at me like I was either a ghost or a demon. The woman and her crew of guards and enforcers were doing the same. Faintly, I was aware of the Dark Frenzy still permeating the air and I realized that at some point I¡¯d been feeding from it. My Dantian felt sick¡­poisoned. After a few more seconds, the announcer came over the loudspeaker. ¡°And let¡¯s have it for our Bull Man!¡± Another awkward second of silence passed before finally, as if just receiving the correct imperial response to the situation, the pent-up tensions of the crowd released with a massive wall of screams and cheers. ¡°That¡¯s right, everyone! The royal princess Lunh spares no expense to entertain you. Even risking the life of our beloved winner of the Wooden Bracket, ¡®Bull Man¡¯, was not out of the question. He has be strong like this from ying beasts in the wild. You too can be this strong if you so choose. Find an official to book an excursion now. But hurry! Spaces are limited and filling quickly! Do not wait!¡± I cracked a smile at the irony of it all. Although he was talkingpletely out of his ass, he was actually spot-on when it came to my progression. But damn it, I didn¡¯t really want this level of attention. Luckily my mask had stayed intact throughout the whole thing. As the lemonade of praise filled the air, I sucked on it to rid myself of the dank taste of Dark Frenzy in my soul. Finally, the Dark Frenzy stopped and as the source left I suddenly felt much weaker in my knees. My arm was hanging by shreds. I could even see bone in some ces. ¡°Brother Chun?¡± Gui Zu approached me slowly as if I were already dead and he was speaking to a ghost. Maybe he was. I was certain the only reason I was still standing was due to my [Death¡¯s Door] technique, judging by how much blood I¡¯d lost. ¡°Are you alright?¡± he said. I gave him a wry smile. ¡°Just d you¡¯re ok, man.¡± ¡°Idiot,¡± the dour-faced woman snapped at me. ¡°At least wave to the crowd to make it look like this was all part of the show.¡± I did as she suggested, struggling to raise my good arm as the corners of my vision started to turn ck. Thest thing I remembered was Gui Zu rushing forward to catch me as I began to lean into the darkness. * * * Muffled voices grew in volume as I slowly came to. I struggled to clear my head and realized I was seated on a bench back in the locker room. I wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed, but my arm was being tended to by an artisan healer kneeling by my side. The old man wrapped my arm and torso tightly in bandages while a soothing warmth of Qi radiated from his palm as he waved it over me. I then became aware of several other people jammed into the otherwise empty locker room with us. There were two Imperial Guards and a half dozen enforcers along with the dour-faced woman. Having a good look at her now, it was hard to tell just how old she was. Gaunt and thin-cheeked, with jet ck hair and dark eyes, she could just as easily pass for a sickly woman in her thirties as a spritely woman in her sixties. Either way, her entire countenance spelt ¡®bitch¡¯ as she and her imperial entourage faced off against the only other soul in the room. Gui Zu. He was on his knees in a kowtow before her, forehead pressed to the dirty floor. ¡°Please! I beg you to reconsider. This man just saved my life!¡± ¡°Then perhaps you should be found guilty of the crime as well,¡± the woman said, looking down at him. Crime? Shit, what have I gotten myself into now? I could only vaguely remember what had happened. Nearly getting eaten alive and then fighting to free myself with Frenzy flying. I supposed maybe I had revealed a bit too much. I thought back to my handler guides and charts. Was a mid-tier Foundation-level cultivator able to survive an attack from a C-ss monster? It should be usible in most people¡¯s eyes. Although that thing was nowhere near a C-ss when I killed it. ¡°Do you have any idea how much that beast cost?¡± the woman said, and the basis of my ¡®crime¡¯ quickly became clear. ¡°I could probably venture a guess,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], trying to pull her attention away from Gui Zu. The technique worked, the woman¡¯s baleful eyes turning quickly towards me. ¡°There! He¡¯s awake now,¡± she said. ¡°Arrest him!¡± The guards and enforcers moved on me en masse and the healer quickly packed up shop and got the hell out of the way. I merely smiled as they began manhandling me to my feet, the Struggler fully in control. ¡°Please! Arrest me instead!¡± Gui Zu pleaded. ¡°I would be dead if not for him.¡± ¡°Then perhaps he should have let you die,¡± the woman said coolly as she stepped before me. ¡°Or let himself die at least.¡± She was a good head shorter than me and I gave her a shot of [Indifference] as I refused to lower my eyes to meet her re. ¡°You are being arrested for the destruction of imperial property,¡± the woman said. ¡°That rapling you killed was worth over a hundred spirit stones. And seeing that you are but a Terranmoner, I doubt you¡¯d have the means to pay that back. You¡¯ll be sent to the southern mines to pay off your debt. Hardbor.¡± She then smirked. ¡°Perhaps you may be able to pay it off in about ten years.¡± My insides began to melt with heat as the Struggler began to lose hold. ¡°So ten years is the punishment for saving a man¡¯s life?¡± My inner me burned with indignation as I was reminded why I hated the cultivator empire so much. ¡°You are lucky you are worth nothing,¡± she said. ¡°Else we would have simply executed you and taken whatever was yours.¡± I finally met her re with one of my own, channeling my Frenzy into [Fear the me]. ¡°You think I¡¯m the lucky one?¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I was there to kill that thing. Because if not, all of you would have been dead.¡± My words echoed off the walls chillingly and a couple of the enforcers backed away. Even the guards braced within their armor as my technique rattled their nerves. The woman reacted to it as well, blinking rapidly as she jerked away from me. My hands curled into fists as the Demon grappled for control. Was this how it was for you, Big Sis? One step forward and two steps back? Ten years in the mines? She had to be shitting me. Maybe I could say to hell with it all and just start my rebellion now. I chuckled inwardly at the thought. All those weeks of nning and strategy. Fighting to save Yu Li and the neighborhood. Training to defeat that creep, Hein. Was it all for nothing now? I¡¯d have to either kowtow to this bitch and lose ten years of my life or say screw it all and go down swinging. Could I even take on all these guys? I was starting not to care. ¡°Where is he?¡± an authoritative voice suddenly rang out from behind the enforcers. ¡°I want to see him!¡± ¡°He¡¯s here, Sub-Warden,¡± a more familiar voice answered him. As the enforcers parted, I saw the official who had given me my number at the start of the match, followed by a man I didn¡¯t know who wore high-ranking imperial robes. The dour-faced woman, along with the guards and enforcers, immediately braced and bent at the waist in a deep bow as the man approached. Gui Zu rented his face to the floor with another kowtow. Still being held by the enforcers, I didn¡¯t know quite how to respond to him. He was tall andnky, beaming a smile that creased his face with age. Long gray hair met an equally long gray beard. On his head he sported a tall ck hat that resembled something a chef would wear. ¡°Is this him, Bo Ren?¡± the man said, hands behind his back as he lifted his chin at me. His voice was surprisingly strong for how frail he looked. The official, Bo Ren, nodded. ¡°That is him, Sub-Warden, the ¡®so-called¡¯ Bull Man.¡± Ah shit¡­what was this now? An enforcer at my side mmed his club into my gut. I barely felt it, but I got the message and bowed as the man approached me. ¡°So¡­ the Bull-man,¡± he said and thenughed. ¡°I had to see you with my own eyes to believe it. When Bo Ren said you were a Terran, I was about to have him flogged for lying to an official representative of the princess!¡± He cracked a smile and thenughed, which seemed to cue the other imperialckeys to do the same. He then frowned, cutting theughter short and shot a questioning re at the dour-faced woman. ¡°Senior Stadium Manager Wu Hen,¡± he said sharply, causing the woman to stiffen. ¡°Why is he being restrained?¡± She bowed her head. ¡°Sub-Warden Lein Cho, you clearly saw the damage this man has caused. He is being arrested to pay for killing the rapling broodmother.¡± He harrumphed. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Wu Hen said, clicking her heels together sharply. ¡°Hardbor. He purposely killed the beast.¡± ¡°Only for survival,¡± Gui Zu blurted. Wu Hen¡¯s jaw dropped as Lein Cho looked back at Gui Zu quizzically. ¡°Who is this man?¡± he said. ¡°How dare you speak out of turn, youmoner!¡± Wu Hen shouted. The enforcers didn¡¯t even need to wait for her orders, rushing at Gui Zu while brandishing their clubs. ¡°Forgive me!¡± he cried, raising his hands in surrender. ¡°I speak only the truth, Honorable Sub-Warden! Please have mercy. He fought bravely to save my life and the lives of your men.¡± Lein Cho raised his hand, stopping the enforcers. He then looked to Bo Ren. ¡°Bo Ren, I trust your judgement. What say you in this matter?¡± Bo Ren looked at me and then at Wu Hen, his eyes flicking back and forth between us until a smile crept onto his lips. ¡°Master Lein Cho,¡± he said. ¡°You saw the response of the crowd. This boy has made himself into a minor legend amongst themon people. Whatever that beast was worth we¡¯ve already made it back ten times already with new bookings into the wild. I¡¯m sure if Vice-Warden Hei Dong was to learn that we threw into prison the man responsible for making such a great profit, he would clearly think us to be fools unworthy of our stations.¡± Lein Cho nodded, stroking his beard. ¡°You speak wisely as always, Bo Ren. I think even my daughter, as high ranking as she is within the Silver Leaf n, would be convinced to give the wilds a try after seeing this man¡¯s performance.¡± His eyes then fell on Wu Hen. ¡°Wu Hen! Release this man, at once.¡± ¡°Yes, Sub-Warden!¡± The enforcers immediately backed off as Wu Hen snapped her fingers at them. ¡°Further,¡± Bo Ren said, leaning over Lein Cho¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I wonder how that beast got loose in the first ce? Whose responsibility was it to secure the rapling, Senior Stadium Manager Wu Hen?¡± The woman¡¯s mouth opened and closed several times before anything came out. ¡°It¨Cit was mine,¡± she finally said. ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Bo Ren gave her another wicked grin. ¡°How unfortunate.¡± Lein Cho glowered at the woman. ¡°I want a full incident report on what happened, Wu Hen. I would hate to see the senior manager responsible, making two mistakes regarding this incident.¡± ¡°Yes, Sub-Warden!¡± Bo Ren kept giving Wu Hen a shit-eating grin while she narrowed her eyes at him with daggers. I didn¡¯t know what kind of backstabbing bullshit had juste to my rescue, but I wasn¡¯tining. Lein Cho looked me up and down again and then let out augh before shaking his head and walking away. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it. A bloody Terran. Perhaps this has some value after all.¡± * * * ¡°I owe you greatly, Official Bo Ren,¡± I said with a deep bow after Wu Hen and her gang had cleared out. ¡°My utmost thanks to you.¡± ¡°Indeed, thank you, Official Bo Ren,¡± Gui Zu echoed next to me, giving him a deep bow as well. ¡°You saved me from quite a beating.¡± The man Bo Ren chuckled. ¡°After watching you fight, I¡¯m sure you could have taken it.¡± We bothughed along with him. ¡°Forgive me,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯m curious. What made you want to help us?¡± The old guy smiled. ¡°I wasn¡¯t always in this position, you know? Let¡¯s just say I¡¯m a kindred spirit when ites to the underdogs. Plus, I¡¯ve been waiting for weeks to call that ipetent bitch out in front of her uncle.¡± ¡°What?¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°The Sub-Warden is her uncle?¡± The manughed. ¡°How the hell do you think she got the job?¡± He then paused and added with a hint of rancor, ¡°Or got my job I should say. Even the great Silver Leaf n produces its Qi-less duds from time to time. The only difference is that they still get handed a top-level position regardless.¡± I was starting to see the picture now. ¡°At any rate. My deepest thanks again.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ve already helped me far more than you know. Also, you have quite a few sect leaders looking for you out front. Everyone wants to meet the winner of the Wooden Bracket now. Who¡¯d have thought it¡¯d be such an honor, huh?¡± My stomach sank a little as I nced at Gui Zu. I almost didn¡¯t want to say anything in front of him, but I couldn¡¯t let things get out of hand either. As popr as my Bull Man persona was bing, I couldn¡¯t have it linked back to me. ¡°I¡¯m actually not that interested in joining a sect,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m a free agent so to speak. Don¡¯t really want people to know my face either. Hence the mask, you know? Would appreciate if I could keep it that way.¡± Bo Ren smiled. ¡°Underdog to the core. I get it. I might have to start cing some bets on you soon. You arepeting in the Iron Bracket tournament, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡± He then removed a satchel from his back and handed it to me. ¡°You get to keep the same locker and number. I made sure to reserve it on the Iron Bracket roster as soon as you won.¡± When I looked inside the bag, I found another bull mask and hatchet, but they were made out of iron instead of wood. ¡°These for me?¡± ¡°Wee to the Iron Bracket, kid,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°The preliminaries start in less than a week. I hope you heal up by then.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± I said. ¡°Thank you.¡± He then opened one of the lockers and after rummaging through it for a moment, tossed a weathered overcoat at me that had a hood. ¡°To help you stay out of sight,¡± he said. ¡°Take the east entrance out the back. No one should be there. Good luck to you, Bull Man.¡± * * * I snuck out the back of the stadium with Gui Zu, the overcoat covering me from head to toe like a poncho. As soon as we stepped outside, I sensed someone¡¯s presence. Six figures in red and orange robes looked in our direction from a stone¡¯s throw away. I stiffened for a moment, but then executed [Mask of the Despised] as I attempted to nonchntly leave in the opposite direction. They had seen me for sure, but maybe I was just being paranoid. None of them had seen under my mask and neither did they know that I had sensed them polluting the arena with Dark Frenzy either. Still, knots filled my stomach as I wondered if they could sense my Frenzy as well. Just when I thought we¡¯d made a clean break, one of the men called out to me from behind, his voice coarse and gravelly. ¡°Made good use of that book I see. Always have an open spot for you within the sect.¡± I didn¡¯t need to turn about to know it was Hong Feng speaking to me. ¡°No thanks,¡± I said, stopping, but not turning about. ¡°But I appreciate the offer.¡± When I didn¡¯t hear a response, I risked a look over my shoulder, but all of them were gone. * * * ¡°Unbelievable,¡± Gui Zu said as he kept a slow pace with me while I hobbled along, my wounds finally starting to grow tender with the waning of active Frenzy. ¡°You have even the Fire Bird Sect looking to recruit you. You are blessed by the heavens indeed, my friend.¡± I cracked a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t get so excited. It¡¯s not what you think.¡± But in all honesty, I didn¡¯t know quite what to think myself. Hong Feng obviously knew it was me out there in the ring, but did he know anything else? Could he sense me using Frenzy to kill that broodmother? To everyone else watching, maybe they might think it usible for a mid-core cultivator to take a mauling like that from a rapling broodmother and still survive. But if Chow¡¯s men were responsible for creating that Dark Frenzy, then they knew just how strong that thing had be. The fact that he had waited for me to leave the arena, just to make it known that he knew who I was left me feeling a bit unsettled. But I suppose that was his objective. For what reason though, I wasn¡¯t sure. As we reached the restaurant district, Gui Zu stopped to give me a final bow. ¡°I still don¡¯t know how to thank you for what you did,¡± he said. ¡°But thank you again anyway.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You saved my ass too tonight.¡± ¡°Farewell, Brother Chun.¡± As he turned to walk away, I couldn¡¯t help but notice how dejected Gui Zu looked. As much luck and sess as I¡¯d had tonight, I suppose Gui Zu was still walking away from tonight empty handed. But more than that, I felt like we were both walking away from an opportunity. ¡°Hey, Gui Zu, hold up a minute.¡± He turned about. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The Wooden Bracket went by a bit faster than I thought it would. I was actually hoping to use it to get better at my fighting skills.¡± ¡°I say you¡¯re pretty good already.¡± He gave me another one of his jacked-up smiles. ¡°You managed to beat me, didn¡¯t you?¡± Iughed. ¡°Hey, I know you didn¡¯t get what you wanted out of this, Gui Zu, but I was wondering if you still might be willing to help me with something.¡± ¡°Brother Chun, I owe you my life. If you need anything from me, you need only to ask.¡± ¡°Well, since you didn¡¯t get picked up by a sect and seeing as if you might have some free time on your hands, I was wondering if you might be willing for me to hire you as a trainer.¡± His eyes widened like he¡¯d just won the lottery. ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t afford to pay you much, but I¡¯ll give you something for your time. Every night of the week leading up to the Iron Bracket tournament. After I heal up of course. What do you say?¡± ¡°Sorry, but I refuse to take your money,¡± he said. ¡°A good meal and a drink after practice would be nice though.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ll do it?¡± ¡°So long as you cover the ring rental fee, I¡¯ll be there.¡± He smiled and we shook hands. ¡°Thanks, Gui Zu.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet, Brother Chun. You haven¡¯t seen how much I can eat!¡± We bothughed and as he turned to walk away, I stopped him again. ¡°Hey, one more thing,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Call me Max.¡± Chapter 36 The square was rtively quiet by the time I reached home. It was gettingte and most of the residents had already turned in for the night. With [Mask of the Despised] and the poncho, no one even looked in my direction as I shuffled past the empty tables and the one or two food vendors still left in the square. My entire arm was on fire now, the extent of my injuries fully setting in. Fatigue was setting in as well and I could have just about copsed and fallen asleep in the street, but my stomach was growling for attention. I dropped a few coppers on some noodles and a double portion of beef tendon smothered in chili oil, before finding a table far away from everyone else. I fumbled with my chopsticks for a bit, trying to eat with my left hand. After several failed attempts I finally just gave up and started shoveling the food into my mouth with my fingers. I didn¡¯t realize how hungry I was and the more I ate the bigger my appetite seemed to be. A couple of my neighbors red at me from the corners of their eyes with disdain. Whether it was as a result of my poor eating habits or just being in ¡®ole me, I didn¡¯t know, but I was too tired and beat up to care. I was chowing down on my second order of noodles when a gravelly voice came from behind. ¡°Pleasant appetite.¡± I nced over my shoulder to see Hong Feng pulling up a chair beside me. Holy crap¡­did he actually follow me here? A quick nce about didn¡¯t reveal any of his men, though. For whatever reason, he¡¯d decided toe alone. He¡¯d also dressed down as well, his orange and red robes reced bymon clothing. The question as to why stirred my me.¡°So, this is where you live, huh?¡± He tapped on the table as he spoke, looking distractedly at our surrounds. ¡°Nice.¡± ¡°I thought we were done talking,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in joining your sect. Or any sect for that matter. Nothing personal.¡± ¡°Yeah, I heard you earlier,¡± he said, running his fat fingers through his thick beard. ¡°But I have a feeling you may change your mind about that soon.¡± What the hell was going on here? I thought irritated, but I yed it cool with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I sincerely doubt that, but anything¡¯s possible, I guess.¡± ¡°True, anything is possible,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°Even a Terran winning the Wooden Bracket Tournament apparently.¡± He paused for a chuckle. ¡°But a sect-less Terranpeting toe-to-toe in the Iron Bracket? Not so much.¡± I furrowed my brow at him. ¡°What do you mean?¡± He shrugged while easing back in the chair, his portly stomach proudly on disy as his robes shifted. ¡°Some things are just easier to exin than others, you know? Imagine, for example, exining how you managed to learn lightning techniques without being in a sect? That would be very difficult to exin now, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± My jaw set as he continued to smile. The bastard had a point. I was originally just going to use the knowledge as cover for my stolen lightning core, but exining how I obtained that knowledge, much less if I actually managed to wield it, could raise more than a few questions that I didn¡¯t have good answers to. Perhaps he¡¯d known this all along, the bastard. Clearly, he wanted me in his club for some reason and was willing to pull a chess move like this to do it. ¡°It wasn¡¯t always like this, you know,¡± he said. ¡°In ancient times, an ambitious and independent young man like yourself would be both despised and feared by the sects. If you just happened toe across some secret knowledge, they¡¯d either snuff you out before you got a chance to master it or bow down to you once you proved yourself superior. It was sink or swim, ck or white, but at least no one interfered with a man¡¯s inventiveness. Now the imperial of the empire both coddle and stifle progression. No practice of martial cultivation techniques outside of the officially recognized sects. And if you¡¯re caught doing so, it¡¯s a death sentence for you. Now where¡¯s the fun in that, eh?¡± He looked at me as if wanting an actual answer to his rhetorical question. Eventually he just smiled again. ¡°Oh, for the long-lost days of the mountain masters, free to roam and practice whatever craft they wished. The only thing that could stop you, was running into someone stronger than you. Today the Emperor and all of his bastard offspring are pissing on everyone¡¯s fun. Nothing is sacred or special anymore. Everything is regimented and by the books. A sect elder can¡¯t even fart without the damn princess¡¯s say so, much less develop a new and unorthodox technique.¡± I pretended to ignore him by shoveling another handful of noodles into my mouth. He was fishing for something, but I wasn¡¯t taking the bait. He obviously knew more than he was letting on. If his men were able to recognize Threja as a Berserker then there was a good chance that what I¡¯d done in the arena might have given him a hint that I was one as well. His mere being here was proof of that. Maybe he couldn¡¯t truly sense my me, just like everyone else, but he was fitting the puzzle pieces together. Looks like I was ying chess with both Hein and Hong Feng now. ¡°Tell you what,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll give it some thought.¡± He smiled. ¡°You do that. And don¡¯t forget my other deal with you still stands.¡± He nced at my bandaged arm. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you to heal up first, though, before I send my first assignment through Sumatra.¡± ¡°Thanks, I¡¯d appreciate that.¡± A few more seconds of silence passed as he watched me eat, but not once did I remove my eyes from my bowl. I tried to sense any emotioning from him: anger or hatred, but there was nothinging from him at all. If anything, there was maybe a small hint of lemonade. Finally, Hong Feng tapped the table and then got up to leave. ¡°See you in the ring, Bull Man.¡± * * * When I finally reached home, I flopped onto my cot in pain and exhaustion, but my mind was going a mile a minute. One step forward and two steps back indeed, I thought. The Struggler had a strange way of making his presence known. An hour ago, I waspletely gung-ho, ready to plow full-steam ahead into my next level of cultivation and joining the Iron Bracket Tournament, but now I wasn¡¯t so sure. What Hong Feng said had truth to it, but did he tell me all that just to spook me into joining his club? Probably. But for what purpose? I reached for the lightning technique manual and paged through it with a sigh. This was to be my next challenge. For as much as I¡¯d been studying it, I knew I was close to being on the verge of a breakthrough. I just needed some more knowledge. And of course, I had the perfect person to bug for that. But even if I could manage to harness lightning from my me, would it all just lead me into a trap? I could either risk being exposed and executed by the empire or risk joining the Fire Birds as a cover. Both options had about as much appeal as a belrug¡¯s ass. The only thing I knew for sure, was that I trusted Hong Feng even less than I did the empire. No way was I joining his gang. Not that I could even pass for one of them without the use of real Qi. But I had a feeling Hong Feng knew that already. What the hell could I do then? I needed to advance in my cultivation to reach my goals and I needed my citizenship to protect my people. I was nning to do both, but now they appeared to be almost mutually exclusive. Being able to win my citizenship without being exposed as a fraud was shaping up to be much harder than I had thought. I closed my eyes and tried to meditate on it a bit. That official Lein Cho seemed somewhat bemused by me being a Terran but nothing more. That meant that what he¡¯d seen hadn¡¯t rocked the boat too much. Maybe if I could stay low key and fight only at that level it could work. If I could rank up high enough using just my axe skills, raw strength, and speed to reach the top twenty, I could im my citizenship and then just withdraw from the tournament. But could I prevail against thepetition by using just that? Somehow I doubted it, but only time would tell. Once I revealed my true strength though, I¡¯d have to be willing and ready to put it all on the line. Like Hong Feng had said about the old days, the only thing that mattered back then was how strong you werepared to the next guy. There was some savage beauty in that. But what he had said about the empire was true also. There was a reason why Hein didn¡¯t just murder me the first time I stood up to him, or why the Fire Birds didn¡¯t just openly attack their rivals in the streets instead of participating in tournaments and engaging in Trials by Might. As jacked up as the empire was, it provided a sense ofw and order to this crazy cultivator world. Order that I could exploit and take advantage of until I was strong enough to break away from it. If I moved smart enough, that was. Being a citizen, even a C ss as I now was, had to give me ess to some kind of rights. But in truth I had no idea what those rights were. I made a decision. If I was going to win this chess match, then I needed to know the rules in and out. And that meant learning about shit I was far too uninterested in at school to grasp as a kid. I needed to make up for lost time and Mu Lin would have the knowledge to help me bridge the gap. In the end, though, there was just onemon denominator to all of this. Only one thing I could do to ensure my sess. No matter if I skirted inside the rules, followed the rules, or simply broke them, I needed to continue with my progression. That was the only thing that granted true protection and freedom in the end. As the old saying went, the best defense was a good offense. Or in my case, an unbeatable one. Grow stronger. Exponentially. That was still the n. I thumbed through the lightning manual once again. Tomorrow I¡¯d continue my studies and be damned with all the risks. I¡¯d defy the empire and the Heavens themselves by cracking the code of the lightning arts. And then, I¡¯d meet with Mu Lin to learn how to break the very foundations of the empire itself. I cracked a smile as a renewed confidence fueled the strength of my me. Things might have gotten a bit moreplicated, but I wasn¡¯t about to let that deter me. It would only make me stronger and smarter in the end. Exactly what I needed to be to ultimately free the Earth from her chains. Going up against the empire head-on woulde in time, but for now, this shit was getting dismantled from the inside. With that thought I finally felt peace and the wee call of slumber soon came. Chapter 37 I woke up the next morning feeling like I¡¯d slept for a century. My body was still stiff, but I could tell with thebination of bandages, the Qi from the healer and my own Frenzy, that my arm was perhaps already halfway to being fully healed. The wounds to my torso were nearlypletely gone as well. I wasn¡¯t fit enough to get into another sparring match by any means, but I was healed up enough to move around without constant pain. I weed the immobilization, though. It was a fine excuse to defer my physical training regime and concentrate solely on my studies. I started by reviewing my knowledge of the meridian points from the Foundation manual Mu Lin had loaned me. There were literally hundreds of points listed, but for what I was intending to aplish today, there were just a handful that I needed to both locate and actuate before mastering how to channel energy through. From my earlier studying while preparing for the Wooden Bracket, I had already located three of the five points required, but they were unlike any I¡¯d utilized before using my Frenzy techniques. For the first part of the day, I focused on those only. I was grateful now for that bounty of Frenzy that I had soaked up at the tournament. Although I¡¯d used a good portion to heal myself, the vast amounts I¡¯d gathered from the crowd and condensed into my Dantian was enough to carry out my cultivation exercises without needing any extra Frenzy at all. Sitting in lotus position on my cot, I ced the orb and both books open in front of me and began my training. I cycled my Frenzy in between the three points, getting more familiar with their locations and the spiritual muscles I needed to activate them. It was a bit like trying to push water through clogged pipes. Very little Frenzy flowed at first, but the more I did it, the more the energy eroded away at whatever it was that was blocking the flow. After a while, I found that by using condensed Frenzy the process went even quicker. I kept this up and after a few hours the three points became well established, with me being able to channelrge amounts of energy in between them without restriction. ¡°So far so good,¡± I said to myself as I prepared to target the next meridian on my shopping list. It took another hour of cross referencing the Foundation manual with both the orb and the Lightning Art manual to finally find the location of the fourth point.It was at the base of the neck, somewhere between the fourth and fifth vertebrae. Not that it was a physical point that I could actually touch, but knowing it was there at least gave me something to focus on visually while I meditated to locate the point within my spirit. After another couple of hours of channeling through the point, I cleared the clog enough that I was able to flow my concentrated Frenzy though all four of the points. By that time my soul was exhausted. It wasn¡¯t physical fatigue per se, but it affected me almost the same, like mental exhaustion after a hard day at school. Still, there was onest meridian point that I needed to unlock. It wasbeled only as Jing within the lightning manual, but I couldn¡¯t make sense of the characters and their meaning and there wasn¡¯t any other reference to it at all. When I checked the Foundation manual, I could find no reference to it either. I¡¯d finally reached the extent of my knowledge. Checking out my window, it was alreadyte afternoon and close to quitting time. Perfect, I thought. It was time to see Mu Lin. * * * As I left my apartment I passed through the square, now bustling with thete afternoon crowd and spotted that girl Jian Yi again. She was with a small posse of my neighbors, maybe a dozen in all. As I walked by casually with [Indifference], I caught a whiff of a different kind of energy exuding from them, Jian Yi in particr. Not the literal kind, mind you, but just a strange aura or attitude. She lifted her chin at me with a closed lip smile, a smug expression¡ª more of a smirk really, like she knew something I didn¡¯t and was gloating about it. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d almost say she was patronizing me, but I didn¡¯t have time to deal with her bullshit today. I nced at her, looked away and then carried on about my business. Stopping at the central market, I hunted for a bag of Mu Lin¡¯s favorite fruit, but decided to get her some persimmons jam and a bag of steamed buns instead. Variety was the spice of life, after all. When I finally arrived at her door with a knock, she greeted me with a wide-eyed stare before rolling her eyes and slowly shaking her head. ¡°When you didn¡¯t show up for work today, I knew something was up,¡± she said, clicking her tongue at me as she pointed to my bandaged arm. ¡°So what happened to you? Did you enter the tournament for real?¡± ¡°Yeah, kinda,¡± I said, still unsure how much I wanted to share with her about the details. ¡°Well did you ce or what?¡± She opened the door wider to let me in. ¡°Remember I got money riding on you.¡± ¡°Well as much as being king of the shit-tier league has a nice ring to it, I unfortunately didn¡¯t ce.¡± Sheughed. ¡°Seriously?¡± I nodded out the lie instead of telling it and then handed her the jam and steamed buns to ward off any more questions. The distraction worked with Mu Lin greedily looking inside the bag with a huge smile. ¡°Wow, these look so fresh! I¡¯m eating one right now.¡± She raced off to her small kitchte and returned with two buns thered with the jam, handing me one of them while stuffing the other in her mouth. ¡°So what do you need, Chun?¡± she said with her mouth full. ¡°I know you onlye to visit when you need something, especially when you bring me snacks.¡± I feigned offense. ¡°Are you calling me a bad friend?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a terrible friend,¡± she said with augh. ¡°But seriously hurry up, I see you¡¯ve got that Foundation manual tucked under your arm. You need me to exin something in it?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± I¡¯d almost forgotten I¡¯d brought it. ¡°No, not from this,¡± I said as I handed it to her. ¡°Was just bringing it back really.¡± ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s why you came? Guess I had you figured wrong. Seriously though I am in a bit of a rush.¡± She flipped through the book as if looking for missing pages. ¡°Actually, I could use this today. Good timing.¡± ¡°Use it for what?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a mock exam this evening. It¡¯s open book.¡± ¡°That means it¡¯s easy right?¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°No. That means it¡¯s actually really hard. It¡¯s not about what you can memorize, it¡¯s about being able to apply principles.¡± She nced at the clock on her wall. ¡°Shit! I¡¯m alreadyte. I¡¯ve got to meet Xi Xha there so she can vouch to let me in as one of her students.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯d better get going then.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± She rushed around with the bun in her mouth while packing her bag full of books. ¡°So what do you need? Or did you really onlye to give me this back?¡± I felt like a heel asking her, but I really needed the answer to continue my progression. ¡°I¡¯m trying to find a meridian called Jing.¡± ¡°Jing?¡± she said looking at me strangely. ¡°You don¡¯t know it? I couldn¡¯t find it in the Foundation book anywhere.¡± ¡°You sure you¡¯re saying it right?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Here,¡± she said, pping a pen on a piece of paper on her desk. ¡°Write it. Quickly.¡± I took the pen and mentally formed the characters in my mind. I wrote them as quickly and urately as I could. ¡°There,¡± I said. ¡°I think that¡¯s it.¡± She furrowed her brow again. ¡°Never seen this before. Where did you find it?¡± Shit, I couldn¡¯t tell her the truth about that. ¡°You think Xi Xha might know?¡± ¡°Maybe. I could take it to her to find out, I guess,¡± she said. ¡°Why don¡¯t Ie with you?¡± I snatched the paper from her. Thest thing I needed was Mu Lin getting caught with something found only in a martial training manual. ¡°Dressed like that?¡± she said, balking at me. ¡°We¡¯re not headed to work you know?¡± I looked down at my disheveled clothes made even worse looking by my bandaged arm. ¡°Why? Where are you going?¡± ¡°The Judicial District.¡± ¡°The what?¡± I¡¯d honestly never even heard the name, but Mu Lin was looking at me like I¡¯d just forgotten my own birthday. Not that we celebrated birthdays anymore. ¡°It¡¯s like literally the heart of the city,¡± she said, shaking her head again. ¡°Geeze, Chun. Where all the big shots hang out and stuff. Like the Wardens and the judges. It¡¯s why I need Xi Xha¡¯s help to get in. You need a pass.¡± I figured it was like the artisan district where Master Edrik had to write a pass for me. ¡°But Xi Xha will be there, right? Maybe I can ask her at the gate?¡± Mu Lin sighed and rolled her eyes. ¡°Fine¡­e on then. But be quick about it!¡± I grinned. ¡°Lead the way.¡± * * * The Judicial District was north of the city center, or so Mu Lin described. It was still a ce I¡¯d honestly never been or heard of before, but Mu Lin kept insisting that I had to havee for a school field trip at some point. Maybe I had but had just forgotten or just didn¡¯t care to remember at the time. As we left the restaurant district and headed north, nothing looked that familiar to me. Tall buildings dominated the skyline as we entered what was perhaps the old business district in the past, but I wasn¡¯t certain if the buildings were being used anymore. As we ventured further in, most of the buildings disappeared altogether and were reced by Yee architecture, their decorative roofs covered with green tiles and timed with ornamental dragons. But the most oppressive symbol of the imperial take-over was fixed right above me now. The glowing pagoda of the true imperial city hovered right overhead like a low-lying cloud. I could understand now why this was considered the true heart of the city. Qi-powered skiffs made up a constant flow of traffic to and fro, ferrying cultivators from the city streets to the huge object that had to be close to fifty city blocks across at the base. As Mu Lin and I approached the district gates, a guard on duty, apanied by a trio of enforcers, eyed us warily. Or perhaps they eyed just me warily anyway. The gate wasn¡¯t a literal gate, but more like a roadblock set up in the middle of the city street. Behind the barricades lining either side of the guard booth, the true high-ss citizens of the city strolled back and forth in ornate robes, most of them appearing to belong to the Silver Leaf n. There were more than a few robes of beige and white as well, members of the imperial government, or what we¡¯d have called civil servants back in the old world. Mu Lin¡¯s face was pale with anxiety as she frantically looked about. ¡°I don¡¯t see her¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s ask the guard,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe she left a pass for you.¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± I let Mu Lin go ahead of me as she cupped her hand and gave a low bow before the guard. ¡°Exalted official, my name is Mu Lin. I seek entry into the district to take an exam at the university. My instructor, Xi Xha, should have been here to allow me entry. Is there a chance she left a pass for me?¡± The guard, a slim man that looked in his forties, frowned for a moment before heading to his booth and returning with a clipboard. He leafed through the pages on it and shook his head. ¡°There is no pass here for you. Perhaps you are mistaken.¡± Mu Lin¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°But¡­ but my exam starts in just a few minutes. Please can you check again? There is no way she would stand me up like this.¡± ¡°Do you use me of ipetence?¡± The guard¡¯s tone became aggressive. ¡°I looked already! It is not there!¡± A spark of anger stirred my me as Mu Lin immediately cupped her hands again, holding them high above her head. ¡°A million apologies. I meant no offense. Clearly, I must be mistaken.¡± ¡°Wait a minute,¡± I said, stepping forward with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and the guard took an immediate step back. ¡°What¡¯s it take to get in here?¡± The guard red at me as if even talking to him was an offense. ¡°More than what you possess, Terran. Only citizens are allowed past this point, or those sponsored by citizens.¡± ¡°That true for C-ss citizens too?¡± I asked, mentally crossing my finger. ¡°Yes,¡± he said testily. ¡°Any citizen.¡± I gave Mu Lin a smile as I reached into my overcoat and produced the small identification card I¡¯d received after winning the tournament. ¡°I¡¯ll vouch for her then.¡± A spike of anger erupted inside the guard as he snatched the card from me. ¡°What? How did you get this?¡± I shrugged. ¡°A lot of hard work¡­and pain.¡± I poured more Frenzy into [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and the guard¡¯s expression changed, perhaps catching the hint of how I¡¯d gotten the card. He smiled then as he looked at me, nodding slowly. ¡°I see,¡± he said with a harrumph before handing me back the card. ¡°You may enter, but not her.¡± Mu Lin¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You need a reason to sponsor someone,¡± he said. ¡°You told me you havee to sit an exam. So unless he is your teacher, I suggest you go.¡± ¡°Oh, I am her teacher,¡± I said quickly. Both the guard and Mu Lin looked at me like I was crazy now. ¡°Well, one of them,¡± I said. ¡°Here I can prove it. Mu Lin!¡± She jumped at my sharp call. ¡°Pass me your fundamentals manual.¡± I gave her a stare and thankfully, just like when we were dealing with the guard after meeting Threja, Mu Lin acquiesced to my untold n. She rummaged through her bag and handed me the manual. I in turn handed it to the guard. ¡°Here. Test my knowledge. Pick any page and passage randomly and I will quote it to you.¡± Even the enforcers gave a chuckle at that. Mu Lin was staring at me like she wanted to cut her losses and just book it, but I kept her put by cing a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Go ahead,¡± I said, and used my Frenzy to fuel my recollection of the manual through my mind¡¯s eye. ¡°This should be amusing,¡± the guard said as he opened the book and plopped a finger down. ¡°Page 7, passage 3.¡± As the image formed in my mind, I spoke the words I saw. ¡°Qi bncing is a fundamental traitmon to all forms of life. Whether in the air we breathe or the trees and mountains, Qi always seeks bnce. It is the disruption of this bnce that leads to the flow of Qi, traversing always from a point of high density to low density. At least, this is the flow ording to nature. Cultivation, therefore, vites thisw of nature, by channeling the diffuse Qi found in nature into the concentration of one¡¯s Dantian.¡± The guard blinked and flipped far ahead in the book. ¡°Page 142, passage 8.¡± ¡°Within theter stages of solid core formation, a practitioner will begin to sense a secondary consciousness within their Dantian. This stage is known as the germination of one¡¯s sacred soul. Through further cultivation of Qi, the soul is nourished through a gestation period. The sacred soul is the truest reflection of one¡¯s inner self. Whether a god or a demon, a sacred soul reveals the identity and history of one¡¯s journey. Therefore, caution must be taken in how one umtes power after this stage is achieved.¡± He flipped again, his brow furrowed in disbelief. ¡°Page 38, passage 4.¡± ¡°The extremities contain several meridian points, but the number of which vary between the left and right side depending upon¡ª¡± ¡°Page 33, passage 3.¡± ¡°The beginning of the Qi Foundation-level training starts always with¡ª¡± ¡°Let me do one,¡± one of the enforcers said, but the guard quickly shooed him away. ¡°Page 34, passage 3.¡± My mind drew a nk, until suddenly an image appeared. ¡°That was a trick. There is no passage three. There are only diagrams on that page.¡± He let out a chuckle. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be¡­¡± A healthy dose of lemonade came from the guard and the enforcers alike as he handed me back the book. ¡°I see you have proved yourself, master teacher. I¡¯ll get you a form.¡± * * * Within less than a minute I hadpleted the document, stating the reason for Mu Lin¡¯s entry and using my ID number as a signature. It was an odd feeling, like I was actually part of the system now. It was all at once liberating yet loathsome. But this was the key to my ultimate victory. Tear it down from the inside, I reminded myself. ¡°A good teacher always fights hard for his students,¡± the guard said as he handed Mu Lin the document along with the Foundation manual. ¡°You should be proud to have a teacher like him. A fighter in more ways than one.¡± She smiled awkwardly. ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± ¡°Go on now,¡± he said. As we walked through the gates, I could feel Mu Lin¡¯s eyes burning a hole into me. When we got out of earshot, she finally let me have it. ¡°What in the nine hells was that, Chun!¡± she eximed. ¡°How the hell did you do that? And when did you be a citizen?¡± ¡°Eh¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it?¡± She stared at the ground, perplexed. ¡°You know that damn book better than I do. Maybe you should be the one taking this exam.¡± I gave her a cheesy grin. ¡°I could if you paid me.¡± She elbowed me, not willing to ept the joke. ¡°Seriously, how did you do this?¡± I let out a sigh. ¡°I just took an interest, I guess. I read it a lot. Like¡­ a whole lot.¡± ¡°And the citizenship? Did you actually ce in the Wooden Bracket?¡± Mu Lin was too smart to fool any further. I finally gave in. ¡°Yeah, I did.¡± She punched me on my arm. The uninjured one, thankfully. ¡°Why the heck did you lie to me about it? That¡¯s a hell of an aplishment. Congrats. I honestly didn¡¯t think you had it in you.¡± ¡°Hey,¡± I said in protest. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°It means I lost money to Lee.¡± Iughed. ¡°Now I see who my true friends are.¡± ¡°Honestly, though,¡± she said, her voice dropping in tone and bing serious. ¡°You really didn¡¯t want to tell me? Why?¡± I thought on my feet, putting my Mental Quickness to the test. ¡°Well, I knew you were studying for this exam to get your citizenship. Just didn¡¯t want to tell you I got mine before you got yours, you know? Didn¡¯t know how you might feel about it.¡± It wasn¡¯t the truth, but it sounded usible, plus it was far more ptable than the actual truth. Mu Lin looked back at me with sad eyes, before giving me a hug. ¡°Thanks for being so thoughtful, Chun. But I¡¯m okay. I¡¯m happy for you. Really. Actually, I¡¯m not totally okay. I¡¯m jealous as hell of you for your memory. Talk about the student bing the damn teacher.¡± I could onlyugh at that. As we walked a bit further, a voice called out from above. ¡°Mu Lin!¡± We both looked up to see a skiff descending from the sky. It was about the size of a car in length and t like a small rowboat. Xi Xha was atop it along with several other women, her hands cupped to her mouth as she shouted down to us. The craftnded, controlled by a servant dressed in ck robes at the stern. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Xi Xha said as she hopped out. ¡°I had an engagement that rante. How did you manage to get inside?¡± Mu Lin jerked a thumb at me. ¡°Ask him.¡± Xi Xha immediately blushed upon seeing me, as if just realizing I was there. ¡°Um¡­ Chun? Nice to¡­¡± I could sense fear inside her, but it couldn¡¯t have been as a result of seeing me, could it? She immediately nced back towards the three women lounging on couches within the skiff. All of them were immactely dressed in ck robes with silver trim, the colors of the Silver Leaf n. To say they were all beautiful was an understatement. If Xi Xha was a model then these were Hollywood superstars. Two of them had dark hair, flowing loosely in ponytails. ¡°Is that your little handler friend, Xi Xha?¡± one of the women called out with a cacklingugh. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call him so little,¡± the other said, leaning into her friend while giving me a wink. The two of them continued tough, causing Xi Xha¡¯s face to redden even deeper. I avoided looking at her to prevent her embarrassment from increasing. I didn¡¯t know whether to feel insulted or ttered, but I decided to go with ttered when I sensed the lemonadeing from the two of them. The third woman hadn¡¯t said anything yet, but she stared at me the hardest, and honestly, I couldn¡¯t help but stare back. She was unlike any woman I¡¯d seen before, except for the princess maybe. Exquisitely beautiful with sharp features, her eyes a silver hue, the same as her hair which was cut short in a bob. A fairy to be sure. ¡°Is everything alright, Xi Xha?¡± the woman spoke, her voice deep and authoritative, a soul well beyond the twenty or so years that she looked. Xi Xha turned and bowed deeply to her. ¡°Everything is well, mydy. My thanks for the lift down.¡± The woman nodded at her and then gave me a final sultry-eyed stare with a hint of lemonade before barking for the servant to depart. As the skiff lifted off, Xi Xha bowed deeply at the waist before me. ¡°Chun, please forgive me for that interaction. I¡­I don¡¯t really know what to say. I¡¯m very deeply embarrassed.¡± ¡°Who were they?¡± Mu Lin asked, still looking up at the departing skiff. ¡°Some old friends from university,¡± she said and turned an even deeper shade of red. Friends? I thought. More like girlfriends. It kind of made sense now. I could only imagine what she might have told them about our red light district exploits together. Women always did that shit. Like a damnpetition or something. It¡¯d certainly exin the instant lemonade, regardless of my shitty clothes and busted arm. Xi Xha then bowed deeply to Mu Lin. ¡°I apologize to you as well, Mu Lin. I¡¯m sote. Come, we need to go.¡± Xi Xha then bowed to me again. ¡°Thank you for getting her in here.¡± ¡°Yeah, no problem.¡± ¡°Come, Mu Lin,¡± she said, taking her hand. ¡°There¡¯s still time.¡± As they began to take off, Mu Lin suddenly stopped. ¡°Wait! Chun, your question!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Xi Xha said. I almost didn¡¯t want to bring it up, with them being in such a rush, but Mu Lin seemed insistent. Perhaps she was trying to pay me back. Sheepishly, I pulled out the paper. ¡°Only if it¡¯s a quick answer. Do you know what this means, Xi Xha?¡± Xi Xha studied the characters. ¡°That¡¯s an ancient script. I¡¯d need to cross reference it with an 11th-millenniumpendium to be sure, but literally it says: spiritual root essence.¡± ¡°Any idea what that means in terms of meridians?¡± Xi Xha looked to Mu Lin. ¡°Come on. You should know this one.¡± Mu Lin¡¯s eyes narrowed for a moment before going as wide as saucers. ¡°Oh! It¡¯s the basis for your aspect. Like fire or water. What your elemental core is based off of.¡± ¡°Excellent,¡± Xi Xha said with a smile. ¡°So which meridian rtes to fire?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not a meridian,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°It¡¯s like¡­a core of your being.¡± ¡°Very well put,¡± Xi Xha said, smiling. ¡°Let¡¯s hope that question is on your exam. Was that it, Chun?¡± ¡°Ah¡­I did have some questions aboutws and stuff, but you two better get going.¡± ¡°I promise I can help you with thoseter, perhaps after the exam?¡± She gave me an apologetic smile. ¡°How long is it?¡± ¡°Three hours,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°But why wait? You have all the answers you need waiting for you right there.¡± I followed where she was pointing and saw arge multi-story building with guards at the front. ¡°Is that a library?¡± ¡°Sure is,¡± she said. ¡°Go knock yourself out, Mr. Citizen. You have all the ess you need now. You might just find what you¡¯re looking for all on your own.¡± She then winked at me. ¡°Pretty sure you¡¯re smart enough.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t wait for us if you don¡¯t need to,¡± Xi Xha said, bowing to me again. ¡°I¡¯ve inconvenienced you enough already.¡± ¡°No worries,¡± I said and then waved to Mu Lin as they both departed. ¡°Good luck!¡± I checked the time. It was still early enough, I supposed. Plus, I was reenergized by obtaining the knowledge I needed to unlock the technique as well as being fawned over by a bevy of hot women. Life was looking up. As I approached the doors to the library, I showed my ID card to the enforcer guarding the ce, who after a few frowns, eventually let me inside. Through the double doors the ce opened up like a museum, with shelves three stories high, packed with books and scrolls. Almost immediately one of the librarians hustled over to me, an unpleasant look on her middle-aged face. ¡°What is it you want here?¡± she said. ¡°Are you lost? How did you get¡ª¡± I shoved my card in her face to shut her the hell up and then poured on the Frenzy with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Going to need some help,¡± I said. ¡°Need to find some books thaty out thews and rights pertaining to B and C-ss citizens.¡± The old bitch frowned at me even more. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°I need to know what it takes to create a Sect.¡± Chapter 38 It was after dark by the time I made my way home. I¡¯d spent a good hour or so at the library, poring through dusty old books about thews governing citizenship and the operation of sects. It was hard to believe, but I¡¯d actually found a solution in that short of a time. Or what I hoped was a solution anyway. Sects were not as exclusive or as hard to create as I first thought they would be. Or at least non-martial sects weren¡¯t. Martial sects in contrast were held under tight control by the empire, requiring imperial consent to be established. The only new martial sects allowed were offshoots of the existing sects, which required their sponsorship and oversight. Non-martial sects on the other hand could be created by any B-ss citizen for the cost of 50 Tael, a 1 Tael per member annual fee, and a 25% tax on any business conducted. Other than that, the definition of what a sect could be was limitless. You could make a sect for just about anything: crafting, professions, social groups, and all officially recognized and protected by the empire. Although protection was a bit of a loose word. It was more like legal protection, like creating apany or a corporation back in the old world. From what I¡¯d read, many of these sects existed¡ªlike the farming sects for example¡ªto assist withmerce and creating a sense ofpetition in a basically closed market economy. But what truly mattered to me was that to resolve conflicts, these sects had the powers to appoint Wardens as protectors¡ªeither in the form of individuals or one of the martial sects¡ªto battle out their differences in the courts. That created a lot of wiggle room for how I could eventually protect my people in the future, but more importantly, if I created a sect, Terrans wouldn¡¯t be considered mere mortalmoners anymore. A sect gave us an identity. A reason not to be messed with on an individual level. And although it would make our existence known as a group, it was still a ubiquitous enough status to not be seen as a threat. Or at least not right away.It was more like a union. The same my dad used to tell me about when I was a kid. I didn¡¯t really understand it back then¡ªpaying dues to belong to some club at work. But it could mean literally everything to us now. With numbers came influence and with influence came power. So long as I was strong enough to protect everyone in the end. The idea was almost enough to make me giddy for the future, but there was still one more hurdle in the way. To create the sect, I needed to be a B-ss citizen still, and to achieve that I needed to reach my goal of cing in the Iron Bracket more than ever. And that meant finding a way to exin my growing strength to fully unleash my skills in the ring. I was unfortunately still short on solutions when it came to that problem, but the idea that I could maybe create lightning with my newfound knowledge had me pushing theplications to the back of my mind. Master the ability first, I told myself. Then figure out how to mask it. I was so eager to get started with my training that I almost didn¡¯t see the small figure crouched outside my door. I immediately dropped into a martial stance, ready to fight, until my eyes quickly adjusted to the dim lighting and I made out who it was. ¡°Yu Li?¡± She pressed a finger to her lips as I approached, cradling the sleeping Su Ling in her arms. A look of concern then shed across her face as she looked up at me. ¡°What happened to your arm?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I said. ¡°What are you doing here sitting on the ground like this?¡± As I stooped down to her, I saw her eyes were puffy and red. And when I pushed aside her hair to look further, I noticed a huge red bruise on her cheek. Anger erupted inside of me like a burst water main. ¡°Who did this to you? Was it Hein?¡± ¡°No,¡± she said quickly, grabbing my wrist. ¡°Listen to¡ª¡± ¡°Who was it then?¡± ¡°You need to calm down,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell you until you promise to hear me out before you react. Okay?¡± My pulse was throbbing in my neck. What the hell had Hein done now? I channeled my anger into [Indifference], putting on the mask for Yu Li¡¯s sake, but my anger was still frothing over like a boiling pot. ¡°What kind of animal attacks a young mother like this? Is Su Ling okay?¡± ¡°She¡¯s fine, just¡­listen first. Please.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Tell me what happened. Who did this to you?¡± She finally shook her head slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t really know, to be honest. There were a bunch of them, wearing hoods. They were waiting for me outside my apartment. They started calling me a stupid bitch and a whore and telling me that everything was my fault. Then one of them hit me and said, ¡®that was for Chun¡¯ before they all ran away.¡± Thunder pounded in my chest as my Frenzy peaked. ¡°Was one of them ck?¡± Yu Li looked up at me oddly. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I couldn¡¯t tell, it was getting dark. Why would you even ask that?¡± Out of context, that probably sounded pretty racist, but I knew that bitch Jian Yi had to be behind this. That nasty-assed look she¡¯d given me this morning said it all. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± I said, fuming. ¡°That little bitch is going to pay!¡± ¡°No!¡± Yu Li said in a hushed whisper, grabbing my wrist even tighter. ¡°I didn¡¯te here to tell you this happened for you to go and take revenge. I did it for the opposite.¡± I leaned back a bit, furrowing my brow. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Yes, it was obviously some of our neighbors who did this to me, but I don¡¯t know exactly who and you don¡¯t know exactly who either.¡± ¡°I got a pretty damn good idea.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± she said. ¡°Making you react like this is what they want. It¡¯s just like you said. About splitting our unity. People are scared about what you are doing, Chun¡­a lot of them. Maybe most of them. But they don¡¯t all hate you like whoever did this to me. I¡¯ve been going around and talking to people. There are a few that want the change you might be able to bring if you can truly defeat Hein and own this ce. But the scared ones are sitting on the fence, not knowing which way to go. But the ones who attacked me tonight, they¡¯re the ones that want to see you fail. They attacked me because they wanted you to respond like a madman and prove to everyone that you¡¯re no better than Hein. Worse than him even.¡± I was starting to see the rity through my Frenzy. ¡°Another chess move¡­¡± ¡°Chess move?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Nevermind. I really need to find some books on Earth history or something.¡± ¡°Look, the point is, if you go down to the square and make amotion, go beating up people or worse, you would have fallen into their trap. You¡¯d turn the majority of the people who are on the fence against you. Then who knows what they¡¯d all do to you or me after that.¡± My me cooled some as the wisdom of her words rang true. As I thought on it some more, what Jian Yi was doing had some brilliance to it. She knew openly opposing me would only make her look weak in the eyes of the cultivator mindset that was pervasive in ourmunity. And plus, I wouldn¡¯t rise to a paltry challenger like her anyway¡ªthe same way most cultivators still didn¡¯t see me as a real threat. But she had nearly made me expose myself as the monster I truly was inside. And the fallout might not have stopped there. If I had truly lost it, I could have found myself answering to guards and enforcers. But Yu Li had saved me from all that, thank goodness. ¡°Since when did you get so smart?¡± She snorted out augh. ¡°Since I had to start watching my idiot big brother¡¯s back for trying to start a revolution.¡± I chuckled as I turned my back against the door to sit next to her. ¡°I still feel like killing somebody for what they did to you. That shit was out of line.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Cowards can be assholes. And I should know. I tried to get one to marry me by having his child.¡± I nced down at her. It was the first time she¡¯d actually admitted it out loud, or at least to me anyway. She let out a sob as a sudden flush of tears came to her eyes. ¡°You know what¡¯s really messed up?¡± she said, her voice cracking. ¡°It wasn¡¯t the p to the face that really hurt me. It was the truth in their words. I was a dumb, stupid bitch to have gone and done this. Gotten myself pregnant¡­and for what? Now look at all the problems I¡¯ve caused. For you, for me¡­for everybody.¡± ¡°Hey, hey¡­¡± I said, putting my arm about her consolingly. ¡°It wasn¡¯t all your fault. You were young and that bastard took advantage of you.¡± ¡°And I let him,¡± she said somberly. ¡°I let him because¡­ because I thought he could give me a better life. A way out. I was so damn stupid to believe his lies. He made me feel so special and I believed him like the dumb, little na?ve girl I was.¡± I couldn¡¯t say anything to that. Perhaps Yu Li had more self-awareness than I gave her credit for. Still, it was a reminder of just how badly the system had warped her thinking, tempting her with the promise of freedom for offering up everything to her oppressors. She was quiet for a long time and as we sat there in silence, I rocked her gently beneath my arm. ¡°We all do dumb shit in life that we regret, Yu Li,¡± I said eventually. ¡°You¡¯re not alone in that. We live and we learn. The only thing we can do is move forward after that.¡± She sighed, wiping her eyes and nose. ¡°I know. And I have Su Ling now and despite it all I love her so much.¡± I smirked. ¡°Well, the sucker has good genes, I¡¯ll give him that. Guess, I can¡¯t fault you too hard for falling for the guy. And hey, you at least got a beautiful kid out of the deal, right?¡± Sheughed at my stupid joke and nudged me with her forehead. ¡°Only you coulde up with something like that, Chun.¡± Iughed with her until we both fell silent again. ¡°Thank the heavens for you, Chun,¡± she said, patting my arm. ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of mess I would be in without you looking out for my dumb ass.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I should be the one thanking you tonight. I probably would have killed that girl if you didn¡¯te and find me first.¡± ¡°What girl?¡± ¡°Jian Yi.¡± ¡°What? You think it was her?¡± ¡°She¡¯s giving me all kinds of reason to suspect.¡± Yu Li nodded. ¡°Well, I know how you feel. Trust me, for at least an hour I was debating with myself whether to not just let you go down to the square and tear everyone a new asshole on my behalf. But that¡¯s Hein¡¯s style. That¡¯s not what you¡¯re trying to do here, right?¡± I sighed inwardly at theparison. It was exactly what I wanted to go and do. ¡°I have to admit, the thought tempted me, but no¡­that¡¯s not what I want for us at all. I have new ns for us, Yu Li. Something that might be able to protect us in the long term.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Probably best you don¡¯t know for now. I don¡¯t want you having information people can use against you¡­or us. Before it¡¯s time.¡± She looked up at me with a frown of disappointment but then nodded. ¡°I understand. For as mysterious as you are, I will always trust you, Chun. Remember that.¡± I smiled and gave her a kiss on the crown of her head. ¡°Thanks, little sis.¡± ¡°Hey, you mind staying over tonight? I¡¯m still kind of¡­shaken up a little.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t have to mention that there was always the chance that they woulde back. Especially if they didn¡¯t see a reaction of any kind from me. I¡¯d have to find some way to keep Yu Li safe without being attached to her 24/7 though. But for now, staying with her would be what it would take to make her feel safe again. At least for now. An immense feeling of gratitude filled my soul as I gained a whole new appreciation for Yu Li. She wasn¡¯t just some childhood friend whom I took care of out of a sense of obligation because she had gone and gotten herself knocked up. She was a person who cared for me just as much as I did for her. Who knew me well enough to stop me from falling into a trap that I probably wouldn¡¯t have seen until Jian Yi¡¯s blood was dripping from my hands. It was a reminder that there was more than just me to fight for now. Yu Li was sacrificing her life and safety for me as well. The part of me that wanted to jump headfirst into unlocking the lightning art techniques was still gnawing at my soul, but that would have to wait for now. Tonight, my family needed me. And I had to keep them safe. * * * Master Hei Dong took a long, deliberate sip of his tea as Lo Feng approached the table, the Fire Bird Sect leader grimacing as he was forced to wait while he finished. The atmosphere in the Autumn Leaf tea house was lively as usual and the presence of the Fire Bird leader along with his entourage of inner disciples was nothing special in the eyes of the high-tier patrons. Members of the imperial government and leaders from various sects all lounged on thefortable cushions around him, enjoying the rxation of Qi-infused teas and spirits with the apaniment of fine music while being catered to by beautiful serving girls. ced on the edge of the second terrace of the Imperial City proper, the tea house had a panoramic view of the lower city and the edge of the mystic barrier that separated them from the darkened wilds of the forest beyond. Hei Dong marveled at the sight before turning back to Lo Feng, who was still standing at the edge of his table. It had been quite the rxing evening until Lo Feng decided to show up, as for what purpose he still didn¡¯t know but he would be damned if he would let Lo Feng know that he actually cared as to why. ¡°Greetings, Master Lo Feng,¡± he said, setting down his cup. ¡°Have youe to join me for ate tea?¡± ¡°I do not intend to stay long.¡± Hei Dong smiled and poured him a cup. ¡°Please, it would be most impolite to refuse a simple cup of tea with an old friend.¡± Lo Feng harrumphed at the imposition of his power, but quickly took a seat across from him. ¡°Most gracious of you, Vice-Warden.¡± Hei Dong smiled at the title. ¡°Is there a reason for this particr visit? Must be quite urgent to have sought me out during my leisure time.¡± ¡°Not urgent but important,¡± Lo Feng said, reaching into his robes for something. He then dropped a sealed envelope onto the table. ¡°Although the urgency may well depend upon you.¡± It was Lo Feng¡¯s turn to sip tea as Hei Dong reached for the envelope. He knew what it was even without opening it. The wax seal marked with the signate of an imperial magistrate clearly defining what it was. ¡°So, you choose to deliver your writ personally,¡± Hei Dong said, nodding. ¡°I am honored.¡± ¡°Do you not wish to open it to see our demands for settlement?¡± Hei Dong shrugged. ¡°It matters not. We will not settle in this matter. We will see your champion in the courts. Do you still intend to send your nephew, Hong Feng?¡± ¡°Assuming your daughter Fia has actually qualified for the Gold Bracket this year, yes.¡± Lo Feng then gave him a nasty sneer. ¡°If not, your beautiful wife would suffice, I suppose.¡± Hei Dong¡¯s anger slipped for a second, his hand strangling his teacup, but he stopped himself before the expression showed on his face. A juvenile attempt to turn the conversation towards violence. An area of weakness for Hei Dong. Luckily, he had caught himself quickly enough and responded with his strength instead. ¡°As much as the great Lady Silver Moon would enjoy schooling your nephew in the ways of the mystic arts, she would certainly hate to rob her daughter of the opportunity to y her very first sect elder.¡± The anger was now reversed, quickly turned Lo Feng¡¯s smile into a scowl. He downed his tea in a gulp and mmed it onto the table before standing. ¡°Bold words, Vice-Warden.¡± ¡°urate words I would say,¡± Hei Dong said, pushing the letter towards him. ¡°You are of course free to rescind your writ at any time, if you fear the oue.¡± ¡°You keep it,¡± he said. ¡°And be sure you read it also. Thepensation we are seeking is not a paltry sum.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect it to be.¡± Lo Feng smirked, adjusting his robes. ¡°By the way. I heard there was quite a disruption during the finals of the Wooden Bracket tournament. Quite an unfortunate ident, I hear. Enough to question thepetence of the sect running the tournament event, I would think.¡± Hei Dong had received the reports from his Sub-Warden, Lein Cho. It pointed to the ipetence of the man¡¯s niece, but he was assured that she was dealt with appropriately. Still, Hei Dong wasn¡¯t about to give Lo Feng the satisfaction of those kinds of details. He instead focused on thetter part of the report as a response. ¡°No ident,¡± he said. ¡°A publicity stunt that was slightly mishandled, but which provided an incredible boon nheless. In fact, the Warden has already received amendation of thanks from the princess herself for the sharp increase in excursion fees in Jurin Province.¡± Lo Feng grimaced again, brooding. ¡°Well, how fortunate. Let¡¯s pray that any future mishaps within the tournament are equally as beneficial.¡± ¡°One can only hope,¡± Hei Dong said with a smile. ¡°A good evening to you, Master Lo Feng.¡± Chapter 39 I awoke the next morning on the floor between Su Ling¡¯s crib and Yu Li snoring away on her cot. Despite the difort of the hardwood floor, I had slept like a log again, having passed out after sharing a meal with Yu Li and polishing off a small bottle of rice wine. As I arose, my arm felt a thousand percent better and when I removed the bandages to check, the mosaic of twisted scars added a newyer of thickness to my already bulging arm. As I flexed, I could tell that my short ordeal in the broodmother¡¯s jaws had caused some kind of a breakthrough when it came to my Body Hardening mastery. Recalling the full Body Refinement table within my mind¡¯s eye, I considered where exactly I was with my progression in all categories now. Body Refinement Category Stages Description Muscle Strengthening I to V Increases your passive casual strength and your ability to do damage through Frenzy-infused techniques. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you will have the strength of ten men. At 5th stage you are able to snap iron as easily as twigs in your palms. Train by infusing Frenzy with strenuous exercise. Reflex Sharpening I to V Increases the swiftness at which your body moves and reacts. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can snatch arrows out of the air. At 5th stage you are able to run faster than a swallow and move a de quicker than the eye can see. Train by infusing Frenzy into quick attacks and actions which test your speed and coordination. Body Hardening I to V Increases the durability and hardness of your skin and bones. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can resist mes and the blows of dull objects. At 5th stage your body has be as strong as iron and can resist most des and even arrows. Train by using Frenzy to mend your broken skin and bones. Internal Strengthening I to V Increases the body¡¯s ability to withstand prolonged exertion, toxins and the strain of high-level Frenzy-infused techniques. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can consume strong spirits without intoxication. At 5th stage your body can utilize multiple techniques at once without ill effects. Train by using Frenzy to mitigate the effects of toxins and by performing techniques that use high bursts of Frenzy. After reading the descriptions, I could confidently say that I was at the fifth stage in all but one of my Body Refinement attributes now. My strength and reflexes had been honed by fighting countless monsters and hours of form exercises and my Body Hardening had clearly reached fifth stage now as well. Only my Internal Strengthening was still sitting at perhaps fourth stage. But that was okay. I had the perfect training exercise in mind to fully master my Foundation Body Refinement. It was time to put Mu Lin¡¯s knowledge to the test. It was time to create lightning. Leaving Yu Li¡¯s ce, I got a quick freshening up at home and then began making my way towards work. Although I could probably afford to take another day off with the double pay we were getting, I had to think about paying for the training session with Gui Zu now. Plus, I was just going to do my own thing at work anyway once I got into the field, so why not make some money in the process? When I reached the square, I was greeted with the same cold shoulder from most people, but there was a definite sense of fear floating in the air as well. And when I focused on the source, I could barely believe my eyes. There in the center of the square with her posse was Jian Yi. There were seven of them in all, sat on backwards-facing chairs and table-tops like a bunch of juvenile delinquents. I could sense an increased level of the fear spewing out of Jian Yi, but her face had the same smug smile as she did the day before. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d say she was putting on a pretty good impression of [Indifference]. Last night¡¯s conversation with Yu Li yed through my mind, as I approached her. And thank the heavens we¡¯d had had it, because the anger was already building in my gut. The bitch was guilty as hell, her fear proved that, but she was apparently prepared to take the ass-whooping to prove her point to the rest of themunity that I was aplete psycho. She probably wasn¡¯t wrong either. I wanted to kill this bitch, but that would mess with my ultimate n. Still, I couldn¡¯t let this get out of hand. In a way, she was doing to me, what I was doing to the empire¡ªundermining from below. And just like the empire, in my eyes Jian Yi was no physical threat and I got away with all kinds of shit based on cultivators underestimating me. But I knew better. Jian Yi was no match for me in strength, but her cunning could leave me ultimately undone. So even though I wasn¡¯t going to go off the deep end like I may have wanted tost night, she and her gang still needed to be put in check. And quick. Thest thing I needed was a festering wound that would rot ourmunity from the inside. I poured on [Fear the me] as I stood over her, but then looked to the rest of her team behind her instead, making it clear to Jian Yi that she wasn¡¯t the one of importance here. ¡°I¡¯m only going to give you all one warning,¡± I said. ¡°And that¡¯s only because you¡¯re Terrans¡­the people I¡¯m trying to protect and save.¡± I waited a second for the reactions. The smiles left their faces immediately as they reacted to my presence, and a couple were even trembling visibly as the fear exuded from them like a bad odor. I could probably have kicked my fear aura up a notch to force them to the ground, but I didn¡¯t want to freak out the entire square. ¡°What are you talking about, Chun?¡± Jian Yi looked up at me defiantly. ¡°A warning for what?¡± I wasn¡¯t getting pulled into her bullshit. Battling about the facts of who did what and who didn¡¯t was where she wanted the conversation to go, to im innocence while I belted the crap out of her. But neither of us were going to get that kind of satisfaction out of this. At least, not today. Ignoring herment, I simply continued. ¡°You all have a choice to make. And the actions you decide to take from here on will determine that choice. Cease, and I will still consider you an ally that was only temporarily misguided-----blinded by the indoctrinated cultivator mindset that has been forced upon all of us. But continue on your path, and you will have decided to be my enemy. The choice is yours.¡± With that, I turned and walked away. I got about three steps before Jian Yi called out. ¡°No idea what you¡¯re talking about, Chun! You¡¯re crazy! Threatening us over nothing? Who is the real tyrant now?¡± I turned, wanting to strike her dead as she leered back at me, the bitch egging me on. The Demon fought tooth and w with the Struggler for control and it took every ounce of my wherewithal to channel my building Frenzy into [Indifference] and then ster on a fake smile. ¡°Only time will tell, Jian Yi. Until then, I suggest you choose wisely.¡± * * * I was still pissed off and in a sour mood by the time I arrived at work. So much so that Mu Lin had to snap her fingers in my face to pull me out of my daydream of pummeling Jian Yi¡¯s pretty little face in. ¡°Damn, are you even listening to me?¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said and went back to packing my kit for the day. ¡°What were you saying?¡± She huffed out an exasperated sigh. ¡°I said, you didn¡¯t even ask me how I did on my exam, you big Chun.¡± Damn, I hadn¡¯t thought to ask her at all. Too wrapped up in my own thoughts. I felt like a shitty friend again as I tried to give her an apologetic smile. ¡°Sorry. So how did you do?¡± ¡°Failed by five points,¡± she said with a glum frown. ¡°I was so pissed.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sucks,¡± I said. ¡°But five points doesn¡¯t sound too bad. You¡¯ll get ¡®em next time, right?¡± ¡°I hope so,¡± she said. ¡°Because there won¡¯t be a practice next time. It¡¯ll be the real thing.¡± ¡°Really? How far away is the real exam?¡± ¡°Like a week, right before the Gold Tournament starts.¡± That made me think of how soon the Iron Tournament would be starting. ¡°Shit. The Iron Bracket opens up tomorrow. I need to get going.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± she said, grabbing my arm before I could walk away. ¡°You aren¡¯t seriously considering entering the Iron Tournament, are you? Is that why you were asking that question about Jing?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Damn, she was too smart to lie to. I decided to ignore the Jing part. That would only lead to more questions. I focused on the tournament instead. ¡°Well yeah, why not? I qualified for the Iron Bracket so I might as well give it a shot, right?¡± ¡°No!¡± she said, waving her hands in a ¡®no-go¡¯ gesture. ¡°No, no, no¡­ they kill people in the Iron Bracket and up, Chun? The Wooden Bracket doesn¡¯t evenpare.¡± I knew that, of course, but I couldn¡¯t let it seem like I did. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Yes. Why do you think it¡¯s for Core Realm cultivators and up? I mean, you saw how bad you got busted up in just the Wooden Bracket, right?¡± She nced at my arm and furrowed her brow. ¡°What the hell? The bandages are off already?¡± I shrugged. ¡°The healer at the Tournament was a worry wart, I guess. Had me wrapped up like a mummy.¡± She looked at me even more strangely. ¡°What¡¯s a worry wart and what¡¯s a mummy?¡± Iughed as she mouthed the English words phically in her Yee ent. I had to remember that Mu Lin was barely two or three when the cultivators took her. She¡¯d probably barely heard those words before, much less remembered what they meant. But then that thought caused myughter to die instantly. Here she was, filling her head with the knowledge of an alien culture just to be epted by them and yet she knew none of her own. It was sad in a way that brought a deep heaviness to my soul. But it stoked the kindling of my me as well. ¡°Hey, I got to go,¡± I said, feigning another smile. ¡°Don¡¯t want to bete to the field on my first day back on the job.¡± ¡°Yeah right. I¡¯m sure Sumatra will have a glorious work detail to wee you back.¡± I was happy to break off from the conversation and went to go find my trio of handlers. To my surprise they¡¯d already been sent out and I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of pride in that. But then worry hit me at the thought that I¡¯d have to do actual work at work and not focus on my training. And then I saw him. My savior with red hair still packing his gear. ¡°Yo, Lee! Hold up!¡± I shouted to him as I grabbed my pack. ¡°I¡¯m teaming up with you today.¡± * * * The trail through the wild was easy, as the trail always was when you partnered up with Lee. His free-flowing conversation amused even the three tight-lipped cultivators who had joined us from off world. I stayed mostly quiet, but with Lee¡¯s endless questions and easy-going charm they opened up and by the time we had reached our chosen hunting grounds, I¡¯d learned they were all Core Realm cultivators from a called Tundari found somewhere on the outskirts of the core worlds. ¡°That¡¯s pretty cool, man,¡± Lee said, nodding to theirtest response to his endless queries. ¡°I wish we had herbs like that to smoke here.¡± ¡°No, you are the lucky ones,¡± one of the cultivators said. ¡°Look here.¡± The man stopped at a tree and then with a quick strike of his jian de, cut into its bark. ¡°Do you see the color of the rings?¡± he said, pointing at the pattern of red and white inside. ¡°This is known as Demon Wood on our world. Very expensive and essential for the smithing of high-grade weapons. A log from this tree would be worth over a Tael of silver on Tundari. But here, with the Bloodmoon, your entire is full of it. It is too bad we couldn¡¯t take back a ton of it by vessel.¡± ¡°Damn, that much?¡± Lee said with a whistle and then grinned at me. ¡°We should go into the logging business, Chun.¡± I smiled back at him, patting my axe. ¡°Way ahead of you, buddy.¡± One of the other cultivators chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time. Even if you could harvest the wood, sending it by vessel would be far too expensive. Only when an Omni Gate is established would it be viable. Then this might be very wealthy indeed.¡± He then snorted with a scoff. ¡°Perhaps even you mortals would benefit.¡± My me stirred at his condescending tone. Clearly, he was not as charitable as hispanion when it came to conversing with ¡®mortals¡¯, but what he said was true also. I didn¡¯t know exactly what an Omni Gate was, but by the context, I figured it had to be some form of instant teleportation device between worlds. If we had that, I could only imagine what we would look like in terms of demographics andmerce. But it would mean a pipeline to the greater influence of the empire as well. ¡°I say we¡¯re probably benefiting just fine without it for now,¡± I said with a hint of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Istion has its advantages.¡± I walked away before he could say anything else, leaving the cultivators pondering on my words. As we continued to walk, I looked up at the sky. It was already midmorning, and I hadn¡¯t gotten in an ounce of training yet. I needed to get started. Slowing down a bit, I fell in line with Lee who was bringing up the rear. ¡°Hey,¡± I said to him in a whisper. ¡°You mind if I go take a breather for a bit? I¡¯m still not at a hundred percent from my injury. Plus, I had a hell of a messed-up nightst night.¡± ¡°Why? What did you do?¡± ¡°Long story, but I got a little drunk.¡± Heughed. ¡°Well for the dude who made me a whole Tael richer off of my bet with Mu Lin, no problem.¡± Iughed with him. ¡°Thanks for having faith in me, bro.¡± ¡°You? No way. I was counting on that sick bod of yours, man. What are you, like seven feet tall and three hundred pounds now? No skinny Yeester¡¯s gonna be able to defeat you using a stupid wooden stick.¡± Iughed hard at that. Enough to make the cultivators turn around and I prayed they hadn¡¯t heard Lee refer to them as Yeesters. ¡°Shit, that¡¯s a new one, Lee. I¡¯ll have to steal it.¡± ¡°Feel free, my man. Anyway, I got the group. Go take it easy.¡± * * * I made a double promise to make it up to Lee when this was all over. I felt shitty as hell for lying to him, but even then, he made me feel okay about it by not giving it a second thought. Truly a solid guy. I made good on the time he had afforded me by finally getting into my own head and preparing to take my first step on the way to be a true Iron Bracket contender. Finding a spot on the roof of an abandoned service station, I kept an eye on where Lee was pitting the cultivators against a nest of giant wasp-like creatures known as drexel and started my meditation. I first engaged the four meridian points I had unlocked previously and warmed them up by running a constant flow of stored, concentrated Frenzy through them. Once I was ready, I then began to activate the points in the sequence outlined in the Lightning Manual. It was a quick series of actuations required. If I could liken it to anything, it was almost like bouncing a ball back and forth between the points, building up speed before firing it towards the final meridian point known as Jing. Although ording to Mu Lin and Xi Xha, it was no meridian point at all. It was my Spiritual Root Essence. My elemental core of being. For an elemental wielder that would be something obvious which is probably why it was referred to in such an obtuse way. But for me it could only mean one thing¡ªmy Frenzied me. But how did I target it exactly? The me wasn¡¯t something literal inside of me. It was a focus. Perhaps my Dantian was the closest thing? I tried that, summoning my Frenzy and bouncing it across the four points. I channeled the final surge of energy towards my Dantian and then cried out as a grenade went off inside my stomach. I doubled over in a fetal position, clutching my abdomen as I rolled across the rooftop in pain. It took me a few minutes to recover, and I had to check to make sure I hadn¡¯t shit myself in the process. Clearly that wasn¡¯t going to work and a small part of me lost hope that the knowledge in the lightning book was as transferable as I first thought. I sat back, staring up at the clouds. Spiritual Root Essence. It had to be my me for sure, but it clearly wasn¡¯t something stored inside my Dantian. So what was the me exactly, then? Was it actual me? I was hoping it was, but it was more metaphorical than that. My spiritual root. The core of my me. What was it? I searched both my thoughts and my knowledge of the orb. Threja had even mentioned it to me before. The core of my Dao. The deep trigger that was the source of my pain. That led me to think of Mu Lin again. The loss of not knowing what a ¡®worry wart¡¯ or a ¡®mummy¡¯ was. The loss of my people. The way Jian Yi was so easily turned against me. It was that loss. The loss of my family, my people¡­.and my burning desire to punish the empire for it. Suddenly the me roared brightly inside my head. It was hovering before me in my mind¡¯s eye. Blue at the base and yellow at the top. I didn¡¯t hesitate. With the image still clearly in my mind, I went through the lightning sequence again, bouncing the frenzied energy back and forth. I finally directed it towards the image in my mind and a sudden heat filled my body as something new opened inside of me. I opened my eyes and directed the energy towards my hand. In an instant, a candle-like me flickered to life briefly in my palm. And then it was gone. Along with my Frenzy. Shit, that was it? I thought. I tried again, focusing harder on the new space I had opened within my soul and managed to make two candles¡¯ worth of me in my hand. What the hell? It wasn¡¯t lightning by any means, but maybe I just needed more Frenzy? Or perhaps I had to level up my me up some more. While I was initially not thrilled by the results, I had to take a step back to consider what I had just done. I had just made fire appear from thin air. Real fire. No fake magic tricks. No tools. No science. This was real magic. Real Kung Fu freaking magic! I smiled. I had just made a breakthrough like none other. I was able to conjure fire from a metaphorical me. But more than that. If I could make fire. That meant I could make lightning. * * * I spent the rest of the workday honing my new-found fire manifestation ability. I discovered that the amount of me I could produce was rtive to the amount of Frenzy I could apply to the process. And the limit to that was my Internal Strengthening ability and the density and amount of Frenzy I could pour through my system. My Dantian was mostly in liquid form now, having mastered the ability topress Frenzy almost instantaneously, but the quantities of energy I needed were still somewhatrge. Even with utilizing all my stored Frenzy I was only able to produce a me barely bigger than my hand thatsted for all of three seconds. I needed to pick a fight with something to generate more Frenzy, but looking about, I couldn¡¯t see anything worth my while. This was a drawback to growing in power, I now realized. I could create copious amounts of Frenzy while in a fight, but it had to be against something much stronger than I was. Here, the drexel the cultivators were still fighting would barely give me a workout, much less Frenzy. Unless I take on the whole darn nest, I thought. My me stirred at the idea. I looked back towards Lee and checked the time. We¡¯d have to head back in soon. That didn¡¯t leave me much time. I¡¯d have to make it quick. Jumping off the roof, I engaged my reflexes and sprinted across the hunting grounds to find my own nest of drexel. It was a liberating feeling to fully cut loose without care for being caught and questioned for what I was. The ground beneath me was being eaten up like I was driving in a car, the wind pressing into my face so hard I had to be doing at least 50. When I finally slid to a stop, I tore up the grass, leaving a twenty-foot skid mark behind me. ncing upwards through the copse of trees I had arrived in, I spotted my target. There in a particrlyrge cluster of decaying pines was the paper-mache-like structure of the drexel nest. It was at least the size of a two-story house, the creatures flying in and out of it with a distinctive hum of dragonfly wings. They were ck-bodied with red limbs, their bluepound eyes giving them the appearance of minor demons. They were dangerous creatures despite being only D ss. In addition to their razor-sharp jaws, they came equipped with a wasp-like stinger that would kill a mortal human easily. But could their sting still kill me? If the stinger could prate my skin perhaps. Still, I was at stage four in my Internal Strengthening now. Their poison wouldn¡¯t affect me that much, if at all. But maybe with enough of them stinging me at once? The thoughts of danger caused my me to stir. Looking at myself from the outside, I had to actually be going nuts to be thinking like this. Here I was, trying to psyche myself up, not by counting my likelihood for sess but for failure. I let out augh. I was bing a madman for sure. Gripping my axe, I approached the center most tree and hacked at it with a Frenzy-powered cleave. The two-foot-thick trunk exploded with the force of the hit, sending the tree sideways as it fell. The air filled with the sound of a thousand chainsaws as the nest hit the ground and what had to be over a hundred dog-sized wasps poured from out of it. The sight and sound alone was enough to get my Frenzy pumping and I channeled it quickly into my reflexes as I dove into the fray. Time slowed as I hacked and chopped at the creatures, using my martial forms as an extension of my instincts. The wet crack of insect carapaces was cathartically satisfying as the killing of each beast rewarded me with a new burst of Frenzy from my [Blood Lust]. The nasty white goop that came with it was less appealing, but I was having too much fun to care. I hacked away gleefully, letting my pent-up frustrations about Jian Yi and Hein flow freely through my rage. Jaws and stingers sliced through my clothes, but I could barely feel the sting of pain through my hardened skin. The more I killed the more seemed toe. One on one the creatures were no match, but in a swarm, clearly the [Odds had to be Against Me] by now. The thought caused less Frenzy than I imagined it would, barely topping me up past full. I guess even my me knew I was mostly bullshitting out here. Still, it was enough Frenzy to give my lightning a second try. Using [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] I came to a standstill, absorbing the bites, stings, and impacts of the insects¡¯ bodies as I went through the meridian-opened sequence again. Frenzy funneled into a thick liquid stream as I bounced the energy back and forth. I channeled it towards the new opening I had created and then shouted the first thing I could think of to amplify my me. ¡°Burning Rage!¡± The world turned bright yellow as my entire body burst into mes. A massive shockwave came next, blowing apart what was left of the hive and the dozens of drexel buzzing around it. I think I must have cked out for a moment, because the next thing I knew I was standing shakily on my feet in the middle of a raging forest fire. Oh shit! I choked on the thick white smoke pouring off the burning pine trees and made a bee line for what I hoped was the opposite direction of the mes. While I could certainly feel the heat, with my hardened skin I could feel no pain from it at all as I literally burst through the edge of the tree line and into the open space just in front of the service station. I hacked and wheezed, ridding the burning smoke from my lungs. I nced back at the mes and was d to see it was an isted copse of trees that I had set on fire and not the entire forest. I then looked down at my clothes, which were now cut to shreds and burnt in several ces. Shit, how the hell was I going to exin this? As if to echo my thoughts, I caught sight of Lee and the three cultivators running across the open field towards me. I rested my hands on my knees, only now just realizing how heavily I was still breathing, but I kept it up for show more than anything else. The unfriendly cultivator was the first to arrive, speeding across the ground with qinggong, his feet barely touching the ground as he ran. ¡°What happened here?¡± he demanded, his tone authoritative and usatory, although I couldn¡¯t imagine as to what he¡¯d think to use me of. Maybe I just looked guilty right now. I kept breathing heavily like I was out of breath, buying time for an answer. I looked to the service station and then got a brilliant, but stupid idea. I bought a few more seconds, waiting for Lee and the other two cultivators to arrive before I began to exin. ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t go too well,¡± I said. ¡°Shit!¡± Lee had genuine concern in his eyes as he approached me. ¡°What happened to you, man?¡± ¡°I ah¡­¡± I nodded towards the service station. ¡°I found an old barrel of gasoline in the station over there. Rolled it over to a drexel nest¡­lit it¡­and well. You see the result.¡± Lee¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Man, you are freaking crazy, bro.¡± ¡°What does he mean?¡± the stern cultivator asked. ¡°What is Gas-so-leen?¡± He pronounced the word phically like Mu Lin had. Lee thankfully went into full-blown exnation of the stuff, describing it as water that catches on fire that smelled real good and made your car go vroom. He then had to spend another few minutes exining what a car was and what vroom meant. The cultivator eventuallyughed. ¡°Foolish mortal toys. You are lucky to be alive, handler.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± one of hispanions said as he gazed at the ze. ¡°Such a fine waste of Demon Wood too. You know not what you have done.¡± ¡°It makes sense he knows nothing,¡± the stern cultivator said before looking at me. ¡°We have an old Tandari saying: Only fools y with fire. You should learn from that.¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh at the irony. ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, looking with some pride at the fire I had caused. ¡°We have something that goes like that too.¡± * * * On the way back in from the field I had to use [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to keep the smile froming to my face. I hadn¡¯t been sessful in creating lightning, but I¡¯d made one hell of an uncontrolled fireball. Still, why did ite out as fire though? Was it because of what I¡¯d shouted? Or was I still missing something? Recalling the glimpses of the lightning manual in my mind, I began scrolling through for an answer. By the time we reached the halfway point to the gate I believed I had honed in on what that answer could be. The core of all lightning techniques were based upon the one I had just performed. It was a primer so to speak. An initial spark that led to everything else. From there, more borate techniques could be performed on top of it, but there was nothing that modified it from the original primer. Something had to be missing then. But what? I had poured as much Frenzy as I could into that technique. Did it still need more? Then going back to the page for the primer I saw a line that gave me a clue. ¡°And like the striking of flint on steel, let your Qi spark into lightning.¡± I¡¯d read that line countless times before, but only now did I look at it in a different light. And it was my own stupid gasoline idea that led me to it. I had originally assumed the line was something metaphorical. How could Qi make sparks like flint striking steel? Qi was formless. A source of energy. But then¡­so was gasoline. It was a condensed liquid form of energy. No different than my Frenzy was now. By using the technique, I had turned my liquid Frenzy into fire, but if my Frenzy were solid, would the smashing of it together cause the spark I needed to create lightning? It kind of made sense. Just like the orb, this was an advanced manual. One that perhaps assumed the practitioner was already a Core Realm cultivator that was able to manipte solid Qi. Thinking along those lines, Hong Feng¡¯s warning came as doubly threatening now. If I¡¯d been able to create lightning, not only would it have revealed that I knew secret knowledge, but it would also have revealed that I had abilities well beyond what my core density should be able to produce. Damn that would have been a close call, I thought. I could have done myself in real quick. Considering I wasn¡¯t even at the stage to worry about that yet, maybe I was being a bit pedantic, but being able to create lightning or not, the initial problem still remained. How could I wield this new-found power without being tagged as an anomaly? Right now, I couldn¡¯t even exin how I was able to create fire much less lightning. I sighed inwardly as my options looked slim. There was one of course. Joining the Fire Birds. But what the hell would that even mean? As we neared the gate, I thought on the various oues some more. And then suddenly an idea came to me. Hong Feng was more than just a sect elder. He was a criminal overlord and giving me this kind of opportunity was probably something way out of the ordinary when it came to sects. He¡¯d demonstrated that he was willing to break the rules to get me to join. And in that regard, he had just shown his hand and I was the one holding the trump card. He desperately wanted what he suspected I possessed. The key to Frenzy. The key to bing a Berserker. Perhaps I could use that to get what I needed from him. My jaw set with resolve as I prepared a new n. I needed to find out just how much Hong Feng was willing to pay for a glimpse of my secrets. It was time to make my second venture into the Jianghu. Chapter 40 I made a quick pitstop at home, freshening up a bit before heading into the heart of downtown. It took me a while to remember exactly where the Fire Bird headquarters was located. I had to make my way back to the River City Tea House first, where I had met that guy Kai Wong and then from there followed the route he had taken me, going deeper into the seedier part of the restaurant district, until I finally found the alleyway and the nondescript wooden door tucked into the side of a red brick wall. I knocked and a few secondster a security slot slid open and a pair of eyes peered out at me. As I met the person¡¯s gaze their eyes grew wide before lowering into a scowl. ¡°You cheap shot bastard!¡± The door flew open, revealing the bald-headed man, Du Mak, standing in the doorway, his face creased with anger. ¡°You¡¯d better be here for our rematch!¡± Just the sight of the guy nearly made meugh. ¡°You still hung up on that shit, man? Give it a break. You lost fair and square. I ain¡¯t got time for that.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± A second man arrived in the doorway, stout and heavyset with thick eyebrows. ¡°Who are you? Who sent you?¡± ¡°Name¡¯s Chun,¡± I said, squaring up on the both of them with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯m here to see your boss.¡± ¡°Like shit you are,¡± Du Mak said. ¡°What business could a punk like you have with him?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you go ask Hong Feng and find out?¡±Eyebrows nudged Du Mak with his elbow. ¡°He looks serious. You¡¯d better go check it out.¡± ¡°Like hell I will! He¡¯s not going anywhere until I can regain my honor.¡± ¡°What honor?¡± Eyebrows said and began tough. I couldn¡¯t hold it anymore and startedughing as well, causing a spike of anger to re inside Du Mak. ¡°You think this is funny?¡± Du Mak said and then he turned to his sect mate and poked him in the stomach. ¡°You shut up too, Ju Gong! This bastard refuses to ept my challenge and you think that¡¯s right? He is the one with no honor!¡± ¡°Fine,¡± I said, shrugging my shoulders. ¡°Let¡¯s do this. You go first.¡± A look of excitement shed across Du Mak¡¯s face as he rubbed his palms together, stepping through the doorway. ¡°Good! Now you¡¯ll see what it truly means to face a cultivator.¡± ¡°Ready when you are.¡± The man Ju Gong stared perplexed as I tucked my hands behind my back and presented my chin to Du Mak. Du Mak lowered his stance, and just like before I sensed a building of Dark Frenzy within him. High-speed instincts kicked in as he drew his hand back to strike. I channeled my Frenzy into [Indifference] and [Iron Skin], bracing myself as his hand flew back quicker than I expected. The wet smack of flesh on flesh resounded like a 20-pound turkey hitting the floor from two stories up. The next sound I heard was Du Mak screaming as he stared iprehensibly at his hand that was now swelling like a balloon. I didn¡¯t feel a thing. I grinned at him. ¡°[My Turn]?¡± Du Mak stared back at me with quivering eyes. ¡°H-how?¡± I channeled my Frenzy into a swift backhand, giving Du Mak another cartwheel lesson as he careened into the side of the wall. Ju Gong looked at me, and then to the unconscious Du Mak before looking back to me again. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to Master Hong Feng right away.¡± * * * Spirit herb smoke mixed with incense and the aroma of cheap booze greeted me as I entered the back room to the Fire Bird¡¯s den. Ju Gong rushed ahead of me to where Hong Feng was seated behind a desk, smoking from a waterpipe while looking over a bunch of scrolls. When Hong Feng whispered in his ear, the sect elder looked up and then gave me a knowing smile. Ju Gong then beckoned me forward and motioned for me to bow, before bowing himself and then turning about to leave. ¡°Be sure no one else disturbs me,¡± Hong Feng said as Ju Gong departed and then he gestured to an empty seat across from him. ¡°You may sit.¡± I nced around the room some more as I sat down. It was dark, cozy, and seedy all at once. Tapestries and weapons hung on the walls while an ancient chandelier hung from the ceiling, powered by what had to be Qi stones now, shedding a dull yellow light across the dark wood flooring and furniture. Hong Feng took another draw on his waterpipe and blew out a stream of sweet-smelling smoke as he looked at me. ¡°So, what brings you to my sect, Chun? Are you done with those books already?¡± He knew damn well I wasn¡¯t here about the books. The bastard was going to force me to ask first, it seemed, tipping the conversation in his favor already, but it wouldn¡¯t matter. I still held the trump card. ¡°I¡¯ve given some thought to your offer,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯m not sure your sect is the right one for me.¡± Hong Feng harrumphed. ¡°Did youe all this way just to tell me that?¡± ¡°Honor would demand it, no? You came to find me in person after all.¡± He chuckled. ¡°That I did. Which should tell you something about my offer. You know how manymoners would have jumped at such an opportunity?¡± ¡°True,¡± I said. ¡°But we both know there ain¡¯t nothingmon about me.¡± I said the words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and the deathly grave tone caused Hong Feng to sit upright in his seat. He¡¯d taken the first piece of bait. Now I had to keep stringing him along. ¡°And what makes you think you¡¯re so special?¡± Hong Feng said, but he was clearly trying to backpedal now. He¡¯d already confirmed how special I was by his invitation alone. But I would let him off the hook for that one. I needed to coax him into a deal, not piss him off by pointing out the obvious. ¡°I was thinking about what you said about the empire controlling everything,¡± I said, switching topics. ¡°About there being no creativity to create new styles.¡± ¡°The empire controls more than that,¡± he said. ¡°But I don¡¯t need to tell you that, do I?¡± I squinted my eyes in question and he smiled. ¡°You¡¯re not the only to be subjugated by the Yee. Even my world was free once. Although that was more than four hundred years ago. The memories of the past still live on in some of us. You Terrans should almost count yourselves lucky to have been mere mortals when the empire came.¡± ¡°How¡¯d you figure that?¡± ¡°The empire is far crueler when ites to conquering cultivation worlds.¡± I couldn¡¯t imagine anything crueler than what we¡¯d been through already and the faint memory of my parents being eaten alive by monsters caused my me to stir. ¡°I think we¡¯ve been through plenty.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Perhaps. It¡¯s all a matter of perspective. To you, it may seem like everything, butpared to a world that already developed its own unique pathway to the celestial heavens, to have that stripped away is a fate worse than even death.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s some perspective alright.¡± ¡°Some of us are still unhappy with the oue,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°Forced to follow the strict rules of the empire. Unable to follow one¡¯s true and natural path to immortality.¡± He was fishing again and I was willing to take the bait this time. ¡°Yes, it seems when someone possesses a unique way of cultivating, that it must be either hidden or destroyed. I¡¯m sure back on your world, there were lots of hidden arts that the empire probably wouldn¡¯t approve of today.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Hong Feng said with another knowing smile. ¡°So much has been lost to the control of the empire. But what can one do?¡± ¡°You do what you have to do,¡± I said. ¡°So long as there is a remnant. It¡¯s worth fighting for. Even if it means giving up everything to do it.¡± Hong Feng¡¯s brows arched upwards in surprise. ¡°No fan of the empire either, I see. I like the way you think.¡± My words surprised even myself. I hadn¡¯t meant to say all that, but it was like the me was talking for me. And every word of it was true. Here I was in the middle of a sect headquarters talking to an elder. A ce I¡¯d never dreamed I would be, much less havee of my own volition. But this was the price. This was what I needed to do to win in the end. ¡°For different reasons than you, probably. But no, I¡¯m not a big fan.¡± Hong Feng took another draw on his pipe. ¡°What do reasons matter when the goal is the same?¡± I nodded but I wasn¡¯t trying to form alliances here. I needed to get the conversation back on track. ¡°The reason I said the Fire Bird Sect might not be for me, is that I¡¯m looking to create something new. Something different. I think you can appreciate that, right?¡± Hong Feng raised a brow, taking the second piece of bait. ¡°Different how?¡± ¡°Studying the lightning manual has given me some new ideas. But conjuring lightning as a Fire Bird member would raise many suspicions, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t bother with it,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°The ability to master lightning techniques is a rarity anyway. I¡¯m honestly surprised you even chose that book. Fire would perhaps be more fitting for you. At least to start.¡± I smiled at him and raised my palm. With a focus of Frenzy, I ignited a small ball of fire within my palm. ¡°I¡¯ve already started.¡± Hong Feng¡¯s eyes opened so wide I thought they were going to fall out of his head. I¡¯d just shown him my trump card and by his unbridled response he had bitten the hook hard. ¡°Where did you learn that?¡± he said. I snapped my palm closed, extinguishing the me. ¡°Terrans are more resourceful than you think. But I may be willing to share this knowledge with you, if you are able to help me.¡± Hong Feng eased back in his chair, folding his arms across his wide stomach, clearly feeling the pinch of the hook now. ¡°So¡­ you havee here to barter with me? Don¡¯t forget you still owe me for that lightning manual. And do you really think that you can teach me¡ªan elder of the Fire Bird Sect¡ªa single thing about fire?¡± He was trying to backpedal again, but his initial look of shock had already given away his position. I pressed the matter further with a smile. ¡°Not all fire is the same.¡± I had his full attention now, sinking the hook in further. He leaned forward. ¡°What is it you propose?¡± ¡°Fire is the basis of lightning, correct?¡± ¡°It is within the same aspect sphere, yes.¡± ¡°Then I will join the Fire Birds on one condition,¡± I said. ¡°That you establish a new sub sect with the Fire Birds with lightning as its focus. Create that and I will dly be your first disciple.¡± Hong Feng stared at me dead pan for a moment, before bursting outughing. ¡°You are amusing, Terran,¡± he said. ¡°You don¡¯t know what it is that you even ask for. Shall I prepare you a conjugal visit with the princess, as well?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t heard what I have to offer yet,¡± I said. He chortled. ¡°By all means. Go ahead.¡± ¡°If I am able to create lightning from this me, is that knowledge something you would want to possess yourself?¡± I ignited the me in my hand again. ¡°Allow me to join this new sub sect and I¡¯ll tell you exactly how I was able to do it.¡± I used [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to let it sink in. His eyes shifted back and forth as he stared at the me. When I extinguished it, his eyes finally settled on mine and I could see a mutual understanding there. He was hiding a secret technique and so was I. ¡°You will put it in writing,¡± he said. A statement not a question. I merely nodded. ¡°If you wish. Of course.¡± Hong Feng grimaced. ¡°What you ask for is not so simple though.¡± ¡°It would be for you,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re already an elder with your own branch. Thew governing the creation of a sub sect is no different than creating a new chapter. You could establish it within a day.¡± He seemed surprised I knew that much, but his brow remained furrowed. ¡°I do not speak of the imperial bureaucracy. Yes, that is a simple matter. I speak instead of how I would present such a thing to my own sect members. How do you think it would look to appoint an unknown Terran as the star pupil of a new sub sect?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Depends on how badly you want me to create this lightning, I guess.¡± Hong Feng frowned. ¡°You will need to give more than what you have offered, Chun.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean you will need to earn your ce within the sect. Joining us will mean bing a true disciple. And for someone like you, an outsider in more ways than one, giving such preferential treatment will not be viewed favorably.¡± It was his turn to weasel in some negotiation now. I¡¯d shown my hand and he was willing to bite, but not for free apparently. Still, this was just a means to an end for me. I couldn¡¯t give a shit about his sect issues. The imperial bureaucracy was all that mattered to me. ¡°So long as I can register within the Iron Bracket as a member of the Furious Lightning Sect, you can get anything you want out of me.¡± Hong Feng¡¯s eyebrows shot upwards. ¡°Furious Lightning?¡± I spread my arms in a weing gesture and gave him a grin, revealing my trump card in full. If he needed a bigger hint that I was a Berserker, then he¡¯d have to be braindead. Hong Feng got the message loud and clear and the sudden burst of lemonade that came from him was proof of it. He suddenly stood. ¡°You muste with me.¡± * * * I followed Hong Feng through the corridors of the headquarters and back towards the section that was outfitted like a training arena. Scores of Fire Bird disciples were there, beating away on punching bags or each other. The disciples stopped to bow to Hong Feng as we passed through, but I didn¡¯t go unnoticed either. What Hong Feng received in respect, I got back in the form of scowls and res of suspicion. ¡°Where are we going?¡± I asked. ¡°It is important that this arrangement meet the approval of the sect,¡± Hong Feng said as he led me through a set of heavy iron doors that further descended down a set of concrete stairs. ¡°You will need to prove yourself. Both to them¡­and to me.¡± The way he said ¡®to me¡¯ made it clear he was looking for some further confirmation of my power. But could I really cut loose in here? We traversed down a couple stories and the stairway opened up into an immense underground chamber. Qi-infused lights lit up what looked to be the remnants of some kind of water or sewage treatment facility with us arriving on a raised steel walkway that overlooked a two-story-deep pit where pumps and pipes used to be, judging by the rust stains on the concrete floor. Tworge holes in the sides of the walls signified where the pipes used to run across a space that was big enough to fit two tennis courts. In the center of the pit, two Fire Bird disciples were sparring, surrounded by a group of about fifty. The two men were wielding jian des zing with mes, one of them blue the other red. The blue-med man was clearly superior, pressuring his opponents with lightning-quick techniques that shot mes high into the air. It was like watching a match at the arena, both of them Core Realm cultivators for sure. But more than that, there was the pressure of Dark Frenzy that I felting from the both of them, the blue-med disciple in particr. ¡°Assemble!¡± Hong Feng shouted and immediately the fight ended. All of the disciples then lined up in rank and file including the members we had passed on the way in, who ran down the stairs behind us to join their brethren below. In all, I counted about a hundred of them, their red and orange robes blurring together to be a sunset-colored sea at the bottom of the pit. ¡°Listen carefully,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°We have a new initiate who wishes to join as an Iron Bracket contender. For this reason, he must prove his worth against one of our own Iron Bracket contenders.¡± I nced at Hong Feng who merely gave me a grin before turning back to his sect. ¡°Let us see if he is worthy to join us at such a prestigious level.¡± Immediately murmurs arose from the crowd of Fire Birds, their disdain for me palpable as they red up at me from two stories down. What the hell had I gotten myself into now? I thought. ¡°Yin Chu!¡± Hong Feng shouted and one of the disciples from the front row stepped forward. He was blond haired, around my age with a nasty burn mark on the side of his face. And to my chagrin, it was the same man who was wielding the blue-med Jian a moment ago. ¡°This wasn¡¯t part of the deal.¡± Hong Feng chuckled and then leaned towards me. ¡°It is now,¡± he whispered. ¡°You will have the honor of fighting our lead Iron Bracket contender. If you can defeat Yin Chu, you will earn the respect and right to be ced in a league of your own within our ranks, bing the first member of our Furious Lightning Sect. But fail and you will have proven to me that you do not possess the mastery I seek.¡± Damn, the old bastard had managed to pull a fast one on me after all. With the preliminaries starting tomorrow, I wasn¡¯t nning on fighting within the Iron Bracket for a few days yet, waiting on my match to turn up, but it seemed fate had other ns. My first Iron Bracket fight was going to be tonight. Chapter 41 The nerves building within my gut quickly converted into Frenzy as I stepped into the center of the makeshift ring. It was a different experience than being within the ring at the arena. There was no crowd of excited fans to cheer me on and shower me with lemonade. The Fire Bird members instead delivered me a different kind of fuel with a wall of silent hate. Their eyes pierced me like daggers, their frowns of disapproval dragging their lips across the floor. As the man, Yin Chu, stepped from out of the crowd to face me, small whispers from his sect mates reached my ears. ¡°What did Yin Chu do to deserve this punishment?¡± ¡°Master Hong Feng must be furious with him.¡± ¡°I would rather choose death than to fight a damn Terran for my own position.¡± I yed it all off with [Indifference] but I could sense Yin Chu was feeling anything but indifferent about the situation. He could probably hear the disparaging remarks as clearly as I could and the scowl on his face confirmed it. His te gray eyes pierced mine with a malevolence rivaled only by the well of anger and Dark Frenzy building within his soul. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are¡­¡± He spoke slowly as he addressed me, sizing me up with disdain as he caressed the apple-sized burn mark on the side of his cheek. ¡°¡­or what scheme you used on Master Hong Feng to arrange this mockery, but you will pay for it with your life.¡± I gave him a smile. ¡°Guess that means a friendly match is out of the question?¡±Breath whistled through his nostrils as his anger peaked, his hands balling into fists. ¡°I will take much pleasure in spilling your blood across this floor.¡± The bastard seemed to mean every word of it too, anger and indignation pouring from him. The more I looked at him though, the more a strange familiarity crept into the back of my mind. I didn¡¯t know this guy from Adam, but he reminded me of someone. The shaggy blond hair, dark brows, the red robes. And then like something out of aedy sketch it came to me and I nearly burst outughing. ¡°Holy shit, you¡¯re Ken from Street Fighter!¡± The unfamiliar Terran phrases made him twist his face in iprehension, which made it all the more funny to me. ¡°What did you just call me?¡± he said, irritated. I didn¡¯t get to respond as Hong Feng began shouting from atop the tform. ¡°Listen carefully!¡± he said. ¡°The rules for this engagement are simple. No weapons, as I do not wish this match to end prematurely, but if weakness dictates, a death is more than permissible.¡± Damn. Hong Feng wasn¡¯t ying around either, I thought. Shit just got serious. ¡°May fate smile on the victor,¡± Hong Feng said as he raised a single hand in the air for us to start. ¡°Prepare!¡± Yin Chu lowered into a fighting stance, forearms poised high like a kickboxer. I did the same but felt nowhere nearfortable. The basic manual covered some unarmed stances, but they were little more than survival techniques for when you were disarmed. This guy probably had a whole unarmed repertoire up his sleeve. The [Odds were Against Me] already. I channeled the Frenzy spewing from the technique into my reflexes and readied my [Iron Skin] technique, preparing for what could potentially be an ass-whooping of a lifetime. As if to emphasize the fact, Yin Chu¡¯s fists suddenly ignited into blue mes, covering them like a pair of boxing gloves. ¡°I will make your death an example,¡± Yin Chu said. ¡°No one challenges me and lives.¡± I gave him a smirk of [Indifference]. ¡°Do your best, Streetfighter Ken.¡± His anger shot through the roof just as Hong Feng¡¯s hand dropped. ¡°Commence!¡± A torrent of blue mes blinded me as Yin Chu leapt forward with a roundhouse kick. I barely had time to raise my arm in defense before the mes hit me, searing me with white-hot pain. A secondter his actual heel hit my forearm, and while I managed to get off my [Iron Skin] technique in time, it did little to stop the force behind it. My Stage Five, Frenzy-reinforced bones fractured as the simple kick sent me flying across the concrete, tumbling end over end. Hot damn that hurt! I cried out curses as my body bounced hard three times before finally rolling to a stop. I barely got my bearing, ignoring my fractured arm to roll to my feet when a knee from above mmed into my chest. ¡°Oof!¡± ¡°Pathetically slow!¡± Yin Chu shouted into my face, right before nting his fist into it. The back of my head hit the concrete so hard it sent spiderweb cracks radiating outwards. I saw stars, my vision tunneling as he pounded my head like a jackhammer. Sheer survival instinct kept my [Iron Skin] and [Iron Core] techniques going, but any more and I was going to pass out. ¡°No technique! No skill! No strength!¡± he kept shouting with each punch. ¡°Why are you even here?¡± Time seemed to slow as I drew within myself. I shouldn¡¯t have thrown shade at this guy with that Streetfighter Ken remark. It made me think less of him, and that was proving to be a painful mistake. This guy was probably on Hein¡¯s level or Zu Tien¡¯s at least. The thought fueled my [Odds Against Me] andbined with overwhelming pain, my Frenzied me erupted like a volcano, fueling my body with fresh Frenzy. I shpressed it into liquid form and channeled it directly into my veins. ¡°Get the hell off me!¡± I bellowed as I pushed him away with two palms and both feet. He flew like a rag doll, a look of iprehension shing across his face. I sprung to my feet, surging with energy, my [Pain Soothes the Frenzied me] technique already mending my forearm. Yin Chunded on his feet a good thirty feet away. The sect members gave us more room, backing away, but I could feel their stares of interest now. Apparently, that beating I¡¯d just received was not one they expected me to bounce back from. It was only then that I realized that my beard and part of my shirt had been singed by his fire-encased fists. My ruined beard irritated me more than the shirt. I fueled my anger into Frenzy as I slowly removed the garment to reveal my scarred torso, boosting my presence with [Fear the me]. ¡°You¡¯re gonna pay for messing up my beard, Ken.¡± The weaker sect members stepped back further from me as my Fear effect caused their insides to turn to jelly. Ipped up the free Frenzy to boost my levels even further. Even from Yin Chu I could sense some apprehension now, but that seemed to only strengthen his resolve as his dark brows lowered over his eyes in a scowl. ¡°So, you have some strength,¡± he said patronizingly. ¡°But a dumb ox is no match for a tiger. I won¡¯t go easy on you this time.¡± He flew at me again, bursts of mes streaking from his palms. I used my martial forms to avoid them, but he was far quicker than I expected. I screamed in pain as the searing bursts of mes scorched my bare skin. My Body Refinement level should have made me immune to them, but clearly this wasn¡¯t normal me I was dealing with now. Yin Chu kept his distance from me, peppering me with more fireballs as he danced about in a circle. Then, with a leap, he hung in midair for a second as an image of an eagle formed from the blue mes about him. ¡°[Fire Bird¡¯s Descent]!¡± Yin Chu shot across the room at me with a flying kick, blue mes zing. I dodged to the side with my instincts, my muscle memory automatically executing my forms, but it wasn¡¯t enough. The impact of his attack set off an explosion that engulfed me in mes and sent me flying backwards off my feet. Yin Chu tagged me with four more blows before I even hit the ground, each one enough to nearly shatter my bones. I kept myposure, tumbling as my back hit the ground and rolled to my feet. Ignoring the pain, Iunched right back at him with a furious punch, but the bastard avoided it with augh. ¡°Untrained! Undisciplined!¡± He punished me with a vicious p across my back. ¡°Go back to your flea-ridden kennel, you dog!¡± He punctuated thest word with a fiery kick that left a footprint-shaped burn mark on my chest. My body mmed into the floor again and Yin Chu followed up with more kicks to my side. Blood filled my mouth as my [Iron Core] technique began to give way. This was feeling like my first fight against Zu Tien all over again. I was outmatched in skill with only my brute strength and the resilience of my Frenzy keeping me alive. Still, I¡¯d won then. I could do so now. I forced myself to get back up, only to be outdistanced by Yin Chu again as he threw more mes at me. The battle wore on and my vision began to tunnel from internal blood loss as I weaved between the attacks, dodging less than half of them. Then from nowhere Yin Chu suddenly appeared at my side and brought his foot down on my head with a ming hatchet kick. ¡°[Fire Hawk¡¯s Beak]!¡± I cked out for a moment and then came to on the ground. Blood dripping from my wounded head clouded my vision as all sound disappeared from the world, save the constant ringing in my ears. I was faintly aware that Yin Chu was still kicking me, only the solid thuds of pain in my side confirming I was still in a fight for my life. My Frenzy began to wane, my power slipping from me, my body burned and shattered. As the tides of the battle clearly turned, the Fire Bird members became more bold in their predictions of my demise, some of themughing and pointing while others just shook their heads. ¡°It was not a punishment after all!¡± one of them shouted. ¡°Master Hong Feng has rewarded Yin Chu with the core of this savage Terran beast, even if it is only a dog!¡± That brought a cackle ofughter to the crowd and from my vantage on the ground I could see the look of disgust on Hong Feng¡¯s face. Whether it was from my performance, or his disciple¡¯sments, I wasn¡¯t sure. Perhaps both. ¡°I¡¯m going to burn you alive,¡± Yin Chu said as he raised his ming hand high above his head while standing over me, his fingers spread wide and curled. ¡°You have no ce within our sect. Remember that when you pass on to your next life.¡± He drove his fingertips deep into my chest, right up to the knuckles. ¡°[Phoenix Talon]!¡± White-hot painnced through me as he set my insides on fire. I bellowed with unbridled shock and agony, my minding undone. He was killing me. Images of my family shed through my head as my life drained away. Was this it? Was I done? Loss and regret filled me. I hadn¡¯t avenged them. I hadn¡¯t freed my from these sick and cruel invaders. As my vision darkened, all I could see was my me. Waning. Growing smaller. Words from the orb ran through my mind. Know this, kindled one. A Berserker can never back away from a challenge, or an injustice which ignites one¡¯s me. Even if victory is unlikely, press forth, for even in defeat, survival is never your aim. The destruction of your enemy is all that matters. That¡¯s right¡­I thought¡­I wasn¡¯t done yet. The empire still lived. And I still needed to destroy it. And this insignificant little piece of shit was standing in my way! My Frenzied me exploded into new brightness as something opened up inside of me, theshing tongues shifting into more blue than yellow now. My eyes shed open to see Streetfighter Ken¡¯s half-burned face leering into mine. ¡°Die!¡± I shouted and mmed my forehead into his nose with a headbutt. The blow was enough to knock him back and I sprung to my feet with renewed energy grabbing him by the throat on the way up. I held him like a child, his feet kicking. Pure hatred and rage coursed through my veins like never before as Yin Chu became the mortal embodiment of the entire Yee empire within my eyes. The source of all my loss¡­my suffering and pain. ¡°I will destroy you. One by one, if I have to. No matter how long it takes. We will be free of you. Forever!¡± Yin Chu struggled to breathe much less speak as I clenched his windpipe, but the look on his face was clear. Total iprehension. Both for what I¡¯d said and for how I had somehow gained the upper hand. If Hong Feng wanted to see a demonstration of my power, then he was going to get it now. I funneled liquid Frenzy into a technique I had only practiced before. [Mark of the Giant], I thought as a vision of Threja shed into my head. Slowly, Yin Chu¡¯s feet lifted even further from the ground as my hand grew to engulf not just his throat but his entire neck. As I grew, new skin reced my charred and burnt flesh with fresh scars. I wasn¡¯t sure how much I¡¯d grown, perhaps only a few inches. Not enough to be truly noticeable to the cultivators perhaps, but it was enough of a change for their subconscious to register my dominance on a primal level. And it scared the hell out of them. The sect members were literally pissing themselves with fear, but I wasn¡¯t the only one causing that now. Yin Chu was pping and iling like a fish on a hook, both hands clutched around my fingers, desperate to pry them apart. His eyes bulged as he went into his death throes, his blue mes growing wild. Theyshed ineffectually against the strength of my newly enhanced me, but some of his weakerrades perished in the extreme heat as the cultivators ran for cover. I grinned into Yin Chu¡¯s face as the Demon took control. ¡°Nice knowing you, Ken.¡± I clenched my fist closed, crushing Yin Chu¡¯s neck with a sickening snap. The mes ceased immediately as his iling body went limp in my grasp. Silence reigned as my bloodlust triggered, filling me with more hatred and rage. I dropped Yin Chu¡¯s body unceremoniously to the ground, the same as Threja did with that first Fire Bird member she¡¯d killed, and I felt a sudden kinship with her now. I¡¯d revealed my powerpletely as she had¡ªand I didn¡¯t care. Because eventually, I was going to kill all of these guys. I released a bellow of anger as I absorbed the fear in the room and stomped on Yin Chu¡¯s head. My heel hit like an explosion going off, his skull bursting like a watermelon beneath my foot as spiderweb of cracks shattered the floor. A deafening silence filled the room. I looked down at what was left of Yin Chu and realized he was the first man I¡¯d ever killed. And I felt damn good about it. So good I wanted to kill even more, my [Bloodlust] filling me with fresh Frenzy to burn. I turned to the quivering Fire Bird members and grinned like a madman. ¡°Anyone else want a go?¡± I said the words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and mixture of fear and lemonade I got back in return answered the question in full. I looked up at the walkway to where Hong Feng was staring down at me, a massive smile on his face. The sect members cowered away from me as I stepped towards him, whispers rising through their ranks. ¡°H-how did he kill Yin Chu so easily?¡± ¡°Is he a prodigy?¡± ¡°A beast core or demon core maybe.¡± ¡°Or a Berserker¡­¡± There it was. Or suspected anyway. But if the lower disciples only suspected, then for the master it had to be confirmation. I looked up at Hong Feng and then bowed. The sect elderughed. ¡°It seems we have a decisive victor in this match,¡± Hong Feng said and then switched to a more formal tone. ¡°This One has proven his worthiness to join our ranks. You, known as Chun, shall henceforth be a member of the glorious Fire Bird Sect. As we are born to the me so we die to the me.¡± In unison, all the sect members repeated the phrase, bowing their heads solemnly as they did so. ¡°As we are born to the me so we die to the me.¡± ¡°Death is your only release from this sect now, Outer Disciple Chun,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°Wee to our cabal.¡± Cabal? What the hell? His words caused a sickness to fill my stomach and I wondered if I hadn¡¯t truly sold my soul to the devil this time. Still, this was just a means to an end, I reminded myself. B-ss citizenship and being able to legally protect my people was my only goal. But was it worth paying this price? ¡°As is our code,¡± Hong Feng continued. ¡°What transpires within these walls, stays within these walls.¡± He then peered more closely at me. ¡°No exceptions¡­Shen Ju!¡± A man with long dark hair and a thin mustache stepped forward. ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°See to the preparation of the bodies,¡± Hong Feng said and at the mention of bodies I counted at least a half dozen other Fire Bird members who had lost their lives thanks to Yin Chu¡¯s fireworks show. ¡°Then see to it that our new brother is clothed in a in robe and send him to me. I must consider where he shall sit within our ranks.¡± ¡°Yes, Master Hong Feng,¡± the man Shen Ju said again with another bow. Hong Feng then left, and Shen Ju began ordering around the other disciples, getting groups of them to carry out the grisly work of removing the corpses, which they carried down one of therge tunnels. A younger disciple finally handed him a bundle of clothing and once he picked me out amidst the chaos, he approached me with it. ¡°Put these on,¡± he said curtly as he shoved the in brown robes in my arms. I reacted to his disdain with [Indifference]. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Once you¡¯re dressed go make your way to Master Hong Feng¡¯s office.¡± The guy barely looked at me as he spoke, which was what most of them were doing now. What lemonade I had sensed earlier had dried up, reced by a building sense of loathing and resentment. I guessed having to clean up your dead buddies because of the new guy would have that kind of effect. As I began to walk away, Shen Ju stopped me again, cing a hand on my chest and when I looked down, I saw him holding a thin six-inch de to my stomach, just where my Dantian would be. ¡°Know this,¡± he said before I could do or say anything else. ¡°The man you killed¡ªYin Chu¡ªwas my sword brother, sworn through spilled blood.¡± ¡°Is that right,¡± I said and then noticed that this was the same guy who had been sparring with Yin Chu earlier when I first arrived. ¡°Well, I guess ole¡¯ Ken had a Ryu, after all.¡± ¡°I do not know what ignorant words you speak,¡± Shen Ju said. ¡°And I do not care, but as Yin Chu¡¯s sword brother, I have sworn an oath of vengeance against you. Be you a member of this sect or not, I shall y you for his murder.¡± I looked down at the de and chuckled with [Indifference]. ¡°You going to do it with that?¡± Shen Ju grimaced. ¡°Keep up with your mirth, Terran. It will make it all the more satisfying when I finally carve that wretched smile off your face.¡± With that, Shen Ju slipped the de back into a scabbard and began to walk away. ¡°You¡¯d better get in line, pal,¡± I called out after him. ¡°There are bigger people than you who want to see me dead.¡± Shen Ju stopped once more, ncing over his shoulder at me. ¡°Then prepare yourself,¡± he said. ¡°For be it today, tomorrow, or a hundred years from now¡­I will kill you to avenge my brother. This is my blood-sworn pledge to you.¡± As I watched him walk away, I could sense more targets being drawn on my back by the sect members around me¡ªmultiple nces of mistrust and disdain. The sight brought a smile to my lips. Without struggle there can be no true growth, I recalled Threja¡¯s words to me, their meaning solidifying within my mind. As my enemies sharpened their knives around me, my me burned all the more brightly. The Struggler was going to a have a fine time surviving inside this sect indeed. Chapter 42 Master Hong Feng poured wine into two small cups as I sat opposite him at his desk, both of us back in the darkened confines of his private back office. He then raised his cup in salute. ¡°To you officially joining our ranks, Disciple Chun.¡± I raised my cup in turn. ¡°To the Fire Birds.¡± It made me sick to my stomach to utter the words, but I wore my [Mask of the Despised] to put on a positive disposition. I wasn¡¯t nning on staying in this position any longer than I had to, but I¡¯d have to y the game until I got what I needed out of this deal for now. ¡°So,¡± I said. ¡°Is our arrangement now sealed? You¡¯ve witnessed what I have to offer.¡± Hong Feng downed the cup of wine in a single gulp and then poured himself another. ¡°Your demonstration came with far more coteral damage than I was expecting,¡± he said with a frown. ¡°Besides Yin Chu being the head of our Iron Ranked disciples, he was also a rare and gifted practitioner. Only one in a hundred have the purity of spiritual root to master the art of the blue me.¡± I kept quiet, unsure where he was going with this. Another re-negotiation likely, but I sipped my wine instead to see if he would continue his train of thought. Eventually he did. ¡°To have defeated him in the manner that you did, will cause much disharmony and uncertainty within the sect.¡±¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve gotten a taste of that already.¡± Hong Feng chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ve once again put me in a difficult position, Chun. Such discord is not easy to mend.¡± Bastard, I thought. He was setting up the justification to move the goal post already. I¡¯d have to cut him off at the pass, and quickly if I wanted to stand my ground. ¡°That was the price you had to pay for your proof.¡± I shrugged with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°You could have believed me for free.¡± Hong Fengughed again, but I could sense I¡¯d pricked a nerve or two, his slight flicker of anger confirming it. ¡°Be that as it may,¡± Hong Feng said ¡°You have indeed demonstrated your strength, but have caused quite a mess in the process. To now elevate you so quickly to a special position might be too much for the sect to ept at this time.¡± My me began to stir. ¡°We had a deal, Hong Feng. You know what I want out of this.¡± ¡°Indeed, we do have a deal, two deals in fact,¡± he reminded me. ¡°And it is Master Hong Feng, to you now.¡± The subtle pull of his leash caused ire to churn in my gut. ¡°Apologies¡­.Master Hong Feng.¡± Hong Feng poured himself another shot and downed it while staring at the darkened ceiling, contemting something. Finally, he spoke without looking at me: ¡°You will report here to the headquarters tomorrow to begin your training to unlock the lightning arts. I¡¯ll have a room prepared for you in one of the outer disciples¡¯ quarters. There should be more than a few vacancies now, thanks to you.¡± Shit, I didn¡¯t think about having to actually live here, but what the hell else would joining a sect mean? For someone like Gui Zu this would be a dreame true, but for me it was like a crooked ex-cop being sent to prison. ¡°You don¡¯t think that might cause more of a problem?¡± I said, sipping my wine again as I tried to weasel my way out. Being locked in here with the likes of Shen Ju was thest thing I needed. ¡°You said people aren¡¯t exactly happy that Yin Chu is dead.¡± Hong Fengughed. ¡°As a Terran, you¡¯ve never been a part of a martial sect before, so you perhaps would not understand this, but contention and rivalry is all a part of what makes a sect strong. Fierce and ruthlesspetition will root out the weak. And while Yin Chu was by no means weak, you certainly have raised the standards of what it means to be strong.¡± Talk about being a victim of your own sess, I thought. I needed a way out of this crap. ¡°Won¡¯t me living here and working as a handler cause a problem for our other deal? I wouldn¡¯t think you¡¯d want the empire to learn of any special excursion favors being linked back to the Fire Birds.¡± Hong Fengughed once more. ¡°You are quick witted, but of course I have already considered this. Your job as a handler will remain. I will speak with Sumatra to ensure your duties are diminished so you have time to train. As for your position within the sect, until you can produce that lightning, you will remain but an outer disciple of the lowest rank. Is that understood?¡± I didn¡¯t like the sound of that at all. ¡°What exactly does that mean?¡± ¡°It means you won¡¯t get what you want, until I get what I want,¡± he said with a sly grin. He then opened his hands in a weing gesture. ¡°How am I supposed to announce to the sect that I am creating a new Furious Lightning branch if the star pupil can¡¯t even wield lightning?¡± He was dangling another carrot backed up by a stick, but I couldn¡¯t disagree with his logic either. I¡¯d been hoping that Hong Feng would have simply created the new sect to allow me topete in the Iron Bracket while I continued to train with Gui Zu, but it seemed he was smarter than that. And I couldn¡¯t me him to be honest. He was banking a lot on me, so why wouldn¡¯t he do something to secure his investment? Hong Feng then reached for a piece of paper on his desk and showed it to me. I could barely make out the writing, but it was an official document of some kind judging by the imperial crest at the top. ¡°I am a man who honors my word, Chun,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°See here, I¡¯ve alreadypleted the application documentation to establish the new sect. As soon as you are sessful in your endeavors, I will make the announcement to the sect and submit this to the officials. Until that time, you shall train in secret at night and report as normal to Sumatra as a handler by day. Your dual role would be especially helpful. It will mean having to send less sect members to Sumatra when required. When there is a task needing to be performed, you will know through either him or me.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel that I¡¯d been tossed from the frying pan and into the fire with this one. Still, added hardship or not, my progression goal remained the same. I needed to create lightning. End of story. And on the bright side, I had a lot more opportunity to do that now with the resources avable within the sect. So long as I could keep the knives out of my back. If anything, this only further heightened it as my number one priority now. Master lightning, enter the tournament under a new sect and then rank 20th ce or higher to gain my citizenship. After that¡­all these guys could go to hell. There was a knock at the door and Hong Feng looked up perturbed. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°It is I, Shen Ju, Master Hong Feng,¡± the man¡¯s voice came through the door. ¡°I have brought the remnants.¡± ¡°Come.¡± The door opened and Shen Ju appeared, carrying a small wooden box in his hands. He didn¡¯t appear surprised to see me-¡ªhe was the one who had sent me to see Hong Feng after all¡ª-- but that didn¡¯t stop his disdain for me from radiating from his re like the stink of week-old fish. He set the box in front of Hong Feng and performed a quick bow. ¡°Of the six, there were only three to be recovered.¡± Hong Feng opened the box and rummaging inside, withdrew three glowing gems. Two of them small and red like burning coals, the otherrger and glowing with a deep blue. My chest tightened a bit, realizing what they were¡ªhuman cores. But as I looked closer, they didn¡¯t appear as radiant as the lightning core I¡¯d retrieved from the old man. Dark ck veins ran through them and I could sense a hint of Dark Frenzy exuding from them as well. Hong Feng studied the two smaller fire cores before cing them back in the box. ¡°You may take these two for your personal use,¡± Hong Feng said as he handed the box back to Shen Ju. ¡°Consider it a bonus for your promotion to Iron Bracket leader.¡± Shen Ju looked shocked for a moment, ncing at me as if something he didn¡¯t expect had just transpired. But then he gathered himself and performed a deep bow. ¡°You are most gracious, master. I am honored to obtain such a privileged role.¡± ¡°Chun here will join us as an outer disciple initiate,¡± Hong Feng continued. ¡°He will be allowed ess to the lower library and granted time to study unhindered at night. Is that understood?¡± Shen Ju grimaced but managed to bow again. ¡°As youmand, master.¡± ¡°Leave us now. I have onest matter to attend to privately with our new recruit.¡± Shen Ju gave me a final middle-finger of a nce before leaving the room. ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± Hong Feng said as he twirled the Frenzy-tainted blue core between his fingers. ¡°I would imagine that¡¯s what left of Yin Chu,¡± I said casually. Hong Feng looked a bit surprised by my flippant answer but then smiled. ¡°I suppose it was rather obvious. Few have seen a man¡¯s inner core before. Even to possess one is a death sentence ording to imperialw.¡± Yeah, I know. I¡¯m lugging around a piece of one in my gut right now, I almost wanted to say, but I just nodded instead. ¡°They say a man¡¯s soul bes a part of one¡¯s core. The very essence of his being entrapped inside a solid lump of Qi. Some legends say that one can even be rebirthed¡­if you nt his core in a pile of a dragon shit.¡± Hong Fengughed crudely at his own joke and I chuckled politely to humor him. ¡°I¡¯ll have to look out for dragon shit next time I¡¯m out in the field,¡± I said with a smile, which caused Hong Feng tough even harder and swallow down some more wine. ¡°I like your attitude, Chun,¡± he said, pping the table. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯ve finally decided to join our ranks. You may have a long and bright future here.¡± Not if I can help it, I thought, but merely smiled at him instead. ¡°Speaking of which,¡± he continued. ¡°You¡¯ve shown me your hidden strength. And now that you are a part of this sect, I will reveal to you our hidden strength as well.¡± Hong Feng ced the blue-hued fire core in the t of his palm. ¡°Watch carefully.¡± He began chanting rhythmically in a strange tongue as he focused on the core intently with his eyes. The core began to shake and then suddenly, enormous tendrils of Dark Frenzy poured from out of him, almost visible like shadows of undting serpents stemming from his back. The pressure from it pressed on my own core and I had to use my mask to hide my grimace of difort. The core began to dissolve in his palm as the shadowy tendrilspped at it like the heads of a hydra, the Dark Frenzy slowly consuming it before my eyes. I had to feign shock, not knowing how else I should react to this, or if I was even supposed to be able to see it at all. And I didn¡¯t have to feign very hard either. I¡¯d already guessed that the Fire Birds were using some method to absorb human cores, but to see it in action was a different matter. It was unnerving and caused a sickness to my stomach, like watching some unearthly being feeding directly on a human soul. When the core disappearedpletely, the dark tendrils withdrew back inside Hong Feng, his eyes rolling back into his head as he released a groan of what sounded disgustingly like pleasure. When it was all over, he finally seemed toe back to himself, his skin slick with a sheen of sweat. ¡°Well, that was something¡­¡± he said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. ¡°¡­some forty years¡¯ worth of cultivating effort and growth, acquired in less than a minute.¡± He then focused on me, his gaze bing deathly cold. ¡°Does this shock you, Chun?¡± Disgust was more the word I was looking for, but I yed it off with [Indifference]. ¡°As you already said. We all have our secrets.¡± ¡°Well put¡­¡± Hong Feng gave me a nod. ¡°What you just witnessed was an ancient cultivation technique practiced for thousands of years in my home world. But the empire has branded it an illegal practice. A form of cannibalism, they say¡ªdemonic. To us it is merely making use of lost potential when a cultivator dies¡­even if it takes the soul of a demon to do it.¡± The soul of a demon? How the hell did that work? ¡°Sounds fair,¡± I said, trying to stay on his good side. But his mention of the demon soul sparked new interest. Was that what Dark Frenzy truly was? Demonic energy? It¡¯d make sense if so. Frenzy was formed by the Struggler wrestling against the Demon after all. But that caused another question. ¡°How do you mask this demonic energy from other cultivators? How do you keep it hidden?¡± Hong Feng grinned before letting out augh. ¡°We have our methods. Very few are sensitive enough to detect the subtle difference between normal Qi and the Qi absorbed through demonic cultivation. One only need to bolster the element of their spiritual aspect to mask it. But I would guess that perhaps you might be somehow sensitive to it, Chun.¡± I shrugged before giving a nonmittal answer. ¡°What¡¯s it matter? Energy is energy, right? Who cares about the source?¡± The sect elderughed again, clearly amused by my answer, but on the inside my mind was churning. If the Fire Birds had found a way to vor their demonic energy with an aspect, then maybe I could find a more permanent solution to hauling around this lightning core. Hong Feng then waved his hand and a blue me appeared in the center of his palm. ¡°I had hoped to have harvested this from Yin Chu only when he had reached a much higher stage of advancement,¡± Hong Feng said, studying the me. ¡°He was a newly ranked Core Realm cultivator but a few months ago.¡± He then snapped his palm closed. ¡°You ended that cultivation prematurely and thus owe me another debt, Chun. I do not like it when I¡¯m forced to liquidate my investments before they have matured.¡± I tensed as the conversation took on an abruptly sinister tone. I had first thought that Hong Feng had risked showing me all this in an attempt to build some kind of trust with me. To make it more easy for me to share my secrets with him. But his demonstration wasn¡¯t a show of trust. It¡¯d been a threat. It didn¡¯t matter if I chose to share my secrets with him or not. When he was ready, he¡¯d simply take it from me. The same way he had taken it from Yin Chu. I felt the Struggler take another flogging as the leash around my neck grew tighter. Hong Feng wasn¡¯t running a sect. He was cultivating a garden of lesser cultivators to feed upon. My flesh crawled at the idea and I understood now why the empire had banned this kind of cultivation. And by those dark tendrils, perhaps Hong Feng was bing more of a demon himself. Or his soul was at least. ¡°I¡¯ll consider it a long-term debt you must pay in the future,¡± he said, taking a casual sip of wine. ¡°For now, focus on what you owe me in the present.¡± I took that as a hint our meeting was over and then stood, giving him a bow. ¡°I¡¯ll move in discreetly right after work tomorrow and begin my training right away.¡± ¡°Good. I look forward to it,¡± he said, stroking his gnarled beard. ¡°And remember this, Chun. You are a Fire Bird now. As we are born to the me so we die to the me. There is no quitting in this sect. Death is the only way a Fire Bird ever leaves.¡± He then paused as if to make sure the words sunk in. ¡°Be certain you don¡¯t try to do so prematurely.¡± Chapter 43 ¡°You¡¯re moving out???¡± I blew out a long exhale as Yu Li repeated the same question for what had to be the third or fourth time. I was in her apartment, my first pitstop before heading home to pack up my stuff and then contemte the best way forward through the rat¡¯s nest known as the Fire Bird Sect. But there was no way I could tell Yu Li any of that. Especially knowing what the Fire Birds truly were now. Telling her I was moving out was the best I could do. But even that wasn¡¯t going well so far. Yu Li¡¯s face was twisted with iprehension and a hint of rage. ¡°How the hell can you be moving out, Chun?¡± she said, bouncing Su Ling at her hip. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be defending and saving us all? How are going to do that now if you¡¯re not even here? It feels like you¡¯re abandoning us!¡± ¡°Whoa, hey,¡± I said, resting a hand on her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯d never abandon you, Yu Li. Any of you.¡±¡°Then why are you going?¡± I thought on my feet. ¡°It¡¯s for safety. I don¡¯t know how many more enemies I¡¯m going to make doing all this, but until I can own this ce outright, I think it¡¯s best not to lead any more trouble back to you or Su Ling.¡± That seemed to soften her some, her brows reversing from a scowl to a look of worry. ¡°You¡¯re doing this for me?¡± In a way, I thought. ¡°I¡¯m doing it for everyone.¡± ¡°Chun, this won¡¯t change anything,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°These people here still hate me. I¡¯d feel much safer with you here. What if theye for me again? And where are you going to go anyway?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll find somece,¡± I said, purposefully ignoring her first question. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Best that you not know that either.¡± Yu Li folded her arms, looking vexed. ¡°If you¡¯re damn well king after all this, Chun, I swear to the heavens, I¡¯ll kill you myself.¡± ¡°Hey,¡± I said with augh. ¡°When have I ever ked out on anything?¡± ¡°How about your whole school career for one.¡± Iughed again at the irony of it all. I was perhaps a better student than Mu Lin now. Yu Li finally released an exasperated sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve trusted you on this, Chun. With everything.¡± ¡°Then you should know you can trust me some more,¡± I said. ¡°This is just¡­something I need to do, okay? But it¡¯s all part of the n. It¡¯ll all work out in the end. You¡¯ll see.¡± She shook her head but eventually pulled me into a one-armed hug along with Su Ling. ¡°I know I can¡¯t stop you anyway, so I might as well give you my blessing. When are you nning to move out?¡± ¡°Tomorrow,¡± I said. ¡°Thene and have dinner with us tonight,¡± Yu Li said and turned about to head into her small kitchte. ¡°The least I can do is feed you before you end up¡ªwho knows where¡ªeating trash on the damn streets.¡± Iughed again. ¡°I¡¯ll head down to the square and get us some fresh meat. My treat.¡± I left and ventured into the square and dropped some copper on some braised pork belly and chicken. On the way back I spotted Jian Yi and the question Yu Li had asked me earlier came back to my mind. What if Jian Yi and her gang dide back for her while I was gone? It was something I didn¡¯t want to think about, much less have a solution for. I made eye contact with Jian Yi from a distance and the girl lifted her chin at me defiantly. Part of me wanted to punch her in the face, but another part wanted me to go over there and just tell her I was leaving, as if maybe that would be enough to satisfy her and leave Yu Li alone. I nearly took a step towards her but stopped myself. No¡­telling her I was leaving would be a bad chess move on my part. Jian Yi would see it the same way Yu Li did¡ªabandonment. And she¡¯d milk every bit of it publicly to turn the rest of the neighborhood against me. I sighed. I had no stomach for all this politics crap. Punching faces and crushing skulls was more my style. But while I was still weak¡­I¡¯d have to learn to y the game. Even against my own people apparently. Ignoring Jian Yi, I headed back to Yu Li¡¯s and after having a nice farewell dinner finally headed back home. It still felt bad lying to Yu Li about everything, but there was no way around it. No one was supposed to know I was a Fire Bird now, not even her. Still, it felt shitty. Like I was indeed running out on her, on the wholemunity, just like she¡¯d said. But I supposed that was just more burden for the Struggler to bear. Back in my apartment, I began packing my meager belongings. My clothes, my axe, and of course my specialty items: the two martial manuals and the orb. Taking the manuals back to the sect were akin to returning books to a library, so no big deal there, but no way could I take the orb. I wouldn¡¯t trust bringing the thing within a hundred feet of Hong Feng. I decided the best thing to do was to hide it. Perhaps somewhere in the outskirts of the farming district, where no one could possibly think to look. But there was one more item I couldn¡¯t risk taking to the sect or hiding out in the wild. Reached underneath the floorboards, I pulled out what was left of the lightning core, wrapped tightly in the rune-covered cloth. I¡¯d been dreading what would have toe next from the time I left Hong Feng¡¯s. So much so that I had made a detour to the alchemist district to splurge a whole Tael on a bottle of high-quality healing salve and a bottle of high-proof spirits. I didn¡¯t know what secrets I could glean from the Fire Birds in terms of masking my powers, but I knew one thing for sure. If I¡¯d just managed to kill a Core Realm cultivator like Yin Chu, then my fake core needed upgrading big time. I unwrapped the core and marveled at the lightning bolts flickering inside. It was pure and untainted, unlike the Demon-corrupted cores retrieved from those Fire Birds. Briefly, I wondered what my Frenzy core would eventually look like. More like this, I hoped as I rolled the core between my fingers. I¡¯d hate to think mine was as ckened and corrupted as those Fire Birds were. I was stalling now, I realized. ¡°Time to go big or go home,¡± I said and prepared to ce the remainder of the lightning core inside my gut. Grabbing my tanning knife, I downed the bottle of spirits and when sufficient buzz was reached, got down to business. * * * I awoke the next morning feeling like I¡¯d been run over by a truck, and it wasn¡¯t just my self-inflicted stomach wound that was causing it either. Although truthfully the magic salve had done wonders overnight. It felt like my incision had almostpletely healed already, but besides that, every punch, bruise, and puncture from my battle with Yin Chu was suddenly registered in my brain. I let out a groan as I tried to flex my body, every muscle rebelling in response. My [Mark of the Giant] technique had healed me from those wounds instantly, but now it seemed I was being paid back in full and the currency was called pain. But there was something else that was off as well. And it wasn¡¯t physical. Rolling painfully out of my cot, I shifted into lotus position and began meditating to check on the condition of my me. After a few moments it materialized in my mind¡¯s eye. It was dimmer than I remembered. Like something was smothering it. Opening my eyes, I looked down at the bandages wrapped around my lower torso. It could only be one thing. It was the same as before and the reason why I had to use the salve to heal my wound instead of my Frenzy. The core was adversely affecting the power of my me. I huffed out a sigh. No free lunch after all, I thought. For as much as it was doing to cover for my new-found strength of my Frenzy, the lightning core was now suppressing it as well. Damn it, I thought. Had I just set myself back on unlocking my lightning path as well? Maybe this was the reason I was now feeling all the pain from my battle with Yin Chu also. Either way, it sucked. But there was nothing I could do about it now. I looked outside the window at the darkening sky. It was about to rain. And it was time to go to work. * * * I arrived at the gate, half-drenched, to find most of the handlers huddled under the lean-to and ying cards. It was a wee sight. Most clients didn¡¯t want to head out on excursions in the rain and with my core wound still mending, doing nothing all day was just fine with me. I took a quick moment to rinse my hands in the washroom, cleaning them of all the mud I¡¯d gotten under my fingernails from burying the orb. I¡¯d picked what used to be the courtyard of an old hotel a few miles from the handler station, cing it under a tall oak tree. I¡¯d memorized the orbpletely now, so there would be no need to dig it back up anytime soon. Or so I hoped, anyway. But I felt better knowing it was in a ce few people if any would ever venture into to find. I pulled up a chair at a table where Mu Lin, Lee, and my three handler prot¨¦g¨¦s were all ying a game of Rooster Foot. I almost expected them to question where I¡¯d been or something, but while I¡¯d just gone through several life-changing experiences, I had to remember that to them I¡¯d simply gone home for the night and just returned to work the next day. I took a littlefort in that. As much struggle and strife that I was going through, there were still people simply living their normal lives. Deep down, I hoped I could keep it that way and maybe, just maybe¡­make their lives a little better in the end. Lee dealt me into the next hand and after a while I lost myselfughing, joking, and ying cards with them. Mu Lin filled me in on where she was with her studies, apparently due to take her final exam in only six days¡¯ time. Meanwhile Ren, Rho, and Yi Fu all seemed to be making out well in the field on their own. As we yed, they shared stories of some of the oundish offworld cultivators they had taken on excursion. Like an entire troop of air-based cultivators who insisted on fighting an Awakened Stone Lizard only to be petrified one by one. Luckily the effect wore off in an hour and the boys got the entire group home by luring the lizard off into the swamp. It was a crazy story, but afterwards they all admitted that nothingpared to their first time out with me and the entric Li Gong Qui. We continued on, chatting andughing, and by the time the rain had stopped a few hourster, I felt more like my old self again¨C¨Cworry free for a bit, simply enjoying thepany of myrades. It was something I would surelye to miss when I¡¯d have to report to my new home in a few hours¡¯ time. ¡°Hey, Chun! Get your ass over here!¡± The vulgarity in Sumatra¡¯s tone broke me out of my short-lived bliss, bringing the Struggler and Demon back into contention over my soul. I got up from the card table and applied [Indifference] to keep the resentment off my face. I sauntered over to where he was, standing behind the service counter shuffling a bunch of request forms. No clients seemed to have arrived yet. Even the Imperial Guard and enforcers on duty were chatting amongst themselves closer towards the gate. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m putting you on half days as of now,¡± Sumatra said without even looking at me. ¡°You report two hours before noon and then leave two hours after. Got it?¡± I blinked. ¡°What the hell am I supposed to do in only four hours?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± he said, sounding agitated. ¡°Whatever the hell you want, I guess.¡± He then looked me sternly in the eye. ¡°But when I call for you to give a tour, you know what the hell that means, right?¡± He didn¡¯t have to exin it. ¡°I guess you got a message from Hong Feng?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t gloat, you little shit,¡± he said¡ªeven though I wasn¡¯t¡ªand then mmed something on the counter. ¡°Here. Your monthly stipend and your wages in advance. Hong Feng said he¡¯ll pay you this way, through me¡­until you can prove yourself or some shit. Whatever the hell that means.¡± When I looked, I saw he had mmed four Taels of silver down on the counter. I couldn¡¯t contain the widening of my eyes. Was this how much people got paid for being in a sect? No wonder so many were itching to join one. Or maybe this was more special treatment courtesy of Hong Feng. I scooped up the money and pocketed it without saying a word. ¡°It¡¯s time for you to go already,¡± Sumatra said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± He looked back down at his paperwork and began ignoring me. I took that as my cue to leave. It was still mid-afternoon with no clients in sight. My co-workers were still ying cards but with blood money in my pocket, I didn¡¯t feel worthy to join them anymore. ¡°I¡¯m on a new schedule,¡± I announced as I walked back to them and began collecting my things. ¡°Sumatra has me on half days now.¡± ¡°What?¡± Mu Lin said, sounding concerned. ¡°Why?¡± I shrugged with [Indifference]. ¡°Don¡¯t know. Don¡¯t care. It¡¯ll give me more time to sleep in anyway.¡± Leeughed, giving me a fist bump. ¡°Now that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about.¡± Mu Lin still looked worried though. ¡°Getting a pay cut isn¡¯t a good thing, Chun. Are we losing business or something? Sure doesn¡¯t look like it.¡± ¡°Hell if I know, but don¡¯t worry about me, Mu Lin. You just need to focus on that exam,¡± I said, ruffling her hair yfully, which caused her to bat away my hands in annoyance. ¡°Pass that thing and being a handler will be a thing of the past for you. Six days, right?¡± She rolled her eyes, while fixing her hair. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me.¡± Iughed. ¡°You¡¯ll do fine.¡± I looked at them all again and couldn¡¯t help but feel I was being pulled further away from the person I was and more into the persona I was ying. I was a Fire Bird now, and it was time to finally join their ranks. ¡°I¡¯ll see you guyster,¡± I said as an emptiness filled me and then even more so as I looked at Sumatra. ¡°Stay safe out there.¡± * * * An hourter, I finally dragged myself to the Fire Bird headquarters where Du Mak greeted me at the door. The bald headed, goateed cultivator was all smiles. ¡°Ah, so you¡¯re finally here,¡± he said. ¡°Shen Ju said to show you to your quarters before bringing you to him. Follow me.¡± As he led me inside through the training area, I got the same res from my brethren that I had received before, but only now they came with the added vor of resentment. Surprisingly though, Du Mak was spewing a bit of lemonade. ¡°So, did you notice?¡± Du Mak asked. I paused, wondering what he was talking about. ¡°Notice what?¡± ¡°That I didn¡¯t ask you for a rematch,¡± he said, looking over his shoulder at me. ¡°That means I concede.¡± ¡°Is that right? So we¡¯re all good then?¡± Heughed. ¡°If I knew you were so strong, Brother Chun, I never would have challenged you, but now¡­knowing that I survived two full ps from the man who killed Yin Chu, I¡¯ve gained much respect within the sect. I may even be moved from door duty soon.¡± I chuckled. ¡°d I could help out.¡± ¡°So did you really kill him with a single technique like they say?¡± I nced at him quizzically. ¡°Weren¡¯t you there?¡± He smiled sheepishly. ¡°I was, ah¡­ still recovering from ourst match at the time.¡± Iughed. ¡°I see. Well¡­I guess you can say it was a single technique.¡± If you can call popping a man¡¯s head off with your fist a technique, I thought. Du Mak whistled. ¡°You must be very strong indeed. Where did you learn these techniques?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I pped a lot of faces.¡± Du Mak looked at me strangely, before finallyughing. ¡°Ah, I get it. You like to joke. Yin Chu was never much of a joker. Maybe that¡¯s why he lost against you.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. Du Mak continued to yammer on about various other members of the Sect, but without knowing their names or who they were I couldn¡¯t really care. Still, I put on a smile for the guy as he led me to the upper floors of the building to where the walls between what used to be apartments were cleared out to makerge open barracks filled with cots. ¡°Well, this is it,¡± he said, leading me to a single cot with a small chest at the foot and a small pillow and nket at the head. It looked no better than what I had at home, maybe even a little worse, but worst of all was having to live with twenty other cultivators judging by the number of cots in the room. The thought made my me dim. I did not want to be here. ¡°Okay, pack away your things and dress in the robe that¡¯s inside the chest,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to see Brother Shen Ju.¡± He waited while I stowed my clothes and belongings and then put on the red robe with white trim. ¡°Huh?¡± he said, pinching the white sleeve of my robe. ¡°They gave you an initiate¡¯s robe?¡± I shrugged with [Indifference]. ¡°Guess I¡¯m on probation.¡± Du Mak furrowed his brow. ¡°I guess so. Oh well, try not to make a fuss. If youin they¡¯ll only ride you harder.¡± What the hell? ¡°Who will?¡± Du Mask gave me a frown. ¡°Whoever Brother Shen Ju assigns you to.¡± Ire started to build within my gut as the noose further closed around my neck. I was starting to hate this ce more than the empire already. But this was what I¡¯d signed up for, I reminded myself. As Du Mak led me to find Shen Ju, I took advantage of the only silver lining to be had from all of this and quietly began cultivating my inner angst into Frenzy. But that led to remembering what I truly needed to get out of this ce, besides gaining my sect status, of course. ¡°Hey, Du Mak,¡± I said. ¡°Master Hong Feng said there was a fundamental technique that I should try to master right away. He said it was something to mask or vor your Qi?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± he said, stopping. ¡°You know about [Devil¡¯s Shadow] already?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± I said, rolling with the conversation. ¡°¡­that was the name. [Devil¡¯s Shadow]. Where can I start learning it? Is there a manual I can find in the library?¡± Du Mak scratched his bald head. ¡°I can¡¯t recall. I learned from Brother Tong when I became a disciple.¡± ¡°Can he teach me too?¡± ¡°No way,¡± he said. ¡°He¡¯s already dead. But it¡¯s a simple technique. Even I could probably teach you.¡± ¡°Could you?¡± I asked. I sensed I¡¯d pushed it a bit too far as Du Mak put on a grimace. ¡°I¡¯d probably have to check if I have permission. I¡¯m not supposed to teach anyone, anything. I¡¯m still only an outer disciple and, you¡­are on probation at the moment.¡± ¡°No worries,¡± I said quickly, not wanting to make a point of it. ¡°I¡¯ll guess I¡¯ll pick it up in time.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very simple,¡± he said. ¡°Only took me eight months to learn.¡± Eight months? What the hell? The hallway we were traversing deadened at some stairs and Du Mak led me back down to the training room floor. Entering a side room filled with weights and sandbags, we found Shen Ju. He had his back to us, counting reps while overseeing a group of ten or so Fire Birds who were performing sit-ups with heavy stone weights on their chests. Du Mak waited while the setpleted with Shen Ju counting up to fifty before he finally stopped. Du Mak then whispered in his ear and Shen Ju finally turned to face me, a smirk on his lips as he looked me up and down. ¡°I see the uniform fits,¡± he said. ¡°The colors too.¡± A few of the Fire Birds behind him snickered and I noted they were dressed in all red robes. Lesser disciples I figured, seeing as theycked the orange stripes of the full-blown members. ¡°Did Hong Feng say I was to report to you?¡± I asked. ¡°All initiates report to me,¡± he said, before turning to Du Mak. ¡°You may leave.¡± Du Mak bowed and quickly saw himself out. Shen Ju stepped before me with the pride of a man who held power over one stronger than himself. Just the sight of it red my insides with fresh anger. I sensed a sudden burst of Dark Frenzy and before I knew it, his hand had moved in a blur, striking me in my Dantian. Pain exploded from my mending wound, doubling me over as a moan escaped my lips. ¡°There! You see, students?¡± he said, turning his back to me and to his ss. ¡°No matter one¡¯s strength. One must always learn humility in the face of a superior within the sect.¡± He then turned back to me, grinning. ¡°Our dear new initiate here, Brother Chun, as powerful as he is, is yet to learn these basic precepts. Let us help him on his path, shall we? Everyone up!¡± ¡°Yes, Elder Brother!¡± they all shouted in unison, jumping to their feet. ¡°Go now, one by one. Teach Brother Chun to bow as I have.¡± What the¡­? Before I could even steady myself, the bastards lined up and started punching me in the gut. The pain from my wound winded me. Keeping me bent over until I finally mustered the Frenzy to protect myself with [Iron Skin]. But the technique didn¡¯t work well over the still-mending wound, the Qi from the core interfering with it somehow. The thought made me doubly irate. One: that Shen Ju was even subjecting me to this bullshit and two: that in my current state, I was giving him the satisfaction of a reaction. I gritted my teeth as I took it nheless, feeling like I was back on that stump in the middle of the square again. A man subjugated by perversews and forced toply with torture of his own free will. Anger and rage seethed upwards from my me, locking my jaw in ce, but I used [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to keep myself under control and took the beatings blow by blow as they allughed and jeered like I was some game at a carnival. I bowed with each hit and finally when they were all done, Shen Ju sent them back to doing sit-ups again. ¡°Next time,¡± Shen Ju said. ¡°You will remember to bow when you see me, yes?¡± The Struggler nearly lost his grip as I forced myself to speak. ¡°Yes, Elder Brother.¡± Shen Ju smiled. ¡°Good. Now find a mop and go clean the dormitories. I expect you to bepleted before supper.¡± New anger red. ¡°That wasn¡¯t the deal. Master Hong Feng said I would have ess to the library undisturbed to study and train.¡± ¡°He did,¡± Shen Ju said before leaning towards me and grinning in my face. ¡°At night.¡± I blinked, taken aback. Was that what he¡¯d said? ¡°And it is a long time from night, now,¡± Shen Ju continued. ¡°Thus, until that time. You belong to me. And for a new initiate, you must learn to serve your elder brothers.¡± Son of a bitch, I thought. ¡°Now go!¡± Shen Ju barked at me like a dog. ¡°Go clean our rooms. And quickly.¡± Chapter 44 I was reduced to little more than a ve for the next four hours, cultivating Frenzy while I busted my ass. The Struggler was having a damn field day, the Demon roiling furiously in his cage while I kept my anger pent up deep inside. After sweeping, mopping and tidying the dorms, Shen Ju sent me to clean thetrines. My dad used to tell me stories like this about when he was in the army, but I barely paid attention to them back then. Now it was the only think I could think of as I bit my lip and scrubbed a damn toilet. This shit had to be way worse than being in the army, I thought. When I finally got done, I was allowed to go eat in the dining hall, which was located on the top-most floor, next to the kitchen. But before that, I had to join a handful of other simrly dressed initiates to serve soup and noodles to our more senior brethren. I was starving by the time they allowed us to eat, and thankfully they gave us amon pot of food to eat from. Knowing the death threat from Shen Ju, I wouldn¡¯t put it past him to try and poison me on the first day. The food was absent of any real vor. The same as the conversation between the six or seven of us initiates as we sat down at a table to eat together. All of them were younger than me, but had probably been in the sect a lot longer. A couple of them nced at me with a measure of awe, knowing my reputation for killing Yin Chu perhaps, but the rest held the same disdain as the bulk of the sect, it seemed. I kept to myself after dinner, avoiding contact with anyone as I sat on my cot waiting for nightfall. Thankfully most of my roommates kept their distance from me as I sent out a low-key aura of [Fear the me], but eventually a group of four of them gathered a few cots away, whispering between themselves as they stared at me like some kind of zoo exhibit. ¡°What do you think he did?¡± one of them said.¡°It¡¯s punishment for killing Yin Chu, obviously.¡± ¡°Who cares? Master Hong Feng has put him in his rightful ce. No one should start at the top.¡± ¡°Yes, especially as a Terran. Master Hong Feng said they are the most useless fodder the empire has ever seen.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m just d I was born Yee.¡± They allughed and chuckled after that. I listened while they continued to specte about my source of power and my position within the sect, taking it all in with a mask of [Indifference]. Inwardly, I focused on my cultivation, turning the anger and resentment building within my heart into sweet, concentrated Frenzy. If there was any silver lining to this ce, it was that. So far, being in the Fire Bird Sect was generating me a shit load of Frenzy. Hopefully I¡¯d have the opportunity to unleash it on them all someday. These four jackoffs in particr. ¡°Master Hong Feng has summoned you,¡± someone called from the doorway, and I saw it was the same portly doorman with the eyebrows who I¡¯d encountered earlier. Ju Gong, I recalled his name was. Grabbing my lightning and fundamentals manual, I got up and followed him downstairs, eliciting fresh stares of resentment from the jackoffs due to being summoned by the master, no doubt. Ju Gong led me to a closed door somewhere on the second floor where Hong Feng was waiting for me. He grinned. ¡°Adjusting well to your new home, Brother Chun?¡± I remembered to bow before I spoke. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s quite a nice ce, Master Hong Feng.¡± He harrumphed at the ice in my tone. ¡°I will show you where you can study.¡± Dismissing Ju Gong, he led me inside where a small room was outfitted with several bookshelves, a prayer mat and a small desk and chair. ¡°You have ess to all of this,¡± Hong Feng said, gesturing to the bookshelves. ¡°And you may work aste as you like. You may even sleep here as well.¡± That sounded a lot more appealing than sleeping with those assholes. I nced up and down the shelves. There were titles on history and philosophy and some manuals on cultivation. Too many to digest in a brief scan. ¡°Is there a manual here for learning the techniques you showed me the other day?¡± He paused for a second, looking at me as if I just asked for a thousand Taels of silver. And hell, maybe I had. Finally, heughed. ¡°Such a thing must be earned, Brother Chun. Both through blood and trust.¡± I guess that was to be expected. Sharing contraband martial manuals was one thing, but showing me the secrets to an illegal form of cultivation was another. But I had no interest in learning how to be a soul-sucking demon. The ability to mask my Frenzy like them however was a different story. ¡°I was more referring to the ability to bolster your spiritual aspect as a mask. The one you use to keep hidden from the empire. I think that might help me in my breakthrough of the lightning technique.¡± I purposefully pulled on ourmon hatred of the empire to elicit trust, but by the frown on his face it wasn¡¯t enough. He finally just tapped on the desk where a stack of paper and pen was prepared. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you can produce first,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°A secret for a secret. See you in the morning, Brother Chun.¡± * * * Hours went by as I leafed through the books of the library. There were more history books than anything else, records of thousands of years of Imperial conquest over hundreds if not thousands of worlds. Some of it was interesting but I didn¡¯t have time to waste on that. By the time I finished cataloging what was actually useful, I wound up with a more detailed version of the fundamentals manual and several tomes on fire aspect cultivation. This had to be their lowest grade of library, I figured. Hong Feng had a better selection from his chest full of ck-market wares than this. This was probably what was avable to all outer disciples and initiates. Especially the fire manuals. Which was perhaps more of a front than a fundamental core teaching. It made me wonder if all Fire Bird Sects were rooted in this demonic heritage, or if perhaps only this particr branch was. Maybe the hundred or so history books would have the answer, but likely this was a localized thing. Hong Feng did say the Yee had conquered his homeworld and forced them to assimte. Perhaps fire was the easiest aspect they could use to mask their Dark Frenzy cultivation. It made me wonder if lightning would be any easier. I didn¡¯t know, of course, but to even get that far I needed to create lightning first. That spurred me into action, and I paged through the lightning manual even though I had already memorized it. I knew the meridian sequences, the core of the techniques, but without solid Frenzy, there seemed no way to turn my me into a spark. I tried nheless, aiming to condense my liquified Frenzy even further. Test after test, all I could create was a ball of fire in my palm. I referred to the fundamentals manual again. Foundation Establishment 1st Qi Gathering 2nd Qi Channeling 3rd Qi Body Refinement 4th Qi Mental Refinement 5th Qi concentration 6th Qi Manifestation (internal) 7th Qi Manifestation (external) 8th Qi Condensing 9th Qi Hardening ording to the path of ascension, I was certainly on the 9th Tier of Foundation Establishment by now. I had pretty much maxed out everything else. The thought made me pause for a minute. Frenzy wise, I was only a Foundation Realm cultivator, but I had just defeated someone who was a Core Realm Qi cultivator. Was the power of my me a whole bracket above normal cultivation standards? So far it seemed to be. But did that mean I¡¯d be fighting Gold Bracket cultivators when I reached Core, or Jade and Diamond Bracket cultivators when I reached Sacred Soul? The idea stirred a hunger and thirst for power within me. It seemed almost too good to be true, but Threja did say Berserkers were feared for a reason. Everything I¡¯d experienced thus far pointed to that being the case, that the Frenzied me was on an entirely different tier than Qi cultivation. Perhaps Hong Feng knew this as well. Which was why he was affording me so many privileges to unlock my secrets. But I¡¯d have to take advantage of them quickly. I could only bullshit Hong Feng for so long. Sooner orter he was going to figure out I was selling him a lie. Still, this was perhaps the trickiest part of my path thus far. I was skirting the edge of my me, but only by learning how to mask my abilitiespletely and gaining open eptance in the wider society could I truly let my powers soar to the heavens. I¡¯d gotten a taste of that when I¡¯d fought Yin Chu. I was outssed in skill, but it didn¡¯t matter. In the end, strength was all it took. And being able to wield that strength freely in the arena and on the streets was why I needed that bastard Hong Feng to sign those papers and make me a bona fide sect member. And for that I needed to create lightning. I scoured the fundamentals manual for what it took for Qi solidification. After an hour I had pretty much found the same result in both books and it was what I already knew. It took a shitload of Qi to make a breakthrough to the Core Realm and solidify Qi. Most did so by using potions and pills created from high-quality beast cores harvested from S-rank monsters. Either that or mountains of spirit stones. But what was the equivalent of that for me? My generation of Frenzy depended on the challenge I faced. Maybe I¡¯d have to challenge something so massive it¡¯d pretty much kill me. Like an S ss maybe¡­ Suddenly that thought reminded me of something else. There was one more requirement for me to break through to the next realm. I recalled Threja¡¯s words to me, the image of the giantess forming in my mind¡¯s eye. ¡°The [Death Mastery] technique I mentioned earlier is one of our core ts. You cannot break through into higher realms of cultivation without advancing it. Your next advancement will be to gain mastery over the fear of certain death.¡± [Death Mastery]¡­ that was the key. And the fear of certain death¡­that was my next teau. But what would that mean in practical terms? I let out a sigh. ¡°One step at a time,¡± I told myself. Before I could do any of that I needed to be able to cut loose. And that meant learning this secret technique from the Fire Birds. And for that, I needed to offer up something to Hong Feng. A secret for a secret. I let out a sigh and prepared for what I needed to do next. Then, sitting to the desk, I picked up the pen and began to write. * * * ¡°What is this?¡± Hong Feng said, squinting at my page full of prose. I¡¯d stayed writing till past midnight, sleeping on the floor. As promised, Hong Feng hade to find me early in the morning. His eyes flicked back and forth over the Yee characters, his brow deeply furrowed. ¡°Shura 1: The path of fury. Fury within the heart of the strong is profane, but Fury within the heart of the weak is strength. Train your fury through a thousand ps to the face. If you are one of strength, choose one who is lesser than you. If you are one of weakness, choose one who is stronger than you. Contemte on the Fury this generates in your heart and you will have made the first step towards mastering your inner rage.¡± Hong Feng red at it even more skeptically as he finished reading. I¡¯d written a lot more¡ªdetails on how to prepare your face to be pped, meridians to focus on. It wasn¡¯tplete bullshit. I¡¯d borrowed a few pieces from the orb and the [Indifference] technique, but it was definitely all made up. Hong Feng cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Face pping?¡± I shrugged with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°It¡¯s what I did to start. If you don¡¯t believe me, ask Du Mak. He¡¯ll tell you.¡± He harrumphed again. ¡°Du Mak?¡± ¡°He¡¯s the man.¡± He seemed even less convinced, but I didn¡¯t care. I knew his curiosity was piqued enough to follow through. After another second or so, he confirmed it. ¡°Ju Gong!¡± he called into the hallway and a momentter the portly cultivator appeared. ¡°Yes, master?¡± ¡°Send Du Mak to meet me in my study,¡± he said and then pausing a moment he added, ¡°And tell him to bring a glove.¡± Ju Gong bowed and then ran off. I had to use [Indifference] to keep fromughing. I could only imaging how their first face pping session would go. Just as he was about to leave, I stopped Hong Feng by tapping on the stack of papers on the desk. ¡°Um¡­I believe you said a secret for a secret?¡± Hong Feng squinted at me for a moment as if surprised I was asking him to deliver on his promise, but finally he grabbed the pen and wrote down a series of characters. He handed it to me and it looked like steps in a meridian opening sequence. ¡°The masking technique you¡¯re so interested in,¡± he said. ¡°Part of it.¡± He then shook the script I¡¯d written in his hands. ¡°You will get more, when I get more of this.¡± As he turned and walked away, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if we weren¡¯t both ying each other. Who was to say if what he had written down was any more credible than the nonsense I had. Fortunately for me, there was no way for him to fact check my scribbles. But for him, I had the perfect way to get to the truth. After his face pping session with Hong Feng, I would have to seek out Du Mak. Chapter 45 With my core wound pretty much healed, I hoped to get in a bit of physical training after breakfast, but not surprisingly Shen Ju had other ns for me. After arriving in the downstairs training area where most of the sect had gathered for morning exercises, he immediately called me over to him and then led me through the iron doors and towards the basement downstairs. ¡°You can pay penance for your sins by cleaning Yin Chu¡¯s blood,¡± he said, pointing to the rust-brown stains on the concrete floor. He then handed me a scrubbing brush and bucket. ¡°Make sure it¡¯s spotless before I return.¡± After his endless ve driving yesterday, I was starting to have enough of his shit. It was time to push back a little. I took the brush and bucket with a stoic grimace of [Indifference]. ¡°No problem. I¡¯ll make sure to rub out everyst trace of your sword brother¡¯s existence for you, Brother Shen Ju.¡± The look of shock on his face was rivaled only by the sudden spike of anger in his soul. I fed on it with [Your Rage is my Strength] and then dumped it full st into my [Fear the me] technique. The sudden shift in dynamics between us caught him off guard and I used the opportunity let him know exactly who held the true advantage over whom in our little battle of power. His mouth hung open for a moment, not knowing how to respond, but he eventually choked back his fear and then waved his hand dismissively. ¡°I do not have time for this. Just get it done.¡± With that he left. I expected Shen Ju to leave via the stairs heading back to the ground floor, but strangely he went down the stairs and to the bottom of the basement instead. Curious, I watched to see where he was going and saw him disappear inside one of therge tunnels protruding through the back wall of the basement. Where the hell is he going? I wondered. As I descended the stairs to get a better look, several more cultivators arrived at the top of the stairs and pushed their way past me, heading down to the basement as well. There were about five of them in all and strangely they weren¡¯t dressed in their normal red and orange robes. Thinking back, Shen Ju wasn¡¯t wearing his normal robes either¡ªall of them instead wore in brown attire, the same as when Hong Feng came to see me alone. And then, just like Shen Ju they disappeared down the tunnel. What the hell? Were they heading to another part of the headquarters perhaps? I was about to follow after them, just to see what was down there, when a troop full of cultivators arrived, dressed in their red and orange robes, clearly not part of whatever Shen Ju was up to. It was just as well. Now wasn¡¯t the right time to go snooping around. Maybe it was something I could investigateter on¡ªperhaps at night when I was studying alone. The two dozen or so Fire Birds who had just entered began practicing forms while I got to scrubbing the floor. As I kept my body busy with the shit work, I observed the free lesson. Most practiced with the sword, the straight jian de, but a few used spears as well. It seemed to be a pure martial arts practice, with no use of Qi as far as I could tell. Not that I could sense Qi anyway, but I should have been able to detect their Dark Frenzy if they used any. That immediately made me think of the meridian sequence I had alreadymitted to memory,pliments of Hong Feng. The sequence was made ofmon enough points and I could ess them well enough, but there definitely wasn¡¯t enough information to pull off an actual technique. After about an hour of scrubbing andpping up the free Frenzy from all the condescending res and snickers I got, I finally saw my opportunity to piece together the rest of the technique. Du Mak entered the basement looking for someone to ry a message it seemed, and when he turned to leave, I made a bee line for him, heading him off at the bottom of the stairs. ¡°Hey,¡± I called to him. ¡°Got a moment?¡± ¡°Ah, Brother Chun,¡± he said, observing the brush and bucket in my hands with a smile. ¡°Has Brother Shen Ju found more ways to punish you already?¡± I smirked. ¡°Something like that. Hey look, Master Hong Feng shared the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique with me.¡± ¡°He did?¡± ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m not sure if I wrote everything down correctly when he recited it to me. Could you have a quick look to see if I missed anything?¡± ncing over my shoulder to make sure the other cultivators couldn¡¯t see, I quickly slipped the paper with Hong Feng¡¯s scribbles to Du Mak. He snatched it from me and frowned as he studied the characters. ¡°Nine hells! You must be a worse student than even me. You missed out more than half of it!¡± I feigned shock. ¡°I did? I was real sleepy at the time. Maybe I passed out in the middle of it.¡± ¡°You must have, you oaf!¡± He then pointed to a section of the script. ¡°See here, you missed the transition to Tai Yang meridian.¡± ¡°I did?¡± ¡°Yes¡­and also¡ª¡± ¡°Hey just fill them in for me,¡± I said, cutting him off. ¡°I don¡¯t want to look like an idiot in front of Master Hong Feng to have to go and ask him to recite it to me twice.¡± ¡°Yes, you would be an idiot to do that.¡± Du Mak reached into his robes and withdrew a pencil. ¡°This one first not that one, and then this one here¡­¡± he said, scribbling down the information. I smiled inwardly, thrilled at how easy it was to manipte him. All of them really, even Hong Feng. Perhaps the Fire Bird Sect wasn¡¯t known for their wits. I then noticed Du Mak wrote a character simr to the one I¡¯d found in the lightning manual. The one I needed Mu Lin¡¯s help to interpret¨C¨CJing. It was simr but not quite. I pointed to it. ¡°This one means spiritual root essence, right?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°What the hells is that? It just means your elemental core, like your Dantian.¡± ¡°How¡¯s that work?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t Hong Feng exin it?¡± ¡°I was asleep, remember?¡± He shook his head, simultaneously disgusted but at the same time prideful for being able to show off his superior knowledge over mine. ¡°It works like a perfume,¡± he said. ¡°You tap a little of your pure core elemental and then spray it onto your Qi. A little goes a long way. When you master it, you can just leave it on all the time.¡± I looked at the fully described technique¡ªDu Mak¡¯s chicken-scratch pencil marks in between Hong Feng¡¯s ink. It indeed looked simple enough. Far simpler than most techniques I¡¯d learned thus far. How it took Du Mak eight months to master it was beyond me, but I was thankful to the guy for helping me out. ¡°Thanks, Du Mak,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll have toe find you to practice itt¡ª¡± My words were cut off by a loud banging from behind me. When I turned about, I saw Shen Ju had returned riding atop a skiff which he had just mmed to the floor, in a rapidnding. The other cultivators were with him and when they all hopped off the skiff, I saw something that cause my blood to freeze. There, lying bloodied on the deck of the skiff, were at least a half dozen bodies. I couldn¡¯t tell who they were, but something caught my eye immediately. The uniforms. Two of them were handlers. Small, darker skinned. The same build andplexion as the twins Ren and Rho. Please no, I thought as I edged closer, my heart pumping in my throat. The Fire Birds all paused in their training to move towards the skiff as I was, a small rally of cheers going up from them as Shen Ju ced his foot on the stack of bodies like a proud hunter returning with his spoils. The sight sickened me and made me all the more desperate to see just who it was he¡¯d killed, my me already beginning to ignite. When I finally got close enough, however, I didn¡¯t recognize the faces of the two dead boys in the skiff. They were from a different gate perhaps, but they were Terran for sure. I couldn¡¯t contain my anger as I red up at Shen Ju. The bastard looked down at me with a leer. ¡°What? Did you know them or something?¡± ¡°How¡¯d you get out into the wild?¡± It wasn¡¯t the question I wanted to ask, but I had to say something to keep from just killing him. It wasn¡¯t Ren or Rho, but it easily could have been. Or Lee, or Mu Lin. Still, I had too much riding on all this now to blow it on a cheap outburst of revenge. With a measure of focus, I trimmed my me and finally put the Struggler back in control. Shen Ju looked more than eager to answer my question. ¡°How did we get past the Imperial Guards you mean? I hear we can thank you for that.¡± I squinted at him. ¡°Thank me?¡± What the hell was he talking about? Eventually he continued. ¡°Master Hong Feng said it was from a botched job at your gate that the empire changed the rules. So we found this ce and made our own way past the barrier,¡± he said, jerking a thumb towards the huge tunnels. ¡°We should probably thank you. It took a hell of a lot of work, but it¡¯s a whole lot easier this way. Less messy than showing up at the gate to leave a trail.¡± Shit, I thought. All this time I was thinking that maybe there was no more killing going on since I hadn¡¯t gotten a job and no Fire Birds hade for an excursion, but I didn¡¯t give thought that the Fire Birds could have more Guard Keepers on their payroll besides Sumatra. Or that they had found a new way past the gates themselves. There was a gate for each cardinal direction, eight in all. How many of them did they control? Most? All of them? How many people were being killed like this now? Whole excursion parties simply lost and assumed to have been killed by monsters. Although being killed by monsters wasn¡¯t too far from the truth. I looked down at the dead bodies again. Aside from the two Terran handlers, all of them looked from off world. Their throats were slit along with their bellies and from the small wooden box in Shen Ju¡¯s hand, it was clear he¡¯d already harvested their cores. I fought down the disgust and bile rising in my throat, the anger and rage that came with it. ¡°What do you do with the bodies?¡± I asked. ¡°Dump them back in the wild before the moonrise,¡± he said. ¡°Less chance of another group running into them beforehand.¡± He then grinned. ¡°Why? Do you want to pay some respects to your fallen countrymen or something?¡± He began tough and a few of his disgusting followersughed with him. I had to use an elephant-sized dose of Frenzy to mask my contempt with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I replied. ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I just wanted to be sure you¡¯re doing things right. We don¡¯t need the empire making any more rules.¡± With that I turned to walk away but Shen Ju called out after me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said. ¡°Your gate is on the roster next. I¡¯ll ensure that you¡¯ll be there in person¡­¡± He then paused to give me another sickening leer. ¡°¡­to make sure we do it right.¡± Chapter 46 I lodged my axe deep into the skull of the giant rapling, splitting it open like a coconut. The beast hissed and fell to the ground in a twitching, bloody mess, but then grew still when I finally ripped my axe free. I stood over the corpse of the D-ss monster, breathing heavily and wishing it was Shen Ju¡¯s head that I¡¯d just split open. It was mid-afternoon now and I was back out in the wild. When I arrived in the morning after leaving the Fire Birds, I was still so disgusted by everything that I could barely look at Sumatra, much less stomach spending the whole day with him, standing around packing bags or some shit. Thankfully, the two-handler rule only applied to when he had clients, so the Imperial Guard let me through easily on the lie that I was going to lend support to one of the groups already out in the field. I got to cultivating right away after that, eager to get my mind off what I had witnessed down in that basement. So far, I had worked through a few dozen rapling nests, using my [Bloodlust] from the kills to generate a constant stream of Frenzy that Ipressed and cultivated into my steadily growing Dantian. But it still felt like barely enough. Certainly not enough to make lightning. I toyed with the idea of perhaps facing something much greater to trigger the breakthrough to the next realm. Or to achieve Frenzy solidification at least. But what would it take? I¡¯d already fought a B-ss monster. Would it take an A ss? An S?Rarely did cultivators even seek out prey like that. The closest we had in the area were the giant reaper beasts that roamed the barren ins to the north. Just the thought of those giant, half-baboon, half-reptile, zombie-looking things filled me with an uneasiness. I¡¯d only ever seen one in a book of course. Trying to take one on solo at my level certainly sounded like certain death, but the idea sounded too crazy to try as well. Maybe I just wasn¡¯t ready yet. I distracted myself from myck of advancement by practicing the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique, opening and closing the meridians in the sequence that was on the paper. Unfortunately for me, there was no way to tell if I was doing it right or not. I couldn¡¯t sense the ¡°Qi¡± I was supposed to be ¡®spraying¡¯ onto my Frenzy to mask it, so the best I could do was just go through the motions and hope I was getting it right. Still, after doing it all morning in between kills, I figured I had it down pretty good. It worked sort of like a toggle switch. Once I lined up the meridians, I could trigger it on, leaving it that way and have it activated passively or switching itpletely off. Again, how it took Du Mak eight months to master it was baffling. Then again, he was also the guy who got tricked into a face pping contest. I spent another hour cultivating Frenzy and taking out my frustrations on mindless spirit beasts, before finally heading back in from the field. I skipped going to the Fire Bird headquarters right away and instead headed to the arena. I needed to blow off more steam and sparring with Gui Zu till sundown was a much better option than being bossed around by the likes of Shen Ju all afternoon. When I arrived at the arena it was still early, and the scheduled Iron Bracket matches weren¡¯t due to start until a few hourster. That meant there were plenty of rings free to rent. I approached the counter inside thepetitors¡¯ area and the official, Bo Ren, caught sight of me, his face lighting up with recognition right away. ¡°Bull Man!¡± he said with a smile. ¡°I see you¡¯re doing well. Your recovery was fast.¡± I had to remember that from myst time seeing him I was still recovering from my tussle with the broodmother. I¡¯d been through at least two full recoveries since then, but the timing worked out nicely, I supposed. ¡°Yeah, that was a bad bite,¡± I said. ¡°Well, I¡¯m d you healed up in time. Your preliminary match ising up soon. Are you here to register?¡± I looked up at the Iron Bracket leaderboard glowing behind him and had a grim reminder of why I still needed to put up with the Fire Birds¡¯ bullshit to take part in the event. The 100petitors for the Iron Bracket were all listed by number and true to his word, Bo Ren had reserved slot number 93 for me, the details behind the number listed as . But next to every other number on the board there was a string of information that I couldn¡¯t hope toplete for myself. I focused on the list closest to my number. Rank Name Sect Affiliation Aspect Element Cultivation Realm and Tier Current Standing 92 Blue Mantis Blue Lotus Sect Water Core 1st 92 93 94 Hui Kwon Iron Crane Sect Metal Foundation 9th Eliminated 95 Y¡¯miris Frozen w Sect Ice Foundation 9th 93 96 Lady Silver Sparrow Silver Leaf Sect Metal Core 4th 14 97 Li Wu Unaffiliated None Foundation 6th Eliminated 98 Red Tiger Crimson Dragon Sect Fire Foundation 7th Eliminated 99 Xhu Tung Unaffiliated None Foundation 6th Withdraw 100 Rahib Zhu Unaffiliated None Foundation 5th Eliminated A huge lump of iron formed in the pit of my stomach as I stared at the list. I was expecting the sect name to be listed, but not the aspect and cultivation levels. ¡°Official Bo Ren,¡± I said with a polite tone. ¡°Why do they list your aspect and cultivation level? And how do they even measure it?¡± ¡°One of the official tournament schrs does it,¡± he said. ¡°Your aspect and cultivation level makes a huge difference for the match ups. We want matches to be entertaining and bnced, not a ughter fest, so we try and cepetitors within a few tiers of one another. The aspect matters for that too. Fire is weak to water but strong against metal, et cetera. So sometimes we can bnce the matches that way. ce a lower-tier opponent against a higher tier of a weaker aspect.¡± I recalled the circr elemental wheel from the cultivation manuals. I guess it made sense when thinking of the matching strengths like that. Bo Ren then leaned closer with a grin. ¡°They y an even bigger role when ite to the odds in the betting pools, but you didn¡¯t hear that from me.¡± Iughed at his joke, but I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off the list. I looked at number 96 in particr, Lady Silver Sparrow, probably one of Hein¡¯s distant cousins or something. Although there were probably dozens of Lady so-and-so¡¯s walking around Jurin province. She must have been ate registration or something to be starting out at 96th rank, but she had climbed to rank 14 already and the tournament had only been open a few days. But then remembering what Bo Ren said, it probably made sense that she was matched with the Rank 15petitor or something based on her cultivation level. I blew out a sigh. A 4th-Tier Core Realm cultivator and royal member of the ruling n. If it took someone of her pedigree to break into the top 20, then no way in hell could I register as an unaffiliated jack-off and do the same. That kind of ranking was fit only for the bottom of the list apparently. Not to mention, if I did register now, once they tested me, I¡¯d have no way to exin my lightning aspect and have no way to create lightning to boot. Well shit, I thought. Looks like I really am screwed. It was one thing to hear it from Hong Feng, but to see it with my own eyes really put the gravity of my current situation into perspective. I was still an outcast in this realm. An unaffiliated Terran. Even if I did enter and was strong enough get in the under 20 Rank¡ªand considering Lady Silver Sparrow that was looking like a pretty big if right now¡ªI¡¯d be branded an anomaly or heretic and hauled off by the imperial goons before I even stepped off the mat. Hong Feng was right. I needed to be in a sect to participate here. Which meant I needed that bastard to sign and submit that Furious Lightning Sect paperwork right away. ¡°How long do I have before I need to register?¡± I asked. Bo Ren puffed his cheeks as he looked up at the board. ¡°We have about 4 or 5 matches a night. Iron Brackets fights run for 30 minutes each. But, as you can see, we¡¯re running out of the lower-rankedpetitors. Most of them have been eliminated already. You don¡¯t want to be stacked up against the likes of a high-tier Core Realm on your first time out.¡± I nced up at numbers 99 and 100, my current peer group¡ªtwo aspect-less, unaffiliateds who had already flunked out. I couldn¡¯t be rubbing shoulder with the likes of them. ¡°So, a week you think?¡± I asked. Bo Ren wobbled his head. ¡°For you, I could probably push it to four days. I¡¯ll make sure to leave at least one high-Tier Foundation-levelpetitor for you to match against. But after that no promises. And if you¡¯re a no show by day six, you¡¯ll probably be eliminated outright.¡± Damn, I really had to get moving. ¡°But hey,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re a crowd favorite, but no pressure. People spend years climbing the Iron Bracket. If you want to give this year a pass, there¡¯s no shame in it. You¡¯re qualified now, so you can re-enter any year you want.¡± I didn¡¯t have years to wait. I needed my citizenship now. ¡°No, I¡¯ll bepeting this year,¡± I said with confidence, my me backing up my conviction. ¡°I¡¯ll be registering in a couple of days.¡± * * * A few hourster, I was sitting with Gui Zu in the cheap bamboo chairs of an open-air restaurant, buying him dinner after our sparring session. Thete afternoon sun was dipping low, giving me about an hour or so before I would have to report back to the Fire Birds. Eating in the restaurant district was a nice change to the slop I¡¯d eatenst night, but my appetite just wasn¡¯t there. Still too much on my mind. Thankfully Gui Zu lived up to his promise and made short work of the multiple orders of noodles and steamed dumplings, eating my leftovers with ease. He¡¯d earned his pay too. We¡¯d spent a good two hours in the ring, me wearing my Bull Mask while we went at it with wooden weapons. We pushed ourselves perhaps as hard as we did when we fought each other for real¡ªGui Zu besting me more than a few times with his superior spear techniques. But, despite it all, the sparring session was little more than a distraction. Already I was rummaging through the catbs of my mind, trying to find a way I could push through and create lightning in only a matter of days. But was it even possible? ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Brother Max?¡± Gui Zu asked in between bites of a puffy shrimp dumpling. ¡°You don¡¯t seem yourself today.¡± I didn¡¯t know if it was my subpar performance in the ring or myck of appetite that had tipped Gui Zu off, but he was spot on with his deduction. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t really know how to respond to him. The weight of the world was on my shoulders, and I had no one but the Struggler to share it with. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said. ¡°Just got a bit on my mind.¡± ¡°Is it the tournament?¡± Gui Zu asked. I sighed. ¡°More or less.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a big step to move up into the Iron Bracket,¡± he said, reaching for another dumpling. ¡°I would say feeling nervous is quite normal.¡± I wish it were only the tournament I had to worry about, Gui Zu. But now I was having to work through a bunch of bullshit with Hong Feng and his ilk just to get the opportunity to qualify. And now I had added a stringent timeframe on top of that. Not to mention that I still needed to create lightning to pull it all off. Gui Zu poured wine into my empty cup. ¡°Here. This is the solution you need, my friend.¡± Heughed, showing off his jacked-up teeth and I couldn¡¯t help but smile at that. We raised cups together and I enjoyed the fiery warmth of the rice wine as it slipped down my gullet. We toasted a few more times, and I started to forget my stresses for a bit. Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was just Gui Zu¡¯s totally open and honest spirit, but I felt like I could tell this guy pretty much anything and it wouldn¡¯te back to bite me. Hell, I¡¯d already told him my real name. Something I hadn¡¯t even shared with Yu Li yet. Ah screw it, I thought. Hanging around at the arena, he¡¯d have to find out eventually. ¡°You know¡­I ended up joining the Fire Bird Sect,¡± I said. His eyes went wide and he nearly dropped his chopsticks in the hot chili oil. ¡°What? You did? Why didn¡¯t you say something? That¡¯s excellent news, Brother Max. Congrattions! We should order more wine to celebrate!¡± I cracked a smile. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not as great as it seems. I¡¯m just an initiate for now, but I¡¯m hoping to be¡­¡± How do I put this? ¡°¡­a specialist of sorts to enter the Iron Bracket.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± he said. ¡°A specialist?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± I didn¡¯t want to get any more detailed than that. But I supposed it didn¡¯t matter. If I were sessful, the whole world would soon know ¡°Bull Man¡± as a member of the Furious Lightning Sect. ¡°Until then though, I¡¯m scrubbing damn toilets and eating slop for dinner.¡± Gui Zu gave me another smile. ¡°Oh, I do miss those days. Good living in the sects. No matter how hard the work, you at least had a warm meal and a roof over year head every night.¡± His eyes saddened a bit and I felt something change inside of him as he picked away absently at a half-eaten dumpling. ¡°You are very blessed indeed, Brother Max.¡± ¡°Hey,¡± I said. ¡°Where are you staying right now, Gui Zu?¡± ¡°Me?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Sometimes I can get a cot with the brothers at the Shrine if I manage to get there early enough. Sometimes the arena lets me sleep in the basement too.¡± Holy shit, I thought. Here I was, lost in my own head, dealing with first-world problems while poor Gui Zu is out here living on the damn streets? A new sense of purpose filled me, pushing my problems to the side. It felt damn good to focus on fixing someone else¡¯s problems for once. ¡°Hey, look,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m still paying for my apartment, but I¡¯m staying at the sect now. So it¡¯s pretty much empty and avable.¡± Gui Zu¡¯s mouth hung open. ¡°Brother Max¡­ really? You¡¯d let me stay there?¡± I thought a moment more. Perhaps I could kill two birds with one stone here. ¡°Well¡­not for free,¡± I said. Gui Zu suddenly blushed, casting his gaze shamefully to the table. ¡°Yes, of course. Apologies if I gave that impression. I would find a way to pay you. You are already most generous¡ª¡± Iughed, slugging him on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m just shitting you, man. Of course you can stay there for free. But there is a favor I need from you in return.¡± Gui Zu looked up at me, tears nearly forming in his eyes. ¡°Anything, you name it.¡± ¡°Come with me,¡± I said, pushing away from the table. ¡°There¡¯s someone I want you to meet.¡± * * * We arrived in the square just before sunset, the food vendors filling the air with the savory aroma from their woks. I spotted Yu Li haggling with one of the farmers over a basket of vegetables, Su Ling strapped snugly to her back. I stopped Gui Zu and pointed to her. ¡°There she is,¡± I said. ¡°Yu Li and her daughter Su Ling.¡± Gui Zu stared with his mouth open. ¡°So, that¡¯s your sister? Wow. She¡¯s really pretty.¡± Iughed at his response. I never thought about Yu Li in that way, but I suppose she was an attractive girl. ¡°Come on. I¡¯ll introduce you. But remember, she knows me only as Chun and don¡¯t mention anything about the Fire Birds either. It¡¯ll just make her worry.¡± ¡°Got you,¡± he said with a nod. I led Gui Zu through the crowd of my former neighbors and got more than a few stares. Gui Zu was a big guy and had the poise of a trained fighter. And I was nearly as big as he was now. Together, I suppose we might have looked like a couple of thugs about to mess someone¡¯s shit up. Thankfully no one overreacted and the temperature in the square stayed calm. ¡°Yu Li,¡± I called to her with a wave, and she nced back at me with a smile of pleasant surprise. ¡°Chun?¡± ¡°I have someone I want you to meet,¡± I said, gesturing to Gui Zu. ¡°This is Gui Zu, my trainer.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± She looked up at him with a curious but cautious smile. ¡°Hello.¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to be staying at my ce for a bit. Gui Zu, this is my sister, Yu Li, and my niece, Su Ling.¡± Gui Zu gave her a polite bow. ¡°I¡¯m very honored to meet you, Sister Yu Li.¡± He then shook Su Ling¡¯s tiny hand with a finger, giving her a smile. ¡°And you as well, little one.¡± Yu Li suddenly gasped in horror and Su Ling began crying. Oh shit, I thought. I didn¡¯t warn her about the teeth! Poor Gui Zu seemed oblivious to it all though and just startedughing. ¡°I guess I¡¯m not that good with kids.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Yu Li said graciously, with a nervousugh. ¡°She¡¯s always like this when ites to meeting someone new.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± I said, quickly moving the conversation along. ¡°I¡¯ve asked Gui Zu to keep an eye out for you while he¡¯s staying here. Will that be all right?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Gui Zu said, giving her another bow. ¡°If you need anything at all, just ask. I¡¯m at your beck and call, Sister Yu Li.¡± Yu Li cocked a brow at me. ¡°Okay¡­well¡­good. Yes, I suppose. That¡¯s fine.¡± She finally smiled at Gui Zu politely again. ¡°Great,¡± I said, catching her by the elbow and pulling her to the side a bit. ¡°Just give us a moment please, Gui Zu.¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± he said with another jacked-up smile. ¡°Way to spring this on me, Chun,¡± Yu Li said in a whisper. ¡°Yeah, sorry, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. But anyway, this guy can beat me in the ring sometimes. So if Jian Yi starts any more crap, he¡¯ll be here to handle it. Plus, he¡¯s a really nice guy in general. I trust himpletely. You¡¯ll like him, I¡¯m sure.¡± Yu Li nced at Gui Zu as he stood somewhat awkwardly away from us, politely waiting for us to finish our conversation. ¡°Well, he does look capable enough. What is he? Six foot?¡± ¡°You¡¯re worried about how tall he is?¡± ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s a better feature than his teeth.¡± She gave me a silly grin and I nudged her. ¡°Be nice,¡± I said, but suddenly I felt guilty as hell. I¡¯d have to find some way to fix his teethter on. I was the one responsible for giving him that smile, after all. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s all part of his charm. You¡¯ll see.¡± I turned back to Gui Zu and tossed him my keys. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve got to get going. Yu Li, you can show him where it is, right?¡± She beamed him a smile. ¡°Sure. Please,e with me, Mr. Gui Zu.¡± ¡°Thanks again, Brother Chun,¡± he said, giving me a bow and then reaching down, he picked up Yu Li¡¯s vegetable basket. ¡°Please, let me help you with this.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± she said, surprised, and blushed a little. ¡°Thank you. Please follow me.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I watched them disappear towards the apartment blocks, the both of them chatting away. From the corner of my eye, I sensed something and spotted Jian Yi ring at me and I got the keen sense that she¡¯d been watching us the entire time. I put on a smile of [Indifference] and nodded to her. She cut her eyes at me in return. I chuckled. Looks like that¡¯s one problem solved, at least. As I left the square, I felt like I had truly aplished something for the better, but there was a hell of a lot more thaty ahead. One problem down¡­ a hundred more to go, I thought. I had only four days to make it all happen now. To create lightning. Sink or swim. When I got back to the sect, it was time to do some serious training. Chapter 47 I avoided Shen Ju and headed directly for the library. It was after dark now so his authority over me had supposedly ended anyway, but knowing him, I didn¡¯t want to take any chances. Plus, just the sight of that prick would bring back memories of that basement that I just didn¡¯t want to relive. I got right to work instead, focusing on the hard part first and pushed out another ten pages of bullshit for Hong Feng to read in the morning. It took me about an hour, but I added a few more techniques and exercises to keep him busy for at least a few more days. With that done I cleared my mind and sat in lotus position on the prayer mat to focus on what I needed to aplish next. Creating solid Frenzy was still my ultimate goal. I was certain that if I could do that, creating an actual spark from my me was possible. But so far, no matter the amount of Frenzy I gathered out in the field I couldn¡¯t solidify it just yet. If gathering more Frenzy wasn¡¯t doing it, then perhaps I truly needed a breakthrough to the next realm to seed. And that meant facing certain death, but what did ¡®facing¡¯ certain death actually mean? Would just heading out into the wild and fighting an S-ss monster work? Of course, I wasn¡¯t sure if I could defeat it or not, which was maybe why it didn¡¯t resonate as true certain death to me. But maybe that was the point. When I meditated on the idea though, something just didn¡¯t feel right about it. What was certain death then? Threja had ventured to face the Bloodmoon at night. That was certain death for sure and the idea of spending a night in the wild still shook my insides with fear. That seemed suicidal. But that was the stage Threja was at then, I supposed. She was seeking death. The Death Wish stage, she¡¯d called it. Still, what was the different between facing an S-ss monster and just jumping off the top of a ten-story building? Both could kill me equally, but neither idea seemed to stir my me. Was I missing something?Going deeper into my thoughts, I cycled my Frenzy to bring about a crystal-clear recollection of the orb. There were no specific instructions on how to achieve advancement via a breakthrough of realms, but there was one technique at the heart of it all. I focused on the segment involving the [Death Mastery] technique and brought it to the forefront of my mind. [Death Mastery] ¨C the fear of death grows only stronger the closer one gets to immortality. Power over this fear defies not only the Heavens, but mocks it to its face. Consider it no small wonder then, dear kindled, that your path shall be blighted with misfortune, for the Heavens are not lightly mocked. In exchange for this rebuke, you shall enjoy the bounty that is rity of mind, body, and soul in ces where others falter and fail. Your words and actions will instill fear and respect in others and your me will burn yet brighter with each evolution, heightening the potency of all your abilities. The words never rang more true to me than now. I¡¯d felt their power when I fought Yin Chu. I didn¡¯t think of it consciously, but my [Death Mastery] ability must have kicked in and saved my life when he had me pinned to that floor. This was indeed the key. The next hurdle I had to ovee. But if my fight with Yin Chu didn¡¯t trigger my ascension, then what would? I searched through the orb for more clues and then after about an hour I found something significant. Something my me clearly knew deep down but my mind could notprehend until now. Shura 254 Beware, kindled one, for the Struggler is not mocked. Thy path shall be filled with affliction, and by affliction shall thou gain strength. But if for strength¡¯s sake alone, to cause such affliction is only vanity and the Frenzied me shall have no respect. Therefore, deceive not thy me nor thyself, for it will turn from you. I must have skimmed this same passage countless times before, its words cryptic to me then, but now they were crystal clear. I couldn¡¯t force a breakthrough by choosing to fight an S-ss monster, the same way I couldn¡¯t trigger it by jumping off a building. That would be like cheating the system, deceiving the me. It was the same reason I couldn¡¯t advance my body hardening by simply cutting myself. My pain and struggle had toe from without, not within. Thinking back, every leap I¡¯d made in my progression hade from some major cmity I¡¯d survived. Facing death when I first fought those Fire Birds while saving Mu Lin, my first fight with Zu Tien, being nearly eaten alive in the jaws of that broodmother. I¡¯d faced death, and each time my me had grown stronger through my survival¡ªmy me¡¯s stubborn unwillingness to die. Even myst encounter with Yin Chu, I¡¯d been the closest to death I¡¯d ever been, but my focus was never on using that battle to get stronger. It was the conviction of staying alive long enough to reach my ultimate goal that spurred my me to bring about my victory. Maybe this meant it couldn¡¯t be any one event. Like everything with my progression, new levels of power came at increasingly harder barriers to break. My first breakthrough had been easy. A single fight. But perhaps to break through to the next realm it would take facing death multiple times. Whatever it would take, one thing was for certain. It could not be forced. No matter how much I needed to create solid Frenzy to solve my problems, it wasn¡¯t an event I could just synthesize by picking a fight with an S-ss monster. It had to be organic¡ªa byproduct of the strife for trying to reach my greater purpose. I felt something open up inside of me, as new knowledge caused a deeper understanding of my me, its strength increasing slightly in my mind¡¯s eye. I opened my real eyes then and realized I¡¯d been meditating for nearly three hours. I let out a sigh of defeat and exhaustion. So much for brute forcing my way to frenzied lightning, I thought. Iforted myself in the Struggler¡¯s embrace. My me knew my path. I¡¯d just have to trust it to lead me to ascension when the time was right. But damnit if I hadn¡¯t just shoehorned myself into a time crunch with this damn Iron Bracket tournament. I needed to focus on something else, something to get my mind off of everything. Perhaps something a bit easier to aplish. Like the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique, I thought. I still needed to test it to see if I¡¯d truly mastered it or not. But to do that I needed a way to detect Qi. Or the help of a person who could detect it. Slipping away from the library, I ventured to the front door and luckily found Du Mak and Ju Gong still on duty. ¡°Brother Ju Gong,¡± I said, bowing to him respectfully. ¡°Do you mind if I borrow Du Mak for a moment?¡± ¡°Why the hell are you asking him?¡± Du Mak spat. ¡°He¡¯s not my boss. And borrow me for what?¡± I grinned. ¡°Your expertise.¡± Ju Gongughed. ¡°What expertise?¡± ¡°Shut up, Ju Gong!¡± ¡°It¡¯ll just take a second,¡± I said and gave him a smile with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Come with me to the library.¡± It didn¡¯t take much more convincing for him to leave Ju Gong on duty all by his lonesome. When we got to the library, I sat on the prayer mat and prepared the meridian sequencing for the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique. Thest step was the wildcard symbol on the instructions, the character that resembled the Jing meridian which Du Mak had said meant elemental core. ¡°Okay, Du Mak,¡± I said. ¡°Tell me if you can sense my Qi.¡± He sighed, irritated. ¡°You really think you mastered it in only a day? You¡¯re wasting my time.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± I said. I focused the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique on my me and then cycled my Frenzy. ¡°Sense anything?¡± Du Mak chortled. ¡°Nothing of course. Like I said, there is no way you could have mastered it already.¡± I smiled. I had pretty much expected that result, but I had to try anyway. I would likely need to focus on the new meridian Jing that I had opened to perform the lightning technique, but I wanted to test it on my me first just to be sure. Resetting the technique I started again, and this time focused on that space I had opened up before, the target meridian where I would eventually toss solid Frenzy one day to create lightning. Engaging the technique, I cycled my Frenzy once more. ¡°How about now?¡± ¡°Nope, still nothing.¡± I furrowed my brow at that. That Jing meridian should have been where the equivalent of my element core was stored. I wasn¡¯t able to create lightning yet, but it should still be giving off the element of fire. Shouldn¡¯t it? I thought a moment more. ¡°Just a second.¡± Maybe I had to have actual fire being produced for it to sense it, I thought. That made sense. After all, until it reached my Jing meridian, my Frenzy was still just liquid Frenzy. I held out my palm and with the [Devil¡¯s Frenzy] technique still engaged, triggered my lightning technique, funneling concentrated liquid Frenzy to the Jing meridian core. A small me ignited in my palm and Du Mak jumped back, surprised. ¡°Damn!¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ve learned Qi manifestation already?¡± ¡°Does that mean you can sense it?¡± Du Mak continued to look at the me, his brow creased in a furrow. ¡°No¡­I can¡¯t sense anything. How are you doing that? Maybe you¡¯re doing it backwards, masking your Qi with nothing. Where are you focusing your absorption?¡± ¡°My absorption?¡± ¡°Yes, what are you focusing it on?¡± ¡°What absorption?¡± Du Mak sighed, shaking his head. ¡°You still have that paper?¡± Releasing the me, I dug in my robes and handed him the technique he had scribbled down earlier. ¡°You sure you are doing all of this correctly?¡± he asked, waving the paper at me. I nced at it again just to make sure. ¡°Yes, very sure. What did you mean by absorption?¡± Du Mak pointed to that same character again that closely resembled Jing. ¡°This here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my core, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but did you use absorption on it? That¡¯s what the extra stroke means here,¡± he said pointing to a fine detail of the character. ¡°You do not open this meridian, you absorb from it.¡± What the hell was he talking about? He must have caught the confused look on my face because he stared back at me like I was an idiot. ¡°Master Hong Feng did not already teach you the [Absorption] technique? How the hell can you expect to do [Devil¡¯s Shadow] then?¡± ¡°Um¡­ Wait, yes,¡± I said, thinking quickly. ¡°I remember him mentioning it briefly, but I might have forgotten to write it down.¡± I grabbed the pen off the desk. ¡°Do you mind?¡± Du Mak huffed out another sigh, snatching the pen from me. He began scribbling down a very brief sequence of only three characters. One of them I recognized as the word for demon. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked, pointing to it. ¡°He did give you a demon seed, right?¡± I had no idea what that was, but I just nodded. ¡°Maybe it hasn¡¯t taken hold within your Dantian as yet. I know for me it took a full week for the demon¡¯s soul to manifest within my own.¡± Holy shit, I thought. I did recall Hong Feng mentioning something about them needing a demon¡¯s soul to use their cultivation, but I didn¡¯t think it was so literal. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder I couldn¡¯t sense anything,¡± he said. ¡°Your demon is yet to take root in your Dantian. The technique must be masking your Qi with nothing.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said quickly. ¡°That must be it.¡± Damn it. Maybe this wouldn¡¯t be as easy as I thought. ¡°Anyway, once the seed takes hold and spawns your inner demon, you need to use it to focus on your Qi source and absorb the essence of it.¡± He pointed to the Jing-like character again. ¡°Right here. Then you can use that to mask your own Qi within your Dantian.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t your Qi source and your Dantian the same thing?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°Well, sort of. Not in this case though.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You need to sample something pure for the perfume. You can¡¯t take shit and spray it with more shit and then expect it to not smell like shit, understand?¡± I chuckled at his crude analogy. ¡°Yeah, I get it. So where do you get the perfume?¡± ¡°A splinter of course. Didn¡¯t Master Hong Feng give you one?¡± ¡°A splinter?¡± Did he mean the splinter of a core? ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Du Mak shook his head again. ¡°I suppose not. You are not yet ready.¡± ¡°What¡¯s one look like?¡± ¡°See here¡­¡± Du Mak reached into his robes for a thin chain and showed me a golden pendant on the end. It was t and lined with a thin strip of what looked like ruby from top to bottom. ¡°I keep mine hidden in in sight. Too small for officials to detect, but potent enough to vor your Qi.¡± Well, I¡¯ll be damned, I thought. These guys were rocking fake cores just like I was. ¡°So you absorb the perfume of this ¡®sliver¡¯ of fire core to mask your Qi?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he said, tucking it away again. I nodded. ¡°You should ask Hong Feng for one,¡± he said. ¡°Or he may be waiting for your inner demon to spawn first. Who knows?¡± Inner demon? No way in hell was I infecting myself with something like that just to pull this technique off. I thenughed inwardly. What the hell was I thinking? I already had a Demon raging inside of me. A Struggler too. I looked at the [Absorption] technique again. It was very simple. A focal point linked through the ¡°demon¡± focus and then directed to a target. I pondered some more. Using my me as a substitute for fire had worked for the lightning technique, maybe the Demon within my me could work for this too. ¡°Let me try once more, Du Mak, using your splinter.¡± ¡°You¡¯re wasting your time,¡± he said with a sigh, but pulled the pendant back out again. ¡°It won¡¯t work without an inner demon.¡± ¡°Trust me,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯ve got plenty of Demon in me.¡± His face twisted with confusion as I opened the meridians for the [Absorption] technique, focusing on the small sliver of Lightning Core in my stomach instead of the sliver on his pendant. Then, reaching out to it with my me, I felt some kind of connection take hold. Holy crap¡­did it work? I used the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique once more, substituting the source with the energy now streaming from the lightning core through my inner me. I cycled my Frenzy and Du Mak¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of his head. ¡°Nine saints in hell! What was that?¡± I stopped cycling immediately and Du Mak seemed to calm down some, but was still breathing heavily, holding his pendant against his chest. ¡°Was that you?¡± he said. I shrugged. I didn¡¯t feel a thing differently than I normally would. Du Mak scrunched up his face. ¡°You must be doing it wrong or something. No way you¡¯re that powerful already.¡± Then he paused a moment. ¡°Although, you did kill Yin Chu in a single technique.¡± ¡°So you felt it, right?¡± ¡°Of course I felt it!¡± he spat. ¡°A Qi-less mortal could have felt that! I think you¡¯d better practice more before you try to use it in public. You¡¯ll give our secrets away drawing attention like this.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± I nodded in agreement, but the satisfaction of sess put a smile on my face. ¡°I won¡¯t use this until I master it like you, Du Mak. But it¡¯ll probably take me ten to twelve months¡¯ time. Nowhere near as quick as you.¡± ¡°Damn right,¡± Du Mak said, nodding back to me with a hint of pride. ¡°Now, let me go. Before that bastard Ju Gong rats me out for leaving my post.¡± After he left, I gave myself a celebratory pat on the back. I¡¯d actually done it¡ªI¡¯d found a way to simte Qi in real time by mastering not one, but two demonic techniques. Although it did still require a piece of my fake core to work. I was surprised how simple the techniques were also, and how quickly they came to me. But then, not surprisingly most of the meridian points used were the same that I used for my Frenzy techniques. There were definitely some simrities between the Frenzied me and demonic cultivation. Common roots perhaps? Who knew? But I was happy to have some sess in something tonight. I made a point to get up early so I could see Mu Lin before she went out into the field. Testing with Du Mak was great for telling if the technique was simply working or not, but to finesse it to a level that seemed normal and natural instead of rming would take someone of her keen training. I was just about to call it quits for the night when a new idea struck me. Just how potent was this [Absorption] technique? Was it the same one Hong Feng had used to absorb what was left of Yin Chu¡¯s core? If so, I had no desire to be a soul-sucking vampire like him. Not that I could make use of stolen Qi anyway. But could I absorb the lightning core and use it for something else? I yed around with the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique some more as the idea steeped. Screw it, I thought. I had nothing to lose and all to gain if I could make this work. Grabbing a piece of paper, I sat at the desk and began scripting out the Lightning Technique. I then scribed the [Absorption] Technique next to it and the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique in turn. The answery at some point in between these three, I thought. The pieces that made sense, seemed to fit one another. I rearranged the characters as if performing mathematics, substituting meridians with one another, until all three techniques linked like a chain. It seemed a hell of a lot to pull off at once, and with it involving Qi, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to sense most of it. Still, the logic of the characters made sense. I had to try. Closing my eyes, I stared deeply into the core of my me. I applied the [Absorption] technique and sent the me to gnaw at the lightning core in my stomach. I summoned the lightning technique then, cycling my Frenzy through the meridians, building up speed. I envisioned the me chipping away small fragments of the solid lightning core. I was ready. Palm out, I took a deep breath, and I employed my modified version of the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique, bridging the gap between the two processes already cycling inside my system. I envisioned the fragments of lightning core speeding into the swiftly flowing stream of liquid Frenzy, my essence bing a transitory fluid. I targeted my Jing as the speed of my liquid Frenzy increased, an unknown amount of solid Qi mixed with it. My Frenzy surged as I directed the result to my palm and a brilliant blue light shed against the walls as a loud pop filled the air. A small walnut-sized spark of lightning appeared briefly within my hand before quickly disappearing again, leaving the aroma of something sweet lingering in the air. Holy shit¡­ I sat staring at my empty palm for close to a minute, not believing what I¡¯d just aplished. I¡¯d done it. I¡¯d created lightning. But not in the way that I had nned. It felt empty in a way. Not a true progression of my me at all. Just another cheap trick, no different than my fake core. Yet it took me another step along my path. A huge step actually. I gave a prayer of thanks to that poor old monk again. His lightning core was aiding me in ways I never could have imagined. I had just made another breakthrough. It wasn¡¯t the leap of power that I had envisioned, but it was enough to prove the concept worked. A ce to even build upon in the future perhaps. But none of that was important at the moment. There was only one thing that mattered now. That small spark¡­was all I needed to convince Hong Feng. Chapter 48 I spent the rest of the night trying to perfect what I decided to call the Faux Lightning technique, learning the boundaries of how it worked and seeing if I could make it stronger. The leeching of the solid Qi from the lightning core was something I couldn¡¯t increase in intensity, I realized after a while. I tried several times, but no matter how much I tried with the [Absorption] technique I could only absorb so much. Considering its purpose, which was only to gain the vor of the Qi to be used as a perfume, perhaps it made sense. Or perhaps that was the limitation of my me when it came to absorbing a foreign substance like Qi. But, while its absorption rate was limited, the time I spent absorbing was not. After a few more hours of practice, I was able to increase the strength of the lightning I could produce by continuously cycling my Frenzy through the Faux Lightning technique and then slowly feeding it more and more solid Qi. If I performed the cycling for only a few seconds, it resulted in a small spark of electricity, like when I had first executed the technique. After a minute, the spark was a littlerger. After five minutes, I managed to produce a small bolt of lightning that jumped across the room and nearly set the library on fire. It was an amazing achievement, but it didn¡¯te without its costs as well. First, I had to keep cycling my Frenzy to form a steady stream to feed the Qi into, which meant that Frenzy-wise, I really couldn¡¯t do anything else. Second, there was a limit to how long I could hold it and keep feeding Qi. Perhaps fatigue yed a part, but it seemed the more Qi I introduced, the more my system seemed to reject it. No different than how the core itself had diminished the intensity of my me. Five minutes was my max. Overall that meant this form of Faux Lightning was more parlor trick thanbat technique, which was why I had given it the name. No way could I keep my Frenzy in a holding pattern for five minutes in the middle of an Iron Bracket fight. But to even get to that stage, I needed to get over onest hurdle first.Hong Feng. I got some sleep and then waited for his early morning visit as normal. I started my Frenzy cycling the moment I heard him approaching the library. I peeked outside and saw him walking down the hallway with Ju Gong following closely behind him. Perfect, I thought. He¡¯d brought Ju Gong again, just like I¡¯d hoped. I sat and waited patiently for him to enter. He finally did so after knocking briefly, leaving Ju Gong outside the door. ¡°Any new progress?¡± he asked. ¡°See for yourself, Master,¡± I said with a bow and then gestured to the papers atop the desk. He began skimming over them, shuffling through my nonsense. I continued focusing on cycling my Frenzy as he did so, slowly building up the lightning Qi within it. He harrumphed as he held the papers in his hands. ¡°I suppose you have produced a bit more.¡± He then picked up the pen and wrote down a few characters on my stack of papers. I recognized them immediately as a continuation of the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique. He even wrote out the special character for [Absorption] but handed it to me with no exnation at all. ¡°More when you produce more,¡± he said. Bastard¡­I could see where this was going. If I wanted to get what I needed out of him, I¡¯d have to beat him at his own game. But I would have to be smart about it. I bowed and took the halfpleted technique from him. ¡°Thank you, Master Hong Feng,¡± I said and then pulled out a paper full of techniques of my own. ¡°I do in fact have more that I have produced.¡± I held the paper towards him at arms-length and he squinted as he peered at it. ¡°What is this? A technique?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°For this¡­¡± Before he could reach for the paper, I tossed it into the air and then released the Faux Lightning technique. A branch-sized bolt of lightning arced from my hand and hit the paper, incinerating it instantly as a p of thunder reverberated inside the small room. Hong Feng let out a cry of shock, jerking backwards. ¡°Master!¡± Ju Gong called, bursting into the room. Both he and Hong Feng stood there frozen for a moment, the ashes from the paper flittering to the ground like snow. ¡°Master?¡± Ju Gong looked to Hong Feng. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± ¡°Everything is fine,¡± I said, cycling my Frenzy again and fueling it with solid Qi. ¡°I was just demonstrating to Master Hong Feng that I¡¯d made a breakthroughst night. I¡¯m now able to produce this.¡± I used what little Qi I had mustered to produce a brief spark in my palm. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was enough for Ju Gong¡¯s eyes to grow wide. ¡°You can manifest lightning?¡± he said. I smiled and looked to Hong Feng. ¡°Not on my own. Master Hong Feng saw the talent in me and then gave me the special guidance to master it.¡± ¡°How brilliant!¡± Ju Gong said. ¡°Master, you must be very pleased!¡± Hong Feng looked shell-shocked for a moment, as if not knowing how to react. Finally, he collected himself and put on a smile as a hint of lemonade flowed from him. ¡°Yes, very pleased. Well done, Brother Chun.¡± ¡°We should share this great breakthrough with the rest of the sect,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m sure many are probably still confused as to why you gave me this special opportunity. Seeing this, like Ju Gong, they would no doubt understand your wisdom in taking a chance on a Terran like me. Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Ju Gong?¡± Ju Gong bowed hastily. ¡°Yes, absolutely! There have been many rumblings in the sect about Brother Chun and why he is here, Master Hong Feng. An announcement like this would be well received, I would think.¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if Hong Feng could feel the trap I had closed around him by involving Ju Gong, or if his ego had simply been stroked enough for him not to care, but with a witness now, there was no way he could keep my progress hidden and keep stringing me along indefinitely. ¡°Perhaps now would be the time to let everyone know of my new position within the sect as well,¡± I said, hinting at our deal. Hong Feng hesitated a moment, feeling the pressure of the situation I had ced him in, but eventually he smiled. ¡°Yes. Let us let the sect know of this great new aplishment.¡± He turned to Ju Gong. ¡°Ju Gong, gather the assembly in the lower hall.¡± ¡°At once, master,¡± Ju Gong said with a bow and then scurried away. ¡°Shall weplete the other paperwork first?¡± I said, reaching for a nk sheet of paper. ¡°What other paperwork?¡± He was still trying to hold leverage over me, the bastard. ¡°My first Iron Bracket match starts tomorrow, and I need to register today¡­as a member of the Furious Lightning Sect. That was our deal. Remember?¡± Hong Feng smirked. ¡°Is that right?¡± ¡°Secrets for secrets,¡± I said and held up a nk sheet of paper. ¡°You sign the application and I¡¯ll give you the secret to Furious Lightning.¡± He paused for a moment as Iid on a heavyyer of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. Eventually he snorted out a crudeugh. ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t know if you could do it or not, but you are one that is full of surprises, Brother Chun. Come to my office and we willplete our deal.¡± * * * I walked with a mixture of confidence and trepidation towards Hong Feng¡¯s office, unsure if he might have been willing to harvest his investment in me early. Logic told me that wouldn¡¯t make sense though. Even Yin Chu he was upset about having to harvest, and Yin Chu had already been at the Core Realm phase. I yed it cool with [Indifference] as I entered where Hong Feng was already seated behind his desk, scribbling away at something. ¡°Sit,¡± he said. Iplied and after about a minute, he turned the paper around for me to see. It was the same document he had shown me before, but it was filled inpletely now. New Chapter/Sub Sect Application Form Parent Sect: Fire Bird Sect Chapter No. 11567 Location: Jurin, Terra New Application for: Sub Sect: X Chapter: Sub Sect/Chapter Name/Number: Path of Furious Lightning ¨C Chapter 00001 ¨C Jurin, Terra Founder: Hong Feng Citizen ID T1875642 Signature ºé·å Leader: Hong Feng Citizen ID: T1875642 Signature: ºé·å Senior Disciple: Chun Citizen ID: Signature: I smiled. ¡°Thank you, Master Hong Feng.¡± ¡°Do not thank me yet,¡± he said. ¡°I can still destroy this the same way you did that technique. I would like to have it before I allow you to sign this.¡± ¡°Already done,¡± I said and slipped the piece of paper to him. Only this time I had written the normal lightning technique, substituting the Jing character with the symbol for Fury. Hong Feng took it from me and studied it. ¡°Is it truly so simple?¡± ¡°In theory, yes,¡± I said. ¡°In practice? Well¡­that depends on how angry of a person you are.¡± Hong Feng chuckled. ¡°I see.¡± He then tapped on the application form. ¡°You need to enter your full name and your citizen ID and signature.¡± It was almost surreal, but I¡¯d done it. My chance to fully enter the Iron Bracket tournament without fear of reprisal was finally here. But it needed my full name? Even when applying for my C-ss citizenship the only thing they gave me was a number. I supposed the number mattered more than the name, but this document would be the first one to cement my new identity to the outside world. My randomly generated family name was Lo, something I had little credence for if any. I looked at what Hong Feng had already entered into the box. Chun. It was a name I¡¯de to despise at times, but I couldn¡¯t deny that after twelve years it had be a part of me as well. It was what most people knew me by. Even the stupid part. It was something I thought I would simply erase when I had the chance, but just like my view of cultivation itself, it was now a part of me and something that I had learned to embrace. Iughed inwardly as I scribbled down my ID number and then added the word ¡°Max¡± in front of Chun. Max Chun, I thought. For all the dumb shit I was getting myself into, Max Chun made sense on all kinds of levels. I signed the document and Hong Feng frowned. ¡°Max?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the name I used for my tournament registration.¡± ¡°I see. I¡¯ll have someone file this today.¡± ¡°I can take care of it,¡± I said, pulling the application off the desk as he reached for it. Hong Feng made a face but I quickly applied [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to make firm my intentions. ¡°It¡¯s not a matter of trust but timing, Master Hong Feng. The officials at the tournament can process the application and since I¡¯m also trying to register today, I¡¯d rather have the same clerk deal with both documents. I don¡¯t want to miss my registration window because somezy imperial pen pusher downtown doesn¡¯t process it quickly enough.¡± Hong Feng smirked. I could tell he was only half buying my story, but he couldn¡¯t argue with the logic either. ¡°Very well,¡± he said. ¡°I leave your destiny in your own hands, Max Chun, but if you lose it, don¡¯te crying to me for another one.¡± He then took the edge off his words with a smile as he stood. ¡°Let this be the start of a long partnership between us. I will look forward to your further updates as you grow stronger in this new path.¡± ¡°Absolutely,¡± I said with a smile, securing the document within my robes. ¡°Come now,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°It¡¯s time to re-introduce you to the sect.¡± * * * I stood on the tform next to Hong Feng, along with Shen Ju and Ju Gong. Below us the entire Fire Bird Sect was formed up in rank and file, much like the first time I had met them. There was a different atmosphere in the room nowpared to then though. Much less outright disgust and disdain and more a measured wariness of cautious uncertainty. ¡°I have an announcement to make,¡± Hong Feng said, addressing the crowd. ¡°Less than a week ago we witnessed a strength like none other put to shame one of our best. And now, as the time is right, I will reveal to you the nature of this strength and what it will mean for our future.¡± He paused for a moment and then turned to me. ¡°I present to you Brother Chun. Chun, please demonstrate for us this new power.¡± I¡¯d only been building up my lightning bolt for a couple of minutes now and prayed it would be enough to deliver the spectacle Hong Feng wanted. I stepped forward slowly, closing my eyes for effect. ¡°[Lightning¡¯s Fury]!¡± I cried and released the bolt. It was smaller than I would have liked, barely bigger than a twig in thickness, but it at least arced to hit the ceiling and sent a resounding crack of thunder echoing throughout the concrete chamber. The mass of Fire Birds ducked instinctively as debris fell from the roof, the action taking them off guard. ¡°Well done, Brother Chun,¡± Hong Feng said with a slow p. ¡°Students of history would know that it was the renowned Grand Master, Zen Ju Xian, who over twelve thousand years ago first harnessed the power of lightning from fire. Brother Chun has followed in those great footsteps by forging a new pathway to lightning. A pathway that involved both fire¡­and fury. You witnessed the power of his fury in his battle with Yin Chu. And now what Brother Chun has disyed is but a nascent technique of channeling that fury into lightning. I¡¯m sure we can all imagine its strength when his full fury is engaged.¡± I felt a bit of lemonade forming in the crowd and a loting from Hong Feng himself at those words. Hell, even I was moved by them a little. But from Shen Ju there was only a concentrated stare of ire. ¡°As Brother Chun has forged a new path, so too, like the Great Grand Master Zen Ju Xian, must he form a new branch of session. Thus, I decree the establishment of a new sub-sect within our ranks¡ªthe Path of Furious Lightning. Brother Chun is now a senior disciple and our Iron Bracket contender for our new sect. Let us congratte Brother Chun on his new appointment and wish him much sess in his progression.¡± The Fire Birds broke into stilted apuse, a short series of pping while Ju Gong stepped forward to present me with a new set of robes. They were red with yellow and blue trim instead of orange. ¡°These are the colors of the new sect,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°Red representing the root of fire found within all of us. Yellow the strength of fury and blue the power of lightning. As the sole and lead Iron Bracket contender for the Furious Lightning Sect, Brother Chun is now equal in rank and standing to Brother Shen Ju, our lead Iron Bracket contender for the Fire Bird Sect. Be sure you treat each of them with equal respect worthy of their positions.¡± Shen Ju¡¯s mouth fell open for a moment before shooting both me and Hong Feng a contemptuous re. His anger would have been palpable even if I couldn¡¯t already feel it for real. ¡°As Brother Chun continues his training and development, I will test to see if there are others worthy to join the ranks of the Furious Lightning Sect,¡± Hong Feng continued. ¡°But until then, let us encourage both Brother Shen Ju and Brother Chun as they represent us within the Iron Bracket tournament. May they both bring us honor and glory.¡± Hong Feng started another round of apuse then dismissed the assembly. A tidal wave of ass-kissing came next, the lower-ranked Fire Bird members rushing to bow before me and offer me words of congrattions. Some of it was genuine too, judging by the lemonade, but most seemed to be either lip service or perhaps opportunistic currying favor to be epted into a new sub sect with a much shorter line to the top. Either way it was ufortable as hell and I had to ster on a fake smile to not let my true feelings show. Shen Ju however had no qualms in letting me know exactly how he felt as he gave a very formal bow before me. ¡°I see you are as cunning as you are strong, Brother Chun,¡± he said as he arose from his bow. ¡°I pray for Master Hong Feng¡¯s sake that he has not made a grave error in promoting you to such a prestigious rank so quickly.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s hope not,¡± I said with [Indifference]. He let out a scoff. ¡°Remember. We are equal in title and rank only.¡± ¡°You¡¯re damn right about that,¡± I said with a flex of [Fear the me]. ¡°And don¡¯t you forget it.¡± I ignored him as he tried to mouth some kind ofeback and left the basement instead. I had bigger fish to fry than to deal with his petty resentment and stupid blood oath. A new energy filled me as I felt for the signed document in my pocket. A locked door had been blocking my path and now I had the key to opening it. It was time to sign up for the Iron Bracket tournament in earnest. Tonight the ¡°Bull Man¡± was re-entering the ring as a member of the Furious Lightning Sect. Chapter 49 ¡°Holy shit, Chun! What the hell did you do?¡± I decided to stayte after work to catch Mu Lin when she came back in from the field, but now I was beginning to think it was a mistake. We were behind the tool shed, me testing my [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique while cycling my Frenzy as she peered at me through her thin-rimmed sses. Her bottom jaw was hitting the floor as she kept squinting and readjusting her spectacles like she couldn¡¯t see straight. I¡¯d spent most of the day hunting down C-ss monsters and practicing my Faux Lightning technique while generating Frenzy to steadily expand the liquid reservoir of my Dantian. Now I was flexing it for Mu Lin to see, enting it with the ¡°perfume¡± of my lightning core. ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°What do you see?¡± She shook her head at me. ¡°You¡¯ve got the Qi aura of a low-tier Core Realm cultivator now. Like, 2nd or maybe even 3rd Tier. How did you do this, Chun?¡± I stopped cycling my Frenzy as her stare became usatory. ¡°Do you feel it less now?¡± ¡°I sensed that you stopped cycling, yes, but I can still sense the strength of your core.¡± She then took off her sses and got real close to me, looking me dead in the eye. ¡°Tell me the truth, Chun. Have you been taking more of those cheap elixirs?¡± I tried tough it off. ¡°What are you, an Enforcer now?¡±¡°I¡¯m serious, Chun! This isn¡¯t funny.¡± The whole point of testing my [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique with Mu Lin was to gauge if I could control the intensity of my Qi aura by adjusting the amount of perfume I applied. After three separate tests it appeared the amount was static just like my absorption ability. The intensity was determined by the volume of Frenzy itself. I guess it made sense. I could mask the source of my power but not the amount. I¡¯d have to remember that when going into the ring tonight. It might raise some eyebrows as it was doing for Mu Lin right now. But how the hell could I exin my sudden advancement to her? Intense training could only exin so much, but being linked to a bona-fide sect like the Fire Birds possibly could. Expensive pills, elixirs, hidden techniques¡ªeverything became a trade secret when you were in a sect. That¡¯s what I was betting on when it came to dealing with the officials at the arena. But I couldn¡¯t tell Mu Lin any of that. I simply shrugged instead. ¡°Maybe a little?¡± Her brows lowered into a scowl and she punched me in the arm. ¡°Chun, you damn idiot! I told you not to mess with that stuff! You can kill yourself. I honestly don¡¯t know how you¡¯re not dead already.¡± She then sort of mumbled to herself, ¡°You¡¯re either the luckiest, dumbest idiot alive or some kind of cultivating prodigy.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Even if you¡¯d taken some high-quality spiritual enhancers, it should have taken you weeks or even months to cultivate and purify it through your system.¡± She then began to look at me even more strangely and I started to wonder if she suspected something more than just being an oddity. She was a schr. Perhaps she knew about things like illegal cultivation methods. I tried to y it off with a shrug. ¡°I definitely think I fall into the stupid and lucky category there.¡± ¡°Well, anything that can make you this strong in just a few weeks has got to be dangerous. You¡¯re rolling the dice here, Chun. And your luck is going to run out one day. So please stop, okay?¡± I scratched the back of my head. ¡°I hear you. I hear you.¡± She frowned as she grabbed her backpack, rolling her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sure you said something like that thest time.¡± ¡°Hey, how¡¯s the studying going?¡± I asked, eager to change the topic. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°It¡¯s in three days now, so I guess so.¡± She began walking off. ¡°I actually have to go meet Xi Xha now for a session. She¡¯sing to pick me up.¡± ¡°What do you mean pick you up?¡± ¡°Walk and talk if you want to see,¡± she said, already moving ahead of me. ¡°I have to meet her by the crossroads. And you¡¯ve already made mete.¡± We left thepound and Mu Lin powered ahead of me, walking at almost a sprint. The crossroads were less than a quarter mile away and I tried to make small talk while we walked, but Mu Lin seemed too focused to engage with more than one or two-word replies. Ahead of us, I spied a familiar-looking skiff parked by the side of the dirt road. Xi Xha stood outside it along with the pilot, who was wearing simple ck robes. Seated within the skiff itself, however, was a woman I¡¯d seen once before. Silver hair cut in a razor-sharp bob, piercing chrome eyes, and a face to rival the princess herself. The only thing off-putting were her ck and silver robes¡ªthe colors of the Silver Leaf n. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re moving up in the world,¡± I said to Mu Lin with a yful nudge. ¡°More like Xi Xha is. She said her friend offered to give us a ride into the city so we could get to studying early.¡± ¡°That¡¯s some friend,¡± I said, eyeing the woman and when she finally looked in our direction, our eyes locked for a second. I kept the stare as did she, and I sensed the faintest hint of lemonadee from her before she turned away. ¡°Who is she?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not really sure,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°Someone Xi Xha went to university with, but she¡¯s part of the ruling family obviously.¡± Mu Lin then added in a whisper, ¡°So don¡¯t act stupid.¡± As we approached, Mu Lin ran ahead and gave a deep bow to Xi Xha who returned it before looking over at me, blushing again. ¡°Mister Chun,¡± she said with a polite bow. ¡°It seems I¡¯m always in a hurry when I see you,tely. It¡¯s not intentional, I swear.¡± ¡°No worries,¡± I said, returning her bow. ¡°You have a star pupil to prepare. I think that takes priority.¡± I waved goodbye to Mu Lin as the pilot helped her into the skiff, but she was too busy prostrating herself before the silver-haired woman to notice. Xi Xha smiled as she looked me up and down, blushing a little as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we caught up. Perhaps we should make ns to meet upt¡ª¡± ¡°Xi Xha!¡± the silver-haired woman called sharply, cutting her off. ¡°Yes, my Lady?¡± Xi Xha said in a formal tone, nerves in her voice. ¡°Clearly you have no manners. Ask the young Terran man if he would like the privilege of riding into the city via skiff with us.¡± Her voice was powerful and authoritative, and Xi Xha turned a few shades redder as she turned and bowed respectfully to her. ¡°Yes, of course, my Lady.¡± What the hell was this? The woman didn¡¯t even turn her head as she spoke, her stare of aloofness fixed on some unseen point ahead of her. Ire stirred within my gut as Xi Xha fumbled with her words, clearly embarrassed as she turned slowly to face me again. Whoever this woman was, she had a strange way of speaking to her so-called friends. ¡°Chun, the Lady Silver Light wishes to know if you would like a¡ª¡± ¡°Tell her no,¡± I said loud enough for the woman to hear, a hint of [Indifference] in my voice. ¡°I¡¯d much rather walk. I¡¯ll see you soon though, Xi Xha.¡± With that I got to stepping, leaving Xi Xha standing there with her mouth slightly ajar. I felt bad for leaving her like that, but no way was I acquiescing to some bitch who treated Xi Xha like a servant and who spoke to me like she was damn Li Gong Qui. She wasn¡¯t getting my attention, no matter how damn beautiful she was. I nced at the Lady Silver Light from the corner of my eye as I passed by the skiff and the look of shock and indignation on her face was priceless. Mu Lin, sitting opposite her, looked like she wanted to die. The sight put a smile on my lips and I could feel a sting of anger seething from the silver haired woman. Another spoiled, rich girl cultivator used to getting everything she wants onmand, I thought. But not today, bitch. Perhaps she¡¯d read my thoughts, or just caught my vibe in general but she red at me with an even nastier stare. I almost expected her to say something, or just outright attack me, as I kept eye contact with her, not backing down, my jaw fixed firmly with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. Then oddly enough, I began to sense some lemonade again, pushing its way through her anger. I lifted my chin at her defiantly and even more lemonade flowed. ¡°Sidon, prepare to leave,¡± she called to her pilot and the man in ck robes hastily took to the controls. ¡°It is clear that This One has wasted her time attempting to be charitable to a Terran savage. This One shall not make the same mistake again.¡± With that the craft took off and all I could see was Mu Lin burying her head in herp in mortification while Xi Xha looked away, embarrassed. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure what the hell had just happened, but I didn¡¯t have time to be ying games with the likes of Hein¡¯s rich and famous extended family. Screw them. I had a tournament to get to. * * * ¡°Furious Lightning Sect?¡± Official Bo Ren looked over the paperwork with a furrowed brow, his eyes scanning back and forth. ¡°I thought you were trying to stay unattached?¡± I was back at the counter at the arena, finally handing in the documents that had been burning a hole in my robes all day. I even cut my sparring session with Gui Zu short just so I could catch Bo Ren as soon as he showed up. At least he knew me, to an extent, and any further bamboozling I might have to do would perhaps go over way smoother with him. Or so I hoped. ¡°What can I say?¡± I gave a shrug. ¡°Membership has its privileges.¡± I¡¯d stolen that line from a TVmercial. Something about credit cards if I remembered correctly. It seemed to work on Bo Ren though because he just mirrored my shrug and then stamped the papers with an official seal. ¡°Congrattions,¡± he said a few minutester and handed me an upgraded ID card with my full name and sect affiliation. ¡°Especially on the lightning. It¡¯s a rare aspect to possess. Once Master Xhu examines you, I¡¯ll put you on the roster for your first match.¡± He gestured to an old man with a wispy white beard and thick sses who was sitting in the far corner of the admissions room. This was the part I¡¯d been dreading all day, and my test run with Mu Lin earlier didn¡¯t make it any easier. ¡°Stand inside there,¡± the old man said, pointing to a circle marked on the floor. I did so and channeled my anxiety into Frenzy, taking care to not perfume it with Qi and further skew my results. The old man leaned forward in his chair adjusting his thick sses while he stared at my lower abdomen. He furrowed his brow like something was wrong and my heart skipped a beat. ¡°What did you say he was again?¡± he asked Bo Ren. ¡°Lightning,¡± Bo Ren said. The old man Master Xhu nced at the paperwork once Bo Ren had handed it to him and then he stared at my stomach again. ¡°Your core is chaotic. Are you nervous?¡± ¡°A little,¡± I admitted. He frowned and looked at the paperwork again. ¡°Master Hong Feng, eh? Why am I not surprised.¡± Shit, what the hell did that mean? ¡°Okay, you¡¯re done,¡± Master Xhu said and by how quickly he¡¯d said it, I feared he might call for an Imperial Guard next. But he continued, nonplussed. ¡°Aspect is fire, lightning specialization. Core 2nd Tier.¡± Holy shit was that it? I thought. Did I just pull this off? ¡°Core?¡± Bo Ren said, surprised. ¡°I thought you were still within the Foundation Realm.¡± I opened my mouth to say something, but the old man justughed. ¡°Like I told you, I¡¯m not surprised.¡± He then gave me a smile. ¡°Master Hong Feng has a knack for finding prodigies.¡± Prodigies? Was he referring to Yin Chu perhaps? Regardless, that was the second time I was called something like that today. Not that I wasining. Prodigy was a much-preferred termpared to heretic or even fraud, which was what I truly was at the moment. Funny how the presence of Qi made all things kosher under the heavens. Like the old philosophy went¡ªpower within a mortal was an affront, but power within a cultivator was revered. ¡°Well, that changes things a bit,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°I had you lined up for a Foundation-Tier match your first bout, but we can scrap that now. You¡¯re headed for the big leagues, son.¡± Before I could ask him what he meant he nced at the Iron Bracket ranking list on disy behind him. ¡°Seems your closest match is now Blue Mantis, a 1st-Tier Core Realm cultivator.¡± I remembered that name. It was the name right above my spot. ¡°He was in 92nd ce just above me right, right?¡± ¡°She,¡± Bo Ren corrected. ¡°And yes, she was in 92nd ce but not anymore. She foughtst night and has advanced considerably since then. Won all four of her matches. She stands at 37th ce now.¡± Holy shit¡­ Thirty-seventh? ¡°Sorry to say it, but you¡¯re being thrown right into the deep end for your first fight.¡± Bo Ren then chuckled. ¡°The price of power, I guess.¡± I looked at the score board as it updated, Bo Ren adding me to the list. Rank Name Sect Affiliation Aspect Element Cultivation Realm and Tier Current Standing 92 Blue Mantis Blue Lotus Sect Water Core 1st 37 93 Bull Man Furious Lightning Sect Lightning Core 2nd 93 94 Hui Kwon Iron Crane Sect Metal Foundation 9th Eliminated 95 Y¡¯miris Frozen w Sect Ice Foundation 9th Eliminated 96 Lady Silver Sparrow Silver Leaf Sect Metal Core 4th 12 97 Li Wu Unaffiliated None Foundation 6th Eliminated 98 Red Tiger Crimson Dragon Sect Fire Foundation 7th Eliminated 99 Xhu Tung Unaffiliated None Foundation 6th Withdrawn 100 Rahib Zhu Unaffiliated None Foundation 5th Eliminated Shit, I thought. Everyone this far down has been eliminated already. I scanned further to the top of the list to see what kind ofpetitiony ahead for me to reach my goal. Not a single person was below 2nd-Tier Core level, the top twenty filled with 4th and 5th tiers. A knot of tension built within my gut the more I looked. I was finally legal¡ªable to cut loose in the ring, but my lightning was as fake as the sham hustle I was pulling on Hong Feng. Without true lightning, am I even going to be able topete? ¡°What can you tell me about my opponent?¡± I asked. Bo Ren let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead. ¡°If I¡¯m honest, the betting odds won¡¯t be in your favor. She¡¯s ruthless in the ring. Aggressive and her technique is near wless. Her core is not as strong as yours, but she has the advantage of aspect. Water is strong against Fire. Plus, she has that moniker ¡®Blue Mantis¡¯ for a reason.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°She never allows her opponents to yield,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s one who always eats her prey, they say. That¡¯s how she got it.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said, channeling my growing tension into [Indifference]. ¡°I¡¯m hoping that¡¯s not literal, right?¡± I cracked a grin, letting him know it was a joke and Bo Ren chuckled. ¡°You have a strong spirit, son, but there¡¯s a good chance you¡¯ll die out there and the numbers call for it.¡± He then paused a moment, bing serious. ¡°It¡¯s not toote to withdraw, you know? If you want.¡± Just the mention of withdrawal stirred my me. I was facing uncertain death, a fear I¡¯d already long since conquered. ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°Bring it on. She¡¯s just another obstacle in my path.¡± Bo Ren looked at me oddly, like I was a madman or something. Or maybe he was just reacting to the intensity of my me. Either way I was ready. After all this skullduggery and bureaucratic bullshit I was more than eager to finally tap into where my true strengthy. Win, lose, or die, it was all the same¡ªthe Demon was breaking its chains tonight. And Blue Mantis was first thing on the menu. Chapter 50 The thunder of cheers and apuse got my blood pumping the moment I entered the arena. The setup was far different than the Wooden Bracket. There was no actual ring here, the floor of the stadium itself became the ring, giving fighters plenty of room to maneuver across the hard y floor. Above me, the brilliant Qi-infused lighting danced over the crowd of well over ten thousand people, their voices bing a solid wall of noise and whistles as the announcer came over the loudspeaker. ¡°Competing in his first ever Iron Bracket match and winner of the Wooden Bracket, let us wee, the Bull Man!¡± The chorus shifted into a chanting of ¡®Bull Man¡¯ as Qi screens disyed my ranking and I hefted my axe in the air for show. ¡°Not surprisingly, the Bull Man has already been scouted due to his fighting prowess and is tonight representing the Furious Lightning Sect!¡± On cue, I released the Faux Lightning technique I¡¯d been charging in my Dantian and lit up the arena with a sh. The crowd stood on their feet chanting my name even louder as the p of thunder reverberated through the air. ¡°Bull Man!¡± ¡°Bull Man!¡± ¡°Bull Man!¡±I¡¯d worn my mask as normal but added my new Sect robes as well. I hated them to be honest, but representation was representation. I hammed it up a bit more for the crowd with some axe forms, the way we¡¯d been told to do by the dour-faced woman, Wu Hen, who had prepped us before a fight as usual. ¡°Be sure to make a good show,¡± she¡¯d said. ¡°y to the crowd. People pay money to be entertained, not just to see blood.¡± But blood was what they were bound to see plenty of tonight. The thought strengthened my resolve as I tapped into the energy of the crowd to begin channeling fresh Frenzy through my system. ¡°A very passionate wee for the neer,¡± the announcer continued. ¡°But the Bull Man is making his debut very high in the rankings tonight and his opponent is no rookie. Defending her position as 37th in the Iron Bracket Tournament, with four victories already under her belt and representing the Blue Lotus Sect, please let us wee¡­ the Blue Mantis!¡± A wave of fanfare erupted as a petite figure in blue robes flipped into the arena with a burst of qinggong. She was almost too quick to see, her body a blue blur until she came to a sudden stop about thirty feet away from me. With her small stature, she looked all of about 15, but being a Core Realm cultivator, she was likely much older than that. Her hair was pulled back into a long, braided ponytail that reached the floor, its color matching the deep blue of her robes. I wondered for a moment if she had dyed it that way, or if perhaps it was natural seeing as her eyes were blue as well. Cultivation did tend to reproduce the characteristics of the element one cultivated, no different than the haughty bitch I¡¯d meet in the skiff earlier, with her silver hair and chrome eyes. It was a pretty good bet this girl was no different. She leapt into the air with a spin and from nowhere a sphere of water began formed about her body. She kept spinning, hanging in midair with the power of her Qi alone. Then once the sphere had formed to the size of arge beach ball, she fell through it andnded on her feet, dry as a bone. In her hands two weapons had appeared, long-ded scythes on short metal shafts. The des were not perpendicr to the shafts but rather angled downward a bit and able to protect her hands and forming the ¡°ws¡± of her mantis persona, I figured. The ball of water stayed hovering above her however, swirling with the momentum of her spin. The crowd erupted with apuse at the spectacle, standing to their feet and pping. ¡°I hope you are as good as they say,¡± the woman called to me across the distance, her voice indeed much deeper and more mature than her face let on. She then grinned in a leer. ¡°I would hate to disappoint a crowd like this with a short fight.¡± Cocky little bitch, I thought. I returned the flex by cycling my Frenzy, toggling on the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique to mask it and then dumping it all into [Fear the me]. I wasn¡¯t certain how far my fear aura had grown, but since I could sense her fear¡ªorck of it¡ªfrom this distance, I figured my range should at least be about the same. My theory was proven right as an instantter the Blue Mantis flinched a little, jerking upright, a tremble of uncertainty running through her core. The sight made me smile and I drew the precious fear energy from her and cultivated it into my own. ¡°The odds are three to one in favor of the Blue Mantis,¡± the announcer said and above us, the numbers shed onto the score board. Blue Mantis vs Bull Man Odds: 3:1 Time - 30:00 Blue Mantis Bull Man 0 0 Holy shit, I thought with augh. The [Odds are Against Me] literally this time. I focused on that to try and generate even more Frenzy, but studying the diminutive-looking teenager before me, it was hard to take her as a threat. But my mind knew all that would change in a few moments when the bell rang. The scoreboard also had the time and scoring, just like when I¡¯d fought Gui Zu, but something told me this battle would note down to points. I flipped my axe in my palm, enjoying the weight of the fully iron weapon in my hand. I¡¯d been honing my techniques with Gui Zu¡¯s help every day and now it was time to put all that practice to the test. I dropped into a low stance, my axe held high, as I waited for the match to start. I tapped into my Dantian and immediately channeled mypressed Frenzy into my reflexes and prepped my [Iron Skin] technique. As fast as she had entered the ring, I had to be ready for anything. I was right. As soon as the gong sounded, Blue Mantis sprang into action with a twirling leap towards me, closing the gap between us in a heartbeat. Instinct and weeks of weapons training kicked in next as I defended the attack with a series of Frenzy-fueled blocks and parries. But nothing prepared me for the two tendrils of water which shot from out of the sphere like a pair of whips. The water cut through the fabric of my robes and into the skin beneath, drawing blood, anger, and pain. Ow! You damn tricky bitch! I immediately funneled that into more Frenzy,pressing it and applying it to my [Iron Skin] technique just before the whips of watershed out at me again. My robes were still cut, but this time my skin remained intact, with just the sting of pain remaining. Which only made me more angry. I kept myposure as I focused on her weapons. I was already fighting two des with one, but with the water whips I was having to defend myself from two more. Sparks flew as our iron weapons shed multiple times a second, the intensity as much of a mental workout as physical. But I was doing it. I was holding my ground against her with pure weapon technique and skill alone. She must have realized it after a while also, because she suddenly backflipped away from me and then leapt into the air and began shing at her sphere instead. The whips became arcs of water now, slicing through the air towards me at hypersonic speed. I maneuvered to duck under them, but one caught my leg before I could focus my [Iron Skin] technique. The pain was excruciating, blood springing as the Qi-infused water technique cut my thigh to nearly the bone. Shit! I thought. I fell to one knee, a sitting duck and the crowd erupted in anticipation of my demise. Blue Mantis must have sensed it too because she took the liberty of annunciating her next technique as she prepared to strike. ¡°[Water Spider¡¯s Dance]!¡± She jumped towards me again and I shifted my weight to my good leg to dodge to the side, but she didn¡¯t strike where I thought she would. Instead, she hung in mid-air for a second, tendrils of water whipping around her as she flew into a spiral. Only when I hadnded from my dodge did she move again, charging in exactly my direction. No way! The fake-out caught me t-footed, and it was all I could do to brace my body with more [Iron Skin] as the des of her Qi-charged technique ripped my clothes and skin apart. It was like being thrashed by a thousand papercuts, the world bing a disorientating vortex of water, steel, and blood. ¡°As easy as I predicted,¡± Blue Mantis said with augh. ¡°You won¡¯tst long at all.¡± The taunt fueled my fury and I surged back at her with a powerful series of strikes. She backflipped away still cackling and my blowsnded ineffectually onto the hardpacked y. It had forced her to retreat but nothing more. In the brief reprieve I redirected my Frenzy to my wounded leg, speeding my healing. I nced at the scoreboard. Blue Mantis vs Bull Man Odds: 3:1 Time - 29:13 Blue Mantis Bull Man 27 0 Shit. I needed to get my head in the game. Ignoring my wounds with [Indifference] I went on the offensive, desperate tond at least one hit. I burst forward with Frenzy, closing the gap between us, but Blue Mantis kept her distance, peppering me with her water arcs. I resisted them with [Iron Skin] but the constant attacks slowly drained my Frenzy. Thankfully my infuriation at not being able to catch her fueled me with more rage to fill it back up again, but it still amounted to an effort in futility. She sprung into the air and caught me with her stupid dyed [Water Spider¡¯s Dance] attack again, me reacting too quickly to dodge it. She got in a slice to my side drawing more blood as she went into a flurry of attacks with her scythes. Pain and blood fueled my Frenzy as I fought right back, matching her blow for blow with parries from my axe. ¡°Stay still dammit!¡± I yelled in frustration, releasing a [Three-Log Chop]. Blue Mantis must have sensed the power of the attack from my Qi-vored Frenzy and backed away at thest second. My axe hit the ground like a bomb going off, sending debris thirty feet into the air and leaving a crater about half that size in the arena floor. The crowd oo¡¯ed and awed at the powerful attack and then began chanting the bull man chorus again. I checked the score. Blue Mantis vs Bull Man Odds: 4:1 Time - 27:38 Blue Mantis Bull Man 43 0 The odds had just gotten worse. I truly was the underdog now. The cycle repeated itself and began to feel like I was back fighting Yin Chu again, the blue bitch osciting between outdistancing me with her long-range Qi techniques and then charging in with a well-timed [Water Spider¡¯s Dance] for a flurry of melee attacks to wear me down. It was damn-well working too. As the minutes wore on, I realized I was in a stalemate¡ªa battle of attrition I had scant chance of winning. While my path gave me a near unlimited source of Frenzy so long as the conditions were right, I had no idea how much Qi she had left in her tank. The fight became a marathon, me struggling to survive her attacks while failing at every chance I had to catch her. It was a stark reminder of why I¡¯d be interested in the lightning technique in the first ce. For all my power and strength, it was useless against anyone with a ranged technique. The timer chimed for the 10-minute mark and my stomach nearly dropped through the floor when I saw the scoreboard. Blue Mantis vs Bull Man Odds: 6:1 Time - 09:52 Blue Mantis Bull Man 343 0 343 hits to nothing? Screw this. I needed to do something different. I needed that lightning. My Frenzy surged as the [Odds turned further Against Me] but I couldn¡¯t use a drop of it. At least not for five minutes. You¡¯ve got to be crazy, I told myself and the Demon smiled in assent. I waited for her next retreat, but instead of pursuing her, I dumped everything I had into [Fear the me] as I casually removed what was left of my robes. The technique and the extent of my scarred body had the effect I had hoped, a trickle of fear and uncertainty squeezing out of her as she stopped to stare in iprehension at what I was doing. I prayed it was enough to slow her down some as I began cycling my Frenzy with the [Faux Lightning] technique, tapping into the lightning core. I was nowhere near as fast without active Frenzy in my system, but I did my best as the next [Water Spider¡¯s Dance] technique came flying at me. I resisted the urge to react and just stayed put, and then dove towards her as she tried tond the attack. It worked just barely, me catching a few whips of water across my back that drew blood without my [Iron Skin] in ce. I defended with my skill alone as she pressed in with her scythes, her heightening Qi reflexesnding easy blows that I couldn¡¯t heal. I¡¯d be dead already were it not for my fifth stage of Body Reinforcement, but that alone wasn¡¯t enough to resist her strikes. The floor became a canvas for my spilled blood as the minutes wore on, the Blue Mantis peppering me with her water arcs. I grew sluggish from blood loss and pain, my axe heavy in my hand as I struggled to parry her rapid-fire blows. Just a little bit more, I thought as I kept my focus on the lightning technique. ¡°Blue Mantis as always has finally gained the upper hand in thest few minutes of the round,¡± the announcer came over the loudspeakers as the world began to slow. ¡°This does not look good for the Bull Man. The Blue Mantis looks poised to im her 5th victory of the tournament tonight!¡± ¡°Keeping,¡± I whispered as I looked at the time. Three minutes in. It¡¯d have to be enough. I waited for her to hang in the air with the start of [Water Spider¡¯s Dance] again and then thrusted my palm towards her, releasing my [Faux Lightning] technique. The bolt of blue lightning split the air with a thunderp. And hit nothing. Shit! Whether she had dipped out of range or I had simply missed, I couldn¡¯t tell, but either way the gamble had failed and my fate was sealed. Blue Mantis rushed in with her des shing while Iypletely open from my [Faux Lightning] attack, blood spilling in buckets as the scythes went to town. I barely managed to redirect my Frenzy to get my [Iron Skin] technique back up when a freight train suddenly mmed into my jaw. ¡°[Mantis Seals the Heavens]! I could more hear her technique than see it, my brain in concussion as I flipped end over end andnded painfully on my back. Iy there for a few precious seconds, trying to gather myself. I had just risked it all to cast that stupid lightning bolt and now my body was beyond spent. Frenzy still surged from my me from all the pain, but my healing could only do so much. I was at [Death¡¯s Door], I realized. As the technique took hold, I regained some rity and struggled to sit upright. ¡°This looks to be it for the Bull Man,¡± the announcer shouted. ¡°The Blue Mantis, as predicted, is formting her signature technique.¡± What the hell¡­? It took all my concentration to find my opponent now just a few dozen feet from me. Had I had the strength my body possessed ten minutes ago, I could maybe use it to finally reach her. But I¡¯d lost too much blood for that. I dug deep within the core of my me and used pure Frenzy alone to supply my body with strength. The Blue Mantis sheathed her des as the crowd rallied in anticipation of whatever the hell she was about to do. She folded her arms in a series ofplex forms and two thick tendrils of water descended from the sphere. Grabbing hold of them, she whipped them forward, sending the sphere flying towards me like a medicine ball. I braced for the impact with [Iron Skin] but when the sphere hit me, I barely felt anything at all except wet. Until I couldn¡¯t breathe anymore. ¡°There you have it, folks!¡± the announcer cried. ¡°The dreaded head bubble technique!¡± I swallowed water as my vision blurred, drowning on drynd. My mind panicked with the primal fear of asphyxiation as I wed vainly at the bubble, trying to get it off my head. Vaguely I could hear the girl cackling and made out her blurry form as she pulled on the tendril like a pair of ropes, keeping the bubble over my head no matter how I tried to get away from it. ¡°Yield now, Bull Man, and I will consider sparing your life,¡± she shouted, loud enough for the crowd to hear. ¡°Or just keep resisting and die. I¡¯m fine either way.¡± She ended her fanfare with another cackle and the crowd went wild. I was seconds from death, my mind screaming, barely able to focus. ¡°She¡¯s given him the ultimatum!¡± the announcer continued. ¡°Yield or die! This is the death technique that has forced all of her opponents to yield thus far. Let us see whether the Bull Man will yield also, but more importantly, if the Blue Mantis will still offer him mercy if he does!¡± The words resounded in my mind like a death knell. She¡¯d done this to four other people before. Made them suffer the fear of one of the worst deaths possible. Forced them to yield. And then killed them anyway. The damn bitch. Indignation sparked within me. ¡°I ask you again, Bull Man,¡± she said, taunting me once more. ¡°Do you yield?¡± She cackled again and the sound of her cruelughter fueled the me deep within my soul. I focused on it, calming myself and slowly I reopened my eyes. I cycled my Frenzy using [Death¡¯s Door], fueling my brain with the energy my lungs could no longer provide. Through the blur of the water, I could see her standing there haughtily, confident in her victory. But she was still attached to me through the bubble and the tendrils of water in her hands. That gave me an idea. I didn¡¯t know if it would work, but it was the only idea I had the strength left to perform. I was in torpor¡­a state between life and death, my body barely able to move, but it wouldn¡¯t have to move much for this. I cycled a huge slug of Frenzy through my body using the [Death¡¯s Door] technique, flushing my system with energy like taking ast deep breath before diving underwater. I redirected all my Frenzy into the [Faux Lightning] technique, tapping into the solid Qi of my Lightning Core. The world started to dim after just a few seconds, my supply of residual Frenzy already being absorbed by my slowly dying brain. I counted to thirty and then shoved my palm inside the bubble before releasing the [Faux Lightning] technique. I cked out for a second as the burst of electricity caused the bubble to explode around my head. I hit the ground in a spasm, vomiting water as my body convulsed involuntarily by the sharp pulse of electricity. The current traveled through the tendrils of water as well and right into the hands of my opponent. The Blue Mantis let out a sharp cry as the electricity hit her, paralyzing her with convulsions as she fell prone to the ground, shuddering. This was it. My chance! Every bit of life-threatening terror of thest few seconds returned to me like liquid oxygen hitting my inner me. Frenzy surged in a tumult, and I used it to quickly regain my senses as I shoved it through [Death¡¯s Door]. Blue Mantis was still on the ground, but she¡¯d recover soon as well. What I was about to do next was risky, but screw it, I just didn¡¯t care anymore. This bitch had to die! I funneled my Frenzy into [Mark of the Giant] as I leapt from off the floor. Just like before, the technique instantly healed my wounds as the mass of Frenzy inside me increased my height by an extra inch or two. But flying through the air as fast as I was, I was hoping no one could tell. New strength pulsed through my veins as my pulmonary system was restored and I used the strength of my giant lungs to annunciate my final blow. ¡°[Three-Log Chop]!¡± I fell toward the ground like a meteor, my axe leading the way. Blue Mantis¡¯s eyes suddenly regained focus and shed towards me in panic a second before the axe hit her face. She screamed and miraculously managed to raise a barrier of water to block my attack. My axe hit it like a grenade going off and the force of my Frenzy-fueled technique sent a shockwave across the arena as Blue Mantis¡¯s body sunk two feet into the floor. But impressively, her technique held, my axe buried halfway through her thin barrier technique. I didn¡¯t let up, pressing with all my Frenzy-driven fury and might. ¡°What a turn of events!¡± the announcer cried as the crowd stood to their feet. ¡°The Bull Man proves yet again that he is not the one to be counted out, even at thest second!¡± The Blue Mantis was breathing like she was trying to hold up a building and for as hard as I was pushing my axe down upon her, she probably was. Her eyes began to dash back and forth as the reality of her predicament took hold. She was trapped beneath her thin barrier of water, only the strength of her Qi versus mine keeping her alive. Terror gushed from her like a waterfall and I absorbed every bit of it to add only more strength as I pressed my axe down upon her. ¡°P-please!¡± she said frantically, hyperventting now, tears flowing from her crystal blue eyes. ¡°I-I don¡¯t want to die! I yield! I yield!¡± I could almostugh. Was she for real? The damn nerve of this bitch! ¡°So you can dish it out but can¡¯t take it?¡± I fueled my peaking Frenzy into [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and looked her dead in the eye through the thin veil of water. ¡°Mercy is for those who show mercy,¡± I said. ¡°Not for an evil bitch like you. Let this serve as retribution for those four people you killed¡­just because you wanted to.¡± The certainty of her demise seemed to finally register in her mind and she began screaming and crying uncontrobly. With a final push, I broke through her barrier, the water exploding in a resounding boom! as my axe cleaved her cleanly in two. The final gong sounded and a riot of cheers and cries rang out from the crowd, celebrating my victory. The Frenzy from my [Bloodlust] kicked in, renewing my strength as I stood over what was left of the Blue Mantis. I looked at the score board and couldn¡¯t believe the final tally. Blue Mantis vs Bull Man Odds 20:1 Time - 01:17 Blue Mantis Bull Man 536 1 Winner: Bull Man ¡°A phenomenal match as the Bull Man eliminates Blue Mantis from the Iron Bracket tournament with just a single blow! A tournament first! This win not only cements him as 37th in the Iron Bracket but as a force to be feared in the arena itself! 536 hits and still he stands. I believe this calls for an ascension of sorts. No longer just the Bull Man, clearly he has demonstrated himself to be an ¡®Iron Bull¡¯ indeed!¡± The crowd went wild at the new name, my moniker changing instantly on the screen. Damn, so much for staying low key, I thought. I hope I didn¡¯t just set a new record or some shit. Clearly, they¡¯d never seen anything like this before though, judging by the hype, the amount of lemonade flowing freely through the crowd proving it. I reluctantly hammed it up by thrusting my axe into the air, ying along while I cultivated the spoils of my victory turning the lemonade to Frenzy as I expanded my Dantian. Then to my chagrin the announcer continued. ¡°An Iron Bracket match won in a single hit,¡± he said. ¡°Clearly a victory that will go down in history as one of the greatest battles this fine province has ever seen. Tonight the name ¡®Iron Bull¡¯ bes legend.¡± Chapter 51 I could barely make my way to the locker rooms with all the attention and praise I was receiving on stage. Thankfully after a while, the dour-faced woman, Wu Hen, came to my rescue, escorting me out of the arena so that her crew could clean up the mess I¡¯d made. I hid in the showers for a good half hour, cleaning myself up and once again marveled at just how strong I¡¯d be, my external manifestation techniques especially. My skin waspletely healed and only scars remained from my encounter. I¡¯d only used [Mark of the Giant] thus far, but I could only imagine what a powerhouse I¡¯d be if Ibined that with [Mark of the Beast] or [Mark of the Demon]. Still, I¡¯d gotten enough unwanted attention in the ring already today. Thest thing I needed was more. Maybe that was something I¡¯d have to save for practice out in the field. ¡°That was an amazing fight, Brother Max!¡± Gui Zu greeted me in the locker room with a huge jacked-up smile, handing me my normal robes to get dressed. ¡°Congrattions!¡± ¡°Thanks, Gui Zu,¡± I said, throwing on my jacket. My Fire Bird robes were toast, but I couldn¡¯t give a crap about them. I was far more established as the Iron Bull in the arena now, thanks to that fight. My sect affiliation was now secondary, a bureaucratic annotation at best, which meant I wouldn¡¯t be wearing them inside the ring again. Still, the Furious Lightning Sect had granted me my shot at the Iron Bracket and now I¡¯d have to see the rest of it through on my own terms.¡°How¡¯s it looking out there?¡± I asked once I was finally dressed. ¡°Still a lot of people hoping to catch a glimpse of who you truly are,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°But the next match is starting soon. It would be a good time to leave then.¡± ¡°Sounds like a n.¡± ¡°Speaking of n, we should celebrate your victory, Brother Max. It¡¯s not every day one aplishes what you have tonight.¡± It still didn¡¯t feel like well-fought victory to me. I only won because I was able to shock her through happenstance with the [Faux Lightning] technique. It was a reminder that the parlor trick technique could only take me so far. I needed my own means of creating lightning to truly bepetitive in the ring. ¡°I dunno,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe some other time.¡± Gui Zu looked disappointed. ¡°Are you certain? I¡¯m sure Yu Li and Su Ling would love a chance to see you too.¡± ¡°Yu Li?¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t tell her about any of this stuff, man.¡± ¡°Oh yes, I know,¡± he said. ¡°But we don¡¯t have to tell her the exact reason we are celebrating, do we?¡± He gave me another jacked-up grin and I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Yeah, ok maybe.¡± It probably would be good to see Yu Li again and let her know everything was fine. I hadn¡¯t seen her and Su Ling in nearly four days now after all. ¡°Oh, by the way,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°There is one person you should go and see before we leave. Official Bo Ren has asked for you.¡± ¡°Bo Ren?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°And he said it was very important.¡± * * * I left Gui Zu in the locker room and headed upstairs to the administration area, apprehension building within me as I moved towards the counter where Bo Ren was serving a fellowpetitor. I didn¡¯t know what kind of ¡®trouble¡¯ I might have gotten myself into with that fight, viting some code or what not, but I prepared myself for the worst. I waited for him to finish serving the cultivator before approaching the counter alone. ¡°You wanted to see me, Official Bo Ren?¡± ¡°Ah!¡± he said with a smile and then looked over his shoulder as if to make sure no one else was nearby. He then gave me an overly prestigious bow. ¡°Just wanted to pay my respects to the legend himself! The Iron Bull!¡± Heughed then, and I realized it was all a joke. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said,ughing with him. ¡°I thought I was in trouble or something.¡± ¡°Trouble? Only the good kind perhaps. You made yourself quite the name tonight,¡± he said. ¡°A single-hit win. Notmon, especially for a matchsting that long.¡± I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. ¡°Yeah¡­it was actually two hits, you know? I used my lightni¡ª¡± ¡°Ah, it doesn¡¯t matter now,¡± he said, waving his hand dismissively. ¡°The officials saw what they saw, but more importantly¡­so did the bookies.¡± He grinned at me while waggling his eyebrows and I raised a single eyebrow in response. He then tossed a small pouch on to the counter towards me. ¡°I thought it only fair that you get a cut, seeing as you made it all happen.¡± ¡°A cut?¡± I took the pouch and cautiously examined what was inside. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it was filled with glowing blue stones, opaque like opals. ¡°Holy crap¡­there are six spirit stones in here!¡± ¡°I was always nning to bet on you, kid,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°I know talent when I see it. But nine hells, never did I think the odds would shoot as high as they did. And then for you to pull it all off like that at thest minute? Priceless!¡± ¡°How much did you make?¡± I asked. ¡°This is more money than I¡¯ve ever had in my entire life!¡± ¡°Well, the odds went 20 to 1 and I dropped three of those rocks on the match, so¡­ you can do the math from there. I figured 10% for the man that made it all possible was only fair.¡± ¡°Holy shit! Way more than fair! Thank you, Bo Ren! Thank you!¡± He grinned. ¡°Don¡¯t expect another payday like that again though. After this, your numbers will be skewed to the other side. You¡¯ll be the one with the high odds not low.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You¡¯re already up to 28th rank.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°What? How?¡± ¡°A couple of people ahead of you saw your fight tonight and shit their pants. They withdrew immediately.¡± Damn, I thought. I guess notoriety did have some advantages to be had. ¡°So when¡¯s my next fight?¡± I asked. ¡°And with who?¡± Bo Ren looked to the board behind him. ¡°You¡¯re not up for your next one for a couple of days yet. But we¡¯ll have to see how things pan out in those matches before you get your pick. I can tell you this though. You¡¯d be looking at going up against another 2nd or 3rd-Tier Core Realm cultivator. All the 1st-tiers are eliminated or dropped out now.¡± ¡°Damn, guess I¡¯m in the big leagues now,¡± I said and Bo Ren gave anotherugh. I looked at the spirit stones again in amazement. Each one was worth 10 Taels of silver. I was nervous just holding this much money. ¡°Don¡¯t spend it all on women and booze,¡± Bo Ren said, catching me staring at the stones. ¡°You should probably use them to cultivate. Your next matches won¡¯t be easy.¡± If only I could, I thought. But there was one other investment I could make with this much money. And one that would keep me from spending it all, or having it get stolen back at the Fire Birds¡¯ nest. ¡°Bo Ren, do you have an application form for creating a non-martial sect?¡± He eyed me strangely. ¡°You want to create a sect?¡± ¡°It costs 50 Taels right?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s what you want to spend your money on. I have the urge to snatch it right back from you, if you do.¡± Iughed as he smiled but let him know I was dead serious with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I don¡¯t have the B-ss citizenship to apply for it officially as yet, but if you help me start the application and pay the fee now, I¡¯d appreciate it. I just don¡¯t trust myself with this much money.¡± Bo Ren paused for a moment, looking at me with oddly, but eventually he just shrugged. ¡°Okay then. Give me five of them stones back and I¡¯ll get you the form.¡± It took me all of about a minute to fill it out. Or as much as I could fill out anyway. I then handed it to Bo Ren who initialed the payment and then turned it around for me to see. New Sect Application Form (Non Martial) Name Sect: Terran Sect Chapter No. 00001 Location: Jurin, Terra Sect Type(s): Social Cultural Artisan Sect Size: Small (1000 member limit) Establishment Fee 50 Taels (Paid) Èβ¨ Founder: Max Chun Citizen ID Signature Leader: Max Chun Citizen ID: Warden: Max Chun Citizen ID: Sect Furious Lightning ¡°As soon as you qualify, I can slip in your new ID and then it will be official,¡± Bo Ren said as he ced the form in an envelope before passing it back to me. ¡°You¡¯ve an odd way to spend money, but I respect a man who doesn¡¯t throw it away immediately. Curious though. What made you want to create a sect?¡± I shrugged with a smile. ¡°Even underdogs need a home, I guess.¡± Bo Ren burst outughing at that. ¡°A good answer. See you in a few days then, Bull Man.¡± * * * I cashed in the spirit stone for silver Taels at the money lenders and then headed to the restaurant district with Gui Zu. I bought a veritable feast of Yu Li¡¯s favorites and Gui Zu carried the baskets of steaming noodles and shrimp dumplings on his massive shoulder like it barely weighed anything at all. I had to admit it felt good to blow off heading to the sect, and instead spend a few hours at home with Yu Li and Su Ling. I¡¯d return to the sectter, when the likes of Shen Ju and Hong Feng were asleep and then just focus on honing my External Manifestation techniques some more. From my use of [Mark of the Giant] I was sure it was something I could use to heal my body instantly, but it took massive amounts of Frenzy to do so. And the amount I grew seemed linked to the amount of Frenzy as well. Thus far, the only two times I had actually transformed was when I was in the heat ofbat in a life-or-death situation with tons of Frenzy streaming from my me. It made me think of Threja again. Her frenzied core must have been immensely dense to have transformed and even manifested that inner world as she did. Especially as there was no way those Fire Birds were enough of a threat to her to trigger much Frenzy generation of its own. I recalled how annoying it¡¯d been for her to fight them as well, the Fire Birds kiting her around like these cultivators were doing to me. Perhaps that was one of the major drawbacks of the Berserker¡¯s arsenal. Even at her level of advancement she was confined to melee attacks. Perhaps my quest to harness lightning from Frenzy was somewhat heretical in a way, but the me hadn¡¯tined thus far, so I must be on the right track. ¡°Brother Max,¡± Gui Zu said after a while. ¡°I must ask you a question.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°How is it that you and Yu Li are rted exactly?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Why? You don¡¯t see the family resemnce?¡± The big man blushed a little. ¡°Sorry. I do not mean to be disrespectful.¡± I slugged him on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. We¡¯re not rted by blood. I guess none of us really are¡­anymore.¡± The thought made me think of my real sister for a second. Shit, I could barely remember what her face looked like. My me stirred as the Struggler took control, the root of my pain filtering to the surface. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I did not mean to bring up a sore subject.¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s okay,¡± I said. ¡°Yu Li and I just go way back to when we were kids. If there¡¯s one thing that I¡¯ve learned is that you don¡¯t necessarily need to be blood to be kin.¡± ¡°I suppose that is true,¡± Gui Zu said and then paused a moment. ¡°And Su Ling¡­she is the daughter of¡ª?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re asking who her dad is, you¡¯re going to have to ask Yu Li that. But I wouldn¡¯t go broaching the topic lightly. It¡¯s a sore spot for her, as you say.¡± ¡°Oh, I already know who her father is. Yu Li told me that it¡¯s master Hein.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± I stopped dead in my tracks. ¡°She told you that?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Already?¡± Gui Zu shrugged. ¡°Yu Li and I have a great many conversations.¡± I was bbergasted. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned.¡± ¡°What I was going to ask, was if you think Su Ling should be raised amoner or not.¡± I raised a brow at that. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, whether Master Hein chooses to acknowledge it or not, she still has royal blood in their veins. That means something.¡± I shrugged. ¡°This sounds like a conversation you should probably be having with Yu Li.¡± ¡°Oh, I have had it,¡± he said. ¡°But she¡¯s conflicted. For obvious reasons.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t really matter, does it? Yu Li is a mortal, Terran. The empire wouldn¡¯t recognize Su Ling as any more than that, no matter who her father is, right?¡± ¡°Oh Sorry, perhaps you misunderstand me, Brother Max. When I said she has royal blood in her veins, I meant that literally. I did not mean inheritance or status.¡± I nced at him questioningly again. ¡°What I mean is, royal families keep their bloodlines very strong through selective marriage. Most times just to win the honor of marriage, a suitor must defeat his would-be bride inbat to prove his worthiness to father her children. That way anyone within a royal family is normally many tiers more advanced in their cultivation potential. So, while her mother may have been a mortal, there is a very good chance that Su Ling may prove to be a prodigy.¡± There was that damn word again. ¡°So¡­how would that make any difference in how she¡¯s raised though? She¡¯d still be amoner under thew, right?¡± ¡°If she¡¯s educated under the normal imperial government, yes,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°But if she has true talent, she could be inducted into a sect as early as two years old and receive the same training and education as a royal would.¡± ¡°Two years old?¡± I couldn¡¯t imagine Yu Li doing something like that. ¡°What mother would turn her child over to a sect at that age?¡± ¡°Are you kidding? Most mothers would give away half their children for just one to have such a chance.¡± ¡°I dunno, man,¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°Trusting a sect to raise your kid at that age? They wouldn¡¯t even remember you. It¡¯d be like giving them up for adoption.¡± Gui Zu shrugged. ¡°As a mortal, it¡¯s a better life than most have. For a mortal child to be inducted into a sect is a great honor.¡± ¡°Still sounds pretty iffy to me.¡± Gui Zu chuckled. ¡°Yu Li had much the same reaction. Perhaps it is still very much a foreign concept to you as a Terran. But for me, I would have much rather been raised in a sect than the orphanage.¡± I nced at the big man again and realized that he perhaps had had as hard a life as we all did. ¡°Man, those dumplings smell good,¡± I said, eager to change the topic of conversation. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to dig into them.¡± ¡°You and me both!¡± Gui Zu said with augh, his mirth returning. We continued chatting on much lighter topics on the way to the square. Still, I thought about what he¡¯d said some. I couldn¡¯t imagine little Su Ling growing up in the harsh environment that I was now subjected to in the Fire Bird Sect. What kind of person would she grow up being then? An entitled brat like Green Bird Girl, or even worse, like that evil bitch, Blue Mantis? It made me realize all the more just how important creating this Terran sect was. We needed a means to preserve our own heritage and identity. A sanctuary to carve out our own destiny within the empire, just like Master Edrik and Lysa did. The 50 Taels to do that just that had been well spent indeed. Now I just needed to reach the top 20 bracket and earn my B-ss citizenship to make it all a reali¡ª. I bumped into something. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn¡¯t notice Gui Zu hade to a halt in front of me. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I said. The square was just ahead of us and before Gui Zu even pointed I could hear themotion of a crowd. We dashed forward together, and the scene slowly began to take shape. Food and debris from broken tables was scattered all over the ce and shop windows busted just like before. The entire neighborhood was there, worked up in a frenzy. An angry mob being led by none other than Jian Yi. ¡°This way!¡± she cried. ¡°No! This way! Follow me!¡± The crowd surged back and forth like a school of fish, moving in one direction and then the other and after a few seconds I saw why. There, running for her life with little Su Ling cradled in her arms, was Yu Li. Chapter 52 Gui Zu dropped the basket and dashed ahead of me before I could even react. He pushed and weaved through the crowd with a nimbleness that defied his great size and in just a few seconds he had reached Yu Li. ¡°Stay away from her!¡± he shouted, pushing Yu Li and Su Ling behind him. ¡°Leave her alone!¡± The crowd didn¡¯t listen, but they kept their distance once Gui Zu picked up a stray broom and began wielding it like a staff. He pushed, prodded, and pped the most brazen of my neighbors with martial techniques, forming a space between himself and the angry mob being led by Jian Yi. The girl had nothing but fury in her eyes as she shouted and screamed for Gui Zu to move. My me fixated on her. She¡¯d been the cause of all this, formed this rabble together to hunt down a defenseless woman and her child. Heated anger filled my soul, fueling fresh Frenzy as I engaged my [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique. I let the immense power of my Dantian be known as I poured Frenzy into my reflexes and [Fear the me]. Aiming for where Yu Li was cowering just behind Gui Zu, I leapt into the air soaring high above the crowd. I plummeted fist first, Frenzy surging andnded just in front of Jian Yi with a resounding Boom! as my fist hit the ground. ¡°ENOUGH!¡± Concrete and asphalt flew high into the air and rained down like hail as my impact left a ten-foot-wide crater in the middle of the square. Stunned silence took hold as thebination of my fear aura and Qi-ented Frenzy radiated into the crowd.Fear gripped them and more than a few people turned tail and ran, fearing their quick demise at the hands of the Core Realm cultivator they had just pissed the hell off. But one person amongst them stood against me unfazed, her chin lifted defiantly as always. ¡°Nice entrance,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m sure we all appreciate the fresh damage you¡¯ve¡ª¡± I snatched her by the cor, lifting her high off the ground. ¡°What the hell is this shit, Jian Yi?¡± I bellowed into her face. ¡°I told you what would happen if you¡ª¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you stop and see why it happened, Chun!¡± Jian Yi shouted right back at me and then thrust a piece of paper in my face. ¡°That girl with the metal hand showed up looking for you. And of course, when she didn¡¯t find you, because you¡¯ve gone and pissed off to who knows where, she left one of these for all of us and then wrecked the ce so that we¡¯d never forget.¡± I tossed her back down to the ground and then snatched the paper from her, scanning it briefly. To the One who has chosen death and the fools who have chosen to follow him: This day marks seven days until you will face your destiny and suffer your fate at my hands. Run like a coward and fail to appear, and your fellow Terrans will suffer the retribution of both myself and Honorable Li Fet. Take heed, for my wrath knows no bounds. Young Master Hein of the Silver Leaf n Frigging Hein and Zu Tien, I thought. I¡¯d just killed a woman far more vile than the both of them put together, yet still they irked me more. I guess that¡¯s just how things were when it got personal. And speaking of personal¡­ ¡°So you get this letter and then decide to take this out on Yu Li?¡± I focused on Jian Yi as she picked herself up off the tarmac. ¡°Give me one good reason not to bury the whole damn lot of you right now!¡± ¡°How about because we don¡¯t deserve it,¡± she said defiantly. ¡°What?¡± This girl had to be joking. ¡°You were just running her down and about to¡ª!¡± ¡°Because she went and made things worse!¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°The both of you have! This block has never seen so much turmoil and chaos since you started making trouble. And now you¡¯ve gone and left us all to fend for ourselves? What did you expect us to do? Sit on our hands and wait for your almighty return? Suffer our fates in silence while Master Hein prepares our demise?¡± The crowd murmured at that and I could feel the tide was already turning against me. And deep down I couldn¡¯t really me them either. I was doing shit none of them could possibly understand and all for their benefit too. But it sure didn¡¯t look that way right now. ¡°It¡¯s not like that.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it now?¡± She cocked her head at me. ¡°Sure could have fooled me.¡± More of my neighbors joined in the murmuring, some shouting outright curses at me, not a single drop of lemonade in the bunch. ¡°Other people might be afraid of you, Chun, but not me,¡± Jian Yi said, looking me dead in the eye. ¡°You can make your threats all you want, but I¡¯m done risking my future on the likes of you.¡± She then paused a moment looking down at the crater. ¡°No matter how damn strong you¡¯ve be.¡± As she said the words, I instantly felt the mood in the crowd change. Fear turning instantly to anger and defiance as she bolstered them with confidence and resolve. But I sensed something more as well. Something familiar. Staring down at Jian Yi, I spotted something different in her deep brown eyes. A stirring of something. Like Frenzy almost, but not quite. There, buried deep in her soul were the beginnings of a smoldering ember. The first spark of a Frenzied me. Holy shit, I thought. No wonder she had the balls to stand up to me. She was unkindled! I looked at the crowd. She¡¯d turned them all against me. This wasn¡¯t a battle I could win by brute force alone. I could crush her like an ant, but that wasn¡¯t the point anymore. Especially not now, knowing what she truly was. I¡¯d simply be a tyrant in the peoples¡¯ eyes if I did. Perhaps the me had been trying to tell me this all along. ¡°We need to go talk,¡± I said. ¡°Alone. Right now.¡± ¡°Alone?¡± She scoffed out augh. ¡°Why? So you can try to kill me?¡± I looked at her with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and triggered my [Frenzied me]. ¡°If I said yes, would you stille anyway?¡± Her eyes narrowed and I could sense the defiance building within her. It wasn¡¯t exactly a test of uncertain death, but it was close. The crowd grew silent waiting for her answer. I could sense her ember glowing brighter until finally she folded her arms. ¡°Fine,¡± she said and then turned back to the crowd. ¡°All of you. Leave the girl and her child be, understand? I will go speak with him now.¡± Amazingly the mob backed off, like all the hatred and anger had been suddenly sucked out of the room. She then turned back to me. ¡°Whatever this is, it¡¯d better be good. Because everyone is sick to death of your shit.¡± She parted the crowd as she walked away, heading towards the side streets of the square. I gave a nce back to Gui Zu and Yu Li to make sure they were alright. ¡°Get her out of here, Gui Zu.¡± The big man nodded. ¡°Already on it.¡± ¡°Chun, don¡¯t do anything stupid, okay?¡± Yu Li said in a hushed whisper, rocking Su Ling who was surprisingly asleep somehow. ¡°These people have all lost their minds.¡± ¡°I can see that,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m just going to try and talk some sense into her.¡± It was clear the bnce of power had shifted dramatically since I¡¯d moved out. No longer was Jian Yi¡¯s crew just a minority. She¡¯d yed another chess move, getting the entiremunity on her side. And maybe I had more to do with that than she did. Going against her now would be going against the very people I was trying to save. And she knew I couldn¡¯t do that. Perhaps Jian Yi had grown brazen not because she didn¡¯t fear death, but because she just no longer feared me. Or no longer feared my retribution anyway. Or was it that smoldering ember inside of her causing it as well? Either way, my fists were no longer the answer here. I followed where Jian Yi had wandered off to and found her half a block over, out of earshot of the crowd but close enough to keep an eye on everyone. Tensions were still high, but surprisingly everyone was holding fire for the moment, just like Jian Yi hadmanded. ¡°So speak,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°You¡¯re the one who wanted to talk, right?¡± The girl truly had no fear of me. It pissed me off, but I had to be smart about this. ¡°Why the hell did you sic that mob on Yu Li and her baby? Are you nuts? Are you really trying to kill her? Do you have any idea what I would have done to you and everyone else if you did?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t sic anyone on her,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°She¡¯s the one who nearly got herself killed by riling everyone up.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Yu Li ripped up that letter right in front of that one-handed woman and she wrecked the whole square because of it. Yu Li has herself to me for them chasing her after that. She¡¯s damn lucky that woman didn¡¯t just kill her on the spot!¡± Damn it, Yu Li. And you warn me about doing something stupid? ¡°But I might as well call it your fault,¡± she continued. ¡°Because it¡¯s your nonsense filling her head that made her do something like that.¡± ¡°That still doesn¡¯t justify what you¡¯ve done, Jian Yi. Because you clearly didn¡¯t try to stop them either, did you?¡± ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± she shouted back, her ember glowing brightly. ¡°What do you think I was doing? I was trying to stop them!¡± I blurted out a causticugh. ¡°How? By leading the mob to her?¡± ¡°No, the opposite,¡± she said emphatically. ¡°And I was doing the best I could. I couldn¡¯t control them after what she did. People were too pissed off!¡± ¡°Jian Yi, I already warned you about messing with Yu Li. You just risked all those people¡¯s lives by¡ª!¡± ¡°Me risking their lives?¡± she fired back. ¡°You mean the way you are by challenging Hein?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not the same at all!¡± I said, my me stirring. ¡°I¡¯m standing up to Hein, yes, but I¡¯m not provoking him for a reaction like what you¡¯re trying to do to me. Plus, a girl with a baby? Are you serious? That shit is way out of line! You¡¯re lucky I don¡¯t knock your damn head off just for messing with her the first time when you went and¡ªactually, you know what?¡± Curling a fist, I popped her swiftly in the jaw. Whack! It was a pulled punch, using as little force as possible, but still it was enough to knock Jian Yi off her feet and send a hand sping her cheek in shock and pain. ¡°Ow! Shit, Chun! What the hell?¡± ¡°That was for pping my sister from before,¡± I said, pointing down at her. ¡°And you know damn well you deserve it too!¡± She red up at me, holding her face for a moment, but she didn¡¯t deny it either. Then, her ember stirring, she stood up on her own defiantly, lifting her chin. ¡°You feel better now?¡± The little bitch...I was just about toy into her again, when I stopped myself at thest second, realizing¡ªlike looking in a mirror¡ªthat she was unconsciously using a form of [Indifference] against me. ¡°No, I don¡¯t feel better,¡± I said with a healthy dose of [Fear the me]. ¡°I¡¯d feel better beating the living shit out of you, but you¡¯ve gone and made that highly inconvenient for me now. You know you got off light. If I would have reacted the night you hit her, I would have¡ª¡± ¡°Alright, I get it!¡± she shouted, throwing her hands in the air. ¡°Look, people do dumb shit when they feel like they don¡¯t have any options, okay? And that¡¯s basically what you did to all of us when you started this feud with Hein. None of us asked for this. We all just want to live in peace!¡± I blew out augh and gestured to the mob. ¡°You call this peace?¡± ¡°You know what I mean!¡± I paused a moment as I sensed her ember stir again. ¡°Look, I know what I did to Yu Li before was wrong,¡± she said. ¡°But I just didn¡¯t think I could make you stop any other way at the time. You were marching us all off a damn cliff. And you weren¡¯t willing to listen to anyone except yourself! And yes, I did it to provoke you into attacking me. But I was more willing to face your wrath alone, than for everyone to face Hein¡¯s.¡± I pondered that. Was that truly her n? ¡°And you seriously thought that would work?¡± ¡°Well, it didn¡¯t obviously,¡± she said with an eyeroll. ¡°Anyway, I heard you the first time. I wasn¡¯t messing with Yu Li anymore, but then she went and turned the whole block against her on her own. And whether you want to believe me or not, I honestly was trying to stop them from hurting her tonight.¡± ¡°That¡¯s bullshit!¡± I said. ¡°I know what I saw. You were out there leading the charge. And you were shouting for Gui Zu to move when he was trying to protect her.¡± ¡°I told you! I was trying to lead them away from her, you idiot!¡± she shouted. ¡°And as for Gui Zu, I was telling him ¡®get her away¡¯ not move out of the way!¡± Her ember was burning brightly with conviction now. ¡°I¡¯m not a damn monster who wants to hurt a child, Chun. Who the hell does that? Did I p Yu Li because I thought it would save mymunity from getting ughtered by Hein and the rest of his family? Yes. But did I actually try to kill Yu Li and her baby by sending an angry mob after her? Hell no! I¡¯m not the damn viin you¡¯re trying to make me out to be. If anything you can me yourself for what happened to Yu Li tonight, because you leaving is why everyone lost their shit and resorted to panic and fear and then dumped it all into anger while chasing Yu Li.¡± I squinted at her, trying to decipher the truth. She was unkindled, so maybe shecked control over her impulses at times like I did, but she didn¡¯t seem to be trying to deceive me at all. And plus she didn¡¯t fear me anymore so what reason would she have to lie to me anyway? Had I indeed misinterpreted what I had seen when I entered the square? I was pretty pissed already, so maybe it was possible. Thinking back, she was telling them ¡°no!¡± and to move ¡°this way!¡±, like they were going the wrong direction. And I couldn¡¯t actually hear what she was saying to Gui Zu either. All I could remember seeing was the anger in her eyes. Anger that perhaps was meant to be directed at me. Jian Yi then gave me a look that reminded me of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°You probably think I turned the whole neighborhood against you,¡± she said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t. After you disappeared people came looking to me on their own. Looking for answers. Answers I didn¡¯t have. So we did the only thing we could do and tried to make amends for the crap you started when that woman showed up. But then Yu Li goes and does what she did and sets us right back to square one again.¡± I heard the truth in her then and not just about what had happened tonight with Yu Li. I heard the truth about what my absence had caused as well. Shit, I thought. Everything came at a price. Even the sacrifice I was making to grow stronger to protect them all, had in the end turned them all against me. Jian Yi then let out a sigh. ¡°Honestly though, whether you¡¯re here or not doesn¡¯t matter anymore. Because after tonight we¡¯re all screwed now thanks to you and Yu Li.¡± I echoed her sigh. It seemed I¡¯d been wrong about her motives and actions tonight, but still this wasn¡¯t going the direction I wanted. I needed a new approach. ¡°I want to show you something,¡± I said and began cycling my Frenzy in preparation of the [Faux Lightning] technique. ¡°I realize I¡¯ve been asking you to trust me blindly. Trust me to do something you don¡¯t believe I can do, but I¡¯ll prove to you now that I can.¡± I wished I had started building up the technique earlier but I wouldn¡¯t need to do much to get the point across. I waited thirty more seconds before releasing a blue lightning bolt into the night sky. It went off with a deafening boom of thunder and the crowd reacted with a collective gasp. Even Jian Yi flinched, backing away from me. ¡°You¡¯ve seen the power of my raw strength, and now you know the extent of my inner strength as well. I will defeat Hein. I will im this residence for us. I will make us free.¡± Jian Yi just shook her head. ¡°You really don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± ¡°Get what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust that you can defeat Hein,¡± she said. ¡°Quite the opposite now, actually, thanks to that over-the-top entrance of yours. And that¡¯s the problem with you. You¡¯re a frigging hothead who can¡¯t think past your own damn nose!¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± She paused a moment and her eyes softened some. ¡°You don¡¯t think that I don¡¯t like the idea of your dream, Chun? Free rent? No more harassment in the square? But it¡¯s a fool¡¯s dream, okay? Nails that stick up get hammered. And that¡¯s all you¡¯ll do to us by defeating Hein and forcing Li Fet to hand over his property in humiliation.¡± ¡°I get that,¡± I said. ¡°But it¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°But what?¡± she snapped. ¡°There is no ¡®but¡¯, Chun! This is our reality. We need to learn how to adapt and survive in this new world. Not try to fight against it and die¡­like everyone else already did.¡± Her words stuck a chord, and I sensed something shift inside her, a new stirring of her embers. ¡°You¡¯re a driven woman, Jian Yi, and I respect that, perhaps more than you can evenprehend right now.¡± She had embers but I had no idea how to awaken someone¡¯s unkindled me. Or even if I should. Especially as her vengeance might be fixed on me at the moment. But perhaps I could reach out to her in another way. The same way Threja reached out to me that first time. ¡°Tell me what drives you. Tell me your [Sorrow and Pain].¡± Her mouth came open as if in shock and her eyes teared up a little, but she was no longer looking at me. She was looking into her past now. The same way I had. ¡°I didn¡¯t get taken right away,¡± she said, staring off into this distance. ¡°My daddy was a soldier. We ran and hid. My whole family and I. I was too young to understand what was really going on then, but I remember everything vividly to this day. Wested about a week. Even managed to kill a few cultivators somehow. With guns, I think. We met up with other families. Other people in the army. They all pulled together and tried to fight back. Against the monsters, against the invaders. But in the end, everyone just died. My parents were killed right in front of me, because they tried to fight. Instead of just submitting like they were told.¡± My own me stirred at her words, and I sensed the glowing ember within her be a bit warmer. ¡°So now, fighting back is thest thing I want to do,¡± she continued. ¡°I¡¯ve seen people try it, but it just won¡¯t work. And I can¡¯t risk losing everyone I care about again, just for that.¡± I nodded slowly as she finished speaking. And then like she was awakening from a dream, she blinked and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. ¡°Ugh! What the hell was that? I hadn¡¯t thought about all that stuff in years.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I said. ¡°We all have our reasons for being. I understand you now, Jian Yi. You want peace at the cost of freedom. And I guess I want the opposite¡­freedom at the cost of peace.¡± She furrowed her brow in thought. ¡°Yeah¡­I guess so.¡± ¡°We may want different things, but we don¡¯t need to be at odds over it, Jian Yi. In the end I think we both want what¡¯s best for our people, don¡¯t we?¡± She shrugged but nodded. ¡°I need to show you something else.¡± ¡°Please, no more,¡± she said. ¡°You don¡¯t need to go breaking up any more shit. I know you¡¯re strong. You don¡¯t have to keep proving it.¡± ¡°No,¡± I said and reached into my robes for the application form. ¡°This is something far more powerful than any cultivation technique. And it¡¯s probably what I should have shown you in the first ce.¡± She eyed me warily as she reached for the envelope. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A way we can both achieve what we want,¡± I said. ¡°Freedom and peace.¡± She grew more curious at that and opened the envelope, straining her eyes in the dim street lighting to make out what was written on the paper. ¡°A Terran sect?¡± she said. ¡°It will give us the protection we need to survive as a people,¡± I said. ¡°Once it¡¯s established, anyone who joins instantly bes a C-ss citizen. The cultivators trample over us now because we¡¯remoners and mortals. But under a sect, we¡¯re protected by imperialw. If Hein¡¯s family or Li Fet want retribution for their defeat, they¡¯d have to take it up with me as the Warden, not any of you.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re okay with that?¡± she said. ¡°There are people far more powerful than Hein within his family. The Warden of the province just to name one.¡± I shrugged with a smile of [Indifference]. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I can hold my own. Plus, I got much bigger targets in my sights when ites to opposition.¡± She looked at me funny. ¡°I¡¯m starting to question your sanity again.¡± I chuckled. ¡°The point is, even if I¡¯m dead and gone, you¡¯d have the right to appoint whoever you wanted as your Warden. A whole martial sect even. So long as enough people join and chip in for funding, you can keep anyone from messing with you. Strength in numbers. That¡¯s the y here.¡± ¡°This can¡¯t be real,¡± she said, flipping the paper over in her hands. ¡°Is it?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± I said. ¡°A few more details to figure out, but I¡¯m working on it. Trust me when I say I¡¯m taking a huge risk to pull this off. But it will all be worth it in the end.¡± Her eyes narrowed. ¡°How can this be so easy? A simple piece of paperwork and you can create a sect?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not easy,¡± I said. ¡°Or cheap.¡± I pointed out Bo Ren¡¯s signature on the form and her eyes grew wide. ¡°50 Taels! You paid 50 Taels of silver for this? How did you even get that much money?¡± ¡°Like I said. I¡¯m taking a lot of risks.¡± She looked up at me with new eyes, a look I hadn¡¯t seen before and for the first time ever, I sensed a trickle of lemonade. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± she said, putting the form back in the envelope and then handing it back to me. ¡°You should have led with this.¡± With that she turned and began walking away. ¡°Hey,¡± I called to her. ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°To go talk to my¡ª¡± She then paused. ¡°To go talk to our people,¡± she said. ¡°They won¡¯t understand any of this, especiallying from a hothead like you, but I think I¡¯ll be able to convince them to get behind you.¡± I was rocked back on my heels at her sudden change. Perhaps I hadn¡¯t been giving her enough credit this entire time. I gave her a nod. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet,¡± she said, rubbing her jaw but giving me a smile. ¡°The neighborhood is still very angry.¡± * * * True to her word, Jian Yi waded into the sea of angry neighbors, righted a toppled table and then stood atop it to deliver her address to the crowd. I stood on the sidelines with Gui Zu and Yu Li, waiting eagerly to hear what she was going to say. ¡°Listen up, everyone,¡± she began and the crowd instantly silenced for her. ¡°I¡¯ve said a lot of crazy stuff about Chun. And while most of it remains true, I was wrong about one thing about him. As crazy, reckless, and unstable as he is, I now believe he does indeed have the best interest of us all at heart.¡± ¡°Holy crap, Chun,¡± Yu Li whispered to me. ¡°What the hell did you say to her?¡± ¡°Shhh,¡± I told her. ¡°I¡¯ve met privately with Chun,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°And he has shared his full vision with me. I admit I didn¡¯t understand it at first. But now that I do, I¡¯m fully behind it. And I want us all to be as well.¡± A whisper of gasps and shock went throughout the crowd, but amazingly there wasn¡¯t a single voice of dissent and just like before all the anger seemed to be sucked from the air. ¡°It¡¯s humbling to admit you were wrong about something or someone, but I believe it¡¯s never toote to make amends and to chart a new path.¡± She then looked out over the crowd. ¡°Yu Li!¡± Yu Li jumped next to me, her eyes wide with panic. Jian Yi then sped her hands together and performed a deep bow. ¡°I apologize to you deeply. My anger and hostility against you were misced and misdirected. Please forgive me for what I have done.¡± ¡°Holy cow,¡± Yu Li whispered. ¡°What should I do?¡± ¡°Bow back,¡± Gui Zu said with a nudge and Yu Li did so. Jian Yi then turned a little and bowed towards me. ¡°And to you, Chun, I apologize as well. I understand now more than ever that you have shown tremendous restraint in your dealings with all of us. But I trust in your strength and believe in your cause now. I will support you in your endeavor, as I trust that we all will.¡± A huge flow of lemonade came from the crowd. Not as a result of me, but her. I bowed back. ¡°I thank you all for cing your trust in me.¡± ¡°Does this mean you¡¯re really going to fight master Hein?¡± someone called out. ¡°He will do more than that,¡± Jian Yi said before I could answer. ¡°He will provide for us a new future.¡± And with that she pped her hands together. ¡°Alright! That¡¯s over now. Everyone, lets clean up this mess. They can tear down our possessions but never take away our pride, yes?¡± A rally of cheers went up at that and quickly the murmur of normal conversation ensued. Jian Yi jumped down from the table and approached me. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve done my part,¡± she said. ¡°The rest is up to you now.¡± I gave her a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll take it from here.¡± Jian Yi bowed to Yu Li. ¡°Once again, I am sorry. I don¡¯t expect us to be friends after what I did to you, Yu Li. But I sincerely hope that someday I can find a way to make amends for it.¡± Yu Li gave Jian Yi a nce and a head nod but nothing more. Considering what Jian Yi had done to her, that was probably the best she would get for now. ¡°Chun, can I trust you to clean up the mess you made?¡± Jian Yi asked, gesturing to the crater. ¡°It would take us mere mortals days.¡± She cracked a smile and I chuckled. ¡°Anything for our people.¡± * * * The neighborhood all got to work doing just as Jian Yi said¡ªpicking up carts and tables, helping one another, but even more so, clearly demonstrating that she was one they were all willing to listen to. We picked up what was left of our dinner from the floor and had a quiet but pleasant meal at Yu Li¡¯s. Gui Zu lifted everyone¡¯s spirits from the trauma of the evening, telling stories and ying with Su Ling. Yu Li came around after a while, joining in theughter with him, but all I could think about was what had just transpired down in the square. Not the mess Zu Tien had made or the reaction from the neighborhood that had traumatized Yu Li. Instead, I marveled at Jian Yi and her budding ember and the aptness at which she turned the temper of that angry mob once things had settled down. It was as if her gift were opposite to mine. An ability to diffuse anger instead of feeding on it. Perhaps if she did end up kindling her me, her path would be very much different than mine. If such a thing were even possible. After I left Yu Li¡¯s, I pondered more deeply on how the people responded to Jian Yi. How easy it was for her to get them to do anything she said. She had won them over but more importantly, she had demonstrated that she was capable of self-reflection, admitting fault and even switched direction and showed contrition once everything was made clear. It was honestly way more than I expected of her. Hell, she even took her shot in the jaw like aplete champ. I was d I was able to turn her from an enemy to an ally. And one that might just serve themunity far more than I thought possible. The idea remained with me as I walked the dark streets and by the time I reached the library study back at the sect, a new vision was beginning to form in my mind. My path was clear. I was a Berserker who yearned to free my people. And by vengeance, fury and violence, I would do so. But freeing my people and leading them were two different things and if I wanted to seed, my path would eventually take me far from here. The people would need someone to lead them once I was gone, but in truth, they seemed to have chosen who they were willing to follow already. Perhaps fate was revealing new possibilities to me. Perhaps there was a destiny yet for Jian Yi. Chapter 53 The next few days went by somewhat routinely. I focused on cultivating my Frenzy in the field by day and then honing my martial techniques with Gui Zu by night. I had to admit, I surprised even myself in my fight with the Blue Mantis, able to go toe-to-toe with her using my martial skills alone. It was proof that all my sparring sessions with Gui Zu were starting to pay off, but I just prayed they would be enough to climb even further in the ranks. After our training, I caught glimpses of the Iron Bracket tournament from the pits and the level ofpetition was as fierce as Bo Ren had let on. In the match for the 26th position, the entire arena floor was excavated by an earth-aspect cultivator who was up against a woman who used flower petals and martial fans known as sh¨¤nzi. It was like watching an earthquake happen in high speed, the ground heaving up underneath the woman in huge columns as the earth cultivator applied his techniques. In the end though, the woman proved the importance of one¡¯s aspect versus another as she cut through even the strongest of the earth cultivator¡¯s techniques with the edge of her fans. I didn¡¯t understand why at first, until I saw she was from the Orange Blossom Sect whose base aspect of ¡®flower¡¯ fell within the Wood domain. One thing was clear though. The higher I went up in ranking, the more Qi manifestation mattered. In that entire match, they crossed weapons perhaps only four or five times. Everything else was a battle of Qi. The sight caused a pit of uncertainty to rise up in my stomach. I¡¯d gotten lucky in myst match to make my [Faux Lightning] do something useful, but at the end of the day, it was worthless as a weapon. If I had faced either of these cultivators¡ªflower girl or earth man¡ªI simply would have lost. Unless I was willing to go full ham with [Mark of the Beast] or some shit. But that was out of the question. I had practiced the technique earlier out in the field and while I couldn¡¯t generate enough Frenzy killing small monsters to manifest itpletely, I definitely developed attributes that would be far less easy to hide in the ring. Longer limbs, nails that grew into ws, slightly pointed ears, and what felt like fangs growing into my bottom jaw. The technique was true to its word though. With the small amount of Frenzy stored in my Dantian, I was able to hold the form for all of a minute, but in that time, I was able run nearly three miles. The quickness of my martial forms increased to the same extent. With that kind of speed, I could probably close the gap on any long-range technique user, but no way was I going to turn into a damn werewolf in the middle of the arena.That meant the same old problem still existed. I needed to manifest my own lightning to staypetitive. After the matches, I headed back to the square and show my face before going home to the Fire Bird sect for the night. The atmosphere had changed considerably after the big blow-up. The res of disdain were reced with bows of respect as the people entrusted me with their faith. Somehow it made reaching the top twenty bracket all the more nerve-racking. There was no way I could let all these people down now. Dropping Gui Zu off at home each night, I was surprised to see how readily Su Ling took to him when Yu Li would hand her over to hold. She had gotten used to his jacked-up smile it seemed, or maybe saw it as something funny now as she would break into happy giggles every time he grinned at her. I bumped into Jian Yi again on my second visit to the square, where she was organizing some kind ofmunity event. ¡°We¡¯ve been through a lot,¡± she told me when I questioned her about it. ¡°Themunity needs to reconnect and heal. This will help.¡± She had arranged for several people to make decorations and for some artisans to provide music, games, and other forms of entertainment. Just like when she had gotten everyone to clean up, she managed to get the wholemunity working together to make it happen. It was another unexpected side of her that confirmed she would be able to keep themunity together long after I was gone. Strangely though, I didn¡¯t sense her ember burning as brightly anymore. It was still there but seemed to be in a dormant state. A waning ember. Perhaps it was confirmation that she¡¯d seen me as the threat all along and that our resolution had taken away the need for her defiance. Or maybe her path was simplypleted for now. Or perhaps it was only ignited when there was conflict to resolve. I didn¡¯t know how the me worked, but perhaps one day, when I had progressed further myself, I would be able to guide her along whatever path that ember was ultimately leading her towards. Back at the sect, I enjoyed theforts that came with being an Iron Bracket representative. The initiates served me now, bringing me high-quality food that wasced with Qi. I wasn¡¯t sure if the Qi gave my body any extra benefits, but it sure as hell tasted good. At night I continued my prose writing for Hong Feng who every morning came for his copy hot off the presses. ¡°I hear you did very well in your first match,¡± he said while looking over mytest submission. ¡°When will you fight again?¡± ¡°Tonight,¡± I said. Hong Feng nodded. ¡°I will aim to be there. I am keen to see your lightning technique in action.¡± Chagrin filled me as he left. Great, I thought. Just what I needed. More pressure to perform. As I readied myself for the day, I tried not to let it bother me. Whoever my opponent would be tonight, I would beat them. No matter who or what they were. The thought stirred my me, but in truth my insides were turning to jelly. I left early and headed for the markets instead of the gate. There was someone else who was having a big day today. Heading back to the Native Housing District, I rapped on Mu Lin¡¯s door and not surprisingly she answered fully dressed in her school uniform, with huge bags under her bloodshot eyes. ¡°Wow, did you sleep?¡± ¡°Chun?¡± she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Iughed and presented her the biggest persimmon I could find in the artisan¡¯s market. ¡°I came to wish you good luck on your exam today.¡± ¡°Damn, I¡¯m surprised you remember,¡± she said. ¡°Hey what¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Sheughed and took the persimmon. ¡°Thanks, but I¡¯m way too nervous to eat this.¡± ¡°You should,¡± I said. ¡°The vendor told me it¡¯s a special spirit fruit that will help you remember things.¡± She squinted her eyes at me groggily. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°No, but it sounds good, right?¡± She elbowed me as Iughed again. ¡°What time do you need to get to the university?¡± I asked. ¡°In about an hour.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll walk you,¡± I said. ¡°No, that¡¯s okay. Xi Xha is going to pick me up again.¡± ¡°Oh, you mean with that stuck-up bitch and her flying car?¡± ¡°Her what?¡± And then she came awake as if just remembering our first encounter. ¡°Hey, what the hell was up with youst time? That was embarrassing as hell! You know how much of a big shot she is?¡± I shrugged with [Indifference]. ¡°Don¡¯t know. Don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°Man, you¡¯re such a Chun,¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°Can¡¯t take you anywhere. Luckily Xi Xha covered for you and told her you were just afraid of heights.¡± ¡°She what?¡± ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s not important. The point is you won¡¯t be escorting me to the pickup this time. No way. No how.¡± I chuckled. ¡°How about I make it up to you, then? I¡¯ll take you and the guys to a post-exam dinner. My treat.¡± Even after paying in advance for the sect application, I still had a whole spirit stone and a couple extra Taels to burn. It might as well be on the people who I spent most of my time with, day in day out. She grinned. ¡°Well, you know I won¡¯t say no to that. Should I invite Xi Xha too?¡± ¡°So long as she doesn¡¯t bring along Lady Silver Stick in her Ass, I¡¯m good.¡± Mu Linughed again and then gave me a hug. ¡°Thanks foring to look for me. And thanks for the luck.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t need it,¡± I said and ruffled her hair. ¡°You got this, Mu Lin.¡± * * * After I left Mu Lin¡¯s I began wondering if I was the one who would be needing the luck tonight. I practiced my cultivation in the field all day and even practiced my aim with the [Faux Lightning] technique in case I would have to resort to it again. By the time I was ready to face my fate in the ring, I was able to pick off a bird from about forty feet away. Not bad for range, but I wasn¡¯t up against birds tonight either, unless I was really, really lucky. But I was never that lucky. I knew something was up the moment I approached Bo Ren at the counter. He was all smiles until he saw me and then a look of concern washed over his face. ¡°Lay it on me,¡± I said, mming my hands atop the counter. ¡°Who am I fighting tonight?¡± ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know yet,¡± he said with a long sigh. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°They¡¯re still in the ring now. But whoever loses is going to be fighting you. Unless they¡¯re killed of course. In which case you¡¯ll have to fight the winner.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a loser¡¯s bracket,¡± Bo Ren said and then thumbed towards the screen behind him. ¡°The battle is for the 21st spot. There¡¯s no one left between you and them. U¡¯Ren Nghi in the 25th spot pretty much cleared them all out. So whoever loses has to face you or be eliminated.¡± I checked the screen. Rank Name Sect Affiliation Aspect Element Cultivation Realm and Tier Current Standing 20 Lin Su Water Lily Sect Water Core 3rd 20 21 Iron Pot Wong Iron Crane Sect Metal Core 3rd 21 22 Xen Xu Ping Blue Dragon Sect Water Core 3rd Eliminated 23 Ulhgrat Cho Silver Leaf Sect Metal Core 2nd Eliminated 24 Yin Chu Fire Bird Sect Fire Core 2nd Withdrawn 25 U¡¯Ren Nghi Orange Blossom Sect Wood Core 3rd 22 26 Wen Shu Heavenly Mountain Sect Earth Core 2nd Eliminated 27 T¡¯lu Kai Frozen w Sect Ice Core 1st Eliminated 28 The Iron Bull Furious Lightning Sect Lightning Core 2nd 28 ¡°Shit,¡± I said as I studied the roster, looking for who was next in line to fight. ¡°One of them is the flower girl?¡± ¡°You mean, U¡¯Ren Nghi?¡± Bo Ren nodded. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s her.¡± But then I noticed another name. Yin Chu? Damn, he had made it all the way up to the 24th spot? No wonder Hong Feng was so pissed about his loss. But that made me feel good in a way. Perhaps I wasn¡¯t as much out of my league as I thought. But then again, Yin Chu literally brought me to [Death¡¯s Door] and it was by virtue of my me alone that I had survived. ¡°So unless I beat whoever I face tonight, I¡¯ll be out of the runnings?¡± ¡°Afraid so,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°Which one of them is ted to win?¡± Bo Ren brought up the score card, the points moving in real time. Iron Pot Wong vs U¡¯Ren Nghi Odds: 2:3 Time - 03:36 Iron Pot Wong U¡¯Ren Nghi 45 184 I was actually liking the odds. I didn¡¯t know who Iron Pot Wong was, but I knew flower girl and no way could I stand a chance against her right now. ¡°So unless Wong gets a kill, he¡¯s likely going to lose right?¡± I said. ¡°Likely yes,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°That¡¯s actually his style. He¡¯s a veteran in the Iron bracket. Always gets to the low twenties before getting busted back down. Poor bastard hasn¡¯t qualified for over ten years.¡± ¡°Ten years?¡± My hopes were rising. ¡°Sounds like he¡¯s going to lose for sure.¡± ¡°Probably,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°Or U¡¯Ren Nghi might just kill him. And then you¡¯ll be fighting her.¡± Shit, I thought. ¡°You still have time to catch a bit of the match,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°Might be good to see what you¡¯ll be up against in either case.¡± He didn¡¯t have to tell me twice. I made for the pits and caught the match just as it was entering thest two minutes. The flower girl, U¡¯Ren Nghi, was center stage, dressed in white and orange robes that reminded me of Li Gong Qui¡¯s. Her face was painted white as well, with fierce orange eyeshadow to match. She danced more than fought, moving with the grace of an ice skater across the ring. Her twin fans cut the air as she floated back and forth, all the while humming or singing while she manifested white flower petals in the air. Opposite her, the man Iron Pot Wong looked every bit of his name. First, the guy was old, or he actually looked old anyway. Beyond middle aged, with a full white beard and thick brows. But that wasn¡¯t the truly odd thing about him. Instead of robes, he wore the thick ck armor of an infantryman. His helmet reminded me of an upside-down wok and his chest armor was so rounded it looked like a cauldron. He wielded a ck iron ive that had to be over twenty feet long with a thick t de on the end. Looking at the score, I expected him to be on hisst legs, battered and bleeding and begging to yield. But instead, he wasughing like a madman. His deep voice echoed like thunder across the arena as he shouted into the air. ¡°Keep flying, butterfly!¡± he bellowed. ¡°You have tond sometime! [Iron Cuts the Wind]!¡± With a speed that seemed impossible for his armor and age, he performed a front flip and with the momentum, whipped his ive behind him. The air split with a sonic boom, a p like thunder, and a thick shockwave of energy sped towards U¡¯Ren Nghi. The flower girl met the attack with mming of her fans together. ¡°[Summer¡¯s Breeze spreads the Blossom]¡­¡± She sang it more than shouted it, and in an instant the shock wave of energy transformed into a cascade of white petals. Whipping her fans in aplex dance, she redirected the petals right back at Iron Pot Wong and the old man braced himself for the counter-attack by holding his ive horizontally across his body. Heughed into the attack like he was mocking a hurricane, the petals whipping past him and causing sparks to fly from his armor. A few hit the exposed skin on his face and did the same. ¡°We can keep doing this all night,¡± he shouted up at her as she danced into the air, floating on white petals. U¡¯Ren Nghi ignored him as she performed another series ofplex forms again. ¡°[Tranquility¡¯s Embrace]¡­¡± White and orange blossoms snowed down upon him, but he didn¡¯t bother to even block this time. Instead, he reached for a gourd at his side, popped the top open and casually began to drink. ¡°Your fairy magic won¡¯t work on these old bones, you temptress,¡± he said, and I realized that maybe he¡¯d been half drunk the entire time. ¡°Do your worst!¡± I feared for a moment that she might swoop in for a killing blow, but thankfully the ending gong sounded instead. ¡°And the winner, moving into the 21st spot,¡± the announcer called out. ¡°U¡¯Ren Nghi!¡± The board lit up with the final score. Iron Pot Wong vs U¡¯Ren Nghi Odds: 2:3 Time - 03:36 Iron Pot Wong U¡¯Ren Nghi 48 215 Winner U¡¯Ren Nghi ¡°A decisive victory for U¡¯Ren Nghi who maintains her win streak for yet another night! Congrattions to our beautiful fairy blossom queen!¡± At that the crowd burst into apuse as U¡¯Ren Nghi performed a gracious bow befitting of the princess herself. As she exited the stage, she made a bee line for the old man. The fake smile instantly dropped from her face as she addressed him. ¡°Consider yourself lucky that I consider it bad luck to kill someone like you,¡± she said in a tone that contrasted sharply with her elegant flower girl persona. ¡°But do everyone a favor and retire already. You embarrass both yourself and your sect bypeting every damn year. Why they don¡¯t just poison you themselves I do not know.¡± Holy shit, that was harsh, I thought. But the old man took it with another drunkenugh. ¡°I don¡¯t know either,¡± he said. ¡°Or maybe they have and I¡¯m such a damn drunk that I¡¯m immune!¡± His words seemed to cause her even more offense and her scowl deepened as she stormed away haughtily. ¡°Old Iron Pot Wong lives up to his reputation,¡± the announcer continued. ¡°Beaten but not defeated. And tonight, he has one more chance to retain his position as 22nd in the Iron bracket tournament. It will be the highest he¡¯s ever ced, but can he defend it?¡± A mixture of boos and cheers filled the arena, but Iron Pot Wongpped it up all the same, swinging his ive about in celebratory fashion. ¡°We will find out shortly!¡± the announcer said, hyping up the crowd. ¡°For thest match of the night will be Iron versus Iron!¡± Iron Pot Wong vs The Iron Bull Odds: 3:5 Time - 30:00 Iron Pot Wong The Iron Bull 0 0 As the new score board shed into existence a mixture of excitement and anxiety ran fresh Frenzy through my core. The crowd riled up and began the ¡®Iron Bull¡¯ chant. I looked at the odds and wondered if I could live up to them. Iron Pot Wong might be an old drunk, but with that ive he had the advantage of both distance and range with that ¡®air-splitter¡¯ attack of his. Could I outpace him? I wished I had gotten to the arena earlier to see more of the match, see where his weakness might be. I was so caught up in my own thoughts and panning out strategy, that I barely noticed the chant for the Iron Bull getting louder and louder. ¡°Perhaps he can¡¯t hear us!¡± the announcer said. ¡°Or perhaps he¡¯s gotten cold feet! Either way it will be a win for Iron Pot Wong. Let¡¯s see if he shows up within the final 3 minutes. Where are you, Iron Bull? Where are you?¡± Holy shit! I thought. I¡¯m about to lose this match already. The entire crowd was waiting on me! Chapter 54 My heart pounded in my ears as I grabbed my gear from the locker room. I barely had time to throw my mask on, before running out into the arena half dressed. The reaction from the crowd was like a tidal wave hitting me, a raucous st of yells and cheers. ¡°He¡¯s here!¡± the announcer screamed. ¡°Let¡¯s hear it for our contender!¡± The screams continued as I made my way to the center of the arena, hyping up the crowd with a lightning bolt and a pumping of my axe. The experience was surreal. The crowd seemed double the size and the lemonade was spilling from the grandstands like a waterfall. I absorbed it all, cycled the free Frenzy through my body, heightening my reflexes, speed and strength. Remembering to engage my [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique, I tapped into the essence of my fake lightning core and seasoned my Frenzy with Qi to stay legal in the eyes of the officials. As I approached Iron Pot Wong, I realized the man was much bigger than I thought. He had to be at least eight or nine feet tall, his thick ck armor perhaps adding a foot to his height and his polearm looked as if it could reach me from a block away. He drank idly from his gourd as he looked over at me nonplussed. ¡°About damn time!¡± he shouted, putting a cork in his gourd. He lifted his ive as easily as if it were made of bamboo, but clearly the thing had to weigh half a ton being made of iron. ¡°Let¡¯s see what all the fuss is about, Bull Man!¡±The crowd responded to the challenge with more screams and a shift in the betting pool began. The challenge resonated with the me burning deep within my soul. From what I had seen of him already, I had no idea if I could beat this guy, but that didn¡¯t matter anymore. He was now what stood between me and my goals and just like every challenge before him¡­ I would ovee it. As the countdown clock started, I applied [Fear the me], slowly removing my overcoat. As I tossed it aside the crowd screamed in delight. The act of bravado didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Iron Pot Wong, who rumbled with a bellyugh. ¡°Showing off, are we? We¡¯ll see how tough that skin truly is, my friend.¡± I pointed at him wordlessly and then gave him a ¡°bring it on¡± gesture with my hand. The crowd went wild. ¡°Challenges have been thrown down by both sides!¡± the announcer crooned. ¡°Now let¡¯s see which one of them will prevail. For the glory of the 22nd position in the Iron Bracket tournament, I wish you both good luck. Commence!¡± The gong sounded and I dumped my cycling Frenzy into speeding my limbs into action, anticipating one of his long-range attacks. Seconds passed. Nothing came. And to my chagrin I saw Wong reaching idly for his gourd again. What the hell? Was this guy messing with me? I went through my forms, nking him from the side and still he didn¡¯t move. I¡¯d gotten used to the aggressiveness of the cultivators in my previous fights, always on the backfoot it seemed. But this was an entirely different kind of battle. He was either goading me, underestimating me or perhaps both. Ah, screw it, I thought. Only one way to find out for sure. I powered in with an attack,ing for the side. Without removing his lips from the gourd, Wong simply turned, but the massive length of his ive spun with him at incredible speed. It was too quick and wide to dodge, so I blocked with [Third Form] instead, our weapons sending sparks into the air. The force of his attack lifted me right off the ground and I went spiraling through the air, feet touching briefly as I tumbled end over end towards the arena¡¯s outer wall. I finally slid to a stop, just in time to see Wong following up with another quick sh to the air. ¡°[Iron cuts the Wind]!¡± With a sonic boom, a thin shockwave of energy flew towards me, and I barely had time to raise [Iron Skin] before it cut across my torso. It stung like a whip and were I still made of flesh the thing would have cleanly cut me in half. ¡°One to me,¡± Wong bellowed with augh and then mocked me with my ¡°bring it on¡± gesture. ¡°Come on then. Try again, Bull Man.¡± ¡°It seems the Iron Bull is being taken to school by Iron Pot Wong,¡± the announcer said, hamming it up for the crowd. ¡°Let¡¯s see if he will surpass his teacher, or if he will leave the tournament with a failing grade!¡± That got moreughs than cheers and Wong reveled in it by taking another celebratory sip from his gourd. I needed to get it together. Something was off about this fight, but I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it. Damn it, I thought. I¡¯ll just have to try again. Cycling my Frenzy, I dove in for another attack. This time I anticipated his counterstrike, and focused all my Frenzy into a parry instead of a block. He came at me vertically rather than horizontally this time, lopping the massive polearm overhead like a giant fishing rod. I released a cry of fury as I swatted up at his giant weapon, deflecting it away with a massive sh of sparks. The parry surprised the old man, his weapon flying back upwards at twice the speed that it hade down. Taking advantage of my opening, I rushed in under his guard and went to town on his armored torso. Metal and sparks flew as I hacked away, the scoreboard going wild. Two hits, three hits, fou¡ª Wong somehow grabbed me by the throat in the middle of it all, moving faster than I could see. An immeasurable pressure engulfed my neck as he lifted me off my feet. ¡°Not bad! But try again!¡± He tossed me into the air like a rag doll, and then with a swift spin, followed up with his pole arm like a batter hitting one out of the park. I braced my body with [Iron Skin] and [Iron Core] and felt every bone in my body cry out in pain as the blow connected. ¡°[Heaven¡¯s Cut]!¡± Inded on the ground more than fifty feet away, rolling to a stop. ncing down at my body, I was already covered in blood, but thankfully my techniques had limited the damage to a surface cut only. Still, it was just a single hit and I was ahead in the score. Iron Pot Wong vs The Iron Bull Odds: 4:5 Time - 26:54 Iron Pot Wong The Iron Bull 2 4 Something must have made him realize the same thing, because he suddenly began twirling his ive overhead, fast like a helicopter de. Multiple arcs of razor-sharp shock waves spun outward from him as he announced his technique. ¡°[Iron Hurricane]!¡± I did my best to shield myself, but true to its name, there was nowhere to hide from what felt like a hundred-mile-per-hour debris field flying straight into my face. The cuts weren¡¯t as deep as the single-ded attack, but they didn¡¯t have to be. When I looked back at the scoreboard my stomach sank. Iron Pot Wong vs The Iron Bull Odds: 4:5 Time - 26:54 Iron Pot Wong The Iron Bull 16 4 Wong took another casual sip from his gourd. ¡°I can do this all day, Bull Man!¡± I cursed inwardly as the crowd roared inughter. He¡¯d just turned this fight into a battle of attrition that I couldn¡¯t hope to win. Dammit, I needed that lightning more than ever to even the score. I refused to give up, though. There had to be a way. Iunched at him again, and just like before, he waited for me to attack first before countering. His attacks were rtively slowpared to mine, but with the obscene reach of his ive he was able to cover massive amounts of real estate from all sides. It was more like fighting a fortified castle than a cultivator. Frustration built within me, eliciting a small bit of Frenzy from the me. And then suddenly I realized what was wrong with this fight. It was almost like I was sparring with Gui Zu. Even though he was my opponent, I couldn¡¯t really bring myself to hate or despise this guy. In fact, I was finding his antics as amusing as everyone else and would probably evenugh myself if I wasn¡¯t on the losing end of it all. But either way, it was messing with my Frenzy. Maybe the [Odds were Against Me], but it just didn¡¯t feel like it right now. My me grew weaker as the battle wore on, me getting in a few cheap shots in here and there, but always quickly equalized by a quick Qi Technique or another [Iron Hurricane], filling the air with shrapnel I couldn¡¯t dodge. I nced at the scoreboard as we reached the halfway mark. Iron Pot Wong vs The Iron Bull Odds: 7:3 Time - 14:44 Iron Pot Wong The Iron Bull 132 24 This crap wasn¡¯t working. I needed a new n. As I saw Wong shake his head and go for his gourd again, a crazy idea popped into my head. I needed to get back to my roots and go old school with him. It was time to show him how a true Berserker raged. I dropped my stance and casually approached him with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Iron Pot Wong!¡± I shouted to him. ¡°I tire of this pointless battle. I don¡¯t want to spend another fifteen minutes flying about like some fairy queen. Let¡¯s settle this fight definitively. As true men!¡± The crowd went silent at that and Wong cocked a bushy white eyebrow at me. ¡°A new challenge, eh? What do you propose, Bull Man?¡± ¡°Single strikes,¡± I said. ¡°Blow for blow. Until one of us either yields¡­or dies.¡± The crowd screamed in approval, the odds flying up and down on us like the score board on a pinball machine. ¡°It seems the Iron Bull has iron balls as well!¡± the announcer shouted. ¡°Will the great Iron Pot Wong ept the challenge? Or will he concede before it even begins?¡± Wong looked up at the scoreboard and let out a huge bellyugh. ¡°A tremendous idea!¡± he bellowed, raising his ive high into the air. ¡°This will be the best fight I¡¯ve had all week! Bull Man, I ept your challenge!¡± The crowd was on their feet, whistling and blowing horns. Holy crap, it worked, I thought. I¡¯d just initiated p fest 2.0. But this was no Du Mak I was up against here. I was facing uncertain death for real. ¡°Since this was your idea, it wouldn¡¯t be fair to kill you on the first blow,¡± Wong said with a taunting smile. ¡°You first, Bull Man.¡± The odds shifted greatly in his favor after that. Which meant the [Odds were Against Me] indeed. I channeled the thought into Frenzy as I sauntered towards Wong, subtly engaging the [Mark of the Giant] technique. There wasn¡¯t much Frenzy I could devote towards it, even if I wanted to, but growing just about an inch taller was all I needed. ¡°Ready?¡± I said. Wong inhaled and puffed out his chest, making the huge pot armor an even bigger target. ¡°Do your worst!¡± I channeled deep within and then leapt into the air, striking down at the armor from above with a [Three-Log Chop]. My axe hit the armor like an explosion going off, my de bouncing off of it with a massive sh of sparks. The force of my hit travelled through him and Wong went crashing into the ground in a massive cloud of dust. The crowd surged with lemonade in a collective gasp of shock and awe. ¡°An amazing first strike by the Iron Bull! But surely the great Iron Pot Wong will not be done in so easily!¡± As if on cue, Wong rose slowly to his feet coughing andughing. ¡°Ah!! A true challenge! I was about to go easy on you as a neer, but I see you pull no punches. I respect that! So be it then. You shall face my full might!¡± This was the part I was both hoping for and dreading. A passage from the orb on [Odds Against Me] shed through my mind and I focused on it like a mantra as I prepared to take the biggest ass-whooping of my entire life. ¡°The power of this technique is limitless, bound only by the strength of your foe and your ability to withstand him.¡± And withstand him I must, I thought. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± I siphoned the Frenzy from within the crowd and channeled every bit of it into [Indifference], [Iron Skin], [Iron Core], and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. Sucking in a final breath, I prepared to face either my destiny or my final demise. Iron Pot Wong danced on the spot, mumbling some phrase in somenguage I didn¡¯t understand. He whipped himself around in a circle several times, speeding up with each swing. Finally he let out a yell and arched his ive for a final strike directed at my chest. ¡°[Heavenly Iron ive]!¡± Skin, bone, and tissue crimpled under the force of the devastating hit, my entire body shooting backwards like I was justunched from a catapult. Mind-blowing pain lit my brain on fire as every receptor in my body fired at once. I slid on my feet speeding away from him like I was on a runaway train, yet somehow I kept my bnce and focus, cycling my Frenzy to stay in control. I endured another mind-numbing blow as my back hit the outer wall and the world went ck as I momentarily passed out. I came to on the ground, finding myself on my hands and knees. Blood leaked from my mouth and the huge gash in my chest, huge rivulets of sanguine essence leaving my body as the sweet numbness of death took hold. I raged against it. I could not die. Not yet. Not while I still had this damn match to win! The thought sparked my inner me, fueling [Death¡¯s Door] with Frenzy as it bypassed whatever organs Wong had just decimated with his ive. The arena was deadly silent, the crowd on edge. Patiently waiting to see whether I would yield or die. Screw all of you, I thought. Today was not yet my time! Shakily, I stood to my feet and the crowd responded with a massive wall of cheers. The odds flew in the other direction, favoring me now. But I couldn¡¯t care about any of that. I reached instead for the massive amount of Frenzy being generated by the crowd. ¡°He¡¯s survived!¡± the announcer screamed. ¡°Unbelievable! A pinnacle strike from Iron Pot Wong and the Iron Bull ising back for more.¡± I raised my axe in defiance and the Frenzy from the crowd surged even more. Ipped it all up as I walked my way slowly back to Wong with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. To my surprise, the old man had a look of delight on his face instead of dread. I even sensed a bit of lemonade. ¡°You survived my highest technique!¡± he shouted. ¡°Well taken,d. I¡¯m impressed!¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± I said casually as I squared up on him. ¡°I guess it¡¯s [My Turn] now¡­¡± Diving deep within the core of my me, I funneled every ounce of the hit I¡¯d just received into my next blow. I surged with [Mark of the Giant] as I wound up for my attack, taking off the brakes for the few seconds it would take for me to deliver the blow. Muscles and sinew strained and popped as my height grew what had to be six inches or more, healing all my wounds and organs at the same time. The [Odds were Against Me] like never before, not just for this fight, but against this whole damn empire. If I didn¡¯t win this match, everything was over. I had to do it. I had to win. The salvation of my people, the freedom of this entire, rested on this one¡­damn¡­hit! I released a savage battle cry as I swung into Wong with a [One-Chop Cleave]! ¡°FOR FREEDOM!¡± Frenzy the magnitude of which I¡¯d never felt before surged through my Dantian, like an ocean being forced through a pinhole. Something rattled within my me as thepression took ce, my Frenzy forced to be something else. Something crystalline. Something solid. Instinct and weeks of meridian training kicked in and I directed the solid crystals towards my Jing. A massive arc of bright yellow lightning shed as my axe hit the armor, resulting in a thunderous kaboom! The arena echoed with the massive thunderp as Wong flew away from me in a blossoming ring of shattering iron and steel. He bounced and skipped off the ground several times before careening hard with the outer wall, fracturing it with a resounding crack! Stunned silence reigned as the thunder echoed and reverberated through the air. Holy shit¡­I thought. Did I just do it? Did I just make frenzied lightning? Every cell in my body suddenly caught up with reality of my present condition and my knees grew weak. Every ounce of Frenzy I had within me had been expended in that one hit. I¡¯d gone for broke and I had nothing left. I fell to one knee, exhausted. There was no way I could do that again. I look across the distance and didn¡¯t see Wong moving. A part of me despaired that I¡¯d actually killed the man. A few healers in blue robes entered the arena and rushed over to him to check. Before they could even reach him however a loud scream filled the air as Wong shot upright at the waist thrusting both arms into the air. ¡°Magnificent!¡± he cried. ¡°Absolutely superb!¡± My heart soared and I couldn¡¯t help but let out augh of relief. The stadiumughed with me, roaring with apuse as Wong staggered drunkenly back to his feet. He began walking towards me and then suddenly I wasn¡¯t so chuffed that he was still alive anymore. He wasn¡¯t actually going to continue, was he? There was no way I could take another hit, or even give another hit for that matter. ¡°He lives!¡± the announcer cried. ¡°The infamous Iron Pot Wong has survived the heavens-shattering power of the Iron Bull¡¯s Furious Lightning! His pot however, not so much!¡± Laughter broke out as all attention was drawn back to Wong. He indeed was now wearing half the armor he had been, the chest te gouged with a man-sized gash from top to bottom, through steel that was at least six inches thick. I had expected him to be fat and portly like Hong Feng, but inside the armor, Wong was skinny as a rail. The oddity of it only added to theughter of the crowd. Wong staggered from the outer wall towards me, chugging huge gulps from his gourd along the way. I almost wondered if it was some kind of secret technique for regaining strength by the way he went at it. He had a huge grin on his face as he finally came to a stop in front of me, towering over me in his busted-up armor, his ive slung casually over his shoulder. ¡°Iron Bull,¡± he said. ¡°In the twenty years I have fought in this Bracket, no one has ever broken this armor. Even the hundreds of battles across the countless stars that have I fought, it has remained intact. But today¡­you have done the impossible. You not just cracked my armor, but have done so in but a single strike!¡± He then cupped his hands and bowed before me. ¡°You¡¯ve truly demonstrated your heavenly might this day. To you I offer my deepest respect and yield.¡± The arena surged with cheers and gushed with lemonade. ¡°A forfeit by the great Iron Pot Wong!¡± the announcer cried. ¡°The Iron Bull has advanced! And what another spectacr victory for the neer!¡± Wong grabbed my wrist and threw my arm in the air like a referee, cheering for my victory as well. ¡°I don¡¯t know who the hells you are, kid,¡± he said, sounding more drunk than ever. ¡°But you¡¯re okay with me. Good fight!¡± Iughed at that and saluted Wong with a mid-tier bow. ¡°You have my respect also, Master Wong. Good fight.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to do this again,¡± he saidughing. ¡°But I¡¯ll bring thicker armor next time! And if you ever decide to take that damn mask off,e look me up at the Golden Spire. I¡¯ll buy you a drink.¡± I had no idea where that was, but the offer was tempting. Still I couldn¡¯t reveal who I was quite yet. ¡°Maybe in the future, for sure!¡± As the praise and des poured in, I tried to process them, but my system was far too spent for that. Still, I had done it somehow. I had reached the 9th Tier of the Foundation Realm. I had created solid Frenzy. * * * ¡°You keep making me rich,¡± Bo Ren said after the match, tossing me another purse. ¡°People are going to start hunting me down.¡± There were four spirit stones inside it this time. ¡°Wow, thank you!¡± ¡°I¡¯d get going while the going is good,¡± he said, nodding towards the door. ¡°You were thest match tonight. And after a performance like that, everyone¡¯s going to be looking for you.¡± Damn, I didn¡¯t think how my notoriety might escte at the time, but I needed to do what I had to, to win in the ring. ¡°When¡¯s my next match?¡± I asked. Bo Ren checked the board. ¡°Looks like tomorrow. You¡¯re the first match-up.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s in the 21st spot?¡± ¡°No one,¡± he said. ¡°21st spot was eliminated by U¡¯Ren Nghi earlier this week. You¡¯ll be up against her for the 20th spot. First-rank qualifier for the Gold Bracket. Congrattions, my friend, you made it into the big leagues.¡± Holy shit¡­the Gold Bracket? I never really thought about it like that. All this time my only goal for reaching the top twenty in the tournament was for my citizenship. But I didn¡¯t think to considered that if I won, I would be a Gold Bracket contender as well. ¡°So, my next fight is with the flower girl, huh?¡± ¡°Seems so,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°You¡¯d better rest up, kid. It won¡¯t be an easy fight. U¡¯Ren Nghi has more tricks up her sleeves than a Tangian whore.¡± I only half caught the reference, but Iughed with him anyway. ¡°Regardless, I¡¯m rooting for you all the way, Bull Man,¡± he said, pping me on the shoulder. ¡°See you tomorrow in the ring.¡± As I left out the back with Gui Zu, a new realization rose up inside of me and filled my soul with hope. Just one more match to win, I thought. One more match and everything I worked so hard for would finallye true. For the first time that I could remember, I felt as if I were finally taking control of my own destiny.¡­able to stand on my own convictions without fear of reprisal or repercussion. For the first time in a long time, I could actually say¡­I was nearly free. Chapter 55 ¡°You never cease to amaze me, Brother Max. How do you do it?¡± I gave Gui Zu a shrug and fed him my standard answer with a smile. ¡°Just lucky, I guess.¡± Gui Zuughed. ¡°I think there is more to it than just luck, but I will leave you to your modesty.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but grin at that. We were making our way back to the square, me striving to be faithful to my daily routine of checking in with Yu Li and Su Ling before heading off for the night. The air seemed crisper and lighter than usual, full of energy. Whether it was the actual weather getting cooler or just my optimism interpreting it for me, I couldn¡¯t tell. And I didn¡¯t really care either. I¡¯d reached a major milestone on my journey tonight and I felt damn good about it. ¡°We should celebrate your victory,¡± Gui Zu said as if reading my thoughts. ¡°The square is holding the festival tonight.¡± ¡°You mean the one Jian Yi was organizing?¡± ¡°No, the other one,¡± Gui Zu said. I looked at him funny until he let out augh. ¡°Smart ass.¡± ¡°It should be a lot of fun. Jian Yi has arranged for food vendors from the restaurant district toe to the square tonight. The food might be a bit pricey, but it will be top notch.¡± It did sound nice, but I had already made ns to meet up with Lee, Mu Lin, and my three apprentices at a bar downtown. Xi Xha could possibly show up as well. ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m double booked,¡± I said. ¡°I made some ns tonight with some friends from work. We¡¯re celebrating our co-worker passing her schr exam. Well¡­hopefully she passed anyway.¡± Gui Zu chuckled. ¡°Well, you should at leaste by the square for a little while.¡± I nced up at the red-tinted Bloodmoon just barely on the rise. I supposed it was still somewhat early. And what the heck? I had forged frenzied lightning tonight. That deserved a double celebration in my books. ¡°Let¡¯s do it,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Tonight, I¡¯m going to let it all hang out.¡± * * * The festivities in the square were as lively as a carnival. Music and dancing filled the center of the block while various food vendors and festival games lined the sides. The atmosphere was steeped inughter and mirth, and I couldn¡¯t recall thest time I¡¯d seen my neighborhood so jovial. I spotted Yu Li sitting at a table with Su Ling in herp. She let out a radiant smile when she saw us and grabbed hold of Su Ling¡¯s little hand to give us a wave. I was about to wave back when I realized the wave was not for me but Gui Zu. The big man grinned at Su Ling from across the distance and the baby hopped up and down in Yu Li¡¯sp in excitement. The sight of his jacked-up smile reminded me of something and I stopped him right before we entered the square. ¡°Hey, just a sec,¡± I said. ¡°I have something for you, Gui Zu.¡± He looked at me quizzically as I reached into my robes and then his eyes grew wide as I plopped a glowing spirit stone into his hands. ¡°Brother Max!¡± he said, perplexed. ¡°W-what is this for?¡± ¡°A dentist,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Paying you back for how we first met. I owe you that much.¡± ¡°But this is too mu¨C¨C¡± ¡°Just take it,¡± I said. ¡°And it¡¯s not charity either. I never would have been able to earn that without all your help sparring in the ring. You truly are an amazing fighter, Gui Zu.¡± He scratched the back of his head. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know what to say.¡± ¡°Say you¡¯ll spend at least some of it on a dentist and not all of it on food and drinks.¡± Heughed at that. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll try, but Jian Yi hasn¡¯t made it easy with this spread.¡± As we weaved into the crowd, I noticed Gui Zu getting just as many greetings and bows as I did, perhaps even more. Yu Li weed him with a big hug as well and we all sat for a while together enjoying the lively dancing in the square. It was nice to watch, but strangely I felt more like a guest than anything else. It dawned on me then, that I¡¯d never really had many people I interacted with in the neighborhood besides Yu Li. Even Gui Zu seemed to have more people to speak to as he wandered off to buy us some drinks. ¡°He¡¯s fitting right in,¡± I said to Yu Li, nodding towards Gui Zu as he left. Yu Li smiled. ¡°Yes. He really is a nice guy too. He spends all day helping people out in the square.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°He¡¯s be our gentle giant.¡± She then nudged me with a wink. ¡°As opposed to our furious one.¡± Iughed at that. ¡°Oh, before I forget. Take this.¡± I slipped her one of my three remaining spirit stones and Yu Li nearly fell out of her chair. ¡°Damn it, Chun! What did you do? Rob a bank?¡± I merely grinned. ¡°Let¡¯s just say, my ns are starting to look up.¡± ¡°If this is any proof, I¡¯d say that¡¯s an understatement,¡± she said, marveling at the stone. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever even held one of these before. Ten Taels of silver in the palm of my hand.¡± ¡°You know,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe you should consider using it instead of selling it.¡± ¡°Using it? You mean cultivating it?¡± I nodded. ¡°You were on the brink of the 9th Tier, almost at Foundation Realm. I think cultivating something like that might be all you need to achieve your breakthrough. Plus, I¡¯m sure Gui Zu could help you with any martial training you might need to assist.¡± As she stared at the glowing blue gem a look came into her eyes. One I hadn¡¯t seen in ages. I¡¯d seen it plenty of times back when we were in school. A dogged determination that that she could ovee the world, so long as she studied hard enough. Being with Hein had robbed her of that, but faintly I could see it returning as she stared at the stone. ¡°Money is just money,¡± I said. ¡°Ites and goes. But bing a true Foundation Realm cultivator will bring you a new life. The one you always dreamed of before you had to drop out of school.¡± Yu Li looked back at me and had tears in her eyes. ¡°You know what? I think I just might.¡± She smiled and pulled me into a hug. ¡°Thanks, Chun. You¡¯re the best damn brother in the world.¡± ¡°I know it,¡± I said cockily, and she elbowed me with a grin. I shared a drink with her and Gui Zu when he returned and then I made my apologies to leave early for the night. Yu Li gave me a ribbing about blowing them off, but we all hugged and then I said my goodbyes. I was just leaving the perimeter of the square when a voice called out to me from behind. ¡°Sneaking off early?¡± I didn¡¯t need to turn about to know it was Jian Yi, but I was surprised to hearughter in her tone instead of snark. When I did look, I saw she was dressed to the nines in a blue floral dress and had a small flower in her hair to match. ¡°You look nice,¡± I said. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You did a good job putting all this on too. Everyone seems to be having a good time.¡± Jian Yi turned to face the crowd with me. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s nice to just rx for once.¡± She paused for a moment then, looking towards the ground before continuing. ¡°You know, although you don¡¯t live here anymore, you should still feel more than wee to stay.¡± Funny that she said that, I thought. Or even had to say it. I already knew it was true of course¡ªthis ce would always be my home, but honestly I didn¡¯t feel as connected to it anymore. Perhaps she¡¯d read the disquiet in my face from earlier, but I was honestly more looking forward to partying with my handler co-workers than staying here. Maybe I¡¯d always been more at home with my wild, risktaker cohorts. And now that I was a cultivator perhaps that gulf was spreading even wider. Or maybe I finally felt confident enough to move on now, knowing Gui Zu would be keeping a watchful eye over Su Ling and Yu Li. Either way. I was more than happy to watch things from afar. ¡°I know that,¡± I said, answering her. ¡°It¡¯s just that I have another engagement to get to, is all.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Jian Yi said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯m another step closer, by the way,¡± I said, changing the subject. ¡°Hopefully by tomorrow night the people you see here will all be members of the Terran sect.¡± ¡°Why? What¡¯s happening tomorrow night?¡± I chided myself for saying too much. ¡°A miracle hopefully. But I won¡¯t bore you with the details. Just know that it¡¯ll happen soon.¡± I looked out at the happy crowd once more. Although I couldn¡¯t be a part of it, I could still help out in some way. I reached into my robes and then took one of my two remaining spirit stones and offered it to Jian Yi. ¡°I can¡¯t stay but, I¡¯d like to make a little donation towards the festivities, if that¡¯s alright?¡± Jian Yi looked into my palm and her mouth fell open. ¡°Chun, is that a real spirit stone?¡± ¡°Hopefully it should cover some of the costs, yeah?¡± ¡°Some?¡± she said. ¡°This would buy all the food twice over!¡± I shrugged with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and gave her a smile. ¡°So let them eat and drink twice as hard then.¡± Jian Yi put her hand on my shoulder. ¡°I know you have to go, but¡­ wait here just a second, okay?¡± Before I could even ask her why, she sped away and the next thing I knew she was standing atop a table in the middle of the square again, banging a cymbal to get everyone¡¯s attention. Oh man, what now? ¡°Everyone, may I have your attention please!¡± she called to the crowd. The music and dancing stopped and as they settled down, Jian Yi addressed them once more. ¡°First, I want to thank everyone foring out tonight. You¡¯ve truly made this a special evening. And to make it even more special, I have a surprise for you.¡± She then paused with a smile and a murmur of excitement and curiosity spread throughout the square. To my chagrin, she then gestured in my direction. ¡°Although he¡¯s unfortunately too busy to stay with us for the entire evening, I wish you all to know that tonight, all food and drink has been paid for,pliments of our most generous neighbor, Brother Chun.¡± The crowd erupted in a series of surprised oohs and gasps. With all the attention on me, I turned about three shades redder than before, but yed it all off with a stoic fa?ade of [Indifference]. ¡°Please join me in thanking him, before he departs,¡± Jian Yi said and then gave me a deep bow before starting off a chorus of ps and apuses. Lemonade began to pour freely as people began shouting my name, standing to their feet in an ovation. ¡°To Chun! To Chun!¡± ¡°To Chun, indeed,¡± Jian Yi echoed them, raising a cup. ¡°Now everyone, please continue to enjoy yourselves. Eat and drink as much as you want! It¡¯s all on the house, thanks to Chun!¡± That got another round of cheers and hollers. A few people closest to me even touched their heads to the floor in an embarrassing kowtow. I yed it all off as best I could, waving and smiling back. With my Dantian seeming to have recovered, I got a ton of free Frenzy out of the deal as well. When the crowd finally allowed me to leave, I gave a parting nce to Jian Yi. She lifted her chin at me as always, but with it came a smile this time. I mimicked her gesture with a smile of my own and as I departed, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a small piece of old Earth had just been restored. * * * I was pumped full of fresh Frenzy by the time I left the square. Before heading for the bar, I made a quick pitstop at the barber for a trim to my beard and a fresh haircut. I even splurged on a new set of robes that looked fitting for a night out on the town, before leaving the market district. I then made onest stop at an artisan jeweler and dropped a couple Tael on a gift for Mu Lin. Lee, Ren, Rho, and Yi Fu had all arrived ahead of me by the time I finally reached the drinking establishment, and by the looks of them they had been there a while. It was an open-air joint, withnterns strung over an array of tables and chairs. Not much different than the square really, except everything was a couple tiers higher in terms of quality. That went for both the booze and the entertainment. Artisan musicians yed for a trio of women invishly adorned costumes who were performing a dance routine on stage that could rival most martial arts forms. The small but raucous crowd whistled appreciatively at them while tossing copper Wen at their feet. Among them were my co-workers, Lee leading the charge on downing drinks and showering the dancing girls with riches. ¡°Where¡¯s Mu Lin?¡± I asked as I joined them. ¡°Where¡¯s Mu Lin?¡± Lee echoed me, while looking up incredulously. ¡°Where the hells have you been, man?¡± I grinned. ¡°Had a family function to attend.¡± Lee scrounged his brows together. ¡°A what?¡± ¡°Never mind,¡± I said with augh and then mmed a silver Tael on the table. ¡°But the party¡¯s on me now, boys. Let¡¯s get us another round.¡± As the drinks flowed, Ren and Rho kept us entertained with stories while the five of us yed dominoes. Within half an hour I had downed enough plum wine to get the edge on my vastly improved constitution thanks to my body refinement and had developed a nice buzz. The thought made me consider where I was progression wise in my cultivation levels now. I brought up the tables in my mind¡¯s eye while only half listening to Rho grilling his brother about some story detail involving Sumatra and some missing field gear. Foundation Establishment 1st Qi Gathering 2nd Qi Channeling 3rd Qi Body Refinement 4th Qi Mental Refinement 5th Qi concentration 6th Qi Manifestation (internal) 7th Qi Manifestation (external) 8th Qi Condensing 9th Qi Hardening Core Formation 1st Core Formation 2nd Core Body Refinement 3rd Core Mental Refinement 4th Core Density Refinement 5th Inner Soul Detection 6th Inner Soul Focus 7th Inner Soul Refinement 8th Inner Soul Projection 9th Secondary Soul germination I¡¯d been able to create solid Frenzy for the first time tonight, which meant I had finally broken into the 9th Tier of the Foundation Realm, but I still couldn¡¯t make that leap into the Core Realm and Core Formation until I mastered the fear of certain death. It had taken massive amounts of Frenzy and an extreme focus of my me¡¯s inner will to create that small amount of solid Frenzy too. Still, it was a step forward. I¡¯d learned how to do it once; I could do it again. So long as there was enough stimuli to generate the amount of Frenzy I needed. Once I was able to reach the next realm however, my stored Frenzy would be solid and I could generate lightning bolts as easily as I could manifest [Iron Skin]. The idea of bing that powerful made me smile. One step closer to being able to truly cut loose, I thought. I couldn¡¯t wait. ¡°Yo, she¡¯s here!¡± Lee said, pulling me out of my thoughts. ¡°Damn, she came in style too.¡± When I looked to see what Lee was talking about, I saw the familiar skiff descending just outside the bar. Pedestrians made way as the craft touched down and the ck-robed pilot rushed to open the door for the upants to disembark. It was a familiar trio on board. Mu Lin and Xi Xha of course, along with the silver-haired bitch who owned the damn thing. She barely acknowledged Mu Lin and Xi Xha as they bowed profusely before her, thanking her for the ride. Her eyes instead were locked on me with a disdainful re. Damn, I thought. Guess she was still pissed off by that snub. I ignored her with [Indifference] as we all got up to greet Mu Lin and Xi Xha. Mu Lin let out a squeal of delight as she saw us all and came running with both fists in the air. ¡°I passed! I passed! I passed!¡± she cried, jumping up and down. There were high fives and hugs all around as we celebrated with her and I noticed she was already stinking of alcohol. ¡°Hey, are you drunk already?¡± I asked with augh. ¡°Hell, yeah I am!¡± she yelled. ¡°Woooo!¡± ¡°My apologies,¡± Xi Xha said formally, but I noticed she too had a rosyplexion as she sort of stumbled towards me with a huge smile on her face. ¡°The Lady Silver Light insisted that she be the first to congratte Mu Lin on passing her exam. It¡¯s also the reason we arete.¡± I raised a brow at that and took another nce at the high-ss cultivator still lounging in the rear of the skiff. Maybe she was genuinely altruistic, after all. I gave her a smile in thanks, but the smug disdainful look never left her face as she simply stared back at me. Friggin¡¯ weirdo, I thought. Surprisingly, Xi Xha greeted me with more than a bow when she reached me, pulling me into a hug instead. Her lips found the side of my neck as she breathed heavily into my ear. ¡°You smell so damn good,¡± she whispered. ¡°I¡¯m warning you early. We¡¯re getting a room tonight.¡± I yed it off with augh as she melted into my arms. ¡°That¡¯s fine with me.¡± A sudden re of anger came from the Lady Silver Light as she shouted for her pilot to depart. The poor guy barely had time to respond to her before she kicked him cruelly in the back of his legs as he rushed past her to get to the controls. My me stirred and I was just about to say something, when the craft swiftly departed, Silver Light¡¯s gaze remained fixed dead ahead of her in a haughty, arrogant stare. Damn bitch. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Xi Xha asked, looking up at me. ¡°You tensed up suddenly.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s nothing,¡± I said, my me barely subsiding for now. You have some strange friends, I wanted to add, but I didn¡¯t want to spoil the mood. ¡°Come on,¡± I said instead. ¡°It¡¯s Mu Lin¡¯s night tonight. Let¡¯s celebrate it something proper.¡± * * * The night went on and by the time I had gotten another two drinks in me, I had forgotten all about Lady Silver Stick-in-her-Ass and her shitty attitude. We yed drinking games and ordered cheap food, reveling in the party atmosphere well into the night. I finally remembered to give Mu Lin her gift and when she opened it, she let out a gasp of shock. ¡°Chun!¡± she said, holding up the rimless spectacles in awe. ¡°These must have cost you a fortune!¡± I shrugged with [Indifference] and tried to downy the price. ¡°Yeah, the crafter said the lenses are made of some special Qi-infused quartz or something, but I only bought them because I thought they¡¯d make you look like less of a nerd.¡± Mu Lin¡¯s mouth opened in mock offence, swatting at me yfully while everyoneughed. Finally she gave me a hug and a peck on my cheek. ¡°Thanks, Chun, seriously. These are awesome.¡± She put them on, exchanging her old sses for new and she actually did look cuter in them. ¡°So what are your ns now?¡± Lee asked. ¡°You going to roll into work tomorrow and give Sumatra a piece of your mind before quitting on the spot?¡± Sheughed. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do that to all you guys in the middle of the tournament. When it¡¯s over though, we¡¯ll see. A lot of it depends on¡­ well.¡± She blushed a little and then Xi Xha jumped in for her. ¡°Well now that she¡¯s passed the entrance exam, I¡¯ll be sponsoring Mu Lin to attend the Academy in the fall. She might have to give up her life as a handler after that I¡¯m afraid.¡± Mu Lin smiled and I could see the sense of relief in her as Xi Xha vocalized her promise. ¡°Damn straight!¡± Lee said, raising his cup in cheer. ¡°Good on you, Mu Lin!¡± We all gave cheers to that, and Mu Lin blushed even more. ¡°Thanks, you guys,¡± she said, her eyes watering a little behind her new sses. ¡°You¡¯re the best. All of you.¡± We partied some more and by the time it was approaching midnight, Xi Xha kept reminding me of her intentions from earlier with a constant rubbing of her hand on my inner thigh. I finally gave in to her and dropped some extra copper on the table for the boys to close out the night with Mu Lin. Xi Xha was half out of her robes by the time we reached the brothel. We closed the night out with a wild party of our own and by the time we were both exhausted I couldn¡¯t even tell what time it was anymore. The only thing I knew, was I¡¯d just had the best day of my life. Chapter 56 ¡°Wake up, Chun!¡± The gruff voice of Master Hong Feng jarred me out of my sleep. The room spun as I tried to orientate myself and for a second, I was surprised to find myself in the library back at the sect. How the hell did I get here? Then my fragmented memories from the night before slowly filtered into my aching skull and I vaguely recalled dragging myself half-drunk across town from the brothel to make it back to the sect before morning. Why the hell did I leave a warm bed with Xi Xha toe and deal with this shit? I said to myself. And then I remembered the stupid transcript I had started to write at some unearthly hour in the morning before promptly passing out on the floor. Damn it. The intention was there but I had failed in the execution. Now Hong Feng hade looking for histest edition of the Fury manual just like I figured he would, but I had nothing to give him. And as my eyes adjusted further, I noticed Hong Feng wasn¡¯t alone either. Next to him was Shen Ju. The cultivator¡¯s eyes filled with contempt as he literally looked down his nose at me, shaking his head.¡°He looks drunk.¡± ¡°No matter,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°Get up, Chun!¡± What the hell was this? I stifled my anger and yed it cool with [Indifference] as I slowly rose to my feet. ¡°Morning, gentlemen,¡± I said with a half-hearted bow. ¡°You¡¯re both up early.¡± I was beginning to fear that Hong Feng was after more than just the manual by the way he was staring at me. Might he have witnessed something he didn¡¯t like in my performancest night? Or perhaps the opposite was true, seeing as I had finally made true lightning. ¡°Come to congratte me on my win?¡± I said with a cocky grin. ¡°You did catch the fight, didn¡¯t you? I¡¯m about to break into the top twenty to¡ª¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter now,¡± Hong Feng said abruptly. ¡°Something far more important is taking ce. It¡¯s time for you to pay your debt to me, Chun.¡± My me stirred at the sound of that and I nced at Shen Ju to see if this might be some kind of ambush. ¡°Is that right?¡± ¡°Sumatra just received an anonymous booking from a rival sect this morning,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°We need to move quickly.¡± Shit, I thought. It was an ambush. Just not the kind I was thinking. Getting involved in this kind of ilk was thest thing I wanted to do, especially now with me being so close to my goal. ¡°I see, but I have my final match for qualifying tonight,¡± I said, trying to weasel my way out. ¡°I should probably focus on that if I want¡ª¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t a request,¡± Hong Feng snapped. ¡°This sort of thing doesn¡¯t happen often. Anonymous bookings like this are only made by prominent or high-profile sect members. It¡¯s an opportunity we can¡¯t afford to waste.¡± No dice, I thought. I was expecting as much, but I had to try regardless. ¡°I understand,¡± I said with [Indifference] but then yed dumb once more. ¡°What is it you need me to do?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll report to work this morning as a handler,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°Sumatra will pair you up with whoever the client is. You are to then take them to the northern ts where Shen Ju and his team will be waiting.¡± ¡°The northern ts?¡± That was the realm of A and S-ss monsters. ¡°You trying to turn this into a suicide run? There¡¯s nothing but reaper beasts out there.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Shen Ju said. ¡°We¡¯ve staked out a narrow canyon that dead ends a quarter mile in. It¡¯s the perfect setup. Once you reach the ins, look for piles of red stones. It will lead you to it. We¡¯ll ensure the client engages with one of the reapers. All you have to do then is to lure them into the canyon as a means of escape.¡± ¡°How are you going to ensure that?¡± Shen Ju grinned. ¡°You¡¯ll have to wait and see. But once you get them in the canyon, we¡¯ll attack from behind. Should make for a much easier kill if they have their hands full with something that strong.¡± The thought sickened me. I had to get out of this. ¡°There¡¯s no way I could justify taking a client to face that kind of risk,¡± I said. ¡°The enforcers would be all over my ass afterwards. Sumatra¡¯s too. You¡¯d have to be a 9th-Tier Core Realm cultivator to take on a reaper.¡± ¡°To have registered anonymously it¡¯s likely they are that level or even more,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°Hence the need for the reaper. You along with Shen Ju and his team would not be able to defeat them alone. But regardless, it doesn¡¯t matter. As the sole survivor from the excursion, it will be your job to tell the authorities what happened. Come up with any story you wish. The main thing is that the client was killed by the powerful spirit beast. Nothing more.¡± A spark of ire lit within my soul. Here they were, using me as both pawn and patsy for their damn murder mystery plot. But dammit what could I do? This is what I had signed up for to achieve my aims. It was a grim reminder that all power came at a price. And it was looking damn steep right now. ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving with my team shortly,¡± Shen Ju said, and I noticed he was dressed in the in brown robes again. ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting just outside the gate for you though.¡± I raised a brow at him. ¡°I thought you said you¡¯d be waiting at the ts.¡± ¡°The rest of my team will be,¡± he said. ¡°I want to ensure that you make it there yourself. This is your first time after all. I don¡¯t want you getting cold feet.¡± He gave me a leer and I felt like punching his bloody teeth in. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he continued. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to stay out of sight.¡± I¡¯m sure you will, you bastard¡­ I heaved out a sigh as the proverbial walls began closing in on me. Just one more fight and I could be done with all this nonsense. But until then, I had to y along with this sick game. ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± Hong Feng smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you, Chun. This will be a great victory for the sect to remove such a strong rival. Do well and even my uncle, the great Sect Leader himself, will honor you.¡± * * * A half-hourter I was on my way to the gate, dragging my feet like they were made out of stone. I got within sight of the camp and already I could tell something was up. The ce had a buzz about it, with offworld cultivators and locals alikemunicating in hushed whispers as my co-workers danced around energetically, some of them giving me sly grins as I passed by. What the hell was going on? Mu Lin and Lee rushed up to me wide-eyed once they saw me and pulled me quickly to the side. They both reeked of alcohol and I wondered if they had even managed to make it homest night. ¡°Did you two sleep?¡± I asked, furrowing my brow at them. Mu Lin giggled, her eyes bloodshot behind her new specs. ¡°Kind of, maybe?¡± ¡°Never mind that,¡± Lee said, his smile ear to ear. ¡°The question is, what the hell did you do, my man?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± For a second I feared that they somehow had all found out about the ambush plot. But then Lee thumbed behind him and when I saw what he was gesturing at, my mind came undone. Holy shit¡­ I saw the skiff before I even saw her, but one glimpse of the slick vehicle and I knew exactly who the client was. Lady Silver Stick-in-her-Ass was standing over by Sumatra in all her glittering glory. ck and silver robes pristine and shining, as were the three sheath-less Jian des that hung about her hips as if suspended on nothing. The bright silver of her hair caught in the morning light, creating a halo over the stylish neck-length bob like she was an angel or something. You¡¯ve got to be shitting me, I thought. The woman was anything but an angel. ¡°What the hell is she doing here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but she asked for you by name,¡± Lee said, still grinning like an idiot. ¡°My guess is she wants a special tour, if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°Before you say anything, this has nothing to do with me,¡± Mu Lin said making a ¡®no-way¡¯ gesture with her hands. ¡°Nuh¡ªthing.¡± ¡°I say it all has to do with that bod of his,¡± Lee said with augh. Mu Lin rolled her eyes. ¡°I doubt that. More like payback for when he was being an ass to her the other day. She¡¯s probably going to ride you like a ve out there.¡± ¡°Ride, being the key word,¡± Lee said with a yful wink. ¡°Ew! You¡¯re so disgusting!¡± Mu Lin said, pushing Lee away as heughed. I huffed out a sigh. These two idiots were still way too drunk to be of any help. ¡°Let me go see what¡¯s up,¡± I said as I left them, but I knew exactly what was up. And it wasn¡¯t good. Not only would I be responsible for this woman¡¯s death if I took her out into the field, I was now also the one responsible for making here here in the first ce¨C¨Capparently anyway. My stomach soured at the thought, guilt mixed with disdain. As I headed towards Sumatra, the woman caught sight of me and after an initial look of surprise, her brows lowered in a predatory re. ¡°There he is!¡± Sumatra weed me with a p on my back. ¡°My best and most senior handler, just for you, Lady Silver Light. The great Chun! He¡¯ll lead you safely to the Reaper ts and make sure you don¡¯t bite off more than you can chew.¡± Sumatraughed as if to make it a joke, but Silver Light red at him as if he¡¯d just insulted her. ¡°You think a rabid spirit beast is a challenge for one such as me?¡± Silver Light pierced Sumatra with a stare and the big man began to stutter. ¡°No, of course not!¡± he said bowing profusely. ¡°What I meant was¡­ actually, that Chun brings great fortune to his clients. But a few weeks ago he helped an off-worlder bag a B-ss monster core. Didn¡¯t you, Chun? I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll bring the same luck to you.¡± ¡°Luck is for the weak,¡± she said with a scoff. ¡°If I wish a core, I¡¯ll simply y as many foul beasts as I need to, to find one.¡± Her bravado was cringeworthy, but something about her told me that what she said was likely true. I had no idea who this woman was, but by the way she carried herself, she had to be in the Gold Bracket League. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get you out there so you can start killing then, yes?¡± Sumatra said with another shameless bow. ¡°I¡¯ll just get him his partner and then you¡¯ll be all set. Lee!¡± My blood froze. Shit¡­I¡¯d forgotten about the new rules. Just as I was about to wrack my brain on how I could spare Lee from bing involved, the Lady Silver Light scrunched up her face. ¡°Partner?¡± she said. ¡°New safety protocols, my Lady,¡± Sumatra said and nodded towards the Imperial Guard and Enforcers on duty. ¡°Two handlers to an excursion. No exceptions.¡± Dammit, I thought. Maybe I could take Lee and then convince him to skive off once we were far enough away. But then when I returned without the Lady Silver Light with me, that would cause even more questions. And Lee wouldn¡¯t have good answers. I¡¯d have to get him to lie and then swear him to secrecy the same way I had with Mu Lin when the Fire Birds first robbed that old man of his lightning core. Or hell, maybe I could just take Mu Lin instead of Lee. That would be easier to exin. But dammit, I didn¡¯t want to involve her in any more of this crap either. ¡°One handler is more than enough,¡± Silver Light said curtly. ¡°This One does not require to be baby sat. I thought I made it abundantly clear earlier that my strength is not to be questioned.¡± ¡°A thousand apologies,¡± Sumatra said, groveling before her obsequiously. ¡°But the rules are the rules. By order of the Warden herself.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Silver Light rocked her jaw at that, unknown machinations transpiring behind her shifting chrome eyes. ¡°You there, guard!¡± she suddenly barked, causing the man to jump. ¡°Approach me!¡± I couldn¡¯t sense Qi, but by the way his eyes popped open and the speed at which he hustled over, I could only imagine that she had flexed the power of her core at him. ¡°Yes, mydy,¡± he said with a bow. She pointed at me. ¡°How many handlers do you see standing there?¡± His mouth dropped open, his eyes darting back and forth as if it were a trick question. ¡°Answer carefully,¡± she warned, her words sharp enough to draw blood. ¡°You do know who the Warden of this province is¡­and which n she belongs to, yes?¡± The guard looked her up and down as if acknowledging the ck and silver of her robes, sweat beading on his brow. ¡°I-I see two,¡± the guard said, shakily. ¡°Two handlers, my Lady.¡± Silver Light smiled. ¡°Clever boy.¡± She then turned to Sumatra and nodded. ¡°I think we are good to go now, yes?¡± Sumatra nodded, looking as surprised as I was, but I wasn¡¯tining. At least one of my friends¡¯ lives would be spared today. ¡°You there, handler,¡± Silver Light said, turning to me and a crafty smile spread across her ruby painted lips. ¡°It seems you are at my service this day. Let us hope your attitude is well improved since thest time I addressed you.¡± The way she said it¨C¨Cseething with hate while spewing lemonade¨C¨Chad me wondering just what the hell she hade here for. Was this revenge for blowing her off, or her messed-up idea of a first date? I let my inner me speak for me as I gave her a grimace of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to give you some of that attitude for you to find out.¡± Her eyes widened in surprise, but from her soul all I sensed was more lemonade. ¡°Lead on then,¡± Lady Silver Light said with a smirk, pointing towards the gate. ¡°Take me to these Reaper ts. I want you to show me the very best of what your world has to offer.¡± And then her stare became more threatening, her tone ice cold. ¡°And you had better not disappoint me.¡± Chapter 57 I stormed northward along the forest path, Lady Silver Light trailing close behind me. It was strangely reminiscent of my first excursion out with Threja¨C¨Coff on a suicide mission with a cultivator who was clueless to their own imminent demise. Or at least that¡¯s how I had first thought of Threja before she changed my destiny forever by igniting my Frenzied me. But the only me Lady Silver Light had ignited thus far was my ire. She started by giving me her bags to carry, which could have been full of damn rocks for how heavy they were. I bnced them on a piece of bamboo that I slung across one shoulder. With my basic Body Refinement, they barely weighed a thing, but keeping them bnced across the choppy terrain took constant attention. ¡°Careful, handler!¡± she barked at me like a dog. ¡°What¡¯s in those bags is worth far more than your life.¡± I refused to give her the satisfaction of a rise and instead kept a silent wall of [Indifference] between us. She reacted to that with an ever-growing sense of anger, punctuated with lemonade, like I was an object of unobtainable desire she¡¯d rather see destroyed than not possess. Halfway through our journey I found out what was inside the bags after she demanded to take a break and to be served tea. She¡¯d bought a whole damn tea set with her, made of jade-encrusted china. In the second bag she¡¯d brought a small chair made out of silver rods that I had to spend ten minutes assembling while she hurled insults at me for being too slow. That made me go even slower. I nearly lost my shit when she started micromanaging my every move on how to correctly make her tea. ¡°Half a teaspoon. Too much! Make it again!¡± I used it as an opportunity to generate Frenzy, the Struggler maintaining control as my inner fire burned. This damn bitch, I thought when she was finally finished. Forcing me into a position of servitude bying to find me on my job. Who does this kind of shit? I kicked leaves and pebbles off the forest path, venting my frustration as we got back underway. An entitled rich girl used to getting everything she wants, that¡¯s who, I answered my own question. I should be spending the day preparing for my battle with U¡¯Ren Nghi right now, practicing my ability to harness true lightning, not out here getting pissed off over this stupid shit. We travelled for another hour without saying another word to each other, moving swiftly through the remnants of old neighborhoods and overgrown city blocks. We then entered the wilder territory where more powerful monsters and spirit beasts roamed. We were close to our final destination and my instincts as a handler kicked, subconsciously guiding me to avoid the dangers of the wild. But where we were headed there would be no avoiding. We were instead walking right into it. If there was one good thing about all of this though, it was that I didn¡¯t feel half as bad now, knowing who the mysterious client was. Getting to know the Lady Silver Light was like getting acquainted with a feral cat. She was aloof, abrasive, and arrogant and a royal member of the ruling n to boot. Plus, she was a representative of the Warden herself, the same woman who callously left my family to die that night twelve years ago. She was my enemy. The empire incarnate. And she needed to die. As the thought steeped, my me burned, but then, like a strong gust of wind snuffing out a candle, it vanished in my mind¡¯s eye. Dammit all to hell, I thought. I just couldn¡¯t do it. This had to be the third time now since we had departed that I had tried to convince myself that getting this woman killed was a good idea. And part of me wanted to strangle the shit out of her for sure, but not literally. No matter how obnoxious she was, Silver Light was still an innocent victim in a murderous plot concocted by scumbags I hated way more than her. Who was I kidding? I wouldn¡¯t want to be involved in this nasty Fire Bird shit no matter who the target was. And to be honest, although the woman was annoying and haughty as hell, Silver Light hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. At least not enough to warrant a death sentence. A good cussing out for kicking her pilot and being a general pain in the ass to me maybe, but not lured to her death out here in the wild. And besides that, she was Xi Xha¡¯s friend and Mu Lin¡¯s now too, I supposed. My mind was torn. Following my convictions was not so simple anymore. Maybe it was a refining of my me or a growth of my understanding in general, but simply taking revenge against the ¡®evil cultivators¡¯ wasn¡¯t going to cut it anymore. I had to admit that, before I met Threja, the word ¡®cultivator¡¯ and ¡®empire¡¯ meant the exact same thing to me¡ªliterally one and the same in my mind. It had been enough to kindle my me, but the spiritual root of my Dao, my deepest pain, had stemmed from the trauma of an eight-year-old¡¯s mind. And that was as simple as my understanding was back then. But now that I knew better, my understanding of my Dao was bing more refined as well. The empire that conquered my people was still my enemy and I would defeat it, but not every cultivator was the empire. And not every cultivator deserved my wrath. Certainly not the annoying but attractive young woman walking next to me¨C¨Cat least not yet anyway. I nced over at Silver Light from the corner of my eye¡ªface like a goddess, the nimble yet confident gait of a warrior and enough Qi inside of her to probably fell a whole damn forest with a single technique from one of her three jian des. Why the hell did you have to choose today toe pester me? I thought. Perhaps I could just try to convince her to turn back, the same way I did with Threja. Or hell, maybe I could just start an argument with her to make her want to leave. Then I couldn¡¯t be med for the hit not going off. But then there was that asshole Shen Ju out there to worry about. Even now I could sense hints of his Dark Frenzy in close proximity, watching our every move. Perhaps he was using [Devil¡¯s Shadow] or some other technique to further mask his Qi or something, because surely someone as powerful as Silver Light should have been able to sense him if he were this close. It had to be how they had managed to get the drop on the other cultivators they had murdered out here before. At just the thought of it, images of those dead bodies being hauled in by skiff raced through my mind. Innocent people killed for Hong Feng¡¯s selfish gains, or mere bystanders like those poor young handlers just trying to do their jobs. That got my me stirring for real. If there was anyone who deserved to be gutted by a damn reaper beast it was Shen Ju and the evil little shitheads on his team. ¡°Do I vex you, handler?¡± Silver Light said suddenly. It was the first real question she¡¯d asked this whole time. I eyed her with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I considered how I should respond. ¡°You want an honest answer?¡± I said. ¡°Or do you want me to blow smoke up that pretty little ass of yours like everyone else does?¡± Her eyes red with shock and indignation, but her soul gushed with lemonade. ¡°How dare you speak to me in such a manner! Do you have any idea what saying that would earn you, were I not so gracious?¡± I shrugged. ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question.¡± She stared at me again and I swear I could hear her heart pounding as she tried to figure out what to say next. And then I saw it. A small glimpse of her true nature, peeking out from behind that arrogant, warrior-cultivator fa?ade of hers. This girl was scared shitless, I thought. But why? ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll answer anyway,¡± I said and prepared to test the waters as I came to a stop and faced her. ¡°Yes, you vex me, Lady Silver Light, as you probably do a great many people. The only difference is, while they don¡¯t say anything because they¡¯re too busy trying to kiss your ass, I don¡¯t, because I just don¡¯t think you¡¯re worth my damn time.¡± Her nostrils red and her hand flew back as if to hit me. I didn¡¯t even flinch, engaging [Indifference] as I stared her down. ¡°You sure you want to do that?¡± She red back at me, equal parts shocked and mortified by my quick defiance, but just as I¡¯d figured, her hand didn¡¯t move. ¡°Don¡¯t tease unless you¡¯re willing to y,¡± I warned her with a smirk and then reshouldered the bags as I prepared to move on. I sensed a new emotion building within her as I left her behind. Fear, but not quite. Embarrassment maybe? More lemonade for sure. I couldn¡¯t care less though. I needed to figure out what the hell I was going to do about this situation out here. The ts were in sight now, the ground transitioning from forest to hard-packed earth and broken stone. Ahead, fissures ran crisscross over the desertndscape like marbled tile cracked and chipped from below. I only recognized the ce because I¡¯d seen it in books before. But this was my first time viewing the Reaper ts with my own eyes. A subtle anxiety filled me, a sense of dread and doom, but my me quickly consumed it and turned it into strength. I slowed my pace regardless, not wanting to get to where we were supposed to be going. I spotted the red stones Shen Ju had spoken of¡ªa small discreet pile at the edge of the ins. Reluctantly I began heading in the direction of the trap, feeling Shun Ju¡¯s eyes still upon me. Maybe I could just kill the bastard and all his men, I thought. Then I could bluff Hong Feng that the whole thing just went to hell. Thinking about it, all I needed to do was to get to my fight in one piece tonight. Although winning that wasn¡¯t guaranteed either. Admittedly, that whole concept seemed a million miles away right now. This wasn¡¯t a tournament, this was real life and death out here. Still, I needed to do something soon. I nced about as we wandered across the ts, my senses keen. A newplication urred to me. I couldn¡¯t let Silver Light find out about Shen Ju and his men either. Even though they were in disguise, it wouldn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that it was the hot-fried-chicken gang who hadid the trap for her. If she went to the authorities about their operation or hell, just took vengeance herself, that would start a shit-trail that would eventually lead straight back to me. If I somehow wanted to keep both her and I alive, I needed to get rid of Shen Ju and his men before she ever saw them. Damn, this was getting dicier by the second. ¡°How do you know Xi Xha?¡± Silver Light called from behind me. I raised a brow at the random question. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that already?¡± The quick reply seemed to stump her and she fumbled for her words. ¡°S-she spends a lot of time with you, yes? She speaks of you often.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± ¡°How do you know her so well?¡± I shrugged, my eyes still scanning for signs of Shen Ju. ¡°Mu Lin¡¯s a mutual friend. She introduced us. Sort of¡­¡± I could sense him still behind us, watching, waiting. But then, suddenly he was gone. Was he moving to position himself in the canyon ahead perhaps? Maybe now was my chance to take them out unseen. ¡°I envy how carefree you all are,¡± Silver Light said and her sudden shift in tone caught me off guard, less haughty and more introspective. Sad almost. ¡°Free tough and associate with anyone you please.¡± I huffed out augh. ¡°We¡¯re hardly free,dy. Anyway, enough of that right now. I need you to listen to me caref¡ª¡± ¡°Xi Xha is free,¡± she said, looking absently ahead of her. ¡°As a mere schr she has no responsibilities or obligations. Free to avoid the rigors and sacrifice thates with cultivation. Free to not care about how much face she would lose in public for being seen day in and day out with mortals.¡± What the hell was this? ¡°Hey, we really don¡¯t have time for a therapy session right now. I need you to pay attention if we¡¯re¨C¨C¡± ¡°She¡¯s even free to love and marry whoever she wants,¡± she said, looking at me with both desire and disdain. ¡°Instead of having to wait for some arrogant, self-absorbed rival to best her in a tournament match.¡± This woman had issues, but I didn¡¯t have time to sort them out. ¡°Look,¡± I said. ¡°I have a bad feeling about this ce. I think we should leave before one of those reapers show up.¡± She scoffed incredulously. ¡°You take me for a coward? This one does not flee in the face of a mere beast. Or is that what you would prefer a woman to do? To be weak.¡± ¡°What?¡± Her anger suddenly red. ¡°Is that what you want? Tell me! Tell me what is it that you see in her and not in me? Is it her weakness? Her frailty? Is that what all men truly desire?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen it,¡± she said, her eyes narrowing into slits. ¡°Within my own father even. Marry the strong cultivator woman to bear his children, but then chase after weak and frail mortal whores to make his concubines. If only a woman could do the same. To have any man she desires, despite his rank or reputation. Just like Xi Xha.¡± I was beginning to see the picture here and it wasn¡¯t pretty. ¡°Look,dy, I¡¯m not trying to get caught up in any messed-up shit between you and Xi¡ª¡± My words left me as a sudden sickness turned my stomach, a low hum filling the air. The familiar yet pungent taste of Dark Frenzy overtook my senses as a building pressure increased around my Dantian, as if the dark energy was trying to invade it. I staved it off with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I nced about looking for Shen Ju and his men. I didn¡¯t see anyone. He¡¯d said they would ensure the client engaged the beast, but I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d go this far. ¡°We need to move!¡± I shouted. ¡°Something¡¯s going t¨C¨C¡± A thunderous roar erupted from below, cutting me off mid-phrase. The earth shook and not more than fifty feet away, the ground suddenly copsed, sinking inwards like a sheet of falling snow. At the same time, something the size of an elephant wed up from out of it. A reaper beast. The thing had the body of a baboon, ck fur that looked almost like quills or spines, hands the size of an entire person if you counted the two-foot-long ws. Its head was apelike, save for its mouth and snout which was scaled and elongated like a crocodile¡¯s. Twin sets of reptilian eyes stared out from whatprised of its face, a horrific visage that looked like something out of a horror flick. The hideousness of it was rivaled only by the speed at which it moved. I¡¯d never seen any creature thatrge move so quickly. It was up and out of the hole in less than a second, the beast roaring so loudly that my eardrums felt as if they would burst. The thing was enraged, its four eyes turning red, the air around it, boiling with Dark Frenzy. It was just like what happened with the broodmother in the arena. Judging from its size the thing was still just a juvenile thankfully, as powerful as a normal B-ss monster at least, but with the Fire Birds feeding it Dark Frenzy, it had to be the equivalent of A-ss or even higher by now. ¡°How strong are you?¡± I shouted to Silver Light above the din. Silver Light took a full three seconds to respond, her eyes fixed with terror upon the unnatural-looking beast. Finally, she turned to me. ¡°How strong? I am a member of the royal¡ª¡± ¡°Cut the bullshit!¡± I said. ¡°I need to know if you have any chance of defeating this thing or not. What tier of cultivation are you?¡± She blinked and perhaps could finally sense the gravity of the situation we were now in. ¡°Core, 6th tier,¡± she said. Shit, I was hoping for way more than that. The Fire Birds had chosen wisely. Even unprovoked the beast would have been more than a match for her. But enraged like this, who knew how long she would even survive? ¡°It¡¯s too strong,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯ll kill you. You need to run!¡± ¡°You run!¡± she said, and with a sh, two of her jian des appeared in her hands while the third hovered just above her head. ¡°I¡¯ll hold it off while you flee.¡± The bitch was as crazy as I was. I yearned to stay and fight with her, my me stirring at the challenge. But I had something else that needed taking care of first. And fleeing gave the perfect cover for that. Plus, if I could kill the Fire Birds that were feeding it Frenzy, perhaps Silver Light would stand a fighting chance against the beast, even on her own. But I had to move quickly. I made for the direction of the canyon, dumping my building Frenzy into the quick pumping muscles of my thighs. ncing back over my shoulder I saw Silver Light charging at the reaper beast fearlessly, her voice resonating through the air as she annunciated her technique. ¡°[Twelfth Heaven! Silver Arc Strike]!¡± She cut diagonally across the elephant-sized monster, moving so quickly she more teleported than moved. A split secondter a burst of radiant white Qi pulsed after her like a lightning sh, cutting into the creature with razor-sharp focus. The reaper beast howled as its quills were stripped from its body, but it regainedposure quickly and raged, swatting at her like a fly. I lost sight of her then as I descended into the canyon, loose rocks and pebbles sliding underfoot. The howls of the beast echoed through the sheer canyon walls as they rose up all around me. I got in about a hundred feet when I sensed a burst of Dark Frenzye from behind me. Instinctively, I engaged [Iron Skin] while ducking into a roll. A wave of heat washed over me as a massive wall of mes engulfed me from behind. I rolled to my feet, turning to see two Fire Birds emerging from a blind spot along the canyon wall. They wielded straight swords ignited with mes, one of them preparing to pepper me with fire again. ¡°Looks like we all had the same idea,¡± I said with a leer as I fed my Frenzy into [Fear the me]. I entuated my Frenzy with fake Qi so they could sense my power as well, and instantly one of them began to shit bricks and backed away. I pulled out my axe. ¡°You bastards are going to pay for killing those two kids. For all the people you¡¯ve killed!¡± I got all of two steps before another wall of fire stuck me from the side. This time there was force as well as mes, the technique mming me hard into the side of the canyon wall. As I struggled to get to my feet the mes kepting, brilliant red fire singeing my handler¡¯s uniform as I cried out in pain, the inferno constant like a blowtorch. My mind screamed. I had to get out of this! Channeling my pain into Frenzy, I leapt up and over the stream of fire and charged downward at my attacker. To my delight, it was Shen Ju. ¡°Piece of shit!¡± I bellowed as I swung my axe downward at him with [Two-Log Chop]. ¡°You just couldn¡¯t wait, could you?¡± The cultivator somersaulted backwards with qinggong, narrowly missing my attack. My axe hit the ground with a bang leaving a man-sized crater in the hard stone where Shen Ju had just been. I then gave him a maddening grin. ¡°Well, I couldn¡¯t wait either.¡± I sped right after him releasing a howl of rage. Shen Ju kept his distance, firing jets of me at me as we bounced back and forth between the canyon walls. I dodged and weaved through his attacks but couldn¡¯t get close as he bounded higher and higher upwards. ¡°Today we correct Master Hong Feng¡¯s mistake with you!¡± Shen Ju shouted down at me. ¡°You¡¯ll sadly perish along with the Silver Leaf whore. Another excursion tragically lost to the savage Terran wilds.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you a savage Terran, you little bitch!¡± I said,ing to a stop. He was ying me for distance, and with his ability to hop back and forth between the walls, he was effectively flying away from me right now. I needed a new n. But for as much pain as the mes were inflicting, they weren¡¯t generating much frenzy. And for all I¡¯d been through in the ring, the three of them weren¡¯t convincing me of being much of a threat either. That meant my Frenzy generation was being limited, but I dug deeper for more. These evil bastards were responsible for all those bodies I¡¯d seen and who knew how many more. They were a blight that needed to be forcefully removed from this world. And I would be the one to do it. ¡°[Mark of the Beast]!¡± I cried. Liquid Frenzy surged through my veins, my body changingposure instantly as I amped up my presence with [Fear the me]. Tusks jutted from my lower jaw, filling my mouth with blood. My fingers and nails elongated into ws. My knees snapped and popped as my bones lengthened. Shen Ju clung to the side of the canyon wall with his jian de embedded in the rock, his eyes wide with terror as he stared at me iprehensibly. I sensed his blood run cold with fear and Ipped it up to replenish my surging Frenzy. ¡°What kind of monster are you?¡± he said, unable to remove his eyes from my new form. ¡°Are you truly some kind of demon?¡± I grinned at him with my muchrger teeth, my tone guttural and raw. ¡°No¡­I¡¯m a Berserker.¡± The world flew past me as I leapt towards him, bouncing back and forth off the walls to reach him in barely a second. The rapid movement caught him by surprise, and he let go of his de with a scream. He managed to kick off one of the walls as he fell andnded safely with a flip onto the ground. ¡°Kill him! Kill him!¡± he screamed, running behind the safety of his two men. I barely felt the licks of their mes as they unleashed their techniques, my body fully hardened with [Iron Skin]. ¡°Weak as shit!¡± I shouted with a cackle. I barreled down the side of the canyon, outpacing their retreat as I bounded forward like an animal. I flew into my martial forms as I engaged the two Fire Birds out front. One of them managed to block the hefty de of my axe with their sword, but the sheer strength of my blow drove both it and his sword deep into his chest. I ripped my weapon out with a surge of [Bloodlust], pulling his throat out with it as my me burned, hungry for more. The other Fire Bird screamed in panic and turned about to flee, stumbling into Shen Ju in the process. I sprang forward and cut him in two at the waist with a [One-Chop Cleave], covering Shen Ju in his entrails, and he let out a gurgling death cry. As the two halves of his body hit the ground, I spun my axe¡ªcasually strolling towards Shen Ju. ¡°You¡¯re next,¡± I said, pointing my axe at him with a dose of [Fear the me]. The cultivator¡¯s heartbeat hammered like a drum in my ears, my hearing and senses heightened by my new form as well. His soul spilled fear all over the ground, as if it were a precursor to what would soon be spilling next. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you eager to take your revenge for your stupid sword brother?¡± That got a rise of anger out of him, and he flipped his sword into a high guard as he dropped into a low stance. ¡°Don¡¯t think you will defeat me so easily. I¡¯ve grown much in strength. And as strong as you think you are, your savage technique is as sloppy as you are undisciplined.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take that as apliment,¡± I said with a grin of [Indifference]. ¡°You jackass!¡± he seethed with anger. ¡°You make a mockery of all that is----¡ª¡± I didn¡¯t wait for him to finish, charging straight in with a quickbination of martial forms instead. His eyes went wide as he struggled to meet each one of my axe swings. To his credit, his technique was on point, but he was no match for Frenzy-heightened speed, much less in Beast mode. Sparks and mes flew between as I drove him towards the canyon wall. I spun high then cut low, my axe cleaving through his thigh. He cried out, clutching his leg and I followed through with a quick downward chop to his left shoulder. Blood gushed as he fell back against the canyon, staggering to stay on his feet. He raised a bloodied hand towards me. ¡°Wait,¡± he said. ¡°I was wrong about you¡­perhaps you are strong enough to be one of us, after all.¡± The bastard had to be joking, but by the Dark Frenzy building in his core, I knew it had to be some kind of ruse. He expected me to hesitate, but I rushed in for the kill instead. ¡°I¡¯ll never be one of you, you murderous piece of shit!¡± I swung for his neck and a hissing sound filled the air as he opened his mouth. Torrents of red-hot mes burst from his lips, and I had to cut my swing short to duck low and avoid my head being burned off. I snatched his throat and angled his head away from me as the mes continued to spew from him like an erupting volcano. I held him for what had to be close to half a minute before he finally ran out of steam, coughing and wheezing ck smoke as his Dark Frenzy fizzled. He finally turned to look at me, hatred and hopelessness in his bloodshot eyes. ¡°I pray that beast kills the both of you,¡± he said. I lifted my chin at him with a smug shot of [indifference]. ¡°Hey Ryu,¡± I said, raising my axe. ¡°Give my regards to Ken.¡± Stark iprehension was thest look on Shen Ju¡¯s stupid face as I neatly cleaved his head in two. Blood sprayed as his body hit the ground and my Frenzy pumped with another burst of [Bloodlust]. It hadn¡¯t been much of a fight to be honest, but still it felt damn good to finally kill his ass. But there was more yet to do. Howls from the reaper beast still raged throughout the canyon. I didn¡¯t even know if Silver Light was still alive, but somewhere there was a handful of Fire Birds who were chanting up a storm. I hadn¡¯t seen them on the surface, so they had to be influencing the beast from somewhere down below. I sprinted further down the canyon, my handler instincts kicking in. Just as I thought, the canyon curved back on itself, nting downward as it headed back towards where Silver Light was fighting the reaper beast. The canyon dead-ended at arge cave. Within it, a group of nine Fire Birds were seated in lotus position in a circle, torrents of Dark Frenzy streaming upwards from them as they hummed in meditation. At the top of the cave, I spotted therge opening that the reaper beast had crawled out of and further past the Fire Birds I saw the cave extending even deeper into the earth. But I had no intentions of heading down there. My prey was already on disy and ready to be plucked. ¡°Damn fools,¡± I said as I approached them. ¡°Shen Ju left the nine of you back here doing this shit instead of teaming up to kill me?¡± Shen Ju would have stood a much better chance against me in a 12 v 1. But to hell with him for underestimating me. And to hell with all these guys too. I rushed in with a surge of Frenzy and tore into the unsuspecting cultivators with a fervor. Blood clouded my vision as I hacked into them mercilessly with my axe, my fury exacting every ounce of vengeance due for everyst victim they had killed. Their screams became a symphony as they awoke from their trances, realizing toote what was happening to them. Their unbridled fear bing a new source of my Frenzy-fueled rage. I did away with my axe and relied on the speed of my ws alone. Ripping and tearing, I dispensed retribution, until it was done.... * * * ¡°[Eighth Heaven! Zero-Point Strike!]¡± The words echoed down from the open cave top as I breathed heavily over the mass of bloodied bodies, my mind still worked up in a frenzy¡ªa literal one this time. Hearing her voice was like waking from a trance, and I stumbled to regain my bearings as I stepped free from the grisly proof of my handiwork. The Fire Birds were dead, and hearing Silver Light¡¯s voice meant that she was still alive. And hopefully by killing these fiends, I had just bought her a little more time. I needed to get back up there to help her though. Enraged or not, that reaper beast was still way above her level to kill alone. The hole in the roof was a hundred feet up. No way I was going to make that jump, not even with Beast mode on, but with [Mark of the Beast] I had speed on my side as well. Retrieving and stowing my axe, I took off in a sprint, moving so quickly I was nearly falling headfirst into the ground. I pushed my hands outwards to stop myself from tipping over and then instinctively found myself running on all fours, doubling my speed. I reached the top of the canyon in less than half a minute, sliding to a stop as I took in the scene before me. Remarkably, Silver Light was not only alive, but was kicking the reaper beast¡¯s ass by all ounts. The creature was bloodied from multiple gouges to its limbs and both of its feet had been chopped off. Hot damn, I thought. She¡¯d been smart enough to immobilize the Reaper to gain an upper hand and had pressed it to the max, it seemed. The beast was now wing at her futilely, crawling on its hip while she literally flew around it, delivering quick Qi strikes from afar. The beast was more or less dead, but I rushed in regardless to get a few hits in to hopefully exin the blood all over my clothes. I took a wide approach with [Mark of the Beast], skirting out of her line of sight and then reverting to my fully human form, tore into one of the creature¡¯s bloody stumps with my axe. The reaper beast roared in pain, swiping at me with its ws, but I deftly rolled out of the way in time to avoid it. Silver Light paused then,ing to a standstill in midair. Her eyes grew wide with shock and fear as she saw me. ¡°What are you doing here?! You¡¯re not strong enough! Get away from it! It¡¯ll kill you.¡± She swooped down towards me, presumably to carry me to safety, but turning her back, the reaper beast swung at the easy target. ¡°Look out!¡± I cried, and without even thinking, hurled my axe full-Frenzy at its hand. It spun and sliced off three of its fingers, the monster roaring in pain again as it cradled its wounded hand. ¡°Kill it!¡± I shouted. ¡°Kill it now, while it¡¯s distracted!¡± Silver Light didn¡¯t argue, and instead spun about, tossing both her jian des at the beast¡¯s chest. The third de, that was already hovering, flew with them and together they carved a triangle-shaped hole right through the reaper beast¡¯s heart. The monster released a shallow yelp, heaved once, and then finally grew still. I stood there in disbelief for a second. She¡¯d done it, I thought. She damn near killed the thing all on her own. And as only a 6th-Tier Core Realm cultivator too. I looked at Silver Light with new eyes. Maybe she was worthy of all that bragging and bravado, after all. ¡°Are you unharmed?¡± Silver Light asked as shended next to me, and to my surprise there seemed to be genuine concern in her voice. With a wave of her hand, her three jian des extracted themselves from the monster¡¯s chest and hovered at her side again. She looked me up and down, concern softening the metallic sheen of her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re covered in blood.¡± I looked down at myself, feigning surprise. ¡°I guess I got too close hacking the wounds you created.¡± I then noticed that she didn¡¯t have a drop of blood on her. Even her hair still looked perfectly in ce. ¡°Why did youe back here?¡± she said. I shrugged at her with a smile. ¡°I couldn¡¯t let you have all the fun to yourself, now could I?¡± Iughed and she still looked at me perplexed, clearly not getting that it was a joke. ¡°I sense you have some strength in you,¡± she said. ¡°But you were no match for this. There is more to fighting than simply possessing Qi.¡± I¡¯d been wondering if she could sense my fake core this whole time. I guess she could, but she wasn¡¯t impressed by it either, it seemed. And that was just fine with me. ¡°Well, clearly my help wasn¡¯t needed anyway,¡± I said, switching the subject and then nodded appreciatively at the fallen beast. ¡°And I have to say I¡¯m impressed.¡± And I was too. ¡°Someone of your cultivation level shouldn¡¯t have been able to kill this thing. It¡¯s right what you said. There¡¯s a lot more to fighting than just Qi. Guess being a Royal Lady of the Silver Leaf n makes you something special after all.¡± I gave her a wink and smile with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], letting her know my words were sincere. Silver Light stood there frozen by thepliment, not knowing what to say. She blushed then and tried to hide the smile forcing itself onto her lips by turning away from me slightly. It was kind of cute actually and Iughed. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± she said, regaining a bit of her cultivator dignity. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that¡ª¡± Her words cut short as the ground trembled, and another vicious roar ripped through the air. For a second I thought it was the beast she¡¯d just in somehow reanimating, but the sound was deeper and much further away. ¡°What was that?¡± she said, a near rhetorical question now as the earth trembled again. A hundred feet away, another reaper beast emerged from the hole in the earth that the first one hade through, but this one was muchrger than its kin. The creature had to be over two stories tall and as wide as a building. Where the first beast¡¯s quills were dark and thorny, this one had a streak of gold running down its back that appeared to beprised of feathers, thick like a horse¡¯s mane. The creature let out an ear-shattering roar as it announced its arrival to the heavens and then slowly turned its baleful gaze upon us. There was more than just fury in its twin sets of eyes as they met our own. There was anger there, hatred too. And I felt every ounce of it. ¡°This is no normal beast,¡± Silver Light said in a whisper and before she could even say the word awakened, the monster opened its huge jaws again. ¡°Vile¡­son of man¡­¡± the thing spoke, its voice coarse and grating, like crumbling stone. ¡°You y my offspring. Now I shall consume your souls.¡± Chapter 58 I couldn¡¯t believe what I was hearing or even seeing for that matter. I had read about some spirit beasts having the ability to actually ¡®talk¡¯ before, but never in all my years as a handler had I evere across one. Much less one that now wanted to consume my very soul. The reaper beast snorted through its nostrils, shaking the earth as it stalked towards us slowly, a predator closing the gap on its prey before a pounce. I couldn¡¯t sense Qi, but by the way Silver Light¡¯s face had just turned ghost white, I imagined it had to be producing a ton of it. There was no scale for what ssification this thing might be. A normal adult reaper beast would be an A or S ss for sure, but an awakened one? ¡°This is an S-ss-plus monster,¡± I said. ¡°The stuff of Sacred Soul Realm cultivators.¡± What I¡¯d said should have scared the hell out of me¡ªand it did¡ªbut even more so, it stirred the hunger of my me. This beast had just challenged us. Something far more powerful than anything I¡¯d fought or even seen before. The thought triggered [Odds Against Me] and a huge surge of Frenzy erupted from my inner me on an unprecedented scale. It was like when I gave thatst hit against Iron Pot Wong, but constant this time. Ipressed it quickly into liquid form and fed it to my body and senses. ¡°We need to flee,¡± Silver Light said, already backing up. ¡°No,¡± I said, feeling the strength of my new-found Frenzy. ¡°We have to fight it.¡±¡°Don¡¯t be a fool! We¡¯re out here alone. There is no face to be saved here. We¡¯d both simply die.¡± Perhaps she sensed certain death, but I didn¡¯t. Not with the two of us. If she was strong enough to defeat an A-ss on her own, we stood a chance. Slim as it might be. But it was better than me facing certain death alone, potentially failing and then getting her killed as well. If I wanted a realistic chance of saving Silver Light, we¡¯d have to fight the Awakened Reaper Beast together. ¡°You see the size of that thing and how fast that smaller one moved, yes?¡± I said, slowly edging towards my axe. ¡°If we try to run, it¡¯ll outpace and kill us instantly. If we want any chance to survive, we¡¯re going to have to kill it.¡± She balked. ¡°I just expended most of my Qi fighting the smaller one. I don¡¯t have much left. I can¡¯t do this!¡± Shit, the odds just got a little bit worse, but that only strengthened the resolve of my me. I realized then the huge advantage my Frenzied me gave me over any Qi cultivator. Just like how Shen Ju ran out of steam, once a person¡¯s Dantian was expended of Qi, it could take days or even weeks of cultivation to replenish it. For me however, just as the orb had said, with [Odds Against Me] my power was limitless, bound only by the strength of my foe and my ability to withstand him. And this was the greatest foe I had ever faced. Frenzy filled me like an ocean. ¡°We have spirit beasts like this on my home world,¡± Silver Light said. ¡°Ancient and sacred creatures that the mortals revere as gods. To kill one would take two or three cultivators of my ranking or more.¡± My me spoke to me. The power of the beast itself would grant me the strength to kill it. So long as I could survive. I grinned. ¡°Sounds like good odds to me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous!¡± she snapped, her tone bing fierce once more. ¡°You¡¯re not on the same level as me. Mu Lin told me how you gained your strength!¡± I nced at her, perplexed. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not real what you possess,¡± she said. ¡°Qi gained through false means will always falter. Plus, you¡¯ve onlypeted in the Wooden Bracket. You have no fighting skills to speak of. You¡¯re a novice!¡± Damn, Mu Lin truly sucked at keeping shit to herself. But no matter. I gave Silver Light a slick smile of confidence as I slowly removed my shirt and jacket with [Fear the me]. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s a lot more to me than just Qi.¡± Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as she gazed upon my scarred body and her soul filled with lemonade. But not just the lustful kind. I could sense there was true confidence building within her as well. She didn¡¯t say anything though, and silently deferred to me, perhaps sensing something she didn¡¯t quite understand. The beast had closed nearly half the distance now and would be within striking distance soon. There would be scant chance tomunicate once it did. I needed to formte a strategy to kill this thing and fast. ¡°Prioritize what Qi you have left to stay out of its range,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you can take a hit from this thing.¡± Silver Light harrumphed indignantly. ¡°And you say that as if you can?¡± I shrugged with [Indifference]. ¡°I¡¯m just going to have to, I guess.¡± ¡°What?¡± My me burned brighter as the uncertainty built. ¡°I¡¯ll keep its attention,¡± I said. ¡°You stay opposite me and focus on cutting off its feet off like you did thest one. Once we get it to that stage, we can both focus on its head to kill it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand how you think you¡¯re going to¡ª¡± I didn¡¯t wait for her to finish. I made a mad dash for my axe instead. ¡°Get into the air!¡± I cried. Just as my handler instincts had presumed, the beast lunged after me instead of her, going for the more quickly moving prey. I dumped my huge reserves of Frenzy into [Mark of the Giant] and [Iron Skin] not caring if Silver Light noticed that I¡¯d grown an inch or two. Ah, to hell with it, I thought as I let the brakes off the technique. I needed everything my body could muster to withstand this monster. My body expanded, gaining nearly a foot or more as I closed in on my axe. The ground bounced as the reaper beastnded nearly on top of me, covering 50 feet in a single leap. Jaws that could swallow me whole snapped at me and I abandoned my quest to reach my axe to face the beast head on. ¡°Hell no!¡± I cried defiantly. ¡°I will not be eaten today!¡± Directing my Frenzy to my hands, I reinforced them with [Iron Skin] as I braced them against the monster¡¯s quickly closing jaws. I cried out as the full force of its bite fought against the strength of my body and will. My feet slid as I absorbed the momentum of ten tons¡¯ worth of angry monster barreling down on top of me, but my stance held, my arms performing a lopsided military press to keeps its jaws from closing in on me. Blood erupted from my mouth as the pressure alone caused every organ and joint in my body to bepressed. I reinforced my spine with [Iron Core] and spat blood as the jaws threatened to snap me in half like a twig caught in its mouth. My feet finally dug in and I fought back against the giant creature. A roar filled its throat, the gust of its foul breath hitting me like a hot, putrid wind. Its rage increased and so did the strength of its bite. ¡°I crush you, foul vermin!¡± It spoke without using its tongue, the words forming some other way. Did it have a second mouth somewhere? But I didn¡¯t have time to ponder the anatomy of an awakened spirit beast. The thing was crushing me alive! My muscles ached and burned, my flesh tearing on the inside. Strength¡­I needed more strength to resist this! But I was already swimming in an ocean of Frenzy, my me producing it faster than I could consume. I needed more. I needed all of it right now! The thought triggered a memory of when I had finally generated lightning; that pinhole I had formed in my Dantian. Like riding a bike, muscle memory effortlessly created it again and I streamed the ocean of Frenzy through it. My Dantian became a vortex, surging with the rapidly concentrating energy, chips of solid Frenzy rattling through it like ice cubes in a blender. I did it! I was producing solid Frenzy on a massive scale! I filled my Dantian to capacity and then channeled the overflow into my weakening muscles, and suddenly my abilities felt as if they had increased ten-fold. I roared with rage and strength, my body mending itself and even increasing my height once more. The monster, perhaps sensing my sudden increase in strength, or finally feeling the effects of my [Fear the me], writhed in confusion. I pushed back with a scream, grabbing the edges of its massive jaws instead of merely keeping them apart. I twisted and turned, allowing the ten-ton beast to drive into me. With a final yell, I shifted my front foot backwards and then, bending at the waist, used the creature¡¯s own strength and momentum against it, pivoting to perform the biggest shoulder throw of my life. The monster reeled with iprehension as I flipped it off its feet and swung it in a slow and terrifying arc overhead. Time seemed to pause as it reached the apex, and then with a final push I mmed the monster onto its back with an earth-shattering ka-thoom! Clouds of debris filled the air like fog as I stumbled backwards seeing stars, my heartrate soaring, pounding in my ears like a bass drum. Holy shit, I thought, still unable to process what I¡¯d just done. I just judo threw a frigging house! And I wasn¡¯t the only one looking stupefied. As the dust cleared, I saw that Silver Light hadn¡¯t moved this entire time. She stood there staring at me with her mouth and eyes opened wide, standing in ake of lemonade. She looked as if she wanted to say something to me, but just couldn¡¯t find the words. ¡°Hit its feet!¡± I shouted to her. ¡°Cut them off while it¡¯s on its back!¡± My words snapped her out of her trance, and she flew into the sky with her jian des. ¡°[Seventh Heaven! Pulse Moon Strike!]¡± The three swords flew towards their target in a stream, each one chopping at one of the reaper beast¡¯s massive ankles. The des hit with sparks as the quills were sliced away, but still she hadn¡¯t reached skin yet. Damn, this thing is tough! I thought. The ground shook as it rolled back and forth, trying to right itself. I used the opportunity to finally grab my axe as Silver Light hit it with another volley of flying swords, drawing blood and a roar of pain this time. I focused on the same ankle as I leapt into the air with a martial strike. ¡°[Lightning Cleave]!¡± I didn¡¯t know what the hell I was doing but it felt right. Solid Frenzy fired into my Jing as I executed the technique, and a p of thunder broke the sky with an arc of yellow lightning. It travelled like a shockwave from the edge of my axe and hit the slowly opening wound with a massive swath of damage. KER-SPRAKK! That seemed to get its attention and the reaper beast rolled onto its three remaining feet, lifting its fourth to avoid it touching the ground. I went on the offensive, cleaving into its shoulder with Frenzy-fueled lightning strikes from my axe. The sky shook with each blow, lightning and quills flying as I hacked relentlessly into its thick hide. Its skin finally broke, and I screamed as the madness of [Bloodlust] filled me, never feeling so powerful before. ¡°Die!¡± I cried. ¡°Die damn you stupi¡ª¡± Something then hit me from the side with the force of a freight train and the world spun with stars. Pain filled every cell of my body as I went tumbling end over end. I hadn¡¯t even seen what had hit me, but I assumed it had to have been one of the creature¡¯s giant ws. The blow was at least equal to when Iron Pot Wong had struck me in the ring, only I hadn¡¯t been nearly as prepared for the hit this time. Blood and viscera flew through the air as the world continued to spin until finally, I crashed hard down somewhere on the ground. I coughed and wheezed, blood filling my mouth and I realized a chunk of my side was missing. Had I not already been pumped full of solid Frenzy and prepped with [Iron Skin] and [Iron Core], I¡¯d clearly be dead right now. I heaved with pain as I got onto my knees to see where the reaper beast was. To my amazement, it was over a hundred feet away. Damn, it had knocked me that far? I definitely couldn¡¯t take too many hits from this thing. As tough as I was, I¡¯d need way more base conditioning to go toe to toe, it seemed. I feared that it might be going after Silver Light next, but I didn¡¯t see her at all. Thankfully the monster was still fixed on me. I prepared for it toe charging at me again, but it lowered its head parallel to the ground and opened its jaws instead. Radiant golden light began emanating from the feathers on its back as they grew taller, swaying in the air like a field of ripening wheat. Through its jaws, I saw the same radiant light beginning to build within its throat. Oh shit¡­ I didn¡¯t know what wasing next, but by the looks of it, I didn¡¯t know if I could survive it. My heart raced. I wasn¡¯t ready, but worst of all, I was going to get Silver Light killed out here if I died. I couldn¡¯t give up. I had way too much left to do. My me stirred within me. I had to survive this. Standing, I prepared to face whatever was about to spew from the creature¡¯s mouth, guarding my body with [Iron Skin], [Iron Core], and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. A sound like a rocket going off filled the air, as a plume of what looked like steam jetted across the distance towards me. I didn¡¯t move, didn¡¯t flinch, my mind and body prepared to face it. My me shifted to a deeper shade of blue as- its intensity increased. This was it. It was either survive or die. I stared the beast down, prepared to meet my fate. Silver Light then suddenly appeared in front of me, her three jian des spaced to make arge triangle before her. ¡°[Fifth Heaven! Triple-Point Guard]! The space between the des suddenly filled with a translucent white light, seconds before the jet of steam hit it with a roar like thunder. The air instantly superheated as the steam was redirected to either side of Silver Light¡¯s shield, the cultivator pressing both palms forward like she was holding up a wall. ¡°It¡¯s so strong!¡± she cried, panting breathlessly, her entire body trembling in mid-air. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much longer¡­ I can hold this!¡± Shit, Silver Light might have just saved my life, but she might also have just halted my ascension as well. Dammit! I cursed inwardly. A fair trade, I guess? I didn¡¯t know, but I didn¡¯t have the luxury to whine and worry about it right now. And it would all be for naught anyway if I didn¡¯t do something to save her life as well. ¡°Just keep it up!¡± I shouted over the roar of steam, staggering to my feet. ¡°I¡¯ll take it out while its focus is on you.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll what?¡± She looked at me like I was a madman, and from her vantage, I suppose I was. I was already torn to shreds, bleeding profusely. But what Icked in tissue, my steady stream of solid Frenzy was more than making up for using [Death¡¯s Door]. ¡°Just trust me!¡± I said. I didn¡¯t have time to exin any further and took off sprinting in a wide arc around the side of her shield. The deflected breath of the monster stunk like hot shit and was probably strong enough to strip the flesh from my bones were I still mortal. The stench was choking, the steam billowing and expanding to be an imprable fog. I could barely see, but it would provide the cover I needed now as well. Releasing [Mark of the Giant], I transformed my body with [Mark of the Beast]. The transition was excruciating, like having every bone in my body extracted without anesthetic. But as my flesh grew back, I regained more of my strength. But I needed more than strength right now. I needed speed. Securing my axe in my beast-like jaws, I went on all fours and sprinted wolf-like through the thick fog. I burst from out of it a few secondster and found myself charging parallel to the column of steam itself, the beast spewing it like a fire hydrant from fifty feet away. I covered the distance in mere seconds and bounded up the creature¡¯s forearm tond on the nape of its neck. Grasping my axe, I flew into a series of quick martial forms, cutting the glowing feathers from its back like a farmer harvesting wheat with a scythe. I applied lightning to my strikes, the arcs of electricity crackling down its back and severing the feathers with even more efficiency. The beast roared in pain and defiance as I reduced its glowing mane to a buzz cut of blood-weeping quills and half-cut stems. As I¡¯d hoped, the reaper beast lost the source of its power, and the jet engine roar of its breath stopped, the remnants of it filling the air with white steam. I could barely see, but I was still atop it though. Instincts of my fight with that fire smander shed through my mind. I leapt from its tail to its neck and grabbed onto one of its quills for support as I began hacking repeatedly into where its jugr should be. ¡°Cur¡ªsed foul beast!¡± the monster roared as it swatted vainly at its neck to try and grab me. But with solid Frenzy fueling [Mark of the Beast] the world was moving in slow motion now. I alternated from side to side, easily avoiding its swats as my axe chipped through its quills like a jackhammer tearing through a crumbling wall. I found vulnerable flesh beneath, and thick, crimson blood gushed forth like a broken water main once I finally hit my target. I was thrown from its back as the reaper beast gave up on trying to hit me and instead flew into a panic as blood jetted from its neck. When I hit the ground with a roll, I saw it screeching and yelping like a wounded dog, rearing up on its hind legs while desperately trying to stem the flow of blood with one of its ws. ¡°[Twelfth Heaven! Nine-Point Strike]!¡± Silver Light emerged from the cloud of steam above me, her image blurring as she seemingly appeared in multiple locations at once. Streams of bright white light shed from each of her images, pinpointing a target straight at the reaper beast¡¯s heart. Silver needles the size of javelins shed into existence and flew along the white lines, all nine of them piercing the beast¡¯s chest with a massive THUD! The monster let out a blood-choked gurgle and copsed forward, its huge body sending up a cloud of dust and steam as it hit the ground. A sudden silence took hold as the beast ceased to move. ¡°Handler¡­¡± Silver Light said weakly from above, and I nced up just in time to see her eyes rolling into the back of her head. She fell backwards in mid-air, dropping towards the ground. Shit! I lunged forward to catch her, dropping [Mark of the Beast] just in time to cradle her fall. She weighed next to nothing as she fell into my arms, and the sudden jolt stirred her awake again. She was disorientated, her eyes swimming and unfocused. Finally, she looked up at me and raised a hand to touch my face. ¡°Did¡­ did we do it? Is it dead?¡± I nced to where the beast was now heaving blood on all fours, its breath ragged, but it was still breathing. ¡°It will be soon,¡± I said. With that she smiled, her eyes growing heavy as she stroked my jaw. ¡°You¡­ you are¡­¡± She didn¡¯t finish her sentence¡ªsleep and exhaustion oveing her as she began snoring in my arms. I rested her gently on the ground as I prepared to finish the job. The air was still filled with the Frenzy of [Bloodlust] and Ipressed it through the pinhole in my Dantian to fill myself with solid Frenzy. The monster¡¯s neck was exposed like a condemned man at a guillotine. There was only one way to end this. ¡°[Mark of the Demon],¡± I whispered. My me red brightly, kicking into overdrive as my body began to change. Bull-like horns grew from the sides of my temples, and just like Threja, my skin turned a deep shade of red. A slow,boriousugh filled the air as I approached the dying monster. ¡°So¡­you finally reveal your true self¡­ Demon of the cur¡ªsed me.¡± I kept a stoic fa?ade of [Indifference] as I red back into its twin sets of reptilian eyes. ¡°You know what I am?¡± ¡°I know that if the Bloodmoon were here to grace me with her power, I would be the one to feast upon your soul and be a god.¡± I smirked. ¡°Sorry, pal, looks like only one of us will be destined to be a god after today.¡± The beast chortled at that. ¡°Foul wretch¡­¡± I choked up on my axe and summoned my Frenzy. I needed a clean hit. Something powerful enough to kill it in one blow. This was a monster, but it was sapient, and it didn¡¯t deserve to suffer. ¡°I¡¯ll do you a mercy and grant you a swift and painless death.¡± The beast let out a hiss. ¡°Do not think that will give you quarter from my wrath, Cur-sed One. My spirit will torment you from the nine nes of hell.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I look forward to it.¡± As unnatural as the reaper beast was, it was still a part of nature. A wood aspect. Perhaps that was why Silver Light, as metal, was able to fare so well against the smaller one and was able tond that final hit to pierce this one¡¯s heart. Being wood, there was only one technique I could think of that would be suitable to execute its final demise, but [Three-Log Chop] just didn¡¯t seemed dignified enough to put down such a magnificent creature. I took a running leap towards the reaper beast, time slowing as I hung in mid-air and summoned every ounce of my building Frenzy. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± As I released the technique, my Dantian surged with the power of my Demon form and a massive thunderbolt erupted from the heavens, striking the head of my axe as I brought it down upon the creature¡¯s neck. It traveled straight through the beast with a swift downward cleave, quills, flesh, and bones parting like butter. The massive crocodilian head of the reaper beast fell to the ground with a mighty thud and the air shook with the reverberation of my thunder. [Bloodlust] for ying the creature caused my me to ignite once more and I quickly cultivated the Frenzy, packing it into solid form and expanding my Dantian. As I stood there, finally releasing [Mark of the Demon], I slowly took into ount what it was I had just done. I had just in an Awakened S-ss monster. Even with Silver Light¡¯s help, on the books it should have been something impossible for someone still within the Foundation Realm. And despite all the solid Frenzy I had temporarily stored, I was still just that. I looked down at the axe within my hand. The Qi-infused metal of the head was pocked and pitted, its shaft charred and crumbling¡ªevidence of just how much raw power I had forced through it. ¡°Hot damn,¡± I whispered. ¡°I¡¯m OP as shit now.¡± I may not have achieved ascension, but with solid Frenzy I was still strong as hell. More than that, I now had a full tank of the stuff to face U¡¯Ren Nghi. Confidence filled me as my path to victory in the ring tonight seemed clear. But there was a new problem now. I looked back at Silver Light as she slept. I had no idea how much she had seen, or how she would ultimately react to what she did see. But one thing was certain. Once she awoke. Our rtionship would never be the same. Chapter 59 I let Silver Light rest while I got to work butchering the corpse of the reaper beast in search for its core. Thankfully, Silver Light being passed out allowed for me to work without reservation of fully utilizing my manifestation techniques. It took only half an hour using my Giant form to its maximum and to my surprise, I found I could grow to nearly eight feet tall with it now. When I finally pulled the core from its guts, I could barely believe what I was seeing. The thing was the size of an orange, smooth like an egg and the color of opaque jade. It had to be worth over a thousand spirit stones, maybe even more. I couldn¡¯t sense anything from it, of course, but it had to be full of Wood-based Qi. Flower girl would probably kill her own mother for something like this, I thought with a chuckle. I looked to Silver Light who was still passed out on the ground. She looked peaceful, which actually made her already gorgeous face far more attractive to me¡ªsans the perpetual bitch-face and rich girl scowls. As pretty as she was though, she¡¯d likely be a hellcat on wheels again once she woke up, the subject of my inexplicable strength the obvious question of focus. And I needed to be prepared for it. But first I needed to get us somewhere safe. Granted, nothing would probablye within ten miles of the dead reaper beast corpse now. The death of an apex predator like that sent a warning to any other would-be predators to stay the hell away. Still, I was covered in blood and stunk like hell. I needed to find somece to clean myself up. Salvaging what unbloodied clothes I could find, I turned them inside out and used them as a barrier between my blood-smeared skin and Silver Light¡¯s pristine robes as I hoisted her onto my back. She was light as a feather, and I carried her easily while also bncing the bamboo pole across my shoulder, which wasden with her bags full of junk. I stuffed the beast core in the basket with the crockery and then got underway. Leaving the Reaper ts, I headed south, closer towards the gate and the residual protective influence the dome would provide. Sparse shrund turned into denser clumps of trees as I wandered deeper into the forest. Silver Light snored deeply on my back the entire time, her silken hair tickling the back of my neck as her head bobbed up and down. I didn¡¯t mind it though and after another half hour of travelling westward I finally found what I was looking for. From the top of a forested knoll, I spotted it, a small but pristineke with a small beach on one side. It was a ce I¡¯d found years ago, to safely skive off out in the field when things were slow. Theke had to have been man-made by how uniform it was, plus the beach¡ªpart of an old resort or something. But now nature had imed most of it back, with trees and tall grass growing right up to the unnatural white shoreline of its sandy beach. Silver Light began to stir as I made my way down the slight slope towards theke. Her arms hung loosely about my neck and shoulders, her legs straddling my hips, but being unconscious she couldn¡¯t cling to me with her own strength. I kept her in ce instead, by putting my arm behind my back and using my forearm as a seat for her butt. She began to wiggle some as we neared theke and then subtly, I sensed her movements be more rhythmical. I thought I was imagining it at first, just the jostling of her body against mine as I bounced along the path, but then I sensed a huge amount of lemonade building within her as a faint moan escaped her lips. What the hell? Was this girl humping my frigging back? ¡°Hey, are you awake?¡± The sudden tensing of her body as she wentpletely still answered my question in full. She must have stayed like that for a couple seconds before her lemonade quickly shifted to fear and then sudden anger. ¡°Huh?¡± she said, sounding like the worst actress in the world. ¡°W-what are you doing, handler?¡± ¡°What am I doing?¡± I was tempted to call her out for what the hell she was doing to my back just now, but I figured she was probably embarrassed enough already. ¡°You passed out. Or don¡¯t you remember? I¡¯m carrying you back to the gate.¡± ¡°Put me down!¡± she shouted and began thumping me on my back with her tiny fists. ¡°Unhand me! Unhand me now!¡± She had to be kidding? I endured the baby-like thumps to my back until we reached the beach where I unceremoniously dumped her right on her ass into the soft sand. ¡°There! Happy now?¡± Silver Light looked up at me like a spoiled brat, her brows fixed in a scowl, but her soul was a tempest of waning anger and building fear. ¡°I did not give you permission to touch me,¡± she snapped. ¡°Handling me in such a way waspletely inappropriate.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± I said with a smile of [Indifference]. ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll be sure to ask your unconscious self for permission. Or maybe I¡¯ll just leave you there to be eaten by demons when the Bloodmoon rises.¡± Her anger red again, genuine this time. ¡°I know what you are,¡± she said, her words like venom as her eyes focused on me with a predatory stare. ¡°I saw what you did fighting that thing.¡± It was my turn to leak fear as my heart rate increased. Please don¡¯t say it, I thought. Please don¡¯t say what I think you¡¯re going to say. Thest thing I wanted to do was kill this girl¡ªand in her weakened state I could probably do it too¡ªbut I just didn¡¯t know how much she¡¯d actually seen of my transformations. I swallowed back my fear with [Indifference] as I matched her stare with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Yeah? And what am I then?¡± She smirked at me like a child withholding a secret. ¡°You¡¯re a fraud.¡± ¡°What?¡± I wasn¡¯t expecting that word, but I¡¯d take it for now. ¡°You¡¯re no handler,¡± she said. ¡°I know what you really are¡­or who you really are at least.¡± She then grinned and lifted her chin at me like she was Jian Yi. ¡°You¡¯re the Iron Bull.¡± Holy shit¡­ A huge sense of relief filled me and I couldn¡¯t help but let out augh. ¡°What?¡± she snapped, growing irate. ¡°What¡¯s so funny? I¡¯d know that chiseled body anywhere. And the axe techniques? Don¡¯t try to deny it. I know it¡¯s you!¡± I thanked the stars for my fake ring persona. I guess she hadn¡¯t seen much after all. Or perhaps¡ªjudging by how she¡¯d just described my body¡ªshe¡¯d only seen what she wanted to see. Still, being tagged as the Iron Bull was a hell of a lot better than being branded a heretic Berserker. She¡¯d just given me an out that I was more than happy to take. ¡°Look¡­I wear a mask in the ring for a reason,¡± I said, flexing with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°So, I¡¯d appreciate it if you could keep this little secret between us. Alright?¡± Her eyes went wide with excitement, all anger quickly turning to lemonade. ¡°I knew it!¡± she said triumphantly, like we were ying some sort of game. ¡°I knew it! I knew it!¡± ¡°Do we have a deal or what?¡± Silver Light stared at me smugly, like she¡¯d just raised an axe above my head. ¡°I suppose that depends on what secrets you may be willing to keep for me.¡± I squinted at that one. ¡°What secrets?¡± She ignored my question, looking instead out over theke while smiling. ¡°You know, I would say that you¡¯re masking a whole lot more than just that handsome face of yours in the arena.¡± What was she getting at now? ¡°Are you truly Terran?¡± she asked, swiveling her head back to me. ¡°Or have youe here from offworld and are simply masquerading as one?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way you could be this powerful as a Terran. Not unless you¡¯re some kind of prodigy or something.¡± There was that word again. ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°Really?¡± she said. ¡°Wedies all have our theories about the true identity of the Iron Bull.¡± She leered at me again, licking her teeth. ¡°Luckily, I¡¯m the one to actually find out the truth about you. So tell me now and I¡¯ll keep your little secret. Where are you truly from?¡± This actually was some kind of game to her. One she yed with her rich snobbish friends, I guessed. I thought quickly on my feet. Passing myself off as an offworlder was tempting, an easy way to exin just how powerful I was, but I knew jack-shit about the empire outside of Earth, or even the city for that matter. No way I could pull off anything like that. ¡°I¡¯m from here,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m Terran. I just used a lot of cheap tricks, like Mu Lin said.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get skills and powers like that from using cheap elixirs.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I told you there was more to me than just Qi. I train hard and fight harder. That¡¯s it.¡± She studied me for a long while then, her eyes shifting as if contemting something. And then slowly her soul began to fill with lemonade. ¡°Perhaps you are indeed gifted then. One of the prodigies the princess boasted this would be filled with.¡± And with that the lemonade within her doubled. ¡°That¡¯s even more perfect.¡± Perfect for what? I thought. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know,¡± I said, trying to y it off. Thest thing I needed was her thinking I was special somehow. That¡¯d only lead to more questions. ¡°The Furious Lightning Sect has its secrets too, you know? I¡¯m sure my advancement would be seen as nothing special within a normal context.¡± She crinkled her nose like something smelled bad. ¡°That¡¯s the only thing wrong about you. You¡¯re already the member of a rival sect.¡± I looked back at her oddly. Although I supposed, if that was the only thing she found wrong about me, I was probably getting off lightly. ¡°What¡¯s it matter to you what sect I¡¯m in anyway?¡± She opened her mouth as if to say something but then quickly closed it again. The fear came back. I didn¡¯t know what was going on, but I needed to change the subject. ¡°I need to get cleaned up and wash these clothes,¡± I said, heading towards theke. ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t get any blood on you. I was being careful not to.¡± I got about halfway to the water¡¯s edge when she suddenly called out to me again. ¡°Handler! I need my chair,¡± she shouted. ¡°What?¡± ¡°My Dantian is depleted. I need my silver chair to help me focus my cultivation and meditate.¡± ¡°In a minute,¡± I said, pulling off my bloodied clothes right down to the boxers. ¡°I need to wash off. I reek of reaper beast guts, or didn¡¯t you notice?¡± I turned back to give her a wink and smile, and Silver Light had her mouth open again as she stared back at me. She blushed and filled with lemonade, before quickly diverting her gaze. ¡°I need it now!¡± she yelled, not looking at me. ¡°Get it now!¡± Iughed. ¡°I¡¯m not getting it for you right now. You¡¯re just going to have to wait.¡± ¡°What did you just say to me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re free toe and reprimand me if you like,¡± I said, wading into the water. ¡°But I warn you it¡¯s a little cold.¡± With that I dove into the cool crisp water as her anger spiked. It was cold enough to make my balls shrink but I didn¡¯t care. Washing off the grime of not just the reaper beast, but the blood of the murderous Shen Ju and his men felt like a baptism. I was finally clean of his ilk in more ways than one. As I scrubbed myself with my clothes, I looked back at Silver Light who was still writhing with anger while blushing like a beet. The sight made meugh again. Teasing her was just too much fun. But I was relieved now as well. Clearly her judgment of me had to be clouded for how easily she epted who and what I was, but I wasn¡¯tining. ¡°These are going to take a little while to dry,¡± I said as I finally left the water,ying my clothes out on a fallen log next to her. ¡°I¡¯ll make a fire and then fix you your chair. Maybe make us something to eat too. How¡¯s that, mydy?¡± She nodded, keeping her head straight as an arrow as to not look at my half-naked body. ¡°That will be eptable, handler. You may proceed.¡± I stifled a chuckle and got to work. I started by lighting a fire with my faux lightning and then set up her tea set and chair. Silver Light sat atop it in lotus position, her eyes closed in meditation, but I¡¯d catch her sneaking a peek at me every so often once while I prepared us some noodles and dried vegetables. We sat in silence eating once I served it to her, me sitting on the log next to my drying clothes while she sat daintily on her silver chair. It made sense now why it was made of silver. At first, I had assumed it was mere extravagant opulence, like her stupid tea set, but being metal aspect, I realized the chair, made of silver in particr, was more a cultivation tool than a symbol of luxury. That made me remember something else. ¡°Hey, I have a present for you,¡± I said and reached into the crockery bag for the beast core. When I dropped it into her hands her eyes widened in shock. ¡°By the twelve heavens! I¡¯ve never seen one so huge.¡± I resisted the juvenile urge to say, Yeah that¡¯s what Xi Xha said and settled for a chuckle, especially since she wouldn¡¯t understand the joke anyway. ¡°It¡¯s pretty amazing what we both did,¡± I said. ¡°Few people can say they¡¯ve killed an awakened S-ss monster.¡± ¡°Few people of our ranking, you mean,¡± she said, almost distastefully. And while I got that in her world there were people way more powerful than even her, what I picked up on was the use of the word ¡®our¡¯. She had epted me as an equal. No questions asked. Or few anyway. I was grateful for that. ¡°What will you do with it?¡± I asked. ¡°Will you use it to cultivate?¡± ¡°Me?¡± she said and looked at it quizzically again. ¡°I have no use for something like this. Even if it were the right aspect, I don¡¯t like to make use of augmentations. Even if it takes me decades longer, I value strength gained from my own skill.¡± I nodded. ¡°I can respect that. And the difference truly shows. As I said before, you hit way above your arena ranking, mydy.¡± I smiled and she blushed again. ¡°I would be forced to say the same for you, Mr. Iron Bull,¡± she said and gave me a smile in return. ¡°Honestly for what I saw you do today, you should bepeting in the Gold Bracket, not Iron.¡± ¡°Holy shit, was that an actualpliment?¡± She looked offended until I teased her with augh. ¡°I¡¯m kidding, I¡¯m kidding. Thank you though. That¡¯s very gracious of you to say.¡± She simply blushed again. I wondered if it were true though. The Gold Bracket? Considering what I¡¯d done, I was perhaps at that level in a technical sense, but the reason I had fared so well against the reaper beast was more than just the use of solid Frenzy. I¡¯d been free to make full use of my manifestation techniques as well. Something I¡¯d still be hard pressed to do in the ring. ¡°So what will you do with it then?¡± I asked, pointing to the reaper beast core. Silver Light paused to marvel at it once more. ¡°It¡¯s quite valuable. Something of this nature is what one would expect for an engagement gift even.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well, I just gave it to you. Does that mean we¡¯re engaged now?¡± Silver Light stiffened and blushed sharply until I began tough. She then filled with anger. ¡°You should not jest about such things!¡± she said, ring at me. ¡°A marriage within my family is a sacred affair. Our royal lineage is passed down through the women of the n. And as an only daughter, the responsibility of continuing the bloodline all falls upon me.¡± She then paused, her silver eyes staring at the ground. ¡°I¡¯m not free to simply love whoever I want like Xi Xha. My marriage will be one of orchestration and strategy. An alliance more than a marriage. It¡¯s not something I look forward to.¡± I felt genuinely bad for her then and a bit like an ass as well. ¡°Sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to make light of your situation. It was a stupid joke.¡± She sighed and looked at the core once more. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You do not know our customs and ways.¡± She then looked at me and a sadness entered her eyes. ¡°Not everyone can have what they want in life. Even if it¡¯s sitting right there in front of them¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say to that, but it caused my soul to stir. ¡°It would still make a wonderful gift, I suppose,¡± Silver Light said, looking back to the core again. ¡°To my mother perhaps. Or even my dreaded Great Aunt.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°You mean the Warden?¡± She nodded silently. I could still picture the woman in my mind. The infamous Lady Silver Tear. I¡¯d seen her only once before since she took me from my family over a decade ago. A school visit or something like that. Even then just seeing her had paralyzed me with fear. But now I was looking forward to when I finally got the chance to look her in the face again. ¡°She¡¯s the reason we all came here, you know?¡± Silver Light said. ¡°My family and I. She uprooted the entire n. A fresh start in a new territory, that was the promise. But in the end, it¡¯s just turned out to be more of the same.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I thought I could be free here,¡± she said. ¡°To wander a new realm, find myself. To cultivate and reach the heavens before being chained to the duties of bing a royaldy of the Silver Leaf n. But this ce is more of a prison than the Lower Courts ever were.¡± ¡°I have no idea what the Lower Courts are,¡± I said. ¡°But they don¡¯t sound like much fun.¡± She chuckled. ¡°They are not. But neither is Jurin. Not to me anyway. I¡¯m trapped day in and day out within the imperial city and the dome. Even venturing here, I had toe in secret so as to not lose face for taking part in activities far below my station.¡± She said thest part like a quote, and I could imagine someone like that bitch Warden saying that to her. I was beginning to see what life was truly like for her. I always thought it a bit clich¨¦ to consider the struggles of the rich, but I suppose even for cultivators the same held true. ¡°Well, you¡¯re free out here,¡± I said, gesturing to our surroundings. ¡°Outside the dome there is no Warden, no empire, no rules. It¡¯s just you versus the wild.¡± Silver Light nodded as she looked out over theke. ¡°Is that why you became a handler? To have this kind of freedom?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Iughed. ¡°No. It was the only work I could get as a mortal, honestly. It¡¯s something most people are too afraid to even do. But now that I¡¯m a cultivator, I appreciate it more. Out here I can truly be myself.¡± I meant every word of it too. This was my true domain. A ce where I could let it all hang loose and reach my full potential. Silver Light was quiet for a while and then finally she said, ¡°This is what I want.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°This,¡± she said, gesturing all around her. ¡°This freedom that you have. I¡¯m envious of it. I¡¯d give anything to just stay and be free out here with you.¡± Her words caused my soul to stir again. ¡°Things can¡¯t be that bad for you, can they?¡± Sheughed. ¡°Were we back in the imperial city, I would be punished severely, and you beheaded for just being seen together like this.¡± I raised a brow at that. ¡°Are you serious?¡± She nced down at me. ¡°Have you forgotten that you are wearing next to nothing?¡± Oh shit, I did kind of forget. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, checking on my clothes. ¡°You probably have a point there. These are pretty much dry now anyway, I¡¯ll just throw them on.¡± As I stood to get dressed her hand suddenly caught my wrist. ¡°Wait¡­¡± I looked down at her quizzically and her eyes filled with desperation, her soul trembling with fear. I could hear her heart thudding in her chest as her breathing increased. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know how to even say this, but¡­¡± She then turned her head away. ¡°Lie with me.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what she¡¯d just said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You heard me!¡± she said, sounding angry now. ¡°Imand you to lie with me!¡± Whoa, this woman had to be crazy. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s how you think things work down here, but I¡¯m not about to¡ª¡± ¡°Please!¡± she blurted, and I saw tears welling within her eyes as she looked up at me again. ¡°By the gods, this is humiliating enough for me already. Please don¡¯t make it worse!¡± What the hell was this? Genuine concern filled me as I sat back down next to her again. ¡°Hey, what are you talking about? Why are you crying?¡± Her bottom lip quivered as her eyes melted into a sob. ¡°I am well over thirty years old now,¡± she said. ¡°And I¡¯ve never even felt the touch of a man.¡± The admission took me by surprise. She looked only twenty or so, but she was a mature woman the same age as Xi Xha. The fact that she was sharing this with me was even more mind blowing. ¡°By the way my life is headed, it will be another thirty more before I¡¯m forced to either marry a man I hate or be a bitter old spinster like my great aunt.¡± Holy crap¡­I wasn¡¯t expecting things to get heavy like this. I didn¡¯t know what to say. I rested my hand on her back as her shoulders began to shake with another sob. ¡°I don¡¯t want to look back on this day with regret,¡± she continued. ¡°This rare opportunity¡­away from my family¡­away from everyone. My one chance to experience true happiness with a man¡­without pressure or circumstance. A man that I want. That I choose.¡± She then stopped and blushed. ¡°That is¡­assuming that you would want me, in return.¡± I saw the desperation and feare into her eyes again and I finally knew what it was that she¡¯d been afraid of this entire time. My rejection. ¡°Hey,¡± I said earnestly with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯d be lying if I said I didn¡¯t want you, Silver Light. From the first moment I saw you even.¡± She looked up at me, as if surprised. ¡°Truthfully?¡± Iughed. ¡°I don¡¯t need to tell you how beautiful you are, do I? What man wouldn¡¯t want you? But do you really want me to want you for that reason alone?¡± She blushed more at that. ¡°I¡¯m not going to do something for the wrong reasons,¡± I said. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just tell me that marriage is a serious deal in your family? I¡¯m not going to mess that up by taking that away from you.¡± ¡°No please,¡± she said. ¡°This is something I want. Something I need. Something I may never have the chance to experience again.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t want this to be something that youter regret. I refuse to do that to you. I¡¯m just not that kind of guy.¡± Silver Light shook her head at me as more lemonade stirred. ¡°You saying that doesn¡¯t make me want you any less. Quite the opposite. And trust me, I feel like I¡¯d be more taking advantage of you than you me.¡± I considered that a moment. Maybe it was true. But this didn¡¯t feel the same as it did with Xi Xha. And I didn¡¯t feel good about giving her my pity either. Silver Light blinked, staring at the ground for a moment. ¡°Perhaps I¡¯m not being forthright enough with you,¡± she said and then she heaved out a deep and uneasy breath. ¡°Do you know how many of my friends yearn to catch the eye of Xi Xha¡¯s secret little handler? That¡¯s what we call you, by the way.¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°Yeah, so I gathered.¡± ¡°But then also how much we all yearn for the mysterious Bull Man in the ring. For me to find out that you are one and the same¡­ it¡¯s like¡­ it¡¯s like a fantasye true. A one in a million chance.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t understand what this has to do with messing up your marriage.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wish to be married,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s what the Warden and my mother want.¡± She then took my hand in hers. ¡°But if things could be differently between us, between our status, our sects, our ns¡­ you¡¯d be the man I would have best me in the ring.¡± Holy shit¡­ was that a damn proposal? She then looked away. ¡°I know that was forward of me. But I say all that to say, I¡¯m not interested in you to just fulfil a need. I could have done so ten times over with the pandering fools who endlessly seek to court me. What I¡¯m saying is. You are the kind of man I would actually choose if I could. That is¡­ if you would also choose me.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. I barely knew her, but here she was baring her very soul to me. From the first time I¡¯d seen Silver Light in that skiff, I¡¯d felt the obvious attraction, but there was more here now. This was a strong woman, a powerful cultivator and a fearless warrior, but her heart was a delicate flower. A rose she hid deep within a thorny bush of arrogance, aloofness, and pride. She¡¯d pushed all of that aside to finally reveal her true self to me. A kindred soul that craved freedom just as much as I did. ¡°I know you perhaps favor Xi Xha more than me, but¡­ If you gave me the chance, I would do my best to please y¡ª¡± I shut her up by pressing my lips to hers and she yelped and gave me a p. She looked more shocked than I was, eyes wide with fright. ¡°I-I¡¯m so sorry!¡± she said. ¡°It was a react¡ª¡± I pped her right back with a yful grin and the look on her face was priceless. She was too stunned to speak, her mouth hanging open as she held a hand to her face. But then her soul spiked with lemonade as she literally pounced on top of me. Her lips found mine in a fervor and I had to catch my breath by the way her tongue darted into my mouth. ¡°Hey, easy!¡± I said pulling away from her a bit. ¡°Slow down. We have time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, handler,¡± she said, undoing her robes. ¡°I¡¯ve just wanted you so badly and even more so now.¡± Hearing a woman as gorgeous as Silver Light say that to me, was an ego boost my body couldn¡¯t ignore. To hell with it, I thought. I want this woman as badly as she wants me. And if the Warden would be the one to suffer from Silver Light not getting married to extend her n, then so be it. The irony of that made me smile. I guess there was more than one way to screw over the enemy. ¡°You know, you could make this a bit less awkward by not referring to me as ¡®handler¡¯,¡± I said. ¡°You do know my name from Xi Xha, don¡¯t you?¡± Silver Light blushed. ¡°I thought it would be too intimate of me to refer to you by your personal name.¡± I grinned. ¡°I think we¡¯re about to do something far more intimate than that, don¡¯t you?¡± She turned red as a tomato. ¡°I suppose¡­ yes, you are right¡­ Chun¡­¡± I smiled. ¡°Good,¡± I said and kissed her softly as I stroked her cheek. ¡°But you can call me Max. Max is my real name.¡± ¡°Max¡­¡± Her eyes widened in surprise but then she nodded. ¡°I suppose it is only fair for me to share my personal name with you as well.¡± I cocked a brow at her. ¡°It¡¯s not Silver Light?¡± ¡°No.¡± She shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s more of a title.¡± ¡°So what is it then?¡± ¡°My name is Fia,¡± she said as she leaned down to kiss me. ¡°Fia Dong.¡± Chapter 60 Being with Silver Light¨C¨Cor Fia rather¨C¨Cwas nothing like being with Xi Xha. On one hand, her inexperience made for awkward and embarrassing moments at times, but I eased her through the process slowly, making her feel morefortable. She responded to my every touch, and what shecked in experience she more than made up for with intensity and passion. And the feeling was entirely mutual. With Xi Xha it was mind-blowing sex, for sure. But with Fia it felt more like making love. We spent hours by thekeside exploring one another and I had to admit, being with a woman as beautiful as her was like nothing I¡¯d ever experienced before. After the first round she suddenly grew quiet and I feared that perhaps she was beginning to regret what we¡¯d done, but then she revealed it was more from fear that she hadn¡¯t pleased me. I reassured her with a kiss that that wasn¡¯t the case and sealed the deal with another two rounds of pleasure. By the time we were both spent, hours had passed, and we bothy naked together on the sandy beach, Fia cradled in my arms. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this actually happened,¡± Fia said as she ran a finger along my jawline. ¡°It¡¯s something I¡¯ve fantasized about. I¡¯ve actually had you for my very own. The gorgeous handler, Chun, who is also the mysterious Iron Bull.¡± She rested her chin on my chest as she grinned up at me with a wicked leer. ¡°I wish I could tell all my friends. It¡¯d make them so jealous.¡±Iughed. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s not get too carried away with that. I¡¯m serious about needing to wear that mask in the ring.¡± ¡°Do you fear I¡¯d give away your secrets?¡± she said with a chuckle. ¡°Trust me. What we¡¯re doing now is a far bigger secret to keep.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± I grinned at her. ¡°I guess that makes us even then. You keep my secret and I¡¯ll keep yours?¡± Fia rolled her eyes. ¡°As if I even have a choice in the matter. My family would disown me if they knew about this.¡± She then pouted at me yfully. ¡°I honestly wish I could tell everyone though. Outwardly they¡¯d scorn me with shame for lying with a Terran, but deep down I know I¡¯d be the envy of every royaldy in the Imperial City. That¡¯s how rare a find you are, Max Chun.¡± Sheughed and I couldn¡¯t help but grin at the stroke of my ego. She¡¯d made a joke of it, but something within that lustful stare of hers said it wasn¡¯t all a joke. I knew women loved topete with one another, especially when it came to men, but just how far was Fia willing to go to one-up her peers? I hoped not enough to eventually spill the beans. With my own head now free from the throes of passion, I was starting to consider some of the other ramifications of this sexy little escapade as well. Like how this might affect her rtionship with Xi Xha. Or mine even. Or our rtionship moving forward in general. After all the things Fia had said, it was hard to know if our lives would simply revert back to normal, or if she wanted this to continue somehow. ¡°So what now?¡± I asked, seeking an answer. A beat of silence passed between us. Eventually, Fia spoke first. ¡°I say we stay out here forever,¡± she said, rolling onto her back and looking up at the sky. ¡°And be free, just like this. No one to judge or control us. No one to scorn us for our forbidden love.¡± She giggled then, but I grew apprehensive by the way she¡¯d said it¡ªfull of intensity and conviction. More an oath than a starry-eyed wish. ¡°Stay forever, huh?¡± I switched the subject. ¡°I think the Bloodmoon might have something to say about that.¡± Sheughed as she turned to me. ¡°So, should we head back then? You do know I¡¯ll have to pretend to despise you once we do. I¡¯m actually not looking forward to that.¡± ¡°What? I thought you liked being mean to me,¡± I said with a grin and Fia blushed a little before pelting me with a handful of sand. ¡°I am not mean!¡± she said with mock offense. Iughed, pointing at the obvious. ¡°See?¡± Fiaughed and tossed more sand at me. When ourughs finally died down, she leaned in and kissed me softly, before snuggling herself under my arm again. ¡°We should do this again,¡± she said. ¡°Often. Venture out here alone, just the two of us. That¡¯s all I want right now.¡± At the moment that sounded wonderful, but then the reality hit. Thest thing I needed was to give Hong Feng another shot at killing her. And after I returned with her still alive, that¡¯d be absolutely what he¡¯d want to do. I chuckled. ¡°You don¡¯t think people might catch on after a while? Only so many times requesting your ¡®favorite¡¯ handler will go unnoticed. Hell, I don¡¯t think it went unnoticed this time.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Fia said, looking up at me. ¡°I want to know you as well as Xi Xha does. Better even. I want to know who you truly are, Max Chun. And being out here is the only ce we can do it.¡± My stomach sank. Spending more time with Fia sounded like a dream, but as much as I wanted it, doing so was a direction that things could absolutely not go. Plus, I had darker secrets to keep. Secrets that could get the both of us killed. I had to know where this train was headed now. Or perhaps more urately, where she thought it was headed, at least. ¡°I think we should probably talk about what this is first,¡± I said. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°About what this means now.¡± Fia stiffened and propped herself up on an elbow, her slender brows pulling together. ¡°What what means?¡± ¡°This,¡± I said. ¡°Between you and me. We¡¯re about to head back into the real world soon, yes. But what does this really mean to you? What we¡¯ve done.¡± We shared an awkward silence then, and I would have given anything to know what was going on behind those silver eyes of hers as they stared into my own. Would she see this as a mere fling? A fantasy fulfilment that she knew couldn¡¯t be made real? Or something more? Perhaps it could be something casual like what I had with Xi Xha, but even that I didn¡¯t know if it was something that could be made possible. ¡°It means I¡¯ve found my soul mate,¡± Fia said, smiling. ¡°That¡¯s what this means to me.¡± Holy shit, I thought as my stomach performed a flip. I wasn¡¯t expecting her to get deep like that. I masked my emotions with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and smiled. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious. You barely know me.¡± ¡°I know what you are not,¡± Fia said. ¡°You¡¯re not a coward or a weakling. And I don¡¯t just mean physically either. You¡¯re not a weak man that will bend to my every whim just to curry favor or make me happy. You¡¯re honest with me and not afraid to stand up to tell me the truth. That¡¯s something I do not find often with the men of my world. They are either arrogant tyrants or pushovers. You are neither. You¡¯re unique.¡± Damn, this woman really had a way of stroking a man¡¯s ego. But standing up to her was one thing¨C¨Cbeing honest with her though? ¡°There¡¯s still a lot about me that you don¡¯t know, Fia,¡± I said. I then sat up so she would know I was being serious regarding what I was about to say next. It¡¯s not what my heart truly wanted to do, but it would be the safest thing for both of us. ¡°I have a purpose to my life that might take me far from here. Far from you. A path that only I can tread.¡± ¡°Paths converge sometimes,¡± she said while intecing her fingers between mine. ¡°That¡¯s why I said I wanted to get to know you more. The real you. A fateful meeting like this does not ur by chance. We should embrace it.¡± A surge of warmth rushed through my stomach. I¡¯d be lying if I said I didn¡¯t feel my heart melting right now, the stirring of my soul yearning to experience what she¡¯d just said. But I had to be realistic about this too. Seeing Fia more would likely just get her or the both of us eventually killed. And I couldn¡¯t have that. Plus, she was Lady Silver Light, a royal member of the ruling n that I was destined to turn against someday. Whatever this was, it wasn¡¯t something that could be made real¨C¨Cno matter how appealing the thought might be. I could simply agree to pacify her with false hope. But that wouldn¡¯t be fair to either of us. I needed to end this and make my intentions clear. ¡°No,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], unlocking my hand from hers. ¡°Paths can cross. Maybe even more than once if fate allows it. But not converge. At least not mine. The path I walk is a solitary one.¡± I wore a mask of [Indifference] to keep my own emotions from slipping. ¡°What are you saying?¡± Fia looked back at me confused, the pain and hurt in her eyes palpable. ¡°What did this mean to you then?¡± I honestly didn¡¯t know how to answer. It¡¯d meant far more than I expected it to. A glimpse of a different life perhaps. But one that didn¡¯t exist in reality. Still, she¡¯d opened up to me and I didn¡¯t want to crush her either. ¡°It was something special,¡± I said truthfully. ¡°A once in a lifetime kind of thing, but¡­¡± I paused to swallow the lump in my throat, steeling myself for what I had to say next. ¡°¡­maybe that¡¯s all it can be.¡± The light dimmed within her eyes as the gravity of my words took hold. It was a horrible sight. Like watching a flower die. ¡°So, you¡¯d rather dive in and out of whorehouses with the likes of Xi Xha than be with me?¡± Anger built within her as her brows lowered into a scowl. ¡°Is that what you prefer?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t n to be with anyone,¡± I said. ¡°As I told you¡­I must walk this path alone.¡± A sh of anger crossed her eyes and Fia suddenly stood. ¡°It¡¯s time to go, handler. Collect my things.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Back to handler just like that?¡± But all levity had dropped from her tone now, reced with cold hard pain and hate. I felt it in her soul as well, the delicate flower retreating within the safety of her thorns. ¡°It¡¯s what must be done anyway, isn¡¯t it?¡± She red down at me¡ªpure anger and resentment in her eyes. ¡°When we step back through that gate, none of this ever happened, you understand? You are nothing to me. A lowly Terran handler barely worth my time.¡± Fia stormed off, grabbing her clothes from off the sand. Dammit, I thought. Probably could have handled it a lot smoother than that. But I did what needed to be done. I wanted to chase after her¡ªtell her to stop. Tell her that I¡¯d changed my mind. Tell her the truth. But that wasn¡¯t reality. Not one in which we both survived anyway. I heaved out a sigh. As much as I hated it, there was no taking back what I¡¯d said now. I nced over at Silver Light as she shrugged on her robes, turning her head from me to hide the tears falling from her eyes. A cold emptiness filled me. A stark pain of loss and regret. I¡¯d just aplished something I never intended to do. I¡¯d just broken Fia¡¯s heart. * * * The journey back to the gate was a quiet one. Which only made it more awkward between us. There was no shouting or unreasonable demands¨C¨Cjust a cold, hard silence, filled with resentment and iron-willed resolve. Silver Light walked with her head fixed dead ahead of her, not even looking at me as I walked by her side. I felt like shit. I wanted to say something to hear thatugh and see that smile of hers again, but the more time went on, the more I realized that I¡¯d just set us both on an irreversible path. It gnawed at me on the inside. I was denying the both of us intimacy for the greater good, but unfortunately, I could be the only one to fully understand why. For Fia, I¡¯d just trampled her heart for no reason. A heart she had given to me freely. I¡¯d been a damn monster in more ways than one, today. Dusk was approaching by the time the wall came within view, the rest of the cultivators and handlers perhaps already long gone. Silver Light still hadn¡¯t said a word and I couldn¡¯t think of anything worthwhile to say to her either. As I trudged on with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] a new truth of my path revealed itself to me. Hardship came in all forms. Just as rage and power was the strength of the Demon, so too was hardship and burden a vital part of my Struggler¡¯s journey. The words of the [Death Mastery] technique came to my mind and never read so true. [Death Mastery] ¨C the fear of death grows only stronger the closer one gets to immortality. Power over this fear defies not only the Heavens, but mocks it to its face. Consider it no small wonder then, dear kindled, that your path shall be blighted with misfortune, for the Heavens are not lightly mocked. Mocked indeed, I thought. I¡¯d just in an Awakened S-ss monster as a Foundation Realm cultivator and now it seemed the Heavens were making me pay the price. Just as I thought things couldn¡¯t get any worse, I was reminded of the real reason this entire thing was doomed from the start. Sumatra. The blue-skinned giant of a man was eyeing me like a hawk from the gate entrance, but I wasn¡¯t the only one he was looking at. His eyes were wide with iprehension as he stared at Silver Light, shing questioning nces at me as we both passed through the gate. As I figured, besides Sumatra the ce was empty, save for the Imperial Guard and the three enforcers with him. Sumatra put on his game face, all cheery smiles as he approached Silver Light with a bow. ¡°Such a pleasure to see you have returned, Lady Silver Light,¡± he said in a formal tone. ¡°I trust you had an enjoyable experience in the wild?¡± ¡°You lied,¡± Silver Light said abruptly, gesturing to me while still looking at him. ¡°You said this was your best handler, but I found him to be utterly useless.¡± She said the words with venom, and I couldn¡¯t tell what was an act, and what was real anymore. Although she could have outed me as the Iron Bull right off the bat if she wanted to. If there was truly hate in her heart, she would have done that for sure. But perhaps she was experiencing more pain than hate. At least for the moment. Sumatra cracked a confused smile and bowed to her obsequiously. ¡°A thousand apologies, mydy. Please tell me what this useless oaf has done so that he can be punished appropriately.¡± Silver Light finally looked at me, a cold angry re, but subtly her eyes softened, as if reconsidering what she was about to say. ¡°Just see to it that he never serves me again. Not that I would ever find reason to bring myself back to this ce.¡± She then turned from me walking away and the Imperial Guard approached next. ¡°What¡¯s in those bags,¡± he said. ¡°I sense something.¡± Shit, the core, I thought. We should have had it out for inspection already to dere it. Thest thing I needed was to create another fuss about attempting to smuggle it through. I pulled the core out of the bag and offered it to Silver Light. She balked when she saw it, as if she hadn¡¯t remembered it was even in there. ¡°Your prize,¡± I said and when our eyes met, I glimpsed a brief opportunity to connect with her. Her guard was down, her mind perhaps still thrown off by the core. ¡°It¡¯s true you have no need to return here, mydy. You¡¯ve already conquered the very best of what this world has to offer. The proof of it stands here before you.¡± Both the guard and Sumatra drew closer to marvel at the smooth green stone in my hands. ¡°Holy shit,¡± Sumatra said, all pleasantries dropping from his tone. ¡°Is that a reaper beast core?¡± But I wasn¡¯t paying attention to him. I instead looked into Fia¡¯s eyes as I tried to convey what was in my soul. ¡°You stopped its very heart with your strength and your grace. A feat not easily matched. Had circumstances made it possible, I¡¯m sure you could have even tamed the wild beast and made it your own. But with things as they are now, the most it can offer you is this¡­the very heart of its soul. To cherish as a memory. A fond one, I hope.¡± Everyone was looking at me like I was insane, wondering what the hell I¡¯d just said. I used [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to back up my words and hoped Silver Light could read the double meaning behind them. Her brows furrowed with confusion at first, but then I saw it. The faint acknowledgement of understanding. The light came back into her eyes and for a moment it looked as if she might cry. But as quickly as it came it left. She lifted her chin at me smugly. ¡°I¡¯d sooner throw it away, for your filthy hands having touched it,¡± she said, snatching it from me. ¡°But as it may be valuable still¡­ as an engagement gift perhaps¡­I believe I¡¯ll keep it.¡± She then paused to look me up and down and I sensed lemonade from her again. ¡°For that day when I finally meet a man worthy of my match.¡± Her words probably sounded as cringeworthy as my own to everyone else, but to me they were like poetry. Everyone was staring at the both of us now. But I didn¡¯t care. All that mattered was the message I¡¯d intended had somehow gotten through to her. It wasn¡¯t an apology or an exnation per se, but it was at least enough to let her know that what we shared was not something to be resented or scorned with disdain. At least, I hoped that¡¯s what had gotten through. But I¡¯d picked up what she had said as well. The door was still open¡­if I wanted it to be. ¡°An Awakened Reaper Beast, eh?¡± the guard stared at the core incredulously. ¡°I¡¯ve never even seen such a creature.¡± ¡°Of course you haven¡¯t,¡± Silver Light said haughtily. ¡°If you did, it would be thest thing you ever saw. Now tally its worth and let me know the tax.¡± She tossed the core to him. ¡°And remember whose n it is you work for.¡± The guard bowed with fear in his heart and ushered her towards the customs stand. When they got out of earshot, Sumatra quickly pulled me to the side. ¡°Hey! What the hell happened out there?¡± he said in a hushed whisper, brows lowering into a scowl. ¡°Why is she still alive?¡± I jerked my head towards the guard inspecting the reaper beast core. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? She was strong enough to kill the damn thing.¡± ¡°An Awakened Reaper Beast?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I know. Power of the ruling n, right?¡± He huffed out a long breath through his nostrils, staring at me. ¡°What happened to Shen Ju?¡± ¡°It killed them first, the poor bastards. They¡¯re the ones that lured the damn thing in from the wild. Although, I don¡¯t think they were nning for an awakened one to show up. Just bad luck, I guess.¡± His eyes were burning hot coals. ¡°Yeah¡­bad luck.¡± He didn¡¯t believe a word of it, but I shrugged again with [Indifference]. ¡°Our cover is still intact though. She never saw any of them. So that¡¯s a plus. Maybe we¡¯ll get another shot at herter.¡± ¡°Not ording to her, if you were damn well listening,¡± Sumatra said fuming. ¡°What did you do to piss her off?¡± ¡°Beats me. Poured her tea wrong, maybe?¡± Iughed and Sumatra looked like he wanted to tear my head off. ¡°This sounds like that damn rapling nest bullshit all over ag¡ª¡± ¡°Handler!¡± Silver Light called sharply, cutting him off. I used the opportunity to escape the interrogation and remembering to bow as I approached her. ¡°Yes, mydy?¡± Silver Light paused to gaze at me, a strange smile on her lips. ¡°It¡¯s not often one of your kind is graced by a royal. Thus, I offer you this.¡± She held out her hand and like magic a thin needle of silver emerged straight from her palm. ¡°Take it. Let it remind you of the greatness that once graced your lowly presence.¡± She gave me a wicked leer and once again I couldn¡¯t tell if this was a mere act or not. I decided to roll with it and gave her a smug smile of [Indifference]. ¡°Thanks. I always wanted to give knitting a shot.¡± Her eyes widened with shock, as did those of the Guard and Enforcers behind her¡ªone of them looking on the verge ofughing. But her soul responded with a twist of lemonade. I took it from her and felt something etched into its surface. With a quick nce, I read the inscription: I regret nothing. I smiled. Guess she got the message after all. With that she departed, climbing on board her skiff and signaling for her pilot to take off. She kept her head forward, not making eye contact until the veryst moment, shifting her silver eyes to meet mine. I didn¡¯t know when or even if I would ever see Fia again, but the longing in her gaze made me wish that it could be tomorrow. A cursed fate. But I had a path to follow. ¡°I¡¯m going to find out what happened out there,¡± Sumatra¡¯s voice came from behind me. ¡°And what the hell were you saying to Lady Silver Light just now? Did you cut some kind of deal with her?¡± I looked back at Sumatra, feigning indignation. ¡°I look like a fan of the Silver Leaf n assholes to you?¡± ¡°You look like something¡­I just don¡¯t know what yet.¡± I turned to face him fully,ying on [Fear the me]. ¡°Sounds to me like you¡¯re trying to make something up.¡± His eyes shifted back and forth apprehensively, sensing my power as I ented it with Qi. ¡°But what you see is what you get. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me. I¡¯ve got to be somewhere.¡± ¡°It had better be to meet with Hong Feng. You have a lot of exining to do, Chun.¡± Yeah, we¡¯ll see about that, I thought as I pushed past him. I took a few more steps before Sumatra called out to me again. ¡°You know, there¡¯s more than just you who knows the truth about what happened out there,¡± Sumatra shouted. ¡°And I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be more than willing to tell the whole story. Given the right motivation.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± I said as I kept walking, not even looking back at him. I then looked at the departing skiff, now high in the twilight sky. ¡°Well good luck with getting anything out of her, my friend. If you can catch up to her that is.¡± With that I left and went on my way. Sumatra cursed and said something else that I couldn¡¯t quite hear, but I couldn¡¯t give a shit either. Screw him and Hong Feng. From the moment I chose to save Fia, I already knew all bets were off when it came to the Fire Birds. That meant time was of the essence now. If I yed my cards right, maybe I could get it all done before I even saw Hong Feng again, because when I did, all hell was likely to break loose. But I had to move fast. The arena would be opening soon and I was in the opening round. Tonight, I would take one more step towards freeing my people. Onest match to win. And with a tank full of solid Frenzy, I had all the power in the world to do it. Chapter 61 As I raced towards the city, I thought of onest thing I needed to do. Stopping for a moment, I took out what was left of my busted axe. The thing looked like it had been through a fire, the wooden shaft king with ckened ash. Thinking of how much lightning I had pushed through it, I was probably lucky anything was left of it at all. But if I was eventually heading towards a conflict with the Fire Birds and especially Hong Feng, I needed a weapon capable of delivering my full strength. And the good ¡®ole log chopper just wasn¡¯t going to cut it anymore. There was only one thing I could think of that would do the trick. I made a quick detour and headed for the courtyard of the abandoned hotel where I had buried the orb a few miles away. Finding the tall oak tree, I dug it up and then wiped clean its surface to find the passage I needed, just to make sure. It was under Shura 321. Shura 321 On weaponry¡­ We who follow the Frenzied me are not bound by sect nor tradition when ites to our weapon of choice inbat. Be it a closed fist, a short de, or a mammoth hammer, all weapons can be used to channel one¡¯s Frenzy into the defeat of his foe. Yet take heed, kindled one, for some are more effective than others. For this reason, eschew the bow or any means of attacking from afar, for such will never satisfy the cravings of one¡¯s bloodlust. Choose instead that which brings you close to your foe and that which can withstand the full might of your fury. And think not that every de can withstand your might. In time, even the strongest of weapons will be brittle in your grasp. The metal from which you doth glean is essential, for it alone can withstand the forge of the Frenzied me. Choose then carefully your weapon of choice and when all is understood, forge your own totem of rage with it, and mold it in the image of your choice. I¡¯d well proven the part about not every de being able to withstand your might, but it was thest section I was interested in more. The metal from which you doth glean is essential, for it alone can withstand the forge of the Frenzied me. I¡¯d memorized this line of course and had read it countless times, but it remained cryptic to me until now. There was only one metal that I gleaned anything from and that was the orb itself. And looking at the final line it all made sense. Choose then carefully your weapon of choice and when all is understood, forge your own totem of rage with it, and mold it in the image of your choice. It was telling me to use the orb to forge my weapon once I¡¯d learned everything I could from it. I didn¡¯t know if I had truly learned everything I could¨C¨CI was learning something new every day the more my understanding increased, but I had memorized it all at least. I picked up the orb and gazed into it onest time. This had been the key to unlocking the power of my Frenzied me. Now it would be a vessel to deliver my rage. And there was only one person I knew who could transform it. * * * ¡°Master Edrik!¡± I called as I knocked on the door to the cottage. It was getting close to dark now and the lights were on inside. After a minute the door opened and Lysa appeared in the doorway. Her blue eyes grew wide with wonder and excitement as she looked up at me, her mouth ajar. ¡°Chun! Is that you?¡± She quickly pulled me into a hug,ughing. ¡°My goodness! It¡¯s so good to see you. It¡¯s been so long!¡± ¡°Yes, it has been a while,¡± I said, hugging her back. ¡°Sorry toe find you sote. I was hoping to talk to Master Edrik, if he¡¯s home?¡± ¡°Oh, he can wait,¡± Lysa said yfully as she stared at me, hands on her hips. ¡°Let¡¯s have a look at you first. You must have grown a foot taller since I saw youst. And a beard too!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but blush a little as she showered me with lemonade. ¡°Come,¡± Lysa said, opening the door wide. ¡°You must join us for supper.¡± ¡°I wish I could,¡± I said, ncing up at the darkening sky. ¡°But I¡¯m in a bit of a hurry. I have somece to be, unfortunately. Just needed to ask Master Edrik about a performing a crafting job for me.¡± I said the words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and it seemed to get the message through that I had no time to catch up. Lysa nodded and closed the door behind her as she stepped outside. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go then,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°Edrik¡¯s out back at the forge. I¡¯ll take you to him.¡± The acrid stench of burning metal greeted me, along with the banging of hammer falls as we approached the smithing shop behind the house. A touch of nostalgia hit me as I took it all in. This had been the ce where I first started my cultivation journey. It seemed like a lifetime ago now, even though it¡¯d just been a few months. I chuckled inwardly at how clueless I was back then, especially when I decided to take on that damn tree. But I¡¯d gained more than just progression from my time here. This was the ce where I redefined the final goal of my me. Not just revenge, but freedom from the empire by carving out our own existence as Terrans, just like Lysa and Edrik had. Edrik was pounding away at what looked like a plough atop his anvil. Lysa called to him and when he lifted his tinted crafter¡¯s goggles to see me, his face beamed with a smile. ¡°Chun, my boy!¡± he said and gave me a hearty handshake as he pulled himself away from the forge. ¡°You¡¯ve returned!¡± He then furrowed his brows as he looked up at me. ¡°By the nine hells, did you get taller?¡± ¡°I thought it was just me, but he has grown, hasn¡¯t he?¡± Lysa said, nudging her husband. Edrik squinted at me, focusing on my stomach. ¡°Aye, I would say he has. In more ways than one.¡± Heughed when he said it, but there was no denying that I had changed both physically and spiritually since I wasst here. I had to have put on twenty pounds of muscle and grown an inch or two. And although the changes had been slow and gradual for me, not seeing Erick and Lysa for so long, I suppose the changes were far more dramatic to them. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you two to speak,¡± Lysa said and gave me a hug before she departed. ¡°You must promise toe backter for that supper, yes?¡± Iughed. ¡°Yes, I promise I will. See you, Lysa.¡± Edrik watched Lysa depart quizzically. ¡°So, what¡¯s the visit about then, if not for my wife¡¯s fine cooking? Don¡¯t tell me you need another job chopping wood.¡± Edrikughed and I smiled with him before pulling out the axe. ¡°I need a recement for this,¡± I said. Edrik furrowed his brow as he took it from me. ¡°What in the nine hells happened to it?¡± ¡°Eh¡­ got caught in a fire¡­sort of.¡± He raised a skeptical eyebrow at me. ¡°I just need a new axe, is all,¡± I said. ¡°One strong enough to take a real beating.¡± I then pulled out the orb. ¡°Do you think you could forge a new one using this?¡± Edrik squinted at the orb as he took it from me and lowered his goggles to examine it. After a moment he removed them, revealing eyes wide with concern. ¡°Where did you get this, son?¡± I shrugged and tried my best not to lie. ¡°Someone from off world. They said it would make a good material for a weapon.¡± ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± he asked. I shook my head truthfully. ¡°It¡¯s called Corrupted Steel,¡± he said. ¡°Very rare. Even banned in some parts. And a tough metal to work with as well.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°They say it only forms in the hearts of cursed stars. You know what those are?¡± I shook my head again. ¡°They¡¯re simr to the Bloodmoon. Only not a moon. The worlds around those stars are ten times worse than what the Bloodmoon creates here. If you can imagine it.¡± I almost didn¡¯t want to, but my mind was already conjuring up a world where the very sun evoked demons and devils. ¡°You¡¯ve seen these ces?¡± Edrik chortled. ¡°Not me. And I pray I never will. But the empire itself was formed tobat them, or so the stories go¨C¨Cthe star clusters of the demon worlds. Hellish ces. If you ever want to see them for yourself though, you can join the Imperial Legionnaires, if you like.¡± He then let out augh. ¡°They send those crazy bastards there to quell the hordes every few years. But honestly, I think it¡¯s just to harvest the most powerful cores in the empire.¡± ¡°Sounds like what they¡¯ve done to this ce,¡± I said. ¡°Only worse.¡± ¡°By far,¡± he said nodding. For a moment I wondered what that would be like. An entire world cursed by monsters and demons ten times more potent than what was found on Earth. Would everything be an S ss? Would they even have ssifications for them? And how strong would an Imperial Legionnaire have to be to fight against them? It made me realize just how little of this world I actually knew, and how vast the empire truly was. I must have been crazy to pit myself against something so grand to summon my me, but I guess that¡¯s how long my journey might be if I was going to seed. ¡°So anyway,¡± Edrik continued. ¡°It¡¯s a little surprising for me to see that you have something like this, to say the least.¡± I could sense he knew I knew more than I was letting on, but after giving me another nce he didn¡¯t press it. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m a Core Realm artisan, though. Forging something like this won¡¯t be easy, but I can do it.¡± ¡°You can?¡± Heughed. ¡°Of course, I can. They don¡¯t call me master for nothing. Now what is it you want? A new axe head?¡± I thought for a moment. This was a huge decision. This material was rare and likely illegal as Edrik had eluded to¨C¨Canother link to demonic cultivation for sure. So whatever I made, I had to be sure it was my true weapon of choice, because I couldn¡¯t go making another one again so easily. I thought of the hatchet I used in the ring. Something simr to that would be perfect, but it would have to be bigger. Much bigger. ¡°A battle axe,¡± I said. ¡°But it needs to bepletely made of metal. No wood.¡± I then went on to describe it a little: single ded and heavy with a shaft slightly longer than my axe to give me more reach. After listening to me, Edrik nodded and went into his workshop to trace out a design for me on a piece of parchment. ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± he asked. It looked simple on paper but the size appeared right. ¡°Will it be enough material to make something that big?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll use this to make an alloy,¡± he said, bouncing the orb in his palm. ¡°A little Corrupted Steel goes a long way. And good thing too. Very hard to find.¡± Just thinking of that made me wonder how Threja had gotten the orb herself. Or if she had even been one of those Legionnaires in the past. But that didn¡¯t matter now. I had to stick with the present. ¡°Thank you, Master Edrik,¡± I said. ¡°I hope this will be enough to cover it.¡± I then reached into my robes and dropped myst spirit stone into his palm. ¡°For the other materials you might need. And your time.¡± He looked up at me, shocked. ¡°Where¡¯d you get this?¡± I smiled. ¡°Got a better job.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll say,¡± he said. ¡°But I won¡¯t take it. I have everything I need and my time for you is free.¡± He pushed the spirit stone back into my hand. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m actually looking forward to a challenge like this. You can get rusty making damn farm tools all day. But the bigger question is, can you carry something like this legally?¡± I smiled and was proud I had put in the blood and tears to be able to answer him truthfully. ¡°Sure can. I¡¯ve joined a martial sect now.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± he said, his eyes beaming withprehension. ¡°That exins a lot.¡± I wasn¡¯t going to borate on which sect, so I rushed to ask my next question. ¡°How long do you think it might take?¡± He smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten me inspired, so probably not long. I¡¯m going to start it tonight. Come by around this same time tomorrow.¡± 24 hours? Not bad, I thought. I¡¯d have to try and avoid Hong Feng until then. ¡°Thanks, Master Edrik,¡± I said, giving him a wrist-to-wrist handshake. ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± I called out to Lysa as I left the yard, who gave me a healthy wave from the kitchen window along with another shot of lemonade. As I turned towards the gate to the artisan¡¯s district, I couldn¡¯t help but feel things were falling into ce. Thinking of what Master Edrik had said about the cursed stars though, I also couldn¡¯t help but feel even my greatest aplishments were trivial in a universe so vast andrge. Still, my goal remained the same and every step on my journey needed to be taken, no matter how small. Seeing the rest of the universe could wait. Tonight, I had an Iron Bracket match to win. Chapter 62 I entered the arena to a cacophony of apuse and cheers. I¡¯d made it with just minutes to spare, running non-stop from Master Edrik¡¯s to the stadium and then diving into my tournament robes and grabbing my iron hatchet and bull mask. Overhead, the twilight sky was flooded with the multicolored shing of stadium lights, adding to the pomp and fanfare. The chant of my moniker resounded throughout the crowd, and I raised my axe in the air to spur them on. ¡°Iron Bull!¡± ¡°Iron Bull!¡± ¡°Iron Bull!¡± I absorbed the fresh lemonade from the crowd, replenishing the energy I had burned running to the arena. It wasn¡¯t nearly the quantity I needed to recreate solid Frenzy though. And there was no guarantee this fight would produce it either. What I had remaining inside of me from the reaper beast fight would have to see me through. But that meant I¡¯d have to use it sparingly as well. I wondered if this was how Qi cultivators approached every fight, knowing there was a limit to just how much Qi they could burn. I supposed I¡¯d be a bit spoiled from my me in that regard. High above me, the score board already had both our names on disy. Iron Bull vs U¡¯Ren Nghi Odds: 3:8 Time - 30:00 Iron Bull U¡¯Ren Nghi 0 0 U¡¯Ren Nghi hadn¡¯t entered yet, so the announcer was still focused on me, singing my praises. But I barely listened, focusing instead on the odds on the board. Not good, I thought. As popr as I seemed to be the [Odds were Against Me] still. And that was just fine with me. I tapped into the Frenzy of the technique, strengthening my body further. This was it. My final match to earn my B-ss citizenship. But it wasn¡¯t going to be easy. I made my way towards the center of the ring and then suddenly I sensed something flying towards me. I stopped short, dropping into a defensive stance, just as whatever it wasnded at my feet with a thud. ncing down I saw a thin sliver of silver sticking out of the arena floor. A smile came to my lips as I casually snatched it up and felt an inscription etched into its surface. Tracing where it hade from, I looked up to see a multitude of skiffs hovering just above the edge of the arena, their upants gathered for the night¡¯s entertainment. But there was only one that stood out to me. There, seated on the ornate couch within her skiff was Lady Silver Light. She carried herself with her usual air of grace as she lounged nonchntly, her silver eyes focused on me with only casual interest, but when I looked down to read the inscription, Fia revealed her true self to me once again. ¡®Win for me.¡¯ I chuckled and then, staring up at her, gave her a smile she couldn¡¯t see. I produced a bolt of frenzied lightning to show my appreciation instead, the yellow arc of electricity disintegrating the silver needle as I shot it into the night sky with a thunderous boom! The disy of power sent the crowd wild, but there was only one reaction I truly cared to see. The smile of tion that came to Fia¡¯s face was worth the Frenzy it had cost and the lemonade she produced felt ten times more potent than what wasing from the crowd. Although that part was likely in my head, seeing as how she was too far away for me to cultivate anything from her. But that didn¡¯t matter. Just her presence and faith in me alone gave an ego boost like none other. Damn, I thought as I grinned up at her. I had to watch myself here. I was really starting to like this girl. The air suddenly filled with a whimsical melody as flutes and zithers began to y. A secondter, a spotlight shone high in the air to reveal U¡¯Ren Nghi descending from the night sky. She floated down into the arena like a falling leaf, having jumped off from somewhere. White and orange robes fluttered and twirled as if underwater as she slowly spun in a mid-air dance, her twin fans dusting the arena with white petals as she manifested her Qi. ¡°And here she is to finally grace us with her presence!¡± the announcer shouted over the intro music. ¡°Our very own fairy blossom queen, the most elegant, the most beautiful¡­U¡¯Ren Nghi!¡± The fanfare crescendo-ed as shended with another explosion of flower petals. I made a big show of waving them out of my face like they smelled bad and the crowd responded with a series ofughs. ¡°Looks like someone isn¡¯t impressed by her entrance,¡± the announcer said, quicklytching onto the gag. ¡°Perhaps the Iron Bull has more refined tastes than us all!¡± That got even moreughs, and I couldn¡¯t help but use it as an opportunity to blow a kiss towards Fia. The way she blushed and turned her head with embarrassment was priceless. Yeah, I thought to myself. Really starting to like her¡­shit. ¡°I would venture your tastes are moremon than refined,¡± U¡¯Ren Nghi said, pulling me out of my daydreaming. ¡°True beauty is wasted upon a brute such as you.¡± I cycled my Frenzy andid it on thick with [Fear the me]. ¡°Bitch, this ¡®brute¡¯ has had women far more exquisite than you. You ain¡¯t nothing special.¡± Flower Girl¡¯s jaw dropped open, her eyes wide with shock. ¡°H-how dare you!¡± she shouted, her fa?ade of elegance cracking. ¡°You will pay for that insult!¡± I flexed my fake Qi with [Indifference]. ¡°I guess it¡¯s a good thing we¡¯re already in the ring then, huh?¡± The words caused even more anger to seethe, and I cultivated it quickly into Frenzy. The match was about to start and throwing her off with something like that was just what I needed for an edge. The bell sounded and I immediately charged in with a lightning-infused attack. ¡°[Lightning Cleave]!¡± I was totally making crap up, but the ferocity of my assault left her scrambling in retreat. My axe hit the arena floor with an explosion of lightning, leaving a crater where she just stood. I followed up with a series of axe techniques, infusing lightning into each one, slinging them off the edge of my hatchet. Sprak! Sprak! Sprak! U¡¯Ren Nghi waved her fans with a martial technique as the lightning bolts arced towards her. ¡°[Summer¡¯s Breeze spreads the Blossom]¡­¡± When they hit, the bolts instantly turned into petals. Shit¡­not good, I thought. But the technique left her at a standstill. I barreled into her with a frenzied charge, knocking her right off her feet. She went flying end over end with the force of my hit, but like a cat, U¡¯Ren Nghi suddenly righted herself tond on her feet. With the distance gained, she began whipping her fans again, sending arcs of petals flying towards me at tremendous speed. I managed to dodge one, but two of them caught me across my leg and side. The force behind the techniques was tremendous, cutting through even my [Iron Skin] and igniting my nervous system with white-hot pain. I clenched my teeth to power through it with [Indifference] and went for a counterattack. I sent another frenzied bolt towards her, forcing her to block with her [Summer¡¯s Breeze] technique while I charged in right after it. The n worked. By the time she had converted my lightning into petals I was right in her face. She screamed, startled, perhaps shocked to see me having moved so fast. I swung at her with a lightning-charged cleave, aiming for her midsection. U¡¯Ren Nghi finally came to her senses and parried my techniques with one of her fan des. It felt like I was hitting steel as her defensive technique sh converted my lightning strike into flower petals again. Damn it! The sight pissed me off and Iid into her with even greater fervor, lightning and flowers flying everywhere. The cat and mouse game went on for what seemed like an hour. Me using my lightning techniques to force her to defend while I charged into her, but then U¡¯Ren Nghi would back away and hit me with techniques from afar. Still, every chance I got, I hammered her at close range like there was no tomorrow, trying to break her defense. ¡°It looks like a battle between beauty and the beast indeed!¡± the announcer shouted as I flew in with mytest assault. ¡°The Iron Bull showing no respect for U¡¯Ren Nghi¡¯s grace.¡± The words must have caused U¡¯Ren Nghi to dig deeper, because suddenly her entire body burst into a cascade of white flowers when I hit her and she simply disappeared. What the hell..? I turned about swiftly to track where she had gone. She reappeared a secondter behind me with another burst of petals, floating a good thirty feet in the air. ¡°You are not worthy to stand toe-to-toe with This One,¡± she said while whipping her fans in a series of martial forms. ¡°Feel the [Wrath of a Thousand Blossoms]!¡± As she intoned the technique, she thrust both fans towards me and a stream of petals shot out from between them. There was nowhere to run, the white flowers engulfing me like a tornado. My robes were cut to shreds as each petal struck me like a piece of sharpened steel. Blood flew as they hit, the strength of her technique etching through my Frenzy-hardened skin. Pain surged as the attack didn¡¯t stop, her Qi seemingly endless. A jolt of fear shot through me then. Shit! This thing could actually kill me! Maybe I¡¯d taken her flowery Qi techniques too lightly. But no, screw that¡­ I wasn¡¯t going to die to this flower girl bitch! I fought back with the rage of my me, screaming as my pain and fear sh converted into Frenzy. I channeled it into liquid form and then cycled it with my dwindling solid Frenzy reserves. I had to use it to take her down quickly now. There wasn¡¯t much left. I imagined myself destroying every petal at once and then, crying out, yelled the first thing I could think of as a focus. ¡°[Frenzied Surge]!¡± My entire body exploded with a thousand streaks of lightning. They traveled up the stream of petals in a brilliant chain reaction, popping each one like a firework. The bolts shot through U¡¯Ren Nghi and she screamed as the lightning vaporized her defenses in a puff of smoke. She fell right out of the sky like a moth hitting a bug zapper and hit the ground hard. I wasted no time following up after her, bringing my hatchet down to strike. ¡°[Two-Log Chop]!¡± U¡¯Ren Nghi barely came to her senses as my axe fell towards her face. She cried out and raised her fans in defense. My hatchet hit them with another explosion of petals, the power of my attack disrupted by her Qi once more. I struck again and again, but she managed to maintain her defenses below me and then on a final hit her entire body burst into petals again. Damn! The slippery bitch¡­! I waited for her to reappear and saw her emerge from a burst of petals behind me and back in the air again. I checked the score. Iron Bull vs U¡¯Ren Nghi Odds: 3:8 Time - 23:42 Iron Bull U¡¯Ren Nghi 27 265 Damn it¡­ I had barelynded any real hits on her, but that flower storm of hers counted for a lot. And with good reason. I was literally dripping blood like a faucet, my skin etched with a thousand papercuts. My body was shaking with so much pain that my me could barely convert it all. Still, she wasn¡¯t looking as ¡®flower fresh¡¯ as she once was either. Where before U¡¯Ren Nghi looked as pristine as a geisha, now her hair was wild and unkempt, her makeup smeared with sweat and her body heaved deeply with ragged breaths. We¡¯re both on the ropes, I thought. I might not have been hitting her physically due to her techniques blocking me, but she was expending a lot of Qi to deflect each one. Perhaps I could only win this by wearing her down. But my reserves of solid Frenzy were dwindling as well. I didn¡¯t know how many more lightning strikes I had left in me and no way was I generating any more from a battle like this. Guess that was another curse of being a Berserker. Once you fought something like a damn Awakened Reaper Beast, nothing human looked like a real threat anymore. ¡°You are a savage fiend,¡± U¡¯Ren Nghi said, still panting. ¡°You belong on a hell-ridden battlefield, not a tournament ground.¡± ¡°Hey, thanks,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as apliment.¡± I kind of did too. ¡°As I would expect,¡± U¡¯Ren Nghi said. ¡°But This One is above such basebat.¡± She began executing forms with her fans again, twirling in the air. ¡°Perhaps you must soothe your wretched spirit with [Tranquility¡¯s Embrace].¡± As she annunciated the technique, petals began to fall like snow from the air above me. I psyched myself up to perform that [Frenzied Surge] again, ready to st the petals away like popcorn. But as the first onended on me, I felt all resolve spill free from my soul. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off of me and I could finally rest. My me quelled as I fell to my knees, somehow content. So tired¡­ The world dimmed as my eyes closed. Max¡­ Max, get up¡­! GET UP, MAX! I awoke with a start to see Silver Light standing over me. ¡°Fia?¡± ¡°We have to go, Max,¡± she said, reaching down to me. ¡°It¡¯s time to leave.¡± I looked about to find myself still in the arena, but it was empty now. Then slowly I noticed trees where the crowds used to be. Had the whole thing grown over? I was in a forest now. Lush vines wrapped themselves around the trunks of century old trees, the scent of earth and undergrowth strong in the air. I felt all at once peaceful and serene as I stared into the forest, the wind whistling soothingly through the tall treetops. ¡°Leave....?¡± I said. ¡°Come on.¡± Fia took me by the hand with a smile. I went with her, as she led me through the forest. Just the sight of her brought a joy to my heart. Her radiant smile and gorgeous silver eyes. I didn¡¯t think this could be possible, for us to be together, but we must have pulled it off somehow. ¡°How is this happening?¡± ¡°I told you I wanted to be free,¡± she said, smiling back at me. ¡°And now we¡¯re together atst.¡± ¡°What about your family?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about them,¡± she said, her silver eyes dancing with mischief. ¡°You¡¯ll be my family now. You all will.¡± ¡°All?¡± She led me to a clearing in the forest where a whole host of people were gathered. There was Edrik and Lysa. Lee, along with Ren, Rho, and Yi Fu. Yu Li was there holding Su Ling, standing next to Gui Zu. Mu Lin and Xi Xha. Even Jian Yi greeted me with her patented chin lift and smile. Mu Lin ran up to embrace me. ¡°About time you got here, Chun!¡± she said with augh. ¡°How are you all here?¡± I asked dumbfounded. This didn¡¯t make sense¡­ did it? ¡°They¡¯re all here for your dream, Max,¡± Fia said, wrapping her arms around me. ¡°We all are. We¡¯re going to free the Earth.¡± I look back into the clearing as more people emerged from the forest. People I hadn¡¯t seen in years. And then my heart nearly stopped as I finally saw my sister and parents. ¡°Mom! Dad! Jessie!¡± They smiled and waved to me, but I couldn¡¯t understand why they weren¡¯t rushing to embrace me like Mu Lin had. I tried to run to them instead, but found myself still locked within Fia¡¯s grasp. ¡°Stay here,¡± she said. ¡°Stay with me.¡± I looked back at my family. ¡°No, I have to go to them.¡± Fia shook her head and her grip about me increased. A sharp pain shot through my torso. ¡°Stay with me. We¡¯ll be together. Forever.¡± No¡­ I thought. My family... I looked back to them and suddenly the forest was in mes. ¡°No!¡± I screamed. I couldn¡¯t let them die! Not again! Again¡­? I looked back to Fia and instead saw U¡¯Ren Nghi. The woman leered into my face, crushing me as her arms twisted and turned into vines. ¡°Enjoy yourst vision of bliss, you fool¡­¡± No¡­ Wake up! I told myself, reaching within to summon my me. This isn¡¯t real! WAKE UP! The world suddenly exploded into existence, the screams of twenty thousand fans rocking me back into reality. I was still on my feet, but just barely, weaving back and forth, my mind numb. Something sharp sliced across my back and then my side as U¡¯Ren Nghi appeared next to me, spinning in a pirouette with her fans. They cut into me like a blender, drawing blood by the gallon from my unhardened skin. Pain lit my brain on fire and it took all my wherewithal to not simply cry out in agony. ¡°U¡¯Ren Nghi is taking full advantage as she has the Iron Bull in a trance!¡± the announcer cried. ¡°I guess even he could not withstand her feminine charms!¡± I couldn¡¯t believe it. She actually had me just now. Had I not been able to break free from that vision, who knew how far she would have dragged me into the grave. But this was my chance to get her as well. Myst chance even. If I let her slip away, I wouldn¡¯t have the strength to get this close to her again. It was now or never. I contained my pain with [Indifference] as I kept up the act of still being under her spell. Then, channeling my Frenzy into my reflexes, I snatched her by the neck as she twirled past me. U¡¯Ren Nghi let out a sharp cry of shock before my fist cut off her airpletely. She floundered silently like a fish in my grasp as the crowd suddenly went wild with surprise. ¡°An unexpected grab by the Iron Bull! He had us all fooled, especially U¡¯Ren Nghi!¡± The cultivator panicked and literally began shitting flowers, the petals bursting from her body as she tried to fight back with her Qi. I endured the sting and converted it all into Frenzy, using the power to heal. I tried to utilize [Mark of the Giant] to heal even quicker, but for some reason my body just wouldn¡¯t respond. Shit, had I worn myself out? I did shift between all three forms earlier today. No matter, I¡¯d have to take care of Flower Girl as is. For all her internal strength, U¡¯Ren Nghi had perhaps barely gotten past base Body Refinement when it came to her physical form. I could crush her neck easily within my grasp and she knew it. But as irritating as she was, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to simply kill her like this. ¡°Do you yield?¡± I said. U¡¯Ren Nghi still fought and kicked against me, petals spitting. Perhaps in her mind yielding would be a fate worse than death. ¡°So be it¡­¡± I sent a small sliver of solid Frenzy to my Jing and channeled it through my arm, Petals burst into mes like a string of firecrackers as the lightning ran through her body. She stiffened like a corpse before I cut the juice, and then her body fell instantly limp in my grasp. I pulled her close to me to check for breathing and then tossed her unconscious body unceremoniously to the ground. ¡°Fly too close to the me and you get burned, bitch,¡± I said, looking down at her with disdain. The crowd erupted into apuse but also gasps of shock. A strange silence descended upon the arena as the blue-robed healers ran into the ring. When one of then finally gave the signal that she was still alive, the crowd burst into cheers again. ¡°It seems the Iron Bull is not made of solid iron after all,¡± the announcer said with cheer in his voice. ¡°A heart of gold perhaps? He has seen fit to show mercy and has spared the life of our fairy blossom queen! The great U¡¯Ren Nghi lives to fight another day! Perhaps her beauty has won him over, after all. Maybe they¡¯ll even be married when they next enter the ring!¡± What the hell¡­? The massesughed and cheered at that,pping it up like it was a damn soap opera or something. It was probably a good thing I hadn¡¯t actually killed her. U¡¯Ren Nghi seemed to be a crowd favorite in more ways than one. But I had no interest in this fake-wrestling type of bullshit. U¡¯Ren Nghi and her ¡®beauty¡¯ could go to hell. The bell rang and the final score was tallied. Iron Bull vs U¡¯Ren Nghi Odds: 5:8 Time - 14:18 Iron Bull U¡¯Ren Nghi 28 342 It was a strange sort of win, but I¡¯d done it. I looked to the overall rankings and felt the joy of relief as the number 20 was ced next to my name. I was in. I was finally a B-ss citizen. And a Gold Bracket contender to boot. I raised my axe in celebration and the crowd responded with even more cheers. I looked up towards the skiffs, but strangely did not see Silver Light¡¯s craft hovering among them. Did she leave already? Or was she perhaps making her way through the crowd for a closer look at me? The fool in me hoped for thetter as I ran my eyes through the lower rows of the bleachers, searching for her. What am I doing? I thought. I¡¯ve got to stop tripping. How the hell was I supposed to spot her amidst ten thousand faces? I was about to give up, when my eyes fell on a face I recognized right away. Master Hong Feng. The bearded cultivator stared right back at me, his eyes burning hot coals. With a gesture he pointed at himself and then at me, stabbing his finger towards my feet. I understood the meaning perfectly. Stay put. I¡¯ming to see you. Right now. Chapter 63 My heart hammered in my chest as I raced to leave the locker room. The healer hade to patch me up, but I had to rush him with only doing half the job. My body felt like it¡¯d been through a blender, and I guess for all intents and purposes it had been. But I couldn¡¯t afford to dally around now. Time was of the essence. I limped towards the counter to find Bo Ren, not caring that my bandages were still leaking blood all over the floor. There were a few other cultivators ahead of me in line, waiting to be served, but I pushed past them. ¡°Official Bo Ren,¡± I said. ¡°I need your help¡­ quickly.¡± The smile dropped from his face the moment he saw me, no doubt picking up on the [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] in my tone. He apologetically ushered the other cultivators away, earning me scowls and looks of contempt, but I couldn¡¯t care. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, kid?¡± Bo Ren asked once they had departed, a look of concern on his face. ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°I want to withdraw from the Iron Bracket Tournament,¡± I said. ¡°Immediately.¡± ¡°What?¡± He leaned back from the counter, perplexed. ¡°But you¡¯re kicking ass out there. After knocking out U¡¯Ren Nghi, who knows how far you¡¯ll jump up the rankings tonight once all the fights are done.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said, eyeing the entrance to the lobby warily, expecting Hong Feng to appear at any minute. ¡°I have something more important to take care of first. Are you able to process my B-ss citizenship right away?¡± He raised a brow. ¡°I guess. What¡¯s this all about?¡± I reached into my robes and pulled out the tightly folded sect application form that I¡¯d stashed in my locker. ¡°I need you to process this for me. I just need my new B-ss citizenship ID toplete it.¡± Bo Ren took the form from me, scratching his head. ¡°I can get you your new ID number, but you know this sect application won¡¯t be processed until at least tomorrow, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine,¡± I said, checking the hallway again. ¡°I just need to get it underway. But quickly.¡± Bo Ren looked down the hallway with me, gave me a quick questioning nce, but then after giving a shrug simply nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll get on it right now.¡± The process of gaining my B-ss citizenship took all of about a minute, with Bo Ren capturing my likeness with a Qi storage device and then printed me a new ID card. He then signed it and handed it to me, freshly minted with my new B-ss Citizenship ID number. It should have been a moment of triumph. A moment to reflect on all the hardship I¡¯d gone through to finally achieve my goal, but under the circumstances I had no time to savor the taste of victory. ¡°Thanks, Bo Ren,¡± I said and began scanning over the application form next. New Sect Application Form (Non Martial) Name Sect: Terran Sect Chapter No. 00001 Location: Jurin, Terra Sect Type(s): Social Cultural Artisan Sect Size: Small (1000 member limit) Establishment Fee 50 Taels (Paid) Èβ¨ Founder: Max Chun Citizen ID Signature Leader: Max Chun Citizen ID Warden: Max Chun Citizen ID Sect Furious Lightning I began filling in my signature and new ID number in the nk spaces,pleting them just as a gravelly voice called out to me from behind. ¡°Chun!¡± I nced over my shoulder to see Hong Feng along with at least a dozen of my Fire Bird brethren. This was the moment I¡¯d been dreading. Not that I was afraid to face them, but that all I had worked to aplish might be snuffed out because I didn¡¯tplete the sect application in time. Turning over the form, I quickly wrote Yu Li¡¯s name and address on the back. ¡°Onest favor,¡± I whispered to Bo Ren. ¡°When the applicationes back, can you send it and my ID to this address?¡± ¡°Chun! Come here!¡± Hong Feng barked. ¡°I don¡¯t have all day!¡± Bo Ren nced over my shoulder at him. ¡°You in some kind of trouble, kid?¡± I steeled myself with [Struggler¡¯s Revolve] and gave him a smile. ¡°Always.¡± I turned then and stered on a fake smile to greet my illustrious sect elder. ¡°Master Hong Feng,¡± I said as I approached him with a bow. ¡°So nice of you to pay me a visit here at the arena.¡± ¡°Stop with the nonsense,¡± he said, his anger bubbling within him. ¡°We need to talk about what happened today.¡± Maybe there was still a chance to bullshit him. ¡°Today? You mean this morning?¡± I shook my head with a grimace. ¡°That was all a case of bad lu¨C¨C¡± ¡°Not here,¡± he said, cutting me off. ¡°Back at the headquarters. Come.¡± He spun on his heel and began marching off as the rest of the Fire Birds surrounded me. Well shit¡­I thought. I guess this is it. I knew deep down that this day would eventuallye. That I would be forced to face Hong Feng for all my sins. But I had hoped it wouldn¡¯t be so soon or when I was in this bad of a condition. I was already half beaten to death, running on empty with no solid Frenzy to speak of and headed into a conflict unknown. Worst of all. I didn¡¯t even have an axe. ¡°Fine,¡± I said as I began strolling out of the arena lobby with my orange-robed entourage. ¡°Let¡¯s go have a chat.¡± * * * The trip through the city was a silent one. Hong Feng stayed up at the front, well away from me while his goons clustered around me, as if fearing I might try to flee. They obviously didn¡¯t know who they were dealing with though. Running from a challenge like this was out of the question. But surviving it might be a different story. I didn¡¯t know if I was heading into certain death, but it sure as hell felt like it. The fact that Hong Feng wanted to talk back at the headquarters, though--instead of immediately dragging me out into the wild before the Bloodmoon rose--said that there might be some wiggle room to get out of this still. Not that I wanted to. Facing death was what my me lived for. But there was too much still left undone for me to die today. The new sect, Yu Li, facing Hein. Hell, maybe even seeing Fia again. And not to mention freeing the Earth itself. I focused on my goals like a mantra as I willed the diffuse Frenzy still left in my system to heal my body. I cursed myself for being distracted looking for Silver Light at the end of the match now. I should have been using that time to cultivate all the free lemonade being spilled by the crowd. Now the most I could draw upon was Hong Feng¡¯s smoldering anger and rage. Ju Gong and Du Mak gave me puzzled nces as we passed by them at the sect entrance. Whatever was happening to me, they looked as oblivious as I was. Maybe being the low-ranking doormen that they were, they were kept out of the sect¡¯s innermost proceedings. I was ushered right through the training room and down into the basement where I was stood in the middle of the square. The Fire Birds formed a perimeter around me on the square¡¯s edge with Hong Feng positioning himself opposite me just below the upper tform. ¡°Now,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°Tell me what happened in the wild. How is it that you and that Silver Leaf woman came back alive and not Shen Ju and his men?¡± I nced about the room, the kangaroo court in full session. I might as well y it for what it was worth. ¡°You can me Shen Ju for that, I guess,¡± I said and Hong Feng shot me a perplexed stare. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°He lured in an Awakened Reaper Beast,¡± I said. ¡°It killed all of them, but I guess they weakened it enough for the client to finish it off.¡± ¡°An Awakened Reaper Beast?¡± ¡°You can go and ask Sumatra if you don¡¯t believe me. He saw its core with his own eyes.¡± I could feel Hong Feng¡¯s anger growing. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve spoken to Sumatra already.¡± I had figured that, but then why was he still asking question? ¡°So you know the whole story then,¡± I said. ¡°I know what you told him¡­¡± Hong Feng paced back and forth, eyeing me from the side. ¡°But that¡¯s not the whole story, is it, Chun? I want you to tell me exactly what the hell you were doing while that woman was supposedly fighting this beast. Did you hide like a coward? Did you flee? Did you fight?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯d be lying if I didn¡¯t say I was pretty much pissing myself. You ever seen an Awakened Reaper Beast up close, Master Hong Feng? Not a pretty sight.¡± His nostrils red. ¡°You think this is a joke? Give me specifics! Tell me what you did! Did you help her kill it?¡± ¡°Of course I did,¡± I said nonchntly and his eyes widened with shock. The truthful admission had surprised him along with the Fire Birds around me, who all released a collected gasp. They clearly weren¡¯t expecting me to admit that, but had been perhaps suspecting it all this time. ¡°What else was I supposed to do?¡± I said, quickly following up on the bombshell. ¡°Shen Ju and his gang never showed up. And I wasn¡¯t just going to throw my life away trying to kill her by myself. Plus, there was the damn reaper beast to worry about. It made more sense to try and survive by helping her to kill it. Hell, I might have even gained her trust out of the deal.¡± Hong Feng lowered his brows in a re. I wasn¡¯t sure if he had bought the story or not, but there was no way he could verify it either. Unless one of the Fire Birds somehow survived. But no. I¡¯d made sure to kill them good and proper. And it was way too close to dark for any of them to venture back out to the ts to check the bodies after I had told Sumatra. At least I hoped not. I kept my [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] in ce, trying not to give off any signs of deception. Hong Feng continued to stare at me in silence, anger welling up within him. ¡°So, from your ount, Shen Ju caused his own death and that of his men? Is that what you¡¯re saying?¡± ¡°I would say fate killed him,¡± I said. ¡°I may be just a lowly handler in your eyes, but I have more experience in the wild than any of you. As I told Sumatra, it was simply bad luck. Might have been a different story had a normal reaper beast shown up instead of an Awakened one, but that¡¯s the roll of the dice when you¡¯re out there. You just never know.¡± Hong Feng scratched his thick beard as he contemted my words, the use of my actual experience no doubt helping to nt more seeds of uncertainty in his mind. ¡°Yeah, what incredible luck on both ounts. Bad for him and good for you¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°Just how it is sometimes.¡± He harrumphed. ¡°Well, I suppose that¡¯s it then. A failed operation that cost us a dozen of our best cultivators.¡± He then raised a brow. ¡°And I don¡¯t suppose you had the brains to harvest their cores before you left?¡± I stiffened slightly, wondering if this was some kind of trick question. ¡°Wasn¡¯t an opportunity to do so. The Silver Leaf woman was still close by. I barely had time to check for Shen Ju after we killed the beast. Once I saw their half-eaten bodies though, I knew what had happened to them.¡± A pause hung in the air as Hong Feng contemted it, his eyes shifting back and forth in thought. ¡°I see,¡± he said finally with a grimace. ¡°Although I don¡¯t like the oue, I suppose I have no choice but to ept what it is you¡¯ve said.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the truth.¡± I bolstered my words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Shen Ju was unfortunately the one responsible for his own death.¡± There was some truth in that, and I used every bit of it to give more credibility to my words. Another long pause ensued, Hong Feng¡¯s eyes never leaving mine as the gears slowly turned inside his head. Then finally he seemed toe to some sort of internal resolution and let out a scoff. ¡°Fine. You¡¯re free to go,¡± he said. Holy shit, did I just manage to pull this off? I gave him a polite bow. ¡°Thank you, Master Hong Feng.¡± Hong Feng nodded slowly and then turned to walk away. ¡°Oh, onest question,¡± he said,ing to a stop. ¡°What made you choose lightning?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°When you first came to me, you chose the lightning manual. Why?¡± Hong Feng¡¯s brows lowered and I felt myself being pulled into another trap. I shrugged with [Indifference]. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just thought it might look cool, I guess.¡± The sudden spike of anger that red within him, said I¡¯d just made another mistake. Shit¡­maybe I shouldn¡¯t have tried to y it off so flippantly. ¡°Look cool, huh?¡± More anger stirred. ¡°You sure there¡¯s not some other exnation?¡± What the hell was he getting at? ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re----¡ª¡± ¡°Bring her in!¡± he shouted. Her? Hong Feng nced up at the tform and I followed his line of sight to see Sumatra emerging from the stairs to the upper floor. He was dragging someone down the stairs behind him, their small frame squirming within his grasp as he clenched them by their wrists. I already feared who it was, but when I finally saw her face, my heart nearly stopped. Mu Lin¡­ She was still dressed in her handler¡¯s uniform, which was now ripped and torn. Her sses were missing, and her face was swollen with bruises, her mouth gagged. Just the sight of her built anger and rage inside of me like a pressure cooker. It took all my wherewithal to not just yell her name and flip the hell out, but Hong Feng had us both in check now and I couldn¡¯t let on how much I cared that she was here. Dammit, how could this have cropped back up after all this time? It was like history was repeating itself all over again¡ªfate taking us right back to that day out in the wild. I glowered at Sumatra. I wanted to tear his damn head off for involving her. He was the only reason why she would be here at all. But I had to be cool about it. I channeled my inner rage into liquid Frenzy, slowly replenishing my reserves. ¡°What have you done, Sumatra? What is she doing here?¡± The big gray giantughed. ¡°I told you that you weren¡¯t the only one who knew the truth of what happened out there, didn¡¯t I? And she was real cooperative just like I said she would be too. With the right motivation, of course.¡± I recalled those exact same words with rity now, the same he spoke to me when I blew him off earlier today. But dammit, I thought he¡¯d been talking about Fia not Mu Lin. Shit! ¡°Just let her go, man,¡± I shouted. ¡°She has nothing to do with any of this and you know it!¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Hong Feng said, turning about to me. ¡°Well not ording to her. Let the girl speak now!¡± Sumatra ripped off her gag off and Mu Lin instantly began to sob. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Chun!¡± she blurted. ¡°I had to tell them. They made me. I didn¡¯t know what else to do!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Sumatra yelled, backhanding her hard across the face. She reeled backwards with the hit and my me surged with Frenzy and rage. I had barely moved in reaction, but a split secondter, twelve jian des were pointed at my chest. The cultivators had moved with bursts of Dark Frenzy, faster than I could see. This wasn¡¯t good. My me was burning, but my body was still weak. My manifestation techniques weren¡¯t working either. ¡°Careful,¡± Hong Feng said with a smirk. ¡°If you value your life or hers, you¡¯ll listen to what she has to say.¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t say anything, Mu Lin!¡± Hong Fengughed. ¡°It¡¯s far toote for that. Your friend has already told us much about your meteoric rise and how you achieved it.¡± Hong Feng then looked up at Mu Lin. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right? Go on and tell us again, girl. Tell us what you saw that day.¡± ¡°Please, you promised to let me go,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone else.¡± ¡°Yes, and you know our deal,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°Tell us again and we¡¯ll spare your life.¡± Deal? Mu Lin¡¯s eyes trembled as they found mine, her face curling into an ugly mask of shame and despair. ¡°I¡­I saw them kill the old man and then take his core.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Hong Feng asked. ¡°The three Fire Birds¡­the ones who attacked me. But that¡¯s all I know. I¡­ I woke up with Chunter and somehow they were all dead.¡± ¡°And then cue the bullshit story about a rapling nest that conveniently kills everyone except you and Mu Lin, right, Chun?¡± Sumatra gave me a wicked leer. ¡°Sounds awfully familiar to today¡¯s story now, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Hong Feng raised his hand for him to be silent. ¡°And when you saw Chun suddenly gaining strength,¡± Hong Feng continued. ¡°What is it he told you he was doing?¡± ¡°He said he¡¯d gotten some cheap elixirs.¡± ¡°And does that sounds usible to you? As a schr even?¡± Hong Feng asked. ¡°Or would it make sense he actually stole and used that lightning core for himself?¡± My insides turned to ice. ¡°I¡­¡± She turned her head away from me, perhaps to hide the shame. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess he might have.¡± She then let out a sob. ¡°Probably, yes. I don¡¯t know!¡± Shit, Mu Lin, don¡¯t tell them all that! But she was bad at keeping secrets even in the best of times, much less under duress. I med myself though. I¡¯d gotten too sloppy. Too distracted by advancement and achieving my goals. I didn¡¯t stop to consider how Sumatra might use Mu Lin against me like this. I¡¯d underestimated the bastard. ¡°They say lightning never strikes the same ce twice,¡± Hong Feng said, turning back to me. ¡°But it would seem you havee out smelling like a rose after two of my operations have gonepletely to shit. That¡¯s not luck. That¡¯s trickery.¡± I put on a mask of [Indifference] and began cycling my Frenzy. It was getting close to do or die time. I¡¯d dly turn my entire being over to the Demon toy all these bastards low, but I hadn¡¯t counted on Mu Lin being here. I needed to risk my life to save hers instead. But I¡¯d have to break this stalemate first. ¡°Now you ask him the question,¡± Sumatra said, prodding Mu Lin in the shoulder. ¡°Ask him if he used that core to advance himself. Ask him!¡± ¡°Chun please¡­¡± Mu Lin sobbed, tears falling from her swollen cheeks. ¡°If you¡¯ve used the core, just tell them. Just tell the truth. They said they¡¯ll let us go if you do.¡± What the hell? It sickened me to see them using her like this. ¡°Yes,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°Tell us the truth and we¡¯ll let you both live.¡± There was zero chance of that happening, but poor Mu Lin probably believed it. I had to stall for more time. Tapping into my fake lightning core, I began drawing in solid Qi. ¡°Yes, I used the core,¡± I said. ¡°In fact¡­I¡¯m still using it.¡± Dead silence hung in the air. It wasn¡¯t the full truth, but it was close enough. A scowl crawled onto Hong Feng¡¯s lips as his face contorted with rage. ¡°You little SHIT!¡± he screamed. ¡°And here I thought you were something special! But you¡¯re nothing more than a bloody thief!¡± He flew across the room before I knew it, hammering me in the chest with a me-encased fist. I didn¡¯t have time to blink much less raise my defenses. Not that I could raise them anyway, while prepping the [Faux Lightning] technique. I endured the agony of a rib cracking but kept my focus. I flew backwards into the line of Fire Birds behind me, who walloped me with punches and kicks of their own, sending straight back into Hong Feng. ¡°You tried to y me for a fool!¡± He railed on me again. ¡°The Path of Furious Lightning? Utter bullshit!¡± He struck me closed-fisted across the jaw, making me see stars. I mmed hard into the ground and the world began to dim. No¡­ I told myself. Don¡¯t pass out. You need to stay up! A kicknded in my side, rolling me over onto my back. Hong Feng then came into view, juxtaposed against the ceiling. ¡°Trying to cheat me is the stupidest thing you¡¯ve ever done in your entire pathetic life, Chun!¡± he shouted down at me. ¡°But it will be thest thing you ever do as well. Beat the living shit out of him! Make his death painful and slow!¡± History repeated itself yet again as the Fire Birds descended upon me with a fervor. Blood erupted from my mouth. My insides were crushed blow after blow, but still I maintained my focus with iron will of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. I couldn¡¯t die. Not yet, Not until I saved her. ¡°Please stop!¡± Mu Lin screamed at the top of her lungs. ¡°He told you the truth! Now please! Just let us go!¡± ¡°It¡¯s time for you to go, alright,¡± Hong Feng said looking up at her, pure hatred in his eyes. ¡°Sumatra, send that stupid little bitch to hell!¡± ¡°What?¡± Mu Lin cried, sheer terror in her voice. ¡°No, you promised! Please no!!¡± She bucked and kicked against the giant as he leered down at her, her wrists firmly in his grasp. With his free hand Sumatra pulled a de from his side. ¡°Shame I¡¯ve got to get rid of you like this. You were always my best handler. But you know too damn much now, girl.¡± ¡°Sumatra, no! Please!!¡± My heart stopped as he brought the de towards her throat. There was no time left. I had to act now! Bellowing an anguished cry, I thrust my hand into the air and released my [Faux Lightning] technique. The brilliant blue bolt sent a p of thunder resounding throughout the room, striking Sumatra right in the chest. The giant of a man hollered with shock and pain, falling backwards. The bolt wasn¡¯t enough to kill him, but it was enough for him to release Mu Lin from his grasp. ¡°Run, Mu Lin!¡± I cried. ¡°Ru¡ª!¡± A heavy boot stomped me right in the jaw, sending blood flying. I barely caught sight of Mu Lin as she made a break for it, dashing towards the stairway leading to the upper floor. She got all of about four steps when Sumatra quickly recovered and then lunged forward with a savage kick. It connected with her stomach and sent her flying straight off the balcony with a horrific scream. My blood curdled as she tumbled end over end, falling headfirst towards the concrete floor three stories below. ¡°Mu Lin!!¡± My mind came undone, my me consuming every fiber of my being. I shot liquid Frenzy shot straight to my Jing and the world exploded in a fireball. ¡°[Burning Rage]!¡± Time slowed as thest of my Frenzy sent a shockwave of heat and me mming into the Fire Birds surrounding me. Not stopping, I willed my shattered body to move at superhuman speed, leaping through the viper¡¯s nest of cultivators to catch Mu Lin. I did so just barely, cradling her fall as I mmed shoulder-first into the side of the concrete wall, cracking it with the force of my leap. The remnants of my fireball filled the air with thick ck smoke. Half the cultivators had been thrown against the outer walls. A few even looked dead, I hoped. But Hong Feng seemed to only absorb the mes as his eyes grew wide with fury, his head swiveling about trying to track where I had gone. I had to take advantage of the turmoil. It was now or never. I had to get Mu Lin out of here! ncing upwards, I saw getting back to the upper level was impossible now. More cultivators were already running down the stairway, alerted by the lightning bolt or perhaps even the fireball. I looked for other options but could only see one. The tunnel. I dashed across the square to it with Mu Lin cradled in my arms, picking my way through the dazed cultivators. ¡°Chun¡­¡± I looked down at Mu Lin as she coughed and wheezed, blood dripping from her mouth. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that now,¡± I said as I assessed her quickly. I wasn¡¯t sure how hard Sumatra had kicked her, but she might have bruised ribs or worse. Either way, the both of us escaping down the tunnel was out of the question. She couldn¡¯t move fast enough, and I couldn¡¯t fight while carrying her. But more than that. I needed to kill all these guys to ensure they didn¡¯t follow her afterwards. ¡°Mu Lin, listen carefully,¡± I said as I lowered her inside. ¡°This tunnel leads to the wilds. Follow it out and try to stay alive. I¡¯m not sure how far it goes, but try to get out and back into the city before the Bloodmoon rises. Or just stay inside until morning if you can.¡± ¡°What? Chun, no! Come with me! They¡¯ll kill you!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no other way,¡± I told her. ¡°When you get out, find Xi Xha. Stay with her. But don¡¯t tell her about any of this! These people are powerful and I don¡¯t know how far their influence stretches. Now go!¡± I used thest of my strength to m my fist into the roof off the tunnel. Knuckles and bone snapped as I brought down a ton of concrete and steel with a single Frenzy-fueled punch. As the debris settled, I could still faintly hear Mu Lin¡¯s screams from behind the fallen stone and I shouted for her to run again. I turned about to face my former sect mates turned adversaries. The chaos was waning and the cultivators from the upper floor had now regrouped to reinforce their fallenrades. There had to be over thirty of them. I was truly facing certain death now. No way could I win this fight in my state. But it didn¡¯t matter anymore. I would fight regardless. Because they were alling with me. The thought stirred my inner me and I felt my strength returning, its color shifting brighter and bluer. Then something blurred in front of me, like heat distorting the air and suddenly I was standing face to face with Master Hong Feng. The bastard was grinning, his eyes bulging with psychopathic glee. A pain struck me in my chest like nothing I¡¯d ever experienced before. A strange sound apanied it, like gristle and bone popping and my entire body went limp. I looked down to see Hong Feng¡¯s fist buried inside my chest. Then with a yank he pulled it out, clutching something pulsing within his palm. I stared with iprehension as Hong Feng showed my own beating heart to me. Holy shit...this can¡¯t be real. ¡°Fool,¡± he said. ¡°Your stolen powers are nothingpared to that of a true demonic cultivator. I only wish I could kill you ten times over for all the shit you¡¯ve caused.¡± His words struck like a condemnation as the ground rose up to hit me in the face. The world grew still. I couldn¡¯t move. I couldn¡¯t breathe. I couldn¡¯t feel. And then the cold realization finally hit me. I had just died. Chapter 64 Master Hong Feng jumped on board the skiff along with three of his men, Sumatra already at the controls. ¡°Go, go!¡± he shouted. ¡°We need to dump these bodies before the damn moon rises!¡± The grey giant thrusted the craft forward with a touch of the rudder. The cultivators maintained their footing with martial stances as the skiff elerated powerfully down the secondary tunnel, parallel to the one that was now blocked. The patchwork walls of the tunnel¡¯s interior raced by at incredible speed, forming a mosaic of pipes, bricks, and cracked stone. Hong Feng finally looked down into the belly of the craft with a scowl, viewing the corpse of the man who had yed him for a fool; the man who had cheated him twice over in the wild, a man who had killed both Yin Chu and Shen Ju as well as over a dozen of his disciples. Or at least, that was what I imagined he was thinking when he stared down at me. I was still dead. Yet somehow not. My eyes were zed open, but I could still see through them, the same for my hearing. I was a prisoner inside my own body, a soul trapped within a corpse. The loss of all my faculties while remaining conscious was horrifying.ustrophobic. Events yed out around me that I had no control over, and I became a spectator to my own demise. I watched helplessly as they tossed the bodies of the Fire Birds I¡¯d killed into the skiff and then threw my body next to them. I could feel nothing, only see and hear. What the hell was this? I could still think though. And I could still sense¡­ something. I willed myself to peer deeper inside my soul. A flicker of me was still there. Weak, feeble¡­but it was generating just enough Frenzy to keep me from [Death¡¯s Door]. Holy shit, that was it¡­ I summoned the verse in my mind¡¯s eye. [Death¡¯s Door] ¨C (internal) should you suffer a fatal wound, use concentrated Frenzy to rece any bodily function that is lost. I realized that this was what was happening to me now. Except I¡¯d never experienced it on this scale before. I was clinically dead. I had no heart. Yet somehow my Frenzy¡ªor what little I had left of it¡ªwas still keeping my brain alive. But for how long I didn¡¯t know. I couldn¡¯t use my Frenzy for anything else. I couldn¡¯t move. Couldn¡¯t heal. Perhaps my true death was inevitable still. Hong Feng kept ring down at me, his thoughts unreadable except what was written on his face. Even in death the man still hated me and for all I¡¯d done to screw him over, I probably couldn¡¯t me him. After a couple minutes of traveling through the tunnel we broke out into the open air. I couldn¡¯t tell where we were. All I could see was a cloudless night sky above me. It was a beautiful sight. But danger would being with it soon. And Hong Feng knew that. The skiff stopped and the three cultivators that Hong Feng had brought with him jumped out. ¡°Get to the exit of the other tunnel and work your way back,¡± Hong Fengmanded. ¡°Find that girl and kill her!¡± ¡°Yes, master!¡± they replied in unison with short bows. ¡°Make damn sure you get her!¡± Sumatra echoed him. ¡°I don¡¯t need any of this shiting back to me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot,¡± Hong Feng chastised him. ¡°She¡¯s a damn mortal and my men are already unblocking the other side. We¡¯ll trap her in between. She¡¯s as good as dead. We need to worry about ourselves now. So hurry up!¡± Sumatra got back on the controls and the skiff sped away. The bastards¡­ If I could summon the will of my me, my hatred would be boiling over, but somehow all I could feel right now was grief. It was as if the Demon¡¯s heart had been ripped out along with my own and only the Struggler was left to console me. Dammit, Mu Lin, I¡¯m sorry¡­ I tried to think of if I could have done anything differently. Maybe I should have tried to get her up those stairs, instead of sealing her off inside that death trap of a tunnel. My mind reeled with the thoughts of what would eventually be of her when the Fire Birds finally found her inside. Shit¡­ I wept with tears my body could no longer produce. I had failed her. Grim reality set in as I finally epted the truth. Mu Lin was already dead. * * * Mu Lin¡¯s breath came out in short shallow gasps as she struggled through the darkness. Her mind was reeling. Her body wracked with pain. Each step felt like herst. She forcibly blocked her thoughts from reliving the nightmare she was still going through. Sumatra, the Fire Birds¡­Chun. She was beside herself with the horror from it all. The guilt. The pain. ¡°Chun why?¡± she whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks. ¡°Why did this happen to us?¡± She still couldn¡¯t understand it all, but he¡¯d just sacrificed himself for her. All because she couldn¡¯t keep her big mouth shut. A sob escaped her lips as she briefly gave into her grief and despair. Chun...I¡¯m so sorry. Pain struck her again, both within and without. So much pain. No, she thought, steeling herself. Not now. If Chun had sacrificed himself for her, then the least she could do was try to survive. Mu Lin once again blocked out the trauma, her mindpartmentalizing itself. She pressed on, step by step through the darkness, then sensed something ahead. Strong auras. Three or four of them. Mid-Level Foundation practitioners at least. The Fire Birds were trapping her inside the tunnel from both sides! Her heart raced. They were stronger than her. Faster than her. And as savage as any creature she¡¯d faced out in the wild. Panic flooded her mind as she felt along the tunnel, seeking somece to hide. Nothing! She kept pawing at the tunnel surface, looking for an opening as the Qi auras grew closer, the sounds of hurried footfallsing with them. Fear gripped her heart in a vice. She¡¯d be as good as dead when they found her. Mu Lin inhaled sharply as the light of mes emerged at the far end of the tunnel, shadows jumping like demons in the darkness. There was nowhere left to run now. Mu Lin froze in terror as the cultivators closed in. She prayed to the heavens, holding her breath as to not make a sound. But inside¡­she screamed. * * * The skiff slowed and eventually came to a stop. We didn¡¯tnd though. The skiff instead kept hovering at some unknown height in the air. Sumatra left the rudder and grabbed one of the charred and blistered bodies next to me and dumped it over the side. The snapping of tree branches preceded a loud thud a few secondster. From the timing of the sounds, I figured we had to be high above a forest canopy, perhaps a good hundred feet or more in the air. ¡°Hurry it up,¡± Hong Feng said, grabbing a body of his own to toss over. ¡°The Bloodmoon will rise soon.¡± More snapping tree branches and thuds followed as they dumped the other bodies. Hong Feng finally got to me and then paused before spitting in my face. ¡°Burn in the depths of hell, you worthless piece of shit!¡± He hauled me up to toss me over the side when Sumatra suddenly stopped him. ¡°Wait,¡± he said. ¡°We might as well take back what the bastard stole.¡± He drew his knife and ripped open the bottom of my shirt, exposing the location of my Dantian. ¡°At least we can salvage something from him, yeah?¡± ¡°Just make it quick,¡± Hong Feng said, looking warily at the night sky. ¡°I can¡¯te under the effect of the Bloodmoon.¡± ¡°I know, I know,¡± Sumatra said, positioning himself over me. I couldn¡¯t feel what he was doing exactly, but I could see his bulky shoulders moving back and forth as he sliced into my stomach. Reaching inside, Sumatra pulled out the lightning core and then suddenly my me roared to life inside of me. It was as if a cork had been unstuck. A valve opened. As my me burned bright and blue, fresh liquid Frenzy flowed from it to my Dantian and began feeding the rest of my oxygen-starved body through [Death¡¯s Door]. Pinprick tingles of sensation came to my extremities, steadily building. What was going on? But then I remembered. The dampening effect of the core! The full effect of my Dantian had been dampened by the lightning core once I ced the full thing inside of me. But now that it was removed, the full strength of my me had returned. But now probably wasn¡¯t the best time for it. Pain was returning as well. I channeled some of my precious Frenzy towards [Indifference] to maintain my corpse-likeposure despite the growing pain. But for all the strength that was returning, I still had no heart, and perhaps no more blood to pump either. How long could I keep this up? ¡°Will you look at this thing?¡± Sumatra said, brows furrowed as he rolled the bloodied chunk of lightning core between his fingers. ¡°It¡¯s all pitted, like something¡¯s been gnawing at it. And it looks like part of it¡¯s been sliced clean off too.¡± ¡°Let me see that,¡± Hong Feng said, grabbing it from him. He stared examining it closely. ¡°What in the hells? This core looks like it¡¯s been [Absorbed].¡± He then looked down at me, the cogwheels turning behind his scowl again. ¡°I think this bastard has indeed been lying to us. But not about what we think.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Cut into him again!¡± Hong Feng shouted. ¡°Look for a second core! Only demonic cultivation can achieve this!¡± Oh shit¡­! My Dantian was now the only thing still keeping me alive. If they cut that out¡­ Sumatra grabbed his knife again, but I refused to let it happen. Summoning the full strength of my me, I fed concentrated Frenzy to my limbs and lungs. White-hot pain surged throughout my entire body as I sat upright and sucked in a huge gulp of air. ¡°Huuuuuurrrkkk!¡± The sound I made was frightening, like something out of a horror film. Hong Feng and Sumatra both screamed at the top of their lungs, their eyes wide with terror. They threw themselves against the far side of the skiff to get away from me, oozing with fear. My movements were so sudden and violent that they kept screaming as I flopped like a fish until finally I managed to throw myself over the side of the craft. Tree branches and shrubbery broke my fall as I tumbled end over end and then finally, Inded t on my back with a resounding thud! Air jetted from my lungs with another nasty sound, but it didn¡¯t matter. My body was running mostly on Frenzy now anyway. But I could do little more than be still now¨C¨Cmy reserves running low again from the sudden movement. Above me the screams of panic continued, until Hong Feng finally seemed toe to his senses. ¡°Shut up!¡± he bellowed at Sumatra who was still wailing. ¡°Stop screaming, man! Calm yourself!¡± ¡°Did you not see that?¡± Sumatra yelled back at him. ¡°Nine saints in hell! That bastard just came back to life with no damn heart!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°That¡¯d be nothing if he is what I think he is.¡± ¡°Then what the hells is he then? A damn demon?¡± Hong Feng didn¡¯t respond right away. ¡°I wonder¡­.¡± Shit, these guys were giving me more credit than I deserved. But I¡¯d take it. And the Demon would return for them indeed. Just the thought stoked my me, but there was little extra Frenzy to do anything besides keep my body alive. I still couldn¡¯t move. Couldn¡¯t heal. Even the fear I¡¯d generated was hard to cultivate now. Hong Feng¡¯s initial shock had worn offpletely, reced now with the faintest hint of lemonade. Sumatra thankfully was still pissing himself though. ¡°I don¡¯t hear anything,¡± the big grey giant said from above. ¡°Do you think that fall killed him? Can he even be killed?¡± Hong Feng harrumphed. ¡°Anything can be killed out here in the wild, but that¡¯s not the point. The fool wasted a perfectly good opportunity. He could have made a powerful ally for our cause. But he has chosen death it seems.¡± ¡°You sure he¡¯ll be killed?¡± ¡°Do you wish to stay here to find out?¡± ¡°To hell with that shit,¡± Sumatra said, and I heard him stomping back towards the controls. ¡°Let¡¯s get the hell out of here.¡± ¡°I am curious about something though,¡± Hong Feng said. ¡°What?¡± Sumatra asked. ¡°I know what this moon would do to me¡­but I wonder what it would do to someone like him.¡± * * * Hong Feng¡¯s words haunted me long after I heard the skiff depart. Tense minutes passed as the cries of wild beasts and monsters began to fill the night. I was transported right back to being eight years old again, as if hearing them for the first time. The trauma that had caused was still at the spiritual root of my Dao and I felt every bit of it as the darkened forest began to fill with the eerie red glow of moonlight. Overhead I finally saw it, the Bloodmoon in all its unmitigated glory. Instantly, a huge pressure fell on top of me, crushing me further into the ground. Or that¡¯s what it felt like anyway. The pungent aroma of something odd yet familiar filled the air. Dark Frenzy... But this was nothing like what Hong Feng and his ilk produced before. It was raw and concentrated. Filled with chaos. I cried out as it fought against the burning of my me, trying to force itself into my already weakened Dantian. Hong Feng¡¯s words returned to me. He no doubt feared the moon for what it might do the demon core growing inside of him. But what would indeed happen if I let this dark energy inside my me? Growls and horrid shrieks of beasts I couldn¡¯t recognize grew closer, twigs and branches snapping under heavy footfalls as they closed in. Not more than a dozen feet from me, the grisly sounds of fangs ripping apart flesh chilled my skin as whatever it was began feasting on one of the bodies. I would soon be next, I realized. Yet strangely, the thought didn¡¯t bother me. My death was now certain. But I had no fear. Holy shit¡­ I thought. I¡¯d done it. I¡¯d reached the next level of the [Death Mastery] technique. I no longer feared certain death. Something opened up inside of me and my me red into the most brilliant of blue hues. I expected to feel my strength return, to suddenly be able to rejuvenate myself and rebuild my body anew of a true Core Realm cultivator. But strangely I felt nothing. This couldn¡¯t be right, I thought. But then slowly the truth revealed itself to me. I huffed out a scoff. ¡°Just my damn luck,¡± I managed to wheeze between my blood-encrusted lips. My breakthrough had urred, but Icked the Frenzy within toplete my ascension to the next realm. What little Frenzy I had was still being deployed to maintain my broken body. And my me wasn¡¯t generating any more either. My me seemed at a standstill¨C¨Clocked inbat with the Dark Frenzy trying to invade my soul. I red up at the oppressive red sphere in the night sky. It was as much a symbol of control and oppression as anything else. A curse ced here by the empire as an excuse to conquer us. My ire stirred but it was barely enough to push back the dark energy, much less lead me to ascend. I needed more power. The Dark Frenzy of the Bloodmoon surrounded me like an ocean of chaos, a wealth of energy a hundred times greater than any my me had generated before. What if I used it? I thought. But no¡­ The Bloodmoon turned normal spirit beasts into demons, but as Hong Feng had correctly mused, what the hell would it do to a man who already had a demon living inside of him, like me? The words of my mentor came to mind. ¡°Ensure the Struggler wrestles always with the Demon,¡± I whispered what Threja had said to me. ¡°Without struggle there can be no true growth, only descension into madness.¡± Would I lose myself if I did this? Or had the Struggler suffered enough for me to retain some semnce of control? I¡¯d already lost my family. My entire. And now even Mu Lin. Just the thought of it spiked my anger and the need for revenge. But would it be enough? And then a new thought urred. ¡°What the hell am I thinking?¡± I said with augh. If I no longer feared death, then why the hell should I fear this moon? Without care I reversed the flow of my me, drawing the Dark Frenzy into me instead of pushing it back. The screams of a million demons filled my soul and I cried out in unison with them. The world turned a deeper shade of red as my consciousness shattered to pieces. The Dark Frenzy hit my me like crude oil being thrown into a jet engine, its color instantly shifting from brilliant blue to a deep red while belching thick volumes of ck smoke. But the power it gave was tremendous. It coursed through my meridians with such force, that it threatened to shatter them and when it finally hit my Dantian it immediately crystalized and formed a solid core. I¡¯d done it! I had created a solid core! I had ascended to the next Realm! But the Demon within me didn¡¯t care. It raged. It craved vengeance. It wanted blood! Solid Dark Frenzy shot though my veins, filling them with new blood. It went to work, mending my broken flesh. Bone and sinew cracked as new veins and capiries grew, new muscles and then finally, I felt the first beat of a brand-new heart within me. I gasped with new life, blood finally circting though my body once again. I leapt from the ground with a howl, my bones and fingers lengthening. Blood and fangs ripped against my lips. Horns grew from my head as my skin turned as red as the sky. I stood as a giant amongst the trees, towering higher than I ever had before. My mind shrunk inversely and my view to the world became little more than a pinhole. Savage snarls filled the air, but I couldn¡¯t tell if they were from me or from the dark, fearsome creatures I tore into with my teeth and ws. I could barely make out what they were. Mutated forms of bears, demons with spider like bodies but a human face for a head. Winged creatures the size of men that resembled bats. I tore through them all as theyshed at my skin with ws, whips, and chains. The pain was delicious. I reveled in it, cackling as I ripped some red-skinned demoness with bat wings in two. The more sentient of the demons pointed at me as I absorbed their fear. ~Fiend of the Cursed me!~ The words more formed meaning in my mind than was spoken, all semnce of true intellect gone from me now. Blood and bone. Rip and tear. No sense of time remained. The pinprick view of the world grew yet smaller. I willed for the Struggler to keep it open. Don¡¯t lose control, I told myself. Don¡¯t let me have made this entire journey in vain. I thought of my family. Of Mu Lin¡­ But no. I needed to struggle for the future as well. Yu Li and Su Ling. The people of my square. Fia¡­ I gained a new sense of control as the Struggler returned and I could finally see my me again. It was an ugly smoldering mess. The Dark Frenzy covered it like tar, the me nearly extinguished by all the impurities that had run through it. Then faintly I sensed something new. Something pure. Pure Frenzy¡­ In my murderous haze I sought it out, running towards wherever and whatever it was. I fought through hordes of monsters and demons, now hundreds strong. My body was ripped and torn apart as they dug into my flesh, but my bloodlust wouldn¡¯t allow me to fall. I¡¯d be dead as soon as my me burned out though. The hatred surrounding me was immense, the demons crying for my demise. ~Foul Frenzied me¡­~ ~Cursed Fiend of the me¡­~ I pushed in the direction of pure Frenzy to get away from them and the closer I got to it, the more it burned the tar from my soul. Stronger and stronger it got until suddenly, like breaking through a wall, I was free from all the demons. My face hit the ground as I copsed. My soul breathed deeply, the air now free of the Dark Frenzy and the influence of the Bloodmoon. My body then suddenly sumbed to its wounds as the Struggler finally took back control. ¡°Gods be damned,¡± I cursed. Every piece of me hurt like hell. Weakly, I turned about to see the army of demons had stopped dead in their tracks not more than a couple dozen feet from me. Red skinned, humanoid with fangs, ws and horns, eyes the color of midnight. They railed and hissed at me, cursing me in a gutturalnguage that I could no longerprehend. They didn¡¯t seem able to move beyond where they were though. It was as if I had reached the barrier. Had I? Did I make it all the way back to the city? I turned from the army of demons and crawled on my belly towards the source of the Frenzy. Agony came with each pull across the ground, but the closer I got, the more it burned away the tar consuming my me. But there was far more tar than me now. Slowly, the me flickered as my eyes grew heavy and then finally it went out. * * * I woke to the brilliant light of morning, sucking in a lungful of air. A scream rang out and I jerked upright, startled. I regretted it immediately, my body rebelling against the sudden movement with a fistful of pain. I winced and fell t on my back again, not even able to muster the power of [Indifference] to keep my reaction in check. I was still outside in the wilderness, an open space surrounded by spruce trees. My head was foggy, nightmare images of the Bloodmoon¡¯s influence still running through my mind. I wished it had indeed just been a nightmare, but the deep cuts andcerations in my body said otherwise. More memories resurfaced. Hong Feng ripping out my heart. Dying and then losing Mu Lin. ¡°A-are you okay?¡± a voice said. ¡°How did you get here?¡± I stirred at the unknown voice and then nced to my side to find it. Two women were standing there. Or a woman and a girl, perhaps. They were covered head to foot in what looked like deep green robes. I could barely make out their faces, but they appeared to be Terran. The girl looked close to Mu Lin¡¯s age, with blond hair peeking beneath the hooded robe covering her head. The other woman resembled her, an older sister perhaps. I nced down at my body. I couldn¡¯t move. Closing my eyes, I checked on my me. There was nothing there save a heaping pile of ck tar. Shit... I looked to the two women, who were still staring at me like I shouldn¡¯t exist. And for all I¡¯d been through, I probably shouldn¡¯t. ¡°Where am I?¡± I asked. I must have broken through the wall at some point and ended up in the farnds. ¡°Which gate is this?¡± The two of them suddenly screamed and backed away from me. ¡°You stay away from us!¡± the older woman yelled and picked up a mean-looking stick from off the ground. ¡°Stay away or I¡¯ll bash your head in!¡± ¡°Damn, take it easy,dy,¡± I said with a re. ¡°I couldn¡¯t if I wanted to. Do you see the state I¡¯m in?¡± The older woman pushed the younger one behind her. ¡°Stay back, Kelsey.¡± ¡°K¡¯el Xi?¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s a weird name.¡± ¡°Mom!¡± the younger one cried. ¡°Mom, he just said my name!¡± What the hell¡­? Something wasn¡¯t right here. In fact, something was off about the both of them. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± I said, struggling to sit back up and holding my palm towards them in surrender. ¡°I just want to talk¨C¨C¡± ¡°Mom!¡± the girl cried. ¡°Mom, he¡¯s doing something!¡± ¡°I said stay back!¡± the older woman screamed and then charged at me. She swung with her makeshift club, and I was too spent to even move as she pped me right across the temple. I saw stars as my head fell back to the ground and the lights began to dim again. Damn it all to hell¡­ But then suddenly I figured it out¡ªwhat wasn¡¯t quite right about them. Holy shit, I thought, as I drifted back off into unconsciousness. They were both speaking English. Chapter 65 I awoke to the sound of voices. And darkness. It took me a few seconds more to realized I was seated in a hard-backed chair and tied to it. A bag was over my head, coarse like bup and smelling of mold. With only the slightest of movements I tested my restraints. A wince of pain was my only reward. Dammit¡­ I was so wounded it felt like I was mortal again. I couldn¡¯t see through the bag, which meant it had to be ck or something for how dark it was. I focused instead on my other senses and listened to the voices. They were raised and going back and forth and couldn¡¯t be more than a dozen feet away. Which meant they were probably looking right at me. I kept still and pretended to be unconscious as I listened, interpreting words I hadn¡¯t heard for over a decade.¡°¡­we can¡¯t keep him like this forever!¡± A woman¡¯s voice. Familiar. ¡°Why not?¡± a man responded, his tone aggressive. ¡°Besides, this is your damn fault. You never should have brought him back here, Susan! He¡¯s probably an insurgent!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know what he is,¡± the woman Susan said. ¡°A damn spy is what he is! You said he was speaking theirnguage, wasn¡¯t he? Right, Kelsey?¡± A pause came before the girl, Kelsey, answered. ¡°Yes, Sergeant Richards. He was speaking theirnguage. At least I think so. It sounded just like the recordings.¡± Recordings? What did that mean? The man let out a curse. ¡°Well, ain¡¯t this a barrel ofughs. I can¡¯t believe this shit.¡± ¡°Richards, he¡¯s the first person we¡¯ve seen outside of our colony in over ten years. This is important. It means something.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. That something¡¯s changed maybe?¡± Another pause. ¡°I don¡¯t buy it,¡± Richards said. ¡°You already hit him on the damn head, you should have just finished the job.¡± ¡°I going to take that as a joke,¡± Susan said with a huff. ¡°You do remember I¡¯m a doctor, right? I don¡¯t care how bad things get. I swore an oath. Plus, I was only defending my daughter.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s your doctor¡¯s oath tell you about that, huh?¡± Richards said and I could imagine him lifting his chin towards me. ¡°You ever seen anyone built like that before? And look at those wounds. How thick that skin is. This guy would be dead already¡­if he was human.¡± Another ufortable pause. I even wondered if I was still human after all this. ¡°Perhaps they experimented on him,¡± a new voice said, another woman, older still. ¡°Before the fall there were reports of the invaders taking children. I didn¡¯t know how true that was until now.¡± ¡°You think he was taken as a child?¡± Susan said. ¡°All the more reason to get rid of him,¡± Richards said. ¡°He¡¯s obviously been brainwashed.¡± He wasn¡¯t too far from the truth with that one, I thought. ¡°What do you think we should do, June?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Hey, she isn¡¯t in charge!¡± Richards shouted. ¡°This is still a damn military facility, and I am the highest-ranking officer here.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a damn officer, Richards,¡± the woman, June, chided him. ¡°And the only reason you¡¯re in charge at all is because Jim isn¡¯t back yet. So hush it.¡± I expected some kind ofeback from the sergeant, but he held his tongue. It was a lot to take in at once, but I¡¯d gathered much by just being quiet. I was in some kind of military instation, it seemed. And these people had survived the fall. I almost couldn¡¯t believe it. Real people. Old Earthers who still remembered the world before it was steamrolled back into ancient China. People who still knew our culture. People like me. ¡°I think we should care for him in the first instance,¡± Susan said. ¡°At least until he is well. We can figure out what to do with him after that.¡± ¡°What? So he can kill us all?¡± Richards said. ¡°You remember what those damn space japs did to us, Susan?¡± Space-japs? I nearlyughed. That was a new one. Just in wrong on so many levels. But funny. ¡°He looks like one of us, not them,¡± June said. ¡°No matter whatnguage he speaks, he¡¯s still one of our own. Maybe he escaped from them somehow.¡± ¡°From where?¡± Richards said. ¡°Did he fall out of the damn sky? We should just kill him now and be done with it!¡± ¡°Richards!¡± Susan said. He sighed. ¡°You two aren¡¯t military. You don¡¯t understand. We¡¯re at war here. You don¡¯t know how the enemy thinks. He could be a nt. We¡¯ve survived this long because we¡¯ve stayed out of sight of those damn pagodas. And now we¡¯re just going to wee one of them into our stronghold? He could be sending them messages of our location now for all we know.¡± ¡°How Richards? You see some kind ofmunication device on him?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know! With their damn kung fu magic! Telepathy or some shit!¡± This guy was all over the ce. Not quite wrong, but again¡­funny. Inwardly I sighed, though. This should have been a momentous asion for me. To have found survivors from before the invasion. I never even thought it possible after so many years, yet here they were. Living miracles in the flesh and they didn¡¯t even realize it. They had knowledge that would be key to restoring the Earth. To fulfilling my dream. But I¡¯d also lost a key part to that dream now as well. My means of taking the Earth back. Inwardly I looked to my gunk-ridden me. Maybe trying to cultivate that Demonic Frenzy or whatever the hell it was, wasn¡¯t such a good idea. Although it had caused me to ascend and had pulled me back from the brink of death, it had cost me my me itself. Images of that nightmare shed through my mind. Trauma I didn¡¯t yearn to relive, yet something was important there. And then I recalled it. Frenzy. I had sensed it amidst that cesspool of darkness. It was cleansing me. I needed to find it again. But whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t here. I sensed nothing. But whether that was because it truly wasn¡¯t here or that I had no me to sense it, I didn¡¯t know. In either case, being tied up to the chair and thought of as a Yee spy wasn¡¯t going to help me. And on top of all this, I still had people counting on me at home. I couldn¡¯t let them down, Not like I did Mu Lin. Just the thought of her caused my heart to ache. Innocent. So much potential. She didn¡¯t deserve to have her whole life robbed from her like that. The thirst for vengeance and retribution then caused my heart to burn. I tensed, testing my bonds again. Were I my old self again, I would have broken them easily to set the tone for the conversation I was about to have. But while Icked the strength in body, I still had plenty in spirit. me or no me. ¡°Enough talk,¡± I said stiltedly, the English wordsing back to me slowly. ¡°Time me speak.¡± Damn, I sound like a frigging moron. Who¡¯d have thought I could forget my own damnnguage? The voices abruptly stopped and silence filled the room. ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°I speak English. I one like you.¡± ¡°Holy shit,¡± Richards said. ¡°Did he understand everything we just said?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I answered for him. ¡°Alright, you three get out!¡± Richard shouted. ¡°This is officially a military operation now. I need you to¨C¨C¡± ¡°Richards, piss off!¡± Susan shouted and suddenly the bag was removed from my head. Ugly yellow lighting strained my eyes. I had expected to be blinded by bright halogenmps, finding myself surrounded by the austere decor of a military infirmary or brig, but instead I was in a small room lit only by candles. It was underwhelming and pathetic all at once. I got a better look at Susan and her daughter Kelsey in the candlelight. Their hair was blond, but wild and matted. And their features were gaunt and sunken. Living skeletons that barely filled out the dirty green overalls they wore. The man Richards looked no better. Pale skinned, bony. He barely looked over thirty with a close-shaved head and a thick beard. The woman, Susan, looked a good fifteen years older than him with crow¡¯s feet around her tired-looking blue eyes. The other woman, June, had to be in her sixties. Light brownplexion, wrinkled skin that was spotted with age. Her white hair was cut close to her scalp just like the sergeant¡¯s and she wore a dingy gown or dress. The only thing worse than seeing them was their smell. With the bag removed, the scent of mold was reced by the pungent aroma of unwashed bodies and filth. And I thought the Native Housing District was bad. These people were living in squalor. Although at the moment I suppose I smelled no better. ¡°Tell us your name,¡± Susan said, having stepped back a few paces after removing the bag. I couldn¡¯t sense what they were feeling anymore, but the looks on their faces said it all. Fear. I was an unknown anomaly to them, with Richards thinking I was a Trojan horse. I needed to convince them I wasn¡¯t a threat. Not that I actually could be one at the moment. Looking down at myself, my body was covered in bandages and some kind of robe. At least they had tried to patch me up. ¡°Max,¡± I said. ¡°That my¡­¡± I paused and tried again. ¡°That¡¯s my name.¡± ¡°Where do youe from?¡± Richards said, his tone sounding like an interrogation. ¡°And how did you find us?¡± ¡°City name Jurin,¡± I said. ¡°I think it name Chicago before. How I find you? Luck. I no expect find people here.¡± I cringed at my own words. I could remember them, but my grammar sucked. ¡°Sorry. Long time speak English again. Sound like Yee.¡± ¡°Yee?¡± June asked. I smiled at Richards. ¡°Space Japs. That Yee. How much you know about them? Anything?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll ask the questions,¡± Richards said with a frown. ¡°Tell us how you survived out in that forest. With those monsters and demons?¡± No way could I answer that one. Not in a way they couldprehend anyway. There was only one thing I could say. ¡°Luck. I have big luck.¡± I cringed and tried again. ¡°I was very lucky.¡± I sighed, frustrated with myself. If there was one thing I could say for the Yeenguage, it was that it was efficient as hell. Communication stripped down to bare bones. No present or past tense, no extraneous words like is or the. Speaking proper English again was like putting on the brakes and cluttering things just to make it sound right. It made me realized that if I was having this much trouble, I could only imagine how kids younger than me would feel trying tomunicate with them. Most didn¡¯t remember any English at all. Richards looked to June. ¡°I¡¯m not buying that. That bastard¡¯s hiding something.¡± ¡°Please,¡± I said. ¡°I¡­ am friend.¡± No wrong word. ¡°Ally. The Yee my enemy too.¡± ¡°What did they do to you?¡± Susan asked, taking a step closer to me. ¡°Your body is strange. Do you understand that? It¡¯s different.¡± She then tapped her chest and raised her voice, speaking to me like I was deaf. ¡°I¡¯m a doctor. I listened to your heart. It sounds strange. Different. Too many beats.¡± Shit¡­ I thought. Was my heart actually different now? I did regrow it using Dark Frenzy. Was it mutated? Too many beats? What the hell did that mean? Did I have a Demon¡¯s heart inside of me? She raised her voice again. ¡°Can you understand my words?¡± ¡°Yes, yes,¡± I said, nodding. ¡°No shout. Understand fine. Just¡­ speaking hard¡­ hard remember right word. Right¡­.¡± I struggled again with my vocabry. ¡°Grammar.¡± Susan nodded back and then lowered her voice. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I understand.¡± ¡°How many of them are there?¡± Richards asked. ¡°Do they control the city?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°Millions.¡± I then thought of the greater empire. ¡°Trillions. Control many stars.s.¡± ¡°Shit¡­¡± Richards whispered and then leaned his head back again the wall, looking defeated. He nced back at me. ¡°Is there any kind of resistance?¡± I nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± His eyes widened at that, and the two women drew closer. ¡°There are people alive still fighting back?¡± June asked, a sliver of hope in her voice. ¡°How many?¡± I chuckled. ¡°One,¡± I said. ¡°Me.¡± All hope vanished from their eyes. ¡°It okay,¡± I said smiling. ¡°One enough. I very strong. Grow more strong soon. Free whole Earth someday.¡± With that came awkward smiles and something that looked like pity. They all nodded at me then, like it was a joke. All except one. The girl Kelsey, who had remained quiet this whole time, standing at the back of the room was staring at me intensely. A mixture of curiosity and skepticism on her face. I gave her a wink, and she turned her head quickly with a blush, caught staring. The three adults in the room then retreated down the hallway for a huddle. I couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying, but the conversation looked intense. A few minutester they returned, and June spoke first. ¡°It¡¯s hard for us to understand anything you are telling us,¡± she said, genuinepassion in her tone. ¡°We¡¯ve lived underground here in this bunker for over ten years now. You¡¯re the first person we¡¯ve heard of from the outside. It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t believe you. We just don¡¯t know quite how to take you yet.¡± ¡°For that reason,¡± Richards said. ¡°I¡¯m still going to have you detained. But I¡¯ve agreed to allow for Doctor Winters here to care for you in the infirmary. When the CO returns, he¡¯ll decide what to do with you. It¡¯ll likely be more questioning. But whether it¡¯s a debrief or an interrogation will depend on how you conduct yourself in the next few weeks, understand?¡± Weeks? I didn¡¯t have weeks. I counted the days in my head. Assuming I had only spent a night out in that forest, there were only three days left until my showdown with Hein. And not to mention what I still owed Hong Feng. Just the thought of that caused my tar-encrusted me to smolder. Dammit, I needed to fix this thing somehow. Richards barked an order, and two more men dressed in military gear entered the room holding rifles. The women along with Kelsey stepped back, but Susan looked appalled. ¡°Is that really necessary?¡± she said. ¡°You weren¡¯t on the front lines, honey,¡± he said, glowering at me as he cut loose the zip-ties binding my arms and legs with a knife. ¡°You never saw what just one of them space-jap bastards could do. Now get up slow like, understand?¡± I returned the glower as I tried to stand. Pain rifled through me as I forced myself out of the chair. I resisted the urge to cry out, hissing through my teeth instead. Had I my me I would have used [Indifference], but now I was under the willpower of the Struggler alone it seemed. The soldiers grabbed me under my armpits and began walking me out of the room. Richards led the way, as Susan and Kelsey followed behind. Leaving the room, I noticed a faded sign that read ¡°Brig¡±. At least I hadn¡¯t forgotten how to read, I thought. We exited into arger corridor that was illuminated with dull orange lighting from faded overheadmps. What had to be over a hundred people were pressed against the walls, gawking at me in dead silence. I could barely make them out clearly in the dim lighting but what I saw was the raw face of humanity that I recalled from my past. People. Old people my parents¡¯ age and older. Kids. Some toddlers even. Every race and creed you could think of. They all looked at me the same way though. Faces filled with fear, iprehension, and mistrust. ¡°No need to gather here!¡± Richards shouted. ¡°This is military business! You civilians need to disperse!¡± But no one listened to him, too captivated by the prisoner on disy. The wild man from the forest who spoke Space Jap. Or so I imagine the rumor mill must have been running about me thus far. I tried to make sense of how so many people had survived underground for so long. Especially in these conditions. This wasn¡¯t a sanctuary. It was a damn dungeon. The thought sparked more smoldering. The empire had done this to them, entombed them on their own, but at least they had survived. I felt my purpose deepen as I looked into each and every face I saw. A face worn down by hardship, pain, and the loss of hope. Yet still they hadn¡¯t given up. Saving the block back home and establishing the Terran sect within Yee society was one thing. That was more like tilling the soil. But this¡­this was the true seed of humanity that I needed to save. A dying ember that I had to protect and nurture at all costs. This was cultivation of a different kind. I felt something open up inside of me as the understanding of my Dao deepened. The struggle had just gotten harder, but saving the future of humanity just took one huge step closer to bing a reality. I¡¯d built a home back in Jurin and now I had the people to fill it. Still one more problem existed. For any of that to happen¡ªI had to recover my me. Chapter 66 I spent the next day in the infirmary, handcuffed to a dirty hospital bed. It was a small space, fit for only three beds, but as I was the only person within it, it didn¡¯t feel too confining. A single guard was posted on duty outside the closed door, but it seemed his purpose was to mostly keep nosy people out rather than me in. That job instead fell on Doctor Winters, or the woman I hade to know as Susan. After a pain-ridden and mostly sleepless night, I was awoken by her to tell me that it was now morning. Of course, there was no way for me to actually tell what time of day it was, given that we were underground. She came with her daughter, Kelsey, who brought me some food in a small bowl. I couldn¡¯t identify what it was. It looked like brown slop and tasted as good as it looked. But I was so ravenous it didn¡¯t matter. After forcing it down, they left me alone for a few hours and I used the opportunity to try and cultivate. Unfortunately, as I meditated, I found that looking into my soul was like looking into the ashes of a long-dead kiln. My me, or at least, where my me used to be, was a solid lump of ck tar. What little resentment and angst I could summon from my memories was barely enough to warm it, much less cook it off. But it told me something. My me was still there. Technically speaking, anyway. I just had to cleanse it. And for that, I needed to find the source of that Frenzy.Could it be one of the people here perhaps? But no, that wouldn¡¯t make sense. I should have sensed something if that were the case. Giving up on cultivating, I then decided to get some mental exercise by digging up the long-dormant rules ofnguage when it came to English. If I wanted to get these people to trust me, I had to start speaking like I was one of them again. I made a mental game of it through my mind¡¯s eye, opening up the Basic Cultivation manual on one hand and a nk sheet of paper on the other. I then began tranting, shoving in the extra words and rearranging the sentences for the concepts to make sense in English. I got about a third of the way though when my brain finally fizzled out. By that time however, I had practiced most of the grammar rules enough that it came to me naturally again. I then thought about what else stilly ahead of me. I still had to face Hein in only two days now. Two days left to somehow fix myself and get back to Jurin. Although I had no idea how far away that even was. That nightmare episode out in the wild was still just a hazy fog. I had literally no idea how far I had travelled while in that state or how long I had been under it. The only thing I knew for sure was that I¡¯de inches away from losing my soul and sanity in the process. The other thing I knew, was that true demons hated the living shit out of me¡ªor whatever the hell I truly was, I supposed. Maybe I was some sort of mockery to them or a turn coat of some kind. Whatever the case, the feeling was mutual. I could still see them in my mind¡¯s eye. Red-skinned humanoids that resembled humans but not quite. Tall, pointed ears, horns, ws, wings. I realized I was perhaps one of the few living people to ever see the terrors of the wild at night and live to tell about it. It made me wonder if Threja had truly ascended or not, or if she too had transformed into some kind of monster, losing herself to the night. I prayed that wasn¡¯t the case. If I had transformed into a wild demon beast at my cultivation level, I could only imagine what she would have be. I hoped her struggles were strong enough to keep her grounded as mine did. That truly made me appreciate the fine bnce of my Dao. The Demon was easily fed, but the depth of my pain and struggle was the true limit of my power. To go beyond it was to lose myself to madness indeed. * * * Byte afternoon, Kelsey and Susan returned, bringing me something more to eat. It was the same foul-tasting gruel, but this time it came with a small piece of meat. ¡°What is this?¡± I asked, picking it up. ¡°You probably don¡¯t want to know,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But it¡¯s all we got.¡± ¡°You should feel grateful too,¡± Susan said as she fussed about me, checking my vitals with her stethoscope. ¡°Protein is hard toe by. I had to go toe-to-toe with Richards to allow you even that much.¡± I nodded and bit into whatever it was. It was gamey and half rotten, but for the sake of what Susan had just told me I kept it down. ¡°Still can¡¯t believe this,¡± Susan said, eyes distant as she pressed the stethoscope to my chest. ¡°Never heard anything like this before.¡± ¡°My heart you mean?¡± She looked down at me with a furrow on her brow. ¡°Has anyone ever performed surgery on you?¡± ¡°Only myself,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°A couple times.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Never mind.¡± I didn¡¯t need to be borating about that kind of crap. But there were tons of other things I wanted to know. ¡°I have a question for you, though. If you don¡¯t mind.¡± She inadvertently nced towards the open door where the guard was posted, but the man didn¡¯t seem to be paying attention. ¡°Go on¡­¡± ¡°Richards said your leader guy wouldn¡¯t be returning for weeks. How is that possible? Is he able to survive out in the wild somehow?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not out in the wild,¡± Susan said. ¡°You¡¯re the only person who¡¯s ever done that.¡± ¡°So where is he then? Where¡¯s he gone for weeks?¡± ¡°He¡¯s trying to get back to the other base,¡± Kelsey answered for her. ¡°Cause food¡¯s running out.¡± ¡°Other base? You mean there are more?¡± My hopes for a revived Earth suddenly increased, but the enthusiasm on my face must have spooked Susan, because her countenance changed, bing guarded. ¡°I don¡¯t think we should discuss this anymore. This ce is still run by the military and I¡¯m just a civilian. Jim will have these conversations with you. My job is to just make you healthy again.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± I said. I needed some way to break through to her though. To win her trust. But how? Focusing on the problem brought a passage from the orb back to the front of my mind. On Empathy¡­ Think not, dear kindled, that your strength lies only in your fury. While fury is what is beheld by others, your true strength lies in your empathy. Your ability to sense the pain, fear, and anger of others can be your greatest asset. If I still had my me, perhaps I could try evoking her [Sorrow and Pain]. But there were other more mundane ways to apply empathy. The first step was to make her realize that I wasn¡¯t a monster. Despite what her damn stethoscope was telling her. ¡°I was only eight when the invasion happened,¡± I said. ¡°I can still remember every second of that night clearly in my mind.¡± I then went on to describe what I had experienced to the both of them. Like magic, Susan¡¯s guard dropped as the story no doubt stirred memories of her own. The initial uncertainty and confusion. The god-like figures on the TV screen wielding unfathomable power. But it was thest bit that got her eyes to shimmer on the brink of tears¡ªseeing my family disappear into the darkness for the veryst time. ¡°I was lucky in the end,¡± I said once I had finished. ¡°I was taken just old enough to remember who I was. Most of my peers were around Kelsey¡¯s age. They barely remember a thing from the old world.¡± A pause lingered and then Kelsey said, ¡°I guess that makes me lucky too then. They never took me. Mom had already brought us down here. I don¡¯t really remember any of it though.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it like out there?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°On the surface world. You said there are still cities?¡± ¡°Kelsey, no,¡± Susan said, shaking her head. ¡°We need to leave those kinds of questions for Jim and Richards.¡± ¡°But Sergeant Richards is a dumbass,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°You said so yourself!¡± ¡°Shush!¡± Susan said in a hushed whisper, ncing back towards the door. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to repeat things like that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d tell them the same thing I¡¯d tell you. I have nothing to hide.¡± ¡°Please, Mom?¡± Kelsey said, looking up desperately at her mother. ¡°I¡¯m just curious. And don¡¯t tell me you aren¡¯t too.¡± Susan sighed and then turning about, she went to the door. ¡°Need to perform an examination,¡± she said and promptly closed it before the guard could even respond. ¡°Alright,¡± she said, sitting in a chair opposite the hospital bed. ¡°You can tell us.¡± She then turned to her daughter who was seated on the bed next to me. ¡°But Kelsey, don¡¯t go repeating any of this, you understand? I don¡¯t want it to get around. No one is supposed to ask him questions until Jimes back.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But what if he doesn¡¯te back?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think like that. They alwayse back.¡± ¡°Come back from where?¡± I asked. ¡°The sister base to this one,¡± Kelsey answered. ¡°We have¡ª¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Susan said, cutting her off. ¡°The deal was he tells us his story. Not the other way around. So go on then, Max. Tell us what the world is like out there.¡± It made me smile to hear her say my name. Right pronunciation and everything. It was something I couldn¡¯t appreciate until now. Even I had been calling myself something akin to Mak instead of Max, as the closest Yee equivalent. I started telling them about the city and how we humans were now called Terrans. I exined how the Emperor and the Yee imperial family had basically ruled the entire gxy for some 14000 years¡ªor as much as I knew of what the gxy was anyway. That led to the obvious question of lifespan which gave me the perfect segue into exining cultivation. Using the newly tranted pages fresh in my head, I read to them the first few chapters of the fundamentals manual, which gave an overview of how the raw energy of the universe could be drawn into oneself and cultivated as Qi. I listed the benefits that went along with it, even at just the base Foundation level. Perfect health and virtually no disease. A body that could do the work of ten people. And at the higher ends, full-blown magic kung fu and immortality. When Susan asked how all that was even possible, I exined the precepts of martial training and conditioning. I told them how we at first were all sent to Foundation school, force fed Yee and then taught the basics of cultivation. I actually couldn¡¯t appreciate it at the time, but after my recent studies, I also exined that it wasn¡¯t always this way, and that the empire provided this base level of cultivation to all its wards. In ancient times, only the sects and royal families held the secrets to cultivation and most people remained mortals. But by granting the gift of cultivation, the Yee empire seeded where many other dynasties had failed. The Yee empire survived through colonization. Dangling the carrot of citizenship and immortality to even the lowest of mortals. Hell, even I had done it. It made rebelling all that much harder. The yoke was just tight enough to indenture you to service, but not choking enough to force the life-or-death decision to fight back against your oppressor. The bastards were smart that way, but they hadn¡¯t counted on a bastard like me. ¡°It all sounds like make believe,¡± Susan said. ¡°I mean, I saw some of those things during the attack. And we still have some recordings that we watch each year to remember. But even watching them, none of it seems real.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s real,¡± I said. ¡°Very real.¡± ¡°Can you cultivate?¡± Kelsey asked, lookingpletely wide-eyed now. ¡°Can you do that kind of magic?¡± I chuckled. ¡°I¡­ used to be able to. Can¡¯t right now.¡± Susan let out augh and almost looked relieved. ¡°Now that¡¯s how you end a tall tale. Right to the punchline and then aplete cop-out when ites to proof.¡± I felt slightly insulted, but she said it with mirth and not malice. Plus, I couldn¡¯t make a big thing of it anyway. I was still trying to win their trust. Kelsey however looked disappointed. ¡°I was hoping it was real.¡± ¡°It is,¡± I said. ¡°I just used up all my power surviving in the forest.¡± ¡°Will ite back?¡± she asked. ¡°Your power?¡± I smiled at her. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­I hope so. I have a lot of people back home who are depending on me and my power, or really bad things might happen to them.¡± ¡°Bad like what?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°I won¡¯t go into details,¡± I said. ¡°But people¡¯s lives are depending on me.¡± ¡°So will you get them back?¡± she said. ¡°Your powers?¡± Heavens bless you, Kelsey. She was asking just the right questions. But I had to y it cool not to spook them off. ¡°I might,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯m going to need to find something first.¡± ¡°Find what?¡± Susan asked. Here it was. My opening. ¡°Something that will give me back my powers,¡± I said. I read her expression, which was still somewhat confused. ¡°The ce where you found me in the forest. There¡¯s something there that I need... something that I think can help me. Do you think you could take me back there again?¡± I knew I had pushed too far when her eyes grew cold. ¡°This conversation is over,¡± Susan said and stood grabbing Kelsey¡¯s hand. ¡°I will treat you kindly, but I will not be manipted. For all the stories you¡¯ve told, I have no idea what¡¯s truly going on inside that mind of yours¡ªor that body.¡± ¡°Susan, I¡¯ve beenpletely honest with you, I swear.¡± But her expression remained unchanged as she shook her head at me. ¡°There are things about you that just don¡¯t make sense. Like how you were speaking broken English yesterday, but now you sound like a damn native.¡± ¡°I am a native,¡± I said. ¡°Please don¡¯t take anything I¡¯ve said to mean I¡¯m trying to¡ª¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, Kelsey,¡± she said. ¡°But, Mom, he¡¯s just trying to save¡ª¡± ¡°I said let¡¯s go!¡± she snapped, and Kelsey hopped off the adjacent hospital bed with a scowl. Susan made for the door, but Kelsey turned around to give me a sad little wave, as if to apologize. I waved back at her and nodded, trying tomunicate that I understood. With that they left the room, Susan mming the door behind her. Shit¡­ I thought. I went and pushed it too far indeed. I should have been more patient instead of just t out asking for their help like that. But I was getting desperate. I had spent a whole day trying to fix my body and soul, with nothing worthwhile to show for it. I was stiff as a log and every move I made caused pain. Oh well. I still had two days left, I thought. There was always tomorrow. But then what happened after that? A deep darkness crept up inside of me, as I faced what could very well be the reality of my situation. I was trapped deep underground as a wounded mortal with no means of escape. And in two days¡¯ time, Hein would show up with Li Fet to exact his vengeance. And when he didn¡¯t find me, he would take it out on the whole square. Anguish curdled my stomach with sickness. I could only imagine what he would do to Yu Li and even Gui Zu, who would no doubt rush to defend her. And then there was even Jian Yi and the rest of the neighborhood to consider. The girl had finally put all her faith in me, but if I didn¡¯t show up to that match¡­ I would validate every despicable thing she¡¯d ever said about me. ¡°I¡¯ve really gone and screwed things up,¡± I said, a tear running down the corner of my eye. If I had maybe yed my cards a bit smarter. Not chosen to save Fia, which had inadvertently sacrificed poor Mu Lin. Those bastards Sumatra and Hong Feng even knew my secret now too. Even though they thought I was dead. Still, I wanted to kill them both. Make them pay for what they¡¯d done. But what could I do? There was no hope. There was no time. Sadly, I looked to my new surrounds and envisioned that perhaps this was where my me was ultimately leading me. Ast bastion of mankind. I could heal in time. Convince them of my loyalty. Hell, I could even make a new home here. But all of it felt hollow now. No matter what I did, unless I made it home in two days¡­everything I worked so hard for would simply die. Chapter 67 Yu Li frowned quizzically at the envelope sitting on her doorstep. It was still early morning, before even the sun was up. Su Ling had woken her much earlier, hungry as always. After feeding her, Yu Li had put her back down to sleep, and as she hadmitted herself to doing for thest few days, was about to head out onto the porch for morning exercise and cultivation. After deciding to utilize the spirit stone Chun had given her, Yu Li was still working on cultivating the full concentration of Qi from it, and as he had hinted, she felt her inner strength growing steadily each day from it. Perhaps in time, she would have enough Qi within her Dantian to attempt a breakthrough into the Foundation Realm. So, like every morning for the past few days, she had risen early to practice cultivation while Su Ling slept. This morning however, it came as a bit of a surprise to find an envelope at her door. Especially so early. Had someone delivered ittest night perhaps? Curiosity piqued, Yu Li picked up the envelope and checked to make sure the address was correct and sure enough it was. Even more so, she recognized the handwriting. She¡¯d know those sloppy characters anywhere. ¡°What the heck is this, Chun?¡± she muttered as she examined it further.And why send me something through the mail? The envelope was stamped with an official imperial seal and no doubt that was the reason why it was left so inly. Only a fool would risk the empire¡¯s wrath by stealing an officially stamped document. That only piqued her curiosity further. Opening it, Yu Li found an identification card with Chun¡¯s face on it and a half dozen other documents written in fine imperial print. What is all this? After taking a moment to shuffle through them, Yu Li finally understood what she was looking at. ¡°By the heavens,¡± she whispered. ¡°He actually did it¡­¡± Peeking back into the house quickly for Su Ling, Yu Li made sure the infant was still asleep before heading quickly down the balcony to Chun¡¯s apartment. She rapped on the door and a few momentster, Gui Zu answered. His towering frame nearly blocked the entire doorway as he greeted her with a short bow and sleep-ridden eyes. ¡°Sister Yu Li?¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re up so early.¡± ¡°Gui Zu, look!¡± she said excitedly. He rubbed his eyes before squinted at the papers. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°Look and see,¡± she said. ¡°And I told you to stop calling me sister. I¡¯m Chun¡¯s sister, not yours.¡± ¡°Apologies,¡± he said and smiled at her with his crooked teeth. ¡°Miss Yu Li.¡± Yu Li grinned at her title. She had to admit, she found Gui Zu handsome despite his teeth. The smile had grown on her just as Chun said it would. ¡°Su Ling is asleep, so I need to get back quickly. Tell me what you think of this. Did Chun really be a citizen and create a new sect?¡± He looked over the papers, shuffling them in his hands. ¡°Looks like it to me.¡± Yu Li was beside herself for a moment. Growing up with Chun, half the things he said and did bordered on idiocy most times. And she had to admit, when he had first mentioned bing a citizen and buying the entire housing block, she counted the endeavor as one of them. But now, here in her hands was proof. He¡¯d done it. He¡¯d actually gone and done it! But one serious question still remained. ¡°Why would he send this to me?¡± she said. ¡°Plus, I haven¡¯t even seen him in days.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t either,¡± Gui Zu said, scratching the back of his head. ¡°Not since hisst match at the tourna¡­¡± His words trailed off and Yu Li squinted at him. Was he hiding something? ¡°The what?¡± she asked. ¡°Never mind,¡± he said. ¡°He probably just sent it to you for safekeeping. Those are important documents and he¡¯s staying in a rough part of town. Probably doesn¡¯t want them stolen.¡± Yu Li twisted her lips to the side considering it. It sort of made sense, she supposed, but she still didn¡¯t like it. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t feel toofortable holding them either.¡± ¡°We should probably tell Jian Yi about them.¡± ¡°What? Jian Yi?¡± Just the mention of her name caused Yu Li¡¯s stomach to sour. ¡°Why her?¡± Gui Zuughed. ¡°You should see your face. It¡¯s turning red.¡± Yu Li fumed inwardly. ¡°Well, that bitch pped me. I don¡¯t like her.¡± Gui Zu smiled. ¡°I get it, but she is trying to make amends you know?¡± ¡°I know, but still. I don¡¯t have to like her. Why do we need to tell her about this?¡± ¡°She mentioned to me that Chun was nning this,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°Starting a sect for Terrans.¡± ¡°What? She told you that?¡± What the heck was going on here? ¡°Chun never even told me about that,¡± she said. ¡°And since when are you and Jian Yi friendly?¡± Gui Zuughed with his deep gentleugh. ¡°I¡¯m friendly with everybody, Yu Li. You know that. And she¡¯s not as bad as you think. She really does feel bad about what she did too.¡± That still didn¡¯t make her feel any better. ¡°Anyway,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°Jian Yi said forming this sect would be important to standing up to Hein when hees. She was waiting on Chun to create it. We should probably let her know that he has.¡± Yu Li rolled her eyes. ¡°Is it really necessary?¡± ¡°Well I don¡¯t really know what else to do with these,¡± Gui Zu said, handing the documents back to her. ¡°Do you?¡± Yu Li pouted. She didn¡¯t really have an answer. ¡°Fine¡­ okay,¡± Yu Li said, resignedly. ¡°We¡¯ll go see her. Butter. Right now, I need to get back to Su Ling.¡± * * * The endless ranks of demons and monsters surrounded me on all sides. My vision of them was but through a pinhole before, but now I was seeing them fully with my naked eyes. Mutated raplings, three times their normal size, with red skin and spikes fought against the demons that herded them like cattle. The demons themselves were armed like warriors. Crude and rusted weapons in hand, bodies brimming with Demonic Qi and Dark Frenzy. A shrill human cry rose above the din of chaos around me. I ran towards it, cutting my way through the hordes of demons with my axe. The scream came again. Mu Lin! Tearing through the demons I finally found her. Standing atop a mound of corpses, she was being held captive by Sumatra and Hong Feng. The big, gray giant of a man was holding Mu Lin from behind, his thick forearm crushing her throat in a headlock. Hong Feng was transformed. His head was asrge as a person, his body a serpentine mass of writhing ck limbs and tentacles. The other demons recoiled from him as dark energy pulsated from his rotten core. He opened his mouth and like a snake, his jaw unhinged to create a monstrous maw filled with needle-like teeth. He swallowed Mu Lin¡¯s legs like a belrug and bit her in half at the waist. She cried out sharply in terror and pain, but then her scream was cut short as he severed her spine. Her insides spilled out as Sumatra cackled gleefully. ¡°My best damn handler!¡± My stomach was sick. Abject horror filled my mind as Hong Feng continued to devour her whole. I stood helpless to stop him. She was gone. Mu Lin was gone. A cold emptiness filled me. I had wanted to save her, but I had no strength. I wanted to feel hate and anger, but I had no me. Darkness enshrouded me as the Struggler took hold. ¡°Is this as far as you¡¯ve managed toe, Max?¡± The voice came from behind me and when I looked over my shoulder I had to crane my neck upwards to see who it was. There was Threja, even taller than I remembered her. Her blue skin had transformed to red, her battle scars morphed into a suit of Frenzy-fueled, celestial armor that hovered inches above her skin. ¡°Big sister,¡± I said. ¡°How are you here?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll always be here for you, little brother. What ails you so?¡± The demons around me vanished into the backdrop as I found myself back outside the wall with Threja again. It was as if no time had passed at all. The night before she headed off into oblivion. ¡°I¡¯ve lost my me and I can¡¯t protect the ones I love.¡± I looked to the ground and saw Mu Lin¡¯s body there¡ªbitten in two by Hong Feng. Bile rose up in my throat as I finally let out a sob. It was the first time I had truly grieved for her. ¡°I failed her,¡± I said. ¡°I got her killed. And now so many more will follow.¡± ¡°Did you not think this could happen?¡± Threja said, kneeling down to look me in the eye. ¡°The path we tread will be filled with grief¡­not only for ourselves, but others.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± I said and faintly the anger began stirring in my heart. ¡°I want to avenge her.¡± Threja nodded. ¡°And I¡¯m sure you shall¡­in time. But is that all you want? Retribution?¡± The question stared at me from the darkness and that same sense of emptiness consumed me. ¡°I didn¡¯t want her to die,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose any of them.¡± Threja was silent for a moment, studying me and then finally she stood. ¡°You¡¯ve chosen to add even more difficulty to your path, it seems,¡± she said. ¡°Few Berserkers choose to protect as well as follow their rage. There maye a time when you will have to choose between protecting those you love and fulfilling the vengeance in your heart. Are you prepared to make such a choice?¡± ¡°Am I making that choice now?¡± I asked. ¡°Or has the choice already been made for me? If I can¡¯t save Yu Li and Su Ling, will I be doomed to only avenge them, the same as for Mu Lin?¡± Threja grimaced. ¡°Only fate will tell.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t I do both?¡± I asked. But she was no longer listening to me now. Turning, she slowly waded off into the darkness. ¡°Farewell, Brother Max.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± I shouted. ¡°Please tell me! Can¡¯t I do¨C¨C¡± ¡°Seek not an answer for what you know is true,¡± she said, ncing back over her shoulder at me. ¡°Only you can control the ¡ª¡± I awoke with a sudden jolt, pain instantly filling me. ¡°Ah---!¡± A hand covered my mouth as I released a cry and in the semi-darkness, I saw Kelsey¡¯s face staring back into my own. ¡°Don¡¯t scream,¡± she whispered and slowly I began to regain myposure, the remnants of the twisted nightmare receding from my mind. It had felt so real, yet now in the waking world, I could see that all it was, was a dark reflection of my own traumas tormenting me from within my own mind. I vaguely became aware that Kelsey was speaking to me again. ¡°I¡¯m going to remove my hand now, okay?¡± she said and paused for some kind of confirmation of understanding. When I finally nodded, she did so. ¡°What time is¨C¨C?¡± ¡°I only have one question,¡± she said, cutting me off. ¡°If I help you to get back to that ce out in the forest, to regain your powers, will you promise to take me to the city?¡± I searched her eyes. She was determined, convicted. But I couldn¡¯t lie to her either. ¡°I won¡¯t promise you when,¡± I told her truthfully. ¡°But when the time is right. I will.¡± It clearly wasn¡¯t the answer she was looking for, but wobbling her head to the side, she resignedly epted with a shrug. ¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°Now you can scream, okay?¡± ¡°Wha¨C¨C?¡± Before I couldprehend what she was saying, Kelsey jabbed both her hands into the side of my ribcage. ¡°AHHHHHH!¡± ¡°Doug!¡± she yelled. ¡°Doug,e quick!¡± The infirmary door flew open and the guard came in from outside. His eyes were wide with panic as his hand reached for the gun at his side. ¡°Kelsey, get back! Get away from him!¡± ¡°He¡¯s having a seizure!¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Go run and get my mom! Quick!¡± The guard hesitated for a moment confused, his mind caught between indecision. ¡°Go! He¡¯s going to die!¡± ¡°Alright, alright!¡± he said and promptly left the room. As soon as his footfalls retreated down the hallway, Kelsey stopped pressing into my side and then produced a small key from her pocket. ¡°I stole this from my mom,¡± she said as she undid my handcuffs from the railing on the side of the bed. ¡°Now we have to move fast, okay?¡± Holy shit¡­ I thought. This girl was pretty hardcore. I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m right behind you.¡± Getting up off a bed I hadn¡¯t left in two days was murder. I felt unbnced and I could barely feel my legs. Kelsey steadied me like a crutch as she threw my arm over her shoulders. ¡°Damn you¡¯re heavy,¡± she said. ¡°Come on, we have to get to the outer hatch before he reaches my mom.¡± I looked around, bewildered. ¡°How did you even get past him to see me?¡± ¡°I told him my mom sent me to give you an early breakfast,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Once he wakes her up though, all hell¡¯s going to break loose. So we need to be out of here by then.¡± I nodded and redoubled my efforts to hobble down the corridor with her. The dim lighting yed tricks on my eyes, caught in that state between being too bright for night vision and too dark to actually see. It seemed to have no effect on Kelsey however, who navigated as if not relying on sight at all. ¡°How much time do we have?¡± I asked. ¡°The habitat floors are on the bottom level, four floors down,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯ll take him maybe ten minutes to climb down there to get to her. A minute or two for panic and confusion and then they¡¯ll sound the rm. We need to be good and gone by then.¡± ¡°What time is it now? Is it day?¡± ¡°It¡¯s right before dawn,¡± she said. ¡°Come on. We¡¯re on the top floor. The hatch isn¡¯t too far.¡± I endured the bite of pain with each step, shuffling down the seemingly endless maze of darkened corridors. Whoever built the ce must have designed it for hundreds of personnel, each corridor wide enough for a forklift to drive down. Finally, we came to a room that resembled an airlock. A hefty door with a wheel, like something you¡¯d see on a submarine was on both sides. ¡°Put one of these on,¡± Kelsey said and threw me a green robe. I looked at it more closely and realized it was the same robes that I saw she and her mother wearing when they found me. Except they weren¡¯t exactly robes, they were camouge ponchos made of stic or nylon. The thing was too small, but I made it work, stretching it over my bruised body. I helped Kelsey close the inner hatch and then she barricaded it further from the inside, jamming a mop handle through the wheel. ¡°That¡¯ll buy us a bit more time,¡± she said. ¡°Are you ready?¡± I nodded. ¡°Thank you for doing this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet,¡± Kelsey said as she worked the wheel and opened the hatch to the outside world. ¡°You still have to prove to me that you have magic.¡± Chapter 68 Jian Yi¡¯s light brown eyes shifted back and forth as she studied the documents. Yu Li watched her with a mixture of contempt and awe. She didn¡¯t like this girl, but she had to admit, Jian Yi seemed to know what she was doing. Yu Li had tried reading through the documents earlier, but many of the characters she didn¡¯t even recognize. Jian Yi however seemed to be reading it with ease. She and Gui Zu had met with her in the middle of the square and now she was spending close to twenty minutes reading every single line of characters on the papers. It was still early morning, but the crowd from breakfast had cleared out, leaving the square mostly empty where the three of them were now sat around a table¨C¨Cfour, if you included Su Ling, who yed with a pair of chopsticks in herp. Yu Li gave a questioning nce to Gui Zu, but the big man only shrugged. After another few minutes, Jian Yi finally set the papers down. ¡°Well, I have to hand it to him,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°This is all legit. Chun¡¯s done it. He¡¯s established himself as a B-ss citizen and created a new sect.¡± Yu Li lowered her brows with irritation. Maybe this girl wasn¡¯t as smart as Yu Li thought she was.¡°It took you all that reading just to figure that out?¡± Yu Li said with a huff. ¡°Even I knew that much at a nce. We already know he created a sect, but what does it mean for us? Can we use this to stop Hein?¡± ¡°It will help,¡± Jian Yi said, either ignoring or not perceiving the dig at her. ¡°But Chun already cut that deal with Hein in front of an Imperial Guard. An unofficial Trial by Might. It¡¯s not enforceable by the throne, but it carries much weight in terms of face.¡± ¡°Which means what?¡± Yu Li asked again. ¡°It means the match must still take ce,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°But this officiates it somewhat more so now. As a B-ss citizen, the results will be binding. And Chun is officially representing all of us now as both Leader and Warden of the Terran Sect. In effect, the threat Li Fet made to triple our rent is being challenged by Chun, with Hein as Li Fet¡¯s proxy and Chun as our advocate. Li Fet may think twice when he sees this because it will mean he will legally lose his property under thew if Chun wins. Before, even if he lost, he would have been able to weasel his way out of it by merely suffering a small loss of face by reneging on the agreement. And for a man like him, with too little face to lose to care, he probably would have. But now, he¡¯d be dead to rights in the eyes of not only his peers, but thew.¡± ¡°How do you know all this stuff?¡± Gui Zu asked. ¡°Because I study thew,¡± Jian Yi said. She then took one of the papers, which had an imperial seal made of silver and waved it in the air. ¡°And with this, I can now aim to be even a magistrate someday if I wish.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°It¡¯s our establishment certificate as the first Chapter of the Terran sect,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ll be considered C-ss citizens under it. Which means we all have the right to attend post-Foundational studies. And people like Hein won¡¯t be able to bully us so easily now either. Well¡­ assuming Chun wins the match, of course.¡± ¡°I have all confidence that he will win,¡± Gui Zu said, folding his arms across his big chest with a smile. ¡°He¡¯s fought against some pretty tough customers already.¡± ¡°What? When?¡± Yu Li asked, but Gui Zu suddenly looked sheepish and didn¡¯t answer. ¡°The main thing is that Chun needs to show up on time,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°If there is a no-show, Hein and Li Fet win by default.¡± She then looked to Gui Zu. ¡°You need to make sure he¡¯s here early, okay?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Gui Zu had that sheepish look again. ¡°That was the other reason we wanted to talk to you, Jian Yi. We were wondering if you¡¯d seen him.¡± ¡°What?¡± For the first time Jian Yi looked concerned, her brows shifting downwards into a scowl. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s going to ke on us again!¡± ¡°No way he will!¡± Yu Li said emphatically. ¡°He would never do that, especially not now.¡± ¡°So where is he then?¡± Jian Yi asked. Silence fell around the table as three of them found no answer. Finally, Gui Zu offered something. ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s out preparing for the match somewhere,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll take a look for him at the arena stablester. It¡¯s not unusual for him to disappear for a couple days after all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Yu Li said, feeling only slightly better. ¡°Well, be that as it may, we should be prepared for the worst.¡± ¡°If he doesn¡¯t show up, you mean?¡± Gui Zu said slowly. ¡°What would happen? Would we just have to ept Li Fet¡¯s and Hein¡¯s demands?¡± Yu Li opened her mouth to protest, but then Jian Yi spoke ahead of her. ¡°No,¡± she said and then, looking directly across the table, Jian Yi made eye contact with her. ¡°If your brother taught me one thing, Yu Li, it¡¯s that we can indeed stand up for ourselves and fight back.¡± She then shook the papers in her hands. ¡°We just need to arm ourselves with the right tools.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Yu Li said. ¡°It means I¡¯m going to make some preparations.¡± Jian Yi then stood from the table. ¡°Do you trust me with these?¡± Yu Li paused for a moment but then nodded. ¡°What are you going to do with them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to ensure a proper representative from the empire is here to officiate the match tomorrow. That way Hein can¡¯t just dere himself the victor if Chun is five minuteste or something. Byw he¡¯ll have the entire day. Till midnight.¡± Yu Li blinked, confused yet impressed. Gui Zu was right to have trusteding to her with this. ¡°What else can we do?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°Find Chun,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°I can hopefully buy him more time, but that idiot needs to show up. The sword of imperial legitimacy cuts both ways.¡± ¡°Meaning what?¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°It means if we win, we own the ce,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°But likewise, if Hein wins, even by default, we¡¯re all going to be legally indebted to Li Fet¡­and when we can¡¯t pay the rent, we won¡¯t just be kicked out¡­the empire will dere us his ves.¡± * * * Sweat poured from my brow as I struggled up the steep forest incline. Kelsey aided me as best she could, tucked under my sweat-soaked armpit as she pushed me up the uneven ground made of rocks, moss and undergrowth. I reached for a small sapling, and enduring the sharp pain in my ribcage, used it to pull my bodyweight the rest of the way up the small hill. By the time I reached the top I was winded and bleeding through my bandages. I copsed against a tree, panting hard. The walk had been a lot tougher than I had figured it would be. It¡¯d only been an hour or so, the sun barely cresting over the horizon, but it felt like I¡¯d just run a marathon. I hadn¡¯t felt this weak since Foundation school, where the Yee students¨C¨C conditioned since birth¨C¨Cran circles around me on the practice field. ¡°I need a quick break,¡± I said. Kelsey frowned at me. ¡°I really hope you¡¯re not bullshitting about having magic powers man, because you¡¯re looking like crap right now. If we get stuck out in this forest after dark we¡¯re done for.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me that,¡± I said with a weak smile, still catching my breath. ¡°I lived to tell the tale remember?¡± ¡°Uh huh.¡± Kelsey looked around, spinning in a circle before lowering herself to the ground and fingering through the dirt. ¡°We need to change course a bit. Something big came through here not too long ago. Heading northeast. Same way we got to go.¡± I furrowed my brow and looked at the trail. Sure enough, I saw the tell-tale signs of a wed creature having already scaled the hill we were on. A rapling likely. A pushover were I back in fighting form, but now I was as weak as a mortal again. Weaker even. ¡°You know, you¡¯d make a pretty decent handler,¡± I said as we got back underway. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°My job back home,¡± I said. ¡°Or what I do to earn a living anyway.¡± I went on to exin how the whole system worked¡ªthe clients and how they had to pay for ess to the wild and our role in ensuring they didn¡¯t get themselves or us killed in the process of seeking rare cultivation materials. That led to more questions about the city and what daily life was like. I gave her a bnce of the good and the bad, the oppression of the empire and haughty cultivators at every corner, but also the small luxuries we got to enjoy if we came upon a little extra coin. ¡°Sounds like heavenpared to the bunker,¡± Kelsey said with a grimace. ¡°I¡¯ve got to get out of there. All of us do.¡± ¡°You were saying before that your CO was heading to a sister bunker?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she said. Kelsey stopped for a moment before pushing aside a fern to check for tracks. ¡°We¡¯re part of awork of underground bases the military built back in the 1950s. For nuclear war and stuff. That¡¯s why the ce is so run down. No one was even using it anymore. Luckily my mom was dating one of the duty officers who was still running the ce when the attack happened. He got us inside.¡± ¡°Where is he now?¡± I asked. ¡°Is he back there?¡± ¡°Nah,¡± Kelsey said, starting off again. ¡°He died a couple years in, ording to Mom. I didn¡¯t really know or remember him. Was too young. I don¡¯t remember a lot of stuff thankfully. My mom says I probably blocked it all out. Those first few years were wild.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You ever seen rats trapped in a cage?¡± She looked at me with hollow eyes. ¡°That¡¯s what Mom said it was like. We were cut off from everything with only monsters outside. People started turning on each other. I think we only got by because the military was still in charge, but the soldiers brought their families and stuff, so things started getting territorial and personal. Jim keptw and order though. I remember him doing some crazy shit to keep us all in line.¡± I was curious as to what, but I didn¡¯t want to push any further. It was obviously traumatic, and I didn¡¯t want her to have to relive things like that if she didn¡¯t have to. ¡°I can imagine,¡± I said, pressing along the trail behind her. ¡°Anyway, they built a few of these ces and they¡¯re apparently all connected via hardwire using these smallmunications tunnels. The closest one is like 100 miles away. We were in contact with them for a couple of months my mom said, but then they got breached or something and themunications stopped. We sealed up the tunnel after that and it¡¯s been closed since. But then about a year back, we ran out of food.¡± ¡°You still had food? After twelve years?¡± Kelsey shrugged. ¡°Hey, it was the military. They stocked the ce with MREs tost like ten years or something.¡± ¡°MREs?¡± ¡°Meals ready to eat,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Pretty darn goodpared to what we¡¯re eating now. We made that stuff stretch for twelve years instead of ten. But after we ran out, we figured there might be a whole lot of supply left in Base Armstrong since they went down so quickly.¡± ¡°The sister base you mean. So that¡¯s where Jim has gone?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she said with a nod. ¡°And they have to travel by foot since the tunnels are barely big enough to fit a couple people side by side. Not that we could drive through it if it were big enough anyway. We burned up all the diesel on the generator like two years ago. We don¡¯t even have electricity anymore. Well, we do sorta. Some photocells to keep the lights working and once a year we crank up the generator to watch the reels.¡± ¡°Reels?¡± ¡°Old news clips from the attack. To help us remember why we¡¯re still in hiding, I guess.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°That sounds pretty bad. Not that we have electricity either but at least we have Qi. Or rich people do anyway.¡± ¡°Sounds like the same stuff to me,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°When I was younger things seemed a lot better. The teachers in school showed us movies and stuff. Cartoons.¡± ¡°You have teachers here?¡± ¡°My mom became one. As did others. She taught me and a whole lot of other kids how to read and write. History. Geography. Not that any of that matters anymore, of course.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong,¡± I said and stopped her by cing my hand on her shoulder and spun her around to look her in the eye. ¡°That stuff matters a whole lot now, Kelsey. Perhaps way more than you can even imagine. The Yee have erased our identity. Who we are. What you¡¯ve kept alive here, are the very embers of human society that we need to breathe back into life.¡± She stared back at me with a furrowed brow, as if I were putting her on or something. ¡°You¡¯re really intense, you know that?¡± she said. ¡°But like I said. None of it will matter if we don¡¯t get food. And I don¡¯t know when or if Jim will make it back.¡± She turned and started off again, and I understood now why she had been so skeptical with her mom. 100 miles through a tiny underground tunnel and heading into the unknown? Hell, the ce could be teeming with rapling nests or worse. And these guys were only mortals. ¡°I don¡¯t know who Jim is,¡± I said, following after her. ¡°But he¡¯s a very brave man.¡± ¡°They all are,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°He took thest toon with him. It¡¯s only Richards and a handful of the younger guys left here now. I was really hoping he would have left someone other than Richards in charge though. That guy is mad stupid.¡± I burst outughing unexpectedly, and regretted it immediately, clutching my side in pain. ¡°Oh man,¡± I wheezed. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard someone say something like that in ages.¡± Kelsey cracked an amused smile. ¡°You really are a weird guy, Max. But I¡¯m he d you found us. We were all starting to lose hope in there. I really hope you can bring us back some from whatever the heck it is you¡¯re looking for out here. What are you looking for anyway?¡± I stumbled over some loose rocks as I scanned the horizon. The heavy forest had transitioned to shrund, but I couldn¡¯t recognize a singlendmark. ¡°I don¡¯t know to be honest. It¡¯s more like something I just feel. Are we close to where you found me?¡± ¡°Not far now,¡± she said. ¡°Come on.¡± Kelsey assisted me again as we pushed on through the trail. I was gaining more and more respect for her. I¡¯d had a rough childhood, butpared to what Kelsey had been through, I had nothing toin about. Young, tough as nails, and pretty quick-witted to boot. It made me wonder just how many more like her had been forged in that dark dungeon of hopelessness. A dungeon the Yee had forced them into. Living like rats. That¡¯s all we were to them as mortals. Rats. The thought brought on a sudden anger and I sensed the heating of my me. I focused on it, eager to reignite my core, but then I realized it wasn¡¯t alling from me. In fact, most of it wasn¡¯t. Coming to a stop, I attuned my senses. Searching¡­ And then I felt it, like a crisp morning breeze. Pure Frenzy. It permeated my soul and within my mind¡¯s eye I saw the lump of tar encasing my me begin to smolder. I headed in the direction of where I thought it wasing from and felt it getting stronger. ¡°It¡¯s here,¡± I said, hobbling forward. ¡°This way!¡± Kelsey tucked herself under my arm again to give me support as the two of us began running in a three-legged race. We crested a small rise as the Frenzy grew stronger and then reaching the top, I found myself on the lip of a massive crater that looked to be at least fifty feet wide. Holy shit, I thought. What was this? A small object stood in the center, but I couldn¡¯t quite make out what it was. ¡°Come on,¡± I said, urging Kelsey forward as my heart began to race. As we got closer, I made out more details, the Frenzy growing stronger. It was about four feet tall, made of metal, like a nk of wood with a long cylindrical shaft sticking out the top. I recognized it immediately. Threja¡¯s sword¡­! My heart leapt with excitement as I broke into a run to reach it. It was like approaching a roaring fire, the metal radiating Frenzy like the sun. I fell to my knees before it, still not believing it was even there. Was this where she had ascended, I hoped? Or perhaps where she might have failed? ¡°What is it?¡± Kelsey asked, peeking timidly over my shoulder. As I looked at it closer, I saw an inscription etched into its surface in Yee. ¡®For you, little brother, should you find this.¡¯ My heart swelled with emotion as my eyes welled with tears. Big Sis¡­ I could hear her voice as I read the words over and over in my head. I could barely believe it. She¡¯d thought of me. Enough to leave me this. I took that as a good sign. For her to no longer need her de, meant she¡¯d outgrown it. If that wasn¡¯t proof of ascension, I didn¡¯t know what was. It made me wonder if that dream I¡¯d had was more than just a dream. Could it have been the real her? I didn¡¯t know. In fact, I had no clue how the celestial world truly worked, but I liked to think that Threja was still looking out for me from somewhere up there. And this sword was proof of it. ¡°You made it, big sis,¡± I whispered as I ced my hand on the sword. ¡°Good on you.¡± A jolt of energy coursed through my arm as I touched it¡ªPure Frenzy force feeding itself into my soul. It was so sudden and unexpected that I pulled my hand away. ¡°What happened?¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Did it zap you?¡± ¡°Kind of,¡± I said as I struggled to get back to my feet. ¡°But in a good way.¡± ¡°So again¡­what is it?¡± she asked. ¡°That,¡± I said, smiling at the hilt of the massive de. ¡°Is the sword of an ascended immortal.¡± ¡°A what¡­?¡± ¡°You may want to step back a bit.¡± I removed the poncho and flexed my hand, preparing to grip the sword. Kelsey shook her head as she backed away. ¡°No way¡­You¡¯re actually going to try to King Arthur that shit? How deep is that thing even buried?¡± I couldn¡¯t focus on answering her as I instead looked inside my soul. The lump of ck tar was already bubbling and smoking, energized by the Frenzy radiating from the sword. I braced myself, engaging my meridians and then took hold of the metal shaft. Frenzy coursed through my soul at the speed of light, igniting the tar on fire. It burned with thick ck smoke, the me red and angry. I released a howl of immeasurable pain as the power streamed through me, breaking through the chunks of demon-ridden filth clogging my soul. As I cried out, ck venomous smoke poured from my mouth and pores and Kelsey let out a scream. I shook violently but I didn¡¯t dare let go of the de. The smoke continued to belch from my lungs as I cycled the Frenzy though my system. The smoke grew less as my me grew brighter, shifting from red to orange, then orange to yellow and finally turning a brilliantly intense blue once again. As thest of the tar left, I finally felt my own strength return, powered by something deep inside me. When I looked within, there at the base of my brilliant blue me, was a solid yellow gem. My frenzied core. With a thought, I engaged my powers, channeling my Frenzy into [Mark of the Giant]. Bones and sinew snapped and popped as my body mended itself in real time, growing more than a foot in just a few seconds. Kelsey screamed again and fell back on her ass, scrambling away from me on her elbows. I slid the giant ten-foot de out of the hardened rock as easily as if it were buried in potting soil and then hefted it effortlessly into the air. Kelsey was staring at me with her mouth open, but no words came out. I channeled my solid Frenzy to my Jing and let loose a thunderous bolt of lightning into the sky. To my surprise, the bolt was not yellow but blue, the same color as my augmented me. I released a yell and thundered away again, celebrating both Threja¡¯s ascension and my own. I¡¯d done it. I was back. A full-fledged Core Realm cultivator with a brand-new demon¡¯s heart to boot. I then noticed something else about the sword. It was glowing now. At first, I thought it was a residual effect of my lightning, but when I looked closer, I saw thousands of tiny characters etched into the de. No way... I almost expected to see the all too familiar characters from the orb. It had to be made of the same material after all. But the words were different. Shuras starting after those that ended in the orb. Holy shit¡­ had Threja written these for me? Was this the true gift she had given me, not just the sword? I was so caught up in the possibilities that I barely noticed that Kelsey was whimpering on the ground. She was still on her ass, looking up at me with terror in her eyes and fear in her soul. I probably couldn¡¯t me her. I was the first cultivator she¡¯d seen up close and witnessing what I¡¯d just done was an unnatural as you could get. ¡°Fear not, Kelsey,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s still just me. Got my magic back is all.¡± Iid on the words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and the effect plus the smile eased her soul some. Eventually her hyperventting subsided and she was able to look upon me with eyes wide with wonder instead of terror¨C¨Cfear reced by awe. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this,¡± Kelsey said as she got to her feet, unable to take her eyes off me. ¡°Is this real? Like really real?¡± I grinned at her. ¡°You¡¯re seeing for yourself, aren¡¯t you?¡± She paused for a moment, staring at me without words. And then suddenly she screamed ecstatically. ¡°Holy shit, man!¡± Kelsey yelled, hands atop her head, flooding with lemonade. ¡°This isn¡¯t magic¡­ you¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re like Thor! You¡¯re a freaking god!¡± I chuckled as I hefted the de onto my shoulder, Threja style. ¡°Nah, Kelsey. The woman who owned this sword before me¡­ Threja¡­she¡¯s a god. I¡¯m just her kid brother.¡± Kelsey looked at me even more strangely and Iughed. ¡°Come on,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s time to get back to the bunker. Pronto.¡± Before she could even respond, I scooped her up in my arm with a squeal of surprise and then slung her onto my back. ¡°Hold on tight,¡± I said, channeling solid Frenzy into my power-starved limbs. ¡°Okaaaaaaaay¡ª!¡± Her words stretched into a yell as I took off in a sprint, leaving a trail of dust behind us. Eventually the yell turned into augh of ecstatic delight as Kelsey locked her arms around me. ¡°Holy shit, man!¡± she screamed above the rush of the wind. ¡°Faster! Faster!¡± I let out augh and obliged her, tearing up the ground as I sped faster than a car. My confidence and conviction had returned along with my me. My Frenzy was back. And so was I. I had new enlightenment. A thousand new Shuras to explore. And I was every bit as powerful as the god Kelsey saw me as. There was nothing holding me back now. It was time to save my people. Chapter 69 Doctor Susan Winters let out an exasperated sigh as Sergeant Richards initiated yet another head count. It had taken well over an hour for him to muster the entiremunity together, gathering them outside the bunker¡¯s sealed main doors. Over a hundred and fifty people now milled about on the surface, confused with worry and fear in their vacant stares. Susan regretted telling Richards what had happened. She would have been better off going after Kelsey on her own. But now she was stuck under his authority. As soon she¡¯d told Richards, instead of heading right after Kelsey, he¡¯d decided to call a public meeting in the open since it was daylight. But people barely listened to Richards in the best of times, much less now. The ensuing chaos from him barking half-bakedmands and orders was entirely predictable. Now everyone was in a panic. Susan nced about pensively. The base was built into a hillside, with only the fifty-foot-wide bunker doors giving any indication that something manmade was here at all. Whatever else was left of the original militaryplex was now long gone, overgrown by trees and weeds. Where they stood was once a parking lot¡ªnow transformed into a poorly maintained field. Fifty feet away¡ªat what was once the outskirts of the perimeter fencing¡ªwas the edge of the forest, where her Kelsey now likely was.Anger and frustration boiled over within her. Too much time had passed. They needed to act! ¡°Damn it, Richards!¡± she shouted. ¡°Will you stop wasting time? Kelsey is out there!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± he snapped back at her. ¡°I realize that, but you need to calm down. I know what I¡¯m doing, alright? And you need to realize that your daughter may have aided the enemy. We don¡¯t know what we¡¯re going to find out there. We need to be prepared.¡± The rest of themunity responded with murmurs of more confusion and unrest. Only Richards¡¯ subordinates, the five privates decked out inbat gear and rifles, remained stone-faced as they continued counting the people within the crowd. This was bordering on insanity. How many times did he need to count everyone? Her thoughts turned inward. Why had Kelsey done this? The girl was headstrong, Susan knew that, but she wasn¡¯t a fool. Surely that boy couldn¡¯t have tricked her into helping him, could he? Which led to an even graver realization. That Kelsey truly had believed all those stories and was helping him of her own free will. Her stomach was sick. It was her fault, Susan realized. She should never have agreed to letting him speak, especially not with Kelsey there. She had to fix this. She had to do something. ¡°I know where they went, Richards,¡± Susan spoke up again. ¡°She¡¯s taking him back to where we found him. He told us that.¡± ¡°For obvious reasons,¡± Richards said without even looking at her, checking over the rifle in his hands. ¡°Their base of operations must be close to there. Now we either need to prepare ourselves for a full assault to extract Kelsey, or prepare for an attack. Either way, every one of us has to fight. You hear me? Everyone has to fight!¡± He threw his rifle in the air as he screamed thest part, but only about a quarter of themunity responded with an echoing yell. This was stupid, she thought. He was panicking and had no idea what to do. She had to bring some calm to the situation. ¡°Everyone, listen to me!¡± she said. ¡°We need to¨C¨C¡± Her words were cut short by a sudden p of thunder and a sh of blue from the sky. Everyone turned just in time to see another strike of lightning a couple miles away. But it was odd. There were no clouds and the sun was shining. What was more, the lightning was blue and seemed to travel upwards, disappearing into the sky. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± someone said from behind her. ¡°That, my friends¡±¡ªRichards said quickly, regaining control¡ª¡°is the enemy. No more messing around now. Reed, Conyers, disburse the remaining rifles and ammo to the militia. We¡¯ll form into two teams. A base camp team for defense and a rescue party for Kelsey. Target is where that lightning just struck. Does everyone have the n?¡± ¡°Yes, Sergeant!¡± the handful of soldiers responded in unison. Richards scowled and then bellowed again, much louder for the entire crowd to hear. ¡°I said does everyone have the n?¡± Silence struck. No one said anything. And then slowly, like a group of scolded schoolchildren, themunity responded with a disjointed series of ¡°yes, Sergeant¡±s. It was appalling and perhaps even Richards himself realized how ridiculous it was. He turned red with embarrassment, but then doubled-down with hismand and barked for his men to issue the rifles again. She knew half of them didn¡¯t even work, and there probably wasn¡¯t enough ammunition to go around either. Susan looked to June and saw the older woman shaking her head. ¡°Are we going to do something?¡± Susan asked. June was respected as an elder, but she wasn¡¯t a risk taker. Not when it came to things like this anyway. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about warfare, Sue. But this was what Richards was trained for. I suppose we got to trust him.¡± ¡°June, my daughter is out there while he¡¯s still trying to find his own a¡ª¡± ¡°I see movement!¡± one of the privates, Reed, suddenly shouted. ¡°11 o¡¯clock. 1500 meters!¡± A beat passed before Reed suddenly shouted again, more frantic. ¡°Oh shit! Make that 1300! 12!¡± ¡°Iing!¡± Richards yelled, waving his arms with military gestures she didn¡¯tprehend. ¡°Defense positions, now! Go go go!¡± Susan¡¯s heart was in her throat. She turned with June towards the forest that was now moving with a life of its own. Treetops swayed with flying leaves and cracking branches, marking the wake of something headed towards them at incredible speed. ¡°Prepare to fire on that tree line! Do not let whatever that is past the perimeter!¡± Shouts of rm came from the crowd. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Everyone, get back inside!¡± ¡°Why the hell did he bring us out here? Shit!¡± A mini stampede formed, the civilians trying to rush for the small hatch at the side of the bunker. Susan screamed as she pushed against the flow trying to maintain sight of whatever it was. A huge humanoid form burst from the trees. It was moving so quickly it took her half a second to realize what it was. Max? The boy, if she could still call him that, was now towering at nearly nine feet tall. His body had grown in width as well as height, his unbelievably scarred skin barely able to contain the muscle rippling beneath it. When she saw his face¡ªshe expected to see his blue eyes filled with the fury of retribution. But instead, she saw mirth and a smile. The man wasughing. It didn¡¯t make sense. Until she saw the smiling face of the girl upon his back. ¡°Kelsey!¡± she cried. But it was toote. Richards had given his order and his men had already trained their rifles to fire. The man Max was moving too fast, crossing half the distance to them already in a blur. ¡°Don¡¯t shoot!¡± she screamed. ¡°He¡¯s got Kel¡ª!¡± She never got the rest of it out before the first rounds of panicked gunfire sounded. * * * The mortal Terran in me froze at the sight of half a dozen rifle barrels pointed in my direction¡ªan instinct born from years of viewing guns as lethal weapons. But thankfully the cultivator in me reacted first. With a grain of solid Frenzy, I channeled my [Iron Skin] technique and reached behind me, grabbing Kelsey from my back. She barely had time to scream before the muzzles shed, but by that time I¡¯d already turned my back to the oing assault and shielded Kelsey with my body. I didn¡¯t know what to expect. I¡¯d only fought other cultivators until now. Not modern-day weaponry. But as the first bullet impacted, I knew exactly why mankind had lost the war. It felt barely like a punch. A sharp sting like being bit by a fire ant maybe. It didn¡¯t even break the skin. A full volley of impacts ensued as the popcorn sound of automatic gunfire filled the air. Kelsey screamed. ¡°Get down on the ground!¡± I told her, and sheplied without question, pressing her palms to her ears. The stinging was more irritating than painful, igniting the me within my soul. Was this it? Was this all the resistance we¡¯d put up against them? The thought suddenly infuriated me. ¡°Is this all you¡¯ve got?¡± I bellowed with [Fear the me] and then spun about throwing the massive de in their direction. ¡°WEAK!¡± The half-ton of Corrupted Steel spun like a helicopter de before mming into the ground at an angle about five feet in front of the soldiers, kicking up a huge mound of dirt. It half buried them all and I wasted no time leaping into the air to follow up. Lightning crackled about my body of its own ord as a surge of Frenzy coursed through my veins, filling the air with thunder. I mmed into the ground next to my de, showering the cowering soldiers with another fresh wave of dirt and ash. Panic radiated from them as they floundered on their backs, but I felt too disgusted by them to even cultivate it into Frenzy. With a grimace I slowly retrieved my sword from the ground. I looked out at the crowd of perhaps two hundred people, all of them staring at me like I was either a demon or a god. I couldn¡¯t read their minds but the fear in their hearts said demon. I focused back on the handful of soldiers. ¡°Richards,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Tell your men to stand down. I¡¯m not here to hurt anyone.¡± ¡°You expect me to believe that?¡± He glowered up at me, still scrambling for his weapon. ¡°You will believe me,¡± I said, kicking his rifle out of reach. ¡°Because if I did want to hurt you, you¡¯d all be dead right now.¡± That got the message through loud and clear. His men didn¡¯t even wait for hismand, the soldiers tossing their rifles aside and then standing with their hands up. Richards grimaced up at me with bitterness and resentment in his heart. ¡°Damn Space Jap,¡± he spat it like a curse. ¡°I always knew which side you were on.¡± Rage snapped inside of me as I snatched him from the ground. ¡°I¡¯m on your side, you stupid ass!¡± I bellowed into his face. ¡°And stop calling them Space Japs! They are Yee! They have nothing to do with our culture! And I have nothing to do with them either! You understand that?¡± I didn¡¯t wait for a response before throwing him back to the ground. Hended hard on his back and then recoiled from me, his eyes wide with fear. I ignored him and looked back to the rest of the people. I had gained their full attention, but now I needed to put them at ease and gain their trust. Directing the tip of my sword towards the ground, I thrusted it into the earth about three feet deep. The motion caused another stir, but more awe than panic now. It was the closest thing I could think of to signify sheathing my weapon. ¡°Listen to me, all of you!¡± I said, raising my voice with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Yes, I am the man Susan and Kelsey found out in the wild. And yes, I wield powers that you¡¯ve seen wielded only by our enemies. But deep down I¡¯m just a kid from Colorado. A survivor of this great cmity that has befallen us all.¡± I then paused a moment to look at each and every face in the crowd. ¡°A survivor just like you.¡± Slowly the fear began to subside, and a few people even stepped closer. ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± a voice came from behind me, and I nced down to see Kelsey take a ce by my side. ¡°He may fight like them but he¡¯s one of us. I know he is. I trust him.¡± Finally, someone had the guts to shout something from the crowd. ¡°What the hell are you?¡± a grizzled old man in his fifties said. ¡°Who are you?¡± I cracked a grin at him. ¡°Apologies. My entrance didn¡¯t allow for introductions. You may call me Max. And what I am¡­is a cultivator.¡± The nk and confused expressions on their faces told me they¡¯d never heard the word used like that before. They probably thought I was talking about farming or some shit. ¡°It means I¡¯m able to harness energy and use it to cultivate strength within my own body,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s what the Yee used to defeat us. But it¡¯s the same power that I¡¯ll now use to defeat them.¡± Murmurs arose from the crowd as did some lemonade. ¡°You¡¯re as strong as them now?¡± someone else asked. ¡°One day I¡¯ll be stronger than all of them,¡± I said. ¡°But that¡¯s not what¡¯s important right now. What¡¯s important right now¡­is all of you.¡± That truly got their attention. Even Richards looked up at me quizzically. ¡°The Yee have conquered the entire Earth,¡± I continued. ¡°Those like me, who were left to live, have been indoctrinated into their empire. Colonized. Our history and culture erased. But you¡­you few who braved the darkness of that bunker for over a decade. You will be the true saviors of humanity.¡± I looked down at Kelsey as I said it and her eyes shone with the conviction of my words. ¡°You¡¯ve endured hardships that I can only imagine,¡± I said, looking back to them. ¡°Endured without a hope for a future. Endured beyond what our enemies believed possible. But I¡¯vee to tell you that today your struggles have not been in vain. Fate has blessed you with purpose. Today I¡¯ve found the true seed of humanity. Our culture. Ournguage. Our history. That is what you have preserved through your struggle. And that¡¯s what I¡¯ll now fight to restore.¡± All fear had subsided now, a steady confidence building within them. ¡°You¡¯re going to defeat all of them?¡± someone else said. ¡°Just you?¡± I smiled. ¡°Cultivation is not magic. It¡¯s knowledge. And knowledge can be taught. I¡¯m not sure how many of you have the aptitude to learn, but if you do, there is nothing stopping you from one day bing as strong as I am. Or stronger even. Even immortality with the power of a true god. The only limitation is how much [Sorrow and Pain] you¡¯re willing to endure and how strong your desire is to take back this from our enemies.¡± Stares of wonder were reced with grimaces of staunch determination as I sensed something other than lemonade emanating from the crowd. There, amidst the numbers were at least thirty or more unkindled embers, rage burning within their souls. Holy shit¡­. That was far more than I was even expecting. But I supposed they had spiritual roots far deeper than even my own when it came to their [Sorrow and Pain]. I wanted nothing more than to dig into the Shuras tempting me on Threja¡¯s de and perhaps learning how to ignite these people¡¯s mes. But there were more pressing matters to attend to first. ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°There are going to be some changes around here. The first being¡­¡± I nced down at Richards. ¡°Sergeant Richards, you¡¯re no longer in charge.¡± ¡°What?¡± he said. ¡°The first rule of this new world we¡¯re in, is that strength matters above all else. Those with strength rule.¡± I looked down with a smirk. ¡°So unless you¡¯re willing to face me in a duel. I suggest you step aside.¡± The crowd murmured with uneasiness at that, but I quickly followed up by looking for Susan in the crowd. ¡°But while those with strength rule,¡± I said. ¡°Those with wisdom are chosen to lead. Thus, Doctor Winters, I¡¯m cing you in charge.¡± Richards fumed. ¡°What? You can¡¯t do that! This is a milita¡ª¡± ¡°A military that lost,¡± I reminded him. ¡°You¡¯re obsolete, Richards. And so are your rules. If we want to survive, we need to adapt. But luckily that¡¯s a strength you here all already possess.¡± There was some stir at that, but no one seemed to beining about the change in leadership. ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°With that settled. There¡¯s one more thing that needs change.¡± I gripped the hilt of Threja¡¯s de and pulled it from the ground. ¡°I need to get you all some food.¡± * * * Susan reunited with her daughter, the girl looking sheepish as she approached her mother. ¡°Mom, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I just did it to¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up and help me organize these folks,¡± Susan said, before looking up at me. ¡°This ¡®friend¡¯ of yours has caused quite the stir.¡± Kelsey blushed but then quickly bowed out, heading into the crowd to help an old woman who looked in her 70s. After my speech the people seemed more upbeat in general. Although if it was all from me, or just not having Richards in charge anymore, I wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°Sorry about volunteering you for leadership,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re the only person I really know besides Kelsey. But you raised a good kid, so I think that¡¯s a good enough qualification for me.¡± Susan smirked. ¡°I still don¡¯t fully understand just what the hell you are, Max. But like everyone else, I¡¯m satisfied that you¡¯re on our side at least, so I¡¯m good with that for now. As for leadership, with Jim gone most of these peoplee to me for nearly everything anyway. Being a doctor in these times you may as well be a priest.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Can I ask you for a favor then, Ms. Priest?¡± She cocked her head at me questioningly. ¡°Can you get them to dig a pit for me? Ten foot wide. A foot deep?¡± I nodded to the indentation I¡¯d made with the sword. ¡°They can finish where I started.¡± ¡°What for?¡± Susan asked. ¡°We¡¯re going to have a barbeque.¡± * * * It took me about half an hour utilizing my handler skills to track down something worth eating. About a mile away I found a giant boar that was the size of a small car. I dispatched it quickly, and after gutting the beast, threw the fresh carcass over my shoulder and hauled it back to camp. I was rewarded with fresh lemonade for my efforts as I mmed the two tons of fresh pork onto the grass. Borrowing a knife, I put my other handler skills to use, skinning and butchering the carcass into edible portions. With years of handler experience under my belt, the skills came naturally, and I directed the soldiers how to construct the rest of the fire pit while I went back into the forest to chop down a few trees for firewood. Within another half hour it was all finished and I lit the fire with a bolt of blue lightning from my palm. As the meat cooked, I got to know my new tribe and they got to know me. I told them the same stories I¡¯d told Susan, starting with my personal history and then transitioning to where humanity now stood as a whole. The empire, the forced education, and the true purpose of the giant pagodas in the sky. ¡°So you mean without them, they¡¯d all be forced to live in bunkers like us?¡± June asked. I chuckled. ¡°I suppose. But it¡¯s not like they¡¯re starving for choices when ites tos to inhabit. As far as I can tell, they¡¯ve colonized most of our known gxy. Maybe even more. But don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll need to stay in that bunker much longer.¡± They all looked at me with a glimmer of hope yet iprehension. ¡°You saying that we can travel to this city?¡± Richards asked, full of skepticism. I nced at Threja¡¯s sword, which I¡¯d stuck back into the ground. ¡°In time,¡± I said. ¡°But I got some other ideas first.¡± That allowed me the perfect segue into what most people were probably itching to hear about the most¡ªcultivation. I started with the basics and then went into the various application of Qi and how it had transformed the world. Its use inbat, in industry. But there was rapt attention when I exined how it was employed in day-to-day life as well. ¡°People even farm and cook with it,¡± I said. ¡°In fact, that¡¯s what most of us do for a living in the cities. But even just one farmer with basic cultivation skill could keep amunity your size alive. Even through winter.¡± That sparked wild conversation in the group. My own statement got me thinking too. A little over 24 hours from now, I had to keep my date with Hein. And while I¡¯d regained my powers, I still had no idea how far away Jurin was or what it would take to get back there. But before I left there was something far more fundamental I needed to attend to first. ¡°Susan, do you still have paper and something to write with?¡± ¡°Not a lot,¡± she said. ¡°A few good pens left. A couple of boxes of paper that might still be good in one of the lower store rooms.¡± ¡°Perfect,¡± I said. ¡°After we eat, there¡¯s something I need to do.¡± We feasted on freshly cooked boar by noon and the spirits of the entiremunity was lifted. Even Richards, who was still brooding like a scolded child, managed to crack a fewughs between scowls and eventually came around a bit. Afterwards, Susan and Kelsey led me back into the bunker to show me maps of where we were exactly and using my rough estimation of where the wall was located, I calcted I was about two hundred miles from Jurin. Holy crap, I thought. I¡¯d covered that much distance in a single night? Of course, I was delirious and hopped up on Dark Frenzy at the time so who knew how fast I was truly moving back then. But now, with my solid core, I could maintain my Mark techniques near indefinitely. With [Mark of the Beast] I figured I could make it back home in a solid five hours given terrain. I added another two for contingency and had my departure time set. Just before dawn tomorrow, I thought. That gave me roughly 18 hours to get it all done. But could I really do it in that short a time? I didn¡¯t know for sure, but perhaps with some help¡­ ¡°Kelsey, how fast can you write?¡± She looked at me funny. ¡°Write?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°If my spoken English was rusty, I can only imagine what my writing is going to be like.¡± ¡°Well, I found the paper,¡± Susan said. ¡°What exactly is it you need to write?¡± I smiled and gave Kelsey a wink. ¡°A book on how to do magic.¡± A few minutester I got to work, setting up a small table in Susan¡¯s clinic. I summoned my Frenzy as I looked into my mind¡¯s eye, flexing my Mental Capacity as I recalled the Fundamentals of Cultivation manual. ¡°You ready?¡± I asked Kelsey and she gave me a nod, pen in hand. ¡°Okay,¡± I said as I opened the first page. ¡°Write down exactly what I tell you.¡± Chapter 70 I started with the chapters I¡¯d already tranted in my head earlier, dictating what I¡¯d previously written in my mind¡¯s eye straight to Kelsey¡¯s ears. Her penmanship was surprisingly good, which she attributed to her mother¡¯s constant nagging when it came to uracy. I guess when you were a doctor, uracy counted for a lot. But while I dictated, I found I also had the capacity to jump ahead in the manual and begin tranting the newer passages straight from Yee. It consumed a bit more Frenzy when I did so, but with the minuscule amount I was using, plus a solid core, I had tons of the stuff to spare. So much so, that I squeezed in just a little more efficiency by grabbing a piece of paper and began transposing some of the diagrams. I was no artist though, so they were glorified stick figures at best, but I managed to put in enough details to ensure the meaning was clear. So all at once I was speaking aloud to Kelsey, mindlessly regurgitating what I¡¯d already tranted, while my more active mind was tranting about thirty chapters ahead and then a third part of my consciousness drawing stick figures. It was taxing at that point, but I used more Frenzy to keep my mind focused. I realized then that I had to be at Stage V in both Mental Capacity and Mental Quickness to be doing what I was doing. And if not, then certainly by the time I finished tranting the manual, I would be. I kept going for a solid three hours with Kelsey dutifully keeping pace. I was vaguely aware of Susaning in to check on us every so often and even Richards and some of the other soldiers doing the same. When we hit the four-hour mark, reaching nearly halfway through the manual, I finally called for us to take a break. ¡°Holy crap¡­¡± Kelsey said, looking exhausted yet exhrated. ¡°You¡¯re a frigging machine! How are you able to remember all this? And draw at the same time?¡±I shrugged. ¡°Justes with training¡­and cultivation.¡± She huffed out augh. ¡°With superpowers like that who needsputers, right?¡± I blinked at her quizzically. What¡¯d she¡¯d said was actually quite profound. I never gave much thought to it before as a mortal, but the Yee empire did not possessputers like we did. They had Qi technology to an extent, like the Qi boards and lighting, but nothing trulyputational and now I understood why. If I could create what felt like a virtual Microsoft Office suite inside my own head, then I could only imagine what someone like Xi Xha¡ªa trained schr¡ªwould be capable of. ¡°Hello! Earth to Max,¡± Kelsey said, waving her hand in front of my eyes. ¡°Did your brain finally have a meltdown?¡± I snapped my eyes to hers with a smile. ¡°Sorry. Lost in thought for a moment there. But yeah, you¡¯re right. Computers may be obsolete now.¡± I nced over the stack of papers she had written. ¡°You¡¯re doing a great job by the way, Kelsey. This is perfect.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± she said, neatening the papers in her hands. ¡°This stuff is amazing. I can¡¯t wait to try it.¡± I grinned. ¡°Hey, it should be after dark now, right?¡± ¡°Should be, why?¡± ¡°There¡¯s something I want to check,¡± I said. ¡°Outside.¡± Kelsey¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Are you serious? You want to go outside?¡± I could sense the fear within her along with the hints of an unkindled me. Like Threja, it would probably be a step too far to see if she woulde with me as a test of uncertain death, but I suppose it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try. ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°Why? Do you want toe with me?¡± To my surprise she simply answered, ¡°Sure!¡± I realized my mistake then and also why Threja didn¡¯t reveal her true strength to me when she had asked me to join her. Kelsey had already seen my powers. She probably felt safeing with me, knowing I could protect her. The result was no kindling of her ember at all, but it did warm a little. ¡°Let¡¯s go then,¡± I said. We left the clinic and headed up the stairs towards the main hatch. Luckily, we didn¡¯t encounter anyone on the way as it¡¯d probably be too hard to exin what I was about to do. But it would only take a few minutes I figured. ¡°Just wait here for a second,¡± I told her once we reached the airlock. ¡°Just in case I¡¯m wrong.¡± ¡°Wrong about what?¡± I winked at her. ¡°You¡¯ll know if Ie running back screaming.¡± That got her fear to increase. Maybe there might be a chance to kindle her me after all. But that was secondary to what I was doing now. Working the wheel, I squeezed through the outer hatchway and gave Kelsey a wave as she stared back at me pensively through the crack in the door. ¡°Be right back I said.¡± I mmed the door closed before she could ask any other questions. The night was still with no wind, but it had the frigid bite of early fall. High above, the Bloodmoon had risen, half hiding behind a bank of clouds. As I¡¯d expected, there was no Dark Frenzy exuding from it, or at least none that I could sense. I walked over to where I had left Threja¡¯s sword stuck into the ground and felt the pure Frenzy radiating from it. It was indeed acting just like a miniature pagoda, providing shielding from the Bloodmoon¡¯s influence. This was what had truly saved me that night. Had I not been under its protection, those demons would have torn me apart. The Frenzying from it wasn¡¯t something I could readily use or absorb, however. It was more like a catalyst or a stimnt of some kind, the solid core of my Dantian vibrating with it harmonically. Maybe that was how it was able to cleanse me from the demonic junk clogging my soul, literally shaking the stuff loose from inside me. Or perhaps it was more akin to Fia¡¯s silver chair that she used to amplify her cultivation technique. Either way, this was an artifact of immense power. A true treasure. As I stared into the cryptic script on the de, I read through the Shuras, heart beating with exhration as my thirst for new knowledge increased. There was an expanded section of Advanced Body Refinement, extending the stages from Six through Ten. New manifestation techniques, and insight into how to develop one¡¯s true inner soul. I would have liked nothing more than to stand there for hours memorizing and digesting it all, but the sword had a greater purpose now. It was providing something the people here needed desperately to survive. A dome of protection against the Bloodmoon and the wild. In time, perhaps it could even be a true sanctuary for humanity, not having to rely upon the Yee pagodas for safety at all. But to do that I needed to know how far it extended, first. Drawing on my Frenzy, I channeled my reflexes and took off in a sprint into the forest. Howls and screams filled the night air as I ran further and further into the forest. I got about a quarter mile before I finally saw what I was looking for. There at the edge of a clearing were the red-skinned beasts and demons from my waking nightmare. They wed at the invisible wall caused by the aura of Threja¡¯s de and as they caught sight of me, rushed against it, scrambling over one another, snarling and hissing to get at me. I couldn¡¯t hear their voices in my head anymore, but I could imagine them calling for my blood. I flexed my Dantian with solid Frenzy. ¡°[Fear the me], you bastards.¡± The result was immediate. The smallest of them recoiled in terror and ran off into the night while therger humanoid demons hissed with revulsion. I still didn¡¯t know exactly what Frenzy was, but demons seemed to hate the shit out of it. I headed back to Kelsey and knocked on the bunker door for her to let me inside. ¡°Well, it works,¡± I said as she let me back in. ¡°What works? Where did you go?¡± ¡°To confirm that the sword is creating a protective barrier just like the pagodas. I had to make sure, but you¡¯repletely safe going outside right now.¡± ¡°What? Really?¡± she said. ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°Come and see.¡± Her apprehension was reced with a smile of tion as she stepped outside and looked up at the night sky. ¡°Holy shit, I can¡¯t believe this,¡± she said, spinning about while still looking upwards. ¡°I can¡¯t remember thest time I¡¯ve even seen the moon. Wait¡­I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen it!¡± That made me pause in wonder. Perhaps what I¡¯d just revealed to her was even bigger than I thought. ¡°So you say the sword is doing all this?¡± she asked. I nodded. ¡°How can you be sure we¡¯re safe out here?¡± ¡°Because there¡¯s an army of demons that won¡¯t cross an invisible line in the sand about a quarter mile from here.¡± ¡°Demons?¡± I wondered if maybe I¡¯d said too much. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if you knew, but the Bloodmoon causes the spirit beasts to transform at night. Other thingse too. Demons is the best thing I can describe them as.¡± I sensed the fear in her increase. ¡°I want to see them,¡± Kelsey said, her brows suddenly lowering as her ember stirred. ¡°The beasts and demons that roam the night.¡± ¡°We probably don¡¯t have time, Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t want your mom calling another search party when she finds us both missing and the front door left wide open.¡± ¡°So make it quick,¡± she said, and then like a monkey she grabbed me from behind by my shoulders and climbed onto my back. ¡°Chop, chop.¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°Guess I got no choice with you.¡± ¡°Sure don¡¯t,¡± she said. ¡°Now hurry up. Let¡¯s go.¡± With another burst of Frenzy, I sprinted into the forest and took her out to the edge of the sword¡¯s influence, stopping a good distance away from the edge. Kelsey stiffened, her knees jabbing into my sides when she finally saw the red-skinned demons for herself. But I sensed something else as well. A sudden stirring of her ember. ¡°You okay?¡± I asked. Long seconds of silence passed with only the sound of demons hissing and screaming filling the void. Finally Kelsey spoke. ¡°These are the things that killed my best friend,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°And her parents too. Plus a lot of other people I know. People who got caught on the outside after dark. People we never saw or heard from again. Now at least I know what killed them¡­what ate them even.¡± I couldn¡¯t see her face, but by her tone I could imaging she was scowling, her ember glowing brighter. It made me realize that everyone¡¯s frenzied path was not ignited by the same me. Everyone had their own private Demon to wrestle and their own Struggler to bear. ¡°Where do you think they all came from?¡± she asked. ¡°The moon?¡± I had to question that myself. But a fearful part of me wondered if this was what had truly be of the human race under the effects of the Bloodmoon. I thought of my parents and sister, but refused to follow the thought any further than that. ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, consoling both her and myself. ¡°Probably came from the moon.¡± I looked up at the glowing red orb in the night sky and wondered if its curse was even greater than that of the Yee. ¡°Come on,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯d better get back.¡± * * * We continued on with the manual once we returned to the bunker, but there was a different energy in the air now. Where before Kelsey¡¯s eyes were filled with wonder, now they were filled with determination and resolve. I could read her thoughts without even asking. She¡¯d found a focus for her [Sorrow and Pain] and now the very words she was transcribing were a means to exacting vengeance for those she had lost. It reminded me of the vengeance still stirring within my own heart. Hong Feng and Sumatra, I thought. Those evil bastards killed both me and Mu Lin. Just the thought of them stirred the Demon within my soul. It needed to crush them. To make them pay in blood and horrific agony for their sins. I was more powerful than ever now and while I had no idea how powerful Hong Feng truly was, I no longer cared. I¡¯d already died once, and I¡¯d happily do so again to drag that evil bastard to hell with me for killing Mu Lin. I blinked, pulling myself out of my own thoughts, realizing they were strong enough to even generate some Frenzy from my me. I focused back on Kelsey as I calmed my spirit with the Struggler¡¯s embrace. I¡¯d have to find a way to transcribe my knowledge of the orb, the same as I was doing for the Foundation manual, to truly ignite her Frenzied me. But I didn¡¯t know enough about the process to do her justice. Perhaps there would be more instruction on the de. But for now, I¡¯d have to be satisfied to at least give the gift of Qi for those who could sense it. We plowed on and by the timete evening came, we took another break. ¡°How much more?¡± Kelsey asked, yawning. She was lookingpletely spent, but there was no hint of giving up in her tone. The girl was a fighter through and through. ¡°Just a couple more hours, I think,¡± I said, gauging what was left in the manual. ¡°Thanks again for making this happen, Kelsey.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who should be thanked,¡± she said, rubbing her forearm. ¡°I¡¯ll go find us some food.¡± Kelsey left and then returned a whileter with some of the roasted boar. We ate in silence for a while, enjoying the break, until Kelsey belched loudly with augh. ¡°Man, I haven¡¯t eaten this good in a long time,¡± she said as she gnawed on a rib bone. ¡°It¡¯s going to be great having you around here.¡± My chewing slowed as I realized what she¡¯d just said. Did she not realize I was going? She had to. But perhaps¡­not so soon? ¡°You¡­ do realize I¡¯m leaving tomorrow, right?¡± I said. Kelsey looked up at me, mid bite. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Remember I told you that I needed to get back to save a bunch of people?¡± ¡°Yeah, but not right away?¡± Kelsey lifted up the manuscript. ¡°Who is supposed to teach us this stuff?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Well, you probably have a head start on everyone else.¡± Kelsey didn¡¯t look amused. ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°I know it might seem sudden, but there¡¯s a time constraint I¡¯m under. I have a duel with someone and if I don¡¯t keep it, a lot of people will lose their homes or worse. Trust me, if I had the time to stay I would.¡± ¡°So why rush with this book right now then, if you¡¯re just going to leave?¡± ¡°Because if I¡¯m honest,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee I¡¯ll make it back.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll even make it home. And if I don¡¯t, I couldn¡¯t leave here without at least giving humanity the gift of Qi cultivation.¡± ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa,¡± Kelsey said, standing up. ¡°We made a deal, Max. You promised to take me to that city and now you¡¯re saying you might not evene back?¡± ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m saying I might die.¡± She blinked, looking even more shocked. ¡°It¡¯s a dangerous path I walk, Kelsey. And while I have every intention of returning as soon as I can, nothing is guaranteed. Just trying to be honest with you.¡± I thought more on what I had to do back in the city and thoughts of Sumatra and Hong Feng stirred again. The bastards needed to die! But no. I couldn¡¯t focus on that. I had to save my people too. ¡°If there¡¯s one thing I can assure you of, Kelsey, is that when I leave, I¡¯m going to go prepare a ce for you. A ce for you and everyone here. A ce in the new world.¡± I then tapped the manuscript. ¡°And this knowledge will be the key to making you all a part of it.¡± Kelsey frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but I understand. You got other stuff you need to take care of first.¡± ¡°Sadly yes,¡± I said as those thoughts of Hong Feng creeped into the back of my mind again. ¡°I have a lot to take care of first.¡± Kelsey sighed and then tossed the rib bone to the side before wiping her hands. ¡°Fine then,¡± she said, grabbing the pen again. ¡°Let¡¯s get this finished so you can get home.¡± Chapter 71 Yu Li shielded her eyes from the re of the morning sun as it crested over the horizon. She was gathered within the market square along with the rest of themunity, woken up early by Jian Yi. People had turned out dressed in their finest attire as Jian Yi had requested and she was addressing the crowd from atop a table, the documents Chun had sent in her hands. The day had finallye. The day Yu Li had dreaded for over a month. The apology to Hein. Just the thought of him brought an uneasiness to her spirit. But for some reason there was more hope in her heart than dread. And despite herself, she had to give Jian Yi some credit for that.She was exining that thanks to Chun they were all part of a new sect now¡­the Terran Sect, and that they had protection under thew. It was hard to tell if people understood what that exactly meant. Even Yu Li didn¡¯t fully understand, but by the way Jian Yi was speaking, a steady confidence was building within the crowd. ¡°I know what I¡¯m telling you goes against everything we¡¯ve been told,¡± Jian Yi was saying. ¡°That being a Terran means you must humble yourself and serve even the lowest of our merciful Yee saviors. But today we will not simply bow down. We must show our strength. We must show that we stand united under thew. That we are indeed members of the true Terran Sect.¡± There was a small round of cheers from the crowd, but Yu Li could tell there was still some uncertainty as well. The reason for that was quickly revealed when a woman yelled out from the crowd. ¡°Where¡¯s Chun?¡± That sparked a chorus of murmurs. Jian Yi handled it expertly though, not showing a hint of uncertainty in her tone. ¡°Young Master Hein will arrive at noon for the start of the duel,¡± she said. ¡°And rest assured, Chun shall be here also.¡± * * * I thrusted Threja¡¯s sword back into the ground, having moved it to the small clearing directly in front of the massive bunker doors. It lined up perfectly with the seam between them, creating a monument of sorts. It was a bit ceremonial, with the entire popce gathered before me as Kelsey and Susan stood by my side. It was morning now, the trantion of the manual taking a bit longer than I had anticipated. But Kelsey stayed up as long as she could, going to midnight before eventually falling asleep. Susan took over after that, transcribing the final few chapters before I too eventually gave in to sleep having finallypleted the task. That was about five hours ago and now I was an hour past my departure time. I wanted nothing more than to get underway, but I had to spend a few minutes more to ensure this most necessary step took ce. ¡°Alright, folks, this is it,¡± I said, addressing the group that Susan had pulled together. ¡°I know we all just met, but today I must leave you and return to the city.¡± That got murmurs of confusion from the crowd. ¡°What do you mean leave?¡± Richards said, hostility in his tone. ¡°You ride in here, mess up a whole bunch of stuff and then ride off into the sunset?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call feeding us for a week messing stuff up,¡± Kelsey quipped. Richards opened his mouth to retort, but he couldn¡¯t seem to find any words tobat the girl¡¯s logic. I smiled then, with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] trying to ease the tension. ¡°It¡¯s okay, guys. I understand. And trust me, if I didn¡¯t have to go I wouldn¡¯t, but my path leads me away from you for a while. I will return, but I¡¯m not going to leave you empty handed.¡± I rested my palm on the hilt of Threja¡¯s de. ¡°This sword is a holy relic of an ascended god. It exudes power that you can¡¯t sense, but it¡¯s right now forming a protective barrier around this entire area for a quarter mile in each direction.¡± ¡°What?¡± someone said, sparking more chatter. ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes. The monsters thate at night can¡¯t get through it. We¡¯re all safe here now. We can leave the bunker and live outside. Up on the surface.¡± That got even more gasps of amazement. ¡°That¡¯s not all,¡± Susan said. ¡°He has also given us this.¡± She then produced the manuscript which she had bound into a cover, which had a simple handwritten title in English: Cultivation Fundamentals. She held it up for everyone to see and as expected people didn¡¯t seem to quite know what to make of it. ¡°Again,¡± I said. ¡°I wish I had more time to exin all this, but within that book are the instructions on how to cultivate. By my estimation, one in twenty will have the aptitude to detect and learn the ability to cultivate Qi. But even if you can¡¯t, I encourage all of you to learn and understand it. The knowledge within that manual is the very foundation of power.¡± I then paused to sense the unkindled souls within the crowd. Even more than before perhaps. Forty to fifty now. ¡°For another group still,¡± I still. ¡°There will be an even further form of advancement possible, if fate would have it. For that reason alone I am honor bound to return to you. Trust me when I say this. There is more power within you few here that you don¡¯t yet understand. But know, that now more than ever, I believe taking this entire back is possible.¡± That sparked even more embers to stir, but I left it at that. ¡°When will you return?¡± the woman, June, asked. I chuckled. ¡°A good question. The answer is as soon as possible, but as for when that will be exactly¡­fate only knows.¡± I couldn¡¯t sound more cryptic, I realized, but that was the truth of the matter. I still had to get 200 miles across the wild and then face Hein, but more than that, I had Hong Feng to deal with. He knew my secret. And as soon as I showed back up alive, I¡¯d be as good as dead again. That meant I needed to take care of him while I still held an advantage. Sudden death from the grave had a nice ring to it. The thought only spurred me on to depart. ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± I said, addressing the crowd again. ¡°I wish you all well until I return. Oh¡­ and onest thing.¡± I looked to Richards. ¡°Remember who¡¯s still in charge until your boss gets back.¡± Richards smirked. ¡°Yeah¡­ we¡¯ll see once you¡¯re gone.¡± The Demon twitched within me. ¡°Need I remind you of thew of strength again?¡± I pointed at Threja¡¯s de. ¡°This sword represents me and my power. And while you remain under its protection you remain under my rule. So, until your real boss gets back, I¡¯ve made Susan your leader.¡± I looked out into the crowd. ¡°Anyints about that?¡± A few people shrugged, but most shook their heads. Even his fellow soldiers looked away sheepishly as Richards turned a shade redder, anger boiling inside of him. ¡°That¡¯s settled,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you all when I return.¡± The crowd dispersed slowly but Kelsey and Susan remained at my side. A few of themunity members approached me and thanked me for what I¡¯d done, but even as much as I had done thus far, felt like it was way too little. It made me wonder if I could bnce this juggling act of managing two Terranmunities while also trying to advance my cultivation to take down a 14-millennium-old empire. You¡¯ve got to eat an elephant one bite at a time, I reminded myself. I nced at Richards as he walked away, tail between his legs. ¡°You going to be able to manage him,¡± I asked, looking to Susan. The doctor shrugged. ¡°He¡¯ll be alright.¡± ¡°Not really what I meant,¡± I said. If it were up to me, I¡¯d maybe send Richards out on a final mission into the wild, but I wouldn¡¯t even suggest making a call like that to Susan. These people would have their own dynamics to sort out and a push like that from me would be a step too far. But it was worth the risk to put someone with actual brains in control, even temporarily. All the more reason to hurry back, I thought. I set my sights on the horizon, judging the time by the position of the sun. I had to get moving. ¡°Thanks for everything,¡± I said, turning to Susan and Kelsey. ¡°Both of you.¡± Susan nodded and shook my hand. ¡°You¡¯re the strangest most wonderful thing toe through here in 12 years, Max. Hurry back.¡± ¡°I will.¡± I then gave Kelsey a smile. ¡°See you soon, yeah?¡± She smirked yfully. ¡°I¡¯m going to hold you to that,¡± she said, giving me a fist pump. ¡°And one more thing¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget your promise.¡± * * * Leaving the bunker and Threja¡¯s sword behind felt like a sin. But it was necessary now. I headed north towards a small hill and once atop it paused to study my surroundings. I picked up my bearings using my handler skills, determining north by north-west was roughly the direction I needed to head. Susan had given me a faded army green tee shirt to wear, which now clung to my skin far too snugly. But it wouldn¡¯t survive what I was about to do. Removing it, I channeled my inner me and engaged [Mark of the Beast]. Blood flowed from my mouth as my feral traits took hold, canines sharpening and lengthening as my limbs grew longer with snaps and pops of bone. The transformation went quicker than normal and seemed to hurt less too. Perhaps it was a result of finally entering the Core Realm, but I felt more energized than I ever had before. I surged with solid Frenzy and sent a blue lightning bolt into the sky, giving my new-found tribe a final farewell with a volley of echoing thunder. I¡¯ll be back, I told them as I settled onto all fours and prepared to run eight marathons in the time it took to normally run one. It sounded impossible, but nothing was impossible for a Berserker when the [Odds were Against Him]. The thought summoned fresh Frenzy from my me and I used it to channel strength and endurance to my limbs. Releasing a savage howl, I sprung into the forest and ran faster than I¡¯d ever run before. Chapter 72 The midmorning sun was approaching the height of noon when Young Master Hein finally arrived at the square. Yu Li¡¯s stomach knotted with tension at the sight of him, still annoyingly handsome despite what a self-centered ass he was. The conflicting emotions irked her. On one hand she hated everything Hein had done to her, but on the other, he¡¯d given her the precious gift of Su Ling. Not that it would matter to him. Hein barely looked at the infant as he approached her with a cunning smile. Close behind him was the one-handed girl, Zu Tien, and theirndlord, Li Fet. ¡°So lovely to see you again, Yu Li,¡± Hein said. ¡°And still radiant as ever.¡± Yu Li ignored his advances as she continued to bounce Su Ling on her hip. ¡°Young Master Hein,¡± she greeted him formally with a bow, but nothing more. Hein¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°I hope you havee prepared to make atonement for your errors, Yu Li. I will of course be merciful to you if you do.¡± Despite the anger in her heart, Yu Li forced herself not to defy him outright. She smiled instead. ¡°I am sure today you will get everything that is owed to you, Young Master Hein.¡±The irritated expression on his face was worth holding back her anger for. ¡°I¡¯m sure I will,¡± he said with disdain. He then nced about the square where the entiremunity was gathered all dressed in their finest of robes. ¡°I¡¯m sure all of you will be prepared to face your fate once the oue of this duel is decided.¡± He then blinked and looked up in shock at Gui Zu who was standing by her side, only just noticing him apparently. Immediately he burst intoughter. ¡°Is this a jest? What in the nine hells are you doing here, Gui Zu?¡± Gui Zu remained stone faced as he replied, ¡°I stand with Miss Yu Li, Young Master Hein.¡± Heinughed again. ¡°You shame me to have ever taken pity on you, Gui Zu. Now look at the pathetic excuse for a station you now hold. Have you no pride? Have you no face to save?¡± ¡°He has plenty,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°And he is twice the man that you¡¯d ever be.¡± Gasps went throughout the crowd as Hein¡¯s eyes grew wide and furious. ¡°What did you just say to me?!¡± he bellowed. He drew his hand back to strike her, but the one-handed girl jumped ahead of him. ¡°Let me deal with her, master,¡± she said. ¡°She is too far beneath you!¡± Yu Li steeled herself for the oing p or worse, but the smacking of skin on skin came only from Gui Zu deflecting Zu Tien¡¯s hand with a skillful block. More gasps of shock resounded through the crowd as Zu Tien balked with disbelief. ¡°Gui Zu!¡± she screamed. ¡°You dare? You are nothing but a disgraced reject of the Silver Leaf n. A talentless oaf, bested by a mere mortal!¡± Zu Tien then nced back at Hein. ¡°Master, please allow me permission to execute this lowly dog to restore your honor.¡± ¡°Are you certain you wish to do that?¡± All eyes turned at the voice to see Jian Yi stepping confidently through the square. Behind her was a young man, that looked in his twenties who wore beige and off-white robes, the colors of the empire. ¡°You¡¯d be engaging in an unprovoked attack against another sect,¡± Jian Yi said as she came to a stop before Zu Tien. ¡°I am not certain if you understand the implications of that, but we¡¯d be within our rights to seek restitution under thew. Is that not right, Junior Magistrate?¡± The young man in imperial robes bowed. ¡°Indeed correct. A pleasure to greet you, Young Master Hein. I am Junior Magistrate Hui Long. I shall be officiating the proceedings this afternoon.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Hein lowered his brows in a scowl, pushing Zu Tien out of the way. ¡°What is the meaning of this? No one invited you here.¡± ¡°I did,¡± Jian Yi said with a bow. ¡°Jian Yi of the Terran Sect. As are we all. I trust this may havee as a surprise, but I would hope that under the circumstances you would wee an official representative of the empire to ensure your property does not pass possession unfairly. Do you not agree, Honorable Li Fet?¡± Li Fet, their fatndlord, blubbered something iprehensible under his breath and then looked to Hein for some kind of direction. Jian Yi waited patiently for an answer from him, egging him on a pleasant smile. Yu Li herself was now smiling. She never would have expected it, but Jian Yi truly was bold and skillful enough to stand toe-to-toe with them. How she¡¯d managed to get a Junior Magistrate toe was yet another mystery. How many connections did this girl have? ¡°What is this Terran Sect nonsense?¡± Hein said, approaching the magistrate. ¡°Exin!¡± Hui Long produced the papers Chun had sent her and showed them to Hein. ¡°It is all here.¡± ¡°Let me see that,¡± he said, snatching them away. He then squinted as he studied the fine print, his face turning red. ¡°What in the nine hells is this?¡± Hein shouted irate. ¡°That idiot, Chun, became a citizen? A leader of the Terran Sect?¡± He red at the magistrate. ¡°Clearly this is a case of fraud! Need I summon my father, the Vice-Warden, to put you under investigation for perpetuating this nonsense?¡± ¡°A thousand apologies, Young Master,¡± Hui Long said, bowing. ¡°But I have already verified the validity of the documents. This is indeed an officiated sect under the protection of thew. I understand you have already arranged a duel to settle one civil matter in regards to a rent increase and a property forfeit, but if you wish to settle a further dispute I can oversee that as well.¡± A long moment of silence passed as Hein stood there fuming at the magistrate. In that moment, Yu Li understood now the secret to Jian Yi¡¯s confidence and the true gift Chun had given them by creating the sect. Were it not for that piece of paper, that same magistrate would have simply looked on with indifference if Hein and Zu Tien had both ughtered the entire lot of them. But now he was at Jian Yi¡¯s beck and call it seemed. The power of thew was a power like none other indeed. ¡°It matters not,¡± Hein said finally. ¡°Officiate all you want. The oue will be the same regardless.¡± He then looked at Yu Li with a smirk. ¡°If and when your oafish friend decides to finally show up, he will learn his ce. As will you all. And then we¡¯ll see about restitution.¡± * * * Sweat poured off my back like a waterfall. I¡¯d been pushing hard for over three hours but still it felt like I was getting nowhere. The terrain had proven far more difficult than I had anticipated. I had added a few extra hours as a contingency, but I didn¡¯t expect for the forest to be so thick and full of hidden obstacles. I¡¯d spent just as much time traversing up and down hills and valleys as I did skirting around cliffs andkes. I nced up at the sun. My current oppressor. It alone now dictated my fate. If I didn¡¯t make it back in time all would be lost. I burned solid Frenzy from my core, bursting along small stretches of abandoned highway where I could find them. But instances like that were few and far between. As time went on, my body began to feel the burden of my plight. But it wasn¡¯t just physical anymore. Something deep inside was ailing me. I¡¯m not going to make it. The thought hit me like a punch to the gut. I refused to believe it at first. Just keep going, I told myself. But as time went on and the shadows on the ground began to extend, the reality of my situation finally took hold. I slid to a stop on my knees in some unknown part of the wilderness and let out an anguished cry. It had to be well after two in the afternoon by now. Damn it, I thought. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have tried to leave them that manual. I could have left earlier if I hadn¡¯t. But what if I never returned¡­? It was that fear that kept me there, kept me tranting the manual. But had I just traded onemunity for another? The thought caused the Struggler to stir. No, I told myself. I can¡¯t give up. I had to make it back. Being just a few hourste shouldn¡¯t matter. I pressed on, digging deep into my core, but as the sun sunk lower, so did my spirits and my resolve. I thought about what had to be happening to them by now. Hein had surely imed his victory. I envisioned him punishing Yu Li, that instance where he¡¯d nearly pped her reying in my mind. Gui Zu would try to stop him no doubt, but as skillful as he was, he¡¯d be no match for a cultivator like Hein. ¡°They could all be dead already¡­¡± I whispered, my thoughts turning dark as my me soured and began to grow cold. I lost all strength then, my Frenzy evaporating as I gave in to the despair within my soul. Shit¡­I really had gone and messed up again. Yu Li, Su Ling, Mu Lin. I¡¯ve failed all of you! I copsed to my knees again and cried out at the fading light in the sky. I was getting close to home now I realized, some of thendmarks in the distance looking familiar to me. But I was running barely at normal speed now, my [Mark of the Beast] having long since worn off fromck of Frenzy. It would take me hours still to reach home now. But it didn¡¯t matter. I was already toote. Hein had won. And I had lost. * * * I was limping by the time the east gate came within view, the color of dusk in the sky. I stumbled through the pirs, soul and body broken. It was nearly dark now; even the guards and enforcers had already left for the day. But nothing mattered anymore. The void of emptiness inside me grew only stronger as I saw the all too familiar surrounds of my old workce. While I was in the wild, I had acknowledged my failure, but it seemed all academicpared to now. Now the reality hit me like a speeding truck. I¡¯d made it back, but far toote. As I approached the handler station, I saw something else that crushed my soul. Mu Lin¡­ She was here, but no longer in the flesh. A portrait of Mu Lin had been ced on a small altar. Reality hit me for the second time as I stared into the big brown eyes of one of my closest friends. A friend I¡¯d now lost forever. A small part of me was holding onto a sliver of hope that perhaps she had somehow survived. But that all evaporated now. There was no way she could have escaped the trap I¡¯d ced her in. And now, to actually see the proof of her demise was like experiencing her death all over again. Then I saw something else that immediately brought tears my eyes. There before her picture was an offering. A single persimmon. I fell to my knees before the altar with a sob, my souling undone. Thepounding of my grief was almost too much to bear as I thought of the beautiful young life that had been snuffed out. She¡¯d just passed her exam, gotten epted into the academy¡ªa bright future ahead of her. All that stripped away in an instant. More thoughts of everyone else I¡¯d failed resurfaced. Yu Li and Su Ling. Gui Zu. Jian Yi. How could I ever face them again? The answer was simple. I couldn¡¯t¡ªmy shame and grief too great. It was all I could do to just sit there and weep for their loss and mine. ¡°Hey!¡± a gruff voice called out. ¡°Who the hell is back her¡ª¡± I nced upwards to see Sumatra staring down at me, the big gray giant¡¯s jaw hanging wide open. His eyes widened to the size of saucers. In that instant, all grief and suffering sh converted into rage within my soul as the Demon yanked the Struggler from the controls. ¡°You piece of shit!!!¡± Terror spilled from his soul as Sumatra let out a scream, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. ¡°Noooo!¡± he cried, already turning to run. ¡°Stay away! Stay away from me! Whatever the hell you are!¡± I was in Beast form before I knew it, my savagery overwhelming me as I gave in to my rage. I bounded ahead of him with a single leap, cutting off his escape from the handler¡¯s shed. He shrieked again as I backhanded him across the chest, his soul filled with so much terror that it alone could keep my [Mark of the Beast] sustained. Ipped it up greedily, cultivating his fear as I picked him up off the ground by his neck. He was spitting blood already, every organ within his chest popped by the single blow. But I wanted him to suffer way more than that. He was mouthing something pathetically as his arms and legs dangled, my height surpassing even his own as I juiced myself with [Mark of the Giant]. A small part of me realized I was now employing two Marks at once. A feat impossible before. But now anything seemed possible for a Core Realm Berserker fueled with the power of hate and rage. ¡°You killed her, you bastard!¡± I shook him like a rag doll. ¡°You didn¡¯t need to get her involved. You took her from this world!¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t me¡­¡± he muttered. ¡°Wasn¡¯t me! Hong Feng¡­¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you worry,¡± I said, my voice deep and distorted under the Demon¡¯s control. ¡°He¡¯ll be paying for his sins soon enough. But it¡¯s time for you to finally go to hell for yours. Die, you vile piece of shit!¡± I clenched my fists and made his neck pop, just like I had Yin Chu¡¯s. The final look of shock and disbelief on Sumatra¡¯s face was priceless as his head popped clean off his body. As it fell to the ground I stomped on his chest with rage, caving it in, sending a gush of blood jettisoning from his neck. I picked up his body and with a primal roar, hurled it over the wall like a hammer throw. His enormous bulk sailed for what must have been half a football field before finally falling out of view. I turned about and grabbed his head next, piercing his eyes with my thumbs and tearing his skull in two before hurling both halves over the wall with a wail of anguished pain. My breathing was ragged, my me raging and craving more. One down, one more to go. I¡¯ll avenge you yet, Mu Lin. A new thought came with my pledge. There would be no more sorrow tonight. Tonight, the Demon was taking control. I recalled my vision with Threja and how I¡¯d asked her if I could do both¡ªto be both protector and avenger. I guess I had my answer now. Fate had given its verdict and the Demon was smiling brightly within my soul. ¡°You¡¯re next, Hong Feng,¡± I said as I stared out into the wild and imagined the beasts already feasting on Sumatra¡¯s twisted and broken body. ¡°You and all your kind.¡± I had a few stops to make to prepare, but I was no longer in a rush now. There was no one left to save. Anger and hatred boiled over in my soul¡ªthe power of Frenzy and an ice-cold resolveing with it. I may have been toote to save my family. But it was never toote¡­for revenge. Chapter 73 I stopped by the arena on my way to Master Edrik¡¯s, collecting a few items along with a fresh set of robes. I didn¡¯t run into Bo Ren, but it was just as well. I wasn¡¯t in a very talkative mood. The same went for when I finally got to see Master Edrik himself. By the wary look on his face, I could tell he knew something was off. Lysa was more vocal about her concern. ¡°Is everything alright, son?¡± she asked with a furrowed brow. I stood in the doorway, not even wanting toe inside, the murderous intent in my heart too strong. ¡°Honestly no,¡± I said, reaching for the axe Edrik had crafted for me. ¡°But it will be in a few minutes.¡± They both didn¡¯t seem to know what to make of that. I didn¡¯t know myself really. I knew killing Hong Feng wouldn¡¯t bring Mu Lin back, but it was all I had left to do now. Or try to do anyway. The bastard had already killed me once before, but I had the heart of a demon and a solid core now. If this was a way to atone for my failure, then the least I could do was remove that scum from the face of the earth so that no one else would die. I studied the axe. It was crafted to perfection ording to the pattern Edrik had shown me a few days earlier, but now seeing it in its true form it was even more impressive. The Corrupted Steel felt weighty and powerful in my hands, the crescent de bnced perfectly by the solid metal shaft. But Edrik had gone a step further and added a grip to the shaft made of ornate engravings. Solid. Lethal. A tool of death if I¡¯d ever seen one. ¡°This is perfect, Master Edrik,¡± I said, still marveling at it. ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough.¡± ¡°You can thank me by keeping yourself in one piece,¡± Edrik said. ¡°For whatever the hells you¡¯re about to do.¡± ¡°Do you want toe inside and talk, son?¡± Lysa said, her eyes filled with concern. I shook my head. The time for talking was over. ¡°Let¡¯s leave him be now, Lysa,¡± Edrik said patting her on the hand. ¡°This man clearly has work to be done.¡± * * * Edrik¡¯s final words echoed through my mind as I stalked through the alleyways of the restaurant district and approached the door to the Fire Bird Sect. Everyst insult I¡¯d endured behind those walls suddenly came back to me, feeding the growing fury of my me. I rapped on the door once. Stepped back. Before the eye-slot even slid fully open, I charged forward with a powerful kick. Wha-BAM! Wood and stone ruptured with a shower of splinters and dust. I stepped through the remodeled doorway to see both Du Mak and Ju Gong groaning listlessly in semi-unconsciousness on the floor, half buried under a pile of debris. Voices rang out in rm from further within the sect, but I didn¡¯t care. This was no stealth mission. They would all know who was killing them tonight. I strengthened the grip on my new axe, surging Frenzy through it. The [Odds were clearly Against Me] taking on an entire sect and the thought brought a smile to my lips and a craving to my soul. I channeled the fresh Frenzy into [Iron Skin], preparing to face the worst they had to offer. I charged into the training area with a roar, thundering with lightning. At least a dozen cultivators died instantly from the lightning bolts radiating from my core. Those that survived immediately sprang into a defensive formation, mes and weapons flying. A trio of Fire Birds pelted me with fireballs from my left. I barely felt the attacks as I turned to them and mmed my axe into the ground. Bolts of lightning crackled through the floor, electrocuting them with wild and hellish screams. I followed up with a leap, my axe cutting one of them in two as I crashed down. With a swing I took out the other two, even as they raised their meager defense against me. The surge of [Bloodlust] from their deaths spurred me on as I channeled new energy to my reflexes and speed. More mes erupted from behind and I turned again to see at least two dozen cultivators rushing into the training room from the upper floors. And then as if all at once, they recognized me. One of them cried out what I could sense they were all fearing in their hearts. ¡°It¡¯s him! He¡¯s returned from the dead! He¡¯s a demon!¡± I threw my head back withughter at the words, exuding [Fear the me]. ¡°Is that what you think I am?¡± I channeled my Frenzy into [Mark of the Demon] my skin turning red. ¡°So be it then!¡± The fear from their souls was enough to sustain my new form and I used it to the fullest, maximizing the strength of my lightning technique. I¡¯d had no time to even develop what these techniques truly were, but the words to augment them seemed toe straight from my me. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± A vortex of blue lightning surged from about my body as I thought of every innocent victim they¡¯d killed, the power radiating outwards in a series of coils. The arcs of energy mmed into the Fire Birds like a tidal wave, mming them into the walls and setting what was left of the building on fire. Panic and disarray be my feeding ground as I charged into what was left of the sect, ying them mercilessly with the edge of my axe. The Corrupted Steel carried the strength of my resolve, slicing through even the strongest of their armored techniques with ease. I endured the sting of their ming des as well, unable to block or dodge them all, my pain and blood rallying within me. Chaos and Frenzy reigned as the world grew small within my eyes, the Demon unleashing, edging ever closer towards full control. Give in, you¡¯ve lost it all already. Go all the way! But the Struggler wouldn¡¯t let go just yet, pulling me back from the edge. No, I still had Hong Feng to find. I had to see to it that I killed him first. Untold minutes passed until finally I had dispatched thest of the sect members, my Frenzy overflowing from the power of my [Bloodlust] technique. I cultivated it to regain my strength. My body was on fire, both literally and figuratively, dripping buckets of blood from the hundreds of soon to be scars. I didn¡¯t even know how many I¡¯d in. Only their blood was a testament to their demise. In that brief moment as I stood over the sea of corpses that I¡¯d made, I truly realized how powerful I¡¯d be. While most of the members I¡¯d killed were still in the Foundation Realm, there were a few in the Core Realm as well. But it didn¡¯t matter to me. I¡¯d chewed them up and spit them out all the same. One more left, I thought. I flew up the stairs to the only ce he could be. Smoke and mes filled the air as I kicked in the door to Hong Feng¡¯s study. The bastard was there waiting for me as I¡¯d expected. But not as I thought he¡¯d be. He was sat behind his desk as usual, water pipe in hand, having a casual smoke like the whole damn building wasn¡¯t already on fire. ¡°So,¡± he said with a smile, his voice rough and gravelly. ¡°It seems you are indeed what I thought you were. Perhaps even more so by the looks of you now.¡± I cracked my neck, cognizant of the bull¡¯s horns now extruding from the sides of my head as well as my bright red skin. ¡°The time for talk is over, Hong Feng.¡± I readied my axe, pointing it at him. ¡°It¡¯s time you paid for what you did to me and Mu Lin.¡± ¡°Who?¡± he said, but then he shook his head with augh. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. None of this matters anymore.¡± He then stood casually, hisrge frame dwarfing the desk in front of him. ¡°Do you realize what you are, Chun? You are a gift! A gift that I¡¯ve been seeking for generations.¡± ¡°The only thing I¡¯m seeking from you is your death, you murderous piece of shit.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so hasty,¡± he said. And slowly I saw him reach for the handle of a massive ck iron mace leaning against his chair. ¡°You do realize my true aim in all this, don¡¯t you? You¡¯re no friend of the empire and neither am I.¡± He then lifted the mace and rested it on his shoulder, a solid, ck-iron rod with what looked like a bowling ball on the end. ¡°Let us put this petty squabbling behind us now and unite. These cultivators you¡¯ve killed here. They mean nothing to me. Mere fruit on the vine, yet to be harvested. Most not even ripe. But you. With your strength, truly we could make a difference and beat back this empire.¡± He then grinned. ¡°One world at a time.¡± The words suddenly stoked my me, his goals briefly aligning with mine. But itsted only a second as Mu Lin¡¯s tear-filled cries registered within my mind. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be out of your damn tree.¡± My blood seethed, craving justice for her and everyone else he¡¯d killed. ¡°You think I¡¯d ever join the likes of you? After what you¡¯ve done?¡± He cracked a smile. ¡°But my dear Chun, you already have joined me. Or did you forget your oath. As we are born to the me so we die to the me. There is no quitting in this sect. You are a Fire Bird for life, my friend.¡± I squared up, summoning my solid Frenzy. ¡°Is that right? You¡¯re forgetting one thing though, asshole.¡± I grinned at him with [Fear the me], lightning crackling. ¡°I¡¯ve already died¡­¡± I bolted at him with a Frenzy-fueled charge. His desk went up in an explosion of blue lightning and mes as I barreled into it, but he transitioned across the room in a sh. ¡°So disappointing,¡± Hong Feng said, his robes shimmering with heat until they burst into mes, burning off to reveal his bare form, a body of hardpacked muscle and brawn. ¡°But I suppose the gloves are off now. As you¡¯ve revealed your true self, it is only fitting that I now reveal mine. One Demon to another.¡± I braced with apprehension as the room filled with Dark Frenzy and those same ck tendrils I¡¯d seen before began exuding from his back. But then they became less translucent, taking on solid form. That nightmare vision I¡¯d had returned to me, him biting Mu Lin in half as a monstrous demon. Once again, I wondered if that was merely just a dream. But all I could think off was him ordering for them to hunt down and kill Mu Lin. ¡°She didn¡¯t deserve to die!¡± I screamed. ¡°She had her whole life ahead of her!¡± My anger and rage consumed me, not caring what the hell he even was anymore. I got halfway to him before one of the massive, worm-like tentacles reacted with a life of its own, batting me out of the air with the force of a speeding truck. Pain exploded even through my armored skin, as I went careening through wall after burning wall. The stunning blow got my wits about me and I sprung to my feet just in time for Hong Feng toe tearing through the hole I¡¯d just made in the wall. The six tentacles came at me at once, each one hissing with the head of an eyeless snake or ck eel. At the same time, he sent a torrent of blue mes at me from his palm, utilizing the remnants of Yin Chu¡¯s soul. He followed with a third attack from his mace, but I blocked it with my axe, utilizing my martial forms. The strength behind it was enough to make my teeth ck, and I went barreling backwards through yet another wall. Hong Feng roared with anger and his hatred for me filled my soul with strength of my own. I redoubled my Frenzy into strength and kicked one of the tentacles to the side, then spun to deliver a [Three-Log Chop] to the neck of another. I bolstered my attack with the Demon-fueled strength of my lightning technique, sending a solid chunk of Frenzy straight to my Jing. The result was like chopping into an electrical main, huge sparks flying as my axe head broke through the hardened demon skin to reveal dark, putrid flesh beneath. Hong Feng cried out in unison with the five remaining snake heads, their hisses eerily human, like the wails of an old woman. He withdrew and the head of the thing that I had cut off instantly began to dissolve into a puddle of ck goo on the floor. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the hell you are,¡± I said. ¡°But don¡¯t for a minute think that I¡¯m anything like you!¡± I went on the offensive, heightening my axe techniques with the power of my me. Blue lightning and blue mes shed and we somehow copsed through the burning floor, winding up in the training area again. One of the tentaclestched onto me and I could feel its venomous bite sucking Frenzy from my soul. ¡°Yes! YES!¡± Hong Feng cried, his eyes wide and bloodshot with madness as his Dark Frenzy tried to permeate my soul. ¡°This is the power I¡¯ve craved! I will take it from you now!¡±¡± ¡°Blood-sucking fiend!¡± I channeled the pain into more Frenzy, hardening my skin to literally push the beast¡¯s teeth from out of my flesh. The move must have surprised him because he jerked backwards and with a sudden burst I spun with a whirlwind technique. Another tentacle fell to the ground as my axe found purchase, it instantly dissolving into goo. ¡°No!¡± he cried, reeling from me. ¡°This power! How is it a simple mortal Terran came to wield such power? You don¡¯t deserve it! Give it to me!¡± He charged at me like a raging bull. I barely had time to brace my axe like a shield before he mmed into me full force. I went careening through another wall and this time I felt myself free falling backwards, not yet hitting the ground. It was only then that I realized that he had pushed us both into the basement chamber. My back hit the ground hard, only to be followed up by Hong Feng burying his massive mace in the center of my chest. OOF! The world went ck for a moment as the life was all but crushed out of me. My [Iron Core] technique reinforced my organs just enough to not be mush as the force of the blow traveled through my body and shattered the concrete below me with a massive spiderweb crack. I could no longer breathe, my lungs smashed together. Only the pulsing of my demon heart and my [Death¡¯s Door] technique kept me alive. Summoning thest of my will, I countered with a full chop to the face with my axe. The move caused Hong Feng to retreat immediately, backing away and removing the mace, his remaining tentacles blocking my chop. The slight reprieve was all I needed to stagger back to my feet. But I still wasn¡¯t breathing. I was a jet engine sucking on the vacuum of space. I needed time to heal and recover if I wanted to kill this clown. I nced at my only option. The tunnel. The same tunnel I¡¯d sent Mu Lin down to die. Shit¡­I had no other choice. ¡°You¡¯re like a damn cockroach,¡± Hong Feng said as his Dark Frenzy began to swell. ¡°That blow should have well killed you. Are you truly immortal already?¡± He then began to rise into the air as a huge ball of fire formed around him. ¡°I guess something like you needs to be burned to death to kill. [me of a Thousand Burning Stars!]¡± Oh shit¡­! I dove for the tunnel just as a massive wave of heat crashed into my back, thrusting me forwards. I performed an involuntary flip and somehow managed to wind up on my feet. I pushed into the tunnel just as a bright white light engulfed me. Turning to face it, I instinctively raised my axe to try to block whatever it was and channeled my Frenzy to withstand it. The roar of a rocket engine filled the tunnel as a two-hundred-mile-per-hour wind of burning-hot sma ripped across my body. My mind screamed with white-hot agony as my axe heated and turned cherry red in my hands, the t of the de the only thing preserving my face and head. I was still fueling [Death¡¯s Door] unable to breathe or even scream, and I used every ounce of my pain to generate more Frenzy to keep me alive. My [Iron Skin] was melting and I wished I¡¯d had the time to turn my lightning technique into some kind of defense. Then finally it was over, and the red glow of my axe matched that of the tunnel walls. I staggered in ce, skin burned down to white flesh. Hong Feng¡¯s silhouette appeared at the front of the tunnel and only then did I realize that I¡¯d been pushed back a hundred feet or more. ¡°Still alive?¡± His tone was shrill with irritation. ¡°Why won¡¯t you DIE!!¡± He flew at me, covering the hundred feet in the blink of an eye. I barely had the strength to raise my axe as he swung at me with the cannonball at the end of his mace. My axe did its job, blocking the lethal strike, but the force of the blow sent me mming into the side of the tunnel and bursting through. I was suddenly in freefall again, descending into darkness. I mmed into things on the way down, steel girders and concrete. My body finally hit the floor and I rolled onto my back to see the glowing form of Hong Feng illuminating the darkness of what had to be some kind of abandoned subway terminal. Or perhaps one that was still under construction at the time of the attack. There were at least three stories of raw steel reaching up to the opening I¡¯d made in the tunnel wall. I was dying for real now, blood pouring from my mouth, ribs sticking out of my back. I had to shift and heal if I wanted to survive. But my Frenzy was already overtaxed, barely keeping me on life support through [Death¡¯s Door]. No, not again¡­no way would I let this bastard kill me a second time like this! I was already in [Mark of the Demon] form, but could my body take another shift? I¡¯d already done it once before. I was so angry when I saw Sumatra, that I did it without even thinking, taking on two marks at once. But could I do it again? Hong Feng floated down in a cloud of fire. ¡°Fitting you should end up down here. You can die where that stupid little friend of yours ended up.¡± My heart leapt at that¡­ Mu Lin? Hended and began stalking towards me, thrumming the head of his mace in his palm. ¡°I wish I¡¯d seen it to tell you firsthand, but my men tell me her death was¡­most pleasurable.¡± He beganughing and a sickness filled my stomach. Filthy bastard¡­ My me raged in response, turning bright white at the tip. Nasty pieces of shit! I cursed them without words, still unable to breathe. I¡¯m d I killed everyst one of you! But there was still one left. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you choose to favor those fragile and insignificant mortals,¡± Hong Feng said, grimacing at me. ¡°They will do nothing but hold you back. They will be your undoing.¡± My anger at Mu Lin¡¯s desecration and demise fueled my inner me, pumping fresh Frenzy into my soul. I didn¡¯t know if my body could take it, but fearing death was well past me now. I channeled [Mark of the Beast] as Hong Feng got within a few paces of me and painfully my body began to transform. He jerked back at the unnatural sound of bones and sinew popping, my flesh restoring and renewing itself as it shifted into a hybrid between Demon and beast. ¡°Damn hell spawn!¡± Hong Feng shouted as he raised his mace, igniting it with mes. ¡°I¡¯ll burn you to a crisp!¡± He swung the mace down at me and a torrent of blue mes followed. I leapt off the ground before my transformation was evenplete, the speed of my Beast form quickening my movements. The mes hit where I once was, but I was already on the attack circling behind him with the speed of a rabid wolf. I swung with a lightning-infused chop and our weapons shed as he deftly turned to face me. New anger and rage boiled as I attacked with a fervor, my beast and demon formsbining to heighten the speed and power of my lightning-charged blows. ¡°You think they¡¯ll be my undoing?!¡± I shouted back at him as I attacked him again and again. ¡°They are my salvation! They are what separate me from bing a monster like you!¡± Thunder and blue mes roared as I bounded from girder to girder, howling with rage. A fear began to grow inside Hong Feng¡¯s soul as he struggled to keep track of me, barely dodging and deflecting my ncing blows. And then I realized something else. He was a demonic cultivator, but he still ran on Qi. And after all he¡¯d done, his tank had to be running low by now. The thought pushed me on and only furthered the Frenzy of my attacks. Strike by lightning-charged strike I wore him down, until I was no longer hitting the steel of his mace, but the hardened skin of his cultivation-forged body. One by one I cleaved the ck tentacles from him, until they were little more than ooze-weeping stumps. His fear spiked and the panic in him was all the fuel I needed to keep going. ¡°Stay still! Stay still damn you!¡± he roared, trying to swat at me with his mace. I finally lured him into a parry, which I quickly redirected into a strike at his leg. Blood flew as he copsed to one knee, his leg cut in two at the thigh. ¡°Arrgh!¡± he screamed in pain and disbelief, dropping his mace to clutch his wound with both hands. I quickly followed up with a hack to his back, the pure satisfaction of feeling my axe sink into his flesh a thrill like none other. ¡°You piece of shit!¡± I screamed. ¡°Now you¡¯ll feel the wrath for killing that sweet young girl! I¡¯m sending you straight to hell for killing Mu Lin!¡± My rage and [Fear the me]bined must have been enough to paralyze him, because he grewpletely still, raising his hands almost in surrender as I swung with a lightning-charged [Single-Chop Cleave]! My axe hit his waist and continued right on through, the lightning disrupting whatever Qi defenses he had raised. His body fell apart before my eyes and the [Bloodlust] filled my me with glee. Hong Fengy on the ground in two pieces, his mouth pouring blood as he patted his legs now lying next to his head. He stared up at me with fear and iprehension in his eyes, his soul cold with terror. ¡°H-How..?¡± he sputtered. ¡°What even¡­ what even are you?¡± ¡°I am a Berserker,¡± I said, twirling my axe to rid it of his blood. ¡°And I follow the path of the Frenzied me.¡± He looked almost appreciative at hearing the name, his eyes growing glossy with delight as he gave me a dying smile. ¡°The Frenzied me¡­¡± ¡°You only made one mistake, Hong Feng,¡± I said as I raised my axe to deliver the final blow. ¡°When you killed me the first time¡­you should have gone for the head.¡± The look of shock and realization became permanently imprinted on his face as I brought my axe down between his eyes. I split his head in two with an ear-shattering scream, releasing every ounce of anger surging through me, fueled by [Bloodlust] and something new. A sense of justice and revenge. No, I couldn¡¯t bring Mu Lin back¡­but it felt damn good to kill this bastard for her sake. I cycled the fresh Frenzy through my system, cultivating it to restore my depleted reserves. I¡¯d done it. I¡¯d taken out the whole damn Fire Bird n. Or at least, Hong Feng¡¯s branch of it anyway. I walked towards the edge of the chamber where I began picking out a pathway to climb back up to the tunnel three stories above. Faintly I heard something behind me. A low growl. Or a hiss? Slowly I turned to see the impossible. Hong Feng was moving. The two halves of his head flopped apart as his body slowly began to rise from the floor, new ck tentacles growing from out of his stomach and connecting to his legs. I watched with a sort of morbid fascination as Dark Frenzy began permeating the air with a strength I¡¯d only experienced in the wild. Shit, I thought. Did Hong Feng have some kind of demonic resurrection technique as well? But as the form pulled itself together, I realized it was much worse than that. A being made of ck tentacles and hundreds of bloodshot eyes rose before me, exuding Dark Frenzy that threatened to invade my soul. Then with a sound like nails scraping across a chalk board, it spoke. ~Foul Demon of the Cur-sed me.~ They weren¡¯t words, but just like on that nightmarish night, I understood the meaning of the horrific soundpletely, an interpretation from my Demon form perhaps. ~Thou hast freed me from this husk. And now, I shall free thee from yours~ Chapter 74 I stared at the writhing horror before me and was filled with an inexplicable fear and dread. The Dark Frenzy pulsating from it was so intense that it threatened to once again poison my me. It was as if it were utilizing its own version of [Fear the me] against me. I¡¯d never seen or even heard of anything like this creature before. Not even on that night in the wild did I see such a being. I knew then what my fear was born from. The deepest and darkest of all fears. The fear of the unknown. Surely against such a thing the [Odds were Against Me]. As I held onto that notion my technique fueled me with new Frenzy, my fear sh converting into strength that heightened my resolve. There was only one focus now. Whatever this thing was. I would kill it. The creature undted as it made that horrid sound again, a shriek that pierced my soul. ~Think thou cany folly to our aims, oh Demon of the cur-sed me? By thy defiance, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz is not deterred. The King of the Moon shall walk the firmament and not even the cur-sed gleam that guards the citadels shall prevail against him. The legions shall feast upon the flesh of the weak.~ What the hell¡­? The thing suddenly jetted to the side like an octopus, tentacles iling. I immediately went on the defensive, spinning about to thwart a sneak attack. Seconds passed. Nothing came. Not being able to see the creature was even more unnerving. I focused on what I could sense from it instead. The Dark Frenzy. It was so intense now that I could barely pinpoint a center. Fear rose up inside of me, further increasing my Frenzy as it touched my me. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are, asshole,¡± I said as I readied my axe. ¡°But I will erase your creepy octopus ass from freakin¡¯ existence!¡± ~Thou knoweth not what thou dost proim. Thy husk blinds thee, foul Demon. Thou cannot y what stands not before thee.~ What the hell did that mean? Ah, screw it. I was sick of this thing ying mind games. It was time to strike. I channeled my Frenzy towards my Jing, performing the same technique I had just made up a few moments ago. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± Arcs of blue lightning radiated from all side of my body, illuminating the darkness with a resounding volley of thunder. The thing emerged then, hissing and squealing as it was struck by one of the bolts. I leapt forward with my Beast-heightened reflexes and cleaved into the mass of tentacles with a [Three-Log Chop]. It felt like cutting through stone, my de barely managing to cut into one of the eye-ridden appendages. With a twirl the thing whipped back at me and my skin ignited with pain as what felt like a thousand razor des raked across my skin. The force from the hit was enough to knock me backwards into one of the steel girders, causing a plume of dust to fall down upon my head. The thing writhed before me, looking like an octopus again but with horrid human eyes instead of suckers. It was tough. Whatever its tentacles were made of, they were far tougher than when they were connected to Hong Feng. It came at me again and I rolled to the side and out of its path. A strange sound filled the air, like another shriek but only louder. It was as if the sound itself were attacking my soul. I cried out in pain as something cut into me, surpassing all my defenses. But there was no de; the tentacles didn¡¯t even touch me. In my mind¡¯s eye I saw my me flicker, like being blown by a strong gust of wind. Holy shit¡­this thing could attack my very soul? The thought filled me with panic and the need for its quick demise. I raged back at it with a series of axe technique, my Demon form heightening the lightning-infused charge of my attacks. To my amazement, the beast twirled and spun, meeting every strike with one of its own, parrying and blocking me with its tentacles. But I was chipping away at it as well. It made that sound again and I winced as my me took another hit, disrupting my flow of Frenzy. In that split second the creature leapt at me with a speed unimaginable, engulfing me with its tentacles. Searing-hot pain filled my body as the eyes pressed in on me, the strength of its tentacles crushing me like a vice. I struggled to fortify my body with [Iron Skin] and [Iron Core] but the attack was more than just physical. Dark Frenzy pressed against my me with the same intensity as its limbs against my body. Dark visions filled my mind. Endless ins of demons, writhing en masse. ~Oh, how I did covet this vessel through the eyes of that weak husk. Thou shall dwell in it no longer, foul Demon of the cur-sed me~ What the hell? This thing didn¡¯t want to kill me. It wanted to possess me! More than that, it wasn¡¯t even talking to me¡­it saw me only as my me. The Dark Frenzy pressed in on me even harder, my me growing darker and starting to exude thick ck smoke. No, not again. You won¡¯t choke my soul! I struggled against the dark forces surrounding me, but the more it invaded my me, the less Frenzy I could use to keep it from crushing my body. I was in a desperate spiral towards darkness. Whatever this thing was it was far more powerful than I was. Even as a Core Realm cultivator I felt weak. Then it suddenly urred to me. I can¡¯t fight this... This dark god or whatever the hell it was, I was no match for it. It possessed powers I couldn¡¯tprehend, much less withstand. But there was one thing I did know. It did not fear me, but it did [Fear the me]. I pulled the Struggler from the wheel and let the Demon take full control, my vision shrinking to a pinprick. My me exploded with white-hot fury, pushing the Dark Frenzy back with a roar. The monster recoiled in the physical world, stunned by the attack, the same way I¡¯d been stunned by its spiritual attack as well. ~Such strength¡­impossible!~ I willed the Struggler to take back a portion of control as I leapt into the air, high above the writhing mass of darkness and terror. I tapped into the Frenzy of my heightening me, enough to fill an ocean. I channeled it all into a single attack, my Dantian swelling to capacity. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± I came crashing down axe first with a single column of white lightning. The air shattered with a resounding boom! reverberating with the roll of thunder. The Corrupted Steel of my axe held firm, delivering every ounce of my strength as I cleaved through the monster¡¯s hardened flesh like butter. It fell apart in two halves, writhing and squealing as its shrieks of anguish filled my mind. ~Foul, cur-sed me¡­ Thou doth use thy husk as an apostle? Foul, foul, foul¡­~ The writhing stopped and slowly the tentacles began to dissolve into tar-ck goo. The oppressive Dark Frenzy left with it, and I could feel myself able to breathe again. I copsed to my knees as the Struggler quickly regained control. I still wasn¡¯t sure what the hell I¡¯d just fought against or even experienced, but one thing was certain. There were forces far darker and more powerful than I ever could have imagined at work here. But I didn¡¯t have time toprehend it all now. Hong Feng and whatever he¡¯d be was now dead. That¡¯s all that mattered. Slowly I rose to my feet and left the dark crypt of the unknown creature far behind. * * * I rushed through what was left of the Fire Bird headquarters, the building living up to its name literally as timber and stone alike burned in a raging inferno. I couldn¡¯t feel the heat of the mes¡ªnormal fire no match for my base conditioning even without my augmented forms¡ªbut I ran with purpose regardless. I reached the outer entranceway and saw Du Mak and Ju Gong still passed out under the pile of rubble. I sighed. I couldn¡¯t just leave them here to die now, could I? I supposed not. They¡¯d proven fairly harmlesspared to the rest of the bunch¡ªmere doormen not involved in the darkest of the sect¡¯s activities. But more than that, they¡¯d kind of grown on me as well, Du Mak especially. I sighed again. I¡¯ll probably end up paying for thister, I thought. But where would my humanity be if not firmly in the Struggler¡¯s grasp. I grabbed them both by their cors and dragged them out of the burning building and into the alleyway. As I looked down at them, sleeping like babies, a new thought urred. Perhaps saving them could serve a greater purpose as well. I reached into what was left of my robes and withdrew the single silver quill I¡¯d retrieved from my locker at the arena. I smiled at the inscription once more. ¡®I regret nothing.¡¯ I wished the words could ring as true for me as it did for Fia, but I had new burdens to bear now. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Fia,¡± I whispered as I removed her inscription from the metal surface with a flick of my thumbnail. ¡°This one is against your family, not you.¡± I dropped the quill into Ju Gong¡¯sp. Of the two of them, he¡¯d be smart enough to put two and two together. I was fairly certain I hadn¡¯t given either of them a chance to see exactly who had busted the door in on their faces, but this clue would seal the deal on which n was responsible for Hong Feng and his sect¡¯s demise. Or at least I hoped so anyway. Perhaps it was fitting that the sect Hong Feng targeted would be the one to exact vengeance. Or maybe I was just making excuses and shifting me. Although I¡¯m sure if Fia and her family had indeed learned the truth of the Fire Birds¡¯ plot against her, the shitstorm I had caused would look like a birthday party inparison. I left the burning building behind me as I edged along the alleyway. Screams of panic andmotion stirred as I neared the main streets. Members of the fire brigade were responding with a hand-drawn cart filled with severalrge barrels of water. I stopped to watch for a moment while the team of ten or so cultivators d in blue robes dove into action to quell the mes. They used the barrels to augment their techniques, funneling torrents of water through the smoke-belching windows of the burning building. I moved on then, leaving them to put out the ze that both Hong Feng and I had caused. I went in the opposite direction of the gathering crowd, moving as far away from the scene as possible. I got about a block away before my own reality began sinking in again. With my thirst for revenge quelled I had only my failure left to contend with. Yu Li and Su Ling. My family and friends. What had be of them? My thoughts soured, turning dark as that strange being I¡¯d just fought returned to my mind as well. How could I ever hope to defend them against a horror like that, when I couldn¡¯t even protect them against the likes of Hein and the damnw? The Struggler tore at my soul. Everything I had worked so hard for lost in an instant. I suppose I had no choice now but to finally face the consequences of my decisions. To see what had ultimately be of my friends. Or perhaps the me was telling me to move on. To ept the loss and seek only revenge. Perhaps themunity in the wild would be lost just the same, devoured by creatures like the dark being or worse. Perhaps my only purpose was as a tool of vengeance for the me. I had asked Threja in my vision if I could do both¡ªto be both protector and avenger. Her answer was clear. ¡°Seek not an answer for what you know is true¡­¡± The truth was clear now. ¡°Chun?¡± I stiffened at the call of my name and spun to whoever was behind me. I almost expected it to be Du Mak or Ju Gong, but there standing in the alleyway was a small, hunched-over figure I didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°It¡¯s you, isn¡¯t it?¡± the figure said and an old man rushed out of the shadows towards me. ¡°Thank the heavens! He said I might find you around these parts.¡± ¡°What? Who are you?¡± And then the recognition finally hit like a freight train. It was the old guy from the square. The one with the hat. My first true believer. ¡°Old man?¡± I said, staring at him in disbelief. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Looking for you, of course!¡± It was then that I noticed he was bathed in sweat and panting, looking like he¡¯d just run a marathon. ¡°You¡¯ve got toe quick!¡± he said breathlessly. ¡°All hell¡¯s breaking loose in the square.¡± ¡°I know,¡± I said, feeling the Struggler taking control again. ¡°I was toote. I failed everyone. Hein¡¯s won and I¡¯ve lost all hope of restoring my tribe. At least the one here.¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± he snapped. ¡°There¡¯s still time! Come on!¡± I narrowed my eyes at him. ¡°What do you mean? The duel was at noon. I didn¡¯t make it. I forfeited by default.¡± ¡°No.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Jian Yi went and fetched some fancy magistrate from the Imperial City. You¡¯ve got until midnight now, but Gui Zu volunteered to act as your second. He¡¯s the one who said toe look for you around here.¡± ¡°What?¡± My me suddenly reignited with both hope and concern. ¡°Gui Zu is fighting Hein?¡± ¡°No, the other girl,¡± he said. ¡°The one with one hand, but he¡¯s getting his ass kicked all the same. You need to hurry!¡± His words lifted a thousand-ton boulder from off of my soul. I couldn¡¯t believe it. I could almost cry. There was still time! ¡°Thank you, old man!¡± I said, shaking him and pulling him into an embrace. ¡°Thank you! Thank you!¡± ¡°Enough of all that!¡± he said pushing me away. ¡°Go quickly now! We¡¯re all depending on you, Chun! Go now! Go!¡± He didn¡¯t have to tell me again. Frenzy surged as I took off in a sprint, moving faster than ever before. Threja¡¯s words returned to answer my question, but in a different light now. The me had indeed guided me to do both. I had delivered justice and vengeance. And now¡­it was leading me to protect my friends. Hang in there, Gui Zu, I¡¯ming. My speed increased as I soared through the air with a bolt of Frenzied lightning. I would not bete again. Chapter 75 Yu Li¡¯s heart caught in her throat as the one-handed girl, Zu Tien, red with Qi andnded a powerful kick to Gui Zu¡¯s back. He went stumbling forward with the force of the blow, despite Zu Tien being a girl barely half his size. Yu Li and her neighbors let out a collective gasp as Gui Zu fell to the ground, losing hold of his staff in the process. Su Ling, cradled in her arms let out a shrill cry. Yu Li tried to hush her, but all she could do was look at Gui Zu as he floundered on the ground. ¡°Get up, Gui Zu!¡± she called out as she bounced Su Ling on her hip. ¡°Get up!¡± But he seemed too stunned to hear her above the crowd. Zu Tienughed callously as she punted Gui Zu in his side, flipping him onto his back like a stranded fish. Hein¨C¨Csat on his makeshift throne at the side of the square¨Cughed with delight while nudging Li Fet. ¡°Finally! Some entertainment, eh?¡± Hein said to Li Fet who grinned and nodded like the fat stooge that he was. The sight of it all caused Yu Li¡¯s insides to burn. She hated all of them. ¡°Don¡¯t give up, Gui Zu!¡± she cried to rally him. ¡°You can beat her!¡± Although she wished it were true, her words were but false hope, she realized. Yu Li was a half-step towards breaking into the Foundation Realm thanks to the spirit stone Chun had given her, but even at that fledgling level she still had enough Qi sensitivity to detect the stark difference between Gui Zu and Zu Tien. The girl had a sizable Qi formation where Gui Zu¨C¨Cskilled as he was¨C¨Chad none. He could almost be considered mortal. Her heart ached as Zu Tien stung him with another kick to the side and the pain on his face caused her insides to wince. She red across the distance at Hein. ¡°You need to stop this!¡± she cried. Hein gave her an expression of mock surprise. ¡°Oh? Is that a call for forfeit that I hear? Junior Magistrate, did you hear that?¡± ¡°You heard nothing,¡± Jian Yi said quickly, stepping in to take a position by Yu Li¡¯s side. ¡°The match will go on.¡± Junior Magistrate Hui Long, who stood next to Jian Yi, simply gave Hein a nonmittal shrug. ¡°There is no forfeit. The duel continues.¡± Yu Li tugged at Jian Yi¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Jian Yi, we need to do something. That girl¡¯s going to kill him out there!¡± Jian Yi¡¯s face remained grave and expressionless. ¡°I know. And Gui Zu knew that too when he volunteered to fight her in Chun¡¯s stead. Yet he still went ahead anyway. He¡¯s one brave soul.¡± Yu Li¡¯s eyes welled with tears for what felt like the umpteenth time. Since noon they¡¯d put up a resistance to Hein and his unreasonable demands and thankfully Hui Long had stayed true to thew and held Hein at bay. But now, with the sun well set, and Hein¡¯s demands growing more and more threatening, it seemed even the magistrate was starting to bend. It was only thanks to Gui Zu volunteering himself that both sides had gone through somewhat of a reset. But at what price? Get up, Gui Zu! Yu Li pleaded with him through a prayer. Please get up! Zu Tien rushed forward to kick him again, clearly toying with him, but then as if suddenly hearing her prayer, Gui Zu grabbed hold of Zu Tien¡¯s foot and spun her in a throw. He bounced from the ground from off his back and for a man his size, he moved with astounding agility, grabbing Zu Tien from behind in a headlock. The girl bucked and screamed within his grasp, perhaps shocked as to how he¡¯d gotten the better of her. Gui Zu kept the hold despite her violent struggles and hope lifted within Yu Li¡¯s heart. ¡°Yes, Gui Zu!¡± she cried. ¡°You have her!¡± Gui Zu could hear her, she knew that, but never did he break his focus, his arms locked around Zu Tien¡¯s head like a vice. Then suddenly Zu Tien seemed to calm herself and relied upon her Qi again. In a burst of light, she disappeared from his grasp and Gui Zu was knocked onto his back again. ¡°[Third Heaven! Zero Point Strike]!¡± The words echoed from nowhere as Zu Tien suddenly reappeared high above Gui Zu¡¯s head. With deftness he rolled to the side just as Zu Tien crashed down with her ded hand, sending chips of stone into the air as she shed into the asphalt. Gui Zu grabbed the staff that had flown from his grasp and with a series of quick maneuvers, positioned himself behind Zu Tien to whack her in the back of the head. The move more infuriated than injured her, her eyes widening with anger as she spun about with a sh from her hand. ¡°Insolent dope!¡± she cried. ¡°You dare to strike me?¡± Gui Zu was panting and sweating, but he met her gaze with a shrug. ¡°You¡¯re the one who let me. Get better if you don¡¯t like it.¡± His words caused her to scream in a rage. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you for saying that!¡± Yu Li¡¯s heart once against leapt with fright, but as soon as Zu Tien lunged forward, she understood what Gui Zu had done. Zu Tien was too irate to even rely on her Qi techniques anymore, resorting instead to base martial arts. It was a mistake. For all the advantage she held over Gui Zu¨C¨Cyears of Qi Cultivation, special training, and even a lethal weaponpared to his staff¨C¨CGui Zu was proving the better fighter. Chips of wood flew as he blocked her savage strikes, countering where he could with strikes to her chest and face. Something besides just awe began to rise within Yu Li now as she watched Gui Zu fight. Chun had said he was a skilled fighter, sparring with him day after day, but now seeing it with her own eyes, she could see he was more than just good. For him to be able to go toe-to-toe with someone like Zu Tien, without the advantage of Qi, he had to be exceptional. The crowd recognized it as well and the entire neighborhood burst into cheers. ¡°Gui Zu!¡± ¡°Gui Zu!¡± Zu Tien took a swift upward strike to the chin that made her teeth ck and she spat out a curse along with a thick wad of blood. ¡°Bastard!¡± Gui Zu smiled at her with his crooked teeth. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ll have matching smiles before long, Zu Tien.¡± The crowd burst out inughter and even Hein joined in, mocking his own disciple with a pping together of his hands. Gui Zu¡¯s words caused even more infuriation from Zu Tien and sheshed out with a series of unfocused strikes. Gui Zu yed her like a master, easily ducking and dodging through the swipes of her ded hand. And then all at once, she stopped. Her eyes focused and she shook her head as ifing to herself. A sense of dread filled Yu Li as a cunning look entered Zu Tien¡¯s eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve toyed with you long enough, Gui Zu.¡± Slowly she drew her jian de from the scabbard at her side, its length gleaming in the moonlight. ¡°I was going to be merciful to you, but now you¡¯ve earned yourself my full wrath.¡± With a burst of Qi, Zu Tien flew around Gui Zu in a triangle formation, faster than Yu Li could even see. Gui Zu cried out as three shes appeared on his robes, quickly turning red with blood. ¡°[Silver Heavens, Three-Point Strike]!¡± She performed the attack again, but with even more ferocity, annunciating the technique. Gui Zu cried out again, falling to one knee as his legs were cut from behind. ¡°No! Gui Zu!¡± Yu Li cried, her heart breaking as even Su Ling let out a scream. Zu Tien then appeared before him, sword pointed at his face. ¡°You were never a match for a true cultivator like me, Gui Zu,¡± she said. ¡°Do you forget that I was trained as a Silver Shadow? For you to even fight against me is an insult. You will now pay for that insult with your very life.¡± Yi Li¡¯s heart jumped. ¡°No!!¡± Zu Tien turned to the crowd. ¡°Let this stand as a lesson to all of you who have defied the royal Silver Leaf n and who have disrespected Young Master Hein. Your petty wallowing for forgiveness and grace will no longer be heard after today. Brace yourselves for what will be your new existence as servants under the heel of Master Hein¡¯s boot!¡± Zu Tien drew back her sword as a sound like thunder cracked the air. ¡°No!¡± Yu Li cried out for him again. ¡°Please no, spare him! Please!¡± Gui Zu looked at her from on his knees and gave her a final crooked smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Yu Li and Su Ling. I won¡¯t be able to see either of you ag¨C¨C¡± The air exploded with another crack of thunder as a bolt of blue lightning came shooting down from the sky. It struck the ground between Gui Zu and Zu Tien and a split secondter a massive form came mming into the ground after it, sending a shower of asphalt high into the air toe pelting down like rain. As the dust cleared Yu Li saw a form she only barely recognized. A man nearly as big as an ox was crouched at the center of the crater on the ground. Bare chested, a torso full of countless scars. Dark hair trim short in Terran fashion and a rugged beard that hugged a jawline so sharp that it could cut steel. Her heart soared with tion as she grabbed onto Jian Yi¡¯s sleeve while jumping in ce. ¡°He¡¯s here, Jian Yi! He came!¡± Yu Li called to her brother as her eyes filled with tears. ¡°CHUN!!¡± * * * I arose slowly from my crouched position, residual lightning crackling about my body. The scene around me was one of chaos and confusion, but also of joy as I looked into the faces of my neighbors within the crowd. I didn¡¯t need the lemonade spilling from their hearts to know they were d to see me. I picked out Yu Li and Su Ling immediately and saw them standing next to Jian Yi. The looks of relief on their faces was enough to fill my soul with renewed vigor. I¡¯d made it in time. I began cultivating the lemonade in the air, renewing the solid Frenzy of my depleted core. After running five marathons, defeating Hong Feng, and killing an unknown demon god, I was running near empty. And I would need every ounce I could muster to now face Hein and hisckey, Zu Tien. Zu Tien had fallen backwards upon my arrival and was now sitting on her ass. She stared up at me with trembling eyes as fear dripped from her soul, perhaps unable toprehend how the man she had once nearly killed had be the lightning-wielding behemoth now standing before her. But I ignored her to turn about and help Gui Zu from off the ground with a sp of his hand. ¡°Thanks for stepping in for me, bro. I can take it from here now.¡± Gui Zu gave me a huge grin of cracked teeth. ¡°Man am I happy to see you! I¡¯m d you made it, brother. You sure can cut it close though!¡± Iughed and pped him on the shoulder. ¡°Sorry about that. But it¡¯s good to see you too.¡± ¡°Give them hell,¡± he said before limping away to Yu Li who embraced him with a kiss. Yu Li then waved to me as well, her eyes filled with pride and fury. ¡°You kick his ass, big brother!¡± she shouted. I gave a nce to Jian Yi who shook her head at me but wore a thin-lipped smile. Her face said it all. ¡°About damn time, asshole.¡± I shrugged and smiled back before casting a re at Hein. The little prick was sat in a chair with a smug grin on his face, but inside I could sense his fear bubbling over. Next to him, Li Fet my fatndlord, didn¡¯t have the same sense of self to hide his fear like Hein. He wore it all over his face sweating like a pig. ¡°So¡­¡± Hein said, dragging out a long and unnecessary pause. ¡°You finally decide to show up for your punishment, eh Chun?¡± I flexed my solid core with [Indifference] while shouldering my axe with a smile. ¡°Yeah. Sorry I¡¯m a littlete. I had some real business to tend to beforeing to deal with your punk ass.¡± His anger spiked like a rocket and he nearly rose from his chair like the puppet he was from me pushing his buttons. But then he stopped himself, seeming to realize what I¡¯d done. He pulled back his anger and stewed internally with deep resentment as he continued to re. ¡°You will soon pay dearly for that insult.¡± Hein shook his head slowly at me. ¡°I¡¯m surprised these people held out for the likes of you, but I¡¯m d they did. It means I finally have a chance to kill you.¡± ¡°Chance being the key word,¡± Jian Yi said, stepping forward and for a second, I was taken aback by the hint of Frenzy exuding from the burning ember in her soul. Something had reignited within her and I was shocked to see how boldly she approached Hein without a trace of fear at all. ¡°Now that Chun is here, I suggest we start the duel properly,¡± she said and then looked to a young man in imperial robes by her side. ¡°Junior Magistrate Hui Long, would you do the honors of resetting the match now that our chief advocate has arrived?¡± The man, Hui Long, gave her a bow. ¡°Most certainly.¡± He then bowed to Hein. ¡°Young Master Hein of the Silver Leaf n, your duel is now prepared with a proper respondent. Do you now wish to proceed with the main duel?¡± Before he could reply, Zu Tien stepped before him. ¡°You are not worthy of fighting my master,¡± she said, her eyes seething with more hatred than fear as they locked with mine. ¡°You are to duel me instead!¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± I shrugged my shoulder and utilized my masking technique, voring my Frenzy with the small sliver of lightning core still left inside my stomach. The looks of hope within the crowd were reced with stares of awe as I flexed the power of my solid core. ¡°You sure about that, sis?¡± Zu Tien¡¯s mouth fell open as she backed away, suddenly realizing what I was, or perhaps what I¡¯d be. ¡°H-how did you gain such power?¡± The look of confusion was shared by Hein, who stood from his chair. His eyes scrutinized me, and I knew he was sensing the strength of my core. After a few seconds he gawked in disbelief. ¡°This must be some kind of trick!¡± he shouted, fear and anger mixing in his soul. ¡°How in the nine hells have you ascended into the Core Realm? It¡¯s impossible! Even I haven¡¯t¡ª!¡± He stopped himself, perhaps realizing what he was about to say. I grinned at him with [Fear the me]. ¡°Like I told you once before. Maybe I¡¯m just better at this cultivation bullshit than the both of you.¡± The lemonade in the crowd shot through the roof as even my own sister looked at me with new eyes filled with wonder, the words ¡®Core Realm cultivator¡¯ falling from their lips in hushed whispers of awe. Zu Tien looked as if she wanted to run and hide. ¡°It is your choice, Young Master Hein,¡± Hui Long said. ¡°Will you have Zu Tien step in as your second?¡± ¡°Or perhaps you wish to forfeit?¡± Jian Yi added and from within her spirit I could sense the ember ring even brighter in her soul. ¡°You have seen now how strong our advocate has be. Do you truly wish to risk the loss of face that woulde with defeat?¡± Jian Yi¡¯s taunt caused even more fear and anger to erupt inside Hein and I channeled every ounce of it to further replenish my strength. His eyes shifted back and forth as if uncertain how to answer, once again outyed by a wit far exceeding his own. His eyes narrowed as he settled in for his old tried and true. Bully those weaker than you. He ced his foot on Zu Tien¡¯s backside and pushed her forward, causing the girl to fall on her face. ¡°We will let the match y out as nned,¡± Hein said with a smirk. ¡°You are worthy to face only the likes of lowly Zu Tien, not me.¡± ¡°No!¡± Li Fet suddenly said. ¡°You should fight him together! Together like I said!¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Hein shouted. ¡°He is not strong enough to face just her, much less the two of us. She will fight him alone.¡± Zu Tien turned to look at Hein as if he¡¯d just plunged a dagger through her back. The fear and betrayal in her eyes was palpable and it only grew stronger as she finally stood to face off against me. Cowardly bastard, I thought. Realizing what strength I now possessed and still pushing Zu Tien to fight me? The rest of the crowd sensed it too, his false bravado of pitting me against someone lower than him falling as t as the sincerity in his tone. The official, Hui Long, seemed to ignore it though and simply gave a nod. ¡°Then we shall proceed,¡± he said and gave Zu Tien and I each a quick nce. ¡°As an unofficial duel, there is no time limit. You fight until one of you yields¡­or death.¡± At the mention of the word death, Zu Tien¡¯s fear level jumped another octave. ¡°Begin!¡± I casually lowered my axe from my shoulder and sent a charge of blue lightning through it, trimming its edge with Frenzy. Zu Tien was practically pissing on the floor as she stared back me, eyes wide and soul trembling with fear. She wasn¡¯t strong enough to fight me and she knew it. And she wasn¡¯t prepared to die either. Just a damn kid, I realized. Over pumped on the bravado of facing people weaker than herself. Just like the green bird girl I¡¯d spanked. Despite it all, Zu Tien faced her fear and dropped into a martial stance to summon her Qi. ¡°[Eighth Heaven Seven-Point Stri¡ª]!¡± She never got thest word out as I closed the distance between us with a burst of solid Frenzy,nding a blow to her stomach. The wind left her lungs with an urk! as I hit her sr plexus and lifted her right off the ground. I barely used a tenth of my strength, but Zu Tien stared at me with wordless iprehension, gasping for air like a fish on drynd as she hung on the end of my fist. ¡°My apologies, Zu Tien.¡± I let her fall to the ground still gasping, her Qi interrupted by the force of my blow. ¡°I did promise to kill you earlier, but I¡¯m not the same man who made that promise to you now.¡± With a swift kick, I booted her in the forehead, knocking her instantly unconscious. I then looked to Hein still sat in his chair. ¡°I am one who now knows the responsibility of shouldering immense power. Something you were never taught I assume, Young Master Hein.¡± I then choked up on my axe and pointed it at him. ¡°But I¡¯m going to give you that lesson now.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± someone cried, and everyone turned to see Li Fet tugging on Hein¡¯s arm. ¡°We need to stop this!¡± he shouted. ¡°I¡¯m going to lose everything!!¡± Hein pped him across the face. ¡°Silence, fool! There is no turning back now!¡± He stood and then adjusted his robes with a quick pull on his belt. ¡°And how dare you question my ability toy this insignificant Terran low.¡± As Hein stepped into the square a set of silver pins emerged from his back and began floating behind him. I couldn¡¯t sense his Qi, but by the way the magistrate and Jian Yi reacted, he had to be pushing out something respectable. ¡°You may have advanced some, Chun, but so have I.¡± He drew his Jian de which gleamed with a silver edge. ¡°Now you shall see the difference between the sacred arts of a royal n and whatever garbage technique you¡¯ve picked up from off the streets.¡± Thinking back to the capabilities of Fia, he may have a point there, but I didn¡¯t care. It was my destiny to defeat Hein no matter what. And in my mind, the stronger he was the better. Because only when the [Odds were Against Me] could I perform my best work. As I let the thought of the technique steep, I felt a new flow of Frenzy, but not much. The curse of the Berserker again. When you faced down an unknown horror from the ins of Hell, a prick like Hein paled inparison, no matter how many new tricks he¡¯d learned. Still, I wouldn¡¯t let that deter me. He held yet another advantage over me versus the fights I¡¯d had against that horror and even Hong Feng. Both those times, I¡¯d utilized not one but two of my most powerful manifestation technique. But now, before mymunity and the empire in general, I was forced to conform to the rules of society again. The most I could perhaps get away with was a slight use of [Mark of the Giant] the same as I¡¯d done in the arena. The thought caused the bnce of power to shift in my mind. Were I able to use two of my forms against Hein, I¡¯m sure I could mop the floor with him. After all, Hong Feng had to have been a mid-tier Core Realm cultivator or even more, considering his Demonic powers, but without the augmentation of my Marks, perhaps even my core status might be only equal with Hein now. The thought caused an edge of uncertainty that fed my me. Hein would have the advantage of going all out, while I would have to hold back. Certainly that shifted the [Odds Against Me] even more. ¡°Everyone needs to stand back,¡± I said as I sent a charge of lightning though my axe again. ¡°This could get ugly.¡± Hui Long took a moment to do just that, moving the crowd back to the very edge of the square. It was still a small space to work withinpared to the size of the arena, but I would ensure that no one got hurt. I was almost certain Hein wouldn¡¯t do the same. ¡°The moment of your death is finally here, Chun,¡± Hein said with a leer. ¡°Tell me how does it feel?¡± I gave him a nk stare of [Indifference]. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to tell for yourself soon enough.¡± I ignored the scowl he gave me and nced into the crowd instead, looking for the one face I needed to see the most. Yu Li. Thoughts of when I¡¯d first stood up to Hein to defend her as a fledgling Berserker shed through my mind¨C¨Cthe single scar he¡¯dnded on my cheek as a reminder. I had no idea how far I¡¯d have toe to finish what I¡¯d started then, but now the time was finally here. The time to right the wrongs this selfish, arrogant prick hadmitted against my sister. The anger of his transgressions rose up in my spirit, fueling my core with Frenzy, my thoughts craving for his demise. It was all I could do now to keep the Demon from taking full control. I looked to the sky and briefly thanked thedy who had made this all possible. Thank you, Big Sis. I hope I do you proud. A deathly silence took hold as the Junior Magistrate Hui Long stepped to the center of the square. I focused on Hein. The bastard¡¯s cocky smile never left his face as he stared back at me, which only served to heighten the rage boiling within my soul. Hui Long raised his arm and then with a shout our final fight began. ¡°Commence!¡± Chapter 76 I flew at Hein with a thunderp of lightning, robbing him of a first strike. He responded by disappearing, leaving the three pins that were floating behind his back hanging in mid-air. I tried to m on the brakes, but my momentum was too great, and I flew right into them. I engaged [Iron Skin] not knowing what to expect, but the three pins flew downwards and embedded themselves into the ground around me rather than my body. What the hell¡­? ¡°Still the fool, Chun!¡± Hein¡¯s voice came from nowhere, cackling withughter. ¡°Fell for it first try!¡± Fell for what? I swung my axe at the pins, expecting some kind of attack, but before my de even hit them, they shed and I was suddenly somewhere else. And falling. Disorientation struck as I found myself some hundred feet in the air, high above where I once was.Hein¡¯s voice came again from nowhere. ¡°[Fifth Heaven! Nine-Point Strike]!¡± As I fell towards the ground, Hein zipped across me several times, the hot sting of his deing with each pass. By the time thest strike hit, I mmed into the ground hard with Heinnding on my back. Air left my lungs in a whoosh and only the fortifying of my body with [Iron Core] kept my organs intact. I had to admit the little bastard hit hard and had gotten the better of me, but that was merely the opening round. The thought of himughing fueled my rage, causing fresh Frenzy to surge into my Dantian. ¡°[My Turn]!¡± I cried as I whipped about with my axe, throwing him from my back. My axe met the block of his de with a flurry of sparks and the force behind my strike sent him flying backwards, head over heels. The distance gave me time to spring to my feet as he performed a flip in midair tond on his own, resetting the match. The bastardughed again. ¡°If we were in the arena, I¡¯d be up over ten points to your zero.¡± ¡°Good thing this ain¡¯t the arena then,¡± I said, charging my Frenzy. ¡°Cause you¡¯d be going down in one!¡± I leapt into the air with a crackle of lightning, axe raised high. He disappeared just like I thought he would, but I stayedmitted to the technique, bringing my axe down where he once stood. As the asphalt went flying into the air, I sensed movement behind me. Got you¡­ I spun about with a [Single-Chop Cleave]! To my surprise, Hein managed to meet my axe with his de again, fortifying himself with some kind of defensive Qi technique. ng!! It felt as if I¡¯d chopped into a wall, Hein¡¯s feet sliding backwards ten feet or more as he absorbed the force of my blow. By the look on his face, defending against my attack had cost him though. His brows were lowered with intense concentration, perhaps channeling his Qi into his de. I wasted no time and followed up, diving into my repertoire of axe techniques. Our des met in a series of shes, sparks flying with each one. I yearned to use the full force of my lightning techniques, but with the crowd so close I didn¡¯t dare let loose. I¡¯d have to be certain no one was in harm¡¯s way when I finally did. Theplication added a newyer of difficulty to the fight and the focusing on it spurred my me even more. ¡°You have strength but nothing more!¡± Hein shouted in between his attacks, parrying my weapon with a deftness that defied what a de that size should be capable of. ¡°I will show you the power of a true sword master, Chun!¡± With a sh of silver light, the de of his sword began to glow. ¡°Witness now, the full power of the Luminous Silver Tear Fang!¡± The glow separated from the de itself, forming a mirror image that hovered inches above the weapon. A wicked smile crossed Hein¡¯s lips. ¡°Now you shall see what true power is. Face the strength of an ancient artifact, you fool!¡± Hein sped at me with a blinding assault, his de performing a series of quick swipes in the air. The copy image mimicked his attacks a half-second out of sync, filling the air with a blinding kaleidoscope of shing white energy that struck me in a whirlwind. Searing-hot pain cut straight through my [Iron Skin] technique and into the flesh below, drawing blood. The strength of the technique reminded me of Flower Girl¡¯s attacks, subtle yet deadly. The thought redoubled my resolve. Hein might be an ass, but his techniques were nothing tough at. He himself did theughing, cackling like a fiend as he executed the same maneuver over and over again. The crowd backed away as stray arcs of energy hit the surroundings haphazardly, a few people screaming in panic. A fruit cart was sted to pieces, its contents flying everywhere. ¡°Careful, you ass!¡± The sight of him endangering the people infuriated me and I went back on the offensive with abandon, absorbing the blows to shield my people from his attacks. The searing pain of my wounds triggered my [Bloodlust] and I used the extra Frenzy to speed my healing. We went back and forth for what seemed like hours¡ªme, trying to get through his Qiden techniques through brute force and skill alone, while he attacked indiscriminately. I was nearly tempted to shift forms, engaging [Mark of the Beast]. With that boost in speed and agility I could easily reach him and end the fight in a heartbeat, but I had the entire neighborhood and a magistrate watching me now. I could try hitting him with a lightning bolt, but then I¡¯d be risking the lives of my people the same as him. I paid the price in blood instead, enduring the pain as I ran directly though his barrage to reach him with hand-to-hand. After all I¡¯d been through in a single day, my body was starting to give out, but the thought of actually losing to the asshole kept me pressing on. shes of faces from the crowd kept me going as well. Yu Li and Gui Zu. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just give up, Chun?¡± Hein said with a leer. ¡°It¡¯s clear I¡¯m only toying with you now!¡± ¡°y with yourself on your own damn time!¡± I shouted. I just needed him to make one mistake so I could cut loose on his ass. Come on, Hein¡­ do it. I funneled my dwindling Frenzy into an act ofst resort, channeling, [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°The only reason you haven¡¯t killed me yet. Is because you know you can¡¯t. I¡¯ll even stand here and let you hit me with everything you¡¯ve got. But you know what the result will be.¡± My goading had an immediate response, Hein slid to a standstill, his soul seething with rage. ¡°Enough of your talk!¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s time I end you for good!¡± I focused then as he channeled his Qi, the glow of his jian separating itself from the de again. With subtlety I applied [Mark of the Giant], recovering my wounds as I grew barely an inch before the crowd. ¡°Chun, don¡¯t just stand there!¡± Yu Li cried. ¡°Please!¡± But I wasn¡¯t listening to her anymore. I had one shot at this and myst reserves of solid Frenzy to do it. Hein finally raised his de and unleashed a blinding technique I hadn¡¯t seen before. ¡°[Ninth Heaven! Silver Moon Arc!] He spun in ce with a violent horizontal sh of his de. From its tip the arc of light sailed outwards towards me. I charged right in to meet it, bolstering my defenses but never raising my axe to block. I used pure Frenzy instead, channeling every ounce of my inner strength to a small sliver of skin as wide as the arc rushing to hit me. I didn¡¯t know if I would survive but I didn¡¯t care, the fear of uncertain death well past me. The sight must have confused Hein because he stared at me perplexed as I ran straight into the solid arc of white Qi. VAM! It felt as if I¡¯d run headfirst into a tsunami, the power of the attack so strong it nearly took me off my feet and cut me in half, but I held firm, even briefly engaging [Death¡¯s Door] as my spine was nearly severed from the impact alone. When I emerged, seemingly unscathed and even running, Hein¡¯s countenance shifted¡ªconfusion, irritation, and fear mixing as one. ¡°Just die already!¡± he shouted and then flipping above me, he threw the three pins at me again. This was my chance! I wasted no time trying to swat them out of the air and let loose an arc of lightning directly at Hein instead. He was now straight above me in the air with no risk of hitting my friends. I struck him dead on with the blue lightning bolt and the howl of pain he let out was delightful. He fell from the sky like a swatted moth and as he hit the ground, I rushed to jump on top of him. My feet barely left the ground before he suddenly snapped his fingers and the three pins he had thrown shed around me. Son of a¡­! I was once again teleported high into the sky. But instead of being confused, I was enraged. ¡°Damn cheap tricks bastard!¡± ¡°[Sixth Heaven! Seven-Point Strike]!¡± He came at me again, faster than lightning, his de too quick to see. ¡°Die, Chun!¡± he screamed. ¡°Die! Die! Die! Rivulets of blood and pain ripped across my skin as I came crashing down to Earth again, Hein chasing me on the way down with strike after strike. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you fell for it twice!¡± Hein cackled. ¡°You truly are a chun, Chun!¡± My anger piqued with each slice, the ground rushing towards me, but I didn¡¯t care. All I cared was that Hein was now above me again, with only the open sky behind him. Every insult I¡¯d ever endured from that stupid name suddenly shed through my mind as I spun to face him, my me resonating with a white-hot re, fueling me with fresh Frenzy. Hein was but a proxy, but he was going to suffer the wrath for all of it now. The shame and humiliation. The indignation and caged rage. I channeled my Frenzy as my anger became a sea of hate-filled retribution. ¡°My name¡­¡± I shouted, as I charged my axe with white lightning. ¡°¡­is MAX!!!¡± I released the force of [Lightning Splits the Towering Oak] but directed at the sky. Hein¡¯s eyes went wide with shock and fear as my axe swung towards him just inches from his chest. His three pins reappeared, producing some kind of barrier as they formed a triangle formation just before my axe hit. The power of my blow went off like an atom bomb, lighting up the sky with a huge sh and boom! My back mmed into the ground, creating a huge crater beneath me, but Hein went sailing through the air like I¡¯d just struck him for a home run. I pushed right back off the ground again, chasing Hein through the night sky. ¡°You piece of shit!¡± I screamed as I flew past him and raised my axe high above my head with both hands. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for what you¡¯ve done to my sister! You¡¯ll pay, you pompous, arrogant ass!¡± Hein was still reeling from my first hit, but he still had the wherewithal to scream with terror as I brought the t of my de down right on top of his head with a modified [Three-Log Chop]. Whaomp! The impact was viscerally satisfying as he went careening back down to Earth again, mming into the crater I had just made with a huge cloud of dust. I came mming down right after him, burying my fist into his chest. Wha-thoom! The crater exploded a second time as I sent Hein half a foot into the ground. Deathly silence took hold as debris fell with the patter of rain, not even the crowd making a sound. As I looked to my handiwork below me, Heiny unconscious in a shattered mess. His fine robes were scorched and torn to shreds, his hair unraveled and burned on one side from where the t of my axe had struck him. He could have been dead. Should have been dead. But I¡¯d pulled my punches at thest second for a reason. With a ragged sputter, Hein suddenly came to, coughing up blood. I stood over him and let the weight of my axe fall on his chest, stifling him further as he struggled to breathe. He looked up at me with shock and disbelief in his eyes, his soul trembling with fear. ¡°H-how¡­?¡± he stuttered. ¡°H-how have you done this?¡± I grimaced with [Fear the me] absorbing his fear at the same time. ¡°When ancient mes beckon, you answer the call. And when pieces of shit like you get in the way¡­they simply get burned.¡± Hein¡¯s face became a mosaic of confusion as I dropped the cryptic truth on him, eyes squinting with a furrowed brow. Iughed then, happy to see the clown finally lost for words. ¡°For the sake of Su Ling, I¡¯ve chosen to spare your wretched life today,¡± I said as I stepped on his forearm, pinning his sword and hand to the asphalt. He cried out in pain, the Qi-imbued strength of his body now gone. ¡°It is my hope that one day, you may man up enough to fully atone for your sins,¡± I said as I raised my axe. ¡°But as for now. Today you will receive a lesson that you won¡¯t soon forget.¡± He stared at me confused, until he looked at my foot standing on his forearm again. ¡°No,¡± he cried. ¡°Please no! Not my hand! Not like her! Not like Zu Tien!¡± Hein screamed in horror as my axe fell. ¡°Noooo!¡± Lightning thundered as my de struck the ground in a [Three-Log Chop], the sharp ring of steeling with it. My hair was pushed back by a massive explosion of energy and when the dust finally cleared, Hein¡¯s dey shattered in three pieces on the ground. A cold silence filled the air, only the whimpering of Hein¡¯s sobbing breaking it. When I finally let up on his forearm, he rolled to his knees and looked at his hand as if not believing it was still attached. Only a few secondster did he notice his sword on the ground and then screamed a second time. ¡°No!! What have you done?!!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve chosen to show you more mercy than you deserve, you bastard. Be grateful for it.¡± Fresh tears filled in his eyes. ¡°No! You should have taken my hand! This sword was worth far more than my life!¡± I shrugged with [Indifference]. ¡°Even better then.¡± I lifted his chin with the tip of my axe de, bringing his teary eyes to meet mine. ¡°Pay attention now, Hein. You see her?¡± I pointed at Yu Li and Su Ling and then jabbed the axe head into his neck until he nodded. ¡°You now owe her five Taels a month, understand? And you will continue to pay this on the first of each month until Su Ling reaches eighteen years of age.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called child support, bitch.¡± I pushed him back to the ground with my axe, causing him to scramble on his elbows. ¡°Now swear to it before the magistrate, before I withdraw my mercy and take off both your damn hands!¡± His eyes darted back and forth wildly, uncertain and scared. ¡°I.. I¡­¡± ¡°Swear it!¡± I bellowed and his eyes quickly bulged. ¡°I swear it, I swear it!¡± he cried, tears running down his swollen and bloodied cheeks as he lowered his head and began to sob like a scolded child. Jian Yi nodded at Hein with a smile as she stepped from the crowd. ¡°Noted. I will see that the Junior Magistrate drafts something for you so that you do not soon forget yourmitment, Young Master Hein.¡± I finally let him up, grabbing him up off the ground by his robes. I looked him dead in the eye with [Fear the me] and was satisfied that I¡¯d broken him in both body and soul. Hein now feared me like death itself and I reveled in it, cultivating new strength from his weakness. ¡°If you ever disrespect my sister or anyone in my sect again, I¡¯ll being for your head. You got that?¡± I waited for him to nod like the scared little boy he was and then spun him about. ¡°Good,¡± I said and then kicked him in the back of the ass, the same way he did Zu Tien. ¡°Now get on up out of here!¡± I then looked for the girl herself and saw Zu Tien still unconscious on the ground. ¡°And take that one-handed whore with you.¡± Hein stumbled on his feet, bent over at the waist. He then reached a hand towards Yu Li. ¡°Yu Li¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Yu Li¡¯s face soured. ¡°You are indeed sorry, Young Master Hein.¡± I sensed the anger in her as she picked up a piece of fallen fruit from the ground. It then spiked as she threw it at him, releasing a yell. It hit him square in the chest leaving a purple stain on his already disheveled robes. Another piece of fruit came and then another. By the time he dragged Zu Tien and his broken sword from the square Hein was ducking for cover. I watched with an immense sense of satisfaction as the very people he had oppressed turned their wrath on him with impunity, emboldened by the security that only true strength and power could provide. As Hein wailed and cried, I shot another lightning bolt into the sky signaling our victory to the heavens. ¡°Let it be known!¡± I shouted. ¡°That today, Young Master Hein of the Silver Leaf n has been defeated by the might of the Terran Sect!¡± My neighborhood cried out a victory shout with me as I sent another bolt of blue lightning thundering into the sky. As the revelry kicked off, I focused on one more piece of unfinished business that needed to be settled. I pointed my axe into the crowd. ¡°Li Fet! Where are you? It is time to pay what you now owe!¡± The crowd parted from around him to reveal he had been sitting there shaking in his chair the entire time. I approached him casually with my axe on my shoulder. ¡°It seems you¡¯ve lost, Li Fet,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m ready to sign those deeds now.¡± ¡°I-I can¡¯t¡­¡± he said, ncing over his shoulder as the people of the square closed in around him. ¡°This is not right! This is not fair! I want to speak to a-!¡± Jian Yi shut him up by thrusting a document and a pen in his hands. ¡°Do I need to have the Junior Magistrate summon the Enforcers to persuade you?¡± Li Fet nced at the stump at the center of the square and then immediately looked up at me, as if remembering the punishment he had subjected me to just a few short months ago. I smiled, amused by the reversal of roles. I¡¯de a hell of a long way since then. ¡°Hey, it¡¯d be only fair right?¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°But I¡¯d only order a dozen strikes.¡± I then put on a mocking tone. ¡°You¡¯d find that, like you, This One is a just and mercifulndowner.¡± I grinned as Li Fet swallowed visibly and then hurriedly signed the document. I snatched it from him and then gave him a scowl. ¡°Good,¡± I said. ¡°Now get your fat, sorry ass off of my property.¡± * * * The neighborhood roared with cheers once Li Fet and Hein finally left the square. The outpouring of lemonade was on the order of nothing I¡¯d experienced before as the entire block swarmed me with hugs, ps on the back, and words of constant praise. It was all I could do to try and cultivate it all while still trying to navigate the crowd, looking for the people I needed to see the most. When I finally reached Yu Li, she crushed me in an embrace along with Su Ling, kissing me on both cheeks. ¡°You did it, Chun!¡± she said, her eyes dancing with pride and joy. ¡°Or wait¡­ should I call you Max now?¡± Iughed. ¡°You¡¯re my damn sister. You can call me whatever the hell you like.¡± She grinned from ear to ear, crushing me in an embrace again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for ever doubting you,¡± she whispered in my ear. ¡°You¡¯re the most amazing brother to ever live. Thank you so much for freeing us. For freeing me.¡± I hugged her back and couldn¡¯t help the tears that came to my eyes. ¡°[My Turn]!¡± Gui Zu eximed, once I let her go, the giant of a man mimicking the martial tone of my technique. Despite his wounds he lifted me right off the ground as his arms crushed me about the waist. ¡°To the greatest cultivator I¡¯ve ever known! Your heart matches the strength of your fighting spirit, Brother Max. May your capacity for mercy be as renowned as your ferocity in battle.¡± Iughed with him. ¡°Thank you, brother!¡± As he set me down, I came face to face with Jian Yi. She wore a smirk on her face, but her eyes shone with a yful mirth. ¡°Max Chun,¡± she said in a formal tone. ¡°Founder, Leader, and Warden of the Terran Sect and rightful Landowner of D-Block, I present to you this, your official documents of title and ownership. May you continue to lead with strength, justice and courage.¡± She then bowed deeply and presented the stack of papers to me with both hands. I gave a formal bow as I epted them from her. It was a small gesture,pletely unnecessary really, but it did wonders to rally the feeling of aplishment in my heart. The rest of the neighborhood felt it too and burst into apuse as I was formally inducted into my new positions of authority and power. ¡°Thank you, Jian Yi,¡± I said, returning her bow. ¡°And thank you for having the faith in me to press on, even when I didn¡¯t show.¡± She nodded. ¡°Well, I¡¯d already bet the farm on you, so I didn¡¯t have much choice.¡± Iughed at that and marveled at the ember still burning brightly in her soul. She¡¯d stepped up to the te and defended her people, but in a way much different than I would have guessed. The way in question stepped to stand by her side, the Junior Magistrate Hui Long. Jian Yi had once again disyed skills and talents that I¡¯d never known, much less given her credit for. How she had convinced a Junior Magistrate to adjudicate a shit-show like this in the worst part of town was beyond me. But I was thankful for it. It was all her doing that had given me my second chance. ¡°Thank you for everything, Jian Yi,¡± I said, cing my hands on her shoulders. ¡°You truly made this possible by buying me more time. Words can¡¯t express how much that mattered.¡± She blushed then, turning her head with a smile. The tough girl turned soft was adorable, but I let her go with a quick embrace before she lost herposure any further. ¡°Congrattions on your victory,¡± Hui Long said, giving me a polite bow as well. ¡°Your technique was most impressive and a bit familiar if I do say so myself¡­ is the Iron Bull any rtion?¡± He grinned knowingly and it was my turn to blush now. Ah, who the hell who was I trying to kid? There was no way I could hide my secret identity any longer. Not after what I¡¯d just done. But neither did I want to¡­or need to either. I was my own man now. With my own sect, and my own power. I gave Hui Long a wry smile. ¡°I guess you can say I know the Iron Bull on a personal level.¡± Hui Long bowed again. ¡°It is an honor to meet you in person. And it is no small wonder that you were able to defeat Master Hein. Your reputation precedes you for certain, Iron Bull.¡± The name Iron Bull went echoing with a whisper throughout the crowd, those slow on the uptake reacting with shock. Including my sister who tiptoed to whisper into Gui Zu¡¯s ear. ¡°What¡¯s the Iron Bull?¡± she said too loudly. Gui Zu let out augh and so did I. ¡°You are indeed a legend,¡± Hui Long said. ¡°And your reputation will only grow from what has transpired today, but it will not go unnoticed. I would prepare for a swift appeal in the near future from the Dong family. They are but a small part of the greater Silver Leaf n, but I would imagine Young Master Hein¡¯s defeat will not go unchallenged.¡± The thought of retribution from Hein¡¯s parents or even the Warden herself got my juices pumping. ¡°Let theme,¡± I said with confidence as my me stirred. ¡°So long as they follow thew, I¡¯d be more than happy to face whoever they send to fight me in the ring.¡± Jian Yi smiled. ¡°Spoken like a true champion.¡± She then turned to the crowd. ¡°Let¡¯s hear it for our great Warden, Max Chun the Iron Bull!¡± The crowd rallied again, chanting my moniker like I was back in the arena again. I threw my hands in the air, epting their praise. As my soul swelled with appreciation, I couldn¡¯t help but reflect on everything. I¡¯d done it. I¡¯d won. ¡°It¡¯s time to celebrate!¡± Jian Yi said, throwing her fist into the air. ¡°Tonight, the Terran Sect has solidified itself as a force to be reckoned with. And it¡¯s all thanks to Chun! Let¡¯s show our appreciation for him!¡± Just like before, the people responded to Jian Yi¡¯smands as if on instinct, transforming the dueling court into a neighborhood square once more. I pitched in by clearing the massive crater I¡¯d made in the ground and once all was done, the food and drink flowed seemingly from nowhere as the people poured out their hearts throughughter, song, and dance. I sat smiling with Yu Li, Su Ling and Gui Zu, basking in the warmth and security that only my hard-wonbor could afford. At least for now. There were new challenges thaty ahead of me for sure, but there were opportunities as well. The response from Hein¡¯s family, the fallout from killing Sumatra and destroying an entire branch of the Fire Bird n and not to mention that unknown horror I¡¯d killed down in the depths¡­ if I¡¯d killed it even. That eye-octopus was probably just a puppet for whatever that thing truly was. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz, I think it called itself? The King of the Moon? With a name like that, the [Odds were Against Me] for sure, but I had hidden strength to bnce it as well. I had a new conve of Terrans to support and cultivate out in the wild and a whole new Chapter of teachings to digest from the scriptures on Threja¡¯s sword. The thought made me eager to get back out there and increase in knowledge and power. And I would do so soon enough. In the back of my mind though, there were new thoughts of Fia as well. I¡¯d defeated both Hong Feng and Sumatra. With them gone, there was nothing stopping me from continuing my rtionship with Fia in secret out in the wild, although it would still lead to biggerplications in the future, but maybe just seeing her again would be enough for now. It was a pleasant thought, but as pleasant as it was, it would all have to wait. Tonight, I would focus on celebrating with my people and let theplications of tomorrow, be for another day. Chapter 77: EPILOGUE Master Hei Dong fell to his knees before his son with a sob. Hein was sobbing as well, but he could not care less about the wailings of that irresponsible little wretch. Hei Dong¡¯s concern instead was of the broken de thaty at the boy¡¯s knees. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Father,¡± Hein said, pressing his forehead to the ground, his robes a mess, his body covered in wounds. ¡°That oaf was much stronger than he seemed. I don¡¯t know how he----¡ª¡± ¡°Silence!¡± Hei Dong shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t you speak! Don¡¯t you speak, you insufferable little brat!¡± Quickened footfalls came down the hallway from behind him as his wife appeared. ¡°Hein?!¡± she cried, rmed. ¡°Hein, what¡¯s happened?¡± The boy ran to his mother¡¯s arms like the child he was, heightening the anger within Hei Dong¡¯s soul. He looked to the girl Zu Tien who remained kneeled before him. She had neither moved nor spoken since arriving with Hein, and kept her forehead pressed firmly to the floor. Perhaps he¡¯d get the truth of what had urred out of her.But at the moment he couldn¡¯t care. The precious Luminous Silver Tear Fang nowy shattered along with his soul. ¡°Three centuries,¡± he muttered. ¡°Three centuries this de had withstood the test of time. Withstood countless battles beyond the stars! And only a month ago, I poured my very soul into it to as a gift to you! A de like none other.¡± Hei Dong turned his baleful eyes to Hein. ¡°And this is what you do with it?¡± Hein¡¯s eyes quivered as he continued to sob. ¡°What did you do, Hein?¡± his wife, Rhi Dong asked, a bit of grace dropping from her tone. ¡°What did you do to destroy that de?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t my fault,¡± Hein said. ¡°It was him.¡± ¡°Him who?¡± she said. Hein didn¡¯t answer right away, shame clearly in his vacant stare. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ just a Terran. He was mortal not long ago. I don¡¯t understand it. He must be a cheat somehow!¡± ¡°Who, Hein!?¡± Rhi Dong shouted again. ¡°They call him Chun. Or Chun.¡± Hei Dong eyed him with fury. ¡°What?¡± Hein went on to babble about the fight he¡¯d had and lost. The strange techniques his opponent had used. But Hei Dong could barely focus on it, his attention drawn back to the three fragments of Aurorean silverid on the tiled floor. It would take a fortune to repair it, if such a thing could even be done, but even if so, it would never be the same. ¡°I wish he had killed you,¡± Hei Dong said coldly. ¡°How are we to save face from a disgrace such as this!¡± His shout echoed throughout the foyer, causing the servants who had gathered to cringe away from him. ¡°This Chun, or Chun or whoever he is, he is clearly a fighter,¡± Rhi Dong said with an all too familiar look of bloodlust in her eyes. ¡°I will face him. The Lady Silver Moon will not stand by while her royal house is disrespected so. This Chun will pay for wounding my son!¡± ¡°Your son?¡± Hei Dong said with disgust. ¡°Look at my de!¡± ¡°Yes, dear,¡± Rhi Dong said, barely acknowledging him. ¡°He will pay for that too. With his very life.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Hein said. ¡°It¡¯s not so simple. He is a sect leader now too. There was a magistrate there and everything.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Hei Dong screamed. ¡°A magistrate?¡± He wanted to kill the boy himself. Hein turned his head into Rhi Dong¡¯s bosom and his wife sickeningly continued to coddle the boy, wiping his tears and reassuring him of vengeance. Anger welled within Hei Dong. This would not do. ¡°No,¡± Hei Dong said firmly. ¡°If a magistrate has been involved, we cannot send you to address the matter. It will draw too much attention in the courts. Our shame will be an open embarrassment that we will never recover from. I could even lose my position over it.¡± For the first time, Rhi Dong seemed to have actual concern in her eyes. ¡°But we need to do something,¡± she said. ¡°Not responding would elicit an even greater shame.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not doing nothing,¡± Hei Dong said and then turning to one of the servants he snapped his fingers. ¡°Fetch my daughter from her residence. Tell her she muste to the family estate as a matter of urgency.¡± The servant bowed. ¡°Yes, at once, my lord.¡± He then ran off. Rhi Dong smiled. ¡°Forever so wise, Hei Dong. It is a wonder how I ever would have survived had I not married you. Your wisdom is infinite.¡± ¡°I wish I could say the same for This One,¡± Hei Dong said, ring at his son. ¡°Hein, you have embarrassed this family with your failures for thest time. I warned you more than once about dabbling with the damn Terrans and now one of them has handed your own ass to you!¡± The boy flinched, sobbing again. ¡°Your sister will be your advocate to face this Chun person.¡± ¡°My sister?¡± Hein looked like he would rather die. ¡°No please! Let Mother go. I don¡¯t wish her to even know about this!¡± ¡°It is done. Your mother is too high of status to deal with this mess you¡¯ve caused. Your sister is of Gold Ranking. She is low enough to get away with dealing with it.¡± He then frowned at the boy. ¡°It¡¯s quite apparent you cannot.¡± Hein finally shut up, looking mournful. Hei Dong looked down at the de again, his heart aching. ¡°This horrendous sin will be paid for in blood,¡± he said. ¡°Our Fia, the great Silver Light, and her enve of Silver Shadows will make right this grave injustice against our family name.¡± * * * A mild sense of anxiety filled me as I approached the handler¡¯s camp. It had been a couple days since I¡¯d been herest, that fateful evening when I¡¯d returned from the wild and exacted justice and vengeance on Sumatra. I almost expected the ce to be crawling with enforcers investigating the mess I¡¯d left behind, but by the looks of things it was business as usual. Maybe there was just too much money to be made for the likes of a murdered supervisor to stand in the way of progress. And knowing the empire, that was likely what was going on here. But I honestly couldn¡¯t care less about Sumatra. I¡¯d returned for a greater purpose today. I¡¯d dressed in my finest robes and found a rare blue persimmon in the artisan¡¯s market to bring as an offering. It was time for me to pay my final respects to Mu Lin. As I entered the camp grounds, I got a few stares from some handlers I¡¯d only seen once or twice before. But then the shout of a familiar voice caught my ear. ¡°Holy shit! Chun?! Is that you?¡± I looked about to see Lee stumbling towards me, tripping over a bunch of backpacks on the ground. Ren, Rho, and Yi Fu were close behind him, their faces alight with wide smiles. I couldn¡¯t contain my own smile at seeing them all. Friendly faces in a sad time. Lee immediately pulled me into a bro hug, pping my back. ¡°Man, it¡¯s so good to see you, bro!¡± he said with augh. ¡°I thought you were dead, dude!¡± Iughed with him. ¡°Sometimes I felt like I might have been dead, trust me.¡± Iughed inwardly at my own private joke. [Death¡¯s Door] had be a bit of a turnstile for me ofte. ¡°Where have you been, Brother Chun?¡± Yi Fu asked, embracing me as well. ¡°And how have you gotten so big?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if it was just my normal cultivation, or using [Mark of the Giant] so often, but I had definitely put on an extra permanent inch or two. Maybe that was why Threja was a giantpared to even Sumatra. ¡°Healthy diet,¡± I said with a smile as Ren and Rho mobbed me as well, giving me bro hugs and handshakes. ¡°It¡¯s great to see you, elder brother!¡± Rho said, ¡°But honestly where have you been?¡± ¡°To hell and back would probably be an understatement,¡± I said. ¡°But let¡¯s just say I¡¯m d to see all of you.¡± At the mention of that, Lee¡¯s countenance suddenly fell. ¡°Hey¡­ have you heard? About Mu Lin?¡± I only nodded. ¡°Why I¡¯m here actually. I heard you guys had made a shrine for her.¡± Lee nodded as the sadness returned to his eyes. ¡°Still can¡¯t believe it, honestly. But then a couple days ago Sumatra goes missing as well. They found a whole pile of blood but no body. I think something really bad is going on, man, but I¡¯m not sure what.¡± I feigned ignorance. ¡°What? Sumatra too?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Lee said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think people care too much. The guy was an asshole, right? They gave me his position the next day and told me to keep the customers rolling.¡± ¡°Whoa, no shit?¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re the boss now?¡± Leeughed. ¡°Can you believe that? Me, the cker of all ckers. Should really have been her though, man.¡± Lee then gestured to Mu Lin¡¯s picture at the side of the handler¡¯s hut and we all approached it somberly. I looked at Mu Lin, her smiling face. And my soul grieved. ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you,¡± I said, kneeling down to her picture. ¡°Thank you for everything you taught me.¡± ¡°She taught us all a lot,¡± a voice said from behind me. I turned about to see Xi Xha, dressed in a pristine white robe and a veil¡ªthe colors of death and mourning. I smiled at her sadly as I rose to my feet. ¡°You got my message.¡± She nodded. ¡°Thank you for telling me and inviting me.¡± I nodded. ¡°I thought it would only be right that you knew what happened to her. You put so much of yourself into Mu Lin. She would have wanted you to be here.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Xi Xha said and gave me a warm embrace. ¡°Mu Lin thought the world of you too, you know?¡± She then leaned back, giving me a sad smile. ¡°Which is why, I think you deserve to know the truth of what really happened to her as well.¡± ¡°What?¡± Before my mind could even put two and two together, a small figure stepped out from behind the back wall of the hut, dark eyes twinkling with mischief. My heart hit the ceiling as my eyes nearly popped out of my head. ¡°Mu Lin!!¡± I screamed her name as I jumped across the distance to her, snatching her up in my arms as tears flowed freely from my eyes. My soul overflowed with joy, my heart nearly bursting with tion and gratitude to the fates for sparing her somehow. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it!¡± I said still in shock. ¡°You¡¯re alive! You¡¯re alive!¡± Mu Linughed and giggled as I spun her in the air. ¡°Yes!¡± she said. ¡°For the moment. Now put me down before you actually kill me!¡± I did so with anotherugh and allowed her to share embraces with Lee and the others. ¡°Damn,¡± she said. ¡°You all couldn¡¯t find a better picture of me than that?¡± That got us allughing and the whole handler camp joined in. It was amazing to see just how loved and missed she was. I stepped back still in amazement, beside myself as I stood off to the side next to Xi Xha. ¡°Wow,¡± I said. ¡°You really know how to throw a surprise, Xi Xha. I¡¯m assuming she came to find you?¡± ¡°Almost a week ago now,¡± Xi Xha said, folding her slender arms with a smile as she looked on at Mu Lin reuniting with her co-workers. ¡°She thought you might have been dead too for some reason.¡± ¡°Why? What did she tell you?¡± ¡°Not much,¡± Xi Xha said. ¡°Only that she had to stay with me for a while. I knew something bad must have happened when she said you could be dead. But she swore for me to keep quiet about everything.¡± I smiled inwardly. She¡¯d listened. But for how she got out of that tunnel I still didn¡¯t know. ¡°When I showed her your message, you should have seen her.¡± Xi Xha let out augh. ¡°She cried for like an hour, she was so happy. She said whatever it was, it had to be all over now that you¡¯d made contact. That¡¯s how much faith she had in you.¡± She then paused and gave me another smile. ¡°And for the record, it was her idea to surprise you like this. Not mine. She¡¯s got a wicked sense of humor, that one.¡± Iughed. ¡°Indeed she does. Thank you, Xi Xha. For everything.¡± She raised a brow at me. ¡°So are you going to tell me what this was all about?¡± ¡°Best you not know,¡± I said. ¡°The Jianghu is best left with its secrets, yeah?¡± She nodded and left it at that, quick to take the hint. Mu Lin finally rejoined us again, free from everyone hugging her. Xi Xha smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you two ¡®dead people¡¯ to catch up with one another.¡± We both couldn¡¯t help butugh at that. Mu Lin jumped into my arms again, squeezing me hard. ¡°Oh man, Chun,¡± she said with a sob. ¡°I really thought you were dead. I¡¯m so sorry I told them everything.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about all that,¡± I said, squeezing her back just as hard. ¡°I¡¯m just so happy that you¡¯re alive. How are you alive?¡± ¡°You first,¡± she said. I gave her a smile and cycled my Frenzy, enting it with my sliver of lightning core. Her eyes grew wide as she sensed the sudden power of my Qi. ¡°Holy shit!¡± she said. ¡°You ascended into the Core Realm?¡± ¡°That I did,¡± I said. ¡°And I trust you can keep this next part hush-hush, for both our sakes. But you need not worry about Sumatra or those Fire Birds ever again.¡± It took her half a second to realize what I was saying, but after a brief look of shock, her eyes melted into tears again. ¡°Thank you, Chun,¡± she said, giving me another hug. ¡°Thank you for everything.¡± ¡°Now, your turn,¡± I said. ¡°How did you survive that tunnel?¡± Sheughed a nervousugh. ¡°Wasn¡¯t easy, but I found a crack in the wall that led to this underground area and hid.¡± As soon as she said it, I thought about the area I¡¯d fought Hong Feng and that monster in. Clearly, she must have found a way inside there as well, or somece like it. ¡°I hid in there all night,¡± she said. ¡°I kept one step ahead of them by sensing their Qi from afar and expending all of my own so they couldn¡¯t detect me. It took them a while to give up. I guess they figured I had made it to the wild and just died out there.¡± Iughed. ¡°They actually lied. They told Hong Feng that they killed you.¡± ¡°What?¡± she said. ¡°Even better then. I guess they needed to save face for their failure. Anyway, I managed to get back to the wild early the next morning and snuck back into the city and found Xi Xha. I did everything you told me to. I said nothing. I honestly didn¡¯t think you were still alive though. I was so happy when Xi Xha got your message. I knew everything had to be ok then.¡± I chuckled as Mu Lin hugged me again. ¡°Yeah, Xi Xha told me.¡± ¡°So what now?¡± she asked. ¡°Is everything really okay?¡± ¡°More than okay,¡± I said. ¡°Lee is in charge of this ce, so you need not hurry back. You should get yourself off to school.¡± ¡°Yeah, Xi Xha has that already arranged. But what about you?¡± ¡°Me?¡± I gave her a grin. ¡°I got a new job myself. A few actually.¡± She furrowed her brow, her sses sliding down her nose. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°After work you all need toe by D block. There¡¯s some paperwork you all need to fill out.¡± ¡°Paperwork? For what?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see when you get there,¡± I said. ¡°Oh! And before I forget. I brought this for you.¡± Her eyes lit up as I handed her the blue persimmon that I was nning to ce on her shrine and was grateful I had the privilege of seeing her enjoy it in the flesh. Her eyes lit up for a second as she sunk her teeth into the meaty fruit, staining them blue as she gave me a grin. As I took in the moment, a relief and calm filled my soul. I finally had my answer. About whether I could both protect and avenge. Seeing Mu Lin alive again proved I could do both. And I would do both. But not alone. My friends and family were here to help me along my path. While I took revenge for the Earth, I would both protect and cultivate my people and turn them into a force to topple the empire. It would take perhaps years, decades, or even centuries, but I didn¡¯t care. My me was immortal and one day, so would I be. The thought stirred my conviction and strengthened my resolve. I¡¯d taken my first step along the path to both freeing the Earth and achieving immortality. And there was no looking back now. Whatevery ahead of me I would push forth without fear or hesitation. I would follow the Frenzied me as it guided my path. The path of the Berserker. Max’s Techniques And Abilities Taken from the sacred scripts regarding the Path of the Frenzied me. ¡°Thou art indeed a kindled me, a frenzied spirit, tempered by struggle and sorrow, fueled by rage and pain¡­¡± -Unknown Shura 1 Think not that we speak for the me, for the me of Frenzy has no master nor does it seek to create masters of its own ord. We who speak, have through consult agreed to these doctrines, not by direction, but through independent revtions of the me. Know with confidence then, that these words are true and are fit for enlightenment along your path. Shura 2 They call us Berserker, we who follow the Frenzied me. Let us embrace the moniker, for it instills fears in our enemies. And fear is our strength. [Frenzied me] ¨C the most basic of all techniques within the Berserker¡¯s domain. Use it to instantly channel your internal energies of Fear, Rage, and Pain into Frenzy. Evoking this technique can also stir the embers of an Unkindled or even reignite the fallen me of a Waning Ember. [Fear the me] ¨C the simple baring of one¡¯s fangs is sometimes all that is required to defeat one¡¯s foe. Gather your Frenzy and with a mere look or phrase, exert your dominance and feed from the fears of your enemies or bolster the resolve of your allies. [Mask of the Despised] ¨C take heed always, kindled one, for the hatred of the Frenzied me is great amongst those who follow the path of Qi. Use this technique to mask your strength while in their presence, for their own arrogance shall paint you as a mere fool, simpleton, or dull brute in their eyes. Use this to your advantage to move freely among them while posing no threat.[Lust for Battle] ¨C not a true technique, but a trait shared by all kindled of the Frenzied me. The drawing of blood in battle, even one¡¯s own, can trigger a burst of Frenzy. And to y one¡¯s enemy will produce even more so. Yet take heed, kindled one, for the pull of the bloodlust is strong and the need to draw blood can easily extend to a friend as well as foe, if left unrestrained. Let not the Demon within you take full control. [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] ¨C the path of the Struggler is forever filled with tribtion. This technique will convert your Frenzy into an iron will of determination that even others can feel and see. [Indifference] ¨CThink not, dear kindled, that your power lies in aggression and hostility alone. To induce rage and fear in others can be many more times as effective, for nothing offends the proud and powerful more than indifference. Use this technique to withstand attacks and to demoralize your foes through your apathy when you disregard even their strongest techniques with a scoff. [Odds Against Me] ¨C there is no greater thrill than a challenge. Without challenge, without struggle, there can be no progression. The cowardly prey on those who are weaker to ensure easy victory, but the Berserker seeks to oppose strength far above his own. When facing greater odds, either by strength, numbers, or both, this technique will generate enormous amounts of Frenzy by suppressing your inner fears and unleashing your me¡¯s full potential. The power of this technique is limitless, bound only by the strength of your foe and your ability to withstand him. [My Turn] ¨C a retaliation technique used best whenbined with [Indifference]. Unleash a mighty burst of Frenzy with your next strike by releasing the stored Pain energy of any previous attacks endured. [Death Mastery] ¨C the fear of death grows only stronger the closer one gets to immortality. Power over this fear defies not only the Heavens, but mocks it to its face. Consider it no small wonder then, dear kindled, that your path shall be blighted with misfortune, for the Heavens are not lightly mocked. In exchange for this rebuke, you shall enjoy the bounty that is rity of mind, body, and soul in ces where others falter and fail. Your words and actions will instill fear and respect in others and your me will burn yet brighter with each evolution, heightening the potency of all your abilities. (Max¡¯s Death Mastery Levels) Fear of Uncertain Death (Mastery) ¨C [Foundation Realm] Fear of Certain Death (Mastery) ¨C [Core Realm] Fear no Death ¨C [Sacred Soul Realm] Death Wish ¨C [Deity Realm] [Iron Core] ¨C (internal) use concentrated Frenzy to temporarily form ayer of protective armor around vital organs and bones to withstand tremendous blows. [Death¡¯s Door] ¨C (internal) should you suffer a fatal wound use concentrated Frenzy to rece any bodily function that is lost. [Iron Skin] ¨C (external) use concentrated Frenzy to temporarily form ayer of hardened armor on a specific part of the body. Use defensively to avoid critical strikes or offensively on the knuckles, feet, or palms when fighting unarmed. Marks of the Berserker Take special care when utilizing the marks. While initially only one Mark may be used at a time, higher levels can sustain as much as two. In very rare practitioners, all three marks can be manifested, but take heed, as such will quickly Frenzy thy me towardsplete madness. [Mark of the Beast] ¨C (external) take on the likeness of a frenzied beast, greatly increasing one¡¯s reflexes and speed. [Mark of the Giant] ¨C (external) grow in physical size, greatly increase all of one¡¯s physical strength and power. [Mark of the Demon] ¨C (external) take on the likeness of a demon, greatly increasing the potency of one¡¯s Frenzy and the effectiveness of Frenzy techniques. Max¡¯s Demonic Cultivation Techniques [Absorption] ¨C a demonic technique that renders Qi essence from solid cores. [Devil¡¯s Shadow] ¨C a demonic technique that masks one¡¯s Dantian with the Qi gained through [Absorption]. By absorbing the essence of a sliver of Lightning Core imnted in his body, Max is able to mask his Frenzied Core as a normal lightning core. [Faux Lightning] ¨C bybining [Absorption] and [Devil¡¯s Shadow], a small sliver of lightning core can be sent to Max¡¯s jing meridian to create a small spark of lightning. Max¡¯s Martial Training One and Two-handed Axe Mastery ¨C derived from a standard training manual. Max¡¯s Self-Made Martial Techniques [One/Two Log Chop] ¨C a powerful vertical cleave utilizing the power of Frenzy [One Chop Cleave] ¨C a powerful spinning horizontal chop designed to fell a tree in one blow. Max¡¯s Lightning Techniques [Frenzied Lightning] ¨C by utilizing solid frenzy and sending it to his jing meridian, Max is able to produce Lightning the same as a Lightning Qi master. [Lightning Arc Strike] ¨C manifests an arc of lightning that is cast from the edge of his de. [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] ¨C a manifestation technique that releases arge burst of [Frenzied Lightning] from Max¡¯s body. [Lightning Splits the Towering Oak] ¨C a techniquebining [Frenzied Lightning] and [Three Log Chop] to produce a devastating killing blow. Max¡¯s group affiliations, titles, and martial rankings Furious Lightning Sect -¨C Sect Elder and sole member Terran Sect ¨C Founder, Leader, and Warden Wooden Bracket League ¨C 1st-ce Ranking and overall winner Iron Bracket League ¨C 20th-ce Ranking Gold Bracket League ¨C Qualified, no ranking Book 2: Prologue – The Unknown IT SEETHED. IN the void of darkness, Its formless presence coveted the primal energy pulsating through the tiny crack in the firmament. An unfathomable envy filled It. The crack would appear rhythmically within Its jail of confinement¡ªpulse after pulse¡ªtempting it with yearning. Through it, It could sense what It desired the most. Influence. It had tasted of a husk through the crack¨C¨Crare and refined. A vessel tempered by the Cursed me. A vessel more than suitable for Its purpose. It would eject the me and im it for Its own. Curse the Cursed me. With each pulse of the crack, It extended Its will, exerting Its influence to the weak-minded thralls thaty beyond. Pulse by pulse, it would reach for them before being cut off again. But with each pulse did it exert Its influence. Slowly the thralls did bend to Its will andbored to gather theponents of the aperture. With each pulse the aperture grew more defined. And with each pulse, did the crack slowly grow in size. Book 2: Chapter 1 YEAR 14,754 of the Imperial Yee Dynasty Native Housing District D Block Jurin Province, Terra ¡°This!?¡± the cultivator shouted incredulously from across the square. ¡°This is the Iron Bull? More like Bullshit!¡± I held my tongue as the likely mid-tier Foundation Realm cultivator threw his back with a hearty, scoffingugh. The two buddies he¡¯d brought with him did the same, mocking and jeering me from afar. The sight ignited ire within my soul, kindling my inner me. ¡°Assholes,¡± I muttered. ¡°How many more of these clowns do I have to deal with today?¡± ¡°As many as you attract, I suppose.¡±The answer came from the pretty ck girl with hazel eyes standing by my side, Jian Yi. She was a good two feet shorter than me, but she held herself with a confidence that made her stand tall, the smoldering ember in her soul ying no small part in that. The other part, I knew, came from the imperial court documents in her hands. It was barely mid-morning in the center of the market square of D Block, but most of the residents had already cleared out, anticipating the violence that would soon erupt from the three cultivators showing up unannounced just after dawn. A good portion of them had stayed on to watch from the sidelines. There were a few dots of fear from my neighbors but most of them blessed me with the gift of lemonade as their hearts poured out their faith and adoration in tangible form. Utilizing my [Your Fear is my Strength] technique, I sampled their essence, cultivating it into fresh Frenzy to strengthen my limbs and increase the size of the solid core within my Dantian. Although the technique was designed to siphon fear, fear had a positive form as well. If fear was lemons, then fear that equated to respect was lemonade. And my neighbors were producing a ton of it for me. I could see their faces in the crowd, smiling, silently rooting for me. It was all I needed to face down the interlopers threatening our home. ¡°Can I go smack them now?¡± I asked. Jian Yi shook her head. ¡°Not unless you wish to be found guilty of assault as the Iron Bull. Which will add moreplications than any of us want. You¡¯ll need a bit more evidence to im self-defense as the Warden of the Terran Sect.¡± I sighed and looked back to the three cultivators. They were all middle-aged-looking, with stocky builds¡ªrobes of some unknown low-ranking martial sect hanging loosely from their sloppy frames. The sight both annoyed and disgusted me. What the hell made these guys think that they were even on my level? The answer was simple. Me being a Terran, they obviously thought they were already far above it. ¡°Seems I¡¯m going to have to give these guys an education today,¡± I said, cycling my Frenzy through my solid core. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Jian Yi asked. I merely grinned. ¡°Just be ready with the paperwork.¡± Taking a step forward, I channeled my Frenzy through my meridians, employing a different technique. ¡°Bullshit, huh?¡± I shouted to them with a healthy dose of [Fear the me]. ¡°You really want proof that the Iron Bull is truly the Warden of the Terran Sect?¡± I directed my words towards the one who seemed to be the leader, a short, balding man with a trimmed beard. He balked at the power of my technique, his inside quivering with fear and uncertainty as Iid it on. I thenpped up his fear to further strengthen myself. I couldn¡¯t sense the power of his Qi¡ªmy talents weren¡¯t geared towards that, but from what I could tell the guy was probably on the lean side when it came to internal strength. He likely relied on martial arts and for weapons I could see a set of curved swords at his sides. As for mine, I gripped the solid metal shaft of the Corrupted Steel Axe with eager anticipation, cycling my Frenzy through it. I couldn¡¯t wait to bury it into his thick, obnoxious hide. ¡°Terran Sect, I can believe,¡± the man said, pushing back his fear to steel himself. ¡°But no way would the real Iron Bull be shacking up with the likes of the local wildlife. You weak Terran scum should consider yourselves lucky to even be alive!¡± More anger stirred. The racist prick truly needed a lesson. ¡°Now?¡± I asked. ¡°Close,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Oh?¡± I said, throwing the axe casually onto my shoulder. ¡°Have youe to exterminate us then? To do what even the Great Princess Lunh herself couldn¡¯t manage? The Terran Sect will rule this and you along with it, you dumb bastard!¡± ¡°What!¡± he screamed as his anger red, whipping out his two swords. ¡°You dare curse to me, you uppity Terran? I¡¯ll destroy the entire lot of you myself for saying that!¡± He began charging forward with a warcry, his two pals surging behind him. ¡°Okay now that¡¯s a direct threat to the sect,¡± Jian Yi said. She didn¡¯t have to tell me twice¨C¨Cthe predictable psyche of the typical, arrogant cultivator was way too easy to manipte. I jumped through the air with a burst of Frenzy to meet them, charging my axe with lightning. I mmed it down on the ground just in front of all three of them, releasing a shockwave of blue bolts that ripped through the tarmac to meet them. Their screams of pain and shock were music to my ears as the three of them fell to the ground convulsing. I followed up with a [Spinning Chop], and brought my axe down on the leader, sinking my de into his meaty shoulder. He screamed a second time as his blood painted my axe head with crimson. My me red with [Bloodlust], filling me with fresh Frenzy, but I curbed it with the Struggler¡¯s embrace to prevent his demise. I stood over him as he continued to wail in pain. ¡°That proof enough for you?¡± I ripped my axe from his shoulder, eliciting yet another scream. ¡°Now get the hell out of here before I decide to be less merciful today.¡± I turned to walk away and got all of four steps before the inevitable happened. ¡°You piece of shit¡­ you think I need two arms to kill the likes of you?¡± I paused to nce over my shoulder. To his credit the leader was back on his feet again, one arm dangling loosely at his side while his other held his curved sword in a high guard above his head. I huffed out a scoff as I slowly turned. ¡°The true cultivator mentality¡­¡± I choked up on my axe as the other two cultivators recovered and rose to their feet. ¡°You¡¯d rather face death than lose face, huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯d lose more face by killing a mere Terran like you,¡± he said. ¡°But if you somehow are the true Iron Bull, then I¡¯d have only glory to gain!¡± As ifmunicating secretly, all three of them sprung at me at once, twisting and twirling with martial forms. I cycled my Frenzy to my reflexes, diving into my own repertoire of defensive stances as I swung my axe to meet each one of their des with a parry. Sparks flew as ngs of metal filled the air. ¡°[Sky Razor¡¯s Edge]!¡± the leader screamed as he flipped through the air to annunciate his technique. As he spun, slivers of blue energy left the edge of his sword and came flying at me like a trio of boomerangs. I could have dodged them easily, but I chose to plow straight into the attack instead, reinforcing my body with [Iron Skin]. The counterintuitive move took the cultivator by surprise and his eyes widened with iprehension as I barreled right into his technique. His inner strength proved as weak as I¡¯d suspected as the boomerangs hit me¨C¨Ca mid-tier Foundation Realm cultivator at best. They tore my robes to shreds, but against my hardened skin they were unable to break through, resulting only in pain. Pain that ignited the rage in my soul. ¡°You just made yourst mistake, asshole!¡± I shouted. ¡°[My Turn]!¡± I unleashed my retaliatory technique with a huge downward chop, returning every ounce of the pain I¡¯d endured in the form of rage. He managed to raise his sword in time to meet my axe with a block, but the steel of his de shattered like ss as my axe tore straight through. ¡°[Two Log Chop]!¡± I plunged it downward, straight into his head. With a satisfying cleave, I sundered his head in two, the look of iprehension and shock on his face split in two parts. As his body hit the ground, I flexed the full strength of my core, sprinkling it with Qi from my [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique. ¡°You two want the same fate?¡± I asked. As I said the words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], the man¡¯s two subordinates instantly backed away, lowering their swords. ¡°Good,¡± I said and then grimaced at the corpse at my feet. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re both smarter than him. Now get the hell out of here and take this dumbass with you.¡± I ripped my axe from his skull, cultivating the Frenzy produced from my [Bloodlust], replenishing what I¡¯d spent as well as storing the excess in my Dantian. I truly wasn¡¯t nning to kill him, but the situation called for nothing less. Still, doing so would bring a different kind of challenger toe looking for me now. Ones that wanted glory for killing the Iron Bull more than retribution against the newly established Terran Sect. ¡°Spread the word, shitheads,¡± I said with enough [Fear the me] to make their knees go weak. ¡°The real Iron Bull protects the Terran Sect.¡± The two cultivators high-tailed it out of the square, carrying what was left of their so-called leader with them. Before they left, Jian Yi pped them with one of the forms in her hands. ¡°This is a deration of self-defense by the Terran Sect,¡± she said. ¡°If you wish to challenge the death of yourrade as anything but, feel free to file a writ in the courts, and our Warden, the Iron Bull, will dly meet you in the arena of battle to contest the matter.¡± They took the paper, shaking their heads, bowing out with low kowtows. Jian Yi sighed as she stepped next to me, watching them leave. ¡°Really?¡± she said. ¡°Spread the word? And you wonder why they keep oning?¡± I shrugged. ¡°They¡¯reing regardless. Better to paint yourself a badass than an easy target though, right?¡± I grinned and Jian Yi smiled with a shake of her head. ¡°You¡¯d know better than me, Max Chun.¡± She¡¯d said my Yee name with the alternate tone that changed its meaning to ¡®stupid¡¯, an old joke now between friends. Iughed in return. ¡°Come on then,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to work.¡± Book 2: Chapter 2 AS THE SQUARE got back to normal, Jian Yi and I made our way to the Official Head Quarters of the Terran Sect. Despite the fancy name, it was little more than one of the empty apartments on the bottom floor of theplex, which in itself was the dpidated remains of a Days Inn hotel. The empty room was converted into an office by removing the bed, tearing out the kitchte and installing a couple of tables and chairs from the square. Total ghetto style but it was getting the job done. As we approached the office, I could see the line was flowing out the door already. It¡¯d only been about a week since I¡¯d beaten Hein and taken over the square asndlord, but the word of the newly established Terran Sect was drawing people from the neighboring residential blocks within the Native Housing District. There had to be over a hundred people alone lined up to join. They were mostly Terrans as expected, but I was surprised to see a few offworldmoners looking to join as well. People of low rank and status with no real im within the empire. I chose to ept them all. Regardless of where they hailed from, all of the people in the line bent at the waist as I approached, giving me courteous bows of respect. I waved away the attention, embarrassed, totally unused to it. But after a nudge from Jian Yi, I returned their bows with one of my own, my slightly less deep bow signifying me as their leader. ¡°Will never get used to this,¡± I whispered to Jian Yi. She chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ve earned it as the Founder, Leader, and Warden of the Terran Sect,¡± she said. ¡°Not to mention being the Iron Bull.¡± The moniker I¡¯d earned in the Iron Bracket tournament was now a pseudonym. I¡¯d concealed my identity behind it in the ring before, but now, with the ability to fully mask my hidden Berserker art as well as my front as being the sole member of the Furious Lightning Sect, there was no reason to not let the entire city know just who I was. And how powerful I had be. While I loathed the outward attention for it, I was very appreciative of the lemonade the crowd produced based on my title alone, cultivating it to create more Frenzy to store within my Dantian. Shamefully, over thest few days this was the only source of Frenzy I could muster, being far too busy trying to set up the sect, run the administration of renting the housing block, and also prepare for my return trip to the wild. Luckily, I had a lot of help. As we entered the cramped confines of the Head Quarters apartment, said help was already busy at work, namely my sister, Yu Li, and my friend Gui Zu. Yu Li was sat at the desk, head down as she registered the payments of the applicants in a ledger. Next to her, Gui Zu collected the money while also bouncing Yu Li¡¯s six-month-old daughter, Su Ling, on hisp. I wasn¡¯t certain if they were an official couple yet or not, but they looked damn close to me. Gui Zu gave me a crooked-toothed smile as I entered, his massive frame barely fitting within the small chair. ¡°How¡¯d it go, chief? All sorted out?¡± I grimaced with a shrug. ¡°Had to kill one of the fools. So it¡¯ll probably just bring more of theming sooner orter.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get to printing more self-defense derations then,¡± Jian Yi said with a grin, moving to the back-office area that was once the kitchte. ¡°Speaking of which, don¡¯t forget you already have a number of court appearances set for next month.¡± ¡°What?¡± I said. ¡°Seriously?¡± My time was evaporating by the second. I wouldn¡¯t have time to focus on any cultivating at all at this rate. ¡°Yes, seriously,¡± Jian Yi echoed me. ¡°Granted, most of them dropped their ims once they found out you were the Iron Bull, but you still have to face one or two in the ring. But don¡¯t worry, they were high-tier Foundation Realm at best. No Core Realm challengers so far. Which is probably a good thing.¡± Yu Li, who was Hispanic by birth, with auburn hair and kind eyes looked up to give me a smile. ¡°Not a big deal even if they were though, right, big brother?¡± She said it tongue and cheek with yful grin, causing both Jian Yi and Gui Zu tough. ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± I said with mock chagrin, before looking over her shoulder at the ledger. ¡°So how many sign-ups do we have so far?¡± ¡°Nearly fifty,¡± she said. ¡°And that¡¯s just this morning. We¡¯re clocking in at around two thousand total.¡± My mind spun for a moment. ¡°And all of them have paid?¡± Yu Li pointed to the small chest that was sat behind the desk between herself and Gi Zu. It was already a quarter filled with copper Wen and even a few half Taels of silver. The annual Imperial Fee for a sect member was one silver Tael. Yu Li had wisely suggested we add a quarter Tael on top of that for the Sect¡¯s revenue. The rough math had us sitting at 500 Taels of silver already. And the line for members was only growing. ¡°Holy crap,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder people are getting pissed off that we exist.¡± Sects made big money. ¡°It¡¯s like you said,¡± Jian Yi called out from the back. ¡°Strength in numbers.¡± ¡°No kidding,¡± Gui Zu said with augh. ¡°You and I will need to make another trip to the bank soon, Brother Max. I¡¯m sure there will be some opportunistic goons who¡¯ll try to make a grab for this much silver.¡± I nodded. ¡°Yeah, no doubt.¡± ¡°People are still asking to relocate here as well,¡± Yu Li said, while still transcribing in the ledger. ¡°Since I cut the rent in half, everyone is looking for a cheaper ce to live. Maybe with the extra ie from the Sect fees we can purchase the next block over.¡± I smiled. Yu Li was always thinking ahead. Since I¡¯d made her thendlord of D Block, she¡¯d been keeping track of the rents with the same meticulousness as she did the sect finances. She was always top of the ss back in school and it warmed my heart to see her putting her skills to good use. ¡°So how much money do we have altogether now?¡± ¡°Here, take a look,¡± Yu Li said, whipping out another ledger and handing it to me. I looked at the page of text and numbers written in Yee. Sect Finances (In Taels of Silver) Intake Less Imperial Fee Total 1.25 1 Members 2113 2641.25 (2113) 528.25 Taels D Block Rents Monthly Rent Maintenance & Admin Apartments Filled 97 0.5 (0.1) 38.8 Apartments Vacant 3 (0.1) -0.3 38.5 Taels per month My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. It was no wonder the whole town was pissed off with envy. We were rolling in silver! And not to mention that as owner of D Block, I was now personally making close to 40 Taels a month and that was after giving all of my neighbors a 50% break in their rent. Sure as hell beats two Taels a month as a handler, I thought. But as much as that was empowering, there was only one thing on my mind to spend the sect money on at the moment. ¡°Well with that much money, we should easily be able to afford the supplies I need.¡± ¡°What supplies?¡± Yu Li asked with a raised brow. I then began to rattle off everything I could think of that the Terrans out in the wild would need. Vegetables, rice, seeds, livestock, tools. ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°What¡¯s all this for?¡± I nced at the line of people spilling out of the doorway, all within earshot. Now probably wasn¡¯t the best time and ce to exin that there was a secret enve of Terrans who had survived the invasion, hunkered down in a bunker out in the wilderness two hundred miles away. Even when I did finally tell my inner circle, I¡¯d have to swear them to secrecy. There was no telling what the empire might do if that kind of information got out. I was just about to open my mouth to give a fake exnation when one of the residents suddenly burst into the office, out of breath. ¡°Sect Leader!¡± he shouted. ¡°More challengers!¡± I let out a groan, but inwardly I was grateful for the interruption. ¡°What is it? More low-tier ns looking to beat their chests?¡± ¡°No.¡± The man shook his head. ¡°Not low tier. They¡¯re from the ruling n. It¡¯s the Silver Leaf Sect!¡± * * * I steadied myself with the conviction of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I made my way slowly through the gathering crowd and back towards the square. The fact that representatives from the Silver Leaf n hade was not surprising. In fact, it was quite expected. After humiliating Young Master Hein and breaking his beloved magical sword, a response was inevitable. What was surprising, however, was that it had taken them over a week to show up. Which meant they weren¡¯t taking things lightly. They had waited to get their act together beforeing to find me. Which meant they had likely involved higher-ups within the n. Would Hein¡¯s father show up demanding my head? Or some royal aunt perhaps? Maybe even the almighty Warden of Jurin Province, the great Lady Silver Tear herself would show up. Just the thought of that woman and how she cruelly left my parents and sister to die a grisly death some twelve years ago set my blood on fire¡ªthe spiritual root of my Dao stirring my me. The idea of someone that powerful showing up truly put the [Odds Against Me]. As the thought steeped it conjured even more Frenzy from the technique and I siphoned it to fill my Dantian, further fortifying my core. While I hadn¡¯t had much time to cultivate over thest week, I had made some advancement in my progression. I had at least given official names to my new lightning-axe techniques. Although they weren¡¯t that creative, I had to admit. Most of them were modifications of the original technique names with the word lightning added to them. [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] and [Lightning Splits the Towering Oak] were a couple of the exceptions. And while the names were cool, I still needed to sit down and refine the techniques more. But there was no time for any of that now. Whoever I would face, I was bound to have to use them to the fullest if I wanted to survive long enough to kill them. As the crowd parted before me, the members of the Silver Leaf Sect came into view. ck robes with silver trim formed two ranks of cultivators, their faces hidden behind ck veils, not unlike those worn by the Enforcers. But these weren¡¯t Enforcers. By their casual martial stances, I could sense they had years of experience and training, possible High Tier Foundation Realm practitioners all. As I stepped into the square, the dozen or so of them rapidly changed formation like something out of a parade, forming two lines with a gap in between. Standing in the gap was a tall middle-aged man, with tan skin and slightly pointed ears, a shortly trimmed beard that looked to be dyed a bright red. A Dharmian. One of the many alien races the Empire had subjugated and assimted into the Yee dynasty over the millennia. A fate that I had now sworn to not let happen to the Earth. Upon his head the man wore a square hat, marking his status as a barrister, or what we might have called awyer back in the day on Earth. Behind him were four men hauling a sedan chair on their shoulders, thepletely sealed carriage concealing whoever was inside. My heartbeat sped. To be travelling like that, it had to be a big shot indeed. The Dharmian man bowed to me formally and then spoke in a tone that sounded like the equivalent of old English. ¡°This One is known as Lui Wi, legal counsel to the Silver Leaf n and appointed litigator to this matter. Are you the one known as Max Chun?¡± I widened my stance but didn¡¯t bow, flexing my Qi-ented core at him instead. ¡°I am.¡± The man blinked, no doubt sensing my power, but he held his nerve and produced a piece of paper from his robes and began reading from it. ¡°Max Chun,¡± he said in a loud voice, drawing the attention of everyone in the square. ¡°You are hereby served this writ for the destruction of property and assault, namely the assaulting of one Hein Dong, Young Master of the Dong family and the destruction of the artifact known as the Luminous Silver Tear Fang. The charges against you can be settled by two means, payment of the artifact, which is valued at 10,000 spirit stones, or submitting to your death at the hands of Young Master Hein.¡± ¡°Death?¡± I let out augh. ¡°At his hands? You¡¯ve got to be jo¡ª¡± A jab to my ribs cut me off as Jian Yi stepped by my side. ¡°This One is known as Jian Yi, legal counsel for the Terran Sect. Your writ is misced, honorable barrister. Max Chun was not acting on his own ord, but in defense of the Terran Sect in his role as Warden. Thusly, your writ has no merit.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Lui Wi said, unfazed. ¡°So you do not deny that the events did in fact take ce? Very good.¡± Jian Yi opened her mouth, but nothing came out, lost for words. ¡°Shit,¡± she said. That didn¡¯t sound good. ¡°What happened? Did he just pull a fast one on you or something?¡± Jian Yi swallowed visibly. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe. I¡¯m not a real barrister yet, you know.¡± Shit¡­ ¡°Max Chun,¡± he said, reading from another set of papers he just pulled from his robes. ¡°Warden, Leader and Founder of the Terran Sect. ording to the admissions by your own counsel, you attacked the Silver Leaf n by assaulting Young Master Hein Dong and destroying a n artifact in your capacity as Warden.¡± Holy shit¡­he was using our own n defense technique against us. ¡°It was in self-defense!¡± Jian Yi shouted. ¡°Young Master Hein made an unjust demand against our sect.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Lui Wi said with a smirk. ¡°ording to what writ?¡± He then paused, waiting for an answer. I looked to Jian Yi, but she didn¡¯t seem to have one. What the hell? I nudged her. ¡°Yo, aren¡¯t you going to say something?¡± ¡°It was a rhetorical question,¡± Jian Yi whispered. ¡°There is no writ.¡± ¡°Huh? But what about that Junior Magistrate guy, Hui Long? Didn¡¯t he make one?¡± ¡°No. He officiated the duel so Hein wouldn¡¯t pull any bullshit, but we never went through the courts to file an actual writ. He wouldn¡¯t have the power to do so anyway as just a junior magistrate. And this guy knows that.¡± Shit... They really did take their time to go andwyer up on us. ¡°No answer I see,¡± Lui Wi said, smiling self-righteously. ¡°I shall then continue with the reading of the writ. As this was an unprovoked attack on a sovereign n, by the powers of the Imperial Magistrate who officiated this writ, the Terran Sect is hereby charged with the repayment of value of the lost artifact and retribution for the assault. This equates to 10,000 spirit stones for the artifact and the execution of 100 members of the Terran Sect for the bodily harm suffered by young master Hein.¡± Gasps of fear went up from the crowd. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be shitting me.¡± ¡°The Silver Leaf Sect has however graciously also offered terms of settlement,¡± Liu Wi continued. ¡°The terms are that you, Max Chun, subject yourself to execution at the hands of Young Master Hein after formally dissolving the Terran Sect.¡± My stomach soured at the thought, my me burning with ire. More cries of anguish and confusion came from the crowd. ¡°This is bullshit,¡± I said, turning to Jian Yi. ¡°Is this all legal?¡± She shrugged, her brow creased with worry and self-doubt. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Probably.¡± ¡°How do you plead to this writ, Max Chun?¡± Lui Wi said, folding the papers and returning them to his robes. ¡°Will you ept the writ and pay the penalty? Or do you wish to settle for the gracious terms of settlement offered? Your choice.¡± Heated anger stirred within my gut as the bastard leered back at me, thinking me in a checkmate. It was a reminder of everything I truly hated about the empire. The crookedws and the cunning assholes who wielded them like weapons against the weak and powerless. But screw that. Screw all of it! I wasn¡¯t weak and I was far from powerless now. This bastard wasn¡¯t going to get the satisfaction of a victory this day. ¡°I choose neither!¡± I shouted back at him with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and the strength of my iron-willed Frenzy affected even my neighbors in the square, their fear receding as they looked to me with hope in their hearts. ¡°I will challenge this writ in the courts of battle. Name any challenger and I, Max Chun, the Iron Bull will face them as Warden of the Terran Sect! Upon pain of defeat and death, I will defend us from these bullshit charges!¡± That got a roar of thunderous apuse from the crowd, feeding me with fresh Frenzy, but the bastard Lui Wi merely smiled again, like I¡¯d just fallen into another trap. ¡°Very well,¡± he said. ¡°Then you should know who your challenger shall be.¡± As if waiting to make an entrance, the doors to the sedan¡¯s carriage opened and a cultivator d in fine silver robes stepped out hovering on thin air. She was exquisitely beautiful, sharp elegant features, the face of a goddess with short tinum hair, cut in a stylish bob. Three Jian des hovered behind her, undting power. And as her silver eyes found mine, my heart nearly stopped. ¡°Mistress of the Silver Shadows and first daughter of the Royal Dong Family, 47th Heir to the Royal Silver Leaf n and yer of awakened spirit beasts, the Lady Silver Light shall meet your challenge in the ring, Max Chun!¡± My mouth went dry as I stared back at her. How the hell was she here? Why was she here? ¡°Fia?¡± The woman known as Silver Light hovered before me, literally looking down her perfect slender nose at me. My mind was still struggling to figure out why she of all people hade¡ªa woman who I adored and could perhaps even have loved. Then finally she spoke, giving me my answer. ¡°You injured my brother and destroyed my father¡¯s sword,¡± she said coldly, pure malevolence in her soul as she red back at me. ¡°And now you will pay for your crimes with your life.¡± Book 2: Chapter 3 MASTER HEI DONG let out a tired sigh as the fool Lo Feng stormed into the audience chamber of the High Magistrate. The room was rtively quaint and modest for the authority it held. Simple wooden partitions, barely waist-high, divided the room into three separate boxes. Hei Dong stood within the defender¡¯s box, apanied by his wife, Rhi Dong. At the head of the room, the High Magistrate, Yi Xhi Yen, sat upon her elevated throne within the third box, nked by several junior members of the court. All of them wore the beige and off-white robes of imperial service, representative of the empire¡¯s authority. As Vice Warden of Jurin Province, Hei Dong himself owned such robes and ones that could influence even the magistrate. But today he wore the ck and silver robes of his wife¡¯s n, defending himself as a member of the Dong family and the Silver Leaf Sect. His user, Lo Feng, local leader of the Fire Birds, scowled as he rushed past to enter the intiff¡¯s box, joined by two lower-ranking members of his n. All three of them wore the bright red and orange robes of their Sect. Inwardly Hei Dong smiled when he noted that none of the three was a barrister. Which meant the proceedings would likely be short and sinct. Hei Dong cast a nce to his wife, Rhi Dong, still a stunning beauty at over a hundred years old. But her eyes were focused like daggers on Lo Feng, the warrior within her itching to jump across the audience chamber. ¡°Easy, my love,¡± Hei Dong whispered to her. ¡°Your countenance betrays thee. We are here to defend our innocence. A look like that before the magistrate will not be helpful.¡± Despite being a martial cultivator well above his rank in terms of both skill and power, Rhi Dong immediately straightened herself and reced her scowl with a pleasant, if not forced smile. ¡°Thank you, husband,¡± she whispered back. ¡°Where would I be without your wisdom?¡± Hei Dong responded with a gentle squeeze of her hand.He was not a martial prodigy like his wife, merely an artisan crafter who had risen through the ranks by his wit and charm alone. Facing down a martial sect leader like Lo Feng, a man who could easily tear his head off with a single technique was nothing new to him. But in this case, the usation was particrly unsavory. Lo Feng, a man who appeared in his seventies, with a flowing white beard bowed towards the magistrate. ¡°A thousand apologies to the court, your worship. I was unexpectedly dyed.¡± The High Magistrate, Yi Xhi Yen, barely acknowledged his bow with a nod. ¡°It is your case to bring forward, Master Lo Feng. Do so now.¡± Lo Feng scowled again. ¡°I wish to file a writ against the family of Rhi and Hei Dong.¡± ¡°On what charge?¡± Lo Feng looked across the audience room to glower at Hei and his wife. ¡°For murdering my nephew Hong Feng and killing every member of his sect.¡± ¡°Your worship,¡± Hei Dong said in an authoritative tone. ¡°That im is unfounded and preposterous. We deny itpletely.¡± The magistrate nodded to him and then looked back to Hong Feng. ¡°Have you any evidence to base this im?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Lo Feng said. ¡°Two witnesses and physical evidence.¡± ¡°Present it.¡± Lo Feng pushed the two lower members of his sect forward ¡°Speak to the magistrate. Tell her what you saw.¡± Both of them bowed in unison. ¡°State your names before the court,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°And be reminded that as witnesses your statements are governed by thews of perjury.¡± One of the witnesses, a bald man with a goatee, looked to the other. ¡°What¡¯s that mean, Ju Gong?¡± Lo Feng smacked the man on the back of his head. ¡°Speak only to the magistrate! State your name. And refer to her as Your Worship.¡± The bald man bowed obsequiously. ¡°My name is Du Mak, your worship.¡± The other witness, a portly man with a beard also bowed and then responded in a formal tone. ¡°This One is known as Ju Gong, your worship.¡± ¡°Tell me what you witnessed, Ju Gong.¡± ¡°It was a night eight days ago, your worship,¡± he said. ¡°There was a knock at our headquarters door. When I went to see who it was, the door burst inwards. I can¡¯t recall anything after that as I was knocked unconscious. When I awoke, I was outside in the alley and the entire headquarters was on fire. Upon awaking I also found this.¡± Ju Gong presented a single silver quill and one of the court bailiffs ran to fetch it from him and delivered it to the magistrate. Hei Dong shared a questioning nce with his wife. He wasn¡¯t expecting them to produce something like this. Still, he had covered his bases for any eventuality. ¡°And what is this?¡± Yi Xhi Yen asked, flipping the quill in her hand. ¡°A silver needle, your worship,¡± Lo Feng answered. ¡°A technique employed exclusively by the royal members of the Silver Leaf n.¡± ¡°So are you using the entire Silver Leaf n of this alleged crime?¡± the magistrate asked. Lo Feng bowed immediately. ¡°This One would not dare to use the ruling n of such a cowardly act. My usation lies with the Dong family alone.¡± ¡°Why so?¡± Yi Xhi Yen asked. ¡°Motive, your worship,¡± Lo Feng said with a re at Hei Dong. ¡°I filed a writ against the Vice-Warden for the loss of tournament proceeds and he challenged it with his daughter, the Lady Silver Light. She was to face my nephew, Hong Feng. I find it oddly convenient that now, on the eve of their court date, that something like this urs. Clearly the girl must have feared a loss and then resorted to these tactics to rid herself of the burden of facing my nephew.¡± ¡°You dare use my daughter of such cowardice!¡± Rhi Dong screamed, her Qi swelling uncontrobly with rage. ¡°I will face you myself in the ring for even making such a im!¡± Hei Dong squeezed her hand like a vice. ¡°Easy now,¡± he said in a hushed whisper. ¡°Don¡¯t y into this. I will speak.¡± Hei Dong was d Rhi had shown enough restraint to not skewer Lo Feng with a silver needle of her own. He bowed to the magistrate and thanked the heavens that he too possessed a degree inw. It would not take much effort to undo such a weak argument. ¡°Your worship,¡± he said. ¡°I would like to present a different and far more usible argument to the courts.¡± ¡°Proceed, Master Hei Dong.¡± ¡°The writ Master Lo Feng mentions is true, but I would conclude that the nting of this quill, amon item that can be replicated by easy means¡ªand I as a master smith would know this¡ªis being used now as a means of saving face for not being able to defend the writ.¡± ¡°nt?¡± Lo Feng shouted. ¡°You dare use me of falsifying evidence!¡± Hei Dong raised his hands innocently. ¡°I mentioned nothing of the sort, Master Lo Feng. Note I did not say it was you who did such, but it is interesting that that is the first conclusion you yourself formed. Nevertheless, if you allow me to continue, I believe there is a far more reasonable exnation for the fire that killed Master Lo Feng¡¯s nephew Hong Feng and his disciples.¡± ¡°And that is?¡± Yi Xhi Yen asked. Hei Dong chuckled. ¡°Is it not obvious, your worship? They are practitioners of the fire arts and chose a building filled with wooden structures as their headquarters. A fire like this was bound to ur sooner orter. Perhaps some wayward initiate started the ze that unfortunately killed them. I would say sheer stupidity is the culprit here.¡± The magistrate chuckled along with several of the court staff. ¡°A usible oue indeed,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°What!¡± Lo Feng turned two shades redder as his brows dove into a deep scowl. ¡°I resent such a flippant usation!¡± ¡°Yet it is far more usible than yours,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Your witnesses saw no one, they were unconscious were they not?¡± Lo Feng looked to the bald-headed man. ¡°You have not spoken yet, Du Mak. What did you see? Did you not tell me you saw a white-haired woman?¡± ¡°I ah¡­¡± The man¡¯s eyes darted back and forth, clearly in duress. ¡°Tell her!¡± Lo Feng shouted. ¡°Tell her if that¡¯s what you saw!¡± ¡°I¡­ I may have¡­ your worship.¡± ¡°Did you or did you not?¡± Yi Xhi Yen said rising in her chair. ¡°Speak clearly now, under threat of perjury. What did you witness?¡± The man Du Mak gave another nce towards Lo Feng and the re his sect master gave him was enough to melt steel. He nodded profusely. ¡°Yes, your worship. I¡­ well¡­ before I got knocked out. I recall seeing a woman with white hair.¡± Lo Feng grinned while the man Ju Gong merely rolled his eyes. ¡°Are you certain?¡± Yi Xhi Yen asked. Du Mak nodded, his voice quivering. ¡°Yes, your worship!¡± ¡°Well then,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°There appears there may be some validity to this im.¡± ¡°Your worship, if I may,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Even if what this ¡®witness¡¯ says he believes he saw is true. It in no way ties our family to this.¡± ¡°Can you identify the woman you saw, Du Mak?¡± Du Mak nced at Lo Feng and then nodded. ¡°Maybe? Yes?¡± ¡°Is she present in this room?¡± Another subtle prompt from Lo Feng caused the man to shake his head. ¡°No, your worship.¡± ¡°I find it convenient that the most likely suspect is not even present, your worship,¡± Lo Feng said. ¡°I would say that is by design. Where is your daughter, Master Hei Dong? Why is she not present as a prominent member of your family?¡± Heated anger began to boil within Hei Dong¡¯s core. The bastard was targeting Fia now. ¡°None of our children are present. Your worship, Master Lo Feng is trying to paint my daughter the culprit with the barest of proof!¡± ¡°Summon her then,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°We will deal with this matter immediately.¡± Hei Dong bowed to the magistrate. ¡°A thousand apologies, your worship, but my daughter is not avable.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°She is conducting family business elsewhere this morning. May I call for an adjournment until we can reschedule another hearing?¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°This matter is adjourned until Master Hei Dong¡¯s daughter can make an appearance to defend herself against these ims.¡± With a bang of her gavel the matter was concluded for the day. Lo Feng harrumphed. ¡°I would like to know what matter is so important that your daughter is able to avoid a summoning by a high magistrate, Master Hei Dong.¡± Hei Dong smirked at the man. In all honesty, the 100 Taels of silver he had paid to the magistrate beforehand had more to do with her leniency than anything else, but this presented the perfect opportunity for ast dig. ¡°She is doing what you have failed to do this morning, Master Lo Feng.¡± Hei Dong gave his adversary a vile grin. ¡°The Lady Silver Light is serving a writ of her own. One that has already been approved by the courts.¡± Book 2: Chapter 4 I STARED AT the Lady Silver Light with utter iprehension in my mind and uncertainty in my heart. Here was a woman I¡¯d spent intimate time with. We¡¯d fought together. Killed an Awakened Reaper Beast together. And after baring her soul to me, we had made sweet love together as well. But now I wasn¡¯t sure what was going on inside Silver Light¡¯s head. More importantly. How the hell could I have missed that she was Hein¡¯s sister? My brain struggled to catch up.Thinking back, the Junior Magistrate Jian Yi had found to officiate our duel did mention the Dong family when referring to Hein. But honestly, I couldn¡¯t care less about that asshole, much less his family name at the time. And the only time that Fia had ever mentioned her family name was Dong, was when she focused on a dong of a very different variety. Namely my own. Iughed inwardly at my own stupid joke. This was insane. What the hell were the odds of this? Hein screws my sister and I end up screwing his? Perhaps there was some poetic justice in that¡ªa cosmic joke aligned by the heavens. But right now, this was anything but funny. I studied Fia and her entourage. She was impressive-looking all by herself, hovering like some silver-haired goddess with her three jian des forming a triangle behind her, but seeing her backed up by a dozen skilled cultivators that looked every bit like ninjas set her on a whole different level. Even if I didn¡¯t already like the girl I would have been impressed. But now her allure was even more appealing. She wasn¡¯t just a strong cultivator and warrior, she was a leader. Out in public like this, however, I couldn¡¯t let on that we had any kind of prior rtionship at all, much less an intimate one. I expected Fia to put on her usual upper-ss fa?ade of arrogance and indifference in return. It was something we had wordlessly agreed upon when we departedst, but now the circumstances had changed. I wasn¡¯t sure if Fia¡¯s anger was an act, or very, very real. I hid my own emotions with a stoned-faced mask of [Indifference] as I casually rested my axe on my shoulder. ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are,¡± I said. ¡°Or how many titles you have. To defend my people, I¡¯ll face you in the ring. No matter what.¡± I waited for a reaction. My staunch defiance was something that would always melt her heart in the past. A trait she adored in me. And then I sensed it. Deep inside her roiling anger, a fine rivulet of lemonade. She still desired me, that was for sure. But the anger was still very real also. Silver Light curled her lip at me. ¡°Do not be so presumptuous, Terran. Lui Wi!¡± The Dharmian man answered quickly with a bow. ¡°Yes, mydy!¡± ¡°How do we know if this lowly Terran scum is truly fit to rebut our im? I am qualified for the Gold Bracket. I doubt this fool has even seen the inside of a stadium from the stands, much less from the ring.¡± The Demon in me would have been quick to rebuff her, but the Struggler pulled enough self-control to hold my tongue. Fia knew how strong I was, as well as my identity as the Iron Bull. So what was she after with this usation then? ¡°Our Warden is the Iron Bull,¡± Jian Yi suddenly answered. ¡°You can verify his rankings from official records.¡± Lui Wi smirked. ¡°I would not trust your word alone. We have made our own preparations to determine your Warden¡¯s eligibility to defend your sect in the courts.¡± ¡°What?¡± Lui Wi pped his hands and an old man dressed in the beige and off-white robes stepped from out of the crowd¡ªthe colors of the empire. The man was an official of some kind and as he approached me, I could guess just what he was here for. ¡°Max Chun,¡± the man said my name with an official tone. ¡°Will you subject yourself to an evaluation to determine your cultivation level and aspect?¡± ¡°Wait a moment!¡± Jian Yi shouted before I could even answer and then dragged me to the side by the elbow. ¡°We need to be careful here, Chun.¡± ¡°Why? What is this? Another trap?¡± ¡°It could be.¡± Jian Yi¡¯s eyes shifted between the government official and the barrister. ¡°If you aren¡¯t within a tier or two of her level, then you would not be able to defend us against the writ. Only cultivators of equal ranking are allowed to settle disputes in courts of battle. We¡¯d have to hire someone of her ranking to represent us. And we can¡¯t afford that. Do you think you¡¯re at her cultivation level?¡± Silver Light had already told me her cultivation level¡ª6th Tier Core Realm. She knew I had to be somewhat equal, but officially I was only 2nd Tier Core Realm from myst evaluation on the books. But that was back when I had a fake core. Now I had only a sliver of core material to vor my Frenzy using my [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique. And my true core level was perhaps only 1st Tier from having only recently ascended. ¡°Shit,¡± I said. ¡°I think we may be screwed here.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I couldn¡¯t exin it all to her, but it would be far worse to reject the testing. I looked Silver Light in the eye and tried to discern where she was going with this. No dice. Her poker face was as strong as mine. ¡°I will undergo testing,¡± I said and cycled my Frenzy using the [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique, enting it with Qi so the official could detect its strength. ¡°Go ahead.¡± The old man adjusted a pair of spectacles on the end of his nose as he stepped close and stared at my stomach, focusing on the position of my Dantian, two finger widths below the navel. He studied me a moment more and then turned to the barrister. ¡°He is Low Tier Core Realm between 1st and 2nd Tier, Lightning aspect.¡± Silver Light¡¯s eyes widened with shock. She no doubt expected me to be of much higher Tier for what she had seen me do out in the field, killing that Awakened Reaper Beast with her. But my Berserker path gave me potency a Realm ahead of Qi cultivation it seemed. The barrister¡¯s eyes also widened, but more so with delight. ¡°Ah ha!¡± he said. ¡°You are not fit to defend this writ. The Lady Silver Light is 6th Tier Core Realm of metal aspect. She out sses you in every way. Unless you can produce an equal-ranked challenger, you must subject yourself to our im or settle. Which shall it be?¡± I looked to Jian Yi, but she merely shook her head, lost for words. Anger seethed within me as I started up at Silver Light. What was her game here? But as our eyes met, I saw something different now. There was concern there, uncertainty. ¡°Well?¡± Lui Wi said, cing his hands on his hips. ¡°Will you hide behind your people and send 100 of them to their deaths? Or will you be a true Warden and die on their behalf? Speak!¡± ¡°Chun, don¡¯t do anything stupid!¡± Yu Li called out from the crowd. But the uneasiness in her heart mirrored everyone else¡¯s. People were afraid. ¡°I choose neither!¡± I shouted. ¡°I¡¯ll face her, even as a 1st Tier.¡± Lui Wiughed. ¡°You cannot! You are not fit. This is thew!¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Silence fell as all eyes turned to Silver Light who had just spoken. Slowly she descended from the air, her Qi causing a stir of dust as her feet touched the ground. ¡°I will give this Insignificant One time to reach 5th Tier,¡± she said in an obnoxious and condescending tone fit for a royal. ¡°As Lightning is strong against metal, he can face me as a Tier lower.¡± Lui Wi looked to Silver Light with dismay. ¡°Mydy! You can¡¯t be serious!¡± She red back at him. ¡°Do you question my judgement? Or do you forget that it is you who serve our family and not the other way around?¡± ¡°A thousand apologies, mydy.¡± Lui Wi bowed deeply, but the re of contempt never left his gaze. ¡°However, I represent the interests of the entire n, not merely your family. I thus must advise you that allowing this Terran extra time is not in the interest of the greater Silver Leaf n.¡± ¡°Your advice is acknowledged,¡± Silver Light said without even looking at him. ¡°But I will not be denied the opportunity to put to death the man responsible for disrespecting my family¡­ with my own hands.¡± She said it coldly, and I honestly couldn¡¯t tell if she meant it or not. Only the trace of lemonade in her heart told me that something bigger was at y here. ¡°I look forward to it,¡± I said with smile. ¡°I will give you one year,¡± she said. ¡°A year?¡± Lui Wi balked. ¡°My Lady! This is far too generous. Even six months would be far more than he should be allowed to¡ª¡± ¡°I will not be denied my vengeance,¡± Silver Light said, cutting him off. ¡°I will give him a year.¡± She stepped towards me with a slow swaggering gait, her shapely hips swaying from side to side. As she stopped just a few feet from me, she looked me up and down, pure desire in her heart and hunger in her eyes. ¡°If you are not able to advance in that time, then you and your n will face the full consequences. Are we agreed?¡± I smiled inwardly. She did all this to buy me some time. Fia was still my girl after all. I smiled at her in return. ¡°Agreed.¡± She held out her palm and with a burst of luminous Qi, a thin silver quill that resembled a knitting needle materialized, extruding itself from her hand. ¡°Something to remember our agreement by,¡± she said and with a flick of her wrist, she sent the needle flying straight for my face. I reacted with a burst of Frenzy, catching it with just inches to spare. She grinned. ¡°A first test. Seems you have passed. I look forward to our duel in one year from now, Iron Bull.¡± As she spun on her heel and called for the entourage to depart, I felt along the length of the silver quill she had thrown and found the engravings I expected. I waited for her to re-enter the sedan carriage, before finally looking down to read her secret message to me. ¡®We need to meet. Immediately. You know where.¡¯ ¡°Nine hells that was intense,¡± Jian Yi said, releasing a held breath. ¡°Thank the heavens she gave you some time. But will a year be enough?¡± I didn¡¯t know the answer. I had blown through my Foundation Realm training in only two months, but that came from taking some serious risks. Even dying at one point. And I knew the realms of ascension were not linear in their progression. It would take me perhaps ten times the amount of Frenzy per Tier to ascend now. Still, there was no other solution. If I wanted to defend my people, I¡¯d have to either advance or die. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± I said with the confidence of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Just means I need to work even harder.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll help you however we can,¡± Yu Li said with Gui Zu by her side as she approached me, the big man pping my shoulder. ¡°Sparring sessions will be on the house,¡± he said with a crooked-toothed grin. ¡°And you will need them. The Lady Silver Light was second only to her mother within the Dong Family when it came to skill. To be honest, you¡¯ll probably need to be trained by someone far more skilled than I to defeat her.¡± It was easy to forget that Gui Zu was once part of the Silver Leaf Sect himself, an initiate to Young Master Hein. He if anyone would have seen just how powerful and skillful Silver Light was. ¡°Thanks, Gui Zu,¡± I said giving them all a bow. ¡°And I appreciate the support, everyone. I will do my best. I will not fail you.¡± But I honestly had no idea what facing Silver Light would truly be like. Were I to face her with the full use of my Berserker techniques, then it would be an even match for sure. But in the ring, I couldn¡¯t cut loose. I¡¯d need to hone my martial skills to beat her. And when it came to that, I was still relying on the techniques of a very basic beginner¡¯s axe manual. The thought caused something to twitch inside of me. A yearning. Far beyond all my ambitions to advance the sect and protect my people came a deeper and more selfish urge. The desire to progress. To grow stronger and more skilled. To be the cultivating behemoth I needed to be, to not only defeat the entire Dong family, but the very princess herself to free the Earth. I¡¯d get there one day. And this was but another stepping-stone along my path. Still, something else nagged at my soul, quenching the enthusiasm of my me. Why the hell did it have to be her? Fia of all people. Could I truly bring myselfto fight her? My heart sunk and stomach soured at the thought, the Struggler taking control. As I watched the caravan departing in the distance a new impetus filled me. I nced at the words Fia had written. There was more to this, and I had to find out what. My meeting with Fia was far from over. ¡°I need to head out to the gate, guys,¡± I told my sect. ¡°Have to meet with my old handler crew.¡± They looked back at me puzzled. ¡°Now?¡± Jian Yi asked. ¡°I need to ensure I have free passage to the wild,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°My training to reach 5th Tier of the Core Realm, starts today.¡± Book 2: Chapter 5 THE TARIM WASTELANDS, Li Wan Province, Terra Princess Lunh, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seventh heir to the Imperial Yee Dynasty, released a tired sigh as the two Gold Bracket cultivators bounced back and forth across the mile- wide battlefield in the height of the noonday sun. The Tarim wastnds made the perfect venue for the duel. A sandy desert, without a poption for miles, but it meant enduring the oppressive heat as well. Therge awning of her imperial skiff provided shade over the length of the three-hundred-foot-long craft, which was now filled with over a hundred dignitaries and officials, eyes glued to the match as servants refreshed them with fine spirits and foods brimming with Qi. Lunh herself was serviced by no less than three attendants. One fanning her with a taunshan blessed with Ice Qi, another holding an additional parasol above her head to ensure the sun caused no blemish upon her wless white skin and a final one to offer her sips of Qi-infused ice wine whenmanded. Personally, the oue of the feud between the Holy Mountain and Orange Blossom sects interested Lunh little¡ªa trivial turf war over some segment of farmingnds within the Xiang Xian region to the south. Had it not been for the fact that the duel provided an opportunity to test the arena for the final match of her invitational Jade Bracket Tournament, Lunh would have dly skipped the affair. But the two cultivators had certainly put the facilities to the test. nking all sides of the rectangr arena, four massive skiffs, ten times the size of her own vessel, made up the seating areas for themon spectators. The floating barges contained amphitheaters and amenities to cater to over a quarter million souls each. And if she had her will, each seat would be filled by an off-worlder from the cores of the empire to ensure the tournament was a sess. For today however, the seats remained sparsely dotted with members of the two ns now battling in the ring. The cultivators were barely the size of ants from her vantage, but Qi projectors provided a magnified holographic image of them that hovered over the stadium grounds, as wide and asrge as the arena itself. Even in the height of the noonday sun the image was clearly visible, the three separate screens focusing on each cultivator as well as the match details in the center. The Holy Mountain representative, a 9th-Tier Core Realm cultivator named Shen Xiu went through a series of martial forms, armed with only a staff¡ªhis bald head and flowing white beard marking him as a senior monk within the conve of mountain recluses. His opponent, Ei¡¯Ren Nghi in contrast, was a woman who barely looked past her teens, a testament to her speed of advancement as an 8th-Tier Core Realm practitioner. She flew across the desert arena with bursts of white flower petals, her dark green hair and fiery jade eyes another clear sign of her status as a seasoned Wood Aspect cultivator. Lunh nced at the score board. Shen Xiu vs Ei¡¯Ren Nghi Odds: 13:11 Time - 23:48 Shen Xiu Ei¡¯Ren Nghi 243 296 Ei¡¯Ren Nghi was ahead on points as to be expected, being the quicker of the two, but the old monk had experience on his side. Lunh watched the battle y out for a few moments. Shen Xiu focused on using his ranged Qi techniques, summoning boulders the size of houses and dropping them from the sky. Ei¡¯Ren Nghi countered with her speed and agility, avoiding them with a grace that even Lunh could admire. ¡°A thousand pardons, your majesty¡­¡± The soft and gentle voice that pulled her away from the fight belonged to her personal aide, Ling Wei. The young woman bowed before her, her dark hair and in facepletely unremarkable, but Lunh knew a fierce intelligence hid behind those soft brown eyes of hers. ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°I have thetest reports from the provinces along withmunications from the interior.¡± Ling Wei presented her with a Qi tablet and taking it from her, Lunh began eagerly swiping across its surface to find thetest figures. But there were too many to decipher. ¡°Have you reviewed this?¡± Ling Wei bowed again. ¡°Yes, of course, your majesty.¡± ¡°Give me a summary then,¡± she said. ¡°How do we fare?¡± ¡°Arrival figures have risen by nearly 20 percent after the announcement of the Jade Bracket Tournament,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But unfortunately, most of those wereprised of the tournament attendees, which were paid for by the state. True new arrival figures have increased by only 2 percent.¡± Lunh¡¯s stomach dropped. ¡°What? So little?¡± ¡°Apparently so but, Finance Minister Hui Long projects an uptake in arrivals right before the Jade Bracket finalsmence. He predicts that High End guests would not waste their time attending the Gold and Iron Tournaments and would only start arriving when the Jade Tournament begins in three months from now.¡± ¡°He had better be right,¡± Lunh muttered as she looked out over the thousands of vacant seats. ¡°I¡¯ve bet half the treasury on this tournament. Send word to Hui Long to release another 5,000 spirit stones for advertising in the lower courts of the core worlds. I want every one of these seats filled.¡± Ling Wei bowed. ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°An urgentmunication from your mother, your highness.¡± Ling Wei tapped on a corner of the tablet to reveal the message. Lunh sighed when she saw it. There was nothing urgent about it at all. Upon the tablet were the profiles of two mid-tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivators, men of Jade Bracket ranking. They were middle-aged in appearance, evidence that their cultivation speed was somewhatcking in taking so long to retard their aging process by reaching the Sacred Soul Realm. Why in the nine hells has Mother sent these? The note attached exined it all. Dearest daughter, I appreciate you may be busy, but do not neglect your duty to start a family. You are into your third century now and people of the lower courts have begun to talk. I have attached two suitors who have expressed interest. Both are of good family standing and ofparable cultivation level. I am certain you would be of equal standing to either of them in the ring. I would feign defeat to whoever you find more appealing. -Mother Lunh grimaced. If she could tear up the Qi tablet she would have, but for sake of saving face in front of her subjects, she chose to show as little emotion as possible. The two prospects were an insult. She was in no rush to marry amon-looking practitioner, no matter what their ranking or background. It was true she had sacrificed the best of her courting years pursuing her own cultivation and martial advancement, but that meant that any who wished for her hand would need to be that much stronger than her. And by the looks of the profiles, these men werecking. Her stomach felt sick. Surely this can not be all the lower courts have left to offer me. Disgusted, Lunh looked back at the fight just in time to see Shen Xiu summoning a mountain-sized chunk of rock from the sky. Even from this distance she could sense the strength of his Qi, an ultimate technique. It seemed he had grown tired of Ei¡¯Ren¡¯s dodging his boulders and was seeking to tten the entire arena and her along with it. It was a mistake. Locked in the focus of his technique and managing the enormous strain of his Qi, Shen Xiu had made himself vulnerable. Ei¡¯Ren Nghi took quick advantage, switching tactics to go on the offensive. She closed the half-mile gap between them in the blink of an eye. Crimson sprayed the desert sands as her twin fan des sliced through the air. A momentter the huge mountain of stone fell to the desert floor with a colossal boom while Shen Xiu¡¯s head fell to the sand, severed cleanly at the neck. Thunderous apuse arose from supporters of the Orange Blossom n, but Lunh could find no thrill in it. ¡°Send word to Warden Tu¡¯loc Rhen that the territorial dispute within Xiang Xian province has now been settled,¡± Lunh said. ¡°Any further disruptions by either sect will be met with executions by the state.¡± ¡°I will see to it,¡± Ling Wei said and then she paused, frowning, no doubt noticing Lunh¡¯s change in countenance. ¡°Is someone wrong, your majesty?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Lunh handed the Qi tablet back to her. ¡°How about you just bring me some good news next time?¡± Ling Wei turned bright red with embarrassment. ¡°Apologies, your majesty. I¡­ I do have some good news. But perhaps thought your majesty might find it¡­ trivial.¡± She bowed again. ¡°Please forgive me.¡± ¡°Out with it then,¡± Lunh said, casually sipping her iced wine as the officials dragged Shen Xiu¡¯s body from the arena. ¡°I need something to cheer me up.¡± ¡°This One has reports from Jurin Province, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°Incidents of lost visitor excursions have fallen to zero over the past week. The Warden, Lady Silver Tear, attributes it to the increased security measures that you rmended earlier this month.¡± Lunh nodded with satisfaction. Her wisdom and leadership had benefited her people once again. ¡°Good.¡± ¡°The Lady Silver Tear also reports arge uptick in arena sales by the locals due to a one-hit victory in the Iron Bracket Tournament by a man known as the Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Oh, a one hit?¡± Lunh raised a slender brow in interest. ¡°A rarity, but a shame it was only in the Iron Bracket. Such an urrence at the Gold Bracket level would no doubt have sparked great interest from the interior.¡± ¡°True,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But This One thought it may still be of some interest to you in particr, your majesty.¡± Lunh raised a brow again, bur with curiosity this time. ¡°Oh? And why is that?¡± Ling Wei grinned mischievously. ¡°There is a rumor that the Iron Bull is a Terran.¡± Her interest piqued immediately. For over a decade she had waited for some prodigy to finally emerge from the durds of the local poption. Only one in ten could even develop Qi sensitivity, much less be true cultivators, but she had sensed a strong potential for elerated growth on this¡ªthe flora and fauna under the effect of the Bloodmoon a testament to that. But had a human specimen now finally emerged? ¡°Why rumors?¡± Lunh questioned. ¡°Is he a Terran or not?¡± ¡°He wears a mask in the Ring,¡± Ling Wei said, tapping on the Qi Tablet. ¡°But there is another man who is now also iming to be the Iron Bull. He is known as Max Chun and is the founder of a so-called Terran Sect.¡± ¡°Did you say Terran Sect?¡± Lunhughed out loud. ¡°Is it a jest? Have the pigs now formed their own sect as well?¡± Her three attendants giggled at her joke, but Ling Wei responded with only a smile. ¡°It is true though, your majesty, see here.¡± Lunh snatched the tablet with a roll of her eyes as Ling Wei handed it to her. ¡°A Terran Sect¡­ utterly ridicu¡ª¡± She paused mid word as the profile image of the man on the tablet illuminated. It was a simple ID scan. Low quality and monotoned, but even that couldn¡¯t stop the ticklish feeling that came from just below her Dantian the more she looked at it. The man was alien to her, but that only heightened her intrigue. Dark hair cut in Terran fashion, cropped on the sides but long and disheveled on top. Chiseled features with a strong angr jaw, covered by a coarse beard. Piercing eyes with a warrior¡¯s focused stare. The bust shot gave only a hint of his body¡ªhis broad shoulder falling off the frame, but her imagination filled in the rest. ¡°Who is he?¡± ¡°As I said, he is known as Max Chun, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said his name again. ¡°I believe the personal name may be Terran in origin. If he is indeed the Iron Bull, then he is qualified for the Gold Bracket, cing 20th in the Iron Bracket Tournament before withdrawing. A 2nd-Tier Core Realm cultivator atst evaluation.¡± Lunh marveled. If any of her suitors looked this good, she would feign defeat in the ring to them in an instant. But this man was yet a mortal, barely past two decades by the looks of him. She would be robbing the womb, not the cradle. Still, if he were actually able to achieve a one-hit win in the Iron Bracket and even qualify for Gold at his age, perhaps he was indeed exactly what she had been waiting for. A Core Realm prodigy at only twenty. Perhaps he¡¯ll even manage to reach Sacred Soul Realm quickly enough to preserve those youthful good looks forever, Lunh mused with an inward smile. I may get a chance for a taste of him yet¡ªas a concubine at the very least. ¡°Create a new personal file for me,¡± Lunh said, handing back the tablet. ¡°I wish you to keep an eye on this man¡¯s progression. And send an envoy to Jurin Province to confirm these details. I wish to know all there is to know about the Iron Bull.¡± Book 2: Chapter 6 A WAVE OF familiarity and nostalgia hit me as I approached the Eastern Gate of Jurin Province. The wooden lean-to, that was constructed more like a barn with no walls, was already brimming with off-world cultivators eager to get their hands on the exotic advancementponents found out in the wild. The familiar white and green uniforms of the handlers darted in between them. They were the trained scouts who guided the cultivators through the unfamiliar terrain and ensured they came home before the Bloodmoon rose and turned the already deadly monsters into literal demons. Although it¡¯d only been a week since I myself was a full-time handler, the growth I¡¯d made since then both socially and economically truly made the ce feel like a trip to yester year. Still, once a handler always a handler, and the familiar surrounds stirred an eagerness in me to get out into the wilderness and start hunting monsters. The familiar faces of Rhen and Rho, two twins I had shown the ropes to a few months ago, greeted me with smiles as I entered the camp. Both stopped what they were doing to give me deep bows of respect. ¡°Master Chun!¡± Rho said. ¡°Wee. Are you heading out today yourself for an excursion?¡± It was still odd hearing myself referred to as a ¡®master¡¯. In my mind I hadn¡¯t mastered anything as yet, especially not my Berserker path, but I supposed being a Sect founder, especially in a native Terran¡¯s eyes, had earned me the title. I returned their bows. ¡°Yes, actually. Although I was looking to talk to Lee first. There may be a certain cultivator looking for a private tour with¡ª¡± ¡°She¡¯s already here, bro.¡± The familiar and jovial voice came from behind me, and I spun to see the tall red-haired kid that was Lee. We went back as handlers, starting as initiates together. Since taking over as supervisor, the handler station had grown considerably under Lee¡¯s easy-going style of management. The handlers were happy which made the clients happy and even the Imperial Guard and Enforcers posted for customs duty enjoyed the yful interactions and conversations with Lee. I shook his hand Terran style. ¡°She is? I guess I don¡¯t need to exin any further?¡±Lee gave me a wink and a smile. ¡°Say less, bro. Your secret rendezvous with hot silverdy is all taken care off. Ren and Rho here will take her out officially and you can use your old handler pass to go solo. You can all meet up by the old train station for the handoff.¡± I felt privileged as hell to have a friend like this who would risk even the empire¡¯s wrath in breaking the rules for me. ¡°You guys are the best,¡± I said. ¡°Drinks are on me after work.¡± ¡°You know it!¡± Lee said, giving me a bro hug. ¡°Okay, twins, go do your thing.¡± Ren and Rho gave me a final bow, before disappearing into the crowd of bustling handlers and cultivators. I strained my eyes to catch a glimpse of her, the Lady Silver Light, my Fia. I didn¡¯t see her, but I did see Ren and Rho departing with a cultivator dressed in the same ck robes and veil as one of her Silver Shadows. Smart girl, I thought. Her getting caught out in the wild with a Terran like me would cause her family drama I couldn¡¯t begin toprehend. But I¡¯d caused her family drama already. Me beating up Hein and breaking his sword had far more impact than I thought it would. Cultivators were quite particr when it came to family heirlooms, it seemed. ¡°Give them ten minutes before you head out,¡± Lee said, pping me on the shoulder. ¡°I got to get back to work. You have fun out there.¡± Lee gave me another wink and I could onlyugh with him. Then something else urred to me. ¡°Hey Lee,¡± I said. ¡°One more thing.¡± ¡°Sup?¡± I couldn¡¯t tell him about the lost enve of Terrans in the bunker, but I did need his help to get supplies to them. ¡°I need to bring a bunch of stuff through the gate. Early. Like before the Imperial Guard and Enforcers arrive.¡± ¡°Yeah? What kind of stuff?¡± ¡°Like a wagon full of provisions. Tools. That kind of stuff.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°No problem. Just be here around five o¡¯clock with it all, I¡¯ll make sure the coast is clear. By the time you haul it to the edge of the barrier outside, the sun should be up.¡± Good ¡®ole Lee. No questions asked. Chill as ever. I loved the guy. ¡°Thanks, Lee, I don¡¯t know what we¡¯d do without you.¡± * * * I couldn¡¯t wait to see Silver Light again, up close and in private. But I couldn¡¯t waste an opportunity to advance either. I had a date set with her in more ways than one. And the one that mattered the most required me to be three Tiers stronger than I was right now. Stopping at the crest of a wooded hill, I envisioned the cultivation manual within my mind¡¯s eye and flipped through the pages to find the table that governed Core Realm advancement. Core Formation 1st Core Formation 2nd Core Body Refinement 3rd Core Mental Refinement 4th Core Density Refinement 5th Inner Soul Detection 6th Inner Soul Focus 7th Inner Soul Refinement 8th Inner Soul Projection 9th Secondary Soul Germination Berserker cultivation was different than Qi Cultivation in many ways, but it still followed the same broad rules for progression. I had already achieved 1st Tier by forming my solid Frenzy core, but to advance further I would need to look into the Shuras of the Frenzied me¡¯s texts to see what was required to advance to the 2nd Tier and beyond. Those steps hopefully wouldn¡¯t be much different than what I was already used to, having already achieved Stage V in all aspects of Body and Mental Refinement during my foundation training. But what would be required to achieve the 5th Tier of Core Realm advancement¡ªInner Soul Detection? This was the first step towards advancing to the Sacred Soul Realm. It boggled my mind for a minute that I was even considering such a thing. I¡¯d been just a mortal a few months ago, but already I was trying to figure out how to get halfway to being a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator? Iughed. I would be OP as shit if I could achieve Sacred Soul Realm. Maybe even strong enough to start my rebellion in earnest. That made me hunger for power even more than being able to face Fia. But before any of that I needed to see what was involved in my basic core refinement first. Summoning a bit of Frenzy, I drew on my rity of mind to recall the passages imprinted on Threja¡¯s sword. I had only glimpsed them before and retrieving those scant images was going to take some effort. I dove deep into my mind¡¯s eyes, searching my memories for that brief image of the massive des covered in tiny characters. I found the text but the characters were blurry, the image but a fuzzy memory. I focused harder, channeling more Frenzy. Come on, I thought. Remember what you saw. I felt something open up inside of me, like I was breaking through to a new level of thought and understanding and then suddenly they were there, hovering before me in the vision of my mind¡¯s eye¡ªthe two pages of information I had managed to cram inside my head while I was back at the bunker out in the wild. This would be the key to my next stages of advancement. Body Refinement Category Stages Description Muscle Strengthening VI to X Increases your passive casual strength and your ability to do damage through Frenzy-infused techniques. At 6th stage you will be able to bend steel. At 8th stage you will have the strength of fifty men. At 10th stage you are able to break steel. Train by infusing Frenzy with strenuous exercise or exertion. Reflex Sharpening VI to X Increases the swiftness at which your body moves and reacts. At 6th stage you can run as fast as a skiff. At 8th stage you can execute two techniques in the space of one. At 10th stage you can move without moving. Train by infusing Frenzy into quick attacks and actions which test your speed and coordination. Body Hardening VI to X Increases the durability and hardness of your skin and bones. At 6th stage your body can resist a piercing spear. At 8th stage your body has be as strong as steel. At 10th stage your body has be as strong as hardened alloy, impervious to extreme heat and cold. Train by using Frenzy to mend your broken skin and bones. Internal Strengthening VI to X Increases the body¡¯s ability to withstand prolonged exertion, toxins and the strain of high-level Frenzy-infused techniques. At 6th stage you can consume moderate toxins without ill effects. At 8th stage you can execute three or more techniques at once without ill effects. At 10th stage your body can withstand strong toxins without ill effects and four or more techniques without ill effects. Train by using Frenzy to mitigate the effects of toxins and by performing techniques that use high bursts of Frenzy. I was right. The methods for cultivating through the various stages of Body Refinement remained the same for Stages VI through X as they were for I to V. The difference however, was in the effects. And by the descriptions I could understand now why I was detecting as an almost 2nd-Tier Core Realm cultivator already. I¡¯d fought both Hong Feng and that strange alien god monster after my ascension to Core Realm and the stress of those battles had caused me to grow some. But if those were the kinds of battles it took to grow at this stage then I needed to go looking for some major challenges indeed. It was a reminder that the potency of my Berserker path came at a price. Qi cultivators could just meditate for years or even decades to gain the Qi they needed for advancement. Or they could spend big bucks on spirit stones or elixirs to cheat and elerate their growth. But me? I had to face death and extremebat to generate the kind of Frenzy and stress my body needed to advance. I was actually looking forward to it. But if that was the kind of thing that I would need for my Body Refinement to progress, what would it take for my mind? I took a peek at that section next. Mental Refinement Category Stages Description Mental Capacity VI to X Increases your ability to store, retain and recall information. At 6th stage, you gain the ability to detect information within the spiritual realm. At 8th stage you are able toprehend information within the spiritual realm. At 10th stage you can transcribe and convey information within the spiritual realm. Train by seeking increasing revtions of Insight into the hidden and spiritual realms. Mental Quickness VI to X Increases the swiftness at which you can recall and corrte information you have retained. At 6th stage you are able to see within your own consciousness. At 8th stage you can split your thoughts within your own mind. At 10th stage you can project your thoughts outside your own body. Train by meditating and recalling information. Now this is something different, I thought. My Mental Capacity and Mental Quickness from Stages I to V was just about memorization and thinking quick on your feet, but now my mental advancement seemed to be heading into the spiritual realm. I didn¡¯t know what that meant exactly, but it made sense that I¡¯d need to go in that direction to eventually detect my inner soul for 5th Tier of Core Realm and beyond. And perhaps I¡¯d had some kind of advancement to the 6th Stage of Mental Capacity already considering my encounter with the King of the Moon or my exposure to the Bloodmoon even. Those certainly felt like otherworldly encounters to me. The idea of treading into such territory heightened my curiosity and made me eager to progress. I needed to get back to the bunker to study the Shuras on Threja¡¯s sword in earnest. There had to be new techniques for me to learn. New points of philosophy to guide me along my path. But even with that, what could I do to advance my mental refinement in the spiritual realm? Spend time under the influence of the Bloodmoon? Find that nasty Ix-oh-whatever-face creature and kill it? I was getting so juiced up on the possibilities of facing so much certain death that I would have loved nothing more than to wait till nightfall and see what I would find out in the wild. Or what woulde to find me perhaps? But all that had to wait. I had real-world issues to resolve first, and one of them was waiting for me at an abandoned train station a couple miles away. Closing my mind¡¯s eyes, I took off in a Frenzy-driven sprint through the wilderness and prepared to meet with the Lady Silver Light. Book 2: Chapter 7 BUTTERFLIES FILLED MY stomach as I approached the abandoned train station that was now overrun with weeds, vines and decades-old trees. Ren and Rho were already there, nking the cultivator wearing dark robes and a ck veil. Her body stiffened as she caught sight of me and I could sense both anger and desire re from inside her. ¡°Thanks, guys.¡± I bowed to Ren and Rho. ¡°I can take it from here.¡± Fia barely acknowledged the two of them as she stepped forward. ¡°Let¡¯s go then, handler,¡± she said, her tone high and haughty as she strode past me. ¡°I want to be back before long.¡± With that she took off with a burst of Qi and qinggong, bouncing off the tops of trees as she disappeared into the distance. Ren and Rho shared a quiet nce with each other and then looked to me. ¡°You sure you¡¯ll be okay out here with thatdy alone?¡± Rho asked, looking concerned. ¡°She seemed mighty pissed off for some reason.¡± I let out a sigh. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll be fine,¡± I said. ¡°And as for reasons. I think she has plenty.¡± * * * I rushed to catch up, leaving Ren and Rho far behind. Once out of sight of them, I engaged my Frenzy to the fullest, applying [Mark of the Beast] to extend my limbs, increasing my reflexes and speed. In the short time that she had left, Silver Light had fallen out of sight, but from the direction she was headed there could be only one ce that she was going. I slowed as the smallkeside beach came within view¡ªthe site of ourst rendezvous¡ª and sure enough Silver Light was already there waiting for me, sans the veil. Dropping [Mark of the Beast], I put on a mask of [Indifference] to hide the mixed emotions swirling within me. On one hand, my eagerness to rush in and embrace her was near overwhelming, but I had to hold that in check. We still had a lot of air to clear. As I stepped onto the beach, I could sense the emotions boiling over within her as well. She turned and her gorgeous face twisted into a scowl of rage when she saw me. ¡°You need to exin yourself, Max!¡± she shouted, storming across the beach towards me. ¡°Why did you attack my brother and destroy my father¡¯s sword? And how in the heavens did you even know how to find him?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I truly hope you didn¡¯t do all this just to spite me!¡± Her questions came so rapid-fire, I barely had a chance to respond. But one thing was clear. She was obviously operating on less than half a story. ¡°Hold on a second,¡± I said, raising my hands in surrender. ¡°First, I didn¡¯t even know you had a brother. And two, I¡¯m d I didn¡¯t, because if I¡¯d known that your brother was Hein, I never would have messed with you.¡± ¡°Messed with me?¡± she said, agitated. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Poor choice of words maybe, but it was the truth. ¡°Did he tell you why I beat his ass and broke his sword?¡± ¡°Of course, he didn¡¯t,¡± Fia said. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know about us. But you obviously used it as a means of drawing my attention. But why go through such extremes? I would havee willingly with a simple message, but now you attack my family? My father and mother are involved now. The Warden even! Do you have any idea the trouble that you¡¯ve caused?¡± I took it all in for a second and then burst outughing. I couldn¡¯t believe it. Fia was a nice girl deep down inside, I knew that¨C¨Cshe¡¯d shown me her heart to prove it once¡ªbut she was still an egotistical cultivator when it came to most things. Believing the world revolved around her and that I¡¯d done all this just to get her attention was proof of that. ¡°Why are youughing?¡± she shouted, her silver eyes shing with fury. ¡°This is not funny!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the conclusion you drew from all this?¡± I said. ¡°You think I did all that just to drag you on another date?¡± She blinked, looking perplexed. ¡°Well¡­ what other reason would you have to do it?¡± Her eyes then softened. ¡°Be honest, Max. Are you cross with me for some reason? Did Xi Xha say anything to you? I know you¡¯ve met with her again.¡± Man, this girl was a little dangerous. Was she keeping tabs on me the whole time? ¡°Just hold your horses,¡± I said. ¡°Hold my what?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take a seat and start over.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wish to sit.¡± ¡°Is it because you didn¡¯t bring your chair?¡± I grinned, trying to make a joke of it. Thest time we were here, she¡¯d brought a stupid silver chair that I had to assemble and disassemble several times. But she didn¡¯t seem in the mood for humor. ¡°You can see I have not brought it,¡± she said curtly. ¡°Stop avoiding the question! Why have you attacked my family?¡± ¡°Because Hein attacked mine.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a long story, but that brother of yours got my sister pregnant.¡± Her eyes went wide with shock. ¡°He what?!¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°And that¡¯s not all.¡± I went into the details about the whole feud that started between me and Hein. His disrespecting Yu Li, fathering Su Ling and him threatening me and the entire neighborhood by calling me to a duel to take control of the square. By the time I finished Fia¡¯s face was flushed red. But she didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Hey,¡± I said. ¡°Do you understand what happened now? Your brother--¡ª¡± ¡°Is a damn idiot!¡± she screamed. And then screamed a second time, but with just a yell of frustration. ¡°It¡¯s just like him to go and do something as foolish as this. My father would castrate him if he knew. But I¡¯m confused. Why did you not kill him?¡± I blinked, shocked. She actually sounded serious. ¡°You think I should have killed him? Your own brother?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Do not misunderstand me. I¡¯m d you spared him. Idiot that he is, he is still my family. But I¡¯m sure he would aim to kill you, if he ever found out that you have slept with me. Why did you not do the same?¡± Man, talk about messed-up. The brutality of the cultivator mindset never ceased to amaze me. ¡°Well, I could have, but he¡¯s still the father of my sister¡¯s child. And besides, he owes her money now. He needs to be alive to pay it, right?¡± Fia nodded, looking genuinely enlightened by my exnation. ¡°Ah, I see. That was wise of you then. But why destroy the sword?¡± ¡°Honestly, I thought I was just teaching him a lesson. I didn¡¯t realize how valuable it was.¡± ¡°More so than his life,¡± Fia said with augh. ¡°My father was furious. Hein¡­what a fool.¡± The twinkle of mirth in her eyes said there was more than a little sibling rivalry going on between her and Hein. It sounded as if she disliked him as much as I did, despite him being family. And that was just fine with me. She looked at me again and then smiled. ¡°How were you even able to destroy such a relic, by the way?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Hein¡¯s sword was a high-tier Aurorean Silver artifact. Destroying it is not something I would think a 2nd-Tier Core cultivator even capable of.¡± ¡°I dunno.¡± I shrugged to downy it. ¡°Just hit it real hard, I guess.¡± The answer seemed to delight her, and she gushed with lemonade again as she smiled. ¡°You are indeed a mystery in so many ways, Max Chun. If only I had the time to unravel them all.¡± Unraveling my secrets was thest thing I wanted her to do. ¡°Well, you gave me a year, didn¡¯t you?¡± I said, quick to change the subject. ¡°What¡¯s up with all that? You really want me to fight you?¡± ¡°Eventually yes,¡± she said. ¡°But we can discuss all thatter. I¡¯m just relieved that it was my foolish brother¡¯s doing that has brought us together and not some vengeful streak from you. I¡¯m so happy.¡± She smiled then and wrapped her arms around my waist. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you.¡± I couldn¡¯t ignore the way my pulse sped as she stared up at me, eyes filled with longing. I knew I shouldn¡¯t be doing this. There were a number of reasons why, but at the moment my mind couldn¡¯t think any. Ah to hell with it, I thought. I¡¯ve been missing her as well. I leaned in and kissed her deeply, our lips meshing as one. Time held no meaning as our tongues danced. Finally, she pulled away and began undressing hastily. ¡°Come, Max,¡± she said with an eagerness that set my loins on fire. ¡°We must make use of this time. I can¡¯t be seen to have gone missing for too long.¡± She didn¡¯t have to tell me twice. I was still confused as hell about everything, but the lust in Fia¡¯s eyes put my own thoughts at bay. Rationality would have to take a backseat for now. We dove into one another and engaged in a frenzy of a different kind. * * * I thought I¡¯d never have the chance to be with Fia again, but the passion we had for one another after only two weeks of being apart surprised even me. I saw to her every need and she to mine and after an hour we bothy on our backs, out of breath and gazing up at the sky. I waspletely spent but feelingpletely satisfied. ¡°I¡¯ve been dreaming of that,¡± Fia said, still catching her breath. She then leaned over to rest her head against my chest. ¡°Did you miss being with me as well?¡± Of course I did, I thought. My body alone could have told her that, but I wasn¡¯t going to give her the satisfaction of that kind of win. ¡°A guy like me doesn¡¯t have time to miss ady.¡± I then grinned to let her know it was a joke. ¡°Even one as beautiful as you.¡± She gave me a yful scowl. ¡°You¡¯re insufferable, you know that?¡± I onlyughed. We spent a while just talking. About almost nothing at first, but then I started to share with her how I¡¯d started the sect, the constant challengers that kept showing up at my door that I had to keep putting down. She was fascinated by every detail, asking questions while staring at me in awe. ¡°I know I keep saying it,¡± she said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever met anyone like you before. You remind me of my father.¡± I raised a suspicious brow at that. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s apliment.¡± Fiaughed. ¡°It is. My father was amoner who rose to royalty by will and skill alone. You remind me of him in that regard. I still don¡¯t understand how you¡¯ve advanced so quickly. Before we came to this, they said your world held the potential for great prodigies. I truly think you may be one of them.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Who knows. I¡¯m just a guy trying to provide a future for my people.¡± Fia nodded. ¡°That¡¯s very noble of you. But what of your future?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You sacrifice for your friends and neighbors, but what about yourself? What¡¯s in the future for you, Max Chun?¡± She grinned as she said it, cing her hand in mine. I knew what she probably wanted me to say. A future with her perhaps, but that wasn¡¯t realistic. Not in the long term. As much as I liked her, Fia was still a member of the ruling n. The great, great, grandniece of the evil bitch who stole me from my family and left them to die. There was no way I could have any real future with her. Not if I was going to avenge my family and free the Earth one day. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said half-joking. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll take over the whole city.¡± Fia scrunched her brows together, trying to decipher if I was joking or not. Finally, Iughed to ease the tension and she swatted at me yfully again. ¡°Okay we¡¯ve avoided the topic long enough,¡± I said, standing up to get dressed. ¡°What are we going to do, Fia? Your family has got a writ against me and my sect and we have to fight. How is that going to work?¡± She grinned, propping herself up on her elbows in the sand. ¡°Don¡¯t you see, Max? The fates have blessed our destinies to intertwine once more. Surely you cannot think this a coincidence? You getting involved in an altercation with my brother that leads you right back to me? The heavens clearly want us to be together not apart.¡± The way she said it made me wary. Part of me wished I had had the strength to deny her before we¡¯d made love just now. But who was I kidding? My body and heart had betrayed me the moment I saw her in the square. But now, post-coital rity brought the reality of my situation to the forefront of my mind. How could I exin that I was destined to destroy her entire n one day? I sighed. ¡°I guess you could look at it that way. But it still doesn¡¯t solve our problem. I don¡¯t want to fight you, Fia, and I¡¯m not going to give up my sect either.¡± ¡°Oh no,¡± Fia said, shaking her head, her tone serious. ¡°You will have to fight me.¡± ¡°What? You¡¯ve got to be kidding.¡± ¡°I am not,¡± she said as she began getting dressed. ¡°We arew bound to fight before the courts of battle and the Warden herself may even be there to bear witness. Which is why, when we do fight, it must be in earnest. You must be of the correct tier and must fight me with all your strength. Do you understand?¡± ¡°What the hell? You really want one of us to die or some shit?¡± ¡°No, of course not,¡± she said with augh. ¡°I will feign defeat as I would to any favored suitor, but I can¡¯t make it look like I did. That is why, for the next year, I will help you train. In secret. Here out in the wild. When you withhold your killing blow to spare me, I need to be on the brink of death.¡± This girl had to be nuts. ¡°You want me to beat you to within an inch of your life?¡± ¡°Preferably!¡± Fia said with augh. ¡°How else are you to im the right to marry me?¡± The earth fell away as my stomach lurched into my throat. Holy shit. Marry her? My mouth was hanging open, but I couldn¡¯t think of how to respond. I was having trouble figuring out just how to have a rtionship with Fia, but she was jumping straight from first gear to fifth. What the hell would getting married to her even mean? Did I even want to get married? Fia leapt up from the sand to clutch her hands around one of my arms. ¡°Oh Max, don¡¯t you see? It¡¯s perfect! The fates have blessed us with a rare opportunity to disy your strength and skill before the courts. If you defeat me in earnest, then my parents and even the Warden herself would be unable to deny you your im of my hand in marriage.¡± She then grinned with a lustful gleam in her eye. ¡°Although I know you probably won¡¯t even need my help to defeat me. Strong as you are.¡± This was crazy. ¡°You¡¯re going to train me to defeat you, just so I can marry you?¡± ¡°I admit, it is notmon for an outsider to marry a royal,¡± she said. ¡°My father himself had to craft an exquisite weapon for my grandmother in order to earn his ce within the n. But you. You are unique in a different way. By doing this, you would demonstrate yourself more than worthy of joining the inner circle of the Silver Leaf n.¡± ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa,¡± I said, pulling away. This wasn¡¯t just about marrying her. This was all about me joining her n. My stomach felt sick as images of the Warden leaving my family to die shed through my mind. How could I ever join her n after what they¡¯d done? How could any of it work? The future of my sect, not to mention my vengeance against the Warden and the Silver Leaf n itself. Hein bing my brother-inw? No¡­none of it made sense. ¡°Fia, I really like you, but married...?¡± The more I thought about it, the moreplications I saw. I shook my head. ¡°No, this can¡¯t work. I can¡¯t marry you and join your n, Fia. I¡¯m sorry.¡± She blinked andughed. ¡°Don¡¯t be foolish? Did I not exin clearly? It is possible if you defeat me in an official match, and my idiot brother has¡­no, not him. I will not give Hein such credit. The fates themselves have given us this opportunity. We can¡¯t deny this, Max. If we do, the wrath of the heavens themselves will be upon us.¡± The wrath of the heavens was already upon me. Fia just didn¡¯t understand it yet. Screw my life¡­ I thought. A gem of a girl I actually liked and the fates tempt me with a clear path to her. But not one that I could ever take. Not in good conscience anyway. Even with my own feelings aside, what kind of asshole would I be to marry Fia and then eventually destroy her whole family and everyone she loved? Plus she had no idea who or what I truly was. I was a Berserker. A heretic in her world. She¡¯d be marrying a lie. I couldn¡¯t do that to her either. If I wanted Fia I¡¯d have to choose between my destiny and her. But I had too many people depending on me now. Yu Li, Gui Zu, Jian Yi and the rest of the people in the square, not to mention Kelsey and everyone in the wild. I couldn¡¯t turn my back on them. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said, pulling away from her. ¡°It can¡¯t happen¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand. It can hap¡ª¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want it to happen,¡± I said to rify and she flinched away from me like a scolded child. Fia looked back at me confused and hurt and the sight broke my heart in two. I¡¯d just done it again. Wounded Fia at her most vulnerable. It hurt like hell, but it was probably better than her knowing the truth. Knowing that I actually despised her n would probably hurt her even more. She stared back at me iprehensibly as tears welled within her eyes. I held my own emotions at bay with a hard stare of [Indifference]. But I had to tell her something¨C¨Cin a way she could understand perhaps. ¡°Fia, it would dishonor the memory of my family to marry into the same ones who saw them killed.¡± She squinted at me, looking offended. ¡°What? You use my family of killing yours? We¡¯ve done no such thing. If anything, you¡¯ve tried to kill mine! How could you even think that?¡± Damn, not the reaction I was hoping for. Perhaps she couldn¡¯t understand. I had to shut it down before it got worse. This would only lead to more grief between us. And I didn¡¯t want that. ¡°Look, I can¡¯t marry you, Fia,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I simply can¡¯t join your n, but that doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t still want to be with you.¡± ¡°As what?¡± she said spitefully. ¡°As a whore like Xi Xha? You think that¡¯s all I want out of this? I am a royaldy! I am deserving of a husband. A husband that meets my status and that of my n!¡± Shit¡­Maybe I was a fool to think we could ever have something together, no matter how small. But it was clear where her destinyy as well as mine. ¡°I¡¯m afraid my path lies elsewhere, Fia. I told you this.¡± Fia stared at me nkly as the words sunk in. Then, like a de being pulled from a sheath, a deathly cold stare entered her silvery eyes. Fia straightened herself, raising her guard again. And this time I feared it might be for good. ¡°Then I suppose there is no reason for me to train you,¡± Fia said. ¡°Only a fool would train their enemy to defeat them. And I understand now, that¡¯s exactly what I¡¯ve be by dealing with you. A fool.¡± The words were cold and sharp, but I fended them off with a re. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be this way,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t marry you, Fia, but that doesn¡¯t mean I want to kill you, or even fight you. There has to be another way.¡± ¡°Another way?¡± Her anger red. ¡°I offer you my hand in marriage¡ªa royal Lady of the Silver Leaf n¡ªess to the inner ranks of the greatest sect in the province and you spit on it? Like it¡¯s nothing! Like I¡¯m nothing!¡± Her words echoed with force, reverberating across theke. ¡°When the timees, I will not still spare your life, Max Chun!¡± She couldn¡¯t be serious, but Fia was a woman scorned right now. And I had only myself to me. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want,¡± I said coolly. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t spare yours.¡± Her eyes grew wide with mock amusement as a coarse and callousugh ripped from her throat. ¡°As if you think such is possible?¡± Something bright shed and a split secondter, all three of her Jian des were floating behind her back. A burning sensation on my cheek gave way to something warm and wet that flowed down my neck. Damn, she actually cut me? I thought. ¡°Don¡¯t think you have a chance to defeat me, handler. And even if you could, I would never ept your pity. I would rather die with my honor.¡± Her words remained cold, but inside I could sense immense pain welling up within her. ¡°I will face you a year from now. Ensure you reach 5th Tier by then. I will settle for nothing less than killing you with my own hands.¡± ¡°Fia,e on, don¡¯t be like¡ª¡± She shed into the sky with a burst of Qi and then flew off in the direction of the city. I stood there stupefied for a moment, still not quite processing what the hell had just happened. How did we go from making love to issuing death threats in the space of five minutes? I reyed the short conversation in my mind and wondered whether I could have handled it smoother. Probably¡­but the oue would have still been the same. I probably couldn¡¯t marry anyone given the crazy shit I was nning to do, much less a daughter of my enemy. And clearly, I had just made Fia my enemy now as well. ¡°Shit¡­¡± That was thest thing I wanted. The familiar embrace of the Strugglerforted me as I fell to my knees. It was inevitable that something like this would happen. Things were going too well. I had too much power to gain to reach my goals and it was inevitable that the scales of fate would bnce themselves like this. The Struggler always needed something to keep the Demon at bay. Still¡­ why did it have to be her? My soul ached like a knife to the gut. I still didn¡¯t want to believe it, but a year from now I could be forced to fight Fia for real. Book 2: Chapter 8 I LEFT THE handler station feeling like a mountain was upon my back. The day had turned from pretty great to shitty in a matter of minutes and my mind was still reeling from it all. I need to focus, I told myself. I had to stop worrying about what happened and get my head back in the game. I still had a year to deal with Fia and a lot could happen between now and then. Plus, I had to remember that there was a lot more at stake than just her. Failing to defeat her in court would mean the loss of the entire sect and over a hundred innocent people being executed to satisfy the writ. And now that I¡¯d drawn so much attention to us, if we lost the protection of the sect, hundreds of cultivators would be lining up to put every Terran back in their ce. We¡¯de too far to fail now. We were the nail that was sticking up and everyone wanted to see us hammered back down. And I was the only one who could prevent that from happening. But those were only the local problems. I still needed to get back to Kelsey and Susan out in the wild. That was more important than anything else, really. The true seed of humanityy with them and I needed to ensure they got the vital supplies they needed to survive. Going back there would have to be my next move. Back to the bunker in the wild. But it had another purpose as well. Threja¡¯s sword and the new Shuras to the Path of the Frenzied me were there as well. If I wanted to reach 5th Tier of the Core Realm, I would need the knowledge contained within it. Not to mention, once out in the wild I could totally cut loose when it came to cultivating. I could take on awakened spirit beasts by the dozen to generate the Frenzy I needed to progress. The only downside was how long I could remain away from the city doing so. I was getting challenges every other day now and someone had to be here to protect my people. Gui Zu was there of course, but as skilled as he was as a fighter, he was still basically a mortal when it came to Qi. I sighed. I didn¡¯t have a solution, but I couldn¡¯t keep holding off on going back to the wild for that reason either. Leaving was just another risk I would have to take. All in the name of advancement. And if I wanted to be 5th Tier to officially face Fia in the ring, I needed to be willing to pull out all the stops. Suddenly the mncholy hit me again. How could I fight her? Fighting Hein was one thing. I hated the clown and going up against him filled me with a rage like none other. But when it came to Fia my me was pretty much dead. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to hate her. And if I couldn¡¯t hate her, then how could I tap into my rage? A new and scary thought urred. If I couldn¡¯t generate Frenzy to fight her, could I actually fight her at all? My head hurt again, not even wanting to consider it. Maybe we would have to talk it out again, but right now I seemed to have burned that bridge pretty damn good. And if I were being totally honest about it, maybe I was more afraid of things actually being able to work out than not at all. But that meant joining her n. The n of the same woman who sentenced my family to death. The woman who caused my greatest pain. The spiritual root of my Dao. I sighed again. Threja always said the path of the Frenzied me would be difficult. But this wasn¡¯t the kind of difficulty I could just take an axe to. This was a difficulty of a different kind. Why the hell did everything have to be sopli¡ª? I paused mid-thought as a column of mes came flying straight for my head. Oh shit! I leaned back like a limbo dancer, adrenaline and Frenzy kicking my reflexes into high gear. The torrent of bright yellow mes scorched the air just inches from my nose as it flew overhead. I backflipped with a handstand tond on my feet and panned about to get a bearing on my attacker. I was still in the farnds on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by fields on either side of the dirt road. One by one, cultivators in red and orange robes rose from out of corn fields at my side. I counted five in all. I didn¡¯t recognize them. Members from some other branch of the Fire Birds perhaps, but there was no mistaking their affiliation by their ¡®gang¡¯ colors. The one who had shot the mes at me was standing in the center of the road. It was a woman, tall and slim, wearing a douli¡ªa wide-brimmed conical hat¡ªthat looked to be made of out of ck iron or steel. Bright red hair spilled out from beneath it, matching a set of fiery red eyes and painted lips. She had looks to give Fia a run for her money, high-set cheeks with a wide jaw. She carried no weapon that I could see, but from her robes I pegged her as an elder of the n. ¡°Max Chun!¡± she shouted, and the strength of her voice caused ripples to flow across both corn fields. ¡°Sole member of the Furious Lightning Sect and former disciple to Elder Hong Feng. You stand used of crimes against the sect!¡± What the hell was this bullshit now? I casually reached for the axe strapped to my back as I summoned my Frenzy and channeled it into [Fear the me]. ¡°If you want to file a writ you can speak to mywyer to get in line. I got a lot of other bozos to deal with besides you, whoever the hell you are.¡± The woman smirked. ¡°This One was told of your arrogance. And also of your betrayal.¡± ¡°Betrayal? What the hell are you talking about?¡± But I knew exactly what she was talking about. I¡¯d killed Hong Feng and his whole damn crew a couple weeks ago. I thought I¡¯d thrown them off my trail seeing as none of them hade looking for me since then, but I guess my luck had finally run out. ¡°This One is known as Hin Wu, Elder of the 24th chapter of the Fire Bird Sect. Master Lo Feng has summoned me from Twi Lin province to deal with you.¡± Twi Lin¡­? My knowledge of Yee geography was rusty, but I was pretty sure that province was north in what used to be Wisconsin. ¡°Deal with me, huh? From the fireball to the face, I assume you mean kill me?¡± Hin Wu smirked, amused. ¡°As I understand it, you betrayed your sect by consorting with a member of the Silver Leaf n which led to one of their eldersying waste to Master Hong Feng and the entire sect branch.¡± I blinked dumbfounded for a second. I was sure she was going to use me of killing them all, but I guess the pin I had left with Ju Gong at the crime scene had worked after all. They were ming the Silver Leaf n for the massacre. Although I still felt kind of shitty that it was Silver Light¡¯s pin that I had left. If she ever found out she¡¯d probably want to kill me twice over. Especially now. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about that,¡± I said. The woman scoffed. ¡°You should not be so modest, Max Chun.¡± Modest? ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± ¡°I am simplymending you on your ambition and cunning,¡± Hin Wu said with a smile. ¡°Especially as a lowly Terran. Your n to first trick Hong Feng into making you the sole member of a new sub-sect and then conspiring with a rival sect to have him and all your rivals in was nothing short of brilliant.¡± I had no clue what this woman was even talking about, but the squirt of lemonade she gave afterwards told me her praise was genuine. As jacked up as it was. What a world, I thought. Only a cultivator would havee to the conclusion that I had orchestrated everything for a grab at power. Although it was still better than the actual truth. That I was a Berserker that followed an illegal path of the Frenzied me. ¡°You¡¯ve achieved your goal of bing an elder it seems,¡± Hin Wu continued. ¡°Equal in rank to even me now, but you made one fatal w.¡± Wait what? My mind spun for a second. Did she just call me an elder? She was right about the whole conspiring with the enemy thing, but it had nothing to do with me wanting to be an elder. I no longer wanted to be even associated with their scum. But I thought about it some more and I guess it made sense in theory. Hong Feng had sponsored my subsect as the elder, but with him now dead, I supposed that made me the elder of the Furious Lightning Sect now. ¡°Did you truly believe that Sect Leader Lo Feng would honor your position, knowing that you had his very nephew killed to achieve it?¡± she asked. I cracked a grin, keeping my eye on the lesser Fire Birds circling around me. ¡°To be honest with you, I don¡¯t even know who the hell Lo Feng is.¡± Her crimson eyes snapped open widely with disbelief. ¡°What? You know not who your own sect leader is?¡± One of the men in the fieldughed next to me. ¡°He kills his master¡¯s nephew expecting a reward and then doesn¡¯t even know who his true master is? What buffoons these Terrans are!¡± All of them had a goodugh at that. ¡°Your kind make a mockery of our sect,¡± Hin Wu said. ¡°Perhaps it is fitting that Hong Feng was killed for even allowing one such as you to join our prestigious ranks.¡± ¡°What a dumb piece of shit,¡± the same man cursed me. ¡°Getting all those brothers killed for nothing. Your death will be painful and slow, Terran.¡± I sensed the bullshit lecture on Terran inferioritying to an end and began cycling my Frenzy. I didn¡¯t know these guys, but if Hin Wu was an elder, then she had to be on the same level as Hong Feng. Whether she was a demonic cultivator like him or not was still yet to be seen, although I didn¡¯t sense any Dark Frenzying from any of them. Regardless, she was still likely a high-tier Core Realm cultivator, and the men with her low-tier Core Realm cultivators at least. That meant the [Odds Were Against Me] for sure, especially if I couldn¡¯t totally cut loose with my full Berserker repertoire. Although I was out in the fields, there was no telling who might be looking, and I couldn¡¯t guarantee I could kill all of them to leave no witnesses either. Stacking the deck against myself caused my me to growl with hunger, feeding me fresh Frenzy triggered from my [Odds Against Me] technique that I quickly cultivated to enhance my physical form. Adrenalin ran like lightning through my veins as my demon heart pumped Frenzy throughout my system. ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing we don¡¯t handle something like this through the courts, huh?¡± I used [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I said it, remaining cool as ice as I lowered my axe into a fighting stance. She grinned feral like. ¡°Even the courts don¡¯t get involved with internal sect matters.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine with me,¡± I said, rolling my shoulders. ¡°Means less paperwork when I kill you all.¡± I flew into a martial form and went for the head of the Fire Bird closest to me. I moved faster than he could react, lopping off his head in a single cleave. The sight energized me with a new burst of Frenzy from my [Bloodlust] and I used it to send a sweeping arc of Frenzied Lightning into the other cultivators. ¡°[Lighting Arc Cleave]!¡± With a crackling boom, blue lightning radiated outwards in an arc, trailing from the edge of my axe de. It cut through the corn stalks and cultivators alike, all but two of them falling prey to the power of the attack cut neatly in two. A sudden spike of fear came from the two cultivators, their eyes wide with shock at how quickly I had in theirrades. I realized then that they had to be only high-tier Foundation Realm cultivators at best, not Core. I let out augh with [Fear the me]. ¡°You bring such weaklings to ¡®deal¡¯ with me? Pathetic!¡± I consumed their fear and went on the offensive, surging through the corn field with zing-fast sweeps of my axe. The two cultivators fought against me as one, defending with ming des of their own as they set their jian swords alight. I focused on the one who had made those stupidments, shouting as I parried his de with a sharp metallic ring! ¡°Dumb piece of shit, huh?¡± I leapt into the air and then powered downward with a [Two Log Chop]. ¡°Guess you¡¯ll have the pleasure of being killed by one today, asshole!¡± The heft of my axe shattered his sword as he tried to block, the de chopping straight into his torso with a wet thunk. I pulled my axe free with a spray of blood, cultivating the excess Frenzy produced from my [Bloodlust]. ¡°No! Impossible!¡± thest Fire Bird cried. ¡°He is far stronger than Master Lo Feng sai¨C!¡± I cut his words short by lopping off his head. As his body hit the ground a slow p filled the air. I looked up to see Hin Wu had taken to the air and floating within a pir of mes. ¡°Well, you are indeed as strong as the rumors im. I¡¯d thought six outer disciples would have been more than a match for you.¡± She then grinned with a ssh of lemonade. ¡°d to see that I was wrong.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re d you just got six of your own disciples killed for no reason?¡± ¡°They weren¡¯t mine. But the sect only grows stronger when weakness is culled. Master Lo Feng will understand and even appreciate it.¡± I shook my head. ¡°You¡¯re one messed-up bitch,dy.¡± I channeled my Frenzy into another [Lightning Arc Cleave] sending the bolt straight for her head. She spun with a wave of her arm, slipping her douli from her head and deflecting my lightning bolt with it like a shield. She spun the hat about her with unseen tethers and then slung it at me with a burst of mes. I charged towards it instinctively, winding up my axe and pping the ming douli back at her like I was hitting one out of the ballpark. She ping-ponged it right back at me and I used a slug of solid Frenzy to hit it back at her again. The ng of ming metal on metal increased in frequency as I closed the distance, the speed of my attacks matching her own. The look on her face shifted from amusement to duress and focus as I got within twenty feet, the douli moving nearly too fast to see. I dug down for another burst of Frenzy as I sent the ming disc sailing back at her, but when she sent it spinning back at me again, I didn¡¯t try to hit it. I channeled my Frenzy into [Iron Skin] instead. The ming douli hit me directly in the chest, the force of it slicing through my robes and cutting into my flesh with white-hot pain. I used the pain to fuel my assault, springing towards her with a savage roar. ¡°Die, you bitch!¡± Her eyes widened with shock and disbelief as I brought my axe down on her shoulder. ¡°[ming Shield]!¡± The world exploded with a fireball that sent me rocking backwards. Inded on my ass a good thirty feet away. I looked up just in time to see Hin Wu staring at her shoulder. The robe of her sleeve was cut away, revealing the faintest cut on her porcin white skin. ¡°You¡­ you actually managed to wound me¡­¡± Her words were filled with disbelief, but her soul was filling with a mixture of rage and lemonade. She turned her head to look at me with baleful eyes. ¡°This One has yed with you long enough. You will suffer the price for striking an elder of the Fire Bird n!¡± She tossed the douli back at me again, but not directly at me this time. It curved in an arc, flying in a circle around me. Its speed increased and as I rose to my feet, I felt the air suddenly grow hotter. ¡°[Vortex of the Nine Hells]!¡± she screamed and the ground around me erupted in a torrent of white-hot mes. I screamed uncontrobly as the pain set my mind on fire, barely having time to engage [Iron Skin] over my entire body. It didn¡¯t help. My skin melted as easily as my clothes, burning away to expose white flesh beneath. How powerful was this woman? Her attack was the same strength as the ultimate technique Hong Feng had used against me back in that tunnel. But I had no tunnel to hide in this time. I bolted for escape, but was repelled back into the center of the vortex by the douli that was now moving faster than I could see. My vision blurred, tears desperately trying to keep my eyes from being cooked alive. I choked on superheated air as my lungs burned from the inside. [Death¡¯s Door] kicked in, keeping me alive on pure Frenzy alone. The technique didn¡¯t let up. I was going to die in this thing! What kind of bullshit was this? My journey ended by some random bitch? No¡­I would not bow to this. The fate of my people and the destruction of the empire would not be quelled by the likes of her! For the first time in weeks, I felt the true power of my me ignite with the strength of my fury and rage. Frenzy filled me like an ocean, but I needed more than just Frenzy to ovee this. I could no longer see Hin Wu through the swirling pir of mes. But that meant she could no longer see me either. ¡°[Mark of the Demon]¡­¡± My body transformed as I engaged my meridians to perform the technique, solid Frenzy renewing my skin in the same hue as the red-hot mes. Bull horns grew from the side of my head and I felt the strength of my [Iron Skin] technique increase tenfold. The mes no longer burned through my skin. But I still felt the pain. Pain I endured to feed Frenzy right back into the technique itself. She was still going. The Qi capacity of this woman was impressive. But it was time to end this now. ¡°[Mark of the Beast]¡­¡± The world slowed as my dual techniques kicked in, my reflexes heightened to godlike speed as my limbs elongated and my mouth became filled with fangs. I could actually see the disc spinning around me now, circling perhaps two or three times a second. Dropping into a crouch, I aimed for it with my axe that was now glowing cherry red and pped it with a [One Chop Cleave]. ¡°Hyaa!¡± Hin Wu¡¯s technique wavered as I sent the douli flying and I charged right after it, bursting through the wall of mes. I came through on the other side and was rewarded with the sight of the hat striking Hin Wu right in the face, her head snapping back like a rag doll as she stumbled backwards in midair. Now was my chance! I wasn¡¯t sure if I could kill her with a single strike or not. But if I couldn¡¯t, I would risk revealing my true nature to her. Ah screw it¡­it was now or never. I summoned my Frenzy as I leapt in the air towards her pulling out all the stops. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± A column of blue lightning crackled from the heavens as I performed my ultimate technique. Hin Wu was still iling from being hit in the face, but then in a remarkable feat of recovery, her eyes shed open and my axe struck the douli as she deftly maneuvered it to block my attack. Shit! A resounding boom thundered across the farmnd and Hin Wu went flying like a missile from the force of my hit. Her back crashed into the earth, forming a trench that went for over a hundred feet as she slid across the ground. It didn¡¯t look as if I¡¯d killed her and I wasn¡¯t sure just how much she had seen of mybined Demon and Beast form either. This wasn¡¯t good. I made the mental shift to retract [Mark of the Beast] and [Mark of the Demon]. My body ached, being put through the wringer, but my core was still over half full. I could only hope that she¡¯d expended enough of her Qi to be nearly out as well. She rose from the ground from over a hundred feet away. I stood almost naked before her, my clothes burned to tattered shreds. I used the opportunity to flex the hundreds of battle scarsced across my skin, channeling [Indifference]. ¡°I say we call that exchange a draw.¡± But the yful and amused smirk had left her face now, reced by a grimace of rage. The same was mirrored within her heart, but it was joined by something new now. Gone was the lemonade to be reced by lemons. True fear bubbled within her soul. The change encouraged me and I tapped into her fear to replenish some of the Frenzy I had just burned. ¡°I¡¯ve underestimated you,¡± she said as she began flexing her arms inplex martial forms. ¡°Your body cultivation is off the charts for a practitioner of your tier.¡± I had left my masking technique engaged and she no doubt had sensed that I was only a 2nd-Tier Core Realm cultivator. But thankfully she didn¡¯t mention anything about seeing a red-skinned demon with bull¡¯s horns. But I wasn¡¯t sure if I could win this now. Both fields were in mes and a distant toll of a bell was ringing. The farmers would be responding shortly to save their crops. And I couldn¡¯t risk being seen with another shift. Not that my body could stomach another transformation right now. I choked up on my axe. I was going to have to beat her with old-school savagery to win. Releasing a yell, I sprinted down the trench to meet her in closebat. I got about three quarters of the way when mes erupted from about her body. They swirled and took on form, bing translucent like a suit of armor. ¡°[Fire of the Soul]!¡± To my surprise she ran right at me and flung her ming douli at me again. I deflected it with my axe, but the mes swirling atop it carried on straight through and hit me somewhere deep inside. My me flickered and I suddenly lost all strength. Falling to my knees a new pain entered me. A pain deep within my soul. It was familiar. I¡¯d felt it once before, when that octopus eye monster attacked me. Did she have the same power? The power to directly attack my soul? As I looked up at Hin Wu, now casually strolling towards me, the ming armor reminded me of what I had seen Threja transform into when she had taken on her spectral form. Did Hin Wu have the same? What Realm of cultivator was this woman? I couldn¡¯t sense her Qi so I had no idea, but clearly she was at least several ranks above me. Hin Wu sent the douli flying at me again and again. My Body Hardening was at a stage to still resist the blows, with only small cuts forming on the battered skin. But the additional soul damage that threatened to extinguish my me made me cry out in agony. Dammit what was this? Hin Wu threw her head back with augh. ¡°Just as I figured. All brawn and no soul. You should have cultivated your spiritual aspect more instead of focusing only on the body. You fight like a high-tier Core Realm cultivator, but internally have no spiritual defense at all.¡± Damn, that was kind of apliment. I think. Too bad my me was now reduced to a flickering birthday candle now. Even my axe felt heavy in my arms as I tried to will my Frenzy through my body, but it was sluggish just like my me. It was as if she had disrupted the central nervous system of my soul. She hit me a final time with her douli and I lost consciousness for a second as my me flickered out. Shit¡­ Hin Wu stopped just a few feet from me, her fiery crimson eyes looking me up and down. ¡°Such a waste. It¡¯s a shame Master Lo Feng wants you dead.¡± ¡°Yeah, in your dreams, bitch.¡± She let out a cackle. ¡°I suppose it will have to be. Goodbye, Max Chun.¡± Hin Wu threw the douli at me again and all time seemed to slow. She aimed right for my neck. I refused to ept it. I wasn¡¯t going out this way! I reached for my Frenzy to protect my neck with [Iron Skin]. But nothing happened. Ah shit... I was going to die agai¡ª! ¡°[Fifth Heaven! Triple Point Guard]!¡± A brilliant light shed as three jian des formed a triangle before me. The douli bounced off the translucent shield that had formed between the de and went flying off into the burning corn field. A secondter the ck robes and veil of Silver Light dressed in her Silver Shadow disguise hovered next to me. ¡°Step the hell away from him, you bitch. This man is mine¡­¡± Silver Light then paused to look down at me. ¡°¡­to kill.¡± Well shit¡­ I suppose it was every man¡¯s dream to have two gorgeous women fighting over him. Too bad for me it wasn¡¯t for something other than wanting to kill me. ¡°Who do you think you¡¯re speaking to?¡± Hin Wu red with anger and with a flick of her wrist her douli returned to her hand. ¡°This One is an Elder of the Fire Bird Sect and this is sect business you are interrupting. You may count yourself lucky I do not kill you where you stand for your disrespect.¡± ¡°Lucky?¡± Silver Light said. ¡°Or are you just weak?¡± I sensed the stone-cold nerve in her voice and a bubble of fear emerged inside Hin Wu. They could no doubt sense each other¡¯s Qi and they had to be perhaps on equal standing. But Hin Wu less so, considering how much she had just expended fighting me. ¡°The Silver Leaf n have a formal writ against this man. He is to face trial in one year¡¯s time. If he survives, you¡¯ll be free to kill him then.¡± Hin Wu scoffed with augh. ¡°You dare dictate terms to me? Show your face. Who do you think you ar¡ª¡± ¡°I need not prove my identity to you, Fire Bird. I represent the ruling n. A n the Fire Birds are already at odds with on a number of matters. If you wish to provoke me further and add this as another transgression, you do so at your own peril and the peril of your entire sect.¡± Hin Wu didn¡¯t speak for a moment, her crimson eyes shifting back and forth, perhaps sizing Silver Light up. Eventually she came to some decision and with her spectral form dissolving, ced her douli gingerly upon her mane of flowing red hair. She slipped her fist into her palm and performed a short bow. ¡°This One shows respect to the ruling n.¡± She then darted her eyes to me. ¡°For now.¡± Silver Light acknowledged her bow with only a head nod. ¡°You have chosen wisely.¡± Hin Wu smirked. ¡°As have you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Hin Wu gestured to me with a wicked smile on her lips. ¡°I wondered what would cause a noble of the Royal ruling family to cavort with one of our own. The answer is obvious now. As I said. Fine choice. I hope he was worth it.¡± Fear spiked inside Silver Light like a tidal wave. ¡°W-what! I¡­ I know not what you speak of! H-how dare you!¡± But the woman Hin Wu merely cackled augh at her. ¡°Till we meet again, sister.¡± And with that she departed, flying on a pir of me, leaving Silver Light and I alone. I breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Thanks for the save, Fia.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get the wrong idea,¡± she said without even looking at me. ¡°I meant what I said. I only did this so that I will be the one to kill youter.¡± I squinted at her, trying to decipher if she was trying to be serious or not. But her actions had already spoken for her. I huffed out augh, too exhausted to fight. ¡°Sound good to me then,¡± I said, calling her bluff. ¡°See you in a year, Silver Light.¡± She swiveled her head towards me as if shocked, removing her veil. Perhaps she expected for me to beg her to reconsider or something. But I wasn¡¯t going to entertain her bullshit right now. If she wanted to keep being angry, she could do so all by herself. Her silver eyes watched me as I slowly rose to my feet, my body aching from the core of my soul. Inside my me was still sputtering. Dammit, that woman had exposed a weakness I didn¡¯t even know I had. I had yet another reason to get to cultivating and increase my Tier ranking ASAP now. As I began to limp away, the fear rose up inside Silver Light once more. ¡°A-are you alright?¡± I didn¡¯t stop to answer. ¡°Why should you care?¡± There was no response, only the steady growing of fear in her heart. I realized then that I was the one being the asshole now. I paused. What if I just did it?Just told her everything and let the dice roll? Part of me wanted to do that something fierce. To just put it all on the line and see what she would say. My ns to defy the Empire. To destroy her family. To free the Earth and raise up my people to take vengeance against the Warden and the princess for everything they¡¯d done. Would she still ept me afterwards? Still want me knowing that I wanted to destroy not just her family but her entire way of life? Fia did say she craved freedom. But enough to turn her back on her own family and people? It was a whimsical thought. Hell, maybe she¡¯d even want to join me? I thought inwardly with a smile. Or maybe she¡¯d respond like she had already¨C¨Cbalking that her family was even at fault. Perhaps her position within cultivator society was way too strong to ever give up. And how could I even ask her to do such a thing anyway? I knew firsthand what it like to lose your entire family. No way could I ask her to do the same just for me. My me flickered with uncertainty. I realized I hadn¡¯t said anything yet and suddenly her anger red. ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± she said coldly. ¡°Just make sure that woman doesn¡¯t kill you before our date in court.¡± ¡°Fia, wait¨C!¡± I shouted. But she¡¯d already taken to the air, her three jian des trailing behind her. I watched her fly off in the distance, towards the golden pagoda in the sky. Shit¡­ just blew that one again. I couldn¡¯t help but tally the score so far. I had a poption of Terrans I needed to save out in the wild, two beautiful women who both wanted to kill me and more writs than I could even count. ¡°Man,¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°What a jacked-up freakin¡¯ day.¡± Book 2: Chapter 9 I BORROWED SOME clothes from a couple of the farmers that came to put out the fire. I offered to pay them for the threads, but after me helping them tend to the ze and knowing who I was, they refused to take a single Wen. Granted the clothes didn¡¯t fit too well either, but it was better than walking around town practically naked. As I stepped through the market district headed for home, I engaged [Mask of the Despised]. The technique caused most people to look away from me the moment I made eye contact and with the state my mind was in, that was just fine with me. It gave me more time to be alone with my thoughts. I had some serious situations to deal with now. Fia, Fire Lady Hin Wu, Lo Feng, random jackoffs trying to destroy the sect and not to mention my people in the wild. Plus, there was the wholeck of spiritual defense thing. I needed to get to cultivating to sort that out as soon as possible. I rolled all my problems around in my mind until some semnce of logic started to appear. Fia had to go on the backburner for now. She was still my biggest problem, but at least I had time to work through my conflicted thoughts. Deep down, I still wanted to do right by her, but also my people as well as the me. It all seemed a jumbled mess at the moment. Maybe some time and distance would help with that. My other problems were far more immediate. And for those I needed a n. Slowly as I walked, thought by thought, I began to construct one.By the time I reached the square, it was nearly half-baked. And probably as good as it was going to get for now. ¡°Nine Hells, Chun!¡± Yu Li said when I stepped into the office. ¡°What happened to you?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± I said, dropping into a chair. ¡°Just got jumped by some assholes.¡± The morning rush looked to be over, the line of Terrans seeking to join the sect finally cleared. Yu Li, Jian Yi and Gui Zu were still at it though, counting money and filling out application forms for the government. ¡°They attacked you in the street?¡± Jian Yi said, looking up from her desk. ¡°Do you need a deration?¡± ¡°Nah, this one¡¯s a little different. No paperwork required.¡± ¡°Who were they, brother?¡± Gui Zu asked, while ying with Su Ling in hisp. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re dealt with for now. But I¡¯m d you¡¯re all here and that it¡¯s not too busy. I have something very important I want to share with you guys.¡± That got their attention and they all stopped what they were doing. ¡°What is it, Max?¡± Gui Zu asked. ¡°Shut the door, first,¡± I said to the big man. ¡°What I¡¯m about to tell you. No other living soul can hear.¡± * * * I started by telling them that I had gotten caught out in the wild one night and found a shelter to survive the Bloodmoon that turned out to be a bunker full of Terrans that survived the war. It was a lie of course, but I couldn¡¯t risk their lives and mine by revealing my true nature as a Berserker. At least not yet. But the knowledge that there was a small group of Terrans surviving in a bunker somewhere in the wilderness was something they absolutely had to know for everything else I would have to exin afterwards. I kept the details as vague as possible. No locations, no names. Only that there were about a hundred people who had survived the invasion, that were now living in an old military bunker out in the wild. ¡°Are you serious?¡± Yu Li¡¯s eyes were as wide as saucers. ¡°People are still alive out there?¡± ¡°How did they survive?¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Are they cultivators?¡± Gui Zu asked. ¡°It¡¯s been over a decade!¡± Yu Li said. ¡°Did the Bloodmoon transform them? Like it did the animals?¡± The questions came fast and furious after that, too many to handle at once. ¡°Look, look,¡± I said, raising my hands in a ¡®calm down¡¯ fashion. ¡°I know this is blowing your minds. It blew my mind too, trust me. But we can¡¯t get too excited.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say something earlier?¡± Yu Li said. ¡°How long have you known about this?¡± ¡°Not long,¡± I said. ¡°And to be honest it was the main reason I waste for my duel with Hein. They¡¯re in a bad way out there. But so much has happened since then, that it never seemed like a right time to bring it up. But now I can¡¯t put off heading back to them any longer. They need me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how I feel about this,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°This changes everything.¡± ¡°Yes, it does,¡± I said with a nod. ¡°These people have our history. The true knowledge of who we were and who we are. We have to protect that at all cost.¡± ¡°We need to bring them here then,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°They can¡¯t survive out there, right?¡± ¡°No way!¡± Jian Yi snapped. ¡°You have any idea how the empire would react to that? Us starting our own sect is one thing, but true natives that they wanted executed from the start suddenly emerging from the grave? They¡¯d wipe us all out.¡± ¡°What Jian Yi said is likely true, Yu Li,¡± Gui Zu said, patting her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen it myself, but when the Yee empire conquers new worlds, they only keep what they want. Brother Max spoke well in saying not a soul else needs to hear of this.¡± ¡°But we can¡¯t just leave them out there!¡± ¡°We won¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°Not forever. But we can¡¯t bring them here right now. We¡¯re still way too weak.¡± ¡°Weak is an understatement!¡± Jian Yi said with a scoff. ¡°We¡¯re barely out of the cradle in terms of strength. If not for thew and you being the Iron Bull, even the Terran Sect itself would have been wiped out.¡± ¡°Maybe we sneak them in then?¡± Yu Li asked, looking to each of us for our thoughts. ¡°They don¡¯t speak any Yee,¡± I said. ¡°And a lot of them are old. They¡¯d stick out like sore thumbs. Jian Yi is right on this one. We¡¯re on the brink right now and a move like that would sink us. We need to be strategic.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not a Terran,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°But I understand the importance of this. My loyalty is to you as always, Brother Max. Anything you need of me, I am here.¡± I smiled and rested my hand on his shoulder. ¡°Thank you, Gui Zu.¡± Jian Yi leaned back in her chair, looking dazed. ¡°This is a lot to take in. How are we going to do this? What are we going to do even?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°I have a n.¡± Jian Yi looked at me imploringly. ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°To get so strong that when I finally bring them to this city, not even the Warden herself would darey a hand on them.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jian Yi said, looking at me like I was stupid. ¡°That¡¯s your n? Get strong? This isn¡¯t Young Master Hein you¡¯re talking about, you know? Do you truly understand what challenging the Warden even means?¡± I envisioned Lady Silver Tear in my mind and my me stirred. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll face her eventually.¡± Jian Yi scoffed out augh. ¡°How about we bring that optimism back down a few notches, chief? You do realize you need to face Hein¡¯s sister in a year, right? Can you even do that? You need to reach 5th Tier just to qualify to fight her. Even the best cultivators I know would take two years at least to reach that stage.¡± ¡°I know,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Just means I¡¯ll need to train harder. Harder than anyone you know. I¡¯m going to head out into the wild and kill two birds with one stone. Keep themunity out there alive while cultivating the shit out of all the monsters I kill.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yu Li said, looking confused. ¡°You mean gathering rare materials for pills and elixirs?¡± Oh shit, that¡¯s right¡­. I had to remember that Qi cultivation didn¡¯t work the same way as I did. I generated Frenzy by facing death and killing monsters. But Qi cultivators killed the monster for their Qi-infused cores and body parts. There was no way to absorb Qi from killing a monster directly. Not unless you were some kind of demonic cultivator like Hong Feng. ¡°Yeah, something like that,¡± I said. ¡°How would you even get the materials past the inspection points?¡± Jian Yi asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°I got Lee at my old job to hook me up there.¡± ¡°Sounds like a lot of risk,¡± Jian Yi said, furrowing her brow. I shrugged. ¡°No pain no gain. But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be careful.¡± I of course had no intention of putting Lee in harm¡¯s way by trying to smuggle crap past the Imperial Guards, but the exnation seemed to make sense for now. ¡°How long do you n to be gone?¡± Jian Yi asked. ¡°Not too long,¡± I said. ¡°But who knows?¡± ¡°You need to be here to defend the sect,¡± Jian Yi said and then held up one of the self-defense derations forms. ¡°You think any cultivator would respect me giving them this if they knew the Iron Bull was off somewhere else?¡± I sighed. ¡°Yeah¡­ that leads me to the other reason I called us all together. I won¡¯t be able to be in two ces at once. So it means some things will need to change.¡± ¡°Change how?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°I can¡¯t be the only one getting stronger,¡± I said. ¡°Each of you needs to advance as well. And that goes for the entire sect.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Yu Li said. ¡°We¡¯re not all fighters like you and Gui Zu.¡± ¡°There are other ways to fight,¡± I said smiling at Jian Yi. ¡°Jian Yi, I want you to be our barrister. But for real.¡± ¡°What do you mean for real?¡± ¡°I mean use some of the sect funds to attend post Foundation school,¡± I said. ¡°If we want to be taken seriously, we need to stand on the same footing as our foes. Within a year, I want you to be running circles around that clown Lui Wi or whatever his name was.¡± ¡°Lu who?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°Fi¨C¨CI mean Silver Light¡¯swyer,¡± I said, cursing myself for the near slip-up. I spoke again quickly so they wouldn¡¯t notice. ¡°And you, Gui Zu,¡± I said. ¡°I want you to start using some of the funds to further your own progression. You already fight like a tiger. You only need Qi to back it up to be as strong as me.¡± Gui Zuughed. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever be as strong as you, brother.¡± I grinned. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate yourself. Get as strong as you can.¡± Heughed. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll ever have the affinity, but I will certainly try.¡± ¡°Yu Li,¡± I said, turning to my sister. ¡°You¡¯ve always had natural talent for cultivation. I want to see you progress as well.¡± She shook her head emphatically. ¡°No way. I¡¯m no fighter!¡± ¡°I know you aren¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s why you need to apply your talents as something else. An artisan or crafter maybe.¡± ¡°But I¡¯m no crafter either,¡± she said with a shrug and then looked a little glum. ¡°Not now,¡± I said, resting a hand on her shoulder. ¡°But the more self-sufficient we are the stronger we can be. Trust me, I¡¯ve been to the artisan district and seen how they live and thrive there. As outsiders and conquered peoples even.¡± I thought briefly of Master Edrik and Lysa then and how they had established a new home in the city to preserve their own culture and heritage. ¡°Trust me. Knowledge will be the key to our long-term survival in this world.¡± ¡°How would I even start?¡± Yu Lu said. I smiled. ¡°I have a friend who might be able to make a few introductions for you.¡± ¡°What craft?¡± Jian Yi asked. ¡°What are you good at, Yu Li?¡± ¡°You¡¯re pretty good at cooking,¡± Gui Zu said with a smile. ¡°If Max is going to go hunting monsters out in the wild, I¡¯m sure with training you could turn those ingredients into amazing Qi-infused meals. And I¡¯ll need plenty if I¡¯m going to get as strong as he is.¡± He grinned then and Yu Li nudged him with a smile. ¡°I think you just want me to cook for you more often!¡± ¡°Of course!¡± he said with augh. Su Ling reacted to both of them with a happy giggle and I couldn¡¯t help but be amazed at how much of a happy little family they had be. But then Yu Li¡¯s eyes suddenly grew more focused as she considered it seriously. I knew that look. I¡¯d experienced it myself so many times. The burst of wonder and excitement than came with the possibility of advancement. ¡°You know what?¡± she said. ¡°I think I could actually get into that. I would love to learn how to Qi infuse foods. And if both you and Gui Zu will need Qi elements for advancement, why not me?¡± I smiled. ¡°Now you¡¯re talking.¡± ¡°Well, you sneak home the Rapling steaks and I¡¯ll cook them for you!¡± Yu Li said with augh. I began envisioning the potential myself. It was a wonderful thought. But then Jian Yi brought it all crashing down again. ¡°Yeah, this is a really nice n, Chun,¡± she said sardonically. ¡°If you had three years to prepare for your fight with the Lady Silver Light. None of this will help us in the here and now. Gui Zu is great, but he can¡¯t do what you can do. If you¡¯re not here, we need someone who can at least match the Foundation Realm cultivators who keep showing up. Who can we find like that?¡± I huffed out a sigh as we finally reached the unbaked portion of my half-baked idea. I knew plenty of cultivators of that ranking, but most of them would rather see me dead than stand as my proxy. I was just about to admit defeat when Gui Zu suddenly raised his hand. ¡°I think I may know someone,¡± Gui Zu said. My spirits lifted. ¡°What? Seriously?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he said before giving me a frown. ¡°But you may not like who it is.¡± Book 2: Chapter 10 THE MULTICOLORED HUES of neon Qi lighting ran criss-cross above the square of the central market district in the heart of downtown. It was twilight now and the Bloodmoon was on the rise, filling the city with an eerie red glow. Gui Zu walked next to me as we waded through the crowd, hisrge form now only slightly bigger than my own. He still hadn¡¯t said where we were headed yet. After getting myself cleaned up and putting on some fresh clothes, Gui Zu told me we¡¯d have to wait until nightfall to pay a visit to the mysterious cultivator who could solve all our problems. Even after pressing him for a name, he still wouldn¡¯t tell me who it was, which raised all kinds of red gs for me. I had my suspicions as to who he was taking me to, but I prayed to the heavens that I was wrong. I finally dropped the issue with him and made myself busy for the rest of the day, ordering the supplies I needed for the wild as well as making arrangements with Master Edrik to find a tutor for Yu Li. It turned out that cooking with Qi required the basic knowledge of alchemy. So after making some introductions, I approached a few master crafters with Yu Li and dropped a few Taels of silver to secure her training with both an Alchemy and Culinary sect. It was amazing what a reputation as the Iron Bull and a B-ss citizenship could do. Were this three months ago, both Yu Li and I would have been chased from the artisan district like criminals, but now I was revered as a semi-celebrity. Yu Li¡¯s first lesson started in the morning and Gui Zu had graciously offered to mind Su Ling while she attended. That was one base of my master n covered at least, but now covering this next one would be key. Finding someone who could defend the sect in my absence. Gui Zu finally made a turn for the redlight district and then stopped outside a brothel. ¡°Really, Gui Zu?¡± I said with a raised brow. ¡°Here?¡± ¡°Just wait one moment.¡± Gui Zu disappeared inside the brothel and then returned a momentter dragging someone behind him. Yup, I was right, I thought, releasing a sigh. I didn¡¯t even need to see the stump for a hand to know who it was. There, dressed in a short skirt and a see-through top was Zu Tien, her face painted like a whore¡ªwhich she literally was now, I presumed. A matronly-looking woman burst out the door behind them and began shouting obscenities, to which Gui Zu politely bowed and apologized. ¡°A thousand pardons, madame,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m just borrowing her for a moment.¡± ¡°It will still cost you, you pig! You pay for the full hour!¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll pay, auntie! I¡¯ll pay!¡± Zu Tien could barely look me in the face as Gui Zu dragged her before me, her soul trembling with fear. She was still as in jane-looking as I remembered, dark hair, brown eyes, but the makeup did kick her up a few notches in the looks department. She hid her stump within the sleeve of her floral imprinted robe as she folded her arms across her chest self-consciously. She then immediately dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground. ¡°Most honorable and mighty Max Chun! Leader of the Terran Sect and Iron Bull of the arena!¡± she shouted towards the ground. ¡°I beg your forgiveness for the multitude of sins I havemitted against you and your sect! This Lowly One humbly begs for your boundless mercy once more!¡± I looked at Gui Zu who was now grinning like an idiot. ¡°Did he tell you to say all that?¡± A pause then more fear. ¡°Yes,¡± she said finally and then daring to nce up at me, she wailed with tears in her eyes. ¡°But I would have said it anyway! Please I beg you, Master Chun! Give me but an opportunity and I will serve you with honor and loyalty. This I swear by the heavens!¡± I didn¡¯t know whether to feel honored or repulsed. Zu Tien continued to stare at me with puppy dog eyes, but all I could remember was her being an arrogant little ass, hellbent on killing both me and Gui Zu. ¡°Stay here,¡± I told her and then looked to Gui Zu. ¡°You,e with me.¡± I left Zu Tien in a prostate position in the middle of the street, onlookers gawking at her while making snidements and jeers. It looked humiliating as hell but that was probably just what she deserved considering all she had done. ¡°What the hell, man?¡± I grilled Gui Zu once we were out of earshot. ¡°Are you serious? I knew it was going to be her! Why didn¡¯t you tell me when I asked?¡± ¡°Would you havee if I did?¡± He gave me one of his jacked-up smiles and I rolled my eyes. Okay I guess he had a point there. ¡°Look, we¡¯re not using her,¡± I said. ¡°Did you forget she tried to kill youst week? Plus, the whole neighborhood associates her with Hein. They¡¯ll want to kill her on sight.¡± ¡°Not if we vouch for her.¡± ¡°And why would we do that, Gui Zu?¡± He frowned and looked over his shoulder at Zu Tien, her head still pressed to the tarmac. ¡°Just look at her, brother. Is she the same woman that she was then? She¡¯s broken now. You broke her. Just like you broke me.¡± The invisible punch to the gut took me by surprise. It was true. I was the one who had shattered Gui Zu¡¯s teeth and gotten him kicked out of the Silver Leaf Sect. But there was no malice in his words. From anyone else it would have been a dig, but from Gui Zu there was nothing but honesty andpassion in his tone. He truly saw himself in her, I guessed. ¡°You took pity on me after my defeat,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°You showed me that true strength is found in the mercy of the strong and not in the callousness of the wicked, like Young Master Hein. And you, Brother Max, yourpassion is rivaled only by your strength. Please have pity on her. She¡¯s lost everything now.¡± I sighed. ¡°How¡¯d you even find her?¡± ¡°She came and found me. After Master Hein sold her to this ce.¡± ¡°What? He sold her?¡± ¡°After you spared her life, Hein apparently begged for permission to kill her. But her old mistress forbade it. Zu Tien said she was even going to take her back into the conve of the Silver Shadows, but then Hein went and got rid of her in secret and sold her to this ce.¡± ¡°Her old mistress? You mean Lady Silver Light?¡± ¡°Yes, the woman you will face in a year¡¯s time.¡± Wow, I guess Fia really does have a kind heart. It made me long for her again. For a real future with her even. Somehow. I nced over at Zu Tien. She was the first person who ever tried to kill me and nearly seeded. By the time I faced her again though, I¡¯d grown so strong that she felt barely stronger than a mortal to me. Still, she was one of those ninja-like women that Fiamanded, a Silver Shadow, trained in the same martial arts as the Silver Leaf n. ¡°What did you promise her?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Gui Zu said quickly. ¡°Just a meeting. I was going to bring it upter but when you brought forward this new need for a proxy¡­ well¡­it seemed like the perfect fit.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said sardonically. ¡°A perfect fit¡­like a stump in a damn glove.¡± Gui Zu merely grinned again. I huffed out a sigh, considering it. I didn¡¯t really trust Zu Tien, but I did trust Gui Zu. ¡°You really think she¡¯s changed?¡± ¡°Brother, she came to me in tears,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°What Hein did to her by selling her to this ce was worse than death. She¡¯s lost her dignity, her value as a woman, as a cultivator. When she saw what you did for me, she begged me to ask you for the same opportunity.¡± Man¡­ I thought. Scraping the bottom of the barrel was an understatement here. But I guess beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers and I couldn¡¯t deny that what Gui Zu was saying wasn¡¯t pulling on my heart strings either. It reminded me of a Shura from the Orb. On empathy¡­ Think not, dear kindled, that your strength lies only in your fury. While fury is what is beheld by others, your true strength lies in your empathy. Your ability to sense the pain, fear, and anger of others can be your greatest asset. I sighed. Was this you again, me? Guiding my path? I looked back at Zu Tien. I couldn¡¯t sense a single drop of rage or malice in her¡­only deep sadness and pain. Her soul was indeed broken just as Gui Zu had said. ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s go talk to this girl.¡± Zu Tien nced up at me as I approached but then quickly pressed her forehead to the ground again. ¡°Okay, Zu Tien,¡± I said. ¡°What is it you want from me?¡± ¡°Just a chance, Master Chun,¡± she said, looking up. ¡°I¡¯ll do anything. I¡¯llbor. I¡¯ll scrub floors. I¡¯d even service you in the same capacity that I do now¡­ if you desire me.¡± Eesh! I failed to hide the ick on my face, repulsed at the thought, but I quickly covered it with a smile. ¡°Eh¡­ that¡¯d be quite alright. Look, I¡¯m willing to give you a chance. But it wille with some conditions.¡± Her eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°But it¡¯s only because of Gui Zu that I¡¯m willing to offer you an opportunity. You still need to prove your loyalty to me.¡± ¡°Oh! A thousand thanks to you, Master Chun! I owe you my life!¡± ¡°I¡¯m more worried that you might think I still owe you for taking your hand.¡± ¡°Please,¡± she said. ¡°I lost it fairly for being weak. And you could have easily taken my life as well. But you chose to spare me. My shame would never allow me to think that you owe me anything.¡± I sensed her heart again and there was truly no anger or resentment there. ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°But here are the rules. You will report to Gui Zu as your master. You will respect him as your superior no matter what. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes, of course!¡± She then shifted on her knees and bowed to Gui Zu. ¡°Thank you, Master Gui Zu, for your great mercy andpassion.¡± ¡°It is fine, Zu Tien,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°We will work together. Both of us have a new start in a new sect, yeah?¡± He smiled at her with his jacked-up teeth and she let out a little sob as she nodded. ¡°Second rule,¡± I said. ¡°You will treat everyone in the Terran Sect with the utmost respect, even the lowestmoner, understand?¡± ¡°Yes, of course,¡± she said. ¡°I will do so.¡± ¡°And finally, you will fight for the defense of the Terran Sect with your very life if need be.¡± ¡°Fight?¡± she said, looking up at me confused. ¡°You wish for me to fight?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t need you as a cleaning maid or a whore. I need you as a cultivator and a former Silver Shadow of the Silver Leaf n. I need you to defend my sect along with Gui Zu.¡± The amount of lemonade that burst from her soul was rivaled only by the tears that streamed from her eyes. ¡°You¡¯d do that? You¡¯d truly restore my honor as a warrior?¡± Zu Tien then mmed her forehead into the ground so hard I thought she might break the pavement. ¡°Oh, thank you, merciful master! Thank you! I will not fail you! I will pledge my life to your sect!¡± The outpouring of her heart was almost embarrassing, but I wasn¡¯t too ashamed to let the free lemonade go to waste. I cultivated it into my Dantian, further strengthening my solid core. I marveled for a moment. There were certainly very unique ways to cultivate as a Berserker. Who would have thought offering grace to your enemies and turning them into allies could be one of them? ¡°That¡¯s wonderful!¡± Gui Zu said with another crooked-toothed smile. ¡°Now it¡¯s just the small matter of her contract to sort out.¡± ¡°Contract?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°Master Hein did sell her to the brothel after all.¡± Son of a bitch. ¡°So not only do I need to give her a job, but I need to pay for her as well?¡± Zu Tien mmed her head into the pavement again. ¡°Please, honorable Sect Leader. This One knows she is not worthy of any of your great mercy, but please I can¡¯t stand to work here another day. It¡¯s.. it¡¯s awful. The men, they¨C¨C¡± ¡°Okay, okay, okay,¡± I said, not wanting to hear any details. ¡°Let¡¯s go talk to this madam of yours.¡± We entered the brothel and Gui Zu did most of the talking. The madam, a portly woman who was perhaps a mid-tier Foundation Realm cultivator by the way she carried herself, make a big huff and fuss about all the money she would lose if she released Zu Tien from her contract. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t have time to hear all that,¡± I said, finally butting in. ¡°How much?¡± The old woman smiled craftily. ¡°15 Taels.¡± ¡°15 Taels?¡± I said, balking. ¡°What? You expect me to make no profit? I had to buy this girl for nearly just as much. You¡¯re getting a deal here!¡± I couldn¡¯t believe it. That scumbag Hein had sold her for less than 15 Taels of silver? 15 Taels would have been nothing to him, the same as it was to me now. But for Zu Tien it had subjected her to a fate worse than death. epting such a meager sum just to inflict cruel and unusual punishment was just the kind of thing that little prick would do. Anger slowly burned within my soul. Hein was one enemy I could never reconcile with. It was just another reason why Fia and I could probably never work out long term. As shitty as he was, he was still her blood and I didn¡¯t want to marry into a family like that. The thought soured my spirits as I dug into my robes for my coin purse. ¡°You drive a hard bargain,dy, but okay,¡± I said and handed her the money. The woman looked perplexed and then regretful that she hadn¡¯t asked for more. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Zu Tien,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s time to reintroduce you to the sect.¡± Book 2: Chapter 11 THE MIXING OF Zu Tien into the fold went about as well as could be expected. People were initially shocked, confused and even angry, but Gui Zu, the master bridge-builder, stuck by Zu Tien¡¯s side as he introduced her to people as an ally, reassuring them of Zu Tien¡¯s penance the same way he had with me. Not everyone took to it, but Jian Yi at least epted the logic that we had no other options at the moment. ¡°You should probably make an announcement,¡± she said when we were all gathered in the square. ¡°People will wonder where you have gone and why she¡¯s here in your stead.¡± I watched as Zu Tien bowed to Yu Li who returned the bow awkwardly, while ncing sideways at Gui Zu. The big man patted Yu Li¡¯s shoulders with augh, which eventually caused her tough as well. ¡°I thought of that,¡± I said. ¡°But making an announcement publicly would be the same as making an announcement to our enemies. I don¡¯t want anyone to know that I¡¯ll be going missing.¡± Jian Yi nodded. ¡°I see. That does make sense. But I don¡¯t think people will feelfortable around her.¡± I watched as Gui Zu continued to make the rounds with Zu Tien, the girl bowing deeply to people she probably would have spat upon just a few short weeks ago. Jian Yi was likely right. It would take a lot of work on Zu Tien¡¯s part to win the people¡¯s trust. It was a reminder of what the loss of face and honor could do to a cultivator. I guess it was 50-50 whether she would have doubled down with resentment and resolve, aiming to better herself toe and take her revenge against me, or to fold in despair like she had and then switch her loyalties to serve the stronger master. Even in the world of cultivators there were leaders and followers, I supposed. Knowing which Zu Tien was now, I was even more assured of her loyalty.But people couldn¡¯t sense theck of resentment in her soul like I could. eptance of her within the sect would take time. But I didn¡¯t have the luxury of time right now. I needed her in ce so I could get to training. ¡°Gui Zu will have to handle it,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯s my true stand-in anyway. Zu Tien is his overpowered sidekick.¡± Jian Yi chuckled. ¡°I suppose. How long will you be gone for?¡± I calcted the time in my head. I¡¯d cut it way too shortst time getting back in from the wild. Now, I at least knew a better route to get between here and there, but I would be lugging a whole bunch of crap with me as well. I figured I needed a good ten hours to make the trip each way. I didn¡¯t know how long I could spend out in the wild helping them, but three days sounded reasonable to start with. ¡°Maybe five days altogether,¡± I said. ¡°That long?¡± Jian Yi said, her eyes widening with shock. ¡°That¡¯s not that long,¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Gui Zu and Zu Tien should be able to hold down the fort for that time.¡± ¡°For the small fry who show up maybe, but if a Core Realm cultivatores along looking to pick a fight with the Iron Bull, they¡¯re going to know something is up if you don¡¯t appear within a couple days. You¡¯re going to need to cut it shorter than that, Chun.¡± I sighed. ¡°Okay maybe I could squeeze it to four days, but I¡¯ll probably have to go back and forth a lot.¡± Not that that gave me a lot of time with Kelsey and Susan. And there was more than just aiding them that I needed to do out there as well. I needed knowledge from Threja¡¯s sword. And the people there needed knowledge too. Not to mention quite a few of them had unkindled embers smoldering within their souls. If I could kindle their mes, we¡¯d have an army of Berserkers to throw against the empire. Just the thought of that was enough to ignite my own me with determination and resolve. All these damn headaches, I muttered to myself. The bureaucracy and legalese. The drama with Fia and this new Fire Elder woman. All I really wanted to do was cultivate and get strong enough to stand our own ground and take our back. But life wasn¡¯t so simple. Not yet anyway. It would be once I could punch a damn pagoda right out of the sky. Patience, I told myself. Threja didn¡¯t get as strong as she did in a day and I had a whole year ahead of me to prepare. I nced over at Jian Yi as she continued to watch Gui Zu making the rounds with Zu Tien. ¡°That guy has the biggest heart in the world,¡± Jian Yi said. I chuckled. ¡°He sure does. And he was once a disciple of Hein as well, if you can believe it. Let¡¯s hope Zu Tien follows in his footsteps.¡± Thinking about what dangers they both might face while I was away reminded me of something else. ¡°Hey Jian Yi, there¡¯s something I need to talk to you about,¡± I said. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah, some admin I need to square away before I head out tomorrow.¡± ¡°You¡¯re leaving tomorrow?¡± She looked up at me, shocked. ¡°No time like the present, right?¡± I said with a grin. ¡°It will be early too. Before dawn.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I guess no one could ever me you for not being a man of action. What do you need to talk about?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s head to the office,¡± I said. We¡¯re going to need to do some paperwork for this one.¡± * * * Jian Yi studied the imperial document as I spun it around for her to read. Her eyes squinted as she scanned through it but then widened when she got to the end. ¡°Vice Leader?¡± she said looking up at me. ¡°You want me to be a vice leader of the Terran Sect?¡± I shrugged with a smile. ¡°Hell, you already are, Jian Yi. The people respected you long before they did me. You¡¯ve earned it. Plus, you¡¯re going to need that added level of clout for when I¡¯m not around.¡± I didn¡¯t enjoy imperial bureaucracy, but it was a double-edged sword that cut both ways. On one hand it was the overriding force that kept my people enved¨C¨Ca direct extension of the princess¡¯s control. But it was also what kept predatory cultivators at bay from simply rubbing us out of existence. It was the main thing that was keeping us all alive right now. And the more we could use it to our advantage the better. ¡°I¡¯m also making Gui Zu Vice Warden and Zu Tien Second Vice Warden.¡± Jian Yi raised a brow. ¡°You certain something like that won¡¯t go to her head?¡± I grinned at her. ¡°I¡¯m sure the Vice Leader would never tolerate such a thing happening under her watch.¡± Jian Yiughed. ¡°Seriously though, the titles are more for our enemies than for us. Cultivators respect strength, power, and prestige. Have enough of it and they might not mess with you at all.¡± Jian Yi nodded and then paused, tapping a finger on her chin. ¡°You know, Chun, there is perhaps another way you can protect the Sect without you even being here. Perhaps it could even buy you more time to stay out in the wild and train.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I was all ears now. ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± ¡°You just mentioned it yourself,¡± she said, leaning back in her chair. ¡°There¡¯s a reason that Foundation Realm cultivators do not rise up to challenge us, no?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Yeah, I guess because they know how strong I am, probably.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°But how do they know this?¡± I squinted, trying to figure out where she was going here. ¡°You¡¯re talking about my reputation?¡± ¡°Bingo,¡± she said. ¡°Even the Core Realm cultivators whoe to challenge you are few. They don¡¯te here looking for Max Chun, theye looking for the Iron Bull.¡± ¡°What are you getting at?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying you need to keep growing your reputation in the arena, Chun. You stopped at the Iron Bracket, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah. There wasn¡¯t much point going further. I only needed to Rank 20 out of 100 cultivators to win my B-ss citizenship to establish the sect.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± she said. ¡°But now, no one from the Wooden Bracket would even dare to try to test you, knowing you had ranked that high, right? The same would happen for Iron Bracket contenders if you were to make a name for yourself in the Gold Bracket.¡± My mind paused as she said it. The Gold Bracket was the arena of high-tier Core Realm and even some low-tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivators. Just the thought of going up against fighters of that caliber set my me alight with challenge. But even seeding wouldn¡¯te without issues. ¡°True, but won¡¯t that mean Gold Bracket assholes would start showing up too?¡± ¡°One already has,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Or have you already forgotten about the silver-haired whore you need to fight in a year?¡± She grinned making it a joke, but I couldn¡¯t help but wince at the insult against Fia. Damm it, I wasn¡¯t even with this girl, and I still felt the need to defend her. But then again, she had defended me too. Shit, I really needed to get my feelings in check here. I smiled, ying it off. ¡°Yeah, Hein¡¯s big sister. How could I forget?¡± ¡°But she speaks to the level of those that would actuallye to seek you out for a challenge. Justpeting in the arena alone is a big deal. Only the best of the best within each sectpete. Few would darepete with a Gold Bracket contender in the ring, much less outside it. If you were to rank in the Gold Bracket, even at a low ranking¨C¨Cthat would set your reputation and ours very high indeed.¡± I mulled it over for a moment. I couldn¡¯t deny that what she said was true. I¡¯d seen it at y for myself. If there was one thing a cultivator hated more than disrespect, it was losing, especially publicly. And avoiding a potential loss was all about knowing if you were assured of a win. The more they feared a loss from me, the less there would be to challenge. And that meant me bing top dog in the city. ¡°Shit,¡± I said, more to myself than to Jian Yi. ¡°I thought my fighting days in the ring were over.¡± Jian Yi smiled. ¡°Well, it¡¯s either a fight in the ring, in the streets, or in the courts right? Beat ¡®em in the streets and in the courts and you¡¯ll still have people lining up. But one win in the arena and your reputation alone will keep the lower tiers at bay, just like it¡¯s doing now.¡± I sighed. ¡°You¡¯re making too much damn sense, Jian Yi. But I guess that¡¯s why I made you vice leader.¡± She chuckled again. ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Guess I need to add another goal to my to-do list.¡± I had only just qualified for the Gold Bracket, but was I really ready to advance any further than that? Cycling my Frenzy, I engaged my Mental Quickness and recalled the qualification requirements for the tournament. [Iron Bracket] Entry Fee: 50 Spirit Stones Qualification Requirements: Previous Top 20 Ranking in [Wooden Bracket] Rewards 20th Rank and higher - ss-B Citizenship Winner - 1000 Spirit Stones [Gold Bracket] Entry Fee: 1000 Spirit Stones Qualification Requirements: Previous Top 20 Ranking in [Iron Bracket] Rewards 20th Rank and higher - ss-A Citizenship Winner ¨C 10000 Spirit Stones Shit! 1000 spirit stones to enter? I balked internally. That was the equivalent of 10000 Taels of Silver! Even with the huge sums of money we were making now, something like that would wipe out the treasury. Not to mention it would take twenty times the amount of people joining the sect to make that number possible. ¡°Shit,¡± I cursed. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to re-enter the Iron Bracket.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Jian Yi asked. ¡°I thought you said you qualified for the Gold Bracket already.¡± ¡°I did, but I didn¡¯t think of the entry fee. It¡¯s 1000 spirit stones just to enter the Gold Bracket.¡± Jian Yi¡¯s jaw hit the floor. ¡°Oof. Sorry I even mentioned it then. No way you¡¯ll be able topete in that. Guess it was a stupid idea.¡± ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°The idea was fine. Reaching the next bracket will afford us more protection. It just means I¡¯ll need to work a little harder.¡± ¡°What do you mean? We don¡¯t have that kind of money, Chun.¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± I said. ¡°But 1st ce in the Iron Bracket earns 1000 spirit stones. The exact amount we need.¡± I let out a sigh. ¡°Looks like the Iron Bull ising out of retirement.¡± It was time for the Iron Bull to be Champion of the Iron Bracket League. Book 2: Chapter 12 I WOKE UP early the next morning with thoughts ofpeting in the arena still on my mind, but I needed to prioritize the safety of my people in the wild first. By the fading red hue of the Bloodmoon, I mucked about in the empty square of D Block, loading a wooden cart with the supplies I had rounded up the day before. I had sacks of rice, fruits and vegetables, seeds and an assortment of medicinal balms, oils and pills, some evenced with Qi. Finally, I stacked several cages of livestock atop the good, careful not to rouse the sleeping animals for fear of waking my neighbors. I had a dozen hens, a rooster, a couple pigs and a bunch of snapping turtles. Good protein sources and easy to breed if you knew how. I of course had no idea if they knew how, but hopefully they could learn. I spent a few moments securing the entire bundle tightly with some rope and then left a couple extra loops hanging below the undercarriage. Wheeling the cart silently out of the square, I then bounced it along the dirt road, past the farnds and towards the Eastern Gate. I arrived at the time Lee had told me to, well before dawn when the Imperial Guards would arrive and right before the moon and its baleful rays would finally set. Tiptoeing through the handler station with my cart of goods, I finally eased it through the open gates and released a huge sigh of relief. First stage sessful, I thought. Leaving the gate behind, I wheeled the cart through increasingly rough terrain until I reached the foothills of the wilds, where trees and foliage had re-imed what was once the suburbs of old Chicago.The waning rays of the Bloodmoon filled my soul with the pungent stench of Dark Frenzy as soon as I edged past the limit of the barrier. Even with the Bloodmoon now just barely a sliver above the horizon, its effects were toxic, the pressure threatening to choke my me. I waited a few more minutes for the pressure to subside, the moon finally sinking below the horizon. I then summoned my Frenzy and taking in a huge breath, channeled the energy of my solid core into one of my manifestation techniques. ¡°[Mark of the Giant]¡­¡± My bones snapped as they popped and grew, the ground pulling away from me as my height increased by over two feet or more. I pushed the technique to its limit and let out another deep breath of satisfaction as I enjoyed a rare moment of freedom. Here in the wild, away from the prying eyes of cultivators, I could let loose with the full extent of my Berserker techniques and take advantage of the full power they afforded me as well. I now stood at nearly 11 feet tall, a behemoth of muscle and strength. My once loose-fitting robes and pants had tightened about my frame, bing shorts and a skintight vest. I lifted the cart of goods, now feather-light in my hands, and used the extra loops of rope I had left earlier to sling the entire thing on my back like an oversized backpack. The chickens and pigs clucked and squealed in protest as their world was shifted from horizontal to vertical, but they eventually calmed down after a while. With the first rays of dawn painting the sky, I paused a moment more to marvel at the sunrise and reflected on how far I¡¯de. A few short months ago, I was a Qi-less victim of oppression and colonization, unable to chart my own destiny within the imperial cultivator society. But now, especially out here, I was a man free to follow my own path to destiny. To freedom. To retribution. To immortality. The thought brought a smile to my lips and a burst of radiance to my me. After weeks of holdups, it was finally time to stretch my legs and start cultivating. * * * Sprinting for 200 miles with an 800-pound backpack gave me less of a workout than I was hoping for. It was strenuous, but now that I was a Core Realm cultivator with superhuman endurance, the effort was far from taxing. That was one of the drawbacks of progressing. The stronger you got the harder it became to advance further. But I made good time across the rough terrain as a result. I used the exertion to cultivate my Muscle Strengthening, feeding my body with a steady stream of solid Frenzy as I ran, pushing towards 6th stage and beyond. Over the course of the day, I stopped only briefly for water and got about three quarters of the way to my destination when the Frenzy reserves stored within my core were finally depleted. Shrinking back to normal size, I dumped the cart back onto its wheels and sat in its shade to recover. I was in some unknown stretch of shrund far from the city now, bathed in sweat and breathing heavily, but I was proud of how far I¡¯de before having to stop. I had made good time. It was still early afternoon and I had less than forty miles to go. Without stored Frenzy to burn, however, I¡¯d have to take the final leg a lot slower. I had just closed my eyes for a quick snooze when a flurry of squawks from the chickens roused me. I was on my feet in a second, axe in hand. I had stopped where I had for a reason. Years of being a handler had taught me which ces were safe and which were not. Here I had picked a small rise overlooking a rtively t area giving me a good vantage to spot approaching predators. In this case the predators had to be small enough to hide in the three-foot-high grass surrounding me, because I couldn¡¯t see anything as I scanned a 360. Then finally I spotted what I was looking for. The telltale signs of movement in the tall grass. My heartbeat sped as I considered what it could be that was sneaking up on me. They were small, but that didn¡¯t mean that they weren¡¯t deadly. Especially if there were tons of them. That would ce the [Odds Against Me] for sure. My technique kicked in albeit weakly, generating fresh Frenzy from my inner me. I quickly channeled it to my core, replenishing what I had burned along my journey. I waited patiently for whatever it was to attack, cultivating the free Frenzy while I had the chance. A snarl ripped the air and the pigs squealed. In a sh, a dozen or so dog-sized creatures rushed from the grass heading straight for the chickens. When I looked closer, I saw they were indeed dogs, or what had once been dogs now mutated under the effects of the Bloodmoon. They looked like animated corpses, emaciated bodies with patches of mangy fur hanging from ckened skin. Their eyes were red, two on each side of their triangr heads and in their jaws were rows of jagged teeth. My [Odds Against Me] technique fizzledpletely once I saw them. I knew what they were. They were Thresher Hounds, a D-ss monster at best ording to the Handler¡¯s Manual. These things are too damn weak, Imented inwardly. Releasing a war cry, I attacked them out of frustration and annoyance more than anything else. The creatures yelped and howled as my axe cleaved through them effortlessly, my [Bloodlust] kicking in to reward me with meager amounts of Frenzy for their deaths. Within less than a minute, I¡¯d in all eight of them without as much as a scratch. The pigs and chickens were going crazy in their cages though, reacting to the ckened blood of the creatures as it sunk into the ground. I released a sigh as I sat back down again, reminded once more of the kind of opponent I needed to challenge in order to generate the Frenzy I needed to advance. I certainly couldn¡¯t do so by killing even a million Thresher Hounds. I needed big game. Something strong enough to kill me. And these weren¡¯t it. I¡¯d been travelling far too fast to seek out powerful monsters on the way here, but I made a mental note to do so as soon as I got settled at the bunker. I¡¯d have only two days out here and I couldn¡¯t go back empty handed. I was out here to cultivate after all. Advancement through the Core Realm was going to be a lot harder than what it had been for my Foundation Realm. Not only would it cost me more Frenzy to advance, but I was potentially going to be generating a lot less of it as well. Unless I upped my game. The endless cycle, I thought. Kill bigger to get stronger. I got up and dusted myself off to get back underway. If I wanted to start hunting big game, I needed to get back to the bunker first. * * * The purple hues ofte twilight were nketing the sky by the time I reached the familiarndmarks that surrounded the bunker. It felt almost surreal to be back here. When I had first made the journey across the wild, I was in a crazed stupor, hopped up on Dark Frenzy. I couldn¡¯t remember a thing except vague images from that hellish night, but this journey was a hell of a different kind. Thest forty miles were grueling. I had to resort to using pain as my sole source of Frenzy to power my [Mark of the Giant] technique as I lugged the wagon slowly through the wilderness. Now my body was starting to give out, my limbs sore and aching, but I dared not stop. Already I could sense the first tendril of the Bloodmoon¡¯s influence creeping into the night sky and infecting my soul. Thankfully I wouldn¡¯t have to travel much farther to reach the sanctuary that the bunker would provide. Just a few more miles, I thought. I dug deep as the sky reddened further and the pressure of the Dark Frenzy began to press against my me. As exhausted as I was, both physically and spiritually, it was almost enough to break my [Mark of the Giant] technique and I stumbled as my body began to lose size. Keep going, I told myself. Almost there. Another ten minutes of agony went by, step after grueling step. And then finally I saw it. The bunker. My spirits lifted as I finally saw my destination and a newfound vigor filled my soul. I broke into a jog towards the huge metal doors nestled into the hillside. But then something suddenly seemed off. I slowed as my mind raced to figure out what it was. And then it hit me. The Bloodmoon... I could still sense it, the Dark Frenzy building ever stronger. But I shouldn¡¯t be able to feel its effect now, not this close to the sword. Not unless¡­ I broke into a run, heading straight for therge double doors. ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± I swore as I finally saw it. Or perhaps not saw it was more urate. Threja¡¯s sword¡­was gone. Book 2: Chapter 13 FOR A SPLIT second I wondered if I could have possibly gotten lost and found a different bunker, but that was wishful thinking. The ce where I had lodged Threja¡¯s sword into the group was now a gaping crater of busted concrete and twisted rebar. How the hell did they get it out? I thought as I stared at the hole, puzzled. But the bigger question was not how but who? And there was only one person I could think of who would do something like this. ¡°That dickhead Sergeant Richards,¡± I muttered as I made my way towards the side door. ¡°Should have killed his ass.¡± But it wasn¡¯t my ce to do that at the time. Now though, my blood was already boiling and feeding my me . The outer door to the airlock was flush to the bunker surface, a t rectangle of rusted steel with no handle for obvious reasons. Evidence of those reasons was visible in the form of half-inch-deep w marks excoriating the door. The demons that came under the influence of the Bloodmoon made it this close each night. And without the mile-wide protective barrier that Threja¡¯s sword provided, they would soon be here again. I nced at the darkened horizon, the curved edge of the moon now visible and seeping poisonous Dark Frenzy into my soul.Shit¡­ I needed to get inside the bunker and down to the lower levels to hopefully shield myself from its influence. I wasn¡¯t even sure if that would work or not, but I knew for damn sure what would happen to me if I stayed out in the open. And I couldn¡¯t afford that. Thest time I nearly lost myself, bing a true demon. Not to mention all the other demons who wanted me dead. Already I could hear their howls and shrieks in the distance. I banged on the steep te of the outer door with a Frenzy-charged fist. ¡°Hey! Open the damn door!¡± The chickens and pigs squealed and squawked on the cart, banging against the sides of their cages, instinct telling them to flee. I kept mming on the door, not even sure if anyone could hear me or not. I could break it down of course, but that would leave the bunker wide open to the swarms of demons likely already on their way. Precious minutes went by and the pressure of the Dark Frenzy began to build, filling my soul with the foul aroma of death. Weakness struck me as my me struggled to fight back against it. I was already weak both physically and spiritually, with mere rice grains of solid Frenzy left to my name. I needed to generate more if I was going to withstand this. I couldn¡¯t fall prey to the Bloodmoon again. I focused on Richards. That dumbass had to be responsible for this! Fresh anger caused my me to ignite, pushing back against the Bloodmoon. I used the meager Frenzy it generated to m my fist harder into the door and shouted with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Open the damn door before I break it down! You know what¡¯ll happen to all of you if I do!¡± That must have finally gotten someone¡¯s attention because a momentter a burst of static crackled overhead and the tinny sound of voices came through an unseen speaker somewhere. There was muffled shouting like an argument going on. ¡°Hey!¡± I shouted again. ¡°It¡¯s me, Max! Open up!¡± ¡°Yeah, I see who you are,¡± a voice suddenly came through the speaker clearly, like someone had just won a wrestling match over control for the mic. ¡°And you can go and die out there for all I care.¡± Son of a bitch. It was Richards. ¡°Richards, you damn asshole! What did you do with my sword?¡± ¡°I did what you said. So long as we remained under your protection, you were in charge, right? So I went and fixed that.¡± This guy was a moron for real. ¡°You realize what you¡¯ve done? You damn stupid idio¡ª¡± My words cut short as sudden pain hit me internally. My me changed color, dimming and turning from blue to yellow as the Dark Freny pressed in further. ¡°Don¡¯t matter now. We¡¯re under new leadership. And the first thing we¡ªOw! Dammit! You little bitch!¡± There was a scuffle for the mic again and then a new voice emerged, young and female. ¡°Just hang on, Max! I¡¯m bringing help!¡± Kelsey! ¡°Hurry, Kelsey!¡± ¡°Get back here,¡± Richards shouted faintly in the backdrop, seemingly running away from the mic now. ¡°Son of a bitch. Told them we should have locked her up with her damn mother!¡± Locked her up with her mother? What the hell was going on in there? Only static remained on the mic, as minutes went by, its eerie sound adding backdrop to the howls and snarls that were growing closer in the distance. I reached for the axe slung to my back and found it surprisingly heavy. Not good, I thought. I turned from the door to face my soon-to-appear attackers. The moon was almost fully exposed now and the pressure of the Dark Frenzy started to win the battle for my soul. Tendrils of ck smoke wafted from my me as it changed from yellow to red. The edges of my world shrank inward as I began to lose control. No¡­ don¡¯t give in. You¡¯ve got too much to do yet! But the Bloodmoon was strong. I was only vaguely aware of my surroundings now, the world shrinking to a small window, like a faraway TV screen. Vaguely I saw something the size of a horse crash into the wagon¡ªchickens, pigs and rice flying everywhere. More forms then rushed in from the darkness of the treeline. Giant spiders, ridden by demons d in ckened armor. They howled and screamed, but in my mind I could hear their thoughts. ~It is here! The demon of the Cur-sed me!~ I roared and charged instinctively at them, half out of my mind. I watched it y out in third person, my axe cleaving through the demons and spiders with abandon as they scraped their spears against my Frenzy-hardened skin. I tried to pull back, struggling to give rational thought to my actions, but I barely had enough wherewithal to maintain my me, much less pull myself back from the brink. I was going into full Berserker mode now. The world shrank yet smaller. Cut and cleave! Hack and bleed! I wasn¡¯t sure what I was doing anymore. And then in the darkness on the edges of my shrinking vision something new appeared. I sensed it before I saw it. A new source of Dark Frenzy, pungent and threatening. Then I saw what it was¡ªa mass of writhing tentacles filled with bloodshot eyes. The alien demon god. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was here! But how? Where even was here exactly? The mass of tentacles moved like an octopus with the darkened space between wherever I was and the small cube of light that was my vision to the outside world. I lost almostplete focus of that now, vaguely aware of my own hulking form being sliced by rusted swords as I hacked through three demons at once. ¡°Sweet vessel of the Cursed me,¡± I¡¯xol¡¯ukz said as it approached me, its voice grating and unnerving. ¡°A prize easily plucked through the aperture of the moon.¡± Come and try it! I screamed back. I¡¯ll kill you again! But I had no voice. I had no form. Not in this space. It was like being trapped within my dead body all over again. A helpless observer to the actions ying out around me. The only thing that I could sense was my me growing ever darker, threatening to be choked out by the Dark Frenzy pressing into my soul. The monster surged towards me, its tentacles blocking my vision as it embraced me and my me flickered, nearly going out. Pain coursed through my entire being, a spiritual attack for which I had no defense. No, I cried. Not again! I had beaten this thing once before by using my me, but now my me was nearly snuffed out. I dug deep with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], trying to take back control again. It was no use. The Struggler was taxed enough already just keeping my small window of sanity alive in the outside world. And then faintly I heard it. A sweet voice on the winds of chaos dancing through my soul. ¡°Max...!¡± It was Kelsey. But I couldn¡¯t see her. I couldn¡¯t see anything really. Even my vision to the outside came only through glimpses now between the tentacles writhing against my soul. ¡°Max! Stop! Get inside!¡± Suddenly the tentacles retreated, the monster jetting backwards like a giant squid. ¡°What is this? Another demon of the Cursed me.¡± Another? Then I saw it, like a candle in the darkness, the faintest glow of a Frenzied me. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz edged away from it like it was made out of kryptonite. I sensed it too. Frenzy, fresh and pure. I reached for it, drawing the tendrils of energy into my soul. I forced it back through my Dantian. It wasn¡¯t much but it was just enough to help tip the bnce of the scales. [Fear the me]! I shot the entire amount into the technique and my me surged, glowing hotter and brighter as it burned off the sludge of Dark Frenzy poisoning it. The monster recoiled again, reacting to my technique, hissing and screeching in my mind. In that brief reprieve, I urged the Struggler to regain control, and like awakening from a dream I was suddenly back in my body again. Pain coursed through me like moltenva in my veins, multiple wounds covering my bare skin. Around me was a massacre of demon bodies, cut into too many pieces to even count how many there were. ¡°Max!¡± I turned towards the scream and saw Kelsey there, a huge pipe wrench in her hand and a demon with a busted skull at her feet. Whoa¡­did she actually kill that thing? And then I noticed something else. Deep within her soul, her smoldering ember was no longer an ember. There inside of Kelsey was the faint flicker of a Frenzied me. Holy crap¡­I thought. Had she just ovee her Fear of Uncertain Death by running out here to save me? I was so stunned by the sight that it took me a second to realize she was still shouting at me. ¡°Max! ¡°Max!¡± She had a hand cupped to her mouth as she continued to call for me, standing just outside the open bunker door. Behind her soldiers with rifles were firing into the darkness around me. ¡°Kelsey, get the hell back in here!¡± one of them screamed. ¡°Max,e on!¡± she cried. ¡°MAX!¡± I snapped to my senses. Through pain and the anguish of the Bloodmoon still attacking my soul, I ran towards her. Some of the soldiers even shot at me, screaming in terror at the behemoth of a man running covered in demon blood towards them, but I couldn¡¯t care less. I barreled into them, hazily stumbling through the bunker door. ¡°Move! Move! Close it!¡± Soldiers inbat gear rushed to lock the door behind me, shoving me forward through the inner hatchway. I copsed onto the cold hard grating on the bunker interior. I could see onlybat boots now, stamping about in a flurry of activity. ¡°What the hell, Kelsey!¡± ¡°You could have gotten yourself killed! And all of us too!¡± ¡°I told you we should have locked her up!¡± It was Richards¡¯ voice who spokest, but I couldn¡¯t see him. Not that I could afford to focus on him now. ¡°Kelsey,¡± I croaked weakly, still fighting against the effects of the Bloodmoon. I was still too close to it, its rays prating through the bunker. I needed to get deeper. Kelsey¡¯s face suddenly appeared in my vision as she stooped down to me. Her features were fixed and no-nonsense, but in her blue eyes I could see concern. But more than that, I could still sense her me. Perhaps the influence of it alone was what was still keeping me from copsing inward again. ¡°Kelsey, you did it¡­ it was you.¡± ¡°Max, you¡¯re okay now, right?¡± she said, ignoring my babble. ¡°Come on, get up. Show these guys that you¡¯re real.¡± Real? What did she mean? ¡°Out of the way, Kelsey!¡± someone barked. A new voice, strong and authoritative, a man of status. ¡°Please¡­¡± I reached out to Kelsey feebly, my vision starting to tunnel as my me started to weaken again. ¡°Take me¡­below. Before I¡­¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re going below alright,¡± the new voice said as a pair of polished boots appeared next to Kelsey. ¡°Take them both to the brig.¡± Book 2: Chapter 14 MY VISION WENT in and out as a trio of soldiers manhandled me down several flights of stairs and finally threw me into a cell. I was only vaguely aware that there were other people in there with me until one of them suddenly cried out. ¡°Kelsey?!¡± ¡°Mom!¡± Through my hazy vision I saw Susan rushing to embrace her daughter. ¡°Why is she in here?¡± Susan shouted towards the cell door where several of the soldiers were gathered. ¡°Answer me, Jim!¡± In my Dark Frenzy-induced stupor, I struggled to focus on the man Susan was now shouting at. It was the same one who had spoken earlier judging by his well-polished boots. He was average height with a thin build, but the looseness of hisbat fatigues said he was quite the muscr fellow in the past. Now he looked gaunt with sunken cheeks and short, thinning white hair. His face was clean shaven save for a push broom mustache that matched his hair, which now twitched from side to side as he stared back at Susan. His gray eyes held a stare of assertiveness, and I could sense Susan melting under his re. ¡°Your daughter has breached protocol for thest time, Susan,¡± Jim said. ¡°She nearlypromised this entire facility to let this man inside.¡± His eyes then shifted to me a second. ¡°Whoever the hell he is.¡± ¡°He¡¯s the one we told you about!¡± Kelsey blurted. ¡°He¡¯s on our side. He¡¯s powerful like a god! He can kill all those demons. And that sword he left was protecting us!¡±¡°That¡¯s horseshit, Kelsey!¡± Sergeant Richards shouted, cutting in. ¡°When he left with that gift of his, the demon attacks only got worse. That¡¯s why we got rid of the thing. He¡¯s a damn Trojan horse, colonel, and now that girl has brought him back inside with us!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true!¡± Susan shouted. ¡°It was protecting us just like Kelsey said! Ask the others, Jim. This is total¨C¨C¡± ¡°Alright, enough!¡± Jim shouted. His voice reverberated within the tiny cell and everyone fell silent. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know what the hell is going on here yet,¡± he continued. ¡°But I don¡¯t have time to deal with it now. The demons have breached the tunnel again and we have our hands full staving them off. I¡¯ve been back here less than 9 hours and while it¡¯s quite apparent that this ce has gone to hell in my absence, I can¡¯t afford to sort out any of it. Not unless we want a literal hell on our hands with those damn demons overrunning us. And trust me, you don¡¯t want to go through the four weeks of hell that me and my team just went through trying to get back here.¡± He paused then to make sure his words sank in perhaps. I sensed fear and anger within him, stewing at a constant simmer. I wasn¡¯t getting the full picture yet, but one thing was clear. These people needed my help. My me was still burning an ugly red, choked by the ck tar of the Bloodmoon¡¯s Dark Frenzy. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could even generate Frenzy from it to perform any techniques, but I could still fight. ¡°Let me help you,¡± I said. Jim¡¯s grey eyes shifted towards me again. ¡°You¡¯ll stay right there. You¡¯re a wild card I don¡¯t even know how to make sense of yet. Got more mixed signals on you than a malfunctioning traffic light.¡± I raised my brow at the odd analogy. He then turned to one of the soldiers. ¡°Private Darrell, assume watch over these three and lock away that axe of his.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± one of the soldiers responded with a salute. ¡°Richards, bring the rest of your squad and the emergency ammo to level 7. We¡¯re going to be in for one hell for a firefight.¡± ¡°Yes, Colonel!¡± The soldiers took off then, exiting the brig, save for Private Darrell who was in the process of giving himself a hernia trying to lift my axe from the floor. ¡°Hole-lee,¡± he said taking a break. ¡°What the heck is this thing made of?¡± ¡°If you need a hand, just ask,¡± I said with a chuckle. Darrell, a wiry guy with sses merely frowned at me and resumed trying to lift the thing. Eventually, he leveraged it off the floor and began dragging it slowly out of the brig. I waited until he had gotten out of earshot and into the hallway before turning back to Kelsey and Susan ¡°That looks like it might keep him busy for a while,¡± I said, stooping down to them. ¡°Are you guys okay? What the hell happened here?¡± ¡°First are you okay, Max?¡± Kelsey said, genuine concern in her eyes. ¡°You were going full berserk out there.¡± I chuckled at the irony of it. ¡°Yeah, I do that from time to time.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Nothing,¡± I said. ¡°Kelsey just risked her life to save me, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°She what?¡± I gave Kelsey a wink and she grinned back at me. ¡°Rx, Susan. Your daughter is a lot tougher than you think.¡± Especially now, I wanted to add. I marveled again at the candle of Frenzy flickering within her soul. It was small, but it was there. But how could I guide her to make it stronger? Or should I even do so? Threja taught me that the Path of the Frenzied me was a solitary one. A personal journey of self-discovery more than anything else. And it had certainly been so for me thus far. I needed to give Kelsey the same instructions Threja had given to me. The orb. But how? Could I write the manual out on paper again like I did the cultivation manual? That triggered a new thought. ¡°Kelsey, where¡¯s the cultivation manual? Did Richards destroy it?¡± Kelsey grinned. ¡°He tried to. Once I saw him get rid of the sword, I knew he wasing for that next. So I hid it down on level 7.¡± ¡°You mean the ce where Jim just said he¡¯s going to go fight demons?¡± Kelsey nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± Guess that would have to do for now. At least it was still in existence. So long as the demons down there didn¡¯t tear the whole ce to shreds. ¡°How did he move the sword?¡± I asked. ¡°And how did you get locked up, Susan?¡± Susan huffed out a sigh. ¡°I probably should have listened to you. It happened about a week after you left. That damn idiot Richards dug it up with his cronies and dumped it somewhere. Then he gave the wholemunity an ultimatum. Go back inside the safety of the bunker under hismand or stay outside with me. You can imagine what everyone chose.¡± Ire burned in my gut, causing soot to billow from my choked me. ¡°That guy was more dangerous than I thought. Smarter too. Or cunning maybe.¡± ¡°Yeah cunning,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Like a damn rat. Or a snake.¡± ¡°So, then he locked you up afterwards?¡± I asked. ¡°Both of us,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°For treason.¡± I blinked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I was only let out when Jim came back yesterday,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Mom convinced him it was inhumane to keep a child in prison and he agreed.¡± ¡°Holy crap,¡± I said, counting the time I was away in my head. ¡°That piece of shit kept you both locked up in here for two weeks?¡± Susan nodded. ¡°It¡¯s been awful. Thank God Jim came back. And you too.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good thing Jim let you out, Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°Because that bastard Richards was ready to leave me out there to die just now.¡± I sensed a flicker of Kelsey¡¯s me. ¡°Yeah¡­that guy really needs to go. He¡¯s been feeding Jim pure nonsense ever since he came back too. Convinced Jim my mom was still a threat. That¡¯s why she¡¯s still in here.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± I said, looking to Susan. ¡°He¡¯s buying this crap?¡± Susan shrugged. ¡°Jim¡¯s a good man, but he¡¯s got his hands full right now. Richards is taking advantage of that.¡± ¡°So where are the demonsing from below?¡± I asked. ¡°Through the ess tunnel they went through to get to the sister base,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Jim and the toon came back with some fuel for the generator but the demons followed them back, I guess. Now they¡¯re here.¡± It was then that I noticed the lights in the jail were actually working. No more candles. It also reminded me of the workingm system when I was outside too. ¡°Holy crap¡­ you guys have electricity again?¡± ¡°For a short while,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°They only managed to bring a few barrels back, but Jim said we need the lights on to fight those things down there. Jim took out a few demons that got through the tunnel this morning and then sealed it up afterwards, but now they¡¯ve broken through again, I guess.¡± I sensed a sudden spike of fear inside Susan. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to make it, Max. We¡¯ve never experienced anything like this before. From the top side, this ce is imprable, but from below?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Please, you need to do something.¡± She didn¡¯t have to tell me twice. ¡°Hey yo! Private Darrell!¡± I shouted as I rose to my feet. A secondter the soldier poked his head around the edge of the corridor, where I assumed he was still lugging my axe somece. His face contorted into a scowl of annoyance. ¡°What the hell you want?¡± ¡°Unlock this cell,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. He flinched, jerking backwards, reacting to my technique, but to his credit he pushed down the fear of uncertainty building within him and stood his ground. ¡°Like hell. You stay in there until Jim deals with you. I¡¯m under orders.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°I was just trying to save you all the grief of having to repair a busted lock.¡± ¡°What are y¨C¨C¡± Before he could even finish, I grabbed hold of the cell door and pushed it open effortlessly with a ringing snap of broken steel. I didn¡¯t have much usable Frenzy to burn, but at Stage VI Body Refinement I didn¡¯t need it. The things of the mortal realm were like toys to me now. ¡°Hey, get back in there!¡± Darrell shouted, drawing his side arm as I stepped out of the cell towards him. ¡°Get back or I¡¯ll shoot!¡± ¡°Guess you weren¡¯t with the guys who saw my initial disy,¡± I said as I approached. ¡°You can save your bullets. They won¡¯t work on me either.¡± The fear inside him reached a peak and I cultivated it to further heal my body and fight against the poison choking my me. Brushing past him I saw my axe leaning against the wall a few feet away. Lifting it casually in front of him with one hand was all it took for him to lower his gun. ¡°Smart move,¡± I said, resting the axe on my shoulder. ¡°Now take me down to Level 7.¡± * * * The popcorn sound of sporadic gunfire filled the air as we mbered down thest flight of metal stairs leading to the lowest level of the bunkerplex. The ¡®we¡¯ now consisted of myself with Private Darrell leading the way and Kelsey and Susan trailing behind. Susan hade under duress, forced to do so only because she couldn¡¯t get Kelsey to stay put on the upper levels where it was safe. The girl had no fear now, and even my encouragement to stay behind had fallen on deaf ears. I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of Berserker pride as I looked at the iron-willed stare of the Struggler in her eyes, but something like that would be hard for any mother toprehend. So I made Kelsey promise to hang back and keep her mother safe while I took care of business. What the business actually entailed I had no idea. But I didn¡¯t really care either. Be it one demon or ten thousand. All of them were dying tonight. My conviction stirred my me as we went through a set of heavy hatchways and finally emerged on an upper gangway overlooking arge storage area. It was reminiscent of the basement in the Fire Birds¡¯ headquarters, only about ten times the size. The screeching of demons mixed with the chaotic bursts of automatic gunfire, creating a horrendous din. A trio of soldiers kept the gangway clear of demons trying to run up to it from a set of stairs, mowing them down in droves. The rest of about thirty or so soldiers had their rifles trained over the safety railing and pointing down into what I could only describe as an entire demon horde filling the basement area. There had to be well over two hundred of them, red bodies covered in crude ckened armor. There were male and female both, oversized humans with horns, fangs, and bat wings. A couple of soldiers with more high-powered rifles kept their eyes out for those ones, firing periodically to take one of the flying demons out of the sky. The entire ce was lit with flood lighting from the ceiling, and that appeared to be the main target of the creatures. It was a good move. In total darkness, these guys would be screwed. ¡°Concentrate fire on the tunnel!¡± Jim shouted above the tumult. ¡°The suckers are trying to make the exit wider!¡± I followed his line of sight to a set of man-sized double doors that was choked full of writhing demon bodies, all of them trying to push through the thing at once. Several more from the outside were hammering away at the reinforced concrete around the doorframe, trying to make it bigger. It was then that Jim caught sight of me and did a wide-eyed double take. ¡°What in doggone hell¨C¨C? Private Darrell!¡± he shouted, and the young soldier braced at attention. ¡°Yes sir!¡± ¡°Have you lost your damn mind and released my prisoner?¡± He shook his head profusely. ¡°No sir!¡± ¡°Then why is he standing here?¡± ¡°I let myself out,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°He had no choice in the matter.¡± Jim looked up at me with abination of fascination, skepticism, and in old confusion. ¡°I told you to stay put.¡± ¡°Jim, he can help us!¡± Susan called out from behind me. His eyes then grew even wider. ¡°You brought civilians down here too?¡± The scream of the demons was hellish and the fear inside of Susan jumped with every wince she made. It was a shame I couldn¡¯t draw on it, but the me didn¡¯t work that way. I couldn¡¯t just tap into any old fear. The cause had to me be. But I could certainly do something about quelling the fear within Susan¡¯s soul. ¡°Tell your men to stop shooting,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t need them peppering me in the back while I deal with these things.¡± ¡°What?¡± I hopped over the ledge without another word, releasing a bellowing war cry. I¡¯d never fought these things while being sane before. But if normal bullets could put them down, they couldn¡¯t be that tough. Still, there were lots of them. From the numbers alone the [Odds had to be Against Me]. My me sputtered and coughed with the technique, belching ck smoke and producing a mere fraction of the Frenzy it normally would. But right now, I wasn¡¯tining. I was going to need whatever I could get. Lunging into the fray, I relied on my axe techniques and the speed and strength of my body alone toy waste to a bunch of demons wing to get up the stairs. My axe hacked and flew, cleaving through muscle, bone and horn alike. I had caught them from behind off guard and within less than a minute had killed them all, their savage death cries triggering my [Bloodlust] to give me another small jolt of Frenzy. Covered in their blood, I nced up the stairway and at the three soldiers who had been holding them back, their faces nk with shock and fear. ¡°Rest easy,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯m on your side.¡± Instantly their fear shifted to awe, lemons bing lemonade and I drank it in deeply to further bolster my me. I charged into another pack of demons, cleaving through them with a series of linked techniques. Suddenly they all figured out what the hell was going on and a screeching howl filled the air as one of them pointed at me. ~The Cursed me! The Cursed me is here!~ ¡°Yeah, yeah!¡± I goaded them. ¡°Come on and get burned, you ugly pricks!¡± They screeched in response, their anger hitting me like a tidal wave¨C¨Ca collective hate that seemed toe from somece else. I struggled to cultivate it with my jacked-up me, eking out meager amounts of Frenzy, but I was thankful I was deep enough now, to not be influenced by the Bloodmoon. My me was in bad shape, but at least it wasn¡¯t getting any worse. And that left me in control. I channeled my Frenzy into my reflexes, keeping one step ahead of the demons as they turned their weapons on me. Sparks and blood flew as I parried and cleaved, taking as many hits as I dished out. But mine were stronger. For every ncing blow theynded I took a limb, for every cut, a kill. A horrific battle of attrition took hold as my mind went into almost a trance, my techniques chaining so fluidly it felt almost choreographed. I used the Frenzy triggered from my [Bloodlust] to keep it up, fueling both my attacks and healing my body with [Pain Soothes the Frenzied me]. Eventually the tide of anger and hate from the demons changed, turning sour. Bing fear. ~Flee! Flee the Cursed me!~ I drew it in all the same, hacking them to death from behind, snarling with a rage of my own. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯d better run, you shits!¡± I screamed. As the remaining demons disappeared down the tunnel, I took stock of my surrounds. The ce was a stinking mess. A corpse factory full of demons. There was a lot to clean up. But I had to ensure that this didn¡¯t happen again. I had managed to a small amount of Frenzy throughout the battle, a sliver of gain from the meager amount I was taking in minus the amount I was pushing out just to stay alive. Not much, I thought. But there¡¯s at least enough to do this. Digging deep, I leapt into the air and brought my axe down on the top of the door frame of the tunnel exit. ¡°[Three Log Chop]!¡± My axe hit the concrete with a resounding boom, sending a huge cloud of dust into the air like an explosion. The entire basement shook with the force of the hit as a huge chunk of concrete fell away from the wall and copsed over the tunnel entrance, causing the room to shake a second time. As the dust cleared, I inspected my handiwork and was satisfied with the job. I turned about to an audience staring at me in dead silence¨C¨Call thirty soldiers plus Susan and Kelsey gawking at me. Their lemonade flowed like a win in the arena, and I had to curb my enthusiasm to not throw my axe in the air in a victory pose. ¡°That ought to keep ¡®em for a while,¡± I said and hit them with a dose of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] instead. ¡°We good now, Jim?¡± Their mouths hung open as all eyes turned to Jim. There was awe burning inside him as well, but it was tempered by something else. Something increasing by the second. Anger. ¡°Sergeant Richards!¡± he barked, and the man stumbled out of the ranks to stand before him. ¡°Yes, colonel!¡± ¡°Did you say that you disposed of this man¡¯s sword?¡± A contemtive pause. ¡°Y-yes, colonel. It was causing the demons¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Jim shouted, his mustache twitching. ¡°Gather a small team of your men tomorrow morning,¡± he said and then looked down to me. ¡°At first light, you¡¯re going to take us to go find it.¡± Book 2: Chapter 15 THE AFTERMATH OF the battle was a nasty one. Hacking through a horde of two hundred-plus demons was all fun and games until you had to clean up the mess. I took the lead on the job, throwing severed torsos, legs and arms into piles. It was gruesome work, but once I started, Colonel Jimmanded his men to join in. Thankfully the basement was also the location of the facility¡¯s waste incinerator, a device they hadn¡¯t used for years, but one that now became a necessity. No way was I lugging two hundred corpses up to the surface, especially at night and thankfully they had some diesel to fuel the thing too. The process took about three hours and by the time we were done, most people had emptied the contents of their stomachs several times. While these were demons, their resemnce to humans was uncanny. No different than when I transformed using [Mark of the Demon], I guessed. Larger, redder skin, ws and horns, but essentially human at the core. Seeing them up close like this, and especially gauging their strength without the effects of the Bloodmoon, it only solidified my hypothesis that these were indeed what most of the poption of Earth had be after the invasion. Transformed into demons. My parents and sister likely among them. Unless they were eaten first. The thought sent a quiver of difort through my soul. I didn¡¯t know which fate was worse. The pain of their loss still caused an ache in my heart, but my grief was short lived, quickly reced by anger. It was easy to forget the sins of your oppressors when you had to conform to live amongst them. But this mess, these humans turned demons, this was all the Yee¡¯s fault.Or at least I liked to believe so. I guess it was still possible the Bloodmoon was somehow a natural phenomenon that they supposedly saved us from. Or saved some of us from anyway. But who knew what the real truth was? I¡¯d find out one day, I promised myself. But for now, ming them suited me just fine. It served a greater purpose. It was enough to generate me some Frenzy. With the generator back online, the bunkermunity was transformed. Halls were lit, water was running and after the chaos of the battle I was treated to a cold shower that felt like heaven. The other soldiers in the locker room gave me a wide berth, but their stares were palpable. I guess I couldn¡¯t me them. My body was full of fresh scars and not to mention I was probably a good half foot taller than anyone they¡¯d ever seen. They didn¡¯t speak to me though. A cautious nod was the most I received, their hearts still filled with a mixture of fear and awe. After getting cleaned up, Susan found me something to wear while my robes were washed and dried and then I joined her, Kelsey, and the colonel for a meeting in what I presumed was Jim¡¯s office. A couple of his men were there with him. A dark-haired woman with braids who looked to be an officer as well and an older guy with a thick beard. They were in their fifties, it looked like¡ªseasoned soldiers from even before the war. ¡°All right,¡± Jim said. ¡°All three of you stand before me on charges of treason and consorting with the enemy.¡± Susan opened her mouth to say something, but Jim quickly spoke to cut her off. ¡°Now that¡¯s the official stance,¡± he said. ¡°Under the circumstances this may seem extraneous, but believe you me, the preservation ofw and order is paramount within our society. Once we lose that we lose who we are. We lose humanity itself. End of story.¡± I kind of had to agree with him there. Even the empire served the same purpose in keepingw and order in what could easily be a Wild West warzone of tyrannical cultivators if not for the rules that governed it. And ording to Hong Feng, there were some ces outside the empire that still operated like that. I could only imagine how brutal such worlds might be. ¡°So what happens now?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Now all of you have a chance to tell me your side of the story,¡± Jim said. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll speak,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°My mom only knows half the story anyway.¡± ¡°Kelsey!¡± Susan started, but Kelsey was already speaking ahead of her. She ryed what happened from when I had first arrived, my initial conflict with Richards and her eventual freeing me to recover Threja¡¯s sword. Susan then backed her up on the facts and went on to exin how I had ced her in charge until Jim got back. Kelsey then filled in what happened recently with Richards getting rid of the sword and imprisoning the both of them. ¡°And you im this sword or whatever it is can protect us from the demons?¡± ¡°Not just the demons,¡± I said. ¡°From the effects of the Bloodmoon itself.¡± I used that as an opportunity to segue into the true purpose of the golden pagodas and the protection they provided the cities. I left out that it was likely the demons we just killed were what was left of humanity as a result. I went further to describe our current situation as a people within Yee society and how we had recently carved out a new existence as a Terran Sect. ¡°It¡¯s fragile,¡± I said. ¡°Under attack constantly by rival sects. Which is why I can¡¯t afford to spend much time here with you. I¡¯ll need to get back there eventually. I¡¯ll leave in about three days from now.¡± ¡°Three days?¡± Kelsey said. ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s kind of hard to exin, but yeah. It¡¯ll have to be like that. For a while anyway.¡± Her reaction only reinforced the fact that I would need to do what Jian Yi had advised to spend more time out here¡ªrank in the Gold Bracket. My reputation would have to do what my physical presence could not. And right now, my physical presence seemed to be needed here more than in the city. Jim¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change the entire time that we were speaking¨C¨Ccontemtive with a slight furrow on his brow. He looked to his two subordinates. ¡°Captain Flores, Lieutenant Harris, what do you make of all this?¡± ¡°Sounds crazy as hell, sir,¡± the woman, Captain Flores, said. ¡°But after what we¡¯ve been through, I believe every word of it.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to know how you became one of them,¡± said Harris, the man with the beard. ¡°Were you in their military? Did they train you to fight like that?¡± ¡°Not exactly,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a bit moreplicated than that. But in essence, everything you saw me do stems from something called cultivation.¡± ¡°Cultivation?¡± Jim¡¯s mustache twitched. ¡°Yes, Max wrote an entire book about it,¡± Kelsey said, and reaching behind her back she pulled out the manual she had transcribed, although now smeared with ck demon blood. ¡°Max tranted it into English for us. All from memory too.¡± ¡°From memory?¡± Jim raised a brow as he took it from her. ¡°An entire book?¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s a super genius too along with being a war god,¡± Kelsey said, embarrassing me a little with her praise. The free lemonade was nice though. ¡°In this new world, it¡¯s actually not so unique,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s what cultivation does. It unlocks the full potential of the human mind, spirit, and body.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± Jim said as he leafed through the manual. ¡°And that¡¯s what this book is about? Their¡­what did you call ¡®em? Yee philosophy?¡± ¡°It¡¯s instructions on how to cultivate,¡± I exined. ¡°Only 10% of Terrans are capable of doing it. But if you could produce a few cultivators, you could turn this wilderness into a paradise under the protection of the sword. I even brought some crops to help start that, but I¡¯m pretty sure they got wrecked by the demons on the way in.¡± Jim¡¯s mustache twitched as he paged through the manual some more. ¡°Terrans, huh?¡± By the way he said it I could tell he took exception to the name. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m liking the idea of embracing the enemy¡¯s philosophy in this manner.¡± ¡°But Jim,¡± Susan said. ¡°You saw what he did.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Kelsey added. ¡°Imagine if all of us could do what¡ª¡± ¡°I can¡¯t deny it may have merit,¡± Jim said, cutting her off. ¡°But I¡¯ll need to consider the long-term implications of adopting something like this first.¡± He then winked at Kelsey. ¡°You mind if I hold on to this for a while, to study it?¡± Kelsey looked to me for some kind of assent. I realized then that this was a test for control. Jim wasn¡¯t an idiot like Richards, but he was still military and the one officially inmand. I could flex my own will and strip it from him easily, but that wouldn¡¯t help achieve my goal. It was still his show and I would have to acquiesce to his wishes for now if I wanted to win both his trust and that of the people permanently. I had to let this progress happen naturally, not force it. Cultivation was an alien concept and even I had rejected it at first. And perhaps it was the sign of a wise leader on his part to be cautious. ¡°He¡¯s your leader, Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m sure with time the benefits of cultivation will be self-evident. That book is a gift to thismunity, Jim. Worth more than you can perhaps understand right now, but I hope you give it a chance.¡± ¡°Oh, I will,¡± he said, opening a drawer in his desk and tossing it inside. ¡°But we have other issues to deal with first. Like the possibility of those demonsing back. You pulled down one heck of a big chunk of concrete, but from what I¡¯ve seen of them, I¡¯m not sure that will buy us more than a few days. And now that they know we exist, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll stop.¡± ¡°No problem,¡± Kelsey said with a smile. ¡°Max will just go kill ¡®em all again, right, Max?¡± I gave her a chuckle, and for a moment I couldn¡¯t help but see her as just a kid. A kid who had seen and endured so much, that it was hard not to view her as an adult. ¡°There¡¯ll be no end to them no matter how many we kill,¡± Jim said. ¡°They opened some kind of gate or portal back there. We were lucky to make it back at all, much less with supplies.¡± ¡°A gate?¡± I said. Harris chuckled mirthlessly. ¡°More like a pit to hell. A couple of my men nced inside that thing and lost their damn minds. Started screaming about infinity and the moon and all kinds of crazy shit. They went and killed themselves right afterwards, jumping straight into the damn demons to get ughtered.¡± ¡°Harris!¡± Susan said in a hushed whisper with dismay on her face, cing her arms protectively around Kelsey. I guess there was one person who would always view Kelsey as a kid. ¡°Sorry,¡± Harris said, seeming toe to himself. ¡°Just never seen anything like it before. But I agree with Jim. Now that those things know we exist, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll stop until they exterminate us.¡± His words conjured dark images in my mind. Infinity? The Moon? Was it that thing? I¡¯xol¡¯ukz or whatever it was called? The King of the Moon? ¡°I lost five men back there,¡± Jim said, staring into nothing. ¡°Still not sure we got much to show for it either. A couple hundred pounds of food and six barrels of fuel. If those things keep breaking through below, we¡¯ll burn up all we have just fighting them. Are you certain this sword of yours can hold them back?¡± Snapping out of my own thoughts about the demon god creature, I contemted it a moment. I honestly didn¡¯t know. Threja¡¯s sword produced a barrier on the surface, but could the shield prate the ground and protect lower levels below? ¡°It can,¡± Kelsey answered for me. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it for myself. The demons couldn¡¯t get through it at night.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just have to see,¡± I said, tempering their expectations a little. ¡°It¡¯ll allow you to live freely on the surface that¡¯s for certain. About a half mile-wide diameter. You can grow crops. Raise livestock. Build houses.¡± I then paused, my mind still stuck on that gate and what was possibly behind it. ¡°But as for what¡¯s at the other end of that tunnel. That might take a solution of a different kind.¡± Everyone in the room looked at me strangely. All except Kelsey. She looked at me too, but with conviction and determination in her eyes. And a me burning in her soul. The demons, I thought, remembering what she had told me when I triggered her [Sorrow and Pain]. Fighting them was the spiritual root of her Dao. And I would need to provide her the opportunity to cultivate it. When she was ready. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Jim said, still looking at me for an exnation. I thought about Threja¡¯s sword and the boon it would provide for me as well as them. Not mere protection from the Bloodmoon, but Shuras of the Path of the Frenzied me. New cultivation techniques I needed to grow stronger. To seed in the Gold Bracket, to protect my people and possibly even create a defense to the soul-striking powers of both that woman, Hin Wu, and the demon monster god. Recovering Threja¡¯s sword was not just important. It was paramount. ¡°Nothing,¡± I said with a hint of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°We just really need to get that sword.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s the n,¡± Jim said, easing back in his chair. ¡°Hopefully that Richards didn¡¯t take it too far. He¡¯ll lead us along with a small contingent tomorrow.¡± ¡°I want toe too,¡± Kelsey said but Susan quickly shook her head. ¡°Jim is back in charge now, sweetie. This is military business.¡± Kelsey opened her mouth to protest, but the look from her mother caused her to shut it immediately with a scowl. Deep inside I could sense her me stirring. Anger, resentment, and a need to prove herself maybe. If I had truly unlocked her me, then she no longer feared for her own safety. The candle of her me shone brightly, spewing Frenzy in the air. I considered my own me inparison, still choked and burning a deep red, barely able to produce anything. From Kelsey I could not only sense the Frenzy of her me, but I could syphon it directly too. It seemed different than the Frenzy I produced, but I could make use of it in a diminished capacity it seemed. Like a mini battery of sorts. ¡°She needs toe with us,¡± I said, and Susan¡¯s jaw nearly hit the floor. ¡°She will not!¡± Susan said. ¡°Kelsey is just a chi¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a child!¡± Kelsey shouted. ¡°I want to go!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not up for debate,¡± Jim said in an authoritative tone and then looked at me. ¡°That girl is a civilian. Regardless of what decisions you made in my absence, I¡¯m now responsible for every soul in this facility. The girl stays here with her mother where it¡¯s safe.¡± ¡°This is bullshit,¡± Kelsey muttered. I released a sigh. ¡°This is going to be hard for all of you to understand,¡± I said. ¡°But aside from me, Kelsey is now the most powerful person in this ce. And in the condition I¡¯m in right now, I might need her help to face whatever we may encounter. Believe it or not, there are things worse than those demons out there in the wild, even during the day. I was poisoned by exposure to the Bloodmoon and without her help, I might not be strong enough to fight what¡¯s out there.¡± I said the words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and I could see it caused them all to pause. It wasn¡¯t bullshit either. I was weak as hell right now and encountering a B or A-ss monster along the way, although unlikely, would be disastrous. Still, more than that, it would provide me with the opportunity for something else. Something more important. A chance to introduce Kelsey to the me. ¡°I¡¯ve made my decision,¡± Jim said, nonplussed. ¡°Let¡¯s remember who¡¯s in charge here.¡± There it was. A flex of authority. It caused my me to stir. Or maybe it was Kelsey¡¯s me invoking sympathy from my own. I could press the issue, but I sensed that now just wasn¡¯t the time. Too soon, I thought. I¡¯m still a stranger and what I said probably doesn¡¯t make any logical sense to them. I gave Kelsey an apologetic frown. ¡°All right then. We¡¯ll do it your way, Jim.¡± I then used a dose of Frenzy toy on [Fear the me], just to let him know that there were things at y here far outside of his experience or control. ¡°Let¡¯s just pray we don¡¯t encounter anything. I can¡¯t guarantee bringing back the sword if we do.¡± I sensed a re of irritation within him, despite his expression remaining the same. ¡°We¡¯re not as defenseless as you may think,¡± Jim said. ¡°Tomorrow you¡¯ll see just how we¡¯ve managed to survive ten years in this hell hole while remaining human.¡± The dig wasn¡¯t lost on me. My reward for poking the bear, I supposed. ¡°And who knows,¡± he then added with a smile. ¡°You just might learn something about your own kind.¡± As may you, I wanted to add, but I kept that part to myself to maintain the peace. These are allies not enemies, I reminded myself. Although right now my me was having a hard time telling the difference. ¡°Till tomorrow then,¡± I said and gave him a bow before I even realized what I was doing. The result was another set of cross-eyed stares¡ªa confirmation that they still saw me as an alien outsider, contrary to their ways. And perhaps I was to an extent. epting my help was one thing, but perhaps getting them to ept me for what I was, would be a totally different battle I would have to fight. Book 2: Chapter 16 THE NEXT MORNING, we were assembled outside the bunker, surveying what was left of the wagon. Jim was there, along with Flores and Harris. Joining them was Sergeant Richards and four of his men whom I remembered from my visit before. Kelsey and Susan were there also, albeit with Susan staying within the safety of the inner airlock of the bunker¡¯s side door. Kelsey strode right on out with me though, much to the chagrin of both Jim and Susan. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s okay,¡± I said. ¡°She came out here to save me in the dead of night with the ce filled with demons. Compared to that, I think it¡¯s pretty safe right now, don¡¯t you?¡± Kelsey beamed a confident smile in response, her me agreeing. Susan and Jim epted it reluctantly and allowed her to hang around while we made final preparations to depart. I investigated what was left of the wagon. Broken cages were all that remained of the animals and most of the food had been saturated with demon blood, although I didn¡¯t see any corpses. Perhaps they¡¯d already been eaten by spirit beasts or cannibalized by the demons themselves. I did manage to find a couple vials of healing salve and one sack of rice that was uncontaminated. I hung onto the salve and presented the rice to Jim. ¡°I¡¯d brought a lot more than this,¡± I said. ¡°But this is all that made it. I can bring back more on my next trip.¡± Jim eyed the sack of rice like it was filled with plutonium. His brow creased as he pointed to the Yee characters written on the bag. ¡°What¡¯s that say?¡± ¡°Says rice,¡± I said, unable to hold back the ¡®eye-roll¡¯ in my tone. ¡°One Shi¡­that¡¯s about 150 pounds.¡±He had me open it up and after seemingly satisfied that it was indeed what I said it was, ordered a couple of his men to secure it in the food storage below. I couldn¡¯t help but think of how much effort I¡¯d gone through to only have one sack of rice make it through. If that idiot Richards had opened the door, we could have possibly saved everything I¡¯d bought. The thought stirred anger as I stared at him. Dumbass, I thought. He was looking peaked, like he wanted to throw up, which I could only imagine was due to the brief ¡®talking to¡¯ that Jim had given him by pulling him to the side a few minutes ago. Now, Jim and his men were checking over their tactical gear near the edge of the perimeter. Combat helmets, Ker body armor and assault rifles. Stuff that wouldn¡¯t make any difference if we ran into anything substantial, but it looked good I supposed. ¡°Stay safe out there, Max,¡± Kelsey said, giving me a fist bump as we readied to depart. ¡°I wish these idiots would just let mee.¡± ¡°Next time,¡± I said giving her a smile. ¡°Hey, were you serious about me being powerful?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°Like the most powerful person besides you?¡± The sincerity in her tone was heartwarming. I had no idea what I was supposed to do to mentor another Berserker. Or even if I could or should. The only example I had was Threja¡¯s brief conversation with me before she left to ascend. One thing was certain though. If Kelsey or anyone else who became kindled was to ever blend into Yee society one day, I needed to keep their Berserker path a secret the same as mine. Kelsey wouldn¡¯t know the difference of course, but when the day finally came to keep my promise to her and take her to the city, she couldn¡¯t be spouting shuras and invoking Frenzy willy-nilly. I knelt down to look her in the eye. ¡°You¡¯ve changed but you perhaps don¡¯t realize it yet. You are special, Kelsey. Special like me.¡± Her eyes grew wide at that. ¡°What? Seriously?¡± I chuckled and then spoke in a tone reminiscent of Threja. ¡°Thou art indeed a kindled me, a frenzied spirit, tempered by struggle and sorrow, fueled by rage and pain¡­¡± Kelsey blinked jerking backwards. Her me red, bing brighter, almost as if the verse had unlocked something inside of her, incrementing a notch. She then shook her head disorientated, like awaking from a dream. ¡°What the heck was that?¡± she said. ¡°Was that a poem?¡± Iughed inwardly. That was exactly what I¡¯d said. ¡°It¡¯s truth,¡± I told her. ¡°More willeter. I promise. When I return with the sword.¡± I stood then and turned, leaving her stupefied for a moment, but as I walked away, she called out to me again. ¡°Hey, Max!¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Were you just bullshitting Jim about me being useful to you earlier? Or can I really help you?¡± ¡°You can,¡± I said, looking over my shoulder at her. ¡°But Jim¡¯s in charge now. We need to respect his authority.¡± She grimaced in a way that reminded me of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°You said that in the new world, only the strongest rule. Isn¡¯t that you right now?¡± I chuckled again and looked over at Jim, still mustering his men. ¡°Jim¡¯s from the old world, and I¡¯m still trying to figure out how to mesh the two. But don¡¯t worry. I should be fine.¡± I hoped. I ruffled Kelsey¡¯s hair like she was my kid sister, and she smacked my hand away yfully. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t mess with the do!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon, Kelsey. When we get back, we¡¯ll have a lot to discuss.¡± * * * The trek through the wild was mostly uphill, leading to the soldiers needing a break after about an hour or so. They were rugged, but I imagined being as weak and malnourished as they were, the hike was taking a lot out of them. I could only imagine what it must have been like making that hundred-odd mile journey through the tunnel. Even out here though, I was surprised that Richards had made the effort to drag the sword this far. The thing had to weigh close to 400 pounds and even with five of them carrying it¨C¨Cassuming he had enlisted the help of all his men¨C¨Cit had to have been a massive chore. It only served to heighten my disdain for the man. That had he gone through so much effort to sacrifice the safety of his people to regain control. Richards and his four subordinates were huddled in a group sipping water while Jim, Flores, and Harris surveyed the distant horizon that was dominated by a thick forest. After we rested a while longer Jim finally spoke. ¡°How much further, Richards?¡± He barked the question more than asked it, causing Richards to snap to attention. ¡°Should be just over a mile, sir,¡± he answered. ¡°Just over the next ridge.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get moving then,¡± he said. ¡°The less time we spend out here in the open the better.¡± We got back underway and after a few minutes I could finally sense it. The faintest hint of pure Frenzy. It was weak at first but grew stronger the more we travelled. I still wasn¡¯t sure exactly what it was. It wasn¡¯t a source of Frenzy that I could utilize, the same way I could Kelsey¡¯s, more a harmonic resonance. A frenzied tuning fork that vibrated with my soul. The vibrations grew stronger as we approached the small ridge Richards had mentioned. We mbered up it and then stopped short once we reached the lip of a small canyon. ¡°Well, this is it,¡± Richards said, pointing into the canyon. ¡°It¡¯s down there.¡± Stupid asshole, I thought. Would take him to go the extra mile and throw it off a damn cliff. The cliff in question was about a hundred feet deep, less than fifty wide and extended for about a half mile each way¨C¨Ca sharp crevasse that reminded me of thendscape of the Reaper ts. Just the thought of one of those things popping out right now had my me stirring. Or sputtering as the case might be at present, producing more ck smoke than Frenzy. ¡°I don¡¯t see it,¡± one of Richards¡¯ men said, peering into the crevasse. ¡°It was right there wasn¡¯t it?¡± He pointed and all eyes turned to Richards. ¡°Well?¡± Jim said. ¡°Is it down there or not?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m pretty sure itnded right there¡­¡± They all began to look then, but all that could be seen was a muddy bottom void of any foliage or trees. ¡°It¡¯s down there,¡± I said, stepping forward. ¡°I can sense it.¡± ¡°Maybe it got buried?¡± Flores offered. Just when the idea seemed usible the truth emerged. A hundred feet below, a hulking figure lumbered from out of the shadows at the edge of the crevasse. It looked at least 12 feet tall, walking upright like a man, but covered in thick ck fur and that was silvered at the tips. I¡¯d never seen anything like it in the wild before or even in my handler manuals. But I didn¡¯t need to. I knew exactly what this thing was. ¡°Is that a damn gori?¡± Harris said, straining his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s a gori doing out here?¡± one of the other soldiers said. ¡°Probably escaped from a zoo,¡± Flores said, ncing down as well. ¡°What¡¯s in its hand? Is that the sword?¡± Sure enough, dragging it behind like a massive club, the giant gori had Threja¡¯s sword in its palm. ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± I swore. Jim scoffed, folding his arms. ¡°Well, this has clearly been a waste of time. I thought you said that sword repelled demons.¡± ¡°It does,¡± I said. ¡°Then why is that thing holding it?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s not a demon,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a spirit beast. And an awakened one by the looks of it.¡± I actually hadn¡¯t given it much thought myself, but it was obvious now the barrier the sword produced and that of the pagoda were not exactly the same. The Pure Frenzy repelled the demons for sure and would keep them away at night. But against a wandering spirit beast, clearly there was no protection, or at least from an awakened spirit beast anyway. Maybe against lesser spirit beasts it was still effective, but that was something I would have to testter. The priorities shifted in my mind. It was clear now why the city had a protective wall as well as the barrier. The physical wall could keep lesser spirit beasts out, and unlike the demons, spirit beasts behaved like animals. They kept to their own habitats away from humans, until the Bloodmoon drove them mad each night and turned them into demons. But with a wall built around the perimeter of the bunker, the people out here could still thrive. But none of that would matter if we didn¡¯t get that sword back. Even from this distance I could see the faint glow of the Shuras on its surface, the true reason that I needed it. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re talking nonsense to me, son,¡± Jim said. ¡°A monster is a damn monster no matter what the hell it is. It¡¯ll kill us all the same.¡± ¡°See,¡± Richards piped in quickly. ¡°It¡¯s just like I told you, colonel. That ain¡¯t no magic sword. This space jap loving bastard just used it to control us. It can¡¯t protect us from the demons. He¡¯s just trying to take control of us again! Just like his people have the whole damn world!¡± Anger red within me as I fixed eyes on him. I was just about to snatch him by the cor when a soft voice came from behind. ¡°You¡¯re full of shit, Richards, and you know it!¡± We all spun to see Kelsey standing behind us, but I didn¡¯t even need to see her to sense the burning of her me. Her hands were balled into firsts, her face a grimace of disdain. ¡°Kelsey, what the hell are you doing here?¡± Jim bellowed before anyone else could respond. ¡°I did not authorize you to be here. You are in vition of my authority! Do you know what that means?¡± Kelsey lifted her chin at him defiantly, reminding me of Jian Yi. ¡°With all due respect, Jim. I appreciate all you¡¯ve done for us, but the old world is over and you can¡¯t lead us to where we need to go. Max is my leader now. And if he says he needs my help, then I¡¯m going to be here for him, in any way I can.¡± Silence fell like a death knell. No one spoke¨C¨Ceveryone too perplexed by what Kelsey had just said. The Frenzy and lemonade pouring from her soul nourished my own me, but there was something more that I felt as well. Pride, both for her and me. Kelsey didn¡¯t know any of the principles of being a Berserker yet, but still she was following the code to a tee. It was a revtion yet again that the me itself lighted our path. The Shuras were only a guide. ¡°See,¡± Richards said breaking the silence. ¡°He¡¯s gone and turned one of our own against us already.¡± I felt like punching him, but Jim spoke first. ¡°Kelsey, for the sake of your age I¡¯m going to let this slide.¡± He stooped down to her height, but his voice was stern and grave. ¡°But what you just said is considered treasonous, understand? You know what happens to traitors, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°They¡¯re executed. By your hand.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Jim said, matter-of-fact. ¡°Now you wouldn¡¯t want to force me to have to do that to you, would you?¡± Kelsey¡¯s face remained fixed and firm, her heart racing, but I could sense the defiance in her me. ¡°I say she¡¯s done enough to warrant killing her anyway,¡± Richards muttered. Rage flew through gut as my me red. I sh-stepped to him in a burst of Frenzy, yanking Richards right off his feet as I throttled his neck. I moved so fast, that everyone took a good two seconds to even realize what had happened. All save for Richards who was now turning beet red fromck of air as he iled like a fish in my grasp. ¡°Now you listen to me,¡± I said with [Fear the me]. ¡°You even think such a thing again and I¡¯ll bury your ass right here and now, you got it?¡± The tter of rifles being cocked and trained on me fell on deaf ears. I didn¡¯t even look at them. All I could focus on was Richards¡¯ pathetic-looking face as he struggled to nod. The patter of liquid spilling off his boots filled the silence as he literally pissed himself, reacting to both my threat and my technique. ¡°Now you listen clearly,¡± Jim said from behind me. ¡°You unhand my sergeant right this instant. He is under my authority! Not yours. You got that? Put him down now!¡± My me burned hot and red, fueled by rage and demonic taint. What right did he have to bark orders at me? What right did any of them have? None of them posed a threat. I could kill them all in an instant if I wanted to. So why didn¡¯t I? The thought steeped, the Demon growing more and more ravenous within me. And then suddenly it hit me. This was how cultivators saw the world. Meaningless mortals moring for significance in the face of greatness and true power. It was the same mindset that allowed them to ughter billions of my people. People like my parents and sister. People like the ones pointing their guns at me now. I nced at Kelsey, her me flickering with anticipation of what I might be about to do. As a Berserker, I could only guess that her thoughts might be mirroring my own. To kill them all and be done with it. But I had to curb myself. Gently the Struggler came in to lift the Demon¡¯s hand from the controls. I had to demonstrate to Kelsey that being a true Berserker was far more than just giving into your rage. Sometimes you had to suffer in silence, in order to stay true to the path. A suffering that could save your very soul. I released my grip on Richards and let him fall to the ground, sputtering and coughing in a pool of his own piss. I red at him as I flexed my me with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Don¡¯t think it was Jim¡¯s orders that spared you, Richards. Or any of you for that matter. I follow a higher path and thankfully protecting you is all part of the deal.¡± I sensed the fear kick up a notch from all of them, all save for Jim who reacted with a sudden spike of anger. ¡°What the hell did you just say?¡± He choked up on his rifle, aiming it at my head. ¡°That¡¯s it. I¡¯ve had enough of this damn clown show. Both of you, get your hands on your heads and get down on your kn¡ª¡± His words cut short as an earsplitting roar ripped the air. The huge shadow of the gori soared above us, flying out of the crevasse. Time froze as the thing reared back with Threja¡¯s sword cocked in its giant hand. I reacted in an instant, shifting to the side and snatching Kelsey out of the way. A couple of the soldiers reacted as well, but one of Richards¡¯ men froze as the giant monster loomed above him. He screamed with primal terror as the massive de fell, cutting both his scream and his life short, splitting him in two. The giant apended on what was left of him, crushing his body into the ground. Screams of panic mixed with bursts of automatic gunfire as all hell broke loose. The Awakened Ape roared, beating its chest with one hand in a disy of dominance, the other holding Threja¡¯s bloodied sword high in the air. The monster barely winced as the rifle rounds hit it, looking more irritated than anything else. It swatted at its fur as if they were bee stings, driving home the fact that this had to be an Awakened C or B-ss Spirit Beast. ¡°Fall back!¡± Jim cried. ¡°Fall back!¡± I stood my ground, unslinging my axe as the challenge of facing the beast stirred my me. It was still burning crimson red, choked with darkness, but I didn¡¯t care. Frenzy or no Frenzy I was going to kill this thing no matter what. ¡°You¡¯ve got my big sister¡¯s sword,¡± I said with [Fear the me]. ¡°And I¡¯m taking it back.¡± The beast thumped its chest at me, howling in response. Were I in peak form, killing this thing would be a cakewalk. But without Frenzy to fuel my techniques, surely the [Odds were Against Me]. Evoking the technique barely supplied me with anything, further weakening my chances. But I wasn¡¯t alone. ncing to my side I saw Kelsey standing there, fear raging like a waterfall within her, but instantly shing into Frenzy as it touched her candle-sized me. I smiled inwardly as the giant ape fixed on the both of us. ¡°Get out of there, Kelsey!¡± Jim screamed from behind us. ¡°Run!¡± She didn¡¯t move. The me had already seen fit to guide Kelsey to my side. And by my side she remained. From out of her backpack, she withdrew a long pipe wrench. The same she had used to kill that demon. ¡°Just tell me what to do, Max,¡± she whispered, nerves filling her young voice, despite the fearlessness in her soul. Part of me feared for her life but another was filled only with pride. ¡°Prepare yourself, Kelsey¡­¡± I squared up on the beast, which had now raised the sword high above its head in a show of aggression, chest billowing as it let out a thunderous roar. ¡°You¡¯re about to discover what you truly are. Wee to your first step, on the Path of the Berserker.¡± Book 2: Chapter 17 BEFORE KELSEY COULD even question what that meant, I charged forward with a savage roar of my own. My Dantian was still near empty, with precious little Frenzy to spare but I used it to bolster my speed as I swept in tond a [Two Log Chop] on the beast¡¯s sword arm. It felt like hitting stone, my Corrupted Steel axe bouncing off its thick hide with a tuff of cut fur. Holy shit, I thought. Not even able to wound it with my casual strength alone? I was at the Fifth or Sixth Stage of Muscle Strengthening by now, able to bend steel without the use of Frenzy at all. To withstand that kind of blow this thing had to be an awakened A-ss not B or C. But how did it be so strong? Was it drawing power from the sword itself? Just as the thought urred, it whipped the gigantic de in my direction causing me to duck into a roll. I dove forwards instead of backwards, rolling under its guard tond another a massive chop with my axe, this time fueling it with Frenzy. I was rewarded with a hollering yell from the ape as I drew blood, my axe breaking the skin and exposing white flesh beneath. My [Bloodlust] triggered feeding me scant amounts of Frenzy through my beleaguered me. But I needed more to fight this. Much, much more! Just as I was about to look for Kelsey, the girl appeared at my side,nding a blow on the ape¡¯s hide with her pipe wrench. Thankfully she wasn¡¯t strong enough for the beast to even notice her, but the Frenzy in her soul was enough for me to draw upon to bolster my own strength as Iid into the gori with a headbutt to its sr plexus. The ape reeled backwards in response, winded by my assault.¡°Stay behind me, Kelsey,¡± I said as I repositioned myself, preparing for the monster to retaliate once it recovered. Kelsey did as Imanded swiftly, moving to my rear. ¡°I didn¡¯t even hurt the thing,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°It¡¯s strong as hell! How am I supposed to help you kill it?¡± But I was already syphoning her Frenzy, mixing it with my own to fuel my next move. ¡°You¡¯re already helping more than you know. I need to get that sword back. To cleanse myself like I didst time, remember?¡± ¡°Yeah, I got you,¡± Kelsey said, breathing heavily. ¡°Focus on getting the sword.¡± ¡°Stay as close as you can, but keep away from it. One hit from that thing and you¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± she said with a nod. The beast glowered at me, lowering its brow over its yellow-tinged eyes as a growl rumbled from its throat. ¡°Hyua¡­hyo¡­si¡­¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Did it just talk?¡± I focused on the sounds it had just made, realizing they were words spoken in Yee. Switching my mind from English mode I quickly understood what it had said. ¡°Bad fires die.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nevermind,¡± I said. ¡°It just means it really wants to kill us.¡± ¡°Yeah, no shit,¡± Kelsey said. I had enough Frenzy now for another couple of blows. I needed to use them sparingly to get that sword back and cleanse my me so I could get under my own power. As helpful as Kelsey was, the amount she could grant me couldn¡¯t fuel the techniques I really needed to put this beast down. The giant ape roared, beating its chest again. Just as I was about to fly in for another assault, the popcorn sound of gunfire came from my left. Jim had repositioned his men, nking it from the side. The ape shielded itself with the sword, sparks flying off the giant de as the assault continued. They weren¡¯t doing shit, but it was a wee distraction and I took advantage by charging in and aiming a [Three Log Chop] at the ape¡¯s forearm. The blow connected and I was rewarded with a satisfying roar of pain as it cleaved through its tough outer hide. But it wasn¡¯t enough. Threja¡¯s sword remained fixed in its hand and the next thing I knew, it was swinging the giant de straight for my head. I had just enough time to raise my axe to block and the two pieces of Corrupted Steel collided in a massive flurry of red sparks. The force of the hit ripped the axe straight out of my palms, sending my weapon flying end over end into a copse of nearby trees. A man-sized fist struck me next, mming me into the ground and I saw stars. I redirected all my remaining Frenzy into [Iron Skin] and [Iron Core] as the gori flew into a primal rage, pounding me into the ground with its fist. Blood flew from my mouth as my bones and organs popped, my Frenzy faltering. It finally reared up with the sword raised high, ready to bring it down on top of me. My body was a shattered mess, my eyes half blinded with my own blood. I tried to move but couldn¡¯t. Shit! Kelsey suddenly appeared on the ape¡¯s giant shoulder, scrambling up its back from behind. With a yell she swung the pipe wrench and nailed the creature right in its eye. It bellowed with rage and pain, tossing Kelsey off its back with a swat of its hand. The girl went flying like a missile, bouncing off the ground with a sharp cry. ¡°Kelsey!¡± She rolled a couple times winding up on her back and my soul came undone as shey there unmoving. Rage red within me, sparking tendrils of fresh frenzy that surged throughout my wounded body. She wasn¡¯t dead¨C¨CI could sense that, but her me was growing weak, like a slowly fading candle. The ape roared, clutching a palm to its wounded eye, seeking out Kelsey with the other. It finally spotted her lying on the ground and in a burst, rage came from within it, seeking vengeance perhaps. It pounced after her, sword drawn high to cut her in two. I skipped healing and channeled all my remaining Frenzy into [Death¡¯s Door], willing my shattered body to leap from the ground. I scrambled across the thick grass, arriving just in time to shield Kelsey from the blow. Threja¡¯s sword came down like a guillotine, catching me right on the corbone. What residual [Iron Skin] I had left, barely slowed it down as the de cleaved into my right side, straight down to my waist. Blood burst from my pierced lung, and I vomited out the same from my mouth. Half my body flopped awkwardly to the side as it fell away from me, my consciousness fading as thest bit of Frenzy drained from my Dantian, threatening to sever my connection to the living through [Death¡¯s Door]. ¡°Max¡­¡± I heard faintly from behind. I nced over where my shoulder used to be and saw Kelsey staring at me horrified. Fear and pain filled her soul, her me converting both to Frenzy in response. Gently she rested a hand on my back, as if checking to see if I were still alive. As she touched me a new surge of energy coursed through my body, her Frenzy pouring into my empty Dantian. My red me coughed and sputtered, desperately trying to reignite. ¡°Fire¡­die¡­¡± The creature spoke directly into my face with a vile grin, one eye bloodshot from where Kelsey had struck it. ¡°Master¡­e¡­ soon.¡± From the darkness of my tunneling vision, I heard the shriek of the alien creature again. Hell no¡­ I thought. Not this time! Using Kelsey¡¯s borrowed Frenzy, I willed myself to move using [Death¡¯s Door] and grabbed hold of the massive de still lodged halfway through my body. Like electricity, the resonance of the Pure Frenzy vibrated through my soul, stirring my reddened me and causing it to re once again. I screamed in pain on top of pain, ck smoke spewing from my mouth as I belched the Dark Frenzy from my soul. In a sh, my me red from red to vibrant white and blue. The immense pain I was experiencing hit my me like an atom bomb going off, filling my soul with an ocean full of Frenzy. Kelsey seemed to react to it too, her eyes growing wide as her me red in response to my own. I activated my meridians, channeling the newfound energy to form fresh slivers of Solid Frenzy in my Dantian. I wished I could have cultivated it more quickly, but even I had my limits. Still, it was more than enough to do what I needed to do, to finish the job. ¡°[Mark of the Giant]¡­¡± As I spoke the words my body instantly began to change, my ribcage mending itself as my body sewed itself back together while growing to immense size. Bones snapped and popped, muscles and sinewcing itself with fresh blood. The giant ape backed away instinctively, sensing the unnatural change as the Struggler relinquished control. The demon in me roared as I stood and ripped the sword from my body, the gaping wound it left closing in seconds. I was near equal in height to the giant ape now, off by a few inches instead of feet. Lemonade and Frenzy sprung from Kelsey behind me, but from the rest of mypanions I sensed their hearts filled with a primal fear. The same was on their faces as I looked at them¨C¨CJim, Flores, Harris, and even Richards and his men stared at me with their mouths hanging open. I drew in their fear to replenish me all the same, cultivating the energy into usable solid form. ¡°Now you die!¡± I shouted and lunged at the beast. I swung with a massive downward chop as rage filled my soul. The sword moved a lot slower than I expected, a matter of bnce more thanck of strength, the de slow to elerate. When it finally hit the ground, the ape had long since moved, backing away from me in a panic. The earth exploded in a shower of grass and debris, leaving a crater in the ground. I fed Frenzy to my limbs to give chase, swinging the sword wildly. It was harder to maneuver than I expected, my muscle memory used to the much-reduced range, speed, and weight of my axe. I kept at it regardless, tearing up the ground as I mmed my sword after the giant ape again and again like a game of whack-a-mole. It kept running away from me and after a second I understood why. It snatched something from the ground, and suddenly had my axe in its hand. ¡°You mother¨C¨C¡± I cut my own words short as an indignant fury erupted in my soul. ¡°Get your greasy-ass palms off my axe!¡± Armed with a weapon the ape fought back, throwing a clumsy swing with the axe. I avoided it easily, and went for a counter, but responded with a clumsy swing of my own. Damn! How the hell did Threja make this look so easy? We went back and forth, swing for clumsy swing, turning the battlefield into a warzone of flying rocks, dirt, and shale. Enough of this crap, I thought. I¡¯d finally finished cultivating enough Frenzy to use a true technique. Blue lightning shed from the sky as I raised the sword, and with a quick downward sh I directed it at the giant ape. The shock of the booming thunder was enough to cause it to freeze and it stood t footed as the technique connected with it dead on. With a crackling boom! the lightning struck it, causing the ape to howl and writhe in pain. I followed up quickly with another sweeping arc of Threja¡¯s de, aiming for my axe. The two metals collided once more, red sparks flying, the blow liberating my weapon from the gori¡¯s meaty hand. It spun in the air, rotating like a top and with a burst of speed I dove to catch it. Time froze as I snatched the axe from the sky and a new sense of power filled me as I wielded both weapons in my hands. I sent a crackle of blue lightning across my body as I casually hefted Threja¡¯s sword onto my left shoulder while holding my axe towards the ground in my right hand. I had no idea how I was going to fight like this, but no way was I going give this damn gori another chance to get any of my weapons again. The beast roared in defiance, perhaps realizing its end was near. It beat its chest as if powering up¨C¨Cor psyching itself up at the very least. It charged at me on all fours, bing more feral as snarls ripped from its fang-strewn maw. I used the footwork of my axe techniques to avoid it easily, retaliating with the same. I charged back with Frenzy-infused lightning trailing the edge of my axe de, hacking at the giant gori again and again. I sliced into the beast, causing it to howl and shudder with the effect of the lightning. It was stunned momentarily, staying still long enough tond a blow with the sword perhaps. I heaved it over my left shoulder one-handed, releasing a cry of rage as I swung it in a downward cleave. ¡°[My Turn]!¡± I chopped into its corbone the same way it had done to mine, only I aimed a bit closer to the shoulder, slicing its arm and part of its leg clean off. The ape bellowed in a fit of pain and shock, as if unable to ept what had just happened to it. It wailed and thrashed as it bled out, slowly losing steam as its life¡¯s blood emptied. That chop using Threja¡¯s sword felt damn good. So good that I felt like another. Stowing my axe, I doubled up my grip on the sword. ¡°Time to end this, my friend,¡± I said in Yee so it would understand. In betweenbored pants, the ape spoke as I approached it. ¡°You¡­strong¡­but¡­master¡­stronger¡­.kill¡­ you.¡± ¡°You tell your master that I¡¯ming for him, understand?¡± I choked up on the handle of the sword like a baseball bat, readying myself for a two-handed strike. ¡°Tell him the Cursed me wille to consume the King of the Moon!¡± I spun with the movement of a [One Chop Cleave], trailing the massive sword behind me as I leaned into the strike. It connected with barely any resistance at all, severing the beast¡¯s head from its body cleanly with a sharp ring! of steel. Its head fell to the ground and the huge body of the ape fell after it, spiking my [Bloodlust]. I cultivated the energy and suddenly felt the sword vibrating in my palm. I could sense something being drawn into it, something from the corpse of the beast itself. I wasn¡¯t certain, but the sword pulsed and the vibration seemed a bit stronger than it was before. What the hell was that? I wondered. Did Threja¡¯s de just get stronger by absorbing the beast¡¯s Qi? But I pushed the thought aside as I turned my attention to Kelsey. She was still on the ground and filled with pain. ¡°Kelsey, you okay?¡± I said, dropping to my knees before her. She didn¡¯t have any broken skin, but that didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t have broken bones. I examined her quickly, eliciting several hisses of pain. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve broken your leg in two spots,¡± I said. ¡°Not bad considering. Plus, it¡¯s going to give you a chance to grow back stronger.¡± She grinned up at me. ¡°I like how you think, Max. But damn that was freaking amazing. Are you the Hulk too?¡± I chuckled, realizing she¡¯d never seen me transform to quite this size before. As I helped Kelsey gingerly from the ground, I sensed the others cautiously approaching me from behind me. They all stopped in their tracks as I turned to them, looking up at me in a mixture of apprehension, curiosity, and in old fear. ¡°You can all rx,¡± I said, hefting Threja¡¯s sword back onto my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m still on your side.¡± No one said anything for a moment, nces shifting between them until they all inevitablynded on Jim. Finally, the colonel spoke, his browed furrowed more deeply than I¡¯d ever seen it before. ¡°What in the hell are you, son?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a god just like I told you,¡± Kelsey answered for me. ¡°Now do you see why I think he should be in charge?¡± Jim didn¡¯t respond to her, his mind still trying toprehend what he¡¯d just seen perhaps. I guess you could sort of rationalize a guy killing a couple hundred demons with an axe as crazy kung fu magic. But to see me literally regenerate my body from a death blow and turn into a lightning-wielding giant was on a different level. Hell, even seasoned cultivators would have reacted the same. So much for keeping it a secret, I thought. Although they had no idea what was taboo or not right now. With my me fully restored, the Struggler eased back in control again. ¡°You¡¯re still in charge, Jim,¡± I said. ¡°Gaining power and control was never my aim. I¡¯m here to help. To restore our people. Now after what you¡¯ve seen, I¡¯m sure you may have some questions, doubts and even fears, but I want to prove to you that this sword can and will protect the bunker from those demons.¡± I nced at Richards, but he didn¡¯t dare speak this time. ¡°Fine,¡± Jim said. ¡°And how do you propose to prove it?¡± ¡°Tonight, when the Bloodmoon rises you¡¯ll be able to see for yourself.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± ¡°One more thing,¡± I said and then looked down at Kelsey. ¡°Kelsey sticks with me from now on. And that book you took from her. I need it returned.¡± Jim¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I can understand you not wanting to mass adopt a foreign influence, but Kelsey has use of that book now. She¡¯ll be your proof of concept to observe. If you like what you see, it¡¯ll be up to you to authorize its dissemination to everyone else. Deal?¡± Jim harrumphed. ¡°On the book part, yes. As for her sticking with you, that authorization goes way above my pay grade.¡± I raised a brow at him. ¡°You¡¯ll need to ask her mother for that kind of permission, son.¡± He then gave Kelsey a quick up and down. ¡°And bringing her back looking like that¡­ God only help you surviving Susan¡¯s wrath.¡± Book 2: Chapter 18 I SPENT A few minutes investigating the ape¡¯s body for a core. Sure enough, there was one, but quite small. Certainly not as big as I thought it would be for how strong it was. Perhaps it had been drawing strength from Threja¡¯s sword. That reminded me of the strange effect the sword had had upon me killing it. Did the sword absorb part of the core perhaps? So many questions, but I didn¡¯t have time to be looking to them now. After splinting Kelsey¡¯s leg and applying a healthy dose of healing salve, I slung her onto my back, along with my axe and carried Threja¡¯s sword on my shoulder as we made the trek home. It was a quiet journey. No one spoke, perhaps still traumatized by the ordeal and/or the giant, lightning-wielding titan travelling with them. Besides the crunch of foliage beneath our feet, the only other sound was that of Kelsey gently snoring after her body finally gave into the pain and post adrenaline rush. By the time we reached the bunker she had awoken however, which turned out to be good timing as Susan was waiting for us apanied by a squad of soldiers. As soon as she saw Kelsey¡¯s leg, she ran to us screaming. ¡°Kelsey! What happened! What happened to her!¡± ¡°Rx, Mom, I¡¯m okay,¡± Kelsey said as I lowered her from my back. ¡°It¡¯s just a break.¡±¡°Get her to the infirmary!¡± Susan said. She then looked up at me. ¡°How did this happen?¡± ¡°Some things are best left unexined, Susan,¡± Jim cut in. ¡°Just know she¡¯s okay now. Your boy Max here saw to that.¡± I looked at Jim somewhat stunned. It was the first time he¡¯d called me by my actual name, not to mention him backing me up in front of Susan. Maybe he hade around some on the walk back. ¡°We¡¯re going to talk about this,¡± Susan said directly to Kelsey, her tone in full mom mode. She then went on a mini tirade about Kelsey not listening to anyone and putting herself in danger. I sensed the anger building within her, but to her credit, Kelsey didn¡¯t say a word through it all. When she finally did speak it was as if she was wearing a mask of [Indifference]. ¡°I know, Mom, and I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not going to stop.¡± ¡°What!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave you all to it,¡± Jim said, heading for the bunker door with the rest of his men. ¡°See you all out here at nightfall.¡± Susan spun about perplexed as the soldiers passed her. ¡°What did he mean by that?¡± I eased the sword off my shoulder and mmed it into the ground. ¡°Jim wants to see this thing in action for himself as proof.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll be here too,¡± Kelsey said. Susan¡¯s eyes widened with indignation. ¡°You will not! Just look at yourself! And what really happened out there?¡± ¡°We killed a giant freaking gori, that¡¯s what!¡± Kelsey said. ¡°And it nearly killed us too. And I¡¯d do it all again because Max needed me!¡± ¡°Kelsey, you¡¯re not a soldier. You¡¯re just a chil¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m 15, Mom!¡± ¡°Look¡­ Susan,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] pushing in between them. ¡°Everything you see Kelsey doing right now you can me on me. I¡¯ve lit a fire inside of her and it¡¯s not going to just go out.¡± I spoke it as a metaphor, but it was literal in this case. Susan looked at me cockeyed all the same. ¡°What?¡± I released a sigh. ¡°Kelsey is stronger than you know. She can even be as strong as me someday. But she¡¯ll need guidance and instruction. Things that I can provide to some extent, but I¡¯ll need to spend time with her. If that¡¯s okay?¡± ¡°What do you mean spend time?¡± Susan said and then jutted her hand at Kelsey¡¯s leg. ¡°Time doing stuff like this?¡± Probably¡­ I wanted to say, but the Struggler thankfully kept my tongue in check. ¡°Max is going to be my teacher, Mom,¡± Kelsey said and then looked up at me for confirmation. ¡°Right, Max?¡± I smiled at her, even though I wasn¡¯t sure if I even could be her teacher or not. Threja¡¯s words came back to me when I had asked her to be my master. ¡°A Berserker has no master,¡± she¡¯d said. ¡°We have no sect. Even the manual I have given you, is but a guide. Rage, pain and struggle are our only true teachers.¡± That was the key. Kelsey would have to go through this journey alone, and getting her a manual of her own would be a huge part of that. But until then, I would need to serve as Kelsey¡¯s guide. ¡°She¡¯s going to keep getting herself into trouble anyway,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s part of her DNA now. What I¡¯m going to do is give her the tools to survive.¡± ¡°Survive? What are you¡ª¡± Susan suddenly stopped herself and threw her hands up in the air. ¡°You know what? I¡¯m talking to two brick walls here.¡± She then spun about and started heading for the bunker. ¡°I love you, Mom!¡± Kelsey called out to her with a cheeky smile. Susan waved it away irritated. Kelseyughed. ¡°Wow I think that may have worked. So, what¡¯s the first lesson, teach?¡± I nced at Susan still walking away looking frustrated. ¡°The first lesson is to spend as much time with your family as you can.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I thought of my own family for a second. My parents and sister. I then thought of my present family¡ªYu Li, Gui Zu, Jian Yi and all the residents back home. ¡°Having someone or something to fight for is one of the ts of our faith.¡± ¡°Our faith?¡± I chuckled inwardly. Perhaps I¡¯d spoken too much. Although the Path of the Frenzied me was indeed a sort of faith. ¡°I¡¯ll exin moreter. Now go on. Be with your mom.¡± ¡°But I want to train with you.¡± ¡°You will, but your mom needs to mother you right now,¡± I said and then gave her a nudge. ¡°Go to her, Kelsey.¡± Kelsey responded by giving me a deadpan stare. ¡°Are you serious right now?¡± ¡°Trust me,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll have years to study and train together, decades even, maybe even centuries.¡± Her brow furrowed with iprehension. ¡°Centuries?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not even exaggerating,¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Actually, before you go, I do need to check something. Do you see any glowing writing on this?¡± I showed her Threja¡¯s sword, and she shook her head. ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°How about this?¡± I showed her the axe and got another head shake. ¡°What am I supposed to be seeing?¡± ¡°Nevermind, that¡¯s it for now. Go spend some time with your mom. Get that leg splinted properly. I need to do some studying of my own to prepare for your first lesson.¡± Kelsey grinned and then nodded. ¡°Okay, see you at sundown, teach.¡± She then began hobbling after Susan. ¡°Mom! Wait up! I need you!¡± Susan paused at the door of the bunker and then looked back at me. A bit of lemonade filled her heart as I gave her a nod and she mouthed the words ¡®Thank you¡¯. I waited for Susan to help Kelsey into the bunker and once finally alone I set Threja¡¯s sword inside the crater Richards had made to dig it up and then sat on the lip of it to finally read from the sacred scrolls. If Kelsey couldn¡¯t see this, then it meant that Threja must have used some advanced form of writing technique to transcribe it. Something that perhaps only I could see after I ascended to the core realm or conquered the Fear of Certain Death. The only other possibility was that the me itself was revealing this to me and that Threja had not transcribed it at all, but I confirmed that couldn¡¯t be the case as Kelsey had seen nothing on my axe either. That meant I would need to transcribe the contents of the orb for her. Not only for the purposes of her own insights, but the same way I had managed to master my mental refinement from spending hours staring into it would be hers to gain also. And when she had memorized it all she would eventually need her own orb to forge her weapon of choice. All of that meant I needed to find more Corrupted Steel. Not to mention that I would need to trante it all into English for her once I did get another orb. I could do it on paper, I supposed, but Threja had shared the orb and not a book for a reason. This was a ndestine path and I couldn¡¯t go spreading it willy-nilly by writing some book on paper. Only the me could reveal itself to those who followed the path. And I needed an orb to do that. But I needed to figure out how to write on the thing too. After weeks of waiting, I finally dove into the scripts I had been longing for. As I stared at the tiny characters, they superimposed themselves within my mind¡¯s eye, expanding to epass my entire vision as I fell into a meditative state. I yearned to dive into the new shuras of philosophy and techniques that I saw as I scrolled by, but I¡¯d just taken on a new responsibility and ensuring Kelsey proper education would have toe first. After a few moments I found exactly what I was looking for. Shura 943 On kindling Embers and spreading the Frenzied me. A new excitement filled me as I began to read. I had more than my own advancement to consider now. I had a newly kindled me to stoke into an inferno. Book 2: Chapter 19 THE FIRST PART of the Shura went into the details of how to properly kindle someone¡¯s ember into a me. I had gotten it mostly right with Kelsey, by evoking [Frenzied me] and [Pain and Sorrow], although I did it a bit out of order. It would then be up to the unkindled to ovee their fear of uncertain death to truly ignite their me. Which Kelsey had done by saving me. Further into the Shura I found exactly what I was looking for¡ªa method of transcribing. But it wasn¡¯t just instructions, it was a technique. [Brand of the Frenzied me] ¨C the safeguarding of the Shuras is paramount, for there are many who both covet and abhor the revtions of the me. For this reason,mit nothing of the Shuras to the page of a scroll, for the Frenzied me reveals its own truths to those who follow it. I smiled inwardly as I read the passage. I¡¯de to that same conclusion already. It was confirmation yet again that guidance came from the me itself. I read onwards. Therefore, utilize this technique tomit the scripts to a surface of corrupted steel. As one¡¯s inner me grows in strength, so too will one¡¯s ability to bothprehend and transcribe the revtions of the Frenzied me. A step lower may one transcribe and from a step lower may one alsoprehend. Thus, impart thy knowledge to a vessel as thou doth advance and ascend, for a younger practitioner thou may yet aid. The passage then went on to describe the mechanics of the techniques, including the meridian opening sequences as well as what elements were required, such as a description of Corrupted Steel. Just like Master Edrik had mentioned to me, the stuff was born of Cursed Stars, the sr equivalent of a Bloodmoon. After experiencing that alien god monster, it made me wonder what the hell else was out there in the universe seeking our ultimate demise. The final part of the shura mentioned requiring stage ten in mental capacity in order to fully utilize the technique. Damm, stage ten? I thought. What would it take to even achieve that?I searched for the table on Mental Refinement in my mind¡¯s eye to refresh my memory on it. Mental Refinement Category Stages Description Mental Capacity VI to X Increases your ability to store, retain and recall information. At 6th stage, you gain the ability to detect information within the spiritual realm. At 8th stage you are able toprehend information within the spiritual realm. At 10th stage you can transcribe and convey information within the spiritual realm. Train by seeking increasing revtions of Insight into the hidden and spiritual realms. Mental Quickness VI to X Increases the swiftness at which you can recall and corrte information you have retained. At 6th stage you are able to see within your own consciousness. At 8th stage you can split your thoughts within your own mind. At 10th stage you can project your thoughts outside your own body. Train by meditating and recalling information. Considering the descriptions, it seemed I was likely already at least Stage Six or even Eight in Mental Capacity considering I could interpret the Shuras imprinted on the sword. And Stage Six in Mental Quickness seeing as I could also recall them from my memory. It was a reminder that advancement was always happening and that sometimes the order in which things progressed were only revealed in hindsight. But to advance further in Mental Capacity, what exactly did ¡®seeking increasing revtions of Insight into the hidden and spiritual realms¡¯ actually mean? I searched the sword for any further exnation and after some time, found only one Shura pertaining to it. On Insight into the Spiritual Realms¡­ To see the unseen is the root of all spiritual growth and understanding, but to do so unprepared is to frolic with disaster. The unseen worlds¡ªbe they the Heavens or the nine nes of hell¡ªneither can be seen by mortal eyes. For the eyes of mortals are shielded with the merciful veil of ignorance. To peel back this veil is to embark upon a path of both enlightenment and folly, for to see the unseen is to glimpse infinity. Therefore, prepare thyself thusly. Strengthen thy me and mind and glimpse only what ye can withstand, for the temptation of knowledge is alluring yet destructive. We sayeth thus again¡ªonly glimpse and stare not into void of the unknown, for terrors that can break even the minds of Soul Emperors, within the void doth freely roam. A chill went through me as I read the passage, dark images of that alien god fitting the description to a tee. Was I actually training my spiritual growth every time I encountered that thing? It also reminded me of what Lieutenant Harris had said about what happened to his men after they looked into that gate. This was a whole new world to me. Like a shadow world with a strength that dwarfed even the cultivation empire itself. But if I were to progress to the point of aiding Kelsey¡¯s progression as well, then I needed to face this void of infinity or whatever the hell it was. It sounded like ying with literal fire to me, though¡ªthe warnings in the passage were clear. I recalled my most recent encounter with the Bloodmoon, being within that dark void when my vision to the outside world was copsing. I was trapped in that dark space in between existence. I couldn¡¯t defend myself from that monster at all in that space. Only the candle of Kelsey¡¯s newly kindled me had saved me. It was a scary prospect to keep poking into that realm for enlightenment, but then I saw something in the Shuras that gave me hope. [Soul Shield] ¨C the most elementary of soul techniques. Use it to guard thy me from attacks from both without and within the spiritual realm. Heck yeah! I thought, as a thrill of joy ran through me. This was exactly what I was looking for! I could finally defend myself from both that monster and Hin Wu if I could master this technique. I read further with eagerness and anticipation, looking for what other techniques might be hidden within the Shuras. After a while, sure enough, I uncovered a whole section devoted to what I could only describe as preparation for ascension into the next realm. The Realm of the Sacred Soul cultivator. [Spectral Body] ¨C the form of one¡¯s soul is forever being molded, but for it to take true shape, it must first develop a body. Use this technique to both envision and inhabit a spectral body within thy own Core. Tread thou carefully however, for the refection of one¡¯s true inner self is forged not by will, but the history of one¡¯s thoughts and deeds. That warning reminded me of something; a passage I had read somece else. Flexing my memory, I looked within the pages of the Foundation manual and found what I was looking for on page 143. ¡°Within theter stages of solid core formation, a practitioner will begin to sense a secondary consciousness within their Dantian. This stage is known as the germination of one¡¯s sacred soul. Through further cultivation of Qi, the soul is nourished through a gestation period. The sacred soul is the truest reflection of one¡¯s inner self. Whether a god or a demon, a sacred soul reveals the identity and history of one¡¯s journey. Therefore, caution must be taken in how one umtes power after this stage is achieved.¡± So the methods of cultivation were lining up yet again. I wondered what my inner self would eventually look like. Just the thought of that discovery made me eager to advance to that stage to find out. But how many stages away was that anyway? I looked further in the foundation manual to check the tier list again. Core Formation 1st Core Formation 2nd Core Body Refinement 3rd Core Mental Refinement 4th Core Density Refinement 5th Inner Soul Detection 6th Inner Soul Focus 7th Inner Soul Refinement 8th Inner Soul Projection 9th Secondary Soul Germination Yup, I thought. These techniques were all at the higher tiers of core formation level. Far beyond where I was trying to reach right now, but nothing was stopping me from trying to achieve them. Like Mu Lin had taught me, the Tiers between realms took no breakthrough to achieve and could be attempted at any time. And in fact, trying to practice the abilities of higher tiers often elerated advancement. I went back to the section of the sword I was on previously and searched for techniques I might be able to employ that would push towards the Sacred Soul Realm. There were more warnings about the implications of one¡¯s actions on one¡¯s soul and then finally I saw the list I was looking for. [Spectral Armor] ¨C once developed, this armor can embody the strength of one¡¯s soul and protect one¡¯s spectral body in the spiritual realm. [Spectral Weapon] ¨C the extension of one¡¯s will in spiritual form, use it to inflict damage within the spiritual realm. [Spectral Domain] ¨C expand the interior of one¡¯s Frenzied Core to create an inner world to be inhabited by one¡¯s spectral body. Holy crap, I thought. This was next-level stuff. The possibilities that came with learning and mastering these techniques already had my mind spinning, but then I read something that sent my mind clear through the roof. [Spectral Form] ¨C an advanced manifestation technique, to summon thy Spectral Body into the physical realm. I immediately thought of Threja when she transformed herself using that [Furnace of the Frenzied me] technique. She¡¯d told me that it was her spectral form that I¡¯d seen. But if that was the case, then [Spectral Form] had to be the Mark techniques on crack. And then I saw the ultimate technique itself in all its glory. [Furnace of the Frenzied me] ¨C manifest your Spectral Domain, Body and me into the physical world. When in this state, a Berserker is at once most powerful and most vulnerable, for any who witness such a manifestation will know immediately thy true nature by the revtion of thy me. Do so to inspire the unkindled and newly kindled alike, but if an enemy of the me doth witness such power, be certain to ensure their demise. As I read the passage, I couldn¡¯t help but reflect on when Threja had used the [Furnace of the Frenzied me] technique in front of me. Knowing what I know now, it was definitely overkill considering the weak Fire Birds she was up against. So had she used it primarily for me? To encourage and inspire a newly kindled me? Just the thought of her doing something like that made me grateful to her once again. Thanks, Big Sis, I said a prayer to her while caressing the de. For everything. I could only imagine what using it for myself would be like, especially to inspire someone like Kelsey. I knew the effect it had had on me. As I read further into the techniques, I noted all of them required not only full mastery of Body and Mental refinement, but knowledge of meridians I hadn¡¯t even discovered yet. Further, the amount of Frenzy required to both evoke and maintain them looked huge. It made me all the more eager to get back to killing giant monsters and cultivating. But as I looked further through the Shuras, I saw new techniques to assist with more advanced forms of Frenzy cultivation as well. Upon thy path, thou may discover pain, sorrow and rage that is not thy own. However, be it from a collected pain shared by many and aligned with thy own path, one may harness the struggle of the masses to feed one¡¯s own me. I then looked further down and there were three techniques listed, each with their own sets of meridian openings, simr to my normal cultivation techniques like [Your Fear is my Strength] only slightly different, involving a limitation by range as well as requiring both Mental Capacity and Mental Quickness at Stage Eight. [Everyone¡¯s Fear] [Everyone¡¯s Sorrow] [Everyone¡¯s Rancor] ¨C thementations of the masses can hold much strength when inrge numbers. Be they the oppressed or the downtrodden, so long as a focus for their oppression can be challenged, so too can a Frenzied me lend its strength to aid the many. That sounded like an incredibly powerful form of cultivation for a Berserker, but quite narrow and specific in its application too. In my case, I wondered if I could tap into the sorrow and pain of the people in the bunker or even others across the city. I was just about to dive into the details of the technique further when suddenly the image of the characters vanished from my mind¡¯s eye and I saw myself just staring at the sword again. Something nudged me and I realized it was Kelsey. ¡°Earth to Max!¡± she shouted. ¡°Wake up, Max!¡± I snapped to my senses, and bewilderedly looked up at her. She was sporting a set of aluminum crutches now and her leg was in an actual cast from just below the hip down. ¡°Oh hey, Kelsey.¡± ¡°Damn, you were seriously spaced out there,¡± she said, still looking at me funny. ¡°Have you been sitting out here this whole time?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I then noticed that the sky was twinged with the reddish hue of twilight, the Bloodmoon already on the rise. Damn, I really had been lost in the scriptures. More than six hours had gone by in what barely seemed like any time at all. I chuckled. ¡°I guess time flies.¡± ¡°Jim and everyone else are huddled at the entrance,¡± Kelsey said, nodding towards the bunker. ¡°Chicken shit, I guess. You ready?¡± I looked past her to see Jim and his men, along with Susan staring out the bunker door with looks of dismay on their faces. ¡°Did you break orders ande here on your own again?¡± Kelsey shrugged. ¡°Hey, I know it¡¯s safe. Come on, let¡¯s go prove it to them too.¡± It took a few more minutes to muster everyone together, but eventually Jim and his officers, along with Richards and his crew, stepped sheepishly outside. ¡°Well, this looks promising,¡± Flores said, scanning about. ¡°No sign of any of them yet at least.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I can hear em?¡± Harris said and sure enough in the distance the first shrieks of demons began to sound across the night. ¡°You two want to exin why we need to stand the hell out here to prove this?¡± Jim said. ¡°We can see well enough from the camera in the bunker.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be able to see what we¡¯re about to show you,¡± Kelsey said and then looked up at me. ¡°Right, Max?¡± I felt a hint of pride as her me stirred. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I said with a smile and stooped slightly to lift Kelsey from the ground and gingerly ced her on my back. ¡°Follow us, Jim. You¡¯ll definitely want to see this with your own eyes.¡± Book 2: Chapter 20 I TOOK THE lead with Kelsey, staying a good couple hundred feet ahead of Jim and his men. They were still trekking behind us cautiously with their weapons drawn like they were on a night jungle patrol or something. I couldn¡¯t me them, though. Stepping outside like this was probably going against every survival instinct they had developed over thest ten years¡ªnever leave the safety of the bunker at night and all that. It was a no brainer. No different than how I¡¯d learned to stay inside the safety of the barrier back home. But hopefully after tonight, they would all be breathing a little easier again. ¡°Hey Max,¡± Kelsey said after a while. ¡°What were you even saying to that big gori thing anyway?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Right before you killed it. You were both talking in Yee or whatever.¡± I had to think back a bit to remember exactly what I¡¯d said. But it probably wouldn¡¯t make much sense to Kelsey if I told her. How could I exin that I was telling an awakened spirit beast being influenced by an alien space god monster that I was going to hunt down and kill its master? ¡°Eh? Just shit talking mostly,¡± I said while weaving through light forest. ¡°But I got a question for you too.¡±¡°Shoot.¡± ¡°Did you study any of that cultivation manual?¡± ¡°For about a week, yeah. Until Richards took the sword and then I had to hide it.¡± ¡°How much do you remember from it?¡± ¡°I think I read up to the middle bit. But I remember all the basic concepts. I did transcribe the whole thing so reading it again was almost like reinforcement.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± I said. ¡°When we get that manual back from Jim, you¡¯ll need to start applying that knowledge for real. Especially the Foundation Realm stuff.¡± ¡°Is that what I am?¡± she asked. ¡°A Foundation Realm cultivator?¡± I chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re getting the lingo already. And to answer your question it¡¯s a bit of a yes and no. Spiritually you¡¯ve awakened something that would put you at that level, but physically your body is still way too weak to handle anything involving the Foundation Realm.¡± ¡°Yeah, tell me about it,¡± Kelsey said sardonically while knocking on her cast. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. In time you¡¯ll learn things to make healing much faster. And that salve I put on you should heal your leg in less than a week too.¡± ¡°Less than a week? You serious? That¡¯d be killer.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll probably freak out your mom again so just be prepared to do some damage control when you eventually rip that cast off.¡± Sheughed. ¡°Once you¡¯re well enough, it¡¯ll be a lot of physical training for you,¡± I said. ¡°Your body has a long way to go to catch up to your spirit.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready for it,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to be able to swing a huge sword like you one day.¡± I smiled, thankful for the extra lemonade. I wondered just how long it might take for Kelsey to advance. I¡¯d had the benefit, or perhaps the curse, of Foundation school training since the age of nine. She was starting prettytepared to that at 15. Perhaps I would need to haul some Qi-infused food back from the city for her once Yu Li got skilled enough to make it. But aside from her physical progress, there was a lot that Kelsey still needed in terms of knowledge. Considering what I had just gleaned from the sword, it would be a little while yet before I could forge Kelsey an orb of her own. Which meant I needed to fill her in on the basics in the meantime and there was no time like the present, I supposed. ¡°Hey Kelsey,¡± I said, pushing my way through a particrly thick patch of undergrowth. ¡°There are some other very important things I need to tell you. Things that can only be shared between the two of us. Understand?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± she said, leaning her head forward eagerly. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°You remember the name of the path I said you were on?¡± ¡°Berserker right? Is that what we are? Berserkers?¡± I smiled when she said the word ¡®we¡¯. ¡°That¡¯s what they call us yes, but the true name of our path is called the Path of the Frenzied me.¡± Her me red in response. ¡°Ah yeah!¡± she said. ¡°I remember you saying that too.¡± ¡°There is a fire burning inside your soul now, Kelsey, a [Frenzied me] that can convert your feelings of fear, pain and rage into physical strength. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re able to feel or even sense it yet, but it¡¯s there.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I definitely feel a little different, but¡­ not like magic different.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯lle in time. The energy we produce from our me is called Frenzy. You can think of it the same as Qi.¡± ¡°Like from the manual?¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± I said. ¡°And almost everything in there is applicable also. Which is why we need to get it back. It¡¯s crucial for you to master its concepts. You¡¯ll need that knowledge to progress along your own path of the Frenzied me.¡± ¡°So what is this path exactly?¡± she asked. ¡°And how do I progress?¡± I wished I just had an orb to toss to her like Threja did me. I honestly didn¡¯t know if I could do the me justice with my exnation, but I had to give it a try. ¡°So, here¡¯s the deal,¡± I said, stopping for a moment to look back for Jim and his men. They were still floundering a good distance behind us, a single shlight beam waving back and forth in the darkness. ¡°In the world of cultivators our path is special, forbidden even. Some would even say it¡¯s rooted in demonic cultivation.¡± Her me flickered. ¡°Demonic? Like the same demons we fight?¡± ¡°Not exactly,¡± I said and then knelt down to write something on the ground. ¡°We¡¯re like¡­ good guy demons¡­sorta. They actually hate us. More than regr humans even. I still don¡¯t understand it all myself but the main thing you need to understand is this¡­¡± I wrote the Yee word for Berserker in the dirt and then pointed to each character in turn. ¡°In Yee, the word Berserker is made of two characters. Demon and Struggler. We are the demon that struggles. Our pain, sorrow, and humanity is what keeps our demon side in check. This bnce is the root of our Dao, our path. The source of our power.¡± I then quoted Threja. ¡°As an elder practitioner, the best advice I can give you is this: trust and follow the path of Frenzied me, but ensure the Struggler wrestles always with the Demon. Without struggle there can be no true growth, only descension into madness.¡± ¡°Whoa,¡± Kelsey said, peering over my shoulder at the characters. ¡°That¡¯s sounds pretty heavy. Is that what happened to you when you were fighting those demonsst night? Too much Demon? Not enough Struggler?¡± I smiled, delighted at how quickly and readily Kelsey was grasping the concepts. ¡°Not exactly,¡± I said. ¡°But close. That was me nearly losing control to the demon from the influence of the Bloodmoon, not from losing control myself. The Bloodmoon has that effect.¡± ¡°Are you serious? It can make you go Berserk?¡± ¡°Essentially. And you too eventually, when you be stronger, I guess. For normal humans, it will turn them into demons as well, but more slowly. At least I think so.¡± I felt her me strengthen and when I turned to look at her, her face was set in a grimace. ¡°I hate those things. They¡¯ve killed so many of us. Kept us trapped in here.¡± I pointed up at the Bloodmoon. ¡°That¡¯s the true culprit. The King of the Moon.¡± ¡°King of the Moon?¡± I wondered if I should even be sharing this much, but what the hell. ¡°It¡¯s like an evil spirit. Or god. At least I think that¡¯s what is causing all of this. I don¡¯t know yet for sure. But I¡¯m going to find out.¡± My own me stirred then, matching the conviction in my soul. I envisioned what that gate Jim had spoken of might look like. A portal to whatever demonic hell the King of the Moon was from. I would need to get strong enough to destroy it one day. And with the shuras I¡¯d just studied, I had plenty of new firepower to acquire to do so. ¡°This is all very far out,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But very cool too.¡± I chuckled and stood, getting back underway. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I have a whole lot more to reveal to you but you¡¯ll discover much more for yourself and on your own. The Path of the Frenzied me is a solitary one.¡± ¡°Solitary? Like you¡¯re not supposed to help me or something?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t even if I wanted to.¡± I then quoted Threja again. ¡°A Berserker has no master, we have no sect. Rage, pain, and struggle are our only true teachers. So never consider me your teacher or master. We are brethren now. Fellow followers of the Frenzied me.¡± I paused then, and couldn¡¯t help but feel a touch of nostalgia from when Threja shared those same words to me. ¡°After you be skilled with the cultivation manual, I¡¯ll give you another that¡¯s more specific to the path,¡± I said. ¡°It will be your true guide.¡± ¡°Wow okay,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Thank you. This is all incredible. I literally can¡¯t wait to get started.¡± ¡°Just remember to keep all of this a secret,¡± I said. ¡°You won¡¯t appreciate it yet, but when you finally associate with other cultivators, you¡¯ll see our powers are both different, and in some ways, superior to theirs.¡± ¡°Superior?¡± ¡°Yeah. Not gonna lie. We¡¯re kind of OP. That¡¯s why they hate us¡ªthe Qi cultivators.¡± Kelsey giggled gleefully. ¡°Wait, so we¡¯re like superheroes evenpared to superheroes?¡± Iughed when she put it like that. ¡°In some ways yeah. But they¡¯ll kill you for it too. So we need to keep it hush hush, like secret identity.¡± ¡°Like Batman?¡± I grinned. ¡°Yeah, like Batman.¡± Kelseyughed and then did her best Batman impression. ¡°Hey, Max¡­ I¡¯m Batman.¡± Iughed again, reminded of how young and yful Kelsey still was at times. ¡°This is crazy, Max,¡± she said, bing serious again. ¡°I really can¡¯t wait to get started. What do I do first?¡± ¡°Study,¡± I said. ¡°But like I said, to do that¡­we need to get your book back first.¡± * * * We finally arrived at the edge of the sword¡¯s barrier and was greeted with the expected mob of snarling demons over a hundred strong. As soon as they saw me, they began throwing themselves against the invisible ¡®force field¡¯, screeching and shrieking. I sensed Kelsey¡¯s me ring as she watched them. I set her down and then waited for Jim and his men to appear. They did so slowly, edging out of the nearby tree line with their rifles shouldered at the ready. Only when they had reached Kelsey and I, some thirty feet or so from the barrier¡¯s edge, did they all slowly begin to rx. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned,¡± Flores said, removing herbat helmet. ¡°It¡¯s like magic or something.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Magic from a magic sword. Go figure, huh?¡± Flores chuckled at her, shaking her head. ¡°Smart ass.¡± ¡°Well, this looks like proof to me,¡± Jim said, stepping next to me. ¡°How long will thisst?¡± ¡°The barrier?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Forever, I think. So long as the sword is there at night.¡± Jim looked back into the darkness towards the bunker. ¡°Got a hell of a radius too. About a quarter mile, just like you said. Should keep those demons out from below, giving the depth of level 7.¡± ¡°That I¡¯m not so sure about,¡± I said honestly. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this field can prate through hard ground. Until we know for sure, I¡¯d suggest keeping the lower levels sealed in case there¡¯s another breach from below.¡± ¡°How about we just move it below?¡± Harris said. ¡°Same issue,¡± I said. ¡°It might not prate to keep the surface safe then. And trust me, being able to live on the surface is a much better trade-off if you had to choose. In my opinion anyway. Plus, there might even be a way for me to extend its reach.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Jim said, looking up at me. ¡°How so?¡± I thought back to how the sword hummed and vibrated more strongly once I¡¯d killed that ape, almost as if it were absorbing the Qi of its soul. There was no way I could exin any of that to Jim in a way he¡¯d understand, though. ¡°I¡¯ll have to test a few things,¡± I said. ¡°But it would mean me taking the sword out to the wilderness in the daytime to strengthen it.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Jim said, folding his arms as he stared transfixed at the snarling demons iling vainly against the barrier. ¡°So long as you bring it back each night to do this. I¡¯ll be all for it.¡± I didn¡¯t really need his permission, but it was a small victory in winning his trust either way. ¡°That sounds doable.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Jim said and then he shouted in a sudden authoritative tone. ¡°Sergeant Richards!¡± Richards snapped to attention. ¡°Yes, colonel!¡± Jim stepped towards him slowly, his hands behind his back. ¡°We seem to have erroneous data concerning the ability of that sword to repel demons. Do we not?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ y-yes, sir,¡± Richards stammered. ¡°I suppose so, sir. I uh¡­ I didn¡¯t know, sir!¡± Anger red within Kelsey. ¡°That¡¯s bullshit! We were living outside for a week!¡± Richards red at Kelsey, licking his lips. ¡°She¡¯s lying.¡± He then looked to his team. ¡°Ain¡¯t she, guys? Tell him!¡± Richards stared helplessly at his four subordinates, but his men all remained silent, ncing away. Jim spun Richards back about to look him dead in the eye. I could sense the fear building inside the sergeant as Jim grilled him with a silent stare. ¡°Sergeant Richards, do you now im to have not known that the sword possessed this ability?¡± He swallowed visibly, his neck tensing. ¡°Y-yes sir. I- I didn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I find that hard to believe given there were people here telling you the exact opposite.¡± ¡°Well, I ah¡­ I guess I just didn¡¯t believe ¡®em, I guess.¡± ¡°So it wasn¡¯t you didn¡¯t know, you just didn¡¯t believe? Is that right?¡± Richards¡¯ pulse was hammering so hard even I could hear it. ¡°Yes sir, I didn¡¯t believe them.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I sensed anger building within Jim next. ¡°So if you didn¡¯t believe, why then did you go through the effort of dragging a hunk of ¡®useless steel¡¯ nearly five klicks and dump it into a ravine?¡± Richards¡¯ mouth opened and closed several times, but nothing came out. Jim smirked. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± The colonel stepped back a few paces and then drew his sidearm, aiming it at Richards¡¯ head. ¡°Sergeant Richards, you have proven by your actions that you willfully endangered the lives of U.S. citizens and U.S. army personnel by removing that sword. As per our revised codes of conduct, you are hereby relieved of your duties and sentenced to execution. Terms to be carried out forthwith.¡± ¡°No, Jim! No wai¨C!¡± Before Richards could even finish, Jim snapped the trigger and a shot rang out, muzzle fire shing in the darkness. A cloud of red mist exploded from Richards¡¯ head and his body fell to the ground in a noisy whump. Slow tension filled the air, fearing from the rest of Richards¡¯ subordinates. ¡°Corporal Andrews!¡± Jim shouted. ¡°Front and center.¡± The young soldier was pissing fear as he came to attention before the colonel. I expected Jim to raise his sidearm again, but he holstered it instead. ¡°Andrews, you are hereby field promoted to Sergeant. Take your squad and see to the disposal of this traitor¡¯s corpse.¡± His fear lessened somewhat as he smacked his heels together. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Flores and Harris looked nonplussed by the whole event, as did Kelsey. It reminded me of the stories Susan had told us of the early days in the bunker and how Jim had to make tough decisions to keepw and order. I supposed that I was just witness to one of them. Jim approached Kelsey and I, followed by Flores and Harris. ¡°You delivered on your promise, son,¡± Jim said, giving me a nod and then walked off in the direction of the bunker. ¡°Come see me in my office to get your book back.¡± Book 2: Chapter 21 I DIDN¡¯T GO to Jim¡¯s office right away. After the newly promoted Sergeant Andrews collected Richards¡¯ body to prepare it for disposal, I hung back with Kelsey to do some preparations of my own. I rooted through the nearby trees for fist-sized rocks and began cing them in a line about three feet back from the mass of the snarling demons. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Kelsey asked, looking over my shoulder. ¡°Marking the edge of the barrier,¡± I said. ¡°The sword will protect us from demons, but not spirit beasts. We need to construct a wall or something to keep them out. Once that¡¯s done, I¡¯ll feel a whole lot better about leaving you guys out here alone to head back to the city.¡± ¡°Alone? What are you talking about?¡± She then threw her hands on her hips in a superhero pose. ¡°Your little Berserker Sister will be here to defend the tribe!¡± She thenughed. ¡°Eventually anyway.¡± Iughed with her, her youthful enthusiasm delighting me. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, little sis.¡± Kelsey grinned at her new title. ¡°But seriously though,¡± she said. ¡°You want to build a wall?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯ll be a big job. Going to need as many hands as we can get working on it.¡±¡°No kidding. You¡¯re probably going to need to ask Jim for his help with that though.¡± ¡°Yeah, probably, but I can¡¯t see him disagreeing with increased security. I¡¯ll talk to him about it when I get the book.¡± ¡°It¡¯d be a huge improvement for sure, though,¡± Kelsey said with a nod. ¡°When we were living outside before, most people still went into the bunker at night. A wall would definitely help to make people feel safe.¡± ¡°Yup,¡± I said,ying down more rocks. ¡°I have another reason for doing this as well. I felt the sword grow stronger when I killed that ape. I need to see if the barrier actually extends as a result of me killing spirit beasts with it. Need to use these rocks as a marker.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re going to go hunt another giant ape?¡± ¡°Or something like it,¡± I said, looking up at the Bloodmoon. ¡°If I have time.¡± I didn¡¯t know how long it would take to build the wall, probably more time than I had, but I couldn¡¯t leave them like this, knowing what I knew now. A roaming B-ss monster could wipe them out just as easily as the demons. Hopefully Gui Zu and Zu Tien could hold the fort down for an extra day or so while I got this done. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to it then,¡± Kelsey said, doing her best to help by collecting some rocks of her own. ¡°This wall won¡¯t build itself.¡± We spent the next half hour circling the perimeter,ying down rocks, sticks, and branches to mark the one and a half miles worth of wall we¡¯d eventually have to construct. Seeing just how much length was involved, I still wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take, but I had to make a start. ¡°Okay let¡¯s go see Jim,¡± I said once we had finished. ¡°We¡¯re going to have a lot of work to do.¡± * * * I stopped just outside Jim¡¯s office and when he beckoned me to enter, he suddenly raised his hand to stop me again when he looked past me to glimpse Kelsey. ¡°Hold on,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯d like to see him alone please, Kelsey. You mind waiting outside?¡± Kelsey frowned, looking dejected and then looked to me for confirmation. I nodded to her. ¡°It¡¯s ok. I¡¯ll be out soon.¡± Kelseyplied and once I closed the door behind me, Jim motioned for me to sit across the desk from him. ¡°Took you a while to get back,¡± he said. ¡°Thought you¡¯d be eager to get this book of yours.¡± ¡°I am,¡± I said. ¡°But there was something I needed to sort out first.¡± ¡°Oh? What¡¯s that?¡± I exined to him about the need to build the wall and how I had already marked out the footings with the stones and also how¡¯d I¡¯d use the same to determine if I could extend the width of the barrier. His brows raised. ¡°Is that right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I was hoping you could maybe assist with getting your men to help. If you think this is a good idea, that is?¡± Jim smiled, perhaps sensing I was acquiescing to his authority. ¡°Of course it¡¯s a good idea. I just question the logistics and our ability to take on that kind of task.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do the heavy lifting,¡± I said. ¡°Literally. Just need some hands digging the foundation while I¡¯m out gathering materials.¡± ¡°What kind of materials?¡± ¡°I was thinking using logs would be the quickest and easiest for now. We¡¯re basically surrounded by pines and they¡¯re all pretty tall.¡± Jim sat back in his chair, mustache twitching. ¡°I¡¯ll do you one better,¡± he said. ¡°Harris was in the Army Corps of Engineers before he transferred to the base. I¡¯ll have him help you design the damn thing. If we¡¯re going to do this, need to make sure it¡¯llst.¡± I smiled. ¡°That¡¯s even better. Thanks much.¡± ¡°No, thank you,¡± Jim said. ¡°This wall and barrier will help us survive long term no doubt.¡± I nodded as an awkward silence then passed between us. Finally, Jim leaned across his desk, hands folded atop it. ¡°Now, Max¡­ before we go any further. I need to check in with you on something.¡± I raised my brow at that. ¡°Sure?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about what you witnessed tonight.¡± ¡°You talking about Richards?¡± ¡°Yes, son. Richards. I¡¯d like to know how you feel about that. If you have any issues with how I handled that situation. If you do, I want you to be forthright about it.¡± It was an odd question, but perhaps he was trying to head off any potential dissension at the pass. ¡°Seen worse where I¡¯m from,¡± I said. ¡°And honestly if you didn¡¯t do it, I probably would have done it eventually.¡± Jim let out a harumph. ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand what you saw. That was justice. Not punishment.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to justify anything to me, Jim. You¡¯re in charge and you had to make a call. It was the right one, in my opinion anyway.¡± Jim paused a moment more, studying me as if checking for sincerity. I didn¡¯t use [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] but I didn¡¯t need to. I meant every word I¡¯d said. ¡°Alright then,¡± Jim said seemingly satisfied and his countenance shifted as he opened his desk drawer. ¡°Now I¡¯m going to give you back your book, but ites with a catch.¡± He plopped the cultivation manual on top of his desk along with another book with a hard cover. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I ask, flipping the book around. ¡°If you¡¯re going to have us learn about Yee culture, then you also need to learn about your own.¡± I read the title that was in English. ¡°History of the American Revolution¡­¡± ¡°How old were you when they took you, son? Four? Five?¡± ¡°I was eight,¡± I said. ¡°A bit older than most.¡± Looking back now, that single difference was the one thing that had truly saved me. Were I any younger, I¡¯d be no different than Jian Yi and Yu Li, consigned to my fate as a Terranmoner because I just didn¡¯t know life as anything but. ¡°That¡¯s older than I expected,¡± Jim said. ¡°But still too young to have ever digested anything like this.¡± He then tapped on the history book. ¡°I¡¯ve re-read this about eight times now and the more I read it, the more the simrities I see to what¡¯s happening to us now. You showing up here, to fill in the nks on what¡¯s going on in the outside world only solidified that for me. We¡¯re the Yanks versus the Yee instead of the Brits this time.¡± I picked up the book and began flipping through the pages. I had learned about the American Revolution in school, but after years of being force fed Yee culture and history, I had to admit the details were all but lost to me now. ¡°You¡¯re one powerful son of a gun,¡± Jim said. ¡°Done things I still can¡¯t quite wrap my mind around yet. And maybe never will. Were we still a nation, you¡¯d be a treasure¨C¨Ca secret weapon to deploy against the enemy.¡± I nodded at him, but wasn¡¯t quite sure where he was headed with this. ¡°The thing about a weapon though, is you need to know exactly how it works before you can wield it effectively. And right now, I don¡¯t know exactly how you work, Max.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not a weapon, Jim,¡± I said, setting the book down. ¡°That¡¯s for sure. I¡¯m a person, blessed with abilities that I choose to use to free my people. I¡¯m a Terran just like you, looking to restore the Earth.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a Terran, Son. You¡¯re an American.¡± I squinted at him. ¡°I fight for the whole Earth. There are no countries anymore.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± he said. ¡°But our spirit lives on. And if you¡¯re going to fight for something. For us. Then you need to know what the hell it is you¡¯re actually fighting for.¡± He tapped on the book again. ¡°This will tell you.¡± I looked at the book again. This was a new sort of challenge. I didn¡¯t necessarily like the way Jim had put it across, but he was right in that I had only a vague inkling of what the world was truly like before the fall. I was a kid when the old world ended. I knew Minecraft and Roblox, not world history and geopolitics. I always knew that the people here held the seed to the revival of us as a nation. And I couldn¡¯t be exempt from the process. If I was going to restore the Earth, then I needed to know what it was I was restoring. ¡°You got yourself a deal, Jim,¡± I said, scooping both books off the desk. ¡°Kelsey will learn cultivation and I¡¯ll learn history.¡± Jim smiled. ¡°Excellent.¡± We both rose and shook hands. ¡°Onest thing,¡± he said. ¡°You mind heading out there and killing something edible before you set to chopping down a whole damn forest?¡± Iughed. ¡°Way ahead of you, Jim. A breakfast barbeque will be first thing on the agenda.¡± Book 2: Chapter 22 TRUE TO MY word, I was up early the next morning and out into the wild scouting as soon as the Bloodmoon set. It didn¡¯t take me long to track down another giant boar which I quickly killed and ughtered for themunity to enjoy. By daybreak I had returned to the bunker to find Jim already assembled with the soldiers, ready to assist with building the wall. I handed the boar over to the civilians to prepare while I met with Harris to discuss the n. ¡°So what exactly do you have in mind?¡± he asked, folding his arms and looking at me somewhat skeptically. I then went on to describe roughly the idea of using logs to make the wall itself and his eyes suddenly lit up with recognition. ¡°Ah, a palisade,¡± he said. ¡°Is that what it¡¯s called?¡± He grinned. ¡°You¡¯re going to put my skills to the test, but yeah, that can work. So long as we have enough trees. A circr defense wall half a mile wide?¡± He let out a whistle. ¡°That¡¯s going to take a lot of damn trees.¡± Harris then went on to exin exactly how the wall or palisade would be constructed; from the length of the logs, how deep they should be buried and how they should beshed together and braced. He even went on to detail how they could erect steps and a parapet behind the wall once it was erected. ¡°That all sounds great,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll get to chopping trees while you guys dig the trench.¡±The next few hours went by in a flurry of activity. I got them started on digging the first couple hundred feet of trench for the foundation and after handing over the cultivation book to Kelsey for her to study from, I took my axe into the forest to chop down trees. It was a nice change to use my axe for something other than killing. It reminded me of my first days of cultivating at Master Edrik¡¯s ce, using thebor as a means to progress my Body Refinement. I did the same here, but instead of chopping mere logs, I was chopping down entire groves of trees, three and four at a time. I hauled them all back to camp and ced them in the waiting trench while Harris and his menshed them together. While back there, I gave them another push digging the trench itself, using my axe to send tons of rich earth shooting into the air as I dug down ten feet or more. I took advantage of the free lemonade as the soldiers all stopped to watch me work, cultivating it to advance my Muscle Strengthening. One of them pped me on the shoulder and called me an excavator on nitrous. I wasn¡¯tpletely sure what that meant, but Kelsey assured me it meant I was kicking serious ass in their eyes. We broke for lunch after havingpleted about 500 feet of wall and I joined the rest of themunity for a feast of wild hog and rice. Jim reintroduced me to themunity and let them all know what I was providing in terms of security and everyone rewarded me with another dose of free lemonade to cultivate. Oddly enough, Jim didn¡¯t mention Richards and his demise. But no one seemed to care much either. We got back at it after lunch andpleted another 500 feet of wall before calling it quits for the day. Most people retreated into the bunker to sleep, but I stayed up to check in with Kelsey and her studies before turning to the sword to conduct studies of my own. There were still hundreds of Shuras I had yet to read, much less memorize and digest, so even though I was dog tired, I got in a couple of hours of reading before drifting off to sleep under the stars. * * * The next couple of days went by much the same, only the more we got the hang of the process, the faster it became. A thousand feet a day became twelve hundred and then fifteen hundred, steadily increasing. Harris proved himself a capable construction manager the entire time and gave me direction on just how many logs to bring back and when; all to optimize the process and reduce down time. By day three we were just past halfwaypleted, but the production slowed a bit as I had to travel further and further away for fresh stock of trees each run. Thendscape was slowly transforming before my eyes. Where dense forest once stood, now there were acres of stumps. I supposed I¡¯d have to get to removing them at some point, but I could already envision the areas I had cleared bing even more space for expansion or even farnds if I could expand the barrier further. That got me itching to get on to my experiment and by day five I made an announcement. ¡°You¡¯re all going to need to take a quick break this morning,¡± I said to Harris. ¡°I need to chop down something besides trees today.¡± Harris looked at me funny. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I grabbed Threja¡¯s sword and then whistled for Kelsey who was reading from the cultivation manual as usual. She¡¯d been studying each day, the same as I was each night and now it was time to put both our sets of new book knowledge to the test. Kelsey hobbled over to me, her cast already removed from the day before. She wasn¡¯t walking perfectly yet but she was walking. ¡°What¡¯s up, Max?¡± she said, looking up at me. ¡°Time for your next big lesson,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°We¡¯re heading back into the wild today. And be sure to bring your monkey wrench.¡± * * * Kelsey and I made our way into what was left of the forest and after about an hour were far enough away for me to begin to pick up traces ofrger spirit beasts. True to my expectations, all the forest clearing had driven most of them deeper into the surrounding wilds, which was a good sign to me. It meant I could trust the wall was already doing its job of keeping themunity safe. But I was paying a price for it though. Not a day went by when I didn¡¯t hear Jian Yi¡¯s voice nagging in the back of my mind, demanding to know where the hell I was. I was already three days behind schedule for my return and had likely another two days yet to go. Hopefully Gui Zu and Zu Tien were managing, but I couldn¡¯t stay any longer than that. With the forest cleared and the wall nearly finished, perhaps I could even leave the rest up to Jim and his men toplete. That was fine for the wall, but this part I needed to make sure of before I left them to return home. I had to know if I could make this sword stronger. As I walked with Kelsey, I quizzed her on her cultivation knowledge and was surprised to find she had a good understanding of the various meridian points and locations already. But a bigger question still remained. ¡°Have you been able to actually feel any of them yet?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Can you feel energy flowing through them? Like a hot and cold sensation.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯m visualizing them in my head like you said but it¡¯s hard to tell if I¡¯m really feeling anything or just fooling myself.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°Frenzy works a bit different than Qi. We¡¯ll do something this morning to really see if it¡¯s working or not.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I grinned at her. ¡°We¡¯re going hunting for bait.¡± * * * We arrived at just the kind of spot I was looking for¨C¨Can open area of tall grass just like the one I took a rest in on my way in from the city. After scouting through the grass for a while I spotted my quarry. Using my axe to clear the grass, I exposed a hole in the ground that was about a foot across. ¡°What the heck is down there?¡± Kelsey asked, staring into it warily. I grinned at her. ¡°Not sure. Just be ready to kill whateveres out of it.¡± ¡°What?!¡± My words did exactly what I thought they would, sending Kelsey¡¯s heart racing with uncertainty and fear, but her me activated to produce only Frenzy. ¡°Visualize the Eighth, Fifth, and Second prime meridians in that order,¡± I said. ¡°Over and over again. Visualize a stream running through them. A stream stemming from the heart of your inner me.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± she said, not letting her eyes off the mystery hole. From years of being in the field, I knew exactly what type of creature the burrow belonged to. Nothing strong enough to kill her, but enough to give her a damn good fight I hoped. ¡°Get ready,¡± I said. Kelsey nodded, choking up on the grip of her wrench. Collecting a fistful of dry grass, I ignited it with a tiny zap of lightning and threw it down the hole. Thick smoke billowed outwards, followed by an agitated growl and snarl. A secondter a creature the size of arge dog dashed out of the hole and charged straight for Kelsey. It looked like something crossed between a badger and a porcupine, a thick hide of quills bristling as it charged at Kelsey with jaws snapping and snarling. ¡°What the hell is that?!¡± Kelsey screamed, her voice shrill with fear. ¡°A Quill Rat!¡± I said. ¡°Kill it before it kills you!¡± For a second I thought she might run, but as her fear hit the candle of her me, her Berserker side kicked in and her cry of fear became a scream of rage. She charged right at the creature, wrench held high. It snarled back at her and shot a handful of toothpick-sized quills from its hide. I winced as they struck Kelsey dead on, impaling themselves across her body. ¡°Ahhh!!¡± she cried. ¡°Son of a bitch!¡± I sensed her pain and to her credit, she dug down and used it to fuel her rage. Kelsey swung at the Quill Rat, digging up earth as it deftly avoided her untrained strikes. The frustration of not being able to hit it caused Kelsey to scream again. ¡°Focus your rage,¡± I said. ¡°Concentrate on the meridians I said. It will help you to hit it.¡± I could see her mind splitting focus as she tried to concentrate on doing mental math while simultaneously dancing about to avoid the Quill Rat¡¯s snapping jaws. She slipped up and the thing caught her on the back of her calf, chewing through her jeans. She screamed again as the material of her jeans turned dark with her blood. I resisted the urge to jump in and help her, my me filling with a fear of a different kind. But something like [Bloodlust] must have kicked in as her Frenzy surged and Kelsey swapped the wrench to her off hand to hit the Quill Rat with a backwards chop. The creature went flying like it had been punted for a field goal, the result surprising even Kelsey herself. She didn¡¯t let up as it hit the ground some thirty feet away and capitalized on its stunned state to finish the job with a final m to its head. Whack! Kelsey stood there breathing heavily as she looked down at the bloodied creature, her soul a mixture of fear, rage, and pain. All of it producing decent amounts of Frenzy. ¡°First, Fourth, Second,¡± I said as I came to stand by her, giving her the meridian sequence for [Pain Soothes the Frenzied me]. ¡°Focus on where it bit you. Feel your Frenzy soothing the wound.¡± Kelsey nodded, still breathing heavily as she closed her eyes to concentrate. I studied her as she tried to manipte her Frenzy. She was probably still far away from even detecting Frenzy much less channeling it, but I could sense her Frenzy shifting within her, even if she couldn¡¯t sense it herself. ¡°You¡¯re doing good,¡± I said. ¡°Do you feel anything?¡± She let out a sigh, shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll take time,¡± I said, looking down at the dead Quill Rat. ¡°Nice job though. You hit that thing like a truck.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, picking out quills from her forearm. ¡°Must be the Frenzy working. That thing hurt like hell though. My mom¡¯s going to be pissed when she sees my leg messed up again.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s get you cleaned up. We¡¯re going to need a lot more of these.¡± I bandaged Kelsey¡¯s calf with some of the healing salve and gave her some more to apply to her skin to deal with the small puncture wounds left by the quills. Luckily a Quill Rat ranked as only an F-ss monster, something even a mortal human could survive. Albeit not without injury given the circumstances. After a quick rest, Kelsey said she was feeling better and I could tell the salve as well as the diffuse Frenzy in her body was already doing its work. We hit up three more holes, flushing out Quill Rats for Kelsey to kill. She got more proficient with each one, both physically and in focusing her Frenzy. Watching her had me eager to give her ess to the orb so she could keep practicing all this on her own like I did, but she needed martial training as well. That I could definitely fill in as a teacher for her. The Path of the Frenzied me was a solitary one, but when it came to actual fighting skills the me was agnostic. I myself had to self-learn my axe techniques from a book, but I could teach Kelsey the same directly. The wrench would do as a close approximation for now, butter I would have to bring her back a proper axe from Master Edrik. We flushed out a couple more rats with me giving Kelsey the very basics of the Axe Techniques in between. I had to admit, it was a new yet familiar sort of fulfilment I was getting from instructing Kelsey. It reminded me of my time with Ren, Rho, and Yi Fu when I was teaching them their handler trade out in the wild. I got so engrossed with Kelsey being so keen, that we spent a good hour going over basic forms long after we killed ourst rat. ¡°Okay time to put these to use,¡± I said after checking on the time. It was getting just past noon and we still had a while to travel before sundown. We headed back in the direction of the bunker, but I made a detour towards some more heavily forested terrain. I found a clearing that was surrounded by sufficiently high trees and set the bludgeoned Quill Rats in the center while we scaled a tree to wait. ¡°What exactly are we waiting for?¡± Kelsey asked once we were both safely perched on a thick bough some thirty feet off the ground. ¡°Something big enough to matter, I hope,¡± I said as I ran my hand along the edge of Threja¡¯s de. ¡°Small game like those Quill Rats don¡¯t normally find their way this deep into big predator territory. Once they smell that blood it should be like ringing a dinner bell.¡± I could sense a bit of fear rise up in Kelsey, but it was immediately suppressed by her me. ¡°You did good today, Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°Your mom¡¯s probably gonna have my ass again for getting you beat up, but I think it was worth it.¡± Kelseyughed. ¡°I hope so. Those damn quills itch like crazy.¡± ¡°Trust me, it will be,¡± I said. ¡°Just keep focusing on those meridians I told you and your Frenzy will heal your body back stronger, skin thicker too.¡± That reminded me of my own cultivation training that I still had yet to get to. The building of the wall had definitely aided my Muscle Strengthening, but I still had to hone my Reflexes and Body Hardening with realbat. Killing whatever woulde for the Quill Rats would certainly help with that. But I had new techniques to master as well. I found two new advanced forms of [Iron Skin] and [Iron Core] to master. One unsurprisingly called [Steel Skin] which required me to be Stage Ten in Body Hardening and [Diamond Skin] which didn¡¯t have much information under it at all, save for needing vast amounts of Frenzy to maintain for even a second and even then in only one small location at a time. I also found a section that perhaps hinted at the hidden strength inside Threja¡¯s sword. Although it had more to do with what her sword was made of rather than the weapon itself. On Corrupted Steel Only Corrupted Steel may resonate with one¡¯s strength, for it alone can withstand the full might of the Frenzied me. Be it through an inscription of shuras or a killing blow, the Steel will retain the resonance of thy Frenzy and in time may even manifest its own. That had to be what happened with Threja¡¯s sword¡ªdecades or even centuries of her channeling her Frenzy through it and killing things. But could I strengthen it further? I wouldn¡¯t know until I killed whatever came looking for the rat meat below. ¡°Hey, is that how you learned how to fight?¡± Kelsey suddenly asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. ¡°Killing small animals with a monkey wrench?¡± It was my turn tough now. ¡°Not exactly. But close. When I get back from the city, I¡¯ll bring you back a proper weapon to train with.¡± ¡°When are you taking me?¡± she said. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°To the city. Don¡¯t forget you promised me.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°When you get good enough to speak some passable Yee maybe.¡± ¡°Hey, stop moving the goal post.¡± She gave me an over-the-top grimace. ¡°That wasn¡¯t part of the deal and besides you haven¡¯t taught me any Yee yet.¡± That was indeed an obstacle we¡¯d have to ovee at some point. Thenguage barrier between the two tribes of Terrans was going to be massive. And I supposed I¡¯d have to have more trantors than just me to ovee it. ¡°I guess we got some time to kill,¡± I said. ¡°Repeat after me.¡± I began speaking in Yee, giving Kelsey the most basic of phrases to memorize. ¡®Hello¡¯, ¡®Yes¡¯, ¡®no¡¯, ¡®I don¡¯t understand¡¯. Just like with everything else, Kelsey absorbed the new knowledge like a sponge, her mind eager for more. After a while she shifted gears on me again. ¡°Tell me what it¡¯s like there,¡± she said after a while. ¡°Again?¡± ¡°Please.¡± I¡¯d already described the ce to her a dozen times already, but I guessed leaving the bunker was still an unrealized sort of dream for her. Her version of freeing the Earth maybe. To be free of the demons. I indulged her once more, describing not just the city but my friends and family back home. I was just about to tell her how Gui Zu lost all his teeth when a faint snapping of twigs drew my attention. I cut the story short and motioned for Kelsey to stay quiet by pressing a finger to my lips before pointing in the direction of the disturbance. Slow seconds went by before the sleek ck coat of a giant panther emerged from the underbrush. It had to be the size of a horse, with eyes that sparkled emerald-green in the shade of the thick forest canopy. Nice, I thought. Just what I was looking for. The panther was clearly a spirit beast, although perhaps not as powerful as I was hoping. A low C-ss at best, but still hopefully strong enough to test my theory. Slowly, I stood on the tree branch as the giant panther began tearing into the Quill Rat carcasses below, itsrge fangs making short work of the creatures as their quills attacked its face posthumously. I readied Threja¡¯s sword, wielding it in both hands. ¡°What should I do?¡± Kelsey whispered. ¡°Just hang back and watch the show,¡± I said. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t take long.¡± I was just about to drop down to dispatch the panther, when a sh of movement caught my eye. Something the size of a bus came tearing through the forest like a freight train, whole tree trunks snapping in its wake with the sound of thunder. It took me half a second to evenprehend what I was seeing, but when I finally did my mind came undone. There, locked to the hindquarters of the panther, were the massive jaws of thergest snake I¡¯d ever seen. It was baster white¡ªan albino with piercing red eyes, its body thicker than the trees surrounding it. It unhinged its jaw to swallow the panther whole, taking more of the giant cat into its maw with a second forceful bite. The panther roared in defiance, whipping about to w at the snake¡¯s giant head, but the thing could get no leverage on it. The snake thrashed about, its three-foot-wide body mming into more trees and breaking them as it mmed the panther into the ground. After two or three ms the panther finally grew still. It all happened in barely a few seconds, the stark violence of it all igniting my me with Frenzy. I cultivated it immediately, preparing my body for what woulde next. This had to be another B-ss spirit beast at least, perhaps even an A-ss by the intelligence hiding behind its demon-like eyes. Kelsey hadn¡¯t said a word, but the jackhammering of her heart said it all. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I whispered. ¡°n stays the same.¡± I was killing this thing no matter what. I readied Threja¡¯s sword, raising it high above my head for a devastating [Three Log Chop]. I leapt off the tree branch with a mighty cry, pulling the sword back further to strike. Then suddenly I was jerked backwards, like something had grabbed me out of the air. The world spun as I rotated with the momentum of my backswing and a secondter I facented hard into the underbrush below. Wham! I roused, seeing stars, still trying to figure out what had just happened. ¡°What the hell¡­?¡± I flipped onto my knees, disorientated, looking about for where the sword had gone. I reached for my axe but couldn¡¯t find it either, both weapons hidden in the deep underbrush somewhere. Before I could even get to my feet, the ground shook beneath me as the huge body of the snake began to unfurl. The giant anaconda rose up, towering two stories into the air as the length of its body stretched behind it some hundred feet or more. It fixed on me with its demonic eyes, its forked tongue flickering. Frenzy filled my soul as the challenge of fighting this thing rose up inside me, my hands balling into fists. Finally, after all these weeks, I was able to truly cultivate, finding a monster worthy of my me. I let out a gleefulugh and the monster reared back with a hiss. ¡°Bring it on!¡± I shouted as I sized up the towering pir of scales, muscle, and fangs. ¡°Sword or no sword. You¡¯re about to die.¡± Book 2: Chapter 23 I RUSHED IN with abandon, fists flying. Icked my sword and axe, but I was far from weaponless. I tapped into the fresh Frenzy streaming from my me and cultivated it into solid form. The snake pounced at me lightning fast like a viper and it took all my focus to leap to the side at just thest moment, escaping its jaws by milliseconds. Damn that was close! I thought. I honestly still couldn¡¯tprehend how something sorge could move so quickly. But then again, this wasn¡¯t a normal animal. If I could detect Qi, I¡¯m sure the air would be chock full of it with the aura this thing had to be producing. ¡°Max, your sword!¡± Kelsey shouted from the tree pointing down into the underbrush. I dashed in the direction she had pointed and then suddenly she cried out again. ¡°Max! Look out!¡± The warning came toote as the body of the massive snake blindsided me from behind. I went flying and hit a tree, the snake¡¯s huge body quickly surging in behind me. It pinned me to the tree and began to squeeze with the force of a car crusher. I reinforced my insides with [Iron Core].Blood instantly filled my mouth as my vital organs were squeezed and I wished I¡¯d had enough time to master that [Steel Core] technique to use instead. Air was slowly being forced from my lungs, my body starting to feed off Frenzy through [Death¡¯s Door]. The huge head of the snake then rounded the corner of my vision, looming big as an oil drum before me. It looked me dead in the eye and I could almost sense its thoughts. A deep hatred burning in the foul pits of its soul. This wasn¡¯t normal, I thought. This had to be another minion of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. Had that thing influenced all the awakened spirit beasts now? Or perhaps did it always have such influence over them? I was in too much pain to split hairs on such differences right now. I cultivated the snake¡¯s hate for me instead, sending the solid Frenzy to my jing to unleash a powerful lightning attack. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]¡­¡± I whispered the technique with my dwindling breath and pulses of blue lightning ripped from my body and tore across the entire length of the snake. The pressure on the car crusher went from 10 to 12 as the snake reacted by tightening its coils even further instead of releasing me. Shit, bad move! I thought. We were both locked in a death grip now. It squeezed me harder the more I electrocuted it, and the downward spiral was elerating quickly. My vision began to tunnel as [Iron Core] began to fail. With the sound of an explosion, the tree I was pinned against suddenly snapped, sumbing to the force of the snake¡¯s giant coils. In that brief moment of release, I seized the opportunity to free myself and dove through the snake¡¯s coils tond in the dense underbrush below. I sucked in a ragged lungful of air, coughing and sputtering as I rolled to my feet and then looked towards Kelsey. ¡°Where is it?¡± I cried, my voice hoarse and raspy. ¡°There! There!¡± She pointed. I ran in the direction ready to snatch the sword from the ground. A sixth sense kicked in and I nced to my side just in time to see the giant head of the snake flying right at me. It was moving too fast to dodge. I did the only thing I could think to do next. ¡°[My Turn]!¡± I channeled all the crushing pain I had endured into a single walloping punch. The speeding bullet train of the snake¡¯s head met my fist with an ear-shattering bang! My feet sank into the ground with the force of the recoil, but the snake took the worst of it, its head quivering with palsy like it¡¯d just been paralyzed as it reeled from the force of my punch. I wasted no time, freeing my feet from the dirt and scooping my sword up from the ground. The snake was still recovering, shaking off the hit. It was still fast as hell and now was the best time as any to try andnd a killing blow. I did a take two on my martial leap with the sword in tow, springing from the ground. This time I tried not to rear back as much as I did before, but still I felt the awkward imbnce of the sword robbing me of my momentum as I flew toward the snake. With a weak downward chop, I managed to hit one of its coils with only the tip of my de, but surprisingly it was enough to cause a streak of bloodied flesh to rip open across the snake¡¯s brilliant white scales. This sword itself had done most of the work, pulsating with a power of its own, but if I wanted to kill this thing, I would need to put my own power behind it. I went for another swing, the de slow to elerate as before, but then it nearly yanked me off my feet when it hit the apex of my swing, throwing me off bnce and off target. Shit! The de mmed into the ground, missingpletely and I was rewarded with anothershing from its tail. It went into a sort of frenzy then, thrashing and snapping at me with its mouthful of fangs. It was moving so fast all I could do was try to avoid it. This sword is way too slow to hit this thing! I thought with chagrin, its weight dragging me down as I went into evasive martial forms. My luck finally ran out and its jaws seized me about the body, its teeth breaking through my hardened skin. I cried out in pain and instantly reinforced my torso with [Iron Skin] and [Iron Core]. My sword arm was trapped, but I still had one free arm dangling. I used it to punch the snake in the eye, blooding it. But it didn¡¯t let go. I cried out in a primal rage as I kept hitting it again and again. ¡°Max!¡± Kelsey called out from behind me. Straining my neck, I looked to see she had descended from the tree and amazingly had my hundred-plus-pound axe in her hands. Her tiny body was quivering with exertion, but her inner me was spewing Frenzy like a volcano. She was using her powers instinctively, fueling her entire body with Frenzy to carry out an amazing feat of strength far beyond what her body was capable of. And then she did something even more amazing. With a push of both arms, she let out a primal yell and thrusted the axe towards me, tossing it through the air. I snatched it out of the sky and with a quick flip of my wrist brought it down heavily upon the snake¡¯s head. The snake riled and hissed, still not letting me go of me, but I had hurt it. With my natural weapon in hand, I hammered at it again and again, careful not to use any lightning again for fear of causing another feedback loop that would crush me to death. By the eighth or ninth swing, the snake finally decided to let go of me, perhaps sensing I might kill it long before its jaws killed me. I rolled as soon as I hit the ground, avoiding another sweep of its tail as it tried to pull me into another death grip by its coils. I found the sword and grabbed it, wielding a weapon in each hand again. My Frenzy was still pumping, keeping me alive with [Pain Soothes the Frenzied me]. But I needed to be much quicker to keep from falling prey to its constrictions again. I looked back for Kelsey and saw her leaning against the base of a tree. She looked exhausted, like she could barely move. I supposed after what she¡¯d just done to get me my axe, almost everything had been taken out of her. I had to end this quickly for her sake. The snake could just as easily m into that tree and kill Kelsey. I had to pull out all the stops. ¡°Kelsey don¡¯t be scared by what you see next!¡± Before she could even respond, I engaged [Mark of the Beast], wounds and punctured skin healing as my limbs elongated and my mouth filled with feral canines. The world slowed as I went into hyper speed, the snake¡¯s rapid movements bing far more easy to gauge. I fought back with a fervor, using my one-handed axe techniques tond quick blows, but against its hardened skin, even my axe could barely break through. It was as if it were using a form of [Iron Skin] of its own. Dodging another viper strike, I wheeled andshed out with Threja¡¯s sword instead. The hugely slow attack barely scraped it, but the power within the de itself broke through the creature¡¯s skin. Damn it, I thought, charging my axe with lightning. I need to one twobo this thing! I cut the air with a deadly arc of Frenzied lightning, the bolts shing from the edge of my axe. They struck the snake with a series of blue sparks that cascaded across its entire body. It went into convulsions, its head still poised high and ready to strike. It was theperfect target. The snake¡¯s huge head atop a tower of quivering muscle and scale. Not unlike a tree. Eagerness filled me as I dropped the axe and took the sword in both hands, spinning in a desperate [One Chop Cleave]. The movement was slow and off bnce like before, but the residual effect of my lightning kept the snake still just long enough for me to connect. A feeling of pure satisfaction flowed through my soul as the Corrupted Steel sliced cleanly through the monster¡¯s thick scales. I released a bestial cry as I powered through the rest of the way, the de¡¯s strange imbnce seeming to assist me on the way out, doubling the speed of my initial cleave. Blood erupted like a geyser from the snake¡¯s severed body as its head fell to the ground. Threja¡¯s de vibrated in my hands, my own Frenzy resonating with it as my me red with [Bloodlust] at the beast¡¯s demise. And then suddenly I thought I heard Threja¡¯s voice calling to me. ¡°Max, are you okay?¡± I shook my head and realized it was actually Kelsey calling to me from behind me. I turned to see her still leaning weakly against the tree. A faint hint of fear was in her soul, and it reminded me that I was still in beast mode. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m good,¡± I said, dropping [Mark of the Beast]. ¡°Thanks for the assist. Are you okay?¡± ¡°I think I pulled a couple of muscles,¡± she said with a grimace. ¡°Like¡­ all of ¡®em.¡± I smiled. ¡°Rest easy. I got a bit more work to do with this before we head back.¡± I began hacking into the snake, looking for its core. ¡°What was that?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°What you did. Can you turn into a werewolf too?¡± I chuckled at her description. ¡°It¡¯s a technique called [Mark of the Beast],¡± I said. ¡°We have one called [Mark of the Demon] too. You¡¯ve already seen [Mark of the Giant].¡± ¡°Wait¡­you can be a demon?¡± she said, eyes bulging. ¡°We both can,¡± I said, giving her another grin. ¡°It¡¯s a high-level technique though. You¡¯ll learn it at some point.¡± After another couple of minutes, I finally found what I was looking for, a smooth pearl-like core the size and shape of a mango. ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°This has got to be worth a couple hundred spirit stones at least.¡± ¡°Sprit stones?¡± I exined to Kelsey what they were, both a form of currency and a cultivation tool. ¡°You taking that back then? To the city?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°I have a bunch of people who could use the elixirs made from something like this.¡± I considered the snake meat itself and wished I could haul some of that back for Yu Li to practice her cooking with as well. ¡°First things first though,¡± I said collecting my axe from the ground. ¡°We need to get back before sundown.¡± I had to help Kelsey onto my back again, her limbs swelling and turning red. ¡°This really hurts,¡± she said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that axe was so heavy. I think I really did pull muscles.¡± ¡°Well you did a great job tossing it to me. When you heal up from this, you¡¯re going to be twice as strong. Trust me.¡± ¡°What the heck happened to you anyway?¡± Kelsey said. ¡°You were all over the ce.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The sword. You really seem to suck at using that thing.¡± Iughed. ¡°Yeah, no shit,¡± I said, parroting her from earlier. Kelseyughed then. ¡°You need to get yourself some lessons or something, chief. That was a crap show.¡± Although she¡¯d said it as a joke, she was actually making a pretty good suggestion. I¡¯d had to study to be proficient with my axe and clearly wielding a sword the size of Threja¡¯s would take learning a whole new skillset to master. ¡°I just might do that,¡± I said, thinking about it some more. ¡°And I know just the right person who might be able to help too.¡± ¡°Cool,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°You ready to go?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, repositioning her on my back. ¡°I¡¯m going to need your help one more time tonight, though.¡± ¡°What? Really? Max, I can barely move.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You won¡¯t need to move for this.¡± She leaned her head forward and looked at me funny. ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± ¡°Make sure I don¡¯t turn into a demon¡­for real.¡± * * * After getting back and enduring another tongueshing from Susan, I let Kelsey rest a bit before dragging her back out into the open again at twilight. She was groaning something awful, her arms and upper body locking up like she had rigor mortis. Susan said she had indeed strained the ligaments in her upper body and that it would likely put in her traction for about a week. But I gave her thest of healing salve to p on and then avoided the wrath of her mother by sneaking her out the main hatch just after dark. The blood moon had already risen, painting thendscape with its eerie red glow. ¡°Moment of truth,¡± I said as we neared the edge of the barrier. I headed for a section we hadn¡¯t walled in as yet, and the snarl of demons greeted us as we approached. I gauged the distance from the marking stones I had left and sure enough the demons had stopped a good twenty feet away from that point instead of a mere three. ¡°It worked, Kelsey!¡± I said with tion. ¡°I can make the sword stronger by killing spirit beasts with it. We can extend the barrier.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great, Max,¡± Kelsey said deadpan. ¡°Is that all you needed me for? Can I go back to my deathbed now?¡± I chuckled. ¡°No. That wasn¡¯t what I need you for. I need you to help me to test a new form of cultivation.¡± ¡°A new form?¡± ¡°I need to increase my spiritual defenses and I think subjecting myself to the Bloodmoon¡¯s influence will be the key.¡± I recalled the passages from the sword in my mind¡¯s eye just to make sure. On Insight into the Spiritual Realms¡­ To see the unseen is the root of all spiritual growth and understanding, but to do so unprepared is to frolic with disaster. The unseen worlds¡ªbe they the Heavens or the nine nes of hell¡ªneither can be seen by mortal eyes. For the eyes of mortals are shielded with the merciful veil of ignorance. To peel back this veil is to embark upon a path of both enlightenment and folly, for to see the unseen is to glimpse infinity. Therefore, prepare thyself thusly. Strengthen thy me and mind and glimpse only what ye can withstand, for the temptation of knowledge is alluring yet destructive. We sayeth thus again¡ªonly glimpse and stare not into void of the unknown, for terrors that can break even the minds of Soul Emperors, within the void doth freely roam. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was a roaming terror for sure. If I could expose myself to its presence in small doses, perhaps I could train my soul to withstand it and then eventually master the Soul Shield technique to defend myself permanently. The passage on how to increase my mental capacity in this manner was fairly clear. Mental Refinement Category Stages Description Mental Capacity VI to X Increases your ability to store, retain and recall information. At 6th stage, you gain the ability to detect information within the spiritual realm. At 8th stage you are able toprehend information within the spiritual realm. At 10th stage you can transcribe and convey information within the spiritual realm. Train by seeking increasing revtions of insight into the hidden and spiritual realms. Train by seeking increasing revtions of insight into the hidden and spiritual realms, I repeated thest line of the text to myself. This had to be on the right path. Perhaps there might be more refined methods I could use, something that perhaps Xi Xha or Mu Lin might know, but for now this would have to do. ¡°So, you¡¯re really going to go out there?¡± Kelsey asked, pointing at the horde of demons. ¡°With them?¡± I lowered Kelsey from my back and unleased my axe. ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°That¡¯s crazy, Max,¡± she said, exasperated. ¡°You¡¯re crazy. You¡¯re going to go crazy.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the idea,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I need you here to pull me back from the brink if I go too far.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Once I get out there, I will lose control. But if I can sense your me, I think it can help to pull me back.¡± ¡°You think?¡± I shrugged. ¡°It kind of worked once before. Hopefully it will again.¡± Kelsey shook her head. ¡°You he crazy, big bro. Okay, let¡¯s go it. What do I need to do exactly?¡± ¡°Sit back here for now. If you see me start turning red and growing horns, that¡¯s the signal to move closer to the edge of the barrier and start calling my name. If it works I¡¯ll be able toe back to you.¡± ¡°And if it doesn¡¯t?¡± I shrugged again. ¡°Well, it¡¯d be nice knowing you, Kelsey.¡± A bubble of fear popped up in her then. It did for me as well. There was more than just my life on the line here. The folks back home, the people here, hell even Kelsey¡¯s future development as a Berserker still hinged on me being able to create her an orb of her own. If I became a demon, none of that would happen. So, I couldn¡¯t screw this up. ¡°Okay ready?¡± I asked. Kelsey nodded. I looked at the demons, but it wasn¡¯t them I was here to fight. I looked to the moon itself, my true enemy. That dark god that inhabited it was probably already watching me, waiting to get its filthy tentacles on me. I was no longer a mortal, but no way was I equipped to challenge a god. Yet here I was going to poke around with one anyway. Clearly the [Odds Were Against Me] doing something like that. The thought caused my me to stir white hot with the technique, filling my body with fresh Frenzy. I fed my muscles and limbs, engaging [Iron Skin]. ¡°As soon as you see the horns,¡± I said. ¡°Not a second more.¡± I didn¡¯t wait for Kelsey to acknowledge me and leaped into the crowd of wailing demons instead. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± My technique caused a crater of destruction in the sea of demons, killing scores of them instantly. Ished out with my axe techniques next, charging them with lightning. They were definitely stronger under the effect of the Bloodmoon, the equivalent of D or even C-ss spirit beasts now. My me turned red as the Dark Frenzy of the moon invaded my soul, ck smoke belching. My vision tunneled, turning ck at the edges and once again I saw myself in third person in the small glimpse of vision from within my mind¡¯s eye. Come on¡­ show up, you freak. Desperate moments went by as I fought against the demons and mutated creatures of the wild. Blood and gore, my body being torn apart. Then finally I sensed it. A grating sound¡ªlike nails on a chalkboard. The eyeball-ridden tentacles of the monster came in sight and once again it surged towards me. My me choked and sputtered. I tried to will myself to fight against it, calling on the power of [Fear the me]. You will not ovee me¡­ Faintly I heard Kelsey¡¯s voice in the distance, small and faint. ~Thy progeny will not save thee, oh Cursed me.~ I focused on her voice, trying to will myself to go towards it, my vision ever shrinking. The tentacles wrapped around me and I felt the pain go straight to my soul. Fight it! I said, envisioning the Struggler. You have too much to lose to not survive! Survive this thing so you can grow strong enough to kill it! I cried out in agony, a scream that only my soul could hear. Through it all, I glimpsed a bright beacon in the distance, Kelsey¡¯s me calling to my own. Yes, well done, Kelsey! I surged towards it, plowing through the demons and the tentacles wrapped around my mind¡¯s eye. Abruptly my vision returned as I fell to the ground just past the safety of the barrier, bleeding and gasping. My entire body shook with pain and I realized arge portion of skin was missing. ¡°Max!¡± Kelsey was screaming above me. ¡°Max,e back to me!¡± My senses reorientated as I focused on her. There was concern and uncertainty in her eyes, but not a lick of fear exuded from her soul. That¡¯s the stuff, Kelsey, I thought, still too weak to speak. My me was a hot mess and my soul was on fire. ¡°The¡­ sword¡­¡± I managed to grunt and fed off Kelsey¡¯s untainted Frenzy to lift myself off the ground. Kelsey became my crutch yet again as I hobbled back to the bunker and once we reached it, I quickly took hold of Threja¡¯s sword. The vibrations shook the tar-like gunk from my me, and I expelled the impurities in a painful yell, belching ck smoke from my lungs. I tried to engage [Mark of the Giant] to heal my wounds but my body refused, perhaps far too spent for the day. I began to lose focus as I continued the purge, straining to keep my focus. I kept going until it was all gone. My me returned to its full luminance and then weakness suddenly struck me, my Frenzy as far spent as my body. I finally sumbed to my wounds and the world went dark as I quickly passed out and hit the floor. Book 2: Chapter 24 MASTER HEI DONG stepped lively through the lower halls of the high court, satchel and key tablet in hand. It was not often he had a chance to engage in direct conflict with a rival sect. As an artisan craftsman, his skills were far removed from the courts ofbat, but today he would do battle in the courts ofw. The prospect of humiliating Master Lo Feng had his spirits soaring to the heavens. The same could not be said for his daughter trailing behind him, however. ¡°Keep up, Fia,¡± he said, slightly agitated. ¡°I realize this is neither your nor your mother¡¯s preferred method of dealing with conflict, but it is no reason to show disrespect to the courts by beingte.¡± He nced back at her as she dragged her feet like a child awaiting punishment. ¡°Yes, Father,¡± she said without even looking up from her feet. ¡°Sorry, Father.¡± Hei Dong was not a martial artist, but he was still a skilled cultivator in his own right and his Qi sensitivity could detect the imbnce in her soul. Her Qi was split and in a confused state¨C¨Ca mncholy that mirrored the vacant look on her face. It was as if the girl was in mourning. Hei Dong stopped to let her catch up. ¡°What ails you, Fia? This is but a simple court appearance. Surely you can¡¯t be this distraught over it.¡±¡°No¡­ it¡¯s not that,¡± she said and then sighed. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s nothing.¡± Hei Dong could sense something was on her heart. A burden. But what? ¡°This isn¡¯t about your brother, is it?¡± Her head jerked upwards and a look of bemusement shed across her face. ¡°Please, I have not even thought of him. Not directly anyway.¡± ¡°Is it the writ then?¡± Her Qi fluttered and Hei Dong knew he had touched on the right subject. ¡°Fia, it¡¯s a year away and by all ounts you will decimate this Chun fellow or whoever he is. You will easily restore our family¡¯s honor. You are the Lady Silver Light. Do you have yet doubts?¡± The brief look of bemusement that had appeared quickly turned to sadness. ¡°No, Father,¡± she said. ¡°I have no doubts that I will win. I will defeat Max Chun.¡± Hei Dong squinted at her, puzzled as the mncholy within her only doubled. But whatever this was, there wasn¡¯t time to deal with it now. ¡°Fia, you cannot go before the courts in such a state,¡± he said, starting off again. ¡°The magistrate will think you guilty.¡± ¡°Guilty of what? This is a waste of time, Father.¡± Fia stepped more closely behind him now, the change in topic doing her soul well. ¡°These Fire Birds are forever trifling with us. If only I had had the opportunity to y the lot of them as they imed.¡± ¡°You and your mother both,¡± Hei Dong said with a chuckle. ¡°This is but a poor attempt to save face for not being able to back their initial writ, nothing more. They have lost Hong Feng to likely his own misdoings and now seek to me us for it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s preposterous,¡± Fia said with disdain. ¡°Indeed. Nowe, your mother is waiting for us,¡± Hei Dong said as the thrill ofbat filled his soul. ¡°Let us do battle with these Fire Birds once more.¡± * * * Hei Dong entered the chambers of the High Magistrate where he joined his wife, Rhi Dong, in the defendant¡¯s box along with several of Fia¡¯s Silver Shadows. Hei Dong had selected four of Fia¡¯s disciples who had ascended to the Core Realm, giving them the signature silver hair that his wife¡¯s n was known for. They had already cut their hair to mirror their mistress, short bobs, but there was no beauty among them that could match her face. Fia was a spitting image of her mother in that regard, an image of her younger self. A hint of pride filled him as he watched Fia join her Silver Shadows¡ªa respectable Lady of the Silver Leaf n at only 33. If only Hein had inherited her same temperament and wisdom. Thank the heavens for you, Fia, he thought. The true future of our family. The doors to the courts opened a second time and Lo Feng and his two cronies entered. Master Lo Feng stroked his wispy beard and eyeballed him as he entered the intiff¡¯s box as their users, a slight smirk on his face. The sight sparked irritation in Hei Dong¡¯s soul. ¡°With both Master Hei Dong and Master Lo Feng now arrived, we may begin,¡± High Magistrate Yi Xhi Yen said from atop her raised dais. ¡°Master Lo Feng, you im your witness can identify the woman he saw at the scene?¡± ¡°Yes, your honor,¡± Lo Feng said. The magistrate then gestured towards Fia and her four Silver Shadows, all five of them dressed in the same in ck and silver robes, giving no distinction between them at all. Fia had even forgone her normal beautification regime to look as in andparable to her subordinates as possible. Master Lo Feng pushed the slim Fire Bird with the bald head and goatee forward. ¡°Du Mak here can identify her. Go on, Du Mak.¡± ¡°Du Mak,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said directly to the man. ¡°Is the woman you saw present in the court room?¡± ¡°Y-yes, your honor.¡± ¡°Identify the woman you saw on the night in question by pointing to her.¡± Hei Dong stretched the aura of perception to reach the man standing to use his daughter and could detect the imbnce in his soul. He was nervous for certain. And Hei Dong was certain also that there was no chance this man had ever seen his daughter before, much less on the so-called ¡®night in question¡¯. Preposterous, he thought. But as expected, the man Du Mak pointed right at Fia. ¡°She is there,¡± he said. ¡°That is the woman I saw.¡± Fia¡¯s jaw dropped, and Hei Dong sensed her Qi re. ¡°How dare you speak such a lie!¡± ¡°Fia, that¡¯s enough,¡± Hei Dong said quickly, tugging on her robe. ¡°Let me handle this.¡± Fia opened her mouth to protest yet again, but she caught the serious look in his eyes and bowed to him, respecting his authority. ¡°Your magistrate,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Clearly this man is either mistaken or seeks to involve himself in some kind of perjury. Surely a single witness alone, much less one of such lowly status should hold such weight within this court.¡± Lo Feng fumed. ¡°A witness is a witness. He pointed out your daughter. ept it! She is guilty!¡± ¡°Your honor,¡± Hei Dong said coolly, ignoring Lo Feng¡¯s usation. ¡°My daughter ims her innocence. Unless there is a second witness, I suggest this case be dismissed. The penalty for an unsanctioned attack on another martial sect is severe and as a Lady of the Silver Leaf n, it is ridiculous to think that the Lady Silver Light would ever take such a risk to dishonor herself or her own n so. I would therefore expect the court would not take a matter such as this so lightly as to base it upon the questionable evidence of a single witness.¡± ¡°You need not remind me, Master Hei Dong, of the penalties for this crime under Imperial Law,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said, not masking her irritation. ¡°Tread carefully, counselor. I know my job and thew very well.¡± ¡°As you well do, honorable High Magistrate,¡± Hei Dong said, swallowing the rebuke with a slight nod of his head. ¡°A thousand apologies.¡± ¡°There is a second witness,¡± Lo Feng said suddenly. ¡°Come on, Ju Gong. You saw her too, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Objection!¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Is this man attempting to change his testimony?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll allow it,¡± Yi Xhi Yen coolly, without even looking at him. ¡°Witnesses often times recall things after some reflection.¡± Hei Dong felt the punch to the gut as Lo Feng smirked at him again. What in the heavens was this? He looked back to the High Magistrate and finally got the clear picture now. So that was it, he thought. The bastard had gotten to her first this time. Hei Dong himself had bribed the magistrate with 100 Taels of silver before, but to side against him, who knows how much Lo Feng had paid Yi Xhi Yen for her not so subtle discretion in thew. ¡°Go on then,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°If you recall some additional details that you did notst fromst time, you are free to reveal it, Ju Gong.¡± Hei Dong could sense the distress in the man¡¯s soul. ¡°You did see something, didn¡¯t you?¡± Lo Feng said. ¡°What about after you awoke?¡± ¡°I saw a great many things that night, your honor,¡± Ju Gong said after a pause. ¡°I found the pin, but I cannot say that I saw a woman.¡± Hei Dong smiled as Lo Feng¡¯s face creased into a grimace of rage. Clearly this one was willing to risk his master¡¯s wrath rather than the court¡¯s, Hei Dong thought with a smile. A wise man indeed. Yi Xhi Yen must have sensed it too, because the slightest of smirks touched her lips. ¡°It seems the second witness has no additional information to share.¡± Lo Feng muttered a curse and leveled a threatening stare at Ju Gong. Hei Dong smiled. ¡°Then it should be settled then. Surely the testimony of a single witness should not be enou¨C¡± ¡°Not so fast, Master Hei Dong,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°You forget that the testimony is not the only evidence we have to consider in this case. The pin itself forms the other half. With this much evidence, it is quite usible that your daughter was indeed the culprit. I have no choice but to consider this writ as valid.¡± Rhi Dong gasped. ¡°What?¡± Hei Dong¡¯s own stomach did a flip as the High Magistrate continued. ¡°The penalty for an unsanctioned attack on a fellow martial sect is indeed severe, with penalties ranging from maiming to execution. Considering that over a hundred Fire Bird n members were in, my ruling would be for the execution of Lady Silver Light.¡± His heart nearly stopped and Fia herself let out a gasp. ¡°This is wrong!¡± she cried. ¡°I did no such thing!¡± ¡°You will hold your tongue in my court!¡± Yi Xhi Yen shouted, banging her gavel. ¡°Master Hei Dong, this is your matter to address, I suggest you keep your client calm.¡± But he was anything but calm at the moment, his mind racing. How much did that dog Lo Feng pay her? Hei Dong was about to pull his rank as a member of the ruling n, but that power extended only to Jurin Province. A High Magistrate was appointed by the princess herself. Even the Warden would have to acquiesce to her rulings. ¡°You can of course always contest Master Lo Feng¡¯s im in the court of battle,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°If you have a champion of matching ranking.¡± ¡°I will stand as champion!¡± Rhi Dong suddenly said. ¡°I will contest this matter in the courts of battle!¡± A huge grin spread across Lo Feng¡¯s face and Hei Dong saw the trap that had clearly beenid for them. Lo Feng was never after his daughter. He was targeting his wife! ¡°Your honor,¡± Hei Dong said quickly. ¡°Please ignore that statement. I request a recess to give official counsel to my clients.¡± Rhi looked back at him in confusion and shock, but Hei Dong kept his features calm and unreadable. Yi Xhi Yen gave him a frown but eventually banged her gavel. ¡°You may have five minutes,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said with a sigh. ¡°I am being lenient enough allowing the retraction. Be quick with it, Master Hei Dong.¡± Hei Dong¡¯s head was already spinning by the time he led his family out of the courtroom and into a small private chamber adjacent to it. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Rhi Dong said in a huff. ¡°That liar of a man seeks to execute our daughter and you will not allow me to defend her?¡± ¡°That is madness, Father,¡± Fia said, joining in. ¡°These are lies! All lies!¡± ¡°I know, I know!¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°But this is what he wants. He wants to fight you, Rhi, he always has.¡± ¡°Then let him,¡± she said with a grimace of determination. ¡°I am ready.¡± Hei Dong shook his head. ¡°No¡­this will pull everything into the public eye. He is a sect leader. You are not even an elder. You challenging him would be tantamount to a challenge for seat of the ruling n itself.¡± Rhi Dong furrowed her brow. ¡°What? How so?¡± ¡°Only a sect leader may challenge another sect leader,¡± Hei Dong exined. ¡°This would bring tremendous shame to the Warden. Especially if you lost.¡± ¡°You think I would lose?¡± Rhi shouted. ¡°To him?¡± Hei Dong could see the hurt and indignation in her eyes. ¡°My love, you have not trained seriously since the children. You and Lo Feng may have been Gold Rankpetitors thirty years ago, but he has done nothing but advance since then while you rightly chose to raise our family instead. And it is our family that I care for more than anything else.¡± Fia dropped to one knee, head bowed. ¡°Father, allow me to defend myself against Master Lo Feng. I am Gold Rank now as well. I know I am currently no match for him, but we can perhaps ask the magistrate for more time. Three years perhaps. I can train hard and¨C¨C¡± ¡°Daughter,¡± Hei Dong said, cutting her off as he lifted her from the ground. ¡°You are as honorable and fearless as your mother. But the problem of challenging another n leader still remains. It cannot happen this way. That devil Lo Feng knows this. He seeks to pull us into a trap that will ensnare the entire n. He may be targeting you, Fia, but I believe his true target is the warden.¡± ¡°The Lady Silver Tear?¡± Rhi let out a scoff. ¡°My great aunt has decades on Lo Feng. Clearly, he is no match for her.¡± Hei Dong didn¡¯t respond right away. He knew of the shadowy activities that the Fire Birds ran through the jiangu¨C¨Cthe ess to limitless means of forced cultivation, and even darker rumors of illegal practices to do such. It was the main reason he wasn¡¯t keen to allow his wife into the ring with Lo Feng. Not only had he advanced while his wife had raised their family, but the rate of that advancement could be well beyond what was considered normal. ¡°Of that I am not so certain,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°The Fire Birds keep great secrets, but regardless, either of you challenging him will lead to the same oue. A direct confrontation between the Fire Birds and the Silver Leaf ns¨C¨Ca conflict that hasin dormant for well over three hundred years. Reigniting this war is something the Dong family cannot be responsible for.¡± Both Rhi and Fia grew silent then, staring at the floor. ¡°Bless the heavens for you, husband,¡± Rhi Dong said after a while. ¡°My impulse will forever be tempered by your great wisdom. I had not given thought that he could be after such a thing.¡± ¡°What shall we do then?¡± Fia said, her Qi unstable with fear. ¡°Am I to ept this fate?¡± Hei Dong looked at her sternly. ¡°Only if it is true. Speak freely now, girl. You had no hand in this, correct?¡± ¡°Of course I did not,¡± she said with a violent shake of her head. ¡°This I swear by the heavens.¡± Hei Dong smiled. ¡°Then you have nothing to fear. I will see to this. Come.¡± Hei Dong re-entered the court with his family and took his ce in the defendant¡¯s box. ¡°Your honor, I wish to contest a portion of the evidence. One that will clearly exonerate my daughter as the one used.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± Yi Xhi Yen said, her eyes squinting with confusion. ¡°Are you saying that you will not meet Master Lo Feng inbat?¡± ¡°We will not, your worship,¡± he said. ¡°I wish to prove instead that the origin of the quill cannot possibly be from my daughter. I beg the court¡¯s indulgence to allow for a Grand Sage from the interior to be summoned to examine the quill to determine if its structure and that of my daughter¡¯s core do indeed match.¡± A series of murmurs came from all within the court. A Grand Sage was a rarity even in the core worlds, a schr of such renowned cultivation level that they had the ability to determine not only the essence of one¡¯s Qi but the fingerprint of anything produced by it. ¡°Master Hei Dong,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°Such a request is oundish to impose upon the courts. The avability of a Grand Sage is measured in months not weeks. And without an Omni-gate, the expense to ferry them here from the interior would be well beyond¨C¡± ¡°I will bear the expense personally,¡± Hei Dong said and Rhi gasped again. ¡°This is ridiculous!¡± Lo Feng said. ¡°I object.¡± ¡°Oh, do you now?¡± Hei Dong said, feeling the thrill of a critical strike. ¡°You have a witness that ims to have seen my daughter specifically. This test will either prove or disprove that im. Or do you now doubt the testimony of your own witness, Master Lo Feng?¡± Hei Dong grinned. ¡°You are free to drop these charges at any time, you know? If you are confident in your evidence, then why not have it tested for all to see?¡± Lo Feng grimaced but didn¡¯t say anything else. ¡°Master Hei Dong, as you have agreed to assume the sizable cost of this exercise, I will allow it,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said and banged her gavel. ¡°This matter is adjourned until an audience with a Grand Sage can be procured from the interior. Master Hei Dong, you may see the clerk to settle payment for this service.¡± Rhi rushed to him as the crowd dispersed. ¡°Husband, that was a brilliant move, but will it not cost thousands of spirit stones?¡± ¡°A temporary expense,¡± Hei Dong said, giving Lo Feng a smirk as he departed. ¡°Once he loses in court, I¡¯ll sue him for the cost of wasting both our and the court¡¯s time.¡± Book 2: Chapter 25 I AWOKE WITH a hangover from hell. And in this case, it might actually be literal. Remnants from fever dreams filled with demons and monsters evaporated from my mind as my head began to clear. My eyes squinted from the bright lights of the infirmary and I realized I was once again in one of the grossly undersized hospital beds. I expected to be stiff as a board from my wounds fighting the demons, but surprisingly my body felt fully rested and healed. I closed my eyes and checked on my inner self and sensed my me was burning strong with a blueish white tinge. Thest thing I remembered was cleansing it with the sword. That had obviously worked, but had the main purpose of me exposing myself to the Bloodmoon worked as well? I tried to sense if my Mental Capacity and spiritual awareness had somehow increased. I couldn¡¯t feel anything different, but perhaps my me was burning a bit brighter though. Still, it was only a first attempt. I would perhaps have to do this multiple times to see any real progression. But damn it was risky.Like drinking Clorox to get rid of a cold. If Kelsey hadn¡¯t been there, I would have lost myself and be a demon for sure. Or even worse, be a host or puppet for that damn monster, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. Nothing everes easy on this path, I thought. Simple and boneheaded maybe. But never free of pain. Although honestly, I was surprised I was feeling exactly no pain at the moment. I was just about to swing my body off the bed and test my legs when Susan and Kelsey suddenly entered the infirmary. ¡°Oh, look who¡¯s awake,¡± Susan said with a smile as she approached my bedside. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Pretty good actually,¡± I said, sitting up. ¡°Considering.¡± I looked to Kelsey who was grinning from ear to ear. ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve got something to show you, Max!¡± Kelsey said excitedly and then reached down to grab something off the floor by the foot of the bed. ¡°It freaking worked, man!¡± ¡°What worked?¡± Releasing a little grunt, she then reappeared from below the bed with my axe in both hands. ¡°I could barely lift this thing before, but now¡­ I can¡­ do¡­ this!¡± She continued to perform what I could only describe as a lopsided deadlift and overhead press as she lifted the axe from the ground by bending her knees and then thrusted it up and over her head. ¡°Kelsey!¡± her mom chided her. ¡°I said to be careful with that thing!¡± Kelsey onlyughed as she lowered it to the floor again with a loud ng. I was a bit amazed myself. The axe probably weighed as much as she did. She must have had a breakthrough in Muscle Strengthening to do that¨Cat Stage I now perhaps. She had to have indeed ripped every muscle in her body by throwing that axe to me and her Frenzy-filled body cultivated the gains. ¡°That¡¯s damn good, Kelsey,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Well done.¡± ¡°Yeah, I healed up just like you said I would. Tougher and stronger. I can do about five of these a day now. Looks like you healed up good too.¡± I finally got out of the bed and stretched. My body indeed feltpletely refreshed and healed. ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡± ¡°I scraped the bottle for what was left of that healing cream stuff and smeared it on you,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Looks like it did the job.¡± I chuckled. ¡°No wonder I feel so good. Thanks, Kelsey.¡± I wondered how much she was able to get out of that bottle considering how quickly I had healed. Susan shook her head as she looked at the both of us. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand any of this,¡± she said. ¡°The two of you should not be up and running around the way you are right now. Not even after three days of bed rest.¡± ¡°What?¡± I said. ¡°Three days?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s how long you were out for, Chief,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Mom was kind of worried, but I knew you¡¯d be okay.¡± She then grinned at Susan. ¡°I¡¯ve seen this guye back from much worse.¡± My mind was reeling. No wonder I felt so damn good. ¡°I¡¯ve been in bed for three days?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Susan said and then her eyes widened. ¡°Oh, my goodness. You must be starving. Kelsey, go get him something to eat.¡± ¡°No, no time,¡± I said, spinning about. Three whole days? Shit! ¡°I¡¯ve got to get back to the city!¡± * * * The next hour went by in a fluster. It was still early morning, but I had no time to lose. Not if I wanted to get back home before the day was out. I¡¯d long overstayed my visit, but I didn¡¯t have much to show for thest three days either. Harris had continued production on the wall, but without my help they¡¯d only gotten a couple hundred feet done. That meant a good forty percent of the perimeter was still unprotected. But I didn¡¯t have time to finish any of it now. Better than nothing though, I thought. It just means I¡¯ll have to rush back here again as soon as I can. But I needed to ensure certain things would still be happening once I was gone too. ¡°Kelsey, find me some more paper,¡± I said, and when she had done so, I sat down to scribble down the basic forms of the axe techniques. It was crude, but I gave Kelsey a quick demonstration of each one so she could match up my chicken scratch drawings with real-life movements, using her wrench instead of an axe. ¡°Don¡¯t worry if it¡¯s not perfect,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll be back to give you more detailed instructionter, but aside from this, focus on detecting your Frenzy while building your physical conditioning.¡± I then gave her an exercise regimen simr to what I had gone through in Foundation school. Lots of running, pushups and other calisthenics to enhance her muscle strengthening and reflexes. ¡°Looks good,¡± Kelsey said giving me a fist bump as she looked over my crude fitness manual. ¡°When will you be back?¡± I honestly didn¡¯t know. I thought about all the things I needed to do back home and the list seemed endless. Getting back into the ring, finding a teacher to learn how to properly wield Threja¡¯s sword, and not to mention getting the Corrupted Steel I needed to create an orb for Kelsey. I also needed to seek more knowledge on the spiritual realm in order to be able to imprint it with the Shuras Kelsey would need to progress. Plus, there was that Fire Bird bitch to worry about along the way. Who knew when she might swoop in for another sneak attack. But above it all there was the one thing I¡¯d probably been distracting myself from the most. Fia. I needed a resolution to my situation with her something bad. ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯ll be back as soon as I can.¡± I met quickly with Jim after that, letting him know that I was leaving as well. ¡°We¡¯ll leave the light on for you,¡± he said with a shake of my hand. ¡°And don¡¯t forget your nighttime reading.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± I said, patting the history book in my backpack. In truth I hadn¡¯t had time to read any of it as yet. Studying the sword had taken priority, but perhaps back home I¡¯d have more time. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to bring back some fresh supplies too.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to need ¡®em,¡± he said. ¡°Actually, can I give you a shopping list?¡± I sat down for a few minutes more while Jim outlined a number of things he needed. Building supplies mostly. Tools. Some parts for equipment I would need to maybe scavenge from old vehicles on the outskirts of town. ¡°Quite the list,¡± I said, tucking it away. ¡°Well, you got me thinking with this wall of yours,¡± Jim said. ¡°A move to the outside would be a good thing. Especially since we can¡¯t gauge what¡¯s going on down below. So far that copse you made has managed to hold the demons off, but if they break through and start filling the lower levels, we¡¯ll need to be able to move at a moment¡¯s notice.¡± ¡°Hopefully that doesn¡¯t happen,¡± I said. ¡°But the sword will be here for you if it does. I¡¯ll bring back what I can.¡± After saying my goodbyes to Susan, Harris, Flores, and a few of the others I¡¯de to know after my week and a half out in the wild, I double checked my backpack for the two monster cores and then set off for home. I had to admit the bunker was starting to feel a bit like a second home as well now. My first expedition into the wild wasn¡¯t without its hups though, but honestly I couldn¡¯t reallyin about the progress I¡¯d made. I had discovered a way to increase the size of the barrier, kindled Kelsey¡¯s me and discovered a new path of cultivation to grow my spiritual inner core. All in all, a sessful run, but at what cost was now the question. I could already envision the shitstorm that might be waiting for me back home. I shifted into [Mark of the Beast] and [Mark of the Giant]bined, doubling my speed as I sprinted for home, eating up the distance as quickly as possible. * * * It was twilight by the time I reached the safety of the barrier, the transition time between the handler station closing and the Bloodmoon rising. I had to take a good ten-minute break to catch myself from the non-stop travel, my body drenched in sweat andpletely drained of Frenzy. It had been a definite improvement from my previous two trips, however. Those three days of bed rest were indeed what I¡¯d needed. Quick healing with the Marks was great forbat, but to get true gains I needed to heal the old-fashioned way. And that took time. To my relief Lee was still at the handler station to usher me through the customs process with the Imperial Guard when I arrived. As a B-ss citizen, Elder of the Furious Lightning Sect and my reputation as the Iron Bull, there were no questions asked when I presented the two cores for the guard to inspect. ¡°Hell of a find,¡± the guard said as she examined the cores. ¡°Going to cost you a shiny Tael or two in tax though.¡± The guard calcted the discounted rate for the cores at a total of 100 spirit stones and I paid the 5% tax with a promissory note backed by the Terran Sect. It all worked like magic and once again I was amazed at how well the system could work for you depending on who you were in society. Being caught with these cores a few months ago would have eithernded me in prison or on a chopping block. But that was exactly why I needed to keep on fighting. I¡¯d achieved this level of status through brute force and pain. But not everyone could do that. I had to make a path for those weaker than me to follow. The guard issued me an imperial receipt for the goods, giving me the ability to freely carry them and trade them as well. I would have had to use the jiangu to hawk these before, but now a simple slip of paper with a stamped seal was as effective as the rune-etched cloth that Threja had given me to hide the lightning core. I said goodbye to Lee and promised to meet up with him for drinkster to catch up before heading home to D Block. Things were going so smoothly that I was almost surprised when a wall ofmotion hit me right before entering the square. A loud ruckus of shouting and screams. And then the sound of wood breaking. A cart or table perhaps. I rushed towards the gathered crowd and stopped when I saw Zu Tien suddenly fly high above them, freezing in mid air before delivering a powerful downward swing with her jian de. ¡°[Second Heaven, Crescent Arc Strike]!¡± A sh of white light flew from her de and hit some nameless cultivator right in the chest, causing him to stagger backwards as a huge gash formed in his robes. Gui Zu suddenly appeared behind him, knocking his feet from under him with a sweep of his bo staff. I stood at the back of the crowd, a feeling of immense pride welled within me as I watched the two of them go back and forth, beating the living crap out of the cultivator. I couldn¡¯t tell what cultivation level he was, but by the way he kept eating Zu Tien¡¯s silver arc techniques, he had to be a high-tier Foundation or low-tier Core Realm at least with decent body refinement to boot. Signs that Zu Tien and Gui Zu had been practicing together became evident as they quickly tag-teamed one another,plementing each other¡¯s fighting styles. Gui Zu harried the cultivator with his quick martial forms while Zu Tien did the heavy hitting with her Qi techniques. It all went wlessly and within ten minutes Zu Tien had managed to strike a crippling blow to the man¡¯s leg, bringing the higher-tiered cultivator to his knees. Gui Zu quickly leveled his bo staff at the man¡¯s throat. ¡°What shall we do with This One, Vice Leader?¡± Jian Yi appeared from the crowd and pped the cultivator with a deration of self-defense letter. ¡°Let the shame of his defeat be his punishment for challenging the Terran Sect. Be gone and let it be known that those who trifle with us will not leave unharmed.¡± A rally of cheers and yells went up as the crowd chased the wounded cultivator out of the square, throwing rotten fruits and stones. I stepped into the midst of them with a wide grin. ¡°Now that was the most satisfying thing I¡¯ve seen all day.¡± ¡°Master Chun!¡± Zu Tien eximed, dropping to the floor in a bow. ¡°This One wees your return!¡± Everyone turned to me then, following suit with bows of respect and squirts of lemonade. ¡°Master Chun!¡± ¡°Wee back, sect leader!¡± ¡°We are d for your return!¡± But not everyone looked happy, most notably Jian Yi. After giving me a polite bow, she dragged me by the elbow to the side along with Gui Zu and Zu Tien. ¡°Where in the nine hells have you been, Chun? We said four days, didn¡¯t we?¡± I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. ¡°Yeah, I got a little busy. But you guys seem to be doing just fine without me. That was good stuff, you two.¡± Zu Tien bowed again. ¡°Thank you, master.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re back, brother,¡± Gui Zu said with a frown. ¡°But we could have used you back sooner. Much sooner.¡± I then noticed the same look of mncholy in a bunch of people¡¯s eyes as they departed the square. I looked back to Jian Yi who shared the same look. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I said. ¡°Did something happen?¡± ¡°Yes, something happened,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Come with me. Things are anything but fine.¡± * * * I stood with my heart racing as I stared in disbelief at the burnt-out husk of a building that used to be Yu Li¡¯s apartment building. ¡°Oh my God!¡± I said with panic. ¡°Yu Li!¡± I nearly took off in a run, but Gui Zu quickly stopped me. ¡°She is fine, brother. Su Ling too. They¡¯re staying with me now in your old apartment.¡± My head was still spinning trying to make sense of it all. ¡°We were blessed,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°No one was hurt, but many lost their homes as you no doubt can see.¡± ¡°When did this happen?¡± ¡°About three days ago,¡± she said. ¡°Come.¡± Jian Yi then led me to the back of the building where a small tent city had been erected. The aroma of cooking fires and the crying of small children filled the air as I looked out at what had to be fifty families disced and out in the cold. Despite it all, they turned and gave me bows of respect upon seeing me, but I felt almost ashamed to return them. I wasn¡¯t here to protect them when they needed me the most. Yet still they honored me so. ¡°What happened?¡± I said as grief filled my soul. ¡°What I told you would happen if you stayed away for too long,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°We were attacked.¡± ¡°By who?¡± I said, my grief quickly turning to anger. ¡°Who did this? Was it the Fire Birds?¡± My thoughts turned to that woman Hin Wu. Had that bitch done this to try and flush me out? ¡°They weren¡¯t cultivators,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°Not martial ones anyway. Jealous folks from other sects maybe.¡± I was dumbfounded by the answer. ¡°What?¡± ¡°They lit the fire in secret, the cowards.¡± Zu Tien shook her head with vehemence in her eyes. ¡°Never even saw them.¡± ¡°But clearly whoever it was, they have no fear of retribution from the Terran Sect,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Even now people don¡¯t really know if the Iron Bull is truly real or not. Or even care perhaps.¡± Ire burned in my soul as I looked at the burnt-out remnants of the apartment block, the tent city of miserable people left crying and hopeless in its shadow. Meridians clicked inside of me as I instinctively engaged [Everyone¡¯s Pain]. Their emotion filled me as if it were my own, and my eyes welled with tears. The insecurity of losing one¡¯s home. The fear that it could happen again. ¡°No,¡± I said as a new resolve filled me, matching the Frenzy filling my soul. ¡°No more. This ends now. This ends tonight.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°This city is going to remember who the Iron Bull is,¡± I said. ¡°And they will fear my name when they hear it.¡± Book 2: Chapter 26 I HEADED STRAIGHT for the arena after a quick change of clothes. Before I left, I promised the people that I would rebuild their homes, starting in the morning, but as of right now, I had to ensure this didn¡¯t happen again. I¡¯d been blindsided by this, looking at the situation from all the wrong angles. I had thought an attack was only possible from other cultivators, but this proved that even othermoners were jealous of our new-found prosperity and fame. And that meant having a citywide reputation was all the more important to keep people in check, especially while I was away. Anger and frustration built inside me like a volcano the more I thought about it, but I had no target to aim it at. I almost wished there were some nameless sect responsible that I could rip apart and tear to shreds, but whoever I would face in the arena tonight would instead be the one to unfortunately bear my wrath. I stepped into the arena marshalling area and even Bo Ren¡¯s smiling face couldn¡¯t break the grimace on my face as I approached the counter. He was a heavyset man, wearing the beige and off-white colors of imperial robes. There was another official behind the counter with him but luckily it was too early for any other cultivators to be present. ¡°Whoa! Look at this tough guy!¡± he said with augh, stroking his bearded chin as if to yfully mock my own. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you were evering back, Bull Man!¡± Bo Ren was probably one of my biggest supporters from my days in the ring. Although officially he couldn¡¯t take sides, more than once he had let the rules slide to give me a leg up as an underdog. ¡°I wasn¡¯t,¡± I said truthfully. ¡°But some things have changed. I need back in the Iron Bracket, Master Bo Ren.¡± ¡°Whoa what?¡± He creased his brow at me, confused. ¡°You already withdrew, plus it¡¯s pretty much over now. And you qualified for Gold already, didn¡¯t you? What do you need to go back into Iron for?¡±I let out a sigh. ¡°I need the win to afford the entry fee for Gold.¡± Bo Ren¡¯s eyes widened and his colleague next to him raised a brow at me from the side. ¡°Are you serious, kid?¡± Bo Ren nced about and then leaned closer over the counter to lower his voice to a whisper. ¡°Look, I like you and all, but I¡¯m going to have to talk facts. First, qualifying for Gold and participating in Gold are two different things. People can take up to ten years before they make the leap from Iron to Gold and some never even do. Thepetition in Gold is fierce. It¡¯s like n versus n at that level too. A lone wolf type like you might not fare so well.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know the drill,¡± I said. ¡°But I need to get back in there. A lot of other stuff is riding on this too.¡± He blew out a sigh as he leaned away from the counter. ¡°Well look, even if it made sense, it¡¯s not really possible, kid. Like I said the Iron Bracket is pretty much concluded. And you¡¯ve already withdrawn anyway. So there¡¯s not much I can do.¡± Shit, I thought. I probably should have dealt with this first instead of heading out to the wild. But then again they did need me out there too¡ªespecially with the dire situation I found them all in when I arrived. No, I thought. I can¡¯t go second guessing my decisions. My me was still guiding me here. It would see me through this as well. ¡°There¡¯s got to be some way,¡± I said. ¡°Look, there is always next year,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°And hey, if you keep doing some prize bouts in the off-tournament season, you could maybe even earn the 1000 spirit stones for the entry fee. You get good odds on the books. Although not as much as you used to.¡± He grinned, making a joke of all the money we¡¯d both made from him betting on me. What he said made sense though. Hell, I had bagged 100 spirit stones worth of monster cores in just a couple weeks. And I did need to kill spirit beasts to strengthen the sword anyway, assuming I learned how to properly use the damn thing. ¡°How soon do I need to pay to join the Gold Bracket?¡± Bo Ren shook his head with augh. ¡°You just don¡¯t quit, do you? Entry closes in less than two weeks.¡± ¡°Damn it,¡± I cursed. ¡°I won¡¯t have enough time for that.¡± But just entering Gold wouldn¡¯t truly help me anyway. Not right now. I needed the people of the city to see me in the ring. To fear me. No matter the bracket. ¡°Bo Ren, I need in that ring now,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I don¡¯t care how, but the Iron Bull needs to make aeback.¡± He swallowed as he stared back at me warily, reacting to my technique. ¡°You¡¯re really serious, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Like a heart attack.¡± ¡°A what?¡± ¡°Nevermind,¡± I said, remembering that not every Earthborn phrase tranted well into Yee. ¡°Can you get me in or what?¡± ¡°Look, like I said, the Iron Bracket is pretty much finished now.¡± ¡°What do you mean, ¡®pretty much¡¯? Is it over or not?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not technically over, but¡ª¡± ¡°So there is a chance?¡± I said, my hopes rising. ¡°It¡¯s still open?¡± Bo Ren sighed again and then tapped on his Qi Tablet to bring up the Iron Bracket rankings on the billboard behind him. Rank Name Sect Affiliation Aspect Element Cultivation Realm and Tier Current Standing 1 Lady Silver Sparrow Silver Leaf Sect Metal Core 4th 1 2 Lady Silver Dove Silver Leaf Sect Metal Core 5th Withdrawn 3 Lady Silver Hawk Silver Leaf Sect Metal Core 5th Withdrawn 4 Fung Wang Holy Mountain n Earth Core 3rd Eliminated I looked at the three frontrunners perplexed. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡­ All Silver Leaf n?¡± Just seeing the names reminded me of Fia. With a name like Lady Silver Light, it was easy to think of her as being unique, but this proved there were many dies¡¯ within the greater Silver Leaf n. The name was more of a title as Fia had said. ¡°That¡¯s the ruling n for you, my friend,¡± Bo Ren said with a shrug. ¡°The three of them do this every year. Choke the top of the Iron Bracket and then decide amongst themselves who will win and then the other two withdraw at thest minute leaving no final bout. Now you see what I mean when I say it¡¯s pretty much over?¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± I said. ¡°How do they collude like that? Are they sisters or something?¡± Bo Ren chuckled. ¡°How¡¯d you guess? They¡¯re triplets. Real popr for a few years too, but to be honest everyone is kind of bored sick of them now though. They enterte, plow through thepetition and then just sit on the top with no payoff for the crowd and just collect the winnings, fight free. A shame too. Everyone thought there might have been an actual fight for top spot this year with Fung Wang. He got damn close to beating Silver Sparrow.¡± ¡°Silver Sparrow¡­¡± I said and then recalled the name being close to mine in ranking when I had first entered the Iron Bracket. ¡°She started at like 96th or something right?¡± ¡°Good memory,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah, she enteredte as usual. She¡¯s probably the worst of the three but I guess it was her turn this year. I lost a lot of damn money on that fight. Really thought Fung Wang had a shot.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m willing to fight her,¡± I said. ¡°Get me the shot and I¡¯ll give you the fight of a lifetime.¡± Bo Renughed. ¡°As crazy as that sounds, it¡¯s against the rules, kid.¡± ¡°Why? It¡¯s not like I was eliminated. Can¡¯t I just re-enter or something?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like t¡ª¡± ¡°Please, Master Bo Ren,¡± I said. ¡°I need this more than you know.¡± He looked at me oddly as Iid heavily on the [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. I couldn¡¯t leave empty handed. I needed my renown spread throughout the city and there would be no better way than a high-level match like this. Win, lose, or die¡ªI had to make this happen. ¡°If the people want to see a fight¡­I¡¯ll give them a fight.¡± Bo Ren leaned back folding his arms as he studied me. He looked upwards in thought and then his eyes squinted as if suddenly thinking of something. ¡°Wait right here,¡± he said before leaving the counter. I waited for about twenty minutes, but eventually Bo Ren returned followed by a tall,nky man with a long wispy gray beard and hair. He looked familiar and when I saw the tall ck hat on his head, I recognized who he was. I¡¯d met him once before¡ªthe top official in charge of the tournament, but I couldn¡¯t recall his name. ¡°This is him again, Sub-Warden Lein Cho,¡± Bo Ren said introducing me. ¡°The Iron Bull.¡± Lein Cho stroked his beard as he looked me up and down. ¡°So, the rumors are indeed true. You are the same man. And a Terran at that.¡± I bowed before him. ¡°Yes¡­ thank you for considering my request, Sub-Warden Lein Cho.¡± He jerked his head back, confused. ¡°What request?¡± Shit, had Bo Ren told him nothing yet? Bo Ren quickly smiled. ¡°Master Lein Cho, see to the board behind you. Tell me, is there any surprise in what you see there?¡± Lein Cho looked over his shoulder at the rankings. ¡°Not really, the Shen family rules the Iron Bracket once again. Those three should really move on to the Gold Bracket, to be honest.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°The city knows this too. We had three matches scheduled for tonight and none of them will ur now that the sisters have withdrawn to leave Lady Silver Sparrow the uncontested winner.¡± Lein Cho shrugged. ¡°So put on some exhibition matches as usual.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve already arranged that,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°And the city knows this.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The ticket sales,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°We¡¯ve barely sold ten percent of the seating for tonight.¡± Lein Cho sighed. ¡°This happens every year. But there is always a slump before the Gold Bracketmences. Can¡¯t be helped.¡± ¡°But it doesn¡¯t have to be so,¡± Bo Ren said with a grin. ¡°Not this year.¡± Lein Cho cocked a brow. ¡°Whatever do you mean, Bo Ren?¡± Bo Ren then gestured to me. ¡°The Iron Bull has a proposition. He wishes a chance to fight for 1st ce.¡± His eyes widened with interest. ¡°Indeed? But he withdrew, did he not?¡± ¡°He indeed did,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°Then there is nothing to talk about. The rules are the rules.¡± ¡°Yes, rules that you can make or even break as Tournament Chair, Master Lein Cho.¡± ¡°You speak madness. You tempt me to incite the Warden¡¯s wrath by snubbing the easy win of one of her grandnieces?¡± ¡°Please, they have each won twice before. I think you would get more wrath from an unfilled stadium than giving her nieces an actual challenge to win.¡± Bo Ren then sweetened his counter with a tactful smile. ¡°And besides I am not suggesting a straight insertion. The Iron Bull is a crowd favorite who would be weed back into the ring with a huge crowd, but we had another crowd favorite as well¡­ Fung Wang.¡± ¡°The Earth Master?¡± Lein Cho said with a furrowed brow. ¡°But he was defeated.¡± ¡°Yes, but think of this. Two crowd favorites given a second shot at glory. If you want an exhibition match that the whole city woulde to see, then put them on the roster. And for a prize, the winner has the rare opportunity to re-enter the Iron Bracket and face Lady Silver Sparrow for the top spot.¡± Bo Ren waited to let it all sink in before adding, ¡°So what do you think?¡± Lein Cho paused a moment more, his eyes shifting in thought. ¡°How long until the gates open?¡± ¡°Three hours,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°Then quick,¡± he said. ¡°Make flyers and contact Fung Wang.¡± He then looked to me. ¡°Are you prepared to fight tonight, Iron Bull?¡± My me red with tion as I mmed my fist into my palm with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. Bo Ren had done it! He¡¯d made it happen! ¡°The Iron Bull is always prepared to fight,¡± I said. Lein Cho grinned with a ssh of lemonade. ¡°I see now why the crowds love This One,¡± he said. ¡°Very well. We shall have it.¡± He then stared into the distance as if seeing a future only he could see. ¡°This is the perfecteback story. You have proven your talent yet again, Bo Ren. I love it. A living legend lost, versus a tournament hopeful nearly in. It will be a battle for redemption. For vindication. For true superiority.¡± Bo Ren bowed. ¡°You are too kind with your praise, Master Lein Cho.¡± ¡°Prepare a new billing header,¡± Lein Cho said, waving his hand in front of him as if imagining the words illuminated above the crowd. ¡°We shall call it¡­the Second Chance Showdown.¡± Book 2: Chapter 27 ¡°HOLY SHIT¡­¡± I said as I nced out at the crowd. Bo Ren was nothing short of a genius. In three short hours the stadium had gone from 10% capacity to being overcapacity by nearly double. Patrons andmoners flooded the seats with people filling the aisles and walkways, some even sitting on the floor of the stadium itself. The air was abuzz with noise and high above skiffs gathered for the big wigs to catch a glimpse of the impromptu battle about to unfold. ¡°I think this is thergest crowd I¡¯ve ever seen for an Iron Bracket match,¡± Gui Zu said standing next to me as we both peered through the locker room doors. ¡°If you win tonight, your reputation would be well secured, brother. Or at least until your match for the number one spot begins anyway.¡± I grinned. ¡°That¡¯s the n, my man.¡± My insides were roiling with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. It¡¯d been weeks since I was back in the arena and this had turned out to be one heck of a homing. ¡°Do you know much about who you¡¯re up against?¡± Gui Zu asked. I recalled the quick briefing Bo Ren had given me earlier. ¡°A Fourth-Tier Core cultivator named Fung Wang. Earth aspect so no real advantage either way between us. He¡¯s rtively new to the Iron Bracket. Think this is only his third outing, but he¡¯s not inexperienced. Bo Ren said he¡¯d been training for about seven years before entering the Iron Bracket.¡± ¡°Not a pushover then,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°Are you ready?¡±It was a good question. I¡¯d just finished running a marathon from the wild and barely replenished a quarter of my Frenzy. Other than that, though, I¡¯d had three days of bed rest to capitalize on all the Frenzy I¡¯d been cultivating by building the wall. I was certainly a bit stronger in the body refinement category, but could I match this guy¡¯s martial skill as well? ¡°Honestly I don¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°But I don¡¯t care either¡­I have no choice but to win this fight tonight.¡± It was the truth too. Everything was riding on this now. The same way a crowd this size could solidify my reputation throughout the city, it could just as easily break it. That got a whole new set of parameters flowing through my brain. This wasn¡¯t a fight just for me, this was a battle I needed to win for the future of my n. The Terran Sect needed to dominate, and I needed to pull out all the stops. Just the thought set the [Odds Against Me] and I drew on the fresh Frenzy of the technique to saturate my body with potency and stored excess in my Dantian. A fanfare of trumpets yed over the murmur of the crowd and suddenly the announcer¡¯s voice broke over the speakers. ¡°He was defeated in shame, but as the phoenix rises from the ashes, so too can great warriors return for a second chance at glory!¡± The crowd riled up as a drum roll started and the stadium light pointed in the opposite corner. ¡°You know him as the Young Mountain King, the Earth Master with a point to prove. Can the old ways rival the new? He wasn¡¯t able to the first time, but can he earn his way to glory yet again? Join me in weing back to the ring, Master Fung Wang of the Holy Mountain n!¡± Fung Wang entered the ring riding a wave of earth made from the arena¡¯s hardpacked y floor, the stuff bing like water under his influence. He was rtively short, barely five foot it looked like, which made him seem like a kid to me, especially with the baseball-sized prayer beads strung around his neck. His head was clean shaven like a monk¡¯s and I guess he actually was one, judging by his flowing green and brown robes. The crowd broke into apuse as Fung Wang performed a flip atop his wave of sand and brought it to a halt at the center of the stadium. He possessed no weapon that I could see. Clearly this guy was more of a mage type like that idiot Li Gong Qui. But that didn¡¯t matter. It just meant I¡¯d have to be on my guard. The cheers died down and the announcer came over the speakers again as the lights redirected towards me. ¡°But who can possibly stand in his way?¡± he said,ying on the cheese. ¡°Fung Wang already faced the might of the ruling n and failed. How can he redeem himself? To prove himself worthy of a second shot? Some would call Fung Wang an upstart too young to even represent the ancient principles of the Holy Mountain n. So perhaps then it is only fitting that another young upstart stand in his way for another shot at glory.¡± I twisted my brow at the narrative. Were they making me out to be the viin here? Before I could consider it further a drum roll began and Gui Zu pped me on the shoulder. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re up. Good luck, brother.¡± I nodded and fitted my bull mask and prepared to enter the stage. ¡°You know him from his meteoric rise up the ranks and his sudden disappearance from the Iron Bracket. But the call of this challenge was too great to ignore. You love him, you¡¯ve missed him and now he¡¯s finally returned. Join me in re-weing to the ring, the Irooooon¡­ BULL!¡± The crowd burst into roars and screams as I slowly made my way into the ring with a swagger of [Indifference] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. The reaction was everything I expected, a flood of lemonade from my supporters and anger from those who favored Fung Wang, but I cultivated it all the same. The crowd seemed evenly split to me, but from the score board the odds looked slightly in his favor. And that was just fine with me. Fung Wang vs The Iron Bull Odds: 9:5 Time - 30:00 Fung Wang Iron Bull 0 0 ¡°This should be an interesting match,¡± the announcer continued. ¡°Don¡¯t you think, Ken Chu?¡± ¡°Yes indeed,¡± a secondmentator, an older man with a gravelly voice answered. ¡°Two very different styles. It will be interesting to see how the Iron Bull will keep up with Fung Wang¡¯s Earth techniques.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± the first announcer said. ¡°Fung Wang certainly has the court advantage due to the arena being made of y. But the Iron Bull is quite the wild card himself.¡± ¡°True,¡± Ken Chu said. ¡°But he exited the Iron Bracket after reaching only 20th rank before. Thepetition at this level is tiers above what he left. Let¡¯s see if he has what it takes to win this match.¡± The narrative was shaping up even more. The [Odds were Against me] for sure. This wasn¡¯t myeback story, but Fung Wang¡¯s. I was the damn obstacle. The idea pissed me off and sent red-hot Frenzy shooting from my me. Half these people were against me, hoping for a quick win to see their hero Fung Wang back in the running. I grimaced inwardly. Sorry folks, but I¡¯m going to have to disappoint you all. But for that I would need strength. Frenzy in amounts like never before. Like the announcer had said, the whole arena was Fung Wang¡¯s weapon, no need for him to carry one like the cheap iron axe in my hand. I would have to fight fire with fire if I wanted to stand a chance. And that meant using lightning. Tons of lightning. And that meant tons of Frenzy. I stopped in the center of the ring, a stone¡¯s throw away from Fung Wang and slowly and deliberately reached for my mask. A series of gasps went up from the crowd as I prepared to do the unthinkable. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± the announcer shouted. ¡°Is the Iron Bull doing what I think he is?¡± There was only one way to secure my reputation in the streets and that meant ensuring everyone knew just who the hell I was. I removed my bull mask and greeted the crowd arms wide with a grimace of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. The crowd went wild with screams and from my fans came a cascade of lemonade. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it!¡± the announcer shouted. ¡°An unexpected face reveal by the Iron Bull! Hang on to your wives, gentlemen! This fe is as handsome as he is strong! I hear he¡¯s single too,dies! Look out!¡± High-pitched screams from the crowd reflected the egging on of the announcer. Women were jumping up and down ecstatically in the crowd, much to the chagrin of some of the men. Anger and lemonade mixed and I absorbed it all, filling my reserves for the battle toe. It all reminded me of what Fia had told me about the women in the high courts, how they lusted after the enigmatic Bull Man. And now their fantasy fulfillment wasplete. I looked up at the floti of skiffs in the sky and wondered if Fia was there with them. The odds on the scoreboard changed. Fung Wang vs The Iron Bull Odds: 9:7 Time - 30:00 Fung Wang Iron Bull 0 0 Fung Wang smirked at me from across the distance. ¡°So you¡¯re popr, so what,¡± he said, flexing his Qi as he raised the ground beneath him, bringing his 5-foot frame closer to my near seven-foot height. ¡°What matters now is if you can fight.¡± I ced my axe on my shoulder with [Indifference]. ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? Looking good is the least of my talents.¡± My statement caused a lick of anger to re within him and I quickly consumed it to add to my growing supply of Frenzy that I was sh cultivating into solid form to store within my Dantian. ¡°We¡¯re ready to start, folks,¡± the announcer shouted. ¡°Earth Master Fung Wang versus the Iron Bull! Let the Second Chance Showdown¡­ Begin!¡± A gong sounded and I immediately sprang into action anticipating an attack from Fung Wang. It came in the form of a wave of earth that threatened to bury me like a tsunami. Spinning, I engaged my jing meridian and attempted to slice through it with a lightning-charged [One Chop Cleave]. The two techniques collided with a boom! and the air was suddenly filled with a shower of fine hail falling from the sky. Hail? What the hell? It took me a half second more to realize the hail was actually ss, the result of my lightning technique sh melting the sand. Fung Wang lifted his nose at me with the faintest hint of lemonade. ¡°So, it seems you can fight after all,¡± he said, adjusting his prayer beads. ¡°Let¡¯s have at it then!¡± A torrent of rocks and debris flew in my direction as Fung Wang went into a series of martial palm techniques. I engaged [Iron Skin] and [Iron Core] and dove right into the attack, gritting my teeth with [Indifference]. It took all my Frenzy and wherewithal to not falter as the first rock hit me, so much power behind it that it would have easily shattered my bones if not for my techniquesbined. Three more hit as I plowed through the attack to get within melee range. My advance surprised him, but not enough to forget his defenses as I swiped my axe at his head with a lightning-charged technique. Instantly a wall of earth formed a shield around him and my axe bounced off of it with a flurry of ss shards and sparks. Damn, I cursed inwardly. His Qi was strong. I went on the defensive after that as Fung Wang sent a column of hard earth up from the ground beneath me. I shot into the air almost twenty feet before losing my footing and tumbling in midair. He wasted no time in mming his hands together to perform a follow-up attack. From either side of me, two giant boulders materialized out of thin air and quickly closed in on me. Panic shot through my me in a burst of Frenzy and I used it to deftly position my axe horizontally to form a wedge between the two mming boulders. They hit the weapon with a crunch, cracks forming on their surfaces, but the axe held firm, sparing me from being crushed. I was still hanging in mid-air, held aloft by Fung Wang¡¯s technique. He must have realized it too, and a secondter sent both boulders crashing to the ground with me hanging it between. Wha¡ªbam! The weight of a building crashed on top of me as I hit the arena floor, rocks and debris flying everywhere. Blood instantly filled my mouth as my innards were crushed, but I pushed through it to get back on my feet. Fung Wang smirked at me from the distance, his hands sped together as he performed a little bow. ¡°A thousand apologies. It appears our matchup is quite uneven.¡± I glimpsed the scoreboard and was stymied by the results. Fung Wang vs The Iron Bull Odds: 11:4 Time - 27:49 Fung Wang Iron Bull 7 0 Not freaking good, I thought. Fung Wang had definitely won the first exchange and the slip in odds proved it. The reduction of lemonade from the crowd was another reflection of my poor performance. That meant my resources were growing as limited as my options. The bastard had too much free rein with being able to manipte the arena itself. Basically no ce was safe. As if to emphasize the point, Fung Wang threw both palms into the air and the ground mimicked him with two pirs rising at my sides. He mmed his forearms together and I jumped back just in time to miss being crushed by them. My frontal assault hadn¡¯t worked, but I had to give it a try. I had managed to get close, but even then he had decent defenses at close range. I needed a new strategy. I summoned the solid Frenzy in my core and sent it to my jing,shing out with a lightning-charged strike at the pirs. My axe hit and with a crackling boom of thunder and the pirs broke. To my chagrin, Fung Wang still had control and pushed his arms forward to make the pirs m into me head on. I saw stars as I went flying backwards with the force of the surprise hit, another point adding to the scoreboard. ¡°You make this too easy for me, Iron Bull!¡± Fung Wang said with augh. ¡°I thank you for your loss in advance! You have made my return to the Iron Bracket a quick one.¡± Cocky bastard¡­ I thought. With a shake of my head, I righted myself,ing to my senses just in time to dodge a falling boulder from above. ¡°Looks like Fung Wang has the Iron Bull on the backfoot!¡± the announcer said. ¡°This might be an easy second chance victory for the Mountain Master! Let¡¯s hear it for him, folks!¡± The crowd roared in response, and I felt my cultivation base slipping even further. Damn it! I cursed again. I needed an advantage here. And then I saw it. The answer came in the form of an artifact frozen in time. A shock of molten ss had solidified mid-spray when I hit the two pirs with my lightning technique, looking now like an ocean wave paused at its crest. The logic clicked. Turning the earth to ss changed it to something Fung Wang could no longer manipte with his Qi. I had my answer, but the [Odds Were Against Me] still. The cheers for Fung Wang proved it. I was the underdog in more ways than one. As the thought steeped, my me responded with a newfound Frenzy of its own. It wasn¡¯t much, but it would have to do. I gauged I had just over a third of a Dantian full of Frenzy left. It¡¯s all or nothing, I thought. I summoned my inner strength, triggering a waterfall of Frenzy to flow towards my jing. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± Torrents of blue lightning arced from my body as I flew into a whirlwind, advancing towards Fung Wang with my martial axe forms. He responded with techniques of his own, but as his rocks mmed into me, my lightning technique instantly shattered them into clouds of ss hail that fell heavily from the sky. I kept it up, my meridians straining with the constant flow of Frenzy. I lost track of time, focusing on nothing but maintaining the technique. Bits of rocks got through, mming into me, but I endured the pain to keep going. The remaining Frenzy within my Dantian became my only guide. Keep going, I thought. Just leave enough for a final swing. The announcers were going wild, but I couldn''t care less. My meridian felt like they were about to copse and I knew after this I had to have maxed out the limits of my Internal Strengthening. I fixed on Fung Wang and leapt towards him at thest minute with a burst of Frenzy, dropping my [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] techniquepletely. I got close enough for a swing of my axe and as expected Fung Wang threw his hand into the air to summon his earth shield to protect him. But nothing happened. His eyes went wide with shock as all around him was now a glittering sea of molten ss and sand. ¡°Surprise, bitch!¡± My axe mmed into him, leaving a massive gash across his forearm and sending his prayer beads flying as they broke from about his neck. He cried out in shock and pain, clearly not expecting the hit tond. I followed through before he could raise any other defenses, mming him in the stomach with the back of my axe. It was a non-lethal blow. As another crowd favorite, killing him would do the exact opposite of what I wanted to achieve. But although killing him was out of the question, absolutely dominating him was fair game. I was bone dry out of Frenzy, but with my Muscle Strengthening at Stage VII or VIII now, I had more than enough casual strength to wipe the floor with him. I pummeled Fung Wang with a couple of quick jabs to the head, knocking him backwards and finally ending it all with a spinning heel kick to his jaw. Whack! The crowd went silent as he cartwheeled end over end and mmed hard into the ssy arena floor a good twenty feet away. ¡°That¡¯s done it!¡± the announcer cried. ¡°Fung Wang lookspletely knocked out!¡± The earth cultivator did his best to sit upright, eyes unfocused, but it was clear he¡¯d put all his cultivation efforts into Qi maniption rather than body strengthening techniques. I removed my mask and gave him a deep bow of respect, which caused only more screams and cheers from the crowd. ¡°An honorable end to a terrific match!¡± the announcer shouted. ¡°The Iron Bull once again proves he is never to be counted out. The Second Chance Showdown isplete! Let¡¯s hear it for our winner, the Iron Bull!¡± I raised my axe in victory, although now it was little more than a twice-fried lightning rod of charred iron and scorched steel. I waved to the crowd and was amazed by the amount of lemonadeing from one and all. I cultivated it greedily as I looked at the final score. Fung Wang vs The Iron Bull Odds: 5:14 Time ¨C 11:16 Fung Wang Iron Bull 47 23 The odds surprised me. Had the crowd shifted in my favor after seeing me use my lightning techniques? Maybe I had read the scene all wrong. Maybe they wanted a rematch against Lady Silver Sparrow more than anything else and had just figured Fung Wang posed the best chance to make that happen. But now that I¡¯d proven my skill and strength, I was more than worthy to be the final contender to take his ce. I continued to cultivate their praise and adoration, replenishing my Frenzy reserves. I¡¯d gone down to zero. Putting it all on the line. But the results spoke for themselves. I did it, I thought. The Iron Bull¡­was back. Book 2: Chapter 28 IT TURNED OUT to be a bigger challenge leaving the arena than it was to get back into it. Throngs of people mobbed me as soon as I exited the locker room, everyone wanting to shower me with praises and to get a glimpse of the Iron Bull up close and in person. I¡¯d gone from a minor celebrity to a citywide sensation overnight, and my Dantian had noints as I cultivated the free Frenzy and used the excess to heal my wounds and strengthen my body even further. I signed autographs with my moniker on scarfs and handkerchiefs and received several handkerchiefs from random women in the crowd scribbled with contact information of their own. It was all at once humbling and overwhelming, but thankfully Gui Zu came to my rescue after a while, acting as my bodyguard to push against the crowd. ¡°Go back inside and head out the back way,¡± he whispered to me. ¡°I¡¯ll hold them all here.¡± He didn¡¯t need to tell me twice. I slipped away in the confusion as Gui Zu distracted everyone by yelling and shouting. I doubled back through the locker room and weaved my way through theplex to exit on the opposite side of the arena. It put me a few blocks out of my way, to get back home, but once out into the night air, free of the mob, I breathed a sigh of relief and didn¡¯t mind the extra walk at all. I started a slow stroll home, engaging [Mask of the Despised] to hopefully deter any more would-be groupies that mighte my way. I¡¯d gotten just about a block from the arena when a voice called out to me from behind. ¡°An impressive victory. You do the sect proud, even though you are nothing more than a glorified traitor.¡± A woman¡¯s voice, deep and husky.Ah shit, here we go again, I thought as I turned slowly to face the only person it could be. ¡°Nice to see you again, Hin Wu.¡± She was dressed in her elder¡¯s robes, red hair wild and messy about her shoulders. She was alone this time. Or so it appeared. I nced about quickly to see if any of herckeys might have surrounded me, but without the ability to sense Qi, I was literally blind to an ambush if there was one. I was also quite weak at the moment. I¡¯d gotten a full tank of gas from the crowd, but my body was spent. The marathon run from the wild using two marks at once and now expending myself to fight Fung Wang had taken its toll. I really can¡¯t push myself anymore today, I thought. But I would if I had to. ¡°This One is pleased you have finally reemerged, ¡®Iron Bull¡¯.¡± Hin Wu tipped her wide-brimmed douli at the mention of my moniker. ¡°This One thought that perhaps you had fled.¡± ¡°I never back down from a fight,dy,¡± I said, stirring my me with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°If you want your death tonight, you can have it.¡± She leaned her head back andughed. ¡°If only it were so easy.¡± ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t think it will be?¡± But she was right. I still hadn¡¯t developed a spiritual defense as yet. She could kill me even if my body was in tiptop shape. ¡°You misunderstand me,¡± Hin Wu said and then yelling out she cried, ¡°Show yourselves, cowards! You¡¯re all too clumsy to remain silent anyway.¡± One by one, figures in ck emerged from the darkness, crouched on rooftops and slipping from out of shadows. With their faces covered in ck veils I couldn¡¯t recognize any of them, but by their tight-fitting outfits I knew exactly who they were. Fia¡¯s Silver Shadows. ¡°These pests have been following me non-stop,¡± Hin Wu said with a sneer of disdain. ¡°It seems yourdy friend has a keen interest in maintaining your health.¡± I chuckled thinking of Fia. She really had been looking out for me all this time, after all. I wondered if she was in the arena just now as well. I hoped so. ¡°Yeah, looks like it,¡± I said. ¡°The woman is clearly obsessed with you,¡± Hin Wu said with a leer. ¡°As perhaps are many women, after tonight.¡± The way she looked at me, it wasn¡¯t clear if she was counting herself amongst them, but the subtle essence of lemonade from her hinted that she did. ¡°So, what¡¯s your game n, Hin Wu? You tracked me down here just to talk?¡± ¡°You do know your debt must soon be paid,¡± she said. ¡°But you proved to me tonight that you have value and talent. Perhaps even enough to atone for your sins.¡± I squinted at her. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I do hold some influence with Master Lo Feng. If you were penitent, I could vouch for you. You may even be able to retain your rank as elder, especially if you win the match against Lady Silver Sparrow in two weeks¡¯ time.¡± Another deal with the devil? I could barely contain myughter. ¡°You¡¯re not serious, are you?¡± Hin Wu responded with a scowl, her lemonade now apanied by anger. ¡°Do not test me, Iron Bull. To receive an offer of grace is quite rare, especially for one in your position. You should be kowtowing to me a thousand times for even considering to take such pity on you.¡± I smirked with [Indifference]. ¡°Well, I appreciate the pity party,dy, but I¡¯m good. No way in hell am I ever serving you or Lo Feng.¡± Her anger red and I thought she might throw her hat at me again. Her Qi must have red as well, because instantly a dozen silver needles struck the ground at her feet¨C¨Ca warning from the Silver Shadows still watching our every move. Hin Wu regarded them balefully as she nced about and then her gaze finally fell on me. She let out a harrumph. ¡°Very well then, Iron Bull. It seems you have chosen death. Let it be known that This One offered you a great kindness that was refused.¡± She then gave me a quick up and down. ¡°A pity indeed.¡± With that she leapt into the sky and took off on a pir of mes. It was so sudden that even some of the Silver Shadows reeled back in shock. We stood there all looking at one another for a moment. Finally, I sped my hands and gave them all a bow. ¡°Please give my thanks and best sentiments to your mistress,¡± I said. ¡°This One is grateful for your protection.¡± In truth Hin Wu was probably strong enough to kill all of us, but clearly she took the warning from Fia about a direct conflict with the ruling sect seriously. It was not just Fia protecting me then, but the very power of her n. The Silver Shadows looked bewildered at what I¡¯d said for a moment, all of them ncing at one another. Finally, one of them spoke. ¡°Do not mock our mistress, Iron Bull,¡± she said. ¡°The Lady Silver Light preserves your life only so that she may kill youter.¡± I chuckled with [Indifference]. ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s the case.¡± But I could read Fia¡¯s ybook as easily as Hin Wu had. The feelings were still there. And that was a good sign. I just needed to sort out mine. Thoughts of how I could possibly marry into the family of my enemy gued my mind as I slowly continued on my way home. * * * I was up early the next morning after sleeping under the stars. Gui Zu and Yu Li were in my old apartment, but even if I didn¡¯t not have a ce to sleep, I would have chosen to remain with those disced by the fire anyway. After assembling themunity in the morning, I let them know my n. ¡°We¡¯re knocking this down today,¡± I said, pointing to the burned-out apartment building. ¡°And afterwards we¡¯ll build back our homes better than ever. Bigger, more secure. Everyone is going to need to y a part, but together we can do it.¡± Jian Yi went into work rally mode after that, shouting out the details and getting people organized. I took on the main role of demolishing what was left of the building, cultivating my Body Strengthening while also practicing my martial techniques, breaking down walls and support columns filled with steel. My thoughts roamed while I worked. My fight with Fung Wang reminded me that I needed to increase my defensive capabilities and that stunt I had pulled off using [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] to turn everything to ss had given me an idea. Although I had used it to make the ss, it had also protected me somewhat from his projectiles. What if I could use a variation of the technique to achieve a simr effect? Less shooting the arcs of lightning outwards and instead keeping them close to my body. Like a sort of lightning shield. Or maybe I could evenbine it with [Iron Skin]. I grinned inwardly. [Iron Lightning] has a nice ring to it. I mulled on the idea while I worked away, demolishing the apartment building floor by floor. Sadly, I couldn¡¯t generate the same amount of lemonade from my sect members as I could the bunkermunity out in the wild. Everyone here was already used to me being a powerhouse, especially after most of the neighborhood hade to see me fight at the arenast night. But just me being there and leading the charge physically filled people with a sense of purpose and drive. It was a reminder that I needed to carefully bnce the splitting of my time between the twomunities. As I tore down the building, people loaded carts and wagons with the debris to dump it to the side. By mid-afternoon we¡¯d gotten most of it done and for a minute I marveled at what we had all aplished in only a day. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was working on something inherently familiar to me, but the progress here hit me way more than did my progress of building the wall in the wild. I recalled seeing a building being demolished as a kid and remembered the crane and wrecking ball crew being there for weeks, maybe even months. No wonder we had lost the war, I thought. Against cultivators¡­our technology paled. ¡°So now what?¡± Jian Yi said, arms folded as she surveyed the newly vacated lot with me. ¡°What do you mean, now what?¡± I said. ¡°We build.¡± ¡°With what money?¡± she said with a sigh. I shrugged. ¡°How much do we have in the bank?¡± ¡°Not enough to build a building. Not quickly anyway, like what we need.¡± ¡°How much do we have?¡± ¡°About 600 Taels,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Will probably cost five times that to build new homes for everyone.¡± She then frowned and muttered, ¡°Maybe even more with how fancy you made it sound to everyone.¡± ¡°Hey,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Only the best for the Terran Sect.¡± Jian Yi rolled her eyes, ever the businesswoman. But how indeed were we going to afford it all? Granted I¡¯d bagged 1000 Taels worth of monster cores already, but I needed that money to try and buy some Corrupted Steel and who knew how much that might cost? But farming monster cores could be a surefire way to help afford all this. That meant two things. One, I needed to win that fight against Lady Silver Sparrow more than ever. There¡¯d be no other way to afford entering the Gold Bracket without winning that now. Every spare Wen we could muster would now have to go towards the new building. And two, I needed a way to effectively and efficiently kill monsters out in the wild using Threja¡¯s sword. Doing that I could kill two birds with one stone¡ªexpand the barrier and also farm cores. But to do that I needed training and a weapon to practice with. ¡°Okay I have a n,¡± I said. Jian Yi¡¯s eyebrows raised. ¡°Oh, do you? Care to share what that is.¡± ¡°Not just yet,¡± I said. ¡°I need to go visit an old friend first.¡± * * * After getting a quick freshening up, I headed off for Master Edrik¡¯s. I kept working on my [Iron Lightning] idea along the way, envisioning the meridian symbols in my mind and transposing them like an equation as I walked towards the artisan district. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could make it work yet or not, but the theory seemed sound. Some more time tinkering with it perhaps and I could actually start trying it out for real. But I had a ton of other techniques to master first. [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] being some of them. Hell, maybe I could even make [Steel Lightning] one day, I thought. Lysa greeted me at that door as usual when I arrived and then ushered me through to the workshop where Master Edrik was hard at work, banging away on his anvil. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you boys to it,¡± Lysa said with a smile. ¡°Call if you need anything.¡± ¡°Thanks, Lysa,¡± I said and then greeted Edrik with a hearty handshake. ¡°So, the Iron Bull, eh?¡± he said with augh. ¡°I don¡¯t normally go to tournaments myself, but my neighbor was talking my ear offst night. Said he saw you pull off quite the victory in the ring.¡± Iughed. ¡°Guess I can¡¯t keep that one a secret anymore.¡± ¡°So what can I do for you today, Mr. Iron Bull. Don¡¯t tell me you need to rece that axe of yours already?¡± ¡°No not yet,¡± I said. ¡°Although I may need a duplicate made depending.¡± ¡°Two of ¡®em?¡± I wondered if Kelsey would take to using an axe like me. Granted it was all I had to teach her at the moment, but in time maybe she would settle on her own weapon of choice. Yet another reason I needed to forge her own orb made of Corrupted Steel. But for now, the request would be quite simple. ¡°I will need another axe,¡± I said. ¡°But a normal one. Qi steel would be fine. Like the one I had before.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Not exactly,¡± I said. ¡°I need another weapon forged if you can manage it. Something a little different.¡± Master Edrik raised his brows, intrigued. ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± I began to describe Threja¡¯s sword and after a while Edrik stopped me and produced a sleeve of paper and gave me a pencil. ¡°Just draw it for me if you can,¡± he said. I took to doing just that, able to reproduce it clearly from my Frenzy-driven mind¡¯s eye. It made me realize that even while transposing meridian sequences earlier I had to be at the beginning of Stage VIII of Mental Quickness. Normally I would have to be seated and in deep meditation to do that, but now I could do so while walking. Clearly those encounters under the effect of the Bloodmoon had given me some gains after all. Once I finished drawing the sword, I handed the paper to Master Edrik. He frowned turning it right side up and upside down, then suddenly his eyes snapped open with recognition. ¡°Oh! You want a Phnx ive.¡± ¡°A what?¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just tell me that¡¯s what you wanted?¡± Edrik said and then he paused and furrowed his brow. ¡°You sure you want it, though? They aren¡¯t too easy to wield, even for a fe as strong as you. It¡¯s a sword but they call it a ive for a reason.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°They¡¯re made intentionally with an imbnce,¡± he said, tapping at the tip of the ce. ¡°Dissimr metals. Inside the tip is a core made of Star Stone.¡± ¡°Star stone?¡± ¡°Really dense stuff,¡± he said. ¡°That sword would end up looking more like a boulder on the end of a chopstick if it were all made of the same metal. That¡¯s how severe the imbnce is. You need the skill of a ive master to wield it.¡± Well, that exined a lot. No wonder that sword was throwing me around like a rag doll. ¡°What¡¯s the rest of it made of?¡± He raised a brow at me. ¡°Don¡¯t you know? I thought that¡¯s maybe why you wanted it. It¡¯s made of the same material as your axe, an alloy of Corrupted Steel.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned,¡± I said as the pieces all fell into ce. It being made of Corrupted Steel only made sense for Threja to be wielding it, but I thought she might have made that modification herself. Who knew that it came standard, or that the de had a name at all. ¡°I did not know that.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll need special training to use it,¡± Edrik said. ¡°A ive master, preferably.¡± I smiled. ¡°Yeah, I got someone in mind.¡± Edrik then frowned. ¡°Son, tell me. Why is it you want this weapon really? You didn¡¯t get carried away with all my stories of the legionnaires and Cursed Stars, did you? It¡¯s not something to yearn for if so.¡± It was my turn to furrow my brow now. ¡°What¡¯s any of that got to do with this?¡± His eyes widened in surprise. ¡°You really don¡¯t know what this is for, do you?¡± I shook my head dumbfounded. Edrik stared at me a moment more before letting out augh. ¡°You truly are a mystery,d. It¡¯s as if you know things before you even know what they are at all.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if that was apliment or not, but I took it as one. ¡°Remember I told you about the legionnaires who plunder the hell worlds of the Cursed Stars?¡± he said. I nodded, recounting the story he had told. ¡°Like our blood moon but ten times worse, right?¡± ¡°Right,¡± he said. ¡°But as I told you, the Empire sends legionnaires once every few years, but they don¡¯t go unapanied. Each Legionnaire has an entourage of retainers. An Imperial Phnx. This sword, this ive is their sigil of sorts.¡± ¡°They protect the legionnaires?¡± ¡°Well¡­ not protect per se.¡± His eyes then popped open. ¡°Ah! They¡¯re a lot like you guys. Your job as a handler. They are servants to the Legionnaires. Trusted guides and retainers. Some are even mortal I hear, depending on their purpose.¡± My eyes grew wide at that. Was that what Threja truly was? A Cursed Star version of a handler? It would certainly make sense for her being able to pass as a mortal but still able to wield a sword like that. But then something else wasn¡¯t clicking. If Threja had been to the worlds of Cursed Stars, why then did she need toe to Earth to find her [Death Wish]? ¡°Do these handlers or Phnx travel with the legionnaires to the Cursed Stars?¡± Edrik shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Few are strong enough to survive more than a few hours on those hellish worlds. But who knows. Perhaps they are more like an honor guard than handlers, but I know they train with these ives. They are deceptive weapons, able to multiply the strength of a normal blow by manyfold. Once you learn how to use them, that is.¡± Thoughts of me floundering against that giant snake returned to my mind. This was exactly what I needed to learn how to use Threja¡¯s sword properly. An exact replica, Corrupted Steel and all. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll need one made to learn how to wield it,¡± I said. ¡°And don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not nning on visiting those hell worlds anytime soon.¡± We bothughed but in the back of my mind, I wondered if those Cursed Stars were where the King of the Moon had actuallye from. But besides all that another critical problem remained. Edrik beat me to it. ¡°So, if you want to make this,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ll need quite a bit of Corrupted Steel. The Star Stone I can get. It¡¯s fairlymon and we don¡¯t need much. So did youe across more of those orbs or something?¡± ¡°I wish,¡± I said,ughing again. ¡°I was actually hoping you might be able to help me with that. How easy is it to buy that stuff and how much does it cost?¡± ¡°All depends,¡± he said and then pausing, he nced upwards in thought. ¡°It¡¯s the first week of the month, right?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Last I checked.¡± ¡°How much money do you have?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ not a whole lot, but I do have these?¡± I rifled through my backpack and produced the two monster cores for him to see. ¡°My, my. You have been busy, haven¡¯t you?¡± he said with a whistle. ¡°That may do. If we can get a good price for them. Come on, we might not have much time before it closes.¡± ¡°Before what closes?¡± I said, following him as he doffed his apron and donned a small hat. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°To the only ce you might be able tond some Corrupted Steel as well as sell those cores,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°The auction.¡± Book 2: Chapter 29 I¡¯D HEARD OF the auction plenty of times but had never been before. For one, not just anyone could enter or even participate. Citizenship was a must, but beyond that you needed a special license avable only to artisans or crafters. Even when clients nabbed monster cores with me out in the wild, they would then have to hire an artisan to auction it for them for a small fee. It was a way to ensure the artisan and crafting sects took a healthy role in the economy. Not only did they control the converting of exotic ingredients and monster cores into elixirs, pills, and even weapons, but they controlled the market for them as well. All this Master Edrik exined to me as we traversed the side streets, travelling from the artisan district to an area quite close to the base of the imperial city¡ªthe real name for the floating pagoda in the sky. ¡°If you think the world of cultivators is cutthroat you haven¡¯t seen anything yet,¡± Master Edrik said with a chuckle as we entered an arearge enough to span two football fields. The ce looked like pictures I remembered seeing of the stock market from way back in the 1980s. People were thronged wall to wall, yelling and screaming in a din ofplete chaos. There had to be at least twenty separate auction pits active, where an auctioneer took center stage on a raised dais, spewing a hundred words a minute as goods were ced on disy. The buyers surrounding them whistled and called out their bids in rapid session, so fast I couldn¡¯t keep up with any of it. ¡°Cultivators at least have to back their words with strength,¡± Edrik continued to exin as we weaved through the crowd. ¡°Here cunning is valued above both honor and strength. There is a saying here. If you aren¡¯t cheating, you aren¡¯t winning.¡± We approached a small booth, and after showing our ID cards to the Imperial Guard on duty, we both obtained a card with a number on it. I ended up getting 423 and Master Edrik 424. ¡°What are these for?¡± I asked once we had left. ¡°For bidding, you will see.¡±It was all overwhelming and I was appreciative to have Master Edrik as my guide as we dove further into the auction square. I couldn¡¯t sense Qi, but I could tell that not many here were martial artists. Some cultivators perhaps, but thezy kind judging by how out of shape most people looked. These were the people in between the mortals and the cultivators¡ªthe merchants and artisan crafters who controlled the flow of resources throughout the city. People who gathered Qi not by meditation and cultivation but by pills and other cheats since they could easily afford them. They reminded me of the businessmen types from the old world. ¡®Fat cats¡¯ I think my dad used to call them. Besides the people, the goods being sold themselves were also stare worthy. From weapons and artifacts to wagons of grain and evennd, everything went through the hectic process of being bid upon and sold in rapid session. The auctioneers themselves were imperial officials it looked like, decked out in beige and off-white robes. The presence of Imperial Guards and enforcers was thick as well, but everyone else wore multicolored robes from various sects that I had no idea even existed. The culinary sect, the smithing sect, the weaving sect¡ªand all of them with subsects denoting a certain specialization or craft. Once or twice, I spotted a high-tier cultivator strolling leisurely through the chaos while their manservants hauled their recently acquired goods behind them. I probably stood out as well, looking like I did, but I carried no elegance or charm in my gait. Attention came to me instead in the form of crude ttery and ps on the back. ¡°Hey! It¡¯s the Iron Bull!¡± someone shouted and all eyes within the area suddenly turned to me. I endured a mini mob of rabid fans for a few minutes but then quickly engaged [Mask of the Despised] once Edrik and I pulled away. ¡°You being so well known won¡¯t be helpful here,¡± Edrik said. ¡°Not with what we¡¯re about to do.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked, raising a brow. ¡°What are we about to do?¡± Edrik grinned. ¡°Cheat the system a little.¡± He then pulled me to the side to exin. ¡°If you want the best price for those cores, you¡¯ll need to drive the price up a little,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll register them for you and when the bidding starts you bid as well.¡± ¡°What? You want me to bid for my own items?¡± ¡°Yes, but don¡¯t go crazy. Thest thing you want to do is actually win the bid. And take this...¡± He then gave me his hat. ¡°If anyone realizes you¡¯re the Iron Bull they¡¯ll probably stop bidding against you just on principle. And you don¡¯t want that.¡± ¡°Damn, okay,¡± I said, putting on the hat. ¡°I¡¯ll try to be discreet.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll use pit thirteen to offload these,¡± Edrik said, taking the cores from me. ¡°Go separate ways. People can¡¯t know we¡¯re working together. Remember to wait for the first bid to go out before you start driving it up.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± I said with a nod and then Edrik disappeared into the crowd. My pulse sped as I went in the opposite direction, nerves building as I channeled even more Frenzy into [Mask of the Despised]. It was a technique I didn¡¯t rely upon very often, but now everything could be depending on it. I arrived at pit thirteen to catch the tail end of an auction for a small gold chest that was purported to hold mystic properties. It was probably radiating Qi, judging by how many people were bidding upon it. ¡°120 spirit stones!¡± someone called out. ¡°130!¡± ¡°135!¡± The auctioneer kept up with the bids, repeating them as he pointed out each bidder in the crowd. ¡°135 spirits stone by number 247, do I hear more? 140? Yes, 140 for number 132!¡± The auctioneer finally banged his gavel at 175 spirit stones and closed the deal. ¡°Sold to bidder number 132! Next auction!¡± There was one more auction for some special herbs that went fairly quickly to only one bidder for only 5 spirit stones and then the two monster cores were brought out to be put on disy on a small table next to the Auctioneer. ¡°A two-for-one deal,¡± the auctioneer shouted in a singsong tone that reminded me of the announcers in the ring. ¡°Two prime cores. One only slightly disfigured. Both wood aspect. One is extremelyrge. We will start the bidding at 50 spirit stones for the pair.¡± 50? Damn that was it? ¡°Do I hear 50?¡± the auctioneer repeated again. I nced about fearful no one would even bid and then finally someone a few feet away raised their card. ¡°Thank you,¡± the auctioneer said. ¡°50 spirit stones to bidder number 87, do I hear more?¡± A bid at least. But only 50? Nervous seconds went by as I waited for someone else to bid. ¡°50 spirit stones going once!¡± Ah hell. ¡°60!¡± I shouted. ¡°60 to number 424! Do I hear 70?¡± The same bidder, a short man with a shaved head, raised his card again, giving me a re. ¡°Thank you! 70 to number 87 again! Do I hear 80?¡± Finally, someone else raised their card sending the bid upwards. ¡°80 spirit stones to number 312! Do I hear more?¡± ¡°90!¡± I shouted and then clenched my butt cheeks when all I heard was crickets. ¡°Come on, folks, these are prized cores,¡± the auctioneer said as he surveyed the crowd, but no one raised their card. ¡°90 going once!¡± Ah crap! I nced over at number 87 again. He looked to be a cultivator of sorts, and from within him I could sense a subtle hint of anger. My mind went a hundred miles a minute and I threw caution to the wind for ast chance at saving it all. I leered at the man with a shit-eating grin and prayed the action would have the oue I hoped it would. The smoldering anger within him quickly red and I leaned over to whisper to him to seal the deal. ¡°Poor people like you should note to auctions,¡± I said. His face contorted with a scowl and his spirit filled with rage. ¡°100!¡± he shouted, raising his card in defiance. ¡°100!¡± the auctioneer echoed. Inwardly I breathed a sigh of relief, but I masked it with the same leer of [Indifference]. ¡°Beat that if you can,¡± the man said smugly. ¡°We will see who is truly poor or not. Filthy Terran.¡± My me red at the insult. ¡°100 going twice¡­!¡± Within me, the Demon wrestled against the Struggler. I should quit. I had already won. But screw this guy. Maybe I could push him even further. Just to spite his smug ass. I nced across the pit and spotted Master Edrik, desperately making a not so subtle ¡®don¡¯t do it¡¯ gesture by shaking his head. I nced back at the cultivator who began tough. ¡°Thought so,¡± he said. ¡°Terran piece of shit. How¡¯d they even let you in here?¡± Anger erupted like a volcano. ¡°101!¡± I shouted and my heartbeat sped like a jackhammer. Damn it! I just couldn¡¯t contain myself, the Struggler losing control, but thankfully I hadn¡¯t gone too crazy with my bid. Still, I had fallen for my own damn trap. Chun, you dumbass, I chastised myself. Anger rose within the man as he threw down his card in a fit. ¡°You filthy bastard!¡± I was in real trouble now. But I kept my cool with a fa?ade of [Indifference]. Think¡­think!! ¡°Just as I thought,¡± I said with augh. ¡°You¡¯d already reached your limit. You didn¡¯t have even a single spirit stone left to beat me. Imagine losing a bid to a Terran.¡± I prayed for the predictive nature of the cultivator to kick in. Competitive and vengeful to the core. To my relief he quickly snatched his card from the ground. ¡°120!¡± he shouted, while ring at me with rage. ¡°Let¡¯s see you beat that?¡± I gave an inward fist pump and then humbly bowed. ¡°This One was wrong about you, honoredpetitor. This One concedes to your superior wealth.¡± ¡°120 going once, going twice¡­¡± The man¡¯s face contorted with dismay as he perhaps realized what I had just done to him. ¡°Sold!¡± * * * I met back up with Master Edrik who greeted me with a hushed whisper. ¡°You pushed that one quite close,¡± he said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t value these much over 100 spirit stones. I nearly pissed myself when you bid 101.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, me too. It all worked out though.¡± ¡°Luckily.¡± But I knew luck had nothing to do with it, and evidence of that was the baldheaded cultivator who was still following me around like he wanted a damn rematch. I pretended to ignore him as I spoke with Master Edrik discreetly. ¡°So what now?¡± ¡°More luck,¡± he said. ¡°There is some Corrupted Steel that¡¯s arrived from the interior. But we¡¯d better get in line. The supply ship onlyes on the first week of the month. You¡¯d be waiting another month if you miss out today.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°How much do you think it will cost? Will 120 spirit stones be enough?¡± ¡°Depends on who else is bidding, but for the amount you¡¯d need perhaps half that will be enough.¡± Holy crap! I was going to make a profit. ¡°Can you get a bit extra then?¡± I said. ¡°I want to make an orb like the one I gave you before.¡± He raised a brow. ¡°Along with the sword?¡± ¡°The orb is priority actually, if that¡¯s all you can get.¡± He nodded tapping his purse. ¡°With 120 spirit stones to y with you should be able to get it all, depending on the supply. Here take it, you can bid for real this time. Just remember it¡¯s your own money you¡¯ll be spending now.¡± I sensed a familiar stream of anger exuding from behind me and halted Master Edrik before he could hand me the purse full of stones. ¡°Hold on,¡± I said. ¡°I think I pissed someone off from thest auction.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Short bald guy,¡± I said without looking at him. ¡°Think he might try to bid against me. You think maybe you can bid for the steel instead?¡± Edrik nced over my shoulder at him. ¡°Okay but he might have seen us together now.¡± ¡°No problem,¡± I said. ¡°I have an idea. Just go for the steel. Which pit is it at?¡± ¡°Number 8.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll go anywhere but there. We¡¯ll meet up outside.¡± Master Edrik nodded and I pped him on the shoulder, making a big deal of saying farewell to him like he was an old friend I had just happened to run into. I headed in the opposite direction of Pit 8, strolling and pretending to look at the various items on auction. As expected, the bastard began following me again. Which meant Master Edrik was in the clear now. I sensed nothing but venom from the cultivator and enjoyed the free Frenzy along the way as I cultivated it within my Dantian. After a few minutes I realized there was more than just him following me. Two more men in simr-looking robes had joined. I was still using [Mask of the Despised] but I guessed it was less effective now that he had already zeroed in on me. Still, it meant Baldy was looking for more than just a rematch. And that was just fine with me. I led them through the crowd heading for the exit. Once past the Imperial Guards and out into the open side streets, I got a clear view of my would-be assants. There were five of them in all. A smile crept onto my face as I led them to an even more deserted side street. It waste in the day now, not quite dark, but in the shadows of the alleyway it was quite dim. The perfect spot for an attack. I stopped, slowly removing Edrik¡¯s hat. ¡°So¡­ number 87. Seems you have a bone to pick?¡± ¡°A what?¡± the man called out from behind. ¡°Don¡¯t speak your Terran ng to me. You owe me money, you bastard.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t recall us having any kind of agreement.¡± I slowly turned, taking all five of them into view. ¡°And who are your friends?¡± They all looked like Foundation Realm cultivators at best. Sloppy around the edges. They looked pissed as hell too. Members of some no-name sect. ¡°Never mind that,¡± Baldy said, taking a step forward. ¡°You made me overpay for those cores, asshole. And now you¡¯re going to pay me back in full.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± one of his friends parroted him, revealing a length of chain ending in a spiked ball. ¡°You¡¯re going to pay.¡± ¡°And if I don¡¯t?¡± I asked. Baldy seethed with more anger. ¡°Then we¡¯ll take it in blood.¡± I smiled. ¡°You sure about that, bro?¡± I flexed with [Fear the me] as I dropped [Mask of the Despised]. Five jaws hit the ground as the recognition hit them instantly. ¡°Oh shit!¡± one of them shouted. ¡°It¡¯s the Iron Bull!¡± I stepped towards them like something from a nightmare, voring my Frenzy so they could sense the full power of my core. ¡°Not only that,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m also Leader of the Terran Sect and an Elder of the Furious Lightning n. Now I don¡¯t know what piece of shit sect you belong to, but it¡¯s against imperialw tounch an unsanctioned attack against another martial sect¨C¨Cif you even are one.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not!¡± Baldy cried. ¡°We¡¯re just crafters. Please, a thousand apologies! We did not realize it was you, Iron Bull!¡± All at once they fell to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the ground. The free lemonade was nice, but the recognition and respect was even better. This was confirmation my win in the ring had done its job. No one was going to mess lightly with the Terran Sect anymore. ¡°Get the hell out of my sight before I kill you all,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°And if you ever talk shit about Terrans again, I¡¯ll hunt you down personally to retract my mercy.¡± They took off in a scramble, nearly tripping over themselves. As they disappeared down the alley a new thought urred. ¡°Dammit,¡± I said with chagrin. ¡°I should have taken back the damn cores.¡± * * * I met up with Master Edrik a short whileter just outside the auction. He was grinning ear to ear hauling a small trolley cart behind him. ¡°Sess!¡± he said and looking inside the small box upon the cart I spotted four small ingots of metal that gleamed like silver. ¡°Thanks, Master Edrik,¡± I said, marveling as I picked one up to examine. ¡°How much were they?¡± ¡°A bit steep,¡± he said. ¡°Got them for 80.¡± ¡°I¡¯m notining,¡± I said. I walked with Edrik back to his house where he took a few extra minutes to melt one of the ingots down into a ball. After polishing it to a gleam, he handed it to me and a wave of nostalgia rushed over me as I held the newly fashioned orb in my hands. Hope I do you proud, Big Sis, I thought. But now I had a little sister of my own to raise. ¡°Here¡¯s the axe and your change,¡± Edrik said, handing me one of his stock logging axes as well as the purse full of spirit stones. ¡°I should be finished with the ive in a couple of weeks or so.¡± ¡°Thanks Master Edrik,¡± I said, and handed him back ten spirit stones from the purse. ¡°For everything you¡¯ve done.¡± ¡°Hey this is way too much!¡± I smiled. ¡°We¡¯ll call it your share of the swindle.¡± Heughed at that and after gathering my things, I bid him and Lysa farewell. I rolled the orb in my palm, marveling at the corrupted steel as I walked home. Today was a day full of wins. But tomorrow there would be even more challenges to ovee. And now that I had an orb, chief among them would be focusing on my spiritual growth so I could transcribe my knowledge of the Frenzied me. My reputation had been solidified for now and that would buy me more time out in the wild. Time I would need to expose myself to the Bloodmoon and face the monster lurking in the darkness there. My mind was already hatching the n to focus on that as well as mastering my new Berserker techniques, not to mention taking a crack at developing [Iron Lightning] My battle with Lady Silver Sparrow was in only two weeks and I needed more reliable defenses to prepare. There was still some work to do in the city, but after that my destination was clear. Once I got the building started, it was time to head back to the wild. Book 2: Chapter 30 PRINCESS LUNALAH TAPPED rewind on the arena footage ying across her Qi tablet. She zoomed in on the segment where the Iron Bull removed his helmet especially. The screams from the crowd echoed her own sentiments. A fine specimen indeed. She watched the fight y out against the earth master, Fung Wang. The Iron Bull¡¯s style was haphazard and unrefined, yet somehow that matched his rugged exterior perfectly. Sometimes he didn¡¯t even try to evade his opponent¡¯s attacks, simply taking them head on and ploughing through with a dogged determination and confidence that defied the heavens themselves. The hubris without vanity. The demonstration of power without pretention or pride. It was enough to stir her insides with desire. As the recording came to his victory pose, Lunh paused the image of the Iron Bull and marveled at his chiseled chest and rugged face. She nearly had the urge to slip a hand between her warming thighs, but quickly stopped herself when a knock came from her chamber doors. ¡°Who is it?¡± she called, quickly closing the image on her tablet. ¡°Ling Wei, your majesty,¡± the girl¡¯s soft voice came from behind the door. ¡°I have reports from the interior.¡± Lunh sighed with frustration. The worst timing, but perhaps it was for the best. She need not be distracting herself with fantasies in the middle of the day. ¡°Enter,¡± she said and then straightened herself behind her wide baster desk. Her imperial chambers were a stone¡¯s throw from the throne room where she held formal audience with her cab ministers, but unlike there, her chambers were far more intimate rather than being void and spacious. There was room enough for her desk and a small adjacent table to fit her five cab ministers, were she ever in need to call them to an impromptu meeting. Behind her, her six jade urns filled with artifacts hovered powerfully as they refined the Earth¡¯s Qi, passively cultivating the ambient energy through her Dantian. Ling Wei entered and Lunh instructed her to sit at the table. ¡°Give your report,¡± she said. Tapping on her tablet, Ling Wei transferred the information onto her own tablet as she summarized it for her. ¡°First a private message from your mother.¡± Lunh opened the message and scanned it briefly. As expected, it was another potential suitor. One look at his average face and build she discarded it immediately. ¡°What else?¡± ¡°Perhaps of somewhat less importance,¡± Ling Wei said, sliding her finger across the tablet. ¡°The Legionnaire Academy has sent its final plea for tributes for theing year.¡± Lunh rolled her eyes. It would be the 13th straight year that Terra had nothing to offer the Empire in their battle against the scourge of the Cursed Stars. The expeditions were bing more frequent, now every year instead of every three and the Academy¡¯s push for fresh recruits was bing more fervent. ¡°Out of curiosity, who is leading in the contributions this year?¡± Not that it would matter for her, but the empire rewarded the top five contributing worlds with imperial funding packages along with a prestige that could not be measured in spirit stones. Montros with 33 tributes,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°All Sullied of course.¡± Lunh shook her head loathingly. ¡°Those ugly grey bastards have too much natural strength. They should be banned from even applying.¡± Ling Wei chuckled politely. ¡°I¡¯m sure most only ever qualify as phnx.¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± she said. Still, it irked her. Onlyary natives could be offered as tributes. A return on investment for the Yee Dynasty expending its resources to conquer new worlds. Lunh risked taking a peek at the Iron Bull again. A Gold Ranking was the minimum requirements for entry. Too close for this year, but perhaps next? Not that she would want to see such a rarity go to waste, dying upon one of those far-flung worlds under the influences of those Cursed Stars. But graduating a legionnaire would certainly put him at a status much closer to being eptable as a potential suitor in the lower courts. And, not to mention, if he were strong, or perhaps lucky enough to actually survive a tour or two. Her heart sped a little at the idea. An Imperial Marshall was certainly a title worthy to court a lower princess such as herself. It was the closest amoner could get to possessing true royalty. But to aplish that, he would need to face trials greater than most cultivators would ever dare to¡ª ¡°Princess!¡± Lunh snapped to her senses to see Ling Wei staring at her intently, confusion on her brow. ¡°Yes, what is it?¡± ¡°A thousand apologies,¡± she said with a bow of her head. ¡°This One perhaps spoke too softly thest three times she tried to gain your majesty¡¯s attention.¡± Lunh blushed a little and was appreciative of Ling Wei¡¯s discretion. ¡°Indeed. Speak up, Ling Wei. What was it you had asked?¡± Ling Wei bowed graciously again. ¡°This One had asked if you had read the urgent report that hade from Warden Tu¡¯loc Rhen of Xiang Xian province this morning.¡± She hadn¡¯t. Too busy watching that damn arena footage. ¡°Summarize it for me.¡± Ling Wei cleared her throat as she looked up the information on her table. ¡°Warden Tu¡¯loc reports that despite the oue of the sanctioned duelst month between the Holy Mountain and Orange Blossom sects, there is a small pocket of cultivators who continue to battle in open conflict over the farnds in the Xiang Xian region.¡± Her eyes shot open. ¡°What? They openly defy a ruling of imperialw?¡± ¡°So it seems, your majesty¡­¡± ¡°What has Tu¡¯loc Rhen done about it?¡± Ling Wei searched her tablet. ¡°It does not say. The report alone is all he has sent. Shall I summon him to you, your majesty.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said standing. ¡°I will go to him.¡± Ling Wei bowed. ¡°I shall ready your Imperial Skiff right away.¡± ¡°No, this cannot wait.¡± Lunh closed her eyes and summoned her Qi. ¡°It is time the people of Xiang Xian province are reminded at whose privilege they are allowed to exist on this.¡± Turning her thoughts inward, Lunh peered into the core of her Dantian to awaken her second soul. It was an odd experience the first time she had ever seen her inner self¡ªa splitting image of her in flesh, but where her robes were made of fine silks in the physical world, here they were of now made of celestial finery that sparkled with brilliance. Her urns too had taken on a celestial form, bing solid jade crystals that pulsated with a light of their own. Within the confines of her inner self¡ªthe inner world of her Sacred Soul¡ªLunh could see beyond the physical realm and glimpse the spiritual. Searching through her mind¡¯s eye, she sought out the soul of Tu¡¯loc Rhen and found him on the edge of Xiang Xian province. From her vantage she could see him overlooking a valley divided by a meandering river and on either side of it were the constructs of a small town. Buildings and homes marked an epicenter that spread outward from the riverbanks to be less dense as they transitioned from town to farnd. The area Tu¡¯loc Rhen was currently overlooking was engulfed in mes. What looked to be over fifty cultivators were engaged inbat, techniques of both the Orange Blossom and the Holy Mountain ns tearing the ground apart with earthquakes and falling petals. As she stretched her spirit to epass the town itself, she saw the violence present there as well, as cultivators attacked one another indiscriminately in the streets. Indignation filled her soul as her eyes became shimmering pools of light. ¡°Tu¡¯loc Rhen!¡± she shouted. The cultivator all but fainted as he fell to his knees, searching the sky for where the voice hade from. ¡°Princess?¡± He answered with uncertainty, his eyes wide with fear and doubt. Tu¡¯loc Rhen was not a warrior. His n represented the farming sect responsible for most of the food production in the southern region of the continent. His aptness to deal with the logistics of mass production was what had earned him his ce as Warden, but now his weaknesses were on disy for all to see. Which included the handful of Imperial Guards and enforcers surrounding him. Not one of them seemed to be intervening in the conflict roiling around them at all. All of them were instead looking about with the same fear as their master. Weakness breeds weakness, she thought. It would seem she would need more than just her voice to deal with this situation. Were she able to finally achieve her breakthrough to the next realm, she could have teleported her physical self to the location in an instant, warping the very fabric of space and time. But as a 9th-Tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator, she would have to settle for the next best thing. Tapping into the vast well of Qi within her Dantian, Lunh projected her Sacred Soul across the distance to Tu¡¯loc Rhen, manifesting her spiritual self before his eyes. Instantly the man fell to his knees in reverence, as did the Imperial Guards and Enforcers with him. She felt little different than she did before however, still unable to feel the heat of the day as the sun¡¯s rays passed through the translucent body of her spiritual projection. But now her subjects could not only see her presence but feel it as well. ¡°Oh, great imperial majesty,¡± Tu¡¯loc Rhen said as he pressed his bald head towards the ground in a kowtow. ¡°This Lowly One wees your grand presence to this humble province.¡± Tu¡¯loc Rhen was a Core Realm cultivator, but one who had gained his extended life though non-martial means. He was portly and well fed, a beard trimmed with the elegance of one with the means to visit a barber daily. Were it not for hispetence in matters of farming she would find no worth in him at all. Her image floated several dozen feet above them all, huge in a way that made them all small to her eyes. Her inner self far surpassed that of her mortal being now. She was close to fifty feet tall in her spiritual form, and when she finally ascended to true godhood past the Lesser Deity Realm, this would indeed be her true body. A body capable of transcending space and time in an instant and able to visit even her father in the upper courts of the holy empire¡¯s realm. But such musings were perhaps still yet decades away. Today, however, she had imperial insubordination to deal with. ¡°Twelfth Warden Tu¡¯loc Rhen!¡± she bellowed with a powerful shout that shook the sky. ¡°Why am I witnessing the breaking of imperialw within your province?¡± She could sense his Qi grow even more unsteady with fear. ¡°I¡­ I have given your decree, your majesty,¡± he answered with his head still to the ground. ¡°All but this one vige within the region hasplied. It is the source of the dispute, I believe. It has be a personal vendetta between two families in particr now. That being the O¡¯ruji n of the Orange Blossom Sec¡ª¡± ¡°I care not for such trivialities!¡± Lunh barked. ¡°I want to know what you are doing about it! That is the question!¡± Again, another pause of ipetence. Her anger red. ¡°It seems I must now reconsider whether the Golden Harvest Sect is fit to rule Xiang Xian province. If you cannot enforce an imperial decree decided rightfully by thews ofbat, then what good are you to the empire?¡± She let her words hang over him like a guillotine above his neck. She grew even more disgusted when all he did was shrink back into himself. A coward. She wanted nothing more than to vent her anger and y him on the spot. But only a young and brash ruler would do such. Tu¡¯loc Rhen¡¯s ipetence needed to be broadcasted throughout her domain to reinforce the rule ofw across the entire. ¡°You there!¡± Lunh said to the Imperial Guard with the highest ranking. ¡°ce Twelfth Warden Tu¡¯loc Rhen under arrest under allegations of gross ipetence.¡± Tu¡¯loc Rhen¡¯s head immediately shot up from the ground. ¡°But your majesty, I¡ª!¡± ¡°Silence!¡± she said. ¡°Or you may find yourself facing even further counts of misconduct.¡± Both the enforcers and guards seemed unsure what to do for a moment, but a simple pulsing of her Qi sent them scrambling. Tu¡¯loc Rhen begged and pleaded with them like the coward he was, but once restrained she turned her attention from him to the cultivators still running amuck on the battlefield. Her anger stirred once more. She could not unleash it upon Tu¡¯loc Rhen, but she would do the next best thing. ¡°It seems my government has still not yet matured enough to ept the rule of imperialw by proxy. Take heed and bear witness now, Tu¡¯loc Rhen, to what you should have done.¡± Princess Lunh took to the sky, her celestial form leaving a wake of turbulence as the six massive crystals spiraled behind her in a vortex. She hovered above the conflict, the cultivators stopping their trivial battles to gaze up upon her. Some fell to their knees in submission, while others were too stunned to move at all. It mattered little. They were all to die just the same. ¡°[Third Law, Hammer of Divine Justice]¡­¡± As she annunciated her technique, her voice echoed across the valley, reaching even the town center miles away. The sky crackled and shook with energy as the crystals aligned themselves in a hexagonal formation, streams of brilliant white Qi etching towards her from each one. They flew outwards, the distance between them growing to cover the entire area of the valley¡ªtown, cultivators and all. With a pressing of her palm towards the earth, a wave of energy crashed down upon the valley, crushing every structure, tree, and living soul in an instant. The devastation shook the ground like an earthquake, sending a shockwave that rumbled across the ground like a massive p of thunder. Ka-thoom! A thousand screams were cut short and as the thunder of the technique dissipated, a deathly silence remained. Where the town once stood were only splinters, as if a hundred typhoons had passed through. She counted the dying souls of perhaps two hundred cultivators in all, their Qi flickering as they died. For a town this size the number of mortals she had just killed was perhaps twenty times that, but they were likely Terranmoners. Of little value if anything. Still, she would count their numbers and add them to Tu¡¯loc Rhen¡¯s charge. She hovered back to the former warden and the Imperial Guards. They were speechless, their mouths hanging open. ¡°Feel honored,¡± she said to them. ¡°It is but a few who ever witness the full extent of a Royal Yee Princess¡¯s power and live to tell about it.¡± ¡°Gratitude, your majesty,¡± the head guard said, falling upon his face and his subordinates quickly followed suit, doing the same. ¡°Deliver the used to the capital,¡± shemanded. ¡°Orders for who will be acting Vice Warden will be sent shortly.¡± With that Lunh withdrew from her sacred soul and reopened her eyes, back in her chambers. She immediately sat and began scribing on her tablet. ¡°Is everything well, your majesty?¡± Ling Wei asked, looking perplexed. ¡°Arrange apetition match for Xiang Xian province,¡± she said. ¡°The position of Warden and ruling n has just be open.¡± Ling Wei¡¯s eyes went wide, but she merely nodded. ¡°At once your majesty.¡± ¡°And ensure the martial sects are extended an invitation as well. It has be clear that farmers are incapable of being managed by one of their own.¡± ¡°Understood, your majesty.¡± ¡°Also, arrange a public execution for Warden Tu¡¯loc Rhen in two days¡¯ time,¡± she said, but then thought again. ¡°Actually, make it in three days. We will hold a trial for him the day before.¡± ¡°A trial, your Majesty? But if he is to be execu¡ª¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°The trial is not for his benefit. It is important the details of his failure are widely known before he is executed. Ensure it is broadcasted to each city.¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Lunh nodded. ¡°Good. This needs reminding just who it is, that is in control.¡± Book 2: Chapter 31 I FOCUSED ON the Frenzy running through my meridians and began applying my [Iron Skin] technique, meridian by meridian. It was a strange process, slowing down to a crawl what I normally did in an instant now. But I was going slowly for a purpose. I stopped just short of applying thest meridian and then shifting the sequence in my mind, applied the modified version of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] that I had mapped out the night before. The process was agonizing, opening two new meridians at once that I had only touched on before. The energy surged through my body like molten lead through my veins. I gritted my teeth through the pain and slowly coaxed the energy towards my jing. In a burst of lightning, rivulets of energy crackled across my body, but it felt different now, more like it was running just under my skin rather than over it. I was dumping huge amounts of Frenzy into the technique and wasn¡¯t sure if most of it was being wasted or not. But there was only one way to find out. ¡°Do it now!¡± I shouted. ¡°Go!¡± A few feet from me, Zu Tien, who had been holding her silver needle technique, nodded and then threw an open palm in my direction.¡°[First Heaven, Piercing Strike]!¡± A trio of silver quills shot from her palm and mmed directly into my bare chest. The first one evaporated in a spark of blue lightning, but the other two bounced off my hardened skin and fell to the ground. Damn, only a partial sess, I thought. I dropped the technique and felt mentally drained. Zu Tien, who was standing with Gui Zu at the end of a small alleyway behind the main square, looked at me imploringly. ¡°Did it work, Master Chun?¡± I looked down at the two needles that had bounced off my skin. Were they from Lady Silver Sparrow, the woman who I would face in less than two weeks¡¯ time, they would probably have pierced my heart. ¡°Not exactly,¡± I said. ¡°But the first one being totally deflected shows promise.¡± ¡°I¡¯d call it a sess,¡± Gui Zu said with a jacked-up smile. ¡°Two days ago, you couldn¡¯t even manage to maintain both techniques at once. But now you seem to be doing it quite at ease.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± I said, thinking of my progress over thest couple of days. ¡°Hopefully once I can master deflecting more than just one projectile, I can start ramping it up a bit.¡± Gui Zuughed. ¡°Take time, brother. You¡¯ve been at this pretty hard. But thank you also for sparring with us. You have afforded us room for advancement, as well. I think it has truly made a difference.¡± Gui Zu was right about me pushing hard. Over thest three days I¡¯d been burning the candle at both ends. After returning from Master Edrik¡¯s, I went to work developing the [Iron Lightning] technique while also invoking my Mental Quickness to try and scribe the orb. The scribing itself didn¡¯t work of course, I would need more exposure to the spiritual realm for that, but I practiced just how I would do so when the time finally came. Each night I would meditate for a few hours, tranting the contents of the orb into English. With my mental capacity at perhaps Eighth Stage now, I could do so while also puzzling through the meridian sequences for the [Iron Lightning] technique. Again it came like performing math to me. Substituting the meridian sequences into one another to form a long chain that I could send Frenzy through. In this case, it was generating the [Iron Skin] technique to a point just where I was about to apply it to my skin and then redirect the energy to my jing to form lightning and then further transform it through a toned-down [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. All of it took an incredible amount of concentration and strain, but as Gui Zu said, I was getting better and better at it each day. In the mornings, after I had refined the technique at night, I would put my theory to the test by practicing with Zu Tien and Gui Zu, slowly perfecting the technique, performing it over 100 times each day. After a few hours of open sparring I then shifted to work mode when dawn came and assisted with the building preparation with Jian Yi while also gathering goods I would need to take back to the wild. Finding the parts Jim needed proved to be especially difficult. I didn¡¯t know what an exhaust manifold or a fuel injector was so I just tore a couple of old engines out of the truck model numbers Jim had given me to look for. The rest of the time I spent hunting down monsters in the wild, cultivating while also providing fresh ingredients for Yu Li to practice her new culinary skills. I had to use [Indifference] to keep from retching when I tried her first attempt at braised Rapling Tail with rice. She was a good cook normally, but her adding of exotic alchemy ingredients to increase the meal¡¯s Qi potency had left a terrible aftertaste. Gui Zu was surprisingly honest with his feedback, maintaining a crooked smile while he told her it needed more perfection and urged her to simply try again. It was then that I realized Yu Li had taken to cooking five or six times a day, trying to perfect her new craft and Gui Zu was her main test subject. We had a goodugh at the end of the meal and went to the square for actual dinner on me. What time I didn¡¯t spend poisoning myself with Yu Li¡¯s cooking or training with Gui Zu and Zu Tien, I spent with Jian Yi trying to sort out the business end of the sect. We had a huge jump in enrolment thanks to my recent win in the ring and were sitting on just over 800 Taels of silver in the bank. With my 20 spirit stones left over from the Corrupted Steel purchase, Jian Yi said she had enough to engage a sect to start rebuilding the apartment block. Which was exactly what was on the agenda for today. ¡°We¡¯ll have to call it quits for now, guys,¡± I said. looking to Gui Zu and Zu Tien. ¡°Jian Yi has these building guysing at six this morning to look about the new property.¡± ¡°So early?¡± Zu Tien asked. ¡°Was my call.¡± I looked up at the star-filled sky still tinged with the red hue of the setting Bloodmoon. If we could get the business done with quickly enough, I would still be able to head out to the wild today, which was the n. The wagon full of goods was already packed and I was itching to see how Kelsey was progressing, not to mention to get back on track with my spiritual progression as well. But I couldn¡¯t tell Zu Tien any of that. I merely smiled at her instead. ¡°Early bird gets the worm.¡± * * * I stood with Jian Yi within the main office, overlooking a detailed set of architectural drawings spread across the table between us. Two members from the Loyal Prosperity Sect waited silently with pleasant smiles on their faces as they watched us mull over the ns. I had little idea of what I was looking at, but Jian Yi said she was confident the design would meet our needs. The only thing left outstanding this morning was to settle on the price. ¡°Six months is not quick enough,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°You see the condition our people are living in now. For 3200 Taels, I would expect this to bepleted in half that time.¡± The two men shared nces, one of them looking perturbed. ¡°Do you seek to insult us?¡± the perturbed one said, and I could sense a sliver of anger from within him as he stroked his short beard. ¡°This is our best offer.¡± ¡°We have had many best offers,¡± Jian Yi said nonplussed, her eyes never leaving the drawings to meet his. ¡°All of them were of a shorter time frame than this.¡± The other man, a tall fellow with a goatee bowed obsequiously. ¡°Perhaps so, Vice Leader, but clearly their quality would never match ours. This building will stand for many decades, if you do it right. I would advise against wasting your moment on a quick fix that will fall apart in only ten years.¡± The guy sounded convincing to me, but Jian Yi still held a poker face that could rival my [Indifference] technique in its execution. ¡°We shall see,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°But we will not pay full price for something six months away.¡± She then ced a stack of paper with fine writing on top of the drawings. ¡°This is an agreement for construction and payment. We will agree to your six-month schedule, but will pay only a third now. A third at the midpoint and the bnce onpletion.¡± The grumpy sect member picked up the papers to scrutinize them with a scowl. ¡°What trickery is this?¡± ¡°No trickery,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°I have crafted the contract myself. If the Loyal Prosperity Sect is as trustworthy as they im, then surly they would not balk at putting their word to the test before the courts.¡± The more pleasant sect member quickly smiled. ¡°Most assuredly. While we normally expect payment in advance, a contract before thew protects both ways. We will look forward to your first payment to get underway.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Jian Yi said and then handed me a pen. ¡°Sect Leader?¡± I raised a brow at her in an ¡°Are you sure¡± kind of gesture and she nodded. I then took the pen from her and signed the document. The pleasant sect member smiled and, taking the pen from me, did the same. Jian Yi then secured the 1000-odd Taels of silver from our vault, our entire sect¡¯s savings, and handed it over to them. ¡°A pleasure to enter into business with you,¡± the tall man said, bowing again upon receiving the money. ¡°We will send a work crew to start in the morning.¡± As they left, I felt a twinge of both aplishment and uneasiness in my soul. ¡°That went pretty smooth,¡± I said. ¡°But are you sure this is all going to work out?¡± Jian Yi smiled. ¡°It will with that contract. We are studying negotiation and contract writing in my sybus at the university. I wrote it as one of my assignments actually. It is sound. Trust me. My instructor gave me the highest marks.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Is it enforceable in court though?¡± She grinned at me. ¡°With the Iron Bull as our Warden I don¡¯t think they would dare to test us in the courts of battle.¡± I smiled. ¡°So now what?¡± ¡°Now we need money,¡± she said. ¡°Are you certain you can make another 1000 Taels of silver in only two months?¡± I looked at the sky, which was now bright with the rays of predawn. ¡°If I get moving fast,¡± I said. ¡°Time for me to head back to the wild. I¡¯ve got a lot of monsters to kill.¡± * * * I arrived at the bunker just before dusk, breaking my record for speeding through the wilderness with a wagon full of goods on my back. As I approached Threja¡¯s sword, dragging the wagon behind me, I was surprised to find arge structure made of timbers had been erected, a tent of sorts, providing shelter for an area as big as the square back home. A cluster of people were underneath it, roasting something over arge cooking fire. ¡°Max!¡± It was Kelsey¡¯s voice that greeted me first, the spritely teenager running out of the crowd to give me a warm embrace. ¡°I sensed youing!¡± she said, beaming up at me. ¡°Your Frenzy is huge!¡± Iughed involuntarily at what she¡¯d said and was thankful no one else was nearby to overhear and perhaps misinterpret it as something lewd. Susan and a bunch of other people joined next, each of them greeting me with handshakes and ps on the back. ¡°You were right, Kelsey,¡± Susan said with a smile. ¡°He¡¯s here. Wee back, Max.¡± Kelsey grinned triumphantly, and I surmised she must have spread the word of my approach. The fact that she could sense my Frenzy from afar was a good sign. It meant she had broken through to the 9th Tier of Body Refinement and was now able to progress through the Foundation Realm in earnest. ¡°Well done, Kelsey. I can tell you¡¯ve been working hard at your training. It¡¯s truly paying off. Oh, I have something for you too.¡± Turning to the wagon, I withdrew the woodcutting axe Master Edrik had made and presented it to her. Her eyes went wide with joy and excitement. ¡°This is for me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s made of a special Qi steel. It¡¯ll be sharper than any axe you¡¯ve ever used. Lighter too.¡± Kelsey bounced the axe in her palm andughed. ¡°This is lighter than my pipe wrench for sure. Watch this.¡± She moved into an open area and began performing the basic axe forms I had left with her and to my amazement she seemed to have nearly mastered them already. ¡°Kelsey, be careful!¡± Susan yelled. ¡°You can lose a limb with that thing.¡± ¡°I know, Mom, that¡¯s the point!¡± Susan sighed in exasperation, and I could tell I was witnessing something that had to have been ying out daily while I was away. After a few minutes of Kelsey entertaining us with her martial skill, Jim emerged from the bunker along with Harris and Flores. ¡°Wee back, son,¡± Jim greeted me with a handshake. ¡°Did you get my parts?¡± He grinned, letting me know it was a bit of a joke, but I yed right along with it and pointed to the wagon where two truck engines were sitting on deck. ¡°That work for you?¡± Harrisughed. ¡°Looks like he did you one better, Jim. We should definitely be able to keep the generator running with those.¡± ¡°Good to hear,¡± I said. ¡°How¡¯s the demon situation down below? Is the copse still holding?¡± ¡°For now,¡± Jim said. ¡°We make patrols every couple of days and don¡¯t hear muching from behind it. Think maybe they¡¯ve retreated. At least for now. Which is a good thing.¡± I breathed an inward sigh of relief, but knowing there was more to the demons that just random animalistic behavior, I had to wonder what that really could mean. Was the King of the Moon repositioning them for some other kind of attack? I didn¡¯t want to think what that could mean. Still, I wasn¡¯t going to break the mood and didn¡¯t let the concern show on my face as I nodded. ¡°Small mercies,¡± I said. ¡°Now for what you¡¯ve been waiting for. I brought you all some stuff. Hopefully it will help.¡± I turned everyone¡¯s attention to the wagon and for the next thirty minutes became a sort of bunker version of Santa us as I distributed the various items I had brought. There was everything from sacks of rice to seeds, tools, spices, livestock and even a buffet of freshly made steamed buns that I had secured from an early morning street vendor right before I departed in the morning. The entiremunity turned out and the smiles of appreciation and downright tion warmed my heart. I watched a grown man copse into tears at the simple joy of tasting something sweet again as he bit into a bun filled with red bean paste. While I cultivated the generous outpouring of lemonade, the sight of bringing my people so muchfort and joy was a reward in and of itself. The whole thing turned into an impromptumunity festival, with peopleughing, dancing and just enjoying life again. As the night went on, I made ns for how I¡¯d spend the rest of my time back in the wild. I had about ten days until my match with Lady Silver Sparrow and I had to make every one of them count. I got with Harris and received an update on where we were with the wall. They¡¯d made good progress while I was away and had just a quarter of it left to do. I figured with my help, we could have itpleted in three days tops. But I didn¡¯t n to spend my entire day just building the wall. I spoke with Kelsey and set up times where we could meet and train together for a few hours before working on the wall and then go hunting in the afternoon for a good four hours or more. I figured I could kill two birds with one stone, giving Kelsey hands-onbat experience while also giving me an opportunity to cultivate by taking down big monsters and also strengthening Threja¡¯s sword, if I could use it effectively that was. It made me wish I could have trained some before retuning, but honestly I could kill monsters just as well with my axe. Maybe not as big, but enough to bring back cores to make the next building payment. Strengthening Threja¡¯s sword was a long-term goal that would have to wait a bit for now. Kelsey was squirming with jittery excitement as I told her my n. ¡°I can¡¯t wait,¡± she said, bouncing atop the log we were sitting on. ¡°This is going to be the best week ever!¡± I chuckled at her enthusiasm. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s one more present I have for you. I want you to hold on to this.¡± I reached into my overcoat pocket and produced the orb. ¡°Wow,¡± she said, wide-eyed, taking it from me. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A ball of Corrupted Steel. It¡¯s the same material that makes up my axe and Threja¡¯s sword. One day it will contain all the information you need to know to follow the path of the Frenzied me.¡± She studied it in the pale red glow of the Bloodmoon, squinting as if trying to figure it out. ¡°Contain information? How? What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to exin, but when everything is in ce, writing will appear on there. It will be like a book that only you can read. Simr to the cultivation manual. But different.¡± She nodded. ¡°So what do I need to do to read it?¡± ¡°You? Nothing,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s all on me from here. I need to transcribe it with a technique I haven¡¯t quite mastered yet. I will need your help to master it though.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Remember how I was subjecting myself to the Bloodmoon. I need to do that again. Maybe a few times. And I¡¯ll need your me to guide me back to sanity each time.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°You were out of it for like three days thest time you did that, remember?¡± I looked up at the Bloodmoon in thought. ¡°True. But I was pretty spent from fighting the snake earlier when I tried itst time. I¡¯m hoping it won¡¯t be as bad when I try it again.¡± Kelsey got up from the log we were sitting on. ¡°So, let¡¯s go find out.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The Bloodmoon is out. The sword is right there. We have time. What are we waiting for?¡± Iughed. ¡°I like your enthusiasm, Kelsey.¡± ¡°Hey, the sooner you can master this the sooner I can be a real Berserker, right? So let¡¯s get to it, teach!¡± I smiled. It waste and most people had already left to go inside the bunker to sleep. Susan included. Why the hell not? I thought.The sooner I learned the limitation of how much I could cultivate with this new Bloodmoon method the better. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s give it a shot.¡± Grinning in victory, Kelsey led the way as we left the tent and headed for the perimeter of the barrier. ¡°Just like before,¡± I said. ¡°Call for me when you see me start to turn demon mode.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± As we neared the barrier, wild screams and howls filled the air. Like moths drawn to a me, a pack of demons was already there to greet us, snarling and hissing for my blood. I readied my axe and steeled myself with [Iron Skin]. ¡°Here we go.¡± Kelsey nodded and I headed into the fray. I killed perhaps two or three of them before I felt the effects of the Bloodmoon begin to take control. I did my best to resist the Dark Frenzy permeating my soul and to my surprise I was able to maintain my sanity for what seemed like a minute before the world began to shrink and I was looking at myself in third person again. Back in that dark space, I waited for the monster to arrive. I knew the meridian sequence of the [Soul Shield] technique and tried to concentrate on it, despite not being able to feel my body anymore. In no time the monster appeared, tentacles iling. It stopped a short distance away from me, not immediately attacking this time. ~Thou dost tempt me, cur-sed me.~ I had no response for it. Maybe it was getting wise to what I was doing. Or maybe it was it was getting tired of me killing its minions. I resisted the pulse of Dark Frenzy, focusing on the way it ran electric through my soul. It¡¯s just like building my body hardening, I told myself. Resist it, heal from it, grow stronger. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz suddenly shifted to the side, focusing on something else as a flicker of candlelight entered my field of vision. Kelsey. Right on time. I heard her calling my name and I focused on it to pull myself back from the abyss. I came to my senses shivering and in pain, my body cut with a score of shes from the demons still howling at the barrier behind me. ¡°Let¡¯s get you to the sword,¡± Kelsey said without a pause and helped me limp back to it. I cleansed my me, billowing out the tar-ck gunk from the Dark Frenzy and after recovering, used the Frenzy stored in my Dantian to engage [Mark of the Giant]. My body shifted and grew, healing my wounds. I traded one resource for another, Frenzy and the loss of increasing my Body Hardening by normal rest to further expose my soul to the darkness of the unknown to increase my spiritual insight. I prayed it was working. ¡°How¡¯d I do?¡± I asked, looking to Kelsey, who was now sitting on the edge of the deep crater that contained Threja¡¯s sword. ¡°You killed like twenty of them,¡± she said. ¡°Took you a lot longer to be a demon too. Does that mean you¡¯re getting stronger?¡± I flexed a fist. ¡°I think so.¡± Hope so, I said to myself. ¡°Well, you look healed back up,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°You want to go at it again?¡± Iughed but she was dead serious. My body was healed, my me restored but inside I still felt weakened. My soul needed to rest. ¡°Better pace myself,¡± I said. ¡°Using marks can take a lot out of you. And I don¡¯t want to be bedridden for three days again. This was good progress. We¡¯ll try again tomorrow.¡± ¡°Cool,¡± she said with a grin, and then she added, making it clear where her interest trulyy, ¡°Think you can scribe the orb yet?¡± Iughed at her forwardness. But honestly, I hadn¡¯t tried it yet. I had studied the technique but never put it to the test. ¡°Let me see,¡± I said and held out my hand for the orb. She handed it to me, and I focused on the [Brand of the Frenzied me] technique, recalling the meridian sequence from my mind¡¯s eyes. I focused on the orb in my palm, rolling it between my fingers, willing the knowledge in my mind to etch onto its surface. The metal heated in my palm, but something seemed to be blocking me, like I was pushing against a locked door within my own mind. I gave another mental push and then copsed exhausted. The orb fell and Kelsey yelped when she tried to pick it up. ¡°Dang! That¡¯s hot!¡± she said. ¡°Did it work?¡± I shook my head. ¡°No. Not yet. Guess I still need more exposure for spiritual insight.¡± ¡°Guess so,¡± Kelsey said, looking a little glum. ¡°Oh well.¡± I smiled. ¡°Thanks for the help though. We¡¯ll give it another go tomorrow night, yeah?¡± She nodded. ¡°Now let¡¯s get some sleep,¡± I said, and at just the thought I felt my body and soul yearning for a nice warm bed. ¡°We have a full day of training, wall building, cultivating and hunting, before we get to try this again tomorrow.¡± Kelsey merely grinned. ¡°I can¡¯t wait.¡± Book 2: Chapter 32 WE STUCK TO the n and despite a somewhat restless night in the undersized hospital bed, I was up with Kelsey before dawn, running her through her axe techniques. We were out in the courtyard under the tent and only a few people were up to watch us. We went through the basic forms in tandem, me leading with my axe and she with hers. I then showed her a couple more advanced techniques and how tobine them, performing her firstbo. Kelsey had good reflexes and a good memory and body control to boot. She even looked a little more cut and said it was from keeping to the exercise regime every day and cultivating as much Frenzy as she could into each exercise. ¡°I can definitely feel it now,¡± she said. ¡°The elements of pain, rage, and fear. This has opened up a whole new world for me. Like I¡¯m sensing everything in a whole new dimension.¡± I knew exactly how she felt. It was the same for me the first time I sensed Frenzy and the emotions that fueled it. Her words made me even more eager to master the [Brand of the Frenzied me] technique to etch the orb and share with her the full path of the me. I did the next best thing and taught her some basic Berserker techniques as best I could verbally by giving her the meridian sequence for [Pain Soothes the Frenzied me] as well as [Indifference] and of course how to channel the rage, pain, and fear of others through [Your Fear is my Strength], [Your Pain is my Strength], and [Your Rage is my Strength]. After training we ate a quick breakfast with the rest of themunity and then both went to work with Harris building the wall. I did the heavy lifting, but Kelsey kept pace digging the trenches in between. I couldn¡¯t sense any lemonade heading her way, but by the way people were ncing at her when she tossed a stray log across the ground, I figured she had to be generating some. ¡°Hey,¡± I said. ¡°Are you cultivating the lemonade?¡± She squinted at me in confusion. ¡°Lemonade?¡±I then realized she would have no clue what I was even talking about. I pulled her to the side to exin the concept. ¡°You know how you can sense fear, pain and rage of others right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°And they all have different¡­ sort of vors?¡± ¡°vors?¡± She furrowed her brow at me skeptically. ¡°I guess so. They do feel different.¡± ¡°Right,¡± I said. ¡°So anyway, fear has a positive side, like reverence, respect or adoration. When you impress people, their fear of you can be sweet. Like lemonade.¡± She looked back at me like I was crazy. ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°Well, if fear tastes like lemons, then sweet fear is like lemonade.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± she said, still looking somewhat confused. She nced over at the soldiers working on the wall. ¡°You know, I think I may have sensed something like that before, but damn, Max¡­¡± She shook her head at me. ¡°That¡¯s one he retarded way to describe it.¡± Iughed out loud. ¡°Yeah maybe. I guess they don¡¯t call me Max Chun for nothing.¡± ¡°Max Choon?¡± I then had to go on to exin the difference between Chun and Chun and how it had be my nickname and by the end of the story she was rolling on the ground in stiches. ¡°Holy shit, Max!¡± she said, wiping tears from her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re seriously the funniest guy I know. Not that I know many funny people, but damn your brain is like, out there.¡± I took it as apliment and grinned. ¡°Just don¡¯t forget the lemonade.¡± We got back to work,pleting a good two hundred more feet of wall before clocking out for the afternoon around three. After another quick rest to fuel ourselves up, Kelsey and I headed off together into the wild in search of prey. We started with hunting for small game to provide fresh meat for themunity and I stood back like a proud big brother as Kelsey took on her first giant boar solo with her new axe. The fearlessness of her me was impressive, and she earned a mild goring for her efforts, taking a full-on hit from the beast with [Indifference] in order to retaliate at close range. Kelsey was so pumped with adrenaline and Frenzy she didn¡¯t even notice she was wounded until I pointed out the blood soaking through her overalls. She merely grinned. ¡°More gains!¡± She engaged [Pain Soothes the Frenzied me] as I went on my own hunt next, healing by the time we were deeper into the wild. I managed to track down a nest of giant fire ants and Kelsey and I both shared in the carnage as we ploughed through a smallwork of underground tunnels, ying hundreds of the dog-sized insects. Heading deeper into the hive, we finally unearthed the queen, an ant the size of a horse, and I dispatched it with little effort using abination of my axe and Threja¡¯s sword. Unfortunately, there was no core to be found but the sword still resonated once I¡¯d killed the monster and for a brief second, I thought I heard Threja¡¯s voice again. I asked Kelsey if she heard the same, but when she shook her head, I figured my hearing was simply ying tricks on me. We arrived back at the bunker as heroes, with Kelsey taking credit for the night¡¯s entr¨¦e of roasted pork. I got to work ughtering the carcass and halfway through Kelsey nudged me and whispered excitedly that she had just cultivated a shitload of lemonade from the crowd. I couldn¡¯t stopughing. After dinner and some meditation practicing my [Iron Lightning] technique, Kelsey and I headed back to the edge of the barrier, which had expanded a couple of feet thanks to killing the ant queen. I readied myself and prepared to face the darkness again to strengthen my me. It went somewhat smoother this time around, with me again keeping a greater semnce of control before the Dark Frenzy choked my mepletely. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz attacked right away, swarming as I entered the darkness, but I managed to resist it somewhat more than before, enduring the damage that went straight to my soul. After rescuing me, Kelsey again noted my control seemed better and that I managed to avoid getting hit a lot more. The result was only moderate injuries from the demons and I skipped using [Mark of the Giant] to heal in order to take advantage of the permanent gains the wounds would do for my Body Hardening. Before we headed off to bed, Kelsey begged me to try scribing the orb again but just like the night before, the only thing I managed to do was heat the metal, again running into that locked door within my mind. ¡°Still no good,¡± I said. ¡°Guess it will take a bit more cultivating of my spirit.¡± But I was beginning to wonder if there was something other than my spiritual strengthening holding me back. That locked door in my mind was something I¡¯d never experienced before. Perhaps I would indeed need to seek guidance from someone more skilled in what all this stuff actually meant. True insight into the spiritual realm. We went through the same process over the next few days, starting out early with axe training and minor Berserker techniques, before transitioning to working on the wall and then hunting for cores in the afternoon before exposing myself to the Bloodmoon at night. By day three we had finished the wall and had more time to train and hunt. I used the extra time to focus on mastering my own Berserker techniques and abilities, concentrating on the meridian sequences for [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] as well as trying to refine [Iron Lightning]. With the punishment I was putting my body through with the Bloodmoon exposure, I could definitely sense the progression of my Body Refinement. Fighting the mosh pit of demons each night and then healing naturally left my skin gaining whole new levels of toughness and scars. By day five I was sure I had pushed both my Body Hardening and Muscle Strengthening to Stage IX or X. Which meant I was getting close to being able to employ [Steel Skin]. But that was the easy part. I still wasn¡¯t able to use [Brand of the Frenzied me] to scribe the orb, despite me facing that tentacled horror each night. More and more I was growing the resistance to withstand its effects, but I still wasn¡¯t able to summon the full strength of the [Soul Shield] technique either to protect my me. Which meant I was still stuck on Stage IX with my Mental Capacity. ¡°I might need to do more than just this to achieve the next breakthrough,¡± I said to Kelsey as I sat with her on the edge of the crater containing Threja¡¯s sword. We had just had yet another attempt at using [Brand of the Frenzied me] to scribe the orb and hade up snake eyes. ¡°The text on the sword speaks of seeking spiritual knowledge, but maybe I¡¯ve gained all I can from the Bloodmoon.¡± ¡°So what does that mean?¡± Kelsey asked, pointing up at the red ball in the sky. ¡°There¡¯s something more sinister than the Bloodmoon that you need to face?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± I said, thinking of those Cursed Stars. But no way would I need to face that kind of danger for a breakthrough to Stage X, did I? I sighed. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to need to see my friend Mu Lin.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a schr. Someone I can trust. We used to work together for years as handlers, but she¡¯s moved on from all that now. She studies at the university. She might understand this spiritual stuff and how to achieve breakthrough to the next stage. She might know more about this I¡¯xol¡¯ukz too.¡± ¡°You mean the tentacle monster thing?¡± I nodded, almost forgetting I had described it to her once when she asked what I saw when I went full berserk. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ve learned all I can from just seeing it. Maybe I need to learn more about what it truly is. What it wants¡­¡± I then looked up at the moon. ¡°¡­where ites from.¡± Kelsey smiled. ¡°It must be nice to have friends you turn to like that. To share all this stuff with.¡± She then sighed. ¡°All I have is you.¡± Iughed, making a face of mock insult. ¡°Damn, Kelsey, what am I, dog shit?¡± She burst outughing. ¡°You know what I mean. When you¡¯re gone, there¡¯s no one else I can talk to about this stuff. It¡¯s like I have to keep it all a secret, even from my mom. She¡¯d freak out if she knew half the stuff we got into in the wild. So I just don¡¯t tell her, you know?¡± I huffed out augh. ¡°You know what¡¯s really funny?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re honestly the only one I can talk to about all this stuff too.¡± Her eyes suddenly went wide. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Seriously,¡± I said. ¡°Even my sister doesn¡¯t know I¡¯m a Berserker. None of the people back home do. And even asking for information about I¡¯xol¡¯ukz will probably raise some eyebrows. Demonic stuff is all super taboo back in the city.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± she said. ¡°So you really have to keep secrets just like me?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I have to keep secrets from a lot of people. Even the ones I love.¡± I paused then and a sadness filled me as my thoughts suddenly turned to Fia. She was perhaps the one I was keeping the most secrets from. Not just of my true nature as a Berserker, but my very goal of freeing the Earth and not to mention defying her n in the process one day. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± Kelsey asked, looking suddenly concerned. I looked back at her oddly. ¡°Yeah, why?¡± ¡°I just sensed a crapload of paine from inside you.¡± I blinked, shocked. ¡°You felt that?¡± She nodded. ¡°Damn,¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I guess I need to remember you¡¯re a Berserker now too.¡± ¡°Seriously are you okay? I¡¯ve never sensed anything like thate from you before.¡± I sighed, contemting if I should say anything or not. It wasn¡¯t like she could help or perhaps even understand. But it might feel good to talk about it. Ah, what the hell? I thought. I share everything else with Kelsey, why not this? ¡°So, there¡¯s this girl I like, right? And she¡ª¡± ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa,¡± Kelsey said, waving her arm. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to get weird, is it? Cause I might need to call my mom.¡± I gave her an eye roll. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing like that. You gonna listen or what? Cause you¡¯re seriously the only person I can tell this to.¡± She sighed, folding her arms. ¡°Go on¡­¡± ¡°Okay, so this girl wants me to marry her, but that means marrying into her family. Only thing is, her family killed my parents. So, I feel kinda weird about that.¡± ¡°Her family killed your parents?¡± Kelsey said, leaning closer with more interest. ¡°And she wants to marry you? Still?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really messed up.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I repeated, ¡°but that¡¯s not all. Her brother got my sister pregnant too, and after she had the kid, he¡­ actually that¡¯s a different story, that doesn¡¯t matter. Forget about all that.¡± Kelsey stared back at me with her mouth wide open, her attentionpletely rapt now. ¡°So anyway, marriage is a kind of big deal in the new world. ns and families mean something, you know? Titles, prestige, power and all that. Plus, she¡¯s from a royal family that also happens to be the ruling n. So to free the Earth I¡¯ll need to fight against her n one day and I¡¯m not sure she¡¯ll be too thrilled about that. You know what I mean? So I don¡¯t really know how to tell her.¡± ¡°Whoa, this all sounds superplicated, Max.¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°So what are you going to do?¡± I sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I thought about maybe asking her to leave her family, but¡­ I couldn¡¯t ask her to do that.¡± ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you want to fight them all anyway?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t know if she would want that? I mean¡­they¡¯re still her family, right? I mean, would you appreciate that as a wife?¡± ¡°How the hell would I know, Max? I don¡¯t know anything about being married. I¡¯m just a kid.¡± I sighed again. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably right. Either way, I got about a year to figure this all out.¡± ¡°Why a year? Is that the date of the wedding or something?¡± ¡°Nah,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s when I have to go fight her to the death in a duel.¡± ¡°What the actual hell, Max?!¡± Kelsey shouted. ¡°What kind of crazy life do you live?¡± I chuckled. ¡°You know, hearing it said out loud, maybe it is kind of crazy. Maybe I¡¯m overthinking everything too. There are plenty of fish in the sea, right?¡± I sighed. ¡°Maybe I just need to get over the idea of marrying this girl, defeat her in the ring and just move on.¡± Kelsey shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re pretty sledgehammer when ites to most things, Max, and this is the first time I¡¯ve ever seen you second guessing yourself about anything.¡± ¡°You think so?¡± ¡°I do and it points to only one thing to me.¡± I huffed out augh. ¡°Oh yeah, what¡¯s that?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Sounds like you like her more than you want to admit and you¡¯re afraid telling her that you want to fight her family will make her not want to marry you anymore.¡± My mouth hung open. Holy shit, was she right? ¡°My opinion,¡± she said. ¡°Your family is what you make it. And as crazy as it sounds to ask her to run away with you, maybe she just might go for it if you ask her, who knows? But you definitely won¡¯t know until you tell her the truth.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s true¡­¡± ¡°Maybe you should just think about how you can make it work somehow instead of thinking about every way it can¡¯t. You keep thinking negative like that and you¡¯ll end up giving yourself optic rectitus.¡± ¡°Giving myself what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a medical term,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s when the nerves of the eyeballs get crossed with the nerves of the anus and gives the patient a shitty outlook on life.¡± I paused for a second and then burst outughing. Kelsey then grinned at her own joke. ¡°Sadly I can¡¯t take credit for that one. That one is all Mom.¡± ¡°Tell your mom that was a good one.¡± And maybe it was kind of true too. Maybe I was thinking too pessimistically about my situation with Fia. With anything else I usually just focused on the goal and said to hell with the consequences. So why not her? Maybe I was afraid of losing her just like Kelsey said and all these reasons were just damn excuses. ¡°Man¡­¡± I said, shaking my head as I mulled it over. ¡°Can¡¯t believe I¡¯m taking rtionship advice from a fourteen-year-old. And it¡¯s pretty damn solid too.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m nearly fifteen, ahole,¡± Kelsey said, slugging me on the shoulder. I smiled and was just about to thank her for the pep talk when the wail of a xon pierced the air. Kelsey covered her ears, looking back towards the bunker. ¡°That¡¯s the general rm!¡± Before we could even get up, Captain Flores came running towards us from the bunker¡¯s side door, fear wild in both her eyes and her soul. ¡°We need both of you toe now!¡± she shouted above the wail of the xon. ¡°Demons are in theplex!¡± ¡°Did they breach the copse?¡± I asked. She shook her head. ¡°No, they¡¯ve found some other way around it, they¡¯re all the way up on level four!¡± ¡°Oh my god,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°That¡¯s the habitat level.¡± I knew exactly what that meant. I immediately looked to Kelsey and her eyes were glistening as terror filled her soul. In that moment, she looked every bit the frightened teenager she had every right to be. ¡°Max,¡± she said almost pleadingly as uncertainty and dread caused her voice to crack. ¡°My mom.¡± Book 2: Chapter 33 I BURST THROUGH the hallways, pushing against the mob rushing in the opposite direction towards the bunker door. Cries and screams of panic added to the general chaos of the ring xon as rifle fire punctuated the air. I headed towards the gunfire, bypassing whole flights of stairs as I pushed through level five to get to level four. I felt Kelsey more than saw her as she stayed close behind me, her fear and Frenzy mixing as one as it touched her me. The crowd thinned and I began to see evidence of carnage on the walls. Smears of fresh blood and handprints on white tile. And then Kelsey let out a yelp as we came across two massacred bodies at the end of the hall. ¡°Oh my God!¡± Kelsey ran towards them, and then screamed when she saw their faces, a mixture of rage and fear. ¡°It¡¯s Thomas and Ruben.¡± I didn¡¯t know them well enough to feel the pain she did, but it ignited the Frenzied me in her soul. But beyond the rage and hate I could sense something else. A deep dread and fear. ¡°I still haven¡¯t seen my mom yet,¡± she said. She looked at me with shaky eyes and I reassured her with a nod of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Your mom is built of the same stuff you are, Kelsey. She¡¯ll be okay. We just need to find her. Come on.¡± We reached the top of the stairwell leading to level four and found Jim and a small squad of soldiersying suppressive fire into a horde of screeching demons writhing below. ¡°Down here!¡± he shouted to us as we drew near. The creatures fighting to get up the stairs, wing at one another just as much as the soldiers keeping them pinned down. ¡°Jim, have you seen my mom?¡± Kelsey said with desperation in her voice. ¡°No,¡± he said, and then perhaps sensing her fear he added, ¡°She¡¯s probably with the squad that¡¯s pinned down in the northern quadrant. We can¡¯t get through to them from here. These demons don¡¯t seem to be able to get past the top of these stairs, but we can¡¯t get through them either.¡± ¡°Must be the barrier,¡± I said, looking upwards instinctively. ¡°This must be as far as it can prate through the ground.¡± ¡°Good to know, but a bad way to find out,¡± Jim said. ¡°We need you to get through to that squad, Max.¡± ¡°Say less,¡± I said brandishing my axe. ¡°I¡¯ming too,¡± Kelsey said, brandishing her own. I paused a minute and was about to give her a spiel about the danger she was entering, but she¡¯d seen these things tear me apart every night for nearly a week. She knew what she was getting into, and no way was a Berserker going to back down from a challenge to save her mom. ¡°Stay close,¡± I said. I leapt down into the stairwell with a scream, swinging wide with my axe techniques. Blood and offal flowed as I hacked half a dozen of them at a time, their numbers too dense to allow anything less. My [Bloodlust] kicked in with the fresh kills and I used the extra Frenzy to drive deeper into the pack. They seemed stronger than normal, but nowhere near as strong as being under the full influence of the Bloodmoon. The pration of both the sword¡¯s effect and the moon had to be about the same, and that was just fine with me. It meant the deeper I went the weaker they got. I was about to harden my body with [Iron Skin] but then stopped myself to go the extra mile of feeding solid Frenzy through the meridian sequence for [Steel Skin]. I¡¯d never used the technique in truebat before and my body grew taut as the sudden flow of Frenzy turned my skin into an imprable armor. Suddenly the ws and fangs raking against my skin became a rough massage at best. A new sense of invulnerability filled me as I let out a cackle. ¡°Too weak!¡± I cried. ¡°All of you!¡± I cut a bloody path through the swarming demons and nced back to see Kelsey putting a finishing blow on a demon who had already lost an arm and half a leg. Her Frenzy was spiking like crazy, her me ring at full strength as the demons evoked the spiritual root of her Dao. I did my best to keep an eye on her as we pressed through the corridors and above the wail of the demons, I heard the popcorn sound of sporadic gunfire in the distance. ¡°This way!¡± I shouted to Kelsey as I pressed through. I entered the confines of one of the dormitory blocks and went all out,ying to waste the demons with a fervor. Kelsey suddenly appeared at my side hacking through them with an intensity that matched my own. Her clothes and face were covered in blood, and I couldn¡¯t tell if it was hers or not, or even if it mattered anymore. The sounds of gunfire grew louder as we cleared the room and suddenly we found ourselves in an open space, surrounded by twitching demon corpses. ¡°Mom!¡± Kelsey shouted. scanning about. She finally ran towards a far corner of the room where several desks and overturned beds had been used to make a makeshift barricade. With a single hand, Kelsey tossed one of the steel desks aside as if it were made of stic, revealing four soldiers along with what had to be a dozen civilians cowering in terror beneath. ¡°Mom!¡± Kelsey cried again, pushing through the crowd. ¡°Where¡¯s my mom?!¡± Susan suddenly emerged from the group and rushed to embrace her daughter. ¡°Kelsey!¡± she cried and then suddenly pulled back from her in a panic, realizing Kelsey was covered in blood. ¡°My God! Kelsey!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not hurt¡­ much anyway. Are you okay?¡± Susan didn¡¯t respond to the question but instead looked right at me. ¡°We need to get out of here. Those things areing right through the wall!¡± ¡°Where?¡± I said. ¡°Next floor down,¡± someone said weakly, and when I looked, I saw it was Captain Flores. Shey on the ground clutching her stomach while hissing in pain, a w wound to the gut it looked like. ¡°We need to get her out of here and to the infirmary,¡± Susan said. ¡°No,¡± Flores said, standing painfully to her feet. ¡°I need to make sure that damn portal is destroyed.¡± ¡°Portal?¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how else to describe it. It¡¯s like the gate we saw back at the other base, but smaller.¡± ¡°Take me to it,¡± I said. ¡°In a minute,¡± she said, leaning over at the waist. ¡°Is the way you came clear?¡± ¡°Mostly,¡± Kelsey said. Flores then turned to her men. ¡°Williams, takemand and get these civilians to the surface ASAP.¡± The man Williams paused for a moment, almost as if he were about to protest for Flores to leave instead. But he quickly nodded. ¡°Yes, captain. Follow me, people. Move quickly!¡± I looked to Kelsey before she could even ask. ¡°You go with them. They may need you. I¡¯ll shut this portal down with Flores.¡± She hesitated for a second and I could sense her me still zing, but then she nodded. ¡°Bring her back in one piece, Max.¡± Kelsey joined the soldiers at the front, cleaving through a stray demon as they exited the room. I looked back to Flores and helped steady her, securing her arm around my waist. ¡°Where is this portal?¡± ¡°Next floor down in the venttion room.¡± ¡°You can just tell me where it is, you know?¡± I said, looking down at her. She didn¡¯t look good. ¡°I can get there on my own.¡± ¡°What?¡± Flores said, cracking a weak smile. ¡°And let you take all the glory? No way. Plus, it¡¯s not as easy to get to as you think. And I need to confirm something for myself as well. Come on.¡± She began guiding me through theplex and I quickly understood why she couldn¡¯t have simply directed me there. We exited the main corridor and then entered a hatch that led into a dimly lit crawl space that I could barely fit into. I put her on my back as we descended down several sets of rustydders and thennded on a grated tform some thirty feet below. ¡°That way,¡± she said and pointed down one of the three gangways connected to the tform. I sensed movement up ahead and slid Flores slowly from my back. ¡°Wait here a sec.¡± I rushed forward with a burst of Frenzy, taking the handful of demons by surprise. I cleaved through two of them with a single axe swing and then followed through with another flurry of axe techniques taking down the other three before they could even make a sound. As the bodies fell, I used the opportunity to cultivate the Frenzy triggered by my [Bloodlust]. Fresh lemonade came from behind. ¡°Damn it, Max,¡± Flores wheezed as she limped beside me. ¡°You are downright scary at times. I¡¯m d you¡¯re on our side.¡± ¡°You hanging in there?¡± I asked, looking at her wound. She was bleeding badly and looking pale. Whatever we had to do we had to get it done quickly. ¡°I¡¯ve had worse,¡± she said, maintaining herposure. ¡°It¡¯s right over here, I think.¡± We went a little further and then stopped at a dinnerte-sized hole in the concrete wall. ¡°Just as I figured,¡± she said, pointing to it. ¡°That¡¯s how the bastards got in.¡± I looked at the hole. It was smooth on the inside, like a pipe or conduit. But it didn¡¯t make sense though. ¡°All of those demons fit through that tiny thing?¡± I said. ¡°I thought you said there was a portal or something.¡± ¡°There is,¡± Flores said. ¡°But the demons that constructed it came through that vent, I think. It¡¯s the only other ce connecting us to themunications tunnel that leads to the second base. When I saw where the portal was, I figured one or two of them must have wormed their way up through this vent to get in here.¡± I immediately thought of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. The monster had indeed been formting a different n. Although, I still could hardly fathom how one of those demons could even fit through that vent. Unless they were children, I thought. The idea of children being turned by the Bloodmoon was even more disturbing. I shook the image from my mind. ¡°You sure this is the only ess left?¡± I asked. ¡°As far as I know,¡± Flores said, hissing between clenched teeth as she clutched her side. I readied my axe and thenid into the concrete wall with a [Three Log Chop], copsing the venttion duct. ¡°Where¡¯s this portal?¡± ¡°Other side of the ess hatch to level five.¡± She jerked her head in the direction. ¡°But be careful. The corridor is bound to be swarming with them.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said, choking up on my axe. ¡°I don¡¯t n to show any mercy.¡± ¡°Good. Because if any of them are left alive, they can probably make another portal again.¡± She didn¡¯t have to tell me twice. I was about to push off when she stopped me again. ¡°Wait, Max,¡± she said weakly, grabbing my wrist. ¡°There¡¯s one more thing. Don¡¯t look into it. I only glimpsed it from the side and it felt like I was losing my mind. Whatever it is, it¡¯s the same as what turned Harris¡¯ guys crazy. You have to destroy it. Promise me that.¡± ¡°Consider it done, captain.¡± I gave her a nod. ¡°Be right back.¡± I scouted off in the direction she had indicated, bolstering myself with [Steel Skin] and charging my axe with lightning. Without Kelsey to worry about, I could finally go all out with my lightning techniques. I found the hatchway and kicked it open with an almighty yell. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls!]¡± I dove into the sea of unsuspecting demons and unleashed the rage deep in my soul. Limbs and heads went flying as I mowed through them like fodder, lightning crackling and booming. By the ease of my destruction, I knew then that I had to have achieved Stage X in my Body Refinement. After weeks of training, battling both Bloodmoon-influenced demons at night and giant monsters by the day, I had achieved a new peak of performance in reflexes, strength, and toughness. The thought bolstered my confidence, and I charged through with abandon, clearing the corridor of the hundreds of demons thronging within. And then suddenly I felt it. Dark Frenzy. It was weak at first, but as I pushed on the sensation became stronger. The strength grew exponentially, doubling after moving forward just a few feet. Was somethinging? And then I saw it. There at the far end of the corridor was a man-sized object shaped like an inverted triangle. It was stered to the wall and as the demons passed from in front of it, I could feel a huge burst of Dark Frenzy streaming from it, powerful as the Bloodmoon itself. I winced as the dark energy touched my me, causing it to smoke. I realized I was halfway down the corridor now, halfway to destroying whatever that thing was. I looked away from it, remembering what Flores had said as well as a passage from the Shura. ¡°We sayeth thus again¡ªonly glimpse and stare not into void of the unknown, for terrors that can break even the minds of Soul Emperors, within the void doth freely roam.¡± I took the advice to heart and kept my eyes from staring directly at it. Out of the corner of my vision, I saw a dozen more demons crawl from out of the object, but I dared not peer into it to see from where they came. But where had theye from? I wondered. Was it a connection to the tunnel behind the copsed basement? To the second base? Or even the moon itself? My curiosity dared me to look, the Demon craving more Insight into the unknown, but I tempered myself with the [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], pulling back. ¡°No,¡± I said. It was more than just my own knowledge and advancement I was questing for now. This thing needed to be destroyed to protect my people. And the longer I stood here glimpsing it, the longer it would have to corrupt my soul and turn me into a demon forever. And who knew what kind of damage I could do then. Then a new thought urred. Was this a trap? A trap constructed by I¡¯xol¡¯ukz to lure me down here and im my soul? The thought both terrified and infuriate me. No way was that monster ying me for a patsy. ¡°Back to the nine hells with all of you!¡± I charged forward with a new sense of Frenzy and resolve. The darkness pierced me the closer I got, the world starting to tunnel, but I pressed on. My experience facing the Bloodmoon every night kicked in. I could survive for more than two minutes now before sumbing to the moon¡¯s influence, ording to Kelsey anyway. But I didn¡¯t have her me to guide me back to sanity either. I needed to destroy this thing before it took over and I lost control for good. I pressed on through the thinning mass of demons, lightning and blood flying. My me spewed thick ck smoke and I tried to engage the [Soul Shield] technique to protect it. Somehow, just like with trying to use the [Brand of the Frenzied me] technique to etch the orb, I encountered that same locked door within my mind. No way to defend against it, I thought. It was do or die time. I needed to reach that portal and destroy it before it destroyed me! I broke into a sprint, pushing aside the demons in my path. It was counterproductive, the Dark Frenzy streaming from the portal bing stronger the closer I got to it. I glimpsed a corner of the triangle and saw hordes of writhing demons there, the scene stretching into infinity. I nearly became mesmerized by it, my vision shrinking. In the darkness, at the corners of my vision, I sensed the monster itself. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz, the King of the Moon. ~Predictable me. Come hither into mine embrace.~ Its tentacles red around me and I realized then that the whole thing had indeed been an borate trap. It was crushing me between two sources of influence. The moon from above and the portal from below. To hell with it, I thought. It thought it had won but I wouldn¡¯t allow it. I dug deep with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], thinking of everyone still counting on me. Kelsey and her mother. The people back home. Captain Flores who was slowly dying, waiting for me to destroy this thing and bring her back to the surface. With iron will, I forced my mind and spirit to fight back, the Struggler grabbing the edges of my vision and pulling it back into focus. I regained full control, just feet from the demonic portal now. I stared into for a second, and instantly couldn¡¯tprehend what I saw. I ignored it with [Indifference], focusing upon the outer structure of the portal itself. It was a gruesome construct made of sinew and bone, pulsating with a life of its own. I roared as I cleaved into it with a lightning-charged [Three Log Chop]. ¡°Go back to hell!¡± My axe de hit and with a sound like thunder, a bomb of dark energy went off. Wha-boom! The portal copsed and exploded all at once, the Dark Frenzy momentarily snuffing out my me. I cked out for a second and then found myself on the ground. My head hurt like a steamroller had run over it and my body felt even worse. Internally I saw my me was still intact though, albeit slightly tainted and red. I stood and looked at the remnants of the portal. It was shattered to pieces along with every demon within a thirty-foot radius. The Dark Frenzy was gone with it, as was the influence of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. The King of the Moon, I scoffed inwardly. I¡¯d let its monstrous appearance deceive me for far too long. This was no awakened spirit beast. It was a dark god from beyond the stars, capable of calcting strategy and ruthless vengeance and I needed to understand as much as possible about it to defeat it. No, not it, I reminded myself. Him. I tried to recall what I had seen when I looked into that portal, but for some reason my mind drew a nk. It instead led me back to another portion of the same Shura. ¡°For the eyes of mortals are shielded with the merciful veil of ignorance. To peel back this veil is to embark upon a path of both enlightenment and folly, for to see the unseen is to glimpse infinity.¡± The veil of ignorance was not yet ready to peel itself back to reveal what it was that I had seen apparently. Yet more mysteries to unlock. I needed knowledge as well as power to traverse the spiritual realm. I tucked the lingering thought away and made my way back to Flores. I kept an eye out for stray demons as I went, chasing down and killing a couple of them to ensure the entire facility was cleared. By the time I got back to Flores, my me had nearly recovered, but a new sense of dread filled me when I called Flores¡¯ name and heard no response. ¡°Flores!¡± I shouted again as I stepped through the hatchway. I saw her slumped against an I-beam, but when I ran to her, my heart sank. Her mouth was ajar, her eyes ssy and fixed. Captain Flores was gone. * * * Taking her body back to the surface, I somberly ced Flores along with the five other residents who had sadly lost their lives in the attack. An hour of confusion passed as themunity pulled itself together from the trauma. Jim led the way, first securing the facility below before turning attention to the survivors on top. Even though the facility was secured, there was no way in hell anyone felt safe enough to return to the bunker right now. Jim¡¯s men and I went to work building makeshift shelters instead, expanding on the tent already constructed within the courtyard. By the time we were done, it looked a bit like the tent city back home. Eventually we all gathered before a bonfire, the six freshly dug graves, including that of Captain Flores,id out before us. One of themunity members was a chain and a short ceremony was held to honor them and whisk their spirits into the afterlife. With as much as I knew now, I wondered even more just where they would eventually go. Jim said a few words to offerfort and encouragement and when it came time to honor Captain Flores, I finally took to the front of the crowd to say a few words as well. ¡°Captain Flores was the true hero tonight,¡± I said. ¡°She was mortally wounded, and knew it. But instead of retreating to save herself, she made sure I knew exactly where to go to eliminate the threat for good. Thanks to her sacrifice, what happened tonight can never happen again.¡± As themunity said their goodbye and paid their respects, I could sense [Everyone¡¯s Anguish and Pain]. Kelsey came and stood by me and while there was paining from her as well, the overwhelming emotion I sensed was rage. ¡°Those demons will pay for this,¡± she said, her me roaring. ¡°When I get strong like you, I¡¯m going to kill everyst one of them.¡± She then looked to the night sky. ¡°Even if I have to go to the damn moon to do it.¡± She wlessly executed [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] before me, without reading a single text on how to do it. Once again, it was proof that the manual was but a guide. Her me was already leading her along her own path. And I was honor bound to help her along the way. ¡°You will one day,¡± I said. ¡°I believe it. And I¡¯m going to make sure you¡¯re strong enough to do it too.¡± But for that I needed to grow in strength as well. The messages from the me guiding my own path were clear. I¡¯d learned as much as I could in the wild. Now it was time to seek further knowledge from back home. Knowledge that could onlye from a schr. Knowledge to unravel the mysteries Captain Flores had given her life to share with me before she passed on. I rested my hand on Kelsey¡¯s shoulder and gave her my own pledge of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°The next time I return from the city¡­ you will have your orb, Kelsey. And when you¡¯re strong enough, we¡¯ll hunt down the dark god responsible for this¡­together.¡± Book 2: Chapter 34 THE SUN HAD barely touched the height of noonday by the time I reached the handler station back home. I was bathed in sweat and heaving huge lungfuls of air, but I had done it. I had made the trek in less than half the time as normal. I¡¯d left right at moonset, still under the cover of darkness and had pushed myself to the limit both physically and spiritually. I maintained both [Mark of the Giant] and [Mark of the Beast] the whole time without taking a second to rest. When I had traversed the wild before, I would always run out of steam around the three-quarter mark and then would have to drag myself the rest of the way at normal speed. But now, after cultivating and perhaps exposing myself to the Bloodmoon day after day, my Dantian capacity had increased substantially. Even after feeding solid Frenzy to my body for four hours straight, I still had a little gas left in the tank. It was a testament to how much I had grown both internally and physically, with my body easily able to keep up with the rigors as well. But arriving early brought about otherplications now. Normally I would arrive when everyone had already left for the day, but now the Imperial Guard and other clients were likely there as well. Plus, I had two monster cores on me along with Kelsey¡¯s orb which I decided to take back home to study some more. I¡¯d have to trust Lee to cover for me somehow in front of the guard. Once I had cooled down a bit, I steeled myself and casually strolled into the handler station and prayed Lee would see me through. He thankfully spotted me before the guard did and after a quick look of shock, he raised a brow in question. I showed him my bag full of my cores and he read the situation expertly. ¡°Ah, Master Chun!¡± he said with a bow as he rushed to me like I was some kind of VIP. ¡°I forgot to enter your booking in the log this morning before you left. What time did you arrive again?¡±The Imperial Guard looked at me oddly, clearly not remembering seeing me in the morning. I yed it off with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said with a casualugh. ¡°Keep forgetting I¡¯m not a handler anymore.¡± ¡°Hey, once a handler, always a handler,¡± Lee said with a grin. ¡°You must havee around five this morning, just before opening, right?¡± ¡°I think so,¡± I said and then smiled at the Guard. ¡°Did Master Lee tell you that I was a handler in a former life?¡± The Imperial Guard, a stocky man, with bushy eyebrows, scrunched them together as he stared at me skeptically. ¡°Wait just a minute¡­¡± My heart skipped for a moment as he continued to stare, and I feared our impromptu ruse had failed. The man then cocked his head to side. ¡°Are you the Iron Bull?¡± I breathed an inward sigh of relief. My reputation in the ring was paying off in dividends. ¡°That I am, sir.¡± His expression changed immediately to one of surprise and delight. ¡°I thought so! I¡¯m a big fan! I hope you dethrone those damn silver bird sisters this year.¡± The statement came as a shock, but he said it whileughing, so I guessed none of the other patrons took it as an outright affront to the ruling n. His subordinates clearly didn¡¯t seem to mind either¡ªthe three Enforcers joining in with augh and one of them even asked for my autograph. The rest of the process was smooth sailing after that. The guard processed the duty for my cores, which he lowball estimated at around 60 spirit stones in value to give me a break on the tax. ¡°I hope you put these to good use before the match,¡± the Guard said, handing the cores back to me along with my imperial receipt. ¡°You only have five days left¡­ Are you ready?¡± I grinned with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Well, you can imagine what I had to kill to get these cores. You tell me?¡± My bravado was rewarded with an outpouring of lemonade and the Guard and his enforcers gave me a cheer. ¡°Kick her ass, Iron Bull. My money is on you!¡± * * * Once we were out of sight of the Guard and enforcers, I could finally breathe easy again. Thest thing I needed was to make headlines that the Iron Bull had somehow miraculously survived spending multiple nights out in the wild. ¡°Thanks for the save, man,¡± I said to Lee giving him a fist bump. ¡°Me?¡± he said with augh. ¡°I think you saved yourself, Iron Bull. But where the hell have you been anyway?¡± I still hadn¡¯t told Lee about themunity out in the wild. Not that I didn¡¯t trust him, but I didn¡¯t want to give him that kind of stress to worry about when it came to covering for me. I gave him something else to focus on instead, raising the bag containing the cores. ¡°Just ying amateur cultivator,¡± I said. He merelyughed again, no further questions asked. What a guy, I thought. You could always count on Lee to truly not give a shit about anything. ¡°Hey, can you do me one more favor?¡± I asked. ¡°Shoot.¡± ¡°Can you get a message to Mu Lin for me? She¡¯s still at the academy, right?¡± ¡°Last I checked,¡± he said. ¡°Why?¡± I chuckled. ¡°I need to meet with her, but I need to offload these cores and do a few other things first. Would you mind?¡± ¡°Sure thing,¡± he said. ¡°What¡¯s the message?¡± ¡°Tell her to meet me at the library in about half an hour. I need to pick her brains about something.¡± ¡°Half an hour? That sounds urgent.¡± ¡°Very,¡± I said and then added with a grin. ¡°Tell her the future of mankind depends on it.¡± * * * I made a quick stop at the square before heading to Master Edrik¡¯s to offload the cores and was mesmerized by the progress being made on the new building. The site had been excavated and a solid foundation of stone had already beenid. Now over a hundred workers from the Loyal Prosperity Sect were busy erecting the wooden walls of the first floor, banging and hammering away. It was amazing to see everything happening without a single piece of heavy equipment in sight. No cranes, no forklifts, no jackhammers¡ªeverything being carried out byborers who casually lifted even thergest pieces of timbers by hand. ¡°Wow,¡± I said to Jian Yi as we both watched the progress take ce. ¡°I¡¯m d I actually managed to bag some cores to pay for all this. I¡¯ve probably got about half of what we need for the next payment already.¡± ¡°Not bad,¡± she said, raising her voice above the banging of multiple hammers. ¡°But we¡¯ve got more problems brewing now.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Jian Yi then went on to exin that two new writs had arrived while I was away and that several older ones still needed to be battled in court in two weeks¡¯ time. ¡°Who are these new ones?¡± I asked. ¡°Former Iron Bracket contenders, I believe,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Gui Zu and Zu Tien were able to stave them off, but it seems your notoriety has brought some negative attention as expected. They want an opportunity to fight the Iron Bull tounch their own fame and reputation by defeating you.¡± ¡°Well let¡¯s hope they all drop the idea once I defeat Lady Silver Sparrow next week,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll be in the Gold Bracket then.¡± ¡°True, but it will likely only get worse after that.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You would have won the Iron Bracket Tournament, which will lead to many of those Iron Bracket contenders staying away for sure, but then the low-rank Gold Bracket contenders wille seeking you out. Until you actually rank high enough in the Golden Bracket, expect these challenges to continue.¡± I sighed inwardly. ¡°This never ends, does it?¡± ¡°For you, perhaps not,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°But for the sect, it eventually will. Having a warden with a high enough Gold Bracket Ranking will certainly stop anyone locally from showing up to disrespect us. We only have so much caliber within our little poption here in Jurin, after all.¡± ¡°So how high a Gold ranking do you think I¡¯ll need to be to achieve that?¡± Jian Yi tapped her chin in thought. ¡°Well, the 20s and above would be the territory of 9th-Tier Core Realm and perhaps even a newly ascended Sacred Soul Realm cultivator. And the strongest cultivators in our city next to the Warden are likely to be 9th-Tier Core Realm practitioners at best, so if you achieve anything above 20 that would probably do it.¡± My mind spun. ¡°That¡¯s the same as qualifying for Jade Bracket, Jian Yi!¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± she said. ¡°You can¡¯t do away with contestation from your current bracket until you achieve the next. Trust me, if you qualified for Jade, there would be few on the who would dare challenge us then, much less in little ¡®ole Jurin province.¡± What she said made sense, but damn¡­ ¡°How the hell did this go from me reaching the Gold Bracket to now me having to qualify for Jade? This is nuts.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so dramatic,¡± Jian Yi said with a yful eye roll. ¡°It¡¯s all just nomenture. Gold Bracket, Jade Bracket, Core Realm, Sacred Soul Realm. They all blur together at the transition points. You just need to focus on winning in the ring and obtaining as high a rank as possible. When the writs and challenges stop showing up, that¡¯s when you know that you¡¯ve truly achieved top dog status.¡± I huffed out augh. ¡°Easy for you to say. You¡¯re not the one who has to survive all this crap, you know?¡± Jian Yi chuckled. ¡°Speaking of which, how are your preparations for your next match going? Are you ready?¡± I honestly didn¡¯t know. I had made some advancements for sure, especially with my Body and Mental Refinement, but I was still yet to perfect [Iron Lightning] or evoke the [Soul Shield] technique to protect my me. Moving further into the Brackets would surely require both of those skills, not to mention when I would eventually have to face off against that Fire Bird Elder Hin Wu one day. ¡°Almost,¡± I said. ¡°But I need to go see a spiritual expert first. There¡¯s some insight that I¡¯m missing.¡± * * * I dodged an offer to sample one of Yu Li¡¯stest concoctions before leaving the square and heading to Master Edrik¡¯s to drop off the cores. I didn¡¯t have the time to act as a shill to drive up the price this time, but I trusted Edrik to stillnd a decent sale at the auction. From there I headed to the Judicial District to find Mu Lin. It was early afternoon now with the sun still high in the sky. I passed through the checkpoint that was the gateway to the more sophisticated side of the city, using my B-ss citizenship ID. The transformed old business center of downtown Chicago was now filled with towering structures favoring Yee architecture and above it all, hanging in the sky, was the Imperial city itself. Skiffs flew back and forth from the base of the giant pagoda, dropping off passengers at designatednding points throughout the district. Thest time I was here, I was dressed like a bum and people were staring at me constantly. But now they were staring for a different reason. More than a few gave me bows of respect, recognizing me as the Iron Bull, but I received a few res of hatred and disgust as well. I guess not everyone in this part of town was rooting for the Terran underdog, I thought. But I grinned back at them all the same with a chuckle of [Indifference]. It drove them crazy. I finally reached the multistory building of the central library and spotted Mu Lin right away. She looked the same, still the short Indian girl with the pretty eyes, only she had cut her hair short and was dressed in ck robes with copper trim, the same as Xi Xha now. She wore a dour frown when I approached her, adjusting her sses with one hand on her hip. ¡°You really are the worst friend in the world, you know that?¡± I cracked a grin. ¡°What? What I do now?¡± ¡°No contact for weeks and the first time you do it¡¯s for a favor?¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Nine hells, man, you¡¯re lucky I like you for some unknown reason.¡± Iughed again. ¡°Shut up ande give me a hug, you big oaf!¡± I did so gleefully, picking her up off the ground and eliciting a squeal of protest as I spun her about. ¡°Stop, stop!¡± she said, trying to suppress augh. ¡°You¡¯re so damn embarrassing!¡± I put her down and then handed her a small bag of persimmons I had picked up in the market along the way. ¡°I know you can probably afford these all the time now, but it¡¯s the thought that counts right?¡± She snatched the bag from me and suppressed another little grin as she peered inside the bag. ¡°This will suffice for paying your penance,¡± she said. ¡°Now what the hell is so urgent that you had Leee drag me out of a lecture to meet with you?¡± ¡°Need your guidance on a couple of things,¡± I said. ¡°How much do you know about gaining power in the spiritual realm?¡± Mu Lin was one of the smartest people I knew¡ªa trained schr who was now advancing her skills and abilities through a formal higher education degree at the academy. If there was anyone who would have the answer, or would know where to find it, it was her. She squinted her eyes at me. ¡°Spiritual realm? Exin what you mean exactly.¡± I tried to think of a way to describe what I was trying to achieve without expressly mentioning the Berserker techniques. I thought back to the cultivation manual instead and likened it to the closest parallel I could find. The formation of one¡¯s inner soul. ¡°You know how to achieve breakthrough into the Sacred Soul Realm you need to cultivate a second soul? I need to understand what that means exactly. Like the actual mechanics of it. Is it different than normal cultivation?¡± ¡°Well sure a little,¡± she said, adjusting her sses and she peered at me strangely. ¡°But why would you even need to worry about that? That¡¯s for people who are like¡­ holy cow.¡± Her eyes grew wide behind her sses as she continued to stare at me. ¡°What?¡± I said. ¡°What the hell have you been doing, Chun? You¡¯re at like 4th or nearly 5th-Tier Core Realm cultivation level now!¡± ¡°Really?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Geeze, you didn¡¯t even know did you?¡± I shrugged and pulled up the cultivation manual in my mind¡¯s eye. Core Formation 1st Core Formation 2nd Core Body Refinement 3rd Core Mental Refinement 4th Core Density Refinement 5th Inner Soul Detection 6th Inner Soul Focus 7th Inner Soul Refinement 8th Inner Soul Projection 9th Secondary Soul Germination Damn, I thought. I guess she was right. I had certainly already maxed all my Core Body Refinement stages and was probably close to doing that for my Mental Refinement as well, barring that damn closed door in my mind. And myst trip across the wild definitely proved my core density had increased substantially. Perhaps I truly was on the stage of detecting my inner soul now. Whatever that was. ¡°Well of course I knew,¡± I said with mock bravado. ¡°Why else would I be asking how to achieve the next step?¡± Iughed to let her know it was a joke and she merely shook her head. ¡°You remain the mystery that is Chun, my friend. Although I have to say your body is matching your core. What the hell are they feeding you back home? You¡¯ve got to weigh like 300 pounds!¡± I flexed for her like a buffoon. ¡°But in all seriousness,¡± I said. ¡°How do I progress to the next stage? Do you know?¡± ¡°Well, what have you been doing?¡± I tried to give her a watered-down version of exposing myself to the Bloodmoon. ¡°So I¡¯ve been trying a new cultivation technique where I sort of expose myself to really potent and exotic sources of Qi.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve been pushing those cheap elixirs again.¡± ¡°Sort of, but they¡¯re not cheap. I use monster core materials now.¡± She frowned. ¡°Well, I guess that would exin your cultivation progression, but inner soul progression is different. It¡¯s spiritual insight that you need to germinate your Sacred Soul.¡± Bingo! I thought. I¡¯m onto something here. ¡°Right, so how do I do that exactly? Gain that spiritual insight?¡± She pondered a little. ¡°Well, it¡¯s different for everyone. It¡¯s a personal journey. You need to explore the spiritual root of your Dao. Whatever it may be.¡± ¡°And how do you do that?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Experiences, meditation¡­ you need to look within mainly.¡± I supposed that was sort of what I was doing by strengthening my me by feeding it Dark Frenzy and facing I¡¯xol¡¯ukz each night. But while I had definitely increased my spiritual strength, I still couldn¡¯t achieve the breakthrough I needed to scribe the orb. ¡°Okay so what happens if you encounter an obstacle?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Like when I try to¡­do it¡­I reach this closed door in my mind that I can¡¯t open.¡± She frowned, furrowing her brow. ¡°I¡¯m not really following you. Can you show me what you¡¯re doing exactly?¡± I nced about. There was a fair bit of people in the area, but no one was really paying attention to us. And what I was about to do probably wasn¡¯t anything that would cause rm for being illegal. I reached into my pocket and withdrew the orb. ¡°Ok, so I have this technique I¡¯m trying to master that involves this orb as a focus,¡± I said. ¡°Only thing is, I can¡¯t seem to get it to work.¡± ¡°Is that that be ball?¡± she said, staring at it. Her words surprised me. I¡¯d nearly forgotten the lie Lee had told to get the original orb past the Imperial Guard that first night I had received it from Threja. ¡°Damn, you¡¯ve got a good memory, Mu Lin. Yeah, it¡¯s the ah¡­be ball. So anyway, what do you want me to do?¡± She adjusted her sses. ¡°Go ahead and try your technique, I¡¯ll study your Qi to see what¡¯s going wrong.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± I said and prayed I wouldn¡¯t reveal anything that might peg myself as a Berserker to her. I focused on the orb as I took it in my palm and once again summoned my Frenzy to apply the [Brand of the Frenzied me] technique. The orb heated in my palm as normal, but just like before I reached the point where I just couldn¡¯t go any further, pushing vainly against the closed door in my mind. I looked back to Mu Lin who was still studying me intently. ¡°Well?¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s definitely nothing to do with your Qi cirction,¡± she said. ¡°The mechanics of everything seem to be working fine. But there is definitely a spiritual blockage.¡± ¡°You could sense that?¡± ¡°Not sense, but if everything else is working fine then it kind of points to that as being the problem.¡± ¡°So how do I clear it then?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Only you can figure that out. Like I said, it¡¯s all very personal. Have you been really stressed or conflicted about somethingtely?¡± ¡°Stressed?¡± ¡°The spirit is a reflection of our true soul,¡± she said. ¡°If our spirit is unsettled in one instance it will be affected in all others as well.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± she said. ¡°Let me try and think of an example.¡± She then snapped her fingers after a moment,ing up with something. ¡°Okay let¡¯s say you get angry with someone in the market and it puts you in a foul mood. That mood stays with you and can manifest itself in other rtionships as well, even though it¡¯s with someone elsepletely, like say a coworker or a friend. So if you close your spirit to one person it will remain closed to everyone else. Unless you deal with the original conflict that caused it to close, the corruption can eat away at your spirit and prevent it from openingpletely. Even when trying to perform a technique.¡± I thought on that some more. Was the closed door in my mind actually my closed spirit? And if so, what caused it? I had dozens of conflicts and stresses to worry about now. ¡°How do I know what caused it?¡± She merely shrugged again. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you, only you can. But you¡¯ll probably figure it out eventually. Just give it time and look within.¡± I nodded. ¡°Thanks, that was helpful.¡± ¡°So was that it?¡± she said. ¡°You mentioned a couple of things.¡± ¡°Oh right,¡± I said, nearly forgetting. I leaned in closer to her. ¡°This one is a bit more sensitive. I¡¯m seeking knowledge on something kind of specific.¡± ¡°What?¡± she said. ¡°Have you ever heard the name I¡¯xol¡¯ukz before?¡± She shook her head. ¡°What kind of name is that?¡± I paused a moment, contemting if I should even share, but I trusted her and needed to get the information somehow. ¡°I think it could be the name of a god. Someone known as the King of the Moon.¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°Where did youe across all this?¡± I thought quickly and gave the best answer I could. ¡°It¡¯s just something I heard those Fire Birds say once. Wanted to see if there was any truth to it or if it was just bullcrap superstition.¡± ¡°This goes a bit beyond me,¡± she said. ¡°But stuff like that is probably recorded in the Histories of Mythos.¡± ¡°What that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a whole section of the library,¡± she said. ¡°In there?¡± I said, pointing to the library behind us. Mu Linughed. ¡°No way. Something like that is way too important to keep down here. I mean the grand library in the Imperial City.¡± I pointed up at the pagoda. ¡°There¡¯s a bigger library up there?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a bigger everything up there,¡± she said with augh. ¡°But you know who can probably help you more? Xi Xha. She¡¯s the ancient artifact buff. If there is anyone who might have heard of this King of the Moon character and can track it down in the Histories of Mythos, it¡¯s her.¡± ¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°Can you get a message to her about it then?¡± ¡°Message?¡± Sheughed again. ¡°Please. Don¡¯t you have a B-ss citizenship now, Mr. Iron Bull?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°So what are we waiting for?¡± Mu Lin said and then spun on her heel, heading for one of thending areas with the waiting skiffs. ¡°Let¡¯s just go see her right now.¡± ¡°Right now?¡± I said, looking up at the pagoda. ¡°You mean¡­?¡± ¡°Yup!¡± Mu Lin said with a mischievous grin. ¡°It¡¯s time you took your first trip to the Imperial City, Chun. The true heart of Jurin Province awaits.¡± Book 2: Chapter 35 AN ODD MIXTURE of apprehension and exhration filled me as I stepped upon the skiff. For one, it was only my second time of having the privilege to ride upon such a device, the first time being when that bastard Hong Feng was carting my ¡®dead¡¯ body out into the wild. But more than that, this would be my first time to see the very symbol of my¡¯s oppression up close. The damn giant pagoda in the sky. I could still visualize the first time I saw them. As a child. An eight-year-old me staring up at a thing the size of the moon as it descended from space to bring the horrors that would y my family and destroy my entire world. And now I was going to visit one of them to go shopping for hidden knowledge. If my spirit had been conflicted before, it was downright schizophrenic now. I honestly didn¡¯t know how to feel as the skiff took off and the ground below me began to shrink and disappear. A new shback came, and I realized that this was not my second time riding a skiff but my third. My true first time was back when I was eight, watching my family for thest time as Lady Silver Tear¡¯s skiff took off, leaving my parents and big sister for dead. An emptiness filled me as the memory took hold, reliving the spiritual root of my Dao. The pain and anguish. The resentment and hate. Lady Silver Tear and her n¡ªFia¡¯s n. They were the ones who had destroyed my entire world. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Mu Lin asked sitting next to me. ¡°You look like you¡¯re about to be sick.¡± Iughed to y it off with [Indifference]. ¡°Just afraid of heights, I guess.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°And trust me, when you see the city for yourself. You won¡¯t want to leave.¡± I heard her words, but even they couldn¡¯t prepare me for when the skiff finally docked and I stepped onto the terra firma that was the Imperial City of Jurin Province. The air smelled cleaner and fresher and a gentle breeze blew constantly against my face. The ground itself resembled brushed brass or worn gold, giving a regal yet ancient feel to the ce. Tall buildings lined the central street we were upon which stretched upwards to form the walls of the pagoda itself. It was hard to adjust to the scale of it all. From the ground the ce was imposing, but here it was almost majestic. Tamed spirit animals walked along side cultivators as pets within the crowdrge cats and foxes mostly, but I saw one or two birds perched on people¡¯s shoulders as well. It was like being transported to a fantasy world even more bizarre than the one I had juste from. The streets also looked far less busy than the ones below, and the cultivators I saw were all dressed to the nines in fine robes. They nced at Mu Lin and I briefly, some of them giving us res of disdain. I then noted that we seemed to definitely be in the minority as Terrans. While below the poption was fairly mixed with a blend of Terrans as well as people from other far-offs, here the poption was most distinctly Yee. They whispered to one another as they spotted us from afar, some even pointing andughing. ¡°Does everyone treat you like that here?¡± I asked. Mu Lin merely shrugged, nonplussed. ¡°You get used to it. Come on, this way,¡± she said, heading off down the brass street. ¡°Xi Xha is going to meet us at the grand library, it¡¯s on the third floor.¡± Old feelings of resentment began to resurface as I red back at the people staring at us. One guy even stopped to make a mocking gesture by cing his hands to the side of his head to make a set of bull¡¯s horns. He stuck his tongue out at me and then started tough. I had the urge to go smack him right in the face, but then noticed a little girl next to him go through the same motion and copy the gesture, mocking me from afar. The father and daughter duo shared anotherugh, but I brushed off the generational disrespect with a stoic fa?ade of [Indifference]. ¡°Guess they¡¯re not big fans of the Iron Bull,¡± I said. ¡°Oh, no one here is,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°Everyone is pissed off as hell that you won that match the other day. They had a rally and everything.¡± ¡°A rally?¡± ¡°The three Silver Leaf sisters,¡± Mul Lin said. ¡°They organized this huge¡­¡± She paused for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what to call it. A public chastisement maybe? They were really pissed.¡± I stared back at her perplexed. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You know, they were shouting stuff like, ¡®you people should remember who the ruling n is¡¯ and ¡®Shame if you ever support an outsider like the Iron Bull¡¯.¡± I felt the target on my back grow tenfold. ¡°Damn it, Mu Lin! Why didn¡¯t you tell me that before you brought me up here?¡± ¡°Oh sorry!¡± she said with augh. ¡°I kind of forgot. I don¡¯t really follow all the arena stuff. But Xi Xha says you¡¯re kicking ass in there so good for you.¡± The res and jeers made far more sense now. I shifted to walking with [Mask of the Despised], flipping the cor of my overcoat about my neck. Never had I felt the name of the technique have such clear meaning and purpose before. I was literally walking through an entire city that had been guilt-tripped into hating the living shit out of me. I proceeded with apprehension as we came to a set of lifts that connected the ground floor to the next. The lift tforms were the size of small courtyards, able to fit hundreds of people at a time and around the base of the pagoda, there were at least ten of them all moving up and down in rhythmical intervals. I immediately shifted to the back corner of the lift tform we were on, avoiding the crowd of Yee cultivators as they piled onboard. As the lift ascended towards a ceiling made of crisscrossing walkways, which I assumed was the base of the next floor, a bright light began shining through them. As we passed the walkways, the sky opened up into an interior space that literally blew my mind. The entire inside of the giant pagoda was hollowed out like a massive atrium, stretching hundreds of feet into the air. Along the sides, the various floors of the city epassed it with whole city blocks, forming various neighborhoods and districts that were connected by walkways spanning hundreds of feet to one another. But even more awe inducing than any of that was the massive yellow crystals floating at the center of the atrium, its brilliant glow forming a sun in the faux sky. I shielded my eyes from it and faintly sensed something akin to Frenzy spilling from its rays. This had to be it, I thought. The source of the barrier. But was it truly exuding a kind of Frenzy just like Threja¡¯s sword? It wasn¡¯t exactly the same as Frenzy, but I could sense it. Whatever it was. ¡°What is that?¡± I asked. ¡°The mother crystal,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°The heart of the city. It¡¯s what keeps us afloat. If that thing goes the whole cityes crashing down. Not to mention the barrier goes poof for everyone below.¡± I¡¯d gathered that much myself, but I was after a bit more information than that. ¡°Do you know what it¡¯s made of?¡± I asked. ¡°Um¡­ Aetherite, I think?¡± she said as if remembering something from a textbook. ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t remember,¡± she said. ¡°Some rare substance that forms in hell nes or something like that. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m probably remembering it wrong. I haven¡¯t studied that kind of stuff in ages.¡± ¡°Hell nes?¡± I said, thinking on it some more. ¡°Do you mean Hell Worlds? Like the worlds around the Cursed Stars? Where the legionnaires go?¡± Mu Lin stopped dead in her tracks and looked back at me perplexed. ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s¡­ exactly right. Holy shit, Chun. How the hell did you even know that?¡± The facts all seemed to fall in ce at once. Was this the stuff that allowed the legionnaires to survive on those hell worlds? A natural barrier to counter the effects of the Cursed Stars? It would make sense. ¡°Is that why they go to thoses?¡± I asked. ¡°The legionnaires. To mine the Aetherite to make these crystals?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Mu Lin said, looking at me bewilderedly. ¡°Maybe, I guess?¡± It wasn¡¯t a confirmation, but I received a confirmation from something else. Deep in my soul, my me red¡ªa new truth unlocking insight into the unknown. New thoughts stirred, but I seemed to have more questions than answers now. Did the Aetherite form in response to the effect of the Cursed Stars? Or did the Cursed Stars form in response to the Aetherite? ¡°The mystery that is Chun,¡± Mu Lin said with augh, breaking me out of my thoughts. ¡°The weird and obtuse stuff you seem to know is beyond me. Nowe on, if you want to know more weird crap, you¡¯ll need to talk to Xi Xha, not me. The library is close now.¡± We traveled up another floor, with me trying to dodge more stares, but I was starting to get res despite my [Mark of the Despised] technique as the crowds thinned. I guess there was only so much the technique could do when you were seven feet tall. And walking next to a barely five-foot-tall Mu Lin probably didn¡¯t help with the optics either. We finally arrived at a massive structure that looked to make up part of the outer pagoda wall itself, like a giant cathedral made of polished brass. A small figure in a hooded robe rushed towards us, and the smiling yet worried-looking face of Xi Xha peered out from beneath the hood. ¡°Master Chun,¡± she said with a small curtsey of a bow, almost as if she didn¡¯t want anyone else to notice. ¡°It¡¯s wonderful to see you again.¡± Xi Xha was just as pretty as I remembered her, even though I hadn¡¯t seen her in ages. Dark hair with bright green eyes, but she was sans the normal ck and copper-trimmed robes that Mu Lin now wore. I raise a brow at her in question. ¡°Are you wearing a disguise?¡± She smiled awkwardly. ¡°A thousand pardons. When Mu Lin told me you wereing here, I didn¡¯t know quite what to expect. Your reputation here is quite ill favored at the moment.¡± She nced about and I could sense there were several people looking at us already. ¡°Come,¡± she said. ¡°We should head inside. There will be less people there.¡± ¡°Well, I think my job here is done,¡± Mu Lin said with a grin. ¡°You two sharing the same space still gives me the icks, no offense.¡± Iughed, but Xi Xha bowed to her while blushing. ¡°My thanks to you, Mu Lin. I¡¯ll see youter.¡± Xi Xha then led the way as Mu Lin departed, ushering us through the security check at the door to the library. The Imperial Guard on duty scoffed when she looked at my ID card and gave Xi Xha a healthy scowl as well. ¡°Don¡¯t stay here long,¡± she warned and then motioned for the two enforcers with her to open the library doors. As they ushered us inside, one of them, a tan-skinned man who looked native to some other world, gave me a wink and a smile. I guess they all aren¡¯t against me up here, I thought. But damn was it prized. The interior of the grand library was as impressive as its exterior, with Qi lighting casting a warm glow over row upon row of ceiling high shelves packed full of manuscripts and texts. There were few people within, most of them venerable schrs who wore the same copper-trimmed robes that Xi Xha normally did. Once we got in between a set of bookshelves deep in the center of the library, she seemed to rx some. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be safe back here,¡± she said, drawing back her hood and giving me a broad smile and an unobstructed view of her gorgeous face. ¡°So, I haven¡¯t heard from you in a while. How have you been?¡± ¡°A bit busy as you can imagine,¡± I said honestly. ¡°Building a new sect from the ground up plus fighting in the ring. I can barely find time to cultivate much less anything else.¡± ¡°I see,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°A pity. I was hoping we could perhaps catch up after this.¡± She made her intentions clear by pressing her body close to mine and I couldn¡¯t help but feel the temptation rising in my loins. ¡°A drink or two down below perhaps?¡± Ever since being with Silver Light, I honestly hadn¡¯t felt the urge to be with Xi Xha again. Although there was no reason that I couldn¡¯t. Fia and I had nothing between us. Especially now. But that same mncholy filled me as I thought of her again and Xi Xha perhaps saw it on my face. ¡°No chance?¡± she said, and then yfully she added. ¡°Unless you¡¯re that pressed for time that you¡¯d like to skip the drink and go for it here and now?¡± The way she said it was only half joking and I could tell if I kissed her now, we¡¯d be in way too deep to stop. She looked back at me almost expectantly, mischief in her eyes. I steeled myself with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I smiled back at her. ¡°That probably wouldn¡¯t be too wise,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t you think?¡± She chuckled. ¡°Probably not. Although it would be exciting.¡± She thenughed. ¡°I could only imagine what they¡¯d do to the both of us if we were caught. It¡¯d be the scandal of the month.¡± Her words were a reminder that social norms were broken at one¡¯s peril here. If me getting caught with Xi Xha would be the scandal of the month, then me marrying Silver Light would be the scandal of the decade. Not that I could even do that at the moment. I shook the thought from my head. I couldn¡¯t worry about those things right now. I had bigger issues to deal with. Starting with the monster plotting to prey on my people out in the wild. ¡°What can you tell me about something named I¡¯xol¡¯ukz?¡± I said, abruptly changing the subject. ¡°Have you heard of it before?¡± The smile dropped from Xi Xha¡¯s face as I shifted instantly into work mode. She didn¡¯t seem upset by it however and merely became an astute professional in my eyes, her brow furrowing as she began to think. ¡°Give me a moment,¡± she said. ¡°Wait here.¡± She disappeared down the aisle of books and about twenty minutester returned with tworge scrolls under her arms. She beckoned me to a small table andid out both scrolls side by side. They were covered in faded text that I couldn¡¯t read, the characters looking even more hieroglyphic than the Yee symbols I hade to decipher as easily as English in my mine¡¯s eye. ¡°This is the name you told me, I believe,¡± Xi Xha said, pointing to a scribble of characters on the scroll. ¡°Ai Zhul Ugh. It¡¯s mentioned briefly in this scroll from the second Taun Dynasty. It¡¯s the name of an ancient demon that was imprisoned by the Great Soul Emperor Wu Shin Taun on his day of ascension.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± She referred to the second scroll. ¡°Here is the only other mention that I could find of a simr word¡­ I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. It¡¯s from an ancient Dharmian text. The word trantes to the Lord of the Moon. It says here that he is a lesser deity and one of the four heralds of the stars.¡± Now we were getting somewhere, I thought. ¡°So what does that actually mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not certain,¡± Xi Xha said. ¡°What you see here is a recount of an old Dharmian myth about the star callers.¡± She then ran her finger under the characters and spoke almost in rhyme. ¡°The lesser gods, the heralds four, shall usher in the glory of the stars. The Lords of the Earth, the Sea, the Sky and the Moon. Rejoice at their appearance, for the age of the stars is at hand.¡± She paused and I looked at her. ¡°Is that it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a very short poem,¡± she said. ¡°What makes you interested in this?¡± ¡°Just something I overheard,¡± I said, ying it off. I then pointed back to the first scroll. ¡°But here it says that I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was¡ª¡± ¡°Ai Zhul Ugh,¡± Xi Xha corrected. ¡°Right,¡± I said. ¡°So anyway it was a demon that was imprisoned, right? But does it say where?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t say, but I would imagine it was imprisoned where any demon would be bound. On one of the nine nes of hell.¡± ¡°Sounds like an important detail to miss out, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± she said. ¡°The mention of Ai Zhul Ugh here is but a footnote. The true significant detail of the script is the reference to Soul Emperor Taun¡¯s day of ascension. If he didn¡¯t happen to defeat this demon on that day, there would likely be no mention of it at all.¡± I stepped back, pondering it all. The links seemed clear to me at least, but I needed it confirmed. ¡°So this Ai Zhul Ugh mentioned in this scroll is a demon that is also the same I¡¯xol¡¯ukz which is a herald of the stars?¡± ¡°It¡¯s as close as I can find to the name you said, yes.¡± ¡°So could that mean that I¡¯xol¡¯ukz ushers in the Cursed Stars?¡± ¡°Cursed Stars?¡± She let out a chuckle. ¡°Those are a different matter entirely I believe.¡± ¡°But it does say stars, right?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t give too much credence to the Dharmian text. It predates the Taun record by some ten thousand years and is possibly fiction or allegory. And by the tone, it seems to celebrate these heralds and the stars as something to be glorified. Certainly nothing like the Cursed Stars we know today.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s the same name, right? I¡¯xol¡¯ukz?¡± ¡°It¡¯s close phically, but not the exact same word. Not even the samenguage. The name could also have been borrowed or changed in meaning over the centuries. Who knows?¡± ¡°Can you read it for me again?¡± As Xi Xha did so, I envisioned the words in my mind¡¯s eye, memorizing them as script. ¡°The lesser gods, the heralds four, shall usher in the glory of the stars. The Lords of the Earth, the Sea, the Sky and the Moon. Rejoice at their appearance, for the age of the stars is at hand.¡± ¡°See,¡± she said. ¡°Nothing sinister about that.¡± She then cracked a grin. ¡°Not unless the authors were demonic or something.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°Say again?¡± ¡°I was only making a joke. We have no idea who the authors were or their purpose for writing this.¡± But she had made a keen observation. Good and Evil was all a matter of perspective. If those same words were being uttered from the throats of a demonic cult like those Fire Birds, there would be no question as to what kind of stars they were talking about. I felt something open up inside of me as my me burned a little brighter. Confirmation of further Insight into the unknown. ¡°Thanks, Xi Xha,¡± I said. ¡°That was helpful.¡± She bowed. ¡°I¡¯m happy I could be of service to you, Iron Bull. Anything else?¡± I thought a second more. ¡°Actually yes. How much do you know about the legionnaires and the Phnx?¡± ¡°Ah,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°Now I understand the interest with the Cursed Stars. You¡¯re not progressing through the Brackets in order to qualify for the academy, are you?¡± ¡°What academy?¡± ¡°The Legionnaire¡¯s academy. You must be of Gold Ranking to even attempt to qualify. But I would not suggest you do that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the second person to warn me about taking an interest in all this. Why not?¡± Sheughed. ¡°Few volunteer to be legionnaires. They are more so sentenced. Tributes of the state.¡± I was starting to understand the picture more. ¡°So, these people who be legionnaires are more like convicts?¡± ¡°From most worlds they are,¡± she said. ¡°Most are not expected to survive. There are a few who chase the glory of an easy path to the Diamond Bracket, but cultivators with that mindset rarelyst.¡± My interest was piqued even more. ¡°Diamond Bracket?¡± ¡°Any legionnaire who survives a tour of the hell worlds is automatically considered ranked as Diamond Bracket. And if they survive three tours they are promoted to the rank of Imperial Marshall, which is the highest civilian ranking one can hold. Far above even Wardens and equal to royalty. If they survive five tours, they be High Marshall. And at eight tours, Grand Marshall.¡± ¡°A Grand Marshall? What¡¯s that equal to?¡± She shrugged. ¡°One can only guess. In the entire history of the Yee Dynasty, there has only even been one Grand Marshall. The title was bestowed posthumously on their final tour. I can¡¯t recall their name at the moment, but it was over four thousand years ago. Today there is only one who holds the rank of High Marshal, the Academy President, Tzu Li Zen. There are perhaps only three other Marshalls in existence in total.¡± My head was spinning. This was a whole new level of advancement and progression I knew nothing about. A sea of possibilities shed through my mind and the urge to take a chance on one of those hell worlds tempted me like none other. I¡¯d learned to survive a few minutes under the Bloodmoon¡¯s influence. Could I eventually grow strong enough to resist the influence of an entire star? ¡°Chun¡­Chun?¡± Xi Xha called my name, pushing me out of my daydream. Sheughed. ¡°I seem to have lost you.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m fine,¡± I said, but then lied to not make a big deal of it. ¡°That certainly doesn¡¯t seem for me though. Thanks for warning me.¡± She smiled with relief. ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°Because we need you here as our Iron Bull.¡± * * * We headed for the library exit, and Xi Xha once again made an offer to spend some time together in the redlight district. It was honestly tempting, but something just still didn¡¯t feel right about it. ¡°Maybeter,¡± I said as we got past the Imperial Guard. ¡°I have a few things I need to work on right now.¡± One of them was the ball of Corrupted Steel tucked away in my robes. With the new Insights I had just gained from Xi Xha, I was eager to try the [Brand of the Frenzied me] technique to see if I could finally etch the orb. But no way was I going to attempt something like that in front of this kind of crowd. Xi Xha smiled glumly in response. ¡°Try not to work so hard. You¡¯re always going, going, going. You must make time for yourself too. Else why are you doing any of this at all?¡± I paused as she said it. I honestly never put myself in the equation when I made my ns. It just didn¡¯t feel right in some regard. ¡°I¡¯ve been blessed with a chance to make a real difference, Xi Xha,¡± I said, perhaps speaking more to myself than to her. ¡°My strengthes from my need to fight for them, not myself. In the end that¡¯s what truly matters.¡± Xi Xha chuckled. ¡°I can see now why they all despise you. You think like no cultivator that I know. Yet still I say, take heed, Chun.¡± She gently took hold of my forearm, squeezing it softly. ¡°Fighting for others is noble. But you need to have someone fighting and caring for you as well. If there is no one to take care of you, then how can you take care of anyone else?¡± As she said the words, I could sense the stirring of fear in her heart. Her words rang true as well and I wondered if she was offering herself to fill that role. It was something I never would have thought of her as doing before. Before I could even consider it further, a strong gust of wind pushed against us, unfurling our robes. Xi Xha let out a gasp and instantly fell to her knees and pressed her forehead to the brass floor. I turned to see what she was kowtowing to and saw a sleek ck skiffnding on the street a stone¡¯s throw away. ¡°Well, well¡­ look who hase to pay his respects to the Silver Leaf n.¡± My heart froze at the powerful words and the woman who had spoken them. Tall and statuesque with silver hair spilling down her shoulders, piercing chrome eyes. I¡¯d never seen this woman before in my life, but one look at the other two identical women in the skiff with her and I knew exactly who they all were. ¡°Screw my life,¡± I muttered as the situation became clear. The Silver Leaf Triplets had juste for an early showdown. Book 2: Chapter 36 ¡°CHUN! BOW QUICKLY!¡± Xi Xha said, her head still facing the ground. ¡°They are the Shen sisters!¡± ¡°Yeah, I know who they are,¡± I said with [Indifference], eyeing them as they sauntered off the skiff towards us. I couldn¡¯t really tell them apart, all of them wearing the same identical hairstyle. One of them seemed to take the lead ahead of the other two, however¡ªthe leader amongst them perhaps. They all looked to be in their forties, with faces that were still somewhat attractive despite being aged past their prime. They all wore the ck and silver robes of the ruling n. A fact they hade to rub in my face it seemed. But I knew my rights under thew now. I cupped a palm over my clenched fist and gave a short bow. ¡°The Silver Bird sisters, I presume. Greetings.¡± The woman in the lead opened her mouth aghast. ¡°This Lowly One dares to address royalty in so casually a manner?¡± She looked to one of her sisters. ¡°Silver Sparrow, give this Bull Man a taste of what he will face in the ring. He needs to be taught proper respect for the ruling n.¡± The woman, Lady Silver Sparrow, narrowed her silver eyes at me. I couldn¡¯t sense Qi but I imagined she was gathering it for some kind of assault. I again forced myself not to react, using abination of [Indifference] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°You sure you want to do that,dy?¡± My frankness and total disregard for their status caused them all to have another ministroke of disbelief. I followed up quickly to let them know who they were dealing with.¡°You may all be royalty, butst I checked none of you were elders. So unless you want to be responsible for the unsanctioned attack on the elder of a fellow martial sect, I suggest you put the idea ofying a hand on me out of your heads.¡± That caused them to pause, ncing back and forth to one another. ¡°What nonsense is he speaking?¡± the first one asked. ¡°I do not know,¡± the other sister answered. ¡°It is true, Lady Silver Hawk,¡± Xi Xha said, addressing the leader. ¡°This man, the Iron Bull¡­ he is an Elder of the Furious Lightning Sect, a sub sect of the Fire Bird n.¡± In a sh, Silver Sparrow cut across me and went straight to Xi Xha. ¡°Who gave you permission to speak!¡± she shouted and dragged Xi Xha to her feet by the cor of her robes before pping her brutally across the face. The sound resounded in my ears and my world turned red. ¡°You damn bitch!¡± My Frenzy surged and I was about to plough a fist straight through Silver Sparrow¡¯s face when she swiveled her head towards me with a raised finger. ¡°Careful, Bull Man,¡± she said cockily. ¡°Thew cuts both ways. Attack me and you¡¯ll suffer the same fate.¡± Son of a bitch¡­ Rage boiled within my soul and it took every ounce of the [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to pull me back from the brink. The woman had taken her frustrations out on Xi Xha for no reason at all. My hand was still balled into a fist, cocked and ready to strike. I nced down as Xi Xha, now holding her face in pain and had the urge to say to hell with it all and just let my fist fly. ¡°Don¡¯t do it,¡± Xi Xha pleaded from the ground, perhaps sensing what I was on the verge of doing. ¡°You¡¯ll doom yourself. It¡¯s what they want.¡± Her words brought me back to reality. But just barely. My Frenzy was still raging, and I channeled it into [Fear the me] as I turned to Lady Silver Sparrow. ¡°You¡¯re going to pay for that,¡± I said, letting her feel every ounce of the rage in my soul. ¡°You¡¯re going to get that p back tenfold when we hit the ring.¡± She opened her mouth as if tough, but the fury of my technique caught her off guard and her leering grin quickly turned into a grimace of primal terror as fear dripped from her soul. She backed away from me with uncertainty, her gaze shifting to her elder sister as if for direction. ¡°Is that so?¡± Silver Hawk said stepping to her side. She then looked down at Xi Xha. ¡°This woman must be special to you.¡± She paused again and then raised a slender brow. ¡°Wait¡­I know This One. It¡¯s one of Fia¡¯s little friends. That whore schr¡­ Xi Xha.¡± They all cackled andughed at that and suddenly all their attention shifted from me to her. ¡°Stand to your feet so we can look at you,¡± Silver Sparrow said, pulling Xi Xha¡¯s hood from about her face as she yanked her back off the ground. Xi Xha¡¯s face turned three shades redder than it already was, the handprint across her cheek no exception. ¡°It makes sense that one such as you would chase after such a revolting man,¡± Silver Sparrow said as she nced at me. ¡°A disgrace.¡± ¡°Have you no shame?¡± the third sister, Lady Silver Dove, joined in, drawing closer. ¡°You are Yee born and yet you frolic with the likes of natives? A man who openly opposes the ruling n in the Iron tournament?¡± ¡°Teach her a lesson in loyalty,¡± Silver Hawk said. ¡°Show her what it means to betray her own kind for lessers.¡± My Frenzy surged. ¡°You touch her and¡ª¡± ¡°And what?¡± Silver Hawk said, striding forward. ¡°Will you start a war between our sects over this insignificant whore? You would do well to know whom it is you associate with, Bull Man. If you knew how many men This One has had you would perhaps rethink defending her.¡± Theyughed in unison again and a sob broke through their cackles. Xi Xha stood at the center of them in tears. Humiliated. Her glistening eyes caught mine¡ªa look of helplessness and shame. One of the sisters shoved her and another shoved her back. Quickly all three of them joined in,ughing like school children as they pushed her back and forth. Time stood still as I relieved a vision from my past. Schoolyard bullies pushing me about in just the same manner. Was this for real¡­? These women were in their forties or more¡ªyet still employing the same juvenile tactics. Overgrown children with the power of gods at their fingertips. It sickened me. The abuse and entitlement. The unwarranted disrespect. My hatred towards cultivators returned with a vengeance as the spiritual root of my Dao was triggered. These were the members of the Silver Leaf n that I truly despised. No better than Hein, for all their years. And to think they would do all this right in front of me¡ªtaunting me without fear of the slightest recourse. But not today. ¡°That¡¯ll be enough¡­¡± I said, harnessing the power of my me. Law or now, these bitches were going down. All of them! I let loose a primal roar as my body filled with rage and crackling thunder. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand i¡ª]!¡± My words cut short as a dozen silver needlesnded at my feet, puncturing the metal floor as if it were made of y. From out of the sky, several figures in ck descended, forming a perimeter around us. ¡°Restrain yourself, Iron Bull!¡± The voice echoed powerfully from the sky and as I looked up, I saw an angel in silver-trimmed robes descending from the heavens. Fia¡­ Her demeanor was cold and no nonsense and she barely looked at me before turning her baleful gaze to Xi Xha and the three women bullying her. She hovered over the top of them, her three jian des humming powerfully as they floated just inches from her back. ¡°I implore you to cease whatever this is, elder cousins,¡± Fia said with authority in her voice, her words taking on a formal and almost legalistic tone. ¡°This woman is an acquaintance of mine.¡± ¡°Well if it isn¡¯t little Fia,¡± Silver Hawk said stepping forward, pushing Xi Xha to the side. Xi Xha ran from within the midst of them and straight into my arms. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ve got you,¡± I said, consoling her, but my eyes were still fixed on Fia. She was still a goddess in her own right. The short stylish bob, a face of both beauty and strength. She was heads and shoulders above her cousins both literally and figuratively right now. I backed Xi Xha away from them, unsure what kind of conflict might soon explode. ¡°You would dare acquaint with someone who lies with the Iron Bull?¡± Lady Silver Hawk said, scowling up at Fia. ¡°I wonder what your mother might think of that?¡± I sensed a spike of fear and angere from within Fia. A conflicted soul. She dared a nce at me, and I could tell what she was thinking. If this was the response of merely being associated with someone who had been with me, then what would her family think if they knew the actual truth? Fia hid her feelings expertly though, not the slightest hint of distress appearing on her face. ¡°What Xi Xha chooses to do in private is her own business,¡± Fia said. ¡°And I would not put much stock in the significance of the Iron Bull. By Imperial Writ, he is due to face me in the court of battle in a year¡¯s time.¡± She then turned to Silver Sparrow and narrowed her gaze. ¡°A date I am certain he will keep, even after your trivial bout with him in the ring.¡± Silver Sparrow¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°You would dare im my defeat? To side with a Fire Bird against your own sect?¡± ¡°I¡¯m merely stating a fact,¡± Fia said coolly. ¡°As much as you despise him, you are no match for the Iron Bull.¡± She then nced at Xi Xha. ¡°And I do not me her for wanting to sample such a man before he meets his untimely demise by my hand either. In fact, I¡¯m sure you three are all jealous that she couldmand such a one¡¯s attention. It is clear you three crones will never earn a fleeting nce from such a man, much less bed him.¡± The insult hit like a lightning bolt and the three bird sisters went berserk. ¡°How dare you say that!¡± ¡°You little bitch!¡± ¡°You will pay for those words!¡± ¡°Let me kill her! Let me kill her now!¡± Fia merelyughed and I couldn¡¯t help but restrain an inwardugh of my own. Talk about being a troll¡­.I had no idea Fia had that in her. ¡°You will be punished for that!¡± Silver Hawk said, her eyes filled with hatred and rage. ¡°Oh?¡± Fia said. ¡°Do you wish to settle this withbat? There is now governing intra-sect conflicts, after all. Come and punish me then, if you can, elder cousin.¡± Fia then ced a hand over her mouth mockingly. ¡°Oh wait. None of you have mastered the [Silver Sail] technique as yet. A pity you cannot even reach me from down there. Perhaps in another ten years we may fight to settle this.¡± ¡°You will pay for this disrespect,¡± Silver Hawk said. ¡°Our mother will have words with yours.¡± ¡°I think you should care more about my father,¡± Fia said. ¡°Or do you forget that it is the Dong Family that the Lady Silver Tear has blessed with imperial rule, not the Shen.¡± I sensed anger erupt from within Silver Hawk, the insult hitting deep. ¡°Your father?¡± Silver Hawk scoffed and then muttered under her breath, ¡°A luckymoner is all he is.¡± Fia¡¯s eyes grew wide as the same level of anger spiked within her. ¡°What did you say?!¡± Three jian des shed, and a piercing silver beam shot straight towards Silver Hawk. The woman balked in shock and managed to raise some kind of barrier at just thest second, but it shattered like ss under Fia¡¯s attack. In a sh, Fia was suddenly on the ground next to her, a de raised to Silver Hawk¡¯s throat. Her Silver Shadows reacted with just as much speed, surrounding the other two sisters, six to one. Tension filled the air as a deathly silence took hold, and from within the three bird sisters, all I could sense was fear. ¡°Remember this, dear cousins,¡± Fia said with venom in her voice. ¡°Although you are my seniors by more than ten years, I surpassed all three of you by the age of twelve. You still remain within the Iron Bracket while I am Gold. Do not dare test me or my family ever again. Understood?¡± Silver Hawk¡¯s fear rose equally with her anger and slowly she swallowed her pride, but not without bitterness. ¡°This one apologizes. Little cousin.¡± Fia pushed her away and sheathed her swords. ¡°Silver Shadows. Do escort these finedies to their domicile. I wish to ensure they return home safely to the Shen residence.¡± Her subordinates bowed to her and I watched in amazement as the three sisters suffered the humiliation of being followed back to their skiff and then even further after it took off. Fia turned back to the both of us, Xia Xha still in my arms. A deep pain swelled within her as she stared at us, and I could only imagine what she was thinking. Still, not a hint of distress showed on her face as she finally looked to Xi Xha. ¡°Are you alright, Xi Xha?¡± Xi Xha immediately dropped to her knees. ¡°Yes, mydy, thanks to you. You are too kind to have protected me.¡± Fia merely nodded. She looked to me next and despite her stone-cold fa?ade, her eyes welled with tears. ¡°I see,¡± she said, motioning slightly to Xi Xha as pain filled her soul. ¡°Everything makes perfect sense now.¡± ¡°No,¡± I said quickly. ¡°It¡¯s not what you¨C¨C¡± ¡°Enjoy him while you can, Xi Xha,¡± she said, the venom returning to her words. ¡°He has less than a year to live.¡± She spun in midair, turning her back to us. ¡°Fia, wait!¡± I shouted but she ignored me, not looking back as she sped away in burst of light. I watched impotently as her figure disappeared amongst the patchwork of walkways spanning high above us, shing in and out of existence as she darted away. ¡°Shit!¡± I cursed. Everything was falling apart again. I¡¯d already damaged our rtionship but now she had the wrong idea about me and Xi Xha as well¡ªan idea that fit all too well within the narrative of me rejecting her. My hands balled into fists. I needed to talk to her. To tell her the truth just like Kelsey had said. But would she even believe me now? ¡°Go to her,¡± Xi Xha said softly. I looked down at Xi Xha, shocked. She couldn¡¯t possibly have known about Silver Light and I, could she? But the knowing¡ªif not sad¡ªsmile she gave me told me she knew exactly what was going on between us. ¡°Don¡¯t look so surprised,¡± she said with a chuckle. ¡°A blind woman could see the love you two hold for one another just now.¡± I stood there dumbfounded again. ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± she said. ¡°I won¡¯t tell a soul. And for what it¡¯s worth. She, in my opinion, is the very best of what the Silver Leaf n has to offer. The Lady Silver Light has a tender and generous heart behind that fierce roar of hers.¡± She didn¡¯t have to tell me to know it to be true. I¡¯d seen it for myself. Thest few minutes being no exception. Fia had gone against her own n to protect the both of us just now. And if she were willing to do that, then perhaps she would be willing to go a step further. ¡°How do I find her?¡± I asked. ¡°Where has she gone?¡± ¡°She will go where she always goes to be alone,¡± Xi Xha said, looking upwards. She then pointed through the spanning walkways of the atrium. ¡°Top floor, the peak of the third spire.¡± I traced where she was pointing, a distance so far it seemed miniscule from here. I lifted Xi Xha from the ground and embraced her. ¡°Thank you, Xi Xha. For everything.¡± She merely nodded, and I could sense a small amount of paine from within her. ¡°Go now,¡± she said as she ced a gentle kiss on my cheek. ¡°You can still catch her if you hurry.¡± * * * I raced through the upper echelons of the Imperial City with [Mask of the Despised] not caring who turned their heads to nce at me anymore. Xi Xha had lent me her hooded robe, and while it fit more like a scarf and shoal than an overcoat, it did wonders to enhance my technique and allow me to pass through the crowds unnoticed. I reached the upper floor and even the air felt thinner as I huffed it in and out relentlessly. The crowd had thankfully thinned as well, with only one or two people within eyeshot of me as I approached the three spires atop the gigantic pagoda¡¯s outer wall. I looked upward and was relieved to see a tiny form dressed in billowing silver trimmed robes standing at the top. I took ast nce to ensure no one was looking and then got to scaling the giant 200-foot edifice to the top. Handholds were easy to find at the base but around halfway the architecture transitioned to smooth brass alone. ¡°Damn it,¡± I cursed, craning my neck to look upward. I hade too far to turn back now, and who knew how much longer Fia would stay there. I could still see her at the top, standing on a small tform staring out at the soon-to-be-setting sun. I¡¯d have to make my own handholds if I were to progress any further. Ah, to hell with it, I thought. I engaged [Mark of the Beast], my limbs elongating as my fingertips transitioned into ws. I couldn¡¯t let Fia see me like this, but it was the only way to make it to the top right now. I harnessed my Frenzy and fed it directly into my limbs as I took off in a vertical sprint up the wall. My ws dug into the soft metal, leaving small indentations as I traversed the final length of the spire. Iunched myself upwards at thest ten feet, dropping [Mark of the Beast] as I transitioned myself in a somersault tond on the tform next to Fia. She jumped back startled, ring with luminescent Qi as she flew into the air and assumed a defensive stance with her Jian des spread wide. ¡°It¡¯s me!¡± I said quickly, pulling back the hood. ¡°Max?¡± Her des sheathed as she touched back down on the tform again. Her silver eyes shifted back and forth with a mixture of awe, excitement, and confusion¡ªthe fear in her soul mixing with lemonade. ¡°How did you get up here? How did you find me even?¡± ¡°Xi Xha,¡± I said. ¡°And before you say anything else. Know that there is nothing between us like that. What we had before is over.¡± The admission seemed to take her off guard, but she didn¡¯t seem to want to dwell on it. ¡°Why have youe here?¡± ¡°First to thank you for what you did for Xi Xha and I just now,¡± I said. ¡°And second to exin myself.¡± ¡°Exin what?¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°Everything. The real reason I didn¡¯t want to marry you before, Fia, and maybe still can¡¯t now, but I¡¯d like to try and change that.¡± Her gaze softened a little, but she was still on her guard, arms folded. ¡°Go on then.¡± ¡°When your people came to my, I was only eight years old,¡± I said. ¡°And your great-aunt, the Lady Silver Tear, was the first of you that I ever met.¡± Fia¡¯s eyes grew wide with interest as I continued the rest of my story, telling her how Lady Silver Tear separated my sister and I from our parents and how she singled out my sister even further due to her age. ¡°Thest time I saw them, the Bloodmoon was rising,¡± I said. ¡°She left them for dead, Fia. To be consumed by monsters. It¡¯s something I don¡¯t think I can ever forgive or forget.¡± A silence hung between us as I waited for some kind of response, my stomach churning with uncertainty at how she would react. Eventually she made eye contact with me and spoke. ¡°I had no idea,¡± Fia said softly. ¡°And this is why you have ought against my family? The reason you do not wish to marry me?¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if she considered my feelings valid or petty, but it wasn¡¯t the full truth either. ¡°It¡¯s more than that,¡± I said. ¡°You know I¡¯ve created my own sect, yes?¡± She nodded. ¡°It¡¯s my intention to take back my through it. I¡¯ve told you of my path. One day it will lead me to face your family, to take revenge against your great-aunt. My goal is to ce this world under Terran control once again. I can¡¯t possibly see myself bing a member of the Silver Leaf n and doing all that.¡± I steeled myself for her reaction, my me burning with the conviction of my Dao. Her eyes darted back and forth as she studied me, as if trying to decipher if I was insane or not. ¡°Just so that I understand,¡± she said slowly. ¡°You wish to kill my aunt and take back control of your world. These are the reasons you cannot marry me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want you,¡± I said. ¡°I just can¡¯t see myself and your family co-existing.¡± Her eyes softened as she smiled. ¡°Max, you misunderstand so much. My family is not my n, and my n is not the ones that conquered your world either.¡± I paused at that. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You saw the exchange with my cousins just now. There is no love between the various families within the Silver Leaf n. Wepete and fight with one another even more than we do other sects. It¡¯s far more cutthroat even, because we can actually attack one another without sanction. Those three picked on me my entire childhood until I became strong enough to best them. They envy my family because my father, amoner, found favor in both my mother and my great aunt¡¯s eyes. They despise him. As they would you if you were to ever marry me.¡± ¡°Then why would you even want that for me?¡± ¡°Because I want you,¡± she said and my heart sped a little as she drew herself close to me. ¡°It would be worth it to me. And don¡¯t think that we have much love for my great-aunt either. My mother and all her sisters despise her. But she is our elder and leader. She is respected and feared, but not loved.¡± That changed the perspective of a lot of things in my mind, but it still wasn¡¯t sitting well with me. ¡°But I¡¯m still at odds with your immediate family, Fia. What about Hein and what he¡¯s done? Your parents hate me, don¡¯t they? They took out a writ.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°The writ was my idea. My ploy to get you into our family. And yes, my brother is an idiot, but so what? If you were to spare my life in the ring what could any of them say? They would have to ept you. The same way Lady Silver Tear epted my father. It¡¯s still the perfect n, Max. And trust me. My family wille to love and respect you, after they see what you can do ande to know who you truly are.¡± It sounded tempting but still I couldn''t reconcile with it. ¡°And what about when I grow strong enough to take my world back,¡± I said. ¡°How would you feel about that?¡± ¡°Max, the Silver Leaf n are a conquered people just like you. The Yee empire took control of our world the same as yours, only millennia ago. We are considered Yee now, but not always. The vengeance you seek to take back your world is misced. It¡¯s not the warden you must face but the very princess. But are you certain you wish such a thing? It¡¯s not something that is possible. In the history of the Yee empire there have been very few rebellions and none that have been sessful. The royal family is too numerous and too strong. You¡¯d be throwing your life away.¡± My me burned only brighter as the challenge loomed. The [Odds were Against Me] indeed. ¡°I know the risks,¡± I said. ¡°But this is the path I¡¯ve chosen. A path where joining your n doesn¡¯t quite match. But it¡¯s a path I mustplete.¡± She nced downwards at the floor. ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°But I still want you with me.¡± I sensed fear within her as she met my gaze. ¡°How? What do you even mean by that?¡± I thought briefly of Kelsey¡¯s sagely words to me: Who knows, she might just go for it, but you won¡¯t know unless you try. ¡°Leave your family and join me,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t marry into your family, but you can join mine. Help me build a future within my sect.¡± The fear spiked in her tenfold and she backed away. ¡°What? T-that¡¯s impossible.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°Impossible?¡± She raised a palm to her head as if having a dizzy spell. ¡°What you speak is far more difficult than you think, Max.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I am ady of a royal household,¡± she said. ¡°I cannot simply marry into another family outside my bloodline. To do so, I would have to marry another royal or someone of status. A warden or vice warden like my father, perhaps. But even then, it would require a sizable dowry.¡± My mind churned at what she¡¯d said. ¡°A dowry like what?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Land, artifacts. But it doesn¡¯t matter. These things aren¡¯t possible, Max. That¡¯s why it would be far easier for you to marry into my family instead. Even as a Terran outsider, you would be tolerated within the Silver Leaf n due to your show of superior strength.¡± ¡°Tolerated?¡± ¡°It sounds awful, I know, but bloodlines are important. To do what you said, to marry into your family, I would have to abandon my n and my bloodlinepletely.¡± I nodded. ¡°And that¡¯s too much to ask. I know.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s more than that. There is no leaving one¡¯s n as a royaldy. To do that is tomit treason. An act punishable by death. I would be marked and hunted by every member of the Silver Leaf n from across the stars. By my own personal family even. I would have to flee this worldpletely and go into hiding. Never to see my family again.¡± I sensed the pain inside her. It was indeed a far greater sacrifice than I thought. ¡°I¡¯d do it though,¡± she said suddenly, looking up at me. ¡°For you.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean it,¡± she said. ¡°True freedom with a man I love? I¡¯d do it.¡± My heart suddenly swelled as she took my hands into hers, hope shining in her eyes. ¡°But you¡¯d have to leave your family and path as well,¡± she said. ¡°We couldn¡¯t stay on this world. You¡¯d have to leave it behind. Your vengeance. Everything. We¡¯d have to start over somece else. Live simple lives together as non-cultivators.¡± My me weakened and suddenly I faced the brick wall in my mind again. How could I make such a choice? I shook my head. ¡°I can¡¯t do it, Fia. My path is everything that I am.¡± It perhaps didn¡¯t make any sense to her. Qi cultivators didn¡¯t rely on a path for the source of their power, but I did. Even now I could feel the strength of my me waning as I envisioned the two of us running away together in some star-crossed bliss. Living a simple life like Master Edrik and Lysa on a distant world. It was a desirable fantasy for sure. But clearly not one along the Path of the Frenzied me. ¡°Perhaps its hopeless then,¡± Fia said, her hands leaving mine. ¡°I¡¯m willing to give up my world for you, but you can¡¯t give up your path for me. Where does that leave us?¡± I pondered on it long and hard. It was true. I couldn¡¯t give up my path to run off with Fia, no matter how much I wanted to. She would have to be willing to join mine. But how? My thoughts went around in a circle until finally I¡¯d had enough. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter?¡± I said finally. Fia blinked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°We¡¯re thinking too hard here,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s clearly no answer right now, but I know one thing remains true. I want to be with you, Fia. No matter what.¡± Her eyes shone with hope again. ¡°But you said you¡ª¡± ¡°I know what I said, but we can¡¯t figure it all out right this instant. The day when I finally reach the end of my path could be centuries from now. But I don¡¯t want that to lead me to making a mistake today. I still want you, Fia, and while I don¡¯t know exactly how, I think I can trust in my path to make a way.¡± My me surged at that. ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying let¡¯s not think about the future. There is a problem we need to solve a year from now. We are destined to fight each other in court and I like your solution to the problem. Train me to defeat you. I¡¯m not sure if I can marry into your family or not, but I will marry you, Fia. That I promise. Somehow.¡± She looked excited but unsure all the same. ¡°But if you win, my family will be furious unless you somehow be a part of us.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not think about it,¡± I said, taking her hands into mine. ¡°Let¡¯s take it one day at a time. Just the opportunity for you to train me is all I want. Because it means I get to spend more time with you.¡± Her eyes swelled with tears. ¡°Do you mean that?¡± I felt something unlock inside of me as I spoke the words deep from my soul. ¡°You said fate caused our paths to intertwine more than once. Let¡¯s trust in it again. I don¡¯t know what will happen on that day in court, but let¡¯s trust it will provide a way for us to be together. Deal?¡± She smiled and nodded. ¡°To fate then.¡± ¡°To fate,¡± I said and leaned in to seal our pact with a gentle kiss upon her lips. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me back deeply. My me surged, growing stronger and within my mind¡¯s eyes I saw the closed door suddenly open. ¡°Oh, Max,¡± Fia said as she nestled her face into my chest. ¡°I¡¯m so relieved. I thought I¡¯d never feel your warmth again. I truly thought you did not care for me, but now I can see you cared even more than I could have imagined.¡± I smiled. ¡°Thanks for still caring for me too. Your Silver Shadows saved my ass more than once.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I must dere my interests. No way was I letting that Firey redhead seduce you.¡± Iughed and the break in tension felt like a water shed. I hugged and kissed her again, but more lightly and yfully now. My soul felt lighter, like a great burden had been lifted. Something was tugging at the back of my mind, and suddenly I recalled that feeling I had when I kissed her a moment ago. The door. Was resolving my feelings for Fia the spiritual block Mu Lin had told me to seek? There was only one way to find out. ¡°Just a minute,¡± I said, retrieving the orb from my pocket. ¡°I need to try something real quick.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± she said, pointing at the orb. ¡°A focus for a technique I¡¯m attempting to master.¡± I felt the door close slightly. It wasn¡¯t a lie, but it wasn¡¯t the full truth either. ¡°Go on then,¡± she said. I summoned my Frenzy as I clutched the orb, engaging the [Brand of the Frenzied me]. My mind shifted, looking within myself. The tranted manuscripts of the orb that I had prepared flowed freely through the open door in my mind and traveled quickly through my soul. The orb heated in my palm and in a sh, it was done. When I opened my eyes, the orb was radiating with tiny characters. The Path of the Frenzied me was now secured for a new generation. ¡°Well?¡± Fia said, looking at me curiously. ¡°Did it work? I sensed you cycling quite a bit of Qi.¡± ¡°It did,¡± I said, still marveling at the orb. I¡¯d just achieved a breakthrough in more ways than one. I¡¯d finally reached Tenth Stage of my Mental Capacity, but more than that, I had unlocked the spiritual root of my Dao by reconciling with Fia. I focused briefly on attempting the [Soul Shield] technique and was rewarded with a small flicker. Not quite there yet, I thought. But progress. ¡°What was it?¡± Fia asked. ¡°The technique?¡± I realized she couldn¡¯t see the inscriptions swirling across the orb as I could. ¡°Nothing important,¡± I said and sensed the door close a little further. I needed to get off this topic. ¡°But I¡¯ll probably need to master a few of my advanced lightning techniques to defeat your cousin.¡± Fia huffed out augh. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine. You seem to have gained quite a bit of inner strength already. Plus, my cousins are not as skilled as they hype themselves up to be. Especially that Wi Shen.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Silver Sparrow,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s her personal name.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± I said. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know. I think you hyped me up to be a lot more than I truly am as well. They¡¯re still at the top of the Iron Bracket and I¡¯ve never been there before.¡± ¡°When is the fight?¡± ¡°Five days¡¯ time.¡± ¡°Then we should start training immediately,¡± she said, shifting to her no-nonsense persona again. ¡°I can teach you a strategy to defeat Wi Shen easily.¡± ¡°That sounds perfect, but I¡¯ll need a day before I can start.¡± ¡°What? A day?¡± I nced at the orb in my hand, gleaming with the knowledge of the sacred Berserker arts. ¡°There¡¯s someone I need to give this to first,¡± I said and then smiled before giving her a quick kiss. ¡°After that. I¡¯m all yours.¡± Book 2: Chapter 37 KELSEY STARED INTO the glowing orb with eyes the size of quarters. ¡°Holy crap, Max!¡± she said, grabbing it. ¡°You did it! I see stuff!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smile at her enthusiasm. We were in what I was now calling the town square. The courtyard under the lean-to right outside the sealed bunker doors. Most of the residents still hadn¡¯t moved back inside, despite the domicile being cleansed. They watched us from a short distance away as Kelsey and I sat facing one another in lotus position in front of Threja¡¯s sword. ¡°Can you see any writing on that?¡± I asked, pointing to the massive de. As expected, Kelsey shook her head. It confirmed she would need to master her Fear of Certain Death and break through to the Core Realm like I did to see it. But for her to actually understand the script, it would take even more than that. I had managed to transcribe her Orb with English, but to read Threja¡¯s sword, Kelsey would eventually need to learn Yee. It was a reminder that despite all I was doing for the people here, the true goal would be to eventually integrate them into Yee society. And for that I needed two things. One, I needed to ensure the strength of the Terran Sect was beyond reproach. That meant me doubly needing to progress as high as I could within the Gold Bracket and qualifying for Jade. And two, I needed to teach my people Yee. ¡°Hey, is there anyone here who is really good atnguages?¡± I asked.¡°Hmm?¡± Kelsey said, looking up from the orb. ¡°Sorry I was in a really deep zone just now. Max, this is amazing. There is so much information here. It¡¯s not even like I¡¯m reading it. It¡¯s like the words are appearing right inside my mind!¡± I chuckled. ¡°That means you are training your Mental Capacity already. Focus on memorizing it and you canmit the Shuras to your very soul.¡± She nodded. ¡°There is so much for me to learn.¡± ¡°That you have, little sister,¡± I said, resting a hand on her shoulder. ¡°And now that you have that orb, you are truly on your own Path of the Frenzied me now. No longer look to me as your guide, but to the scriptures. I will forever be your elder brother, but remember we are equals before the me. Fellow practitioners along the same path, not teacher and student like the other sects will teach. Remember always. A Berserker has no master, we----¡ª¡± ¡°Have no sect,¡± Kelseypleted the verse for me. ¡°Pain, rage and struggle are our only true teachers.¡± I smiled proud as ever. ¡°Well done, little sister.¡± Kelsey amazed me by shifting to her knees to give me a bow I¡¯d never taught her to do. ¡°Thank you, Max, for starting me along my journey. I¡¯ll take it from here.¡± I returned the bow. ¡°Oh, and to answer your question. June knows a couple ofnguages, I think. Why?¡± ¡°I need someone to start teaching everyone Yee,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll probably need to find someone that¡¯s a lot smarter than me to teach them, but I need someone with the ability to learn and teach others.¡± ¡°I wash¡­good¡­yes?¡± Kelsey suddenly said, speaking in Yee. Iughed taken by surprise. ¡°What?¡± she said. ¡°Did I say it wrong?¡± ¡°I think you meant, I learn good,¡± I said, switching to Yee to say the phrase. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I said.¡± ¡°It¡¯s loo-oo not loo,¡± I said emphasizing the phic differences between the Yee words for learn and wash. ¡°It¡¯s the tones that will kill you. There are seven of them you¡¯ll have to master.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± Kelsey said, shaking her head. ¡°Guess I¡¯m not ready to go to the city yet.¡± ¡°Soon,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯ll need to find you all a good teacher first.¡± We chatted some more, with Kelsey filling me in on the state of themunity. Jim¡¯s team had begun clearing strips ofnd to create fields to nt some of the seeds I¡¯d brought. Kelsey meanwhile had been practicing her cultivation by bringing in a steady supply of fresh meat. But aside from that, things weren¡¯t exactly back to normal at all. ¡°Everyone is still shaken up by the attack,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ve haven¡¯t lost people like that in a long time. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll all feel safe until we destroy that gate or whatever it is back at the second base and make sure those demons nevere back from the underground ever again.¡± ¡°We will,¡± I said, remembering my promise to her. ¡°We¡¯ll deal with it as soon as we¡¯re strong enough. Speaking of that, I had a bit of a breakthrough back in the city. All thanks to you I might add.¡± ¡°Me?¡± Iughed and felt a little embarrassed. ¡°Your rtionship advice worked. We¡¯re back together again.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°The girl I like, remember?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Kelsey said with augh. ¡°Congratz. Sorry I forgot what I even told you. But if it worked, you¡¯re wee.¡± I grinned like an idiot. ¡°It sure did. It¡¯s what got me to finally scribe the orb. Now I just need to master the [Soul Shield] technique before we can truly take on I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. Or attempt to anyway.¡± I then filled Kelsey in on all I had learned from Xi Xha about the dark god. The reference to I¡¯xol¡¯ukz in that ancient text and how it could be rted to the Cursed Stars. As I recounted the information to her, I had a second chance to reconsider it all myself. ¡°It took someone with the strength of a Soul Emperor to seal this thing away thousands of years ago,¡± I said. ¡°So the entity that I encounter while I¡¯m under the effect of the Bloodmoon can¡¯t be the real it. I wouldn¡¯t be powerful enough to resist it at all, if it were. I think I¡¯m seeing a shadow or projection of this thing maybe. Like a ghost. And it¡¯s not trying to kill me either. It¡¯s trying to possess my body like it did Hong Feng¡¯s.¡± ¡°Who is Hong Feng?¡± I then had to exin that whole story of the Fire Birds and their use of Dark Frenzy and how I¡¯xol¡¯ukz actually materialized in the physical world, by using Hong Feng¡¯s body after I had killed him. ¡°Sounds like a parasite taking over the host¡¯s body after it kills it,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°My mom knows about stuff like that. Like these weird zombie snails that get taken over by parasitic worms which cause them to sacrifice themselves to birds.¡± ¡°What?¡± I said, looking at her confused. ¡°Nevermind. It was a weird nature show thing. Anyway, maybe that¡¯s what this Dark Frenzy really is. Like a parasitic infection that turns you into a monster. Only if you¡¯re strong enough, you can resist it longer. The same way you can.¡± My me surged a little. ¡°That was brilliant, Kelsey.¡± As I pondered on it some more a new thought urred. What if the tentacle monster I thought of as I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was not its true form at all, but a mere manifestation of itself. The same way it had manifested in the real world within Hong Feng¡¯s body. One thing remained consistent throughout all my encounters with it. Whether it came in the form of the Bloodmoon or those demonic cultivators or the gate I experienced on the 4th floor of the bunker. It was the Dark Frenzy. I searched within myself and recalled how the being never truly referred to me as myself at all, but rather my me. It saw my me, not me. It saw me only as a husk. But what if I, as a husk, could only see its husk? And if that tentacle monster was but a husk, then what was its true self? My me surged with Insight as the truth suddenly hit me. ¡°Oh my God,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about this all wrong.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°I kept thinking that maybe this I¡¯xol¡¯ukz simply produced or radiated Dark Frenzy, like the same way Threja¡¯s sword radiates Pure Frenzy. But it¡¯s not a physical being, I think. It¡¯s a spirit. A force of will. Just like our Frenzied me. It¡¯s on the same level as that. A primal eternal entity we can¡¯t fullyprehend.¡± ¡°So what does that mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s as you described it, Kelsey. It¡¯s a parasitic force that devolves anything it influences. It turns animals and humans into demons and spirit beasts and can manifest itself in the hearts of cultivators who practice demonic arts.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying.¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying that I¡¯xol¡¯ukz, this dark god or King of the Moon. It doesn¡¯t just radiate Dark Frenzy. I¡¯m saying it is Dark Frenzy.¡± My me red a shade brighter as if unlocking some great truth and I saw the world through new eyes. ¡°This whole time I¡¯ve been thinking ofing back here and chopping apart some giant tentacle monster. But how do you fight against a force like Dark Frenzy itself?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But you¡¯re going to need to figure it out kind of quick. It¡¯s fall right now and I don¡¯t know if we can survive out here when winter rolls around.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying we still need to get all these people back inside the bunker before winteres, Max. We¡¯re still talking about securing the bunker, aren¡¯t we?¡± Crap, I¡¯d never even thought of that. The winters this far north were brutal even within the city. I could only imagine what it would be like for mortals surviving with little to no shelter at all. ¡°Jim says we can probably start building top side after we nt the fields,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But we won¡¯t have enough shelter for everyone. And it won¡¯t be good structures either. We used up most of the raw materials on building the wall. We need to secure the bunker so everyone can survive the year.¡± I nced up at Threja¡¯s sword with new eyes. If I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was Dark Frenzy, then I needed to fight fire with fire. The gates were but conduits. Fast tracks to spill more Dark Frenzy into our world. But I needed to think beyond that. ¡°We still need to destroy that gate,¡± I said. ¡°But maybe there¡¯s something more important we can do in the meantime.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°The barrier from the sword went down three floors when the demonsst attacked. If I keep strengthening the barrier, maybe I can push it down even further. To the bottom even.¡± Kelsey nodded. ¡°Well, we¡¯d definitely need to use the whole bunker if we¡¯re going to be stuck in there for months again. You think it will work?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but like you said. Won¡¯t know unless we try. And knowing what I¡¯xol¡¯ukz truly is now, anything we can do to fight against the influence of Dark Frenzy, the better.¡± I looked at Threja¡¯s sword with even more appreciation. It was just as powerful as the aetherite crystals holding aloft the giant pagodas in the sky, able to suppress the influence of a dark god. A dark god that was clearly at the heart of those Cursed Stars as well. ¡°So let¡¯s get to killing giant monsters then,¡± Kelsey said with a smile. ¡°We need to buff that sword.¡± I looked up at the sun, now approaching midmorning. ¡°Wish I could, Kelsey, but I need to get back.¡± ¡°What? Already? You literally just got here.¡± It was true. I¡¯d left the square at dawn and powered all the way here in less than three hours. My Dantian was well spent, but I still had what I figured was a quarter of a tank left to get back home. Not enough to sprint all the way, but enough to hopefully limp thest couple of miles to reach the city before the Bloodmoon rose. It seemed almost trivial nowpared to the revtion I¡¯d just had, but there were things still as equally as important to me as defeating a cosmic entity in my eyes. I needed to keep my date with Fia and considering my resolution with her was the key to unlocking my spiritual blockage, perhaps maintaining my earthly rtionships was far even more important than I could foresee right now. ¡°I¡¯ve got no time,¡± I said. ¡°I need to get back to start my training tomorrow morning. That girl I like is going to teach me how to beat up her cousin.¡± Kelsey looked at me like I was crazy. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got to fight her¡ªher cousin that is¡ªin a tournament in five days.¡± ¡°Damn you guys really like to fight, huh?¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s what we do.¡± ¡°I thought you said there is no master and teacher though. What is she supposed to be teaching you?¡± ¡°Oh, that rule doesn¡¯t apply when ites to fighting techniques,¡± I said. ¡°The Path of the me is your internal strength, but it kind of assumes you¡¯re already a badass at fighting. So don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll still teach you your axe techniques. And whatever else I pick up. Speaking of which...¡± I looked back to Threja¡¯s sword again. ¡°I really need to find my teacher to learn how to use that properly. It¡¯ll take me a year to extend the barrier with how bad I am at using that thing right now.¡± ¡°Sounds like you¡¯ve got a lot to do before you can start killing giant monsters again,¡± Kelsey said, standing from her knees in one go. ¡°Next time then?¡± I nodded. ¡°Next time. Give me about a week. I¡¯ll hopefully have a couple of lessons under my belt by then. After that, it¡¯ll be full speed ahead on killing monsters until winter.¡± * * * I arrived back at the city with minutes to spare, hauling my Frenzy-drained body over the finish line right before the Bloodmoon rose. I was punch drunk tired and would be meeting Fia in the morning out in the wild. I wanted nothing more than to hit the sack and prepare for my day of training with her, but after my conversation with Kelsey, I knew I had more than just the Iron Bracket win to prepare for now. After grabbing a quick bite to eat in the market district, I made a bee line for Master Edrik¡¯s ce to check on the sword. ¡°Another couple of days,¡± he said as he showed me the still unfinished work. The Phnx ive had taken shape, but was still rough around the edges, needing to be sharpened and polished. Or so Master Edrik exined. I took a hand at giving it a couple of swings and it reacted just like the original. Massively off bnced and hard to control. ¡°Feels about right,¡± I said. Edrik chuckled. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re going to chop your own head off with that thing.¡± ¡°Tell me about it,¡± I said with augh. ¡°Speaking of which, I need to seek out a ive master to train me with it.¡± ¡°A good idea,¡± Edrik said, still chuckling. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know where I could find a ce called the Golden Spire, would you?¡± Edrik furrowed his brows. ¡°I do. Why?¡± I smiled. ¡°I know a guy who promised to buy me a drink there once for beating him in the ring.¡± Edrik continued to stare at me baffled. ¡°And that will help how?¡± ¡°Said guy happens to be the great Iron Pot Wong,¡± I said, admiring the unfinished de. ¡°I¡¯m hoping I can convince him to be my teacher. As far as I¡¯m concerned, he¡¯s the best damn ive master in the world.¡± Book 2: Chapter 38 THE GOLDEN SPIRE was on the edge of the restaurant district, bordering the seedy brothels and dive bars on the bad side of town. Roughneck cultivators from unknown sects gave me long and uneasy stares as I pushed through the dingy curtains that served as a door to the ce. I was immediately hit with the pungent aroma of Qi-infused herbs and cheap wine, the stench a visible haze that shrouded the already dimly lit interior. Shouts and yells stood in the ce of music as a rowdy crowd took to cheering an arm-wrestling match that was center stage for the hundred or so patrons within the shoe-box sized establishment. Despite the few stares I got, no one seemed to recognize me thanks to my [Mask of the Despised] technique. And by the looks of the crowd that was just fine with me. I couldn¡¯t even tell what sects anyone belonged to, their robes all tattered and mismatched. If not for the disy of weapons on the walls and the battle-hardened look of the patrons themselves, I would have pegged the bar for any other in the district. A cheap ce for the less fortunate of the city to get drunk and high. But there was no desperation to be felt in the ce at all. There was instead raucousugher and mirth. I weaved through the crowd of men and women alike, some of the women so burly and scar ridden they reminded me of Threja. There was definitely a mixture of cultures here as well. A stark contrast to the Yee-dominated society of the Imperial City I¡¯d recently visited. Although I seemed to be the only Terran, there were plenty of people from other worlds that were long since conquered by the Yee Dynasty. Tan-skinned Dharmians, folks that looked like Master Edrik and Lysa. I even spotted a grey-skinned giant the same race as Threja and Sumatra¡­Sullied I think they were called. ¡°Chun? Is that you?¡± I was taken off guard by the sudden call of my name and looked behind me to see a small figure in a wide-brimmed bamboo hat. I recognized him immediately. The old dude from the square. My very first supporter and the one who came looking for me to bring me back to the final showdown with Hein. ¡°Old man?¡±¡°I thought it was you,¡± he said with augh. ¡°And I told you to stop calling me that. My name is Sung Wei, dammit.¡± Iughed, giving him a short bow. ¡°I know. I know. Old habits die hard. What are you doing here, Master Sung Wei?¡± ¡°I was about to ask you the same,¡± he said, sliding off his stool to stand next to me. Under his hat, his bushy gray brows bunched together with curiosity as he stared up at me while stroking his short beard. ¡°How do you even know about this ce?¡± ¡°I was invited here for a drink,¡± I said. ¡°By Iron Pot Wong. You haven¡¯t seen him, have you?¡± ¡°Ah,¡± he said. ¡°That makes sense. You won¡¯t find him out here. He¡¯ll be in the back. Come with me.¡± The ce took on an even greater sense of oddity as I followed Master Sung Wei. He never spoke much while in the square and toe across him in a ce like this was surprising to say the least. The more I studied the patrons, the less I saw in terms of congruity. There were young and old, various different sects, yet somehow, they all shared amonality I couldn¡¯t quite ce. One that even Sung Wei shared. ¡°Hey, what is this ce exactly?¡± I asked, leaning down to Sung Wei. He chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t you know? It¡¯s a veteran¡¯s bar. Everyone in here is a soldier who¡¯s fought in some war or another.¡± I blinked shocked. ¡°Wait. You¡¯re a soldier?¡± ¡°A long time ago, yes,¡± Sung Wei said and then lifted his sleeve to reveal a dragon tattoo with a set of numbers below it. ¡°8,254th Battalion, Imperial Army Infantry.¡± ¡°Holy crap,¡± I said. ¡°I had no idea. You¡¯ve been to war?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Nothing special about surviving. That¡¯s what we all have inmon here. We simply survived. But as they say. Once a soldier always a soldier. Don¡¯t matter where from. Even if you were enemies on the field, all are more than wee here. You¡¯ll find a ce like this on every world.¡± I looked again to the crowd and the obviousness of it now hit me like a p to the face. It wasn¡¯t that they all looked or dressed the same, far from it. It was their attitude. Their unabashedradery. A rugged, ¡®I don¡¯t give a shit because I¡¯ve lived through hell kind of look.¡¯ I envied them immediately. Sung Wei led me through another set of curtains guarded by a burly dude in gray robes and into an even smaller back room with a group of people sat around a table ying cards. I spotted Iron Pot Wong immediately. He was thin as a rail, sans his bulbous ck iron armor, with a thick white beard, bushy brows, and apletely bald head. The four gentlemen with him looked much the same. Veterans amongst veterans it seemed, all of them looking like they were in their sixties at least. As Sung Wei approached, he offered a bow. ¡°Brother Wong, you have a visitor.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Wong looked up at me, confused. ¡°Who¡¯s this?¡± I removed the cowl about my face and dropped the [Mask of the Despised] technique and recognition lit up on his face immediately, as did the other four men around the table with him. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned!¡± Wong shouted, rising from his chair to p me on the shoulder. ¡°You finally decided to show up! Boys, wee the Iron Bull!¡± A salute of praises and lemonade went up at that and the entire room threw me toasts of cheer. ¡°To the Bull Man!¡± ¡°Kick those bird bitches out of the tournament, you hear!¡± ¡°Someone get him a drink!¡± Wong pulled up a chair beside him and pushed a cup of wine into my hand. ¡°As promised, my friend. Come join us for a bit! You too, Sung Wei! Didn¡¯t you even know who this was? You¡¯re such a damn recluse! You really need to get out more.¡± ¡°I knew him before you did, you old bastard,¡± Sung Wei said with augh as he pulled up a chair beside me. ¡°Back when he was just a dumbass kid picking fights in the street. Now look at him.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± said one of the other men at the table. ¡°Picking fights with the ruling n now. Bull¡¯s balls indeed, my friend. Cheers to you!¡± I sucked up the praise along with the wine, cultivating both within my spirit. ¡°Thanks for the invitation, Master Wong,¡± I said clinking cups with him. ¡°I realize this is a special ce that I haven¡¯t earned the right to be here.¡± ¡°An honorary guest for certain,¡± Wong said. ¡°But I thought you¡¯d be here sooner once you took off that damn mask.¡± ¡°He unveils a face like that in the ring, and you think the first thing he¡¯d do ise running to see the likes of you?¡± a gruff old woman with dirty blonde hair said from behind the bar. ¡°He probably had half the women of Jurin to bed first.¡± That got moreughs and praise, and I couldn¡¯t help but blush a little. ¡°You¡¯re just jealous you¡¯re not one of them, Ingrid,¡± Wong said with a dismissive wave of his hand. ¡°You old bag!¡± The womanughed. ¡°That I am! Can¡¯t deny.¡± Wong nudged me. ¡°Stop listening to her and down your drink,d.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± one of the other men said. ¡°It¡¯ll make her look better at least.¡± Ingrid threw a chopstick thatshed the man across the forehead and heughed. I grinned and downed my drink, feeling immediately at home as the fire slipped down my throat. The heat of it warmed my gut and Wong quickly poured me another. ¡°Drink, drink!¡± he said. ¡°Tonight is all on me. To the only man to ever break my armor. The Iron Bull!¡± ¡°The Iron Bull!¡± everyone at the table echoed and raised their cups. The card game and banter continued and I became a spectator to a world I never even knew existed before. It was more akin to when I went drinking with my fellow handlers. Co-workers sharing funny stories about their day on the job. But instead of stories about minding dumbass cultivators looking to nearly get themselves killed by spirit beasts, it was stories from far-off worlds. Massive battles where the armies were either quelling uprisings and defending cities or even entires from a scourge of demons or giant monsters. ¡°It was a meteor strike from one of them Cursed Stars,¡± Wong was saying. ¡°Overran half the with demons. Our Battalion was stationed two hops over, the closest to respond. My toon was riding the first skiff down and right when we were about tounch this guy Li Gong puts his hand up and asks the sergeant to go to thetrine. I¡¯ll never forget his answer. ¡®You secure that shit until we reach the surface, Li Gong.¡¯ ¡®But I won¡¯t make it, Sergeant!¡¯ he goes. So then the sergeant says, ¡®Well shit your pants then. You¡¯ve done it hundreds of times as a damn baby. What¡¯s once more?¡¯ The whole skiff startsughing and halfway through the descent the guy starts crying and shouts, ¡®I can¡¯t hold it!¡¯ Then he damn well does it! Shits his pants right there on the skiff, farting and stinking out the whole damn ce!¡± Everyoneughed like crazy. ¡°So from then on, he was known as Shitpants Gong,¡± Wong said with a smile. ¡°Last I heard he made general. But people who know him still call him Shitpants to this day.¡± They allughed some more. All the stories were like that. The horrors of the battles and atrocities they faced mere context to the more interpersonal jokes and tomfoolery of soldiers on the edge of war. It was riveting to say the least and a glimpse into a private club that I desperately wanted to be a part of, if not to just be able to share in theirradery andughs alone. ¡°Any of you guys ever fight on the Hell Worlds?¡± I asked. ¡°What? With the Legionnaires?¡± Wong said before letting out a chortle. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t find us slumming around here if we did!¡± ¡°Aye, the poor bastards,¡± one of the other soldiers, whose name I¡¯d learned was Boros said. ¡°They say only one in twenty return from a tour. Probably even worse odds now. If you¡¯re the lucky one you¡¯re set for life, kid. Damn near a Warden in status. If you¡¯ve got a soul left to enjoy it, that is.¡± ¡°True,¡± Ingrid said from behind the bar. ¡°I met one of those poor devils once. Thess was hollow. Like a deaf mute or something. Couldn¡¯t do naught but eat and stare at the walls. Not sure what they see down there, but it can¡¯t be nothing good. Even the best of theme back broken.¡± ¡°I hear that goes for the High Marshall too,¡± Boros said. ¡°A damn sadistic prick he is. Or so they say.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯d have to be to run a school that sends people through that kind of hell,¡± Ingrid said. ¡°Maybe the worlds twisted him, or maybe he was so twisted already that it didn¡¯t affect him at all.¡± Wong pped me on the shoulder. ¡°Point is, never get drafted, son. Stick to the ring, my boy. A much safer path to the stars.¡± The others allughed. ¡°Wong and his damn ring fantasies,¡± Boros said. ¡°You should be encouraging him to face a real battle not live his life forever a ring flower.¡± ¡°A ring flower?¡± I said. ¡°Pay them no mind,¡± Wong said. ¡°They¡¯re all just jealous they couldn¡¯t step foot inside a tournament.¡± Boros blew a raspberry. ¡°Piss on that. That ain¡¯t real fighting. All pomp and show. None of that fancy crap will work when you got a thousand demon beasts swarming atop of you in some dankass cave.¡± He then looked to me. ¡°You see what I¡¯m saying,d?¡± Strangely enough, I did. Fighting against those demon hordes each night, or even hunting giant spirit beast felt like a whole different skillset. Far more raw and visceral. Instinct and intuition over technique. I preferred it actually. But that was also exactly why I hade here. I needed new skills to wield Threja¡¯s sword properly. I smiled. ¡°Well, speaking of being a ring flower, I was hoping you could help me with something, Master Wong.¡± He raised a bushy brow. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking for a teacher,¡± I said. ¡°Someone who can teach me the basics of ive wielding.¡± I was going to mention the Phnx ive specifically, but knowing what I did now about the Cursed Stars and how they all felt about legionnaires I figured that detail best be sharedter, or perhaps not at all if I could manage it. Wong responded by pping the table. ¡°Now that¡¯s a real weapon! Good on you, Iron Bull. Do away with that toy hatchet of yours.¡± Iughed. ¡°So you¡¯ll train me?¡± ¡°Hold on now,¡± he said. ¡°These are still the sacred arts of the Iron Crane Sect we¡¯re speaking of here. They don¡¯te easy¡­ or free.¡± I felt suddenly embarrassed and realized I was perhaps asking for something way out of line. I was taken back to my first foray into the Jiangu where I had to barter with Hong Feng for my training manual full of Axe techniques. I¡¯d perhaps gotten toofortable with my recent sess, taking for granted that asking such a thing might not be out of the question. I bowed respectfully. ¡°Forgive me, Master Wong. I did not intend¡ª¡± He suddenly burst outughing, pping the table again. ¡°You¡¯re such an asshole, Wong,¡± Sung Wei said sipping his wine. ¡°Making the poor kid think you know anything worth knowing.¡± ¡°Hey, I know a lot of useful things!¡± he said in retort. ¡°And as for you, son. It¡¯s free of course. But to learn from a master like me, it¡¯s not without initiation.¡± He pped the table again. ¡°Ingrid! A jug of my special please!¡± ¡°Oh gods,¡± she muttered, but disappeared behind the bar as she ducked down to retrieve something. She reappeared a momentter with a familiar-looking gourd, the same as he constantly sipped when out in the ring. ¡°What¡¯s in that?¡± I asked. ¡°What¡¯s soon to be inside you,¡± Wong said, pping the table again. ¡°I¡¯ll train you on one condition. Finish that gourd in a minute and I¡¯ll train you all you like.¡± ¡°Deal!¡± I said with augh. Ingrid brought the gourd around and shook her head as she set it on the table. ¡°The dumb games you men y. Go on then. Drink up and make yourself sick. Just don¡¯t do it all over my bar.¡± Everyoneughed at that and I could only imagine what kind of foul concoction was inside it. I cycled my Frenzy, preparing to detoxify myself as if it were a poison. And I guess for all intents and purposes, it was. I took the gourd to my lips and to my surprise the liquid was cold like ice as it went down, but then, like a bow being sprung the sensation changed to roaring heat. I coughed and sputtered and that got another round ofughter. I raised a hand to silence them, fortifying myself with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] as I downed the icy-hot beverage, gulp by painful gulp. I finally finished and mmed the empty gourd on the table to resounding apuse. I belched what felt like literal fire from my throat and coughed. ¡°I¡¯m going to feel that in the morning.¡± ¡°Indeed, you will,¡± Wong said, pping me on the back. ¡°That means we¡¯ll start your training tomorrow afternoon then. Meet me here, but around back. We¡¯ve got a little ring back there that we can use.¡± I gave him a sloppy bow, already feeling the effects of the concoction despite my best efforts to purify my system. ¡°Thank you, Master Wong. You won¡¯t regret it.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± Boros said. ¡°But I think you will, mate. Better get him home before it really kicks in, Sung Wei. Unless you want to be carrying the big bastard all by yourself.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, Chun,¡± Sung Wei said, standing immediately. ¡°No way in hell I¡¯m carrying you.¡± Iughed. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I am the Iron Bull, after all.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± Wong said patting me on the back again as I left. ¡°See you tomorrow, kid.¡± * * * My words came back to haunt me as we neared the halfway mark to home. I was walking on rooftops andughing my head off. Somewhere, Sung Wei was trying to hold me upright as the world spun. ¡°Come on,¡± he said with a grunt of effort. ¡°We¡¯re almost there. And you¡¯d better not tell your sister I was responsible for dragging you to that ce.¡± I couldn¡¯t care less though and stumbled all the way to the square, singing some song I didn¡¯t even remember I knew. Somehow Sung Wei got me to my small tent outside the new building and I crashed into the ground without feeling a thing. ¡°Thanks, Old Man,¡± I mumbled, and Sung Wei didn¡¯t even bother to correct me as he stumbled off to his own cot for the night. Iughed at my predicament. It was well past midnight and I was stone cold drunk. And I had not one but two serious training sessions starting first thing in the morning. I gave myself a thumbs up. ¡°Way to n, Chun!¡± I chuckled at my own stupid joke and then burst outughing, waking some of my neighbors. They all told me to shut up and couldn¡¯t help but snicker as I tried toply, literallyughing myself to sleep as visions of Legionnaires, Hells, and soldiers shitting their pants filled my mind¡¯s eye. Book 2: Chapter 39 MASTER HEI DONG cycled his Qi as the two Fire Bird elders approached. It was just after dawn and the unexpected visit was most untimely. And unwee. Hei Dong had summoned both Rhi and Fia to stand with him, along with Fia¡¯s enve of Silver Shadows. The twelve women in ck stood in formation, encircling the central courtyard of the Dong Estate. Their positioning was strategic. If Lo Feng hade here to start trouble, they would not make it easy for him. Lo Feng leered at him in greeting, performing a short bow as he stepped through the main gates. A tall woman, with fiery red hair, barely covered by a wide douli, bowed at his side. ¡°Master Lo Feng,¡± Hei Dong said without masking his disdain. ¡°To what do I owe this visit so early in the morning?¡± Lo Feng gave an exaggerated expression of shock and surprise. ¡°Why Master Hei Dong, is that any way to greet an old friend? Certainly, our court matters should not sour the rtionship we have forged over the years.¡±¡°Perhaps using our daughter of murdering your nephew might have something to do with it,¡± Rhi said, her Qi churning with anger. ¡°Why have youe here?¡± Normally Hei Dong would seek to bridle his wife¡¯s tongue, but today her sentiments mirrored his own. ¡°Indeed, why have youe unannounced, Master Lo Feng?¡± Lo Feng harumphed. ¡°Merely to make a new introduction.¡± He then gestured to the woman next to him. ¡°This One is Master Hin Wu, Sect Elder and my new sessor to Hong Feng¡¯s position. I thought it only fitting that you should be acquainted.¡± The woman bowed again, cunning in her gleaming red eyes. ¡°This One is pleased to meet such an auspicious family.¡± She then looked directly at Fia. ¡°And This One has heard of your gifted daughter. The Lady Silver Light, is it? This One hears she has remarkable taste.¡± Fia looked back at her crossly, her Qi unstable with anxiety. ¡°A pleasure, I¡¯m sure.¡± Hei Dong could sense the sudden tension as the older woman continued to leer at his daughter. ¡°Are you seeking to install this Hin Wu as enforcement for your writ?¡± Lo Fengughed. ¡°That will all depend on what your expert has to say in court. How long will it be now before the Grand Sage arrives?¡± ¡°Still months,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Is it your intention to harass us daily until then?¡± ¡°Do not exaggerate, Master Hei Dong,¡± Lo Feng said dismissively. ¡°I am merely making introductions. It would be rude to simply have a new face appear without being properly announced, would it not?¡± Rude indeed, Hei Dong thought with contempt, but he retained hisposure to keep his mouth closed. Any action by Lo Feng was a calcted one, but Hei Dong hadn¡¯t quite figured the angle on this one yet. The woman was confident, powerful, and clearly an outsider. Was she brought here for mere bravado, or something worse? ¡°This One is pleased to meet Master Hin Wu,¡± Fia said with a bow. ¡°Should I be forced to fight for my own defense in court, it would do well to put a name and face to my challenger.¡± The woman Hin Wuughed. ¡°Indeed, little sister. I hear you have recently qualified for Gold. Congrattions. That would indeed ce us within the same bracket. But not within the same league, I¡¯m afraid. Still, I would most dly make your entry into the Gold Bracket a memorable one. Perhaps even yourst memory.¡± A spike of anger ran through Hei Dong as Lo Feng joined the woman inughter. Rhi and Fia both stepped forward with a re of Qi. ¡°You would dare to threaten my daughter!¡± Rhi shouted. ¡°Perhaps we need not wait for our day in court.¡± ¡°But we shall,¡± Hei Dong said, stepping before his wife. ¡°And the evidence will vindicate the Lady Silver Light of your false usation.¡± He then paused to level eyes with Lo Feng. ¡°What follows after that will be in the form of either retribution or apology, you can decide.¡± Lo Feng scoffed again. ¡°We shall see. Good day to you, Master Hei Dong.¡± He then bowed to Fia and Rhi. ¡°Honorabledies.¡± Hei Dong seethed as the duo left their property. ¡°Shameless wretches,¡± Rhi cursed them. ¡°Trying to intimidate us with that foreign hussy.¡± ¡°Hussy is right,¡± Fia said with a shake of her head. ¡°It is no wonder there is no royalty in their midst.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Why has he brought this woman here to meet us now? He must be nning something.¡± ¡°Oh, she¡¯s been here for a while,¡± Fia said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry too much about her.¡± Rhi raised a brow. ¡°You know that woman, Fia?¡± Fia blinked as if surprised by the question. ¡°Well¡­ not know. I have seen her before, is all.¡± Hei Dong had sensed the strength of the woman¡¯s core. Although he was no schr, he knew she was indeed much stronger than Fia. A 9th-Tier Core Realm Cultivatorpared to a 5th, perhaps even stronger than Hong Feng had been. ¡°You must take care in your travels now, Fia,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that old dog is up to, but I don¡¯t like it.¡± ¡°It is fine,¡± Fia said. ¡°My shadows already keep track of h¡­ well, they keep track of the Iron Bull. But I will task some of them to keep watch over the woman Hin Wu also. If Master Lo Feng is indeed up to something, we will know well in advance.¡± Hei Dong nodded. ¡°An excellent idea.¡± Fia called over one of her disciples and conferred with her briefly. The woman dressed all in ck nodded. ¡°It will be done, mistress.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Fia said. ¡°With that settled, I must be off.¡± ¡°This early?¡± Rhi asked. ¡°A new training regime,¡± Fia said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve decided to take to the wild and train daily until the writ with the Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Daily?¡± Rhi said. ¡°I do not know if that is a good idea, daughter. Not with this Hin Wu woman about. Take your shadows with you for safety.¡± Fia sighed. ¡°Mother. You are being paranoid. They will already be watching her, and it would be safer for me to venture into the wild anonymously. It¡¯d be a dead giveaway if I take any of them with me.¡± The Silver Shadow dropped to her knees before his wife, Rhi Dong. ¡°Lady Silver Moon, I swear your daughter¡¯s safety on my life. We will ensure the woman Hin Wu has no idea that the Lady Silver Light will be venturing into the wild.¡± Rhi grimaced with apprehension, but Fia¡¯s insistent smile eventually won her over. ¡°Very well,¡± she said. ¡°Just be careful. All of you.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°The Fire Birds are licking their wounds from a very embarrassing loss and are seeking someone to me. Let us all ensure that they realize the Dong family is anything but an easy target.¡± * * * I awoke with a start, sitting upright and could still feel the world spinning. My throat was parched, head throbbing. The sun was already up and beating down in vibrant rays that caused my headache to grow even worse. I crawled to my feet, cycling my Frenzy, desperate to rid myself of the remnants of Wong¡¯s special brew. If I wasn¡¯t already at 5th or 6th Stage in Internal Strengthening, I¡¯d likely be dead. Maybe I¡¯ll have to borrow some more of that brew and sip it slowly like Master Wong to advance even further, I thought. But at the moment, just the idea of drinking any more of that stuff sent my stomach churning. ¡°Shit...¡± I cursed, holding my head and feeling every bit like the word I¡¯d just said. ¡°This is going to be a rough day.¡± I left the square still wobbly, unable to even look at the morning cooking woks without feeling sick. By the time I got through the handler station and out into the wild, my stomach finally revolted, and I spent a good ten minutes heaving into the trees. Feeling slightly better, I made my way to theke and was not surprised to see Fia standing there with a scowl of annoyance on her face. ¡°You¡¯rete!¡± It was a fact I couldn¡¯t deny as I stood there grinning like an idiot, weaving shakily on my feet. ¡°Just a little.¡± ¡°You also still look drunk,¡± she said with a disapproving shake of her head. ¡°My shadows saw you practically falling over yourself at some wee hour this morning. When you said you needed a day to prepared, Max, I thought it was for something important.¡± ¡°It was,¡± I said. ¡°I just got sidetracked.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Perhaps I was a fool to think you¡¯d be a better student than you are a lover. Come on, it¡¯s time to train. We need to be focused.¡± I grinned. ¡°So, I guess that means no chance for fun before we start?¡± Fia harrumphed. ¡°Most certainly not. You¡¯ll need to earn your kisses from now on. Come at me. We¡¯ll start with some simple unarmed sparring. I need to gauge your skill. Drunk as you are.¡± Iughed thinking she was joking until suddenly I found myself on my back as she shed across the distance to me in a burst of Qi. I didn¡¯t even realize what happened until she took my legs right out from under me with a low sweep. ¡°I¡¯m not going to go easy on you,¡± she said, dropping into a martial stance as she backed away from me again. ¡°Let¡¯s beat that alcohol out of you. Again!¡± Over the next hour I saw a very different side of Fia. And I had to admit. My body hated every second of it. Exchange after exchange we went all out, or she did at least, pushing her reflexes and skills to the max with rapid bursts of Qi. I floundered inparison, still working the toxins of Wong¡¯s brew out of my system and winding up on my back more often than not. I was bathed in sweat by the time we took our first break and was feeling much more like my normal self again after sweating everything out. I looked upon Fia with new eyes as she refreshed herself casually with a sip of fresh water from theke. I did the same, but chugged the water in huge gulps to replenish all I had expended. ¡°I hope that was mostly the alcohol,¡± Fia said as we squared off to start again. ¡°Or we have a lot of ground to cover in four days in order to beat Silver Sparrow. You won¡¯t be ready at this rate, Max.¡± I rocked my shoulders like a boxer ready for another round. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m feeling better now. Let¡¯s go for it.¡± The second hour went much better than the first. I had more self-awareness and was actually trying to anticipate and counter her techniques rather than just reacting instinctively like I was before. The results were much better, but I still ended up on my ass half the time. ¡°I honestly thought this was going to be more fun,¡± I said, dragging myself off the umpteenth time. ¡°You¡¯re a real ball buster, Fia.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here as your instructor not your lover,¡± she said matter of factly. ¡°If we do not set hard boundaries on that distinction, then it is likely we will get nothing done here at all.¡± I raised a brow at that. ¡°Yes, Max,¡± she said, still not breaking character. ¡°I¡¯m exercising extreme discipline to simply not bed you on sight, and I expect for you to do the same. We must train. That is our purpose here. Not pleasure.¡± It was nice to hear her say that even if it came without the frills of temptation. ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll focus more. I appreciate your dedication.¡± I expected her to smile or something, but she simply nodded instead. ¡°Tell me something,¡± she said. ¡°Where did you learn your fighting technique?¡± I didn¡¯t have to think very hard, but it was sort of embarrassing to admit. ¡°Honestly¡­From a book mostly.¡± Her eyes went wide with shock. ¡°No wonder.¡± ¡°Why? Is that bad?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to figure it out all this time.¡± She suddenly dropped her ready stance, bing more casual. ¡°You alternate between a very simplistic and wooden structure, which you perform quite poorly I might add, and wild untamed actions which are hard to predict but somewhat easy to counter.¡± I blinked feeling like an idiot. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I can see why you have progressed through the Iron Bracket so well, but to advance any further you must understand the concept of countering techniques. Your raw instinct and intuition is superb, but it will only get you so far. You need more tools in your repertoire and knowledge of other techniques in order to function at the next level.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I was that bad.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong,¡± she said. ¡°Your savage side counts for a lot. It can throw many cultivators off. But you should treat it like a special technique almost. Use it sparingly.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Come,¡± she said walking towards me. ¡°Evaluation time is over. It¡¯s now time for instruction. I need to take you back to the basics.¡± She ced herself behind me and guided me through the most rudimentary of techniques, from simple stances, advances, withdrawals, and blocks. With her body pressed against me, it was hard to keep my mind on track, but she seemed oblivious to it, maintaining professionalism throughout. ¡°Not that way,¡± she said, adjusting my footing by mere inches. ¡°This way.¡± It was all small stuff like that. Minor things that reminded me of the way the orb described the various Berserker techniques, where even the angle of your footing was prescribed to precision. It made me realize just how crappy my first manual probably was. It also made me realize that I¡¯d never truly had a master before. The whole time Fia maintained her utmost professionalism, so much so that at times she felt almost cold. But I realized then that I was being granted another peek into her world. This was likely the same way her mother had instructed herplete discipline and devotion to the task at hand without familial interference. It was just something else for me to admire in her. Were Fia to be my wife, she could advance the sect and our family in all kinds of ways. Truly a quality to be cherished and revered. ¡°Pay attention!¡± she chided, breaking me out of my daydream. ¡°Start it again.¡± I dug down deep and focused more, leaving the emotions and fanciful thoughts aside and viewed Fia as purely an instructor and not a love interest. The mental shift helped, and I gained even more respect for her as she patiently guided me through the techniques, form by form. The instruction was slow paced, but the morning and afternoon went by in a blur with me relearning almost every basic skill in my arsenal. They weren¡¯t major changes, but by employing them I noticed my speed of execution and fluidity increase tenfold. It made me realize I had to pass the same knowledge on to Kelsey when I went back to the wild. I¡¯d been passing down bad habits all this time. ¡°Not bad,¡± Fia said once we had taken a final break around mid-afternoon. ¡°You¡¯re an amazingly quick learner, Max. I¡¯m impressed. You get things after very little instruction. If you got as far as you have from only a book, I can only imagine how skillful you¡¯d be if you had the benefit of actual instruction.¡± I smiled. ¡°Thanks. I was beginning to feel like a real dunce for a moment there.¡± Sheughed, returning to her non-professional mode now that the training session was over. ¡°Don¡¯t get too confident. You are a quick study, Max, but you still have much to learn. I¡¯m correcting your own techniques but to truly win, you need to understand the techniques of other styles as well.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fia knelt in the white sand of thekefront beach and began scribing characters with her index finger. She wrote two columns, one titled Attacks, the other Responses. Attacks Responses Light/Quick, Slow/Heavy, Distanced, Feint Block, Parry, Counter, Avoid ¡°In anybat, these are the eight basic principles of action and there is an order of hierarchy among them. Light attacks are easily Countered or Parried, Heavy attacks should be either Blocked or Avoided. Distant attacks can be Blocked or Avoided. And Feints can be Countered or Avoided but not Parried or Blocked. Knowing which one of these attacks your opponent is executing will give you an advantage in how to properly respond. Many a duel has been lost by being either too aggressive or too defensive or simply misreading an attack for what it truly is.¡± I studied the simple table, mesmerized. ¡°Are you serious? Allbat falls down to this one table?¡± ¡°For duels especially, yes, but in allbat also. It does not look this simple in practice mind you. Techniques can beplex and have many forms, and there is even moreplexity when you start talking about sequences. You can gain an advantage by leading your opponent into making an attack or even a mistake in a response to an action. Like using a light attack to force a parry but in reality, it was a feint.¡± I was starting to see the picture. It reminded me of the tons of fighting games I used to y as a kid. Knowing which attacks had priority over others was a big deal, but I had no idea it could be applied to real life. I was about to share the reference but stopped short of embarrassing myself yet again. Fia wouldn¡¯t understand what a video game was much less appreciate how many hours of my life I had wasted ying them. ¡°So how do I know which attack is which?¡± I asked. She smiled. ¡°That¡¯s where the learning of other weapon andbat styleses in. The more intimately you understand your opponent¡¯s fighting style, the better equipped you are to see the patterns, understand the flow ofbat and ultimately control the fight. Opponents read each other sometimes three, four or even five exchanges in advance. In fact, at Jade and Diamond level, many say thebat is more akin to a game of high-speed Xiangqi than brawling in a ring.¡± Xiangqi, the Yee version of chess. It made perfect sense actually and even more so with my video game analogy. The best yers in PVP weren¡¯t those who knew their own character well, but those who could y all the characters, understanding each one¡¯s unique strengths and weaknesses, knowing when to strike and how. I felt something click inside of me as my understanding grew. There was so much more for me to learn now. I didn¡¯t just have to be a master of the axe and the Phnx ive to win in the ring. I needed to learn as many weapon styles as possible. ¡°So to beat Wi Shen, I need to learn the Silver Leaf style?¡± Fiaughed. ¡°It¡¯s called the Path of Heavenly Silver. And no, you will not need to learn the entire Heavenly Silver Style to defeat Wi Shen.¡± She then grinned. ¡°You will need to learn it to defeat me however, but that will be months from now. You will have time to learn. For her you need only learn one technique.¡± ¡°Which one?¡± She grinned. ¡°That, dear student, I will leave you in anticipation for tomorrow¡¯s lesson. Hopefully it will spur you to arrive sober and on time.¡± I chuckled, raising my hands in defeat. ¡°Guilty.¡± ¡°Nowe,¡± she said, while quickly removing her robes. ¡°It¡¯s time for you to pay for your lesson.¡± I cut anotherugh short as Fia pressed her lips to mine and jumped on top of me with a fervor that rivaled her fighting style. We rolled across the sandy beach, getting lost within one another as all the pent-up tension between us finally came undone. I almost couldn¡¯t believe my luck. A beautiful woman who was willing to give up her whole world for me and an excellent teacher to boot. I was well on my way to conquering the Gold Bracket and all it would take was time. The next four days were going to be fun indeed. Book 2: Chapter 40 I ARRIVED AT the Golden Spire with the Phnx ive slung across my shoulder and wrapped in the white sheet. Master Edrik had once againined it was unfinished when I dropped by to pick it up, but I ensured him the polish and sharpening probably wouldn¡¯t matter. I was going to learn the basics, but more importantly, after learning more about the Legionnaires, their role and how the vets at the Golden Spire felt about them, I rethought my earlier decision of keeping it a secret and figured I owed Master Wong the honesty of why I wanted to learn the ive technique from him. Thest thing I wanted was for him to think that I was somehow bamboozling him when I showed up to a future lesson with a Phnx ive in tow. Now at least I could be upfront about everything on my very first lesson. My instincts proved right when I finally unveiled the weapon in the makeshift training yard behind the bar. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Wong shouted after spitting out a fresh swig of his brew. ¡°Where in the nine hells did you get that!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at his reaction as I put the de on disy. ¡°Master Edrik made it for me. Or ismaking it for me I should say. It¡¯s not quite done yet, but I think it¡¯s finished enough for me to start learning with it.¡± Wong stroked his beard as he marveled at the weapon. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of him. He¡¯s done a damn good job. This why you were asking about the hell worldsst night? I told you it best to stick to the ring, kid. You don¡¯t want to be drafted into that mess.¡± I smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve heard the lecture before. And no, I don¡¯t want to learn how to use this for that reason.¡± Although honestly, the more I learned about the academy and those hell worlds, the more I was intrigued. I left that part out though and ended the exnation with something far easier to understand. ¡°I just think being able to use a big-ass sword like this would be pretty cool.¡± Wong grinned and then let out augh. ¡°I¡¯ll drink to that. Fine then! Let¡¯s get started. Let me see you swing that thing.¡± The training yard was a small area barely bigger than a tennis court and I wondered how we would train with suchrge weapons in so small an area, especially as much of the space was taken up by arge circr tform made of rusted steel that was tucked away in one corner. Aside from that, the area was enclosed byrge sheet piles towering about twenty feet high, providing ample privacy and on them hung various implements of destruction:rge hammers, spears, axes, ives.I gripped the sword in both hands and then went through the motions of swinging it. Just like before it was hard to manage, and it nearly pulled me off my feet at the height of my cleave. Wong leapt to the side, careful to keep his gourd well out of the way of my haphazard swing. ¡°Whoa!¡± he said. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve seen enough. Pass me that thing.¡± I handed over the de and remarkably, Wong hefted it onto his shoulder as easily as if it were made of styrofoam instead of a material several times the weight of steel. ¡°Here¡¯s your problem,¡± Wong said. ¡°Not surprisingly, you keep trying to swing the thing like it¡¯s that toy hatchet of yours. For something small like that, the control is all in the wrist. But for a ive, all your power and control needs toe from much further up.¡± Wong then punched his upper arm. ¡°You need to lead from the shoulder and hips, not the wrist. Observe.¡± Wong bent his knees into a martial stance. Twisting his torso back slightly, he let out a yell and hefted the de off his shoulder in a one-handed grip. The de cut through the air with unimaginable speed and he spun with the rotation, using the sword¡¯s momentum to heft the de back onto his shoulder again, winding up in the same position he started. It was a brilliant maneuver, something worthy of Threja herself. ¡°It won¡¯te natural,¡± Wong said. ¡°And you should probably start by learning to use two hands first, but once it clicks, you can start learning the rudimentary forms of the ive technique.¡± He tossed the Phnx ive back to me and I caught it one handed by the hilt. I hefted it onto my shoulder as Wong retrieved a normal ive from off one of the walls. It was a polearm at least ten feet long with a huge de at the end that extended the weapon another four feet. He gave me another demonstration using the exact same movement as he had with the sword and sure enough the weapon reacted just the same¨C¨Csmooth, slow and graceful. ¡°Your turn,¡± he said nodding to me. I found my bnce and mimicked the technique focusing on using my body weight and lifting the de from my shoulder rather than trying to swing it with my arm strength. Amazingly, the de seemed to have no weight at all as I did it, but when it went into full swing, it caught me off guard again and I found myself tossed onto my ass by the momentum. Wong chuckled. ¡°Here,¡± he said, handing me the normal ive. ¡°You¡¯d better start off with this. A Phnx ive is not nearly as well counterbnced. Once you master your techniques using a normal ive, using the Phnx wille much easier.¡± I dusted myself off and got back at it, using the polearm while Wong demonstrated for me using the sword. Over the next hour I performed the same maneuver again and again, a simple horizontal swing focusing on using my weight and bnce rather than my raw strength. It was counterintuitive but I kept at it. ¡°You can brute force it being as strong as you are, but don¡¯t do that,¡± Wong said instructing me swing by swing. ¡°Even a mortal can wield a ive this size to great effect. It¡¯s all about bnce and momentum.¡± I took his words to heart as I retrained my muscle memory and after another couple of hours the sun had set and Wong announcing it was quitting time. ¡°That¡¯s good enough for a first day,¡± he said. ¡°Come on, it¡¯s time for a drink.¡± Iughed. ¡°I can¡¯t drink all night again. I was nearly dead this morning.¡± ¡°Come on, that¡¯s my payment. You owe me at least one drink.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°But maybe just a small shot of your secret brew. That¡¯s it.¡± Heughed. ¡°Excellent choice!¡± ¡°Hey what is that thing over there?¡± I asked, pointing to the circr structure in the corner as we were about to depart. A wicked grin spread across Wong¡¯s lips. ¡°Come, I¡¯ll show you. It¡¯s what you¡¯ll need to master to truly be a proficient ive wielder, but it¡¯s also the hidden secret to the weapon¡¯s true strength.¡± I was even more intrigued as we both approached the device. It was almost like an elevated ring or stage, being about three feet tall off the ground. Wong took the Phnx ive and leapt atop the tform and then stood in the center. ¡°Head over to the crank there,¡± he said, pointing to the side of the device. I did so and found a rusted crank made of ck iron sticking out of the side. ¡°Go on, turn it.¡± I did as instructed and felt a good bit of resistance as I turned the thing. With a rumble an outer ring began to rotate at the edge of the tform and atop it was a small red shield I didn¡¯t notice before. I stopped and it stopped. ¡°Good,¡± Wong said, readying therge sword on his shoulder. ¡°Now here¡¯s the game. My aim is to hit that shield and your job is to try and move it so I can¡¯t. Got it?¡± It felt like a crude carnival game of sorts. I rotated the crank both ways and sure enough I could change the direction of the shield¡¯s rotation around the ring. It didn¡¯t exactly stop on a dime, but the control was still pretty precise. I could get it up to a good speed too if I cranked hard enough. ¡°Okay, okay,¡± Wong said after I¡¯d gotten the hang of it. ¡°Let¡¯s give it a go. You say when and I¡¯ll swing.¡± I could see where this was going and purposefully rotated the shield in one direction before shouting. ¡°Go!¡± Wong began his swing and I immediately changed direction, sending the shield in the opposite direction at just thest second. To my chagrin as his de fell, it curved as if attracted to the shield by a ma and mmed on top of it with a loud ng! ¡°Haha!¡± Wong shouted in triumph. ¡°One for old Iron Pot Wong!¡± I stood there stupefied. No way could he have changed the momentum of his swing that quickly. Could he? We went at it again, this time with me starting from a standstill. It went even worse with Wong easily able to track the target a good quarter turn of the ring beforending right on top of it again. ¡°Nice try,¡± he said. ¡°Again!¡± I tried a new tactic starting slow and then elerating but time after time Wong hit the mark. I even went at top-speed and he was still able to predict exactly where the shield would end up some five seconds in advance and bring the de down right on top of it after two full rotations. ¡°Holy crap,¡± I mumbled and was subtly reminded of his fighting style while I had fought him in the ring. ¡°How the hell do you get so good at knowing where it¡¯s going to be?¡± ¡°I get you to tell me,¡± he said with a wink. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°All ive attacks are heavy and slow, but they have the advantage of reach and momentum. You need to force your opponent to react in the way you want them to and then, when they think they¡¯re clear, you nudge your attack at just thest second. That¡¯s why you always lead from the shoulder and hips. They¡¯ll never be able to anticipate your true direction until it¡¯s toote.¡± My lessons with Fia earlier suddenly clicked. ¡°Ah, I get it. Heavy attacks can only be blocked and avoided, right? The Xiangqi match at high speed!¡± Wong shrugged. ¡°Sure, I guess. If you want to get all technical about it.¡± I stood back with a grin on my face, finally seeing the potential of the Phnx ive as not just a weapon to fight giant monsters but also as a tool to best cultivators in the ring. ¡°Master Wong, you ever heard of anyone using a ive as well as a short-ranged weapon at the same time?¡± ¡°You mean like a sword?¡± ¡°I mean like an axe.¡± Wong paused for a moment before bursting outughing. ¡°The true Iron Bull, eh? You¡¯re in love with that damn axe of yours, aren¡¯t you? But no, I¡¯ve never seen it done. Be one hell of an awkward technique to master. Crazy even. Lopsided. Those weapons don¡¯tplement themselves well at all. But it¡¯s possible, I suppose.¡± Possible. That¡¯s the only word I needed to hear. Already the high-speed chess game was bouncing around inside my head. I envisioned using my axe for feints and swift attacks to force opponents into the path of my already falling Phnx ive and vice versa. Iron Pot Wong was right. No one would even think to do something as crazy as that, I thought. But that just made it all the more reason to do it to me. Unpredictability was the key. ¡°Let¡¯s go have that drink,¡± I said with renewed enthusiasm and vigor. ¡°But just one shot. I¡¯ve got a lot of training to do.¡± * * * The next two days went by in a flurry of activity. I was up early each morning to meet with Fia, sans the hangover thanks topletely detoxifying myself the night before. After detoxifying, I¡¯d also spend about an hour reinforcing my Internal Strengthening by practicing the [Iron Lightning] technique. It wasbining the use of two techniques in one, so it certainly taxed my system enough to cultivate and I found myself growing more and more proficient at it each day. Not quite mastery, but close. During the days, Fia ran me through the paces, refining my axe techniques while also sharing the basics of her own fighting style. The Path of Heavenly Silver was a sword style at its core, but there was a keen emphasis on the more ninja-like aspects of stealth and subterfuge. Using one¡¯s speed to be nearly invisible was a level of mastery that became the building block of many other techniques. I was eager to learn as much as I could, and especially the particr technique that I would need to learn in order to defeat Lady Silver Sparrow. Fia dangled it like a carrot at the end of each training session though, teasing me with the promise of revealing it the next day before finally demanding her payment between the sheets. The afternoons went by with just as much interest as I caught up with Wong after a quick bite to eat in the square. The lessons were simple, almost theplete opposite of the Silver Leaf style, but it took practice and patience. By the second day I had managed to finally perform a horizontal strike without flipping myself over and by the third day I was performing overhead cleaves as well, which were a bit easier to control but took a lot more in terms of timing and prediction to hit a moving target. By day three I added a new element to my nighttime self-study. I¡¯d been neglecting to read the book Jim had given me for weeks. Granted I was so busy doing so many other things, that every time I even thought to look at it, I just felt overwhelmed. But that night, after a full sparring session with Fia, abat lesson with Wong, and an hour of [Iron Lightning] practice, I felt the urge to at least live up to my promise to Jim. The reading was slow at first and my rusty English was a reminder that I needed to bridge thenguage gap between my two sets of people for us to be united. As I read into the night, the various conflicts and battles in 18th-century America yed out in my head. I couldn¡¯t imagine going through something like that in our current situation. Back then it was all muskets and horses, but now it would be cultivator versus cultivator. And we didn¡¯t have too many. It could take us decades to be strong in terms of numbers. But one thing was certain. We needed unity. That¡¯s what the American colonies had going for them. Right now, we were barely united as a single neighborhood, much less whole provinces. A rekindling of my primal me beckoned me as I finally honed in on the true spiritual root of my Dao. The whole reason I was doing any of this. Beyond marrying Fia and bringing the sects together, or learning the Phnx ive or reaching Jade Bracket, the notion of bing strong enough to free the Earth rang out as the calling I truly needed to pursue. It wasforting in a sense. I¡¯d been pulled in so many directions it was good to know that all my progression was still leading towards the ultimate goal. We didn¡¯t have the numbers to fight skirmishes and battles like the colonies did against the British. But perhaps we didn¡¯t need to. Not if I became strong enough to fight for everyone. Just as my eyes were growing weary, I stumbled across something that immediately snapped my mind back to attention. The multiyear conflict with the British had been going back and forth, but in that time, the colonies were simply fighting for better rights and representation in the British Empire, still trying to be seen as equal citizens to their fellow British subjects across the sea. But in 1776 everything changed. They quit on the idea of equality within the empire and rejected itpletely, issuing the Deration of Independence instead. I paused on that as my mind reeled to see a vision of our far future. Getting strong was critical in this cultivator world, but I would need political power as well to seal the deal. Slowly I thought out my strategy, taking years, decades even, but one day, when I was powerful enough and had united the provinces of Earth under a single banner of the Terran Sect, I would pen my own deration of independence against the Empire. My me burned with a new sense of conviction and resolve the more I thought about it, and I gave a silent prayer of thanks to Jim. The war would perhaps not be fought as he thought it would. The world had changed far too much for that, but his insight into what must eventually take ce was spot on. We would have to one day take a bold step against our colonial masters. And when we did, I¡¯d have to ensure that we were all strong enough to face the inevitable war that would follow. Book 2: Chapter 41 IT WAS MYst day for training and Fia was riding me hard. And not in the pleasurable way. ¡°Too slow! Try again!¡± I brandished my axe with lightning, pulling out all the stops. Fia spun and twirled with her three jian des dancing behind her back, each motion a technique in and of itself. I read the moves as fast as I could, deciphering the Xiangqi game going on between us. I struck with a ranged lightning arc, forcing her to dodge. Anticipating the movement, I followed up with an advance as soon as she disappeared with her [sh Step] technique. Sparks and lightning shed as our des collided, Fia parrying my attack. She [shed] away again as I recovered. ¡°Better,¡± she said. ¡°But still not fast enough. Again!¡± My me stirred with irritation and for the first time I could actually cultivate true Frenzy while fighting Fia. It was past noon now and the same back and forth had been going on for hours. My head was reeling from keeping track of all theplex techniques she¡¯d perform while also keeping track of my own. We must have shed at least a hundred times now and not once had I beaten her. Of course, I wasn¡¯t going all out with my Berserker forms either.Pure skill and technique. But man, was losing starting to piss me off. I gritted my teeth as the next bout started and I managed to get her on the backfoot for all of three exchanges before she won again. ¡°Still too slow. Again!¡± I masked my irritation with [Indifference] as I tried to focus. Cycling my Frenzy, I heightened my reflexes to try and match her own. I studied the y and once again forced her into a dodge with her [sh Step] technique. I advanced again, with more speed this time but my axe still couldn¡¯t reach her. ¡°Too slow!¡± she said, and then let loose with a volley of three silver quills. ¡°[First Heaven, Piercing Strike]!¡± Anger red within me like a pot boiling over. It was another damn chess move, forcing me to dodge. Screw that! I roared with defiance and flew right into the attack, fortifying my body with [Iron Lightning]. I had no idea if my technique could even repel her attack or not, but at the moment I just couldn¡¯t care. Pain exploded in my shoulder as one of the needles broke through my defensive technique while the other two evaporated with a sh of sparks. The move surprised Fia and her eyes grew wide with shock as I advanced to her position in a heartbeat. I stopped my axe from touching her with inches to spare and a split secondter she reacted reflexively, using two of her des to block my attack. ¡°Ha!¡± I said in triumph. ¡°Finally got you!¡± Her look of wild shock quickly turned to a mixture of anger and concern. ¡°Max! What have you done!¡± she shouted. ¡°You made me injure you!¡± She dropped all her defenses then and rushed to examine the quill sticking out of my shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said, ignoring the pain. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°This is not fine! Your fight with Wi Shen is tonight and I¡¯ve ruined your arm. That was so reckless. How can you fight like this now?¡± I grabbed the quill and removed it with a swift pull. It hurt like hell and from the impact she was clearly miles above Zu Tien when it came to inner strength. I had the feeling she hadn¡¯t been goingpletely all out when she used that technique either, but still I was proud of the aplishment. This was perhaps only the second time I had battle tested the [Iron Lightning] technique. I was now able to deflect two quills instead of just one. Progress, I thought. But not without a price. Fia shook her head at me, looking as if about to cry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Max. This was my fault. I shouldn¡¯t have pushed you so hard.¡± ¡°Wait what?¡± I nced at my shoulder. It was nothing a quick swap with [Mark of the Giant] couldn¡¯t fix, but she didn¡¯t know that. ¡°Look it¡¯ll be fine, trust me. I can still fight. It was my fault. I¡¯m the one who ignored the rules to go for broke just to win.¡± ¡°Yes, but the point was not to win,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s not what I was teaching you. But perhaps I teased you for too long.¡± Her eyes softened. ¡°I admit what you did was impressive. Unexpected. I¡¯ve never seen you use that technique before, but you paid too high a price to win a mere training match.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fia sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve been lying to you, Max.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Not maliciously, of course. I told you there is a technique I need you to learn in order to defeat Wi Shen, yes?¡± ¡°Yeah, and I¡¯m still waiting for it.¡± ¡°But you know it already,¡± Fia said. ¡°I¡¯ve been training you to counter it this entire time.¡± ¡°Huh? Which move?¡± ¡°The [sh Step],¡± she said. ¡°Like you, Wi Shen fell into bad habits with learning her techniques. But unlike you, she has not the skill nor discipline to correct her errors. She¡¯s never been able to perform it correctly and is only everfortable shifting to the left. Even to retreat, she will turn 90 degrees and then shift left to move backwards. It¡¯s an embarrassing handicap to have at her age.¡± ¡°Ah, I get it.¡± Thinking back now, every time Fia used [sh Step] it was to the left. So much so that I was able to anticipate it and nearly reached her each time. ¡°So you were training me without me even knowing it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better that way,¡± she said. ¡°You would have focused too much on it if I had told you in advance.¡± She then grinned. ¡°Plus, it was a nice motivation to have you looking forward to our next training session each day.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Trust me, just the opportunity to see you each day was all the motivation I needed.¡± She blushed like a schoolgirl as I gave her a slick grin. She let out a nervousugh and shook her head. ¡°That only proves I didn¡¯t need to do it.¡± Her countenance then fell a little as her soul filled with fear. ¡°I¡¯ve ruined everything. I made you lose control and now you¡¯ve ruined your chances at winning.¡± ¡°Like I said. Not to worry. I have some healing bandages that will keep me fighting just fine.¡± She smiled weakly, looking unconvinced. ¡°I still feel bad.¡± ¡°Well, you can make it up to me after I win the match,¡± I said and then put her at ease with a quick kiss. She melted in my arms as I held her and subtly, I could sense her fear subsiding. When we pulled apart, she had a smile on her face again. ¡°You sure you¡¯ll be alright?¡± I grinned with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°With the game n you gave me, how wouldn¡¯t I be? Plus, you helped me test my [Iron Lightning] technique. Not perfect yet, as you can see¡ª¡± I nced at my bleeding shoulder with a smile. ¡°¡ªbut I¡¯m getting there.¡± ¡°Well, it was impressive. And it¡¯s likely to be more effective against Wi Shen.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope so,¡± I said and then let out a quick breath, preparing myself. ¡°Okay, so to confirm, I need to force her into a dodge and then advance to her left to catch her.¡± ¡°Yes exactly,¡± Fia said. ¡°And you will catch her. She can¡¯t transition as far as I can, and you nearly caught me each time. So you should have no problem catching her.¡± I smiled. This was just the ace in the hole I needed to win. ¡°Thanks, Fia,¡± I said, embracing her again. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do this without all your help. This win is for you.¡± She smiled, blushing. ¡°You¡¯d better get that shoulder seen to before the match. I¡¯ll be rooting for you in the ring, Max. Good luck.¡± * * * The fanfare of the opening ceremony lit up the night sky with Qi lighting and fireworks as I made my way into the arena. I didn¡¯t think it was possible, but the crowd seemed even bigger than that for the ¡®Second Chance Showdown¡¯ match. Or perhaps it was simply my mind ying tricks on me. But clearly Master Lein Cho had pulled out all the stops for the final match of the Iron Bracket Tournament. The sea of people filling the arena roared with cheers as I removed my mask for all to see¡ªa solid wall of sound that nearly blocked out thementators as they hyped up the crowd with even more rhetoric. ¡°And here he is, representing the Furious Lightning Sect and the greater Fire Bird n, the winner of the Second Chance Showdown and the heart of everydy in town! The envy of some, the hope of many¡­the unpredictable, the indomitable¡­IRON BULL!!!¡± The crowd responded with a mixture of lemonade and hate, but the division was along clear lines. The lower seats, where themon people were, rooted for me with fervor, but higher up it all turned to hate. As I passed by the edge of the arena, I witnessed the love-hate dynamic expressed in a slightly different manner. A mildly attractive middle-aged woman leaned over the edge of the arena railing, screaming and shouting while exposing her breasts. ¡°Marry me, Iron Bull! Marry me!!¡± I nearly burst outughing when a guy that looked like her husband pulled her angrily back into the crowd by her arm. I yed it all off with [Indifference], sauntering through the arena with a bravado worthy of my moniker. I almost wished I had my Phnx ive to carry over my shoulder to add to my swagger, but that was impossible for a number of reasons. One, only Iron weapons provided by the arena were allowed, and two I was nowhere good enough to use the Phnx ive inbination with my axe as yet. But in the Gold Bracket, you supplied your own weapon. And that meant the Axe and ivebo was definitely on the table. As I reached the center of the area, the tone of the music changed from the gritty pounding of drums that had be my theme music to the elegant strumming of zithers worthy of royalty. Across the arena, Wi Shen, the Lady Silver Sparrow entered the ring. She was in a trimmed-down version of the ssic ck and silver robes of the Silver Leaf n, less sh and built forbat. Her long silver hair was likewise prepared, pulled back in a single braid that ran to her midback. As she locked eyes with me a stone¡¯s throw away, I could sense the anger of her stare mirrored in her soul. ¡°The day has finallye, Iron Bull. There will be no Silver Light to save you now.¡± I was about to retort but decided to throw her a chuckle of [Indifference] instead. To my delight, her anger spiked and I cultivated the free Frenzy with glee. The announcer came over the speakers again. ¡°She and her sisters have ruled the roost of the Iron Bracket for years and tonight she doesn¡¯t n to break the trend. Representing the Silver Leaf Sect and the greater Silver Leaf n, part of the trio that has delighted us for ages, the un-aging beauty, the multiyear Champion, the Lady Silver Sparrow!¡± The crowd broke into cheers but there were clearly some boos from a few brave souls in the crowd as well. When I nced up at the scoreboard however, the bookings clearly didn¡¯t represent the demographics of the crowd. Lady Silver Sparrow vs The Iron Bull Odds: 15:8 Time - 30:00 Lady Silver Sparrow Iron Bull 0 0 I chuckled. Nice to see the [Odds Against Me] already, I thought. As I tapped into the technique, fresh Frenzy filled my body, overflowing into my Dantian. I hyped myself up, waiting for the match to finally start. Silver Sparrow gave me another conceited re. ¡°I hope you¡¯re ready,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re going to receive payment for the embarrassment we received that day. No one mocks the Silver Bird Sisters.¡± ¡°Yeah, chirp, chirp, bitch,¡± I said. Her eyes and mouth shot open with indignation. ¡°How dare yo¡ª¡± she began to say but her words were cut short as the announcer came over the mic again. ¡°And now, to open the final match of the Jurin Province Iron Bracket Tournament, we call upon none other than the Warden herself. Join me in weing her royaldy and leader of the Silver Leaf n, the Lady Silver Tear!¡± Fear and rage gripped my heart at the mention of the name and high up on the disy she came into view, sidling next to the announcers on the stage. I¡¯d rarely seen her outside of recordings or from distances too far to care. But up on the screen was the face of the woman that had sentenced my parents and sister to death. Still pale as a sheet of paper, sharp features worthy of a demoness from hell. And not a day older than when I had seen her up close twelve years ago. That bitch¡­ Fresh rage poured into my soul, igniting my me. ¡°Royaldies of my esteemed n, Sect Leaders, Elders, proud citizens of the empire,moners and natives, I greet you all in the name of our beloved Princess, Her Royal Majesty, Third Princess Lunh for themencement of the final match of the Iron Bracket tournament.¡± My skin bristled as the hierarchy of our worth as Terrans wasid out for all to see. Bottom of the barrel. As always. A new vigor filled me as my impending battle with Lady Silver Sparrow turned into something else. It was me against the entire Silver Leaf n again and Silver Sparrow was merely a representative. ¡°As is customary,¡± Lady Silver Tear continued. ¡°The n of the Iron Bracket winner shall receive the Iron Bracket trophy to be retained for the year. While the Silver Leaf n has retained the Iron Bracket Trophy for over five years now, I look forward to seeing if our longtime friends and rivals, the Fire Bird n, can make a valiant attempt to obtain it tonight. To the twopetitors, I say good luck to you both. Commence!¡± I snarled with aggression as I charged straight at Silver Sparrow, dumping my pent-up rage into a series of wild swings brimming with lightning. Silver Sparrow reacted more astutely than I imagined, fending them off with parries and blocks with her slim jian de. ¡°Impulsive fiend!¡± she cursed me. ¡°No tact at all! You¡¯ll be lucky to gain a single hit on me!¡± I raged within, wanting to tear her apart. ¡°You¡¯ll die, bitch! You wait!¡± But that was my hatred for the Warden talking. Think, Max, I said to myself. Calm down. There¡¯s more to this fight than just revenge. This was but a stepping stone. My true goal was the Gold Bracket and I needed the earnings from this win to do it. I eased the Struggler back to the controls, regaining myposure as I parried her counter. We shed back and forth as I recalled the lessons from my sparring sessions with Fia. The moves were the same, but they were a lot harder to recognizeing from someone else. I began ying the Xiangqi game with her, but I slipped up a few times, feeling the sharp bite of her de. Blood spilled into the ring, eliciting cackles of glee from Silver Sparrow. ¡°You certainly do fight bull headedly. Can you even avoid an attack? Or is your strategy to dull my de by simply running into it repeatedly?¡± I let my [Indifference] slip with a snarl. It was only four minutes into the match and already the score was looking bad. Lady Silver Sparrow vs The Iron Bull Odds: 18:5 Time - 24:46 Lady Silver Sparrow Iron Bull 7 0 Had I really not hit her once? Perhaps Silver Sparrow was more skilled than Fia remembered. Or perhaps she had improved? Whatever was happening, it wouldn¡¯t be sustainable. I was pushing my techniques to the limit and still couldn¡¯t break her defenses. I needed my edge. A win this early would be totally unexpected. And humiliating. Ah, to hell with it. I was nning to try and let the movee out organically, but I couldn¡¯t risk waiting for that. Not with a score this bad. ¡°Let¡¯s see you avoid this!¡± I shouted, charging my axe with lightning. I let loose with a wild swing, sending an arc of lightning flying straight at her. As predicted, Silver Sparrow used [sh Step] and like I¡¯d done a hundred times before with Fia, I advanced to meet her new position to the left. I struck blindly and my axe de met only air. A sharp pain filled my lower back as something struck it. I reached behind to feel a single quill. I roared in pain as I yanked it out, the implement cutting through even my [Iron Skin] to puncture me. What the hell? Was I too slow? Ignoring the setback, Ished out with another arc of lightning, forcing Silver Sparrow to [sh Step] again. As I took note of which direction she¡¯d been facing, I leapt to where I predicted her to reappear and went all out with a [One Chop Cleave]. I spun with unrestricted momentum, again catching only air. A cackle came from behind followed by another quill to my back. ¡°Ergh!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a quick learner, are you, Bull Man?¡± Silver Sparrow leered at me from afar, a good thirty feet to my rear. ¡°And Fia says we¡¯d be lucky to bed someone like you? Ridiculous.¡± I gritted my teeth in frustration. Why the hell wasn¡¯t it working? Had Fia been wrong? I studied Silver Sparrow trying to decipher the reason. And then like a ton of bricks, it hit me. I¡¯d only met the Silver Bird Sisters briefly, but even during that short exchange I could sense distinct differences in personality between the three of them. Fia said Silver Sparrow was the weakest of them and her demeanor mirrored that when I encountered her before. But now, somehow Silver Sparrow had just ovee her impediment with using [sh Step] while also growing a huge pair of balls. ¡°Son of a bitch¡­¡± I cursed as I leveled my eyes at her using [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°You¡¯re not Wi Shen at all.¡± The woman¡¯s eyes shed open with surprise at the mention of the name, and I knew I had just hit pay dirt. ¡°You¡¯re Lady Silver Hawk.¡± Book 2: Chapter 42 THE ENTIRE OUTCOME of the fight shifted in my mind as the reality hit. My ace in the hole was gone. Not only that, but if this truly was Silver Hawk, then I was facing a cultivator a tier higher than what I¡¯d been expecting. The same level as Fia really. But thank goodness she didn¡¯te with Fia¡¯s repertoire of techniques. She couldn¡¯t Fly, used only one jian de instead of three and was a washed-up hag to boot. But that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t dangerous. The [Odds were Against Me] still. The woman scoffed at me from across the distance. ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°You can drop the act,¡± I said. ¡°How long have you three been doing this? Have you secretly won all the matches for your boneheaded sisters? Or is Wi Shen so weak that she chickened out for this fight specifically?¡± She looked shaken again, as if unsure how to respond, but then her brows lowered as if making a decision, anger filling her soul. ¡°Surprised you figured it out. Perhaps you¡¯re not as stupid as you look. But it won¡¯t matter. You won¡¯t live to tell this to anyone.¡±¡°Fine by me, Silver Hawk,¡± I said, twirling my axe. ¡°Just means I know I¡¯m fighting for my life now. That¡¯s going to mean a world of pain for you.¡± I backed up my words with a heavy dose of [Fear the me] and the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes echoed the fear flickering in her soul. I wasted no time with an all-out assault, throwing caution to the wind as I unleashed with a flurry of lightning-charged strikes. Fia told me my unpredictable side was a strength. And now I had to use it to the fullest. It worked, with mending a couple of cleaves to Silver Hawk¡¯s arms and legs as I barreled into her, cutting through her robes, but hitting her body was like striking diamond. If I¡¯d hurt her, she didn¡¯t let it show and she gave me a nasty sneer instead. ¡°Nice hit, but I suppose even fools can get lucky.¡± Her arrogance pissed me off, which was just what I needed to bolster myself with fresh Frenzy from my me. I went back at it, relying on my technique and forms to stay on the offensive. I pushed Silver Hawk back, but she managed to keep her distance from me with abination of spacing and quick parries. I thanked the stars for my time with Fia. Short as it was, it had taught me the basics of the Silver Leaf fighting style and while I didn¡¯t know half the moves Silver Hawk was performing, I knew enough to decipher which were safe to block, parry, or avoid most of the time. The times I got it wrong I was met with the sharp sting of her jian de. Her Qi-infused shes were strong enough to cut through my [Iron Skin] technique and I had to switch to [Steel Skin] to offer any kind of protection at all. But it came at a cost. The technique was powerful but burned tons of Frenzy. Already I could feel my Dantian draining despite the fresh Frenzy being generated from my me. With needing to keep up [Steel Skin], my reflexes as well as feeding my lightning-charged attacks, I was on the fast track to running out soon. I nced at the scoreboard. Lady Silver Sparrow vs The Iron Bull Odds: 25:3 Time - 11:23 Lady Silver Sparrow Iron Bull 32 2 The score was lopsided as hell and time was running out. I had the sense she wasn¡¯t even pushing herself either. A wicked smile remained on her lips as she danced me around the arena, slowly gaining the advantage point by point. Son of a bitch, I thought. This isn¡¯t going to work. I needed another edge. There was only one other trick left up my sleeve and I had to risk it. Flipping backwards, I distanced myself from Silver Hawk while keeping her attention with [Lightning Arc Strikes]. She reacted as I anticipated, using [sh Step] to avoid my technique. But I didn¡¯t bother to chase after her this time. I was forcing a different kind of reaction now. After a few more exchanges it finally happened. ¡°[First Heaven, Piercing Strike]!¡± Three silver quills flew from her hand as she executed the long-ranged attack and I used all my Frenzy to charge straight into it. ¡°[Iron Lightning]!¡± Electricity arced across my body as I annunciated my technique, hopefully kicking its effectiveness up a notch as I barreled into the attack. Huge sparks broke against my skin as all three quills evaporated without a trace. Yes! I flew right into Silver Hawk¡¯s stunned face and performed a wless [One Chop Cleave] aimed directly at her jian de. The weapons shed with sparks and the sword went flying to the side but not quite out of her grasp. Her eyes still grew wide with shock and disbelief, however, and I used the opportunity to grab her about the throat with my free hand. ¡°Now listen to me,¡± I said quickly, before she could react further. ¡°If you don¡¯t fancy the idea of bing your sister Wi Shen permanently, I suggest you drop that sword and concede.¡± ¡°What?¡± I brandished my axe in front of her face. ¡°I targeted your de for a reason. It could just as easily have been your hand.¡± I edged the axe closer to her cheek. ¡°Or your pretty little face.¡± A ton of fear sprung from her soul as she finally got the message. If I scarred her permanently, she¡¯d have to either reveal her charade to the world or be stuck ying Wi Shen for the rest of her life. ¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°I concede. You damn bastard.¡± I smiled at her with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Good. But there is one thing I promised Wi Shen that you¡¯re going to have to ept on her behalf.¡± ¡°What are you tal¡ª¡± Before she could even finish, I spun and struck her hard across the face with a ringing backhand. The p resounded throughout the arena like a bomb going off and a gasp of hushed whispers filled the crowd as Silver Hawk fell to the ground holding her face in a new level of shock and disbelief. ¡°That was for Xi Xha,¡± I said. ¡°Tell Wi Shen she owes you one for taking it for her.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s happening,¡± the announcer shouted above the stunned crowd. ¡°But it looks like the Iron Bull clearly has the upper hand on Lady Silver Sparrow now. Or perhaps I should say the upper backhand. What a face p! I think even her sisters Silver Dove and Silver Hawk felt that one!¡± I chuckled at the irony of the joke, as the crowd went wild withughter. Anger rose up inside of Silver Hawk and I knew then I¡¯d just made an enemy for life. Still, I held the upper hand. And she knew it. Slowly she rolled to her knees, ced her de to the side and bowed her head. ¡°I concede!¡± The gong to end the match sounded and the crowd erupted into a mixture of cheers and boos as the final score tallied on the disy board. Lady Silver Sparrow vs The Iron Bull Odds: 25:3 Time - 08:37 Tournament Winner The Iron Bull Lady Silver Sparrow Iron Bull 35 3 I smiled at my aplishment. I¡¯d done it. My final Iron Bracket match was over. I cultivated the Frenzy from the crowd and was about to leave the arena when an official approached me and told me to stay put. I wondered what the hell was going on when they asked Silver Hawk to do the same. The reason as to why became clear as Master Lein Cho, the tournament director entered the ring surrounded by a bunch of people in official white and beige robes. What the hell was this¡­? ¡°Well done,¡± Lein Cho said as he came to stand in front of the both of us. ¡°An interesting match indeed. We shall nowmence the closing ceremony of the Iron Bracket Tournament! May the winner step forward!¡± A whole new fanfare of trumpets and revelry sounded as the crowd stood to their feet to salute me. The attendants ushered me towards Master Lein Cho and signaled for me to kneel. I did so bewildered, still wondering what was happening as the lemonade and confetti fell freely from the crowd. ¡°Max Chun,¡± Lein Cho said in a reverent tone. ¡°Leader of the Furious Lightning Sect and Elder of the greater Fire Bird n, I hereby dere you the winner of the Jurin Province Iron Bracket Tournament. I ce upon you your medal of victory as well as your just reward. Congrattions!¡± More apuse sounded as Master Lein Cho ced an iron medal about my neck and then presented me with a small certificate. An unexpected sense of pride filled me as everything took ce. To me this was still only a means to an end. A way to afford entry into the Gold Bracket Tournament, but I couldn¡¯t help but get caught up in the pomp of the ceremony somewhat. As I looked at the certificate, I saw it was actually more than that. It was embossed with a golden seal and had the words, ¡®To the bearer redeemable for 1000 Spirit Stones¡¯ on its front. Holy crap, I thought. This was a damn check! It was more money than I¡¯d ever held in my life. I rose to my feet and bowed to Master Lein Cho again before saluting the crowd once more. The outpouring of both lemonade and hate was near overwhelming, perhaps rivaling the value of the 1000 spirit stone check in my hands when it came to cultivation. The division within the crowd then went up a notch as Master Lein Cho addressed the arena again. ¡°And now, to conclude the ceremony we shall have the award of the Iron Bracket Tournament trophy. And for the first time in five years, we finally have the passing of the trophy to a new sect! I call forth the leaders of both the Fire Bird n and the Silver Leaf n to the stage, Master Lo Feng and our beloved Warden, the infallible Lady Silver Tear.¡± Holy crap, I thought as my heart raced. I stepped back to stand alongside Lady Silver Hawk as two of my greatest adversaries took center stage. I had only heard of him before, but one look at the wiry old man with the wispy beard dressed in the red and orange robes, and I knew I was looking at Master Lo Feng, the leader of the Fire Bird n. The other dead giveaway was the simrly dressed Hin Wu who walked by his side. Both of them gave me stares as they approached. From Lo Feng came a re of disgust, but from Hin Wu there was a casual smirk of interest and even a little lemonade. Before I could decipher anything further my attention was drawn to the elegance of a woman that more glided than walked onto the stage as she came to stand opposite Lo Feng. She was just as I remembered her and up close even more so. The silver hair pinned by a jade crown and the cold silver eyes of a woman who had lived well past the forty or so years that she looked. The Lady Silver Tear. My me burned with hatred, but I masked my contempt with [Indifference] as she sauntered past me. Joining her was who I assumed was one of her Elders, a woman who looked close to the same age but bore a closer resemnce to Silver Hawk and her sister. Their mother, I presumed by the scowl she gave Silver Hawk as she passed by. I wondered if she knew of Silver Hawk¡¯s ploy. Surely, as their mother she had to be able to tell the differences between her three daughters. But whether she expected to see Silver Hawk in the ring instead of Wi Shen I couldn¡¯t tell. The disgust in her eyes could just as easily be for her losing as well as cheating. Master Lein Cho went into another round of speeches, but I could barely focus as I watched the Lady Silver Tear present Master Lo Feng with a small iron trophy in the shape of two crossed swords. ¡°Don¡¯t get attached to it,¡± Lady Silver Tear said aloud jokingly for the crowd to hear. ¡°We¡¯ll be back for it next year.¡± That got a round of polite apuse from the crowd and then Lo Feng and Lady Silver Tear bowed to one another equally with mutual respect. It was a rare sight, I supposed. They were equal as sect leaders now, but Lady Silver Tear held a much greater status as the Warden of Jurin Province. As the ceremony concluded, Lady Silver Tear stepped in my direction again. She made eye contact with me, and my soul froze. Would she recognize me? Remember me even? The thoughts of her leaving my family to die flooded my mind, filling my soul with rage as she approached me casually. She stopped and nced at me, a subtle smile on her lips. ¡°Well done, Iron Bull,¡± she said, and then flicked her eyes to Lady Silver Hawk. ¡°You¡­ not so much.¡± And with that she moved on. The bitch¡­ She had no idea who I was. Or cared even. The thought made me even more irate inside. One day you¡¯ll know, I vowed. One day you¡¯ll remember exactly who I am before I kill you. Lady Silver Hawk got a re of disdain from her mother as she pulled her humiliatingly by the arm and pushed her ahead of her. I was about to chuckle when I was greeted with a n chastisement of my own. ¡°Iron Bull,¡± Master Lo Feng said to me as he looked me up and down. ¡°You elude my punishment. But do not think that your debt is forgotten.¡± I gave a smirk as I performed a quick bow. ¡°Master Lo Feng, I presume.¡± ¡°Presumptuous is right,¡± he spat. ¡°Your treachery saw my nephew killed by our greatest enemies. And now you stand here in victory, putting us on the stage? If it¡¯s my honor you seek, then you have duly failed. This will do nothing to shield you from my wrath.¡± I nced at Hin Wu who merely shrugged. ¡°I offered my grace once, Iron Bull. I would dare to ask Master Lo Feng to consider you again. Winning an Iron Bracket Tournament at your age is exceptional.¡± Lo Feng harrumphed. ¡°This One has caused great ill to befall our n, but he is indeed as talented as you say, Hin Wu. He has also made it very difficult now to exact my vengeance by winning this Tournament. Considering such, I may yet be convinced to give this wretched dog a second chance. If he bows his head in shame.¡± Hin Wu smiled. ¡°Well, Iron Bull? What say you?¡± I almost couldn¡¯t believe what was happening. An olive branch of sorts. But clearly it was on fire. The hatred stirring within Lo Feng¡¯s soul was strong enough to cultivate me to the next Realm and the lemonade spewing from Hin Wu made me just as wary. Thoughts of what rejoining the Fire Birds might look like yed through my mind. shbacks to running around as a servant boy for that evil asshole Hong Feng. Evenpromising encounters with Hin Wu that would put me at odds with Fia again. Something she desired, no doubt. But there could be value as well. I¡¯d need to fight both of them eventually and learning their styles to fight against them would certainly give me an advantage. But the thought of stomaching through all that made me sick. And besides, I already had an excellent trainer. ¡°Appreciate the offer, but no thanks,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I consider myself a free agent now.¡± The anger within Lo Feng surged to the point of melting steel. If not for being in front of a crowd of thousands, he likely would have torn my head clean off. But I ignored it all with a nonplussed stare of [Indifference]. ¡°You arrogant little piece of shit!¡± he cursed me. ¡°A free agent? What even is that? All your strength belongs to me. And I will take it back when the time is right.¡± Hin Wu sighed. ¡°You are talented but not very wise, little brother. You should have taken the offer.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Will you?¡± she said. ¡°Do you forget the [Fire that Burns in my Soul]?¡± Tiny mes emerged above her shoulders as I sensed something invade my being. No¡­ the soul technique again! I quickly countered with [Soul Shield] and for a brief moment, her attack was rebuffed. A flicker of confusion crossed her crimson eyes, but then they narrowed with focus as the mes on her shoulders grew more intense. My [Soul Shield] technique copsed in an instant, still not able to withstand for more than a second or two. Her attack seized my me and I felt helpless as she leered at me. It was the spiritual equivalent of her grabbing me by the balls. And she knew it. ¡°Some improvement, but not much,¡± she said. ¡°A shame you won¡¯t be able to put up much of a resistance when the timees.¡± Lo Feng grimaced. ¡°If only it could be right now. But you¡¯ve gained too much notoriety by winning the tournament. People¡¯s memories are fickle, though. A few months and they will all but forget about the Iron Bull until they hear that the rumor of his demise is true.¡± Bastard¡­ ¡°Guess it¡¯s a good thing I¡¯ve signed up for the Gold Bracket then,¡± I said. Hin Wuughed. ¡°You think that will protect you? It will only make things quicker. It¡¯s clear you¡¯re not yet ready for Gold,¡± she said and gently squeezed my me to prove the point. ¡°By your first match, you¡¯ll be so outssed and buried in the rankings that no one will even care if you disappeared or not. Assuming you survive your first match that is.¡± I grimaced at the idea and by the way she was keeping my me hostage, I had no reason to doubt her. Suddenly, she released the technique and the mes disappeared from off her shoulders. I gulped air, not realizing I¡¯d been holding my breath. Lo Feng scoffed. ¡°Pathetic.¡± ¡°I wille find you after your first Gold Bracket match,¡± Hin Wu said. ¡°Enjoy your short notoriety as the winner of the Iron Bracket Tournament until then.¡± With that, they both turned and left the arena. * * * ¡°You sure?¡± Master Bo Ren said as I presented him the certificate. ¡°The whole thing?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to see a single spirit stone of it,¡± I said. ¡°Just put it all towards the sign-up fee for the gold bracket tournament.¡± Bo Ren shrugged. ¡°All right. But I still say you¡¯re rushing it, kid. You should take a couple of years off to prepare for this. Seen a lot of people try to move to the next bracket too fast and get knocked into obscurity or worse.¡± His words echoed what Hin Wu had just said. But I wasn¡¯t going to let that deter me. I had goals that went far beyond the likes of her. Still, being prepared to face her by that time would be key. ¡°How long can I dy my first match,¡± I asked. Bo Ren wobbled his head in thought. ¡°Well as the Iron Bracket winner you don¡¯t really need to go through qualifying matches. There will be a good month or two of those depending on the field size. And with all the off visitors looking to score, it¡¯s going to be a packed field. Could be even three months.¡± ¡°So three months? Can you push it any longer than that?¡± ¡°Longer?¡± Bo Ren puffed his cheeks as he thought about it some more. ¡°Well, with your clout I can probably hold back your official entry until a few more weeks after the Bracket actually begins. Same way how them Silver Bird Sisters used to do for the Iron Bracket. Comes with a catch though.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I might have to put you against someone of much higher tier. You won¡¯t really get your pick of the litter for easy fights.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll need to improve by that time anyway.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± ¡°Thanks, Bo Ren. I owe you once again.¡± He onlyughed. ¡°You¡¯re a crazy one, kid. I wish you all the best.¡± As I left the stadium, a new sense of purpose and drive filled me. I¡¯d gotten a glimpse of my most powerful adversaries up close, and it wasn¡¯t looking good. I needed far more strength than I had right now to defeat them, and it would all be down to my spiritual progression to do so. I had to master the [Soul Shield] technique for more than just clearing out the bunker. I needed to master it to have even a chance at fighting Hin Wu and beyond. I was in the eye of the hurricane now, a short reprieve of calm before the tempest would resume once again. Three months sounded like a long time, but not when you had years of training to make up for. I looked to the night sky and the Bloodmoon. There was power there and knowledge as well. And I¡¯d need more of both to progress further along my path. Just three months to prep for the Gold Bracket, I thought. I¡¯d have to use my time wisely. Between advancing the sect, mentoring Kelsey, recovering the bunker, and managing my own progression, I¡¯d have to split my time carefully between the city and wild to ensure everything kept moving forward and nothing got left behind. Already the pressure of it was weighing on my mind. ¡°No sweat,¡± I told myself as I began formting a n. There were still 24 hours in a day. And I was going to make sure I used every damn one of them. Book 2: Chapter 43 I ARRIVED AT the square to find the ce shrouded in darkness and utter silence. I slowed instinctively, dropping into a martial stance. What the hell¡­? My heart rate climbed as I inched forward. It waste but not thatte. The ce should still be buzzing with activity. People getting dinner and enjoying a drink or smoke after work. Dread crept into the forefront of my mind as I recalled my encounter with Hin Wu and Lo Feng. Had they gotten here ahead of me? Attacked the neighborhood? Perhaps it wasn¡¯t even them. Silver Hawk maybe? I could just about make out forms in the darkness, but I couldn¡¯t tell if they were cultivators poised to attack¡­or bodies. Just as my mind was about to assume the worst, a string of colorful lights illuminated above the square and a hundred-odd people jumped up from behind tables and chairs, screaming in unison.¡°Congrattions!¡± I was rocked back on heels by the sudden flurry of excitement. The entire neighborhood had gathered and began greeting me with apuse and cheers. ¡°Well done, Master Chun!¡± ¡°Congrattions on your victory!¡± ¡°An incredible match!¡± ¡°You make us so proud!¡± Music then kicked off as food and drink began to flow. Yu Li ran from out of the crowd to greet me with a warm hug. ¡°Congrattions, Max! You did it!¡± I was still stunned. ¡°What is all this?¡± ¡°Your victory party,¡± Gui Zu said with a jacked-up smile as he emerged from the crowd behind Yu Li. ¡°She¡¯s been nning this all week in secret. A damn good thing you won, eh?¡± I burst outughing as Yu Li gave me a grin. My head had been full of ns and strategies for how to effectively use my time, but it evaporated in an instant as I was bombarded by friends and neighbors eager to share in my victory. I did my best to return their bows as someone quickly pushed a cup of wine into my hand. ¡°Come on!¡± Yu Li said, dragging me by the arm. ¡°You need to try my new dish. I¡¯m making it just for you!¡± Iughed with nervous apprehension as she seated me at arge table next to Jian Yi and Zu Tien. The two of them gave me polite greetings of their own, with Zu Tien rising from her chair to give me a kowtow upon her knees. ¡°You truly are a worthy sect leader, Master Chun,¡± she said with her face to the ground. ¡°An Iron Bracket winner! Your fame has spread throughout the city!¡± I pulled her back up to her seat and thanked her with a quick embrace that seemed to surprise her. ¡°Thank you, Zu Tien. I couldn¡¯t have done it without you and Gui Zu keeping the sect safe at home.¡± Jian Yi simply gave me a nod. ¡°See. Told you it would be easy. Now you just need to do the same for the Gold Bracket.¡± I nudged her with an elbow as I sat down. Yu Li took center stage donning an apron and chef¡¯s hat as she fired up a wok in front of us. I was then treated to a culinary disy of skill I had no idea Yu Li even possessed as she chopped and tossed ingredients into the wok. There were herbs and spices I didn¡¯t recognize and some sauces that looked more like chemicals than condiments, but it all fused together with an aroma that had my stomach growing. She then unveiled what I assumed was her secret ingredient and added what I immediately recognized as giant mud crab roe from out in the wild. She mixed that all in with egg noodles and then served it up in heaping bowls before us. ¡°Go on!¡± Yu Li said. ¡°Try it!¡± I grabbed my chopsticks and took a huge slurp of the steaming noodles, nearly burning my tongue but it was worth it. The spicy, creamy, crabby sauce coated the noodles perfectly and the vor had my stomach begging for more. I couldn¡¯t cultivate Qi directly, but already I could feel whatever elements she had added to the dish having a positive effect on my body. The wounds I had suffered in the ring would be healed in no time. ¡°This is amazing, Yu Li!¡± I said, raising a chopstick full of noodles to her in salute. ¡°Best noodles I¡¯ve ever had!¡± She beamed with the praise and it warmed my heart to see my sister so self-confident and full of happiness again. She joined us as Gui Zu fed Su Ling the same noodles, causing the toddler to squeal with delight. I enjoyed the rest of the evening surrounded by my family and friends, but after a while I felt something suddenly out of ce. Something that was missing. Fia, I thought. She was the one who had really made my victory possible. I wished that she could be here as well. It drove home the fact that we really dide from two different worlds, but she was willing to leave hers to join mine. And at the moment I would have loved nothing more than to have her by my side enjoying my sister¡¯s cooking. Not that I knew how my sister would even react when she found out that I had fallen in love with her ex-boyfriend¡¯s sister. Theplication of it all was almost enough for me to lose my appetite. So many secrets still being kept. As I sipped on my wine, a new realization hit me. If I truly wanted to make Fia a part of my life, I would need to reveal it all eventually. Not only that, but I would need to build a home equal to the one she would be leaving as well. A home worthy of a royaldy. Not that she cared for all that. Fia was willing to leave all that behind to live a simple life with me, after all. But for her to join my path, I would have to provide her the protection needed to survive in Yee society. And that meant gaining status as well as power. Another goal to aplish, I thought as I knocked back another drink. Part of me wanted to go into nning mode again, but Xi Xha¡¯s wise words echoed in the back of my mind: ¡®You¡¯re always going, going, going. You must make time for yourself too. Else why are you doing any of this at all?¡¯ Absolutely right, I thought. What was the point of winning if I couldn¡¯t at least enjoy life every once and a while? I made a decision to simply take it easy and enjoy the festivities. Tomorrow, after a good rest, I would begin my training in earnest. * * * I woke up early the next day and continued the same routine, meeting with Fia to learn more of the Silver Leaf Arts. She surprised me with a victory celebration of her own, however, jumping into my arms with a long kiss that led to more. After we were done, wey on our backs gazing up at the sky. ¡°I knew you could do it,¡± Fia said with a grin. ¡°That Wi Shen is such a pushover.¡± I almost didn¡¯t want to tell her the whole story, for fear it could lead to even more animosity between them, but it was something I couldn¡¯t keep from her. Not if I wanted to be fully honest with her at the end of the day. ¡°It was Silver Hawk,¡± I said. ¡°Not Wi Shen.¡± Fia sat up on her elbow with her mouth hanging open. ¡°What?¡± I gave her the full story and by the end anger was burning in Fia¡¯s soul. ¡°Those cheating old wenches! I should tell my mother! Expose them!¡± ¡°Hey,¡± I said, easing her back down. ¡°Best to just leave it as is. Just know you have a trump card over them if ever you should need it.¡± Fia harrumphed disappointed. ¡°I suppose. Damn cheaters.¡± ¡°Look, the main thing is that I still won, and it wasn¡¯t from using a trick. You taught me well, Fia. Thank you.¡± She smiled and blushed a little. ¡°Well, there is still a lot more to learn to defeat me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m counting on it,¡± I said, nudging her yfully. ¡°Speaking of which, I have a question.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± she said, switching to her professional mode. ¡°What is it?¡± I¡¯d been thinking of my next true critical path of progression. I was going to learn plenty of fighting skills from sparring with Fia and learning the Phnx ive style from Wong, but my weakness was in my spiritual defense. I recalled a couple of verses from the cultivation manual in my mind¡¯s eye to ensure I referenced the right thing when I asked the question. Core Formation 1st Core Formation 2nd Core Body Refinement 3rd Core Mental Refinement 4th Core Density Refinement 5th Inner Soul Detection 6th Inner Soul Focus 7th Inner Soul Refinement 8th Inner Soul Projection 9th Secondary Soul Germination ¡°You¡¯re reached 6th-Tier Core Realm already, right?¡± I asked. ¡°I have.¡± ¡°So what exactly is Inner Soul Detection and Inner Soul Focus? Does it give you defense to spiritual attacks?¡± ¡°Spiritual attacks?¡± I wondered if perhaps my [Soul Shield] technique was another Berserker-only ability. But Hin Wu seemed to know I was somehow defenseless yet shouldn¡¯t be. Like it was something all Qi cultivators should possess. ¡°When I was fighting that woman Hin Wu, she used a technique that cut right to my soul, a spiritual attack is as best as I can describe it.¡± Fia scrunched her slender brows together, confused for a second, but then raised them with an ah-ha moment. ¡°You mean disruptive techniques.¡± ¡°Disruptive techniques?¡± ¡°Yes, techniques that can disrupt the flow of one¡¯s Qi and attack one¡¯s core directly.¡± I guessed that was the Qi equivalent of snuffing out my me, more or less. ¡°How do you defend against it?¡± ¡°Ites naturally with spiritual refinement,¡± Fia said. ¡°The maturing of one¡¯s spiritual root and Dantian.¡± ¡°How does that rte to the 5th and 6th tier of advancement through the core realm?¡± ¡°5th and 6th tier are preparation for the next realm of advancement. Your inner soul is your true spirit. I suppose naturally progressing to that stage of cultivation helps you develop a defense to others trying to disrupt your Qi.¡± I pondered on that some more. ¡°So you defend against spiritual attacks naturally?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Such attacks are notmon, but the testing of one¡¯s inner strength versus another is always a possibility. It is why internal and physical progression must always be in bnce.¡± She then grinned at me. ¡°It¡¯s easy to tell which side you lean to.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± I perhaps did indeed need to progress further along my cultivation path to unlock the [Soul Shield] technique fully. But for that I needed to understand what Inner Soul Detection and Inner Soul Focus truly meant. At least in a practical sense. And for that there was only one expert to turn to. Mu Lin. I managed to sneak in another visit to her at the library a few dayster, scheduling a short meeting between my training sessions with Fia and Master Wong. Once we were in a quiet part of the library, I showed her what I was trying to achieve in the cultivation manual, but her answer was much the same as before. ¡°Inner focus requires deep meditation,¡± she said. ¡°You need to discover the true you.¡± ¡°What does that even mean?¡± I asked. ¡°Only you can figure that out, Chun.¡± ¡°Yeah, you said that already.¡± She tapped her chin with her forefinger. ¡°Maybe you need to engage some kind of catalyst to help.¡± ¡°A catalyst? Like what? Drugs or something?¡± ¡°No, you idiot,¡± she said. ¡°Like you may need to surround yourself with the embodiment of your elemental focus or spiritual root. Like how an earth master might go to the depths of a mine to find silence and oneness with his core.¡± I thought of that some more and recalled Fia¡¯s silver chair she used to focus on her own cultivation. But if silver obviously worked as a catalyst for the Heavenly Silver Path, what element would be a catalyst for me? Rage? Pain? I certainly encountered both of those when I was under the effect of the Bloodmoon, but I couldn¡¯t really consider those times to focus on developing my inner self. I looked instead to my me. Was this perhaps my inner soul? I could sure enough detect it. Perhaps I was further ahead in my cultivation than I realized. But then something else didn¡¯t ring true. I recalled two sections from the Shuras on the sword. [Spectral Body] ¨C the form of one¡¯s soul is forever being molded, but for it to take true shape, it must first develop a body. Use this technique to both envision and inhabit a spectral body within thy own Core. Tread thou carefully however, for the refection of one¡¯s true inner self is forged not by will, but the history of one¡¯s thoughts and deeds. [Spectral Form] ¨C an advanced manifestation technique, to summon thy Spectral Body into the physical realm. Threja had used [Spectral Form], which ording to the Shuras, was a reflection of her [Spectral Body] which seemed to be the closest thing rtive to the inner soul for Qi Cultivators. But she didn¡¯t appear like some giant incandescent me, so my me couldn¡¯t be my true inner self. Maybe it was just a me borrowed from the true me. The Frenzied me. ¡°I think I know what I need to focus on next,¡± I said as I read through the [Spectral Body] technique once more. It was listed below the [Soul Shield] technique in terms of difficulty but maybe I needed to master it first before I could get [Soul Shield] to work. ¡°It¡¯s a difficult technique, but it might result in a breakthrough if I master it.¡± ¡°Terrific,¡± Mu Lin said. ¡°Just don¡¯t hurt yourself. What are you going to use as a catalyst?¡± I thought on that some more too. If there was one thing that defined my cultivation technique to a single element, it had to be Frenzy. Frenzy was produced from my me, but there was a source of Pure Frenzy that I could try as well. ¡°Thanks for your help, Mu Lin,¡± I said. ¡°I know just where I need to go next.¡± * * * It took me a few more days to get back to the wild, but I had to ensure the trip was worthwhile. I wanted to dash off and meditate under Threja¡¯s sword right after my conversation with Mu Lin, but I kept to my nning and made every hour count. Before leaving, I got the usual supplies of food, medicine, and tools together but this time I added a few books as well. They were children¡¯s books, filled with the basics of learning the Yeenguageplete with pictures. I spent an extra day or two adding my own script to the pages, signifying pronunciation with English letters. When I got back to the bunker, I was thrilled to see a bunch of people joining Kelsey for calisthenics and cultivation practice. There had to be at least thirty of them in total and while Kelsey was the only one with a me, there was no telling if the others could eventually develop true Qi cultivation. Before handing the children¡¯s books off to June, I decided to run them past Jim out of respect. I got the reaction I expected with Jim raising an eyebrow with a harrumph. ¡°More Yee culture?¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to have to trust me on this one, Jim,¡± I said. ¡°There maye a day when we need to blend into Yee society.¡± ¡°Well, you can count me out,¡± he said, tossing the book on his desk. ¡°No way I¡¯m learning that crap.¡± I was about to open my mouth to retort but he quickly cut me off. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll stop you from trying to teach it to anyone else,¡± he said. ¡°I still don¡¯t know if all this is kosher or not, but I can¡¯t argue with results. I¡¯ve seen that girl Kelsey grow from a scrawny kid to someone who can take down a giant buffalo with her bare hands. So that¡¯s something.¡± I grinned like a proud big brother. ¡°That¡¯s my girl.¡± Jim chuckled. ¡°I suppose she is. She says you¡¯ve got a n for clearing out the bunker too? Something to do with that sword?¡± ¡°Absolutely,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll need to strengthen it, but the basic idea is to extend the barrier right down to the bottom floor.¡± Jim nodded. ¡°I see. How soon?¡± I honestly didn¡¯t know. ¡°Before winter is the goal, right?¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t an answer, but yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be done before winter, Jim. I promise.¡± We shook hands on it and I left Jim¡¯s office shuffling yet another priority back to the top of my to-do list. I dropped the books off with June and Susan who were both delighted with the addition to the library. I spent a couple of hours running them through the basics and was indeed surprised by how quickly June picked up on everything. I supposed knowing how othernguages worked in general really helped. Byte afternoon I was finally able to get to what I had been yearning to do for days. I grabbed Threja¡¯s sword, studied the [Spectral Body] technique onest time from the source material to ensure I¡¯d been practicing it correctly and then sat in lotus position with the de across my knees as I peered deep into my inner soul. I sensed my Mental Capacity expanding as Ipartmentalized my thoughts, one eye looking inward while the other was focused on the various meridians through which I circted my Frenzy. I focused on the resonance from Threja¡¯s sword as I did so, allowing it to harmonize with the crystal-like Frenzy sealed within my Dantian. I lost all track of time as my connection to the outside world copsed. A ck void awaited. I focused solely on the technique, willing myself to discover just who I was inside. My [Spectral Body]. The true form of me. I briefly saw my me, but I looked past it to peer deeper. There was darkness there. A quiet space. I looked about myself. I did not know where I was, but it felt the same as when I went inside myself under the effect of the Bloodmoon. A ce between ces. I couldn¡¯t sense myself. Or perhaps, see myself was a better way to describe it. Perhaps this was Inner Soul Detection. As I focused more, I saw something emerging in the darkness. Blue hued and pale. A small figure. As I edged closer to it, details became clear. A mop of shaggy hair that covered a set of eyes that stared at the ground. Slim shoulders that heaved in a sob. It was a little boy. It was me. Eight years old. He couldn¡¯t see me it seemed. My younger self was simply on disy. As if locked in some kind of time loop. Then from behind the boy emerged another figure. Tall, hulking with red-skinned muscle, a jagged face elongated with bestial features and fangs, a set of bull¡¯s horns protruding from the sides of its head. The Demon. This also had to be me, I realized when I saw the facial resemnce. The form I took when I went all out. The Mark of the Beast, Demon, and Giantbined. But if this was the demon inside of me, then was the child version of me¡ª? ¡°The Struggler?¡± I jumped startled at the voice that came from behind me. It was deep yet feminine and when I turned about my heart jumped a second time. ¡°Well, well little brother,¡± said the towering woman standing before me, her grey skin etched with scars. ¡°About time you found a way to speak to me.¡± Book 2: Chapter 44 I COULDN¡¯T BELIEVE what I was seeing. Or who I was seeing was perhaps more urate. ¡°Threja?¡± She chuckled as she folded her arms across her massive chest. ¡°Somewhat, I suppose.¡± I was even more confused. She certainly looked like Threja, or what I could remember of her anyway. Close to nine feet tall, packed full of muscle with unkempt white hair that spilled down her face¡ªa face that was aged and worn yet still beautiful in a way. ¡°I can see you are confused,¡± she said. ¡°I am an embodiment of the Threja you knew. A small sliver of her soul perhaps. A remnant left behind when she gifted me to you.¡± ¡°When she gifted me to you?¡± I said. ¡°Wait¡­ are you?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m Threja¡¯s sword. Or so you keep calling me.¡± I was stupefied for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m talking to Threja¡¯s sword? You¡¯re alive. Like a person?¡± And then suddenly I recalled the times I thought I¡¯d heard Threja¡¯s voice before, right after I had in a giant monster. ¡°Wait was that you trying to talk to me? Right after I killed a monster to strengthen you?¡± She smiled. ¡°Yes, that was me and yes, I am sentient. A person as you say. A relic can be so after a time, or when imbued with one¡¯s spirit.¡± This was literally blowing my mind. ¡°I thought I was just hearing things. Man, you¡¯ve been with me this whole time?¡± ¡°Yes, and I am thankful you recovered me, by the way,¡± she said. ¡°I was beginning to think I would forever be in the hands of that ape after that oaf dumped me down that cliff.¡± ¡°Yeah, sorry about that. Richards was a real dumbass.¡± Sheughed in her deep booming voice. ¡°Yournguage is colorful as always. So amusing.¡± ¡°Threja said the same thing.¡± ¡°As she would. I am a part of her, after all.¡± She suddenlyughed again. ¡°And the things you tell poor Kelsey.¡± I felt strangely self-conscious all of a sudden, remembering everything I¡¯d idly said around her before. ¡°Um¡­ how much can you¡­ like¡­ see and hear?¡± ¡°Observe of the outside world you mean?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I can observe what is close to me, but I can sense to a great degree anything within my area of influence.¡± ¡°Influence? You mean the barrier?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what you call it.¡± ¡°How do you keep the demons out by the way?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I suppose they just dislike me.¡± She then smiled and I wondered if she was joking or not. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m joking.¡± ¡°Wait, you can read my thoughts?¡± ¡°You are thought right now.¡± Holy shit, was I? ¡°Yes.¡± I realized I still couldn¡¯t see myself. Yet, behind me was my younger self and the demon. ¡°What are those things exactly, do you know?¡± ¡°They are the embodiment of your soul. The Struggler and the Demon. You refer to them as such often. They are your helpers in times of need.¡± ¡°And where is this ce exactly?¡± ¡°We are within your soul. A spiritual realm. Or a manifestation of one. Spiritual things can manifest themselves here. Hence why I am here.¡± I thought for a moment about the technique I had used. ¡°So my use of the [Spectral Body] technique created them?¡± ¡°It would seem.¡± I mentally furrowed my non-existent brow. ¡°Does this mean my soul is split?¡± ¡°Your soul is you,¡± she said, pointing at me. She then gestured to the Struggler and the Demon. ¡°But your embodiment of it appears to be split yes.¡± ¡°I see,¡± I said. ¡°Was Threja¡¯s soul split like this too?¡± ¡°At one time, I believe, early on. Like her, you must progress tobine your fractured spirit. Right now, you may possess one or the other. But true harmonyes with reconciliation. A house divided cannot stand, after all.¡± ¡°How do I even do that?¡± She smiled. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know. I¡¯m merely a sword.¡± I chuckled. This sword was kind of a smartass. ¡°That I am,¡± she said with another grin. ¡°So do you have Threja¡¯s memories? Know what became of her?¡± ¡°I have some. Those she wished to bestow to you. But I do not know what has be of her unfortunately.¡± I once again hoped she had ascended. ¡°Me as well,¡± she said. ¡°So what can I learn from you?¡± I asked. ¡°Can you help me with my spiritual progression?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t I already? How many times have I cleansed your me now?¡± I felt suddenly embarrassed. ¡°Is that¡­ unpleasant for you?¡± ¡°Perhaps more so for you than me. But fear not. I am at your service. In all things.¡± ¡°What about the [Soul Shield] technique, can you help me with that?¡± ¡°I can only teach you what was etched into the sword. I can only tell you what to do not how to do it.¡± ¡°Got it. You know anything about I¡¯xol¡¯ukz the Dark Frenzy god?¡± ¡°Only as much as you know, now that you have shared your thoughts.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°I was hoping for another breakthrough of insight.¡± ¡°You already know what you must do for that,¡± she said. ¡°Confront the gate. Meet the monster head on.¡± ¡°Yes, I know, but I need the [Soul Shield] technique to even attempt that.¡± ¡°You may perhaps need more than that,¡± she said. ¡°[Spectral Armor] and [Spectral Weapon] would be helpful too.¡± ¡°I can use those already?¡± She nodded to my two doppelgangers. ¡°When you are able to find bnce and harmony perhaps.¡± It seemed everything was boiling down to reconciling this imbnce in my soul. But what was it exactly? The Struggler and Demon still needed to exist, didn¡¯t they? ¡°I know not,¡± the woman said, reading my thoughts again. ¡°I know only that Threja at some point merged the Struggler with the Demon. But she was nearly ascended. Perhaps such a step is still far beyond you right now.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t getting the answers I needed, but the sword could probably still answer some things I was curious about. ¡°What about increasing the barrier, your influence. That reallyes from killing monsters right?¡± ¡°From killing anything really,¡± she said, grinning. ¡°But the stronger they are, the more I can grow.¡± ¡°So big monsters then.¡± She smiled. ¡°Yes, as you already figured out. Big monsters, Max.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Are you able to get strong enough for your barrier to reach the bottom of the bunker?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible as you¡¯ve already presumed,¡± she said. ¡°But to prate solid ground is difficult. I will need to be much stronger than I am now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve got a n. I¡¯ve been taking lessons on how to wield you properly.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Thank the heavens. I was fearing Threja had made a huge mistake with you.¡± ¡°Hey, I wasn¡¯t that bad.¡± ¡°Ask Kelsey,¡± she said. ¡°You were bad. And still are bad in my opinion, until you prove differently.¡± Iughed. ¡°Hey, what should I call you anyway? Calling you Threja¡¯s sword doesn¡¯t seem appropriate anymore. Do you even have a name?¡± ¡°I do,¡± she said. ¡°But to know a weapon¡¯s true name is to wield great power. You must discover it on your own.¡± ¡°My own?¡± ¡°Fear not,¡± she said with a wink. ¡°I am certain it will soon be within your grasp. Now we should return to the world of the living. It will be dark soon and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll wish to taint your soul again with Dark Frenzy to cultivate your spiritual path.¡± ¡°Has it been that long?¡± ¡°Time can flow differently in this realm. A minute for a day or a day for a minute.¡± She suddenly looked over her shoulder. ¡°Kelsey is calling you.¡± My true eyes opened and I found myself back in the real world again. It was dusk and Kelsey was indeed there, peering into my face. ¡°Geeze!¡± she said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you were ever going to wake up. Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine,¡± I said and noted Threja¡¯s sword was still in myp. No, not Threja¡¯s sword, I thought. What was her name? I remembered that wink. Soon to be in my grasp¡­? I studied the massive grip of the sword and felt along its coarse surface. Then like reading one of Fia¡¯s secret messages, I felt an engraving. It was written phically, not a true Yee word at all. Venja¡­ As I thought the words, her voice sounded in my head. ¡°Well done, little brother¡­¡± I felt something open up inside of me as a connection was made. The resonance with the sword seemed to intensify. Can I alwaysmunicate with you like this now? I thought. ¡°Yes,¡± Venja said in reply. ¡°So long as I am in your hand.¡± Cool! ¡°What are you grinning about?¡± Kelsey asked, looking at me like I was an idiot. ¡°Nothing,¡± I said. ¡°Just made a new friend inside my head.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Come on,¡± I said as I ced Venja back in her spot amidst the concrete. ¡°I need to get in some more Bloodmoon cultivation and then tomorrow morning, we¡¯re going to hunt some monsters.¡± * * * Discovering Venja was like a breath of fresh air when it came to cultivating. My exposure to the Bloodmoon took on a whole new meaning. I felt morefortable in that space between spaces when the Bloodmoon took control, knowing what it actually was now. A spiritual state where the unseen could be manifested. I still couldn¡¯t trigger the [Soul Shield] technique for long, but my duration for keeping the full demon at bay had increased. I imagined my eight-year-old self holding back that giant demon in my mind¡¯s eye and realized that just like the Shuras said, my powers truly were limited by the strength of the Struggler not the Demon. Perhaps that¡¯s what I needed to focus on more to bnce my inner soul. The cleansing of my me afterwards was also quite a different experience, with me having to endure heavy sighs and snippets of snarky ridicule from Venja as she performed the spiritual equivalent of wiping my ass¡ªor so she described. I promised to make it up to her in the morning and true to my word, Kelsey and I headed out into the wild to hunt big game. We tracked down a B-ss spirit beast, using Venja to help detect it through her barrier. It was a giant bird that looked like a vulture with antlers, a Peryton ording to my handler¡¯s manual. I told Kelsey to hang back while I put my Iron Pot Wong lessons to the test. I still wasn¡¯t skilled enough to use the axe and sword at the same time, but I doubled down on the sword and wielded Venja with both hands. I went through the basic forms Wong had painstakingly taught me, keeping my bnce perfectly as I shed and cleaved with the giant weapon. I got disturbing little oo¡¯s and ah¡¯s from Venja as I did so, but I couldn¡¯t tell if she was actually enjoying things or simply trolling me again. Fighting the giant bird, my lessons from Fia were less helpful, but her instruction on correcting my basic forms now came naturally and I could sense the difference as I sped around the creature, avoiding its beak and ws with movement so fast I was nearly [sh Stepping]. I nailed the creature with a giant cleave to its side, spilling blood and followed through with a shoulder tackle to its head, staggering it. ¡°Hit it now, Kelsey!¡± I shouted and tossed her my axe. She snatched it out of the air mid throw and used the momentum tond a wless [Three Log Chop] on the beast¡¯s back. It screeched and pped about in pain as Kelsey hung on to the axe handle, riding it like a bucking bull. I used the distraction to close in and spun with a wild horizontal swing, decapitating the giant bird in a single chop. I felt Venja shudder with what sounded like delight as she absorbed the monster¡¯s essence. ¡°That was nice,¡± she said. ¡°And you have improved. Well done, Max.¡± I took the praise along with the free Frenzy triggered from my [Bloodlust]. Using Venja to track down spirit beasts was so efficient that we had time to bag an awakened C-ss bear before having to head back to the bunker for the night. I spent more time meditating in my own head before cultivating more Bloodmoon essence at night. After another conversation with Venja, I asked if it was okay for me to tell Kelsey about her and she agreed. Kelsey thought I was a whole new kind of crazy at first, but epted I wasn¡¯t just talking to an imaginary friend once I set up a little experiment to prove it to her. I had Kelsey speak next to Venja while I was in the bunker and then repeated every word she had said once I came back outside. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Kelsey said as her eyes grew wide with wonder. ¡°This is for real? I¡¯m totally jealous! When can I see her like you can?¡± ¡°She¡¯s not sure,¡± I said, repeating Venja¡¯s answer to me. ¡°When you get strong enough maybe?¡± ¡°Well let¡¯s get to it then,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°We still need to get this bunker cleared and I need to get stronger before tackling that space monster head on.¡± * * * The next few days went by with even more growth and discovery. I spent time teaching Yee lessons with Susan and June and also re-teaching Kelsey her basic axe forms thanks to my new insights from Fia. After dinner I¡¯d have deep fireside conversation with Jim about the intricacies of war. Martialbat was an entirely different thing, but learning about tactics fascinated me. Troop movements, supply chains, logistics. It seems like tools from another era, but who knew what might be useful in the future. Every chance I wasn¡¯t killing giant spirit beasts with Kelsey, I was deep inside my own head talking to Venja. I learned more about her time with Threja, time spent on distant worlds fighting hordes of unknown things. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sentient then,¡± she told me. ¡°I only became so when Threja inscribed me with the Shuras to pass on to you. But I do recall some experiences. Like faded memories I can¡¯t quite recall.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too bad,¡± I said. ¡°I really wanted to know more about what she was like. Her past.¡± ¡°Perhaps you¡¯ll get the chance to ask her yourself one day,¡± Venja said. ¡°When you too ascend to the heavens.¡± I chuckled at that. ¡°Sounds a long time away. But I hope so.¡± I kept my meditation and training up day after day and with Venja¡¯s help and guidance, I discovered I was able to finally enter the body of my younger self. It was yet another surreal experience. I could sense the old memory of loss as fresh as when I lost my parents twelve years ago. At first it was almost too much to bear, but as I practiced each day, I found I was able to quell my emotions more and more. I didn¡¯t dare try entering the demon however, and Venja agreed it was likely not a good idea. I stuck to my younger self and after a while I found I could control my emotions somewhat. Instead of thinking of my parents, I thought of Yu Li and in an instant my body began to change, morphing from an eight-year-old me and edging closer to my present age. After a week the transformation wasplete, and I then began focusing on the people in the bunker and all those depending on me and slowly the body of my inner soul began changing yet again. I grew stronger, closer to what I looked like in real life, but not quite. In my [Spectral Body] I found I was also able to interact physically with Venja, like we were two people trapped in some alternate ne of existence. I found she was also as skilled with using a Phnx ive as Threja was. Which made sense since she literally was one. Venja manifested her physical self in her hands and I practiced my forms with her. Using that space within space, I quadrupled my time to practice, increasing the productivity of my stay in the wild even further. It was literally like living a second life inside myself. I had all the same abilities and skills. I grew tired of facing Venja hand to hand and studied the [Spectral Weapon] and [Spectral Armor] techniques to see if I could do the same as her. Within a week I could manifest both my axe and Phnx ive. My armor took a bit longer and took on a form I didn¡¯t expect. It was simr to my [Iron Lightning] technique, save the arcs of lightning were more subtle and sustained. But it all felt like a simtion though. As soon as I attempted the same techniques in the real world, I could scarcely reproduce any of them. ¡°Is any of this even real?¡± I asked Venja after another failed attempt to evoke the [Soul Shield] technique. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m just making all this stuff up inside my own head.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Perhaps. I have no experience with this. But I¡¯m not in your head, not permanently and I can see you growing. So something is changing.¡± Her words encouraged me and I kept at it. By the end of the month the Demon looked at my newly transformed Struggler self and gave me a solid nod of approval. I was looking closer to my true self, beard, scars and all. The Demon acknowledging me was also a bizarre but wee form of affirmation. It was just me affirming me, after all. But it also made sense, I guessed. The greater the struggle, the stronger the Struggler had to be to ovee the demon. This had to be true progression, I thought. ¡°I agree,¡± Venja said as she stood next to me in her spectral form. ¡°How far will you take this?¡± I thought of Fia next and all the burdens I still had left to resolve with her and her family. ¡°As far as I can take it,¡± I said. ¡°I have just over two months left before my next match, and I need to figure this all out before then.¡± Despite all my advancement I still couldn¡¯t perform the [Soul Shield] technique in my true body. Every night when I faced I¡¯xol¡¯ukz, the god of Dark Frenzy, I could maintain only a flicker of [Soul Shield]. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why it¡¯s not working,¡± I said. ¡°In this body I can do everything just fine. More than fine really.¡± I focused on my meridians, cycling my Frenzy and instantly I engaged the [Soul Shield] technique and felt it wrap solidly around my me. I manifested my axe and ive next using my [Spectral Weapon] and my permanent [Iron Lightning] using [Spectral Armor]. I went through a couple of forms using both my axe and ive, executing the dual weapon technique I had slowly been perfecting inside my own head. I could perform the maneuvers more smoothly now, but still not quite at mastery level. ¡°I just don¡¯t get it,¡± I said. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m making progress, but nothing is really being confirmed in real life.¡± I then sighed. ¡°I wonder if I¡¯m just wasting my time in here.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± Venja crossed her arms forcefully, her brows diving into a scowl. ¡°So you consider all the weeks I¡¯ve spent with you to be a waste of time?¡± ¡°What?¡± I looked up at the fierce Amazonian warrior with anger filling her te-gray eyes. ¡°The countless hours of training?¡± she shouted, growing angrier. ¡°Wiping your ass each time you visit the Bloodmoon? You think that is entertaining for me?¡± ¡°No, Venja, please,¡± I said quickly. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that. I love spending time with you. You¡¯ve been like the mentor I never ha¡ª¡± I then stopped short as a grin spread across her lips and she let out a deep bellyugh. ¡°Thanks,¡± she said with a wink. ¡°I just wanted to hear you say it.¡± I rolled my eyes as she continued tough. ¡°Man, you are the worst troll, I swear,¡± I said, shaking my head, but couldn¡¯t help butugh along with her. ¡°I wonder if Threja is like you?¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± she said with a shrug of herrge shoulders. ¡°I am a part of her soul, after all. A bit younger and more yful maybe.¡± ¡°But you get what I mean, don¡¯t you?¡± I said, bing serious again. ¡°I just don¡¯t know if I¡¯m truly progressing. Like this all could be fake or something. Like my mind is fulfilling my own wishes in a fantasy.¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know,¡± Venja said, resting her hand on my shoulder. ¡°But give it time. Threja had faith in you and so do I. You have a very strong spirit, and your growth has been exceptional. Faster than Threja even.¡± ¡°Really?¡± She nodded. ¡°Threja came to your world because the empire boasted of it as a realm for quick advancement. I think you are proof of that.¡± I smiled at thepliment. ¡°Thanks, Venja.¡± ¡°Come now,¡± she said, manifesting her physical form in her hand, the phnx ive appearing almost like a normal sword against herrge frame. ¡°Let us spar again. I will let you know when you are truly getting better.¡± I grinned at her bravado and readied my axe and ive. ¡°Bring it.¡± We charged at one another and for the umpteenth time did battle tooth and nail within the confines of my own mind. I still didn¡¯t know if any of it was real. If I was truly progressing or if this was all some borate form of mental masturbation that was getting me nowhere. But as I crossed swords with Venja I couldn¡¯t deny one thing. I was enjoying the hell out of it all the same. Book 2: Chapter 45 A LIGHT FLURRY of snow wafted across the rippling surface of theke. I maintained my form, Phnx ive resting solidly upon my right shoulder with my axe held low in my left hand. My breath frosted in the frigid morning air, a slow exhale as to not make a sound. It was not to mask my presence however, but rather to not cloud my hearing to detect someone else¡¯s. I sensed the attack before I even saw it. Three jian des stabbing the air. I shifted and parried all three attacks with my axe. I still hadn¡¯t seen Fia yet, but I started swinging my ive already, twisting at the hips. By mid-swing I finally saw her, circling to my rear as expected to follow up on her initial attack. I hopped backwards to reposition myself while still swinging and then brought the de crashing down a half foot in front of her, spraying her with beach sand. She coughed and sputtered, shielded her face from the debris. ¡°Nine hells! How are you so urate with that big clumsy thing?¡± I grinned as I hefted the Phnx ive back onto my shoulder, feeling like Iron Pot Wong atop the practice wheel with Fia turning the crank. ¡°Practice,¡± I told her. ¡°Lots of practice.¡±I¡¯d had over three months of it now, visiting Wong on a regr basis and not to mention practicing with Venja each day. It had not really hit until now, but I supposed I¡¯d essentially been trained by both Wong and Threja herself. My progress had allowed me to not only master the Phnx ive but to advance to the point ofbining it with my axe techniques, making me able to use them in a series of differentbos that mixed the quick attacks with the slow. The frustration on Fia¡¯s face was confirmation that it was working. She red at me for what had to be the tenth time today. ¡°I¡¯m not liking this new style of yours. We still have six months to prepare for our duel and I fear you might be good enough to best me already.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡± She harrumphed yfully. ¡°Not for my ego. How are you mastering these things so quickly? Do you train with someone else when you go on these breaks of yours? It¡¯d better not be with one of my cousins!¡± Iughed. ¡°Only Wong and a big sword, I promise,¡± I told her truthfully. It¡¯d been two months since I discovered Venja and I took every opportunity to spar with her in the spiritual realm when I made my week-long visits to the wild. Within the extended time of that ce, I had perhaps put in nearly a year¡¯s worth of training. Even when back home in the city I utilized my meditation technique to increase the number of hours in a day. I practiced my forms solo, read, contemted, even developed mastery of new techniques like [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core]. And in time, I found it did indeed all transfer to reality. My progression to being able to best Fia today was proof of that. But even though I felt as if nearly a year had passed inside my own head, there was still somethingcking. ¡°Hit me with it, Fia,¡± I said. ¡°I need to test it onest time.¡± ¡°Are you certain? Your opening Gold Bracket match is tonight, isn¡¯t it? Do you really want to risk it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I need to,¡± I said. ¡°Just to be sure I know where I stand.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go easy then,¡± she said, lifting into the air as she readied her technique. Rusted leaves and light snow swirled as she gathered her Qi with her three jian des forming a triangle behind her back. She thrusted both palms in front of her, one on top of the other, and a brilliant white light streamed from between her fingers. ¡°[Eighth Heaven! Radiant Soul Strike]!¡± I braced myself as the light hit my body, and I triggered the [Soul Shield] technique in defense. The light prated straight through to my me and the brief flicker of the [Soul Shield] technique repelled it for a moment. Come on! I urged as I pushed with more Frenzy, bolstering the technique. It held firm, a small octagonal frame illuminating itself as Fia¡¯s technique pushed back against it. And then suddenly it flickered and was gone. Damn it! Pain ripped through my soul as the light shot through my me, zapping my strength as my inner ze was nearly snuffed out. I fell to my knees and Fia stopped the attack immediately, rushing to my side. ¡°Max! Are you alright? How bad did I hurt you?¡± ¡°Bad enough,¡± I wheezed as my me slowly recovered. ¡°Still can¡¯t defend myself¡­¡± She frowned at me sympathetically. ¡°Perhaps you need not worry so much. Employing disruptive techniques is not amon strategy for most cultivators, especially in tournament matches. The matching is so close, people are just as likely to be able to defend against such an attack, which could leave you vulnerable. It¡¯s something most would only do when they are certain they are much stronger than their opponent.¡± I huffed out a sigh. ¡°Yeah exactly. Like that damn Hin Wu.¡± Fia frowned again. ¡°You perhaps worry about her too much also. My shadows haven¡¯t even seen her for weeks now.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Perhaps she has gone back to where she came from. It would make sense actually, considering they are going to lose to us in court in a few days.¡± ¡°Lose to you in court?¡± ¡°Some sect rivalry matters,¡± she said. ¡°I realize being within the Furious Lightning Sect, you are technically still a part of the Fire Birds so I didn¡¯t want to bring it up.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Trust me. I don¡¯t identify with them beyond the paperwork.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to know.¡± Fia then shook her head as she let out a scoff. ¡°The Fire Birds are forever attacking my family because of my father¡¯s position as Vice Warden. It¡¯s one of the reasons I¡¯d love to leave all this behind and run away with you, Max. So much trivial conflict all the time.¡± I pondered on what she said and saw another glimpse into her world. A world where one would be constantly under attack from rivals, not just physically but politically. And Fia clearly had no interest in any of it. If I wanted her to join my family, then I¡¯d have to not just have the strength but also the status to protect her. And being a Fire Bird was a bigplication to that. ¡°I¡¯d love to run away with you as well,¡± I said truthfully. ¡°But you know I can¡¯t do that, right?¡± ¡°I know,¡± she said with a sigh. ¡°So you¡¯ve said.¡± ¡°But I will do something.¡± She looked up at me quizzically. ¡°I will protect you when the timees. When I make you my wife, no one will dare challenge us as a family. I promise you this.¡± ¡°But how? You¡¯re still a Fire Bird. I don¡¯t even know what that would mean to our ns.¡± ¡°I know,¡± I said. ¡°But winning this fight tonight will be the start of it. I¡¯ll climb the ranks as high as I need to, to protect my true sect and you. I¡¯ll start my own martial sect if I have to.¡± Fiaughed. ¡°That¡¯s impossible, Max.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Some would perhaps say the same for a dumbass Terran like me ending up with a Silver Leaf Lady like you. Yet¡­here we are.¡± I grinned and she swatted at me yfully. ¡°Nothing truly bothers you when ites to all this, does it? It¡¯s like the rules of society mean nothing to you.¡± ¡°I guess when you¡¯ve seen the rules of one society shredded by another, they just don¡¯t mean as much anymore. Rules can change. It all just depends on who is in charge.¡± Fia looked downward sheepishly, no doubt drawing the connection to my own world being conquered by the Yee. It wasn¡¯t her fault though. I decided to change the subject and walked over to the pack I had brought. ¡°Enough depression for today,¡± I said. ¡°My sister made us lunch.¡± ¡°Your sister?¡± Fia said. ¡°You have told her about us?¡± I nearly put my foot in my mouth. ¡°Ah¡­ not exactly. I told her I¡¯d needed to eat for two today to keep up my strength for the fight tonight.¡± Fia smiled. ¡°I would like to meet your family one day.¡± ¡°You will,¡± I said as I measured out two bowls of the same crab roe noodles Yu Li had cooked for me before. ¡°Although it might be a bit awkward. Your brother knows my sister quite well, after all.¡± Fiaughed and then let out a sigh. ¡°Heavens, how could I have forgotten. There are so many obstacles between us, Max. How do we ovee this?¡± I took a slurp of the noodles and already felt my me feeling better. ¡°Just take them on one at a time. It won¡¯t be easy, but we¡¯ll ovee them.¡± I then smiled at her as I caressed her hand. ¡°The prize at the end will be worth it to me.¡± Fia blushed deeply and then hid it by burying her face in the bowl of noodles. After a few slurps her eyes went wide. ¡°Your sister is an incredible cook. Are these noodles infused with Qi?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡± ¡°They are amazing. It is perhaps no wonder my brother was after her.¡± I grinned. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think he was after her for her noodles, if you know what I mean.¡± Fiaughed again. ¡°Actually, where is Hein? I haven¡¯t seen or heard from him at all. Although he still sends Yu Li her money every month without fail.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Fia said, as if suddenly remembering he was locked in the car or something. ¡°My father sent him off. To a military academy. He said he was too pampered and needed to learn how to be a real man.¡± ¡°Wow, no shit?¡± Iughed visualizing the great Young Master Hein reduced to a lowly grunt. ¡°It wasn¡¯t the Legionnaires Academy, was it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be mad. He wouldn¡¯t even qualify for that much less survive.¡± ¡°Yeah, probably not,¡± I said, downing another slurp of noodles. But perhaps to reach my true goals, surviving that academy might be something I would need to face eventually. A status like that would trump everything. Even a warden. We enjoyed the rest of the meal with lighter talk¡ªdreams of being able to live peaceably together, to be with one another in the open and not in secret. All of it only reinforced the difficult path thaty ahead if I wanted to truly have a future with Fia. No, not have. Make. If I wanted to provide Fia the future she deserved as well as fulfil my own path, I would need to put in the work to do it. And that meant forging my own path to prestige and sess in a society that would despise us from the start. ¡°Good luck tonight,¡± Fia said as she gave me a kiss. ¡°When you win this match, you¡¯ll officially be ahead of me in advancement. I¡¯m still yet to enter the Gold Bracket.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ll never have to,¡± I said, brushing her cheek. ¡°Not while I¡¯m around.¡± The cultivator in her squinted in offense, but the woman in her swooned with lemonade. ¡°I¡¯m not some defenseless maiden, you know.¡± I bopped her on the nose. ¡°I said ¡®have to¡¯ not ¡®want to¡¯. If you ¡®want to¡¯, that¡¯s a different conversation entirely.¡± Sheughed then and embraced me in a warm hug. ¡°I love you, Max. Please marry me soon.¡± I squeezed her tightly. ¡°I¡¯m working on it. Trust me.¡± * * * I stopped by the square on my way to the arena to have ast-minute check in with Jian Yi and Gui Zu. The apartment block was nearlypleted now thanks to all the silver I was bringing in from ying monsters and gathering their cores from out in the wild. Artisans from the Loyal Prosperity Sect were now putting the finishing touches on the building, installing roof tes and adding decorative dragons on the awnings. Jian Yi pointed out these details to me as we stood together in the main courtyard where the tent city was now slowly being dismantled as families moved inside. ¡°The Loyal Prosperity sect have lived up to their contract,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Only problem now is that all the other buildings want to get upgraded the same.¡± I chuckled. ¡°No doubt.¡± ¡°It can be a reality,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°You¡¯ve brought in so much money from the cores as well as from attracting more sect members due to you winning the Iron Bracket Tournament that building even three or four new buildings is possible.¡± Jian Yi showed me her ledger with thetest figures. Sect Finances (In Taels of Silver) Intake Less Imperial Fee Total 1.25 1 Members 12432 15540 (12432) 3108 Taels Core Sales 4543 Taels Building Costs -1500 Taels Bnce 6151 Taels D Block Rents Monthly Rent Maintenance & Admin Apartments Filled 97 0.5 (0.1) 38.8 Apartments Vacant 3 (0.1) -0.3 38.5 Taels per month ¡°Holy crap,¡± I said. ¡°Over 6000 Taels in cash? Maybe we should look at revitalizing the rest of the Native Housing District with this.¡± ¡°We¡¯d need ownership first,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°With your permission I could look into contacting the adjacentndowners to see if they are interested in selling.¡± ¡°I doubt it,¡± I said. ¡°Remember I had to literally beat Li Fet into submission to hand over the ownership of D Block.¡± Looking again at the figures I spied the huge amount we were paying in imperial taxes. Over 12000 Taels and that was over and above the additional fees we had to pay to expand the n limit past 1000. Just like the stories from my history books, it was a reminder that our imperial oppression was economic as well as social and physical. Jian Yi shrugged. ¡°You might be surprised. Our sess is an affront to many of our neighbors, but your notoriety keeps them fromshing out directly. Offering a good price might be just the out use they¡¯re looking for to be away from us ¡®troublesome¡¯ Terrans.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I like how you think, barrister.¡± Jian Yi smiled at her official title. Since graduating with her license a month ago, she had begun wearing a small rectangr hat now along with a purple-trimmed robe to signify her new designation. Like Yu Li, she had been diligently practicing her craft and her ability to lead the sect in my absence had proven herpetence over and over again. ¡°You¡¯ve done well, Jian Yi. Thank you for all of this. The building especially.¡± She nodded. ¡°No problem. It¡¯ll be done just in time for winter too.¡± My heart grew suddenly heavy. ¡°I wish I could say the same for the bunker out in the wild.¡± Jian Yi raised a brow. ¡°Oh? Things not going well there?¡± ¡°Not well enough, I¡¯d say.¡± I¡¯d been killing monsters non-stop for thest three months and had increased Venja¡¯s barrier by nearly a mile. But it still couldn¡¯t prate to thest two floors of theplex yet. ¡°Winter¡¯s rolling in and they still don¡¯t have a proper shelter,¡± I said. ¡°Perhaps they need toe here.¡± I sighed. ¡°We¡¯d need to build another building for them for sure then. But honestly, we¡¯re still not strong enough as a sect for that yet. They¡¯ve only just begun learning Yee. They wouldn¡¯t be able to integrate. My only hope now might be to destroy the gate sooner thanter.¡± ¡°What gate?¡± I hadn¡¯t burdened Jian Yi and the rest of the team with the intricacies of the Bloodmoon and I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. They had enough to worry about running the sect without knowing there was a cosmic force known as Dark Frenzy that was looking to take over the entire. ¡°It¡¯s where we think the demons areing from,¡± I said, keeping it simple. ¡°I had blocked the path they were using to enter the bunker, but they broke through it about a month ago. Now the bottom two floors are flooded with demons.¡± ¡°That sounds bad.¡± ¡°It is.¡± Myst conversation with Kelsey and Jim was a desperate one. ¡°It¡¯ll be a couple of weeks tops before people start freezing out here,¡± Jim had said. ¡°With those things broken through to the basement, we can¡¯t trust being able to survive the winter being locked in there with them.¡± After that I spoke with Venja to see what we could do. I tried moving her to the middle of the bunker and while that did work to drive the demons on the lower floors temporarily back into the tunnel, it left the surface without any protection at all. That would mean the loss of the fields, the wall, and everything we¡¯d built thus far. Not to mention the demons could then start hammering away from the top side as well as the bottom, eventually sandwiching themunity inside the bunker and turning it into a tomb. ¡°Ast resort at best,¡± Jim said. ¡°You promised by winter, Max. We need a solution.¡± Those words stuck with me and still haunted me now. ¡°I really need to master this [Soul Shield] technique,¡± I said to Jian Yi. ¡°So much is counting on it now, it¡¯s not funny.¡± ¡°I have faith in you, brother,¡± a voice suddenly said from behind, and I looked over my shoulder to see Gui Zu along with Yu Li and Zu Tien. They all greeted me with short bows and I returned them with a smile, especially when I saw little Su Ling stumbling along behind them on shaky little legs. ¡°Thanks, Gui Zu,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m hoping for a breakthrough in more ways than one right now.¡± ¡°It wille, master,¡± Zu Tien said. ¡°Your progression has inspired us all. If anyone can reach a new height of advancement, it¡¯s you.¡± I smiled at her as Yu Li gave me a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll keep feeding you my special meals until it happens,¡± she said. ¡°Now stop focusing on what you haven¡¯t achieved yet and focus on what you can achieve. Go get ready for your Gold Bracket match. We couldn¡¯t all afford tickets, but we¡¯ll be with you in spirit.¡± I huffed out augh. ¡°What? That big bank ount and none of you areing?¡± ¡°We already know what¡¯s going to happen,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°When youe back a winner, we¡¯ll celebrate again.¡± Iughed at that as they all wished me good luck. An hourter, after gearing up, I set off for the arena as the sun was setting low. It was time to enter the Gold Bracket League, but despite all the well wishes and votes of confidence, I knew there was far more than simply winning a tournament match at stake now. My future with Fia depended on it. As did the lives of everyone left out in the wild. Me failing tonight would mean failure for them all. Three months of preparation, I thought. No¡­ four times that considering my time spent with Venja. I had a year¡¯s worth of growth to put to the test tonight and would be up against stiffpetition to do so. Tonight, it was time to seed and shine. Book 2: Chapter 46 ONE LOOK AT the crowd outside the arena and I understood why no one from the block wasing to cheer me on. Where there were once long lines of locals andmoners, there were now queues of hovering skiffs waiting patiently to discharge their passengers at the front of the arena valet style. Inside the prep area was no different, with cultivators arriving with whole teams of attendants and support personnel, from people carrying their weapons and armor, to beauticians and tailors tending to makeup and robes. I immediately felt out of ce, hauling my covered Phnx ive over my shoulder with my axe strapped to my back. I got a fleeting nce or two from some of the cultivators who perhaps recognized me, but most looked from off-world, people I was more used to seeing in my old job as a handler than here in the ring. Some preliminary match was already underway and was being disyed on the billboard behind the service counter. I watched as the cultivators fought, mesmerized to see exactly what the next level looked like. The cultivators were both airborne and shing with lightning-quick exchanges and ranged Qi attacks. A cold lump formed in my throat as I suddenly felt as inept as Fia¡¯s three dumbass cousins. What the hell was I going to do against people who could fly? Fia and I had practiced some of that, but aerial superiority was something I still didn¡¯t have a solution for. She had eventually won every time. Ah to hell with, I thought. Fly or no fly, I¡¯ll figure something out. Something mmed into my shoulder, stirring me out of my thoughts and I came face to face with a long-eared cultivator I¡¯d never seen before. His entourage ofckeys immediately surrounded him, as if I were the one who had just bumped into him or something. ¡°Out of the way!¡± one of theckeys shouted at me. ¡°Can¡¯t you see you¡¯re in the way of apetitor? Go catch up to your master or whoever the hell you¡¯re with.¡±I paused dumbfounded for a moment and then burst outughing. I guessed I looked so shittypared to the rest of them he figured me for a porter. ¡°What¡¯s so damn funny? You softheaded or something?¡± I merely sighed. ¡°Once a handler always a handler, I guess,¡± I said more to myself than to him, ignoring them all with a straightforward stare of [Indifference]. The guy must have taken it as an insult against him however and took a swing at me as I walked past. ¡°Rude little bastar¡ªAhhh!!¡± I didn¡¯t duck or flinch, instead letting his knuckles hit my jaw as I concentrated my [Steel Skin] technique in the spot where his fistnded. By the force of his hit, I pegged him for a low-tier Foundation Realm cultivator with basic martial training. Rat shitpared to where I was now, but enough to nearly break his own wrist when punched me. He danced around shaking his hand as he cursed and screamed. I nced back at the cultivator. ¡°A thousand apologies. I seem to have broken your porter¡¯s hand with my face. I¡¯ll be sure to steer clear of his fist so that it doesn¡¯t happen again.¡± I walked on, cultivating the anger and resentment spewing from the porter and cultivator alike. The cultivator then turned his wrath on the porter, chastising him for embarrassing the Blue River n or some shit. I suppressed augh as I approached the counter and was happy to see the familiar face of Master Bo Ren there. I waited patiently while he served another cultivator and then drew his attention with a wave. ¡°So he finally shows up!¡± Bo Ren said with augh. ¡°Making my job damn hard, you are.¡± ¡°Yeah, I was pushing it to thest second, I know,¡± I said. ¡°How¡¯s the field looking?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ve missed a week and a half thus far,¡± he said, manipting a device on the counter to change the feed on the disy. ¡°But I was able to keep your lucky number of 93 as a starter position. A good deal of the lower matches have taken ce already though, so I couldn¡¯t give you an ideal match-up.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± I said. ¡°I knew the risks. Tell me what you got.¡± Bo Ren scrolled down to the bottom of the ranks until he came to my fight. Rank Name Sect Affiliation Aspect Element Cultivation Realm and Tier Current Standing 92 Li Gong Qui Frozen Cloud Sect Ice Core 6th 92 93 The Iron Bull Furious Lightning Sect Lightning Core 5th 93 I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes. ¡°Holy crap, are you serious? Li Gong Qui!?¡± ¡°Oh, you know him?¡± Iughed. ¡°Kind of. Oh man, what kind of fate is this?¡± ¡°They say he¡¯s pretty formidable in the Qi department. The Untouchable Ice King they call him.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can imagine.¡± I recalled my excursion with him as a handler out in the wild. He was a clueless, egotistical dumbass, but he was indeed powerful. When we fought that B-ss smander, he was able to do tons of damage to it with his Ice Techniques. I¡¯d progressed a long way since that time, of course, but surely he had progressed as well. ¡°What are the odds looking like?¡± Bo Ren checked. ¡°16 to 5 in his favor.¡± ¡°Damn that bad?¡± ¡°Well, he¡¯s a tier higher and his element is strong against yours too, but that¡¯s the best I could get you. Plus, people don¡¯t really know you in this bracket yet,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s a totally different crowd than the Iron and Wooden matches.¡± ¡°Yeah, so I¡¯m beginning to understand,¡± I said, ncing at all the unusual faces about. It was confirmation that what Lo Feng and Hin Wu had said wasn¡¯t bullshit. My fame within the tournamentmunity would likely end tonight. I was going from a big fish in a small pond to a minnow in ake, starting at the bottom all over again. ¡°You¡¯re going to need to keep on your toes,¡± Bo Ren said. ¡°He likes overwhelming his opponents with multiple techniques and he has the Qi concentration to keep it going for a long time.¡± The [Odds were growing ever Against Me] but even that might not be enough to bnce the scales. Shit¡­ I thought. I need another edge. Li Gong Qui was going to be using powerful techniques and I couldn¡¯t rely on just my weapons to counter that. I needed to ensure my defensive techniques were strong enough to protect me from the same. I looked again to my opponents around me, all of them decked out in oundish fighting costumes and gear. Then suddenly I had an idea. ¡°Hey Master Bo Ren, I need a favor.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°You got any body paint back there?¡± * * * It took me a few extra minutes to get ready for the match, but as soon as I stepped onto the stage, I knew it was worth it. The crowd was enormous, bigger even than it had been for the Iron Bracket finale, but the atmosphere was totally different. Gone were the yells and cheers, reced byplete silence like it was a damn tennis match or something. Dead silence. Until I entered. Murmurs and whispers flowed and an announcer I had never heard before came onto the mic with an ent that kicked the poshness of the event up a notch. ¡°Ah¡­ and who is this here? Seems to be one portrayed as some kind of devil¡­¡± There was another pause, as if he were looking up my name on a roster. ¡°Ah¡­ a local entry. And winner of the local Iron Bracket tournament¡­ the Iron Bull, apparently.¡± I could count the number of cheers I heard at the mention of my moniker, short ps in a space otherwise devoid of sound and filled instead with confused stares. And I couldn¡¯t me them. My bare chest, face, arms and legs were all covered in red body paint, save for my hands that were covered by thick gloves. I waved my Iron Bull mask for them all to see, but it barely got a rise from the snobbish crowd. That didn¡¯t matter, however. The pantomime had achieved its purpose. The Iron Bull was now a clown that entered the ring covered in red body paint and had a full-faced iron mask with bull¡¯s horns. I had spent a few extra minutes modifying the iron of the mask itself, cutting away the sides of the helmet that connected with the horns. Now there were holes that led to the hollow interior of the horns themselves. A hollow interior that I could hopefully squeeze my own horns into when the time was right. A trumpet sounded and a sedan chair being carried by no less than eight porters entered the ring. The announcer came back on the mic again. ¡°And now, entering the arena, we have the second in line to the Grand Patriarch of the Frozen Cloud Sect, hailing from the Azul, dubbed the Untouchable Ice King, the young master Li Gong Qui.¡± Golf ps reigned as the sedan chair made a painstakingly slow entrance with only a gloved hand emerging from a window to perform an elegant wave. Stopping a few paces from me, the porters finally lowered the chair and the door to the sedan opened. A short, middle-aged man in dark robes hopped down and ced a set of steps at the bottom of the sedan. I recognized him immediately. ¡°Master Sen Cho!¡± I said with a short bow. ¡°Greetings.¡± He froze at the mention of his name and peered at me quizzically. Then like lightning striking, recognition lit his face as his eyes grew wide. ¡°Handler?¡± he said. ¡°Is that you?¡± I grinned and gave him a wink. He looked even more stupefied, but was unable to respond further before Li Gong Qui made his grand entrance, descending down the small flight of stairs. He was decked out in his sky-blue robes, with purple and gold trim and was still wearing that ridiculous crescent moon shaped hat on his head. He looked all of twenty but carried himself with the air of a man twice that age. He waved to the crowd again eliciting more golf ps as two women descended the steps behind him. They were dressed the same as him, wearing pale blue gowns and instead of hats, small tiaras on their heads. Their faces were painted thick with makeup like geishas, vibrant red lips and blush on pale white skin. I recalled them from before, although I couldn¡¯t quite remember their names. They made a big show of cing kisses on both sides of his cheeks and the crowd responded with more golf ps. ¡°The ever-fashionable Li Gong Qi receiving kisses of good luck from his lovely concubines,¡± the announcer said with a deadpan enthusiasm worthy of a golfmentator. ¡°Not that he may need it ording to the odds. But locals here say the Iron Bull is an unpredictable one. Let¡¯s see if he lives up to that reputation.¡± ¡°Indeed, let us see,¡± Li Gong Qui said ncing me up and down. He then leaned back to whisper to Sen Cho. ¡°Sen Cho? Why is the opponent¡¯s skin red? Is it a fashion? Or is it a local race I do not know?¡± ¡°I do not know, master,¡± Sen Cho said. ¡°Fashion perhaps? But you have met him before.¡± ¡°Him?¡± Li Gong Qui cocked his head back as if insulted. ¡°Certainly, you are mistaken. This One would never consort with the likes of such a one.¡± ¡°He was our handler some months ago, do you recall? He found you your first core. A giant fire smander.¡± Li Gong Quiughed. ¡°Surely you jest. Sen Cho, ask the opponent if this is true.¡± ¡°Master Iron Bull, can you confirm¡ª¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true,¡± I said. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. The boy you met then is long gone.¡± Sen Cho chuckled. ¡°So it seems. Not sure how you did it,d, but well done.¡± The lemonade in his soul was palpable and I cultivated it with pride. ¡°Sen Cho!¡± Li Gong Qui shouted. ¡°What is it he is saying to you? Does he confirm that you are the liar or is he? For I do not know this red-skinned bull man at all. This, I am sure!¡± Sen Cho politely bowed. ¡°It was a misunderstanding, master. Clearly you have never met the man you are about to face today inbat. I apologize for the confusion.¡± Li Gong Qui nodded. ¡°As rightly you should, Sen Cho.¡± He then snapped his fingers. ¡°Another kiss for luck to wipe away that bad misfortune Sen Cho has clearly cast upon me.¡± The girls giggled like idiots and did as they were told, cing two more kisses on his cheeks. I stifled my headshake with [Indifference] and shared another private smile with Master Sen Cho before he and the women embarked upon the sedan chair to leave the arena once again. ¡°Prepare, bull man, or whatever you are,¡± Li Gong Qui said as he summoned his Qi, whipping up a flurry of snowkes around him. ¡°You are to face a royal demise this day. The Untouchable Ice King of Azul shall decimate you.¡± I couldn¡¯t sense Qi but I knew he had to be packing a shit ton of it. And I couldn¡¯t afford to be taken down by a stray st I wasn¡¯t prepared for. ¡°[Mark of the Demon]¡­¡± As I whispered the technique, I could feel my horns growing and conforming to the shape of the helmet¡¯s own. It was ufortable at first, like squeezing my head into a vice, but I endured the pain and after a few seconds it seemed to subside. My skin color too had changed, turning red, but the crowd would be none the wiser now. A horn sounded the start of the match and Li Gong Qui flew away from me like an arrow, leaving a st of frost trailing behind him. ¡°[Lancing Cloud]!¡± I reacted in an instant, summoning my [Steel Skin] technique. The st hit like a fire hydrant spewing slush and the force alone knocked me off my feet and sent me skidding across the arena. Holy crap! I mmed into the ground as the spray pushed me along, finallying to a stop a couple hundred yards away. Li Gong Qui was indeed an idiot, but he was not one to be fooled with, that was for sure. As I flipped to my feet, I surveyed the coteral damage around me. The ground had been torn up and frozen mid st, forming huge icicles all around me. Had I not used [Steel Skin] in Demon mode I could only imagine what damage the st would have done to my body, but for now I seemed to have resisted it just fine. Li Gong Qui was still half a mile away, flying on a cloud of frozen air. He waved his staff, preparing another attack. ¡°[Divine Avnche]!¡± The sky above me darkened as something covered the brilliance of the stadium lights. I knew the attack all too well and braced myself as a hundred tons of ice fell earthward towards me. I went on the offensive, stowing my axe to double hand the Phnx ive. ¡°[Lightning Three Log Chop]!¡± My [Demon]-enhanced technique went off like a cluster bomb, shattering the iceberg and sending currents of electricity crackling through the air. I flipped andnded on my feet, showers of hail and chunks of ice falling all around me. I looked for Li Gong Qui and saw him already preparing for another attack. I fought back with my axe, sending [Lightning Arc Strikes] sailing in his direction, but Li Gong Qui lived up to his moniker as he weaved between them on his frozen cloud, untouchable as ever. He paused long enough to send a shower of icy crystals falling from the sky, forcing me to duck and weave myself as he then repositioned himself even further away. The battle dragged on, me countering the supercharged Qi attacks with techniques of my own. But the score wasn¡¯t changing any. Just as I feared, withplete air superiority, he could drag the match out to its end and win with a single hit. And as skittish as he seemed of getting hit, that was likely his strategy. Damn coward, I thought. But what could I do? With the [Mark of the Demon] in use I was burning Frenzy fast and the apathy of the crowd did nothing to help me replenish it. Thementators were as monotoned and t as ever, giving snarkymentary wrapped in posh ents. ¡°Another ice attack by Li Gong Qui, clearly disying his versatility here tonight.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± anothermentator chimed in. ¡°Also, an interesting choice of weapons by the Iron Bull. Perhaps someone should have told him he¡¯d be facing a Qi master. Good luck using those I¡¯d say. Just under thirteen minutes left in the match. Looks like another easy win by the Untouchable Ice King, Li Gong Qui.¡± That suddenly got me pissed. Who the hell said he¡¯d won already? But one look at the scoreboard and I couldn¡¯t deny the truth. Li Gong Qui vs The Iron Bull Odds: 19:4 Time - 12:42 Li Gong Qui Iron Bull 16 0 Shit¡­ His victory was as good as in the bag unless I did something about it. I racked my brain as I dodged icicles and threw [Lightning Arcs], desperate to get at least one hit in. I paused as an idea struck. My Frenzy was low, but I¡¯d have to risk pushing it a little further. I tapped into the subtle anger caused by the thought of a tool like Li Gong Qui actually beating me, causing fresh Frenzy to flow from my me. Hell no¡­ I¡¯m not going down like that. Screw this guy! I bided my time, waiting for him to attack with the technique I wanted, inching ever closer to him. I engaged [Mark of the Beast] in half form, feeling the pull of my lip as my canines grew beneath my helmet into fangs. My fingernails too lengthened, forming ws but were concealed by my gloves. Only my limbs grew slightly longer, but constantly staying in motion I prayed it would be a detail too fine for anyone to notice. ¡°Come on,e,¡± I urged. ¡°Do it, damn it! Do it!¡± And then finally, after a few more minutes of dodging, he did. ¡°[Divine Avnche]!¡± I leapt as soon as he annunciated the technique, sailing towards the giant iceberg crashing down on top of me. ¡°[Steel Lightning]!!¡± My body rippled with energy as the advanced technique took form, supercharged by [Mark of the Demon]. I¡¯d used it only within my inner mind before, never field tested it once, but now I was going to give it the testing of a lifetime. I gritted my teeth as I flew undaunted into the opposing technique and the huge chunk of ice shattered with a crackling boom! of thunder. I felt nothing, my [Steel Lightning] technique holding true. Heck yeah! But that was only half the n. I channeled all my Frenzy into my reflexes next, now heightened by [Mark of the Demon]. The world slowed to a crawl as the technique sent my senses into overdrive. The shattering iceberg became a still picture frozen in time and I bounded from ice chunk to ice chunk, leaping ever closer to reach Li Gong Qui. With the speed I was travelling, I was sure he couldn¡¯t even see me, much less react. For all intents and purposes, I had just improvised my own form of [sh Step], ping-ponging off the ice chunks to teleport right in front of Li Gong Qui¡¯s Face. I was spent for Frenzy, but I didn¡¯t need much for what I had to do next. ¡°[Three Log Chop]!¡± I brought my axe right down on top of his stupid moon-shaped hat, crushing the thing as I mmed him towards the ground full force. I rocketed off an ice chunk and flew right after him, crashing into the arena floor next to him. I could havended on his body, but there was no need. Li Gong Qui was a Qi master, a mage for all intents and purposes, and his body cultivation had all the ineptitude to show for it. The dumbass was already out cold. ¡°And the winner, it appears¡­ is the Iron Bull.¡± The announcer said it with more surprise than enthusiasm and theckluster response of sparse ps from the crowd was underwhelming as hell. Before I could even leave the arena the names on the scoreboard changed and attendants began cleaning the ring of ice. ¡°Next match, Shun Sao versus Yu Wang Fu.¡± I suddenly understood firsthand why it would be safe for Hin Wu to attack me now. The matches at this level were assembly-line unimportant. And so was my ranking. Number 92 out of a hundred on the Gold Bracket charts. The sedan chair returned to collect Li Gong Qui and the bastard came around with a choking cough as Master Sen Cho applied some smelling salts. He then whined and cried, rolling on the ground as his two concubines fawned over him, mothering him like a child. Master Sen Cho gave me a bow filled with lemonade. ¡°A thousand thanks for sparing his life, Master Iron Bull,¡± he said. ¡°He is an intolerable one, but he is all I have.¡± I smiled and returned the bow. ¡°Take care of him, Master Sen Cho.¡± By the time Sen Cho pushed Li Gong Qui back into the sedan chair, he seemed back to his old self again. ¡°Exin it, Sen Cho!¡± he cried. ¡°Why has this happened? Why is the score so, yet they assume I have lost?¡± ¡°He knocked you unconscious, master. Those are the rules.¡± ¡°Yes, but why?! Exin!¡± ¡°I just did.¡± ¡°Uneptable! Summon my barrister! I wish to appeal! You must exin this to them, Sen Cho! You must!¡± I could no longer suppress myughter as I gave Master Sen Cho a final wave. The Gold Bracket was a strange new ce indeed. * * * I left the arena after washing off the body paint and, not much to my surprise, found no one waiting outside to greet me there. No crowds or groupies, just an endless line of skiffs waiting to collect their bored patrons once the final match was over. As I began the walk home, I kept my guard up though. Ack of fans meant ample opportunity for someone else to be lying in wait. I¡¯d gotten halfway and was almost starting to believe Fia¡¯s Shadows had been right and that Hin Wu had indeed left the city, but a sudden chill up my spine told me they were dead wrong. I paused to nce over my shoulder. And Hin Wu was standing right there. ¡°Shit!¡± I eximed and jumped immediately into a defensive stance grabbing my axe. How she¡¯d managed to get that close to me without noticing, I still didn¡¯t know, but one look at her and I knew why the Shadows assumed she was gone. The woman had changed her appearancepletely. Gone was the fiery mane of red hair, reced by a short gray bob. Her robes too were of ordinary fashion, dark and fitting of amoner or servant. Only herrge stature gave any inkling of her former appearance, but even that she hid by stooping over like a crone. ¡°You can rx, Iron Bull,¡± she said. ¡°I have no intention of killing you tonight.¡± I nced around for Fia¡¯s Shadows. None of them in sight. ¡°Congrattions by the way,¡± Hin Wu said. ¡°Your victory was impressive. You¡¯ve advanced much since youpetedst.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± I said, choking up on my axe. ¡°To buy you a drink,¡± Hin Wu said before turning to walk away. She then stopped to look over her shoulder at me, lemonade dripping from her soul. ¡°There is onest proposition I wish to discuss with you, Iron Bull. One I think you might indeed enjoy.¡± Book 2: Chapter 47 I TRUSTED HIN Wu about as far as I could throw her, although I guessed these days that idiom didn¡¯t make much sense anymore. Still, it was a much-preferred option to ept the drink and hear her out, rather than risk facing her without a working [Soul Shield] technique. We entered a small tavern on the edge of the market district and found a secluded table towards the back. As Hin Wu sat, she pulled on the hairline of her gray bob, revealing it to be a wig, her vibrant red hair spilling down her shoulders as she shook it out. ¡°Nice disguise,¡± I said. ¡°Was that all it took to get rid of Silver Light¡¯s girls?¡± She tossed the wig onto the table. ¡°They were more of the disguise, to be honest.¡± I raised a brow at that one, but Hin Wu didn¡¯t borate. She ordered an expensive bottle of plum wine instead and poured me a cup before filling her own. ¡°To your victory,¡± she said raising her cup in salute. I toasted with her and then downed the sweet, yet fiery liquid. The tavern was mostly empty, with just a few patrons sat near the bar. A lone zither yer performed a sad toon from the corner opposite us, which seemed to fit the mood perfectly. I didn¡¯t know what Hin Wu was up to, but whatever it was, I doubted it would be good. For me anyway. ¡°What did you mean by, ¡®they¡¯ were the disguise?¡± I asked eventually, after helping myself to another cup of wine. ¡°It presented me ample reason not to kill you,¡± Hin Wu said with a smile. ¡°The disguise was for Master Lo Feng.¡± Now that was an interesting twist on things. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying you could have shaken them and attacked me at any time?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Hin Wu grinned at me from across the table, eyeing me like I was something she¡¯d perhaps like to eat. ¡°It was also helpful that Master Lo Feng has been preupied with other matters. He views you more of a loose end that needs to be cut, not an enemy that needs to be crushed.¡± ¡°Well thank the heavens for that, huh?¡± I said, pouring another drink. ¡°So, I suppose I should owe you some form of gratitude for your grace then?¡± She chuckled. ¡°At the very least I¡¯d say.¡± I sipped my drink, slowly studying her. Hin Wu was a powerful woman, and beautiful as well¡ªslightly aged yet refined, not unlike the plum wine we both now enjoyed. To say she was stunning would be an understatement and perhaps even more so without her douli covering her features. The fact that she hadn¡¯t brought the weapon also spoke volumes, as did the lemonade coursing from her soul. This woman desired me, but to what end I still wasn¡¯t quite sure. ¡°So what is this proposition of yours, Hin Wu?¡± I said, cutting to the chase. ¡°You clearly don¡¯t want to kill me, so what is it you want?¡± She grinned again. ¡°I haven¡¯t been exactly subtle with my praise of you, Brother Chun. And mark my words, my praise is hard earned.¡± ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡± ¡°When I first fought you, I took you for a sniveling runt scratching for power. But now I see you are so much more than that. Beyond even your martial prowess, you possess a resolve that I still can¡¯t quite ascertain. What drives you, Iron Bull? I¡¯m curious.¡± It was a good question and one I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted to answer. Not to her anyway. ¡°To follow my path, wherever it may lead,¡± I said honestly. She smiled. ¡°Perhaps your path may have led you to me then.¡± Beneath the table I felt her foot caress the inner part of my thigh, making her intentions clear. My body couldn¡¯t help but react to it, but I forced it down with a cold mask of [Indifference]. Still, this wasn¡¯t Xi Xha¡ªsome olderdy looking for a good time with a hot young stud. There was something more to this that she craved. And I had to know what. ¡°Meaning?¡± I said, gently pushing her foot aside as I changed positions crossing my legs. An inkling of anger sparked within her at the snub, but then she smiled again, perhaps taking the gesture as me being coy. ¡°Lo Feng is old and blinded by revenge for the death of his idiot nephew. He will never see the true value in you. Even your match tonight was proof that you possess potential to take our n to the next level.¡± So that was it. Still looking for me to join the ranks. No thanks. ¡°I already told you,¡± I said. ¡°I have no interest in joining you and Lo Feng.¡± ¡°Then simply join me,¡± she said. ¡°Forget about Lo Feng.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Return with me to Twi Li province,¡± she said. ¡°Together we could start a new sect afresh. My province has no sect leader, but with my help, you could be so.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Unlike the Silver Leafs, the Fire Birds are a patriarchal n,¡± she said. ¡°I have no means to be sect leader, but I¡¯ve measured your skill. The two of us could most certainly kill Lo Feng so that you could usurp his position.¡± Holy shit, this woman was far more dangerous than I thought. ¡°You want to team up to kill Lo Feng?¡± ¡°It will be a clean internal sect matter,¡± she said. ¡°No muddying of the waters with rival sects as you did before. You have no need to anyway. You are strong enough to stand on your own now, especially with me by your side.¡± This was even worse than I first imagined. ¡°So all of this is because you want me to be the new leader of the Fire Bird n?¡± She reached across the table and stroked my forearm with her thumb. ¡°I wish for you to be far more than that. To me anyway.¡± I couldn¡¯t help the warmth that spread through my chest and loins as she continued to caress my arm. The woman was practically throwing herself at me, sensually too, but there had to be way more to this than just sex. ¡°You¡¯re talking about marriage.¡± She smiled with affirmation, her crimson eyes shing with ambition and desire. ¡°I¡¯m forbidden to be a sect leader, but a sect leader¡¯s wife is the next best position. I would guide you in all things, of course. In fact, I would take care of most sect matters. You need only sit upon the throne and look pretty, as it were.¡± I chuckled inwardly at the irony of it all. Here I was,menting about how I could reconcile Fia¡¯s family with my own to marry her, and here Hin Wues along with a marriage proposal that would only involve me killing a guy I would probably need to kill eventually anyway. But sit there and look pretty? Conspire to murder? Betray Fia? She obviously didn¡¯t know who the hell she was dealing with. Or cared. Just another cultivator scheming to increase her position in life by any means possible. To hell with all that. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz worshipers or not, the Fire Birds were all evil shits in my book and this crap proved it. Besides all that, I had a royaldy who actually loved me to marry. No way was I trading that for some shameless jezebel who wanted to turn me into her puppet-leader-boy-toy. I ced my hand on top of Hin Wu¡¯s and then firmly removed it from my forearm. ¡°Sorry,dy, but I just don¡¯t roll that way.¡± I said the words with a mixture of [Indifference] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and the results within Hin Wu¡¯s soul were nothing short of spectacr. There was a sh of pain like a grenade going off and then slowly all the lemonade within her soured, turning into resentment and hate. ¡°You dare to reject me?¡± It sounded more a statement than a question and her crimson eyes red. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but my path lies elsewhere. I told you I have no interest in the Fire Birds. Or you.¡± Thest bit caused another pain grenade to go off. Clearly this woman wasn¡¯t used to being rejected. She folded her arms across her chest as she leaned back in her chair. ¡°Is that so¡­¡± She paused for a while studying me and then slowly a smile crept upon her lips, but there was nothing mirthful about it. ¡°I see. It all makes sense now.¡± I shrugged my shoulders with [Indifference] as I downed another cup of her wine. ¡°What does?¡± ¡°Only a fool would reject the offer I made to you,¡± she said. She then sipped her wine slowly as she red at me, her anger seething. ¡°Which means you must already have a better offer avable. Perhaps with that Silver Leaf woman.¡± It was my turn to blink with shock at her sudden intuition and she grinned in victory as my unabashed reaction confirmed it. ¡°I knew it,¡± she said, her confidence returning. ¡°That animosity between you and Lady Silver Light is but a disguise of your own, isn¡¯t it? For the both of you.¡± My heart began to pound, true fear now. She let out a cackle, slipping into control once again. ¡°And here Lo Feng and I both thought that you had only used her to kill Hong Feng. That she had turned on you when she figured it all out. But you two are still together, aren¡¯t you?¡± I struggled to mask any reaction on my face with [Indifference]. ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± But inwardly I felt the door inside my spirit start to close. Shit, this woman wasn¡¯t just formidable, she was smart as hell too. Hin Wu leered at me. ¡°Imagine the scandal. A royaldy of the Silver Leaf n allowing herself to be deflowered by a Fire Bird? The Warden herself would likely execute her publicly for such an offence.¡± I couldn¡¯t stop the fear that crept up inside of me, a fear not born of myself, but the love for someone else. I felt impotent to do anything about it. Turning it into rage would only confirm Hin Wu¡¯s suspicions in full. ¡°Believe what you want,¡± I said, casually sipping the wine. ¡°I have no love for that bitch, any more than I do you.¡± The door closed a little more. ¡°We shall see,¡± Hin Wu said as she stood from the table. ¡°I¡¯ll perhaps have a chat with the Lady Silver Light myself. It¡¯d be interesting to hear her thoughts on the matter.¡± Damn bitch! I thought, but I quelled my reaction with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Feel free.¡± Hin Wu nced down at the table. ¡°You can keep the wig. Silver Light may need it as a disguise of her own depending on how our chat goes. The warden is a ruthless one. She spares no quarter. Even for her own family. In fact, perhaps I should go see her first.¡± She stood there waiting for another reaction, but she wasn¡¯t getting one, even if my heart was already pounding like a damn jackhammer. Shit¡­ ¡°Enjoy the wine,¡± she said and then finally she left, leaving me alone with my thoughts in the back of the tavern. * * * I sat there for nearly an hour slowly finishing the bottle as I digested what the heck just happened. Hin Wu was far more calcting than I realized and my next move would have to be well yed to stop her from exposing Fia or whatever the hell she was nning to do. Interrogate Fia maybe? Make ims to the Warden? Who knew? One thing was for certain though. I had to get to Fia to warn her about all this. Through the window of the tavern, I gazed up at the golden pagoda in the night sky. If only I could get there right now to warn her, but that wasn¡¯t realistic. I¡¯d have to hope and pray that Hin Wu didn¡¯t do anything before I got a chance to meet with Fia in the morning. I¡¯d have to somehow wait patiently until then. But besides what Hin Wu might do, there was the problem of Hin Wu herself. She had nothing holding her back now. All this time I thought it was Fia¡¯s extended presence that was protecting me, but in truth it was Hin Wu¡¯s growing interest in me that had saved my skin all these months. But that was all over now. She¡¯d shot her shot and I¡¯d shot her down. And hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned. Especially one as powerful as Hin Wu. * * * I headed back to the square and just like after my Iron Bracket win, Yu Li had arranged a small party to celebrate my first Gold Bracket victory. I had to force myself to smile,ugh and act normal; but deep in my gut, anxiety was eating me alive. ¡°Are you alright, brother?¡± It was Gui Zu who had asked,ing to find me after I had stolen myself away to the edge of the square to distance myself from the crowd. The genuine concern on his face was readable, his brows creased with worry as he took a seat next to me. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine,¡± I lied and Gui Zu saw through it right away. ¡°Something bad happen at the match?¡± More like after, I wanted to say, but I simply shook my head instead. ¡°You know you can tell me anything, right?¡± I looked at Gui Zu and felt the door close a little more. How could I tell him about Fia right now? None of my people had a clue I was sleeping with the enemy, so to speak, and it soured my spirit to think I was having daydreams of Fia joining my family when I hadn¡¯t even told my family about her yet. Not that I doubted that they would eventually ept her through their support for me, but bringing her up in the middle of a crisis probably wasn¡¯t the best form of introduction. The Struggler within grew a little more hardened as I prepared to shoulder the burden alone. ¡°I appreciate that, Gui Zu,¡± I said. ¡°When the time is right, I¡¯ll tell you everything, I promise. I just need to ponder this one out on my own for a little while.¡± Gui Zu pped me on the back as he stood. ¡°Okay then, brother, I trust you. I¡¯m here if you need.¡± ¡°Thanks, man.¡± As he walked away to leave me in solitude, I peered up again at the giant pagoda in the sky. The night couldn¡¯t pass quickly enough. I needed to get ahead of Hin Wu and whatever plot she was weaving now. First thing in the morning, I had to see Fia. Book 2: Chapter 48 I RAN WITH the speed of [Frenzied Lightning], tearing up the autumn countryside. I had barely slept at all¡ªanxiety and uncertainty keeping me awake all night. I prayed that Fia would be waiting for me by thekeside as normal, nothing amiss, but doubt was gnawing at my soul. The urge to know with certainty that she was alright spurred me on as I ran through rusted brown thickets and forest lined with bare trees. Minutester, I crested a final rise to get a view of theke, but she wasn¡¯t there. ¡°Fia!¡± No response. My heart rose with uneasiness as I ran toward theke, calling for her again and again. ¡°Fia¡­! Fia!¡± Halfway down the hill, I sensed a presencee from behind me. Before I could even react, something struck me hard in the back of my leg. I folded into a roll, tumbling down the hillside, but managed to grab my weapons as I sprang back to my feet, Phnx ive and Axe in hand. I looked left and right for my would-be attacker.No one. What the hell¡­? A softughter then filled the air as Fia materialized before me in a sh of white light. ¡°Got you,¡± she said with a yful wink. Relief and exasperation hit me all at once. ¡°Dang it, Fia. That was the worst timing for a joke,¡± I said. ¡°We really need to talk.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Her smile faded as her brow creased with concern. ¡°I thought we could have some fun before training. I need to reward you for your victoryst night, after all.¡± She then grinned. ¡°You were amazing by the way. Thatst push was¡ª¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t seen Hin Wu, have you?¡± She furrowed her brow again. ¡°Hin Wu? No. Why would I?¡± I breathed another sigh of relief as I sheathed my weapons. ¡°Good. I got to you in time then.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on? What are you talking about?¡± I took a step back mentally. I had been running doomsday scenarios through my head all night, almost expecting everything to already be a disaster. But Fia was fine. We were fine. I had to slow down and bring her up to speed. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said and pulled her into an embrace for reassurance. ¡°I¡¯m all over the ce, I know. I¡¯m probably freaking you out. I¡¯ve been up all night. There are some things we need to discuss that involve her.¡± ¡°You mean she¡¯s here?¡± Fia said, pulling away. She looked up at me at arm¡¯s length. ¡°How?¡± That was another good question. I didn¡¯t want to make it seem like her efforts to protect me were in vain, but in the end that¡¯s what it turned out to be. Still, I didn¡¯t need to focus on that part so much. ¡°She gave your shadows the slip a while ago, apparently,¡± I said. ¡°Used a disguise. She¡¯s been here the whole time.¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s impossible.¡± I merely shrugged. ¡°It is what it is.¡± ¡°So what happened?¡± Fia asked, sounding more concerned now. ¡°Did she attack you after the match?¡± ¡°In a way¡­¡± I said, wobbling my head from side to side. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I pondered how to how I could even describe what had taken ce between us. ¡°She bought me a drink and kind of¡­propositioned me, I guess?¡± Fia¡¯s jaw just about hit the ground. ¡°She did what?¡± ¡°I said no, of course,¡± I added quickly, sensing the anger sparking inside of her. ¡°And it wasn¡¯t about sex if that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking¡­ well¡­ actually it was about sex, but more than that too.¡± ¡°WHAT?!¡± Crap, this was going all wrong. ¡°Let me start over,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s not the main point I¡¯m trying to make anyway. She kind of wanted me to marry her and then team up to kill her sect leader, Lo Feng. Or maybe the order was the other way around. Kill Lo Feng, then get married.¡± Fia stared at me with a deadpan disbelief that reminded me of Kelsey. ¡°Marry her?¡± Her brows lowered with rage. ¡°And what did you say, Max? Are youing here to tell me that you¡ª?¡± ¡°I told her no!¡± I said, suddenly realizing where her mind was going. ¡°What else would I say? I¡¯m in love with you, Fia. I¡¯d never betray you like that.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± she said, seeming suddenly embarrassed about her outburst of insecurity. Her eyes then narrowed again as she stared off into the distance, focusing her rage on something else. ¡°That damn hussy. I knew she wanted you from the first time we met. I have a mind to send her a message about trying to take what isn¡¯t hers.¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s not really the point of all this.¡± ¡°Then what is?¡± ¡°She got really pissed when I rejected her. And then she sort of figured out that we were seeing each other.¡± ¡°What? How?¡± ¡°She¡¯s got like a 200 IQ or something, I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°A 200 what?¡± ¡°Nevermind. She just figured it all out is what¡¯s important. She leftst night threatening to expose us. To expose you. She said she would tell the Warden.¡± Fia truly looked concerned now, perhaps connecting the dots for herself. ¡°This can¡¯t be real.¡± Then her eyes narrowed. ¡°Actually, it isn¡¯t real. You never admitted anything to her, did you?¡± ¡°No, I yed it off.¡± Fia smiled. ¡°Good. Then we have nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Hin Wu is a Fire Bird. She couldn¡¯t simply approach the Warden with an oundish im like this. That would be tantamount to inciting an intern war.¡± I swallowed the lump in my throat. ¡°You¡¯re saying what we¡¯re doing now could lead to a war?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Probably. But it doesn¡¯t matter because no one truly knows. And as long as neither you nor I say anything, it will remain so. Until you best me in the ring, that is. That¡¯s why it¡¯s important for us to both be giving it our all. When that dayes, you need to im me in marriage as forfeit for my life, nothing less will do.¡± The gravity of what she¡¯d just said put a whole new context to our secret training session out in the wild. I knew it was dangerous for the both of us, but to hear it spelled out in detail caused a knot to form in my stomach. ¡°Hey,¡± Fia said, touching my arm to rouse me from my thoughts. ¡°We¡¯re going to be alright. She was only bluffing. She would need evidence to make such a im and right now she has none.¡± ¡°Had none,¡± a voice said, and my blood ran cold. Like a specter emerging from the ins of hell, Hin Wu stepped into existence from a pir of mes. Panic-fueled adrenaline triggered my Frenzy, causing my me to surge. I nced at Fia and her silver eyes were wide with shock. Not good¡­ Hin Wu was dressed in her normal robes, her wild red hair flowing beneath her douli. She adjusted it slightly as she gave me a leer and from only fifty feet away, I was already expecting her to throw it at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Thank you for being predictable, Brother Chun,¡± Hin Wu said. ¡°I honestly was just taking a shot in the dark about you two, but I knew if it were true, you¡¯d go rushing to meet with her right away. Nice to see you followed that script to a tee.¡± My world fell apart as I felt like the biggest dumbass in the world. I¡¯d led her right to us! I cursed out loud causing Fia to jump startled and Hin Wu tough. Damn 200 IQ was right. Or maybe mine was just 50. Probably the 50. ¡°And you, Silver Light,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t look so surprised. You¡¯re not the only one who has mastered a few Hidden Art techniques in her time.¡± I furrowed my brow at that and wondered once again if Hin Wu followed the same demonic path as Hong Feng and his ilk. I hadn¡¯t sensed her using any Dark Frenzy as yet, but she had obviously masked both her physical presence and her Qi just now. And those were both demonic techniques that Hong Feng¡¯s guys employed. It¡¯d also exin how she so easily got the drop in mest night. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Fia said. ¡°You still can¡¯t prove anything.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t have to,¡± Hin Wu said. ¡°Because knowing for certain is all I need to get what I want from you. Or should I say, from him.¡± She leered at me again, her eyes studying me hungrily. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding.¡± ¡°Make no mistake, Bull Man,¡± she said, sauntering towards me. ¡°You will be marrying one of us. But if you choose her, rest assured I¡¯ll be revealing this little secret beforehand. After that, you¡¯ll either prove the rumor by seeking marriage after your little duel, or you¡¯ll be forced to stay apart forever. In either case it¡¯s a lose-lose for the both of you. So you might as well give up on her and join me as nned.¡± ¡°As nned?¡± The woman was nuts. ¡°There is no n,dy. I told you that already.¡± A sudden re of anger exploded next to me, and I looked to see Fia boiling over with rage. Her teeth were grit, her eyes narrowed with hate and disdain. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of you!¡± Fia shouted, summoning her jian des. The sword synched into formation, lining up in a tringle behind her back. ¡°I¡¯ve told you already to find your own damn man! This one is mine!¡± A bolt of radiant light shot from between her des, steaking towards Hin Wu. The sect elder reacted swiftly, deflecting the attack with her douli. She let out a cackle. ¡°Ah, so you have chosen death instead. Interesting. I suppose it will make his decision for which one of us he shall marry even easier.¡± Hin Wu took to the sky and Fia did the same. Bolts of light and torrents of me flew between them, both of them countering with precision and skill. I felt like a third wheel, or perhaps a steak caught between two hungry lionesses was more urate. The way things had escted was perplexing. The resentment and mutual disdain between them went far beyond just me. Or so it seemed. Fia had been itching for a fight with Hin Wu for ages, but to attack her outright put us on a whole new level of danger. Thews of unsanctioned violence between sects still applied and with what Hin Wu knew now, there was no way we could allow her to leave the wild alive. Thankfully she hade alone, seeking to use her secrecy to ckmail us into doing her bidding. But Fia clearly had other ns and I needed to back them up. I summoned my Frenzy and bolstered myself with [Steel Skin]. Taking off, I chased after the shing duo and added to the fray with [Lightning Arc Strikes] from my axe. Two of my bolts went wide, but one of them struck Hin Wu dead on, distracting her for a second. Fia quickly followed up with a close-ranged strike that knocked Hin Wu out of the sky and sent her crashing to the ground. I wasted no time leaping to her position, raising my axe high. ¡°[Three Log Chop]!¡± My axe hit her douli with a resounding gong! and then she flipped onto her feet, forcing me to duck under a cascade of mes as she executed a crescent kick aimed at my head. Fia then joined me at my side and together we pushed into Hin Wu with a series of martial forms. We¡¯d never fought side by side like this before but after months of training together, I knew Fia¡¯s movements nearly as well as my own. We yed off one another¡ªa parry forcing Hin Wu into a counter by Fia and vice versa. To her credit, Hin Wu kept up with it all, even smiling with a sense of exhration as the confrontation grew more intense. I employed my dual weapon style, trying to lure her into a dodge with my axe that I could p with my Phnx ive, but her skill was beyond anything I had experienced in the ring before. Even with both of us going all out she was defending herself without taking a hit at all. I thought we had a good chance against her, but now my doubts of sess were slipping. I still wasn¡¯t sure what cultivation level Hin Wu was. A half-step to Sacred Soul Realm probably, but beyond that her martial prowess was through the roof. The [Odds were Against Us] for sure. As my Frenzy surged with the technique, I threw caution to the wind and charged straight into her sweeping douli attacks, reinforcing my body with [Steel Lightning]. Searing pain coursed through my mind as the heat of her mes broke through even my strongest defensive technique. I screamed through it as I barreled in with a huge downward cleave using my Phnx ive. The attack caught her mid-technique, and she was tfooted to do anything about it as the de crashed down upon her shoulder. A startled cry escaped her lips, but the de felt as if it had just struck a mountain. It bounced off her shoulder just as Fia tossed several quills in her direction, following up on the attack, but they too couldn¡¯t pierce her skin. Holy crap¡­ I thought. If her casual defenses were this strong, there was no way we could defeat her without me resorting to using my true Berserker techniques. Remnants of my battle with Li Gong Qui yed through my mind. It was my reliance on [Mark of the Beast] and [Mark of the Demon] that had seen me though. The same had seen me through thest time I fought Hin Wu as well. But no way could I employ them now. Not in front of Fia. I raged with [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] and spun with abined Axe and ive technique. Fia took quick note of my attack andplemented it with a hail of golden quills from above as she flipped overhead. For the first time Hin Wu seemed truly overwhelmed and shielded herself in a torrent of mes. ¡°Enough!¡± She retreated from us with a triple somersault, the towering mes following after her. Shended about a hundred feet away and the mes about her body began to take solid form. Her spectral armor. Shit¡­ ¡°Impressive,¡± Hin Wu said with a hint of lemonade. ¡°But you merely solidified my choice in you as our n¡¯s sessor, Max Chun. And as much as I enjoy a good two-on-one, I can¡¯t risk damaging you as my future husband any longer.¡± She gave me a wink as she summoned her Qi, forming ayer of translucent blue mes around her douli. ¡°[Fire of the Soul]!¡± She flew towards me, and I braced myself for what would inevitablye next. ¡°[Soul Shield]!¡± My annunciation did little to bolster my technique as Hin Wu threw her zing douli towards me. Suddenly Fia appeared, blocking it with her jian des formed in the shape of a triangle again. ¡°[Fifth Heaven! Triple Point Guard]!¡± The ming douli bounced off the translucent shield of Fia¡¯s technique, but Hin Wu had advanced so quickly behind it that she nked us and caught the thing in her hand. With a swift upward motion, she struck Fia with her douli, sending her careening through the air. ¡°Fia!¡± She bounced across the ground and came to a stop, unmoving. ¡°Fia!¡± I yelled again. But she still didn¡¯t move. Hin Wu¡¯s douli struck yet again, but this time it was aimed at me. The blue mes cut through my [Steel Skin] and swarmed my me. My [Soul Shield] technique flickered for but a second before shattering under the immense power of her spiritual attack. All my strength left me as I fell to my knees and Hin Wu followed up with another spiritual attack that snuffed out my mepletely. I cked out for a moment and then suddenly I was in that world between worlds again, my vision shrunk to but a window in the darkness of my own mind. Through it I could see Hin Wu leering down at me. ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± she said. ¡°You rest now. Still defenseless in spirit but we will fix that in time. There is perhaps far too much Yang Qi in you.¡± She then grinned like a predator. ¡°But I¡¯ll enjoy draining it from your body drop by drop. As you will too, I¡¯m sure.¡± Damn, bitch¡­ I watched as she strolled towards Fia who was still prone on the ground. ¡°The game ends for you now, Silver Light. Master Lo Feng will be pleased to learn that all his loose ends will be dealt with after your demise.¡± I railed against my prison of incapacitation, desperate to do something, anything, but just like when facing the Bloodmoon, my faculties simply wouldn¡¯t respond. Come on, Fia, get up¡­Get up! And then suddenly like a phoenix she did. My hope soared as she came to, shaking her head. ¡°A lucky shot,¡± Fia said as she rose from the ground. ¡°But don¡¯t think you¡¯ve beaten me.¡± She held her side gingerly though. Wherever Hin Wu had struck her, it had caused some internal damage for sure. ¡°[Tenth Heaven! Radiant Soul de]!¡± Her three jian desbined into one, forming a huge saber gleaming with golden light. Fia wielded it in both hands, going through her martial forms as she faced off against Hin Wu alone. ¡°You¡¯re no match for me, girl,¡± Hin Wu said with a steady confidence as she strode forward, douli in hand. ¡°You have no idea the true extent of my power.¡± Fia charged at her and their weapons shed, mes mixing with radiant golden light. I¡¯d never seen Fia use such a technique before, but I guessed it had to be one of her ultimate forms. She was pulling out all the stops, but would it be enough? We were barely able to hold her off with the two of us. But now Fia was wounded and alone. I watched powerless, trapped inside my own mind as they shed over and over again, Fia growing visibly weaker with each bout. I looked to my side and saw the blue-hued form of the Struggler sitting next to me¡ªnow the splitting image of myself. He jutted his chin at something across from him and I followed his gaze to see the Demon staring back at me hungrily¡ªexpectantly. The message was clear. I was going to have to embody my true inner demon to save her. There was simply no other way now. But I¡¯d be revealing my secret to Fia in the worst way possible. I could lose her like this, I thought. But to hell with it¡­ No way was I going to simply sit by and watch her die. My me reignited with conviction and resolve. ¡°Make sure to grab the wheel before I lose full control,¡± I said, and the Struggler nodded in return. I ended the one-sided conversation with me, myself, and I and surged my consciousness into the body of the Demon. I came to and the world exploded in a blur of rage, hate and pain. I let out a primal howl as my body transformed, taking on the full form of the [Demon], [Giant], and [Beast]bined. My me erupted like a volcano, sending torrents of fresh Frenzy rushing through my soul. Through the small window of my tunneling vision, I strained to maintain focus as I charged at Hin Wu and literally tore her from out of the sky. I vaguely heard Fia scream in terror, but my Frenzy-crazed mind was too focused on tearing Hin Wu apart. ws and fangs ripped through her armored mes and punctured hardened flesh beneath. She cried out as I gored her with my horns and then again as I threw her forcefully into the ground with both hands. She skidded across the hard-packed earth, crashing into a nearby tree with a bang. My [Bloodlust] surged wanting more and my window to reality began to shrink even further. I was about to go after her, but the gentle touch of the Struggler¡¯s hand upon my shoulder pulled me back from the brink. The Demon inside me fought against him, wanting to throw it all away for another chance to tear flesh and draw blood. But then like remembering a dream, I came to myself. Recalling everything I was fighting for. Everything that was important to me. My people¡­ The Earth¡­ Fia¡­ The world returned to full focus as all three forms dropped, copsing me to my knees. A deathly silence filled the space that was once a battle ground of roaring mes and shing steel. Now only the sound of my heavy breathing remained. I looked apprehensively over my shoulder and saw Fia standing there. She was staring at me wide-eyed, mouth ajar, fear permeating her soul. I slowly stood and turned. The pain of her confused and terrified stare was enough to tear my soul apart. I took a step forward and she jerked backwards, recoiling. ¡°Fia, it¡¯s me,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s still Max.¡± She shook her head slowly as if not wanting to believe it. ¡°What just happened? W-what are you?¡± There it was. No more secrets now. ¡°I¡¯m a Berserker.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me! Are you a demon? A monster? What are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m me, Fia,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m still the Max you know. The man who loves you. I just didn¡¯t know how I was going to tell you any of this. Until now. Until I absolutely had to.¡± ¡°But what is this? What does Berserker even mean?¡± It was no surprise she didn¡¯t know¡ªa stark reminder that what I was had been lost to history, perhaps purposefully so, our truth and legacy buried by the empire. ¡°It¡¯s a Daoist form of cultivation, Fia. One ouwed by the empire. I learned it from a woman passing through here. I have a demon inside of me, the thing you saw. It allows me great power, but I have to struggle to control it. But it¡¯s still all a part of me. This is the path I spoke of. It¡¯s why I can¡¯t just let go of my ambitions and marry into your family. Or can¡¯t simply run away and have a life with you. This¡ªmy quest for retribution, to restore the Earth¡ªthis is literally who I am.¡± She shook her head again, still looking perplexed and unconvinced. ¡°I saw that power. You tore Hin Wu apart like she was nothing. You¡¯re no ordinary man. Are you a fallen immortal? A saint reborn? Some atoned devil ascended from the hells?¡± ¡°Fia, I¡¯m nothing of the sort. Come here, please.¡± I took a step forward to reach her, but she flinched back again. Then to my surprise she fell to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground. ¡°Almighty lord,¡± she said with a reverent tone. ¡°I know not what you are, but I thank you for finding favor in me. Forgive me for mistreating you when we first met. I had no idea who or what you truly were.¡± It was my turn to be taken aback now. Of all the reactions, this was one I was definitely not expecting. And it broke my heart for her to see me in such a way. I stooped down to her and lifted her head from the ground. ¡°Fia, I¡¯m no saint or devil. I¡¯m a human. A cultivator just like you. Just merely a different kind.¡± I searched her eyes as they welled with tears. ¡°I¡¯m just dumb old Max. The guy that fell for a beautiful, pushy cultivator who turned out to have a heart of gold.¡± She broke into a shortugh at that, choking back on tears. ¡°I know this changes everything,¡± I said. ¡°But please know this doesn¡¯t change how I feel about you. About us. I¡¯m still the guy who wants to marry you, Fia. And I understand if you maybe want to¡ª¡± Fia suddenly threw her arms around me in an embrace. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you are. So long as you¡¯re still Max.¡± The warmth of her embrace soothed my soul and I sensed the door inside my spirit fly wide open with eptance and relief. Another huge burden had been lifted from my spirit. We stood together and then she took a step back, looking at me with new eyes. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand everything,¡± she said, her heart slowly filling with lemonade. ¡°But I know with certainty now that whatever happens, you can protect me. I think you are the strongest cultivator I have ever met.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ve not met many¡­¡± a voice said, and we both turned to see Hin Wu leaning against the tree I had thrown her into. Her robes were torn and covered in blood, and it seemed her arm was broken, dangling at the side. Her crimson eyes narrowed as she turned to me. ¡°It seems I¡¯ve underestimated you yet again, Bull Man¡­you were far more rare than I even realized. And dangerous.¡± Dark Frenzy filled the air as her eyes shifted from red to a zing incandescent glow. ¡°She may not understand what you are¡­¡± The mes about Hin Wu¡¯s body began to shift and grow. ¡°¡­but I do. You are a fire that cannot be contained. A fire far too dangerous to be left alone to spread and consume this world.¡± As she said the words her body transformed, blending into the dark red mes surrounding her. Fia stepped back, summoning her three des that had fallen to the ground. ¡°Max, what¡¯s happening?¡± I steeled myself as the Dark Frenzy pressed against my soul and then like an instinct my [Soul Shield] technique took hold. The Dark Frenzy was repelled, the technique forming a solid luminescent barrier around my me. It worked. It was actually working! A new confidence filled me as I retrieved my own weapons from the ground. ¡°She¡¯s a demonic cultivator,¡± I said. ¡°Like a twisted version of me.¡± ¡°You are the one who is twisted, brother,¡± Hin Wu said, her body nowpletely consumed in mes. Slowly the mes contorted taking on a new form, consuming the tree behind her as she grew in size. Wings spread outward, mes forming a beak and a red peacock-like tail. A powerful screech filled the air as the transformationpleted¡ªa true Phoenix risen from the ashes of Hin Wu¡¯s broken form. The fiery beast looked down at me and I could sense the resentment and longing still present in her soul. She then spoke, her voice magnified and reverberated like a god¡¯s. ¡°As much as I would have you for my own¡­you are a fire that must be snuffed out, Bull Man.¡± The heat of her mes intensified as the Dark Frenzy surged. ¡°There will be no wedding ns for either of us, Silver Light¡­for neither of you shall be leaving this ce alive.¡± Book 2: Chapter 49 I DIDN¡¯T KNOW the strength of the cultivator I now faced. Or if she even was a cultivator anymore. Like Hong Feng, Hin Wu had transformed with the power of Dark Frenzy and by all ounts, she seemed several tiers above where he had been on the ¡®beasting out¡¯ scale. The [Odds were Against Me] for sure and I weed the surge of Frenzy that came with it. I could sense the Dark Frenzy in her growing stronger. I backed up slowly as Hin Wu began circling us, perhaps still summoning her Qi to strike. ¡°How do we fight this?¡± Fia asked, pressing her shoulder to mine. ¡°You remember that reaper beast?¡± I said. ¡°Back when we first met?¡± ¡°Which one?¡± Shit¡­ I forgot we had fought two of them. ¡°The big one,¡± I said. ¡°We fight her like that. I don¡¯t know how strong she is, but this looks the equivalent of an awakened S-ss spirit beast at least. Keep your distance and attack her with ranged techniques. I¡¯ll take her head on to keep her focused on me.¡±¡°Can you withstand those mes?¡± I cycled my Frenzy and engaged [Steel Skin]. ¡°We¡¯ll soon find out.¡± Fia looked at me shocked. ¡°Max¡­ perhaps we should¡ª¡± ¡°There¡¯s no running from this,¡± I said. ¡°We need to kill her as much as she wants to kill us. I¡¯ll use my forms again so don¡¯t be rmed. What you saw before was an uncontrolled version, but I¡¯ll be in control this time.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never fought anything like this,¡± Fia said. ¡°Her Qi seems strange now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s demonic,¡± I said and then gave her a grin as I shouldered my Phnx ive. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. She¡¯s just a big damn monster now. And killing big monsters is my specialty.¡± I sensed the Dark Frenzy within Hin Wu growing to a peak. ¡°Go now, Fia!¡± I shouted. ¡°Take to the air!¡± No sooner had I said that did Hin Wu rear back and then breathe out a heavy stream of thick red mes. The mes spread outwards like a fan, too wide to dodge. I crossed my Axe and ive in front of me like a shield instead, channeled my Frenzy into [Steel Skin]. I purposely didn¡¯t activate my forms yet, trying to test just how powerful Hin Wu had be. I was reminded once again of my fight with Hong Feng down in that tunnel as my weapons turned cherry-red from the assault. My skin began to burn and char even through my [Steel Skin] technique. Hot damn! The words came to my mind like a ring understatement. I dug deep to channel [Mark of the Demon] to heighten the strength of my techniques ten-fold. My skin healed as it shifted to a deep red color and to my relief, the searing of her mes no longer charred my skin. Although it did still hurt like hell. But that was just fine with me. More fuel to drive my Frenzied me. Hin Wu¡¯s assault continued unabated, the stream of fire intensifying as she tried to cook me alive. I¡¯d need more than just one [Mark] to defeat her. I took a half second to consider which one I should employ next. I hadn¡¯t really seen how fast Hin Wu could move in this form, but it seemed simr to the Perytons Kelsey and I hunted out in the wild. For those, added speed was useful to avoid their quick beak attacks, but with ming breath like this I might not be able to dodge out of her range anyway. I made a decision. With the damage Hin Wu was dishing out, it¡¯d probably only be a matter of time before she wore me down from jumping all over the ce. The best tactic was to go full offense, tank the hits, and take her out as soon as possible. My inner demon grinned. Pure Berserker style. I channeled [Mark of the Giant] and my height increased to its full form, nearly 11 feet tall. I pressed against the surging mes, breaking into a run. The pain was excruciating but I forced my mind to ignore it as I focused on a singr goal. I had to reach that bitch and hit her as hard as possible. I pushed through thest few feet with ayer of [Steel Lightning] and leapt into the air. The mes themselves hid my presence and when I emerged from the streaming jet of fire just above her head the surprise and shock that resonated through her soul was priceless. ¡°[Lightning Three Log Chop]!¡± I brought both weapons mming down upon her beak with a satisfying crunch and immediately the mes ceased as I knocked her head straight into the ground. Her entire body fell to one side as her wings spasmed with what looked like palsy. But the fiery ze about her body remained. I became faintly aware that Fia was screaming my name and I looked to the sky to see her trembling with fear. ¡°Thank the heavens you¡¯re alive!¡± she said. ¡°I thought she had killed you.¡± I cultivated the fear in her heart and used it as my strength, restoring the Frenzy I had just burned. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine! Attack her now while she¡¯s stunned!¡± I readied both my weapons and leaned into a set of heavy attack forms, performing leaping lightning-charged strikes aimed at her head and body. My weapons passed through the mes and connected with something solid beneath and Hin Wu jerked with pain with each strike. Beams of radiant light descended from behind me, piercing through the mes as well. We kept it up, wailing on her uncontested. Then suddenly Hin Wu stirred, her body unfurling in an explosion of mes that knocked me off my feet and threw me on my ass some 50 feet away. She raised her beak to the sky and let loose a screech so loud that I thought my eardrums might burst. As I covered my ears, I could see the areas where I had cleaved her were now dripping mes, like ignited tar. She was bleeding. Hin Wu began pping her massive wings to take to the sky, no doubt trying to gain some distance from me. She belched a stream of mes into the air, aimed at Fia, but she performed an aerial [sh Step] to avoid itpletely and then retaliated with another volley of golden beams. I raised an arm to shield myself from the gust of hot air from Hin Wu¡¯s wings. She was nearly airborne. I had to move. If she got into the sky, I wouldn¡¯t be able to protect Fia anymore. I almost wished I had used [Mark of the Beast] now instead to reach her, but strength had its own advantages when it came to movement. Bending my knees into a deep squat, Iunched myself forward in an almighty leap, swinging my weapons forward for added momentum. I sailed through the air like a cannonball and just managed tond on Hin Wu¡¯s back as she took to the air. With a yell, I sunk my axe deep into her fiery flesh and then held on for dear life. The mes around her body engulfed me like I was standing on the sun and I screamed in agony as the intensity began eating through even my [Demon]-enhanced [Steel Skin] technique. ¡°Max!¡± Fia cried. ¡°What are you doing? Max!¡± I channeled the extreme pain into new Frenzy, utilizing [Steel Lightning] to stave off some of the damage and [Death¡¯s Door] to bypass the blood that was now boiling in my veins. I was burning Frenzy like crazy. I couldn¡¯t keep this up for long. Hin Wu bucked and screeched, pping about in a fervor as she tried to remove the axe in her back. She turned her head to start pecking at me and I raised my ive at thest moment in a parry. She breathed more fire next, and I clung to my axe handle as the mes engulfed me. ¡°Keep hitting her!¡± I shouted to Fia and she eventually snapped out of the shock of seeing me being burned alive to keep up her assault. Clinging to my axe for leverage, I finally went on the offensive, letting loose with huge downward chops using my Phnx ive, hacking into her spine again and again. The pain I elicited was enough to keep me going and then finally I sensed the emotions I was aiming to produce the most. Fear¡­ As I kept it up her terror grew, perhaps realizing she wasn¡¯t going to survive this fight. ¡°Damn you, Bull Man!¡± she finally screamed. ¡°Why did fate have to curse me with you! I should have nevere here!¡± ¡°Just shut up and die!¡± Fia screamed andunched her jian des straight for Hin Wu¡¯s head. They pierced her beak and skull and then like a fire being extinguished, suddenly the mes on her body began to belch thick ck smoke. She fell backwards out of the sky and I tore my axe free to leap clear. Inded in a roll as her massive body came crashing to the ground behind me with an almighty thoom! Thick smoke filled the air, along with silence. I surveyed the damage to my body as Hin Wu began to flop and flounder on the ground, her massive body shrinking and copsing into ck smoke as she took on her human form once again. I was surprised to see my skin still intact, but my Dantian had paid the price. I was near running on empty now; my [Steel Lightning] and [Steel Skin] techniquesbined had worked together to keep me alive, but it came at a hefty price. Releasing my [Marks], I reverted to my normal form to conserve what Frenzy I had left. I then limped towards Hin Wu as Fia touched down on the ground next to me. ¡°Max are you, alright?¡± Fia said, studying me with a mixture of concern and disbelief. ¡°I will be once she¡¯s dead,¡± I said and stowed my ive while readying my axe for a killing blow. As I got closer to Hin Wu, I could see the wounds I had inflicted as well as those by Fia. Her side was split open and half her face was filled with puncture wounds from Fia¡¯s des. Surprisingly, she was still somewhat conscious, her remaining crimson eye darting back and forth in a mixture of fear and disbelief. I stood over her, brandishing my axe. ¡°You¡­¡± she croaked, blood and smoke foaming from her mouth as she tried to speak. ¡°¡­it was you¡­all along¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what she was talking about and didn¡¯t really care. ¡°I¡¯ll do you the mercy of a swift death, Hin Wu. A thank you for sparing me all these months, as misguided as it was. No hard feelings, huh?¡± She choked out augh, grinning at me. ¡°So¡­ strong. The legends¡­ be true. Berserker¡­¡± ¡°Turn away, Fia,¡± I said and raised my axe. When she did, I quickly let it fall. * * * ¡°Is she dead?¡± Fia asked with her back still to me. I nced over my shoulder at my handiwork and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s done. We¡¯ll be safe now.¡± Fia then rushed to examine my body. ¡°You don¡¯t look hurt at all. How¡­ how is that possible?¡± ¡°Berserkers are built tough,¡± I said with a grin as I took her under my arm. ¡°But what about you?¡± She rubbed her side gingerly. ¡°A few bruised ribs perhaps, but I¡¯ll survive.¡± I smiled and together we began to limp away towards theke. ¡°Come on, we need to clean up this mess in case anyonees venturing out here.¡± ¡°What about your n?¡± Fia asked. ¡°Won¡¯t theye after you once they find her missing?¡± I shrugged. ¡°People go missing out in the wild all the time. And I have a pretty good idea how she made it out here past the guard post unseen to sneak up on us.¡± I recalled the tunnel back at the old HQ. Burned down as the building was, the tunnels would still be essible. To those who knew they existed anyway. We got about thirty feet away when something suddenly twitched in the back of my mind. A sense of something else came with it. Dark Frenzy. ¡°Wait,¡± I said,ing to a stop. ¡°It¡¯s not over yet, Fia.¡± ¡°What?¡± I turned back to see Hin Wu¡¯s dead body twitching. Her limbs then began to twist and jerk as bones popped and sinew snapped. ¡°Max, what¡¯s happening!¡± Fia screamed with horror. ¡°Max!¡± Boss fight stage three, I thought with chagrin. How could I forget? Just like Hong Feng, Hin Wu was about to transform yet again. Her dead body bing a husk for I¡¯xol¡¯ukz to inhabit. ¡°Stay back, Fia,¡± I said as one of Hin Wu¡¯s legs began to elongate. ¡°She¡¯s about to turn into something else. Something you probably shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± See¡­ I said thest word inside my head as the Shuras from the sword came to my mind. ¡°stare not into void of the unknown, for terrors that can break even the minds of Soul Emperors, within the void doth freely roam.¡± Hin Wu¡¯s corpse was about to transform into the living embodiment of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz, a dark god from beyond the stars. Something no mortal eye should see. And although Fia had spiritual strength, she was no Soul Emperor. I had no idea what seeing something like that would do to her psyche. I recalled the stories from Jim about his men falling instantly into madness. I couldn¡¯t risk that happening to her. I looked at Fia. Her eyes were already wide with terror, hands atop her head, finger raking her scalp as she began to scream. Not good... I could sense the Dark Frenzy growing stronger, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s presence intensifying¡ªand the fear inside Fia grew with it. I stowed my weapons as a new thought urred. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was a spirit, just like my me. Perhaps if I were in the spiritual realm, I could see him and stop him before he entered Hin Wu¡¯s core and caused her to transform in the real world. It would mean leaving Fia alone with that monster if it did still manage to transform, but that was a risk I was going to have to take. ¡°Watch over me, Fia,¡± I said. ¡°I need to meditate quickly.¡± ¡°What?¡± She looked at me like I was crazy. ¡°Right now?!¡± But I didn¡¯t have time to exin as I closed my eyes and looked inside. The world went dark and like I¡¯d done a thousand times before, I arrived in the ce with my own mind, apanied by the Struggler and the Demon. But I quickly sensed a new presence as well. Dark Frenzy. I entered the Struggler and girded my me with [Soul Shield] as I sought out the source of the putrid energy. I traversed through the darkness of my inner soul and in the distance faintly I saw a dark purple glow. The Dark Frenzy intensified as I neared it and when I got close enough, I saw that the light was emanating from a foot-long tear in the darkness. Like a crack in the wall of reality itself. Thin, eye-filled tentacles writhed from within it, trying to push through. There you are¡­ This had to be it¡ªthe breach in reality that was allowing I¡¯xol¡¯ukz to enter the physical world¡ªthe spiritual side of Hin Wu¡¯s demonic core. I charged at the tentacles, summoning my [Spectral Weapons], the ive and Axe forming in my hands. I cleaved into the tentacles and a horrid shriek filled my soul. I felt the pressure against my me increase but the [Soul Shield] technique held firm. ¡°That trick isn¡¯t going to work anymore, you piece of shit,¡± I said. Dark words entered my mind. ~Cursed me, thou hast strengthened thy form. But I shall snuff thee and thy spawn all the same~ ¡°Yeah, that ain¡¯t happening,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], choking up on my axe for a critical strike. ¡°Not today. I¡¯ll be sending you back to the hell you came from, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. Both here and beyond.¡± Something likeughter filled the air within my spirit. ~I am eternal and I am thy demise. Thy petty threats are but ash in the wind~ ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll see, bitch¡­¡± I raised my axe, summoning my Frenzy. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± Blue lightning shot down from the ckened sky and struck my axe as I brought it down on the tentacles squirming through the crack. It hit like a bomb going off and I had a sudden shback to when I had destroyed the minor gate back in the bunker. I was pushed back on my feet by the st of dark energy and then, like a candle being extinguished, the presence of Dark Frenzy was gone. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was gone. I reopened my eyes to the real world to find Fia still standing next to me. The presence of Dark Frenzy had ceased in the real world also. It had worked. I had destroyed Hin Wu¡¯s core from the other side. ¡°How long was I gone for?¡± I asked. Fia looked at me oddly. ¡°Gone for? You only just closed your eyes.¡± I nodded. Mere seconds had passed in the real world, time againpressing in the spiritual realm. I looked back at Hin Wu¡¯s body. It was still and lifeless again. ¡°What just happened?¡± Fia said. ¡°I don¡¯t sense that demonic Qi anymore.¡± ¡°Quite a bit,¡± I said. ¡°But to understand it all, I¡¯ll have to exin some more things to you. Things that might literally break your mind.¡± Fia stared at me like I was some Saint or Devil again. ¡°This day has already been the strangest in my life. But whatever you have to tell me, I¡¯m prepared for it.¡± Her faith and trust in me, gave me the confidence to continue. ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°As the woman I love, I want no more secrets between us. Have a seat. I¡¯m going to tell you everything.¡± * * * I started with the basics again, exining exactly what the definition of a Berserker was by writing out the Yee characters in the sand and exining the eternal struggle that was the path of the Frenzied me. The constant bnce that had to be maintained between the raw power of the Demon and the humanity of the Struggler. ¡°Now I understand why you kept this all a secret,¡± Fia said once I had exined it all. ¡°Even from me, but what is this path exactly, Max? I saw you transform. Normally body transformation is only associated with demonic cultivation. Is it the same?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°But I know I¡¯m not like Hin Wu. In fact, true demons despise what I am.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I then exined the effects of the Bloodmoon and how it could turn me into an uncontrolled demon like what she had seen before. ¡°When that happens to me, the demons in the night attack me. They call me the Cursed me. I still don¡¯t understand it all, but there is some deeper mystery as to the origins of the Frenzied me and the demons thate from the Bloodmoon.¡± Fia paled a little. ¡°I admit, it terrified me to see you like that. It¡¯s something I¡¯m going to have to adjust to.¡± My heart sank a little. ¡°I understand¡­¡± She then ced her hand atop mine, perhaps sensing my mood. ¡°I will though. Now that I know it¡¯s truly you. What happens to you when you be like that? Under the Bloodmoon?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m bing something else, but I¡¯m learning to control it,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s not something I would ever n to do lightly. The one time I did sumb fully, I ended up lost hundreds of miles out in the wild.¡± Her mouth opened with disbelief then. ¡°What? Hundreds of miles?¡± ¡°That¡¯s where things get a bit more interesting,¡± I said. ¡°I was saved by a group of Terran who had survived out in the wild. They lived underground in a bunker, for years¡­over a decade, since the attack.¡± Fia¡¯s eyes grew wide with disbelief. ¡°Is this true?¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s another reason for me to keep it all a secret. If the empire ever found out I¡¯m sure they¡¯d try to exterminate them. They possess the true knowledge of who we were as a people, our history. Everything the Yee tried to erase.¡± ¡°Max, I had no idea,¡± Fia said and then her eyes softened. ¡°I wonder how much of our original culture was lost when the Yee integrated us. I suppose we¡¯ll never really know.¡± I paused a moment to consider that. I guess her family were indeed victims as well. ¡°That¡¯s why protecting them is so important to me,¡± I said. ¡°If we lose who we were, then everything I¡¯m fighting for would be for nothing.¡± Fia nodded again empathetically. ¡°I understand. What are they like? Your people?¡± I smiled as I told her and over an hour flew by as I filled her in on the details. Threja¡¯s sword, the barrier, Kelsey, Jim and his old Earth ideals. She waspletely rapt by then, but finally I told her about the real threat they faced in the wild. The threat to us all really. ¡°Its name is I¡¯xol¡¯ukz,¡± I said. ¡°Xi Xha helped me research exactly what it is, but I believe it¡¯s what is influencing this entire. The dark effect of the Bloodmoon itself. It¡¯s what creates both the spirit beasts and the demons. And I believe it intends to control even more.¡± I exined as much as I knew about how the Dark Frenzy¡ªor demonic Qi as she could sense it¡ªworked and also how the barrier could only do so much to keep it and the demons at bay. ¡°Winter ising. If I don¡¯t do something to rid that bunker of the demons, they¡¯ll all die.¡± Fia let out an uneasy breath, seeming almost beside herself as she stared dead ahead of her in thought, digesting everything I¡¯d just told her. ¡°I had no idea you were dealing with so much,¡± she said, looking up at me. ¡°These things barely seem real. The stuff of legends or Deity Realm cultivators. What are you going to do, Max?¡± I considered the question myself and then was filled with a sudden resolve. ¡°I need to get back there and destroy that gate,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s the only chance they¡¯ll have to rid the bunker of the demons for good and survive the winter.¡± ¡°But what does that mean?¡± Fia asked. ¡°Fighting more demons?¡± ¡°Lots of them,¡± I said. ¡°And probably worse.¡± I still didn¡¯t know what I would truly face at that gate, but after defeating Hin Wu and I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s minor presence just now, I felt more than equipped. Or at least equipped enough to try. ¡°I have you to thank for being finally able to make this step though, Fia.¡± She blinked at me in surprise. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°All this time, I couldn¡¯t master my spiritual techniques because of an internal blockage in my spirit, but now I realized that it was because I couldn¡¯t be truly honest with you about everything. About what I truly am. But now that I have, it¡¯s unlocked something inside of me. I have the weapons I need to face I¡¯xol¡¯ukz head on now.¡± I took her hands in mine as we sat together on the beach. ¡°Thank you for still trusting in me after everything you saw. For still loving me even after telling you all this. Now, you truly are the other half of my soul.¡± Fia smiled back as she squeezed my hands. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest. You are far moreplex than I ever realized and I thank you for sharing it all with me.¡± She then shook her head slowly. ¡°I only wished you¡¯d done it sooner. If I knew you were doing all this¡­ I probably would have agreed to leave my family a long time ago.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I told you that you reminded me of my father, didn¡¯t I?¡± I nodded. ¡°Yeah, still not sure how I feel about that.¡± Sheughed. ¡°I keep telling you it is positive. My father came from nothing and achieved greatness, and you truly are like him in that regard, but now so much more, I realize. You are doing things I never dreamed possible. Defy the Warden and my family? Reim your from the princess and the empire? Face a dark god? Before I did not know if you would ever achieve it all, but now that I know the true strength you possess, I have no doubt you will aplish all of it. When I said fate had drawn us together, I had no idea just how lucky I was to have caught a falling star like you.¡± The outpouring of her heart was matched only by the strength of admiration and love in her soul. For the first time, I had found someone I could share my very heart with, all my secrets and love in one. ¡°Thank you, Fia,¡± I said and then kissed her deeply as I held her close. ¡°For your faith in me. For epting me.¡± Fia blushed uncontrobly with a smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I really want to let you go,¡± she said. ¡°But I know you have to.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be alright now,¡± I said, cupping her face in my palm. ¡°Thanks to you.¡± ¡°You should get going then. If you have people to save, it¡¯s what you should do first.¡± I nodded. ¡°But what about you? Will you be alright?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Hin Wu is dead and our duel is still months away. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°But your injury¡­¡± ¡°A few days rest tops,¡± she said. ¡°The only thing I need to do between now and then is attend a silly court appearance. And once they discover Hin Wu missing, who knows? Master Lo Feng might just drop everything against us.¡± I furrowed my brow at that. ¡°You¡¯re going to court against Lo Feng?¡± ¡°My father is,¡± she said. ¡°But don¡¯t worry about it. These are trivial matterspared to what you need to take care of. Just promise you¡¯ll return to me safely, okay?¡± I nodded. ¡°I will.¡± ¡°Go then,¡± she said, giving me a final kiss. ¡°Go to save your people, Max. I¡¯ll be waiting for you on your return.¡± Book 2: Chapter 50 I WANTED TO get out into the wild right away, but I had burned way too much Frenzy for that. Plus, although I had finally had my breakthrough to use my spiritual techniques, I was still headed into a battle with argely unknown foe. Or perhaps a battle within argely unknown territory was more urate. Jim had said the second base was hundreds of miles away by tunnel and it would take time to get there as well as back. I could be in for a long haul. A dungeon crawl, more than a blitz and I needed to be prepared. Despite the fight with Hin Wu, my body was still in fairly good shape thanks to my [Marks]. My clothes not so much, however. After borrowing a handler uniform from Lee, I proceeded into town to buy some new robes as well as to stock up on supplies for the journey toe. After browsing for about an hour, I dropped 20 Taels of silver on some expensive bandages and healing salves as well as some alchemist concoction that was supposed to restore one¡¯s vitality. I had no idea if it would work on me or not, but anything would be worth a shot if I got desperate enough fighting I¡¯xol¡¯ukz out in that second bunker. I visited Master Edrik next and had him put a keen edge on both my axe and my Phnx ive. I wouldn¡¯t be able to take Venja with me to the gate, as she would still be needed to protect the bunker while I was gone, but I wanted every advantage possible and that meant using my axe and ive technique to the fullest. Returning to the square, I met up with Gui Zu and Yu Li for dinner, hosting them at my new apartment. It was spacious, three times the size of my old ce with a king-sized bed and a full kitchen to boot. It felt like old times again as Yu Li took to the kitchen and served up leftovers from my party the night before. We then all sat together as a family, eating andughing as little Su Ling giggled away. ¡°You seem in much better spirits, brother,¡± Gui Zu said as he attempted to trick Su Ling into eating some bean sprouts that he pretended were noodles. ¡°I must admit you had me a bit worriedst night.¡± ¡°Worried?¡± Yu Li chimed in from the kitchen. ¡°About what?¡±¡°Nothing that matters anymore,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s all sorted out now.¡± It felt good to say that. 24 hours ago, I had been a nervous mess, not even able to enjoy the party Yu Li had thrown for me. But now I was making up for lost time, able to rx again and enjoy the small things in life that made it all worth it. ¡°Well good then,¡± Gui Zu said giving me a toast. ¡°Never should have doubted you¡¯d get it all figured out. You¡¯re the great Max Chun after all!¡± Iughed at that as we touched sses. Part of me wanted to just tell him what had happened, more out of excitement than anything else. But the timing just wasn¡¯t right. The threats that Hin Wu hadid out¡ªabout the trouble Fia could get into if we were ever discovered¡ªwere still at y. And while I trusted my inner circle, the less people who knew the better. For their safety as well as Fia¡¯s. That night, after seeing Gui Zu and Yu Li off, I sat in lotus position on my new bed and slipped into meditation. I focused on honing my spiritual techniques while reflecting on the events of the day. I hadn¡¯t really had time to acknowledge all that I had aplished. I had defeated Hin Wu and the aberration she had be. It was a testament to how much I had advanced. And that was thanks in no small part to all my training with Venja, Fia, and Master Wong. My regimen of cultivation by killing spirit beasts in the wild as well as channeling the Bloodmoon each night had rounded out my progression by enhancing both my frenzied core and my spiritual awareness. I summoned the cultivation manual in my mind¡¯s eye to gauge just where I might be on that scale now. Core Formation 1st Core Formation 2nd Core Body Refinement 3rd Core Mental Refinement 4th Core Density Refinement 5th Inner Soul Detection 6th Inner Soul Focus 7th Inner Soul Refinement 8th Inner Soul Projection 9th Secondary Soul Germination I had definitely achieved Inner Soul Detection and Focus. And considering how I had leveled up the Struggler inside my own mind, perhaps I had mastered Inner Soul Refinement as well. Holy hell, I thought as I looked at the chart. I was the equivalent of a 7th-Tier Core Realm cultivator now and who knew how much more when I went into full beast mode using the [Marks]. I¡¯d aplished it all in a rtively short time too, by using the spiritual training as well as the Bloodmoon. But for me it felt like much longer. Like I had concentrated over a year¡¯s worth of cultivation and martial training in a fraction of the time. But the results had shown for it. I had gone from nearly being killed by Hin Wu when we first met to practically dominating her, albeit with Fia¡¯s help. Thinking back now, Hin Wu had to be within reach of the Sacred Soul Realm herself, a 9th-Tier Core Realm Cultivator looking for a chance at breakthrough. But in the end, I had broken her. It was a huge aplishment, but one I knew I owed as much to Fia¡¯s help as it did my abilities¡ªand not just from abat perspective either. My soul felt bnced now that we had connected on a deeper level, revealing my true self to her and receiving her full eptance. Our paths were destined to be together just as she had said. I smiled at that. Already I was contemting how I could make thatbined path a reality. The way forward was still fuzzy though. The differences between our martial sects, my status, our duel yet toe, but I could see the light of my Frenzied me at the end of the tunnel. Plus, there was still Gui Zu, Yu Li, and Jian Yi to eventually be told about our rtionship when the time was right. They would be shocked once it finally happened no doubt, but once I exined everything, I was sure they¡¯d be okay. Part of me still wanted to just tell them now, but I had time to do that. My duel was still months away and I needed to focus on what was most important first. My people in the bunker needed saving before winter set in. And I was still unsure how that might all turn out. My confidence was there however. Not in victory. That was always left to the dice. And facing a dark god like I¡¯xol¡¯ukz, the [Odds were naturally Against Me] for sure. But I had the confidence of my own conviction. That no matter what, I wasn¡¯t going to back down from this challenge. Win, lose, or die, I was going to put it all on the line to save thest remnant of Earth¡¯s humanity from being destroyed. Already I could sense my me stirring with the hunger of my resolve. As I finally tucked in for some well-needed rest, I dreamed of the dark god. Come tomorrow, I was going to face the greatest foe of my life. * * * I left in the dark, at moonset and arrived at the bunker by mid-morning, greeted first by Kelsey as always. She was waiting for me at the edge of the vige courtyard, having sensed my me approaching from afar, no doubt. She stood, arms folded, leaning against the thatched-roofed structure that served as a canopy for the square. I couldn¡¯t help but notice the development in her physique over thest few months. She had packed on a good bit of muscle from all of our hunting and cultivating in the wild, looking like a gymnast or Olympic swimmer now instead of the scrawny kid I¡¯d found her as. Internally, her me and Dantian had developed in tandem to match. Even as I approached, I could sense the small reservoir of liquid Frenzy she had finally learned to cultivate within her soul. That meant she had ess to manifestation techniques and for where we were headed, she was going to need them just as much as I would. Remnants of ate-night snowfall clung to the roof of the canopy and below it the entire poption of the bunker was now spread out in small tents and makeshift shelters. A few of the residents waved to me with hope in their eyes. Others looked back with in old despair. I could sense [Everyone¡¯s Pain], strong enough to cultivate from. The constant cacophony of hacking coughs highlighted their plight, exacerbated by the constant dampness in the frigid air. I had to get them to proper shelter soon. These people were running out of time. As I approached Kelsey, she gave me a wide smile, clearly immune to the ailments guing the rest of themunity. Such was the strength of cultivators, I supposed. But thankfully they had her strength to rely upon while I was back in the city. ¡°Hey, what the hell is that?¡± She greeted me with a fist-bump while looking up at me with confusion. ¡°What?¡± I said. She gestured to the Phnx ive slung over my shoulder and then turned back to look towards Venja, as if to make sure she was still standing vigil in her spot just before the bunker doors. Iughed. ¡°I had one made back in the city,¡± I said and then pressed a finger to my lips with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t tell Venja, though. I don¡¯t want her to get jealous.¡± Kelseyughed along with me. ¡°As if I could. How did your match go? You¡¯re back earlier than I expected so I¡¯m guessing it went well?¡± ¡°Very well,¡± I said and rested a hand on her shoulder as we both made our way through the tent city erected under the canopy. I shook hands with a few of the residents and wished I had brought more supplies to help them. But this wasn¡¯t a supply run. I was here to solve the root core of their issue, not treat the symptoms. ¡°I¡¯ve had another breakthrough, Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°I think it¡¯s time.¡± Kelsey stopped and looked up at me with wide eyes. ¡°Seriously? You mean the gate?¡± I nodded. ¡°Go get Jim. It¡¯s time toy out our battle n.¡± * * * Twenty minutester I stood with a small group consisting of Jim, Lieutenant Harris, Kelsey, and Susan. We kept out of earshot of the rest of themunity, standing next to Venja and a makeshift brazier¡ªwhich was little more than an oil drum cut in half and filled with burning embers, but it was enough to keep us warm. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that you¡¯re back,¡± Jim said, shaking my hand. ¡°Things have unfortunately gotten worse.¡± I nced over my shoulder at the brokenmunity, hacking and wheezing behind me. ¡°Yeah, so I see.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean us,¡± Jim said, before hacking out a deep cough himself. ¡°Although we¡¯re not doing so hot either. I¡¯m talking about the demons in the bunker.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°They¡¯ve taken over another floor.¡± Both Susan and Kelsey looked surprised at that. ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Max strengthened the barrier.¡± She then looked to me. ¡°Right?¡± I nodded but Jim looked steadfast in what he¡¯d said. ¡°We send recon teams down every week,¡± Harris chimed in. ¡°Just to keep an eye on things. As of two weeks ago, somehow the demons have managed to breach floor six as well as floor seven and the basement below.¡± Susan¡¯s brows lowered into a scowl, clearly perturbed. ¡°Why don¡¯t we know about this, Jim?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t want to cause unnecessary panic.¡± ¡°People have a right to know what risks we¡¯re facing as amunity.¡± ¡°Have you had a look at ourmunitytely, Susan?¡± Jim pointed back at the tent city. ¡°We¡¯re hanging on by a thread. I don¡¯t need to give them any more bad news to crush whatever hope we have left.¡± Susan folded her arms crossly. ¡°You ced me in charge of the civilians, Jim. I think you¡¯d at least allow me the courtesy of knowing.¡± ¡°It was need to know,¡± he said. ¡°And now you know.¡± ¡°Two weekster?¡± ¡°Time has nothing to do with it,¡± Jim said. ¡°It¡¯s because Max is here. And we finally have a solution now. Right, Max?¡± I was still digesting the information myself. ¡°Give me a second.¡± I approached Venja and ced a hand on the sword. Venja, is what I hear about the demons advancing true? ¡°It is,¡± her voice said, resounding in my mind. ¡°A great presence of Dark Frenzy has appeared, pushing against me.¡± Do you know what it is? ¡°It¡¯s beyond my influence. I cannot tell. But whatever it is, it grows in strength each day.¡± I grimaced. Thanks. Looking back to the group I let out a sigh. ¡°Something powerful is down there. Another gate maybe, I don¡¯t know. But it¡¯s getting stronger.¡± ¡°Makes no difference,¡± Kelsey said, mming her fist into her palm. ¡°We¡¯ll take it out all the same, right, Max?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll?¡± Susan said. ¡°Mom, don¡¯t start this again, please.¡± I rested a hand on Susan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine, I promise.¡± ¡°Susan raises a good point though,¡± Jim said. ¡°You¡¯ll need to lead the charge on this, Max, no doubt. But the rest of thismunity still falls under my responsibility. Including Kelsey.¡± Kelsey huffed out a sigh, rolling her eyes. ¡°Please, Jim, I can kill more demons than¡ª¡± ¡°Drop the attitude,¡± Jim chided her. ¡°I respect your abilities. And yes, you¡¯re worth a toon of men all on your own by now, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m going to give permission for you to throw your life away foolishly.¡± He then looked to me. ¡°Either of you.¡± I raised a brow at that one. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he continued. ¡°You might be the strongest people we¡¯ve ever seen, but you¡¯re not soldiers. And when ites down to it, this will be a military operation.¡± I sighed inwardly. I was about to remind Jim he was out of his depth when he suddenly pulled a faded map from his pocket. ¡°And seeing that it is a military operation¡­¡± Jim opened the map for us all to see. ¡°¡­I will be taking responsibility for it. Meaning if anything goes wrong it¡¯s on me, understand? Not any of you.¡± I understood where he wasing from now and nodded. ¡°Alright, Jim. So what¡¯s the n?¡± The map was a schematic of the base and he flipped to the sixth floor for us all to see. ¡°Now, Kelsey, while I¡¯m sure you¡¯d want to stick by Max¡¯s side and y Robin to his Batman, I honestly don¡¯t think that¡¯d be the best use of your capabilities.¡± Kelsey stared back at him, clearly perplexed, but she remained quiet and listened¡ªas we all did as Jim continued. ¡°Max is more Superman in this scenario,¡± he said. ¡°He won¡¯t need your help, but we will.¡± He then began pointing to various sections on the map. ¡°I want you backing up the rear guard. Once Max makes his initial assault from the main stairwell, a secondary team will follow to take care of the side corridors and clear room to room. Harris will be leading that unit. Kelsey, you¡¯ll take your direction from him. A secondary team will stand reserve on the fifth floor to ensure none of them break through and circle back.¡± He then looked to me. ¡°Max, you¡¯ll continue to the second stairwell and make your way down to the next floor from there. Don¡¯t backtrack as we¡¯ll be mopping up behind you and I don¡¯t want any friendly fire incidents. What you don¡¯t take down on the initial sweep, Harris and Kelsey will take care of.¡± I folded my arms and nodded appreciatively. At first I thought I was in for another pissing match with him about leadership and control, but I couldn¡¯t have been more wrong. Jim wasn¡¯t being a hindrance. He was helping in the best way he knew how, and honestly I was grateful for it. ¡°Thanks for this, Jim,¡± I said. ¡°My only battle n was to go in there swinging. I hadn¡¯t given thought to anything beyond that.¡± Jim chuckled like the wise old fox he was. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m in charge of this, son. I¡¯ve been thinking about this for weeks. I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯ll find out there, but with the intel I have, I¡¯ve strategized the best assault n possible.¡± ¡°Thanks, Jim,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°This makes a lot of sense.¡± He nodded. ¡°That¡¯s phase one. Phase two will be traversing the tunnel to the second base. It took us weeks, but we don¡¯t have weeks obviously. Max, I¡¯m hoping you can do it in a lot less time than that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about the distance I travel to get here from the city,¡± I said. ¡°Granted I probably won¡¯t be able to move as fast, but maybe half a day.¡± ¡°Holy hell. Half a day?¡± Harrisughed incredulously. ¡°That¡¯s unreal. No way we could keep up with that.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Jim said. ¡°Which is why Phase Two and Three would be mostly you alone, Max. But I¡¯ve mapped out a strategy for you once you reach the second base. The gate was closer to the surface there. Second floor.¡± He produced another map that was marked in red pen. ¡°I¡¯veid out the best route through the facility. I¡¯ll being with you.¡± We all looked at him like he was mad. ¡°What?¡± he said. ¡°You lug truckloads of crap back and forth every week. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to handle a light weight like me.¡± ¡°Jim, we didn¡¯t discuss this,¡± Harris said. ¡°Was no need,¡± Jim said again. ¡°You¡¯ll remain here inmand. I¡¯m the only one who need go with him.¡± ¡°The maps are probably good enough, Jim,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll be facing things you¡¯ve never seen before.¡± Jim cracked a smile. ¡°Do you forget I¡¯ve been there already?¡± He looked at me then and I could sense a deep pain in his soul. ¡°I need to do this, Max. It was my orders that led to those demons finding their way back to us. And as themander of this facility, it¡¯s my responsibility to ensure that whatever was done is undone.¡± I sensed the resolve in his tone and simply nodded. ¡°All right, Jim, but¡ª¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re going to say,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯m not aiming to get in your way or slow you down. I¡¯ll take care of myself.¡± I wasn¡¯t nning to have Jim tag along, but I supposed there was no getting around it. It didn¡¯t sound like he even cared if he made it back. But there was someone else who definitely needed to join us. ¡°Fine, Jim,¡± I said. ¡°But Kelseyes too.¡± ¡°What?¡± Susan said rmed. ¡°I¡¯m going to be facing the unknown out there when I approach that gate,¡± I said. ¡°And I don¡¯t know if I can do it alone.¡± A long pause filled the air. ¡°You certain?¡± Jim asked. I thought of myst encounter with I¡¯xol¡¯ukz up close as well as when I encountered it under the Bloodmoon. I had my spiritual defenses now, but there was no telling what I might encounter when facing the concentrated Dark Frenzy of the gate. Kelsey¡¯s me was always what I could count on to pull me back from the brink in the past. And I¡¯d need her for that again. With even low-rank manifestation techniques, I was confident Kelsey could protect herself in the physical realm as well as Jim. That meant all she needed to do was to stay clear of the gate itself. And when I went at it, she could provide that lifeline for me to return to sanity if the worst of the Dark Frenzy took hold. ¡°I don¡¯t need her as my Robin, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking,¡± I said. ¡°She¡¯s a Supergirl all on her own. And yes, I¡¯m certain I¡¯ll need her help. Plus, she can watch your back out there too.¡± I winked at Kelsey and her soul filled with pride and lemonade. Jim looked at Kelsey and nodded. ¡°Fine then.¡± ¡°Wait one damn minute!¡± Susan shouted, throwing her hands into the air. ¡°This is not okay! Are you all just going to ignore the concerns for my daughter¡¯s safety? She¡¯s only fifteen!¡± ¡°Susan, besides Max, Kelsey is probably going to be the safest one of us here,¡± Jim said. ¡°She¡¯s been blessed with a gift, and she¡¯s got the brass to use it.¡± ¡°Yes, but she¡¯s still a civilian. A civilian you gave me authority over and I¡¯m not¡ª¡± ¡°Not anymore,¡± Jim said, looking Susan dead in the eye. ¡°As of today, I¡¯m granting Kelsey the grade of Specialist the same as Max. She¡¯s now officially under my authority.¡± Susan¡¯s mouth came open, but Kelsey¡¯s face lit up with a grin. ¡°Seriously? Thank you, Jim! Thank you!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let it go to your head,¡± he said. ¡°It means you can still take orders from a corporal.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Kelsey said with a nod. ¡°I mean understood, colonel.¡± Susan still looked bbergasted, but Iforted her with a hand on the back. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine, Susan. I¡¯ll be with her. And she¡¯s stronger than you know. And she¡¯ll get even stronger by going through this. Trust me.¡± Another long silence took hold as Susan took it all in. The pain in her soul was palpable but Kelsey finally soothed it by pulling her mother into a hug. Susan let out a sob and the me within Kelsey¡¯s soul grew only stronger with conviction. ¡°I¡¯m doing this for all of us,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But I¡¯lle back to you, Mom. I promise.¡± Susan finally pulled away, wiping tears as she released a nervous sigh. ¡°I know, it¡¯s just¡­you¡¯re still my child, Kelsey. No matter how strong you are.¡± ¡°We get it,¡± Jim said. ¡°But young as she is, Kelsey has what it takes. And, fair or not, what¡¯s left of our country needs her right now.¡± ¡°Not just country,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s left of all humanity.¡± That caused everyone to pause and slowly the gravity and importance of whaty ahead of us took hold. Finally, Susan choked back another sob, but then nodded with a smile. ¡°You bring them all back safely, Kelsey.¡± Kelsey smiled subtly as she took hold of her mother¡¯s hands, taking on a new sense of maturity in my eyes. ¡°I will, Mom. I will.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming we¡¯d want to conduct the operation during day light, correct?¡± Harris said. ¡°Less chance ofplications from the Bloodmoon?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave that call for you, Max,¡± Jim said. ¡°Demons and monsters is your department.¡± I considered the timing. ¡°How long will it take to get your team ready, Jim?¡± ¡°An hour maybe,¡± he said. ¡°Two tops.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go get ready then,¡± I said as fresh Frenzy and conviction filled my soul. ¡°It¡¯s time to save our world.¡± Book 2: Chapter 51 THE STENCH OF rot and decay hit me like a wall as we descended through the bunker. I took the lead with Jim and a small squad of soldiers following close behind. Further back was Kelsey and Lieutenant Harris, along with the toon that would form the mop-up crew. The ce was in total darkness, lit only by the small heamps each one of us wore. People hadn¡¯t lived in the bunker for weeks and it showed. Disheveled quarters. Clothes and supplies strewn haphazardly across the halls. The dank smell of mold mixed with the acrid stench of decay, and both grew stronger the further we went down. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± one of the soldiers said from behind. ¡°Stinks like hell down here.¡± It was Corporal Andrews, the man who had reced Richards. ¡°You answered your own question, son,¡± Jim said. ¡°Hell is right. You weren¡¯t with us on the initial run, but the entire second base stunk like this. Turned the ce into a sewer, they did. We¡¯ll need a damn good cleansing after this.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the ones making the stink,¡± I said. ¡°But as for the stink itself, well¡­¡± Andrewsughed. ¡°Yeah, I get it. Shit rolls downhill, right?¡± I could only grin. I choked up on my axe and ive as we approached the final stairwell to the sixth floor and the screech of demons joined the foul stench in the air. What looked like a hundred of them crowded the small space, crawling over one another as they pressed against the barrier to get at me. I halted before the writhing mass of red-skinned creatures and then looked behind me, waiting for Harris and Kelsey to catch up. Kelsey ran with her axe on her shoulder, but barely carried anything else. A pair of shorts, boots, and a tank top was all she wore, showing off the various scars crisscrossing her battle-hardened skin. I couldn¡¯t have been more proud. I matched her in the dress code department, stripping down Berserker-style to a bare chest and pants cut off at the thighs. We were in stark contrast to the k armor and tactical gear that Jim and his men wore, but the raw freedom of mobility filled me with an eagerness to get started. I could sense the same in Kelsey. Perhaps even more so. Her me was burning twice as bright as mine, roaring with Frenzy. I had to remember her hatred of demons was the core of her Dao. It was yet one more reason she absolutely needed to join me at the second base. If all else failed, her boundless Frenzy could be the savior of us both. ¡°Time to put your [Iron Skin] to the test,¡± I said to Kelsey with a wink. ¡°Happy hunting.¡± She gave me a nod and smiled. ¡°Just save some for me.¡± Iughed at that and then cycled my Frenzy. ¡°I¡¯m heading in. Give me thirty seconds before you follow.¡± Engaging [Steel Skin], I readied my axe and ive and took off in a sprint towards the swarm of demons within the stairwell. I released a cry of aggression as I hacked into the shrieking mass. They folded like tissue paper against the might of my cleaves, my casual strength alone now able to kill them with a single blow. My [Bloodlust] triggered, replenishing my Frenzy and I pressed on in a torrent of carnage and rage, cutting through the demons like I was harvesting ripe wheat. Their ws and rusted weapons were all but ineffectual against my [Steel Skin] and I used the advantage to dive deep into the midst of them before releasing a powerful Frenzy-filled technique. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± Arcs of blue lightning fired from my body, frying hundreds of them at a time as I lit up the bunker with my own personal fireworks disy. I pressed forward against the throng that remained, not waiting to take care of stragglers just like Jim had strategized. The tide soon turned as they began to flee from me with fear permeating their ranks. I kept it up¡ªhacking and shing. I didn¡¯t tire. I didn¡¯t rest. The process became almost mechanical as I brought the wrath of my des to bear upon the weak demon fodder. I couldn¡¯t tell what was going on behind me, but the popcorn sound of gunfire said there were more than a few strays left behind from my sloppy work, but the exuberance of Kelsey¡¯s battle cries let me know that it was just fine with her. I kept focused on my own task at hand and simply pressed on. What felt like over an hour passed as I finally cleared the sixth and seventh floors, essing the basement. I got a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as I went through the process of clearing the bottom of the facility yet again, reminiscent of when I first encountered Jim and his team. The demons were thick¡ªhundreds if not thousands of them packed into the space so tightly that it was like pushing against a wall. Then something began to change. As I cut through the demons, I began to feel the bite of their ws through my [Steel Skin]. Not enough to break it, but enough that I wasn¡¯t totally insted anymore. Something was making them stronger. And then I sensed it. Dark Frenzy¡­ Vibrant and pulsating. In the darkness I could barely make out anything, save the scantily d bodies of the demons themselves, writhing and screaming. But then suddenly an eerie red glow filed the air, like the light of the Bloodmoon itself. Whatever it was pushed against my me and I shielded myself with [Soul Shield] to prevent it from being snuffed out. The light rose into the air, like a glowing red ember in the darkness and then suddenly it crashed down to earth again. Ka-thoom! A huge explosion of light and sound rocked the basement as a wave of Dark Frenzy and heat washed over me. A hundred demon screams were cut short in death cries as a wave of corpses radiated outwards from the explosion. I shielded myself from the flying bodies with [Steel Lightning], some of them impacting and exploding with the reactive force on contact. From the sh of the explosion a huge figure emerged from the darkness. It was at least three stories tall, humanoid in shape but just barely. Its body appeared to shift and squirm, like its skin was crawling with leeches. Only when I strained my eyes did I realize that what was moving was actually the limbs of hundreds of demons, all smashed into one another in a horrific mosaic of depravity and gore. My mind reeled when I realized what it was. A Corpse Demon¡­ I¡¯d only read about them in my handler¡¯s manuals before¡ªthe result of some demonic force herding together the bodies of their fallenrades. And in this case, it had just made a hundred more corpses to feed upon. The bodies of the demons it¡¯d just killed slowly twisted and coiled, manipted by the unseen power of the giant creature, bing part of its body. It was like watching one of my [Mark] techniques take hold, except in a grand and perverse form. The thing had no head, but where its stomach would be was a gaping maw. In its hand was the glowing red object I¡¯d seen in the dark. A crude-looking hammer made of twisted, ckened steel, but the head was a red crystal that glowed with the power of Dark Frenzy. The monster seemed to look in my direction and its maw salivated with dripping offal and body parts. ¡°Son of the Cursed me¡­ We knew thou wouldste.¡± What the hell¡­? I wasn¡¯t expecting it to talk. In fact, I was expecting to find another gate or something, but not this. Whatever this was? It was a Corpse Demon for sure, but they were supposed to be horrid mindless masses that merely consumed. This was something else. An Awakened Corpse Demon perhaps? My me stirred with the apprehension of the unknown power I faced. Surely the [Odds were Against Me]. The Demon inside me grinned. Always¡­ As the fresh Frenzy flowed, I channeled it into my meridians and increased my size with [Mark of the Giant]. ¡°Know this then,¡± I said to it. ¡°First, I¡¯m going to destroy you. And then I¡¯ll being for your god.¡± I charged forward with lightning bursting from my weapons, popping demons like rotten fruit as I trampled over them. The Corpse Demon swung its hammer down and I leapt to the side as it went off like a bomb again, sending demons and concrete hurtling through the air. I regained my footing in a roll, slipping on guts beforeying into the ankle of the giant monstrosity with both my axe and my ive. The mangled corpses gave way to the power of my hit and the creature stumbled as its foot was severed. But no more quickly did it happen, than did the Corpse Demon simply form another foot from the sea of corpses around it. Not good, I thought. The hammer came down again and I jumped in the air to avoid the st of more demon corpses and Dark Frenzy. ¡°Irritating gnat!¡± It spoke with a deep rumbling voice that resounded within my soul. ¡°Thou shall mock our lord no more.¡± I thought for a moment, considering just what this thing was. It wasn¡¯t a manifestation of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz like what had be of Hong Feng or Hin Wu. This thing had its own mind. An underling. But it was a damn mini boss at best. Iughed scoffingly. ¡°I¡¯ve killed your ¡®lord¡¯ like three times now, you smelly pile of shit. You think you stand any chance against the true Fury of the Frenzied me?¡± The creature roared as if provoked by the name alone and I followed up my verbal assault with a full-on st of [Fear the me] itself. It roared even more, shying away from me. I took the opportunity to heighten my reflexes, surging forward with [Mark of the Beast]. My body transformed near instantly and I leapt twenty feet straight up tond on its leg. I bounced off the writhing mass of flesh to springboard into a downward cleave, aiming a critical blow at its weapon hand. ¡°[Double Three Log Chop]!¡± Both weapons cleaved into the tangled mass of rotting flesh, snapping the bones with satisfying cracks as they cut through to the other side. The hammer fell to the ground and the monster roared in pain. Inded next to the crude weapon, enduring the Dark Frenzy radiating from it as I kicked it across the room and away from me. The Corpse Demon seemed to be more mindless then, devolving from a humanoid shape tond on all fours. It began swiping at me with its elongated limbs and I avoided one only to be struck by the other. The world spun with pain as I went sailing end over end and crashed into the wall. Damn, I cursed. Mini boss or not, this thing still packs a punch. I regained my footing and went on the assault again, cleaving and chopping with my lightning-charged dual weapon techniques. But as soon as I cut off a piece of the creature, it would simply reform. Shit¡­ cutting its body is having no effect at all. I needed to take this thing out some other way. I formed a quick and desperate n. I had no idea if it would work but I had nothing else left to try. Cycling my Frenzy, I charged forward with [Steel Lightning], ignoring another m from its arms as I literally dove into the cavity of its gaping maw. The putrid scent of decay was enough to make me throw up immediately, but I held it together to annunciate my attack as I shot half my Frenzy towards my jing. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± Torrents of blue lightning radiated from the core of my being and sted outwards into the guts of the Corpse Demon, cooking it from the inside. My world turned upside down as the monster roared and bellowed, but I kept it up, putting my all into the attack. With a primal grunt I surged with Frenzy and then something like a bomb went off as the insides of the Corpse Demon exploded with me inside. Va-boom! Blood and offal filled the air as all around me chunks of rotted flesh fell from the sky. I took a moment to steady myself, realizing it was all over as the corpses finally stopped moving. I promptly emptied my stomach, finally giving in to the putrid carnage surrounded me. I released my [Marks] and shrunk back to normal size. The majority of the demons were likely dead now, if not all. But the sporadic sound of gunfire told me a few were left at least. Kelsey must have just arrived with the cleanup crew, I thought. I hefted my ive onto my shoulder and stumbled back through the dead bodies towards the sounds ofbat and the main entrance door. I rounded a mound of corpses, expecting to see Jim¡¯s men picking off stray demons, but what I did see sent my heart into my mouth. There, standing atop what was left of the hammer was Kelsey. Or what used to be Kelsey. She was twice her normal size, red skin rippling with inhuman muscle and from the sides of her head were a set of bull¡¯s horns. She roared and shrieked as Jim and his men kept peppering her with suppressive fire, the bullets bouncing off like pebbles hitting a wall. Shit no! I thought in panic.¡°Kelsey!¡± Inside her me was belching ck smoke, ovee by the effect of the Dark Frenzy. I broke into a run to reach her, just as Jim began yelling to his troops. ¡°I¡¯ll hold her back!¡± Jim shouted as he took point, sting Kelsey at near point nk-range with his rifle. ¡°Everyone, fall back now!!¡± He then shouted directly to her. ¡°You fight whatever the hell that is, Kelsey! I know you¡¯re still in there, damn it!¡± I could only imagine what had happened. Kelsey had transformed before their eyes. And now she¡¯d lost all control and had turned on them. ¡°Kelsey!¡± I screamed again, dropping my weapons as I neared her, but her attention was drawn by Jim. Before I could even reach, she jumped off the hammer and struck him hard across the chest with a wide sweep of her ws. He cried out sharply as his rifle went flying, along with his k jacket and a good portion of flesh beneath. Shit! Jim! He continued to scream as blood gushed from the open wound. Kelsey echoed the cry, rallying in a fervor, perhaps triggered by her [Bloodlust]. She leapt at him, swiping her ws at him for a killing blow when I barreled into her from the side. I knocked her off her feet and sent us both tumbling across the gore-strewn floor. Kelsey righted herself immediately, swift like a cat and was on top of me before I knew it. Her sharpened teeth snapped at my face as I held her back by her wrists, her eyes yellow and filled with unbridled Frenzy and rage. Even with my strength she was nearly a match for me. It made me realize just how powerful I became under the full effect of the demon. And Kelsey was no different. I nced back to see Jim¡¯s men dragging him away as he clutched his torso, hissing in pain. He was hurt bad, but he wasn¡¯t the one I needed to save right now. My me was protected by my [Soul Shield] technique, but Kelsey¡¯s was floundering and growing darker and redder by the second. More than that, I knew where she now was. In that space between spaces. The hidden realm where I¡¯xol¡¯ukz could freely roam. I¡¯ve got to get her out of there! I looked for the hammer and saw it glowing not thirty feet away. My body was too worn out to use a [Mark] again so quickly, even if the added strength would do me good right now. I had to beat Kelsey back with whatever I had left in the tank. Releasing a cry, I drove my forehead into her nose and pressed both legs into her torso, kicking her off of me. She went flying and screaming, flipping about tond on her feet before she even hit the ground. I used the time to flip onto my own feet and went at her hand to hand as she charged back at me. Her ws ripped the air¡ªwild and savage swipes, but under it all she was perfectly executing her base forms. It was horrific and impressive all at once and for a split second I wondered if this was what I was like when I began to lose control. ¡°Kelsey, don¡¯t let go!¡± I shouted to her as I blocked her forearm from cutting me to shreds. ¡°Sense my me. Come to me! Don¡¯t let I¡¯xol¡¯ukz take you away!¡± She whipped about with a swift kick to my stomach that sent me flying, her speed incredible. I crashed into a mound of corpses and was nearly pummeled as she followed up with a hatchet kick that drove her heel straight into the concrete floor. I side stepped before it connected, and used the opportunity to send a full-on fist straight to her jaw. Her head snapped to the side, followed by her body as she cartwheeled away from me before crashing heavily into the wall. I didn¡¯t wait to see if she was okay. I dove for my axe instead. Snatching it off the ground, I ran towards the glowing red stone of the hammer and leapt into the air with a double-handed strike. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± Blue lightning crackled from the ceiling, illuminating the basement as I drove my axe into the growing red crystal. It struck with a boom! and I was thrown back as the crystal exploded, sending a shockwave of Dark Frenzy flying in all directions. Inded on my ass some distance away and rolled onto my feet. Silence fell then and the pressure in the air subsided. The Dark Frenzy was gone. Illuminating myself with [Steel Lightning], I looked for Kelsey and found her slumped against the wall that was now decorated with the spiderweb-crack of her impact. ¡°Kelsey!¡± I shouted as I knelt down to her. Her body was shrinking, slowly reverting to its normal shape and size. Internally I could see her me returning to normal as well, the ck soot disappearing and leaving no trace of gunk at all. I was thankful for that. I¡¯d stopped it in time. Kelsey suddenly came to with a gasp for air. Her eyes quickly focused as her soul reinhabited her body again. Before I could even say anything, she scrambled to her feet. ¡°Oh my God!¡± she screamed. ¡°Jim!!¡± She indeed hadn¡¯tpletely lost it. She¡¯d seen everything. I rushed to follow after her and found her wailing and kneeling before Jim who was now spread across a stretcher on the floor. The rest of the squad surrounded her, weapons drawn and pointed, but she obviously didn¡¯t care. I rushed to put them at ease with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°It¡¯s okay now,¡± I said. ¡°It was that hammer that was affecting her. She wasn¡¯t in control. But she¡¯s okay now.¡± My words fell on deaf ears, everyone still too traumatized by what they had seen to react at all. Kelsey however continued to sob as she pawed at Jim¡¯s busted chest. ¡°Jim, I¡¯m sorry!¡± she cried. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Suddenly with a ragged breath Jim stirred and Kelsey all but killed him again as she crushed him within her arms in an embrace. ¡°Jim! You¡¯re alive!¡± I rushed to check him as well, but he didn¡¯t look good. Half his ribcage was exposed and the amount of blood seeping through the stretcher looked enough to fill three people. Still, he clung to life, wheezing, his lungs no doubt already filled with fluid. ¡°We¡¯ve got to get him to my mom!¡± Kelsey said in a panic. ¡°She can save him!¡± The soldiers were about to react when Jim weakly raised his hand. ¡°Leave it¡­¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ leaving¡­ this basement.¡± ¡°Jim,e on!¡± Kelsey said. ¡°You can make it. I¡¯ll carry you!¡± He ced a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t me¡­ yourself¡­ for this. Understand? We saw¡­ what happened.¡± ¡°Jim, please, just let me¡ª!¡± ¡°Stop,¡± he said and then he looked over at me. ¡°Finish the mission, son. You have the maps. Don¡¯t¡­ let this happen¡­ to her again.¡± Kelsey broke into another sob as Jim hacked out a ragged cough, blood spewing from his mouth. ¡°Jim!¡± she cried. But there was no answer. ¡°Jim!!¡± I stood back as Kelsey banged on his chest repeatedly¡ªhelplessly and I realized then that she was enduring the pain of not just taking her first human life, but the life of someone she loved. Quiet minutes passed as the reality of it sunk in for her and everyone else. I couldn¡¯t tell what the soldiers were thinking, but they restrained their emotions with a professionalism and stoicism that could rival my [Indifference] technique to its core. Finally, Kelsey stood and the soldiers gave her a wide berth. She looked at me with sad eyes and I opened my arms to embrace her as she ran into me still crying. ¡°I tried, Max,¡± she sobbed. ¡°I tried so hard, but it was too strong. That monster came and... I could still see everything, but just couldn¡¯t¡­ I just couldn¡¯t...¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said. ¡°This wasn¡¯t you. I should have been more careful where I kicked that damn hammer. You weren¡¯t ready to face anything like this.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said and her eyes then burned with anger as she looked up at me. ¡°This was I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. That damn monster did this!¡± ¡°Hey,¡± someone said softly, and it took me a minute to realize it was Lieutenant Harris speaking. He was looking at the both of us warily, like we were about to turn into demons again. ¡°Can either of you exin what the hell just happened?¡± I¡¯d only ever used [Mark of the Giant] around them, so seeing Kelsey transform into a full-blown demon would have been a shock beyond reality. I lowered my voice to keep the calm. Thest thing we needed was another freakout. ¡°That hammer I destroyed was like a small chunk of the Bloodmoon,¡± I said. ¡°The energy it radiates is what causes the spirit beasts and demons on the surface. Left long enough, all of you would be demons just like her. Kelsey and I¡­ we just happen to be hypersensitive to it. It causes us to transform much faster.¡± It wasn¡¯t a fully urate exnation, but it was one I knew they would understand. ¡°Shit¡­¡± Corporal Andrews said vacantly. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us this could happen?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t know we¡¯d run into something quite like this,¡± I said. ¡°I was expecting another gate. Something we could avoid. But unfortunately, I kicked the hammer away from me and itnded too close to Kelsey.¡± Murmurs went through their ranks as they all tried to process what I¡¯d said. I realized it was no different for them as when I had transformed before Fia. Albeit, perhaps after living with demon attacks for so many years, the oue of losing Jim to a demon wasn¡¯t nearly as unexpected. But seeing Kelsey suddenly bing one of them certainly was. ¡°The main thing is this,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re both still human. Kelsey is still the same Kelsey you know. And trust me, this has been as traumatizing for her as it¡¯s been for you.¡± I nced down at Kelsey who was still shaking in my arms. ¡°Maybe even more so¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, everyone,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I did this. I just¡­didn¡¯t have control.¡± Moments passed in silence, but slowly I could see the shock and uncertainty ebbing in their eyes, reced withpassion for the young girl sobbing in my arms. Finally, Harris let out a sigh. ¡°Well, we¡¯ve seen all kinds of crazy shit, so it¡¯s not like we can hold any of this against you two,¡± he said. ¡°Not after all you¡¯ve done for us.¡± He then looked to Kelsey and nodded. ¡°That goes especially for you. You¡¯re one of us. Always will be. Remember that. What¡¯s done is done, alright? We move on.¡± Kelsey sobbed with a nod, epting the understanding and forgiveness in Harris¡¯ words with grace. ¡°What do we do now, Colonel?¡± Andrews said looking to Harris, and in that instant, every soldier acknowledged that Harris had just seeded Jim as the defacto leader¡ªthest remnant of their military to survive. Harris huffed out another sigh. ¡°Is it safe for you two to continue?¡± he asked. ¡°Will this happen to her again? To you?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Not if I can help it. I have somewhat of a defense against it. Kelsey still needs to develop hers.¡± Kelsey frowned at that and I could sense she felt guilty again. ¡°We should head back to the surface to regroup,¡± Harris said. ¡°We¡¯ve just lost Jim. The wholemunity is going to have toe to grips with that. You two could probably use some resetting as well.¡± He then looked to Kelsey. ¡°You¡¯re going to need some time to process this. Okay?¡± Kelsey looked back at him and a sudden defiance entered her gaze. ¡°No,¡± she said. Harris blinked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I said no, we¡¯re not going to the surface,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Jim died by my hand, because I was being controlled by a monster. A monster we still need to go and destroy.¡± ¡°Kelsey, I¡¯ll order you if I have to,¡± Harris said. ¡°You¡¯ve just been through something traumatic. We all have. We need to reassess¡ª¡± ¡°We still have hundreds of miles of demon-filled tunnels to fight through,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°If we stop to take a break now, we¡¯ll just be inviting them in here to fill this bunker back up again.¡± She then looked down at Jim¡¯s body. ¡°And we¡¯ve already paid way too damn much to clear it this far to go back.¡± She then looked to me. ¡°Max, I say we keep going.¡± I looked back at her and could sense the burning of her Frenzied me. Deep within was the pain of loss and sorrow, the Struggler growing stronger to bnce the Demon in her soul. She¡¯d grown more in thest ten minutes than she ever could killing hundreds of spirit beasts in the wild. ¡°Without struggle, there can be no progression,¡± I said, reciting the verse as I rested my hands on her shoulders. She nodded as her eyes melted into sadness again. ¡°We have the maps, we have supplies. The only thing we don¡¯t have is time.¡± I looked to Harris. ¡°You¡¯re in charge now, Harris. But Jim¡¯s dying wish was to press on. So, we¡¯re going to press on if that¡¯s cool with you.¡± He opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell my mother about this until I return, okay?¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I don¡¯t want her to know that I¡ª¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing to tell her,¡± Harris said. ¡°Jim was killed by a demon. That simple.¡± He then looked to his subordinates for confirmation. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, gentlemen?¡± The soldiers around him all nodded. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± they sang out in unison. ¡°Very well,¡± Harris said. ¡°Now, Specialist Kelsey, I expect you to set out and destroy that demon, understood? You give them hell for what they took from us.¡± Fresh tears came to her eyes as she nodded, her guilt and regret being pushed back with forgiveness and resolve. ¡°Yes, Colonel. Thank you, Colonel.¡± Harris nodded. ¡°Alright then. Andrews, Butler, give these two your packs.¡± The soldiers stripped and handed over their gear. Once suited up, Kelsey and I retrieved our weapons from the ground and gave them all a final salute. ¡°Godspeed, you two,¡± Harris said, saluting back. ¡°Thank you, Harris,¡± I said shaking his hand. ¡°Where we¡¯re headed, we¡¯re going to need it.¡± As they departed, I gauged my Frenzy along with Kelsey¡¯s. We were both depleted but the pain and anger in Kelsey¡¯s heart was spewing more than enough Frenzy to drive us towards our goal. ¡°You ready?¡± I asked. Kelsey didn¡¯t answer me right away. From the look in her eyes, I could tell the young girl I knew was gone. A woman and warrior stood before me now. ¡°It¡¯s just 200 miles of tunnel and an entire base filled with uncertain death, right?¡± she said as she stepped forward. ¡°Let¡¯s get it done. For Jim.¡± Book 2: Chapter 52 MASTER HEI DONG strolled atop the Sky Port with impatience in his heart. The structure was fixed atop the tallest structure of the Imperial City, argending tform that could amodate hundreds of skiffs at a time. He nced up frequently at the night sky, looking for the one skiff he was eager to see arrive. The Bloodmoon shone with its sickly red glow, but Hei Dong was more interested in the small pyramid-like shape that hung in the sky just below it. The Imperial Transport. And one that had finally arrived with a most precious of cargos. Master Hei Dong had kept his eye on the craft ever since it arrived in view a few hours ago and now he waited for the variousary skiffs disembarking to deliver their goods and passengers from the core worlds to the small backwater that was Jurin Province. It would have been less costly to have arranged for passage via therger imperial skiffs that wouldnd at the Capital in Li Wan Province and then hire a smaller skiff to make the hop over to Jurin, but Hei Dong had spared no expense for his special guest. And why not? Not only would it bring Hei Dong more favor as a host, but in the end, he would not be the one paying the bill anyway. A smile came to his lips as he savored the victory soon to be had. ¡°Must you pace so?¡± The words hade from the High Magistrate, Yi Xhi Yen. ¡°Apologies,¡± Hei Dong said with a short bow. ¡°This One is filled with anticipation. It has been months in preparation after all.¡± Yi Xhi Yen merely harrumphed, clearly not pleased by being dragged to perform official duties sote at night. She had joined him to wee the Grand Sage from the core worlds, more due to the formality of procedure than a true greeting. The Sage hade at the behest of the Courts after all, and she had to be here to officially receive him¡ªeven if Hei Dong was footing the initial bill. He didn¡¯t want to even remind himself of the cost of passage for the Grand Sage, which was paltrypared to the time for the Grand Sage himself. 62 spirit stones per day, he thought. And he had charged for every day since leaving his domicile in the core worlds. Two months of passage. The total sum knotted in his stomach with stress. This foolishness with Lo Feng needs to be over with quickly, he thought. He had depleted arge portion of his family¡¯s estate on the Sage and he needed to burden Lo Feng with that cost as quickly as possible. Assuming he could even pay it. But the Fire Birds had ess to wealth. Wealth questionably gained but wealth nheless. Another ten minutes went by before a glowing light appeared in the distance. A ck skiff then emerged, covered with a canopy in contrast to the-bound skiffs that roamed the surface. It wasrge enough to fit some fifty people, but when it finallynded only one disembarked. The man was taller than Hei Dong had expected and younger-looking as well. In his mind he had pictured a venerable old man, hunched over at the waist, but perhaps he had been thinking too stereotypically. The man that approached them looked even younger than himself,te thirties perhaps. Only a streak of silver in his jet-ck hair gave him an aura of experience that tempered his youth. Were it not for his auspicious beige and purple-trimmed robes as well as the small jade crown that signified him as a Grand Sage, Hei Dong would have easily assumed him a fraud. But as he neared, Hei Dong understood how he had achieved such a youthful appearance. His spiritual pressure was immense, simr if not superior to that of the Warden herself. He had to be a high-tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator, but to achieve such a high cultivation level as a Sage normally took centuries. The man smiled warmly as he came to a stop and bowed before them and both he and Yi Xhi Yen did the same. Hei Dong had prepared to bow first but the man beat him to it, taking a surprisingly humble posture of a servant. ¡°Greetings,¡± he said. ¡°This One is known as Zin Tai, Imperial Grand Sage to the Lower Courts and servant of his Divine Imperial Majesty, Soul Emperor Yu Lun Yee.¡± The auspicious title was enough to make Hei Dong¡¯s skin bristle with fear, yet the man gave no impression of his superiority at all. He was one who had no doubt been within the Great Soul Emperor¡¯s physical presence himself. A feat few could attest to. Or even survive if they were mere mortals. ¡°This One is Yi Xhi Yen,¡± the High Magistrate said formally. ¡°The courts officially wee you to Jurin Province, Grand Sage Zin Tai.¡± He smiled again. ¡°It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, High Magistrate.¡± He then nced at Master Hei Dong and bowed again. ¡°I am sorry, you must be my benefactor. Vice Warden Hei Dong, I presume?¡± Hei Dong bowed, almost embarrassed at how low the Grand Master bowed to him. ¡°Please, I am merely Master Hei Dong of the Dong Family, part of the greater Silver Leaf n.¡± ¡°Master Hei Dong is representing his personal family,¡± Yi Xhi Yen exined. ¡°And as a private citizen. Not a Vice-Warden.¡± ¡°Ah, I understand.¡± ¡°How were your travels?¡± Hei Dong asked. ¡°Was the journeyfortable?¡± ¡°Much,¡± he said. ¡°I do not travel out of the core systems often and if I do it is normally via Omni Gate. I must say it was quite refreshing to experience the joy of travel in such a rxed and leisurely manner.¡± ¡°I am pleased to hear it,¡± Hei Dong said and then added with a chuckle, ¡°One so busy such as yourself, I feared you would have loathed wasting so much time being stuck on an Imperial Transport for eight weeks.¡± The manughed with a genuine and pleasant tone. ¡°In all honesty, it felt like a true vacation. As you said, my schedule does not leave much in the way of leisure. I caught up on much reading and meditation during my transit, so for that I thank you.¡± Hei Dong smiled. At least his money seemed to have gone to good use. ¡°I must admit,¡± Hei Dong said, feeling morefortable around the man. ¡°You are much younger in appearance than I presumed you would be. You must truly be a gifted cultivator to have achieved transition to the Sacred Soul Realm at such a young age as a Schr.¡± Zin Taiughed with a slight blush. ¡°Indeed. Another odd characteristic I am known for within the Courts.¡± ¡°Apologies, I did not mean any insult of course.¡± ¡°None taken,¡± he said. ¡°But in truth there is no anomaly with my cultivation talent. I became a sage muchter in life.¡± Hei Dong raised a brow in surprise. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Zin Tai said. ¡°I began my cultivation path as a martial artist in my youth, but upon reaching the Jade Bracket I found the deeper mysteries andplexity of Qi cultivation far more interesting than simply employing it for violence.¡± Hei Dong chuckled. ¡°You would perhaps find yourself at odds with my wife then, she lives forbat and fancies herself a fighter to this day.¡± ¡°I would love the pleasure of meeting her then.¡± ¡°And she you,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°We will have ample time. We have prepared a vi for you at our estate.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he said. ¡°That is quite generous of you.¡± ¡°And unnecessary,¡± Yi Xhi Yen added. ¡°I have already booked you a room at the Imperial Marquis. It is the best resort within the city, Grand Sage.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Zin Tai said, looking a bit sheepish. ¡°Well thank you.¡± ¡°There is ample room at my estate,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°No need for further expense.¡± ¡°Your hospitality is most appreciated, Master Hei Dong,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°But I remind you that you are still a party to a dispute and while you are funding the Honorable Grand Sage¡¯s presence here, the neutrality of the courts must be absolute, which includes appearances. The perception alone, of the Grand Sage residing at your residence, would be disturbing to say the least, to the counter party within this dispute.¡± Hei Dong blushed with embarrassment. He was indeed trying to leverage more than mere hospitality by hosting the Grand Sage, but it had nothing to do with the court case. Of that he was assured of victory, but a man in the Grand Sage¡¯s position was someone good to know on a personal level. And this would be a rare opportunity to foster such a rtionship while he was here on Terra. But perhaps there was some means yet to capitalize on his visit. To have paid such an enormous amount and have no tangible return for his investment would be a travesty. ¡°Quite understood and agreed, High Magistrate,¡± Hei Dong said and then he bowed to Zin Tai. ¡°Grand Sage, once the proceedings conclude, I would extend my invitation to you if you so desire to tarry a few days before your return to the interior. I am not certain how often one in your position has chance to visit the exotic reaches of the Empire¡¯s domain, but we have much to offer as a young. Our excursions and local spirit beasts are not to be missed, and we are at the start of our local Gold Bracket tournament which you may find somewhat entertaining as well. My home is wee to you in that regard.¡± The Grand Sage smiled and returned his bow. ¡°Most generous of you, Master Hei Dong. If time permits within my schedule, I may indeed ept your gracious offer.¡± Hei Dong smiled at his small victory, but Yi Xhi Yen did not look impressed. ¡°The case willmence at noon tomorrow,¡± she said. ¡°I am sure the Grand Sage would like to retire now and rest from his travels in order to render his services to the court tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yes of course,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°And we shall be forwarding you the bill from the Imperial Marquis, Master Hei Dong,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°Regardless of the oue.¡± Hei Dong smirked inwardly at the unnecessary remark. But what was another 100 spirit stones on top of 10,000? ¡°Very well,¡± he said. ¡°I shall see you both in court tomorrow.¡± * * * I brought my axe down hard, cutting through three demons as I sprinted through what had be a near endless tunnel. It was smaller than I had imagined it would be, barely 15 feet wide and 10 feet tall, with at least a foot of that taken up by stic conduit strapped to the walls and ceiling. It made my use of the ive all but impossible and even wielding my axe challenging at times. I pressed on with speed through the semi-darkness, making use of the open space where we could. Behind me I could hear Kelsey¡¯s heavy breathing along with her pounding footfalls. ¡°199!¡± she called out, making note of the mile markers printed in yellow numbers on the wall. ¡°Last damn one, thank God!¡± We¡¯d been pushing hard, but our progress had been anything but speedy. I slowed a bit as we neared what would be about a half mile left to our destination. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°More up ahead?¡± ¡°No,¡± I said, sensing nothing approaching us. ¡°The opposite. Let¡¯s rest while we can. Before the big push into the bunker.¡± ¡°Good idea,¡± Kelsey said, and we both stopped to finally catch our breath. We¡¯d been running and fighting non-stop for thest three hours since ourst break and were covered in the sweat and demon blood to prove it. Kelsey copsed against the conduits attached to the wall and slid down while pulling a canteen from her pack. She chugged the water and offered me some. ¡°You keep it,¡± I said. ¡°I still got some left.¡± We sat in silence for a while, using the limited water we had to wash our hands and faces before drinking some and then chowing down on the cold rice and cured meat we had brought as food. After traversing the wild so many times over thest few months, my body was fairly well conditioned, but I could tell Kelsey was struggling. I pulled out the elixir I had brought with me from the city and chugged half of it before giving it to Kelsey. ¡°Take that,¡± I said, savoring the icy taste of oranges and limes it¡¯d left on my tongue. ¡°It¡¯ll help replenish your body.¡± She downed it without question and let out an appreciative sigh. ¡°Man, that tastes like heaven. What was it?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Some Qi cultivator spirit juice stuff. Not sure how much it¡¯ll help, but it tastes refreshing at least.¡± ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡± ¡°How you holding up?¡± I asked. ¡°I think I must have conquered my Fear of Certain Death by now,¡± she said. ¡°Because I¡¯m pretty sure I died about eighty miles back already.¡± I chuckled at her dry humor. She was indeed probably running on pure frenzy by now, probably relying on [Death¡¯s Door] for some of her functions. But I wouldn¡¯t know that from just looking at her. She looked fresh as ever and was still pushing as hard as I was to keep pace with me. But beyond the dogged determination in her gaze, I could see more there as well. ¡°How about inside?¡± I asked. ¡°me is burning like a volcano,¡± she said. ¡°Getting stronger the closer we get. These demons are in for a world of hurt.¡± I smiled. ¡°That¡¯s good, but I wasn¡¯t talking about that.¡± She looked confused for a moment, but then looked down sullenly as she finally understood what I¡¯d meant. She released a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s literally all I keep thinking about. I know Harris forgave me and all but¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°Jim, man. I killed Jim.¡± I didn¡¯t say anything, but just listened as she stared into some unseen point in front of her. Eventually she continued. ¡°And I know it wasn¡¯t me me, but it was still me, you know? It was me to them.¡± I nodded. ¡°Sometimes the Path takes you ces you don¡¯t want to end up¡­but, in my experience¡­limited as it is, I¡¯ve found to always trust it. No matter how painful it can be.¡± Kelsey frowned. ¡°You know what the worst part was?¡± I raised a brow at her rhetorical question. ¡°Afterwards,¡± she said. ¡°Once I came back to myself. I could sense their fear. Their fear of me. I¡¯d be a monster to them.¡± She then paused a moment. ¡°Maybe I always will be¡­¡± I could sense the pain inside her then, the strength of the Struggler pushing through. ¡°Hold onto that,¡± I told her. ¡°The pain of that memory can one day be the thing that saves you from bing a monster for real. And to be honest, more people know your secret than they do mine now.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s true. I only just revealed myself to Fia and thankfully that went well in the end, but no one else in my family knows. Maybe they never will.¡± I pondered that a moment and considered that I might never be able to reveal my Berserker nature to Yu Li, Gui Zu, or Jian Yi. ¡°Like I said. People treat this Berserker stuff way different in the city. Yee society is no joke.¡± Another lull fell between us as we rxed against the walls. Then finally Kelsey spoke. ¡°Max, if we survive this I want you to promise me something,¡± she said. I looked over at her quizzically. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Take me to the city,¡± she said. ¡°Once I know my mom is safe, I think it¡¯s time for me to get away from this ce for a while.¡± There was no juvenile pleading like before. Kelsey needed space to stille to grips with what had happened. And I couldn¡¯t me her. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked her in Yee. She looked at me startled for a moment, suddenly realizing it was a test. ¡°This One is¡­ known¡­ as¡­ Kel Zhi,¡± she said stiltedly. ¡°Never seen you before, where are you from?¡± ¡°I¡­ from¡­ D block. Ter¡­ran¡­ Sect.¡± I chuckled. ¡°You still sound retarded as hell, but you can understand pretty good. Maybe you can pass.¡± I¡¯d spoken in Yee and it took her a few seconds to trante. ¡°Hey!¡± she said a few secondster. ¡°I understood that, damn it.¡± Iughed. ¡°Guess that means you pass, Kel Zhi.¡± She shook her head with a smile. ¡°Asshole.¡± I looked up at the ceiling and wished I could see the sky. ¡°How long has it been now?¡± I asked switching back to English. Kelsey nced at her watch. ¡°About fourteen hours.¡± ¡°Crap,¡± I said. ¡°This took a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would.¡± ¡°Yeah, no shit. This ce was packed with demons. I think I must be High-Tier Foundation Realm by now with how much Frenzy I¡¯ve been cultivating from killing them.¡± ¡°A nice side effect but we¡¯ve got another problem now.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I pulled out Jim¡¯s map. ¡°ording to this, the gate was on the second floor. That¡¯s close enough to the surface for the Bloodmoon to affect us.¡± Kelsey grimaced. ¡°I put us at just before noon right now. That gives us about seven hours to clear the bunker up to the second floor and destroy that gate.¡± ¡°That¡¯s plenty of time,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it.¡± ¡°Hold on,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m down to about half a tank and your body needs rest as well. If we push forward, we¡¯ve got to make sure it¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°Or what?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°Wait it out another fourteen hours in this damn tunnel for the next day break? Screw that. With those thingsing out of the gate, they¡¯ll keep us up all night anyway.¡± I grinned. ¡°Just making sure we¡¯re on the same page.¡± She smiled back at me, her me increasing in intensity. ¡°Still,¡± I said, slipping into lotus position as I prepared to meditate. ¡°Seven hours is a lot of time. Let¡¯s give ourselves a couple to rest and restock.¡± I nced at the map again, and looked at the path we¡¯d have to take to get to the top. ¡°Because once we enter that bunker, there¡¯ll be no stopping until we get it done.¡± Book 2: Chapter 53 MASTER HEI DONG entered the Imperial court building with his wife, Rhi Dong, and Fia by his side. A small crowd had gathered in the public viewing area, an anomaly of sorts for such a low-profile matter, but he supposed the inclusion of a Grand Sage in the proceedings would bring all kinds of onlookers. Rhi Dong looked concerned at their presence, but he steered her clear of them as they entered the defendant¡¯s area. ¡°Pay them no mind,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°They are here to see the Grand Sage, not us.¡± At the mention of the title, Hei Dong nodded to the man who was seated on the elevated dais overlooking the courtroom. Zin Tai, the Grand Sage, smiled back at him, confirmation that their initial meeting had panned out well, despite Yi Xhi Yen cutting it short. Already Hei Dong was envisioning how he could wine and dine the Grand Sage into a position of trust and familiarity once all this was over. ¡°There lies your vindication, daughter,¡± he whispered to Fia. ¡°All the way from the core worlds. And a great ally he may be to our family in the future as well.¡± The girl did not seem impressed and instead continued to gaze into nothingness, her mind wandering elsewhere. Hei Dong tapped Fia¡¯s shoulder to draw her attention. ¡°Did you hear what I said?¡± Fia snapped out of her gaze promptly. ¡°Yes, Father. The Grand Sage. Yes, I see him.¡± Hei Dong harrumphed inwardly. The youth clearly had no concept of the Grand Sage¡¯s prestige and value to their family.But perhaps he should not be surprised. Fia was a warrior like her mother and a Sage was not impressive to such a lot no matter how skilled or powerful they were. The court doors opened and Master Lo Feng entered along with his two cronies. The redhaired woman was not with him, however. Hei Dong pondered at that. If they were all here, then where was she? ¡°Fia,¡± he said, leaning to her with a whisper. ¡°Have your shadows kept an eye on that red-haired woman who came by the other day?¡± ¡°Hin Wu?¡± ¡°If that was her name, yes.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Fia nced to the side. ¡°They reported they have not seen her. For weeks even.¡± Hei Dong sense an uneasiness in Fia¡¯s Qi. Perhaps he should not have brought it up. He didn¡¯t give thought to how Fia might be feeling about being subjected to this examination in general. ¡°It¡¯s no matter,¡± Hei Dong said reassuringly. ¡°This all ends today regardless.¡± Hei Dong gave Lo Feng a pleasant smile and bowed from across the courtroom, but the man refused to return it and gave him a nasty scowl instead. Perfect, Hei Dong thought. He was already on the backfoot. This would be a day to be savored. The crowd stood as the High Magistrate, Yi Xhi Yen, entered the courtroom and she banged her gavel as she took her seat for the proceedings tomence. ¡°This court is called to order,¡± she said. ¡°In the case of the Fire Bird n versus the Dong Family, I now reconvene these quite dyed proceedings.¡± She then looked to her side at Zin Tai. ¡°I recognize the presence of the most honorable Grand Sage Zin Tai, who has travelled from the Interior to be a part of these proceedings today. Grand Master Sage, we wee you.¡± Zin Tai bowed. ¡°It is an honor to be within your court, Madam High Magistrate.¡± ¡°Master Hei Dong,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said, turning to him. ¡°You have agreed to allow the used, your daughter, the Lady Silver Light, to be subjected to the examination by the Grand Sage. Is this correct?¡± ¡°Indeed it is, your honor,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Very well¡­¡± She then turned to Lo Feng. ¡°Master Lo Feng, you additionally have agreed to this measure as determining the identity of the cultivator who produced the quill left at the ce of the incident. Is this correct?¡± Lo Feng paused a moment, ring across the courtroom. ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± Hei Dong smiled. Lo Feng¡¯s fate was sealed and he knew it. ¡°Then we shallmence with the examination,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°Grand Master Sage, I turn the court over to you.¡± Zin Tai stood with another bow. ¡°A thousand thanks, Madam High Magistrate. I will beg the court¡¯s indulgence in terms of time. The imprinting of one¡¯s unique and distinct Qi pattern upon an object takes but a moment, but to decipher it takes both time to determine that pattern and further to examine if one¡¯s Qi signature is a match.¡± Two bailiffs entered the courtroom, one carrying a hard-backed chair and the other a small table with the silver quill sealed in a small ss jar. That sat them both in the center of the courtroom and the Grand Sage descended from the dais to stand between them. ¡°Can the one to be examined please step forward,¡± he said. ¡°Lady Silver Light,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said from the dais. ¡°You may approach the Grand Sage.¡± A sliver of uneasiness tricked down Hei Dong¡¯s spine as he witnessed Fia swallow back the lump in her throat before being escorted into the center of the courtroom by the bailiffs. He knew with certainty of the oue, yet still it pained him to watch his child being subjected to this process. He leered across the courtroom at Lo Feng. You will pay dearly for this in the end, he thought. When Fia was seated in the chair the Grand Sage spoke again. ¡°I shall nowmence the examination,¡± he said. ¡°It will take no less than two hours for me to reach a conclusion.¡± * * * I let out a satisfied roar as I pinned the giant demon to the wall with my knee and then lopped off its head with my axe. Kelsey swept in behind me to hack apart two smaller demons nking its sides, tearing into them with a mighty roar of her own. It had been over three hours now since we began our assault on the bunker and we were approaching the finish line. The ordeal had been worse than we figured. The demons here were differentrger and stronger than the ones we faced before or even on the surface. More bestial. More feral. I couldn¡¯t sense any Dark Frenzy, but by their physiques, they had to have been exposed to it often to grow much stronger andrger than their cousins on the surface. Kelsey herself matched them in size though. She had finally made use of her first high-tier manifestation technique, employing [Mark of the Giant]. I couldn¡¯t say it was a shock to see her now standing six inches taller than normal with an extra fifty pounds of muscles. I¡¯d seen her in a much greater state of transformation when she had turned full demon before, but to see her do so in a controlled manner was an aplishment in and of itself. Kelsey now stood eye to eye with normal-sized demons at nearly six feet tall and therger ones even cowered at her presence from her savage ferocity. A mini Threja in the making. Inside, her me was a st furnace of boundless energy, exuding enough Frenzy to keep her [Mark of the Giant] form maintained while also leaving plenty in the way for me to syphon from to conserve my own strength a bit. I pushed on through the endless hordes of demons without any [Marks] at all, saving my body for what could possibly await us on the second floor. ¡°Almost there!¡± Kelsey shouted, as she cleaved a subus in two. ¡°But damn these things are getting harder to kill, I swear!¡± It was true. The higher we climbed the stronger they had be. ¡°The stairwell is just up ahead,¡± I said. ¡°Hang back in case there¡¯s Dark Frenzy. I¡¯ll tell you when it¡¯s clear.¡± Kelsey nodded and I made my way towards thetest handful of demons trying to mber down the stairs. I stowed my Phnx ive and chopped through with just my axe in hand, adjusting to the tighter confines. Cuts oozed blood from my [Steel Skin] as the demons raked their jagged ws and weapons across my body, but I endured the pain to push through to the next flight and suddenly I became aware of something strange. There was light. Lots of it. Enough to make my eyes squint from the loss of night vision that had taken hold while we were in the lower depth and armed only with the faint luminescent of our headmps to see. I finally broke through to the next level with a burst of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls], leveling a hundred demons or more with my lightning st. And when the dust and ozone finally cleared, I had to pause at what I sawid out before me. The entire second floor was gone, along with the first. Open sky hung above me. I stood at the bottom of a crater which had once been the first two floors of the bunker, now copsed in on themselves, as if a bomb had gone off to level the ce. Overhead the sky was a mosaic of sunburned clouds, approachingte afternoon in a vibrant disy of oranges, reds and gold. But that all paled inparison to what truly drew my attention. There, hovering in the open space of the crater was a structure I¡¯d seen only once before. But not this size. The gate. It was an inverted triangle stretching almost sixty feet high. It spanned from the bottom of the crater and was nearly as wide at the top. Each side was made of flesh, sinew and bone, thick as tree trunks, pulsating with a life of their own. I diverted my gaze from looking directly inside the gate, but from it a subtle aura of Dark Frenzy flowed. It was enough to make my me smoke a little but not much. In contrast, I could sense that an immense stream of Dark Frenzy was spewing directly from the mouth of the gate itself. Demons by the hundreds spilled out of it, shrieking and screeching as they transformed in real time, changing from amorphous red blobs into red-skinned humanoids by the time they hit the ground. The thing was literally birthing them. But they seemed different than the ones on the surface. Less human. More bestial. Stronger. The same as we¡¯d fought all the way to the top. The [Odds were Against Me] fighting so many of them. My body surged with the fresh Frenzy of the technique, replenishing my depleted core. ¡°Holy shit,¡± I suddenly heard from behind me and was shocked to see Kelsey standing there. ¡°Kelsey, it¡¯s not safe!¡± ¡°Yeah, I can sense that,¡± she said, with her head turned from looking directly into the gate. ¡°Dark Frenzy. But it ain¡¯t strong. I¡¯m not turning yet.¡± I weighed the options. My initial st that had cleared the area was slowly being filled by more demons spilling from the gate. And that was in addition to the thousand or so that were already here, thronging around the triangle as if in worship of it. I looked at the sky. It was still daytime, but it wouldn¡¯tst forever. We had less than two hours left and we had plenty to kill. Thunderous cries filled the air as the demons fixed on us and began to charge. I nced at Kelsey who now stood by my side. ¡°Stick to the outskirts,¡± I said. ¡°So long as you can withstand the Dark Frenzy, you can fight. Just stay away from the front of the gate. I¡¯ll use my [Soul Shield] technique to tackle those ones head on.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± she said. ¡°We need to clear this ce out fast and get to destroying that gate,¡± I said. ¡°By the looks of it, it¡¯s going to take a heck of a lot more than a couple of swings.¡± I looked down at her axe. It was chipped and worn, the wooden shaft slick and covered in demon blood. ¡°Here,¡± I said, extending my axe to her. ¡°Take this. You¡¯ll need it.¡± Her eyes widened as she took the Corrupted Steel in her hands. ¡°Holy shit¡­ for real?¡± ¡°It¡¯s got strings attached,¡± I said. ¡°I want it back, but consider it a temporary graduation present.¡± A wicked smile came to her blood-covered lips. ¡°Thanks, Max¡­¡± Frenzy surged within her as she wielded the axe with both hands. And then her smile inverted to form a battle-hardened grimace. ¡°Let¡¯s get this done¡­¡± Kelsey charged ahead as I shifted forms with [Mark of the Demon] and [Mark of the Giant], turning into a bull-horned monster to rival those spilling from the gate. ~Cursed Demon of the me!~ ~Two Demons!!~ ~Summon the Lord God of the Moon!~ ~Summon the Herald of Stars!~ They all screamed over one another, their guttural cries transforming into words I could understand within my [Demon]-augmented mind. I looked to see Kelsey already hard at it, taking gashes to her [Giant]-sized body as she flew into a horde of demons with my axe. The weapon sung with the sweet ring! of steel as she cleaved through ckened armor and weapons alike. Her fervor spurred me on and I let loose with my Phnx ive as I charged into a fresh wave of demons streaming from the gate. I activated my [Soul Shield] technique and felt it pulse as the full-on force of the Dark Frenzy hit like a tidal wave. I cried out under the pressure, but my technique held true. I didn¡¯t transform. But I was burning a shitload of Frenzy to keep it maintained. Need to work faster, I thought. I channeled my lightning attacks through the massive de, cleaving whole hordes of demons with a single stroke. Relying on my martial forms, I repositioned myself swiftly about the battlefield, facing my back to the gaping maw of the gate while also trying to maintain an eye on Kelsey. The girl was a monster¡ªtearing through demons like she¡¯d been born for it. And perhaps in some ways she was. This was the core of her Dao. The root of her deepest pain. She screamed and cried with tears in her eyes, taking vengeance for every loved one she¡¯d lost. Her ferocity was perhaps no different than I would be fighting the Yee Emperor. That gave mefort to focus on my task at hand. I set to work, slowly clearing the demons from in front of the gate. ~For the Lord of the Moon!~ ~For the Lord of the Moon!~ Theykept crying out as I decimated them, some falling to their knees worshiping the giant triangle as they died. I kept at it. Ripping and tearing, cleaving through my enemies. I lost track of time as the demons seemed to keeping with no end. Only the subtle fading of the light gave any indication of our progression and by the time the crater was finally cleared, the red hue of afternoon had shifted to a deep purple of twilight. I stumbled away from the gate to find Kelsey. She was hacking through a final horde of demons, but even she looked to be finally losing steam. ¡°Kelsey,e on,¡± I said. ¡°We need to take out this gate. I don¡¯t know how long we have until another wave spawns.¡± I shouldered the Phnx ive and summoned my Frenzy as I approached the base of the triangle. ¡°Head back to the stairwell. When I destroyed a small one of these back at the base, it went off like a Dark Frenzy bomb. Not sure how much damage this one will do.¡± From behind we could see straight through the thing, just an empty triangle made of flesh and bone. I could only glimpse what I¡¯d seen from the other side. A purplish void. Other things I could quite remember or understand. ¡°You going to be alright?¡± Kelsey asked. I shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t know, don¡¯t care. This thing just needs to be destroyed.¡± Kelsey nodded and I could sense the fear creeping in her soul. ¡°If I don¡¯t make it, you need to carry on to free our people, understand?¡± ¡°Max, make sure you at least try to protect yourself, alright? I can¡¯t do all this alone¡­¡± ¡°Head for the stairwell, Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°Go now!¡± I gave her a ten-count before charging forward with an elerated sprint, leaping into the sky. I summoned my [Steel Skin] and [Steel Lightning], Frenzy coursing through my meridians as I saved ast burst for my ultimate technique. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak!]¡± A column of blue lightning split the heavens and struck the ive just as I cleaved into the base of the triangle. It cut right through with a massive snap of bone and hit the shattered concrete below, going off with a boom! I shielded my eyes from the shockwave of debris, but when it finally cleared, not much had happened at all. The triangle was cut clean through, but it didn¡¯t self-destruct like the smaller one did. Instead, the muscle and sinew began to snap and twist, reforming itself to mend the cut I¡¯d made. What the hell¡­? I went again with a spinning [One Chop Cleave], again my de cutting through with the Frenzy-fueled force of my hit. But just like before the gate simply began to mend. I hit it three more times, cutting out arge portion. Still, it had nosting effect, the gate mending as quickly as one of my [Mark] techniques taking form. ¡°Max, what happened?¡± Kelsey had returned, sneaking up cautiously from behind me. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s just keeps healing itself.¡± A new sound filled the air¡­or perhaps filled my mind was more urate. ~For the Lord of the Moon!~ ~For the Lord of the Moon!~ I peered through the opening within the gate to see arge demon beheading one of its kin. I expected to see more pop out at any moment but then the demon paused and did something I didn¡¯t expect. It took the de to its own throat and cut it open with a quick sh. ~For the¡­. Lord¡­ of the Moon¡­~ Its final words seemed to echo and I sensed a sudden shift in the pressure of Dark Frenzy in the air. Kelsey grunted, holding her head. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± she said. I struggled to figure it out myself until the bodies of the dead demons began to shift and squirm. At first, I thought it was another corpse demon forming, but the process was different. The bodies didn¡¯t just twist and mash into one another. They began to transform, turning ck and tarlike. The ck tar began to spread, covering the masses of dead demons like a gue. Then within the tar eyes began to form. ¡°I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡­¡± Kelsey said, before I could even utter it. Shit¡­ I thought back to the chanting. The way they worshipped the triangle as we ughtered them. In retrospect it was all too damn easy. They weren¡¯t really trying to kill us. They were using us to help them summon their god. ¡°Max, what do we do now?¡± Kelsey said. I considered the scenarios ying out in my mind. None of them were good. This was no different than when Hin Wu¡¯s body had begun to transform. Kelsey had seen I¡¯xol¡¯ukz, but not in this form. And from the bodies of the demons we¡¯d killed, it was going to be massive. There was no telling what being exposed to that level of Dark Frenzy would do to her. She could lose her soul in an instant. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can fight this,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯d be like killing every demon we¡¯d just killed only all at once.¡± And then paused to look at her. ¡°You could transform again. Much worse this time.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t give a shit,¡± Kelsey said with determination in her heart. ¡°If this is where my path ends, then so be it. But I didn¡¯te all this way just to die. That thing is going down with me.¡± A sudden re erupted within her me as it changed colors, going from bright yellow to a vibrant cobalt blue. Holt shit, I though as I continued to stare at her, stunned. Had she just conquered her Fear of Certain Death? But I didn¡¯t have time to contemte it all. Kelsey was in full Berserker mode, no backing down, but I still had some marbles left to think things through. Together perhaps we had a chance, but perhaps our best chance was to defeat I¡¯xol¡¯ukz the same way I had with Hin Wu. But that meant I needed to act. Right now. ¡°I¡¯ll make you a deal, Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°If I fail, killing him is all yours.¡± Kelsey nced at me, confused. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Hold my beer,¡± I said and passed her my Phnx ive before plopping onto the floor in lotus position. ¡°I¡¯m going to try and stop this sucker from the other side.¡± Kelsey mouthed a few words I could no longer hear as I retreated within the recesses of my own mind. I had no idea what I would find once I popped out on the other side, but one thing was certain. Stopping I¡¯xol¡¯ukz from entering our world from within the spirit realm, was the only chance I had at keeping both Kelsey and I alive. Book 2: Chapter 54 I ENTERED THE utter darkness of that space within spaces and my view to the outside world began shrinking to but a pinpoint within my mind¡¯s eye. I could just barely make out the details within it as it shrunk. Kelsey was still yelling at me in slow motion and the ck tar that was I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was still slowly taking solid form. I had bought more time by entering the spirit realm, but I had to make the most of it. Moving swiftly, I sought out the Struggler within my Second Soul. He stood back-to-back with the Demon. The twelve-foot-tall, red-skinned monster grinned at me with enticement, but I steered clear of him to enter the blue-hued Struggler that now mirrored my physical image perfectly within my soul. I breathed with new life as I entered my [Spectral Body] and then spent a few more seconds cycling my Frenzy to summon my [Spectral Weapons] and [Spectral Armor]. My Axe and ive formed within my hands and across my body, the lowkey sparks of a permanent [Iron Lightning] took form. I was ready. I stalked through the darkness sensing for the gate. The presence of Dark Frenzy was already thick in the spiritual air, but I sensed something else here as well. Frenzy¡­tons of it. A blue glow in the darkness drew me to it and when I got close enough, I saw it was a roaring second me.Kelsey¡­I thought. I smiled like a proud big brother. She perhaps didn¡¯t even realize she had ascended, but there in the roaring depths of her me was a small yellow crystal the size of a grain of rice. The fledgling beginnings of her solid core. I took a few moments to cultivate the abundance of Frenzy she was producing, thankful again for her presence and support. My Dantian was perhaps at just a quarter full now after slogging through the demons. The [Bloodlust] of killing so many weak creatures could only do so much to maintain and replenish the Frenzy within me, but Kelsey¡¯s spiritual root was like a pipeline to the [Frenzied me] itself, producing far too much for her to cultivate alone. I took advantage of the excess, quickly replenishing myself to full in just a few seconds. I was amazed at the speed at which things could happen in the spiritual realm. To do that would have taken at least a few hours in the real world, just like when Kelsey and I had taken that two-hour breather before entering the bunker. But now I was ready to face my enemy head on. The thought of being this powerful and unrestrained bolstered my confidence and I set off to find the gate and I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. Using Kelsey¡¯s me as a marker, I pressed on into the darkness. It didn¡¯t take me long to sense it. The Dark Frenzy grew stronger as I plowed on and a glowing purple hue appeared in the distance. I looked back for the blue of Kelsey¡¯s me and it looked miles away already. The familiar inverted triangle shape of the gate then appeared, emerging from the darkness. It seemed smaller than in reality, perhaps a third of its size, or perhaps there was no true sense of scale in this ce at all. It was also made of what looked like a glowing purple steel instead of flesh and bone and from the three corners were attached thick chains that extended behind it for about twenty feet before disappearing into nothingness. What the hell¡­? I engaged [Soul Shield] as I approached, the pressure of the Dark Frenzy increasing. I avoided looking directly into the front of the gate that was now glowing with a purplish luminescence, but from within it I could already see three or fourrge tentacles spewing outwards. I paused, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. Clearly that was the spiritual counterpart of the gate with I¡¯xol¡¯ukz trying to push through it, but what were those chains? They were taut as if under great tension and angled lightly downward as if being tethered to something far below. Something in the darkness unseen. Or perhaps something that was beyond the extent that my spiritual awareness orprehension. Ah to hell with figuring it out, I thought. The only thing I needed to do was destroy it. I cycled my frenzy, charging both my weapons with [Lightning]. I rushed forward aiming at the tentacles, leaping into the air for an overhead strike. ¡°[Three Log Chop]!¡± The bloodshot eyes covering the tentacles widened in unison as I descended, and a horrid shriek filled the air as they shook with violence. The sound resonated painfully within my spirit and my [Soul Shield] technique glowed to rebuff the attack, but the Frenzy within my core depleted rapidly to fuel the resistance of the Dark Frenzy assault. I proceeded undaunted, my double-ded attack cleaving deep into one of the tentacles before cutting it clean in two. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz shrieked again and I was rewarded with a fresh dose of rage and pain. I cultivated them quickly, speeding the replenishment of my reserves, but it wasn¡¯t enough to keep up with the drain from my [Soul Shield] technique. Faster than I could see, one of the other tentacles struck me from behind, sending me crashing forwards towards the opening of the gate and the numerous smaller tentacles trying to push their way outside. The force of the hit was enough to feel it through my [Spectral Armor] but that paled inparison to what my eyes could now see. My [Soul Shield] went into overdrive as it sought to protect me from the st of Dark Frenzy and images trying to construct themselves within my mind. I could see into the gate now and like a memory forgotten, I recalled seeing the same thing when I looked into the smaller one back at the second base before. The interior of the triangle was like looking through a window and into a deep purplish sky. The chains that I could see from the outside could be seen from the inside also, but they didn¡¯t disappear and instead extended downwards towards a glowing red orb that radiated with immense Dark Frenzy and hate far below. I used all of my [Indifference] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to not simply scream and instead maintained my focus on the giant tentacle monstertching onto the chains and trying to force its way outside. ¡°Get the hell back in there!¡± I cried as my Fury ignited. ¡°Want to turn my whole world into a death zone? Threaten to extinguish thest of my race? I¡¯ll show you what humankind does when its back is against the wall!¡± Ished out in a flurry of martial attacks, unleashing mybined ive and Axe forms with [Lightning Arc Strikes]. The creature bellowed and wailed as I severed its tentacles indiscriminately, pushing myself to the limit as my Dantian drained to just below a third. Holy shit, that was fast! I wouldn¡¯t be able tost long at this rate. I had to kill this thing before my Frenzy ran out and it simply overwhelmed me. I bellowed with desperation as my tank drained to a quarter, but still the tentacles came. The eyes raked raw against my second soul, feeling like a sandpaper over my skin. ~Oh, Cursed me. Where is thy Strength?~ The creature bellowed with a deepughter within my mind. ~Know thou not that ye rage in vain? The power of the ancients is eternal and infinite. Come and tire thyself. Let me consume thy husk that thou hast well prepared for me.~ Son of a bitch¡­I thought. Was this its n all along? To lure me here in a weakened state and then simply take me over? I refused to believe it. To ept it. But as my Dantian edged towards less than a quarter, I faced a new reality I hadn¡¯t considered before. If I¡¯xol¡¯ukz possessed me as strong as I now was, it would be game over for not just everyone in the bunker but the whole damn. I raged against the possibility, my time running low, but the tentacles just kepting. I needed help. ¡°Kelsey!¡± I cried and in my mind¡¯s eyes I used my [Mental Quickness] to break my consciousness into two. In one I kept my focus on fighting the demon god, in the other I searched for the small window of my consciousness buried somewhere deep in my soul. Within a second, I found it and used all my will to peer into it. Kelsey was far away from me, hacking at a tentacle that had found its way to her, curving backwards from the massive triangle in the real world. I focused on manipting my mouth only, not wanting to pull myself out of the spirit worldpletely. ¡°Kelsey!¡± I shouted again and myself seated in lotus position in third person did the same. Kelsey reacted by turning her head and suffered a p from the tentacle that sent her sailing as a result. Damn it! She recovered quickly however and flew back at it with a rage and ferocity that cut it into several pieces before it finally withdrew. She then rushed to me. ¡°Max, are you alright? What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°Lend me¡­ your strength,¡± I said, struggling to get the words out while also fending off the dozen or so tentacles now swarming me. ¡°Need your¡­ me! On the inside!¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Touch me! Will your me to find mine.¡± Kelsey turned her head towards the gate. ¡°This better work, cause that thing is forming pretty quick.¡± She closed her eyes and suddenly I sensed a roaring furnace of Frenzy behind me. Closing my connection to the outside world, I took full control of my [Spectral Body] again. I¡¯d taken a thrashing while multi-tasking, but it didn¡¯t matter. Kelsey¡¯s bright blue me was now burning by my side, feeding me with fresh Frenzy to top up my Dantian. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz bellowed with rage. ~Cursed me! Thou doth multiply thy ilk!~ ¡°You¡¯re one to talk, you damn monster!¡± I cursed it as my energy and resolve returned. The power of Kelsey¡¯s me was near boundless and the creature began to shy away from both it and my savage blows. I screamed as I pressed forward, pushing the tentacles back through the gate. ¡°That¡¯s right! Run, you piece of shit!¡± I screamed with [Fear the me]. ¡°Run!¡± With a final screech the dark god slipped back through the gate and wriggled down the chains towards the glowing red orb. ¡°Max, it worked,¡± I could hear Kelsey¡¯s voice from the outside. ¡°The tentacles just died.¡± I multi-tasked again. ¡°It¡¯s not over yet. Still need to destroy the gate. Stay with me.¡± I backed up from the opening and summoned my Frenzy. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± I annunciated the attack as I sped forward, covered in lightning. My twin des cut straight through the purple steel of the gate with a shriek of metal. A st of Dark Frenzy erupted from the opening and the view to the world within disappeared. I smiled with tion. We¡¯d done it! I was just about to tell Kelsey when the metal slowly began to twist and groan. It started to reform, mending itself just like its physical counterpart had done in the real world. Shit! As the shape fully took form, the window to the purple-hazed world reappeared. ¡°Damn it! What the hell, man?!¡± ¡°Max, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Kelsey said and I realized I¡¯d said it with enough emotion to move my lips on the outside. ¡°Just a second,¡± I said. I aimed for one of the chains next, cutting through it with just as much ease as I did the frame. But just like with the frame itself, it only interrupted the gate for a moment before reforming again. I cut through each one with no effect and then all of them at the same time. Nothing worked. Whatever I did, they simply came back again. I cursed aloud and drew Kelsey¡¯s attention again. ¡°Max, what the hell is going on in there?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± I said finally and realized that the monster I¡¯d just pushed back would soon regain enough strength to return. ¡°But we need another game n.¡± * * * Master Hei Dong stirred from his meditation for perhaps the fourth or fifth time, checking on the progress of the examination yet again. The silence within the courtroom was deafening, but no one dared to break it. Or the Grand Sage¡¯s concentration. For what seemed like an eon, the Grand Sage had held the silver quill in his hand while also hovering a palm above Fia¡¯s Dantian. Hei Dong didn¡¯t appreciate how close his hands were to Fia¡¯s personal space, but he wouldn¡¯t dare question the procedure, especially as it would soon bring ultimate victory his way. Rhi Dong sat quietly in meditation next to him, cultivating her Qi, but he could sense the disquiet in her spirit although she masked it well. The only one in the courtroom who openly expressed their difort was Lo Feng. The man fidgeted constantly, shaking his head and sighing with exasperation at the length of the process. The sight made Hei Dong smile. To watch one¡¯s enemy squirm was a rare privilege, indeed. Another ten minutes of silence went by before the Grand Sage finally spoke. ¡°Madam High Magistrate,¡± he said looking back towards the dais. ¡°I have reached a conclusion.¡± Yi Xhi Yen stirred from her own meditation, or perhaps even slumber as she abruptly opened her eyes. ¡°Yes¡­Very well. May we have your verdict?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± he said. ¡°I will beg another few minutes of the court¡¯s time to prepare my official conclusion.¡± A chorus of sighs and groans rifled through the courtroom, most notably from Lo Feng. Fia herself lookedpletely worn out, having satpletely still for nearly two hours straight. Hei Dong smiled and gave her a nod of approval. He was blessed by the fates indeed to have such a wonderful daughter. He prayed Hein woulde to his senses and grow as responsible and dutiful in time. The Grand Sage spent a few moments inscribing something on a sheet of parchment and then with a wave of his palm, marked the document with a seal using his Qi. It was a simple act, but one that was worth over 10,000 spirit stones. The seal of a Grand Sage. Nigh irrefutable. Especially within the courts. Anticipation and exhration filled Hei Dong as the Grand Sage passed the parchment to Yi Xhi Yen. The High Magistrate then nced over it several times before looking back at Zin Tai. ¡°You are certain of your conclusion, Grand Master Sage?¡± Zin Tai furrowed his brow almost as if insulted. ¡°With over 99% percent certainty,¡± he said. ¡°As documented.¡± Yi Xhi Yen cleared her throat. ¡°Very well. All rise!¡± The courtroom did so and a tremor of uncertainty ran down Hei Dong¡¯s spine as he read the stiffness of the High Magistrate¡¯s bodynguage. She avoided eye contact, reading from the document without raising her head. ¡°I now read into the court¡¯s hearing, the sealed conclusion of the Grand Sage Zin Tai,¡± she said. ¡°In the matter of the silver quill in question being determined as produced by the used cultivator, known as Fia Dong, titled Lady Silver Light of the Silver Leaf n, the Grand Sage has reached the following conclusion with 99.3% certainty.¡± She paused to look at Fia. ¡°Lady Silver Light, ording to the Grand Sage¡¯s determination¡­this quill was produced by you.¡± Hei Dong¡¯s blood ran cold as the earth fell out from under him. A shrill cry filled the air as Rhi Dong screamed. ¡°That¡¯s not possible!¡± Fia cried. ¡°It¡¯s not mine!!¡± Chaos erupted in the courtroom with Lo Feng letting out a surprisedugh. ¡°Father, that is not mine!¡± Fia said again, her eyes welling with tears as her voice cracked. ¡°I swear to the heavens! I had nothing to do with this!¡± Rhi Dong began to weep. ¡°What¡¯s happened? How have they done this to us?!¡± Hei Dong¡¯s mind raced to make sense of it all. How indeed had this happened? Did Lo Feng somehow bribe the Grand Sage? Surely such a thing was not possible. He looked over at Lo Feng as the man celebrated, looking as shocked by the oue as he was. Had the quills been switched? Had the High Magistrate betrayed him? ¡°Order! Order!¡± Yi Xhi Yen banged her gavel. ¡°These proceedings are not over! Everyone be seated!¡± ¡°Your honor I demand a re-evaluation!¡± Hei Dong said. Yi Xhi Yen nced at him sternly. ¡°Master Hei Dong, you would dare question thepetence of a Grand Sage? A Grand Sage you yourselfmissioned on your own behalf?¡± Hei Dong looked to Zin Tai, but he could neither see nor sense any malice in the man. He looked perplexed by the reactions of the court as well. He stepped forward with a dour frown. ¡°May I address the court, your honor?¡± he said. Yi Xhi Yen nodded. ¡°For rity and full transparency,¡± Zin Tai said. ¡°I conducted the evaluation over five times to determine certainty. And, as with any court matter, I have no knowledge of the case details beforehand to remainpletely agnostic in my evaluation.¡± He then bowed. ¡°I do apologize if my determination has been disappointing to either party, but I stand by the credibility of my determination.¡± ¡°As do I,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°Master Hei Dong, based upon this new evidence and that of the eye-witness report, I must conclude that your daughter was indeed involved in this incident.¡± Rhi Dong gasped. ¡°It¡¯s not true! Someone in this court is lying!¡± ¡°Order!¡± Yi Xhi Yen shouted. ¡°Please refrain from such outbursts or I shall hold you in contempt, Lady Silver Moon!¡± Fia then stood from the chair and prostrated herself before the Magistrate. ¡°Your honor, I beg you a humble request. Please!¡± Yi Xhi Yen shook her head, exasperated. ¡°What is it, Lady Silver Light?¡± ¡°Please, can I beg permission to handle the quill for myself?¡± The court quieted at that. Yi Xhi Yen looked to Zin Tai as if for confirmation and the Grand Sage nodded. ¡°I can see no harm in it, your honor.¡± ¡°I shall permit it then. Go on.¡± The bailiff handed Fia the quill and she examined it closely, running her fingers over its surface. Hei Dong watched helplessly, hoping and praying that something Fia might say or find upon the quill might vindicate her. ¡°Your honor, I object,¡± Lo Feng said. ¡°This proves nothing. A Grand Sage has already made a determination. Are we to allow the used to have an opinion of equal standing?¡± Hei Dong was just about to retort to buy Fia more time when the girl suddenly burst into tears. She dropped the quill and hid her face in her palms, weeping. What in the nine hells was going on? ¡°Fia,¡± he shouted. ¡°Fia,pose yourself!¡± But she was bawling near uncontrobly now, her soul chaotic, as if stricken with grief. Hei Dong shook his head in disbelief as his wife began to weep as well. What madness was this? Nothing made sense. Something had to be wrong. ¡°Your honor, I request a recess! Clearly there must be some anomaly with the administering of the exam¡ª¡± ¡°There is no anomaly,¡± Fia suddenly said, and Hei Dong¡¯s stomach fell through the floor. ¡°Daughter, keep quiet!¡± he shouted. But she didn¡¯t stop, her spiriting undone as she sobbed again. ¡°The Grand Sage is correct¡­this quill¡­is mine.¡± * * * I stared at the gate with time running out. It was still spewing Dark Frenzy and my [Soul Shield] technique was burning just as much Frenzy from my Dantian to keep me from going insane. I¡¯d tried almost everything. Chopping the gate apart, chopping the chains. Nothing worked. ¡°What¡¯s going on, Max?¡± Kelsey said from the outside. ¡°Speak to me!¡± I edged towards the opening of the gate and dared to look directly inside. My [Soul Shield] burned brighter as I peered into the depths of the purple-hued space beyond. I noted the chains appeared differently here¡ªfully formed and converging at some unseen point on the red sphere far below. I gritted my teeth and took a swing at one of the chains from the inside. My axe struck with a flurry of sparks, breaking the chain apart. But then just as quickly, it reformed again. Damn it¡­! I stepped back and mulled the situation over some more. If this was a door, then clearly I couldn¡¯t close it from this side. Something was keeping it open. But what? I peered into the purplish void again. I noted how the chains all converged at an angle, like they were pinned or staked to something far below. I steeled myself as the craziest idea I¡¯d ever had in my life took hold. ¡°Alright, Kelsey, I¡¯m going to need you to charge me up to full,¡± I said and immediately began cultivating the excess Frenzy from her me. ¡°I¡¯m going to need as much Frenzy as I can carry.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± I still didn¡¯t exactly know myself and exining the details would take too long. ¡°I¡¯m going through the gate,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to close it from the other side.¡± ¡°What?!¡± I ignored the half dozen questions that followed, focusing on speed-cultivating the free Frenzy andpressing it within my Dantian. In less than a minute, I¡¯d done it, bringing myself back to full again. I stood on the edge of the gate, staring into the void. The void stared back at me and I grinned. ¡°To see the unseen is to glimpse infinity,¡± I said, quoting the shuras of the text. ¡°Therefore, prepare thyself thusly. Strengthen thy me and mind and glimpse only what ye can withstand¡­¡± I was about to test that limit now. But for how long I¡¯dst, I just didn¡¯t know. Or care. I¡¯d made a vow to destroy this gate, and I was going to jump the hell inside to find out how. My me suddenly red and burned a shade brighter, solidifying with my resolve. ¡°Stay close, Kelsey. I might need you again in a hurry.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± she said. ¡°If you see that thing start toe out of the gate again it means I¡¯ve failed.¡± I paused and contemted telling her to run if that happened, but to hell with that. Kelsey was a Berserker just like me and no way was I telling her to go back to fearing certain death again. ¡°It¡¯ll be down to you to kill it after that.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°May the me guide us both, Big Bro.¡± ¡°Amen, Sis. See you on the flip side.¡± I closed my vision to the outside world and peered over the edge again. I prepared myself like a free diver taking a final breath, flushing my [Spectral Body] full of fresh Frenzy from Kelsey¡¯s me before leaping through the gate and plunging into the depths of the unknown. Book 2: Chapter 55 MASTER HEI DONG was beside himself with disbelief. She¡¯d admitted it. But how? Why? Fia continued to weep as a dark fear crept inside Hei Dong¡¯s soul, questioning both his instincts and his daughter¡¯s integrity. He wanted to reject the thought immediately. But had she done it? Had Fia actually lied? No, he couldn¡¯t believe it. She couldn¡¯t be capable of something like this. ¡°Fia,¡± he called to her, but she was too grief stricken to respond. ¡°Fia!¡± He looked to Lo Feng. Somehow the man must have nted one of her quills.That was the only exnation. Anger seethed in his soul as Lo Feng continued to gloat in victory. Yes, that had to be it. ¡°Lady Silver Light,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°You are used ofmitting an unsanctioned attack on a fellow martial sect, including the murder of a Sect Elder and over a hundred disciples. Both physical evidence and an eye-witness ount ce you at the scene of the incident where you have been reported to havemitted these crimes. Do you have anything to say in your defense?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± She then looked directly at Hei Dong. ¡°I didn¡¯t do it¡­¡± Hei Dong trusted her words as he peered deep into his daughter¡¯s soul. Inwardly he was relieved. Fia was no criminal. Just another victim in Lo Feng¡¯s ploy. ¡°Is that all?¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°Can you exin how your quill ended up there?¡± Fia nced up at the High Magistrate with tears in her eyes, before looking back at Hei Dong again. Unlike before he sensed conflict in her soul, like she was holding something back. Hiding something. Finally, she shook her head. ¡°No, I can¡¯t exin it¡­¡± Hei Dong¡¯s heart swelled with anger and grief. What was she hiding? Had the Fire Birds ckmailed her? Used something against her to implicate herself? For so long Hei Dong thought he¡¯d been the oneying the trap, but he¡¯d been the one in the trap all along. ¡°Then I have no choice but to rule against you,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°In the matter of the Fire Bird n versus the Dong Family, Lady Silver Light, I find you guilty of the allegations for which you are used.¡± ¡°No!¡± Rhi Dong yelled, copsing beside him. ¡°Please, your honor! Reconsider!¡± But Yi Xhi Yen remained as cold as ever, not reacting to his wife¡¯s pleas. ¡°You¡¯ve been warned once already about disrupting my court, Lady Silver Moon. Do not cause me to do so again.¡± She then straightened and looked down at Fia. ¡°Lady Silver Light, for the egregious nature of the crimes you havemitted, I have no choice but to sentence you to the maximum penalty possible.¡± Hei Dong¡¯s heart froze as Rhi Dong fell to her knees, her mouth open in a silent wail. ¡°You are to be executed by beheading,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°For leniency I shall waive the immediacy of your punishment and allow your sentence to be carried out in two days¡¯ time to settle your affairs. This is the extent of the grace I can offer you.¡± With that she banged her gavel and both Fia and Rhi Dong cried out in anguish as Hei Dong¡¯s world came undone. * * * I was in free fall, tumbling through the purplish hued sky. The chains whipped by so fast they became a blur as I bounced between them, struggling to right myself and get my descent under control. I wasn¡¯t sure if gravity was even a thing or not in this spiritual space, but I braced myself for impact as the red surface of the sphere approached at incredible speed. My [Soul Shield] technique red with a brightness that rivaled my me itself, burning Frenzy like crazy. I was less than a minute in and already my core was inching towards being ten percent depleted already. Not good, I thought. I was a deep-sea diver heading into the unknown with a single tank of air. Whatever I would find, I¡¯d have only minutes to deal with it, before my Frenzy ran out and I essentially lost my soul for good. The [Odds were Against Me] but even the additional Frenzy from the technique did little to ebb the constraining draining of my Dantian. The red surface of the sphere began to stretch out into a horizon as I fell closer towards the center and slowly I began to make out details. The surface shifted and moved, like an undting sea. I was about to prepare for a waternding when I finally saw the reality of whaty below. What I thought were the waves of a red ocean, were instead the red-skinned bodies of demons. Thousands of them¡­ My heart leapt into my throat as I careened towards the monstrous horde, speeding at what felt like a million miles an hour. I bolstered my body with [Steel Lightning] on top of my [Spectral Armor] right before impact, crashing into the demons with an almighty boom! Pain exploded through every inch of my soul as I mmed into what felt like a mountain, demon bodies and rocky shale flying everywhere. Debris and body parts rained back to earth as I roused from the impact, half dazed. An immense pressure of Dark Frenzy seized me immediately, pressing in on me so hard it felt as if I was at the bottom of the ocean. It was enough to make me grunt and cry out in pain, but I stifled it with [Indifference] as I increased the Frenzy to my [Soul Shield] technique to bnce the pressure. I assessed the damage to my [Spectral Body] next and was surprised to find I was none the worse for wear despite all the pain. I still wasn¡¯t sure how any of this worked. It certainly felt as if I¡¯d just mmed into something physical, but none of this was in the material world, so what the hell was this ce exactly? I looked about as the dust cleared and found myself at the bottom of a ten-foot-deep crater that spanned half a football field. All around me the bodies of dead demons began to smolder and evaporate, turning into ck smoke before dissipating into the air. The ground was made of rocky volcanic shale, but it was the same red hue as the demons. Not far from me, on the edge of the crater more demons loomed, but they all paused as they gawked at me from afar, and from them I sensed something delicious. Fear¡­ Hushed whispers echoed through their ranks. ~A Demon of Cursed me!~ ~How is it here?~ ~We must be stronger than it is upon this ne.~ ~Kill it! Kill it now!~ But despite their cries for my death none of them moved. That bolstered my confidence as I arose from my crouched position, cultivating their Fear whileying on a heavy dose of [Fear the me]. They reacted like vampires shunning sunlight, hissing and cringing away from me. I realized then that I¡¯d just pulled the reverse of what they¡¯d been doing to us all along. I was now the alien invader inside their bunker, ready to tear them apart. The thought made me smile. It was time to hand out some well-deserved retribution. I charged up the slope of the crater yelling with fury while brandishing my weapons with [Lightning]. As I made the final leap over the lip, something huge caught my eye. A towering crystal, the same color as the purple sky, stretched some fifty feet into the air. It was the shape of an inverted obelisk and covered in glowing runes, the narrow end jammed into the ground like a tent stake. Three golden rings hooped its surface and attached to each were the familiar chains of the gate. I followed them to where they disappeared some distance into the sky. This had to be it, I thought. The thing grounding the gate to our reality. I dove into the demon horde with a fervor, swinging and chopping, eager to clear them to get to the crystal and destroy whatever the hell it was. But as I did so, something lurked in the back of my mind. If I destroy this thing, can I still get back through the gate? I didn¡¯t know the answer, but as I cut through the ranks of screaming demons, I could see even more giant crystals dotted across the alienndscape. Each one had three chains that extended to the heavens, presumably connecting to gates of their own high above. There had to be close to a hundred of them. A hundred gates leading to different locations across our. Or others even. The thought made my mind reel, but then I saw something that sent it into overdrive. Barely visible in the purplish haze of the horizon were the faint outlines of another gate. But this one was huge. Enormous even¡ªthousands of feet high. Flying demons, the size I could liken to battleships, swamzily in and out of it as throngs of demons exited and swarmed down the sides of a massive mountain at its base. But even more terrifying were the gargantuan demons that strode amongst their smaller brethren, making them seem like carpet as they towered at over a hundred feet tall. Even from this distance I could make out their finer details, monstrous-looking beings with multiple heads and tentacles for eyes. The thought of there being demons of that size and strength sent me into overdrive, clearing the smaller demons around the crystal in a frenzy to achieve my goal. Not that I wouldn¡¯t relish the chance to fight one of them, but I was hitting the halfway mark on my Dantian and still didn¡¯t have a solid escape n. First things first, I thought as I took care of thest surrounding horde of demons with a series of [Lightning Arc Strikes]. I needed to destroy the gate to protect humanity¡¯s home, but as for me getting home, that¡¯d have to wait. Perhaps I could risk venturing through one of the other gates to save myself. But who knew where that might lead? I stowed my axe, along with my thoughts, double-handing my Phnx ive to go in for a [One Chop Cleave]. My de hit the obelisk was a resounding ring! that resonated like a tuning fork. It was loud enough to force me to cover my ears and sent my me jittering as my [Soul Shield] was pressed to the maximum. I wondered just what the hell the thing was made of and was about to cleave into it again when suddenly all three golden rings began to glow. I stepped back as tendrils of purple energy wafted from the rings and began to coalesce into a solid form. Three additional rings took shape, seemingly made of the same purple metal of the gate itself,plete with links of chain dangling from each one. Onerger ring appeared in the center, hovering some twenty feet in the air, while the other two were smaller and hovered closer to the ground. Then from within the rings a humanoid shape began to take form. A neck appeared within therge ring to form a cor as slender wrists filled the smaller rings at the side. A feminine body emerged cast in cobalt blue skin. Sharp demonic features etched a face of pure beauty as a twenty-foot-tall subus with glowing blue eyes and twisted horns appeared. The goddess-like figure leered at me, perfect teeth framed between deep blue lips. ¡°Interesting,¡± she said in a haunting and reverberating tone. ¡°A Demon of the Cursed me dare disturb the Great Chain Maiden of the Infernal Passage?¡± She materialized an enormous scythe in her hands and with a flick of her wrist, snapped it open, revealing a de radiating with a dark luminescence. ¡°Thou shall tremble within my presence. Bow before I¡¯xan¡¯dra and I may yet have mercy upon thy wretched soul.¡± I gritted my teeth at just the mention of her name, Dark Frenzy pouring off of her like a waterfall. I shielded my eyes from the madness creeping into my mind from just looking at her unnatural beauty and terrifying power. ¡°Not a chance, bitch,¡± I said with [Indifference] and pushed back against her unnatural aura with [Fear the me]. Her beautiful visage twisted into a scowl. ¡°Thou dare speak as such to a god?!¡± She released a shrill cry that sounded like when I¡¯d struck the obelisk and the three tendrils of energy connecting the rings to the cor and shackles around wrists, solidified into glowing chains. My me red at the challenge of the powerful being that stood before me, but my Dantian was down to a quarter and draining fast. I had no idea just how powerful she truly was, but between my [Soul Shield] and what I had left in the tank, I knew I had mere minutes to either defeat her or die. ¡°Prepare thyself, worm,¡± she said as she readied her scythe. ¡°Thou shall pay heavily for thy sphemy.¡± * * * ¡°I wish to contest!¡± The words rang out in the courtroom and Hei Dong was as stunned as everyone else by who had uttered them. It was his wife, Rhi Dong. She was back on her feet, anger and resentment marring her face, recing the anguish and despair that Hei Dong knew still filled her heart. ¡°Your honor, I invoke the martial right of contestation!¡± she said. ¡°I challenge Master Lo Feng to defend my family of this unjust conviction!¡± ¡°Mother,¡± Fia cried. ¡°Don¡¯t do this! I will contest him!¡± ¡°Order! Order!¡± Yi Xhi Yen yelled, banging her gavel. ¡°Master Hei Dong, I urge you to gain control of your family.¡± She then looked to Fia. ¡°Lady Silver Light, you are the used. It would be inappropriate for you to contest your own conviction. Furthermore, you are merely Gold Bracket. Master Lo Feng is Jade.¡± ¡°I am also Jade,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°I will contest!¡± ¡°Please ignore that, your honor,¡± Hei Dong said quickly. ¡°I need speak with my client.¡± He then pulled Rhi Dong by the arm to whisper to her. ¡°Love, you must be silent. This is what he wants!¡± ¡°What choice do we have?¡± she said. ¡°I must try to save our daughter!¡± ¡°He wants to kill you. He will kill you!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± she said. Yi Xhi Yen sat back in her chair. ¡°Master Hei Dong, are you going to respond? Are we to take this plea of contestation from your wife seriously or not?¡± Tension knotted his stomach. The day had gone from being one of the greatest victories of his life to being one on the cusp of losing everything he loved. His wife, his daughter. Consenting to contestation could mean the loss of them both. ¡°Please,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°We must try, husband. I can beat him. I have two days to prepare.¡± His heart weighed heavily along with his conscience. She was no match for Lo Feng. But she was also right. What other choice did they have? He¡¯d have to risk the loss of them both, if he wanted to save them. Fates help me, he thought. He looked back to the High Magistrate and straightened himself. ¡°We wish to contest the conviction by martial court, your honor,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°My wife, the Lady Silver Moon, will stand for our family.¡± Rhi Dong gripped his hand with a tight squeeze. ¡°Thank you, husband.¡± He looked into her tearful eyes and then those of his daughter, praying he had made the right decision and that he had not just condemned them both to die. ¡°Although it would be unorthodox for a mere elder to contest a sect leader¡­¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°¡­given the circumstances of this particr case, I will allow it. Lady Silver Moon, you understand that if you lose in the court ofbat, the Lady Silver Light will still face execution?¡± ¡°I understand,¡± she said. ¡°Master Lo Feng? Do you have a challenger to meet this contestation?¡± ¡°Myself, your honor,¡± Lo Feng said with a grin. ¡°I would dly ept the challenge. It is only right after all that a mother never have to experience the death of her child before her own. I will ensure that nature takes its rightful course in this regard.¡± ¡°You son of a bitch!¡± Hei Dong cursed. ¡°You threaten to kill my wife! My family!¡± ¡°Master Hei Dong, control yourself!¡± Yi Xhi Yen shouted. ¡°And Master Lo Feng. Such statements are unnecessary!¡± ¡°A thousand apologies,¡± he said with another vile grin. ¡°I withdraw my statement. May the fates themselves determine victory in ordance with the irrefutablews of might.¡± Hei Dong could barely contain himself, breathing heavily with anger and hate. He would have given anything to be a cultivator powerful enough to kill Lo Feng right now, but for all his authority and prestige, in a society where martialw still trumped all, the might of the fist could still beat authority on a good day. ¡°Very well,¡± Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°We shall resume these proceedings within the grand arena in two days. Lady Silver Light is to be remanded into custody until then.¡± She then banged her gavel a final time. ¡°This court is adjourned.¡± * * * The Great Chain Maiden of the Infernal Passage, the goddess I¡¯xan¡¯dra. Or so she called herself. The giant blue subus continued to leer at me as her glowing eyes pierced through my soul. I had no idea what power or status she heldpared to I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. Was she another herald of the stars? A guardian? A servant? A concubine? But none of that mattered right now. To me she was just another bump in the road. I choked up on my weapons as I cycled my Frenzy, tapping into the [Odds that were Against Me] for sure. With a sudden burst from my me, I rushed forward, engaging [Mark of the Beast] and [Mark of the Giant]. But nothing happened. What the hell¡­? I was so caught off guard by the misfire that I failed to avoid the lightning-quick swipe of her scythe. The radiant energy of her de tore into me, slicing straight through my defenses and prating to my very soul. I cried out, feeling my life essence leave me in the form of blood that dripped onto the shale-covered ground below. I reeled from the attack, backing up, not expecting it to be so strong. But then I was facing a self-proimed god, and I hadn¡¯t slipped into the overdrive of my [Marks] either. But just where the hell were my forms? I¡¯d used them countless times while sparring with Venja while within my own mind. And then just as quickly I answered my own question. Within my own mind, I thought. That was it. I was now somewhere outside my own body and I¡¯d left the Demon far behind. Shit¡­ I thought with chagrin. The Struggler alone would have to win this battle. And that meant applying skill over power. A new sense of resolve filled me as I switched from beast-killer to arena-champion mode. The strength of the Iron Bull would have to win this fight. ¡°Alright, you big blue bitch,¡± I said with bravado as I engaged [Fear the me]. ¡°Let¡¯s see how well you deal with an unorthodox form like this.¡± ¡°You mock me for thest time, worm!¡± she cried and dove at me with her scythe. ¡°Taste the wrath of a god!¡± I parried her attacks with a series of quick Axe techniques, and then countered, forcing her to block. She retaliated with a wild downward swing, but I was ready for it, hopping out of the way while already winding up for a strike with my Phnx ive. Her scythe ploughed into the ground kicking up shale, but by that time my swing was already well underway. My ive came down heavily upon her thigh and the feeling of hitting solid flesh was rewarding in and of itself, but the startled cry she let loose was even more so. She retreated with a step back as luminescence poured from her wound like blood. ¡°Filthy me!¡± I¡¯xan¡¯dra cursed me as the wound on her leg quickly began to mend and heal, not unlike the gate itself. ¡°How did thou manage to strike me so? I shall reap thee like a newborn hatchling and serve thee to the lord himself!¡± ¡°Yeah, good luck with that,¡± I said with [Indifference], but she charged back at me with a ferocity that put me on the backfoot. I managed to block two of her strikes before three morended, nearly cleaving me in two. I cried out in pain, gushing blood that was part of my soul. ¡°Thou art nothing!¡± she screamed in rage. ¡°A mere puppet of the False me!¡± I regained my bearings and fought back, cultivating her rage to fuel my me. I drew on all my experience from battling with Fia and Venja within my mind¡¯s eye, countering and parrying with my axe whilending huge strikes with my ive. She cried out in frustration as I hit her again and again, but just like before the wounds healed near instantly. Damn it, I cursed as I checked what was left of my reserve. This was going to be like losing in the ring due to time. I redoubled my focus, training my mind to pay attention to her techniques and attack patterns. The world seemed to slow as I slowly took control of the battle, counting her movements as I identified the feints from the true attacks. Desperate seconds went by as the Frenzy in my Dantian reduced to but a sliver. It was barely being maintained by the Frenzy now pouring from my me, the pain and desperation of the battle itself the only thing keeping me alive. But I needed to end it quickly. I managed to get in a few more quick strikes with my axe, but I was nowhere close to defeating her as she simply healed again. I was beginning to understand what it meant to fight a god now. This was a battle of attrition I just couldn¡¯t win. Suddenly an enormous roar split the air. I nced over my shoulder just in time to see a hundred-foot-tall demon sprinting across the destendscape towards me from miles away, killing hundreds of smaller demons in its wake. I¡¯xan¡¯draughed as she drew my attention back to her by striking me swiftly across my chest. I went reeling from the hit, sliding on shale as my Dantian dipped into the red zone. ¡°Thy fate is sealed, Cursed puppet of the Foul me. The thralls seek thy blood, but I shall have the pleasure of severing thy mortal coil.¡± Her words infuriated me as I dragged myself to my feet. The bitch was winning. But that didn¡¯t mean I was going to stop. Death was meaningless to me now. I was beyond Death. Killing her to save my people was all that mattered! The strength of my resolve touched the Dao of my me and it shifted in color, bing an even brighter blue. It burst forth with the Frenzy of my conviction, topping up my Dantian as I charged in for a killing blow. This had to be it. I had no more time left now. I feinted with my axe as I tore past her defenses, and then left myself open, baiting her into a heavy strike from above. But I didn¡¯t try to avoid it. I channeled my Frenzy into [Steel Lightning] instead, focusing it on the single point of impact alone, strengthening its effect by severalfold. I endured the sharp sting of pain as I¡¯xan¡¯dra¡¯s scythe pushed through my defenses regardless, cleaving deep into the flesh of my soul. I then cried out, using [My Turn] to funnel the pain into an ultimate hit of my own. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± My Phnx ive flew in an overhead sh and cleaved directly into I¡¯xan¡¯dra¡¯s chest, lightning striking at the same time as the blow. Shock spread across her face at the unexpected hit, unaware that I had just sacrificed everything to perform a trade of our blows. But clearly, I had emerged the victor of the exchange. Shock soon turned to anger as her wound began to heal. ¡°Thou art foul indeed. A worm, that refuses to die. But die thy shall, by my han¡ªahhhhh!¡± She never got the word out as her mouth twisted into a scream. I¡¯d aimed for the very thing she was about to say, my axe shattering the shackle about her wrist with a ring of crystal and steel. It exploded like ss and the glowing chain to the golden ring disappeared. The ring then faded from a gleaming gold to be a dull gray of leaden steel. Yes! I rejoined internally. My intuition had been right! I wasted no time shattering her other shackle, zapping even more of her strength as the ring turned from gold to lead. I¡¯xan¡¯dra fell to her knees, screaming in pain as her luminescence spilled from her wrists. I backed up and readied my Phnx ive. ¡°It¡¯s been fun,¡± I said, cycling my Frenzy. ¡°But I got shit to do and people to save.¡± I spun with a [Lightning One Chop Cleave], aiming for the cor about her neck. My de hit true and the cor exploded, taking her head off with it. A fountain of luminescence sprayed from her neck as her body withered and thest gold ring faded to lead. ¡°Impossible¡­¡± I¡¯xan¡¯dra¡¯s voice reverberated as she herself faded from existence. ¡°I will face thee again, puppet. I am as eternal and inevitable as thy demise.¡± There was no time to gloat as I looked back at the giant demon still bearing down on me. It was less than half a mile away now and eating up ground fast. With I¡¯xan¡¯dra killed, the free Frenzy buffet from the battle was over and I had mere seconds to live or die. I looked back to the obelisk that had now faded to a dull purple along with the three leaden rings. ¡°Let¡¯s do it!¡± I cried as I charged towards it with my Phnx ive. I mmed my de full force into the obelisk, but I barely chipped it at all. What the hell? It¡¯s still as strong as before? But then just like with defeating I¡¯xan¡¯dra herself, I had been aiming for the wrong thing. ¡°Not the body,¡± I told myself, looking away from the obelisk and instead focused on the rings. I yelled as I aimed at one of them and my de cut through easily with a snap of sparks. The chain tethered to it went sailing off into the sky as if it were an stic band, disappearing from sight without a trace. Hot damn! I thought. But it gave me an idea. I looked back over my shoulder at the giant behemoth nearly upon me. No time to think now! I quickly cut the next chain, watching it shoot into the sky before jumping atop thest one. I clung onto one of the links and channeled my Frenzy to increase my grip. The demon bellowed as its footfalls shook the ground. I swung my axe and broke thest ring, just as the behemoth raised its arm to strike me with a massive club the size of an ocean liner. I shot away with the force of a bullet, my arm nearly pulled from its socket. The ground shrank away from me at incredible speed and I watched as the demon¡¯s giant club destroyed the obelisk and everything around it. Before I could see any further the world blurred as the chain pulled me like a torpedo and in no time I saw the small triangle of the gateway approaching. Don¡¯t mess this up! I told myself and focused my nerves to sail straight through it. I came out in a gasp on the other side, the purple sky shifting to the deep ckness that was the confines of my inner mind. Inded in a roll and looked back just in time to see the gate shatter like a piece of ss as the remnants of the chain smashed into it. A huge burst of Dark Frenzy went off and then suddenly there was nothing at all. The Dark Frenzy ceased. The pathway to I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was gone. I quickly opened my eyes to share the victory with Kelsey, but was greeted by horror instead. I was still seated in lotus position and all around me demons were thronging. I struggled to make sense of it all, until I saw Kelsey fending them off with my axe. Where did theye from? But then I saw the sky above me was darkened and the Bloodmoon was on the rise. Holy shit, how long was I gone for? ¡°Kelsey!¡± I cried out as I sprang to my feet and immediatelyid into a group of demons with my ive. I cut them to pieces as Kelsey quickly spun about and I could see her features already starting to contort under the effects of the moon. ¡°Gah!¡± she screamed. ¡°Thank God! We need to go!!¡± She began cutting her way through the demons heading for the stairwell. I followed after her, clearing stray demons as I went. I thought that perhaps they hade through the gate somehow, but the huge structure was already in the process of copsing under its own weight, no longer supported by the unearthly strength that I¡¯xan¡¯dra had given it. Or however the hell that all worked. I realized then that these had to be the normal demons that spawned with the Bloodmoon. The surface demons that Venja kept at bay all the time. Even now I could see them trekking down the jagged slopes of the abandoned bunker crater, trying to get to us. The Dark Frenzy in the air was but a whisperpared to what I¡¯d just experienced, but it was more than enough to affect Kelsey. Her me was smoldering by the time we finally reached the stairwell and we both dove quickly inside. We traversed downward and I heard Kelsey take a deep breath of relief as the pressure from the Bloodmoon finally eased. I looked back, expecting to see the demons following after us, but they stopped at the edge of the stairwell, unable to proceed past the effect of the Bloodmoon it seemed. My me red as a new insight sprung from within me. There was indeed a difference between the demons on the surface and those from the gate. Those on the surface were perhaps once human and needed the Bloodmoon to survive, but not so for the ones that had spawned through the gates. I¡¯d seen where they¡¯de from and nothing about them was human at all. ¡°Holy shit, that was close,¡± Kelsey said, still breathing hard. ¡°I nearly lost it again.¡± I smiled and patted her on the shoulder. ¡°Thanks for hanging back to protect me.¡± ¡°Yeah, you were in a deep trance for ages. What happened? Where did you go?¡± I gave Kelsey the short version. The purplish sky, the hordes of demons and the giant blue bitch named I¡¯xan¡¯dra, who imed she was a god. ¡°Are you kidding!¡± Kelsey said, her eyes wide. ¡°You jumped through a gate to hell and killed a damn god?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Didn¡¯t feel like I was killing a god. Maybe just a husk of one. Or an avatar or something. But the real her¡­ yeah, I think I pissed her off good and proper. She was hinting at a rematch for sure.¡± I then told Kelsey about the towering demons and flying creatures and the massive gate that led to somece further unknown. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure where I was,¡± I said. ¡°It felt like I was on some ne of hell, but I think¡­¡± I nced upwards and an image of the Bloodmoon entered my mind. ¡°¡­I think that maybe it was the moon.¡± Kelsey nced up at the ceiling with me. ¡°Seriously?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Or the spiritual equivalent of it, maybe. But I¡¯m not going back to confirm it anytime soon though. The main thing is this gate is destroyed. The normal demons can¡¯t extend outside of the influence of the Bloodmoon so the bunker is finally safe.¡± ¡°Hell yeah, Big Bro,¡± Kelsey said as she hit me up with a fist bump. ¡°We kicked their asses.¡± Iughed weakly, finally realizing just how spent I was. ¡°Hey Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s take five until the morning, yeah?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me twice,¡± she said, copsing against the wall. I took a deep breath and exhaled, releasing all the tension of thest three days. It was finally over. The battle against I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and his demons was won. At least for now. ¡°Hey, Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°A quick sprint back home to the base tomorrow and then when you¡¯re ready, I¡¯m taking you to get your reward.¡± ¡°My reward?¡± ¡°For breaking through to the core realm,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe you were too hyped up to even realize it, but you just overcame your Fear of Certain Death. Congrattions.¡± Kelsey¡¯s eyes grew wide as lemonade filled her soul. ¡°You serious?¡± ¡°Look for yourself.¡± She closed her eyes, looking within and after half a second, she let out a yelp of surprise. ¡°I did it!¡± she said. ¡°I actually did it!¡± I smiled at her sess. ¡°Well done, sis.¡± But even as I said it, I wondered if I hadn¡¯t had some breakthrough of my own. My me seemed to be burning twice as bright now. I hadn¡¯t ascended to the next realm, but perhaps I¡¯d already achieved the pre-requisite for it. Death wasn¡¯t even a consideration when I jumped through that gate and faced down some eldritch god. Perhaps I now [Feared no Death] at all. My me red with confirmation as the root of my spiritual Dao increased. ¡°So, what¡¯s my reward?¡± Kelsey said, pulling me from my thoughts. I smiled. ¡°You get to pick out a new axe,¡± I said. ¡°At Master Edrik¡¯s.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°He¡¯s the best cksmith in Jurin province,¡± I said and immediately her eyes shone with delight. ¡°Once we get home, I¡¯m taking you to experience the outside world, Kelsey. It¡¯s time to head to the city.¡± Book 2: Chapter 56 PRINCESS LUNALAH LEAFED through the status report within her private office while her assistant Ling Wei looked on. Thetest financial reports from Xiang Xian province had beenpiled and while the numbers scrolling across her Qi tablet were in enough to understand, none of them made sense to her. ¡°Production has fallen by 37 percent?¡± She looked to Ling Wei who hadpiled the report briefing. ¡°What is the exnation?¡± Ling Wei smiled. ¡°Your majesty will no doubt remember that the leadership tournament concluded but three months ago with the Fire Bird n iming victory.¡± Lunh lowered her brows in confusion. ¡°Yes, but what does that have to do with this? Are you saying that they are ipetent?¡± ¡°It may appear so,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But the results are inconclusive.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The new Warden ims that the poor results are due to the former conflict between the Holy Mountain and Orange Blossom sects, particrly the conflict in Zho Yun vige.¡± ¡°Where?¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s the vige where the conflict started, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said and then paused a moment before adding, ¡°¡­and ended. Through your timely intervention, of course.¡±¡°Oh¡­¡± Lunh vaguely recalled the incident now. ¡°Oh yes. It¡¯s when I made the decision to rece that ipetent Tu¡¯loc Rhen who was allowing the conflict to spiral out of control. Is the new Warden iming that the poor results are due to Tu¡¯loc Rhen¡¯s ipetence?¡± ¡°No, your majesty. It¡¯s where the conflict took ce that is of importance. Although a somewhat obscure vige, it housed a third of the workforce that is used for harvesting across the entire province. As a result of the conflict, the entire poption of Zho Yun vige was lost when you rightly punished the cultivators of the Holy Mountain and Orange Blossom sects for their continued defiance of imperialw. Sadly, the mortals killed with them were primarily theborers who tended the fields during harvest cycles.¡± Lunh¡¯s heartbeat sped. ¡°Is the new Warden using my administering of justice to be the cause of his failure?¡± Ling Wei quickly bowed her head. ¡°This One would not dare to make such a spection, your majesty. I can only report that this is the factual reason why the production numbers are so low. A loss of a third of the workforce does independently corrte with a 37 percent loss in productivity.¡± Lunh¡¯s skin bristled with the heat of embarrassment. It was her action that had led to this. But still, it was Tu¡¯loc Rhen¡¯s ipetence that had caused it all. ¡°Prepare a letter to the new Warden. Remind him that it was a known fact that a third of the workforce had been lost due to the conflict in Zho Yun vige when the Fire Birds assumed control. They had three months to remedy the situation in Xiang Xian province and instead chose to do nothing. The fault is theirs. I will however be lenient and allow another three months for them to correct their productivity issues.¡± Ling Wei bowed. ¡°I shall prepare the letter at once, your majesty.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± she asked, eager to move on from the debacle. ¡°Yes. There is a¡­ somewhat odd situation in Jurin province that you may wish to be apprised of.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± she said, perking up a little. ¡°Is it to do with the Iron Bull? His Gold Bracket debut was impressive. Is he to fight again soon?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Ling Wei lowered her head, blushing a little. ¡°No, your majesty. It has nothing to do with the Iron Bull.¡± Her heart sank a little. ¡°Oh. What is it then?¡± ¡°News from the local courts,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°There is a trial to take ce a few hours from now. A junior member of Silver Leaf n was found guilty of viting imperialw via an unsanctioned attack on a fellow martial sect, apparently killing over a hundred cultivators of the local Fire Bird n including an elder.¡± Lunh¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The case apparently involved the use of a Grand Sage¡¯s testimony as evidence,¡± Ling Wei said reading from her tablet. ¡°But that¡¯s not the interesting bit. The part that might concern you is that a Silver Leaf Elder, apparently the mother of the used, has been granted the right of martial contestation by the courts. This would ce her against the chief intiff, which happens to be the local leader of the Fire Bird n.¡± Lunh furrowed her brow. ¡°Why is this important?¡± ¡°A sect leader is not normally allowed to be challenged by a lesser,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But ording to the court transcripts, the High Magistrate allowed it because the original writ was against the personal family of the used and not the Silver Leaf n itself. Yet still, it would be within the Silver Leaf n¡¯s right to rece the elder with a sect leader to match the intiff. And you would recall who the leader of the Silver Leaf n is in Jurin Province, yes?¡± Lunh had to pause before it all clicked. ¡°Lady Silver Tear¡­The Warden.¡± ¡°Correct,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But that¡¯s not all. The used is the daughter of the Vice Warden, a Master Hei Dong. His wife, Lady Silver Moon, is contesting. She is deemed no match for the Fire Bird sect leader, Lo Feng. It seems highly possible that the Vice Warden may petition the Warden to intervene on his family¡¯s behalf, especially as she has been now invited to witness the proceedings.¡± ¡°At whose behest?¡± Ling Wei studied her table. ¡°It¡¯s unclear. Her own perhaps. But even without the Vice Warden asking for her intervention, she may be tempted to do so herself if Lo Feng kills Lady Silver Moon, if only to save face for her n.¡± Lunh was beginning to put the pieces together for herself. ¡°That would ce two Sect Leaders, one being a Warden, in sanctioned martialbat.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°And if Lo Feng were to defeat the Warden, he would be within his legal right to im rule of Jurin Province for the Fire Bird n.¡± She then paused a moment, pulling up a map on her tablet. ¡°And with you already having granted the rule of Xiang Xian province to the Fire Birds, to have them gain control of yet another province would ce them in the majority control of territory across the. I do not have to tell you what that will do to the bnce across the other sects.¡± Lunh released a sigh. She could already envision theints and requests for restitution and imperial intervention. ¡°It¡¯ll be chaos.¡± ¡°Hence why I thought that even such a small matter as this should be brought to your attention, your majesty.¡± Lunh nodded. ¡°You have judged wisely, Ling Wei. This is a matter that could tumble out of control. When is this trial again?¡± ¡°In a few hours.¡± ¡°Remind me when it is about to start, I shall wish to audit the proceedings myself.¡± ¡°Shall I prepare your skiff?¡± ¡°Heavens no,¡± she said. ¡°I would not want to be seen interfering withwful proceedings prematurely. Even I am subject to the rule of my father through the courts. And me arriving in that backwater will draw far too much attention. The Warden is my legal representative. I will trust she will act in the best interests of the empire and not her n, but I will observe from afar just in case.¡± * * * The entire bunkermunity was up before dawn. They were gathered together to see me off like they had done countless times before. But today was different. Today they were saying goodbye to one of their own. Kelsey embraced her mother for what seemed like five minutes straight as the older woman held back tears with a stiltedugh. The rest of themunity then did the same, embracing Kelsey individually while giving her well wishes and words of wisdom. Some even gave her the odd gift request or two. It¡¯d been a whirlwind two days since our return from the second bunker. We¡¯d left shortly after we¡¯d recovered from our ordeal, which turned out to be a solid six hours of rest. After refueling a bit on what was left of my spirit potions, we made the trip home through the now empty tunnel, which turned out to be a heck of a lot faster than fighting our way in the first time. We made it back to the bunker by dawn the next day and shared the good news of our victory with Harris and the rest of themunity before both copsing intoas after eating a crap load of food. The calories went to work while we slept and by the time Kelsey and I awoke about 24 hourster, we werepletely transformed. The amount of Frenzy we¡¯d both cultivated was off the charts, although we¡¯d both processed it in different ways. Kelsey¡¯s transformation was far more physical, looking as if she had packed on another ten pounds of muscle and an inch of height to her frame. My advancements on the other hand were more in the metaphysical realm, with the Struggler and my me both undergoing a spiritual reformation. I didn¡¯t even realize it at first until Venjamented on it while I was visiting her in the spiritual realm. But I indeed felt stronger in both rity of mind and purpose and my me was burning brighter than ever after advancing to the next stage of the [Death Mastery] technique. But the rejoicing of both of our gains was short-lived as we immediately went to work helping themunity finish clearing out the bunker and relocating them inside afterwards. It was hard work, but Harris¡¯ leadership put everything in order. Just like with erecting the wall, his engineering mind split my and Kelsey¡¯sbor so that we would have the most impact without tripping over each other¡¯s toes. In the end we had everything done in half a day and spent the restmemorating the asion with tributes to Jim and the fallen and a victory meal for Kelsey and I. That¡¯s when I announced that I wouldn¡¯t be heading back alone and would be taking Kelsey for her first visit to the city. That started the waterworks from Mom, but after already trusting her daughter to defeat hordes of countless demon space monsters from beyond the stars, a visit to the city was like a trip to Disney World. In the end, Susan thanked me and once again entrusted her daughter within my care along with a strict set of rules. She repeated them for everyone to hear once she¡¯d finally finished hugging. ¡°Remember,¡± she said. ¡°Not a word of English. And you do everything Max tells you. And no running off on your own. And don¡¯t kill anyone!¡± We allughed at that, but with how strong Kelsey had grown, it was a real damn possibility. ¡°Another rule,¡± I added. ¡°No flexing your strength beyond mortal capability. I¡¯m yet to teach you how to mask your Frenzy as Qi.¡± I pondered on that a moment and wondered just how I¡¯d do that for Kelsey. Getting a sliver of core probably wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but I wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d want to go the surgical route like I did. Maybe jewelry could work. Chicks did wear bellybutton rings and stuff. ¡°You have fun out there, Kelsey,¡± Harris said, shaking her hand. ¡°After all you did, you two deserve some well needed R and R.¡± ¡°Thanks, Colonel,¡± Kelsey said and beamed with a smile. ¡°May the fates guide your path,¡± June said with a bow in perfectly ent-less Yee. ¡°I cannot wait for my turn to visit.¡± I smiled at her and spoke Yee in return. ¡°Soon toe, June. I promise.¡± It was a reminder that it wasn¡¯t just the fact that Kelsey was a cultivator that made her able to make the visit to the city. It was her age. To get everyone to the city, I¡¯d need my sect to be strong enough politically to withstand the bacsh of seeing Terrans that should have been killed a decade ago, suddenly walking around alive. Another goal to spur me along my path, I thought. As if I didn¡¯t still have enough of them already. But defeating I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and closing that gate was a big one. I could breathe a whole lot easier now and focus on other things because of that. Like progressing through the Gold Bracket rankings and preparing for my duel with Fia. I smiled at just the thought of it. Much like Kelsey, I was looking forward to it all like a trip to Disney World myself. We all said our final goodbyes and then Kelsey and I headed for the outskirts of the wall. ¡°I¡¯m so freaking excited,¡± Kelsey said with a squeal. ¡°Can¡¯t believe this is finally happening!¡± I chuckled. ¡°Hey, like Harris said. You earned it.¡± She then grinned at me. ¡°Race you there?¡± ¡°Nah,¡± I said, resting a hand on her shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ll mess up your gains by shifting with a form. Hop on my back.¡± I then winked at her. ¡°It¡¯ll save you the embarrassment of losing to me.¡± ¡°Smart ass,¡± she said, snickering. She then mbered onto my back as I shifted with [Mark of the Giant] and [Mark of the Beast], growing nearly three feet in height. ¡°Oh, man,¡± Kelsey said, regaining her bnce as I lifted her into the air. ¡°This is going old-school style.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The first time we did this, remember? I had to hang on for dear life.¡± Iughed as I recalled the event all those months ago. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve bothe a long way since then, Kelsey.¡± She threw her arms about my neck to hold on and then suddenly I felt them tightened. ¡°Yo, what you doing? Trying to choke me out?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called a hug, dumbass,¡± she said snarkily and then she paused, her tone softening and bing more serious. ¡°I know I probably don¡¯t say it enough, but thank you, Max. For everything. You¡¯re the best damn big brother I never had. I love you, man.¡± My heart all but burst from my chest as she squeezed me tighter. I swallowed the lump in my throat as my eyes welled. ¡°Alright, alight,¡± I said, patting her forearms. ¡°I love you too, you little punk. Now cut that crap out before you have us both crying.¡± ¡°As if!¡± she said with augh, but I could hear her sniffle back some tears of her own. ¡°To the city, Max,¡± she cried out like a stagecoach conductor. ¡°Giddyap, ya hear! Yah yah!¡± I neighed like a horse and then broke into a sprint, enjoying the carefreeughter of my Berserker kid sister as I hammed it up like the true Chun that I was. I thanked the heavens for my growing family. It couldn¡¯t get much better than this, I thought. At least, not until Fia finally joined my family as well. * * * Master Hei Dong sat within the small prison cell deep within the bowels of the arena. Across from him, his wife, Rhi Dong, sat upon the cot with Fia, cradling the girl¡¯s head in herp. They had remained with Fia near constantly thest two days, staying with her from dawn till nightfall. Thankfully his influence had allowed him ess. Even now the Imperial Guards had repositioned themselves to the far end of the hallway to give them privacy as a family. As a family, he thought with chagrin. This could be theirst moments as one. Of all the ces his family could have ended up in life, never would he have dreamed it would be in a prison cell like this. Fia looked as if she had barely slept. None of them had. What waking moments his wife spent outside the cell she was engaged in a desperate training regime. One that would somehow reverse thirty years of passive cultivation and the most rudimentary of martial training. He was certain Rhi knew her attempts were futile. The first day she had been filled with conviction and spite, but now it waned towards despair as the reality finally set in. It had set in for them all really. A quiet somber despair. ¡°I hear the Warden will be in attendance,¡± Fia said absently as she tumbled the quill in one hand. ¡°Is that a good sign?¡± Hei Dong didn¡¯t know how to answer her. He didn¡¯t know himself really, but he feigned positivity. ¡°I would take it as so¡­¡± But he couldn¡¯t think of what else to add to give it any further credibility. He focused on the quill instead. He had gambled so much on that one small object and now he had lost nearly everything for it. And for the life of him, he still didn¡¯t fully understand why. ¡°Fia,¡± he said. ¡°That quill. Why did you ask to keep it? It is the root of our misfortune.¡± ¡°Should that not be reason enough alone, to keep it?¡± she said. He squinted at her, bemused. He could still sense the conflict in her Qi. ¡°What connection do you have to it? What do you know about it ending up there?¡± Fia sat up from her mother¡¯sp. ¡°I truly don¡¯t know how or why, Father. But it is what it is. The fates have spoken, and my destiny has been cut off.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you say that,¡± Rhi Dong said, cradling Fia while kissing her upon the brow. ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing. Your fate is not sealed so long as I draw breath.¡± Hei Dong wished she had said something different. For that was exactly the future he now saw. A future where both his wife and his daughter were dead. ¡°Have you written to Hein?¡± Fia asked. ¡°Not as yet,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°When you do, tell him that I love him.¡± ¡°You shall tell him yourself,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°We will get through this just fine.¡± Hei Dong smiled to mirror his wife¡¯s optimism, but deep down his soul was already empty inside¡ªa void that not even anger or hate could now fill. The slow relegation that reality now brought, had ensured that all it could now be filled with¡­was despair. ¡°Master Hei Dong,¡± a voice said, and he looked through the cell bars to see the stadium manager, Master Lein Cho, standing patiently outside. ¡°I do apologize for the interruption, but I¡¯vee to inform you that it is now three hours until the start of the trial. I can permit you to stay perhaps an hour more before you must vacate.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Thank you, Master Lein Cho, for the past few days. It has afforded our family much needed time.¡± He nodded almost sheepishly in response, unable to say anything further. As the man left, the darkness of despair swallowed Hei Dong¡¯s soul again. What indeed could any of them say? Or anyone to such a cruel and horrid fate? He looked up at the ceiling as tears formed in his eyes. This would be the final hour he would spend with his family. Only the fates of heaven could save them now. Book 2: Chapter 57 I STRODE TOWARDS the handler station with Kelsey by my side. We¡¯d gone over our n a few minutes earlier and now we confidently approached the Imperial Guard on duty. Or at least I did. Kelsey was still fidgeting nervously, or maybe she was just itchy from the mud I¡¯d just pped all over her face and clothes. The Imperial Guard recognized me on sight, giving me a smile, but he raised a brow when he saw Kelsey. I paid him no mind and immediately called out to Lee who was tending to a few cultivators behind him. ¡°Yo Lee!¡± I said. ¡°I found your rookie handler lost out by the swamps. Think she got separated from her partner. Gonna need a bath and a new uniform.¡± Kelsey bowed her head and fell to her knees. I then prayed with all my might that the words I¡¯d just taught her woulde out right. ¡°Sorry¡­ Master Lee. I¡­ I screw up!¡± The Imperial Guard shook his head with a chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s a damn good thing the Iron Bull found you. You¡¯d be demon food by tonight.¡± Kelsey kept her head to the ground. ¡°Yes. Honorable most high¡­ fighter warrior¡­ I screw up.¡±I cringed at Kelsey¡¯s attempt at improv and quickly picked her up from the ground. ¡°Okay, Kel Zhi. Let¡¯s get you a fresh unform.¡± I gave Lee a wink as he shot me a questioning stare. He picked up on the cue immediately and patted Kelsey on the back. ¡°Tough break on the first outing, Kel Zhi. Let¡¯s get you cleaned up.¡± I followed Lee back to the bathing area where he gave Kelsey a towel and a fresh set of clothes. Once she was inside the stall, he turned to me a mixture of shock and delight. ¡°Yo, who the hell is that, man?¡± ¡°A new friend,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Thanks for the cover. I¡¯ll fill you in on where she¡¯s from and stuffter.¡± But Lee didn¡¯t seem interested in that, his eyes glued to the closed door of the bathing stall. ¡°So you adding her to your harem or what? That¡¯s one buff-looking chick! She looks like a mini you, but in a good way!¡± I jerked my head back, revolted. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not like that. She¡¯s like my little sister, man. And you shouldn¡¯t be looking at her like that either. She¡¯s only 15.¡± Lee shrugged nonchntly. ¡°What? I¡¯m only 16...¡± I took a step back in my own mind. It was easy to forget that most of the Terran poption was a good three or four years younger than me. While I still thought of Kelsey as a kid, she was roughly the same age as Mu Lin and just a few years behind Yu Li who¡¯d already had a child. ¡°Let¡¯s give her some room,¡± I said, ushering Lee away from the door. But that did little to avert his eyes when Kelsey finally stepped outside dressed in her new handler uniform that looked two sizes too small. I suddenly had the urge to throw a nket over her to cover up her toned chest and arms. Lee however didn¡¯t seem to mind at all. ¡°Nice to meet you, Kel Zhi,¡± he said, giving her a bow. ¡°I¡¯m Chun boy¡¯s more handsome and sessful friend, Lee. You need anything, I got your back.¡± Kelsey stared at him puzzled, looking nervous, clearly not able to trante everything he¡¯d just said. But then after a few seconds, she blushed andughed. ¡°Nice¡­ meet you, Lee. Thank you. For help.¡± Lee stared at her oddly for a moment, no doubt taken off guard by her stilted speech, but then he began spouting more one-liners trying to start a conversation. I quickly rescued her, sweeping Kelsey under my arm. ¡°We¡¯ll need to borrow the uniform if you don¡¯t mind. Putting her on the roster for admin purposes would help too. Thanks, Lee! We¡¯ll catch up!¡± I ushered Kelsey away as Lee gave her a healthy wave and smile. ¡°Yeah, see yah, tough girl! Hope youe back soon.¡± Kelsey giggled, blushing with a smile. I rushed her away as quickly as possible and when we were out of earshot she suddenly erupted into English, barely able to contain herself. ¡°Oh my God, we did it, Max! And who wasthat guy? He a friend of yours?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, that¡¯s Lee. He¡¯s an old friend.¡± She looked over her shoulder at him, waving again. ¡°He¡¯s really cute!¡± My stomach churned as Lee waved back. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t get too attached to the first guy you see, okay?¡± I said, turning her head back about. ¡°I¡¯ve got a lot of people for you to meet.¡± But my words had already fallen on deaf ears. There was nothing I could say that could remove that smile. Poor Kelsey was smitten. * * * I¡¯d made the trek across the wild in record time. It was still mid-morning and the city was bustling and alive. Kelsey took it all in like she was five years old, her eyes wide as saucers as she experienced the myriad of sights, sounds and smells. I bought her some new robes as we traversed through the market district and treated her to several food stalls as well. She didn¡¯tmunicate with much more than a yes or a no in Yee, but by the permanent smile on her face she was loving every second of it. I took the long way home, traversing through the various districts of the city, before finally ending up at the base of the big pagoda in the sky. ¡°The imperial city,¡± I said in English now that we were away from the crowd. ¡°The same things that attacked us that night twelve years ago.¡± A slow ire burned in my heart as I looked up at it, the memories returning. ¡°The root of your Dao,¡± Kelsey said as she stared up at it with me. ¡°I can sense it in your me.¡± I chuckled and noted she wasn¡¯t triggered at all. She instead looked upon the Pagoda with a sense of awe. ¡°Guess you were too little to remember them huh?¡± ¡°All I remember are the demons,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°And the moon.¡± It was a reminder that each Berserker¡¯s path was different. Maybe Kelsey couldn¡¯t get as revved up about my fight against the empire. Or at least not as much as her fight against I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. I guess we each had our own personal demons to y. ¡°Come on,¡± I said, turning about to leave for the square. ¡°It¡¯s time to introduce you to your new home.¡± * * * Kelsey got just as many stares from my neighbors as she did from Lee. I supposed seeing a new face was still a thing once themunity got small enough. Or perhaps it was the way she carried herself, walking far more like Threja with slow and powerful steps, rather than the dainty way all Yee women were trained to do in Foundation school from the age of four or five. I introduced her as someone from H Block, which was part of the Native Housing Distract far across town. Luckily no one else had any roots there to know any different and they epted her with wide smiles. ¡°So many new people,¡± she whispered to me in English, unable to remove the grin from her face. ¡°I¡¯m freaking out!¡± ¡°Shhh,¡± I said. ¡°Yee only until we get to where we¡¯re going.¡± That caused her to mum up and she kept her lips sealed until I reached the headquarters of the Terran Sect, now located on the bottom floor of our newly constructed building. The people I needed to see were already gathered there. Yu Li, Jian Yi and Gui Zu. They stared with mouths wide open as I entered the room and when I finally closed the door behind me, I gestured to Kelsey with both arms. ¡°Well, here she is, folks. The girl I¡¯ve been telling you about for months. The great Kel Zhi!¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if Kelsey understood fully what I¡¯d said, but the connotation had to be clear as my trio of friends mobbed her like a new puppy. Gui Zu grabbed her in a hug and spun her about while Yu Li hopped up and down excitedly. She then embraced her as well when it was her turn, and while Jian Yi was far more reserved, giving Kelsey a polite bow, Kelsey was the one to interrupt it with a hug of her own. ¡°Wait, wait!¡± she said in Yee. She then pointed to each of them in turn. ¡°Yu Li? Gui Zu? And Jian Yi?¡± They all nodded and pped. I¡¯d told Kelsey about my inner circle long ago, filling her in on even the smallest of details when we would pass time out in the wild. Now she no doubt felt as if she knew them already, with how much information I¡¯d shared. ¡°She does speak Yee!¡± Jian Yi said with a smile. ¡°How excellent!¡± Kelsey grinned. ¡°Little yes.¡± ¡°She understands more than she speaks,¡± I said. Kelsey looked at me and nodded. ¡°True.¡± They allughed. We then sat down and the interrogation of Kelsey began in earnest. I had told them all about what it was like in the wild, but being able to hear it from someone like Kelsey was a whole new experience. I yed trantor, asionally interjecting when something popped up that was too difficult for Kelsey to either understand or say. What felt like an hour slipped by as they asked her everything from what she remembered from her past, to what it was like growing up in the bunker to what she ate for breakfast this morning. I eventually had to rescue her by rmending we give her a break and grab some food and Gui Zu was quick to volunteer to grab something from the square for us. He came back a short whileter with Su Ling in tow, the tot having awoken from her nap. Kelsey let out a squeal of delight. ¡°This Su Ling! Right?¡± she said in Yee. ¡°She cute! Like you tell me, Max!¡± The little girl shied away from Kelsey at first, but eventually Su Ling rewarded her with a hug. We then all sat and ate and I couldn¡¯t help but feel like a small part of my dream had finallying true. Here was Kelsey, a Terran from the wild, enjoying freshly fried noodles in the middle of my Terran Sect HQ. ¡°Now we need to do something important,¡± Jian Yi said after we had eaten. ¡°Come with me please, Kel Zhi.¡± Kelsey understood and followed Jian Yi to the office. Jian Yi then pulled out the roster of Terran Sect members and filled in a new line with Kelsey¡¯s Yee name. Kelsey smiled at it in wonder. ¡°Can you sign?¡± Jian Yi asked. Kelsey shook her head. ¡°I talk bad. I write more bad.¡± She smiled and weughed. Kelsey then turned to me and handed me the pen. ¡°Max. Please. Big brother. Sign for me.¡± I couldn¡¯t hold back the pride that swelled in my heart as I took the pen and wrote the characters of her name in Yee. ¡°Well, it¡¯s official. You¡¯re now a proud member of the Terran Sect, Kel Zhi! The first of many to migrate from the wild, I hope. Congrattions!¡± We broke into apuse and Kelsey performed a goofy little bow. I then remembered there was one more status that she would need to achieve in the future. ¡°When the time is right, you¡¯ll have to join my martial n as well,¡± I said. ¡°The Furious Lightning Sect. Once you start practicing that is.¡± She grinned. ¡°Yup!¡± I gave her a wink and she winked back, sharing in our private joke. I¡¯d already told her that I couldn¡¯t reveal my nature as a Berserker in the city and that she would have to hide hers too. I¡¯d have to enroll her as a disciple initially and then wait a few months before she revealed any of her true skills. Then she could start cutting loose and truly following her own path. A knock came at the door and when Jian Yi answered I saw it was Zu Tien. I was just about to introduce her to Kelsey when I noticed the grave look on her face. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked. ¡°A visitor, Master Chun,¡± she said. ¡°From the Silver Leaf n.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s their barrister. Master Lui Wi.¡± * * * Apprehension filled me as I approached the tall Dharmian man waiting for us in the middle of the square. Jian Yi however wore a confident smile, perhaps eager to show off that she now wore the same purple-trimmed robes as him. A stark contrast from when they had first engaged in legalbat so many months ago. I stopped short and the man gave me a bow. ¡°Max Chun,¡± he said. ¡°This One is Lui Wi, legal counsel to¡ª¡± ¡°Yeah, I remember who you are,¡± I said. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°I havee to serve you this,¡± he said and produced a sealed envelope from within his robes. Jian Yi stepped forward to take it from him. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked as she broke the seal and began studying the tiny legal script within. She then squinted, furrowing her brow. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this. They¡¯ve dropped the writ?¡± ¡°What?¡± I said. ¡°It is true,¡± Lui Wi said. ¡°The Dong family has withdrawn the writ against the Terran Sect. The court date for your duel with the Lady Silver Light is hereby annulled.¡± Yu Li let loose a cheer, pping her hands. ¡°Is this for real? All right!¡± Gui Zu pped me on the back. ¡°See, brother. The fates are aligning. Your sess in the Gold Bracket must have made them think twice.¡± ¡°I suppose so,¡± Jian Yi said with a smile. She then looked up from the document and to Lui Wi. ¡°My learned friend, now that the writ is withdrawn, I assume there will be no further hostilities towards the Terran Sect from your clients?¡± ¡°You may consider it so,¡± Lui Wi said. Yu Li cheered again, jumping up and down with Gui Zu and Zu Tien. ¡°We did it! It¡¯s over!¡± ¡°What happen?¡± Kelsey said, staring between all of us, clearly confused. But not more confused than I was. What the hell had indeed just happened? Did Fia just call off the duel? And if so, why? Something had to be up. ¡°Please,¡± I said, calling to Lui Wi as he was about to leave. ¡°Why have they called off the writ?¡± Jian Yi nudged me. ¡°That¡¯s not important. Just be grateful that they have.¡± ¡°I would listen to your barrister,¡± Lui Wi said. ¡°The reason is my client¡¯s alone to know. Be thankful that you will no longer have to face Lady Silver Light inbat.¡± But that was exactly what I wanted. What she wanted. Did she somehow change her mind? ¡°No!¡± I shouted with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I need to know. Did the Lady Silver Light call this off herself?¡± The power of my techniquebined with the desperation in my voice caused everyone around me to grow quiet. The man Lui Wi stared at me oddly, but then he exhaled and seemed toe to some kind of decision within himself. ¡°The writ was struck by the High Magistrate,¡± Lui Wi said. ¡°The Lady Silver Light is no longer fit to serve it.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°She has been used and found guilty of viting imperialw bymitting an unsanctioned attack on a fellow martial sect,¡± he said and my blood ran cold, immediately thinking of Hin Wu. But then he continued, and the picture got even worse. ¡°She is used of killing over a hundred members of the Fire Bird n, including their elder, thete Master Hong Feng.¡± The ground fell out from under me as the picture became clear. I could ask how and why, but I already knew the answer. Holy crap, I thought. They found the quill¡­! ¡°Where is she now?¡± I said, growing desperate. ¡°What¡¯s happening to her?¡± My friends all looked at me like I was crazy and Lui Wi shared in their perplexed stares. ¡°Have you no shame?¡± he said. ¡°The fates have seen fit to release your n from this writ. Why seek to wallow further in the misfortune of others when they were not even borne by your hand?¡± ¡°Just tell me!¡± I shouted and he flinched away from me. He then straightened his robes. ¡°If you must know, the Lady Silver Light is to face trial for her crimes today,¡± he said. ¡°She awaits the verdict of a final contestation match at the arena. If her proxy fails, she will be executed by the state.¡± * * * My world slowly unraveled as my friends threw a virtual party around me. They were pouring wine and singing songs of victory as we returned to the office, toasting to our good fortune. But I remained beside myself, considering the implications of what I¡¯d done. Holy shit, I thought. I can¡¯t believe it. A careless act from so many months ago, returning to bite me now. I wasn¡¯t even targeting her. But I had been targeting her family. What the hell have I done? ¡°Yo, what¡¯s up?¡± Kelsey said to me in English as she sat down next to me. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on here. People are going buck wild with partying, but you¡¯re filled with enough pain to cultivate to the next realm.¡± I sighed uneasily, replying in English as well. ¡°I messed up, Kelsey. I did something stupid a long time ago that¡¯snded Fia in hot water with the authorities. They¡¯re holding her responsible for all the Fire Birds I killed because I left one of her quills as evidence.¡± Her eye grew wide. ¡°What? Are you serious? Why the hell did you do that?¡± ¡°We weren¡¯t as serious a thing back then,¡± I said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t even sure I¡¯d ever see her again. Plus, I was out of sorts because I thought I¡¯d lost everything to Hein. I was setting up for revenge against the Silver Leaf n in general.¡± ¡°Well, you got top marks for that one, chief,¡± Kelsey said sardonically. ¡°So what the hell now? We need to do something right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said absently. ¡°They¡¯re going to execute her.¡± ¡°What?!¡± I looked about at Jian Yi, Zu Tien, Gui Zu and Yu Li¡ªall of them still toasting and drinking obliviously. ¡°I still haven¡¯t even told these guys about her yet,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s why they¡¯re all celebrating. They see her as the enemy. An enemy that¡¯s about to be eliminated scot-free.¡± I still couldn¡¯t believe it myself. Fia was about to die for my crimes¡­ ¡°Hey!¡± Kelsey shouted into my face, waking me from my thoughts. ¡°This is still Fia, the girl you love, right?¡± I only nodded. ¡°Then get the hell up and say something, you moron!¡± The room suddenly went quiet at Kelsey¡¯s outburst, no doubt taken aback by the unfamiliar words she had spoken, but the connotation in her volume was crystal clear. They all looked at me questioningly. ¡°Whatnguage was that?¡± Zu Tien asked baffled. ¡°Nevermind that now,¡± Yu Li said, looking concerned. ¡°What did she say, Max?¡± I sighed but then Kelsey stood and spoke ahead of me. ¡°Max need talk!¡± she said in Yee. ¡°Go Max. Talk!¡± Damn you, Kelsey, I thought. But I truly did need the extra push to get me out of my own head. I finally stood and swallowed my pride. ¡°Guys, I have something very important I need to tell you,¡± I said and prepared to face the worst. ¡°But you¡¯re probably not going to like or understand any of it.¡± * * * ¡°Are you damn well kidding me?!¡± The shout came from Yu Li who had remained silent for a full minute after I¡¯d finished my story. She was flustered and turning beet red, spewing more anger than a raging behemoth. Sheunched at me in a tirade, jabbing her finger into my chest. ¡°You damn hypocrite!¡± she shouted. ¡°You lecture me for falling for Hein and then you go and screw his sister? im you¡¯re in love with her? What kind of freaking betrayal bullshit is this, Max?¡± ¡°Is this what has truly been bothering you, brother?¡± Gui Zu asked. ¡°Keeping this secret from us?¡± I merely nodded, too ashamed to even speak. Jian Yi shook her head. ¡°Chun, this is unbelievable to say the least. You kept all this from us. For months! How did you envision this was going to end? Were you going to let this farce y out without us knowing at all?¡± ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I was going to tell you all eventually. When the time was right. Closer to the duel maybe.¡± ¡°You were still nning to duel her?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°To win her hand in marriage.¡± ¡°WHAT!?¡± Yu Li screamed. ¡°Marriage?! Have you gone insane?¡± ¡°No, seriously,¡± I said. ¡°I want to marry her. We were nning to use the duel as a means to make it happen. I¡¯d spare her life as a dowry sort of thing.¡± Yu Li began pacing in circles. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this. Who the hell are you, Chun?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know where to start,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°The lies? The secrets? You had us all believing you were fighting for us when in reality you were sleeping with the enemy? Literally?!¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t like that,¡± I said weakly, in my defense. ¡°And I know I should have told you all sooner, but it would have put everyone in danger. Fia especially. The less people who knew the better¡­¡± ¡°Fia,¡± Yu Li said with a harrumph. ¡°You even call her by her personal name? To think you knew this girl so intimately and had us all thinking she was the seconding of Hein. You yed us all for fools!¡± ¡°Indeed!¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°This was a major betray¡ª¡± ¡°Together, stop!¡± Kelsey suddenly shouted in Yee, standing and brandishing [Fear the me]. All eyes fell on her in confusion, trying to make sense of what she¡¯d just said. Then she slowly came to stand by my side. ¡°Listen,¡± she said in her stilted English-Yee ent. ¡°I no understand all. But I understand you mad. Please. Max¡­ big stupid.¡± She spread her arms wide in illustration. ¡°Very big stupid. But. Heart is good. He love Fia. He tell me before. She good heart¡­ she his soul. He fear tell you. Cause big stupid. But. Heart still good.¡± She stopped talking and everyone stood around staring at her deadpanned. I didn¡¯t know whether to thank her or slug her in the arm. ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Zu Tien said, stepping forward. ¡°I don¡¯t know who that girl is, or why she talks so strangely, but she speaks the truth. The Lady Silver Light does indeed have a good heart. I have seen it for myself. Gui Zu also. Right, Gui Zu?¡± The big man nodded and rested hisrge hand on my shoulder. ¡°It is true,¡± he said. ¡°And the other part Kel Zhi said is also true. You are very big stupid, brother. You should havee to us with this long ago. But if you say that you have fallen in love with Lady Fia, then who am I to disagree? I believe and trust you.¡± He then smiled at Yu Li who still looked mad as hell, but she eventually rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not happy with it, but okay. I still don¡¯t even understand it! But okay.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll reserve my judgement forter,¡± Jian Yi said, folding her arms. ¡°But for now, I suppose the question is, what is it you n to do, Chun?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just know I need to go see her. Talk to her. Maybe save her somehow.¡± Jian Yi chuckled. ¡°Did you not hear their barrister? The Lady Silver Light is facing capital punishment in an active court trial, her fate being decided by a proxy match that is likely already underway.¡± ¡°Shit!¡± I said. ¡°Does that mean we¡¯re toote?¡± ¡°No,¡± she said as she rushed to her desk and began collecting books and papers. ¡°But it means we need to hurry. Abat trial will be held at the arena. I may be able to use my influence to get us inside.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± ¡°Heavens only knows.¡± ¡°I¡¯lle too,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°Fine,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°But someone needs to stay behind to protect the block.¡± ¡°Consider it done,¡± Zu Tien said with a bow. I nodded to her. ¡°Thanks, Zu Tien.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look for me toe,¡± Yu Li said with a scowl. ¡°I¡¯ve got to mind Su Ling.¡± But then she pulled me into a hug with one arm. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you love her or not. You don¡¯t let that silver-haired bimbo pull you into any more trouble, you understand?¡± I patted her on the back and sighed. ¡°Yes, Mom.¡± We all then looked at Kelsey who was staring about bewildered. ¡°You¡¯d bettere too,¡± I said in English. ¡°You¡¯re the only one who seems to be able to trante my stupidity for them.¡± Kelseyughed and everyone looked at us confused. ¡°Max say mee too,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Because he very big stupid.¡± Book 2: Chapter 58 MASTER HEI DONG clutched his wife dearly in an embrace. An embrace that could be their veryst. The mid-morning sun was high overhead and the time of the trial was near. The stadium was vacant of its normal upants, the ce empty and barren like a deste tomb. It was a sad analogy, as if fate itself had already passed judgement on his family¡¯s demise. At the edge of the arena, staff worked in tandem to erect the temporary dais that the High Magistrate would use to decide the final destiny of his wife and daughter. Another seat of importance was being constructed next to it. That for the Warden. Hei Dong had not seen her yet, but now that her presence was confirmed it served to only heighten his anxiety. Would she try and help by risking her own position to fight Lo Feng? Or would she simply let the oue fall where it may? More than once he had considered begging the Warden for her help, but he knew Rhi Dong wouldn¡¯t hear of it. Her honor would not allow her to seek reprieve from her great aunt. Rhi Dong was determined to take responsibility for this mess her family had created. Or so Rhi no doubt assumed the Warden would see the matter, from her perspective.A private family affair that had little to do with the n proper. Hei Dong nestled his face into his wife¡¯s lustrous silver hair. ¡°You are an honorable warrior, my love. May Fate guide your de.¡± Far across the stadium, Hei Dong glimpsed the contingent from the Fire Bird n¡ªthe two flunky witnesses along with Lo Feng himself. The Fire Bird Leader had dressed for the asion, trimming down his ceremonial robes for something far more fit forbat. As Hei Dong finally pulled away from his wife, he noted her attire was much the same¡ªher ck and silver robes were shortened and adorned with the scabbards of her three jian des. ¡°Perhaps it is time you leave to prepare, my love,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°A few more minutes. They should be bringing Fia to the court once the High Magistrate arrives. I wish to see her onest time.¡± Hei Dong only nodded, realizing the implication of what she had said. His wife must have noticed the mncholy look on his face and lifted his chin to give him a kiss. ¡°Fear not, husband,¡± Rhi Dong said with confidence. ¡°I believe we will be delivered. Still, I¡¯d like one more chance to see my daughter, before this unholy match begins.¡± * * * I stood outside the arena with fire and fury pumping through my veins. We¡¯d run from across town to reach the arena in record time, but now a squad of Enforcers stood in our way. Jian Yi was locked in a heated debate with the court official in charge of them, begging him to allow us entry. ¡°For thest time,¡± the clerk said. ¡°You have nothing to do with this case, and there is no public viewing of the trial. I wonder how you even found out about it!¡± ¡°We just need some information,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°A chance to speak to the used.¡± ¡°Have you only just gotten your license?¡± the clerk said. ¡°On what grounds do you propose such a thing?¡± Jian Yi went on to spout some legal jargon, but even my untrained ears could pick up on the bullshit from a mile away. I sighed as the frustration mounted. ¡°This isn¡¯t working.¡± ¡°Perhaps I can try,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°You?¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I¡¯m nowyer, but I do have an idea. Follow me.¡± As we stepped toward the clerk and the Enforcers, Jian Yi shot us a deathly stare. ¡°What are you all doing?¡± ¡°Honorable Clerk,¡± Gui Zu said, dropping to one knee. ¡°Forgive our attempt to hire this poorly trained barrister as a means to gain ess to the arena. It is clear your superior knowledge of thew has bested her already.¡± Jian Yi¡¯s eyes shot wide open. ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Here is the trouble,¡± Gui Zu said, pointing to me. ¡°As you may or may not recognize, this man is the Iron Bull. He unfortunately left a valuable personal item in the locker room. His prized bull mask. He did not realize the arena would be closed due to this case. May you please grant him ess to retrieve it?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± the clerk said. ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°I am the Iron Bull if that¡¯s what you mean?¡± The clerk sighed. ¡°Look, I have no authority over the arena itself, you¡¯ll just need to wait until the case is ov¡ª¡± ¡°What seems to be the issue here?¡± All eyes turned to see a tall man dressed in imperial robes exiting from the doors to the arena. It was Lein Cho, the stadium director and right behind him was a man I recognized immediately. Bo Ren! My heart soared as I dropped to one knee beside Gui Zu. ¡°Stadium Director Lein Cho, Master Bo Ren, This One humbly seeks your intervention in this most embarrassing matter.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Lein Cho stepped forward to stand before me. ¡°What brings you here, Iron Bull?¡± ¡°I just require ess to the arena,¡± I said. ¡°To retrieve my mask. I won¡¯t be but a few minutes. Perhaps Master Bo Ren can apany me?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jian Yi said, suddenly interjecting. ¡°As a surety.¡± She then turned to the clerk. ¡°Surely that can be allowed?¡± The clerk wobbled his head with uncertainty and then deferred to Master Lein Cho. ¡°Well, if the honorable stadium manager permits it, I would have no issue¡­Master Lein Cho?¡± Lein Cho chuckled. ¡°Is that all, Bull Man? A small matter. Bo Ren, see to it.¡± ¡°At once,¡± Bo Ren said with a smile as Lein Cho continued on his way. ¡°Follow me, Iron Bull.¡± I concealed an internal fist-pump with [Indifference] as Bo Ren and I walked past the guards and into the arena. Step one aplished, I thought. But I still had no real n. Once Bo Ren and I got far enough away from the Enforcers and everyone else, I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Master Bo Ren, I have a huge favor to ask of you. One I shouldn¡¯t even be asking.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± He looked up at me with a raised brow. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t reallye for just my mask,¡± I admitted with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°There is a woman being kept here for trial. A Lady Silver Light. I desperately need to speak to her. Just a few minutes, in private if you can manage.¡± He stared back at me, shocked. ¡°Are you freaking serious?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t ask why, it¡¯s best you not even know, but is there any way you can get me to her?¡± Bo Ren stared at me a moment more before releasing a huge sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest with you, kid. I stopped questioning the crazy crap you seem to get yourself into a long time ago. I know where they¡¯re holding her, but no guarantees, and if you get caught, you¡¯re on your own.¡± I beamed with tion. ¡°Thank you, Master Bo Ren. Thank you!¡± ¡°This way,¡± he said. * * * We took a detour from the changing rooms and headed down into the bowels of the arena. We passed through the same tunnel where they had kept the Rapling Brood Mother and for a moment I had a shback to the time when I¡¯d save Gui Zu from its massive jaws. Bo Ren then stopped short as he peeked around a final corner. ¡°You¡¯re in luck, kid. The guards are all up top, helping construct the dais. But they¡¯ll be back soon. I¡¯ll keep lookout here. Go quickly!¡± He didn¡¯t need to tell me twice. I rushed around the corner and down the corridor to the cell at the end of the hall. ¡°Fia,¡± I called. ¡°Fia!¡± A soft and uncertain voice replied. ¡°Max?¡± My heart soared with tion as Fia stepped towards the bars of the jail cell. Her face was as beautiful as ever, but there was nothing elegant about her disheveled hair or gray prison clothes. She looked as if she hadn¡¯t slept for days, her eyes bloodshot and haggard. I ran to her and clutched her in an embrace through the bars. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Fia. I¡¯m so sorry for all of this!¡± Confusion filled her eyes. ¡°How did you find me?¡± ¡°Your barrister, Lui Wi, showed up with a cancetion of the writ. He told me how it happened.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Fia said and then her countenance abruptly changed, bing sour. ¡°So you know then¡­¡± The usation in her tone resonated with the guilt within my soul. ¡°That I¡¯m here because they are using me of murdering Hong Feng and ughtering a hundred members of the Fire Bird n.¡± I stepped away from the bars and hung my head. ¡°Yes, I know¡­¡± A lull of silence fell between us. ¡°I have only one question,¡± she said, before fixing her eyes on me. ¡°Why?¡± I dug down for the truth. ¡°Because they were evil. They were murdering cultivators in the wild. All of them were demonic cultivators like Hin Wu.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the why I was asking about,¡± she said, and my heart sank even further when Fia showed me the single silver quill. ¡°I gifted this to you as a keepsake. But instead, you used it as a weapon? Why?¡± I had no words, my guilt eating me alive. Her eyes melted with tears as she finally shook her head. ¡°Why, Max? Why would you do this? Did you hate my family that much to bring such doom upon us?¡± ¡°Fia, please, it wasn¡¯t like that¡­ I filed off the inscription. I didn¡¯t want it leading back to you. I thought I was striking a blow against the Warden. I had no idea this would happen.¡± ¡°Well, it has!¡± she shouted with pain in her heart. ¡°They¡¯ve sentenced me to death, Max! And now my mother has tried to save me by fighting Lo Feng to spare my life.¡± ¡°What? Your mother is your proxy?¡± She let out a sob as she nodded. ¡°She stopped cultivating when she had my brother and I, never fully ascending to the Sacred Soul Realm like Lo Feng. And on top of that, she hasn¡¯t fought in ages. Even I can best her on a good day.¡± The gravity of what she was saying began to set in. She wasn¡¯t just about to lose her life, she was about to lose her mother as well. ¡°Fia, I¡¯m sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t mean any of this to happen, I swear.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter anymore¡­¡± she said through another sob. ¡°Lo Feng will kill my mother inbat and we will lose the appeal, and then the courts will execute me. Our dream is over, Max.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that! We¡¯ll figure something out!¡± ¡°Like what? Will you confess you murdered all those people so they can kill you too?¡± She then shook her head sadly. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t do this on purpose, Max. I know your heart. Your hatred for what happened to you in the past did this¡­ But now it¡¯s stolen our future from us as well. Or at least from me.¡± Her words settled like a ton of bricks on my soul. I opened my mouth to say something else, but Bo Ren suddenly called from down the hall. ¡°Hey! They¡¯reing! You need to go! Now!¡± ¡°Go, Max,¡± Fia said and then gave me a final embrace through the bars. ¡°I still love you. Perhaps we¡¯ll cross paths again in a next life.¡± ¡°Fia, don¡¯t say that!¡± I shouted as Bo Ren came to drag me away. ¡°I¡¯ll figure something out!¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can do now. I wish you well in your path, Max. Remember me.¡± * * * I stumbled out of the arena in a daze, still trying to process what the hell just happened. My friends all rushed towards me with a million questions, but all I had strength to do was fall on my ass and let the Bull mask tter to the ground next to me. As I looked at it, all I could think of was the farce it represented. A farce that I myself now personified. ¡°Chun, what happened?¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Did you find her?¡± Gui Zu asked. Kelsey looked at me with more sympathetic eyes, perhaps sensing the pain in my soul. ¡°Max, you okay?¡± I ran my hands through my hair, shakily. ¡°It¡¯s not good. Her mother is her proxy. She¡¯s fighting Lo Feng. And Fia is certain she¡¯s going to lose.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Gui Zu asked. I shook my head. ¡°They¡¯re going to kill her. Kill both of them. She¡¯s resigned to it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± Jian Yi said as she began to pace. ¡°None of this is good...I don¡¯t know if there is much we can do.¡± ¡°What can we do legally?¡± Gui Zu asked. ¡°There must be something, no?¡± Jian Yi raised her hands in exasperation. ¡°If we had some kind of new evidence or something maybe. We could file for an injunction for what she been used of, or request a stay of execution at least, but I know literally nothing about the underlying cased.¡± ¡°What say?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°Talk words no understand.¡± ¡°Just a sec, Kelsey,¡± I said, but she rushed to drag me to my feet and pulled me away from the Enforcers and clerk at the door. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± she asked in English, once out of earshot. ¡°It looks like you came out of there with your tail between your legs. And what is Jian Yi yapping about? Does she have a way to stop the case or what?¡± I spoke to her in English as Gui Zu and Jian Yi looked on. ¡°It¡¯s not looking hopeful,¡± I said. ¡°Fia¡¯s mom is fighting as her proxy and she¡¯s bound to lose. She¡¯s going up against my sect leader, Lo Feng.¡± ¡°So just run in there and fight him for her then!¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t work that way, Kelsey. They havews and stuff here.¡± ¡°Laws?¡± She let out a scoff. ¡°Max, you fought an alien space goddess in the spiritual realm on the hell nes of the moon! What the hell does someone like you need to care aboutws for?¡± When she said it like that, I truly did feel like busting the hell in there and mopping the floor with Lo Feng, if I could even manage it. My me agreed, sparking with enthusiasm, but the reality wasn¡¯t so simple. ¡°Fighting him is one thing,¡± I said. ¡°But getting permission to fight him is another. That¡¯s Jian Yi¡¯s department, and she says she can¡¯t do anything. Not unless we find some new evidence or something.¡± ¡°Evidence of what?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Of the case. Or what she¡¯s been used of.¡± ¡°Well didn¡¯t you say you¡¯re the one who killed all those people and then med her by ident by leaving that quill?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, slumping my shoulder with guilt again. ¡°And you know what¡¯s really messed up? Fia wasn¡¯t even that pissed off when I told her. She understood. Knew it was just me trying to get back at her great aunt and not her personally. But I ended up sacrificing our future for it all the same.¡± I then sighed. ¡°The girl still loves me, Kelsey, despite everything. I just didn¡¯t know it could go this far, you know?¡± Kelsey stared at me like she wanted to tear my head off. ¡°Are you really a moron?¡± ¡°What?¡± I said. ¡°Oh, my flipping hell, Max!¡± she screamed. ¡°That is new evidence! Did you not tell Jian Yi that you¡¯re the one who actually killed all those guys?¡± ¡°Er¡­ no, not yet, I suppose.¡± Kelsey screamed an expletive and began tugging on Jian Yi¡¯s arm. ¡°How the hell do you say evidence in Yee?¡± ¡°What¡¯s she doing?¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I rushed to make sense of it all myself, but just began reciting what Kelsey had said in Yee, instead. Both Jian Yi¡¯s and Gui Zu¡¯s mouths fell open. ¡°You did it?¡± Jian Yi said incredulously. ¡°Why in the nine hells did you not tell us this before?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ my head is all messed up,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve been swapping betweennguages, talking to all you guys and then Kelsey. I kind of lost track of who I told what, I guess.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe this,¡± Jian Yi said, still trying to digest it all. ¡°Why, brother?¡± Gui Zu said perplexed. ¡°How even? When even? When did you find time to do all this?¡± ¡°Look that¡¯s not important right now,¡± I said and turned to Jian Yi. ¡°Is what Kelsey said correct? Can this be used?¡± ¡°Not without it simply causing you to swap ces with Lady Silver Light on that executioner¡¯s block.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. Just make it happen,¡± I said. ¡°Saving her is all that matters.¡± Jian Yi stared at me with a furrowed brow and then suddenly her eyes lit up. ¡°Wait, there may be a way,¡± she said. ¡°A slim chance, but we¡¯d need to move now.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll call the clerk again,¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°No, no time for that,¡± Jian Yi said, ncing overhead. ¡°The match has already started. Every second counts.¡± She looked at me and inside her I could sense her ember smoldering. ¡°Max, this will mean both of us taking a huge risk. We need to get in there to stop that fight, but when we do, you¡¯ll need to be ready to fight Lo Feng. Can you even face challenging him?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m doing it anyway.¡± Gui Zu chuckled. ¡°Then allow me to clear the path for you, brother. You owe me a night in jail for this.¡± Before I could even say anything, Gui Zu took off in a sprint and thenunched a flying kick into the back of one of the Enforcers. He knocked them all down like a stack of dominoes, including the clerk who cried out in a squeal as Gui Zu began slugging it out. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Kelsey shouted in English. ¡°What the hell just happened? Should I go help?¡± I thought quickly. ¡°No, you¡¯ll get into way too much trouble being involved in that fight. Plus, I might need you for your me.¡± ¡°What? Are we battling more space demons?¡± I grimaced as I contemted just how strong Lo Feng might be. ¡°Possibly,¡± I said, monitoring the distraction Gui Zu had caused. I saw an opening. ¡°Come on, the way is clear! Let¡¯s go!¡± The three of us made a mad dash for the door as Gui Zu put up one hell of a fight. Absently, I admired just how far he hade within his own progression to face off against four Enforcers all at once, but he was fending off the multiple ps of bamboo just fine. We dashed through the empty corridors, heading for the main arena, but then a thought urred. ¡°You two head for the ring,¡± I said slowing down. ¡°I¡¯ll be right there.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°To the changing room,¡± I said, ncing down at the bull mask in my hands and the hollowed-out insides of the horns. ¡°There¡¯s one more piece of costume I need.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no time for that!¡± ¡°Trust me. I¡¯m going up against the leader of the Fire Birds in the middle of a court room¡­I¡¯m going to need every edge I can get.¡± Book 2: Chapter 59 MASTER HEI DONG¡¯S heart leapt into his throat as Lo Feng swung his fire-encased halberd towards his wife¡¯s head. She managed to block at just thest second, deflecting the killing blow towards her shoulder. She cried out as her blood spilled, the mes singeing her sweat-stained robes. Rhi Dong managed to fight back with a counter, her three jian des stabbing the air, but Lo Feng had already retreated, leaping back on a pir of fire. The match had barely begun, but already his wife was on the backfoot. He could barely bring himself to watch any further, as Rhi Dong channeled her Qi and rushed in for another attack, but was rebuffed by a wall of fire that sent her flying across the arena. She mmed hard into the ground and every element in Hei Dong¡¯s soul screamed for the match to stop. But he could do nothing. Across the distance, he could see Fia locked in shackles, tethered to a post erected next to the bailiffs and High Magistrate. She cried out to her mother, but with words of encouragement rather than fear. ¡°Get up, Mom! You are the Lady Silver Moon! He is no match for you!¡± A sense of pride filled him at hearing her words. The words of a true warrior. The women of his small family were truly showing their steel. But that onlypounded that fact that he could do little to protect them now.He felt emascted. Helpless as a man. He could forge the strongest of des, des his wife now employed¡ªhe couldmand men to carry out the smallest or greatest of tasks, but now, in his time of need, all his power had failed him. Reduced to impotence. He red at the magistrate and Warden both, their unabashed indifference to his plight eating him up inside. Rhi Dong shed with Lo Feng again and again. Steel rang and mes sparked as their weapons collided, filling the arena with fire and radiant holy light. He had not seen his wife fight like this in ages. At the most she would work up a small sweat when sparring with Fia, but now she was in a desperate battle for her very life. And that of her child. Her maternal instinct was no doubt seeing her through the pain. Already she¡¯d received wounds to her shoulder, back and side. Wounds that would have killed him in an instant, but with her Core-tempered body Rhi Dong, the great Lady Silver Moon, had withstood them. Still, Lo Feng was likely Sacred Soul Realm now, a magnitude greater in internal strength and power and his dominance of her in the ring was evident. And then, like a cruel joke being unveiled, he realized that Lo Feng could have won this match long ago. He was simply toying with her now, pping her from one edge of the arena to the other with a sickening leer upon his face. Hei Dong¡¯s insides churned. The bastard¡­ They shed three more times and then Lo Feng paused to summon his Qi. ¡°[Fire of the Soul]!¡± Brilliant blue mes ignited about his body as he dove in for a strike. He moved so quickly that Hei Dong lost track of him. He was across the arena in a second, striking Rhi Dong in the chest with the full force of his blow. She cried out with a scream that pierced the air and his soul¡ªan unnatural sound that almost immediately brought him to tears. His wife fell to her knees, all power seeming to leave her. ¡°Mother!¡± Fia cried. But she didn¡¯t respond and in that instant Hei Dong knew why. A disruptive attack¡­ It was confirmation now that Lo Feng had been toying with her all along. His superior internal strength had crushed her already taxed Dantian in an instant. The pain in Rhi Dong¡¯s face was palpable as tears streamed from her eyes, perhaps realizing already that the match was now over and Fia¡¯s life was lost. A hard lump formed in Hei Dong¡¯s throat as he contemted the reality for himself. He choked back a sob, unable to contain himself any longer. ¡°No!¡± he cried. ¡°Rhi!!¡± Lo Feng let out a cackle as he slowly paced around Rhi Dong. ¡°Your husband calls for you, wench! Do you hear?¡± High Magistrate Yi Xhi Yen stood and banged her gavel. ¡°Order! This is still a court ofw, Master Lo Feng! Bridle your tongue!¡± But Lo Feng paid her no mind as he continued to circle his wounded prey. ¡°You should have married a real cultivator,¡± Lo Feng said as he mmed the pommel of his halberd into Rhi Dong¡¯s stomach, causing her to fall overpletely. ¡°Then he would have kept you on your toes. Instead, you¡¯ve be the useless handmaid that you are now!¡± ¡°Order!¡± ¡°You bastard!¡± Fia yelled. ¡°My father is twice the man you¡¯ll ever be! You¡¯ll burn in the nine hells for your treachery, Lo Feng!¡± ¡°Brave words, brat!¡± Lo Feng said with augh. ¡°You¡¯ll be tasting the fires of hell long before me.¡± He then grabbed Rhi Dong by the hair, dragging her to her feet. ¡°But your mother will taste them before you.¡± ¡°Order!¡± Yi Xhi Yen shouted. ¡°Master Lo Feng! You have clearly won the bout. Lady Silver Moon, do you yield?¡± Hei Dong¡¯s heart stopped. Time froze as he prayed for a reprieve. But he already knew her answer. Rhi Dong stilled herself as Lo Feng continued to hold her by her silver hair. ¡°I¡¯d rather die than see my own child put to death before me,¡± she said. ¡°Do your worst, Lo Feng.¡± Lo Feng grinned like the devil he was. ¡°Good. I was hoping you¡¯d say that.¡± All strength left Hei Dong¡¯s legs and he fell to his knees, anguish vomiting up his soul. ¡°No!¡± he cried as his vision blurred with tears. ¡°Don¡¯t, Rhi! Please!¡± But his plea was in vain. He was calling to stop her sacrifice, one that he himself now wished to make. A world without his first love or his firstborn¡ªhe couldn¡¯t bear to live in it. All sense of face and pride left him as he cried out again, reduced to but a fossil of himself. ¡°Rhi!!¡± Lo Feng double-handed his halberd as he wound up for the killing blow. ¡°Relish this moment, Master Hei Dong.¡± He paused to grin at him. ¡°Your daughter is next.¡± Lo Feng swung, and Hei Dong¡¯s soul came undone. ¡°No!!¡± A sh of lightning pierced the sky, shaking the air with thunder. Something struck the halberd with a sharp metallic ring!, knocking it out of Lo Feng¡¯s grasp as the arena exploded with the impact of a massive shadow falling from the sky. Hei Dong shielded his eyes from the dust cloud that radiated outward, choking the arena in a fog. As the dust cleared, a huge, red-skinned figurey crouched in a self-made crater that now spanned the gap between Rhi Dong and Lo Feng. Deathly silence fell as the figure slowly stood. It towered over Lo Feng by a foot or more, a body made of pure muscle and scars. On one shoulder was bnced thergest sword Hei Dong had ever seen, a Phnx ive it looked like. As a well-muscled forearm reached for the axe that had embedded itself into the ground, Hei Dong immediately recognized who the figure was. But it didn¡¯t make any sense. The Iron Bull? Why was he here? The Iron Bull pointed the head of his axe directly at Lo Feng. ¡°This shit show is over, Lo Feng,¡± he said in a powerful voice that resonated from behind his bull mask. ¡°Time to join both your flunkies and your lord and master in the pits of hell.¡± * * * The High Magistrate banged her gavel like a madwoman, screaming ¡°Order!¡± over and over again, but I couldn¡¯t care. I instead nced back at the silver-haired woman keeled over in pain behind me. The resemnce was remarkable. There was no doubt where Fia had inherited her good looks from. I looked further to find Fia herself. Tethered in chains, she stared at me with hopeful eyes but confusion in her heart. I was too far away to hear what she said as she called out to me, but I didn¡¯t need to. Her heart said it all. She didn¡¯t know what I was going to do, but she was d that I was here. ¡°You okay, Fia¡¯s mom?¡± The woman reacted with a bewildered stare. ¡°Wh-what did you just call me?¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. ¡°I got this now, Lady Silver Moon. You and your daughter are safe.¡± She all but swooned as she copsed back on her heels, confusion interfering with the lemonade pouring from her soul. ¡°Who¡­? How is this happening¡­?¡± ¡°How indeed?¡± Lo Feng growled at me as he retrieved his halberd from the ground. ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re up to, bull man?¡± I was about to give him another dose of [Fear the me] when a glowing silver needle struck the ground between us, kicking up sand in the air. I turned about to see the Warden herself now standing, her palm still aglow with the technique. ¡°Arrest that man!¡± shemanded. ¡°He has interfered with official actions of the courts!¡± The squad of Imperial Guards hesitated for a second and the magistrate banged her gavel. ¡°Did you not hear the order?!¡± she yelled. ¡°He is in contempt. Restrain him or find yourself guilty of the same!¡± The guards got off their asses and started across the arena towards me, but slowed when I flexed my core. Still, I couldn¡¯t keep this up for long. I was on the wrong side of thew and unless my vindication came quickly, I was going to have to start my rebellion about a decade and two cultivation realms ahead of schedule. The guards had just about reached me, fear in their hearts. ¡°Take it easy, Iron Bull,¡± one of them said, a bit of lemonade in his soul. ¡°We don¡¯t need this to go badly.¡± I didn¡¯t need it to, either. I scanned left and right. Dammit where the hell is she? I was just about to drop my weapons when a loud shout pierced the air. ¡°Your honor, I object!¡± Stumbling through the bleachers was Jian Yi, followed closely by Kelsey. Both of them wore a touch of purple on their robes, Jian Yi having somehow torn a piece of her own for Kelsey to wear. Fear poured from within Jian Yi but was quickly consumed by the burning ember in her soul, making her fearless as she approached the two powerful women before her. ¡°What madness is this?!¡± The magistrate stood to her feet. ¡°Who are you to interrupt this court?¡± Jian Yi fell to her face in a kowtow before the dais and dragged Kelsey to the floor with her to do the same. ¡°Most honorable High Magistrate,¡± she said as she prostrated herself. ¡°This One is known as Jian Yi, barrister for the Terran Sect and its Warden, the Iron Bull. Joining me is my pupil, the learned Kel¡ª¡± ¡°I don¡¯t give a damn who you are!¡± the magistrate shouted. ¡°I want to know why you have interrupted my court? Speak quickly or I¡¯ll have you disbarred and jailed for contempt!¡± ¡°Your honor, I have new evidence regarding this case,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°I have proof the allegations against the Lady Silver Light are false.¡± ¡°This is a mockery, your honor!¡± Lo Feng bellowed from the arena. ¡°A Grand Sage has proven the ownership of that quill beyond doubt. It belongs to Lady Silver Light.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°But we have proof, your honor, that it was nted by the Fire Bird n itself.¡± ¡°What proof?¡± Lo Feng bellowed. The magistrate banged her gavel. ¡°I will ask the questions, Master Lo Feng.¡± She then looked down at Jian Yi. ¡°Answer carefully, barrister. This is a case that has already been ruled upon based on the evidence of a Grand Sage. A reversal will take verypelling evidence indeed. What proof do you have of this allegation?¡± Jian Yi looked at me and nodded and I stepped forward with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°My testimony, your honor,¡± I said. ¡°I acquired that quill from Lady Silver Light and then left it with Ju Gong at the Fire Bird Headquarters.¡± I then nced behind me at Lo Feng. ¡°Right after I killed Hong Feng and a hundred of my brethren.¡± A collective gasp went throughout the court. ¡°This is ridiculous!¡± Lo Feng said. ¡°This man is seeking to undermine this case. Clearly Master Hei Dong has coerced him to make this false confession somehow.¡± ¡°To what end, your honor?¡± Jian Yi contested. ¡°To what gain would my client have to confess to such a crime? He would certainly receive no pardon for altruism.¡± ¡°That is true,¡± the magistrate said. ¡°Which makes it all the more curious why your client has done so. Can you exin this?¡± Jian Yi¡¯s confidence slipped as a bubble of fear disrupted her soul. ¡°I¨C I don¡¯t believe¡ª¡± ¡°We have made no agreement with this man,¡± Fia¡¯s father suddenly blurted. ¡°I, Master Hei Dong, swear to this by the heavens. In fact, my family had a writ against him! There is no way we would have formed some pact together.¡± ¡°Then it is payment, your honor,¡± Lo Feng said quickly. ¡°Payment for what?¡± the magistrate questioned. ¡°Your honor, as Master Hei Dong has just admitted, his family had a writ against this man,¡± he said. ¡°Clearly, they have now dropped this writ in return for this man to falsely confess to free their daughter of her crimes.¡± I looked over my shoulder at Lo Feng. The wily old bastard had some tricks up his sleeve, but I wasn¡¯t going down so easily. ¡°Yeah, they may have dropped the writ, but that doesn¡¯t mean my testimony is false.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± Lo Feng said. ¡°And are we to believe that you managed to kill a sect elder and over a hundred cultivators when you were but an Iron Bracket whelpling only six months ago?¡± I smirked with [Indifference] and then whispered to him. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask Hin Wu, just how much of a whelpling I am?¡± A look of shock and anger shed across his face, followed by a scowl. ¡°Your honorable High Magistrate, if I may?¡± All eyes turned to the new voice that had spoken and I looked to see Ju Gong now stepping forward within the intiff box. ¡°You wish to address the court, Ju Gong?¡± the magistrate asked. ¡°I do, your honor.¡± ¡°Very well. Proceed.¡± ¡°I believe I can attest to the Iron Bull¡¯s testimony,¡± Ju Gong said. ¡°He was there at the scene.¡± ¡°What?¡± Lo Feng shouted. ¡°I object to this nonsense. You are my witness, Ju Gong! Sit down!¡± ¡°No, I will allow it,¡± the magistrate said. ¡°Are you admitting perjury, Ju Gong? You have already testified that you saw no one.¡± ¡°No, your honor,¡± Ju Gong said. ¡°I testified that I saw ¡®no woman¡¯.¡± A lengthy pause filled the air. The magistrate pursed her lips and then whispered to one of the clerks who after a few moments began rifling through some court documents. She then ced a sheet of paper before the magistrate who studied it carefully before finally looking back to Ju Gong. ¡°So, it seems you are correct, Ju Gong. Your testimony was indeed that you saw ¡®no woman¡¯. Are you now saying that you saw this man?¡± ¡°I saw a figure resembling his physique, your honor,¡± he said. ¡°And I think we can all agree that his physique in particr is quite unique. Now that he has confessed, I have no doubt that it was Master Iron Bull who I saw that night.¡± I grinned at Ju Gong and gave him a nod. He simply bowed in return. ¡°There!¡± Master Hei Dong said excitedly. ¡°A confession, confirmed by a witness! Clearly this must exonerate the Lady Silver Light, your honor!¡± I looked down at Fia¡¯s mother and smiled. There was nothing but hope and confusion in her eyes. ¡°Who are you?¡± she whispered. I shrugged and then looked to Fia. ¡°Just someone trying to atone for his crimes.¡± But as Fia looked back at me, I could sense the pain in her soul, perhaps understanding what could happen to me now that I¡¯d confessed to the crime. The magistrate banged the gavel. ¡°Master Hei Dong, based on this new evidence, I now exonerate your daughter, the Lady Silver Light, of these allegations against her. She is now free to go.¡± The bailiffs undid her chains and Fia¡¯s parents cried out in tion, causing Lo Feng to curse. ¡°I object!¡± he shouted. ¡°Will this liar not have to pay for her crimes?!¡± ¡°Silence!¡± the magistrate shouted. ¡°Master Lo Feng, you have lost your case against the Dong Family. I suggest you be happy that I do not charge you for wasting the court¡¯s time as well!¡± ¡°I demand justice!¡± he said. ¡°My nephew is dead! If the Iron Bull¡¯s testimony is to be believed, then he must stand trial for his crimes. The same as Lady Silver Light!¡± The magistrate paused a moment before studying me. ¡°Remand him into custody,¡± she said, and the world fell from under me as she banged her gavel a final time. ¡°We will set a new date for a trial. If found guilty by his own testimony, then the Iron Bull will face the ultimate penalty for his cri¡ª¡± ¡°Your honor, I object!¡± The shout came from Jian Yi. Everyone stared at her as fear poured from her heart. The magistrate red at her with piercing eyes. ¡°I beg your pardon?! Do you dare object to an order by a high magistrate within her own court!?¡± Jian Yi¡¯s soul was on fire, her ember burning to hold back her fear. ¡°I do, your honor!¡± she said boldly, causing the court to gasp again. ¡°This man is a Fire Bird and as violent as his actions were, they were against fellow members of the Fire Bird sect. There was no breach of imperialw, namely the unsanctioned attack on a fellow martial sect as was the case with the Lady Silver Light. I contend that this was nothing more than an internal sect matter, falling well outside the purview of imperialw. Clearly my client had surpassed his elder, thete Master Hong Feng, and sought to usurp his position by traditional means. And clearly the oue was a reality that Master Lo Feng, being Hong Feng¡¯s uncle, can still not ept, leading him to concoct this false usation against the Lady Silver Light and her family to save face.¡± A mountain of anger boiled from behind me as Lo Feng turned red in the face. ¡°Who the hell is that little bitch?¡± he said. I smirked at him with a shit-eating grin. ¡°My barrister.¡± Silence befell the court as everyone looked to the magistrate. She red at Jian Yi, but Jian Yi didn¡¯t back down, her back remaining as straight as her stare. Then subtly the magistrate¡¯s face softened, and the corner of her lip curled into a smile. She released a harrumph. ¡°An interesting observation, Barrister Jian Yi,¡± she said and I was surprised she even recalled her name. ¡°And one that is inplete ordance with thew.¡± She then chuckled. ¡°It seems even I got caught up in Master Lo Feng¡¯s inability to ept reality.¡± She banged her gavel again. ¡°I withdraw myst order. The Iron Bull is free to go.¡± I punched the sky with a fist pump as Jian Yi copsed to the ground in relief. ¡°Hell yeah, Jian Yi!¡± Fia also jumped into the air with a cheer, drawing a look of confusion from Hei Dong. But all was short lived as the mountain of anger building within Lo Feng suddenly exploded behind me. ¡°This is bullshit!¡± he roared, bursting into mes. ¡°I will have my justice here and now! You¡¯ll pay for your crimes against the Fire Bird n, you little shit!¡± He was about to charge at me when the magistrate banged her gavel again. ¡°Master Lo Feng!¡± she shouted. ¡°This is no longer a matter before the courts! Leave at once!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need your damn court,¡± he said, brandishing his ive. ¡°I just need a ce to fight!¡± ¡°Then fight,¡± the Warden said, nonplussed as she suddenly stood. ¡°Internal Fire Bird matters are no concern of mine. Feel free to use the arena, but I will not be staying. I care not for the oue.¡± Her indifference ignited the hatred in my soul. The bitch¡­cold and aloof as always. I looked back to Lo Feng who was now glowering at me with pent up rage. ¡°You¡¯ve interfered with my n for thest time,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re a stain on our history that I will dly blot out.¡± I cultivated his anger as my me responded to the challenge. Lo Feng had to be beyond even Hin Wu in strength, a true Sacred Soul Realm cultivator, but that did little to satisfy the sudden emptiness that resonated in my soul. What the hell? I thought, as my me began to die. I¡¯d done it. I¡¯d saved both Fia and her mother and even myself from jail. So why then did I feel so hollow? And then it hit me. The writ. It was over. Our n was still over. Fia was free, but not free to marry me. And there was no means to make it all happen now. I stood beside myself as Master Hei Dong reunited with his wife, sharing in their love and salvation. Salvation that I had bought them, but as I stared across the distance to Fia, there was a gulf between us that neither of us could do anything to cross. We might as well have been a million miles apart. Never to unite outside of secret ever again. No, I thought as the anger of the entire social system burned me from the inside. I can¡¯t let it all fall apart without a fight! ¡°Your honor, madam warden!¡± I shouted and they both stopped dead in their tracks to look back at me with a mixture of shock and disdain. ¡°What is it, Iron Bull?¡± the Warden said, contempt in her voice. ¡°I request your presence and a bit more of the court¡¯s time.¡± ¡°What?¡± the magistrate said. ¡°For what purpose?¡± My mind went a thousand miles a minute as I ran through all the scenarios in my head. All the right yers were here. The chess board was set. I just needed to y everything in the right order to make it all happen. But before that. I needed the right status. Or nothing would be happening at all. ¡°For the purpose of making this fight official,¡± I said as I charged my axe and ive with lightning. ¡°I wish to challenge Master Lo Feng for leadership of the Fire Bird n.¡± Book 2: Chapter 60 I CYCLED MY Frenzy as I subtly engaged [Mark of the Demon]. I grunted beneath my bull mask, the horns growing into ce, again feeling like my head was in a vice. I endured the difort until it finally subsided, shiftedpletely into my demonic form without anyone in the court being the wiser. Or so I hoped, at least. Across the distance, Master Lo Feng was preparing for the battle himself, brandishing his twelve-foot-long halberd and igniting it with mes. The magistrate and Warden had already set the rules of engagement for the duel and we both had agreed. There would be no yielding for this match. Victory or death was the only oue. And that was just fine with me. Fia was now seated with her parents in the defendant¡¯s box, staring at me with a measure of fear in her heart. I couldn¡¯t me her. From her perspective the [Odds were Against Me] and my me was already spewing fresh Frenzy from the technique. I¡¯d defeated both Hong Feng and Hin Wu, but with the full use of my Berserker Forms. Now I had the use of only one, perhaps two if I kept the other form low key. But beyond that there was the unknown of Lo Feng himself. Hin Wu was the closest cultivator I could use as a reference to him, and it had taken both Fia and I, plus my full demon form to defeat her.What then would it take to defeat her master? The upping of the stakes caused the Frenzy from my me to grow and I cultivated it quickly to flush my body full of vigor as well as maintain the multiple techniques already pumping through my system: [Steel Skin], [Steel Core], [Mark of the Demon], and [Soul Shield]. It would be a heck of a lot to maintain and all while trying to figure out Lo Feng¡¯s technique and fighting style. All told, this was shaping up to be a fight like none other, but I had my ace in the hole as well. I nced to the sidelines and raised my axe to Kelsey, who gave me a subtle thumbs-up in response. I was only able to slip a couple of words to her in English while the duel was being set up, but what I told her had clearly gotten the message across. ¡°Need you like at the bunker for this guy,¡± I¡¯d whispered to her. ¡°Will your me to find mine.¡± Even now I could sense her furnace of Frenzy roaring and at the ready. And having seen what Lo Feng did to Fia¡¯s mother, I had to be ready for anything. I went through a quick set of martial forms as a warmup, using my patented Axe and ive technique. Across the distance from me, Lo Feng let out a scoffingugh. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such an absurdbination of weapons,¡± he said. ¡°How you managed to defeat Hin Wu and Hong Feng with them is beyond me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll see for yourself in a minute.¡± Lo Feng smirked. ¡°You¡¯re some kind of cheat or fraud, Iron Bull, but none of that will save you today. Today you¡¯ll pay for the crimes against my sect. Robbing me of my victory against the Dong family included.¡± He grimaced at me loathingly, anger building in his soul. I released a sigh and casually hefted my ive onto my shoulder. ¡°Look, old man,¡± I said with abination of [Indifference] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I really hate to tell you this, but the enthusiasm for this fight is less than mutual, understand?¡± Lo Feng¡¯s eyes grew wide with disbelief and indignation. ¡°To tell you the truth, I honestly couldn¡¯t give a shit about your n or the people I killed in it. The only thing you are to me is a means to an end. Always were, always will be. You¡¯re just a bump in the road that I¡¯m itching to get past so I can execute the next part of my n. You¡¯re as insignificant as a checkbox, my friend.¡± Lo Feng¡¯s soul exploded with rage as I performed the veritable mic-drop. I truly hadn¡¯t said it as a means to extract more Frenzy from him¡ªthis fight was indeed nothing more than just a roadblock to me¡ªbut I wasn¡¯t going to let the free Frenzy go to waste either. I cultivated it quickly as the High Magistrate finally took her ce center stage at the top of the dais with the Warden seated by her side. She banged her gavel until everyone within the court was silent. ¡°Honorable witnesses and attendees,¡± she said. ¡°I will now preside over this duel of contest for leadership of the Jurin Province Fire Bird Sect. Master Lo Feng. Master Iron Bull. Are you both prepared?¡± Lo Feng gave a nod and then I did the same. ¡°Thenmence!¡± She banged her gavel and I immediately broke into a dash, trying to close the distance to Lo Feng before he could retreat and hit me with a ranged technique. My instincts proved right as he did just that, leaping into the air and filling the arena with several torrents of mes. ¡°I¡¯ll show you just how insignificant I am!¡± he screamed. ¡°[Vortex of the Nine Hells]!¡± It was the same move Hin Wu had used to nearly kill me with when we first met, only Lo Feng had created four of them. The towering pirs of mes moved through the arena like tornadoes and I leapt desperately to the side to keep from being sucked into any of them. As soon as I did a huge fireball smacked me right in the face. ¡°Argh!!¡± The impact was intense, and I went flying backwards with the momentum as my flesh was singed even through my [Demon]-enhanced [Steel Skin] technique. It was a testament to just how strong Lo Feng was and for a stray second, I wondered if it had been a good idea to piss him off. The answer came in the form of Lo Feng¡¯s fiery halberd cutting through what was left of the fireball and deep into my skin. I cried out with shock and pain, not expecting the old bastard to be so aggressive or fast. It was a strike to my chest, but mybined [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] technique kept it to what amounted to a mere flesh wound. Still, his power to break through all those defenses, was immense. ¡°Not so smug now, eh?¡± Lo Feng chided as he flew into a fiery whirlwind, both literally and figuratively as he performed martial techniques so quickly, I could barely see them. I paid the price of another sh to my leg before he grabbed me by the throat and pushed me straight into one of the swirling vortexes of fire. White-hot pain exploded in my mind as my flesh burned. I kicked and screamed in pure reaction, finally sensing the shift in power that was a Soul Realm cultivator. I cycled my Frenzy into [Steel Lightning] and finally got a bit of reprieve as my ative technique fought against the tremendous power of his Qi. My Dantian began the drain, trying to keep up with constant damage. Holy shit, I thought. His Qi was more powerful than I even imagined. He was going to cook me alive unless I did something! I could hear him cackling over the roar of the mes. ¡°Too weak! Just as I thought! A fraud you are, bull man. A fraud!¡± I clenched my teeth in anger and pain. The presumptuous bastard. He had no idea what I was! I screamed in sheer retaliation and indignation, reaching for the core of my Dao. I would not fall today! ¡°I¡¯m through with you egotistical shits underestimating me!¡± I cried. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± The explosion of [Frenzied Lightning] went off like an atom bomb, shattering the vortex and sending Lo Feng bouncing across the battlefield. I used the quick reprieve to recover, channeling my Frenzy into healing my flesh and reinstating my [Steel Skin]. Lo Feng was already on his feet, leering at me from afar. ¡°So you have some power it seems. But I know you possess no skill.¡± He went through a quick set of forms with his ive. ¡°Come, let me embarrass you with that ridiculous double weapon technique of yours.¡± The battle had just reset, but I needed to dig deep if I wanted to stand a chance. Beating Lo Feng meant everything. To my future with Fia. To the future of my n. I needed to win at all costs! ¡°Come at me!¡± I shouted with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯ll show yo¡ª!¡± He flew at me with a speed unimaginable, covering the distance between us in the blink of an eye. zing steel shed as he struck me hard across the chest with his halberd. I coughed blood, but then tapped into my pain and rage to fight back. I engaged the swiftness of my axe techniques, chopping and slicing as he did the same. Sparks and fire flew. I finally managed to parry his halberd and then immediately wound up for a huge strike with my Phnx ive. He shifted to avoid it just like I had nned, and I hopped in the opposite direction to tag him with a [Lightning]-charged cleave from my axe. It felt like I was striking iron, but I elicited a shout of surprise from him as the axe cut through his robes. He spun with his halberd and I ducked under it, feeling like I was back with Iron Pot Wong and the countless hours I¡¯d spent learning how to predict ive techniques. Lo Feng looked irritated that I had avoided the hit. ¡°You are nothing but lucky!¡± he shouted. ¡°Your meaningless existence ends today!¡± He flew back at me with a fervor as we reengaged. Desperate minutes went by as we locked into the high-speed chess match of pure martial skill. I fueled my attacks with Frenzy to bolster their speed and strength as I parried, countered and blocked, all while Lo Feng did the same. The shing of our weapons became a cacophony of ringing steel, sparks and mes. I lost myself in the mechanics of it, feeling like I¡¯d just had another breakthrough in my martial skill. All the months of sparring with Fia and Venja hadmitted the highspeed chess match to pure muscle memory. But I wasn¡¯t perfect. I took hits from his ive, using [Indifference] to hide the pain. ¡°You should give up while you¡¯re ahead, bull man!¡± he spat, catching me with a swift counter. ¡°Your fate is inevitable no matter how much you try.¡± Ignoring him, I pushed straight through, not giving a shit about getting hit anymore. I was bleeding like a sieve, my skin scorched. But with each hit came an education. A small glimpse into his technique and style. And I paid for my knowledge in blood. Knowledge I would soon use against him. My body began to weaken as the minutes wore on, but I began to learn his attack patterns, deciphering them like a hidden code. My confidence grew as I began to fight back, my thoughts of all I¡¯d aplished shining through. I¡¯d killed a god on the moon with nothing but my technique and skill. Surely Lo Feng paledpared to that. I began to read Lo Feng¡¯s techniques two or three moves ahead, catching him with slow follow-ups of my ive. I sensed something newe from within him. Anger and the tiniest bit of fear. He started upping the ante with Qi techniques, shooting torrents of mes between his forms. I dodged them as best I could, enduring the burn when I failed. I then retaliated with a [Lightning Arc Strikes], connecting with my axe. He screamed as bolts of blue light coursed through him, and I wasted no time following up with a quick axe strike. It was like striking steel again, but the sudden pain I sensed from within him let me know I was finally getting through. ¡°Enough!¡± Lo Feng cried and suddenly backflipped to disengage. He then surged back at me again, but with a Qi-infused technique instead. ¡°[de of a Thousand Fiery Spears]!¡± As he annunciated the technique, his halberd became a blur of violence, a thousand stab motionsing at me at once. No way was I dodging that! I stood firm with [Indifference] and [Steel Lightning] instead. Sparks of lightning flew with each hit and I pushed through the pain that came with each one as his fiery weapon pierced my skin. With divine poise I wound up for my counterattack, putting [My Turn] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] in a double-weaponed [Three Log Chop]! I screamed with retaliation as I brought my axe and ive down upon Lo Feng¡¯s unsuspecting form and I broke his technique mid-attack, cleaving into his chest and drawing blood. He cried out with a mixture of shock and pain and went flying backwards with the force of my double strike. I wasted no time following up, engaging [Mark of the Beast] in the chaos. Charging my weapons with [Lightning], I went to town on him with a quick series of martial forms, putting all my strength into each blow. Blood and fire flew as I got Lo Feng on the backfoot, surging forward with a speed he didn¡¯t anticipate by employing my [Beast] form. ¡°How¡¯s that for an absurd weaponbo, you dumbass?!¡± I screamed as I continued to dominate the exchange. Blood rained from the sky as I whittled him down, breaking through all his defenses. It was clear he hadn¡¯t received a beating like this in an eon and the fear leaking from his soul confirmed it. Then suddenly his entire body burst into mes and an explosion went off, rocking me backwards. I went tumbling across the arena, flipping to my feet just in time to see Lo Feng dragging himself from the floor. ¡°Insolent cur,¡± he muttered. ¡°That¡¯s no natural strength that you have.¡± His eyes began to glow, and I wondered for a second if he could sense my [Demon] form. But then I began to sense something else as well. Dark Frenzy¡­ Holy shit, I thought. He was pulling out all the stops and in front of an audience as well. I bolstered my me with [Soul Shield] and it immediately began to glow. Lo Feng lifted his halberd to the sky and then shouted with a voice like thunder. ¡°[Fire Chamber of My Soul]!¡± The whirling tornadoes in the arena suddenly centered on him, engulfing him in his own attack. They grew in size and faintly behind the mes I could see the figure of his form growing in size. Then suddenly the column of mes exploded outwards, expanding at a speed unimaginable. I barely had time to engage [Steel Lightning] before the wall of mes crashed into me and the entire world went ck. * * * Master Hei Dong stood to his feet as the arena became encased in a swirling vortex of roaring fire. The heat from it was enough to burn his face from over a hundred feet away, causing him to shield his eyes. Fia stood next to him, crying out with tears in her eyes. ¡°Max!¡± Max? he thought. Who the hell was Max? But his wife seemed equally concerned. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen so much power,¡± she said, gingerly touching her Dantian. It was a Dantian that Hei Dong could now sense was crippled, although he prayed only temporarily. ¡°I was a fool to ever stand to challenge Lo Feng,¡± she continued. ¡°I had no idea Lo Feng had be so powerful.¡± ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Fia asked. ¡°I can¡¯t see anything!¡± Hei Dong himself wished to know. He had only just met this Iron Bull, but the man had for some reason risked everything to save his family. A true answer to his prayers to the heavens. But now had he been so quickly defeated by Lo Feng as well? ¡°Where is he, the Iron Bull?¡± Hei Dong asked. ¡°Has Lo Feng killed him?¡± ¡°No,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°Not yet. But he may do so soon.¡± ¡°What is this?¡± Fia cried, gesturing to the massive wall of mes. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such an attack before.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not an attack,¡± Rhi dong said. ¡°But it proves the Iron Bull has indeed pushed Lo Feng to his limits.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Master Lo Feng has summoned the pinnacle of his Sacred Soul arts,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°He has trapped the Iron Bull within the realm of his inner soul.¡± * * * I came to my senses in a world of pressure, heat, and pain. The sky above me was a sickening purplish hue and beneath me the rocky ground was made of red shale. On all sides the mes roared, a thick veil blocking the outside world. And then it hit me¡ªa pressure of Dark Frenzy so great it drove me to my knees. It was like being back in the hellscape again, on the spiritual surface of the moon and then like d¨¦j¨¤ vu, I realized that was exactly what this ce resembled. It wasplete with an inverted obelisk that now towered behind Lo Feng. Lo Feng himself had changed to match the new surrounds, his physical body now superimposed by the translucent form of a ming ten-foot-tall demon with tentacles for eyes. It was like looking at a miniature version of one of the giant monstrosities that roamed the surface of the moon. The pressure on my [Soul Shield] technique increased at just the sight of it. The sight was maddening. A horror from beyond the stars. Under the crushing weight of the heat burning my [Steel Skin] and the Dark Frenzy attacking my me, my Dantian was draining like a bucket with a hole. I was back on that hell ne in more ways than one. I needed to end this before my techniques failed and I either died or turning into a raging demon, or both. ¡°I see through that disguise, boy,¡± Lo Feng said, his voice contorting with the unearthly power of his spectral form. ¡°In truth it¡¯s no disguise at all, is it? You are exactly what you appear to be.¡± ¡°I can say the same for you,¡± I said, twirling my weapons. ¡°Looks like I¡¯xol¡¯ukz gave you the premium package.¡± ¡°How do you know that name, demon? What truly are you?¡± But I had no time to answer his questions. My Dantian was already slipping past the halfway mark. ¡°The only thing you need to know,¡± I said, charging my des with lightning. ¡°Is that I will be your end.¡± I charged at his demonic form, but Lo Feng didn¡¯t even move. I whaled into him with a spinning [One Chop Cleave]. My des passed through the translucent form of the demon as if it were simply a mirage, but when I struck Lo Feng it felt as if I had just mmed into a mountain made of steel. Heughed, not even budged by the momentum of my strike. I retreated backwards, gaining distance from him. ¡°Fool,¡± he gloated. ¡°I am invincible in this space. Witness now, the true strength of a Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator gifted with the blessing of the Divine Stars.¡± He spun and the translucent image of the demon monster spun with him, his halberd elongating to catch me where I stood almost twenty feet away. It was translucent, but it hit me with the force of a truck, sending me flying as it cut through my [Steel Skin] and straight to my soul beneath. My [Soul Shield] technique nearly buckled at the direct attack, draining a huge chunk of Frenzy to stay maintained. I reeled from the hit and mmed into the fiery outside wall. Pain lit up every cell in my body, from the wound in my side to the mes now scorching my back,bining with the Dark Frenzy attacking my soul. Lo Feng was on me in a second, almost teleporting to my position to crush me with a thunderous overhead m. I raised my weapons to block, but his translucent weapon passed straight through them and tore a deep wound in my chest, causing me to scream as it took away another chunk of Frenzy from my Dantian. Panic and instinct took over, my me reacting with the new threat in a burst of Frenzy from the [Odds shifting well Against Me]. I fought with the only weapon I figured could affect him at all. The me itself. ¡°I¡¯ve in your dark master multiple times,¡± I said with [Fear the me] and the technique caused his demonic form to flinch backwards. ¡°I killed both Hong Feng and Hin Wu in their full demonic forms. I¡¯ve battled the demons of the Bloodmoon and was reborn in their blood with a demon¡¯s heart. I¡¯ve traversed the unholy gates of the Great Chain Maiden I¡¯xan¡¯dra and bested her on the spiritual nes of the moon!¡± Lo Feng took a step back, his eyes widening in madness as his jaw dropped. It was as if I were now the one to be the window into the unknown, perhaps sharing secret truths and knowledge that Lo Feng himself had not yet learned. I¡¯d caused a shift in the battle, but I would need to capitalize on it quickly if I wanted any chance of truly defeating him. My Dantian was now under a quarter and draining fast. I had mere seconds left. I needed strength. Kelsey¡­ I tried to reach out to her me, but I could sense nothing from beyond the fiery wall around me. I did the only thing I could think to do next. I closed my eyes and rapidly dove within the spiritual world of my own mind. The real world shrunk to a small window, and I reopened my eyes to find the Struggler restraining the Demon in a headlock. ¡°No time for that shit,¡± I said,unching into my blue-hued form. ¡°We need to go!¡± I let go of the Demon and sprinted through the darkness, seeking the fresh Frenzy of Kelsey¡¯s me. I found her in a second, following the radiant blue glow of her me in the darkness. I began cultivating from her excess Frenzy and sensed a bit of reliefe from her as we made contact. I wasn¡¯t sure how much I couldmunicate with her, but I tried to give her reassurance as my Dantian was topped up to full. ¡°Thanks, Kelsey,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s all on me now. I got this.¡± From the window of my physical vision, I saw myself in third person, now a mannequin without a soul. Lo Feng backed away from me, but slowly he began to shake his head. ¡°I see now why they fell to you,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re what the prophecies speak of. The great betrayer. The Unholy me that will devour the Stars.¡± My me suddenly resonated in response. A new truth that was untold. ¡°Fate has led you to my hand,¡± Lo Feng said as he reared back with his halberd for a strike. ¡°Cursed Demon of the me. In the name of the lord of the moon, I will snuff thee out!¡± Shit¡­no time to waste now. I needed to do something and fast! I rushed to find Lo Feng in the spiritual realm, closing in on the Dark Frenzy permeating my soul. He emerged like a tower before me, his demonic form appearing solid before me. I wasted no time and cleaved into him with a [One Chop Cleave] and Lo Feng reeled backwards in the real world, reacting to the hit. ¡°What in the hells?¡± And then slowly, the darkness of the spiritual realm around me began to take shape and color as it merged with my view of the outside world. I was still in a meditative stake, it seemed, but only partly so. I could move and as I did, the subtle blue hue of my spiritual self, moved with me, now present in the real world. What the hell¡­? Lo Feng took another step back, looking shocked as well. ¡°Nine Hells¡­ you¡¯ve already mastered Sacred Soul Projection? Hin Wu underestimated youpletely.¡± I had to take a second to realize the step in progression for myself. I suppose I had been on the brink of it and my time spent within the hell ne of the moon had seen me breaking through to the next step of evolution for my [Death Mastery]. I suppose learning how to project my inner self was the natural next step. One that I had now aplished though my desperation and resolve. ¡°You all have,¡± I said, my confidence returning. ¡°My soul has been tempered by the mes of hell. Your shitty microcosm is noparison.¡± Iunched at him with a quick series of axe and ive strikes, throwing him off bnce as I cleaved into the fiery flesh of his spectral form. He screamed unnaturally, clearly not used to having his soul directly attacked like mine. But then, like d¨¦j¨¤ vu, his fiery flesh began to heal and I immediately saw why. About the demon¡¯s wrists and throat were shackles and although the small links of chain that hung from them led to nowhere, there was no question as to where it was drawing its regenerative power. ¡°Idiot,¡± I said as I stepped towards him. ¡°You don¡¯t even know where your power stems from, do you?¡± I looked at the inverted obelisk behind him and chuckled. ¡°Give my regards to the big blue bitch I¡¯xan¡¯dra when you see her, yeah? Tell her the Iron Bull ising for his rematch.¡± He glowered at me, but didn¡¯t say anything, realizing he was now the ignorant one in our exchange. He fought back with a ming halberd technique instead, but I parried it with the spiritual projection of my [Spectral Form], feeling the power of both my [Form]-imbued body and my new-found spiritual power. I knocked his weapon so hard that it stunned him and I used the opportunity to quickly target the shackles with my axe. With an explosion of sparks, I broke each one, sending Lo Feng reeling backwards again. The inverted pir exploded behind him and slowly the ming walls began to dissipate as his inner world came undone. I didn¡¯t know how much of my bestial form was now on disy, so I rushed to finish him off while he was still dazed. I tore through his evaporating spectral form, hacking into his true body beneath. Blood and viscera flew as I chopped off a hand and his leg at the thigh. As he fell to the ground, the real world emerged and everyone in the arena was on their feet. Huge doses of lemonade flowed, even from the Warden and Magistrate, perhaps surprised to see me not only alive but hacking Lo Feng to pieces. But I couldn¡¯t give a shit about them. I instead looked to Fia, Kelsey, and Jian Yi. Fia¡¯s eyes were shimmering with tears, but she let out a suddenugh of relief, almost as if she couldn¡¯t believe she was seeing me again. Kelsey however gave me a more knowing smile and a simple nod, proud of her big bro. I looked down at Lo Feng as he coughed up blood and groaned. ¡°Fool,¡± he whispered, his breathbored and heavy. ¡°You have no idea¡­ what wrath you will bring upon us all¡­¡± I smirked. ¡°I¡¯m counting on it, asshole,¡± I said as I raised my axe to split his head in two. ¡°Tell I¡¯xol¡¯ukz the Earth will never be ruled by a Cursed Star. Not when there¡¯s a Berserker here to protect her.¡± His eyes grew wide as my de fell and with a sickening chop it was all over. The magistrate banged her gavel and the small crowd stood to apud. But I could barely take in any of it. To them this had just been a battle for leadership, but I now realized it had been so much more. This was me sending a message to the real threat thaty beyond the stars. An official deration of war of sorts. Still, a victory was a victory. I looked down at the corpse and grimaced. Lo Feng was no more. Book 2: Chapter 61 ¡°CONGRATULATIONS, IRON BULL,¡± the magistrate said. ¡°It appears you are the victor.¡± I could barely hear her as I stood over my handiwork, waiting for Lo Feng¡¯s body to shift into boss fight phase three. But as I waited nothing happened. I closed my eyes briefly for another peek into the spiritual realm and sure enough there was no crack in the darkness of reality that was Lo Feng¡¯s demonic core. At least not one where I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s tentacles were trying to squeeze through. As the stadium staff arrived to cart his body away, it finally dawned on me. Hong Feng and Hin Wu had both transformed due to being outside the effects of the dome. Hong Feng had been deep below ground and Hin Wu had been out in the wild. But here, on the surface and under the effect of the aetherite crystal hovering high above, I guessed I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s influence just couldn¡¯t cut the muster. I smiled at that. One lessplication to worry about. And one step closer topleting my ultimate n. ¡°Indeed,¡± the Warden said as she stood, her face non-plussed as ever. ¡°I honor you, Iron Bull, as Jurin Province¡¯s new leader of the Fire Bird n.¡±Although her face was neutral, there was resentment in her soul as the Warden performed a mid-tier bow to me¡ªa gesture that signified us now as equals. It was a surreal experience, reminding me of when Threja had done the same. But while I knew it was genuine with Threja, for the Warden it was clearly only protocol. The woman no doubt despised the fact that I had somehow be equal to her as a sect leader, considering I was nowhere near her station in terms of true social ranking as a Warden. ¡°Thank you, Honorable Warden,¡± I said, returning her bow. I then turned to the magistrate. It was time for phase two. ¡°I have need of your court yet again, High Magistrate. There is another long-standing matter that needs to be resolved today.¡± She arched a brow. ¡°What is it now, Iron Bull?¡± ¡°I shall have my barrister exin, your honor,¡± I said and then beckoned Jian Yi over to whisper into her ear. Her eyes went wide once I finished exining everything. ¡°Master Chun, are you sure of this?¡± ¡°Go on,¡± I said, focusing on the ember smoldering in her soul. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. Trust me.¡± She took a deep breath and then addressed the court. ¡°Honorable High Magistrate, Madam Warden,¡± she said. ¡°Now that the matter of the Fire Bird n versus the Dong family is fulsomely over due to the ascension of the Iron Bull to the status of Sect Leader, I now return to the original matter of the writ issued by the Dong family against the Terran Sect.¡± Master Hei Dong snapped his head towards her. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It was dropped because the Lady Silver Light was falsely convicted,¡± Jian Yi continued. ¡°But now that she has been exonerated, thanks to the Iron Bull¡¯s testimony, there is no reason why it should not be reinstated.¡± I looked to Fia and finally removed my bull mask, giving her a wink. Upon the dais, she smiled subtly, a smile that perhaps only I could see, but her soul swooned with lemonade. ¡°Let me understand this,¡± the magistrate said. ¡°You wish to reinstate a writ that was dropped against you?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± I said, flexing my Core and focusing on Hei Dong. ¡°And I no longer wish to wait. I want the duel to happen right now.¡± ¡°What? No!¡± Hei Dong shouted. ¡°The Lady Silver Light is in no condition to fight. She has not even had¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Fia said as she stood. ¡°I will defend our family¡¯s honor as first promised. I, Fia Dong, Royal Lady of the Silver Leaf n, do reinstate the writ against one Max Chun, also known as the Iron Bull, Warden of the Terran Sect and leader of the Fire Bird n!¡± ¡°Fia, you cannot!¡± her mother shouted. ¡°This man just slew Lo Feng! He survived being subjected to an inner world! You¡¯re no match for¡ª¡± ¡°Order, Lady Silver Moon!¡± the magistrate chastised her, but she had spoken the truth. Fia was outmatched and they all knew it. The game waspletely under my control now. ¡°If I perish, I perish,¡± Fia said with a smile on her face. ¡°We cannot be seen to be weak in front of our rivals.¡± She then looked back to the Warden as if for some kind of confirmation. ¡°Is that not right, honorable sect leader?¡± The Warden eyed me warily, no doubt sensing the clear shift in power now, but Fia¡¯s words had had the effect we had both hoped for. A loss of face was worth far more than the loss of a single Silver Leaf daughter. ¡°This is a private family matter,¡± the Warden said. ¡°But you speak correctly, Lady Silver Light. The honor of the Silver Leaf n is at stake. Yet, think carefully in what you do, child. This is no game.¡± But it was for us. A game we were about to win. ¡°I will do our n honor, sect leader,¡± Fia said with a bow. ¡°Very well,¡± the magistrate said. ¡°Lady Silver Light, you may take position within the arena. The rules of normalbat shall apply.¡± Fia¡¯s mother suddenly fell to her knees. ¡°Please, Master Iron Bull, have mercy! You spared my life and hers. Have you done so only to kill my daughter by your own hand?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the same reason she gave me,¡± I said, nodding to Fia. ¡°She wanted revenge for her brother¡¯s chastisement and the destruction of your husband¡¯s sword. Don¡¯t tell me that now, only when knowing what strength you truly face, that the honor of those things no longer matter?¡± Fear filled both of Fia¡¯s parents as I flexed my Dantian. ¡°My family¡¯s honor still matters to me,¡± Fia said, taking abat stance. ¡°Mother, please lend me your des.¡± Her mother shook her head feverishly. ¡°Fia, please no.¡± But she was crippled and powerless to stop Fia as she summoned them with a wave of her hand. They flew from her mother¡¯s side and lined themselves behind her back in a triangle formation. We approached one another on the battlefield slowly, growing close enough to nearly kiss, and I would have given anything in the world to do so at that moment. ¡°Follow my lead,¡± I said to her in a whisper. She smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll follow you anywhere.¡± I broke away from her with retreat, brandishing my axe and ive. ¡°For the honor of the Terran Sect!¡± I cried and charged at her again. Without hesitation we instinctively went into one of our sparring routines, countering and parrying one another¡¯s attacks. The timing was executed with such precision that even Fia¡¯s mother gasped in fright. It was a good sign. It looked real at least. But Fia and I could barely contain our smiles as we engaged in¡ªwhat was to us¡ªmore a choreographed dance thanbat. The months of preparation and training. The long hours spent together day after day. It all came back paying dividends now. We knew each other¡¯s move-sets sopletely that we could predict each other¡¯s actions two or three forms in advance. I kept the pace, intensifying with the addition of lightning techniques and Fia did the same with her luminescent Silver Leaf skills. I lost track of how the Warden or Magistrate were even reacting, so consumed in the joy of the victoryp we were both performing. This was the reward for defeating all of my enemies. For defeating Hin Wu, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and Lo Feng. And not to mention achieving my goals of advancement within the Brackets and even now assuming the rank of Sect Leader. But the ultimate victory stilly ahead. Fia bing my wife. Ten minutester she was sweating profusely, still keeping pace, but I could tell it was mostly just an act. We could keep this up for hours if we wanted to. We flew at one another and then locked des, drawing close enough tomunicate again. ¡°I think it¡¯s time,¡± Fia said. ¡°This has gone on long enough. But what are you going to do?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Just follow my lead again. Block this next move, it won¡¯t be as bad as it sounds.¡± I pushed Fia away unlocking our weapons and then called to the sky. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak!]¡± I leapt into the air and Fia remained stationary as nned. I brought my axe down on her three jian des as she formed them in a triangr block and pulled my strength at thest second. I barely broke her technique, and as we stood face to face again, she stared back at me confused, her eyes shifting, unsure of what I was going to do next. And then with a gentle shove of my hand, I pushed her on the shoulder, and she fell to the ground as if in a pantomime. I raised my axe as if for a killing blow and she immediately caught on and dropped her des. This was it, the moment of truth. She raised both her hands and cried out. ¡°Mercy!¡± she said. ¡°I have clearly been bested! I beg you! Spare my life!¡± I grinned inwardly and then looked to her parents. ¡°It seems the life of your daughter is forfeit, Master Hei Dong. I have every right to take it, do you not agree?¡± The man looked almost in tears, his wife already so. ¡°I¡­ we cannot deny your strength, Master Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Good,¡± I said. ¡°Then I will im your daughter¡¯s life¡­and offer it back to you.¡± Hei Dong¡¯s brow creased with confusion. ¡°As a dowry.¡± A collective gasp went through the court and the Warden stood to her feet. ¡°What madness is this?!¡± she shouted. But I ignored her with [Indifference] and turned to Fia¡¯s father instead. ¡°Master Hei Dong, will you ept this dowry, that of your daughter¡¯s life, for her hand in marriage?¡± ¡°I¡­ what?¡± The man was bbergasted, unable to respond. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Fia¡¯s mother suddenly cried out. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll do it!¡± ¡°Be silent, Lady Silver Moon!¡± the Warden screamed and in a flurry of Qi she [sh Stepped] from the dais to appear before us in an instant. ¡°What preposterous game is this?¡± Even I was a little taken aback by the sudden movement. The Warden scowled at the both of us. Where her face was once cid and non-plussed before, now it was creased with incessant hate and rage. ¡°It is onlywful, most honorable Warden,¡± Jian Yi said from the sidelines. ¡°My client has fairly imed the life of Lady Silver Light after she imed defeat.¡± ¡°More like feigned defeat!¡± the Warden said savagely. ¡°That poor excuse for a duel might as well have been a damned proposal bout!¡± ¡°It was,¡± I said, not giving a shit anymore. ¡°Fia¡­will you marry me?¡± Fia shot up from the ground. ¡°Yes! Yes, I¡¯ll marry you!¡± ¡°Fia!¡± Hei Dong cried, but she had already leapt into my arms. The look of loss and betrayal on his face was priceless, but I could sense the hurt in Fia¡¯s soul as well. ¡°I love him, Father,¡± Fia said. ¡°And you see now how strong he is. He can protect me!¡± ¡°This will not stand!¡± the Warden screamed, her soul erupting with rage. ¡°I will not allow it. I will not allow a Fire Bird to enter into the Silver Leaf n!¡± My me surged as I cultivated her sweet anger and pain. ¡°I¡¯m not asking to join your n, Lady Silver Tear,¡± I said to her with [Indifference]. ¡°I¡¯m asking Fia to join mine.¡± Another huge bomb drop went off as the Warden digested it, looking like she was about to explode. ¡°I am now a leader of a martial sect. Equal to you in status in the martial realm.¡± I then looked to Hei Dong. ¡°Surely a dowry from such a high-standing individual would not be refused for your daughter¡¯s hand.¡± Both her parents seemed shellshocked, but Fia¡¯s father most of all. Eventually her mother pulled on his arm. ¡°Husband, what choice do we have? This man saved Fia and I both. And now Fia confesses love for him. How, I do not know, but he has also bested Lo Feng. We are in no position to deny him!¡± Hei Dong eyed me warily. I thought I¡¯d sense anger from him. But inside him there was nothing but pain¡­ ¡°Master Iron Bull,¡± he said solemnly. ¡°You have entered our family and caused much disruption. You publicly chastised my son. Destroyed a priceless sword and now seek to steal my only daughter away from both her birthright and her home.¡± He paused and I was about to retort with a punchline, but then he continued. ¡°Yet, you have also saved and returned my wife to me. You have spared my daughter¡¯s life as well. And you have bested a foe that I could not dream to have protected my family from. And above it all, somehow, my daughter confesses her love for you.¡± His shoulders slumped and he fell to his knees, his soul producing the faintest hint of lemonade. ¡°What else can I do, but agree to your dowry price. For the price of her life, my daughter¡¯s hand in marriage... is yours.¡± A joy filled me like none other, matched only by lemonade filling Fia¡¯s soul. ¡°Thank you, Father! Thank you!¡± She ran to her parents and hugged them, although they were still somewhat shellshocked it seemed, barely able to hug her back, their eyes still focused on me. I gave them a bow of deep respect. ¡°I will honor, cherish and protect your daughter as she now joins my family,¡± I said. ¡°This I swear by the heaven¨C¡± ¡°ENOUGH!¡± A boom went off as the Warden flew high into the air, breaking the sound barrier with how quickly she had moved. Her eyes red with glowing white light as six jian des materialized about her body. She focused on me and within her soul all I could sense was rage and hate. ¡°I will tolerate this charade no longer! Never will a royal daughter of my noble house, leave to marry a title-less, lowborn native who eats from the filthy troughs of the Fire Bird n!¡± She then turned to Fia. ¡°And you! You ungrateful little wretch. You dare turn your back on your family? On your n? On me?¡± My me ignited with uncertainty. I didn¡¯t know what the Warden was about to do. But it couldn¡¯t be anything good. I tensed, tempering my body with [Steel Skin]. ¡°This unholy union shall not stand,¡± she said and raised her arms to the sky. ¡°I shall destroy you both before even a rumor of your sphemous charade touches a single royal ear outside this court!¡± I barely had a chance to react as the Warden formed her six des into a triangle pattern behind her. ¡°[Eighth Heaven! Radiant Soul Strike]!¡± I knew that technique. Fia¡¯s disruptive attack! I jumped in front of Fia just as the technique went off, blinding light shooting from the Warden¡¯s palms. It struck me just as I raised my [Steel Lightning] technique, absorbing the brunt of the force, but still it felt like a jumbo jet had just crashed into my chest, causing my feet to skid across the arena as it pushed me back thirty feet or more. Fia screamed behind me, clinging to my back as she no doubt sensed the tremendous power the Warden was employing against me as well. But that was merely the physical side. I quickly poured my Frenzy into my [Soul Shield] technique, fighting against the assault on my me. It red brightly in response, pushing back against the radiant Qi that threatened to snuff it out. I grimaced as her barrage of luminescence continued, feeling like I was down at the bottom of that hellscape again. The pressure was immense, my Frenzy draining by the second to maintain my spiritual defense technique. But I stood firm. No damn way was I backing down to this bitch. Not after everything I¡¯d just been through. Not even if it killed me. My me shifted gears, intensifying with my [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Why! Won¡¯t! You! Fall!¡± she screamed, and her attack intensified. I stared her dead in the face as childhood memories shed through my mind. Her cruel indifference as she left my parents to die. I then thought of all the parents she had left to die that night. Leaving us orphans to fend for ourselves in a cruel world we didn¡¯t understand. I tapped into the heart of [Everyone¡¯s Pain] as I dwelled on it, reaching out to every Terran soul in the city. Suddenly my Frenzy levels started to go up not down. I brimmed with confidence as I stepped towards the Warden menacingly pushing into her technique, and the countenance on her face and in her heart began to change. Anger and hatred shifted towards uncertainty and fear. I grinned at her with a heathy dose of [Fear the me]. That¡¯s right, you bitch, fear me¡­know what I am. But outwardly I maintained a grim fa?ade of [Indifference]. ¡°You about done yet, Warden?¡± I said casually. ¡°Cause I can keep this up all day.¡± I could as well, the air around me awash with so much Frenzy that I¡¯d already filled my Dantian and was waiting for more. The Warden continued to stare down at me with disbelief and dismay and then finally she dropped to the ground exhausted, breathing heavily as she recovered her Qi. ¡°How?¡± she said staring at me iprehensibly, contemptuously. ¡°How are you still alive? It¡¯s¡­It¡¯s impossible!¡± A sound of a banging gavel filled the air, and we all looked towards the magistrate who was now leaning towards Jian Yi as she whispered into her ear. What the hell was going on? I thought, but the magistrate was already speaking. ¡°I am afraid that what has just urred was impossible in more ways than one, Madam Warden,¡± she said. The Warden red at her. ¡°What do you speak of?¡± The magistrate frowned. ¡°As the Iron Bull¡¯s barrister has just rightly pointed out, the attack you have just made against him was also against the now leader of the Fire Bird n. I am afraid, Madam Warden, that you yourself are now guilty of viting imperialw through an unsanctioned attack on a fellow martial sect.¡± The air stood still as the gravity of the statement took hold. I couldn¡¯t believe it. I looked to Jian Yi and couldn¡¯t contain my smile. She gave me one of her patented chin lifts in return. Hell yeah! Damn it felt good to have people in my corner. ¡°That¡¯s preposterous!¡± the Warden said. ¡°Yet it was witnessed by all,¡± the magistrate said. ¡°And as baffled as I am as to how he survived such an attack, it is up to the intiff now if he will file a writ against you in that regard.¡± All eyes turned to me. The Warden red at me smugly. ¡°Then I apologize. This One takes back her misdirected assault. It was¡­unintentional.¡± Anger stirred within me at her self-righteous entitlement. As if she were automatically above thew and could cancel everything with a simple empty apology. Every bone in my body wanted to take full advantage and grill her to the hilt. But the Struggler eased the Demon back from the controls. I¡¯d just forced her into a chess move. A checkmate even. But I had to y my cards right if I wanted to take full advantage of it. ¡°I need a word with my barrister,¡± I said and summoned Jian Yi to my side again. I told her my n and this time she didn¡¯t even bat an eye, even though it was probably twice as crazy as the n I had told her before. Jian Yi cleared her throat. ¡°The Iron Bull does not ept the apology. Your honor, clearly to have forgotten one¡¯s station as a Warden to such a degree as to vite imperialw, no doubt puts into question the Lady Silver Tear¡¯spetency to maintain her position.¡± A re of anger came from the Warden. ¡°What is this now?¡± ¡°The Iron Bull, in his capacity as Leader of the Fire Bird n, a fellow martial sect leader, issues a vote of no confidence against the standing Warden, and challenges her for leadership as Seventh Warden and imperial leader of Jurin province.¡± The Warden¡¯s eyes grew so wide they all but fell out of her head. ¡°Are you insane!¡± the Warden shouted. ¡°How dare you even make such a proposal? High Magistrate, clearly this up-start barrister is out of her mind with such a request of the courts.¡± The magistrate narrowed her eyes. ¡°Actually, Madam Warden, she is within her rights to file a vote of no confidence against a Warden found guilty of breaking imperialw. And seeing as I may be lenient enough to oversee prosecution of the matter itself in lieu of this new development, I suggest you consider it seriously.¡± Jian Yi smiled and I gave her a wink. ¡°Look at the bright side,¡± I said with augh. ¡°If I be Warden, then your grandniece wouldn¡¯t be marrying into the family of a title-less scum bag, anymore right? Sounds like a win-win to me.¡± But she only red at me with disdain. ¡°How can this be?¡± she said. She continued to stare and then slowly something new entered her eyes. Her expression changed from a scowl to a look of wonder and possibly even delight¡ªlemonade suddenly mixing with her contempt and hate. ¡°I¡­I actually remember you now,¡± she said as she peered at me, and a leer spread across her lips, causing my pulse to race. She studied me, eyes shing up and down. ¡°You¡¯vee a long way since that night, boy.¡± Holy shit, she did remember me¡­ it felt almost like vindication in a way. She finally knew who the hell she was dealing with. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I intend to go a lot further as well.¡± She let out a scoff, clearly amused. ¡°Still clever,¡± she said with a smile, but then the smile grew into a smirk. ¡°But again, not very wise.¡± I grew apprehensive at that and looked to Jian Yi, but she merely shrugged, looking as perplexed as I was. ¡°High Magistrate,¡± the Warden said. ¡°I will ept the challenge to my leadership, but in ordance with thews of martialbat, challengers must be of equal standing must they not?¡± ¡°Indeed, they must,¡± the magistrate said. ¡°They are of equal standing, your honor,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°The Iron Bull stands equal to the Lady Silver Tear as a sect leader.¡± ¡°That he is,¡± the Warden said. ¡°But while the Iron Bull is now a sect leader, making us equal in that standing, he is also still within the Gold Bracket.¡± The Warden smiled at me again as her countermove became clear. ¡°Unfortunately for the Iron Bull, my bracket happens to be Diamond.¡± The floor fell out from under me again. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Jian Yi cursed. ¡°She¡¯s diamond?¡± ¡°I never even knew that,¡± Fia said softly. ¡°But she¡¯s over two hundred years old, so it probably makes sense.¡± I was beside myself for a moment, truly considering the challenge of facing the Warden now. I knew she was powerful, a High-Tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator at least, but brackets were a different story. I was perhaps lucky she had only sought to fry me with a disruption technique instead of putting her des to actual use. ¡°We request time for preparation, your honor!¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Three years!¡± Damn, three years? I thought. But then who knew how long it might take for me to hit diamond? The difficulty between the brackets was not linear by any means. Perhaps three years might even be cutting it close. ¡°Objection,¡± the Warden said. ¡°As the issuer of the challenge they cannot request preparation time. The challenger must be either fit to give the challenge or withdraw.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± I said, whispering to Fia and Jian Yi. ¡°Fia, weren¡¯t you able to grant me a year of preparation time, when you were the challenger?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Fia said. ¡°But that was time to allow you to prepare, not me.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°You have to be fully fit to issue a challenge. Damn it, I¡¯m sorry, Max, I forgot to think about this aspect. We¡¯ll need to withdraw, but who knows what the Warden will do to us now, knowing that you¡¯d sought to make such a challenge. With being granted preparation time, we¡¯d have had the protection of the courts at least. But now¡­?¡± Shit¡­ had I just stuck our collective necks out too far? The targets on our backs had just grown to Warden size. I sighed heavily, feeling the weight of the world again as I prepared to give the order. ¡°Your honor,¡± I said with chagrin. ¡°I hereby withd¡ª¡± ¡°I SHALL GRANT AN EXCEPTION!¡± The powerful words boomed from the heavens themselves like thunder. Everyone in the arena reacted to the same, ducking slightly as the words came from nowhere and no one. And then the air above the arena began to shimmer as a figure came into view. It was at least two or three stories tall, elegant feminine features framed in flowing green and beige robes. Behind it were six enormous jade crystals that pulsated with an energy and light of their own. But most striking of all was the face that appeared. It was a face I¡¯d seen countless times before on announcement boards and propaganda reels, but now, it looked even more stunning and surreal than ever. Her features were so perfect that they looked almost fake, not unlike that chain-bound subus I fought in thather realm. Her hair too, looked far too perfect. Shimmering gold and hanging loosely down her shoulders while her head itself was adorned with a massive jade and gold crown that looked like it could be a work of art. ¡°The princess¡­¡± Jian Yi mouthed and instantly fell to her knees. Fia did the same and then suddenly Jian Yi was up on her feet again, running to grab Kelsey who was standing and staring up at the princess like she was being blinded by the sun. Jian Yi pulled her to her knees as well, and then everyone else did the same, the High Magistrate and Warden included. I waited a second more before doing the same myself¡ªthe Struggler finally beating back the Demon with enoughmon sense to know when a challenge was not yet ripe or wise. As I bowed my head, I wondered just what the hell was going on though. Why was she here? How even? Had she been watching the whole damn time? I risked another glimpse and could see the rear of the stadium faintly through her translucent form. A spectral image or projection of her inner self perhaps, just like Lo Feng. ¡°Illustrious Third Princess!¡± the High Magistrate spoke with her head still facing the floor. ¡°You honor this humble court with your divine presence.¡± ¡°Indeed, Third Princess,¡± the Warden said echoing her. ¡°Your excellency does indeed honor us with your visit to this humble province of Jurin.¡± ¡°You may all rise,¡± was all she said in response, and we did so in unison. My heart then raced as the surreal goddess in the sky focused her piercing jade eyes on me. ¡°Max Chun,¡± she said, her voice shaking the arena. ¡°I will agree to exercise my divine authority and allow you three years to reach Diamond Bracket as requested, but on one condition.¡± The Warden stared up at the princess with thinly veiled contempt, her heart filled with rage. I could only imagine what it was like to have your trump card trumped by the literal ruler of the. But even I didn¡¯t know where the hell this wasing from. Or going even. I waited for the other shoe to drop, fearing the worst. ¡°You shall act as tribute for theingmencement year of the Legionnaire Academy to take ce in five months¡¯ time,¡± the princess said. ¡°If you are sessful in graduating from the academy and surviving but a single tour as a Legionnaire, you shall be granted the standing of Diamond Bracket. You would then be fit to face your challenge for leadership against the Lady Silver Tear, as Warden for Jurin Province.¡± My jaw nearly hit the floor as the new path of opportunity rolled out before me like a red carpet. It was as if the Frenzied me itself had guided my every step. I couldn¡¯t believe it. Direct ess to something I thought would take me years to finally see and do, now handed to me on a silver tter. ¡°Well, Max Chun?¡± the princess said, and for an instant I swear I could sense a bit of lemonade in her soul. ¡°Do you ept?¡± I was just to open my mouth and shout ¡°hell yes!¡± when Fia suddenly grabbed hold of my arm. ¡°Max, don¡¯t do this! It must be some kind of trap.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°People don¡¯te back from those tours or even the academy. Doing something like this just to be a Warden is insane! It doesn¡¯t even make sense. A Legionnaire is ranked higher than a Warden. We¡¯d be better off suffering the wrath of Lady Silver Tear while building your strength to challenge her some other way.¡± Across the distance I could see the Warden smiling, perhaps thinking the very same thing. But then I looked across at my little sister Kelsey, her eyes beaming with conviction as her me burned brightly in her soul. I wasn¡¯t sure if she was following exactly what was going on or not, but I knew she understood the word for legionnaire. We¡¯d talked about it a few dozen times and now the opportunity seemed to be at hand. But it wouldn¡¯t be an easy road. ¡°Please, Max,¡± Fia said. ¡°Our lives are just about to start. I can¡¯t lose you to chase after something so dangerous.¡± ¡°Fia, you know how strong I am.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. I just don¡¯t want to lose you for three whole years or maybe forever.¡± I blew out an exhale as the cost of my progression became clear. The Struggler gave me a consoling pat on the back. Nothing in the universe was free, it seemed. Not even an all-expenses paid ticket to the Legionnaire Academy and the hell worlds beyond the stars. But my me had gotten me this far. I was still progressing along my path, and there was still much work left for me to do. But first and foremost, I needed to protect my family. I looked down at Fia as tears filled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯ll be alright, Fia. The bond of our fate is strong enough to withstand anything¡­even this.¡± Before she could retort again, I lifted my face to the princess. ¡°Honorable Princess, I will agree to act as this world¡¯s tribute for theingmencement year in five months¡¯ time, but with a condition of my own.¡± Fia and Jian Yi gasped at my insolence, along with the rest of the crowd. ¡°Master Iron Bull!¡± the Magistrate shouted. ¡°You dare to question the grace of the princess with a condition of your own?¡± I merely shrugged. ¡°What can I say. A man has needs.¡± Dead silence. But subtly I sensed more lemonadeing from the princess herself. She smiled and gave a little chuckle that rumbled across the stadium. ¡°You intrigue me, Iron Bull. What is this condition of yours?¡± ¡°That our union be acknowledged,¡± I said looking into Fia¡¯s eyes. ¡°This whole thing started because the Warden objected to it. I want to ensure we can be married.¡± The princess blinked back in shock, almost as if startled by the request. It was an extreme reaction I didn¡¯t expect. Damn, I wasn¡¯t asking for that much was I? ¡°Your majesty,¡± the Warden said. ¡°The objection was on the grounds of the Iron Bull¡¯s status. He is a sect leader, but nothing more. For a royaldy to marry into the house of a title- less cultivator is to force a loss of face for my n that is unconscionable.¡± The princess¡¯s jade eyes shifted back and forth contemting it and then an almost wicked smile came to her lips as she seemed to decide upon something. ¡°I agree with the Lady Silver Tear,¡± she said. ¡°To marry a royaldy or princess takes a certain caliber of man indeed.¡± She then paused to give me an odd little smile. ¡°For that reason, I could not consent to such a marriage, but I will allow acknowledgement of your engagement to the Lady Silver Light. You may even conduct a tea ceremony if you wish. But marriage will be your reward for achieving your higher status through the Academy and eventually the challenging of the Lady Silver Tear for Warden, if fate would have it.¡± I was rocked back on my heels digesting everything she¡¯d just said. ¡°Well,¡± the princess said. ¡°Do we have an agreement?¡± I looked to Fia. Everything we wanted was within in our reach. ¡°Do you trust me?¡± Her eyes softened and she nodded. ¡°You know the title means nothing to me, right?¡± ¡°I know,¡± I said. ¡°But it means something to your family and the family I want us to be as well.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°Besides, this is a stop well along the path I need to travel anyway. So it¡¯s not like it¡¯ll be any extra trouble.¡± Fia smiled and thenughed. ¡°Only you could say something like that.¡± She then took my hand and squeezed it while shaking her head. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to settle for a long engagement.¡± ¡°I hear those are best,¡± I said. Finally, I looked up at the princess again. ¡°We have an agreement, your majesty,¡± I said. ¡°In five months¡¯ time, I will serve as your tribute and then return to challenge the Lady Silver Tear for Warden, assuming my sess.¡± The princess smiled. ¡°Let us all then, pray for your sess.¡± * * * The heaviness in the air lifted as the huge image of the princess disappeared. I jumped with tion, pulling Fia into my arms and giving her a kiss. Jian Yi and Kelsey then shared in the hug as well. I then hugged both of them individually, thanking them for everything they¡¯d done to pull me through. ¡°You guys were amazing,¡± I said. ¡°Jian Yi, you knocked this court case right out of the park!¡± ¡°I did what?¡± she said confused. ¡°He say you do good!¡± Kelsey said and then she shook her head at me while smiling. ¡°This shit crazy.¡± Iughed. ¡°Yeah, you can say that again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Fia,¡± Fia said to Kelsey with a bow, and I realized they hadn¡¯t officially met as yet. ¡°I know,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Me name Kel Zhi. Max sister. You big pretty. He love you long time.¡± I cringed at the words and gave Kelsey a cut-the-mic gesture for her to stop talking. I then sensed someone behind me and turned to see Master Hei Dong and Fia¡¯s mother, Lady Silver Moon, approaching. I stiffened, unsure how they would react or respond. But Hei Dong took the lead giving me a deep bow as lemonade spilled from his soul. ¡°I can see my daughter has chosen wisely,¡± he said. ¡°For a man to be so bold and challenge the grace of even a princess to her face and survive is a testament to his courage indeed.¡± ¡°Or his stupidity,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°They don¡¯t call me Max Chun for nothing.¡± Hei Dong blinked, startled as Iughed and Fiaughed with me. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Father,¡± she said. ¡°He always speaks like this.¡± Hei Dong gave a short chortle. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°It is good to know he is humble as well,¡± Lady Silver Moon said and then gave me a deep bow. ¡°I do not know you, my son, but you have proven both your honor and your strength. What you did to defeat Lo Feng and save the both of us was nothing short of a miracle. My precious daughter would do well to marry one as strong as you.¡± Fia beamed and I blushed a little, embarrassed by all the lemonade. I honestly wasn¡¯t expecting them to ept me so readily, but then again, they were both cultivators after all. The same thing that made them despise me initially, made them revere me now. They respected strength above all else and I¡¯d just in Lo Feng, an enemy stronger than the both of thembined. ¡°He truly is strong,¡± Fia said, before turning to Hei Dong. ¡°But he¡¯s also a lot like you, Father. You¡¯ll see in time.¡± Hei Dong raised his brow at that while Fia onlyughed. As the conversation continued around me, I looked across the distance to see the Warden staring at us. Her expression was hard to read. One of confusion but also curiosity. I lifted my chin at her Jian Yi style, and she eventually cut her eyes at me as anger and contempt filled her soul. The game was on between us. Three years until our showdown, but revenge could wait. As I returned my attention to my growing family, the Warden eventually turned and walked away, but I couldn¡¯t care. There were far more important things in my life right now. Book 2: Chapter 62 PRINCESS LUNALAH WAITED for the Warden to leave the arena before seeking to leave after her. Or at least, that was the justification she afforded herself for spending an extra moment or two, watching as the Iron Bull celebrated with his soon to be betrothed. Tension knotted her soul in a vice. The clueless Silver Leaf girlughed and swooned as she copsed within his strong arms, too young to even appreciate the rarity of what she possessed. The gnawing envy grating at her soul grew the more she looked at her and slowly the envy began to turn to hate. Foolish little wretch¡­ If only she¡¯d had the fortune to meet a man such as the Iron Bull at her age. But then, would she have been just as clueless? Perhaps, she thought. How many suitors had she turned down in her near three centuries now? Too many to count. Still, none of them could match the potential of the specimen before her. The Iron Bull. The Lady Silver Light was more than just lucky. She was undeserving. For thirteen long years, Lunh had waited for this putrid world to bear fruit and now here it was¡ªthe Iron Bull in all his victorious glory. His defeat of a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator at his age was proof of the elerated cultivation potential that her father, the Great Soul Emperor, had foretold of when he had gifted her this world. And if there was anyone more deserving of the first fruits of this¡­it was her. Not some snot-nosed girl from a lower house. Still, approving of her betrothal was a necessary evil. Her first fruit had revealed his potential, but he was not quite ripe as yet and his next stage of advancement would be a crucible of transformation indeed. She would need to exercise her divine patience once more to allow him to grow unrestricted before she plucked him from the vine. In truth, Lunh had exercised it already, restraining herself from intervening prematurely during the proceedings. She would have loved nothing more than to have simply pardoned the Iron Bull of his crimes and then offer him the gift of being her consort and future husband in exchange. But thank the heavens her wisdom had prevailed over her loins. A younger, more petty and foolish ruler would have done such. But not her. She knew things of true value took time. As Lunh studied the way the Iron Bull gently caressed the Lady Silver Light¡¯s brow, a new urge filled her envy-ridden soul. It wouldn¡¯t be enough to merely snatch him up like a ything, although she could certainly do just that. No, she craved far more than just his body, strength and future status. She craved his adoration. His love freely born from his own soul. Just like Silver Light now enjoyed. She could bear the sight no longer and withdrew her spiritual projection from Jurin province, returning to the confines of her own body still seated in lotus position within her private office a thousand miles away. As she opened her eyes a new feeling stirred within her. A feeling she had not experienced in a very long time. The challenge of conquest mixed with desire. To obtain the love of the Iron Bull would require tact as well as skill. Careful nning and an exertion of her will from just behind the curtains of fate to ensure that his love for her would be true and not forced. The thought spurred Lunh¡¯s mind into action. She would possess him in time¡ªof that she was certain. But it would take a well-orchestrated n to extract him from not just the vine, but from the arms of his betrothed as well. Their bond was strong, it seemed, but nothing was unbreakable. Especially not some juvenile first love. He would see in time what a mature and truly powerful woman such as her had to offer him. And offer herself she would¡ªconsolingly, once that pissant little girl was gone. As Princess Lunh set the Xiangqi board in her mind the variables of how to execute her n seemed infinite, but through them all, one objective remained clear. The Lady Silver Light would not live to see her wedding day. * * * ¡°Hurry up, Chun! You¡¯ll bete for the ceremony!¡± It was Kelsey who had called to me from the doorway of my living room, rolling her eyes as I painstakingly readjusted my ceremonial robes for the third or fourth time. I noted she was already dressed to perfection in her own flowing ceremonial gown, trimmed in yellow and blue, the official colors of the Furious Lightning Sect. I also noted she had spoken to me in near perfect Yee. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be calling me Chun when I¡¯m wearing these robes,¡± I said, referring to my own yellow and blue attire. ¡°I¡¯m your sect leader when I¡¯m in these things.¡± Kelsey merely smirked at me. ¡°Fine, hurry up then, ¡®Master Sect Leader¡¯ Chun.¡± I muttered something about smartasses and then swiped the red and gold embossed envelope from off my mantle before heading out the door. We reached the square and the entire ce had been transformed. Festive red and gold decorations adorned every corner as artisans yed auspicious music to match the decor. We hastily joined the procession already in progress, finding each one of our neighbors decked out in their finest robes. I bumped elbows, pushing through to the front, giving polite smiles of apology as my sect members paid me respect with short bows. I arrived at the front of the procession with Kelsey, just in time to see the doors of the sect HQ open wide, revealing the beautiful bride waiting inside. My heart filled with tion when I saw her. Her face was covered by a jianghun, the thick red veil adorned with gold embroidery, concealing her face from her groom. I inched next to the groom in question, giving him a nudge as I slipped him his dowry gift. Gui Zu looked down at me with a smile made of perfect teeth. He¡¯d finally taken me up on my offer to fix them after all this time. His teeth now matched the pristine state of his attire. Splendid red and gold robes hung from his sizable frame and a hat symbolizing his rank as Vice Warden of the Terran Sect adorned his head. He stepped forward to collect his bride and Jian Yi and Zu Tien both assisted her as they removed the veil from Yu Li¡¯s head. She beamed with delight as Gui Zu took her hands into his own and she bounced on her feet with excitement. They then turned in unison to face the crowd and everyone burst into cheers. ¡°Congrattions!¡± ¡°Prosperity to the lovely couple!¡± ¡°A thousand blessings on Gui Zu and Yu Li!¡± It was a momentous asion and the pride and joy that filled my heart caused my eyes to tear. The wedding ceremony went into full speed after that, with Gui Zu escorting his bride to his home, which was actually in the building just across the square. We¡¯d found them arger apartment to live in and had spent thest month renovating it. But asrge as it was, there was no room to fit everyone inside, so the ceremony continued just outside the front door at the edge of the square. I took my ce next to Yu Li as Gui Zu presented the dowry gift I had given him, standing in as Yu Li¡¯s elder family member, essentially giving her away for the dowry price. ¡°Congratz, sis,¡± I said teasingly and then winked at Gui Zu. ¡°Make sure she doesn¡¯t boss you around too much, okay?¡± Gui Zuughed as Yu Li elbowed me yfully, but then gave me a deep hug. ¡°Thanks, Chun,¡± she said. ¡°For making all this possible. For everything. I love you.¡± ¡°Love you too,¡± I said. ¡°Congrattions, Yu Li.¡± After that, Gui Zu and Yu Li exchanged vows of love andmitment and an borate tea ceremony took ce, essentially joining our two families as one. Although there were no blood family on Gui Zu¡¯s side, Zu Tien and Jian Yi stood in as his sisters. And for Yu Li¡¯s side, I was apanied by two people I least expected. Master Hei Dong and Lady Silver Moon now stood next to me, taking their ce as the grandparents of little Su Ling. When Fia and I had first broken the news to them about a month ago, it was as if what little face they had left in society had been shattered. They stopped speaking to us for a few days and I could only imagine the letters they sent to Hein as a result, but luckily, the fact that Hein had fathered a child with a mortal, was overshadowed by the fact that the mortal just happened to be sister to the Iron Bull. The man destined to one day marry their daughter. After a few more days of silence, broken by some tense and terse conversations, we finally got them to agree to meet Yu Li and then little Su Ling did the rest. They must have seen themselves reflected in the little girl as she rushed to embrace them like she had known them her entire life. Their hearts melted instantly, especially the Lady Silver Moon, who now held the little girl in her arms as she looked over Yu Li and Gui Zu with not a strand of malice or contempt in her heart. While Master Hei Dong was more reserved in his expressions of love, I could tell he too had been won over by the bright little girl who now referred to him affectionately as gunggung. Still, I knew there was a deeper and more serious reason for Fia¡¯s parents to havee around so quickly and why they also feared no loss of face attending a mortal wedding in the bad side of town. They had simply no more face to lose. The thought caused a bit of my joy to fade and I looked through the crowd to find the one person in the world who would understand my mncholy. Fia... She was dressed elegantly in the ck and silver robes of her n, her makeup wless with a set of long silver earrings entuated her perfectly styled hair. Her silver eyes found mine and she gave me a yful little smile from across the distance. We had purposefully kept apart during the ceremony as nned. We were still yet to perform our own tea ceremony of betrothal and it wouldn¡¯t be proper to be seen together in our conflicting sect robes. But more than that, we wanted this day to be about Gui Zu and Yu Li, not us and so we yed our separate parts. But now as the ceremonypleted and the wedding feast began, we found each other in the chaos of the crowd. Firecrackers yed backdrop to the beat of drums as paper dragons danced with the bride and groom. It was a wonderful sight to take in. But I was craving only one sight at the moment. ¡°You look lovely,¡± I whispered to Fia as I finally inched next to her, taking her hand into mine. She smiled. ¡°And you look handsome. Although I don¡¯t like the color of those robes.¡± I chuckled and looked back to her parents, now dancing with Su Ling. ¡°How¡¯s Mom? Any better?¡± I sensed a bit of pain in her soul as she answered. ¡°Still nothing. It might be permanent as we feared.¡± A bit of anger flickered within me. But there was nothing to target it at. I¡¯d already killed the man responsible. It had been three months now since the Lady Silver Moon had battled Lo Feng and his final disruptive technique had damaged her core. Now she was adjusting to life as a non-cultivator, a cripple by all ounts. It pained me to think of her that way, but in truth I was responsible for it happening to her as well. But that wasn¡¯t the only damage I had caused. ¡°And Dad?¡± I asked. Fia sighed. ¡°Still adjusting. He remains in good spirits, but the fall has been quite hard.¡± I grimaced, feeling guilty again. It had taken the Warden less than a week to exact her revenge. Or what revenge she could exact against Fia and I legally, after the princess had both blessed our betrothal and my duel with her in three years¡¯ time. She sent a letter stamped by the High Magistrate, relieving Master Hei Dong of his position as Vice Warden, iming an irreconcble conflict of interest due to his future son-inw being destined to challenge her for her position as Warden. It was a sucker punch to the gut when the family was already down. And I felt it right along with them. Just the thought of the Warden doing something like that caused my me to stir. But again, I had only myself to me. I¡¯d pulled Fia¡¯s family into this mess. And now I was their only hope of pulling them out. To his credit, Hei Dong still treated me cordially, although I could sense some resentment there now and I couldn¡¯t me him. I¡¯d saved his wife and daughter but had caused him to lose his position and status, the very thing I was now trying to achieve for myself. I¡¯d need to fix it all eventually¡ªsomeway or somehow. ¡°I can¡¯t wait till it¡¯s our turn,¡± Fia said as she rested her head against my shoulder. ¡°Make sure youe back quickly, okay?¡± I kissed her gently on the brow. ¡°I will.¡± But it was for more than just our love now. I had her family¡¯s name and honor to restore as well. Just as the gravity of the situation began to settle in, someone pped me on the back and I turned to see it was Gui Zu. ¡°What are you two doing hiding over here?¡± he said with a bellyugh. ¡°Come and join in! Come on!¡± We couldn¡¯t refuse as he dragged us both by the arm into the fray of celebration, and I had tough as he made a big show of it all. I finally loosened up a little as Fia pulled me close in an embrace and for a moment I forgot all about my struggles and those thaty ahead. We danced and ate, making the rounds, bumping into all the people we had invited to the wedding. To my chagrin I spotted Kelsey slow-dancing with Lee, while the rest of the handler crew looked on. I still wasn¡¯t sure what to make of their budding rtionship, but I¡¯d read Lee the mandatory big brother riot act and warned him that if he broke her heart, she¡¯d likely be the one to put him in the hospital, not me. I spent some time chatting with Master Edrik and Lysa, introducing them to Fia and her parents. Not surprisingly, Master Edrik and Hei Dong hit it off, talking shop so to speak and thenter I spotted the both of them being entertained by Iron Pot Wong as he told his fantastical stories of his soldiering life across the stars. Xi Xha and Mu Lin arrived a bitte but immediately joined in the festivities, hanging out with Jian Yi for most of the time, the three of them sharing in riveting intellectual debates no doubt. We ran into Ju Gong next, the sole remaining member of the Fire Bird n after the courts sent Du Mak a summons and sentenced him to 10 years in prison for perjury. Ju Gong quickly switched teams after that, joining the Furious Lightning n and the Terran Sect when I offered him a position. He now joined Gui Zu¡¯s growing security team, serving as our official doorman at our newly erected vige gates. While I wanted nothing to do with the Fire Bird n, I did inherit theirnd and resources, adding to our coffers and was now constructing three new buildings across the Native Housing District. I tried to offer Master Hei Dong some of the funds and even a position as well, but his pride swiftly turned it down. I probably couldn¡¯t me him. Adjusting from the fall of his status to where he was now, would be a bitter pill for anyone to swallow. The night wore on and the festivities grew more lively as the wine began to flow. Fia and I eventually found a small quiet corner to observe it all, leaning back in a chair as she sat in myp and nestled her head into my chest. ¡°It¡¯s cold,¡± she said, as she snuggled closer, and I wrapped my arms around her for warmth. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯ll be spring soon.¡± ¡°I know¡­only two months away.¡± She then paused and sighed. ¡°And then you¡¯ll have to go.¡± I kissed her again. ¡°Don¡¯t say it like that. It won¡¯t be so bad.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Easy for you to say. At least you¡¯ll be having fun advancing at the academy. I¡¯ll be stuck here babysitting my parents.¡± Iughed at that. ¡°You win. You have the more dangerous assignment by far.¡± I pondered on that a moment, considering just how hard it would be to leave her behind while I headed into the unknown alone. We¡¯d made our dream of being togethere true, but there were still hurdles in our path, it seemed. She grinned and looked up at me. ¡°I can¡¯t wait for the day when we can do this forever. Just rx and breathe. Make this ce our home.¡± I couldn¡¯t agree with her more. I marveled at all my friends and family enjoying themselves in the crowd. This was truly what I was fighting for. The future that people like Flores and Jim died for and unfortunately never lived to see. It was a small piece of old Earth restored with people from all sects of society mixing without fear of recourse. This was the future I wanted for all of us. And my strength as a cultivator would make ite true. A strength that was now growing along with my family and n. I had untold challenges still ahead of me to reach my next goal. A brutal military academy, where wiping out meant death and then a literal battle on the hell worlds of the Cursed Stars. I [Feared no Death] and the [Odds Against Me] stoked my me, but I was fighting for more than just myself now. There was Fia and her family to worry about, along with Kelsey and the rest of the bunker n. And then the hundreds of other cities across the globe that I still needed to liberate and save. My goal to free the Earth from the empire¡¯s grip had only just begun. One step at a time, I told myself. My battle with the Warden woulde soon enough, and I needed to be prepared. But I¡¯d need to be prepared for what woulde after that as well. I checked in with my me and the Struggler and Demon nodded back at me. They were ready to fight and so was I. My Path as a Berserker was clear. Tomorrow, I would battle to free Jurin Province. And after that¡­I would battle to free my entire world. It could take years, decades even, but I didn¡¯t mind. I had a woman who loved me by my side and a Frenzied me in my soul. Nothing would stop me from fulfilling my path. Not when I had so much to fight for now. Book 2: Chapter 63: EPILOGUE IN THE DARKNESS, It seethed. The aperture had copsed. Destroyed. And with it, the small crack within Its jail of confinement did recede. Anger filled It. Hatred. Curse the Cursed me. The me had grown in power, feeding off the strength of Its thralls and even the guardian of the aperture itself. No bounds, did the me know. No divine elegance, did it respect¡ªa void of endless chaos and destruction. The me had no other purpose.Yet now did the me seek to elevate a mere husk to challenge It? It seethed. It was divine. It was eternal. It would not let such desecration stand. It willed Its purpose to the guardian of the aperture, utilizing the dwindling influence gained from the mortal realm to break through to it once more. A vessel tempered by the Cursed me had found the strength to not only enter Its domain, but to purge essence from It as well. The me would pay for such insolence. Through the new aperture, would It exact Its influence once more. It would find Its own vessel to temper. One not born of mere osmosis but by Its will alone. The Cursed me would know humility. For its vessel would pale before the divine host of the Stars. From within Its jail, It would scour the thousands of worlds within Its influence, seeking a divine host fit to be tempered by Its will. The search would take time, It knew. But then¡­what was time to a god? Book 3: Intro and bk2 recap #Max¡¯s Techniques and Abilities Max¡¯s Berserker Techniques Taken from the scared scripts regarding the Path of the Frenzied me. ¡°Thou art indeed a kindled me, a frenzied spirit, tempered by struggle and sorrow, fueled by rage and pain¡­¡± -Unknown Shura 1 Think not that we speak for the me, for the me of Frenzy has no master nor does it seek to create masters of its own ord. We who speak, have through consult agreed to these doctrines, not by direction, but through independent revtions of the me. Know with confidence then, that these words are true and are fit for enlightenment along your path. Shura 2 They call us Berserker, we who follow the Frenzied me. Let us embrace the moniker, for it instills fears in our enemies. And fear is our strength. [Frenzied me] ¨C the most basic of all techniques within the Berserker¡¯s domain. Use it to instantly channel your internal energies of Fear, Rage, and Pain into Frenzy. Evoking this technique can also stir the embers of an Unkindled or even reignite the fallen me of a Waning Ember. [Fear the me] ¨C the simple baring of one¡¯s fangs is sometimes all that is required to defeat one¡¯s foe. Gather your Frenzy and with a mere look or phrase, exert your dominance and feed from the fears of your enemies or bolster the resolve of your allies. [Mask of the Despised] ¨C take heed always, kindled one, for the hatred of the Frenzied me is great amongst those who follow the path of Qi. Use this technique to mask your strength while in their presence, for their own arrogance shall paint you as a mere fool, simpleton, or dull brute in their eyes. Use this to your advantage to move freely among them while posing no threat. [Lust for Battle] ¨C not a true technique, but a trait shared by all kindled of the Frenzied me. The drawing of blood in battle, even one¡¯s own, can trigger a burst of Frenzy. And to y one¡¯s enemy will produce even more so. Yet take heed, kindled one, for the pull of the bloodlust is strong and the need to draw blood can easily extend to a friend as well as foe, if left unrestrained. Let not the Demon within you take full control. [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] ¨C the path of the Struggler is forever filled with tribtion. This technique will convert your Frenzy into an iron will of determination that even others can feel and see. [Indifference] ¨CThink not, dear kindled, that your power lies in aggression and hostility alone. To induce rage and fear in others can be many more times as effective, for nothing offends the proud and powerful more than indifference. Use this technique to withstand attacks and to demoralize your foes through your apathy when you disregard even their strongest techniques with a scoff. [Odds Against Me] ¨C there is no greater thrill than a challenge. Without challenge, without struggle, there can be no progression. The cowardly prey on those who are weaker to ensure easy victory, but the Berserker seeks to oppose strength far above his own. When facing greater odds, either by strength, numbers, or both, this technique will generate enormous amounts of Frenzy by suppressing your inner fears and unleashing your me¡¯s full potential. The power of this technique is limitless, bound only by the strength of your foe and your ability to withstand him. [My Turn] ¨C a retaliation technique used best whenbined with [Indifference]. Unleash a mighty burst of Frenzy with your next strike by releasing the stored Pain energy of any previous attacks endured. [Death Mastery] ¨C the fear of death grows only stronger the closer one gets to immortality. Power over this fear defies not only the Heavens, but mocks it to its face. Consider it no small wonder then, dear kindled, that your path shall be blighted with misfortune, for the Heavens are not lightly mocked. In exchange for this rebuke, you shall enjoy the bounty that is rity of mind, body, and soul in ces where others falter and fail. Your words and actions will instill fear and respect in others and your me will burn yet brighter with each evolution, heightening the potency of all your abilities. (Max¡¯s Death Mastery Levels) Fear of Uncertain Death (Mastery) ¨C [Foundation Realm] Fear of Certain Death (Mastery) ¨C [Core Realm] Fear no Death (Mastery) ¨C [Sacred Soul Realm] Death Wish ¨C [Deity Realm] [Iron Core] ¨C (internal) use concentrated Frenzy to temporarily form ayer of protective armor around vital organs and bones to withstand tremendous blows. [Death¡¯s Door] ¨C (internal) should you suffer a fatal wound use concentrated Frenzy to rece any bodily function that is lost. [Iron Skin] ¨C (external) use concentrated Frenzy to temporarily form ayer of hardened armor on a specific part of the body.Use defensively to avoid critical strikes or offensively on the knuckles, feet, or palms when fighting unarmed. Marks of the Berserker Take special care when utilizing the marks. While initially only one Mark may be used at a time, higher levels can sustain as much as two. In very rare practitioners, all three marks can be manifested, but take heed, as such will quickly Frenzy thy me towardsplete madness. [Mark of the Beast] ¨C (external) take on the likeness of a frenzied beast, greatly increasing one¡¯s reflexes and speed. [Mark of the Giant] ¨C (external) grow in physical size, greatly increase all of one¡¯s physical strength and power. [Mark of the Demon] ¨C (external) take on the likeness of a demon, greatly increasing the potency of one¡¯s Frenzy and the effectiveness of Frenzy techniques. [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] ¨C enhanced variations of the [Iron Skin/Core] techniques. [Soul Shield] ¨C the most elementary of soul techniques. Use it to guard thy me from attacks from both without and within the spiritual realm. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition. [Spectral Body] ¨C the form of one¡¯s soul is forever being molded, but for it to take true shape, it must first develop a body. Use this technique to both envision and inhabit a spectral body within thy own Core. Tread thou carefully however, for the refection of one¡¯s true inner self is forged not by will, but the history of one¡¯s thoughts and deeds. [Spectral Armor] ¨C once developed, this armor can embody the strength of one¡¯s soul and protect one¡¯s spectral body in the spiritual realm. [Spectral Weapon] ¨C the extension of one¡¯s will in spiritual form, use it to inflict damage within the spiritual realm. [Everyone¡¯s Fear] [Everyone¡¯s Sorrow] [Everyone¡¯s Rancor] ¨C thementations of the masses can hold much strength when inrge numbers. Be they the oppressed or the downtrodden, so long as a focus for their oppression can be challenged, so too can a Frenzied me lend its strength to aid the many. Max¡¯s Demonic Cultivation Techniques [Absorption] ¨C a demonic technique that renders Qi essence from solid cores. [Devil¡¯s Shadow] ¨C a demonic technique that masks one¡¯s Dantian with the Qi gained through [Absorption]. By absorbing the essence of a sliver of Lightning Core imnted in his body, Max is able to mask his Frenzied Core as a normal lightning core. [Faux Lightning] ¨C bybining [Absorption] and [Devil¡¯s Shadow], a small sliver of lightning core can be sent to Max¡¯s jing meridian to create a small spark of lightning. Max¡¯s Martial Training One and Two handed Axe Mastery ¨C derived from a standard training manual. Phnx ive Mastery ¨C perfected under the tutge of Venja and Iron Pot Wong Axe and ive Mastery ¨C abined martial form utilizing the quick strikes of the axe in conjunction with the slow and heave strikes of the Phnx ive Max¡¯s Self Made Martial Techniques [One/Two Log Chop] ¨C a powerful vertical cleave utilizing the power of Frenzy [One Chop Cleave] ¨C a powerful spinning horizontal chop designed to fell a tree in one blow. Max¡¯s Lightning Techniques [Frenzied Lightning] ¨C by utilizing solid frenzy and sending it to his jing meridian, Max is able to produce Lightning the same as a Lightning Qi master. [Lightning Arc Strike] ¨C manifests an arc of lightning that is cast from the edge of his de. [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] ¨C a manifestation technique that releases arge burst of [Frenzied Lightning] from Max¡¯s body. [Lightning Splits the Towering Oak] ¨C a techniquebining [Frenzied Lightning] and [Three Log Chop] to produce a devastating killing blow. [Steel Lightning] ¨C an ative armor technique utilizing abination of [Steel Skin] and [Frenzied Lightning] Max¡¯s group affiliations, titles and martial rankings Furious Lightning Sect -¨C Sect Leader Terran Sect ¨C Founder, Leader and Warden Wooden Bracket League ¨C 1st ce Ranking and overall winner Iron Bracket League ¨C 1st ce Ranking and overall winner Gold Bracket League ¨C 92nd Ranking #The story so far After forming the Terran Sect and defeating Young Master Hein as well as the Fire Bird Elder Hong Feng, Max spends some time developing the people in hismunity and expanding the economic control of his n. His efforts do not go unnoticed however, with constant attacksing from Iron Bracket contenders seeking to challenge both his new sect and himself as the Iron Bull. Histest challengees in the form of Hein¡¯s sister, the Lady Silver Light, who serves a writ against him for assaulting her brother Hein and destroying his sword. For this she challenges Max to a duel to take ce in one year¡¯s time. Max rises to the challenges but is then shocked when the Lady Silver Light reveals herself to be Fia, the same women he saved from the Fire Birds and bonded with intimately a few weeks prior. Max senses something must be amiss and his intuition proves right when Fia secretly invites him to meet her in the wilderness. Once there, she confronts Max about attacking her brother but after he exins Hein¡¯s rtionship with Yu Li and how he threated his n, Fia is relieved as she feared Max had taken some personal vendetta against her. With that resolve they rekindle their rtionship, but when Max questions Fia about the duel, she says it will be the perfect n for them to be married under thew, with Max beating her in the duel and iming her hand in marriage for sparing her life and bing a Silver Leaf member. Max is taken aback, not ready for such a deepmitment. While he wants a rtionship with Fia, he is unable to reconcile himself joining the same n that murdered his family, and refuses her, saying there must be some other way to survive the duel. Fia, jilted by the rejection, swears to carry through with the duel for real and then storms off hurt and confused by Max¡¯s stance. On the way back to the city, Max encounters a Fire Bird elder named Hin Wu who was sent by their Sect Leader Lo Feng to get revenge for the loss of his nephew. Max is nearly killed in the encounter but is rescued by Fia who still reveals a deep love for Max despite their differences. Fia reminds Hin Wu of thew against martial sects attacking without being sanctioned by the empire and Hin Wu backs down, but promises Max his day of reckoning wille. Still unable to reconcile with Fia, Max turns his attention to building up his n as well as helping Kelsey and the people of the bunker. Jian Yi, now in training to be a barrister, advises Max that he will need to continue his climb within the Iron and Gold brackets to gain the status and reputation he needs to keep the n from being constantly under attack. To achieve this, Max eagerly travels back to the bunker to gain the knowledge of the new Shuras imprinted on Threja¡¯s sword. During this time, the Princess Lunh learns of Max¡¯s exploits and bes infatuated with him, not only realizing that he may be the Terran prodigy that she has been looking for but also desiring him as a spouse. While she could im him as a concubine, she would need for him to somehow gain status equal to hers to be her husband and ponders that if he were to serve as tribute in the Legionnaire¡¯s Academy and survive, that his status as a Legionnaire would be worthy to court her as a lower princess. Over the next few months Max gains insight into new Berserker techniques that involve growth in the spiritual realm. Chief amongst these is his exposure to the unknowns and secrets of the hidden nes of existence. Max uses this knowledge and with Kelsey¡¯s help, exposes himself to the Bloodmoon to cultivate in this new direction. During this time, he also trains Kelsey as a Berserker. Through a series of growing challenges, Max encounters more and more of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz the outer god of Dark Frenzy and realizes that in order to make the bunkerpletely safe from it, he will need to travel to a second base connected to the bunker by tunnel and destroy the demonic gate there. To do so however he will need to master the [Soul Shield] technique that can protect his me from the effects of Dark Frenzy. During this same time, Lo Feng the leader of the Fire Birds, uses Fia of killing his nephew Hong Feng and murdering over a hundred Fire Bird disciples. Unknown to him, the true culprit was Max, who left Fia¡¯s silver quill at the scene which has now be the same evidence that Lo Feng is using to me Fia. Master Hei Dong, Fia¡¯s father, dismisses the im and hires a Grand Sage who will prove the quill is not Fia¡¯s. Confident in his case, Hei Dong pays a great sum to hire the Grand Sage from the core worlds and intends to sue Lo Feng for the same amount when he is proven right in court. In a trip back to the city to gain more knowledge on how to unluck his [Soul Shield] technique, Max encounters Fia again, who once again saves him when Max encounters the Three Bird Sisters, a set of royal triples from the Silver Leaf n. After being saved, Max finally confesses his full love for Fia and admits the problem he has with joining her n, but promises to marry her anyway somehow. Fia epts this and the rekindling of their love allows Max to ovee the spiritual blockage and advance in his spiritual cultivation. This advancement continues when Max ultimately reveals even his secret as a Berserker to Fia when they both have to fight Hin Wu. Fia once again epts him and this fully unlocks his [Soul Shield] technique. With this, Max travels back to the bunker to destroy the gate with Kelsey by his side, who is now a Foundation Realm Berserk through all his training. Max finds he needs to actually enter the gate to destroy it and encounters a divine being known as I¡¯xan¡¯dra the Great Chain Maiden within, who controls many gates upon a hell like ne of existence which Maxter concludes is the surface of the Bloodmoon itself. After defeating I¡¯xan¡¯dra, Max flees the hellish surface of the Bloodmoon and destroys the gate before returning to Earth. On his return to the city, Max learns that Fia has been convicted of the usations by Master Lo Feng as the Grand Sage proves that the quill did indeed belong to Fia. Max immediately realizes it¡¯s the same one he left at the scene to implicate the Silver Leaf n months ago and his guilt and love for Fia spurs him into action. Together with his friends, Max rushes to the courts, where Fia¡¯s Mother, the Lady Silver Moon is making a desperatest attempt to save Fia¡¯s life through a trial bybat, challenging Master Lo Feng. Lady Silver Moon proves no match, however and is nearly killed before Max jumps in to stop the fight. After admitting he was the one tomit the crime, Max is nearly imprisoned himself, but is saved by Jian Yi who poses a legal argument to the High Magistrate that although it was mass murder, it was simply an inter-sect matter which is outside of the purview of the courts. This exonerates Max, but then Max uses the opportunity to both challenge Lo Feng for a leadership battle as well as to im Fia¡¯s hand in marriage through reinstating the writ against her family. Max is sessful in both, which enrages the Warden, Lady Silver Tear, who is in attendance at the trial. She seeks to kill both Max and Fia for a union which she considers sphemous as Max is not a noble and Fia is a royaldy. Sheunches an attack aimed at killing them both, but Max defends against it with his [Soul Shield] technique, protecting Fia and raising the ire of the Warden when he miraculously survives. Jian Yi then uses her knowledge of thew to im the Warden herself just vited thew by attacking Max, who after killing Lo Feng, is now the rightful leader of the Fire Bird n. The Warden dismisses it initially, but Max uses it as a means to now challenge her for her position as warden and ruler over Jurin Province. Max is unable to make the im stick, however as the Warden is Diamond Bracket and he is still only Gold. When his request for time to reach Diamond bracket is denied, all seems lost until the Princess suddenly appears and grants an approval of three years for Max to achieve Diamond Bracket on the condition that he serve as tribute and attend the Legionnaires Academy in theing spring. Max epts on the condition that his betrothal to Fia be recognized to which the princess reluctantly agrees. The book ends with the princess secretly vowing to kill off Fia before her wedding day, fantasizing about gaining Max¡¯s love for her own all while the outer god of Dark Frenzy, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz plots to create a champion equal to Max to get its own revenge. Book 3: Prologue Third Princess Lunh, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seventh heir to the Imperial Yee Dynasty, straightened herself as the doors to her private office swung inwards. Her aide ushered in a woman d in ck robes with silver trim, her silver hair affixed with a small jade crown, signifying her rank as a Seventh Warden. The Warden smiled but her chrome eyes remained cold and emotionless, the same as the depths of her very soul. Lunh knew this well of the woman. She had handpicked her to lead the Cultural Appropriation of the for this very reason. It was a job that required both skill and discernment, but above all apleteck of empathy. The Lady Silver Tear possessed all three qualities in spades. The Warden took a small step forward before kneeling to ce her forehead to the marbled floor in a kowtow. ¡°This One is honored to present herself before you, oh honored and wise princess.¡± Lunh smiled at the formality of the Warden¡¯s greeting, the sincerity of her words as genuine as the warmth in her tone. ¡°You may rise, Seventh Warden. Thank you for making this trip in person. I have matters most delicate to discuss with you.¡± ¡°This One is honored to bask in your physical presence, your majesty,¡± the Warden said before rising to settle into a seat across from her. ¡°It is not often one may do so. To what do I owe such a great honor?¡± Lunh harrumphed. ¡°You may drop the formalities, Lady Silver Tear. I will speak inly as to why I have summoned you.¡± ¡°Very well¡­¡± Lady Silver Tear crossed her legs slowly under her robes, getting morefortable. ¡°I am eager to hear it, your majesty.¡± ¡°Are you perplexed at my support for the Iron Bull in challenging you, Lady Silver Tear?¡±Lunh let the question hang in the air. It had been months now, but she knew the subject was still a sore one for her. The Iron Bull had challenged the Warden for leadership, a thing not possible as they were of unequal martial ranking. But Lunh had authorized the challenge regardless. ¡°You are the princess, your majesty,¡± the Warden said without missing a beat. ¡°This One would not dare question your divine authority or wisdom.¡± Lunh chuckled. Once again, her words were as empty as her soul. Still, the Lady Silver Tear was useful to her now. A pawn to enact her n. ¡°You can be rest assured that you are in no danger of losing your position, Seventh Warden,¡± Lunh said and then added for rity. ¡°Even if you did vite imperialw with an unsanctioned attack against a fellow martial sect.¡± Silver Tear stiffened, perhaps not expected her to bring the subject up so pointedly. It was true though. In her rage, the Lady Silver Tear had made a grave error in attacking the Iron Bull. One that Lunh would now use to enact her control. ¡°This One did apologize, your majesty. It was uninten¡ª¡± ¡°Unintentional, yes, so you said. Still, a crime is a crime and it would be only right for you to face the Iron Bull ording to his writ to atone for it.¡± In truth she cared little about the act itself. So long as the Iron Bull fulfilled his portion of the agreement¡ªserving as tribute for her¡¯s part in the war against the Cursed Stars¡ªshe could care less for his challenge to the Warden¡¯s position. Still, it served a greater purpose now. ¡°Indeed, your majesty,¡± Lady Silver Tear said, bowing her head in acknowledgement. ¡°Your reasoning for supporting the Iron Bull¡¯s challenge in this regard is clear¡­and just.¡± Lunh smiled. She had set the tone perfectly for the conversation toe. ¡°I am delighted that you understand, Seventh Warden,¡± she said. ¡°It would be entirely inappropriate to disregard such a grant action. Yet, I believe this challenge is a fair way for you to save face for both yourself and your n.¡± ¡°Indeed. Where would we be as a people without the Great Soul Emperor¡¯s divine rule of Imperial Law?¡± She bowed her head again. ¡°This One is eternally grateful for your mercy and grace, your majesty.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the vition. The first part was a slight against her father, but she would let it pass for now. There were greater matters to address at hand. ¡°My grace will extend even further, Seventh Warden,¡± Lunh said. ¡°You need not fear the loss of your position. In fact, I doubt you will ever face the Iron Bull in the ring at all.¡± Silver Tear squinted, confused for a moment but then she smiled. ¡°I see. You are wise, your majesty, to have sent the Iron Bull to the academy. His death there would certainly not be unexpected. I thank you for this reprieve.¡± Lunh lowered her brows. ¡°Do not misunderstand me, Seventh Warden. I have all expectations that the Iron Bull will survive. And if he returns as a Diamond Bracket Legionnaire, he will have all right and likely even the strength to face you in the ring.¡± Silver Tear swallowed visibly but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°In fact,¡± she said. ¡°I want you to ensure the Iron Bull makes it to the academy unharmed. Nothing ill is to befall him during his travels¡­understood?¡± Lunh paused for emphasis, making it clear an assassination attempt while in transit to the core worlds was out of the question. ¡°Understood, your majesty.¡± ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°However, while he is at the academy I will require a repayment of your indebtedness for my grace.¡± Lady Silver Tear leaned back in her chair, her bodynguage the equivalent of an eyeroll as she crossed her legs again. ¡°Is that so, your majesty? And in what form would you prefer this debt to be repaid?¡± There it was. The invitation she had orchestrated. She need only supply the name now. ¡°The girl, Silver Light,¡± she said and then paused, knowing that this was a rtive to Silver Tear, albeit a very distant one. ¡°Her actions do indeed make her a disgrace to your royal n. To all royalty in fact. I will allow you permission to chastise her as you first sought¡­ permanently. But it must be discreet.¡± Lady Silver Tear¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Permanently, your majesty?¡± ¡°You must do so in a way that the Iron Bull is not impacted,¡± Lunh said. ¡°He will be this¡¯s first ever tribute and I do not need anything that might distract him from his advancement at the academy. If he were to fail, it would bring much shame to my rule.¡± Thest thing she needed was the Iron Bull losing focus due to the death of his betrothed. The reward of his young bride waiting for him at home would push him through the many challenges thaty ahead. But once he had aplished that, there was far more that Lunh had nned for him. ¡°Let me be in,¡± Lunh said as she leaned over her desk. ¡°Do this sessfully and you will not only keep your position but perhaps even expand on it.¡± Silver Tear shifted in her seat ufortably, but her eyes remained steady. ¡°I see,¡± she said. ¡°That is most gracious. Yet I fail still toprehend fully what your majesty askes of This One.¡± Anger stirred within her. The bitch knew damn well what she was requesting. But she would make her say it out of satisfaction. Curse her and all her rotten n, Lunh thought. She leaned across the table again, making it clear she would not be repeating herself. ¡°I don¡¯t care how you do it exactly,¡± Lunh said. ¡°So long as it is discreet. The Lady Silver Light must live long enough to see the Iron Bull seed at the academy but not long enough to see her wedding day. Are we clear?¡± The Warden raised a brow as if surprised and Lunh could sense the woman had discerned her ulterior motive with ease. A counter to her parry. Still, it mattered not. The Warden was still under her control and wouldn¡¯t dare try to use it against her. Not while the possibility of more power was within her grasp. ¡°I understand, your majesty,¡± the Warden said. ¡°But I must profess that this Dong family in particr has made quite the mockery of my n. It would be far more fitting to disy her chastisement to the rest of my sect openly to demonstrate the repercussion of such actions. To do what you ask would deny my n of such justice and correction.¡± Lunh smiled. A subtle challenge to her authority, it seemed. It was confirmation that the Warden knew that she held some leverage over her now, knowing that her interesty more with the Iron Bull than with Silver Light herself. But she would not fold so easily. ¡°You have heard my instructions,¡± Lunh said, still slightly irked at the challenge. ¡°Not before the Iron Bull¡¯s sess.¡± She then paused. ¡°But leading up to that, you may do whatever you wish.¡± She let the sentence linger and the Warden raised a brow in question. ¡°There are other ways to publicly demonstrate contrition besides death,¡± Lunh said. The Warden chuckled, finally understanding what she was saying. ¡°So she is not off limits then. Interesting. I will see to something in that regard. But would that we would have the funding toplete other important tasks within the poor province of Jurin before executing such an important one for the Divine Princess herself.¡± Lunh scowled. The woman was as shameless as she was heartless, requesting a bribe outright for herpliance and hopeful secrecy in what she had asked. Still, she should expect no less from the Lady Silver Tear. ¡°Perhaps a slight increase in imperial disbursement for Jurin Province is in order,¡± Lunh said. ¡°20,000 spirit stones perhaps?¡± Silver Tear bowed with a smile. ¡°You are most generous, your majesty.¡± Damn greedy bitch¡­ ¡°Then we are agreed,¡± Lunh said standing and Lady Silver Tear did the same. ¡°Indeed, we are,¡± Silver Tear said and bowed once more. ¡°Until the appointed time, you are free to do with as you will with Lady Silver Light,¡± Lunh said, and then, envisioning the beautiful, tinum-haired girl in her mind¡¯s eye, a sudden anger sparked within her, a jealousy fueled by envy and hate. ¡°In fact, make that little girl¡¯s life as burdensome as possible.¡± Silver Tear raised a brow. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Short of upsetting the Iron Bull, the Lady Silver Light is yours to torment. Understood?¡± The Warden nodded and gave her a knowing smile. ¡°As youmand¡­ Divine Princess.¡± Book 3: Chapter 1 The Reaper Beast roared from less than fifty feet away, the jaws of its crocodilian head billowing steam into the crisp spring air as its twin sets of eyes filled with rage. It beat the chest of its baboon-like body in a challenge and my me stirred slowly in response. It wasn¡¯t an Awakened Reaper Beast like I¡¯d hoped, but it was a big one, standing at least two stories tall and as wide as a house. Not the strongest thing in the world to me right now, I thought as readied my axe and Phnx ive. But it¡¯ll have to do. I was on a short timeline and every minute would count. Settling into a semi-meditative state, I split my consciousness and focused on the two [Spectral Forms] in my mind¡¯s eye. On one side was the familiar red-hued body of the Demon that was my alter ego, the personification of my [Demon], [Beast] and [Giant] formsbined. It was a fearsome looking creature at over twelve feet tall, bull¡¯s horns, fangs, ws and a demonic visage that just barely resembled my own. In stark contrast, the blue-hued Struggler that stood opposite him had a face and form that resembled mine in every detail. They both looked back at me expectantly, mentally urging me to pick one of them to embody with my [Inner Soul Projection] technique. But I wasn¡¯t after that today. I¡¯d already mastered [Inner Soul Projection] over thest two months and was chasing the next ability on the cultivation tier. [Secondary Soul Germination]But for that I needed to know exactly what my Secondary Soul was. I had but an inking, one that I hoped today to prove true. Except there was only one problem. I had no clue how to do it. What do I need to do tobine you two numbskulls? I thought looking at the both of them. Was it even possible? Before I could get another thought out, the Reaper Beast let loose a final roar and began to charge, shaking the ground like an earthquake. Shit¡­this was the scenario I¡¯d been gunning for, but now it was beginning to feel like a bad idea. For weeks I¡¯d been trying to advance to the 9th Tier of the Core Realm to germinate my Secondary Soul, which, by my research should be the culmination of the Demon and Struggler forms in my split spiritbined as one. But so far, I wasn¡¯t having much luck. The panic of a Reaper Beast bearing down on me was the catalyst I thought might lead me to a breakthrough, but all it seemed to be doing so far was make the Demon leer at me while the Struggler pointed in the direction of the beast with concern. Idiots, I thought. All three of us were¡ªthe two images in my mind being mere mirrors of my inner self. ¡°Come on!¡± I shouted out loud. ¡°I need the full strength of the Demon as well the Struggler to kill this thing! Combine you two! Do something!¡± They stared back at me and shrugged. Assholes¡­ I considered jumping into the Demon form and then trying to summon the Struggler thereafter. But I¡¯d done that once before and nearly lost my mind. Way too dangerous. Perhaps the other way instead around? ¡°Max¡­¡± The call came from Fia, who¡¯de to act as my safety. Her gorgeous face was creased with worry as she hovered in midair thirty feet off the ground. Her robes billowed with the power of the Qi technique that held her aloft as three jian des hovered about her in a defensive formation, ready to act on mymand. ¡°I think you¡¯re the one that needs do something now!¡± she shouted. She was right. The Reaper Beast was nearly on top of me. Dammit, I thought. No time left now. I entered the form of the Struggler and used my [Inner Soul Projection] to manifest a ghostly image of him outside my true body. In my mind¡¯s eye I tried to dive inside my Demon form next, but the hulking beast merely folded his arms and turned his back to me as if insulted I hadn¡¯t picked him first. The result was me doing absolutely nothing as the beast snapped me up inside its car-sized jaws. ¡°Max!!¡± Fia cried and beganying into the creature with beams of radiant light. But that did little to deter it as the monster began to savage me in its jaws, whipping its head from side to side like a dog chewing its favorite y toy. For me it turned my world into a rollercoaster ride that I couldn¡¯t wait to get off. Frenzy cycled through my meridians, bolstering my [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] techniques¡ªpreserving me from being punctured by its razor-sharp teeth and crushing jaws. Still, I let the desperation of the predicament steep inside my mind and urged the Demon to grant me his strength and merge with my [Projected] Struggler form. But when I glimpsed back into the realm of my inner soul, the bastard had gone and disappeared. Son of a bitch! I thought. Did I just ghost myself? The idiocy of the idea irritated me and I finally gave up on my little experiment. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± Bolts of blue lightning ripped from my body as I annunciated the technique, sending the Reaper Beast convulsing and howling in pain. The brief reprieve allowed me to break myself from its jaws, and I used my Axe and Phnx ive both to cut a healthy swath of destruction through its torso. The beast roared in pain as my ghostly [Inner Soul Projection] cut through it. It didn¡¯t really add anything to my attack however¡ªits effects were limited to impacting the spiritual realm, but it didn¡¯t need to either. The strength of my normal techniques alone was enough to cause the beast to fall dead after three more hits. As I stood back from my handiwork, I slowly cultivated the Frenzy my [Bloodlust] had triggered, trying to gain at least something from the failed attempt. Fia touched down on the ground next to me and shook her head. ¡°I presume it didn¡¯t work?¡± I let out a sigh. ¡°Yep. No dice again.¡± Fia folded her arms as she looked at the massive beast. ¡°Amazing,¡± she said. ¡°It wasn¡¯t too long ago that one of these things nearly killed the two of usbined. Now you use them as practice fodder.¡± It was true. About a year ago when I first met Fia we had to kill two of the things back to back. It had taken us both pushing ourselves to our limits to survive but now I could literally eat these things for breakfast. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I said chuckling as I draped my arm around her shoulders. ¡°A different time and a different ce. We¡¯vee a long way since then.¡± ¡°We have,¡± she said, beaming up at me with a smile, but then her smile faded. ¡°We have a much longer way to go though. Like three years longer.¡± Her words caused a heaviness to fill my soul. ¡°It won¡¯t be that long,¡± I said. ¡°I promise you. I¡¯ll bust through that academy ande back a Diamon Bracket Legionnaire in no time.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Sheughed as Iid on a cheesy grin, letting her know I was taking the mammoth task ahead of me lightly, only in jest. And it was true for the most part. I still nned to be back in record time, but I wasn¡¯t going to underestimate the unknown challenges thaty ahead. I¡¯d barely been outside of Jurin province and now I was about to head into space to attend some military academy that literally killed more students than they graduated and if I were lucky enough to survive, I¡¯d then be sent on a suicide mission to tour the Hell Worlds of the Cursed Stars. The thought alone triggered [Odds Against Me] but I had no clue what the reality of it would truly entail. It didn¡¯t matter though. I had no choice but to seed in it all. Graduating from the academy and surviving a single tour was what I needed to gain the Imperial status to return to Earth as a big shot that no one could deny. Not even the Warden, or even the Princess herself in time. But more than that, it was the status I needed to marry Fia. ¡°I believe you will do just that,¡± Fia said, her smile returning. ¡°Your work ethic alone should see you through. Here it is, yourst day and you¡¯re still out here training, trying to achieve a breakthrough.¡± I smiled with her. ¡°Myst day was yesterday. Today is thee, day, remember?¡± She huffed out a sigh and I could sense a nervous fear, bubble up within her. ¡°Yes, and I wish you wouldn¡¯t remind me. Five months went by too quickly.¡± The months had indeed flown by, but we had made the most of them. After Yu Li and Gui Zu¡¯s wedding, we waited a month before having an engagement tea ceremony of our own. It was a much less festive and more formal affair, attended to by Fia¡¯s family as well as the Warden and even a representative from the Princess herself to officiate. In truth it hadn¡¯t beenfortable for either of us, but after the formalities, we enjoyed a neighborhood block party that melted all the stuffiness and legality away. We still couldn¡¯t live together, but being betrothed allowed us to be together in public openly and we made the most of it, enjoying date nights in the city and saving the secret rendezvous in the wilderness for when our bodies couldn¡¯t take the physical separation anymore. The thought of that made me give Fia a suggestive stare. ¡°What?¡± she said as I leered at her. ¡°You know what¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± she said. ¡°Now?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Your call, but it will be three long years before we can be together again.¡± She sighed exasperated but gave me a mischievous little grin. ¡°You¡¯re insufferable, you know that?¡± ¡°I try,¡± I said and pulled her into my arms and gave her a long kiss. We retreated to our secretkeside beach and then melted into one another, sharing in a bittersweet intimacy that neither of us wanted to end. When it finally did, wey together holding each other and looking up at the morning sky. ¡°You¡¯ll be up there soon,¡± Fia said. ¡°Out amongst the stars. I¡¯m not sure I can do without you for three years, Max.¡± ¡°Well at least you¡¯ll know where to look for me.¡± She swatted me yfully as I cracked augh. ¡°Alrighte on, you,¡± she said like she was my mother. ¡°You need to make your final rounds of goodbyes. And that includes my parents.¡± I groaned inwardly at the thought of that. Not that I didn¡¯t want to see them, but more I wasn¡¯t sure if they wanted to see me. Things had not been going well for the Dong family ofte and while Fia¡¯s mother, the Lady Silver Moon, still readily epted me I knew her old man, Master Hei Dong, med me for most of what had happened to them. And he wasn¡¯t wrong in doing so. It included the Lady Silver Moon¡¯s Dantian being crippled by Master Lo Feng and Master Hei Dong losing his position as the Vice Warden of Jurin Province. All of it was fall out from me pinning the me for my destruction of the Fire Bird sect on the Silver Leaf n. A bonehead move in hindsight and one that I was now desperate to make up for. I still didn¡¯t know how they truly felt about it all. But they seemed to be keeping the peace for Fia¡¯s sake. ¡°We¡¯ll stop by your parents on our way up to the sky port,¡± I said, hoping to buy us some more time to collect my thoughts. ¡°We¡¯ll say goodbye to everyone else until then.¡± * * * My departing skiff to the starship hovering in orbit somewhere high above was in thete afternoon. Still being early morning, it gave me ample time to double check my belongings and ensure I had everything I would need for my trip across the stars. Besides a few sets of robes there actually wasn¡¯t much else to take. I¡¯d already memorized my cultivation manuals as well as the shuras from Threja¡¯s sword, who I now knew as Venja. If anything, I wished I could have brought her along for the trip, if only to have some decentpany the entire time. But she was still needed to protect the bunker out in the wild. I¡¯d destroyed the cosmic gate that linked the demons of the Bloodmoon to the Earth, but there were still normal demons on the surface to defend against and not to mention what else could transpire while I was gone. I wrapped my non-sentient version of Venja¡ªmy homemade Phnx ive¡ªin cloth for my travels instead. I slung it on my back along with my axe and prepared to start my journey. ¡°All ready?¡± Fia asked as she waited for me just outside what would one day be ¡®our¡¯ apartment upon my return. I nodded and closed the door. ¡°Let¡¯s go say goodbye.¡± * * * Everyone in the square had gathered for me and I could barely hold back the tears that tugged on my eyes as they all presented me with small gifts to fill my half-empty duffle bag. Yu Li was crying by the time she finished hugging me, which seemed tost for an hour. ¡°You don¡¯t be stupid out there, you hear me?¡± she said, wiping her eyes. ¡°You make sure youe home.¡± ¡°I will, Yu Li,¡± I said and then reaching down I lifted the not so little Su Ling into my arms as well. ¡°Uncle will be back soon, okay?¡± The little girl rested her head against my chest sweetly. ¡°Okie¡­ unkie Max.¡± My heart melted just a little bit more as I kissed her on the forehead. Gui Zu stepped in next with an almighty hug, the big man squeezing me hard as he pped me on the back. ¡°You don¡¯t worry about a thing, brother. Jian Yi and I have everything under control. You just focus on your studies¡­and staying alive.¡± I chucked at thest part, even though it wasn¡¯t a joke. ¡°Thanks, Gui Zu. I appreciate it, man.¡± Jian Yi, in her formal barrister robes approached me next. ¡°The day has finallye,¡± she said with a bow and then presented me with a small envelope held in both hands. ¡°Your travel and identification documents, safely saved as promised.¡± As soon as I¡¯d received the formal invitation letter and transit pass from the Du Gok Bhong Legionnaire Academy, I¡¯d asked Jian Yi to hold them for me. I didn¡¯t trust myself not to lose something so important over the five-months of waiting for the Academy¡¯s intake tomence. But now that day was finally here. ¡°Thank you, Jian Yi,¡± I said epting them with a bow and then forced her to give me a hug, which she epted warmly despite not having the natural inclination to initiate one on her own. As she stepped back, I looked for the next two members of my inner circle, Zu Tien and Kelsey. They both now wore small pins on their robes that signified them as Second Vice Wardens of the Terran Sect, serving under Gui Zu. Zu Tien fell to her knees in a kowtow, pressing her head against the ground. ¡°My very best wishes for your sess, Sect Leader,¡± she said. ¡°May you return to us strong and whole.¡± ¡°Thanks, Zu Tien,¡± I said acknowledging her bow with one of my own. When I looked to Kelsey, all she gave me was a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t expect me to bow to you like that,¡± she said in English. ¡°But I will give you one of these.¡± She grabbed me about the waist and lifted me off the ground in a bear hug that gave Gui Zu a run for his money. I couldn¡¯t hold back myugh as she set me back down again and I bopped her yfully on the jaw as she grinned from ear to ear. ¡°I¡¯m going to miss your punk-ass,¡± I said to her in English as well and then gave her a proper hug, squeezing her tight. ¡°You remember to check back on the bunker every couple of weeks, okay? You¡¯re their warden now.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± she said. ¡°And you don¡¯t need to remind me. My mom and Colonel Harris have me on a tight schedule of supply runs. We¡¯ll be looking to build out the vige proper this summer on the surface. Hopefully by the time youe back it¡¯ll look like this ce out there.¡± I smiled at that, envisioning the people of the bunker finally being able to live outside and free. ¡°Nice. And remember to not get too carried away when you¡¯re back here either. Listen to Gui Zu and Jian Yi. They¡¯ll keep you out of trouble.¡± She mmed a fist into her palm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll save my Frenzy for the demons.¡± I stepped back and marveled at her for a moment. Kelsey was still young, a blonde-haired teenager with a face to match, but with the body of a mini berserker now. She was a Low-Tier Core Realm Cultivator, well equipped to protect the bunker and even the people here in my absence. Although when it came to being in the city, she¡¯d have to rely on her fighting skills more than her raw power. Like me, she would need to grow her reputation first or risk being called out as a demonic cultivator¡­or worse, what she truly was, a Berserker. ¡°No beasting out in the city,¡± I reminded her. ¡°And join up for the wooden bracket tournament as soon as it opens. Rank up to Iron as soon as you can afterwards. But don¡¯t go hog wild on people weaker than you. You¡¯ll draw too much attention.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll try not to break any of your records too.¡± I gave her another grin as she winked. ¡°You go kick ass, Little Sis.¡± ¡°You too, Big Bro.¡± I finally turned to the rest of the crowd that had gathered together and received bows and well wishes from each of them. When we were finally done it felt like nearly an hour had passed. Finally, Yu Li stepped next to Fia and bumped hips with her as she held Su Ling. ¡°And don¡¯t you worry about her either, Max,¡± Yu Li said to me while grinning at Fia. ¡°We¡¯ll all take good care of Autie Fia while you¡¯re gone.¡± Everyoneughed at that and Fia blushed while shaking her head with a smile. It warmed my heart to see how warm their rtionship had grown in just a few months, but I suppose Fia being Su Ling¡¯s actual blood aunt was a good reason for that. Even now, Fia visited daily to give Su Ling her first lessons in cultivation and the basics of the Silver Leaf n martial arts. ¡°Thank you, Yu Li,¡± Fia said hugging her. ¡°You know I¡¯m going to need quite a few of these when those lonely days take hold.¡± ¡°We got you, my Lady,¡± Gui Zu said warmly, caressing Fia on the back. Fia wiped a small tear from her eye as she choked back a sob with augh. ¡°Thank you, Gui Zu.¡± She then looked up at me. ¡°Well, onest stop. Are you ready?¡± As I¡¯ll ever be, I wanted to say, but stifled that with a cheery smile and a nod. ¡°We saved the best forst,¡± I said, which made Fia smile. It was time to go see Mom and Dad. Book 3: Chapter 2 Master Hei Dong sighed heavily as the small groups of cultivators milled about the courtyard of the Dong Family Estate with a mixture of haughtiness and indifference. He had transformed the ce overnight, creating small pedestals by covering stools and tables with white cloth and then adorning them with some of his most prized collectables from the Dong Family arsenal. Fine jian des made of Aurorian-alloyed steel, spirit-stone-encrusted talismans and even armor pieces for more ceremonial events, decorated thendscape, turning his private home into a gallery of fine arts and martial craft. Hei Dong had advertised the open house as a charity event, giving his neighbors and friends a rare opportunity to obtain wares that would normally never be for sale. Sadly, the charity in this case was for his very own family now. He put on a smile as he helped an offworld cultivator assess the worth of a spear that had taken him nearly a year to forge. As a master smith it was easy to embellish the story of not only its creation, but the history of every specific ingredient that led to itsposition, like its shaft being hewn from a 5000 year old demonic tree as to why it was worth so many spirit stones. Sadly, she still didn¡¯t buy it. Curse my fate, he thought. The process of selling his belongings was a painful one. Ironic almost. There were days not long ago when he would have longed to do just this. Return to his first love as an artisan cultivator and enjoy his days haggling with customers about the best price for his wares. But that was when his position as Vice Warden consumed his time with administration and bureaucratic toil. Going back to his roots had been a wee escape or daydream from the everyday pressures of being the second inmand of the entire province.But now, it had be his nightmare of shame. If his neighbors only knew that he needed every spirit stone of this sale just to maintain his household for another month, then he would suffer a loss of face even greater than what he had lost already. Even now, he could sense the subtle disdain they held for him when looking over his fine works. Had this been a year ago, the heights of royalty would have flocked to merely attend such an event and cherish the rare opportunity to bid on a weapon created by the renowned Vice Warden and Artisan, Master Hei Dong of the Silver Leaf n. Now they scorned him, the rumors of his failure so worn through that even to mention them had fallen out of vogue. Hei Dong was now bing something even worse than scorned and ridiculed. He was bing¡­insignificant. The cheery call of his wife¡¯s voice broke him out of his spiraling thoughts, and he looked up to see the simultaneous cause and cure for all his misfortune. Max Chun. The man dwarfed his daughter like a giant, his robes barely able to contain his hulking form. Just to look at him caused an ire of conflict to fill his soul. Chun¡¯s power and skills as a martial cultivator were undeniable¡ªhis progression far more than should be possible for a man his age. Yet here he stood, a Terran native, barely two decades old who had defeated his longtime rival and enemy, Lo Feng. His martial prowess had caught the attention of not only his daughter, but even the princess herself. The man was a prodigy. Or so the rumor mill was churning about him. He was a doubled-edged sword in that regard. For Hei Dong anyway. His infamy now added to Hei Dong¡¯s own disgrace and obsolescence. His actions had caused Hei Dong his position, yet they had also saved his wife and daughter from certain death. A daughter who now loved him. And in truth, there was not much Hei Dong could say against the man¡¯s character. A handsome brute of simple ways and thoughts. A good bnce to his daughter perhaps, who followed in his footsteps of wisdom and cunning. Still, it now shamed him, that this man was now of greater status than he. His wife Rhi Dong did not seem to mind or care. Since the crippling of her Dantian, she seemed to have thrown herself into her new-found role as a grandmother. Hein¡¯s illegitimate daughter Su Ling, who despite adding to his family¡¯s growing shame, was now the apple of his wife¡¯s eye and even his own at times. So conflicted, he thought. He should hate this man Max Chun for everything thing he had done to bring shame into his family. The petitioning of his daughter¡¯s hand in marriage, the challenging of the Warden which had caused Hei Dong to lose his position and even the nting of that quill, which had caused Hei Dong to waste half his family¡¯s fortune on a Grand Sage that did nothing except prove his daughter guilty. The thought of it all caused more ire to build in his stomach. Max Chun had caused everything. Yet he did also save his family and destroy one of his greatest enemies. More than that, Hei Dong himself could respect the man¡¯s ambition and power. To boldly challenge the Legionnaire Academy was no small feat. And yet here he stood at the precipice, about to depart on a journey across the stars. Perhaps fate would resolve his conflict by never having to see the man again, Hei Dong thought. It was a wishful notion. But one that would devastate his daughter and perhaps even his wife now. Hei Dong sighed. Like it or not, this man of simultaneous destruction and salvation was joined to his family in more ways than one and Hei Dong would have to endure him for who knew how long now. So conflicted, he thought again. So conflicted. * * * As I approached Master Hei Dong, I could sense a mixture of hatred and lemonade within his soul. A rarebination and one that did anything but put me at ease as I stood face to face with the artisan cultivator who would one day be my father-inw. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Despite the anger inside him, his face maintained a perfect and practiced smile as Fia and I bowed before him. ¡°Greetings, father,¡± Fia said. ¡°Max is on his way to the sky port now. He wanted to pay his respects.¡± I stood stiffly and then performed a deep bow. ¡°This One is honored to have been made part of your family, Master Hei Dong. I will do my best to return home a champion and to provide for your daughter a home befitting one such as her and akin to the one you yourself have created.¡± I¡¯d been working at that little speech all night, but it elicited nothing more than a polite smile from Master Hei Dong. ¡°I wish you well,¡± he said. ¡°For my daughter¡¯s sake.¡± The words felt like ice, even though they were spoken with a smile. It seemed to fool Fia and her mother though, who both grinned and nodded in return. ¡°You muste back swiftly,¡± Lady Silver Moon said. ¡°My daughter would not do well to wait as long as I did to start a family.¡± Fia blushed andughed but didn¡¯t disagree with her either. Hei Dong let out a harrumph. ¡°My lovely wife. Always getting ahead of herself.¡± Iughed but was eager to change the topic of conversation. ¡°The sale seems to be going well,¡± I said looking about. ¡°A lot of customers, it looks like.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It is a sale. Nothing more.¡± An odd and ufortable silence fell as he said nothing else. I didn¡¯t know what else to say either. ¡°I¡¯ll be happy to be rid of some of this junk,¡± Lady Silver moon said. ¡°It¡¯s cluttered our lives for far too long. Decades even.¡± Her words broke the tension with a smallugh, but Fia had already told me why Master Hei Dong was holding the sale. The family finances were not in good shape. Again, mostly due to me. I felt guilty as hell for Master Hei Dong losing his position by me challenging the Warden, but I didn¡¯t know how to even broach the topic with him, or even if I should. It was clear his pride was wounded and pandering to him would probably only make him hate me more. My first taste of that came from when I had offered to share some of the gains from the Fire Bird¡¯s coffers with him. Hei Dong had grown silent at the offer, but I could sense an anger burning within him. He responded with a polite decline, but I knew I had offended him greatly. Still, I didn¡¯t want toe across as some insensitive asshole either, oblivious to his plight. I still didn¡¯t know Master Hei Dong very well, but he was Fia¡¯s father and she adored him. I needed to make some effort to foster a real rtionship between us. I thought I¡¯d mmed a home run with him, at first. He had epted my proposal to marry Fia with little hesitation after I defeated Lo Feng, but now perhaps, after losing his position and with the luster of me saving his family wearing off, he was beginning to resent me. Or so I feared. ¡°Things will get better when I return,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll put everything right.¡± I left it as open and nondescript as that, hoping to im some responsibility for what I¡¯d done. ¡°Oh?¡± he said. ¡°Will you now?¡± He chuckled and ced his hands behind his back. ¡°I suppose we shall see.¡± The barrier between us felt like ice again, but I decided to let it drop. I gave him a final bow and gave one to Fia¡¯s mother as well. She at least pulled me into an embrace. ¡°May the fates of the heavens be with you,¡± she said. We finally departed giving them both a wave and headed out of the courtyard. ¡°Man,¡± I said once we were out of earshot. ¡°Your dad really hates me.¡± ¡°What?¡± Fia said sounding surprised. ¡°That¡¯s not true. You impress him immensely, I¡¯m sure of it.¡± I nced back to see Master Hei Dong still staring at me or perhaps ring was more urate. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t sense his inner spirit like I can,¡± I said turning back around. ¡°Trust me, there¡¯s more hate than lemonade in there.¡± ¡°More hate than what?¡± ¡°Nevermind,¡± I said. I really didn¡¯t need to dwell on this negativity. Not before leaving. I had millions of miles to travel and unknown trials to face after that. Myst moments with Fia had to be ones I could cherish notment over. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right,¡± I lied. ¡°I guess I¡¯m just reading into things.¡± Fia smiled, happy again. ¡°Let¡¯s get you to the sky port. The skiff will be arriving soon.¡± As we headed for the upper levels of the Imperial City, I took onest nce back towards Master Hei Dong as he catered to the would-be buyers in his courtyard. A sad sight. He was a man broken. A man that I had broken. And I needed to make amends. It was clear I couldn¡¯t have a conversation about it though. It was just something I would need to do. I added one more item to my list of reasons I could not fail. I needed to return victorious not just to be Warden and marry Fia. I needed the power to restore the honor of Master Hei Dong as well. * * * The rays of the afternoon sun filtered down between the crisscrossing walkways of the upper city like beams of light from heaven. As Fia and I rode the lift skyward to the topmost part of the giant pagoda, I was treated to yet another fabulous view, that of the iceberg-sized crystal that was the true heart of the floating city. The massive aetherite crystal hovered in the center of the various walkways, connected to the superstructure of the pagoda by them and other frameworks of stone and gleaming steel. The golden-hued crystal not only provided the protective barrier that kept the populous safe from the Bloodmoon, but also the energy to keep the entire city afloat and even propel it across space to the distant stars. It was hard to believe but the entire city was actually a starship, simr to one that I would soon be travelling upon, presumably. ¡°It¡¯s kind of crazy,¡± I said marveling at it. ¡°In my world, only a lucky few ever experienced travelling in space. Now I¡¯m about to go further than any Terran has ever been.¡± Fia smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not something I would relish to do often. It took us close to two years to travel here from the core worlds.¡± ¡°Two years?¡± I had no idea it¡¯d taken so long, but I guess to move something so massive took time. ¡°It was stifling even for being in a city thisrge,¡± she said. ¡°But fear not. I believe your transport will be much swifter.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I hope so.¡± Nerves and excitement filled me the more I thought of it. For five month¡¯s I¡¯d been preparing for this but now I was truly about to embark into the unknown. We reached the upper most level of the city and was greeted by nothing but wide-open sky. The Jurin City sky port lived up to every bit of its name in that regard. A strong and steady wind blew across the deck, throwing about our robes as we made our way across the t surface where several skiffs were parked. The one I was headed for was obvious, being three times the size of the others and covered by a translucent canopy the size of a bus. But as we got closer, I saw there was a small contingent of people waiting for me as well. I recognized the sect immediately from their billowing ck and silver robes. Members of the Silver Leaf n, but when I got close enough to see their faces it caused both Fia and I to pause. The ageless face of the Warden herself, the Lady Silver Tear, deigned to crack a smile as we approached, but her presence wasn¡¯t what truly surprised me. Next to her were three women I recognized immediately, primarily because they all looked the same. They could pass for being sisters with Lady Silver Tear, with long silver hair and faces looking close to her in age, although truthfully they were but a fraction of the Lady Silver Tear¡¯s 200 years. ¡°What the hell are the bird sister doing here?¡± Fia whispered to me, as confused as I was about their presence. The three bird sisters, the Lady Silver Hawk, Silver Dove and Silver Sparrow were named so for obvious reasons, but also due to the fact that they were triplets who ruled the Iron Bracket tournament¡­or at least had been until I put an end to their reign six months ago. Even now I could sense a building hate and anger inside the three of them, especially from the Lady Silver Hawk whom I had punished in the ring for trying to impersonate her younger sister Wi Shen. Fia and I stopped short and performed dutiful bows to the four of them. ¡°Greetings Sect Leader,¡± Fia said falling to one knee. ¡°This One did not expect to see you here.¡± ¡°I believe it is only fitting that I see my challenger off in good fortune,¡± Lady Silver Tear said, throwing a sideward nce at me. ¡°I would not want to be used of being fearful to face him upon his return.¡± I gave her a halfhearted bow. ¡°You¡¯re too kind, Lady Silver Tear.¡± ¡°And dear cousins,¡± Fia said, turning to the bird sisters to give them a bow as well. ¡°I see you have joined as well for some reason?¡± ¡°Why should they not be here?¡± the Lady silver Tear said. ¡°Is it not their station to be by my side?¡± Fia squinted her eyes confused and so did I. The sisters leered at us while the Warden let out augh. ¡°Apologies,¡± she said. ¡°This One forgets that she is still yet to make an official announcement. Be honored then that you are the of the very first to hear the news.¡± ¡°What news?¡± I asked. ¡°Allow me to introduce you to your father¡¯s sessors, Lady Silver Light,¡± the Warden said as my mind did a double take. ¡°You may each now pay your respects. The Lady Silver Hawk, Silver Dove and Silver Sparrow are now your three new Vice Wardens of Jurin Province.¡± Book 3: Chapter 3 You¡¯ve got to be shitting me, I thought as my mouth hung open. Fia had much the same reaction, staring deadpan at her three older cousins as they grinned like idiots. And idiots they were, as far as I could remember. What the hell was the Warden thinking? I hid my reaction with [Indifference] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] but couldn¡¯t pass up the opportunity to express how I truly felt about the matter. ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°Was their level ofpetence so far below Master Hei Dong¡¯s that you had hire all three of them to make up for it?¡± Fia let loose a startledugh, clearly taken off guard by my off-handedment but then cut it short immediately, struggling to maintainposure in front of her cousins and sect leader. The three bird sisters were¡ªnot surprisingly¡ªa bit slower on the uptake and reacted with dyed scowls and sneers. ¡°How dare you!¡± ¡°You think you can openly disrespect us like that?¡± ¡°We are Vice Wardens now! You must respect us!¡±I raised my hands in surrender. ¡°Hey take it easy. Just wanted to know what my taxes were going towards, is all.¡± ¡°I should kill you where you stand for that remark,¡± one of them said, taking a step forward. ¡°You have insulted not just a royaldy but a high official of the imperial throne!¡± I still couldn¡¯t tell them all apart, but by her bravado I figured she had to be Lady Silver Hawk, the seemingly oldest of the three. Or whom they deferred to like an older sister anyway. ¡°Look Wi Shen, or are you Silver Hawk? I can never tell you two apart. Anyway, there¡¯s nothing to be gained here. Just take it easy.¡± I grinned at her, reminding her that I knew her secret of when she impersonated her younger sister in the ring. Her insides boiled with anger and indignation, but she didn¡¯t say anything else. Dumbasses indeed, I concluded and then cultivated her impotent anger to add fresh Frenzy to my growing Dantian. The Warden herself then stepped forward, ahead of her nieces. ¡°You should count yourself lucky that this is yourst day in my city, Iron Bull. For make no mistake, every stray word from that loose tongue of yours will held to ount one day.¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯s a good thing I haven¡¯t vited anyws then,¡± I said, matching her gaze and my heart began to pound. I still couldn¡¯t believe I was standing this so close to her. The Lady Silver Tear, the ice-cold bitch who had left my parents and sister for dead. The woman I had vowed to destroy from the time I was eight years old. The thought surged through my mind, tapping into the root of my Dao. But I would have to wait. As strong as I was, she was a Diamond Bracket contender and a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator to boot. A full realm above where I stood right now. I would need to take every advantage the training at the Legionnaire¡¯s Academy would afford me, not only for my imperial status, but to gain the cultivation strength and fighting skills I would need to defeat the warden as well. The Lady Silver Tear smirked. ¡°Still clever but not very wise.¡± I raised a brow, trying to figure what the hell she meant by that, but then her eyes shifted towards Fia. ¡°Lady Silver Light,¡± she said and then paused. ¡°Or perhaps I will begin to refer to you as your new title now¡­Fia Dong, the betrothed of the Iron Bull.¡± Despite the disparaging remark, Fia bowed to her with respect. ¡°Yes, honorable warden?¡± ¡°You would do well to know that I have tasked my new vice wardens to review the regtions surrounding the Terran popce in the Native Housing District and to ensure the enforcement of the same. As you are soon to enter into that sect, I thought you should know in advance that reform is swiftly on its way.¡± Ire stirred in my gut. Was she actually going to let those three boneheads loose on my people? I was just about to say something when she continued ahead of me. ¡°I have also heard rumor of your father engaging in some sort ofmerce within his private home. I will of course ensure that one of my Vice Wardens visits him personally to ensure he has the proper license to conduct such business.¡± My ire turned to outright rage as her gamen became clear. She wasn¡¯t just targeting me and my people. She was gunning for Fia and her family as well. The thought brought on a new sense of oppression and control. A control I wished I had to power to eliminate with a stroke of my de, but I just didn¡¯t have the strength or status to deal with it now. Curse this damn bitch, I thought. She had probably dragged her ass and that of her three ipetent nieces up here just to bbor the point right before I would depart. A farewell that would make it clear that all would not be well while I was away from home. Damn cultivator society maniption at its best. I could sense the subtle fear in Fia¡¯s soul as she no doubt saw the gamen for herself. But I wouldn¡¯t give them the satisfaction of a win. I steeled myself with [Indifference] and gave a cheery smile. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Good to hear it,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s about time the Warden¡¯s office paid some attention to the Native Housing District. I¡¯m sure my sect would wee any change toe and adapt ordingly.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope they do,¡± Lady Silver Tear said. ¡°The punishment for disobeying Imperialw is quite steep.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be one to know,¡± I said without missing a beat. ¡°The Princess herself called you out on your own infraction, didn¡¯t she?¡± I gave her a shit-eating grin and her insides surged with rage. ¡°You insolent little cur!¡± she shouted, finally losing herposure. ¡°I hope you do seed in surviving the academy and return here so that I can kill you with my own hands. I will make you pay for every stray word that filthy mouth of yours as uttered.¡± Her eyes then shifted to Fia as she gave a leer. ¡°But not before I make you suffer the loss of everything you hold dear.¡± My hand was on my axe before I knew it, brandishing it before her face. The move was so sudden that the three bird sisters let out a gasp along with Fia, but to the Warden¡¯s credit she didn¡¯t flinch at all and merely held her stare. ¡°Oh? Am I the one to have finally struck a nerve now?¡± she said. Damn bitch¡­ ¡°You even think about doing something to her and I¡¯ll make sure even your ancestors will feel wrath, you got me?¡± The Demon surged within me as my me roared, the outright threat begging me to have our duel right here and now. But luckily the Struggler was also at the controls, easing me back from what would be a disastrous error in judgement. ¡°Bold words,¡± she said. ¡°We will see how much of that bravado is left if you ever do return. Odds are that you won¡¯t however.¡± ¡°I work best when the [Odds are Against Me], bi¡ª!¡± ¡°Greetings all.¡± The interruption came from a gentle voice I didn¡¯t recognize and I paused to see a petite woman in imperial robes addressing all of us. She was in looking, short hair, not a martial cultivator by any means, but she had a gold and jade pin on her robes that looked very official. ¡°A thousand apologies for the interruption,¡± the woman said. ¡°This One is Ling Wei, personal aide to her royal majesty, Third Princess Lunh. I havee to escort you Master Iron Bull to the transport vessel now waiting in orbit for departure.¡± Holy crap, I thought, lowering my axe. Talk about being saved by the bell. The Warden and herckeys gave the woman swift bows, clearly recognizing who she was and-or the authority she represented perhaps. I followed suit as did Fia. ¡°It seems we will have to continue this conversationter,¡± the Warden said. ¡°Or perhaps not at all. Farewell Iron Bull.¡± She spun on heels and dragged her threecky nieces with her. It took all my wherewithal to not just toss my axe into the back of her head. ¡°You must be the Lady Silver Light,¡± the woman Ling Wei said, giving Fia a separate bow. ¡°You are as beautiful as the reports im.¡± She then smiled at me. ¡°I see why the Iron Bull has fought so hard to wed you.¡± Her statement took us both by surprise and Fia blushed with augh. ¡°Why, thank you. You are too kind.¡± The woman merely smiled but with a confidence that betrayed both her station and stature. She was clearly one used to dealing with people of authority and being aide to the princess, it made sense. ¡°We must be away quickly, Master Iron Bull. I will leave you some privacy to have your final farewell with your betrothed.¡± With that she left and headed for the waiting skiff. ¡°Wow,¡± I said looking back at the woman. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect an escort.¡± ¡°Max, what just happened?¡± Fia said. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like I want you to go at all now.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Scare tactics is all.¡± But deep down I didn¡¯t feel toofortable either. I suspected the Warden would have liked nothing more than to make my time away from home be hell by threatening Fia and even my n, but surely she wouldn¡¯t oppose the authority of the Princess to do so. No, it had to be mind games she was ying at. ¡°If she were going to do anything for real, why tell us?¡± I said. ¡°She¡¯s doing this to get inside my head. Inside both of our heads. Just to get a rise out of us.¡± ¡°Yes, but she has still made Wi Shen and her sisters Vice Wardens now,¡± Fia said. ¡°Even that is an afront to my father¡¯s legacy. She¡¯s seeking to destroy him and not to mention what the three of them might do to the sect.¡± That part I couldn¡¯t really argue with. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re bound to wreak havoc back home. Shit. Wish I could get Jian Yi in on this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Fia said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell her. The Terran sect is our sect, remember? I¡¯m as much a part of it as I am the daughter of Master Hei Dong. I¡¯ll take care of both of our families while you are gone, Max. Don¡¯t worry about a thing.¡± A warmth filled my heart as her courage took center stage. ¡°I keep forgetting you¡¯re an absolute badass sometimes,¡± I said, caressing her cheek with a smile. ¡°What the hell am I worried about? You can mop the floor with all three of those birdbrained bitches and then some.¡± Fia let out another surprisedugh. ¡°I swear, only you coulde up with such colorful insults, Max.¡± I pulled her into an embrace and felt my own emotions slip as I realized this might be thest time I ever held her. I pushed it away and tried to focus on the positives. Fia was strong. She could take care of herself and our n. And as much as I now wanted to stay behind to be assured of that, I¡¯d have to trust her and have faith that she would be alright. ¡°I miss you already,¡± I said and heard her choke back some tears. ¡°Don¡¯t take big risks, okay?¡± she said. ¡°Just do enough to get back here alive. Promise me, please?¡± She pulled away and looked up at me with tearful eyes. No way would my path allow me to take the easy road with anything, but for the sake of easing her fears, I lied. ¡°No big risks¡­got it.¡± ¡°I love you, Max,¡± she said and then with a flick of her hand produced a silver quill in her palm. ¡°Read it once you¡¯re on the transport. Not before. Promise me.¡± ¡°I will,¡± I said. ¡°And I promise I won¡¯t lose it this time either.¡± She rolled her eyes and shook her head. ¡°What? Too soon to make a joke about it?¡± ¡°You¡¯re insufferable.¡± I let out augh. ¡°I love you, Fia. Thank you for everything.¡± We kissed and embraced again, staying like that for what felt like an hour. ¡°I¡¯ll write,¡± I said once we finally pulled apart. She smiled. ¡°You¡¯d better.¡± I couldn¡¯t keep my eyes off her as I walked away nearly backwards, waving as she blew me kisses from afar. When I finally did turn about, I found I had already reached the domed skiff with the small figure of Ling Wei standing outside. ¡°All set?¡± she asked. I blew out a sigh. ¡°As I¡¯ll ever be, I guess.¡± ¡°Let us hurry onboard then,¡± she said walking ahead of me. ¡°The trip into orbit will not take long, but I have much to discuss with you on the way up.¡± * * * Fia watched the skiff grow smaller and smaller in the distance until it finally fell out of view. And with it her countenance fell as well. There it was, she thought. He was actually gone. A shudder of uneasiness ran through her as the reality hit and the weight of the world fell on her shoulders. Three long years and who knew what else nowy ahead of her thanks to her Great Aunt and her cousins Wi, Fi and Di Shen. But more than that, it was simply the thought of not having Max by her side that caused her soul to grieve. It was far too soon to start missing him, she knew, but she couldn¡¯t control her heart. ¡°I¡¯ll stay strong for you, Max,¡± Fia whispered like a prayer. ¡°I¡¯ll protect our home. I¡¯ll make sure it¡¯s one you are proud toe back to.¡± Just pleasee back. She didn¡¯t have the courage to say thest part out loud. Deep down she had faith that not even the fates of heaven could keep them apart. But nothing was promised. A pang of guilt touched her soul. She pushed it away. She would still do her part, she would stay strong¡­but for them to be together again, it would be all up to max now. And fate. ¡°Forgive me, Max,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m just not sure¡­¡± And with an uneasy heart, Fia turned and left the sky port. Book 3: Chapter 4 The trip into orbit was as fast as Ling Wei promised. Already I could see the brilliance of the imperial city quickly disappearing below a nket of low-lying clouds as the vessel soared skywards, its body maintainingpletely horizontal as it rose vertically. Oddly, I didn¡¯t feel much G-force from the rapid ascent at all, the effect perhaps damped somehow by the Qi-stones that simultaneously kept the ship afloat and gave us thrust. Perhaps they were akin to the aetherite crystal in the city. Or even made of aetherite themselves. I held on to Fia¡¯s quill, feeling the string of characters inscribed on its surface. I was desperate to read them, but I would respect her wishes and read them only when on the transport. Not to mention that it felt like she had written more than just a couple of words this time, the character feeling numerous and smaller than usual. I tucked the quill away and treated it as a surprise to be savored forter. I watched the city continue to grow smaller, my eyes straining to somehow still see Fia on deck waving to me. When the city finally fell out of view, my mindset shifted. It was just me now. My family and friends were far below and counting on my return and I would have put on my game face the entire time to survive. I treated it like a match in the arena in my mind. Earth was the locker room and I was now on my way to the ring. I didn¡¯t know what challengers awaited me there, but like any match there was no prize for losing. I had to win no matter what. ¡°Would you not feel morefortable sitting?¡± Ling Wei said.It was only then that I realized that I¡¯d been standing the entire time in a skiff full of plush couches. I took a seat opposite Ling Wei and she almost ceremoniously presented me with an envelope adorned with the royal seal. ¡°A personal message from her majesty,¡± Ling Wei said. I raised a brow. ¡°Should I read it?¡± ¡°You may,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But it is perhaps best if we spoke first. Its content may have far more relevance then.¡± My curiosity was piqued at that. ¡°Yeah, you said you had much to discuss, right?¡± ¡°Indeed I do, Master Iron Bull. How familiar are you with the tradition of sending tributes to the Legionnaire Academy?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I know its to battle the scourge of the Cursed Stars, right?¡± ¡°Oh yes,¡± she said. ¡°That too of course.¡± That too? What the hell did she mean? She must have caught the confused look on my face because she instantly smiled. ¡°I apologize. I speak more to the political nature of the tributes. It is a tradition millennia old and yes, its original purpose was to seek able-bodied cultivators to push back against the expanse of the Cursed Stars, but in the modern era this need has waned somewhat. The issue of tributes has far more economic and political significance now.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I said, waiting for more. I honestly couldn¡¯t care about the politics other than gaining my Diamond Bracket title, but it had to be important to the Princess for making the decision to send me. ¡°So what¡¯s the significance?¡± ¡°The lower courts of the empire isprised of the lesser houses that rule the core worlds,¡± she said. ¡°When the Great Soul Emperor expanded his domain, news came under the rule of the Yee Dynasty and their native inhabitants were offered as tributes to the academy to train and defend the borders of the core worlds from the scourge of the Cursed Stars. In return for this tribute, the Emperor offered favor from the core worlds to help solidify the status of the fledgling colonies. While thousands of years have passed and those newly colonized worlds have now advanced to the same level as the core worlds themselves, your world is still at that same fledging state. Older colonies are now nearly exempt from sending tributes. For them sending a tribute is more a ceremonial token now that they have evolved to the point of their native inhabitants being able to reach Lesser Deity Realm cultivation levels and even beyond if they are so lucky or talented to transition to the higher nes.¡± ¡°Lesser Deity realm? You mean they send demi-gods to this academy?¡± She chuckled. ¡°Heavens no. Such would be a waste of talent and ability. The loss of even a Lesser Deity Realm Cultivator is not unheard of on the Hell Worlds. There are forces there that suppress one¡¯s Qi and can make strength almost insignificant.¡± She had to be talking about Dark Frenzy, the true essence of that space god I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. And if the concentrations produced by the Cursed Stars was enough to affect even normal cultivators then who knew what it would do to me. But I at least had a defense now in my [Soul Shield] technique. The thought made me eager to go on my first tour and test it out. Who knows? I thought. Perhaps I could thrive on these Hell Worlds instead of merely survive. Images of when I traveled to that alternate dimension on the surface of the moon returned to my mind. Those giant demon hordes and the chained, gates crystals that seemed to connect the moon to other worlds. And not to mention the giant blue bitch who seemed in control of them all. I¡¯xan¡¯dra the Great Chain Maiden or some shit. There were great mysteries to be discovered on these Hell Worlds, but perhaps they were only important or even essible to a Berserker like me. One more reason to seed at the academy and head out on my first tour. If I was able to destroy the crystal that linked that gate in the second base from the Moon to the Earth, then perhaps I could somehow find the crystal that had spawned that massive gate on the moon as well. Maybe even destroy it if I could. Or at least figure out how all that crap was connected anyway. Then there was the connection between the Frenzied me and the Stars themselves. I still didn¡¯t know¡ª ¡°Master Iron Bull?¡± I suddenly realized I¡¯d been staring off into space consumed in my own thoughts. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. ¡°A lot on my mind, I guess. You were saying?¡± She smiled. ¡°Understandable. I was saying that numbers matter more than strength when ites to fighting on the Hell Worlds. Tours are sent in waves, with only a short time spent within each. It¡¯s why gaining tributes from the newer colonies are still necessary.¡± It sounded more like they needed to send the less valuable cannon fodder to me, but I wasn¡¯tining. Messed up system or not, it was still my ticket to gaining further insight into the unknown and not to mention gaining the imperial status I needed to stand up to the Warden and defend my people back home. Back home, I thought with a chuckle. I was a million miles away already in my mind. ¡°I see,¡± I said. ¡°So what ¡®favors¡¯ do we get as a for me being a tribute?¡± ¡°I¡¯m d you asked,¡± she said smiling again. ¡°As a first tribute, you will gain the Princess much honor in the eyes of her peers in the lower courts of the core world. But if you are sessful, it would be even more so.¡± This story has been uwfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°So me surviving is a big deal. Good to know. I¡¯ll do my best.¡± ¡°There is a bit more,¡± she said leaning closer. ¡°The gaining of status through the tributes is one still utilized by the core worlds, although mostly ceremonial as I said, but some are still sent.¡± ¡°I thought you said they were too important to risk like that.¡± ¡°Not to fight on the Hell Worlds but there are some royal houses that require such a system to¡­qualify their family members for certain martial brackets in short order. Not unlike the opportunity the Princess has made for you in that regard.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, I get it.¡± ¡°Further though, it would be quite the loss of face for one of the core world families to have their tribute fail at the academy, thus there are certain¡­provisions that can be made, to ensure one¡¯s sess.¡± What the hell was she talking about? ¡°You mean like cheating?¡± She chuckled. ¡°Such a word would cause much offense, Master Iron Bull. There are simply different levels of status within the world of tributes. The core worlds have a far different experience than those from newly seeded colonies like yourselves.¡± Newly seeded? More like newly conquered, I thought. But I wasn¡¯t going to cause a stink. The woman Ling Wei seemed nice enough thus far and she was just the messenger after all. ¡°The Princess has made such provisions to see that you too may be included in the numbers amongst the core word tributes,¡± Ling Wei said nodding to the envelope in my hand. ¡°If you¡¯ll ept the requirements of course.¡± ¡°What requirements?¡± ¡°It would be too obvious to request such favor directly,¡± she said. ¡°Especially for a new tribute such as yourself. But if you were to be identified as a potential future lord consort, then we believe arrangements could perhaps be made.¡± ¡°Potential future lord consort?¡± I scoffed at the title. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing really,¡± she said. ¡°A fanciful designation that merely recognizes your potential to perhaps one day marry into the royal family.¡± What the hell? ¡°Maybe you haven¡¯t heard but I¡¯m kind of engaged.¡± She bowed her head slightly. ¡°Of course, Master Iron Bull. This is meant as no disrespect to your impending union, it is merely recognition of your potential to one day be considered for such. You seem well on your way to establishing yourself within the Sacred Soul Realm. As such you would be regarded as near immortal, aging less than a day for a year. The lives of cultivators are long and varied. In a hundred years who knows? You may choose to take a second wife from the lineage of her majesty.¡± My stomach soured. ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m a one woman kind of guy.¡± ¡°Apologies,¡± she said with augh. ¡°This is all hypothetical, Master Iron Bull. Nomitment is truly required of you, save for on paper to convince the dean, of course.¡± ¡°The dean?¡± ¡°The president of the Academy,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°The High Marshall Tzu Li Zen. The princess herself has prepared an introduction of yourself to him in the capacity as a potential future lord consort to afford you the higher status while at the academy. Assuming you sign the documents.¡± She gestured to the envelope again and I opened it warily. Inside was another sealed envelope along with two other sheets of paper. One was a contract of some kind, filled with tiny script and legal characters that only Jian Yi would be able to understand. The second was a handwritten note that was penned with fine brush strokes. My dearest tribute, First, my praise and thanks for your great courage in epting this responsibility on behalf of myself and your people. The natives of Terra would do well to know that they are being represented by the Iron Bull. Your sess is important to me. For many reasons. Not least of which is the honor you will bring to me personally. It is for this reason that I too will extend a personal overture to you in the form of this contract to assume the role of a potential future lord consort. This status, while temporal, will afford you much grace at the academy to ensure your sess. Fear not in seeking how to repay me for this great offering of favor. With your sess there shall be ample future opportunities to show your gratitude. My best wishes for your safe return to me. Sincerely, Third Princess Lunh 257th heir to the Imperial Yee Dynasty I stared at the note perplexed. It was oddly personal in some parts and practically dripping with lemonade. I looked at the contract again and couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it. What in the actual hell was all this? It seemed to be a free pass through the academy at the expense of something I wasn¡¯t so sure about. ¡®Ample future opportunities to show your gratitude¡¯? I wasn¡¯t liking the sounds of that one bit. But even more so, no way in hell was I punking out like some bitch-ass high society cultivator and skipping ss just to earn a merit badge so ¡®mommy princess¡¯ could be proud. Yes, this was a means to an end in one sense, a way for me to gain status. But I wanted more than just that. I craved knowledge and true power. Things that only going through the academy itself and experiencing the Hell Worlds firsthand would bring. This was the path the Frenzied me had carved out for me and no way was I going to turn my back on it. Plus no way in hell was I going to let the princess put some diamond cord around my neck either. I tucked the contract and note back into the envelope and handed it back to Ling Wei. ¡°Please thank the princess for her generosity, but I won¡¯t be epting it.¡± Her eyes shed open with shock. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°You heard me,¡± I said with a dose of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯m not in this for the free win. I¡¯ll either survive or die, and if I do survive, you can bet your ass I¡¯m going to have skills and power to do it. Tell the princess the Iron Bull doesn¡¯t take short cuts when ites to progression.¡± She blinked at me perplexed, but inside I could sense a subtle hint of lemonade. I ignored it though and looked out the canopy instead. The blue horizon of the earth was nowid out like a mantle, juxtaposed against the ck backdrop of space and the stars. Ahead of us, I could see an enormous structure the shape and size of Egyptian pyramid that looked to be made of granite. My transport across the stars. ¡°You should perhaps reconsider,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°The conditions at the academy are not at all pleasant.¡± I stood, trying to get a better view of the transport. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not expecting the ritz.¡± ¡°The what?¡± she said. I chucked. ¡°Nevermind.¡± A huge door at the base of the pyramid opened and our vessel entered along with several otherrger skiffs that had joined from the surface. I was hesitant to disembark, not seeing any kind of airlock but I supposed there had to be some kind of barrier holding the air in ce. As I stepped off the skiff and into the darkened confines of the hangar, loud shouts and whistles assaulted my ears. The area was asrge as a football field, dimly lit with air that stunk of mold. Across from me, Enforcers and Imperial guards were herding a group of men and women dressed in dingy gray robes into separate groups. One of them, an older looking man, moved too slowly and received a double tap from an enforcer¡¯s bamboo rod to hurry him along. A broad chested man with olive robes and gray skin approached me aggressively. He was a sullied, the same race as Sumatra and Threja it seemed and a couple inches taller than I was even at my new and improved height. ¡°What the hell is this and who the hell are you?¡± he said and then looked past me to Ling Wei who was still standing in the doorway of the skiff. ¡°Is this your prisoner?¡± Prisoner? ¡°A thousand apologies,¡± Ling Wei said with a bow. ¡°This man is our tribute,pliments of the princess.¡± ¡°Tribute?¡± He let out augh. ¡°Just one? But I guess you are in the middle of nowhere. It¡¯s no wonder we got sent all the way out here for some random pickup.¡± He then looked down at me and grunted. ¡°Although I guess it wasn¡¯t so random, after all. Where are your documents?¡± I began digging in my duffle bag for the envelope Jian Yi had given me. ¡°They¡¯re here,¡± Ling Wei said and was about to hand him the princess¡¯s envelope when I quickly deflected it out of her hand. ¡°No this is them,¡± I said, ncing back at Ling Wei with a scowl. She withdrew but simply smiled and shrugged, as if to say, ¡®can¡¯t me me for trying¡¯. Presumptuousness little bitch, I thought. The guard nced through my documents before handing them back to me. ¡°Wait here. I¡¯ll get you a uniform. Don¡¯t want you getting confused for one of the inmates.¡± As he departed, I looked back at Ling Wei. ¡°Nice try, but I told you no.¡± ¡°I only had your best interest at heart,¡± she said. ¡°Forgive me.¡± ¡°Best interests? You sure about that?¡± I said looking at the prisoners being herded into the ship. ¡°The Princess offers me silver-tter treatment at the academy but can¡¯t afford to send me there on something better than a damn prison bus?¡± ¡°I do not know what a bus is,¡± she said. ¡°But you perhaps have the wrong idea of what the academy truly is.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean this is the proper transport to the Academy. It is how all tributes reach there.¡± My eyes narrowed as I grew more apprehensive. ¡°Du Gok Bhong is a former prison on the penile colony of Lung Zept. Although it is called an academy it still operates very much like a prison.¡± She then grinned and shed the envelope at me again. ¡°Are you certain you do not wish to reconsider?¡± As she grinned I saw the control of the princess leering through her. Damn bitch¡­ Just like this messed up society to try and railroad me into something I didn¡¯t want nor could fully understand just to give mefort and ease. To hell with all that. ¡°Tell the princess, I¡¯m good,¡± I said and collecting my belongings, I prepared to go find the guard for my new uniform. ¡°I¡¯d rather be a prisoner than a punk ass bitch.¡± I didn¡¯t wait around to see her reaction, but from behind all I could sense was anger and tiniest hint of lemonade. Book 3: Chapter 5 ¡°He declined?¡± Princess Lunh felt her insides heat with a mixture of embarrassment and rage as Ling Wei finished giving her report before her. The walls of her private office seemed to close in on her as the situation slipped from her control. But how? Why? ¡°What do you mean, he declined?¡± she demanded. ¡°Did you deliver the proposal as discussed?¡± Ling Wei bowed her head. ¡°I did, your majesty. I exined everything and even tried to force the matter and still he declined.¡± ¡°Forced?¡± Perhaps it was Ling Wei¡¯s fault. ¡°What do you mean forced? I told you not to stress the importance of the contract to him. It was supposed to be subtle!¡± ¡°I did not,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°I simply tried to pass on the invitation to the guards but still he refused.¡± This didn¡¯t make any sense, Lunh thought. ¡°How could he refuse such an offer?¡± she asked.How could he refuse ¡®her¡¯? She wanted to add, but she dared not reveal that much to Ling Wei. The pain of the Iron Bull¡¯s rejection was like a spear piercing her soul. Perhaps she had indeed gone too far with the contract, but she had masked it perfectly with the need for it being merely a formality that would lead to his sess. Why then did he reject her? Was her note too revealing? Not enough? Her soul writhed, tormented. ¡°What reason did he give?¡± she asked. ¡°Why did he refuse my offer?¡± ¡°It was a bit hard to understand, even for me,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But the Iron Bull said that he would rather be a prisoner than a ¡®punk ass bitch¡¯?¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the vition. Lunh blinked. ¡°A what?¡± ¡°I am still not certain what the words mean, a Terran expression perhaps, but from their connotation, I gather he meant coward.¡± ¡°Coward? He believes my offer of grace to be cowardice?¡± Her inside steamed a second time, but now with more anger than embarrassment. ¡°How could he equate my offer to that? Clearly Ling Wei you must have failed to deliver my offer properly! Did you focus on the contract too much?¡± ¡°This One tried her best, your majesty.¡± Ling Wei bowed her head again. ¡°And no, I barely focused on the contract at all. It seemed he viewed the notion of being ranked with the core world tributes as cheating.¡± ¡°He used me of cheating?¡± ¡°No, your majesty, I believe he felt the process would be cheating himself.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°He made ament akin to wanting to seed by his own means. I believe he wants to earn his sess through facing the hardships of both the academy and the hell worlds and growing stronger through them. And he did graciously decline your offer, by the way.¡± Lunh sighed inwardly with relief. The entire scenario shifted in her mind. The Iron Bull hadn¡¯t outright rejected her as she had first feared. He had merely rejected the path of ease. Perhaps she had been too brazen to bait her hook with something like this. But it was good to know why he had not bitten. It wasn¡¯t the hook that he saw, but rather he just didn¡¯t care for the bait. And looking back now, perhaps it was for the best. The thought that he wanted to seed on his own strength alone, kindling her desire for him even further. This was a true warrior. A man who valued strength above all. A man who could one day even dominate her own heart into submission. If fate would have it. ¡°Fetch me writing paper,¡± she said. ¡°I shall write to the Iron Bull again, praising him for passing my first test and rejecting the easy route to sess.¡± Ling Wei looked back at her oddly, as if to question her integrity, but one squint of her eyes and Ling Wei fell back into ce again. ¡°At once, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said and rose from her seat. As she left, Lunh sat back and smiled. Her true goal of getting the Iron Bull to sign the contract was not met, but it did serve its purpose in another way. She had nted the seed in his mind. The thought that he could one day be a royal consort to a princess. It was a seed that would germinate while he fought to gain both strength and power. And when his first option would tragically fall away, Lunh would naturally present herself as the second. Patience, she told herself again. Patience and restraint and the Iron Bull will be yours. Book 3: Chapter 6 I tugged on the too tight uniform as I followed the guard¡ªwhose name I learned was Jakra¡ªthrough the narrow metal corridors that made up the internals of the giant pyramid. If I¡¯d been hoping for a scenic trip through space, I would have been sorely disappointed. There wasn¡¯t so much as a porthole in sight for what I had seen of the ce thus far, the entire ship feeling more like the bunker back in the wild than anything else. ¡°What bracket and cultivation level are you?¡± Jakra asked as he led me through the maze of corridors. ¡°You¡¯re a tribute so I assume you¡¯re already Gold Bracket?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m gold,¡± I said, eyeing a group of convicts warily as we passed the bars of their cells. ¡°How many people are on this thing?¡± ¡°A couple thousand right now,¡± Jakra said. ¡°What cultivation level?¡± I raised a brow. ¡°Why¡¯s that important?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll determine which floor I ce you on,¡± he said looking over his shoulder at me. ¡°Need to be sure you¡¯re strong enough to deal with the inmates if ites to it.¡± I stopped short. ¡°What?¡± The big gray giant stopped as well to give me a grin. ¡°You didn¡¯t think this was a free ride, did you? The academy is a branch of His Imperial Majesty¡¯s Prisons. You wearing that uniform means you¡¯re officially one of us now.¡± He then nced at the convicts in the cells. ¡°In one capacity or another.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡±¡°We walk and talk,¡± he said taking off again. ¡°Need to get you situated so we can leave this mud ball of a rock you call home. Now what cultivation level are you?¡± I huffed out a sigh as I readjusted my duffle bag and weapons. ¡°Eight-tier Core Realm,¡± I said. ¡°Ah, good. We need someone for the upper levels. We have a Ninth-tier Core Realm cultivator up there. You¡¯re fitting in nicely already. What you say your name was again?¡± ¡°Iron Bull,¡± I said. ¡°You can call me Iron Bull.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Nice. Wee aboard the Xin Zhu, Iron Bull. Your serviced to His Imperial Majesty¡¯s Prisons starts today.¡± * * * We walked by more prison cells before ascending some stairs leading to the upper levels of the starship. On the way, we passed by the inner core and sure enough there was a glowing Aertherite crystal hovering in there. Jakra exined the basics of how everything on the ship worked. There was a small crew of ex-naval personnel turned prison guards who ran the actual ship and then about twenty guards and a hundred enforcers who supervised the prisoners. The bottom levels were for low level cultivators and mortals and were the bulk of the thousand or so prisoners onboard. Some of them I noted were wearing the same tribute uniform as me, save they were gray in color instead of ck and the word ¡®Tribute¡¯ was written in red characters instead of white. ¡°What¡¯s up with them?¡± I asked. ¡°They Tributes too?¡± ¡°Prisoner Tributes,¡± Jakra said. ¡°Not a volunteer like you. You keep your freedom. Those bastards are already condemned to die.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Theirs will make a few extra spirit stones from the imperial treasury for designating them as Tributes. An alternative to a death sentence or a life in prison. If they survive, they¡¯ll earn their freedom, but being this low down in the hold, they probably won¡¯tst their first day at Du Gok Bhong.¡± I looked back at them, a small group of perhaps thirty or so, men and women both. Most couldn¡¯t bother to even nce up at me, but a couple stared at me with wonder in their vacant eyes and lemonade in their souls. ¡°So I guess a volunteer like me is kind of rare?¡± ¡°From this far out from the core worlds, yes.¡± Jakra then chucked. ¡°Nearly a decade I¡¯ve been doing this and you¡¯re honestly the first volunteer I¡¯ve ever picked up from way out here.¡± I looked back at the doomed faces again. One of them, a thin man that looked in his forties with a short beard dared to give me a bow. I stopped and bowed back to him. It must have made his day because he gave me a huge smile and waved. ¡°Don¡¯t get too attached,¡± Jakra said, moving me along. ¡°Your post will be far from here.¡± We went up several more flights and stopped at a guard station where I surrendered my weapons to an Enforcer who ced them in a safe under lock and key. ¡°If anything happens, you¡¯ll be given your weapons back to deal with the situation,¡± Jakra said. ¡°Let me introduce you to your ward mate.¡± I followed Jakra into the cell block where there was only a dozen or so cells. All were empty and open save for one at the far end. ¡°You can pick any of these that you like,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯d advise you to pick one as far away from the inmate as possible¡­for your own sanity.¡± As we approached the inmate in question, I could see he had his back to us while seated in lotus position. He was a burly man, with a balding head and long, disheveled ck hair that hung to his midback. ¡°You got yourself a ward mate, Shen Liu,¡± Jakra said. ¡°Turn around so you can meet him.¡± The man didn¡¯t move and simply let out a chuckle. ¡°Damn you, Jakra. You can see I¡¯m mediating, can¡¯t you?¡± Jakra snorted. ¡°You still hoping for a breakthrough to the Sacred Soul Realm before we reach Lung Zept? Good luck.¡± The man Shen Liu thenughed and spun about on his ass, remaining in lotus position. ¡°That¡¯d be a miracle indeed. The Qi density of this is pure shit. Worse even than in space. Where the hell even are we now?¡± ¡°A called Terra,¡± Jakra said and then jerked his head towards me. ¡°His home world. This man is a Tribute. The Iron Bull, they call him. He¡¯ll be managing your ward for the next the two weeks until we reach Lung Zept.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the vition. The man, who looked in his fifties and kind of reminded me of Hong Feng, lowered his brows as he studied me. I stared right back at him and pumped the throttle with a bit of [Fear the me]. His eyes widened at that and then heughed again. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve got a pair of balls on you, don¡¯t you? How the hell you amass that much Qi on this shit hole?¡± His words irked me, but I held my countenance with [Indifference]. ¡°Careful, pal. This ¡®shit hole¡¯ happens to be my home.¡± ¡°My condolences then,¡± he said andughed again. ¡°Damn bumkin colonists.¡± Asshole, I thought. I looked to Jakra. ¡°So what do I need to do?¡± ¡°Keep both of you fed and make sure he doesn¡¯t get out.¡± Jakra tapped the bars with his bamboo rod. ¡°Make sure not to touch these either when the doors are closed. There¡¯s a disruptive current running through them. It¡¯ll scramble your Dantian and cripple you for a week. You remember that too, Shen Liu. Unless you want to scramble your Dantian as a form of penance.¡± The man grunted. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I value the use of my Dantian, else I would have broken out of here and ughtered all off you weeks ago.¡± ¡°Well good luck trying that now,¡± Jakra said. ¡°Got a Gold Bracket contender and Volunteer Tribute watching your ass. I¡¯m sure the Iron Bull here would relish the chance at somest-minute practice before he reaches Du Gok Bhong.¡± ¡°Why wait for me to escape?¡± Shen Liu said and narrowed his eyes at me. ¡°He could jump in here and we could fight it out right now.¡± Jakra snored. ¡°Don¡¯t tempt me.¡± I merely shook my head as Shen Liuughed. He then spun about again and slipped back into mediation. ¡°I prefer my meals hot, Iron Bull. Make sure you bring them on time.¡± I felt like kicking his ass straight through the bars, but I settled for the subtle bit of Frenzy the anger produced instead. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll make it hot alright. Where¡¯s the kitchen?¡± To my surprise there actually was one and I was designated to make the food as well. There was a set of Qi-stones that acted like a stove with a couple of iron pots, cooking utensil and bowls to eat from. Jakra pointed to some sacks on the floor and some y pots next to them. ¡°Rice and cured tofu,¡± Jakra said pointing to each of them in turn. He then handed me a small bottle. ¡°This is your ration of soy sauce for the voyage. You can give that bastard as little as your like.¡± ¡°Nice,¡± I said. ¡°And where do I eat?¡± He stared at me as if puzzled. ¡°This is the food for this ward. Including you.¡± I balked at that. ¡°You mean I got to eat this shit too?¡± Jakra shrugged. ¡°I hear the food at Du Gok Bhong ain¡¯t much better. I suggest get used to it.¡± ¡°Shit¡­¡± I said deted. I was all gung-ho for getting on with my journey but the details were certainly starting to suck ass. ¡°Like I said¡­¡± Jakra pointed to the bottle of soy sauce again. ¡°Give him as little as you like.¡± I looked back towards the cell block where Shen Liu was still trying to meditate. ¡°What¡¯s he in here for anyway? Do you know?¡± Jakra looked toward the cell block and grimaced. ¡°He used to be a Warden from one of the core worlds,¡± Jakra said. ¡°Or so I hear. Real connected to the Jianghu there and was running the back shop so to speak.¡± I immediately thought of Hong Feng. ¡°Yeah, I know the type.¡± ¡°Anyway, they used to call him ¡®little finger¡¯,¡± Jakra said. ¡°They say that was his favorite method of¡­enjoying the children they used to bring to him.¡± My stomach lurched, immediately sickened. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The ruling prince turned a blind eye to it for years since Shen Liu was pulling in so much money but then one day he couldn¡¯t keep his fingers to himself and touched the wrong little girl. A royal princess. Think she was barely three or four at the time.¡± I felt like throwing up. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they just kill the bastard?¡± I said, my disgust ring into anger. ¡°I would have cut his balls off and fed them to him as ast meal before I cut off his damn head!¡± ¡°Oh, they wanted to, I¡¯m sure,¡± Jakra said. ¡°But he had too high a position. Revealing the truth would have been too much off a loss of face for both the Prince and the girl¡¯s family. So they made up some other official excuse like embezzlement or something and did the next best thing. They stripped him of his position and shipping him off on a life sentence to Du Gok Shang. That¡¯s the new prison they built to rece the one you¡¯re headed to.¡± Thest part barely registered, my mind still transfixed on the horrid story. I could only imagine what I¡¯d do to someone if they ever harmed little Su Ling like that. My me roared as my heart filled with rage. ¡°You might get that cage match sooner than you think.¡± ¡°Easy with that,¡± Jakra said. ¡°The man is a piece of shit, but he¡¯s protected by His Imperial Majesty¡¯s Prisons now. It¡¯s our duty to get him to Du Gok Shang safely.¡± He pointed to the bottle of soy sauce again. ¡°This is the most we can do to him.¡± Jakra then shrugged before spitting on the floor. ¡°Like I said¡­give him as little as you like.¡± * * * The floor vibrated and rumbled as the Xin Zhu pulled out of orbit. Or that¡¯s at least all I could imagine it doing as I sat on my cot and stared the bars of my jail cell. I tried touching them and as expected I didn¡¯t feel a thing. Whatever anti-Qi current they had flowing through the bars had zero effect on me. Which was a good thing. In my mind I imagined grabbing a hold of that pervert Shen Liu and mming his head against them until it split wide open. But as Jakra had said, the most I could do was make his trip ufortable. When it came to making dinner, I gave him not a drop of vor as I boiled the rice and tofu together like a stew. It tasted damn awful and only slightly less so with some soy sauce spilled over it. ¡°This tastes like shit!¡± Shen Liu screamed after I had tossed him his bowl. ¡°Who the hell taught you how to cook? Where¡¯s the damn soy sauce?¡± I locked eyes with him and gave him a re with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Why don¡¯t you piss in it?¡± I said. ¡°That should make it plenty salty enough. You filthy animal.¡± The anger that burst inside him was immense as he went into a tirade. I then switched the re to a grin that spiked his anger even more. I walked awayughing but not before subtly cultivating his rage into Frenzy. I truly wanted to kill the bastard, but he would serve a purpose yet. I had a two-week journey ahead of me. And tormenting him daily would generate all the hate I needed to fuel my Dantian. * * * Later, at what I thought was perhaps nighttime, Iy awake staring at the ceiling. It had been a mentally taxing first day. Starting with my failure tobine my spectral forms, the cold shoulder I received from Master Hei Dong, the three bird sisters showing up, that weird offer from the princess and now this¡ªhaving to babysit a disgusting pedophile for two weeks. It was enough to make me sigh and roll over, but just when I was about to try and block it all out to get some sleep a thought urred. Fia¡¯s Quill¡­ A rush of excitement burst through me as I retrieved it from my duffle bag. My introduction to the ship from Jakra had happened so quickly that I had nearly forgotten it. But now, on the edge of depression, it was just the thing I needed to boost my spirits and restore my soul. I tapped on a Qi light and squinted at the fine print. Dearest Max, I don¡¯t know how to tell you this and I pray I do not make you angry. Please understand I did this with only my love for you and our family at heart. My own heart nearly stopped as I stopped reading. What the heck was this? With trepidation, I continued to read. You know I have maintained my Qi cycling technique that prevents pregnancy as we agreed, and I nned to do this until we were married. But after we joined together this morning, I have decided to make a different choice. My stomach did a little flip flop. What the hell was she talking about? I read on¡­ I do not know if the fates will yet bless me with a child, but I could not stand the thought of losing you and not having a part of you stay with me. I know I should have discussed this with you. Or perhaps had more faith in you, but I feared you would have said no. I still have faith that you will return victorious and it shames me that I even had the thought that you might not, but I have chosen to do this regardless. Please forgive me, Max. If you do return as I hope, I know I would have made our first child a bastard. It will be a shame I will have to suffer alone until you return and one you perhaps may hold against me for life, but I just could not bear the thought of not having at least what Yu Li has in Su Ling, if you don¡¯t. I pray you do not hate me for this. I¡¯m so sorry, Max. Please understand. I love you. Fia Book 3: Chapter 7 I stared up at the ceiling, not knowing what the hell to do or think. I wished I hadn¡¯t even read the letter now. What the hell had Fia done? It was no wonder she had asked me to read it only once I was underway. Now there was nothing I could do about it. Shit! Irritation and impotencebined to form a twisting knot inside my stomach. I truly didn¡¯t know what to make of it. I read the letter again just to make sure I had gotten it right. And then twice more until my anger started to quell. I sensed the desperation in her words, but dammit did she have to go this far? I sighed and stared at the quill again. Maybe I¡¯d been so caught up in my own head that I didn¡¯t really give thought to how Fia might have been processing all of this. For me it was just another slog along my path, an obstacle that would either crush me or make me stronger.But for Fia it was much more than that. She was in love with me and she didn¡¯t know how this story would end. Granted neither did I, but I just didn¡¯t give a shit about death anymore. But although my death no longer mattered to me, it mattered the world to her. I guess I couldn¡¯t me her for wanting to take out some kind of insurance for our future family in case I failed. Hanging around with Yu Li and Su Ling for thest five months probably didn¡¯t help with matters either. Still, it was a betrayal in some sense. We had agreed we would start a family together after we were married, but now she¡¯d gone and advanced that all on her own. It pissed me off the more I thought about it. But she wasn¡¯t wrong either. If she would have asked me, I would have said no. There was no way I wanted our family to start like this. If I failed it meant I didn¡¯t deserve her or my family in the first ce. But now I was being forced into the situation regardless. And that¡¯s what really pissed me off. Theck of control. ¡°Damn it, Fia¡­¡± I muttered. ¡°Why¡¯d you have to go andplicate things like this?¡± But I knew the reason why. She¡¯d exined it clearly. Yet, still it didn¡¯t make sense. At least not to me. ¡°Female logic, son,¡± I recalled my Dad telling me once, after he¡¯d gotten into a fight with my mom. ¡°Don¡¯t try to understand it. Just put up with it or it¡¯ll drive you crazy.¡± I was only eight at the time, so I didn¡¯t pay much attention to what my Dad had said, but now those words were ringing true like the edicts from a divine script. And in her defense, perhaps it was her own feelings of losing control that forced Fia to take such drastic action to protect her own future. I probably shouldn¡¯t be surprised. That was the kind of woman I had signed up to marry, after all. A strong woman who could think and survive on her own if she had to, not a docile sheep who would simply let things happen to her. But still, the thought that she feared I might fail hurt. I shook my head to rid myself of the idea. Perhaps I was reacting prematurely anyway. Maybe she wouldn¡¯t even get pregnant at all. I suppose that¡¯d be one way of testing the fates. My soul wavered, still caught somewhere between denial and anger. I knew why she did it, could understand even. But I still didn¡¯t like it. Too much crap for one day, I thought finally. Releasing another irritated sigh, I dimmed the light and forced myself to go to sleep. * * * I was still slightly pissed off the next day, and the day after that. I took my frustration out on the pervert Shen Liu, taunting him within his jail cell while I fed him his slop. He was anything if not predictable, falling prey to my taunts and riling up with anger, offering me ample sources to cultivate from. But even that I couldn¡¯t do all day. Boredom set in. Jakra assigned me more duties to keep my mind busy when I had asked. Cleaning the ward and even doingundry. ¡°Make sure this doesn¡¯t go missing,¡± he said to me, after giving me a spare uniform when I went to wash my own. ¡°The inmates in here would kill to be mistaken for a Free Tribute.¡± At first, I didn¡¯t make much of what he¡¯d said, but by my sixth day I truly did feel the envious stares I received from both the inmates and the small contingent of prisoner tributes on the lower floor as I walked by. I was the closest thing to being a freeman on this prison-bound vessel, it seemed. I kept busy with daily exercise, performing my martial forms as best I could sans my weapons all while within the tiny confines of my prison cell. Shen Liu would scoff at me from afar, mocking my routine. ¡°How about a quick spar?¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m sure I could get Jakra to arrange it.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t survive.¡± He harrumphed. ¡°I¡¯ve crushed hundreds of egotistical fighter types like you. All muscle and no brains. You won¡¯tst long where you¡¯re headed anyway. You¡¯re a dead man. You just don¡¯t know it yet.¡± His words suddenly made me think of Fia raising our unborn child alone and a surge of rage sparked my me. ¡°You have no idea who I am. Or what I¡¯m fighting for. You got that?¡± I grimaced at him with [Fear the me] and enjoyed the way his eyes widened with surprise even from thirty feet away. ¡°You can go rot in hell ¡®little finger¡¯. You piece of shit.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I looked away, pushing the situation with Fia to the back of my mind, but it was no use. I was finding myself growing more and more resentful the more of thought of it. I finally retreated to the seclusion of my own mind to find sce, uniting with the Struggler and the Demon within. I dare not ask them their opinions on the matter. As I sat there in the darkness with me, myself and I, it dawned on me then that I truly had no one to discuss this with. I would have given anything to have a venting session with Gui Zu on the matter or better yet Kelsey. I chuckled at that. She would probably give me good advice. She always did. The pure Berserker response anyway. What would Kelsey say about this? I wondered. I thenughed out loud when I imagined her voice in my head. ¡°Grow some damn balls and just deal with it, Max! Sheesh!¡± Yeah, that would probably be Kelsey¡¯s solution all right. ¡°The hell youughing at?¡± I stirred from my meditation to see Jakra standing in the doorway of my cell. ¡°Nothing,¡± I said. He grunted. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯ve done good this week so I¡¯ve got a surprise for you.¡± I raised a brow at him. ¡°We have ast stop at a frontier outpost to offload supplies and pick up some prisoners. It¡¯ll be yourst chance for a good meal and some entertainment before hitting Du Gok Bhong. It¡¯ll be a two hour stop over.¡± That was the best news I¡¯d heard in days. ¡°Sounds great.¡± ¡°We dock in thirty minutes,¡± he said. ¡°Meet me downstairs and I¡¯ll arrange an escort.¡± ¡°You heard that Shen Liu?¡± I called out to the pervert once Jakra had left. ¡°I¡¯m getting off this rock to get some real food.¡± The anger that steamed off of him was immense. ¡°I hope you choke to death on it.¡± * * * The frontier outpost of T¡¯vi V¡¯jal was nothing like what I imagined it would be. Not that I had any reference for what a frontier space outpost should look like other than old Star Wars movies or something, but nothing could have prepared me for the winter wondend that greeted me once I stepped through the cargo doors of the Xin Zha. The freezing cold struck me as soon as I passed through the barrier, fresh snowfall drifting from a night sky full of stars. It was enough to make me pause amidst the bustle ofmotion all around me as dockworkers and prison guards offloaded crates of unknown goods and supplies. Where I had expected to see a sci-fi looking militaryplex made of pressurized tubes and vessels, there was instead a small town filled with wooden buildings and snow-capped roofs. Braziers filled with burning embers staved off the cold while chimneys wafted the smell of wood smoke through the air. At the epicenter of the small city was ake, its dark waters forming a perfect mirror for the deep starfield floating above. It was surreal. I couldn¡¯t tell if we were on a small asteroid or a moon or something, but gravity seemed to feel normal. Clearly there had to be arge chunk of aetherite somewhere to provide the barrier that kept out the vacuum of space and heated the ce enough to have liquid water and working gravity. I wasn¡¯t even sure how any of that worked, but like everything else, the magic that was cultivation achieved far more than what science could. ¡°Come on,¡± Jakra said as he pushed me along. ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time gawking. You seen one outpost, you¡¯ve seen ¡®em all.¡± But I did just that as I made my way through the mini-metropolis of what had to be twenty thousand people or more. The people themselves varied drastically in race and age. While most were Yee there were some sullied as well as arge number of the cat-eared Naja people who I¡¯d mainly seen in the artisan district back home. The architecture was also surprising, appearing far more ornate and decorative than I would have expected for some ce stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Golden dragons adorned the edges of rooftops that were tiled with ornate jade shingles and in their mouth werenterns that cast a warm grow on the streets below. Over theke spanned a bridge that covered its entire width, which had to be close to half a mile. The glow ofnterns attached to its railing reflecting off the water, adding to the glow of warmth in the dark and cold. ¡°Who runs all this?¡± I asked. ¡°A Najian warlord known as Tsu V¡¯jid,¡± Jakra said. ¡°She runs this ce as a safehaven for her people in exchange for the empire¡¯s free use as a dumping ground.¡± ¡°A dumping ground for what?¡± Jakra grinned. ¡°You don¡¯t want to know.¡± We entered what seemed to be a redlight district of sorts with bars and brothels abound. The clientele looked like the scum of universe though, nasty types who looked as if they¡¯d been stuck in the hold of a starship for far too long. This included arge number of the prison ship¡¯s personnel it seemed. There had to be half the crew here already. By the way they filled the streets it was clear this kind of work was a major source of ie for the barren piece of rock in the middle of space. ¡°If you care to wet your whistle, you¡¯ll have to wait in line. Officers and imperial personnel first.¡± ¡°Not interested,¡± I said, balking especially at the low-tier quality of women avable. But the guards didn¡¯t seem to mind. ¡°I¡¯ll take a decent meal though, maybe some wine.¡± Jakra chuckled. ¡°Probably a smart choice. This way.¡± Past the whorehouses we came to some bars and restaurants. Jakra picked one that didn¡¯t seem too busy and then sat me down at a table. He called over a more junior looking guard and had him stand over me. ¡°Go on and order up,¡± Jakra said. ¡°I¡¯ll give you about an hour. The corporal here will escort you back. If you try anything funny or decide to go missing, we will find you. This ce ain¡¯t too big. And when we do get you, you¡¯ll be returned to the vessel, but wearing a much different uniform, understood?¡± I chuckled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me jumping ship. But I will bring back some leftovers, if you don¡¯t mind?¡± Jakra cracked a smile. ¡°Sure. You can taunt Shen Liu with them on thest few days to Du Gok Bhong.¡± He left then and I got to ordering. After eating nothing but rice and tasteless tofu for thest six days, the thought of real food had my stomach rumbling. I ordered everything they had on the menu and the some, throwing in some extra silver for a bottle of rice wine. I encouraged the corporate to eat with me and after initially resisting, the smell of the food must have gotten to him and in no time were both smacking away with chopsticks on hot steam buns and noodles thered in spicy sauce. We didn¡¯t speak, each of us famished for something with vor. It was perhaps about a half hourter when a guard came stumbling into the ce shouting and screaming. ¡°Hey! Is that the Free Tribute? Where is he?¡± The guard eating with me dropped his chopsticks and stood to attention. ¡°What! What is it?¡± His colleague ignored him and looked directly at me. ¡°Officer Jakra has called for you. You¡¯re needed at the port immediately. There¡¯s been an incident!¡± ¡°An incident?¡± But my me was already hinting as to what kind. I crossed my fingers. ¡°An escape?¡± ¡°Yes! It¡¯s your ward mate¡­ Shen Liu.¡± * * * I could feel my Path extending itself before me as I raced behind the two guards. We pushed our way through the redlight district, that seemed to have thinned considerably now. When I reached the docks, I saw as to why. Half the ship¡¯s crew had to be outside, scrambling about in chaos, perhaps recalled from R and R like I was. It took me a few more seconds to see the half a dozen bodies on the ground, limbs and necks twisted at odd angles. Shit¡­ ¡°He¡¯s here!¡± the guard with me called out. ¡°Officer Jakra!¡± I came to a stop before Jakra who was conversing with several high-ranking members of the prison guard along with a woman who looked in her fifties, with graying hair and cat-like ears. The warlord Jakra had spoken of, I presumed. Tsu V¡¯jid or something. She looked pissed off and was yelling something at one of the prison ship¡¯smanders. ¡°You¡¯re overreacting,¡± themander, a bald man with a white goatee said. ¡°We¡¯ll have this small matter sorted out quickly.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not leaving until you do,¡± Tsu V¡¯jid said. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be collecting prisoners! Not dumping them off!¡± ¡°He¡¯s here,¡± Jakra said motioning to me. ¡°The Free Tribute. He¡¯ll deal with this.¡± The woman Tsu V¡¯jid narrowed her eyes at me and scoffed. ¡°He¡¯d better be capable. That man supposedly had his Qi disrupted and still he managed to kill all of these men. With body refinement alone!¡± I read the y. Shen Liu must have risked losing his Qi to m himself against the cell door and break the locks. The bastard had to be strong indeed to aplish something like that. The thought caused my me to stir. ¡°Where is he?¡± I asked. ¡°He ran towards the bridge,¡± Tsu V¡¯jid said ncing over her shoulder. ¡°He¡¯ll be lost in the bowels of the city if he reaches the other side. You need to hurry!¡± ¡°Tribute,¡± Jakra said. ¡°Imission you to apprehend Shen Liu. Remember he is a ward of His Imperial Majesty¡¯s Prisons. It¡¯s our job to delivery him to the safety of Du Gok Shang Prison¡­ alive!¡± I grinned. ¡°Yeah, no problem, chief.¡± ¡°Corporal,¡± Jakra snapped. ¡°Fetch him his weapons.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°I thought you said alive?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say unharmed.¡± I nced out at the bridge and saw a blur of motion, someone running and pushing a bystander over the rail. ¡°No time,¡± I said, cycling my Frenzy. ¡°Let me borrow that club.¡± I snatched it from him before he could even respond. As I tore through the snow-drench town a new thought urred. I still didn¡¯t know what I was going to do about Fia, but I now had a physical therapy session to work out my frustrations in real time. I couldn¡¯t wait. Book 3: Chapter 8 My rapid footfalls hammered against the wooden nks of the bridge as I poured on the Frenzy. Pedestrians pressed themselves against the sides of the rails as they sensed meing, letting out gasps of shock as I sprinted by at top speed. As I passed the midpoint of the bridge, I saw evidence of Shen Liu¡¯s own passing with several people knocked to the ground. I didn¡¯t have time to stop and help them. If what Tsu V¡¯jid said was true, then once Shen Liu reached the end of the bridge it would be all over. That spurred me on even more, my legs pumping like pistons as I poured on more speed. I passed the three-quarter mark and still didn¡¯t have sight of him. I was just about to pull out all the stops and release [Mark of the Beast] when I finally did see him, stomping some poor guy into the side of the bridge while relieving him of his sword. Shen Liu wasted a few more seconds to cut the man down and I used the extra time to leap atop the railing and then push myself off in a somersault. Inded in the center of the bridge about thirty feet past Shen Liu, causing him to turn about startled. It was then that I noticed he was wearing the same outfit that I was. Son of a bitch, I thought. He must have grabbed my spare uniform to help escape the ship. The thought made me even more irritated. ¡°Shen Liu!¡± I shouted, pointing the club at him. ¡°I¡¯m here to drag your sorry ass back to the ship and beat the shit out of you. But not necessarily in that order.¡± He let out augh as he rid the de of the man¡¯s blood. ¡°So, they sent you after me, eh?¡± He whipped the sword through a set of martial forms, his skill evident despite his size. ¡°This should be good. Come on then. I¡¯ll take your stupid head off for feeding me that slop all week.¡± He then flew at me with a burst of wind and snow. ¡°[Dragon¡¯s Icy Peak]!¡±A torrent of ice and slow pelted me as his sword sliced through the air, the Qi technique preceding the de like a shockwave. It tore through my clothes and even managed to cut my hardened skin beneath. The de itself then met my flesh, carving through my shoulder. I cried out in shock and pain, not expecting the technique at all. What the hell¡­? How did this bastard still have Qi? He must have read the confused expression on my face andughed. ¡°Bringing me to an ice ball like this was the worse thing those dumb bastards could have done. As you can see my Dantian is near mended already with all the Ice Qi avable here.¡± I steeled myself with [Indifference] as the bnce of power shifted in my mind. Clearly the [Odds were Against Me] now. I¡¯d been expecting a purely physical battle. Skill versus skill. But now Shen Liu had use of his Qi techniques as well. And to have recovered from this Qi disruption so quickly, he had to be a formidable cultivator as well. Not to mention he had a sword while I had a bamboo stick. My me red brightly with fresh Frenzy as my [Odds Against Me] technique kicked in. I cultivated it quickly to heal my wound and flush my body full of energy for the fight toe. I leveled my eyes at him and grinned. ¡°Good,¡± I said. ¡°This will make the fight a lot more interesting.¡± I rushed forward with a burst of Frenzy, swinging the bamboo club with my axe forms. Shen Liu met the attacks with his de, chipping my bamboo with each parry and strike. The first exchangested all of about four or five hits, but it had taught me a lot. Shen Liu was a Ninth Tier Core Realm cultivator, perhaps on the cusp of ascension to the Sacred Soul Realm, but there were many people like that. For most core was as far as they could go before they would risk dying or crippling themselves in the process obtaining new heights. Shen Liu likely fell into that category. But more than that, Shen Liu was not as skilled a fighter as he let on. Perhaps it was his still disrupted Qi, or his use of an unfamiliar weapon but I pegged him in the Iron Bracket league in terms of skill. And that put him right on par with where I was at the moment¡ªwielding only a club instead of my Axe and ive. I huffed out augh with a healthy dose of [Fear the me]. ¡°You¡¯d better pray your Qi kicks in soon,¡± I said. ¡°Because when ites to pure skill, I¡¯m going to mop the floor with your ass.¡± The spike of anger and fear that came from him was electric and I cultivated it quickly as he dove in for another Qi filled attack. His de moved in a fluid crisscross pattern while sending off chunks of ice and snow. I charged right through it with [Steel Skin] absorbing the attacks that left little more than pain behind as the ice bounced off my chest. The sight filled Shen Liu with more fear as Iid into him with a series of parries and counters that had his de ringing with deflections. Inded blow after blow with the bamboo club on his side and face and the howls of pain and shock he released was pure gold. Had it been my axe I might as well have killed him, but there was a subtle satisfaction in being able to go all out and inflict as much pain as possible with blunt strikes alone. We went back and forth for what had to be over a minute, me taking the odd cut of his de tond three or four strikes to his head and face. He was looking a bloody mess and kicked away from me to summon some kind of ice wall between us. ¡°[cial Ridge]!¡± The ice wall stopped at about twelve foot high and through the translucent mass, I could see Shen Liu turn and run for the end of the bridge. ¡°Damn it!¡± I swore. I¡¯d gotten turned around in the fight and didn¡¯t realize he was now on the far side of the bridge again. I vaulted over the ice wall and gave chase, but he seemed to move even faster once his feet hit the freshly fallen slow lining a small park-like area that separated the bridge from a line of tenement buildings less than a couple hundred feet away. The slums T¡¯su V¡¯jid spoke of. If I lost him in there, he could hide like the rat he was. I cycled my frenzy and aimed it towards my jing, preparing to release a technique of my own. Summoning the power of my me, I threw caution to the wind and hurled my club at Shen Liu with a huge bolt of blue lightning. My aim proved true and a huge bang! of thunder went off as my club struck him on the legs. He went tumbling end over end in the snow and I used the fall to gain on him with another burst of Frenzy. I went at him with my fists and feet, throwing the technique book out the window as I treated Shen Liu to the good ole ass-whopping he deserved. ¡°You sick ass freak!¡± I shouted as I pummeled his face and jaw. ¡°Messing with little kids? I¡¯ll deliver their wrath for all the pain you¡¯ve caused!¡± Something sparked inside of me as I somehow tapped into [Everyone¡¯s Pain]! Lightning joined my fists as I let the Demon loose with the sea of Frenzy flooding my soul. To my chagrin the bastard startedughing in between the hits. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition. ¡°Go on! Kill me!¡± he spat. ¡°See what they¡¯ll do to you then!¡± I was barely listening anymore, but somehow the Struggler stayed the Demon¡¯s hand. Heughed at me again as my fist stayed cocked in the air, ready to deliver another blow to his swollen face. ¡°You forget who I am, boy? I am an ex-warden of the lower courts with connections you could only dream of. There are people in high ces who would have many secrets revealed if any harmes to me.¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± The bastard grinned at me with bloody teeth. ¡°You don¡¯t think I was the only one with dirty fingers do you?¡± He started tough and my stomach grew sick. ¡°You filthy piece of shit!¡± I punched him hard in the ribs, causing him to spit blood. He then spit a second time, aiming for my face. I dodged it but he used the opportunity to spring onto his feet and thenshed out with an ice technique at close range. ¡°[cial Core]!¡± Freezing pain filled ever cell of my body as the ground transformed into a column of ice at my feet. It crept up my legs and torso, locking me in ce as my breath caught in my throat. Shen Liu stumbled back from me and then raised his sword to strike. ¡°You dumb bastard,¡± he said. ¡°You think you¡¯re on the same level as me? I have half a mind to let you live just so you can die in that damn prison, but I¡¯ll do you a favor and end your life right now. Say goodbye to your dreams of bing a Legionnaire, you fool!¡± A punctuated anger pulsed through my veins as his de swung. Thoughts of Fia shed through my mind. Our unborn child. No way was this damn pedophile taking that away from me! I roared in defiance as my Frenzy surged and I channeled everything into [Steel Lightning]. The de struck my neck with the force of a killing blow, but I stood fast with [Indifference], resisted it with every ounce of my being. Sparks exploded as the de shattered against my neck and Shen Liu lost his bnce, blown back by the force of the detonating metal. I wasted no time channeling my burning rage and Frenzy into a technique of my own. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± Ice exploded into steam as a hundred arcs of blue lightning surged from my body. Shen Liu was blown back a second time, but I sprung forward to catch him by his uniform as he turned to flee. Iid into him with a savagery that made the Demon smile. Blood and flesh flew. Rend and tear! Shen Liu¡¯s hollers of panic and pain became a symphony to my wrath. ¡°Iron Bull! Stand down!¡± I was only vaguely aware of the call of my name and it took every ounce of the [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] for me to stop hitting the bastard. When I finally did, I held Shen Liu aloft by his throat, keeping him a foot off the ground. I looked to my side to see Jakra and the prison ship Commander approaching with a contingent of enforcers. The woman T¡¯su V¡¯jid was there with them, along with what looked like a small local militia of armed guards. ¡°You¡¯ve done your job, Tribute,¡± the Commander shouted, his eyes narrowing at me. ¡°Now hand him back to us or there will be dire consequences.¡± Shen Liu then had the nerve to let out augh. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll be visiting that damn prison after all, thanks to you,¡± he said in a whisper. ¡°But I¡¯ll make sure that you¡¯ll pay for putting a stop to my early exit n. I have people in high ces, you know? Or did you think this little escape was a mere ident?¡± I tightened my grip on his throat. ¡°What the hell did you say?¡± ¡°Easy Iron Bull,¡± Jakra said as he approached me. ¡°There are powers at y here that you don¡¯t want to trifle with.¡± He then nced subtly towards the Commander and the woman T¡¯su¡¯V¡¯jid. Neither of them looked happy. Like I wasn¡¯t supposed to catch him or something. Was the whole thing some kind of set up like Shen Liu said? I thought back to what Jakra had told me about the empire using the ce as a dumping ground. Was that the true n all along? Shen Liu smiled at me with bloodied teeth. ¡°See?¡± he said. ¡°They all eat out of my hand. You can rest assured that I¡¯ll be spending less than a week in that prison. Meanwhile you¡¯ll be long dead and I¡¯ll be enjoying my sweet little girls again.¡± He started tough and I saw red. ¡°You piece of shit!¡± ¡°Iron Bull, no¡ª!¡± Jakra cried. But I wasn¡¯t listening anymore. The entire jacked up system was mocking me to my face. The thought that this animal would be free to continue his violence unhindered was too much to bear. And a corrupt system that was even vying to protect him on top of that? No more¡­ ¡°To hell with you!¡± I shouted as I summoned my Frenzy. ¡°You will face judgement ¡®Litter Finger¡¯!¡± I sent a slug of Frenzy towards my jing. ¡°Judgement by the righteous anger of the One True me!¡± The power of my words and Frenzybined caused a surge of panic in his soul. I released [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] at point nk range, electrocuting him while I held his body in the air. My anger only doubled when he convulsed and bucked in my grasp, the thought of all his victims filling me with [Everyone¡¯s Wrath]. After a few more seconds he stopped screaming and moving altogether and I dropped his smoldering corpse to the ground. ¡°Guards! Arrest this man!¡± The shout came from the Commander and I looked to Jakra as he slowlyplied. ¡°I tried to warn you,¡± he said. ¡°Please make this easy.¡± But I¡¯d already counted the cost. And it was well worth it in my books. I looked down at Shen Liu¡¯s corpse and spat on it. He would do no more harm now. * * * I was hauled back to the ship in chains. Along the way I got confirmation of the shitshow deal the Commander had concocted with T¡¯su V¡¯jid. It came out in the form of an argument. I could only catch bits and pieces of it, but the gist was the whole ¡°hurry up and get him¡± crap on the docks was all a show for the prison guard staff. And for me as well, I supposed. Apparently, I was never supposed to catch the bastard, much less kill him. Now the Commander was in deep shit for allowing it all to happen and T¡¯su V¡¯jid was put out because she was supposed to get some heftypensation from the empire for harboring an escaped fugitive. The entire deal made me sick and all the more d that I had put an end to it all. But at what cost I didn¡¯t know. Shit, I thought. Here I wasining about Fia and now I¡¯d gone and put our entire future in jeopardy all on my own. But my me didn¡¯t waiver. That piece of shit needed to die. Back on the ship, I was ced immediately into a hold on the lower floor. A new set of arguments broke out as the Commander went at it with Jakra, trying toy me for the incident, but they disappeared into the bowels of the ship before I could glean what was the hell was going on. About an hourter the Xin Zha rumbled back into space and then Jakra reappeared. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said and then marched me back up to my cell on the top floor but this time he locked the cell door behind me. He paused a moment before looking back at me through the bars. ¡°What you did was incredibly stupid,¡± he said but then he smiled. ¡°Good on you for having the balls to do it anyway.¡± I was taken aback by a sudden dose of lemonade. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen now?¡± I asked. He shrugged. ¡°Make no mistake. You just pissed off a lot of powerful people. On the other hand you probably made a lot of powerful people quite happy too. No telling where the dice may finally fall.¡± ¡°What about themander?¡± ¡°He¡¯s on a tight timeline and you¡¯re already headed for a prison.¡± He then threw something through the bars at me. ¡°I told him this is probably the best course of action for all of us involved. He saves face and you get punished, while leaving you alive for whoever wants to do more.¡± I looked at what he¡¯d given me and saw it was a new uniform. Gray with the word tribute written in red characters instead of white. ¡°It¡¯ll be a whole new experience going in as a prisoner tribute. And once you¡¯re there I can¡¯t guarantee that none of this wille back to bite you, but it¡¯s the best I could do given the circumstances.¡± I chuckled as I looked at my new uniform. ¡°I guess it could have been a lot worse.¡± ¡°Damn right,¡± Jakra said. ¡°Consider it payment for your public service.¡± Iughed at that. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one more night in the penthouse and then I¡¯ll move you to be with your fellow prisoner tributes down in the hold.¡± I nodded. ¡°My thanks, Jakra.¡± The big man nodded and then disappeared. Iid back on my cot and stared at the ceiling, my mind swimming with the thoughts of what had just transpired. I¡¯d gone from a Free Tribute to a prisoner. But at least I wasn¡¯t on the executioner¡¯s block. I was still on my path to bing a Legionnaire and a Diamond Bracket contender. Albeit with a harder difficulty level now. The universe had thrown me a curve ball, but I trusted in the me to do what was right and it had seen me through. Not scot-free, but damn near good enough, plus killing Shen Liu was still worth it in the end to me. My thoughts turned to Fia next. Maybe she had just thrown me a curve ball as well. But to hell with it. I needed to trust my me and meet the challenge head on just like with Shen Liu. If Fia wanted to ensure that we¡¯d have a family, then she was going to have one, but no way in hell was I going to let our first child be born a bastard and suffer the insult for the rest of his or her life. I grinned at the ceiling like a madman. Maybe this wasn¡¯t Fia at all. Maybe this was the me guiding my path yet again. I was going into this ready for a challenge. But now I needed to do much more than that. I couldn¡¯t just sit back and merely survive. I needed to attack this thing head on¡ªtake the bull by the damn horns and shove them right up his ass! ¡°To hell with three damn years,¡± I said and then took out Fia¡¯s quill to stare at it again. ¡°I¡¯ve only got nine months now.¡± I didn¡¯t even know if it was possible, but I didn¡¯t care. My path was set. And no way was I not going to see it through now. Book 3: Chapter 9 True to his word, Jakra waited 24 hours beforeing to collect me from my cell and then escorting me down to the lower hold. As I passed through the various levels of the ship, I sensed I had be a mini celebrity of sorts. The name Iron Bull was whispered with sideward nces, and along with the whispers came snippets of fear, anger and even some lemonade. Nowhere was it more pronounced however than when I finally reached my destination and joined my fellow Prisoner Tributes in their cage. ¡°Good luck to you,¡± Jakra said and then left. As I turned about to face the entire contingent of around thirty or so tributes, they all stared at me wide-eyed. The one with the short beard who I¡¯d bowed to before approached with a huge smile. ¡°Master Iron Bull!¡± he said excitedly with yet another bow. ¡°What a fortune of fate that has guided you here to be amongst us now. With your aid we will all surely survive!¡± That sparked murmurs amongst the other tributes and they all began to swarm around me. ¡°Can you really help us?¡± ¡°Did you kill that man?¡± ¡°What cultivation realm are you?¡±¡°How do we know he won¡¯t just kill us all too?¡± I raised my hands in a slow down gesture. ¡°Okay take it easy. I¡¯m not promising anything to anyone. I don¡¯t even know who the hell you all are.¡± ¡°My name is Kou Ren,¡± the guy with the beard said. He then pointed to a woman and two younger men behind him. ¡°This is my wife, Su Ren and my sons Lo Ren and Chu Ren.¡± I did a double take as they each gave me a bow in turn. ¡°What the hell? Your whole family is in here with you?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not the only one,¡± another man said. He was grizzled and portly with a scruffy beard. ¡°They damn near imprisoned our entire town. And it¡¯s all his fault too!¡± ¡°Aye!¡± someone else from the crowd shouted. ¡°You can go to hell, Kou Ren!¡± ¡°I hope you die first, Kou Ren!¡± Expletives and curses came next, along with the throwing of empty food trays and bowls. Kou Ren shielded his family from them as he tried to retreat. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with all of you? Can you not see we are in the presence of greatness?!¡± But that got little sympathy from the mob. ¡°Ask him what he¡¯s done?¡± the grizzled man said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell him yourself, Kou Ren?¡± I was about to say ¡°Don¡¯t know. Don¡¯t care¡± but Kou Ren was already speaking ahead of me. ¡°They all me me,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°As rightly they should as I was the mayor. But I never meant for any of this to happen.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Kou Ren nced about at all the angry faces staring at him and then smiled. ¡°Let us speak over here in private, yes?¡± That got more murmurs of discontent as the room split into two distinct tribes. Kou Ren and his family versus everyone else. Kou Ren gave me another smile as if to mask his embarrassment as he ushered me over to the side of the cell. ¡°You suffer too much disrespect from them, father,¡± one of the sons, Chu Ren said while looking back at the mob with a grimace. ¡°They need to understand the truth.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no matter,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°They are mad at the heavens. What I have to say would make little difference.¡± I marveled at the man for a while. There wasn¡¯t a hint of anger in him. ¡°So what did happen?¡± I asked, genuinely curious now. ¡°Are you really all from the same town?¡± ¡°Same sect too,¡± the woman, Su Ren said. ¡°My husband was our leader and the town mayor.¡± ¡°They me him for all their farms failing,¡± the other son, Lo Ren said. ¡°My father led us all to a new province with fertile soil, but no one could have known the dam would fail. They act as if my father broke the dam himself!¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°What is done, is done. No one could afford to pay back the loans and so they imprisoned us.¡± ¡°Who did?¡± ¡°The state,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°Thend was owned by the empire. As natives we couldn¡¯t do much to mount a defense in the courts. We didn¡¯t have anything to pay them back with, so sending us here as tributes was perhaps the only way for them to recover their losses.¡± I balked at that. But even more so, I saw our potential future as Terrans in them if I failed. Already the Warden had elevated her stupid nieces to Vice Wardens. Who knew what kind of bureaucratic bullshit they coulde up with to screw over our sect? These poor people had seen the worst of it though. Literally sold into very by the state as tributes for who knew how many spirit stones to cover the cost of a disaster that wasn¡¯t even their fault. Complete bullshit. ¡°What¡¯s the name of your and how long ago were you colonized?¡± I asked. ¡°Gujar,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°We were enlightened only sixty years ago. Our world is very new to the empire.¡± Enlightened? I thought. What a damn joke. I imagined they were perhaps second or third generation colonists, none of them retaining any knowledge of their true home world. It was pitiful in a way and exactly what I hoped to prevent in the long run. ¡°And you, Master Iron Bull?¡± Su Ren asked. ¡°What is your world called?¡± ¡°It was called Earth,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s known as Terra now. We were conquered by the empire around thirteen years ago.¡± Their eyes all went wide. ¡°Thirteen years?¡± Kou Ren said incredulously. ¡°Your world is so young! And to have reached your stage of cultivation already? Are you truly a native?¡± ¡°Born a bred,¡± I said with a hint of pride. Kou Ren fell to his knees and his family followed his lead. ¡°Oh, great master. You must truly be a gifted cultivator! Please, I beg you, safeguard us if you can. Guide us in the ways of cultivation to survive this ordeal.¡± ¡°Say what?¡± ¡°We are not fighters,¡± Su Ren said. ¡°Merely farmers and barely foundation realm cultivators at that. We need your help.¡± ¡°Please!¡± Kou Ren said sping his hands together. ¡°I beg of you!¡± Well shit¡­ I thought. I¡¯d just upped the ante on my academy education, trimming my timeline down to months instead of years. And now I had a cell full of foundation realm cultivators looking for me to babysit them? I blew out a sigh. There was no way these people could survive. Not on their own for sure. I didn¡¯t know if I could even help them or not. But deep down I felt a kinship. They weren¡¯t the humanity I represented, but they were victims of the empire all the same. My me burned with the indignation of their plight. Another curve ball maybe? I guess my Path was chocked full of them now. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Ah, what the hell¡­ ¡°I¡¯m not going to promise you anything,¡± I said truthfully. ¡°What lies ahead of us could be way more than even I can bear. But for you and your family. I¡¯ll do what I can.¡± * * * Fia Dong sat in lotus position as she faced the morning sun. The gentle whisper of a brisk spring breeze brushed her face as she breathed in deeply, cultivating the faint spiritual essence in the surrounding air and refining it through her meridians to store as Qi within her Dantian. She was still yet to break into the upper tiers of the Core Realm as Max had already done. But all of that seemed to matter little to her now. She had much greater concerns to worry about. From the apartment balcony atop of the Terran Sect¡¯s headquarters, Fia had a brilliant view of the lower city below as well as the imperial city floating high above. She wondered for a moment what her parents were doing right now. Her father had taken to visiting the artisan district to sell his wares, no longer willing to put up with the daily badgering by the Enforcers for selling his items at home. Things were still difficult for him, but he at least had begun crafting again and that seemed to take his mind off the stresses of money and saving face. Her mother was still as carefree as ever though, even with her crippled Dantian. A part of Fia wondered if her mother was in some sort of denial, or perhaps like her, had other things that had taken priority now. She would perhapse to pay a visitter to see little Su Ling. Fia herself would see Su Ling shortly to start her daily lessons, which was much easier now that she lived so close. Since moving from her vi in the imperial city to relocate to Max¡¯s apartment, Fia found she had a newfound sense of peace and freedom in all things. Even though she lived apart from her mother and father in the Imperial City, being this much further away gave her distance from the toils and trials of everyday life. Although she did feel somewhat guilty for it. Moving out of the vi had had another purpose than just distancing herself from the upper echelons of society. Her father had now rented it to another family as a form of ie. It saddened her a bit when she thought of it in those terms, but she was also happy that her sacrifice could do some good for the family. Fia readily gave up the vi when her father had asked. Granted he had expected her to move back home and not here to Max¡¯s apartment, but just the feeling of being amongst Max¡¯s family and belongings curbed her longer for him. But there was another, more important reason for wanting to move. Fia closed her eyes and cycled her Qi. It had only been two weeks but already she could sense a difference in her body. The slightest change in her flow of Qi as it made its way through her meridians and into her Dantian. It was still just an inkling, but she knew it was there. The faintest hint of a new life within her. She smiled at the thought. It was selfish she knew, and she prayed that Max had somehow forgiven her by now, but the idea of having his child filled her with so much joy. She prayed for his safety and for his return. Three years. She still didn¡¯t know how she would manage it. Especially now. A small part of her hoped that by moving away she could somehow keep it all a secret. At least for now. Fia sighed. It would at least be months before she would truly need to make changes for people not to notice. Until then she had the sce of knowing that Max would always be a part of her. No matter what. * * * Princess Lunh felt her stomach lurch as she read the report. ¡°757,132 spirit stones?¡± she said as she red at the numbers. ¡°Is this correct?¡± Lunh shifted upon her throne within her royal audience chamber, her cab members assembled before her. She waited for her Minister of Commerce, Hui Long to answer. The tan-skinned Dharmian did so slowly as if already sensing her wrath. ¡°The number is urate, your majesty,¡± Hui Long said in his frail voice. ¡°I double checked the figures myself. Every expenditure was ounted for with the utmost detail. You can see a breakdown of the various costs on pages three to sixteen.¡± She swiped her finger across her tablet aggressively, infuriated by the staggering amounts of items she saw. ¡°What¡¯s this? 42,000 spirits stones for cleaning services?¡± ¡°That was the umtion of all the cleaning for every arena across the, your majesty. It is not arge sum considering the amount of work involved. And procurement was overseen by each Warden personally.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too much!¡± she said. ¡°And what is this? Skiff transportation for 178,000 spirit stones?¡± ¡°The barge skiffs for the finals of the jade tournament matches, your majesty. The cost includes their construction as well and transport to and from the desert arena each day. It was a month-long tournament, I remind you.¡± Lunh felt sick to her stomach again. ¡°Why wasn¡¯t I advised the cost were climbing so high?¡± ¡°A thousand apologies,¡± Hui Long said with an obsequious bow. ¡°This One perhaps failed to emphasis the points when they were reported to you each month during our cab briefs on the tournament preparations. I believe your exact instructions were, ¡®whatever it takes to be a sessful¡¯, your majesty.¡± Her anger red. The old man was being cheeky with her, but she did recall making such ament more than once before. ¡°No matter. Tell us of the return. Surely this was a good investment.¡± ¡°There was no direct return on investment,¡± Hui Long said. ¡°The fees collected from visitors to the event totaled only 193,476 spirit stones. This leaves the total return for the tournament at a negative 563,656 spirit stones.¡± Lunh nearly dropped her tablet. ¡°A loss? You allowed us to suffer such a great loss?!¡± ¡°But your majesty, this was never foreseen to be a profitable event,¡± Hui Long said. ¡°I advised as such from the start. The return wille in the form of increased visitors from the core worlds. If you recall, you ced greater emphasis on this than even continuing work on the Omni gate, which we stalled for a year.¡± Curse the old man and his memory. Still, she would not lose face in front of her own cab. ¡°And what increase in visitors have we recorded since the event?¡± Hui Long paused as he consulted his own tablet. ¡°For thest few months we have indeed seen an uptick in arrivals. A solid 1.2 percent increase on average.¡± ¡°1.2 percent? Is that all?¡± ¡°It is equivalent to some 40,000 additional spirit stones a year your majesty. If the rate sustains, the event will have paid itself back in¡­ only 14 years.¡± 14 years? Lunh thought. That was longer than her world had even been established. The entire event was a damn failure! If word ever got out then her embarrassment within the lower courts would be too much to bear. ¡°These figures must never be published, understood,¡± Lunh said. ¡°Anywhere!¡± Hui Long bowed. ¡°As you wish, your majesty.¡± ¡°What is state of the treasury now?¡± she asked. ¡°We are in quite poor stead,¡± Hui Long said. ¡°Down to less than 200,000 spirit stones.¡± Her stomach lurched again. ¡°What? How much exactly?¡± ¡°168,000 your majesty,¡± Hui Long said. ¡°We may now wish to consider freezing other public services along with the Omni Gate to ensure we do not go bankrupt this year.¡± Her heart was pounding. ¡°No¡­ that will be a sign of weakness. No one must know that the treasury is in such a state. We must increase the export of monster cores and cultivation materials to the core worlds. What of the handler stations? We must elerate their production.¡± ¡°Their production is linked to the visitor arrivals, your majesty,¡± Hui Long said. ¡°They are at maximum productivity already.¡± Lunh grimaced. ¡°Then use the army then. Send our own forces into the wild to y spirit beasts.¡± ¡°Ah, your majesty¡­¡± Xi Liu, the Defense Minister interjected, his deep baritone voice drawing her attention. ¡°I would not advise that. The cost to mobilize troops for such a venture would surely cost more than the materials would be worth. And not to mention the losses of the troops themselves. Standard soldiers are foundation and low-tier core realm at best. They would not fare well against the A and S ss monsters needed to harvest cores.¡± ¡°Yes, there are expected to be losses, but what do you mean there would be additional cost?¡± Lunh said. ¡°Don¡¯t we pay them now anyway?¡± ¡°Yes, for defense, your majesty,¡± Xi Liu said. ¡°To suppress an attack should a barrier fail. And yes, we would expect and ept such losses, but to do so willing¡­¡± He didn¡¯t finish his sentence. As well he shouldn¡¯t. Her ire was piqued. ¡°I agree with Minister Xi Liu,¡± Hui Long said. ¡°The export industry works because thebor and risk is paid for by the adventurous cultivators themselves. If we were to take that risk on directly, there is no way it would be profitable.¡± Lunh¡¯s hands balled into fists. ¡°Are you to tell me none of you have a viable solution?¡± Her anger red as they looked to one another like hapless children. ¡°None of you!?¡± ¡°I may have a solution, your majesty.¡± All eyes turned to her aide, Ling Wei who had spoken from her side. It wasn¡¯tmon for Ling Wei to have a voice in cab meetings, but in this case, she would allow it, if not just to curb her ire. ¡°Go on, Ling Wei. Of what solution do you speak?¡± Ling Wei bowed. ¡°Your majesty is well aware that the imperialpensation for our tribute will some 20,000 spirit stones this¡ª¡± ¡°A paltry sum,¡± Lunh said. ¡°We have lost many times that. Were you not paying attention, Ling Wei?¡± ¡°Indeed we have, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said with another bow. ¡°But if your tribute is to be as sessful as we all hope, then thepensation can be much higher.¡± She raised a brow. ¡°Higher how?¡± ¡°It depends on how many survive a tour, but a billion spirit stones is split aspensation among the homes of the veteran survivors. Like I said, if you have faith that our tribute will survive a tour then the return ofpensation could be high indeed. It is not unheard of for a team of ten to return with only three or four.¡± Lunh¡¯s mind cranked as a smile spread across her lips. ¡°A much better prospect indeed,¡± she said. ¡°Far more guaranteed than this tournament nonsense that these lot came up with.¡± Her cab gasped and looked at her with disparaging eyes, but they dared not question her words. She hadid the me for the tournament¡¯s failure and her word was final. No more would be said. ¡°Prepare another letter to the tribute,¡± Lunh said. ¡°The Iron Bull must know his objective when the timeses.¡± She smiled as felt the stars aligning. Surely this was confirmation that the Iron Bull would not only return home sessful under his own strength but that he was destined to be hers as well. The station of a Prince Consort would be the perfect reward for saving the royal treasury. ¡°Ensure he gets the message quickly,¡± she said. ¡°Far more is riding on his sess than he even knows.¡± * * * In the darkness It stirred. A shift It sensed. Through the apertures It could no longer sense the Husk of the Cursed me. Had it been quelled? Had it been destroyed? It knew not. But surely only One as powerful as It could achieved such a thing. Its search for Its own husk, It would continue. A vessel worth of the Divine Stars. But wait¡­ Through the apertures did It still sense a Husk of the me. Not the same. Smaller. Weaker. It gathered Its focus, extending Its influence through the apertures. Any progeny of the Cursed me needed to be extinguished. And now¡­while it was away from the Other¡­would be the optimal time. Book 3: Chapter 10 ¡°Two minutes!¡± The shout of warning came from Jakra who was standing in the center aisleway of the jostling prison skiff as if descended rapidly from orbit. I was seated alongside my fellow Prisoner Tributes in chairs equipped with shackles for the ankles and arms. If this thing decided to crash, we¡¯d all be royally screwed. Unlike the fancy skiff I had taken from the surface of the Earth, the prisoner skiff was a tin can with no windows. Only the creak of metal and the hurricane-like gusts of wind banging against the hull gave any sense that we were descending at all. Kou Ren and his family were seated in the row next to me, their heads down between their knees. In thest few days, I had gotten to know the man and his family a bit better, but for all that was good in the universe, I now wished that I hadn¡¯t. It only made what was likely toe that much worse to bear. Kou Ren seemed oblivious to it all though, turning his head to give me a smile. ¡°Never done anything like this before,¡± he said. ¡°Who¡¯d have thought me, a poor farmer would be in a skiff falling from the stars, eh?¡± Heughed full of nerves, and I smiled good naturedly in response.¡°What do you think should be our strategy, Iron Bull? Should we try to befriend tributes from the other colony worlds and form alliances?¡± ¡°I got no idea,¡± I said honestly. ¡°But if this academy is run anything like a sect, I wouldn¡¯t expect teamwork to be a cherished principle.¡± The skiff suddenly lurched, sensing my stomach flying into my throat with negative G¡¯s. A few of the tributes screamed, including Kou Ren and his family. We were then mmed down into our seats again in a wild rollercoaster-like fashion. Kou Ken recovered from his fright with another smile. ¡°Ah, yes, you would know,¡± he said. ¡°I never would have thought I¡¯d be part of a martial sect, either. Yet here I am, I suppose.¡± I looked about. The fear inside the craft was palpable. We were headed into the unknown and these people were all beyond ill equipped. I nced down the row to his wife and children. Su Ren looked like she was praying while his sons were wearing grimaces of stress and worry. ¡°Make sure you keep your family together,¡± I said. ¡°Think of them as your team and no one else.¡± I then nced about at the other two dozen or so upants of the skiff, Kou Ren¡¯s neighbors and former friends. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect them to react any better than your countrymen here.¡± It was true. They hated his guts and still med from for everything. ¡°Get ready!¡± Jakra shouted. ¡°On your feet!¡± The shackles and manacles released and in a flurry of activity the entire upancy of the skiff tried to stand amidst the jostling and careening vessel. It then seemed to settle down as the craft decelerated hard and it felt like my weight was nearly tripled. I resisted the force with a flexing of my legs, but a few of the tributes fell right back into their chairs again including Su Ren. The doors to the craft opened and a hot wind blew inside, apanied by the dull orange glow of fading sunlight. Jakra then stood to the front of the craft and began pushing tributes outside. ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡± A prison guard who was seated to our rear began pushing us from behind as we filed into the aisleway. The fear inside Kou Ren and his family suddenly spiked as they approached the exit way and ncing over their heads I saw why. Standing before them was a twenty or thirty foot drop to a rocky surface below. Su Ren hesitated, gasping as she tried to turn back, but Jakra shoved her and the entire family out the opening with a single push. They flew outside with a cacophony of screams that ended with sharp cries and grunts from below. Before I could even look to see what had be of them Jakra thrusted my sword and axe into my arms. ¡°Good luck, Iron Bull,¡± he said and then hefted me out the hatch as well. Son of a¡­! The short fall to the ground came much quicker than I expected and when my feet hit the ground it felt like I had a ten-ton weight on my back. I spilled into a roll, breaking my fall and then popped back to my feet again, just as the prison skiff pulled away overhead, filling the air with hot dust and backwash. As it cleared a mind-numbing sight came into view. We weren¡¯t the only ones being pushed out of a skiff. No less than a dozen orbital crafts were spilling tributes onto the rocky ground from thirty feet in the air. Some were clearly true martial cultivators who absorbed the fall no problem like I had, more though seemed to be mortals who wailed and cried as they hit the ground. There had to be close to a thousand people altogether, but the one thing we all had inmon were our gray uniforms and the word tribute written in red characters on the back. I looked for Kou Ren and his family and found them gathered around Su Ren who was mewling on the ground in pain. As I walked to them, a heaviness hit me, like my entire body was made of lead. What the hell¡­? It was then that I noticed the distress on Kou Ren¡¯s face along with his sons¡¯. ¡°I can barely stand,¡± the eldest son, Chu Ren said. ¡°This world must be cursed!¡± ¡°Help me with your mother,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°She¡¯s broken her ankles.¡± His sons helped their mother to stand while I looked for my weapons that had fallen out of my grasp. When I collected my Phnx ive from the ground it felt like it weighed twice that of normal and the same went for my axe. I then went to help Kou Ren and his family who were hissing in pain with each step. I looked about and saw many of the other people struggling just to stand and walk. The gravity on this had to be jacked right up. We made our way toward where the other tributes seemed to be gathered as more and more orbital skiffs pulled away. I then noticed there was one skiff that did not. It was a normal skiff with no canopy and was hovering above the epicenter of the crowd. On it were four figures each dressed in different colored robes. Two were wearing ck, with one of them, a woman, having the addition of jade trim. Thest two men were wearing brown and white respectively. As the other orbital shuttles left and cleared the area, the woman wearing ck and jade took a step forward on the skiff and rested her hands on her hips as she surveyed the crowd. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She looked in her forties and reminded me a lot the Warden back home. Not in appearance mind you. Where the Lady Silver Tear had the refinement and beauty of a royal, this woman had a battle-hardened look to her and she wasn¡¯t Yee either. She was brown-skinned like Jian Yi and had her head shaved bald and while her face wasn¡¯t unattractive it did have a few scars. But what resembled the Warden was her stare. It was cold and calcting, almost predatory. ¡°Listen the lot of you!¡± she shouted, and her voice boomed over the crowd with the unnatural power of Qi. ¡°This One is known as Yora, chief instructor responsible for tribute training for the uingmencement year. From this point on, you will address me only as Chief Instructor, if you are ever so fortunate as to do so.¡± She then paused to look out over the crowd again as if to let her words sink in. ¡°Many of you are weak,¡± she continued. ¡°And before the sun of this world sets, you will know if you are too weak to continue past the close of this day. Some of you may have noticed that the Lung Zept is a heavy world. Your weight here and that of everything around you may be several times what you may be ustomed to on your home world. That alone may kill some of you before the day is out. Some indeed may have even died from it already being dropped from your skiffs.¡± As she said it, I immediately looked to Su Ren who was still wincing in pain between her two sons who were holding her aloft. It made my blood boil to realize they¡¯d perhaps done it all on purpose, dropped us from thirty feet up just to thin out the herd. ¡°If you are still fit enough to run, then you may have the strength toplete your first assignment as a tribute.¡± She then pointed behind her. ¡°In that direction, some twenty miles away is the Legionnaires¡¯ Academy of Du Gok Bhong. If you manage to reach there alive, then your will have eared your colors to be a first year tribute.¡± Chief Instructor Yora then pointed to the man in brown robes. ¡°You will shed your gray robes as prisoner tributes and wear brown, the color of misfortune and shit. If you manage to survive further through your first year and pass the requirements to reach the second year, then you will be elevated to a white robe tribute and wear the colors of death and mourning. Should you then survive and meet the requirements of a third year, you will wear ck, the colors of darkness and glory, a true tribute. Only then will you choose a path, either follow that of a Phnx for those of you who are of low cultivation realm, or that of legionnaire if you have true strength and talent. Should you seed in your legionnaire assessment, then your ck robes will be adorned with a white stripe, signifying you as a Graduate Legionnaire. From that point you will be sent on a tour of duty to suppress the Hell Worlds of the Cursed Stars. If you survive and return sessful, you will then be dubbed a true Legionnaire and wear the jade trim of vitality and dependability as I do now.¡± That got a murmur from the crowd as we all realized the power of the woman who now spoke to us. She¡¯d done exactly what I needed to do. She¡¯d seen and survived what I still had to reach much less experience. But something she said caused a pit to form in my stomach. Had I been ck-robed already just by being a volunteer? The thought made me sick. Killing that bastard Shen Liu had cost be far more than I thought. ¡°Shit¡­¡± I muttered. ¡°What is it?¡± Kou Ren asked. ¡°Nothing,¡± I said, but my mind was already whirling as to what I needed to do to make up for lost time. I had only nine months to achieve everything she¡¯d said, but clearly the color progression was meant for near mortals whose final end might be a phnx and not the stars. I needed to get to back to being a ck robe fast just so I could begin my training to be a legionnaire. The thought caused a burning of my me, but the Struggler came to dampen it as he drew my eyes to Kou Ren and his family. Dammit, I¡¯d made a promise to them as well. But how the hell was I going to advance quickly while trying to keep them all alive? ¡°Remember these colors and what they signify,¡± Jora said. ¡°If you are strong and fortunate enough to make it to the Academy, then you will see them all. Be certain to show respect to those who are your upperssmen and superiors. There is only one ranked higher than the colors you see me wearing now. That will be of the Academy President, Master Tzu Li Zen. He wears not only the gold trim of an Imperial Marshal, one having served three sessful tours as a legionnaire, but the additional purple trim of nobility for one having served an additional two tours, earning the rank of High Marshal. Should you survive this first tribtion as a prisoner tribute, you will have the honor of being addressed by the High Marshal himself at the first assembly. The path ahead of you will not be easy, but with ha¡ª¡± Her words cut short as a sudden cry filled the air. The entire assembly then turned in the direction of the scream to see a lone tribute a couple hundred feet away, running for his life from what looked like a praying mantis the size of a giraffe. The creature easily outpaced him on its long spindly legs, moving in unnervingly quick and jerky steps. It stabbed the man through his torso with one of them, pinning him to the ground. His cries became ear-piercing screams of terror as the mantis lowered its huge insectoid head to the man¡¯s face. Then with a loud crack, it snapped its jaws closed, popping the man¡¯s skull like a ripe watermelon. The screams ceased. The giant mantis feasted for a moment on what was left of the man¡¯s head, and then after piercing his body with both forelimbs, the mantis began digging into the earth with its hind quarters. It took less than a half a minute for the huge monster to burrow itself into the ground and drag the tribute¡¯s body with it. A cold silence filled the air as fear permeated everyone¡¯s soul. I had never seen a creature like that before and had no idea how strong it was, but judging by how quickly the man had died, I would put it as a C ss at least. But then again this was a heavy world. Maybe it was stronger than even that to live under the intense gravity alone. Maybe it was the equivalent of a B ss in my books. Chief Instructor Yora let out a scoffingugh that echoed over the crowd. ¡°It seems one of your fellow tributes attempted to gain a head start. Both ambitious and cunning. Qualities to be admired for certain, but as he most graciously allowed to be demonstrated, the Academy of Du Gok Bhong is called so for a reason. You are here to learn as much as you are to advance and grow in strength. And your first lesson should always be this: ensure you understand fully the directions of your instructor.¡± She paused for a smile that more resembled a shit-eating grin. ¡°Would that eager tribute have waited but a moment more, I would have exined that Lung Zept is a penal colony and was chosen to be so for three reasons. The first is it being a heavy world as I already exined. The second is that this world is filled with very powerful monsters and spirit beasts. The creature you saw, known as a Takrid, is the predominant species that live inrge colonies below the ground. While nocturnal they are attracted by sound and vibration during the day and act as ambush predators. Like what happened with that tribute there, it is likely arge number of Takrids gather below you¡­even now.¡± That caused the fear to spike to 12 as murmurs of despair and rm wafted through the crowd. ¡°The only thing protecting you right now is the small barrier being produced by this.¡± Yora then raised a familiar looking crystal in her hand the size of softball. It was cut crudely and amber in color but there was no denying what it was. ¡°This is known as aetherite. It is the material we harvest from Hell Worlds of the Cursed Stars. Its concentrated Qi harmonics repel spirit beasts and monsters. Even demons. Its value is worth a thousand times its weight in spirit stones. Once we leave, you will have to travel the twenty miles to Du Gok Bhong and defend yourself against the attacks at the monsters here.¡± The murmurs broke into an outright din of panic and rm. ¡°This is far worse than I thought!¡± Kou Ren said looking to me. ¡°Master Iron Bull, please protect my family!¡± And he wasn¡¯t the only one. Kou Ren¡¯s former friends and Sect mates all bum-rushed me, begging for me to protect them. ¡°Master Iron Bull, please escort us!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t die like this!¡± ¡°Kou Ren! You¡¯ve doomed us all!¡± I was just about to tell them all back off, when Yora shouted again. ¡°SILENCE!¡± Her words crushed the noise until you could hear a pin drop again. ¡°There is a final reason this was chosen as a penal colony,¡± she said. ¡°It is also the reason why you must reach Du Gok Bhong before nightfall.¡± She then looked to the orange-hued sky. ¡°The is cursed by a Bloodmoon. When it rises, its Dark Qi will influence the Takrids that will emerge from below, making them even stronger and more ferocious. Not only that, but the demons that slumber beneath this world¡¯s crust will surface as well. Few cultivators save for Graduate Legionnaires can withstand the influence of a Bloodmoon and even then, not for very long. If you wish to survive, get to Du Gok Bhong before nightfall where there is the safety of an aetherite core.¡± The uncertainty and panic resumed as the skiff powered up and began to redirect towards the direction of the Academy. ¡°You have roughly four hours,¡± Yora said. ¡°This is your first assignment as tributes. I wish you luck.¡± With that the skiff turned fully and began to pull away. Desperate cries rang out as people tried to run after it. But then there came another sound as the ground began to tremble beneath our feet. Rocks and stone breaking. The world then exploded into a shower of sand and debris as at least half a dozen Takrids burst free from the ground around us. Book 3: Chapter 11 My Frenzy spiked as the [Odds Against Me] surged! I was on an alien world, with alien monsters attacking a crowd full of people and a family I had sworn to protect. The Demon wanted to let it all hang out and just sink its teeth into the fresh of unfamiliar prey, but the Struggler knew there were other priorities. ¡°Keep behind me!¡± I shouted to Kou Ren and his family. I readied my ve and Axe, cycling my Frenzy to imbue my body with [Steel Skin]. I took quick assessment of the chaos erupting around me. One of the Takrids was already being fended off by what appeared to be a group of mid-tier cultivators. The four others were attacking the rest of the tributes en-mass, like sharks shredding a bait ball. No time to lose! Iunched into the air with a scream, charging my weapons with [Frenzied Lightning]. Bringing them down heavily upon the thorax of the closest Takrid, it felt like I was striking a steel wall. The force of my hit was still enough to crack its armor though and green goop sprayed from its hard, chitinous exo-skeleton that I could now see was at least three inches thick. I wasted no time leaping back up at it for another strike, but with its attention draw, it turned and stabbed me right out of the air with one of its spindly forelimbs. A grunt of pain escaped my clenched my teeth as the spear-like tip punctured straight through my [Steel Skin] and into my shoulder. My back hit the ground as it pinned me down and I had a shback to that poor guy getting his head bitten off. What the hell? Were these things so strong on this that I was going out the same way as some mortal?Nah¡­ to hell with that¡­ I was a cultivator. No. I was a damn Berserker! My infuriation and ragebined to light a righteous indignation of defiance in my heart. My me surged with Frenzy and I channeled every ounce of it into my strength as I gripped the spindly limp piercing my shoulder. Using both hands and I pulled hard in opposite directions, grunting with exertion. It felt like I was trying to break concrete, but then with another primal yell, the exo-skeleton gave way like crab leg being snapped and the giraffe-sized beast lurched away from me, spewing green blood from its broken limb. I didn¡¯t bother to remove the tip of its leg from my shoulder as I went on the counter offensive. I¡¯d yed this all wrong from the start. My twin Axe and ve technique was for fighting other cultivators, not monsters. I stowed my axe on my back and gripped my Phnx ive in both hands. I¡¯d in hundreds of monsters in wild to strengthen Venja with this style and now I needed to use it to the fullest to kill all these things. I¡¯d attacked the Takrid as if it were a C or B ss monster, but clearly these Takrids were the equivalent of an A or S ss even. Maybe I¡¯d been a big fish in a small pond all along. But no matter. I had the power of rage on my side. I needed go old school, like back when I was weak. Back when every hit needed my all. When every hit had to count. When every hit had to kill! I flew upwards with a battle cry, channeling every chunk of solid Frenzy into my next swing. Lightning shed with a thunderous boom! as the ive cut clean through one of the Takrid¡¯s massive leg joints. My [Lust for Battle] surged and I went in for another [One Chop Cleave], taking off two legs at once. As the beast fell and toppled over, its chitinous jaws cked and squeaked and I spun with a somersault to delivery an overhead killing blow that silenced the creature by removing its head. I had scarce time to cultivate all the Frenzy flowing from my me, but I did so quickly to replenish everything I had dished out to y the Takrid. And it¡¯d been a hell of a lot too. In the time it had taken me to kill it though, I saw that the other four had sliced through nearly half the crowd. Bodies and limbsy severed on the ground. Blood flowed as screamed filling the air. I looked for Kou Ren but couldn¡¯t find him in the din. Shit! I thought. If I didn¡¯t act fast all these people were going to die! I couldn¡¯t hold back any longer. If I didn¡¯t up my game, it was going to be game over! Cycling my Frenzy, I surged with [Mark of the Giant], holding back the throttle only slightly to remain just above my normal size. Hopefully not too many people would notice in the fray, but it was more than enough to equalize the heightened gravity pulling against my bones. I cleaved into another Takrid with my newfound strength, just as it was about to devour a woman caught between its limbs. I took its huge bulbous abdomen right off in a single cleave. Heck yeah! I backflipped with my martial forms as it retaliated with a swipe of its legs, its insectoid brain still controlling its body sans its vital organs somehow. I flew back at it with another surge of Frenzy and finally ended its life in full for good with a follow up strike to its head and thorax. I looked for my next target and pushed through the fleeing crowd to get to thest three. Luckly one of them already looked partially subdued by a group of ten or so cultivators, who were peppering it with elemental Qi techniques. I changed direction and went for thest two. They were involved in a sparring match of their own, fighting over a pile of fresh corpses that had to beprised of some thirty people or more. My stomach lurched at the sight, but the thought of these things killing more people spurred me on. I dug deep within my Frenzy reserves toy into the closest of the giant insects with a series of ive strikes, spinning and hacking to spew green blood. I was so engrossed in my handiwork that I didn¡¯t see the other Takrid lurch at me until it already had snared my leg within its jaws. I cried out in white hot pain as the force of its bite threatened to cut through my [Steel Skin] and take my leg with it. There wasn¡¯t as much pressure as when the first one had piercing me before, but it was damn near close enough. I cultivated the Frenzy from my [Pain] to fight back and erupted with a burst of [Frenzied Lightning]. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± The lightning shocked the creature away from me and I used the time to both recover and finished the other one off before it got any ideas. I then turned about to see thest Takrid still recovering from my lightning hit, convulsing and jittering. Limping, I closed the distance to it and then summoned my Frenzy to dispatch it quickly before it could recover. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°[Three log Chop]!¡± My ive cleaved straight through the creature¡¯s insectoid-like head and its convulsions stopped instantly. A sudden weakness overcame me afternding the killing blow. Like I had just run a marathon or something. My breathing was ragged, my skin bathed in green goop, blood and sweat. I was then that I realized that I was throwing around twice my weight now, burning Frenzy like crazy. I finally pulled the tip of the Takrid leg from my shoulder, wincing with the pain. Dropping it to the ground I then noticed that all the violence had ceased. I looked for the final Takrid the other cultivators had engaged but didn¡¯t see it anymore. What I did see however was a small crowd of Tributes gathering around me. They all gawked with wide eyed stares while their souls spewed lemonade. Murmurs and mumbles came next. ¡°You see the size of that son of a bitch?¡± ¡°He killed four of those things by himself? It took ten of us to kill one!¡± ¡°Big deal. The bastard had weapons, we didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°How¡¯d he get ¡®em?¡± ¡°He was a Free Tribute.¡± ¡°He volunteered for this shit?¡± ¡°Must be high Teir Core Realm, at least!¡± The spective banter continued, and I realized the group before me had to be the same guys who dispatched the other Takrid. A group of more familiar faces then popped out of the crowd and I was relieved to see Kou Ren along with his family¡ªall of them still alive and unscathed. ¡°Master Iron Bull!¡± Kou Ren shouted. ¡°You saved our lives! You are the most powerful cultivator I¡¯ve ever seen!¡± He turned about to face the masses. ¡°Hear this! We who are still standing, own the Iron Bull our lives. He alone slew those beasts! Give him your gratitude!¡± Kou Ren fell to his knees along with his family, prostrating himself with a kowtow. A good portion of the rest of the group did the same, which I now saw had been cut down from over a thousand to what looked like less than a hundred. Holy shit¡­ I thought. This world was brutal. The bodies of the iny in huge, bloodied piles. Most didn¡¯t seem to care, all prisoners perhaps, but a few who I recognized as fellow sect members from Kou Ren¡¯s town or vige were crying unconsbly, perhaps having lost loved ones in the fray. ¡°Like hell he killed them all,¡± a slim man with a stubbled beard and long hair said. ¡°We killed one too. And with our bare hands. Ain¡¯t nothing special about a man who got weapons.¡± He spit on the ground as if to emphasize the fact. The bastard then stared at me, sizing me up, anger and resentment in his soul, but I didn¡¯t have time for such bullshit. My handler senses were tingling. I ignored him with [Indifference] as I turned to the rest of the crowd. ¡°We all need to clear out of here,¡± I said. ¡°These bodies and blood will attract more predators. And trust me when I say this. Ie from a world with a Bloodmoon and we all need get to the Academy before it rises.¡± The same man scoffed. ¡°What¡¯s this ¡®we¡¯ shit? It¡¯s everyman for himself, jackass.¡± ¡°Yeah, and who the hell are you tell us what we should do?¡± another man said. He was thick and burly with dark skin and a shaved head, a white beard that was gnarled and ited into locks. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the rest of you, but I¡¯m done with taking orders. We¡¯re practically free now. You want to believe that dumb bitch and run to a damn prison for safety, be my guest? Me¡­ I¡¯m finding a way off this rock.¡± He began walking away and few stragglers followed after him. ¡°Wait!¡± Kou Ren shouted. ¡°We should all stick with the Iron Bull! Clearly, he¡¯s strong enough to protect us. You¡¯ve seen it for yourselves.¡± Murmurs of uncertainty and debate filled the air. I hadn¡¯t nned on bing the leader of this mob but damn it if Kou Ren wasn¡¯t pushing me and everyone else in that direction. Heated conversations broke out and few more people left to follow the ck guy with beard. Then suddenly a voice shouted above the din. ¡°You¡¯ll all die!¡± Everyone paused to stare at the woman with short cropped blonde hair and gray eyes who had spoken. She was petite with pale white skin, which was now flushed red, perhaps from fighting thest Takrid considering she fit the build of a cultivator to a tee with her toned arms that where on disy in her sleeveless robe. ¡°We have creatures like these back on my home world,¡± she said. ¡°If you don¡¯t move fast enough and quietly enough, you¡¯ll pop a swarm like we did just now. If you want to survive, your best bet is to move fast and alone.¡± She then paused and looked right at me. ¡°Stay with these people and you¡¯ll die, Iron Bull.¡± With that said, the woman suddenly took off in a sprint, heading in the opposite direction of the bearded guy and towards the academy. A few more seconds passed before the asshole who sized me up took off as well. After this it was a free for all, with tributes leaving in droves. Even some of Kou Ren¡¯s fellow townsmen left, following the crowd. After a few minutes when I looked at who remained, there was only Kou Ren¡¯s family along with perhaps a dozen more tributes who were either wounded or maimed. Son of bitch, I thought. But then maybe I was expecting too much of them to band together for their fellow man. Most of these people were criminals, after all. ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Kou Ren asked. ¡°What that woman said made sense to me,¡± Su Ren said, leaning on her husband¡¯s shoulder for support. ¡°We need to move quickly so those things can¡¯t jump out of the ground to grab us.¡± ¡°But what about all these other people?¡± Kou Ren looked back to the dozen or so other tributes with us. ¡°Some of them don¡¯t look able to walk.¡± ¡°I say we leave them,¡± the youngest son, Lo Ren said, his dark eyes lowering as he looked over the wounded tributes with disdain. ¡°They¡¯re all criminals anyway.¡± His callous statement took me by surprise. He definitely wasn¡¯t a chip off the old block. But he wasn¡¯t exactly wrong either. Still, the cultivator, dog eat dog mindset of it all just rubbed me the wrong way. ¡°Would you do the same to your mother?¡± I asked. He stared back at me shocked with his mouth open. I didn¡¯t wait for an answer and instead went to work, doing the only thing I knew that could help. There was no way we could move at any kind of speed without making a ton of noise. And we needed to get moving quickly to beat the sun. We were bound to attract more Takrids, but there was a solution for that. ¡°On my world, my job was to escort cultivators through territory like this,¡± I said. ¡°Avoidingrge predators and spirit beast was what I was trained to do.¡± I found the giant abdomen of the Takrid I had cut clean off. Using my [Mark of the Giant] strength, I gripped the ends of its carapace and cracked it wide open like a peanut. Guts and foul-smelling offal burst free. I then rooted around in the nauseating stuff until I found what I was looking for. I didn¡¯t know these creatures, but there were plenty of insect type monsters back home and from my years of training as a handler I knew how to avoid them. Finding what I was looking for, I raised a banana shaped organ in the air for all of them to see. ¡°Insectsmunicate mostly by chemicals,¡± I said. ¡°This organ is what produces them. It¡¯s going to be nasty, but if we smear this on us, it¡¯ll be our best chance to survive if another one of those things pops out of the ground to attack.¡± I didn¡¯t have to speak twice. The tributes lined up in front of me as their souls oozed lemonade. I handed the organ to Kou Ren. ¡°You go first and then help the others. I¡¯ll get more sacs.¡± I popped three more Takrid abdomens open to get the organs needed to cover the sixteen people with me. Two of the tributes were missing limbs and already half dead, but I put a tourniquet on their wounds and after smearing them with Takrid gunk, threw them on my back. ¡°Why do you care so much about these strangers?¡± Lo Ren said frowning at me. ¡°They would have likely left just like the others if they could.¡± If seemed a genuine question. A good one too. Lo Ren and Chu Ren were near identical in appearance. Both close to my age, Lo Ren maybe being a few years younger. They were everyday people, dark hair cut short so as not to interfere with their working in the fields, ordinary features. But that was where the simrities ended. Now I realized that Chu Ren and Lo Ren were like night and day. Chu Ren seemed much more like his father, a man of the people. Lo Ren seemed a man in it for himself. ¡°Maybe,¡± I said, finally answering him. ¡°But leaving them here would make us no better.¡± That seemed to stump him. ¡°Bring your mother to me, I¡¯ll carry her as well.¡± ¡°Three people?¡± he said. I was still pumping [Mark of the Giant] and my increased frame size could handle the bulk if ced them right. With Kou Ren¡¯s help I fit Su Ren on my back. The weight was enormous, especially with my weapons and I found I had to spend a steady stream of Frenzy just to stay upright. Luckly there was enough lemonade in the air to help recoup some of it. ¡°Wait,¡± Kou Ren said holding up one of Takrid sacs. ¡°You forgot to use this on yourself, Master Iron Bull.¡± ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not wearing any. If worstes to worst, I want to be able to lure those things away from you guys, if I can.¡± I still didn¡¯t know if I could even pull this off. The [Odds were Against Me] indeed. Kou Ren smiled as his eyes welled with tears. ¡°You are truly an honorable soul, Master Iron Bull,¡± Kou Ren said, giving me another bow of respect. ¡°Somehow, be it in this life or the next, I will repay you for this great kindness.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just worry about this life for now,¡± I said with a grin. I found my bearings for the academy and then shouted to the rest of the crowd. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s move out. We¡¯ve got twenty miles to cover. And that sun isn¡¯t going to wait for us to set.¡± Book 3: Chapter 12 My lungs burned with exertion as I wheezed in the hot desert air. That¡¯s what the ce was, I decided. A damn desert. Not that it was all sand dunes and shit, but the t terrain and minimal vegetation gave the impression that this ce didn¡¯t see a lot of precipitation. What trees we did pass, were either dead and withering or more like cactus. Small tuffs of grass dotted the hard packed earth in random patterns, the earth itself more resembling red y. That reminded me of the arena. But at the rate we were going, I wondered if I¡¯d ever see an arena again. We¡¯d travelled only three or four miles to my estimation. Less than a quarter of the way and had burned close to an hour already. I was jogging at a slow trot to keep the pace up and with three people on my back, plus my weapons the exertion was intense. If I were back on Earth this would have been a breeze and it had me wonder if there was more than just gravity at y here. Regardless, I was appreciative of the workout and was actively cultivated all the Frenzy I had generated fighting the Takrids to heighten my Muscle Strengthening and Boby Hardening. I was already at Stage X in both, but clearly there were a lot tougher things in the universe than me, and those Takrids had proved it. I would need to get much tougher at a base level to survive this ce and beyond.I wasn¡¯t sure if I needed to get to the next breakthrough and ascent to the Sacred Soul Realm in order to gain new stages of Body Refinement or not, but I didn¡¯t care. I was doing it anyway. As Threja had taught me, even the Shuras were but a guide. My me was telling me I was too weak for this new world and I was adjusting myself ordingly. I turned about briefly to see the tail of our caravan extended into the distance. Shit¡­ I cursed. Some of themgging back near a quarter mile. But I couldn¡¯t fault them. If I was struggling under this heavy world I could only imagine what they were feeling. I waited until I found a bit of shade under a copse of dead trees before halting and lowering Su Ren and the other two Tributes from my back. Kou Ren and his sons who had kept pace with me staggered to the dead trees like shipwrecked men seeing an ind. They copsed in heaps panting heavily, but even sitting seemed to give them little relief. ¡°Master Iron Bull,¡± Su Ren said softly, drawing my attention to her and she frailly pointed to the two tributes I¡¯did down next to her. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think either of them are breathing anymore.¡± Before I could even confirm, Lo Ren let out a scoff. ¡°See? A waste of time bringing them. And to have my mother tethered to a couple of corpse!¡± ¡°Silent, Lo Ren,¡± his mother chided him. ¡°You shame us!¡± ¡°Shame?¡± he shouted. ¡°What does shame matter here? We are all dead already!¡± A resounding smack filled the air as Chu Ren pped his younger brother across the face. ¡°Stop it!¡± Chu Ren. ¡°Alwaysining. You see anyone else¡ª?¡± His words cut short as Lo Ren pounced on top of him and the two brothers fell to the ground in a scuffle. Kou Ren rushed to break them up while Su Ren shouted for them to stop. I was just about to intervein myself, when the ground rumbled beneath us. In less than a second, the tan colored carapace of a Takrid emerged from the ground in a burst of earth and sand not more than twenty feet away. Kou Ren and his family screamed but yelled above them. ¡°Everyone shut up and don¡¯t move!¡± Silence fell as the towering monster pulled itself free from its burrow. I held my breath and prayed my handler instincts would prove right. The Takrid edged forward on its spindle legs towards where Su Ren wasying with two corpses. It lowered its insectoid head towards them, turning it from side to side. But it didn¡¯t attack. It was confused. But perhaps it wouldn¡¯t be for long. Reaching for my ive, I cycled my Frenzy and then ran in a sprint across the Takrid. The monster swiveled it head towards me and immediately gave chase. I poured on the speed to increase the distance between myself and Kou Ren¡¯s family and then pulled a quick reversal to face the creature head on. With its lumbering momentum it had no time to stop and used the opportunity leap from the ground with [Lightning] charged upward sh. I cut through both its front legs, causing the insect to crash into the ground and then followed up with a spinning chop to its head to quickly put it down. I breathed a sigh of relief. My ploy had indeed worked. Thank goodness some rules of the universe were truly universal. I stowed my de and headed back to Kou Ren. All of them were staring at me with wide eyed in silence as if traumatized. The lemonade they exuded expressed their appreciation well enough though and I weed it to replenish my reserves. ¡°I suggest no more fighting,¡± I said. ¡°It was his damn fault,¡± Lo Ren hisses in a whisper at his older brother. Chu Ren red back at him but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Enough of that,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°The Iron Bull has spared this family yet again. We should be grateful.¡± He then turned to me with a bow. ¡°Forgive my sons, master.¡± ¡°Yes, forgive them please, master Iron Bull,¡± Su Ren said lowering her head to the ground. I sighed. ¡°Yeah, no worries.¡± I nced up at the sun. It was already starting to turn from yellow to orange. Most of the true cultivators had perhaps already long arrived at the academy. If we didn¡¯t up our speed fast it wouldn¡¯t matter if we stayed quiet enough to prevent another Takrid attack. The Bloodmoon was on the way. ¡°We need to switch up the game n,¡± I said. ¡°I still carry three of you, but one of you will need to run with me.¡± ¡°I say he should run,¡± Chu Ren said jerking a thumb at his brother. I huffed out augh. ¡°You both will. In turns. Run as fast as you can until you tire and then I¡¯ll swap you out.¡± ¡°That sounds like a n,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°You both could cultivate while you ride on Master Iron Bull¡¯s back to regain your stamina.¡± ¡°The world¡¯s Qi is strange,¡± Lo Ren said. ¡°It¡¯s dense, but sparse. Hard to find. Like nothing is even here.¡± ¡°Yes, I sense that too,¡± Su Ren said with a nod. ¡°Do you sense the same as well, Master Iron Bull?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition. I couldn¡¯t sense jack shit when it came to Qi, but I couldn¡¯t let them know that. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll get there regardless.¡± ¡°Are we going to wait for the others to catch up?¡± Kou Ren asked. Lo Ren immediately let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Hush, Lo Ren,¡± his father snapped. I looked back and saw that the next closest group still hadn¡¯t gotten any further, perhaps resting as we were. I then looked down at the bodies of the two dead tributes I¡¯d been carrying. As much as the Struggler wanted to protect, the facts were staring me dead in the face. Literally. ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°Lo Ren is right. We can¡¯t save everyone. But I did promise to save your family.¡± I grabbed Su Ren from the ground and hoisted her onto my back, along with Kou Ren and Chu Ren. I then looked to Lo Ren. ¡°Run as hard and fast as you can. And if one of those things pops out, just run even faster.¡± To my surprise he gave me a nod and even a little lemonade. We then got underway and left the rest of the tributes behind to die. * * * More evidence of death emerged the further we progressed. Patches of blood. Holes in the earth where a Takrid must have emerged and snatched a tribute away. They became more and more frequent after we passed the halfway mark, where some of the weaker tributes had perhaps run out of steam. By that time both Chu Ran and Lo Ren were running on fumes themselves, each one only able tost five minutes before needing a break. ¡°Water¡­¡± Chu Ren rested his hands on his knees panting. ¡°We need water.¡± I myself was parched as hell, but was running [Death¡¯s Door] to bypass my bodily needs to keep running at a steady speed. ¡°The bastards left us here to die,¡± Lo Ren said. ¡°How do we even know this is the right direction?¡± ¡°What other direction can we go?¡± Su Ren said, who was now taking a break from the constant jostling on my back by sitting on the ground as well. ¡°It¡¯s where the woman pointed.¡± ¡°I was hoping we would at least be able to see it by now,¡± Kou Ren said peering into fading blood-orange sun that was rapidly sinking towards the horizon. I gauged the time. We had perhaps less than an hour left. ¡°It¡¯s all part of the test,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Don¡¯t lose hope now. We¡¯vee this far. Less than a quarter of the way left to go. We can make it if we push hard now.¡± That got their spirits up and after a few more precious minutes of rest we set off again. We passed by more grisly sites of carnage as we pressed on, some with body parts and tribute uniforms strewn across the ground. A few times we even caused the earth to open up behind us as a Takrid surfaced, but at the speed we were moving we were long gone before it could fully emerge. It was working. I was actually going to save these people. The hope in my heart spurred me on as I swapped out Chu Ren and Lo Ren for what I hoped was thest time. I could just about see a towering structure in the distance when Kou Ren suddenly called out from my back. ¡°Iron Bull, stop!¡± I did so, even though I had no idea why. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I realized then that I was at the bottom of a small rise that Kou Ren could see over due to being on my back. As I climbed the hill for myself my heart dropped at what I saw. No less than a dozen Takrids were spilling out of a hole and feasting on a group of twenty or so corpses. ¡°By the heavens,¡± Su Ren said. ¡°How do we get by?¡± ¡°Trust the bug guts,¡± I said as I sensed for the direction of the wind. It was headed straight at us,ing from the direction we need to go. ¡°We¡¯ll bank to the right of them, moving slow. They shouldn¡¯t be able to smell us until we¡¯re already past.¡± ¡°So long as it¡¯s walking,¡± Lo Ren said already out of breath. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can run much more.¡± ¡°Let me run then,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°I¡¯m not as fast but I¡¯m at least well rested. Son, climb on here.¡± Before I could say anything, Kou Ren and Lo Ren traded ces on my back. No matter, I thought. We were on the home stretch now. I started making the wide arc around the scene of carnage while Kou Ren walked by my side. I nced up at the darkening sky at the same time. I could make it to that tower if I had a clean run for it, assuming Kou Ren could keep up. But we needed to get past the swarm of feasting Takrids first. The sounds of ripping flesh and snapping bone were impossible to ignore and more than once I could hear muffled gaspse from Su Ren as she quivered on my back. We got just about halfway when a new sound emerged. A slow hiss filled the air, and then grew in volume like a truck tire being rapidly deted. I paused and looked in the direction of the sound that wasing from somewhere behind us and then froze as a creature the size of a jumbo jet lifted it massive reptilian head into the air. It was a couple hundred feet away and looked like a monitor lizard, or a Komoda Dragon perhaps, only a thousand times the size. The thing dwarfed any creature I¡¯d ever seen before, expect maybe those giant demons I¡¯d seen on the Hell nes of the moon. But this wasn¡¯t even a demon. It was a normal ass monster. But it had to be this world¡¯s equivalent of an S ss at least. ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± I whispered and felt my me rising to the challenge. The Demon had to be out of his damn mind, but luckily the Struggler still had a mission to aplish. I had to get Kou Ren and his family to Du Gok Bhong and tackling this monster probably wouldn¡¯t be conducive for that. I wondered how the thing even snuck up on us. And then as if to answer my question it demonstrated its stealth by moving silently and slowly towards the feasting Takrids. But although it moved slowly, with its immense size it covered a couple hundred feet in only two or three steps. The fear seeping from Kou Ren and his family was spiking through the roof. Then in a sudden violent motion the giant lizard let out another loud hiss and charged forward. The ground shook like an earthquake as the monsternded in the midst of the Takrids. It snapped up one of them in its massive jaws and the crunched its shell open before lifting its head to swallow it down its flexing gullet. ¡°Move now,¡± I said. ¡°Quickly.¡± I picked up the pace and dragged Kou Ren with me. The monster was busy feeding on what was perhaps its natural prey and we needed to use that time to get the hell out of Dodge. ¡°Run Kou Ren, run!¡± I pushed on the speed to get as far away as possible and to Kou Ren¡¯s credit he managed to keep up for about a quarter mile. Then he slowed and finally dragged to a halt. ¡°I need to rest,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t how you are doing this. This world is brutal.¡± ¡°Let me trade ces with you, father,¡± Chu Ren said. ¡°No, you stay there. I¡¯ll be alright. Just need a moment.¡± ¡°The fates are with us,¡± Su Ren said after a while. ¡°That monster is far behind us now and I can see the tower ahead. There are lights.¡± I could see them too, perhaps just a couple miles away. It had to be the perimeter of the barrier. And it was just in time too. Already I could feel the first tingles of Dark Frenzy filling the air. ¡°You almost ready?¡± I asked Kou Ren after another minute. He nodded. ¡°Yes. I can manage now, I think.¡± I turned about to check on the giant lizard as Kou Ren lifted himself from the ground. It was nearly through thest of the Takrids, leaving none of them to escape. As it downed what appeared to be thest of them, it then began rooting in the ground and digging at the hole they had emerged from. Then it stopped abruptly and lifted its head high into the air. Its huge, forked tongue licked the air, as if sensing something. Then its head turned in our direction and it licked the air again. It lowered its head and began to charge. Oh shit! ¡°It¡¯s seen us!¡± Kou Ren said with a startled cry. But I knew better. It hadn¡¯t seen us. It had smelled us from downwind. And the Takrid juice I had smeared on us was to me. ¡°You all need to run!¡± I shouted as I cycled my Frenzy and prepared to take on the beast. The monster could probably kill me, but I was about to turn full demon soon anyway. Maybe I had a chance. I was just about to dump Kou Ren¡¯s family from my back when he raised a hand to me. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Kou Ren shouted. ¡°They¡¯ll never make it without you! That beast is too fast!¡± He paused as the ground trembled beneath us, the giant lizard already having covered half the distance to us in just a few seconds. ¡°Please keep your promise,¡± Kou Ren said. ¡°Protect my family, Iron Bull.¡± Before I could do anything else, Kou Ren turned and ran in the direction of the giant lizard. His wife screamed in hysterics. ¡°Kou Ren! No!¡± ¡°Father!¡± Lo Ren cried. ¡°Father!¡± They all bucked and jostled to climb from my back, but the [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] kept them in ce as my eyes suddenly welled. I watched beside myself as Kou Ren changed direction, running parallel to the beast to buy us even more time. My heart ached at what I was witnessing. The demon wanted to pounce. To try and save him. To try and kill that monster. But that would simply kill us all. The Struggler¡¯s embrace shrouded my me as the giant lizard quickly reached Kou Ren and with a single snap of its jaws, plucked him from the ground and swallowed him whole. My stomach lurched. It fell straight through the ground as Kou Ren¡¯s family cried out in shock and horror and the helplessness of losing my own family shed through my eyes. He was gone. I stood frozen in ce, my mind still trying toprehend his sacrifice. Save them, I could still hear Kou Ren¡¯s voice pleading in my mind. Run! I turned about and sprinted at full speed. Kou Ren¡¯s family pounded on my back in anguish and protest, urging me to turn back to save him. Their cries tore through my soul as they called out for him again and again. They didn¡¯t stop and neither did I. In the darkness I poured on [Mark of the Beast] as the first hints of the Bloodmoon began to rise. I shieled my me with [Soul Shield] and gritted my sharpening teeth as the effects took hold. ncing over my shoulder, I could finally see that I was leaving the giant lizard far behind. The lights in the distance grew rapidly ahead of me as I closed in on them, bing towering, ming beacons in the darkness. As I finally ran past them, I felt the relief of the Bloodmoon¡¯s pressure subside. I didn¡¯t stop until I saw the towering structure of Du Bok Ghong looming above me¡ªa citadel of grey stone and steel. Only then did I finally slide to a halt and release Kou Ren¡¯s family to fall by my side. As I dropped to my knees their wails of anguish and loss tugged at my heart. But all I could do¡­was weep. Book 3: Chapter 13 The familiar howls of demons and monsters filled the night as the Bloodmoon finally emerged. It looked bigger than our moon on Earth, at least twice the size and I wondered if the Dark Frenzy it produced would be just as magnified. I looked to Su Ren and her boys. They had been crying non-stop for thest few minutes, but now they knelt together, offering prayers in silence. I gave them their privacy as a family, keeping my distance, but in my mind, I could still see Kou Ren making that final choice to save his family. He knew I was only able to carry three of them to safety. And he had made the tough choice of sacrificing himself so that they could escape. He had not only spared their lives but also spared them of the impossible choice of sacrificing one of their own. He was a good man, Kou Ren. Honest, caring and thoughtful until the end. I hadn¡¯t known him for very long, but in that one instance he had taught me what the love a father had for his family truly meant. A thing I was destined to be myself one day. One day soon perhaps. ¡°Rest in peace, Kou Ren,¡± I whispered my own prayer for him. ¡°I will keep my promise to you.¡± I then looked at his family again. ¡°As best I can.¡± * * *We finally got back underway, travelling the distance between the ming beacon towers that marked the edge of the barrier and the former prison that was Du Gok Bhong. In the crimson shade of the moonlight, it looked every bit a tower of despair and oppression. Standing at least a hundred feet tall, bare walls dotted with the tiny, slotted windows of prison cells. An ominous monument perhaps indicative of the hardships we would face. But as I carried Su Ren on my back, I could only imagine the hardship she was already facing. To lose her husband like that. She hadn¡¯t said a word since and neither had Chu Ren or Lo Ren. My heart ached for them, a new burden added the to core of my Dao. Their only crime was misfortune. And the empire had punished them harshly for it. Sending them to a hell hole like this to surely die. I added a new purpose of conviction to my promise to Kou Ren. I¡¯d do my best to defy the heavens in his stead, to show the empire that they were wrong, that the Ren family would not face demise. That got my me and Frenzy pumping. They wouldn¡¯t die on my watch. The terrain began to shift and change, moving from rocky ground to lush grass. Trees emerged in the form of orchards. Within one of them we found some kind of citrus fruit growing that resembled lemons. We raided the trees with abandon. The fruit was bitter and tart, perhaps not yet ripe, but we tore through them anyway, just to quench our thirst. Slightly refreshed, we fought the gravity and our fatigue to pass by several fields growing crops beforeing to the outer courtyard of the academy itself. We headed towards an ornate gate that allowed ess through a fifteen-foot-high wall that made up the perimeter of the courtyard. A couple of figures in dark robes stood just outside the gate, illuminated by a set of dull Qi lights hanging from its top. When we got closer, I saw it was the Chief Instructor Yora standing there with the same two men she had shown up with before on the skiff. The man in white robes and the other in brown. She raised her brows with interest as we approached and wore a little smile on her lips. ¡°Thest to arrive,¡± she said. ¡°It always interests me who serves to be the weakest of the pack.¡± She looked me up and down and then to Su Ren on my back. ¡°Did you carry her all that way?¡± ¡°He carried all three of us,¡± Chu Ren said. ¡°And did much more. He killed five of those Takrid beasts all by himself.¡± She squinted at me now, perhaps trying to discern my Qi. I cycled my frenzy and vored it with my [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique to ensure she could sense it. Her eyes then widened. ¡°I see. It is no wonder. You are High Tier Core Realm. Whatever did you do to end up ranked with these mortals?¡± The casual insult seems to fly right past the Ren brothers and their mother. Perhaps they were used to being referred to as such. I cycled my Frenzy and tapped into [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I killed a man.¡± ¡°Is that all?¡± she said. ¡°It was murder. I executed him.¡± ¡°A crime of passion?¡± ¡°Of justice.¡± She scoffed. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what they all say.¡± ¡°The man was a pedophile,¡± Su Ren said from over my shoulder. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true, Honorable Chief Instructor,¡± Chu Ren said bowing his head. ¡°The Iron Bull stopped him when he escaped the prison ship. Killed him for his sins. He was known as ¡®little finger¡¯. From the stories told of him, it was well deserved.¡± ¡°Never heard of him,¡± Yora said and then looked to me. ¡°So, Iron Bull is your name?¡± ¡°It is,¡± I said. She squinted at me again, perhaps testing my Qi once more. ¡°We will see how far you progress here, Iron Bull. I can tell you do note from a heavy world. Even now your muscles tense under the strain. But even weak worlders like yourself can advance here, if you train hard enough.¡± Weak worlders? That was a new one. ¡°I notice you already carry a Phnx ive,¡± she said, craning her neck to look over my shoulder. ¡°Curious. Do you even know how to use it?¡± ¡°Somewhat,¡± I said. ¡°Who taught you?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve had several masters. But the greatest of which, was perhaps the sword itself.¡± She smiled, pleased or perhaps amused by my response, even though I was truthfully referring to Venja. I once again wished I could have brought her along for my journey instead of the lifeless hunk of Corrupted Steel strapped to my back. Chief Instructor Yora then turned to the man in white robes next to her. ¡°This is Adept Tribute Yun Jen,¡± she said. ¡°He is master of the first year Tributes. He will be your instructor and overseer.¡± Yun Jen was tall and thin with a mustache and close-cropped hair. His gray eyes studied each of us intently, but he didn¡¯t say anything. Eventually he just gave us all a nod and we bowed in return. ¡°Next to him is De Fan,¡± Chief Instructor Yora said. ¡°He is your upperssmen and will see to your needs.¡± We all bowed to him as well. ¡°Congrattions to each of you on passing your first assignment. You are part of the thirty-six Tributes who passed the trial out of over nine hundred. You have earned the brown robes of Freshmen Tributes. Feel honored.¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. De Fan then handed a set of robes to each of us. ¡°As I said earlier, you have now earned the honor of assembly with the High Marshal tomorrow morning. After that Adept Tribute Yun Jen will begin your training. For now, De Fan will show you to your barracks and the mess hall. I am certain after that crossing you are in dire need of rest and refreshment.¡± ¡°Thank you, honorable Chief Instructor,¡± Lo Ren said bowing. ¡°We are indeed.¡± ¡°But first you might want to take them to baths, De Fan,¡± she said crinkling her nose at us. ¡°I would not want to offend others trying to dine in the mess hall smelling like you do. You all reek of Takrids.¡± ¡°Another gift of blessing from the Iron Bull, Chief Instructor,¡± Su Ren said from my back. ¡°He used the nds of those insects to protect us from them. To mask us so they wouldn¡¯t attack us. It saved us more than once.¡± ¡°I see. Intuitive.¡± It was actually more like experience, but I wasn¡¯t going to correct her. Not that I wanted to dwell on the point anyway. That scent was also the reason Ken Rou died. ¡°De Fan,¡± Yora said. ¡°Take the woman to the female barracks.¡± ¡°Wait please, Chief Instructor,¡± Chu Ren said. ¡°This is our mother, and she is injured. Please permit us to take care of her.¡± ¡°Your mother?¡± ¡°I can vouch for that,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°They were imprisoned as a family. I was on the transport with them.¡± Yora lifted Su Ren¡¯s head from my shoulder by the chin, a gesture that reminded me of the Lady Silver Tear when she did the same to my sister that night so long ago. She frowned, looking displeased, or disgusted even. ¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°You may share a separate barracks with her. After you all bathe.¡± ¡°The Iron Bull as well,¡± Chu Ren said. ¡°He is family also.¡± ¡°What?¡± she said, clearly seeing no family resemnce. ¡°In spirit perhaps,¡± I said. She huffed out a scoff. ¡°It matters not. De Fan see to it.¡± The man De Fan bowed. ¡°I will, Chief Instructor.¡± She then turned to walk away but then paused, looking over her shoulder. ¡°And I warn you, do not bete for the assembly.¡± * * * De Fan was a somewhat stocky man with olive skin, Polynesian looking if I could prescribe an ethnicity to him. His dark eyes were warm and lively and he smiled often as he pointed out various aspects of the academy to us as we approached the main building that was Du Gok Bhong. ¡°Here is where we assemble,¡± De Fan said, as we based through arge cobblestone courtyard that was about the size of the arena back home. ¡°Practice tournaments are held here as well. But you would not be expected to participate in those as Freshmen Tributes.¡± ¡°Where do youe from?¡± Chu Ren asked. ¡°A ce called Winhu,¡± he said. ¡°Quite far from here. Like your worlds too, I suppose.¡± ¡°How long have you been here?¡± ¡°This will be my third year at the academy,¡± he said. ¡°And you are still only a brown robe?¡± Lo Ren asked. Heughed. ¡°I have not umted the internal strength to pass the advancement exam. But it is not as bad as it sounds. I get some prestige as a seasoned freshmen by aiding neers like yourselves. Plus, I do not mind the duties at all. Not after three years.¡± ¡°What are the duties?¡± I asked. He smiled. ¡°I would not want to pre-emp Adept Tribute Yun Jen¡¯s presentation to you tomorrow. But hopefully you will enjoy what he has prepared.¡± De Fan then pointed out other buildings of interest that were erected around the courtyard. There were ssrooms and arge library, as well as special rooms for meditation and cultivation. I could care less about the cultivation, but the library had my interest piqued. ¡°Are we free to use the library?¡± I asked. ¡°Not as brown robes. Whites and up. We have no use for such knowledge that is there. Not yet anyway.¡± ¡°What kind of knowledge?¡± Chu Ren asked. ¡°Advanced cultivation techniques and the archives of course.¡± ¡°What archives?¡± I asked. ¡°They are ounts of every tour that has ever been embarked upon since the inception of the academy. Itprises our total knowledge of what we glimpse from the Hell Worlds. But I get ahead of myself. That won¡¯t be important to you at all unless you qualify as a Legionnaire. And you are all a long way from that.¡± He smiled good naturedly but inside my me flickered. I¡¯ll be getting there a lot sooner than you think, buddy. We finally went inside the main building and found the ce was abuzz with activity. Tributes in robes of all colors moved swiftly about the halls. We followed De Fan¡¯s example and bowed to all of them. Even to brown robes did nothing but stare as they passed by¡ªsome with curiosity and others with res of disdain. The contempt from our upperssmen was palpable, but whether it was from the color of our gray robes or the crusted goop and smell on them, I couldn¡¯t tell. When we finally reached the bathhouses, it was like a small piece of heaven. Bamboo stalls separated the men and women, but they were further divided by ss and rank. We were forced to use the standing stalls that allowed for only a quick shower with cold water instead of the heated baths that the upperssmen had ess to, but even that was refreshing enough. Once cleaned, we changed into the new brown robes that De Fan had given us and he then handed each of us a small pack that contained a spare uniform, writing implements and extra underclothes. He then fetched someone to bandage Su Ren¡¯s ankles, and after she was able to stand morefortably, he finally led us all to the mess hall. My stomach instantly rumbled at the smell of food. As we entered, the warm din of conversation andughter greeted us. A huge space that looked as if it could house a thousand people was packed to the brim with Tributes, all of them wolfing down huge bowls of rice, noodles and soup. It wasn¡¯t high restaurant quality, but it looked a damn slight better than the boiled tofu and rice slop we were forced to eat on the Xin Zha. We entered the queue for the food which was at least a hundred Tributes long. It took forever, but the line finally moved. After ten grueling minutes we neared the front and got close enough to actually see the cooking woks and the brown-robed chefs tending to them. A group of three Tributes in ck robes suddenly pushed their way in front of De Fan. ¡°Shit-robes to the back!¡± one of them shouted and then a group of white robes who were behind us, pushed their way past us as well. ¡°Yeah! Shit-robes to the back!¡± ¡°To the back!¡± More people pushed past. My me stirred, but the Struggler kept him at bay. Starting a brawl right now probably wouldn¡¯t be the best idea, even though my hunger was damn near demanding it. De Fan looked back at us, smiling apologetically. ¡°One of the draw backs of being a third year Freshmen.¡± It took us another ten minutes to get back to the front of the line to be served. By that time the crowd had thinned some and when we finally sat down to one of the tables, we were starving. With heaping bowls of noodles and soup in hand, I drank and ate like never before, my appetite ravenous. I finished far too quickly and wanted seconds, but no way was I waiting in that line again. Su Ren must have noticed and quickly gave me one of her bowls of noodles. ¡°Eat,¡± she said. ¡°You need to regain your strength.¡± ¡°So do you,¡± I said pushing it back to her. She pushed it back. ¡°My strength is nothing here. And besides, this heaviness is wearing on me. Even when doing nothing. I have not much appetite. I just need to rest.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go then, mother,¡± Chu Ren said. I polished off the extra noodles quickly. We were just about to leave the table for De Fan to show us to the barracks when voice came from behind me. ¡°So, I see you made it.¡± I looked over my shoulder to see a petite woman with short blonde hair staring up at me. I didn¡¯t recognize her at first, but then I recalled her to be the same woman who had warned me that I¡¯d be dead if I stayed to help everyone. She hadn¡¯t been exactly wrong, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat vindicated with the Ren family standing by my side. I squared up on her with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Is that you being impressed or surprised? Or perhaps relieved?¡± She blinked, startled by the assertion and opened her mouth to protest. I chuckled. ¡°Take it easy, it was just a joke. But yeah¡­we made it. Despite the odds.¡± She looked past me to Chu Ren and Lo Ren, along with their mother. Her mouth curled in a frown. ¡°Odds indeed. Your luck is exceptional. Let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯t run out.¡± She tried to y if off coolly, but her soul betrayed her with a hint of lemonade. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Blue Rose,¡± she said. I noted she was decked out in brown robes as we were and looked already well settled in, perhaps having been here for hours. Just behind her I spotted more people in brown robes that I recognized from out in the desert, including that asshole that was pissing me off. Luckily he looked too busy stuffing his face to notice us. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think someone as strong looking as you would have such a soft and delicate name,¡± Su Ren said, giving her a smile. ¡°Doesn¡¯t have the same connotation where I¡¯m from,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°More the opposite.¡± She then looked directly at me. ¡°You have strength. You should stick with people who have the same.¡± With that she simply walked off, leaving us all perplexed. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Chu Ren said. ¡°I dunno,¡± I said. Just a weird bitch, I guess, I wanted to say, but kept it inside for Su Ren¡¯s sake. ¡°Shall we?¡± De Fan said and ushering us away, he finally led us to the barracks. * * * The sleeping quarters were perhaps much better than what I had expecteding from the prison ship. It was clear they were still jail cells, but they had removed the bars from the door and chopped out walls to make the cells bigger. Each block could fit four, which worked out perfectly for me and my newly adopted family. Lo Ren fell asleep immediately, but it took a while longer for Su Ren and Chu Ren to do the same. In the darkness I could hear the both of them softly weeping, perhaps reflecting on all they had lost today. I reflected as well. I still couldn¡¯t believe all that had happened already, and I hadn¡¯t even been here a full day. The heavy gravity, the strength of the monster, the Bloodmoon. And those were just the things I could get used to. Who knew what wild cards the other cultivators would bring to the table here. That woman Blue Rose no exception. The weight of the world pressed down upon me, even in my cot, like a metaphor for whaty ahead. But as I finally began to unwind, my body rxed slightly, even though tensing every now and then with a pulse of Frenzy. I wanted nothing more than to let the sweet call of sleep wash away my weariness and pains. But there was something I needed to do. Something I had put off even while aboard the Xin Zha. Reaching for my pack I pulled out a pen and paper and began writing Fia. I told her my decision. My resolution to her plight. I would seed no matter what. And our child would be born with my name. I then began to tell her about my adventures thus far. I got as far as meeting Jakra, before I quickly fell asleep. Book 3: Chapter 14 I awoke to a horrific scream. Shooting upright in my cot, I immediately reached for my axe. I stopped short when I realized the scream hade from Chu Ren who was now kneeling beside Su Ren¡¯s cot along with Lo Ren. When I rose to see what was going on, I immediately froze once I stood over them. Su Ren was deathly pale and unmoving. Chu Ren looked up at me with tears in his eyes. ¡°She¡¯s gone¡­¡± A momentter De Fan ran into the room in a flusher. ¡°What was that scream?¡± He then looked down at Su Ren. ¡°Oh¡­ She has sumbed to the heaviness of this world. My condolences to you.¡± He bowed to Chu Ren and Lo Ren. ¡°Another one?¡± a deep voice said. We turned about and saw the white robe of Yun Jen the Adept Tribute standing in the doorway.He frowned as he stepped forward to view Su Ren. ¡°You two,¡± Yun Jen said to Chu Ren and Lo Ren. ¡°Dump the body in the cemetery with the others.¡± Anger abruptly red from Lo Ren as he stood to re at Yun Jun. ¡°This was our mother, you bas¡ª!¡± A ringing backhand from Yun Jen cut his words short and Lo Ren went tumbling to the floor, holding his face. Chu Ren looked like he wanted to do something in response, but read the situation much quicker than his more impulsive brother and did nothing. ¡°I will forgive that outburst of disrespect as a temporarypse in judgement due to your grieving,¡± Yun Jen said, his voice deep, his tone measured and calm. ¡°I will give you an hour to bury her and mourn. The first assembling starts at dawn. Do not bete for it.¡± * * * I helped move Su Ren to spare Chu Ren and Lo Ren the task. As De Fan led us to the cemetery, I saw we were not the only ones performing burials. At least five others from our cohort of brown robes had ¡®sumbed to the heaviness¡¯ as De Fan had described it. Crushed in their sleep by the dense gravity of the. ¡°This world is not fit for all,¡± De Fan said. ¡°Or perhaps, the other way around may be true. I am so sorry.¡± What he said was true. Poor Su Ren had broken both legs on just arriving to this world. A world seemingly designed to separate the weak from the strong from the very beginning. For all my efforts, perhaps I¡¯d only been prolonging the inevitable. A heaviness filled me as I looked down at Su Ren, now wrapped in the nkets of the cot. My promise of keeping the Ren family alive had been cut in half already. The cemetery was a plot ofnd adjacent to the orchards. It was still dark by the time we reached and thend was painted red with the fading rays of the setting Bloodmoon. With the aid of a shovel, I dug the grave and ced Su Ren inside. Chu Ren and Lo Ren both said solemn prayers and then sat by the edge of the grave. ¡°Perhaps this is for the best,¡± Chu Ren said. Lo Ren stared at his brother in disbelief. ¡°How can you say that? Both our parents are now dead!¡± ¡°We were all dead as soon as the magistrate condemned us to this fate. It is only by the strength of the Iron Bull that we are both still alive. At least this way mother and father are free to find one another again in the next life.¡± ¡°Well put,¡± De Fan said, sping his hands together. ¡°May they reunite in the next life.¡± I looked out at the thousands of headstones that littered the burial grounds. This ce was well acquainted with death. I¡¯d have to get used to the idea that even with all my efforts that people could still die. I sped my palms and joined the example of De Fan. ¡°May they reunite in the next life.¡± * * * It was a mad rush to get back to the barracks and prepare for the morning assembly. We had a scarce chance to grab a few bowlfuls of in congee from the mess hall before being corralled with the other brown robes and pushed towards the courtyard. ¡°Maintain formation! Especially you new lot!¡± Yun Jen shouted as he led us in rank and file into the courtyard. It was deathly quiet, save for the shuffling of feet across the cobblestones. When we finally seemed to consolidate, I gauged there had to be at least a thousand brown robes including our small cohort that had just arrived. I recognized none of the others of course, save that a good proportion of them, more than half in fact, were Sullied. The same race as Threja and Jakra. The gray skinned giants lookedpletely at ease here, like perhaps they hade from a heavy worlds like this one. Which probably made sense. The rest of the brown robes were a mix of varying races-, a veritable cross section of the empire, considering each one of us were natives from our home worlds. The white robes filed in next, their number perhaps half that of the brown robes, again dominated by Sullied. Their ranks were neater, their footsteps in unison sounding like a marchpared to how we brown robes had shuffled in. Their leader, a ck robe, stood at the front the same way Yun Jen stood in front of us. A few more minutes passed and a contingent of ck-robes about a hundred strong filed in. Their discipline was even more noteworthy and at their head was a ck-robe with a jade trim, like Yora. Once they had filed in Yora herself then appeared taking a position at the head of the assembly. A gong then sounded and the music of the imperial anthem began to y. I mouthed the words as per normal and the sound of over a thousand voices filled the courtyard, our praises singing the glory of his imperial majesty, the great Soul Emperor Yin Yee. When the anthem ended, a man in ck robes with purple and gold trim entered the courtyard from the back, inspecting each set of robes as he made his way slowly to the front. Hushed whispers when through the group of brown robes. There was no question as to who the man was. This was the academy president¡ªthe High Marshall Tzu Li Zen. As he passed by our toon, I caught a glimpse of his face. It was hardened with a stone-cold grimace, filled with scars, including one that cut straight across his left eye. His hair was long and white and ited in a single braid. His beard was trimmed short and dyed red in contrast to his hair but matched his olive-skinnedplexion. He was Dharmian, the same race as the Dong family¡¯s barrister Lui Wi, but aside from the slightly pointed ears, dyed beards and looking slightly Middle Eastern, there was nothing simr about the two. Unlike the mousey barrister, Tzu Li Zen had the body of a seasoned warrior, his near seven-foot height apanied by a thick muscr build that could rival my own. He paused for a moment as he reached our row full of the new cohorts and studying us for a moment, took note before moving on. He repeated this several times, almost as if memorizing the faces he saw and in which row he saw them. By the time he reached the front of the courtyard to join Yora, nearly ten minutes had passed in dead silence. He stood at the head of the assembly with his hands behind his back and then lifted his voice, loud enough for all to hear. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°For our new arrivals, I wee you to Du Gok Bhong,¡± he said. ¡°And for those of you who were once gray robes, I congratte you on your first ascension within the academy. My name is Tzu Li Zen, High Marshal and president of the Imperial Legionnaire¡¯s Academy. Your first lesson is to understand that the world outside these walls no longer exists. Not to you. Here, there is no sect, nor n, nor prisoner, nor freed. Only the color of your robes defines you and only you define the color of your robes. Work hard and you will advance.¡± He paused a moment to let thest part sink in perhaps. ¡°There are many rumors of what transpires at this academy,¡± he continued. ¡°Rumors because only those who are Tributes are truly privileged to know what happens within these walls. Like it or not, there are only two ways that you now leave this facility. Either ascension through the ranks or death. ¡°For over 5,000 years this institution has withstood the test of time and has prepared those who will defend the empire against the scourge of the demonic realms. Those who prepare and sacrifice are now you. You, as tributes, as representatives of your variouss, you alone are what stands between the glory of civilization and cultivation and the dark forces of chaos and destruction that seek to invade our worlds. Count yourselves worthy to be numbered amongst the few to be bestowed such an honor as this.¡± The High Marshal then nodded to Yora and she turned to the side and waved her hand in a beckoning motion. Six tributes in ck robes came forward, some of them limping with one clearly missing a leg and another an arm. They stood in a line before the High Marshal and they bowed to him. ¡°Tributes,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°As is our custom, on every second week, we hold this assembly to not only wee our new cohorts, but to wee home those who have served their final tours as fully-blooded Legionnaires. Legionnaires of the 2nd Deployment of the 5,073rd campaign, give report!¡± The legionnaire at the front, a woman with short red hair, bowed deeply before the High Marshal. ¡°High Marshal, the 2nd Deployment gives this report of our endeavors on the Hell World of I¡¯zoth N¡¯hin. One gate destroyed and another severely damaged, with 12,925 taels of Aetherite crystal recovered.¡± ¡°Well done, 2nd Deployment,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°Assembly! Congratte them on their sess!¡± A measured round of apuse was given and a couple of the legionnaires looked ready to break down into tears. Their discipline kept them on their feet however and the High Marshal then stepped forward to acknowledge each of them while Yora ced a jade ribbon about their necks. ¡°These who have survived the unspeakable trials of the hell worlds stand before you now as full-blooded, Jade Legionnaires. High ranking citizens of the empire and freed men and women once again. To each of you I grant your Phnx and freedom. Your service to the empire isplete.¡± More ck robes stepped forward, two for each of the new Legionnaires. Most were Sullied and all of them had a shiny new Phnx ive strapped to their backs. As the new Legionnaires joined with them, they stood to the side and more than half of them began weeping openly now. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was joy or relief they felt or perhaps somebination of both, but then I sensed something familiar. Dark Frenzy¡­ They reeked of it. Not that they were producing tins of it, mind you, but like they were covered in it. Like dog shit someone had stepped in a while back and everyone was just now smelling it. Or at least I was. But it was more than just that. I sensed fear. These people had seen what I had seen. Glimpsed the unknown secrets of the Stars. Who knew what that had done to their psyches? Or if they even had defenses at all. ¡°May the 3rd Deployment step forward,¡± Tzu Li Zen said and twenty Tributes from the front row advanced a step. ¡°Assembly, hail the 3rd Deployment of the 5073rd Campaign. Give them your praise, respect and honor!¡± Everyone in the assembly then thrusted their right fist into the air and we all looked about bewildered before beingpelled to do the same. The assembly then began shouting all as one. ¡°To those who now face the Hell Worlds of the Cursed Stars, we the assembly of Tributes salute you! May we too one day tread the path of death and sacrifice ourselves for the glory of the Empire. Go a mortal and return a god!¡± The affirmation was powerful filled with conviction. The twenty ck Robes then bowed to the High Marshall and the assembly was dismissed. As the ranks began to peel away, Yun Jen quickly stopped us from doing the same. ¡°You new cohorts stay put,¡± he said. ¡°As promised you will have the honor of being addressed by the High Marshal directly.¡± I wasn¡¯t a big fan of pomp and circumstance, but somehow the thought of addressed by the High Marshal excited me. Like with Threja, maybe it was the fact that I had genuine respect for someone who had faced the hell worlds five times over and still had his shit together to tell about it. Yun Jen warned us to stay firmly at attention and to speak only when spoken to. A half dozen ck robes suddenly joined us as well. Before I could fathom as to why, the High Marshal arrived, followed closely by Yora.¡± ¡°Once again I wee you,¡± he said. ¡°You will note that while you all stand before me as new Tributes, you are not equal in status. You who havee as volunteers have already been tested as Gold Bracket contenders. Your training will thus consist of rigors that will take you beyond your mortal limits and prepare you for bing a Legionnaire.¡± I nced across at the six people I should have been counted with. But fate was fate. At least Lo Ren and Chu Ren were now alive because of the choices I¡¯d made. ¡°You who havee as prisoners, remember you are prisoners no more. By arriving here alive, your debt to the empire is now paid as a Tribute. Your path may even take you to as high as these ck Robes next to you or even higher. Your ability to cross the wastes has proven you have the potential to do that.¡± He then cleared his throat and then addressed both groups as a whole. ¡°There are things you should know of this world. Things you will have already experienced. It is a heavy world, both in gravity and Qi density. Things here may be far stronger than you may be ustomed to on your home worlds. Be certain to consult an upperssmen if you encounter something you are not familiar with. Secondly you will notice that while the Qi is here is dense, there is little of it. Cultivating on this world is futile.¡± That got a few murmurs, not that I cared. I couldn¡¯t sense the shit anyway. ¡°Thousands of years ago, this was once thriving with the life essence of Qi. There were vast cities with millions of cultivators. But on the appearance of the Bloodmoon, the demons of the Cursed Stars invaded this world and destroyed it, consuming all life and corrupting it. What you see in the wastnds is the future of all worlds if our task is not met.¡± Holy shit¡­ I thought. Was the Earth destined to turn into a hell hole like this? ¡°Advancement on this world is still possible however, and in fact essential for you to gain strength. Shipments of staples from the core worlds alsoe with pills and elixirs of concentrated Qi. Moreover, as Second and Third year Tributes, part of your duties will be to harvest the cores of monster and spirit beasts so that our own alchemists can make elixirs and pills to advance. Contests are held weekly to determine who is most worthy within your cohort of advancement and will receive pills and elixirs as rewards. Work hard at your duties and you will advance swiftly.¡± He then smiled at us. ¡°Even as brown robes.¡± I chuckled inwardly. This didn¡¯t sound too bad at all. It was like everything I was used to doing back home, only on hard mode, I supposed. ¡°Advancement exams between robes are held every two weeks,¡± Yora said. ¡°Some of you I know may have abilities that far exceed your present station. But be sure to equip yourself fully before attempting. The exams are not easy and will test your limits.¡± ¡°I wish you well on your journeys,¡± Tzu Li Zen said with a final bow and we all returned it deeply. ¡°Good luck.¡± A murmur of excitement erupted through the ranks as the Yora and the High Marshal departed. But Yun Jen quickly silenced us with a shout. ¡°Hey! Listen up!¡± he said. ¡°Martial advancement is for White and ck robes. If you want to get to that stage, you need to perform your Brown Robe duties to my satisfaction first. We are the core of Du Gok Bhong. We provide the services all the other depend on. While we have our staples transported from the core world, all of the fresh food you have enjoyed thus far is grown by our hands. Cleaning and cooking also fall to us. So if you have skills. Let them be known now.¡± ¡°I can cook!¡± someone shot heir hand into the air. ¡°Me as well!¡± two more joined him. ¡°My brother and I are farmers!¡± Chu Ren said. ¡°I¡¯m a smith!¡± Yun Jen began separating us into groups and directing people to their work ces until all that was left was myself, Blue Rose and that annoying bastard whose name I still hadn¡¯t learned. Yun Jen stood before us frowning. ¡°So you three are all good for nothing then? What can you do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a soldier,¡± the cocky bastard said. ¡°I don¡¯t belong in these robes.¡± Yun Jen harrumphed. ¡°That¡¯s yet to be seen. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Ho Chin,¡± he said. ¡°I was a general before this.¡± Yun Jen raised his brows. ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite impressive. A general, huh?¡± I squinted at the guy. He was clearly full of shit. ¡°What kind of general says it every man for himself on a battlefield?¡± He red at me, perhaps shocked that I¡¯d remember exactly what he¡¯d said. ¡°You don¡¯t know shit about me, Iron Bitch!¡± My anger red and I snatched him by the cor with [Fear the me]. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not stuck in here with you, you know? You¡¯re stuck in here with me¡­¡± It was a borrowed line from one of Kelsey¡¯sics, but damn it if it didn¡¯t fit perfectly right now. I cycled my Frenzy with [Devil¡¯s Shadow] to let him feel the full strength of my core. Fear welled up in Ho Chin and some came from Blue Rose as well. Yun Jen however remained nonplussed. ¡°Alright, enough of that. I can tell you¡¯re all killers so there¡¯s probably only one ce for you. You¡¯re all working the abattoir. Follow me.¡± I shoved Ho Chin away and resisted the urge to kick him in the ass as we followed after Yun Jen. We travelled across the fields where the stench of pig and chicken shit hit us long before we saw the pens holding the animals. ¡°Feed is in there,¡± Yun Jen said pointed to a barn close by. ¡°Haul the manure to the fields for the farmers.¡± ¡°What?¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°I thought we were to kill the animals.¡± ¡°When it¡¯s needed,¡± Yun Jen said. ¡°Until that time, you have to take care of them. And since you seem the most leveled headed of you three, you¡¯re in charge for the first day.¡± ¡°Me?¡± she said. ¡°Cleaned, fed and watered by sundown,¡± Yun Jen said as he walked away. ¡°Do a good job and you may earn yourself a pill.¡± Her eyes narrowed with hunger and conviction. ¡°Both of you! Move your asses! Let¡¯s go!¡± A huge shouting match then broke out between Blue Rose and Ho Chin. All I could do was sigh. Two weeks until I can pass an exam to get to the next rank. And not a moment too soon, I thought. Until then, it was back to the shitty life of being a low rank sect member indeed. Book 3: Chapter 15: Dear Fia, Hi! It¡¯s me! Max! I¡¯m writing to you now! I tried to write to you before but I was really tired and ended up just passing out. So I¡¯m trying again. I know it¡¯s been a few weeks but I¡¯ve been really busy. There have been many curve balls thrown my way. The first one came when I ended up killing some pervert dude on the way here. They busted me down to a prisoner Tribute for that, but it was well worth it. That guy was a sick asshole who needed to die!!!! Anyway, when we got to the it was this whole run through the desert gauntlet kind of thing, with giant monsters and shit. Like tons of people died right off the bat. I rescued this family though. Both the Mom and Dad ended up dying unfortunately, but I swore to protect their kids. The dad sacrificed himself to save us all. He really went out like a champ. [RIP] Kou Ren!! Anyway, I¡¯m a brown robe now, which means I¡¯m like the shit tier rank of tributes. I have to clean pig stables and stuff until I can pass an exam to go up a rank in about a week¡¯s time. Wish me luck! I also made some friends. Well not friends really, more like [FRENEMIES]. Sorry for the Terran word, can¡¯t think of the word in Yee.This guy Ho Chin keeps bitching about everything. Total asshole. I¡¯m totally going to kick his ass one day. Stupid clown. And then this chick Blue Rose is here. She¡¯s okay-ish. Has this major chip on her shoulder. I really can¡¯t figure her out yet.They both make the work super hard, always fighting and crap. We get rewarded with cultivation pills if we do a good job. So far, under Blue Rose¡¯s leadership, we haven¡¯t earned any. But that¡¯s fine with me. I¡¯m finding plenty to cultivate from just by pushing Ho Chin¡¯s buttons. Lo Ren and Chu Ren seem to be doing okay though. Chu Ren earned himself a pill already, but they¡¯re both farmers after all and they are working the fields, so it probably makes sense. Oh! They are the kids of the people that died. I forgot to mention their names before. Anyway as you can see from all this there have been a lot of curve balls thrown my way. But I say it all for a reason. Because the biggest curve ball of them all was YOU! Not gonna lie. I was super pissed at you, but guess what, I¡¯m gonna catch that curve ball. You wait and see. No [SPOILERS] though. Ok I got to go shovel more pigshit. Love you!! Max Fia waited pensively as she watched Yu Li read the letter before her. She had read it at least three times herself but still could not discern the meaning of half of it. There were words written in strange Terran characters and some phrases she simply couldn¡¯t understand at all. ¡°Well?¡± Fia asked. ¡°Do you know what he means by a ¡®curved¡¯ ¡®ball¡¯?¡± Max had called her that. A curved ball. But she had no idea if that was good or bad. Did it mean he was still vexed at her? Did he hate her? Did he forgive her? Yu Li shook her head. ¡°No one should ever trust this guy with a pen. Come on, there¡¯s only one hope to trante this mess.¡± Yu Li led the way out of her lower floor apartment where Fia hade to find her and then immediately made a path towards the training area at the back of the square. It was still early morning and the food vendors were in full swing, cooking delicious smelling concoctions in their woks. Unfortunately for Fia, she had no appetite to speak of, her soul and stomach both tied in knots. They reached the small practice area that Max had constructed and found Gui Zu, Zu Tien and Kel Zhi all engaged in a high paced sparring session. Gui Zu and Zu Tien were teaming up on Kel Zhi in a two on one, but the bonde-haired girl was fending them off with the same axe techniques Fia herself hade to memorize from sparring with Max. Her form was still wild and crude as Max¡¯s was, but she had talent. In thest few weeks, she had demonstrated herself at stronger than both Gui Zu and Zu Tienbined. ¡°Kel Zhi!¡± Yu Li called to her. ¡°We need your help.¡± ¡°Yes quickly!¡± Fia added. That got her to withdraw from the sparring session with a bow. ¡°You guys can keep going,¡± Kel Zhi said to Gui Zu and Zu Tien as she trotted over. ¡°I¡¯ll join back in a sec!¡± Fia bowed to her as she arrived. ¡°Thank you, Kel Zhi. I apologize for the interruption.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± she said wiping sweat from her brow with her forearm. Kel Zhi was dressed in her normal robes, which was to say, not quite normal at all. She barely wore anything¡ªpreferring a loose-fitting top that left her mid-section exposed and a loin cloth below. It was leaving her body dangerously exposed to injury, which was by design Fia imagined. With the growing mosaic of scars on her skin she was beginning to resemble Max in many ways. ¡°Kel Zhi, your brother has written to me,¡± Fia said. ¡°But neither I nor Yu Li can make sense of what he has written. There are Terran words and phrases we just don¡¯t understand, can you help us?¡± Kel Zhi shrugged her sizable shoulders. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll try, but my reading of Yee isn¡¯t the greatest you know?¡± ¡°You should be fine,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°Max does use the veryplicated words.¡± Yu Li handed her the letter and Fia waited pensively again. Kel Zhi¡¯s eyes went up and down the letter and then wide as she let out augh. ¡°Holy shit, you¡¯re right! This thing reads like a damn five year old wrote it! And he¡¯s writing like he¡¯s texting you on a phone or something.¡± ¡°Like he¡¯s doing what?¡± Fia asked. She shook her head. ¡°Nevermind. Let me keep reading.¡± Fia watched Kel Zhi¡¯s facial expressions closely as they shifted between amusement, confusion and then outright disgust. ¡°Geeze, the way this guy¡¯s mind works is wild,¡± she said. ¡°He can¡¯t keep a straight thought for nothing! What a freaking Chun! And what the hell kind of adventures are these?¡± ¡°Yes, but what is he saying?¡± Fia pleaded. ¡°Is a curve ball bad? Is he calling me a bad ball? And what are these Terran words he uses?¡± Fia pointed them out on the letter. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s Ahr Ai Pei,¡± she said the Terran tones phically. ¡°It means rest in peace to the guy that died. And this one.¡± Kel Zhi pointed to the other characters. ¡°That¡¯s like a friend who is also an enemy. It makes more sense in ournguage.¡± ¡°A friend who is an enemy?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°Do you mean a friend who has betrayed you?¡± ¡°Nah¡­ sort of like friends who hate each other secretly.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Fia said understating now. ¡°That sounds like most of my n.¡± Kel Zhiughed. ¡°Yeah, that sounds about right!¡± ¡°What of this curved ball?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a baseball term. It means when somethinges at you unexpectedly.¡± ¡°Baseball?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°It¡¯s a sport.¡± ¡°Is it good or bad?¡± Fia asked. ¡°Baseball?¡± ¡°No, the curved ball!¡± Kel Zhi twisted her lips in thought. ¡°Usually bad.¡± Fia¡¯s heart sunk through the floor. ¡°Does he hate me then? Is he saying he hates me?¡± ¡°What?¡± Kel Zhi read the letter again. ¡°Not really. He ends it by saying I love you. Of course the line before that is ¡®I need to go shovel more pigshit¡¯ so who knows?¡± ¡°What¡¯s this other one mean?¡± Yu Li pointed to another Terran phrase. ¡°Man,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°How was he expecting you guys to understand any of this? That phrase means he wants it all to be a surprise.¡± ¡°For what to be a surprise?¡± Fia asked. She shrugged. ¡°Catching the curve ball you threw at him?¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°I guess if I were to trante, he is basically saying he got mad at you at first for the unexpected surprise you sent him, but he is now going to deal with it with a surprise of his own.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. Fia bit her lip. ¡°I¡¯m not certain how to feel about that.¡± ¡°Well, he ends it with, I love you, so I¡¯d say it¡¯s likely positive,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°You think so?¡± Fia sked. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°The only thing I¡¯m sure of is that Max wrote this. Only a true Chun like him could write something so confusing. But he¡¯s got a good heart. So I¡¯d say you¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°What is the curve ball you threw at him?¡± Yu Li asked. Fia¡¯s face grew hot with embarrassment. ¡°Well¡­ ah.. I¡ª¡± ¡°Lady Silver Light!¡± Fia turned her head to the call of her name, grateful for the interruption. She saw it was Ju Gong, the doorman and former Fire Bird sect member running towards them. He was normally a calm and passive sort of man, but now his broad face wore an expression of rm. ¡°What is it, Ju Gong?¡± He came to a rapid stop before them and bowed. ¡°Thank the heavens, you are all here,¡± he said slightly out of breath. ¡°You must alle quickly. We have visitors at the gate and Jian Ye is requesting your presence immediately.¡± ¡°Visitors?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°The three bird sisters,¡± Ju Gong said. ¡°And they¡¯ve brought an army of Enforcers with them.¡± * * * Tension knotted Fia¡¯s stomach as she approached the main gate with Yu Li, Gui Zu, Zu Tien and Kel Zhi by her side. Ju Gong led the way moving with hurried steps. The main gate of the Terran Sect was more a fa?ade than anything else, as there was no means to enclose the entire block off from the rest of the city to serve as a true gate for protection. Still, the two-story high pirs coiled with decorative dragons topped by the tiled roof of the Paifang served to mark the entrance to the neighborhood and Fia was surprised to see that the Bird Sisters were standing just outside it to respect the boundary. Although it was perhaps just as much due to Jian Ye¡¯s presence as well. The small Tarran girl was dwarfed by the Three Bird sisters who stood over a foot taller than her, but she stared up at them defiantly with a lifted chin. Just behind the sisters was indeed a contingent of Enforcers and Imperial Guards some twenty or thirty strong as Ju Gong had said. ¡°The most honorable, Lady Silver Light,¡± Silver Hawk said with a smile as she approached. ¡°I heard that you were frequenting these parts regrly now.¡± Fi Shen, the Lady Silver Hawk, stood out easily from her sisters, even though Fia would perhaps be the only one to notice as such. Always the boldest and most vocal of the three, she took center stage while his sisters Di Shen and Wi Shen simply faded to the backdrop. Or they did so whenever in her presence at least. Fia put on a fake smile, reminiscent of the Terran word Max had used. ¡°Honorable cousins, a surprise to see you so far from the imperial city.¡± ¡°It is not a personal visit,¡± Fi Shen said. ¡°Our business is with This One.¡± She paused to gesture to Jian Yi. ¡°The Vice Leader of the Terran Sect. Have you gathered all your people as directed?¡± Jian Yi red up at her. ¡°Yes, as you have given instruction, Vice Warden.¡± Looking behind Jian Yi, Fia saw that indeed nearly all the residents of the block were now gathered in the square. All of them wore confused expressions of worry and concern. Fia had well expected such a day woulde, when Fi Shen would make her move against her, but as for what she and her sisters had nned, Fia had no idea. ¡°I would very much like to know what this is about,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°I¡¯m here to make an announcement,¡± Fi Shen said. She then she snapped her fingers and one of her sisters, Di Shen, the Lady Silver Dove handed Jian Yi a sheet of paper. ¡°What is it?¡± Yu Li asked as they all crowded around Jian Yi as she read it. Before she could even give an answer, Fi Shen spoke directly to the crowd. ¡°Native Residents of D block, listen carefully!¡± she shouted. ¡°This One is the Lady Silver Hawk, Vice Warden of Jurin province. It hase to my attention that the Native Housing District, which is designated a ce of safety and refuge for those native born to this, has been infiltrated by alien residents from other worlds.¡± Murmurs of confusion wafted through the crowd. ¡°What is she talking about?¡± Gui Zu asked. Zu Tien shook her head. ¡°No idea. Jian Yi?¡± But the barrister was still busy studying the sheet of paper. ¡°I, Lady Silver Hawk¡­¡± Fi Shen continued. ¡°¡­who has been charged by the Warden to preserve the safety and sanctify of the native poption of this province, hase to offer you further refuge and protection from foreign interlopers who would seek to reside illegally within the boundaries of the Native Housing District.¡± ¡°Illegally?¡± Yu Li said. ¡°It is now,¡± Jian Yi said with a grimace as she finished reading the sheet of paper. ¡°The warden herself just signed off on a new local ordinance. The Native Protection Act.¡± ¡°What?¡± Fia said. Her heart began to race. What have you done Fi Shen? ¡°From this moment forward, all non-natives are required to apply for special permits to visit the Native Housing District for the purpose of merchant business only. Any found residing illegally will be evicted. Have ready now your special merchant permits for inspection!¡± Cries of panic broke out as the Enforcers rushed into the square. They attacked the food vendors first, kicking over the woks and stalls when no documentation could be provided. ¡°What madness is this?!¡± one of them shouted. ¡°I¡¯ve had no time to apply for a permit!¡± Chaos ensued and Fi Shen threw her head back with a cacklingugh. Fia¡¯s chest tightened with anger. With a burst of Qi she [sh Stepped] directly before Fi Shen. Her older cousin blinked back in surprise, taken off guard by the disy of martial skill. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, Fi Shen? You attack an entire district just to get back at me and my betrothed?¡± Oveing her initial shock, a leer spread across Fi Shen¡¯s face. ¡°Why Lady Silver Light¡­ would you dare to use This One of a crime so petty? Clearly you do not understand the mechanism of good governance. I am simply doing my job to protect the natives of this world. Which is more than I can say for you. Guard, check this one here!¡± Fia stepped back as an Imperial Guard thrust an open palm towards her. ¡°Permit!¡± She looked to Jian Yi, but the barrister merely shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about this right now,¡± she said. ¡°Justply.¡± ¡°Comply my ass!¡± The shout came from behind along with a massive burst of Qi. Fia looked over her shoulder to see Kel Zhi brandishing her axe, crouched low in a martial stance. A crackle of lightning ripped over her skin and several of the enforcers stumbled backwards as took a massive leap forward towards the bird sisters. ¡°No Kel Zhi!¡± Fia cried and luckily intercepted her before she could do anything else. Materializing her Jian de, she parried Kel Zhi¡¯s axe and forced it to the ground. Kel Zhi grunted and strained against her. ¡°Just let me hit her! Just once!¡± ¡°Stop Kel Zhi,¡± Fia said, finding herself struggling to maintain her Qi to keep Kel Zhi at bay. She truly was just like Max, exceptionally strong for her cultivation realm and ranking. ¡°Listen to Jian Yi. Now is not the time to fight.¡± ¡°Not like this,¡± Jian Yi said, resting a hand on Kel Zhi¡¯s shoulder. Almost immediately, as if Jian Yi had some kind of power over her, Kel Zhi¡¯s anger and Qi quickly faded. ¡°Fine,¡± she said, stowing her axe. ¡°Food for the Struggler, I guess.¡± Suddenly another cry rang out and everyone turned their heads to see Yu Li screaming along with Su Ling as they both tried to hold onto Gui Zu. Three Enforcers were manhandling him, pulling him away from his family. ¡°No!¡± Jian Yi cried rushing forward. ¡°They are bound by marriage! He is not subject to this statute!¡± ¡°Marriage does not change your ce of birth,¡± Di Shen said, stepping forward. ¡°I advise you to check yourws barrister.¡± Jian Yi cursed. ¡°They can¡¯t so this!¡± Yu Li cried, as Gui Zu;s hands slipped from her grasp. ¡°Someone do something!¡± Kel Zhi¡¯s Qi red next to her again, but Fia quickly jumped ahead of her. ¡°Thisw is unjust Fi Shen!¡± she shouted into Silver Hawks face. ¡°You abuse your position!¡± ¡°You dare speak as such to a Vice Warden!¡± she shouted. ¡°Arrest her!¡± ¡°What?¡± Before she knew it, several Enforcers and Imperial Guards had surrounded her. One of them grabbed her by the wrist and she instinctively snatched her hand back, toppling the man over. ¡°She¡¯s resisting!¡± Fi Shen cried. ¡°Subdue her!¡± Anger and panic rose in Fia¡¯s heart as the Enforcersid into her with their bamboo clubs. They were near mortals and the blows were all but painful stings, yet still she cried out, more from shock and humiliation than anything else. She fell to her knees and curled into a ball, desperate to protect the one thing that perhaps her body cultivation could not. ¡°I yield!¡± she cried. ¡°I yield!¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± Jian Yi shouted. ¡°She had yielded.¡± The blows finally stopped and a pair of Enforcers roughly pulled her to her feet. ¡°Take her way,¡± Fi Shen said. ¡°This One is already ustomed to prison. I¡¯m sure spending another night there will do her well as a reminder as to who is in authority here.¡± Anger burned in Fia¡¯s heart as tears burned her eyes. The chaos and pain around her was immeasurable. Su Lings cries rang above all else, screaming for her baba as the Enforcers dragged both Gui Zu and Zu Tien away. Never would she have imagined that Fi Shen and her sisters would stoop to something so low. But she couldn¡¯t leave things is such disarray, She still had power to do something. Fia immediately dropped to her knees in a kowtow. ¡°Please honorable Vice Warden, forgive This One for her insolence. I misspoke and apologize to you for my outburst.¡± Sickness filled the pit of her stomach to make such an apology, but there was no other way. She could not afford to be detained. Not now. Not with the precious life within her, nor the injustice prevailing around her. She would need to be free to fight against it. ¡°Merciful Vice Warden,¡± Jian Yi said stepping next to her. ¡°This One, the Lady Silver Light has apologized, which, in my learned opinion, would be the consequence leveled against her by a magistrate in such a small matter if it were to go to court. I thus urge you to please allow this to satisfy you and avoid her arrest.¡± Fi Shen smirked as she stood over her. ¡°Look up at me.¡± Fia did so and her insides curled with disgust. ¡°This barrister has moved me to have pity on you, Lady Silver Light,¡± Fi Shen said. ¡°I will not have you arrested, but your open disy of disrespect, deserves an open response in return.¡± Her hand then flew, and a resounding smack filled the air as Fi Shen struck her hard across the face. The crowd silenced and Fia¡¯s cheek grew hot with pain as humiliation, shock and embarrassment filled her soul. Fi Shen then continued to leer down at her, bending at the waist to whisper in her ear. ¡°Let that be a reminder to you, little Fia, that we are no longer equals. Refer to me by my personal name again and you will regret it.¡± She then looked to the side at the bawling Su Ling. ¡°And count yourself lucky that I only enacted the first statute of my reform. The next will be to ensure that native races of this remain pure and unsoiled by foreign seed.¡± She grinned like a devil. ¡°That little one over there for example, would present an abomination under thew. As would your own children. If you decide to have any with your betrothed.¡± Her heart froze. All she could think of little Su Ling and the unborn child within her. ¡°We will see when my betrothed returns,¡± Fia said defiantly. ¡°You may have a new boss then.¡± Fi Shen let out a cackle. ¡°If he returns.¡± Fia bit her lip, restraining herself from saying anything else. ¡°Tread carefully, little cousin,¡± Fi Shen said. ¡°We shall be watching you closely.¡± Fi Shen then stood upright to addressed the crowd. ¡°Enforcers and Guards see to this quickly,¡± she said. ¡°We depart now for the next district.¡± As Fi Shen and her sisters withdrew, Yu Li, Kel Zhi and Jian Yi quickly rushed to Fia¡¯s side. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Fia said, standing with the help. ¡°Damn it! I want to face stomp those bitches so bad!¡± Kel Shi growled and pulsed with Qi once more. ¡°How do we fight this, Jian Yi? Who do I need to beat in the ring to overturn this stupidw?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not so simple.,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°This is not simply a disagreement under thew. It is thew itself. I will need to appeal first the Warden and then Princess beyond that.¡± ¡°Holy shit,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°That don¡¯t sound good.¡± ¡°What about Gui Zu?¡± Yu Li said as she struggled to console Su Ling who was still crying in her arms. ¡°Where will he stay? And Zu Tien and Ju Gong.¡± In the distance, Fia could see the group of them, no less than a dozen or so people being herded away by the Enforcers to who knew where. The heat of that p across her face was still lingering, but it was a small price to pay for what it allowed her to do next. ¡°I have a n,¡± Fia said. ¡°They will stay with me in the imperial city.¡± ¡°But how?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°Thay are not B ss citizens.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t need to be if they are my servants,¡± Fia said. ¡°I will sponsor each of them to grant them a license and permission to reside.¡± Yu Li¡¯s eyes melted with tears. ¡°Really? Thank you, Fia!¡± ¡°I will see if I can apply for you and Su Ling as well,¡± she said. ¡°I know my mother would not be able to stand not seeing little Su Ling for even a day.¡± ¡°Your family can amodate so many?¡± Jian Yi asked. A shiver of difort ran through her soul. ¡°I have not asked them yet, but I simply won¡¯t give them a choice.¡± Fia could already hear her father¡¯s yells of disagreement but there was no other way right now. ¡°They will understand¡­in time.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll postpone my trip back to the wild,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll be needed to be the main Warden of the Sect now.¡± ¡°That you will,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Thank you, Kel Zhi.¡± ¡°You there!¡± one of the Imperial Guards shouted at her. ¡°You need to get moving. No foreigners!¡± Fia grimaced. ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll need to go for now. Have faith. These Shen sisters will not get the better of us. We¡¯ll find a way.¡± ¡°And if not?¡± Jian Yi asked. ¡°An appeal to the princess is not as easy as it sounds.¡± Fia frowned. ¡°Then we only need suffer until Max¡¯s return,¡± she said, conviction filling her heart. ¡°He will return and he will put everything right.¡± Book 3: Chapter 16 I dumped myst wheelbarrow full of pig shit into the field while the bastard Ho Chin looked on with augh. He¡¯d been designated as supervisor for the day, but he¡¯d spent most of it doing nothing but hurl insults at Blue Rose and I as we did all the work. ¡°This would go a lot faster if you helped, asshole!¡± I shouted at him as Blue Rose dumped her own wheelbarrow full of shit next to mine. ¡°I¡¯ve got to save my strength for the exam this afternoon,¡± he said. ¡°You two may want to think about giving it a pass this week if you are too tired.¡± He thenughed again the son of a bitch. The exam day had finally arrived, but like most things in this ce, nothing stopped for the odd event or asion. Or so I was learning. Exam days came and went, but duties and responsibilities were constant. Even when a few more Tributes had sumbed to the dense gravity of their and died in their sleep, their burials were short and swift and tucked in between morning duties and breakfast. Today was no different, I supposed. We¡¯d had our duty time shortened to only the morning with the exam scheduled in the afternoon. And it was about damn time. For thest two weeks I¡¯d been busting my ass cleaning the stables on a daily basis. It wasn¡¯t hard work necessarily, especially for a High Tier Core Realm cultivator like I was now, but the amount of work for just three people was a lot. Or more like two people as it tended to be most days. Whenever Blue Rose or Ho Chin was put in charge, they took the idea of supervisor literally and did little except bark orders while doing nothing. When it was my turn, I kicked in with them to get the work done much faster and we earned ourselves a cultivation pill each for finishing ahead of schedule as a team. You¡¯d think with an example like that it would change things, but when it was Ho Chin and Blue Rose¡¯s turns to supervise again, they choose to sit and cultivate the pills earned on my watch instead of working together to earn more. They were two idiots locked inpetition with one another, no doubt seeing cultivating as a means to get ahead. As for me I got plenty of cultivating done loathing the two while getting a good work out shoveling shit in high G¡¯s. As for the two pills I had earned, I gave one each to Lo Ren and Chu Ren.The brothers were overjoyed and thanked me profusely for the gifts, but I was shocked when Chu Ren handed his to Lo Ren. ¡°It is better that he have it,¡± Chu Ren had said. ¡°I¡¯ve done some thinking and I believe this life is one I could settle for out here. I may never leave these fields, but I will never have to face death again either.¡± His words had shocked me, but I suppose after two weeks the reality of loss had settled in for him. He would indeed be literally trapped here, with no way to advance or leave. Perhaps he would be a lifer brown robe like De Fan. Lo Ren, however, the more ambitious of the two, had a much different response. ¡°I¡¯ll take as many as you wish to give me, Master Iron Bull. I want to be as strong as you one day.¡± Master Yun Jen finally arrived in his white robes and called us in from the stables. ¡°It¡¯s time,¡± he said. ¡°You have half an hour to prepare. Change, collect your weapons and be at the edge of the southern barrier before time or you will be disqualified from the exam.¡± That got us all cracking. I used a shot of Frenzy to get myself back to the barracks as quickly as possible. I skipped the cleanup and grabbed both my weapons, and then slung a satchel filled with two water canteens and a canister of dried fish and rice across my back. I shoveled down another quick meal of rice and soup from the mess hall before making my way to the examination area. I was shocked to see almost the full contingent of brown robes gathered at the edge of the barrier just behind the signal towers. The sea of Tributes parted as I made my way towards the front where I found Blue Rose and Ho Chin already waiting there. Ho Chin had armed himself with a steel club as long as he was tall and Blue Rose I could see had tucked a pair of daggers into her waistband. Joining us were perhaps a dozen more brown robes from other cohorts, people I recognized only by face that I¡¯d seen in the mess hall at times but not by name. An anxiety built in my gut with the anticipation of the start. I¡¯d already been told that the exam was another run out into the wild, but aside from that each exam was different. There was some surprise element added each time so that past participants couldn¡¯t give others an unfair advantage. The [Odds were Against Me] a bit in that regard. Not much Frenzy spewed from the technique, but that was understandable. I cultivated it anyway, storing the Frenzy within my Dantian for what I envisioned would be a grueling afternoon. The sun was already dead center overhead, burning high from a cloudless desert sky and the heat joining it caused a rivulet of sweat to run down my back. I wasn¡¯t sure if the barrier also lessened the heat from the sun¡¯s rays but I assumed it did, else nothing would grow, I supposed. Chief Instructor Yora finally arrived, riding atop a skiff along with Yun Jen. It pulled to a hover before us and Yora raised her voice to address the assembly. ¡°I will now exin the conditions of the examination,¡± she shouted and then held what looked like a set of dog tags in her hand for us all to see. ¡°Each participant is required to retrieve an emblem such as this from a point out in the wilderness. It will be roughly the distance that you travelled to get here on your first day. That means you will be travelling twice the distance you did before, but in less time. If there are any of you who feel unready or incapable of performing such a feat, I give you ast chance to opt out now. There is no shame in it. You should only attempt an exam if you feel confident in your strength.¡± She paused and waited. I sensed a wave of fear pass through the ranks and one tribute, a smallish guy with long hair, decided to take a step back. ¡°Very well,¡± Yora continued. ¡°Whoever returns first will receive a bonus of a high-tier elixirpatible with their cultivation base. Second will receive a mid-tier elixir and third a low-tier elixir. Additionally, if all emblems are returned, the entire contingent will be rewarded with a cultivation pill each. And finally, there will be a special award given to a singlepetitor based on their performance overall. For those who can wind walk or possess aerial movement, you will have a clear advantage. For those who can not, you will need to avoid or battle through the predators in the region. You have until the Bloodmoon rises to return safely. Beyond that point and you will be assumed dead. Commence!¡± At the shout of the word, Blue Rose took off in a sprint, blinking forward in bursts of Qi like she was using Fia¡¯s [sh Step] technique. Three other Tributes took directly to the sky, streaming forward like superheroes in gusts of radian Qi or flying on their swords while the rest of us were left to pound the ground the old-fashioned way. There were plenty of people moving faster than me, including Ho Chin but I didn¡¯t mind. This was a marathon, simr to my trips back and forth from the city to the wild. But the terrain was much smoother and without having to lug three people, it would technically be a breeze. Still there was the wildlife to worry about and I¡¯d need to move much faster than normal to not get snared by a Takrid. I gained some distance from the eight or so Tributes keeping pace with me, separating from them. In my solitude, I cycled my Frenzy and manifested [Mark of the Beast]. My limbs popped and grew, my teeth lengthening into fangs. I quadrupled my speed and ground beneath me began to be eaten up like I was in a sports car. After an hour, I passed by one of the Tributes who had taken flight earlier, who was seemingly taking a break or had perhaps run out of gas. He was trotting at barely mortal pace and I blew by him like he was standing still. About a minuteter a cry rang out and I looked behind me to see a mushroom cloud of desert sand erupting as a Takrid emerged from a hole. He leapt to the air again and then overtook me in a burst of Qi. I kept my pace, burning a steady stream of solid Frenzy to bothbat the added gravity as well as maintain my speed. Twenty minutester I passed the same guy again who gave me a dirty look as I waved. We yed leapfrog for another hour or so, until in the distance I saw what looked like the checkpoint for the race. A g was flying high in the air and as I got closer, I saw it was erected at the edge of arge pit. The pit was fifty feet wide, about the same dimension deep and linedpletely with metal as if someone had buried an enormous steel pot in the desert sand. The reason for the lining became obvious when I saw no less than twenty Takrids milling about at the bottom. In the center of the pot was a small metal post where the emblems danged like key chains on a stand. ¡°So¡­ this is the challenge?¡± a voice said. I turned about to see the same guy I¡¯d been ying leapfrog with touch down on the ground next to me. He was short with a bald head and clean shaven, olive skinned, almost red and looked to be in his forties. He folded his arms as he looked down at the Takrids and then spit into the pit. ¡°I¡¯d be a waste of time trying to fight all those things,¡± he said. ¡°Better to just swoop in and out, I say.¡± ¡°Nice if you have the option,¡± I said with a smirk. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you can¡¯t fly. You were strong enough to get here first. Or are you all body mastery and nothing else?¡± First? I hadn¡¯t realized it, but I suppose I had arrived first. I wondered if I didn¡¯t overdo it a bit getting here, but I still had plenty of solid Frenzy left in the tank to get back. Uwfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°If we kill all these things, we¡¯ll make it easier for everyone,¡± I said. ¡°True,¡± a new voice said. We both turned to see Blue Rose standing in between us. ¡°We do get a bonus cultivation pill if everyone returns with an emblem,¡± she said. I was surprised to see her. She looked a little sweaty, but aside from that she seemed none the worse for wear. ¡°When did you get here?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve been here, Bull man,¡± she said with a roll of her eyes. ¡°Been waiting for nearly ten minutes for more people to show up, like the two if you.¡± The bald guy chuckled. ¡°Guess you weren¡¯t first after all... Bull Man was it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Iron Bull,¡± I said. ¡°And your name?¡± ¡°You can call me Taj Qui,¡± he said. ¡°And you girl?¡± ¡°I¡¯m no girl.¡± She snared at him. ¡°My name is Blue Rose. Now listen. I have a n.¡± ¡°What n?¡± Taj Qui said. ¡°You two draw their attention to one side. I can slip in and out of there with the emblems if you do.¡± ¡°You can?¡± he said. Blue Rose performed a quick martial gesture with her hands and she suddenly disappeared in a burst of Qi. A split secondter she appeared on the far side of the pit with a smirk on her face. ¡°Make the distraction and I¡¯ll get the emblems.¡± Taj Qui looked to be as if to petition my opinion. I didn¡¯t really have one. Taj Qui shrugged. ¡°I suppose it would be faster and safer than trying to kill all those things. Just fighting one of them is bad enough, much less a score of them down in that pit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why this is part of the exam,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°This is an academy. They want us to use our brains to solve problems not just our skills. We¡¯re obviously not supposed to kill all those things.¡± It personally didn¡¯t matter to me. I was always up for an axe fight in close quarters, but I supposed her n would be faster. ¡°All right,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s see if this works.¡± I banged on the side of pit with my axe and the sound resonated like a bell. The Takrids reacted immediately, raising their head up at me and chittering with their jaws. Taj Qui joined in by mming the steel with the base of his jian de. The things started to grow more agitated, but seemed more confused than anything else. Some of them even began digging into the metal of the floor, trying to either escape or instinctively burrow into the ground to seek the source of the vibration. ¡°Try harder!¡± Blue rose shouted. ¡°I¡¯ll help!¡± a new voice said as another ¡®fly guy¡¯ touched down from the air and began banging the side of steel pit with a set of ws like Zu Tien used. A few more minutes passed to no avail and a few more tributes showed up, panting and sweating more than the rest of us that were already here. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± one of them asked. ¡°Can¡¯t you see?¡± Blue Rose said testily. ¡°Join in and help!¡± The banging turned into a cacophony of mmer and tter as more Tributes joined, but for the Takrids all it seemed to be doing was causing confusion. They milled around in circles even more agitated, digging futilely at the floor. Ah to hell with this, I thought. I knew how these things sensed the world and enticing them with sound alone wasn¡¯t going to do it. I leapt from the side of the pit, drawing huge gasps of shock from everyone above. I fell halfway and then hacked into the side of the pit with a massive chop of my axe. The de buried itself deep into the steel and I hung by the shaft above the Takrids like a worm on a hook. The live bait did the trick and Takrids shifted to one side of the pit to swarm underneath me. They hissed and ttered their chitinous jaws, literally crawling atop one another like crabs in a bucket, trying to reach me. This was probably as good a shot as we¡¯d get. ¡°Go now!¡± I shouted. Blue Rose didn¡¯t waste any time. She did her hand shuffling thing and in a burst of Qi popped down into the bottom of the pit. She dashed forward to the post in the middle of the floor, some thirty feet behind the swarming hill of Takrids squirming beneath me. She snatched something from the post and then with another set of hand gestures reappeared back at top of the pit. Blue Rose threw one of the emblems about her neck and it was then that I realized that she had only taken one. ¡°Sorry boys,¡± she said with a grin. ¡°But first ce is a High Tier Elixir. No way am I passing on that. You¡¯ll all figure it out, I¡¯m sure. Good luck.¡± Son of a¡­ With that she sprinted away and disappeared in a burst of Qi. My me roared. That little bitch! ¡°Wait!¡± someone shouted after her. ¡°Don¡¯t we all get a reward if we return them all together?¡± But Blue Rose was already long gone. ¡°Forget together!¡± Taj Qui shouted and flew down into the pit with a gust of Qi. Two more fly boys quickly picked up on the idea and flew down with him. Each of them quickly snatched an emblem from the pole and then flew out again, heading off in the direction of the prison. ¡°Bastards!¡± one of the Tributes shouted, throwing a stone at Taj Qui. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t even get all of them out of the pit for us at least!¡± Taj Quiughed back at him. ¡°Learn to fly, assholes. You probably won¡¯t make it as a Legionnaire anyway if you can¡¯t at least do this!¡± ¡°Son of a bitch!¡± I cursed as a rage lit within my soul. This was the cultivator society mentality that I hated the most. Screw working together. Every man for himself and if you can dick someone over in the meantime, all the better. I seethed inwardly at Blue Rose. I still didn¡¯t know her very well, but her personality was starting to spell asshole with a capital A. Frenzy poured from my Fame and I channeled it through my meridians to engage [Mark of the Giant]. There was only one way we were all getting out of this exam and that would be by brute force alone. And honestly, the way I was feeling now. That was just fine with me. I released the axe with a mighty warcry and reached for the handle of my Phnx ive instead. I spun with a downward chop, unleashing an enormous bolt of blue lightning from the sky. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± My de exploded with crackles of blue energy as the huge mound of Takrids was decimated by my killing blow. Pincers, ws and thoraxes popped as my ive cleaved straight through the massive pile of insects and hit the bottom of the pit with a resounding ng! I wasn¡¯t sure how many of them I¡¯d killed and I didn¡¯t care. My [Bloodlust] kicking in was confirmation enough that I was making some headway. I used the additional Frenzy to fortify my body with [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] as I tore into the scattering Takrids with abandon. ws and pincers raked my skin, drawing blood to add to my [Lust for Battle]. I cleaved into another Takrid, chopping its head in two before it could even reach me. Two that were chasing after it tumbled over the body of their dead brethren and I used the opportunity to get two good swings into one of them. I had to admit, fighting these things after only two weeks of being on and cultivating in the harsh gravity had done wonders for my strength and resilience overall. The things were still strong as hell, but I downgraded them to perhaps being high-tier C ss monsters in my mind right now. Still, there were a lot of them, close to two dozen and the [Odds were still Against Me] indeed! I used the new fountain of Frenzy to bolster my defenses with [Steel Lightning] as a pair of Takrids attacked me from opposite sides. One of them bit into my shoulder, and another stabbed me in the leg with its ws. Pain surged from both attacks, but my ative technique did its job and blew their insect parts to pieces before they could even break the skin. Then, almost as if their hivemind could sense the presence of a superior foe, they all seemed to link together and surged back at me en masse in a dogpile. I screamed with defiance as their spikes and pincers tore into me, threatened to rip me apart even through my [Steel Skin]. I was suddenly in over my head. The swarm of creatures began attacking in unison, not even giving me a chance to recover as I was tossed between them like a rag doll. My mind was swimming with disorientation and pain and I partly wondered if their ooze hadn¡¯t poisoned my bloodstream somehow. The situation began to grow desperate as I nearly lost hold of ive. No! Enough of this shit! I thought. I wasn¡¯t going down as some mutant mantis snack! ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± A huge detonation of Frenzy erupted from my soul and sent the creatures flying against the walls of the pit in a shockwave of blue lightning. I surged with new vigor as Inded on the ground, finally free of the mass attack. But they weren¡¯t all dead yet. More than half were still alive, albeit now temporarily stunned by my attack. I looked up and saw all the Tributes staring down at me with fear in their hearts. ¡°Get your asses down here!¡± I shouted at them with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°We fight these things like men! No fly boy, chicken-ass bullshit like those bitches who left. Come on! Get down here NOW!¡± The power of my technique resonated with the Frenzy burning in my soul. Almost instantly the fear in their hearts turned to lemonade and they all jumped into the pit with me while screaming battle cries. Steel sung through the air as they attacked the staggered creatures, hacking away with halberds, swords and spears. Their fervor encouraged my own [Bloodlust] and I went back at it, sinking my Phnx ive into the nearest Takrid to separate its abdomen from its thorax. The creatures began to recover, but with our numbers and coordination we managed to stay on the offense. They kept individual creatures busy while I tore them down one by one. I wasn¡¯t sure how long it took, but by the time we had finished, we were all breathing hard and stinking of insect guts. ¡°Victory!¡± someone shouted and in unison we all thrust our weapons into the air. ¡°Victory!¡± * * * We wasted no time getting to the pole in the center of the pit and each of us imed an emblem. They were indeed fashioned like dog tags, a cheap piece of chain and a thin p of mental marked with the academy insignia. When everyone seemed to have gotten one, I noticed there was one left on the pole. I looked about. I didn¡¯t know who these guys were, but there was one face I hadn¡¯t seen yet. Ho Chin. ¡°Where the hell is that asshole?¡± I muttered. There was a chance he was still on his way, but the guy was a ss A bullshitter. If he was going to make it here and back he should have long since been here by now. I thought for a moment. I could leave it for him, if he eventually showed up, but chances were I¡¯d probably run into him struggling to get here while on my way back. For the team, I thought as I snatched the emblem. At least we¡¯d all get a reward if we handed them all in. ¡°Alright, you guys,¡± I said, once I had stowed the extra emblem in my robes. ¡°Let¡¯s get the hell out of this hole.¡± * * * I took a few extra minutes to rest and have some water along with a quick bite to eat, once I¡¯d retrieved my axe and climbed out of the pit. It also gave me a chance to wait and see if Ho Chin might eventually show his slow ass up. A couple of the Tributes bowed to me in thanks and wished me well on my journey back. Some of them even encouraged me to travel with them and said we might even have a chance to catch up to the fly boys if we left quickly, but I waved them on ahead. I had no interest in winning or the need of the elixirs if I did. I also had plenty of fresh Frenzy in my Dantian for the trip back and beingpletely alone I could double manifest with [Mark of the Giant] and [Mark of the Beast] to get back in record time. I was still running [Mark of the Giant] in a casual form and I wondered if I hadn¡¯t reached the stage to nearly leave it on permanently at this level. It would certainly be an advantage. People hadn¡¯t taken real note of me here as yet, and with half the Tributes being Sullied, seeing a guy my size wasn¡¯t something unusual. I finally set off after waiting an extra thirty minutes and poured on extra speed. I figured Ho Chin had either given up and turned back early or had be Takrid food a long time ago. With mybined forms, I pushed through the desert like I was riding the wind and the slightly dimming sky overhead gave me no worry at all. I actually used the time to reflect. On how much I¡¯d progressed even this short in my journey. I had a long way to go still. Two more weeks as a white robe, before I could even attempt the test to put be back where I needed to be as a ck robed Tribute. I wondered what the next Exam would entail or what the duties might be also. Hopefully I wouldn¡¯t be shoveling any more pig shi¡ª My thoughts cut short as a shrill cry pierced the air. I slid to stop, travelling some thirty feet in the process and then suddenly heard it again. A woman¡¯s scream¡­ Blue Rose? I hastened in the direction and found myself scaling a ridge of boulders to overlook a small rocky valley on the other side. I expected to see Blue Rose being the only female taking the exam, but what I didn¡¯t expect was to see the monster towering over her, brandishing a club as big as it was tall, poised to bash her brains in. A monster named Ho Chin. Book 3: Chapter 17 Part of me wanted to do absolutely nothing. Screw that bitch and her karma. And screw Ho Chin as well. They could both die out here for all I cared. Or so the demon was telling me. The Struggler, however, knew there would be days like this. Days when I wanted to just piss off and let it all burn to the ground. But where would my humanity be if I did something like that? With a heavy sigh I withdrew my axe and sped down the slope of the hill. Blue Rose and Ho Chin were still a good distance away, but even from where I was, I could see the oues of their scuffle. Blue Rose looked to have put up a good fight with Ho Chin bleeding from several cuts to his arms and side, no doubt carved from the dagger still held in her hand. But aside from that, Blue Rose was clearly on herst legs. Or on her ass more like it. Blood was running down the side of her temple and one of her legs looked bent at an odd angle at the knee. Blue Rose released another cry as she hurled her dagger at Ho Chin. With an amazing disy of dexterity, he deflected it with a parry that sent the weapon sailing through the air with a metallic ring!I realized now what her first two screams had been. One was likely when Ho Chin had caved in her leg and the other was when she had thrown her first dagger at him. But now she was weaponless and prone on the ground, and the fact that she hadn¡¯t used her fancy ninja magic to escape said that she¡¯d perhaps already run out of Qi a long time ago. There was nothing left for her to do but die. Ho Chin raised the club again and the earth beneath his feet began to crack under the pressure of his Qi. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going to ruin that pretty face of yours,¡± he said. ¡°Just going to make sure you can¡¯t fight back. I¡¯ve been dreaming about that face.¡± My stomach lurched. I didn¡¯t want to hear any more of his sick ns. Pouring on the Frenzy, I leapt from fifty feet away and tucked into a roll. I screamed at thest second to draw Ho Chin¡¯s attention and he paused mid swing to nce my way. I ploughed into him with a shoulder tackle and Ho Chin went bouncing across the rocky ground, club flying. I looked down at Blue Rose and her eyes were wide with shock. I expected to see a look of relief toe next, but instead she gave me a scowl as anger filled her soul. ¡°Why are you here? I don¡¯t need saving by you!¡± I scowled right back. ¡°I¡¯m not doing it for you, you ungrateful bitch!¡± Ho Chin was already back on his feet and shaking with rage. ¡°You need to mind your own damn business! This has got nothing to do with you, Bull Man! Piss off!¡± I readied my axe. ¡°You¡¯re right. I got no reason to interfere. You¡¯re both pieces of shit in my book. Except I got a thing against thieves, rapists and assholes and you just happen to be all three.¡± He grinned, lifting his club from the ground. ¡°You¡¯re just pissed off I thought about doing this before you did. You don¡¯t need to be strong enough to pass the exam, just stronger than the dumb bitch who just burned herself out from doing it.¡± He let out a self-aggrandizingugh, clearly pleased with his own genius. ¡°Plus, you can¡¯t tell me you haven¡¯t wanted a piece of that sweet ass all week. Tell you what Bull Man¡­ we call this even and I¡¯ll let you go first.¡± A sudden spike of fear came from within Blue Rose as I looked back down at her, but her eyes remained fierce with resolve. Her heart was racing, no doubt sensing her life was truly in the bnce now, depending on what I would decide. It made me sick to my stomach to think that she would even view me in such a manner. That I was capable of such depravity. But then again, for all she knew, we were all just rapists and thieves in here¡ªconvict tributes itching for the next score. Perhaps she herself was no difference considering what she¡¯d done. But my humanity wouldn¡¯t allow it. ¡°For that¡­¡± I said as I stepped towards Ho Chin with a heavy dose of [Fear the me] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯ll let her decide your fate when I¡¯m through with you.¡± Ho Chin let out a scoff as he lifted his massive club onto his shoulder. ¡°So you want it the hard way, huh?¡± He then swung his club through a series of martial forms, but inside I could sense the fear building up in him already. ¡°Come on then, bullshit man! Give me what you g¡ª!¡± He never got thest word out. I flew across the distance between us in a burst of Frenzy andnded a clean chop across his thigh. My de cut through his leg like butter, narrowly missing the bone to cut it clean off. He cried out in a shriek of shock and disbelief, falling to the ground with a wail as he clutched his leg in pain. I grimaced at him with [Indifference]. ¡°Just as I thought. The only bullshitter here is you.¡± I reached down to grab him and to my surprise, Ho Chin collected himself enough to retaliate with a wild swing of his club. I avoided it easily, but then realized he hadn¡¯t necessarily been aiming for me. As his weapon hit the ground, the stone quickly liquified beneath my feet and I fell through it like it was quicksand. I was suddenly buried up to my chest, my arms and axe stuck in the ground as the earth instantly solidified again. I quickly understood how this bonehead might have gotten the drop on someone as quick as Blue Rose now. Before I could even flex to try and break free, Ho Chin stumbled back to his feet and ran at me with a savage war cry. ¡°You bastard! Think I¡¯m weak?¡± he screamed. ¡°[Stonebreaker¡¯s Sunder]!¡± Huge chunks of rock formed on the club as he swung it at my head. I braced myself with [Indifference] and [Steel Lightning], preparing to take the hit dead on. Thebined strength of our techniques collided as he mmed me with his club and the thing shattered with a massive explosion of rocks, lightning and steel. Ho Chin was blown back by the force of the detonation and I used the opportunity to break free from the stone prison around me with [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. I burst free from the ground like a Takrid and before Ho Chin could even hit the ground himself, I snatched him out of the air. I went to town on his ass with my bare fists alone, channeling my rage into solid hit after hit. He was mewling and in a bloodied pulp by the time I had finished with him. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition. I then dragged him over to Blue Rose. ¡°Here,¡± I said, tossing Ho Chin before her. ¡°He¡¯s all yours.¡­¡± Fear swelled in Ho Chin¡¯s heart as Blue Rose stood shakily to one leg. She then limped across the rocky terrain to retrieve one of her daggers. ¡°Wait!¡± Ho chin said. ¡°We can talk about this! We all get a bonus pill if we all survive right? Think about that!¡± ¡°You clearly didn¡¯t think about that when you were going to rape and kill me for my emblem,¡± she said coldly. ¡°Go to hell, Ho Chin.¡± Blue Rose didn¡¯t so much as blink as she casually pushed her de deep into the side of Ho Chin¡¯s neck. He gurgled and convulsed, reaching for her hand, but with a quick motion she sliced open his throat and let him bleed out. With a tter, Blue Rose dropped her dagger to the ground and then fell down next to it. ¡°Off with you, Iron Bull. You¡¯ve given me my revenge, but I won¡¯t ept your pity. Leave me.¡± I grimaced. The nerve of this bitch. I go through all this trouble to save her and this is what she wants? To stay here and die? I had half a mind to do just that. Just leave her here. In fact¡­ I got to walking, I didn¡¯t have time to deal with some stupid girl with a chip on her shoulder. I got all of about five steps before the Struggler began pulling at my soul. God damn it¡­ I walked back to her. ¡°Get the hell up.¡± She scowled. ¡°I told you I don¡¯t want your pity! I deserve to die for being so weak. I couldn¡¯t even defend myself from that pig.¡± I snatched her by the cor and lifted her from the ground. ¡°You didn¡¯t fail because you were weak. You failed because a sick asshole got the better of you. And honestly, for what you did to all of us back at the pit you probably damn well deserve it!¡± ¡°So leave me be then!¡± ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°You don¡¯t get off that easy. I know you¡¯d rather die than face the humiliation and consequences of your actions. But not today, bitch. I¡¯m saving your sorry ass for everyone to see.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Blue Rose cried as I lifted her over my shoulder. ¡°Stop!¡± I nced up at the sky. Still plenty of time left. ¡°Better hold on,¡± I said and repositioned her onto my back. ¡°This is going to be a rough ride.¡± * * * Blue Rose finally stopped protesting after about twenty minutes into the run. By that time the silhouette of Du Gok Bhong was cresting on the horizon and well within reach. My core was still over half full, having topped some of it back up with fresh Frenzy from my short fight with Ho Chin. I cultivated what I could, strengthen my muscles while my body healed and toughened my skin. ¡°I do not understand you,¡± Blue Rose suddenly said from behind, her voice reverberating as she jostled against my back. ¡°Why do you do this thing?¡± ¡°What thing?¡± ¡°The weak. You pity them. Save them. Why?¡± It was honestly a good question. I suppose exining the Struggler to her wouldn¡¯t make any sense. ¡°I used to be weak,¡± I said. ¡°I know what it¡¯s like to be powerless. Someone had pity on me once and lent me strength. I suppose now I return the favor when I can.¡± She didn¡¯t say anything to that. Blue Rose was quiet for a long while afterwards, until finally she said, ¡°Where Ie from, I would be killed if I were to return to my n after suffering such a defeat from a weakling like Ho Chin.¡± ¡°Yeah well¡­ we¡¯re not in Kansas anymore.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you answer me something that I don¡¯t understand about you, Blue Rose. What made you want to screw us over like that at the pit?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You left us there when we had agreed for you to grab all the tags for us.¡± ¡°You were all foolish enough to let me do it. Why should I not take advantage?¡± ¡°You honestly think like that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you? Why would you purposely give yourselfpetition when you can have an advantage?¡± I supposed her logic made sense in a jacked-up kind of way. ¡°So there is truly no honor amongst thieves, huh?¡± ¡°I am no thief,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s just an expression. But you could have fooled me. You move like a thief.¡± ¡°I said I am no thief.¡± ¡°Maybe you¡¯re just a cheat then. Or an assassin maybe?¡± ¡°Do not presume to know what I am, Bull Man.¡± ¡°Just calling it like I see it, Blue Rose.¡± She went quiet again. ¡°Just because you happen to be strong, it does not mean you are right. Do you think you are better than me because you feign honor? Such honor is for fools and dead men. Knowingly giving up an advantage is idiocy.¡± I chuckled. The cultivator mindset at its best. ¡°So winning for you was that important, huh?¡± I shuffled her on my back, repositioning her. ¡°You just had to be first at any cost, even if it meant screwing everyone else over?¡± ¡°The prize was a high-tier elixir. I need to cultivate and ascend to the next realm if I am to leave this ce and I don¡¯t n on staying here forever. I have need to be elsewhere.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t we all¡­¡± She scoffed. ¡°I see how you are, Iron Bull. Working to please these fool masters. I know your story also. I spoke to those weakling brothers that you pity. You chose to be here, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah and?¡± ¡°A madness must gue you. You pity the weak yet also seek death.¡± ¡°And what do you seek?¡± She paused again. ¡°Revenge.¡± ¡°Revenge for what?¡± But Blue Rose didn¡¯t answer and refused to say anything else until we reached the beacons and the edge of the barrier. The contingent of brown robes was still gathered together there and erupted into apuds as we crossed the finished line. I set Blue Rose down just as Chief Instructor Yora approached the both of us. ¡°Emblems?¡± she said, outstretching her hand. I handed mine over and Blue Rose did the same. I then handed over the extra one that was meant for Ho Chin. ¡°For one that didn¡¯t make it,¡± I said. Yora chuckled as she looked between me and Blue Rose. ¡°It looks as if you two nearly didn¡¯t make it as well. But congrattion, you have both passed the examination.¡± The assembly of brown robes broke into apuse again. ¡°Participants! Assemble!¡± Yora shouted. We pulled ourselves into a line, with Blue Rose bncing herself on one leg by my side. Yun Jen then joined Yora as they began handing each of us new white robes. ¡°Now for the prizes,¡± Yora said. ¡°First, second and third ce will each receive an elixir. Unfortunately, as all participants did not return, there is no bonus pill.¡± Ah well, I thought. A small price to pay for getting rid of that scumbag. Yora then called Taj Qui forward and awarded him with the high-tier elixir foring first. Not surprisingly, the awards for second and third when to the other fly boys who had snatched their emblems ahead of everyone else. ¡°And for the final award for best performance,¡± Yora said. ¡°The winner¡­will be decided by yourselves. Choose now between yourselves who should be given this award which will be a high-tier elixir. Speak freely now and make your choice.¡± Murmurs broke out. ¡°It should be me!¡± Taj Qui said. ¡°I won after all. Clearly, I performed the best!¡± That brough on a cacophony of mocks and jeers. ¡°Haven¡¯t you gotten enough?¡± ¡°Greedy bastard!¡± ¡°I¡¯d never agree to you winning.¡± ¡°It should be me!¡± ¡°You can not nominate yourself,¡± Yora said. Taj Qui grimaced and then pointed to Blue Rose. ¡°Her then. It was her idea that got me the win.¡± Blue Rose scoffed. ¡°I deserve nothing.¡± She then paused and looked up at me, the faintest hint of lemonade in her soul. ¡°It should be him. The Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Yes, the Iron Bull!¡± one of the guys from the pit shouted. ¡°He jumped in first!¡± ¡°True. The Iron Bull!¡± ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have gotten through without him.¡± I smiled and gave them a bow of thanks, even though I didn¡¯t need the reward. The lemonade they produced was reward enough. I cultivated it and stored it swiftly within my Dantian. I then looked down at Blue Rose and gave her a smile. She turned her head as if annoyed. ¡°It seems this is yours.,¡± Yora said, presenting me the elixir. ¡°Well done, Iron Bull.¡± I epted the small blue vial with a bow. ¡°Thank you, Chief Instructor.¡± ¡°This concludes the examination!¡± she shouted to the assembly. ¡°These who stand before you now have ascended to the rank of White Robe. Respect them as your upperssmen. Work hard, and you may one day join them. Dismissed!¡± The assembly broke and Lo Ren and Chu Ren immediately ran to me, giving congrattions. Lo Ren then immediately began asking me about the exam and what happened, but I was in no mood to give him an instant rey. ¡°I¡¯ll tell youter,¡± I said. ¡°I need to get cleaned up.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see youter then, Iron Bull,¡± Chu Ren said and the brothers both gave me a bow. Blue Rose scoffed at them as they left. ¡°What?¡± I said. She shook her head and then hissed in pain as she began to limp away. ¡°Nothing.¡± I still didn¡¯t know what to make of her. A try hard that hated help. I looked down at the small blue vial in my hand and got an idea. ¡°Hey, Blue Rose.¡± As she turned her head, I tossed the elixir to her. She caught it with a look of shock. ¡°You can cultivate that while waiting for your leg to heal.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°Figured you¡¯ll need it a lot more than me,¡± I said with a genuine smile. ¡°Cause you¡¯re weak, remember?¡± I gave her a wink and a flurry of emotions erupted within her as she stood there with her mouth open. Her pride and ego spewing hot anger, but no way would the cultivator in her reject such a valuable prize. I walked away as she stewed in her own juices. I truly had no use for the elixir, but giving it to her wasn¡¯tpletely altruistic either. I couldn¡¯t cultivate Qi from it, but the amount of anger and lemonade now spewing out of Blue Rose made a damn good substitute. I cultivated it quickly and then left giving her a pleasant smile. Book 3: Chapter 18 Master Hei Dong released a tired sigh as he watched Gui Zu embrace Yu Li at the entrance to the courtyard. In all his years never would he have imagined for such a thing to take ce in his very home. Yet here they were at sundown, Gui Zu a former outer disciple and Yu Li a simple, native Terran girl residing within his estate within the imperial city. They meant next to nothing to him in his former life. But now they were family. Part of him could still barely get his mind around the concept. His wife Rhi Dong however had no such hang ups and embraced the both of them as they arrived and then immediately relieved them of little Su Ling who went with her nainai to y in the gardens. The former fire bird member Ju Gong looked on with a smile from the gate as did several other refugees from the Native Terran District who were busying themselves tidying up the courtyard before dusk. He released another sigh, and a voice came from behind him. ¡°You could at least pretend you are not perturbed by their presence.¡± Fia stepped next to him on the veranda that overlooked the courtyard.He shifted his eyes to her. ¡°I am pretending.¡± She let out a chuckle and wrapped her arms around him before kissing him on the temple. ¡°Thank you again for this, baba.¡± He released another sigh, more exaggerated this time and lighthearted. ¡°You¡¯re worse than your mother when ites to getting things out of me, I swear.¡± Fia giggled. ¡°Honestly though, Fia,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°How long will these people stay here? We cannot afford this long term.¡± ¡°Just until Jian Yi makes the appeal to the Princess,¡± Fia said. ¡°I¡¯m sure Her Majesty would not allow thew these silly Bird Sisters have put in ce to stand.¡± Hei Dong chortled mirthlessly. ¡°I fear she may allow much more than that, daughter. Or at least the Warden will and the Princess will simply defer to the Warden¡¯s decision. I knew the Lady Silver Tear was a cold woman, but her cruelty knows no bounds. I¡¯m sure if your mother wasn¡¯t crippled already, she would be targeting her as well myself and you.¡± Fia stayed quiet at that and they both looked out at the sunset now fading in the distance. ¡°How bad are things, father?¡± Fia asked in a serious tone. ¡°Truthfully.¡± Hei Dong almost didn¡¯t want to answer. It wasn¡¯t Fia¡¯s ce to worry about the financial concerns of the family. But his normal confidant, his dear wife, seemed to be concerned only with their grandchild now. It was as if Rhi Dong had regressed in mind as well as spirit, preferring the role of nainai to that of the fierce warrior woman and protective wife she used to be. In that sense, Fia was more so thedy of the house now. And as Fia was beginning to now make decisions that affected the household, it was perhaps time she bore some of the burden as well. In knowledge at the very least. ¡°The finances won¡¯tst more than two months more,¡± Hei Dong said, a lump forming in his throat. ¡°The warden has blocked me in the marketce. No one will buy my wears and the expenses keep mounting, especially now.¡± ¡°The Warden has blocked you from selling?¡± Fia asked, her eyes wide with concern. ¡°How has she done this?¡± ¡°She has reduced me to a lower caste. We all have been. No one of social standing would dare do business with me now. Not even in the auction. No one will bid.¡± Fia frowned. ¡°Father. Let us help. The Terran sect has resources. Jian Yi is leader now while Max is away. I¡¯m sure she would aid us if we only¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± Hei Dong said, his skin bristling. ¡°I cannot ept such charity.¡± ¡°At least ept it for housing Gui Zu and the others.¡± That thought was tempting, but the idea that he had to stoop so low made his stomach ill. ¡°I must find another means of ie,¡± he said. ¡°What do you mean? You are the best artisan crafter in the province and an even better Warden. We need only survive until Max¡¯s return. He will set all this right. I know he will.¡± Hei Dong snorted. ¡°In three years¡¯ time? We won¡¯t survive that long.¡± And not to mention he is the cause of all of this, he wanted to add, but he spared Fia the words. She knew the same well enough and it wouldn¡¯t help to drive home the fact. She could not change the reality of the situation any more than he could. ¡°What if you found other buyers to sell to?¡± Fia asked. ¡°Like whom?¡± ¡°Perhaps in another province?¡± ¡°The expense of travel only would make that unfeasible. And my shame will follow me regardless.¡± Fia went quiet again, but her eyes shifted back and forth in thought. Then suddenly they lit up. ¡°You can sell them to the Furious Lightning Sect.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Max¡¯s Martial Sect, the remnants of the Fire Birds. Kel Zhi is in control of them now and it would be legal to sell weapons to her as a martial sect. She will buy at market rates and then¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s still a form of charity. I won¡¯t ept it.¡± Fia fumed at him with lowered brows. ¡°Will you allow me to finish?¡± He sighed again. ¡°Fine¡­go on.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be a form of charity. Kel Zhi will resell your wares on the auction. It¡¯s a way around the Warden blocking you. Not charity.¡± Her idea held some merit, but¡­ ¡°Surely they will know they are mine.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Fia said. ¡°Exactly. Which is why they will sell quickly if they are not being sold by you. Everyone still knows you make the best quality weapons and artifacts. To buy them secondhand would be a boon to anyone.¡± Hei Dong pondered it for a moment. This truly was his daughter, skilled in cunning as well as martial arts. Still, the idea was not without risk of failure. ¡°There is a chance this still will not work,¡± he said. Fia shrugged. ¡°But a chance worth taking, no?¡± Hei Dong pondered it a moment more. If he could move two pieces a month it would be enough to sustain the household. Something he could scarcely do now. But if Fia¡¯s n could work¡­ ¡°Alright. How would we go about this?¡± he asked. Fia looked to the horizon. ¡°Kel Zhi will likely be at the handler station now with Lee. If I go quickly, I can catch her before she heads back to the Native Housing District.¡± ¡°With who?¡± ¡°Not important. I will go to see her now to make the arrangements. Just make the weapons avable and leave the rest to me.¡± With that Fia left, leaping into the sky with qinggong. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition. Hei Dong watched her vault over the wall of the courtyard with a mixture of pride and humility. Thetter for himself and the former for his daughter. So far have I fallen, he thought. But at least he had a daughter he could rely upon to make things right. And hopefully a future son-inw who would do the same. But as for now. His future would lie the in hands of one known as Kel Zhi. * * * Kelsey cultivated the diffuse Frenzy in her body and stored it within her Dantian. It was what she hade to practice nightly when the Bloodmoon rose. Part of her wished she could go beyond the barrier and expose herself to the Dark Frenzy directly like she had done with Max in the past to cultivate her spiritual aspect the same way he had, but such was impossible now. For one, she would be polluting her me and would not have the convenience of Venja to cleanse herself and two, without a second me to guide her in the darkness, she could easily fall prey to I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and the madness it would inspire within her. Now, she had to settle for the subtle ire the moon stirred within her own soul to produce a faint stream of Frenzy to cultivate from. Still, she was pleased with how much progress she and Max had made in honing her spiritual techniques once she had reached the Core Realm six months ago. In the time before he had left, she and Max had trained to achieve the [Soul Shield] technique and now she could even manifest [Spectral Weapon] and [Spectral Armor] while within the spiritual realm of her own mind. There, she had finally gotten to meet Venja in the flesh, so to speak. Her first glimpse of her was awe inspiring. A splitting image of the legendary Big Sis. Or so Max described. That alone was reward enough for the agony of facing the full effects of the Bloodmoon each night and fighting the hordes of demons and madness that came with it. For over five months she and Max had gotten into a routine of helping each other train through Bloodmoon exposure, facing the eyeball ridden tentacles of the dark god of Frenzy each night. She was nowhere near mastery level like Max, but she could withstand the Bloodmoon for over a minute now using [Soul Shield]. She craved honing her skills further but for thest month or so since Max¡¯s departure, Kelsey had to settle for this meager form of cultivation instead. Relying on the ire the Bloodmoon inspired within her own soul as it triggered the spiritual root of her Dao. The moon¡¯s oppression and the demons it inflicted upon their world filled her heart with contempt as she stared up at it. Anger for all the people dear to her that it had in through its minions. Even those by her own hand. It mocked her. Radiating its loathsome taint to cover the world in dread and fear. The moon seemed even brighter than normal and Kelsey swore she could almost sense the tendrils of Dark Frenzy spewing from it. Or perhaps it was only in her imagination or residual trauma from subjecting herself to the dark influence of the moon for weeks on end. But now she couldn¡¯t even travel back to the bunker to check on her mother because of this stupidw that was passed. She still didn¡¯t understand the dynamics fully, but she had to stay vigil over the Terran sect now that Gui Zu and Zu Tien couldn¡¯t stand guard. That brought on a new sense of contempt within her soul in the form of Max¡¯s Dao, the oppression of the empire itself. The two forms of hatred¡ªthat of the moon and that of empirebined in her heart to stir her me with even more fervor. A fountain of Frenzy spewed forth and she cultivated it quickly to stretch the growing capacity of her Dantian. ¡°Hey, you okay there, babe?¡± The gentle and lighthearted tone broke her out of her thoughts and Kelsey looked across the handler station to see Lee smiling at her. Just the sight of him diffused her ire and she wondered for a moment whether his presence was a good thing or not for her cultivation. She smiled back at him, blushing. ¡°Nothing. Just lost in my own head.¡± ¡°You looked damn pissed off at that moon. What it do to you?¡± Lee grinned as he tossed a backpack he¡¯d been fiddling with into a pile and then joined her at the back of the handler station, draping his arm over her shoulder. She nuzzled into him and enjoyed a warmth of different kind now filling her soul. ¡°You don¡¯t want to know,¡± she said truthfully. Lee merelyughed and kissed her sweetly on the cheek. She hadn¡¯t told Lee about her cultivation method fully, only that she was learning from Max and easy going as he was, that was enough for Lee to ept all kinds of things from her. She¡¯d gotten a handler pass and Lee would cover for her while she hunted monsters and spirit beasts in the wild, but she hadn¡¯t been able to do that since the change inw. Now the only fighting she did came in the form of the odd cultivator who was stupid enough toe poking around in Max¡¯s absence. The rest of the time was just spent waiting at the gate and looking out for trouble. Which meant she couldn¡¯t spend as much time with Lee. Which meant meeting with him after work like this was important. ¡°Hard day?¡± she asked. ¡°Eh, not too bad,¡± Lee said. ¡°Everyone got in safe and sound. That¡¯s the main thing.¡± She nodded. Most of the handlers had already cleared out for the day, leaving only Lee to pack up along with the Imperial Guards who were busy tallying taxes. Kelsey was just about to suggest they grab a bite to eat in the square when a voice called out to them from behind. ¡°Lee! Kel Zhi!¡± They both turned to see Fia touching down on the ground behind them. She was bathed in sweat and out of breath, like she¡¯d just run a marathon. ¡°Lady Fia?¡± Lee said with surprise. ¡°Heck you doing out here sote?¡± ¡°And did you actually qinggong here?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°What happened to the flying car?¡± ¡°The flying what?¡± ¡°Skiff,¡± Kelsey correcting herself. ¡°Oh, well¡­ we had to sell it. Expenses. Which is what brings me here actually,¡± Fia said. Kelsey and Lee both looked to one another confused. ¡°We need to talk,¡± Fia said. ¡°I have a big favor to ask.¡± * * * Kelsey had to ask Fia to slow down several times as she exined what she needed. While her knowledge of Yee had grown near exponentially over thest few months, even to the point of being able to read the scrips from Venja¡¯s de herself, Kelsey still could not make sense of Fia¡¯s somewhat formal tones at times which wentpletely over her head. ¡°Okay, let me see if I understand,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I approve the bank payments to your dad, from the Furious Lightning Sect and then wait a couple of weeks and resell the weapons at the auction?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°But perhaps waiting a month would be better. And don¡¯t sell everything at once.¡± ¡°You know I could help a bit,¡± Lee said. ¡°I could put ¡®em out on disy and mention that it¡¯s Kel Zhi¡¯s private collection or something. Generate some interest.¡± Fia¡¯s eye lit up brightly. ¡°That¡¯s a great idea, Lee! Thank you.¡± ¡°Things really this bad, Fia?¡± Kesley asked. She didn¡¯t respond right away but the fall of her countenance said it all. Kelsey was about to tell her never mind when loud cry suddenly split the air. ¡°rm! Sound the rm!¡± They all paused and looked to see the Imperial Guard screaming towards them through cupped hands. Both Kelsey and Fia froze, but Lee responded immediately and ran to the corner of the handler station and began pulling on a rope. A bell tolled and after a few more swings from Lee another bell echoed it in the distance and the process quickly repeated itself. Fear rose up inside Kelsey¡¯s stomach, but her me quickly sh converted it into Frenzy. She ran to Lee and measured her words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Hell if I know,¡± Lee said. ¡°But when one of those guys shout for the rm you follow through and ask questionster.¡± ¡°Is it a surge?¡± Fia asked. ¡°Maybe, ain¡¯t seen one of those for months,¡± Lee said. Kelsey didn¡¯t know what a surge was, but her instinct told her it could be only one thing. ¡°The demons?¡± Lee merely nodded and Kelsey was already sprinting towards where the guard had run from. ¡°Kel Zhi!¡± Lee and Fia shouted in unison, but her me was way ahead of them. Anxiety and anticipation filled her heart as the guards tried to stop her as well. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t go there! It¡¯s dangerous!¡± But as she ran past the entrance to the handler station and into open space beyond the boundary wall, she saw for herself what everyone was afraid of. There not fifty feet away was a scene she was more than ustomed to. A wall of demons thousands strong were wing and moring against the invisible wall of the barrier, their shrieks and screams filling the night with terror. Just the sight of them caused her me to erupt with Frenzy. Every instinct was yelling for her to plow straight into them with abandon, but the Struggler kept her firmly in ce. This was amon urrence out in the wild, especially when the gate was still open, but to see this here? Kelsey looked about for answers. Thankfully Lee and Fia had followed her. ¡°This happens a lot?¡± Kelsey could sense the fear in their hearts as the gawked at her like she was a mad woman. ¡°Kel Zhi, you need to get away from there!¡± Lee shouted. ¡°One of those things could break through!¡± Could they? The thought caused her to stare more intently at the red-skinned humanoids wing to get at her. It was almost as if they were fixated on her in particr. She looked up at the moon and it did indeed look brighter, more intense. And there was no question about it now. She could faintly taste the Dark Frenzy in the air. Was the barrier here weaker than what Venja produced perhaps? ¡°Kel Zhie back!¡± Fia shouted. The guards and enforcers shouted for her to do the same, but the fear in their souls prevented them from taking a further step. ¡°High tier cultivators are on their way,¡± Lee said. ¡°They¡¯ll take care of whatever breaks through.¡± Kelsey grinned at him with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°What am I, dog shit? I live for this stuff. If anything breaks through, I¡¯ll be killing it first.¡± Her words caused a mixture of fear and lemonade to fill his soul. ¡°You scare the hell out of me, babe, but damn you¡¯re hot when you do it.¡± That actually caused her to blush and she let out augh to y it off. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll step back.¡± As she turned to walk back towards the handler shed, something faintly caught her ear. Not words exactly. A sentiment. A thought. Hatred and envy. Kelsey turned about and far in the darkness, hundreds of feet away she could just make out the silhouette of something huge standing in the sea of demons before her. Something the size of a building. Multiple sets of red eyes shone in the darkness and for a moment she wondered if it was another awakened corpse demon like what she¡¯d fought in the basement of the bunker. But this thing seemed more powerful than that. Whatever it was. Even from where she stood, she could sense the Dark Frenzy boiling off of it. The challenge rose inside of her, generating Frenzy like a volcano. Kelsey flooded her Dantian and then pointed towards the creature with [Fear the me]. ¡°Yeah, I see you,¡± she said in English. ¡°I¡¯Xol¡¯Ukz better hope he picked the right one with you. Because now that I know you exist. I¡¯ming for your ass.¡± She couldn¡¯t see it exactly, but she could sense the thing respond with a leer. More hatred. Laughter. ¡°Kel Zhi?¡± Lee said, looking more fearful than ever now. ¡°What did you just say? Are you alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Kelsey said in Yee again, but suddenly a new thought urred. If this was happening here, then what about back home? ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Nothing is breaking through here tonight.¡± ¡°What?¡± Lee said. ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°Couse it would have done so already.¡± Lee looked back at her dumbfounded and so did Fia. Kelsey looked to her next. ¡°I¡¯ll do the thing for your dad,¡± she said. ¡°But after that I need to head back to the wild.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to protect the sect somehow, Fia. After tomorrow, I need to get back home.¡± Book 3: Chapter 19 I sat in the darkness with my two best friends. Blue Struggler me and my alter ego, Mr. Demon. Neither of them were receptive to my attempts at mediation tobine their souls. Within the spiritual confines of my own mind, I tried everything within my mental powers to merge the two halves of my spirit, but to no avail. I was missing something clearly. Knowledge perhaps. I traced through the scripts of the Foundation Manual within a window of my mind¡¯s eye and focused on thetter stages of Qi cultivation when it came to the Core Realm.
Core Formation 1st Core Formation
2ndCore Body Refinement
3rd Core Mental Refinement
4th Core Density Refinement
5th Inner Soul Detection
6th Inner Soul Focus
7th Inner Soul Refinement
8th Inner Soul Projection
9th Secondary Soul Germination
I was definitely bordering on the 9th Tier now. Secondary Soul Germination. Everything else before that I seemed to have mastered. I had even broken through on my next tier of [Death Mastery] having achieved [Fear no Death], so that certainly wasn¡¯t an impediment to my ascension anymore. The blockage had to be one of knowledge for sure. I just didn¡¯t know what I needed to do. I searched the texts of the manual again for any clues I might have missed. There was really only one paragraph that spoke to the Secondary Soul germination. ¡°Within theter stages of solid core formation, a practitioner will begin to sense a secondary consciousness within their Dantian. This stage is known as the germination of one¡¯s sacred soul. Through further cultivation of Qi, the soul is nourished through a gestation period. The sacred soul is the truest reflection of one¡¯s inner self. Whether a god or a demon, a sacred soul reveals the identity and history of one¡¯s journey. Therefore, caution must be taken in how one umtes power after this stage is achieved.¡± It was the same passage I¡¯d read a thousand times over. Nothing new here. But this was as much as the manual could tell me about the Sacred Soul Realm. Clearly, I¡¯d nearly outgrown the book. But I hadn¡¯t had much luck sourcing a recement either. A manual on Sacred Soul Realm cultivation was something more coveted than even scrolls of martial techniques or styles. I wasn¡¯t even sure they even existed, to be honest. At least there were none in Jurin, not even in the imperial city library. Sacred Soul realm cultivation was on the same Tier as the Warden and Princess. Mu Lin had exined that even to gain ess to a manual you had to have already broken through to the Sacred Soul realm first. And even that wasn¡¯t guaranteed. For Qi cultivators it was a step few dared to even attempt. A failed breakthrough could lead to death or being crippled for life. Much like how Fia¡¯s mom was now. Which was why most cultivators settled to be High Tier Core Realm and progressed no further. Mu Lin had the chances were of a sessful breakthrough was one in ten, the odds for sess greater if you held a strong bloodline. Which made my uing duel with the Warden all the more challenging. She had already made the breakthrough and her true powers were likely on a scale I hadn¡¯t fully experienced yet. But I needed to get as strong as her, or as strong as Threja even if I wanted to be go toe to toe with those god-like beings that attacked the earth. And once I went full rebellion, they such as shit woulde looking. Just the though of that stirred my me and my eagerness to ascend. But to do get even close to that, I needed to master this final step of the Core Realm first. The germination of my Secondary Soul. That¡¯s where I was now stuck. Beyond that, I needed a new counterpart when it came to my Berserker Path as well. The shuras from Threja¡¯s sword¡ªor Venja, were imprinted in my memory, but for any stage beyond that I possessed no guide. Still, there were techniques I was yet to master there as well, like [Furnace of the Frenzied me]. I supposed considering that I was good for now. I decided to go over all the high tier Berserker techniques in my arsenal and read them as they appeared in my mind¡¯s eye. [Spectral Body] ¨C the form of one¡¯s soul is forever being molded, but for it to take true shape, it must first develop a body. Use this technique to both envision and inhabit a spectral body within thy own Core. Tread thou carefully however, for the refection of one¡¯s true inner self is forged not by will, but the history of one¡¯s thoughts and deeds. [Spectral Armor] ¨C once developed, this armor can embody the strength of one¡¯s soul and protect one¡¯s spectral body in the spiritual realm. [Spectral Weapon] ¨C the extension of one¡¯s will in spiritual form, use it to inflict damage within the spiritual realm. [Spectral Domain] ¨C expand the interior of one¡¯s Frenzied Core to create an inner world to be inhabited by one¡¯s spectral body. [Spectral Form] ¨C an advanced manifestation technique, to summon thy Spectral Body into the physical realm. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. [Furnace of the Frenzied me] ¨C manifest your Spectral Domain, Body and me into the physical world. When in this state, a Berserker is at once most powerful and most vulnerable, for any who witness such a manifestation will know immediately thy true nature by the revtion of thy me. Do so to inspire the unkindled and newly kindled alike, but if an enemy of the me doth witness such power, be certain to ensure their demise. I had mastered everything besides thest three; [Spectral Domain], [Spectral Form] and [Furnace of the Frenzied me]. Clearly [Spectral Form] and [Furnace of the Frenzied me] relied on [Spectral Body] and [Spectral Domain] respectively. Perhaps I needed to focus on my [Spectral Domain] since I hadn¡¯t really done much about that. As I looked about me and my two other selves, we were still sitting in a pitch-ck void. I wasn¡¯t sure how to even create a domain. But maybe that was my next step. Clearing my mind I tried to manifest my surroundings. I didn¡¯t know what to think of at first. I thought about Fia and I¡¯s privatekeside beach. A clear sky above. A gentle wind blowing across the water¡¯s surface. It was definitely a ce I held dear to my heart. When I opened my spiritual eyes again there was a glowing sphere hovering before me in the darkness. Within it was a snow-globe like visage of the exact image I had imagined. Holy cow¡­ was it that easy? Or perhaps I had just gotten skilled at my spiritual maniption. Cautiously I reached out to touch the globe and in an instant my environment changed. Gone was the darkness and instead was perfect reflection of what was inside the sphere. Blue sky, theke. The Struggler and Demon nced about a the new surrounds, the Struggler looking much happier than the Demon and gave me a thumbs up. But I still couldn¡¯t feel anything myself though. In my disembodied form it was all just visual to me. I focused my consciousness towards the Struggler and like being teleported back home, I suddenly found myself there on the sandy beach, theke stretching out before me, the wind in my face. I did a spiritual double take. It was like I was actually there. So much so I almost felt the need to look out for roaming spirit beasts. Was this real? I suppose it was as real as anything I experienced within my own mind. And that included my training with Venja. That turned out to be real. So this had to be real too, well¡­to me at least. I enjoyed a few more minutes of bliss, wading into the warm pristine water of theke. After being confined in prison cells for over a month being outside like this, viewing the brilliant sun high above was a treat that soothed my soul. After some time, I finally willed myself to leave. The beach disappeared and shrunk back down into its orb form again. I wondered just how many of these orbs I could make. Or what limitations they had. I wondered also if this could be a way to push the Demon and the Struggler to the next level somehow. I certainly couldn¡¯t do that by giving them a peaceful beach to hang out in, that was for sure, but maybe there was some other environment I could forge that would be more conducive. I though some more and recalled the dark sky riddled with yellow mes that Threja had summoned when she used [Furnace of the Frenzied me]. Perhaps my [Spectral Domain] would need to be simr if I truly wanted the Demon and Struggler to grow andbine. Gathering my thoughts, I focused on the most oppressive environment I could think of that would promote growth and struggle. In my mind¡¯s eye I glimpsed the Hell ne surface of the moon with its purple skies and deep red shale. When I opened my spiritual eyes again a second orb had formed and when I touched it, I was indeed transported to that hellish ce. But unlike the actual ne there was no oppressive Dark Frenzy to contend with. The Demon looked please, the Struggler non-plussed. It was as if I had set the scenery but there was no umph to it. Not true power, just a recreation. But Threja¡¯s inner world certainly held power. I wondered what I would need to do to add that to this ce? Perhaps I needed to connect to the true spiritual realm somehow. Like going online with a single yer game to tap into multiyer. Iughed at my own musing. No one in this new world would understand an analogy like that. Except maybe for Kelsey. Okay enough of this, I thought and relinquishing the orb settled back into soothing darkness again with my two selves looking back at me. I needed to focus on what I was missing. Looking back through the Foundation Manual, I searched for further insights that might help. Within that single paragraph that referenced a Secondary Soul, there was only once sentence that spoke on how to actually achieve it. Through further cultivation of Qi, the soul is nourished through a gestation period. That was it. But a gestation period? Do I have to wait nine months? Iughed at my own joke. I already had a nine-month deadline I couldn¡¯t miss. But what did further cultivation of Qi actually mean? Did I just need a heck of a lot more Frenzy? Both the Struggler and Demon simply shrugged at me. ¡°Thanks fes, a lot of use you both are,¡± I mumbled with chagrin. ¡°Who are you talking to?¡± I opened my eyes in the real world to find myself still seated in lotus position on my cot and facing Blue Rose. She was leaning on a cane, her right leg bandaged in a splint. I was in my new room within the prison, a cell with only one roommate now that I was a White Robe. But that roommate wasn¡¯t Blue Rose. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nearly time for our first lesson and I didn¡¯t see you,¡± she said. ¡°I came to find you.¡± ¡°What?¡± I had no idea how long I¡¯d been meditating for, but clearly it¡¯d been far too long. ¡°Shit!¡± I jumped out of my cot and grabbed my axe and ive. I had no idea what our first lesson as White Robes would entail but I wanted to be prepared. I looked back at Blue Rose while she hobbled behind me. For her toe and get me like this was a change of character indeed. ¡°Thanks, Blue Rose,¡± I said. ¡°I owe you one.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think that this is charity. We would all be punished if we didn¡¯t all show up on time.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Good to know you¡¯re still you.¡± She didn¡¯t respond but kept hobbling along rather swiftly through the corridors of the prison, keeping up with my pace. We¡¯d been granted a day off to recover from the White Robe exam and while I had used it to focus on my internal training, Blue Rose had clearly been using it to heal. ¡°Looks like the leg¡¯sing along nicely,¡± I said. ¡°Do you want me to carry you again?¡± ¡°Just keep moving.¡± I cultivated the small bit of irritation I¡¯d caused within her and refocused my mind on the new task at hand. I desperately wanted to unlock the secrets of my own progression, tobine the Struggler and Demon and break through to the Sacred Soul Realm, but I had progress to make within the Tribute system as well. And now was my time to find out exactly what I needed to do to get to ck Robe and beyond. I fell into ranks finding a ce next to my new roommate, Tu¡¯lok. He was Sullied, as big as Jakra but with a full head of white hair that was tied in a top knot and a short beard to match. Blue Rose shuffled in next to me and then after a few moments Chief Instructor Yora appeared with a dozen ck Robes I hadn¡¯t seen before. They formed a line before the entire contingent which I gauged was about five hundred of us. Yora then took center stage and began addressing the assembly. ¡°White Robes,¡± she said. ¡°A new induction has been added to your ranks. These people will be distributed evenly amongst your ten toons. The ck Robe before you are entering into their final stages for qualifications to be Legionnaires. As such they will act as your toonmanders. For those of you who have been White Robes for some time, this is nothing new. For those who are, your assignments shall be split between harvesting monster cores from the wild and processing said cores into pills and elixirs in the alchemyb. For core refinement, you will attend sses and gain ess to the library to study. For core harvesting you will be led by your ck Robemanders topete with other toons for the most cores harvested. Each week will be a tally with cultivation rewards disbursed based on performance.¡± She paused as if waiting for questions, but no one dared say anything. ¡°The remainder of your time will be spent in martial training, particrly in the use of the Phnx ive for those who choose that path. The requirements for entry into the next rank will be abat assessment equivalent to Gold Bracket ranking. You will be required to win a tournament match against a suitably experienced ck Robe opponent.¡± I ran over the new duties in my head. ¡°So kill monsters, fight each other and cook up drugs? Sounds a heck of a lot better than shoveling pig shit,¡± I whispered to Blur Rose and she let out a surprised snort ofughter. My new roomie, Tu¡¯lok gave us both a piercing re. He didn¡¯t say anything but his look said it all: Shut the hell up. I suppressed an inner grin at that, but was even more amazed that I had actually managed to make Blue Roseugh. Yora dismissed the assembly and the ck Robes at the front began forming us into smaller units. A kid that looked barely out of his teens came to a halt before our toon. He was pale skinned with blue hair, eyes the same deep blue color. He carried himself with the air of a young master, someone used to getting respect no matter where he went and sure enough when he opened his mouth, his aristocratic tones and pronunciation ced him in the upper echelons of society. ¡°This One is Jei Su Long,¡± he said in his high-pitched voice. ¡°This One will be yourmander for the next two weeks. This One demands obedience andpetence. Failure at either and you will find yourself dead under mymand. Understood?¡± No one said anything to the rhetorical question. Then suddenly the kid shouted again. ¡°I said ¡®understood?¡¯ Reply with ¡®Yes Commander¡¯ if you understand!¡± ¡°Yes, Commander!¡± the entire toon shouted, but I barely said anything. Was this kid for real? I thought, but thankfully I had the sense to not say it out loud this time. ¡°First three rows, core harvesting,¡± he shouted. ¡°Next two rows Martial Training. Last row, core refinement!¡± I smiled at that. I was grouped with the drug making crew, which was just fine for me. I could get a good workout anytime fighting monsters and sparring, but what I needed now more than ever was knowledge. And while I had no infinity for cooking up meth in ab, it would at least give me ess to the library, something that I¡¯d been craving to do for thest two days. Jei Su Long disbursed the other Tributes to their stations and then approached us in thest line. ¡°Where are the new inductees?¡± Blue Rose and I raised our hands. Jei Su Long looked at Blue Rose and scoffed. ¡°An injury from the exam?¡± Blue Rose cleared her throat. ¡°Yes,mander.¡± ¡°Fitting. It is why new inductees are always given refinement rotation first. Brown Robe weaklings barely scraping through.¡± I sensed the anger spike within Blue Rose, but she kept her mouth shut and her poker face intact. Jei Su Long then looked at me. ¡°You however look fit for duty, surprisingly,¡± he said. ¡°Report to harvesting troop with the others.¡± Shit¡­ I really wanted ess to that library. I cycle my Frenzy with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I am still injured a bit,mander. Internally. I wouldn¡¯t mind getting my refinement duties out of the way while I¡¯m healing so I can be fully fit to do my best in harvesting.¡± Jei Su Long¡¯s eyes grew wide with anger. ¡°You dare speak!?¡± ¡°Only to say¡ª¡± I didn¡¯t get another word out before Jei Su Long threw a punch straight into my ribcage. It was a pulled punch, and I could barely feel it. A few seconds of confusion passed and then suddenly I remembered to wince. Jei Su Long scoffed. ¡°A pathetic charade. You are not injured. Why do you seek to not fight? Are you a coward then? Answer me!¡± The Demon began to rile up at the challenge. I was just about to answer him with something I¡¯d probably regret when Blue Rose spoke ahead of me. ¡°He is,mander,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°I was injured saving him. He would be much better off refining cores than harvesting them.¡± I nced at Blue Rose and saw the faintest smirk on her lips. That damn bitch. I wasn¡¯t sure if she was trying to help me out, or just getting me back, or maybe a bit of both. Either way I now had to eat humble pie and paint myself a chickenshit in front of this young master to get what I wanted. ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± I said. ¡°Please allow me to stay and study,mander.¡± Jei Su Long red at me. ¡°As big as a damn sullied and as spinless as a slug.¡± He spit on the ground and then looked to Tu¡¯lok who had stood wordlessly beside us the entire time. ¡°You¡¯ve been here a while, haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yesmander,¡± he said. ¡°Take these two to the alchemyb,¡± Jei Su Long said with a scowl. ¡°Before their weakness makes me retch.¡± Book 3: Chapter 20 Blue Rose wore a stupid smile on her face the entire time Tu¡¯lok led us from the courtyard to the library and alchemyb just outside the main prison. She obviously enjoyed my self-deprecation, especially in front of a prick of a young master like Jei Su Long seemed to be. ¡°Hey, Tu¡¯lok,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s the deal with ourmander, do you know him?¡± ¡°More than I know you,¡± he said looking down at me with a nce. ¡°Which isn¡¯t to say much mind you, but what I do know is that Jei Su Long in not one to be trifled with. Now you¡¯re both already on his bad side. Not a good start, Iron Bull.¡± He was probably right. Granted I didn¡¯t know Tu¡¯lok very well either, having only meet him a day prior, but he seemed a by the book, even keel sort of guy. His demeanor now was no different, focused more on getting us to our destination than bothering with idle chit chat. ¡°He looks very young,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°And his Qi density is substantial. I bet he¡¯s High Tier Core Realm at least.¡± ¡°Most like him whoe here are that way,¡± Tu¡¯lok said. ¡°We call them Token ck Robes. But not to their faces, mind you.¡± ¡°Token?¡± Blue Rose asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Volunteer Tributes from prestigious families within the core worlds. He¡¯s likely the son of a Warden or Lower Court Lord, feed pills and elixirs his whole live to elerate down the cultivation path. Now he¡¯s probably a half step from the Sacred Soul Realm and looking for a quick cement in the Diamond Bracket before he has his breakthrough.¡± Tu¡¯lok then let out a scoff. ¡°People like him won¡¯t even need to set foot on a Hell World to get his jade trim.¡±¡°What?¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°Even in this ce the core worlds have their influence,¡± Tu¡¯lok said. ¡°Special privilege. Try not to let it get to you though. It is what it is.¡± So that was it, I thought. The pampered path the Princess was trying to put me on. ¡°To hell with all that,¡± I said, my me stirring. ¡°I¡¯m here for the gains not the glory.¡± Well, the glory too, admittedly. I still needed that Diamond Bracket ranking to face the Warden, after all. Tu¡¯lok chortled. ¡°With a statement like that, I wonder why you ked out just now to stay behind and make elixirs.¡± He then nced at Blue Rose and smiled. ¡°But I¡¯d say the answer to that is pretty obvious.¡± I immediatelyughed and Blue Rose turned a shade of red. ¡°There¡¯s nothing like that going on between us!¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°We¡¯re not even friends.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said with smile. ¡°I hate this bitch.¡± Tu¡¯lok let out a bellyugh and Blue Rose turned even redder. ¡°Cute,¡± he said. ¡°Alright, this is it.¡± We stopped in front of the prison library, a standalone structure that was two stories high. Next to it was the alchemyb, which was a single story but a lot wider. White Robes were already busying themselves within theb, heating kettles and sks over open mes. Tu¡¯lok lead us towards the doors to the library and when he ushered us through, I was surprised to find the ce fairly well kept and stocked with books on an upper floor essible by stairwells. The bottom floor seemed to beprised of ssrooms with desks, seating cushions and chalkboards. ¡°Stay here,¡± Tu¡¯lok said. ¡°I¡¯ll get Master Eiji.¡± When he left, Blue Rose elbowed me in the ribs. ¡°Don¡¯t get any ideas about what he said, understand?¡± I merelyughed again as I cultivated the anger in her soul. ¡°Please, I¡¯m not even attracted to you. Besides I¡¯m engaged.¡± That caused her anger to quickly re and then cease. ¡°Engaged?¡± ¡°Yeah, a kid on the way too, I think,¡± I said and felt the pressure suddenly mount as I thought on that some more. Nine months. I really needed to get a move on. ¡°Trust me Blue, I got no time to waste here either. Especially ying around and trying to sleep with you. Probably way too many thorns around that rose anyway.¡± Her mouth hung open in shock and insult. ¡°What did you just say?! You disg¡ª!¡± I nudged her as Tu¡¯lok returned but smiled inwardly as Blue Rose¡¯s insides exploded with anger and rage. I cultivated it passively as a man steeped from behind Tu¡¯lok and gave us a bow. He was short and balding with gray hair and wore a white robe just like us. He looked in his sixties with a wispy white beard to match his hair and wore a pair of schr spectacles on the end of his bulbous nose. ¡°Ah, new recruits,¡± he said in a worn and gravely voice. I couldn¡¯t sense Qi, so I had no idea what realm this guy was in, but he clearly hadn¡¯t reached the Sacred Soul Realm to stop the aging process, but he might have slowed it at least. With that considered, I pondered just how old this guy might actually be and how long he had been stuck as a white robe to now be in charge of such an important operation like this. ¡°Wee to the library,¡± he continued. ¡°My name is Eiji, the curator here and head alchemist. As we are the same ranking you need not bow to me, but I do ask that you pay attention to what I teach you. Our role within the academy is an important one. Perhaps even vital to its sess. Without a means cultivate naturally, what we do here is our only means to progress and produce the legionnaires who go on to defend the empire and harvest aetherite. Is that understood?¡± ¡°Yes, Master Eiji,¡± we said in unison, and both Blue Rose and I gave him a bow even though he said not to. Something about the sagely way he spoke demanded nothing less. Tu¡¯lok then gave Master Eiji a bow as well. ¡°I go now to processing, Master Eiji.¡± ¡°Very well Tu¡¯lok,¡± Eiji said. ¡°Thank you for bringing them to me.¡± As Tu¡¯lok departed Master Eiji ushered us towards one of the ssrooms. ¡°Follow me,¡± he said. ¡°There is much you must learn before you even touch a monster core.¡± * * * I was never that good at school. Even back before the fall I had a hard time. Undiagnosed ADHD probably. Thrusting my dumbass in a Yee ssroom was probably the worst thing for me. I could still recall the swift ps from bamboo canes when I would zone out or get an answer wrong. Those old feelings came back to me as more new recruits joined us. I recognized a couple of them from our exam. A few others I guessed were from other intakes but who were put on monster core harvesting rotation first. There were about twenty of us in total and I sat next to Blue Rose as she gingerly tried to outstretch her leg while lowering herself on the cushion. But to not much sess. It looked awkward as hell and eventually I just stood back up and helped her without asking. ¡°Hey!¡± she said in protest, but I picked her up and plopped her on the floor before she could say anything else. She stewed with anger and lemonade but didn¡¯t say anything else. I certainly didn¡¯t expect a ¡®thank you¡¯, but the free Frenzy was nice. ¡°What is a core?¡± Master Eiji said from the front of the ssroom. ¡°We all know what one is, of course, but what is it truly? What is it made of? How is it able to store energy? How do these energies differ? And more importantly how do we harness these energies to produce elixirs?¡± He certainly got my attention with that opening line. On a chalkboard behind him, Master Eiji began to draw theponents of a core and how the energy trapped inside it was due to a crystalltice that was produced by the Dantian. He then further exined monsters had this same ability and that their Dantian¡¯s worked in a slightly different way than our own. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°We call cultivation defying the heavens for a reason,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°To gather Qi in one¡¯s Dantian defies nature itself. It is our strength of will, the power of our very souls which allow us the ability to do this. For spirits beasts and monsters, this process is natural and thus their cores can be undone by nature. This is an important fact, so remember it well. This property of monster cores differs to those produced through cultivation. Thettice produced by a cultivator is structured by will and order and only through chaos can they be dissolved. This is why only demonic forces or demonic cultivators can make use of the essence within a cultivator¡¯s core.¡± That caused a few murmurs of unease to filter through the ss and ones I could identify with as well. It actually made me twitch a little to think that I was using the same demonic techniques to vor my Dantian with Qi from the sliver of that old monk¡¯s lightning core stitched inside of me. ¡°In ancient times most spected that it was the feeding upon the cores of other cultivators that created demons and demonic cultivation,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°But through our study of extraction and refinement, it is clear the opposite is true. It was demonic cultivation which led to it. Not surprisingly, such is ouwed by the empire and the spread of this corruption is exactly why the academy stands. The demonic hordes of the Hell Worlds crave to feast upon the Qi richs within the empire. No different than this, which was once a thriving world itself. The demons, now starved of natural Qi, seek if from unnatural means. Meaning all of you. Cultivators with cores. But the corrupted beasts and demons of this world hold the same energy that they once consumed. Albeit it now, in a different form. And it is our task to extract this energy form that form to be used for ourselves.¡± Master Eiji then drew an elemental wheel on the chalkboard with the five basic elements. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. He then drew lines between all of them. I quickly did the same on my notepad, realizing this next bit was probably important. ncing over at Blue Rose, she had ten times the amount of notes than me already, clearly writing down everything Master Eiji had said. My dumbass had problems just listening, much less writing at the same time. I¡¯ll have to ask her for her notester on, I thought. ¡°Each core produced by a spirit beast or monster has an affinity,¡± Master Eiji continued. ¡°By knowing this affinity, we can break down itsttice structure and extract the essence within it by applying a corresponding element. For example, the core of a Water aspect spirit beast can be used to grow a sapling, which can then be pressed to extract its pure essence from its sap and further refined for consumption. Likewise, a wood aspect core can be burned and its ashes titrated to extract it¡¯s essence.¡± Master Eiji then went on to exin the different processes for each element. It was a heck of a lot more involved than I first figured. I had originally thought they were just melted down or something. ¡°Any questions?¡± Master Eiji asked. A woman near the front of the ss raised her hand. ¡°What about demonic cores? What element is used to dissolve them?¡± ¡°A very good question,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°Demonic cores can only be dissolved through holy means. Either the direct application of holy techniques or some substance which contains it. For our purposes here, we utilize an artifact which can extract them. But don¡¯t think it¡¯s something we harvest regrly. Such cores normallye from awakened demons, which thankfully do not emerge often on this. But upon the Hell Worlds there are many. Along with the aetherite, the harvesting of demonic cores is another objective of the Legionnaire excursions.¡± That made me think for a moment about those towering monstrosities I¡¯d seen on the surface of the moon. The cores within those things had to be huge. Although I was in the spirit realm when I saw them. So what was their representation in the real world? I suppose I wouldn¡¯t know until I ventured there myself. But was stepping on the moon and a Hell World the same? I had no idea, but the thought intrigued me. ¡°Now that we have learned the basic principles of extraction, we must now talk about refinement,¡± Master Eiji said as he wiped the chalkboard clean and began writing down a list of new elements. ¡°Once the extracted element is obtained, a catalyst of the original base aspect must be added to draw out the pure essence of the extract and leave behind any impurities. To use the water core as an example again. The sap from the sapling grown from the water core, should be mixed with pure water and then left for the impurities within the sap to fall out.¡± Master Eiji then went on to describe different methods for each element. I kept pace as fast as I could, writing down the examples. I nced over at Blue Rose¡¯s notebook and she was already way ahead of me. Damn, I thought. Maybe I truly am a ¡®Chun¡¯. We spent another two hours in the ssroom, going over each element in detail and then another hour on how to actually calcte how much of each element needed to be added depending on the weight of the core and the method of extraction. By the time we broke for lunch my brain felt fried. When we for back to ss, Master Eiji gave us a quiz and I scored 70%. Which actually surprised the hell out of me. I had expected to do a lot worse. Blue Rose got 100. As did a few others in the ss. She shook her head at me. ¡°I guess it¡¯s true what they say about you muscle bound types.¡± She gave me a little smirk after that, but I didn¡¯t have enough snark left in me toe back at her. ¡°You have all scored high enough to begin practical training,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°I will demonstrate what I have taught you this morning. If you do well, you will be allowed to join the production teams.¡± He then led us all to the alchemyb next door. After the morning ss, I had a much better understanding of what was going on now. There were about fifty people all working in small teams, each one refining a different type of core. Master Eiji took us to the section for wood-based cores and began the demonstration. He ced the walnut-sized core in a ceramic crucible and heated it over a me for a good 30 minutes. When he removed the lid, he showed us that it had reduced into a fine ash. He added some sawdust and charcoal to the mixture and then popped in something the looked like a lima beam. He set it aside and then went over the measurements he had used for each ingredient and did the math to show us how he came up with each measurement. By the time he finished that, he then removed the bean from the ash/charcoal mixture and it had swelled to about four times its original size. He then crushed it in a press and a vibrant green liquid flowed out of it and into a small vial. ¡°And there it is,¡± Master Eiji said, holding it up for us all to see. ¡°A wood aspect elixir, extracted in full and refined. This is now ready for consumption. Any takers?¡± Everyone¡¯s hand shot into the air except mine. Master Eiji merelyughed. ¡°The first Tribute to repeat what I have just demonstrated will be rewarded with an equivalent elixir of your affinity. Commence!¡± People started sprinting like a starter pistol just went off, rushed the stash of monster cores like chefs from an old TV cooking show my Dad used to watch. Everyone then rushed to grab equipment and pulled out their notepads to record the weight of the core they had grabbed. I stood in the midst of them like a dummy until Blue Roe gave me a nudge. ¡°Come on, don¡¯t be a dope,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡± I followed her lead as she grabbed and measured two cores. I wrote down the results and then she calcted how long each one had to cook inside the crucible and then how much water, sawdust and charcoal needed to be added. I had to admit, she did surprise me in how diligent she was. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve done this type of stuff before,¡± I said. She gave me a sideward nce. ¡°If I told you this is what my family does for a living, would you believe me?¡± I had no idea if she was putting me on or not. Although she did score 100 percent on that quiz. I simply responded with a chuckle and watched mesmerized while she measured out the amounts of ingredients with a squint of her eyes. By the time she got her bean into the press she was in first ce and raised her hand once she finished. ¡°Well done,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°And let¡¯s see. What is your aspect?¡± Blue Rose opened her mouth to answer, but Master Eiji was already focused on her Dantian, adjusting his spectacles. His eyes widened a bit and then he handed her the vial in his hand. ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°A rare one, but you need not be concerned here. All forms of cultivators are wee when facing the scourge of the Cursed Stars. The wood aspect elixir should match with the affinity of your core.¡± ¡°Thank you, Master Eiji,¡± Blue Rose said with a bow. I was curious as hell as to what her aspect actually was, but I dared not ask her now. Instead, I had another question to ask. Learning chemistry was cool and all, but I had another purpose for wanting to be put on egghead duty. And it had nothing to do with cooking up Qi elixirs. ¡°Master Eiji,¡± I said, catching his attention right before he was about to move off. ¡°I didn¡¯t do very well on the quiz earlier. I was wondering if it was possible for me to spend some more time in the library to study.¡± ¡°I could go over the concepts with you some more if you like,¡± he said. ¡°Actually, I learn better from reading,¡± I said thinking quickly and in all honestly, it was probably true. ¡°Are there some books you can point me to? I don¡¯t mind sacrificing my rest time to study.¡± Blue Rose stared up at me puzzled, perhaps not sure what I was trying to aplish. Master Eiji, however, seemed delighted. ¡°A fellow reader. Come then. I will show you a few books you can read on your own. But they must remain in the library.¡± ¡°Works for me,¡± I said. I shed Blue Rose a grin as we left and she responded with a roll of her eyes. Back in the library, Master Eiji led me up one of the stairwells to the upper floor. He selected a couple of books from a shelf and handed them to me. One wasbeled ¡®Basic Alchemy¡¯ and the other was titled ¡®The Art of Extraction¡¯. ¡°These should help,¡± Eiji said. ¡°They cover everything I taught this morning but in far more detail.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± I said and finally felt the opportunity at hand to get what I truly wanted. ¡°Can I ask another question?¡± Master Eiji raised a brow. ¡°Do you know much about cultivation in general? I¡¯m nearing the 9th Tier of the Core Realm but can¡¯t seem to manifest my secondary soul. Are there any books here that can help with that?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m no cultivation expert as you can perhaps tell,¡± Eiji said. ¡°But I do know that you probably won¡¯t find much help for that in a book. Entering the Sacred Soul Realm is a very personal path. It¡¯s different for everyone.¡± ¡°Yeah, so I¡¯ve gathered.¡± ¡°What can help is as much Qi density as possible, this I know for certain. Also strengthening the root of one¡¯s Dao. There are some guides on that if you¡¯d like to take a look.¡± ¡°Really?¡± My heartbeat sped with excitement and anticipation. ¡°That would be excellent.¡± Master Eiji led me to another section of the library and showed me a rather small bookcase with only half a dozen tomes. ¡°Here is what we have on the matter of cultivation,¡± he said. ¡°You are free to browse it while you have time.¡± He then pointed to a second area that was cordoned off by ck robes. ¡°That area is unpermitted for you at this stage,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°Be sure you do not venture in there. It is reserved for ck robes.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°What¡¯s so special about it?¡± ¡°Therein lies our main purpose for existence as I library,¡± Eiji said and looked almost nostalgically towards it. ¡°They are the records of the sorties into the Hell worlds. Every scrap of knowledge we have about them is contained within those tomes. To this day we are still gleaning knowledge from the past to help with future campaigns.¡± Damn, I thought. I¡¯d probably have better luck finding knowledge for my Dao in there than on the cultivation bookcase in front of me. But such would have to wait. ¡°Study well, Iron Bull,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°I will test your knowledge in the future.¡± I gave him another bow. ¡°Thank you, master Eiji.¡± As he left, I couldn¡¯t believe the opportunity before me. It was still early afternoon and it would be a good six hours until lights out. I put aside the books on core extraction and refinement went hunting through the cultivation books right away. Book 3: Chapter 21 Kelsey gave Lee the longest and sweetest kiss the morning she headed off into the wild. It was still dark out, just before sunrise when she had left, but now over seven hourster, the sun was bearing down on her with the heat of the afternoon. Sweat drenched clothes chaffed her skin under the strain of the enormous pack on her back. How Max managed to carry a wagon load of goods each time still baffled her. Even with [Mark of the Giant] the most she could manage was something the size of arge suitcase or duffle bag. Still the supplies she carried within it were important. Qi infused herbs and medicines and more literature for June to teach Yee. Aside from that there were a few other treats such as steamed buns and fruits. Kelsey had wanted to get back home a lot sooner, but she had kept her promise to Fia and went to auction with some of her father¡¯s wares. The first item ended up being a spear that had a tip that sparkled like diamonds. With a little help from Lee, who went through the crowd whispering rumors that someone was selling one of Master Hei Dong¡¯s prized pieces, the bids at the auction skyrocketed. The final price ended up being over 3000 spirit stones. When she finally handed the money over to Fia, she looked as if she were about to cry. Kelsey still didn¡¯t understand all the nuances of Yee society, but she knew what she had done meant a lot to Fia, and in extension a lot to Max as well. She was d she could help and promised to do more once she returned, but now it was time to address her own challenges. Images of that giant creature she had seen that night still haunted her and the closer she got to the bunker the more she started to pray that everything would be alright.It had been well over two months now and her mother had to be worried. But Kelsey was more worried for her now. The thought spurred Kelsey on. Even though her Dantian was nearly dry, she pressed through the pain, cultivating what she could from it to keep going. It was settling towardste afternoon when she finally reached the edge of Venja¡¯s barrier and the harmonics of her pure Frenzy resonated within her soul. A whileter she approached the log wall of the perimeter and the main gate to the vige. Still looks intact, she thought. A good sign. Nothing had broken through the barrier here. But that didn¡¯t mean that it perhaps didn¡¯t happen somewhere else. She used thest of her strength to holler for someone to open the main gate. A few momentster the familiar face of Corporal Andrews peered over the top. ¡°Kelsey, is that you, gal?¡± He gave her a huge grin. ¡°Been a while! I hope you brought us good stuff!¡± His jovial greeting put her at ease and when she finally got inside the gate she was greeted with a lemonade-filled wee from Andrews and the rest of his security team. These were men she had fought demons with and although she was stronger than all of them, it was still hard for her to view them even as equals when she was just a kid to them for her entire life. Now they revered and respected with adoration. As much as Max even. Their own home-grown superhero. ¡°Any problems?¡± she asked, hiding the embarrassment of their attention with [Indifference]. ¡°Breaches in the barrier?¡± ¡°Only problem has been myck of pork buns,¡± Andrews said. ¡°I hope you bought some.¡± Sheughed at that. Thank goodness everything was okay. But now that she was sure that home was secure, she had to get to her next reason for returning. She needed to train. ¡°My mom gets first dibs,¡± Kelsey said with a grin. ¡°After that, it¡¯s a free for all.¡± She left Andrews and headed through the fields now budding with early crops of potato and corn. The spring harvest wasing along nicely and in no small part due to the handful of residents who were now budding Qi cultivators. Most were kids close to Kelsey¡¯s age and she waved to them as she passed by. They responded with excited yells and lemonade just like the soldiers and Kelsey epted their gifts of adoration as she cultivated to replenish her Frenzy starved Dantian. By the time she reached the town center and the entrance to the bunker, half themunity was following her. Only when her mother finally emerged from the crowd did she stop telling stories of her adventures and rushed to her for a long embrace. ¡°Mom!¡± Despite being a Berserker who could y demons and monsters,ing home made her feel like just a kid again. Kelsey¡¯s heart warmed in her mother¡¯s embrace, thankful that she was okay. ¡°I was worried to death,¡± her mother, Susan, said. ¡°Why did you stay away for so long? You were supposed to be back over a month ago! We all had no idea what had happened to you. Where were you?¡± Kelsey sighed. I guess being a kid again has its drawbacks too, she thought with chagrin. ¡°I know, I¡¯m sorry, mom. Things got a littleplicated.¡± ¡°Complicated how? Did you get hurt? Did you get into trouble? What do you me¡ª?¡± ¡°Just d you¡¯re back safe, kiddo.¡± Colonel Harris cut her mom off with a smile as he ced a hand on her shoulder. ¡°What¡¯s going on back there?¡± ¡°A lot,¡± Kelsey said, thankful for the interjection. She then spent the next half an hour filling them all in while she unpacked the goods. Max¡¯s departure, the Bird Sisters being put in ce as Vice Wardens and of course their newws that caused had the upheaval in all their lives. ¡°It¡¯s all pretty messed up right now,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I¡¯m the only one the Terran Sect can rely upon to protect them now so I can¡¯t be away for too long. Even just being here now I¡¯m taking a risk.¡± ¡°When will you have to go back?¡± her mother asked. ¡°Soon,¡± she said. ¡°Like tomorrow.¡± Susan frowned. ¡°Kelsey, your home is here. You can¡¯t treat us like a pit stop.¡± ¡°No, mom,¡± Kelsey said gently and took her hands into her own. ¡°Our home is there. Our real home. And I need to get back there to make sure it¡¯s still there when you all are finally able toe with me.¡± Mom pressed her lips together but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Well, you¡¯d know better than us,¡± Harris said. ¡°And Max?¡± ¡°Got a letter from him. He seems to be doing okay. Haven¡¯t written him about all this other stuff yet, though. Fia thinks maybe we shouldn¡¯t, so he doesn¡¯t worry too much, but I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°She¡¯s probably right,¡± Harris said. ¡°But a man out in the field needs to hear from his loved ones.¡± ¡°And the opposite is true,¡± Mom said. ¡°I just need to know that you¡¯re alright when you¡¯re back in that city.¡± Kelsey smiled with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Mom, are you kidding? It¡¯s me you¡¯re talking to here. They¡¯d better watch out for me!¡± That at least got a littleugh out of her. Kelsey spent the rest of the afternoon reuniting with her family, sharing in a big meal they prepared in her honor. After they were done, it was the perfect time for her to get to what she had trulye for. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. It was after dusk and the Bloodmoon was on the rise. Kelsey was dead tired and running on fumes, but she didn¡¯t have much time. Evey moment had to count. Returning to the center of the square, Kelsey slid Venja from out of her slot in the broken concrete and then sat in lotus position and ced the giant de on herp. Focusing her mind¡¯s eyes, she looked inwardly. Darkness greeted her. And then, like looking in a mirror, she saw herself. A perfect image. Except she was Blue. Next to her Blue self was something that still unsettled her. The red form of her demonic alter ego. She was nearly twice Kelsey¡¯s height, a body packed full of muscles and ws. The demoness leered back at her. Tempting her. Kelsey quickly tucked into her Struggler form instead. When she opened her eyes and breathed in the ¡®air¡¯ within her spiritual inner self, the demon was gone. But recing her was another figure that was even taller than her demon form, packed with muscle and gray skin. ¡°Vee!¡± Kelsey said excitedly. Venja merely smiled. ¡°So¡­I sense you enter my domain almost four hours ago and it takes you this long toe and say ¡®hi¡¯?¡± Kelsey blew her a raspberry. ¡°Please, I¡¯d rather face your wrath than my mom¡¯s. You know how pissed she would be if I ran straight to the giant sword? Plus, no one understand you¡¯re a person, y¡¯know?¡± Venja harrumphed. ¡°Ignored as always. If only Max were here. He knows how to treat a sword properly.¡± ¡°Easy,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Or I¡¯ll take you into the woods to chop trees.¡± Venjaughed and finally gave her an embrace. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, Kelsey. What news of Max?¡± ¡°He¡¯s okay, I think,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But we haven¡¯t heard much. I¡¯m hoping no news is good news.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Venja said. ¡°And yourself? It¡¯s been a while. I sense you haven¡¯t grown much spiritually since you¡¯ve left.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s part of why I¡¯vee,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I¡¯m getting tons of martial training preparing for the Iron Bracket, but there hasn¡¯t been much opportunity to cultivate. And there¡¯s something new that popped up that I¡¯m hoping maybe you can help with.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Have you sensed anything different about the demonstely?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Like have they been more aggressive?¡± She folded her arms across her chest looking upward in thought. ¡°The moon has been stronger. Even now I can sense its strength. But the demons having been more active. Perhaps even the opposite. I sense less of them at night.¡± ¡°Less?¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Positive. Especially recently. Why?¡± Kensey pondered that for a moment. ¡°Back in the city, they are attacking the barrier like crazy. Almost every night. Two nights ago, I saw something within them. Something huge. An awakened demon, I think. I could swear I could hear the thoughts of I¡¯Xol¡¯Ukz itselfing through it.¡± ¡°I have certainly not sensed anything like that,¡± Venja said. ¡°Anyway, it sensed me,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°And I swore to kill it. So, you know what that means, right?¡± Kelsey grinned and Venja rolled her eyes. ¡°More wiping you ass, you mean?¡± Kelseyughed. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind. I need to train my [Soul Shield] technique to be able to survive outside the barrier long enough to fight and kill that thing.¡± Venja frowned. ¡°That¡¯s quite dangerous to do alone, Kelsey. Max isn¡¯t here to guide you in the darkness with his me and I¡¯ll be too far away from you to help once you step outside the barrier. You¡¯ll be on you own.¡± Kelsey bit her lip as she thought on it. It was the same though she¡¯d been chewing on the in back of her mind the whole way here. She needed to cultivate under the Bloodmoon. But how was she to do it solo? Maybe I could just chance it, she thought. But if she went too far, stayed too long, she¡¯d be lost in her demon form forever. ¡°Yes, forever,¡± Venja said, echoing her thoughts. Kelsey rolled her eyes. ¡°Damn, I hate when you do that, Vee.¡± Venjaughed. ¡°No hiding your thoughts from me in here.¡± Kelsey blew out a sigh. Think, think¡­ ¡°There has to be a way,¡± she said. And then suddenly, it hit her. Venja smiled even before she could. ¡°Ah,¡± she said. ¡°You have an idea.¡± * * * Kelsey hefted Venja high into the air and then ced her gently within the bellow of the wagon. She then grabbed her own weapon from the ground, clenching the Cursed Streel handle of her axe within her hand. Colonel Harris looked at her with a mixture of amazement and confusion as did the small squad of soldiers with him. She supposed it was still a shock to see a teenage girl lifting a four-hundred-pound sword and a hundred-pound axe with such ease. ¡°You want us to do what now?¡± Harris said. ¡°Okay, I need strict timing on this,¡± Kelsey said, exining for a second time. ¡°I¡¯m going to run out to the edge of the barrier. It will take me a few minutes to get there. When I do, I¡¯m going to shoot a bolt of lightning into the sky. That will be your signal to start counting. Once you reach sixty seconds, push the wagon fifty feet in the direction I went. Got it?¡± ¡°What¡¯s this supposed to do?¡± Harris asked. ¡°It¡¯s too much to exin, but trust me, my life will depend on it. So please don¡¯t screw up.¡± ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa,¡± Harris said. ¡°I think I better call your mother.¡± ¡°Please, she won¡¯t understand. And I know you barely do, but I trust you guys not to mess up. You¡¯re army strong right?¡± She grinned and Harris shook his head. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve trusted you to do worse. Just don¡¯t die out there or your mother will kill me.¡± ¡°Thanks guys!¡± she said, excitement filling her. ¡°Watch for the lightning and remember, not a second too slow!¡± She touched Venja briefly. ¡°Wish me luck.¡± Good luck, Venja¡¯s voice sounded within her head. And don¡¯t push it! Harris and his men wished her good luck as well and she took off for the edge of the barrier. Nerves filled her stomach, shing into Frenzy they touched her me. She looked up at the Bloodmoon now partial covered in by clouds. She was about to do something either totally brilliant or monumentally stupid. Kelsey was sure her Big Bro, would be proud either way. ¡°This one¡¯s for you Max Choon¡­¡± She psyched herself up as she approached the barriers edge and just like Venja had said, she didn¡¯t see a demon in sight. ¡°What the heck?¡± She was just about to retrace her steps to see if she had miscalcted the edge when a snarl ripped the air. From out of nowhere a seven-foot-tall demon with stunted wings mmed into an unseen wall before her. Its appearance was so sudden and unexpected that it caused her to jump. A few seconds passed and another demon appeared. Then another. And then a horde of them came scrambling out of the forest like someone had just rung a dinner bell. ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± she swore. These things were waiting for me! Waiting to kill me. The thought caused her me to re, the spiritual root of her Dao igniting. ¡°You murderous pieces of shit¡­¡± Frenzy surged as she focused on their demise. ¡°Come try and kill you if you can!¡± She leapt into the midst of them with a cry of fury, bolstering her body with [Iron Skin]. It was so long since she¡¯d been able to cut loose freely and the [Lust for Battle] all but overwhelmed her. Blood flew as her axe cleaved through several demons at once, and sheughed with [Indifference] as their ws raked against her skin ineffectually. Then suddenly she felt it. The squeezing pressure of Dark Frenzy on her soul. She immediately channeled [Soul Shield] and the technique lit up around her me to protect it. But already she could feel the toll it was taking on her near empty Dantian. It was a risk to even attempt this while so low, but she had tost only sixty seconds until¡ª Oh shit! ¡°The signal!¡± Kelsey cleaved through another demon and then Summoned her Frenzy to shoot a bolt of lightning straight into the sky. Damn, how much time did I lose? 10 seconds? 12? 20? She had no idea. She could make a run back for the barrier while she still had her senses. The thoughtsted all but half a second. Screw that¡­ You didn¡¯t get strong by being a pussy. She¡¯d messed up on the timing, so the [Odds were Against Her] now. That caused fresh Frenzy to spew from her me just as the limits of her [Soul Shield] technique began to flicker. She strained to maintain it while fighting the demons as they surged in like a tidal wave. She was just about to channel [Mark of the Demon] to match their ferocity, but as her vision began to shrink and tunnel she knew she didn¡¯t have to. The Demon was already taking control. Stay with it, Kelsey, she told herself. Struggler don¡¯t fail me now. She saw the small image of her Blue self in the darkness as her vision shrunk to a pinprick. She was in the spiritual realm now. Like clockwork the haunting screeches of the unknown invaded her mind. She entered her [Spectral Body] and used her spewing Frenzy to summon her axe in [Spectral Weapon] form. She couldn¡¯t maintain this for long. But that was the point. Only by pushing herself past her limits could she grow any stronger. A sh of tentacles crossed her vision. She swung her axe, but was too slow. Bastard¡­ ¡°Show yourself, I¡¯Xol¡¯Ukz! I¡¯m not afraid of you!¡± Horrid screeches filled the air. Amusement. ~Thou are but a whelp. Still, thy hubris spawns contempt~ From the darkness it emerged. The embodiment of Dark Frenzy itself. The tentacle creature filled with countless eyes. Eyes that spelled the horror of the Stars. ~Wouldst though perhaps make a vessel? Nay. Thou art a husk to be snuffed out. For mine vessel shall be pure. Perish Cursed Demon of the Treacherous me~ The words shook her soul and she cried out with pain as they vited her spirit. ¡°No!¡± she screamed, but her [Soul Shield] had already faltered. The tentacle wrapped about her [Spectral Body], ripping into the flesh of her very soul with the piercing gaze of their star-shot eyes. Visions of madness invaded her psyche. Armies of demons, millions strong. A world crying out. Injustice. Salvation lost. Indignation. Defiance! A brilliant yellow me emerged to consume the demons. They cursed it. ~The great betrayer.~ ~The Traitor of the One True ¡ª Kelsey awoke from the vision with a scream of sheer terror. She found herself in a fetal position, rocking and still screaming. She couldn¡¯t control herself. And then, like waking from a dream, the remnants of the visions evaporated from her mind, reced with the soothing harmonics of Pure Frenzy. ¡°Vee,¡± Kelsey said weakly and then felt suddenly sick as the tar clogging her me sough pervade her very soul. She dragged herself from the ground, her body covered in deep wounds and blood. It was a rough one. But she had survived. More than that, she felt she had gained something. Something important. But she couldn¡¯t remember it now. Whatever it was. The demons hissed and wailed at her from behind the barrier, but about her feet Kelsey saw the damage she had done to them as well. Not less than a hundred demon corpses were now smoldering in the effects of Venja¡¯s barrier. Kelsey grinned, the Demon within satisfied. ¡°Quite the shitshow,¡± Kelsey muttered as she turned from the demons and began limping back towards Venja and the town. ¡°But it worked.¡± She had indeed done it. She had found a way to cultivate the Bloodmoon on her own. Well, mostly on her own. Painful as it was, she would have to push herself again. To face the darkness and terror. To grow stronger. Kelsey then paused to look up at the moon. ¡°Strong enough to kill you all one day.¡± Book 3: Chapter 22 My Dearest Tribute, First, well done for making the correct decision in rejecting my false offer of ease through the Academy. It was a test¡­and one that you have passed. It was always my intent to send the strongest and bravest of what our fair has to offer, and you, my dear Tribute, have once again proven your worth to me. Rest assured, however, that the opportunity to be a royal consort may still be in your future. Should fate destine it between us. Especially if you return to me a Legionnaire. I stopped reading the letter, making an ick face as my stomach churned. What the hell was this? I dared to read further.On that note, there is another task you must assure me ofpleting. When you do return from your tour of the Hell Worlds, as I am sure you will, ensure that you return alone. There is a significant grant that is awarded by the imperial treasury to be split amongst the home worlds of the tributes who survive. It should go without saying that my is the only one worthy of receiving this grant. You must ensure that it is so. Do not disappoint me. Until the fates reunites us again. In my thoughts always, Princess Lunh ¡°What the actual hell¡­¡± I said, holding the letter away from me at arm¡¯s length. The thing was dripping with a kind of lemonade I did not want. ¡°What?¡± Blue Rose said from a rocky perch above me. We were out in in the wild, taking a break atop a hundred-foot-high mesa in the middle of the desert, staying out of reach of the Takrids. Blue Rose and I had found a bit of rocky outcropping just below the mesa¡¯s t-topped surface that offered a bit of shade. The rest of our toon didn¡¯t seem to care. The thirty or so other White Robes lounged in desert heat directly on the sunbaked deck of the mesa along with ourmander, the almighty Jei Su Long. It¡¯d been about a week now since Blue Rose and I had finished our elixir duty and were rotated to earn our keep on the harvesting team. I had only four days in the library, but in that time I had hammered the shit out of the books and had memorized every portion I could find pertaining to increasing the spiritual root of my Dao for ascension into the Sacred Soul Realm. I found a brief snippet on how to ascend into the Sacred Soul Realm itself, but as Master Eiji had already warned me, the details were vague. The most it said was that it required huge quantities of Qi or Frenzy in my case. At least a hundred times more than what your Dantian could normally contain at the beginning of the core realm. That meant I had a crap load of Frenzy to cultivate. But aside from that, the books gave tips on how my root could be strengthened through seeking some new spiritual truth or purity of my Dao. Not the most helpful, but it was guidance at least. Normally, when Jei Su Long would lead us out on these mostly uneventful excursions into the wild, I would use the idle time to re-read the passages within my mind, seeking the key to my breakthrough forbining my inner selves. But today I received a letter. I had excitedly thought that it hade from Fia, but to my chagrin it was from the princess. And boy was I disappointed. ¡°What?¡± Blue Rose said again, looking over my shoulder. ¡°Is something wrong. Who is the letter from?¡± ¡°The princess.¡± ¡°Princess?¡± Tu¡¯lok said, suddenly appearing from nowhere to butt into our conversation. He sat down next to Blue Rose. ¡°Which Princess?¡± ¡°My princess,¡± I said with a shake of my head. ¡°The great Lunh.¡± Blue Rose let out a gasp. ¡°Wait! You¡¯re engaged to a princess?¡± ¡°He is?¡± Tu¡¯lok said. I looked up at her annoyed. ¡°Hell no! I meant that ironically. She¡¯s the old bag who rules my. I kind of hate the damn bitch. On principle anyway. I don¡¯t really know her personally. But you¡¯d damn well think so if you read this letter.¡± ¡°Let me see,¡± Blue Rose said and snatched it from above me before I could react. ¡°Hey!¡± Her blue eyes went back and forth reading the letter as Tu¡¯lok joined her from the side. She then let out augh. ¡°Are you certain you¡¯re not engaged?¡± ¡°You see it too, right?¡± ¡°What does thisst part mean?¡± Tu¡¯lok said jabbing at the letter as he took it out of Blue Rose¡¯s hand. ¡°Hells if I know,¡± I said disinterestedly. He let out a grunt. ¡°You¡¯d better not be thinking about double crossing anyone, Iron Bull. Those missions to the Hell Words aren¡¯t like these fields trips out here.¡± ¡°I damn well hope not,¡± I said testily. This was our fourth day out in the wild and we hadn¡¯t killed anything more than a few Takrids here and there. It was annoying as hell, especially after reading just how much Frenzy I required to push myself into the sacred soul realm. ¡°I wonder if Jei Su Long even knows how to find a monster with a damn core,¡± I muttered. ¡°Maybe he does know and he¡¯s just scared,¡± Blue Rose said leaning back on her elbows. ¡°He¡¯s guaranteed his jade trim no matter what he does, right? Why risk his life when he doesn¡¯t have to. Meanwhile we gain nothing. There¡¯s no way we¡¯ll rank high enough against the other toons at this rate. Another week with no cultivation rewards.¡± I had to agree with her. Although for a different reason. I had no need for the elixirs, but I was at least looking forward to some real cultivation by taking on some awaken spirit beasts. But Jei Su Long seemed intent on leading us around in circles for most of the day, finding us nothing. ¡°What is he, like sixteen or seventeen?¡± I said huffing out a scoff. ¡°Trust me, in my old life as a handler, I came across plenty of his type. Spoiled young master hiding their fears and iitance behind a fa?ade of ¡®bad luck¡¯.¡± ¡°You two must not speak like this,¡± Tu¡¯lok said with a frown. ¡°Like it or not, he is ourmander. We must respect that.¡± ¡°I respect results,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°Same here,¡± I echoed her. Tu¡¯lok sighed frustrated. ¡°Anyway, you are missing the point of what I was originally saying, Iron Bull.¡± He then shook the letter. ¡°You must not consider something like this on the Hell Worlds. There¡¯s enough trying to kill you there without having to worry about one of your own sticking a knife in your back.¡± I looked up at him insulted. ¡°You think I¡¯d do something like that?¡± I jerked a thumb at Blue Rose. ¡°That¡¯s her department, not mine.¡± Blue Rose let out a gasp. ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°I¡¯m loyal as theye, buddy,¡± I said ignoring her with [Indifference]. ¡°And not to the princess.¡± Blue Rose scowled back at me. ¡°That was one time. And before I knew you. I¡¯m loyal as well. To those I love.¡± I raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°Oh¡­ so you admit you¡¯re in love with me now?¡± ¡°I did not say that! I meant my family!¡± I continued tough, cultivating her anger. ¡°Damn it¡¯s easy to push your buttons, Blue Ro¡ª¡± ¡°What is going on here!¡± The boyish shout came from Jei Su Long who was now standing above us on the top of the mesa. He red at me and Blue Rose and then let out a harrumph. ¡°I might have known that it was the coward and the cripple,¡± he said with disdain. ¡°You two would do well to not draw my attention. I do not suffer weakness lightly.¡± I red at the blue-haired kid but didn¡¯t say anything, anger burning deep in my soul. The little prick hadn¡¯t given me an opportunity to flex my muscle yet and the false first impression I had given him was starting to get old. He waved it in my face every chance he got, however. The same with Blue Rose and her leg. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I glowered inwardly, Frenzy trickling from my me. But satisfying as it was to loath the guy, I was going to need a heck of a lot more than a trickle of Frenzy to meet my goals. An idea suddenly popped into my head. I needed to start steering this ship in the direction I needed it to go if I wanted to advance. And he had just given me an opening. ¡°Commander,¡± I said with a half-hearted bow. ¡°Perhaps Blue Rose and I can prove our worthiness to you. Let us fight an awaken spirit beast. I know how to find one.¡± He scoffed again. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t trust you two to be able to do anything. It is lucky we haven¡¯t found anything as yet or you may as well be dead.¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if it was bravado or bullshit, but I was getting sick and tired of both. ¡°You know, Commander, I used to be a handler from a world with a Bloodmoon like this one. I know how to find Awakened Spirit Beasts. If you¡¯ll allow me, I¡¯ll lead us to a creature that will put as right at the top of the rank¡ª¡± ¡°I care not what you have to say!¡± Jei Su Long snapped. ¡°Your past means nothing. Your opinion means nothing. You mean nothing.¡± He then widened his gaze to take in all three of us. ¡°You are all criminals. Lower even than ves. The fact that you are even given the privilege of being led by one such as I¡­ is insulting.¡± He then looked away and mumbled. ¡°The sooner I am done with this ridiculous chore of minding you feral dogs the better.¡± Anger red within me. I wanted to break every bone in his arrogant little cultivator neck, but the Struggler kept me at bay. Don¡¯t do it, he whispered to me. Just y the game. Jei Su Long then spat on the ground in front of us, as if to give his final verdict on our collective worth in his eyes. I was just about to break free from my chains when Jei Su Long suddenly snatched the letter from Tu¡¯lok¡¯s hand. ¡°And what is this?¡± Ah shit¡­ I thought. Jei Su Long studied it with narrowing eyes and frowned once he reached the end. ¡°Whose letter is this?¡± He stared at Tu¡¯lok. ¡°Yours?¡± ¡°No, Comman¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s mine,¡± I said standing, not giving a shit anymore. ¡°And I didn¡¯t give you permission to read it either.¡± Jei Su Long¡¯s mouth fell open in disbelief. ¡°You dare address This One in such a tone?!¡± Maybe it was the letter putting me in a bad mood to start off with or Jei Su Long¡¯s arrogant disy of superiority just now, but the Struggler finally lost the battle. I suddenly couldn¡¯t bring myself to give a shit about who Jei Su Long was anymore. The blue haired twerp reminded me every bit of Hein, even worse than him in his arrogance and pride. And now here he was, standing in the way of my progression. I needed a hundred times more Frenzy than what I had now and this little asshole was stopping me from earning it. And all because he thought we were worthless pieces of shit in his eyes. ¡°Yeah, I dare,¡± I said vaulting to the top of the mesa tond before him. A spike of fear jolted through his soul as he backed away, but then just as quickly, his arrogant cultivator nature kicked in and he screamed back at me. ¡°Insolence!¡± His hand came swiftly and for a moment I considered letting it hit me with [Indifference] but suddenly I¡¯d had enough. I caught his wrist like a vice, pouring on the Frenzy and his eyes widened with shock at the imposition of my strength. ¡°Hey,¡± I said coolly with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Don¡¯t let the color of these robes fool you. They were ck long before there were Brown or White¡­ you get me?¡± I backed up my words with [Fear the me] and his cultivator fa?ade cracked before me, his young soul trembled internally as I bombarded him with eldritch powers his mind couldn¡¯t understand. The entire toon was on their feet and looking at us now and I could sense the fear and apprehension within their souls as well. I sucked it all up and finally pushed Jei Su Longs hand aside. It was time to stop ying to this asshole¡¯s pace and set my own tempo. I had nine months to get back to Fia and earning nothing wasn¡¯t going to cut it. ¡°Who here is tired of going home empty handed each day?¡± I bellowed with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Who here wants gain top rank for cultivation rewards and ascent to the next realm?¡± ¡°W-what are you doing?¡± Jei Su Long said, ncing about as if expecting every White Robe to suddenly turn into an assassin and run him through the back. The transformation was startling. From overconfident fakemander to stuttering teenage boy. I had him on the ropes, but luckily for him, assassination wasn¡¯t my goal today. ¡°I said who wants to get some damn cores?!¡± Again silence and tension. Then suddenly a shout came from behind. ¡°I do!¡± Blue Rose said as she stepped forward to join me, lemonade filling her soul. ¡°And I¡¯m sure the rest of you do as well! Speak up! Let the Commander hear so he knows what we want!¡± Her words caused the fear in their hearts to subside and murmurs began to break throughout the ranks. ¡°I want to advance!¡± ¡°Yes, of course we all do!¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t we found anything yet?¡± ¡°I heard 8th toon has farmed three cores already!¡± I leaned forward to Jei Su Long to whisper in his ear. ¡°You hear that?¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s the sound of discontent. If you want it to get even worse, keep doing what you¡¯re doing by jerking us around and finding us nothing. We¡¯re not here to get a fancy Merit badge sponsored by mommy and daddy like you, understand? We¡¯re here to work for our pay.¡± I sensed it within him then. True fear in his heart. I was calling his bullshit and he knew it. ¡°Now look here,¡± I continued. ¡°I meant what I said about being a handler. I can and will find us an Awakened Spirit beast to kill. But I¡¯m going to do you the extra favor of leaving the decision to you so you can save face in front of your men. Right now, you¡¯re looking pretty damn weak in their eyes.¡± His blue eyes met my gaze, squinting as anger pushed through the fear in his soul. ¡°Who in the hells are you?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said. ¡°Are you going to do it or not? Or shall I spur this into a full-blown mutiny by bringing in an awakened beast on my own ord? Show them all just how inept you are. I¡¯m sure Chief Instructor Yora won¡¯t be pleased about that. You might not even get your jade trim.¡± He grimaced. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for this.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± I said as I backed away from him. ¡°But not today. Today this is all on you.¡± He fumed impotently in front of me, his soul stewing in its own juices of hate. Then a streak of malevolence filled his eyes. ¡°We¡¯ll see about that.¡± He then turned to face the rest of the toon. ¡°I have made a decision!¡± Jei Su Long shouted. ¡°This Cowardly One ims to know how to find an Awakened Spirit beast for us to kill. I will, for our amusement, entertain this fool to see if he utters the truth or not.¡± He then turned to me. ¡°Go on then Bull Man, show us how its done. And if you fail, you can be assured that you will suffer a great punishment for this show of insolence and deceit.¡± It was then his turn to lean forward and whisper. ¡°You need not worry about what was in that letter,¡± he said. ¡°I will see to it that you will struggle to return from the battlefield this day much less to earn even a chance to do so as a legionnaire in the future. Do you get me?¡± I grimaced as I epted the challenge, my me filling with Frenzy. ¡°Sounds like a deal.¡± * * * I got to it right away. I started by breaking the toon down into sections. ¡°Who here is Low Tier Core Realm?¡± About a quarter put up their hands. ¡°Move to the side,¡± I said. ¡°Mid-tier?¡± About half of them identified themselves. Looking at who was left it was Blue Rose, myself and three others as High-Tiers. ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°We need to harvest bait first. Low Tiers, that will be your job. You won¡¯t be much use against the Awakened Beast, so you can help by allowing the higher tier cultivators to conserve their strength for the big fight. Any fliers with ranged techniques?¡± Four tributes raised their hands. ¡°You four will be a major source of damage,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ll also be needed to attract the beast¡¯s attention to take the heat off the mid-tier cultivators if need be. High tiers will tackle the beast head on. Mid-Tiers will attack from the nk and rear. With the amount of us, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard. Any questions?¡± Everyone shook their heads and then I looked to Jei Su Long. ¡°Commander?¡± He harrumphed. ¡°Do as he says. Commence.¡± We left the mesa and I took us north towards the academy. It was still just early afternoon, but I didn¡¯t know how long things might take to happen and I didn¡¯t want to be caught too far from home if the operation ran into Bloodmoon time. Plus, I had to worry about Jei Su Long himself now. I didn¡¯t sense he had the balls to put any action behind his words, but an opportunist was an opportunist. We kept up our speed to avoid triggering Takrid traps as we raced across the barren wilds of the desert. I kept a look out for tell-tale signs of our prey as I did so. One of the books I had read through at the library was on the local fauna. It was somewhat akin to the handler manuals back home, save it wasn¡¯t nearly as diverse orprehensive. Perhaps that was as a result of most of the native species being killed off by the demons or mutated by the Bloodmoon after all this time, but there was enough information in there to give me a heads up on the food chain. My target was something called a Pythor, which was basically a giant tortoise the size of a house with a spiked shell and the neck and head of a cobra. From what I had gathered from the book it was a mid-tier spirit beast, perhaps the local equivalent of a B ss. They burrowed under the sand in the dune like areas and fed infrequently, but their favorite prey was a type of sandworm called Belek that resembled thirty-foot-long moral eels. We killed a couple of Takrids on the way to the more sandy areas of the desert and I extracted their scent organs to use of lures for the Balek. Once we reached the edge of the dunes, the desert-proper stretched out before is like a roiling sea of sand. I had the Low-Tier team get to work spreading the scent the Takrid guts to attract the Balek. It didn¡¯t take long for the first one to appear, the long grey skinned creature moving like a serpent through the sand as easily as if it were water. The team of eight Low-Tiers made short work of the first one, as well as the next four that arrived. We then moved location, closer to arge cliff face where the book said Pythor were likely to burrow against. I then went to work filleting the Balek into long strips of bloody meat. ¡°You actually seem to know what you¡¯re doing,¡± Blue Rose said, looking over my shoulder as I cut into thest Balek. ¡°You sure this will work though?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Hopefully.¡± Blue Rose nced back as Jei Su Long where he was studying me from afar. ¡°Hope you¡¯re right. He seems itching for you to fail.¡± I pushed the thought aside as I seeded the sand just below the cliff face with the Balek carcasses. Once done we then retreated to a ridge midway up the cliff that was about thirty feet off the ground and then took another break as we waited. It was mid-afternoon now and I was growing conscious of the time. After a whole hour went by with no action, I began to grow nervous. The bastard Jei Su Long seemed delighted. He came to stand next to me to gloat. ¡°So, you see now that it is not as easy as you think. And for all your silly tricks we wasted time on, they do nothing. Useless, just like you.¡± I kept my poker face with [Indifference], keeping my head straight as I responded. ¡°Every day is a fishing day but not every day is a catching day.¡± ¡°Spoken like the true native bumpkin you are.¡± I looked down at the Balek corpses now baking in the desert sun. I didn¡¯t get it wrong, did I? I thought, beginning to doubt myself. Those eels things were what those turtle things ate, right? No, I was sure of it. I had gotten it right. I was just about to call for moving spots when a Tribute at the far end of the ledge suddenly called out. ¡°I see something! It¡¯s huge!¡± I grinned inwardly as I stood to my feet. ¡°About damn tim¡ª¡± I stopped short when I saw what it was. There, making its way rapidly across the dunes towards us was a familiar creature the size of a jumbo jet. Oh shit¡­ ¡°A Jolup?!¡± Jei Su Long said next to me, his eye wide with fear. I too knew the name for it now¡ªthe giant Komodo dragon looking beast that devoured Ku Ren whole. If Pythors were a B ss then this was definitely an A or S. And awakened to boot, by the size of it. Absently, I wondered if it were even the same one. ¡°You damn idiot!¡± Jei Su Long shouted. ¡°You¡¯ve summoned a Jolup here to kill us!¡± The rest of the White Robes were on their feet in rm. Panic broke out as fear poured from their souls. ¡°Think it can reach us from up here!¡± ¡°Can we kill it?¡± ¡°Only ck Robes can kill a Jolup! We need to run!¡± ¡°It¡¯s toote to run! We¡¯re trapped up here!¡± ¡°Gods damn it, Bull Man!¡± As the world fell into chaos around me a single thought crystalized within my mind. If this is what the me has summoned for me, then so be it. I drew my Axe and ive and prepared to face the creature, [Odds Against Me] for sure. ¡°Run if you like,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°But as for me, I¡¯m getting done what we came for.¡± Silence fell as they all looked at me like I was crazy. And by the thoughts now running through my mind, I probably was. I didn¡¯t know if I was ready to take on something like this, but I didn¡¯t care. I needed to advance and the Frenzy the thing was causing my me to produce was unreal. The Jolup was nearly to us, mere seconds away as its body snaked back and forth, kicking up sand as it let loose an ear-piercing hiss from its jaws. More Tributes cried out in panic, trying to flee by scrambling further up the cliff wall. I couldn¡¯t care. I cycled the Frenzy now bursting from my me as I prepare to jump from the cliff. ¡°This one¡¯s for you, Kou Ren,¡± I whispered and then leapt towards the snarling jaws of the Jolup with a smile on my face. It was finally happy hunting time. Book 3: Chapter 23 Hot desert wind pressed against my face as I fell towards the beast. I engaged [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] while summoning [Mark of the Giant], my muscles swelling as I double handed my Phnx ive to deliver a lightning-charged cleave to the monster¡¯s snout. The Jolup was still focused on the screaming Tributes behind me, its vision perhaps unable to see the man-sized figure flying straight between its eyes. I used the opportunity for a surprise attack, putting every ounce of Frenzy I could muster into the preemptive strike. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± White hot lightning crackled from the sky and hit the tip of my Phnx ive just as it cleaved into the top of the Jolup¡¯s gaping maw. An explosion thundered across the desert, my hair blown back by the detonation of my Frenzy. A horrid roar of pain ripped from the creature¡¯s throat as its head was pummeled into the sand as if hit by an invisible giant. Its enormous body heaved upward into the air behind it as its momentum drove its head further into the sand and brought it dead to a stop. The Jolup seemed stunned as Inded on its head, and I used the opportunity to follow up with a [One Chop Cleave] aimed directly for one of its eyes. The world spun as my de connected and I was rewarded with another roar of pain as I cut deep into the creature¡¯s eye socket with a spray of blood. The world went spinning again as the best flung me from its head with a whip of its neck. I hit the ground at what felt like 100 miles an hour, skidding across the dunes. When I finally found my feet, I was over a half a football field¡¯s length away. Blood oozed from its wounded eye as well as a massiveceration to the tip of its snout. It turned its massive head towards me seeking retribution. I could sense the anger and hatreding from within it, pulsating violently as it sought me out with a flick of its enormous, forked tongue. I quickly cultivated the sea of Frenzy flooding my system, topping up my Dantian and pressing in even more to increase its size. This was what I had been craving. I had to take advantage of every second to increase the density of my Dantian while expending enough to stay alive.And expend I would, to face this thing. The Jolup took a few ground trembling steps in my direction and then licked the air again. ¡°Foul Demon,¡± it spoke without use of its mouth or tongue. ¡°I seethe¡­!!¡± At first, I wondered if it had somehow spoken to me directly inside my own head. But then the Tributes on the ledge started freaking out as well. ¡°It spoke!¡± ¡°An Awakened beast!¡± ¡°It must be ancient!¡± ¡°We must flee!¡± ¡°Damn you, beast,¡± I muttered as readied my ive again. ¡°Need to put you down quick before you spill all my secrets.¡± The Jolup didn¡¯t react however and instead shifted its head towards the Tributes screaming atop the cliff. Shit! One flick of that tongue and half of them would be dead. ¡°Hell Spawn of the Cursed Stars!¡± I screamed with [Fear the me] to draw its attention. ¡°I¡¯m your prey now! The demon you seek!¡± That got its attention immediately, and it shifted from the Tributes on the ledge to re back at me with its one good eye. ¡°sphemer!¡± it hissed with a shriek. ¡°Traitor!¡± It then barreled towards me at top speed, fast as hell. No way could I move in time. Not without help. Channeling [Mark of the Beast], I transformed and shifted to the side at ten times my normal speed. Being this far away from the toon, no way could they see the finer details of my beastly form. I used it to my advantage as the Jolup¡¯s jaws crashed into the sand where I had stood just milliseconds ago. I flew back at it with a viscous chop to its head with my ive, burning Frenzy to put as much strength behind it as possible. I got in three hits in the space of just a few seconds, going to town on the beast. I went for two more but realized my mistake toote. I had gotten too greedy. The monster jerked its head to the side and mped me within its fang-filled maw. Foot long teeth made short work of my [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core], punching me through in a violent snap! of its jaws. Blinding pain set my nervous system on fire and I screamed as its teeth severed muscle, sinew and bone. [Death¡¯s Door] took over immediately, pumping Frenzy through my impaled body to remain consciousness despite the mortal wounds. I was burning Frenzy like crazy now just to stay alive, but as quickly as I spent it my me produced more. A satisfied rumble came from deep within the Julop¡¯s throat. ¡°A quick meal is all thou art.¡± Images of Kou Ren shed through my mind as it prepared to swallow me whole. No way was I going out like that! As it jerked its head upwards to toss me in the air, I channeled [Steel Lightning]. The ative technique shattered the teeth impaling me, freeing me for a moment. I then spun in mid-air and thrust the tip of my Phnx ive straight through its tongue and into the bottom of its mouth wedging the ten-foot-long weapon between its closing jaws. I hung onto the handle-grip for dear life as the beast went into convulsive throes of agony and infuriation, trying to free the de from its mouth. I gripped my axe in my free hand and went to town on the rest of its teeth, spewing [Frenzied Lightning] with each blow. Fangs and gums shattered under my relentless assault. The anger within it surged,bining with pain and then slowly something else. Fear¡­ ¡°That¡¯s right you overgrown bitch!¡± I shouted with fury and [Fear the me] ¡°I¡¯m going to be the end of you!¡± In what seemed like desperation, the Jolup thrust its wedged mouth into the sand. It shook its head from side to side and finally thebined force of the motion and the sand pushed against the t of the de and forced it free. I went tumbling across the dunes again, pain shooting through me with each bump and roll. I still had my weapons though and I fought against death itself to stand to my feet. I was bleeding and covered in sand, my body a living pin cushion of torturous pain. The Jolup didn¡¯t look much better. The monster was heaving deep hissing breaths, blood gushing from its busted-up mouth as its tongue dangled by a thread. ¡°Vermin¡­ that art indeed a bastard spawn of the Cursed me.¡± ¡°d you finally recognized that, asshole.¡± The Jolup huffed out a sickly, gutturalugh. ¡°Fool, thou are already dead. Mine venom will finish thee.¡± It was probably right. I was dead already from my wounds and whatever poison was in those teeth was simple there to finish me off. Only my Frenzy was keeping me alive now. But that didn¡¯t matter. ¡°I¡¯ll die when I¡¯m good and ready,¡± I said as I prepared to charge at it again. ¡°Right after I send you to hell!¡± I rushed forward and quick as a blink it swiped at me with its foreleg. Despite my every intention to dodge the attack, my body just didn¡¯t respond quickly enough. Shit! Its ws knocked me off my feet, taking huge chunks of my flesh with it. I hit the ground in a daze. [Death¡¯s Door] was keeping me alive, but I was nowhere near as battle ready as I was before. I was literally a zombie now. Dead, slow, bleeding and weak. The Jolup must have sensed it too and pounced on me with a roar. A hundred tons of pissed off lizard came crashing down on top of me, burying me under one of its ws. Sunlight faded from view as the sinking sand became my tome. ¡°Thou are but a scrapling. Thou art no me.¡± No me¡­? The insult burned the core of my Dao with ire. This son of a bitch had no clue what I was! Rage and fury pulsated through me, producing fresh Frenzy from my me. The [Odds Against Me] were immense. But I couldn¡¯t quit now. Too many people were depending on me. I let loose I primal yell as I pushed back against the beast¡¯s w, thews of physics breaking as I bench pressed the 100 ton lizard back into the air. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Look! He¡¯s still alive!¡± a nearby voice cried out. And then I heard one I recognized immediately. ¡°I told you!¡± Blue Rose shouted. ¡°Attack its nk now! He¡¯s wounded it badly! We can kill it!¡± I heard the beast roar and hiss and the pressure of its w left me as it redirected towards wherever Blue Rose was. I fought against the pain coursing through my body as I literally pulled myself from my own grave. When I emerged, I saw the Jolup was facing away from me now, whipping its head back and forth as it tried to snatch the three or four cultivators flying in circles above it. The team of mid-tiers cultivators were doing their best to hack into its tail and hind legs, Tu¡¯lok leading the charge. They surged back and forth as the creature stomped about. The thing was so huge that one false move and they¡¯d easily be trampled, but they pressed on fearlessly, causing huge gaping wounds to its side. I looked for Jei Su Long and saw the bastard still perched on the cliff. I scanned for Blue Rose next but didn¡¯t see her. I was hanging on by a thread. The fact that I was still running [Mark of the Giant] and [Mark of the Beast] didn¡¯t even matter anymore. I was barely recognizable now, my busted-up body covered in blood caked sand. I dared not drop them though, for fear that they were also what was keeping me alive. But this couldn¡¯t go on forever. Blue Rose had brought the calvary, but I still needed to finish my part. I shrugged off the pain and made a mad sprint for the beast. With a howl, I leap onto its hind leg and began wing my way upwards. I kept hold with my wed fingertips, digging into the flesh of its thick, scaley hide as it bucked and roared. Scrambling forward, I made my way down its length to reach the base of its neck and saw blue Rose there, stabbing at the creature¡¯s skull with her daggers. She turned about just as I arrived, and her jaw dropped when she saw me. ¡°Saints in hell!¡± she said. ¡°You look like shit, Bull Man!¡± ¡°Yeah, well I feel even worse,¡± I said, clinging onto the Jolup¡¯s back with one hand as it bucked and roared. Amazingly, Blue Rose kept her footing as if her boots were glued to it. ¡°How did you even hurt this thing?¡± she said and looking down I saw a small wound that she had made now weeping blood at the base of the Jolup¡¯s skull. ¡°I can barely make a dent.¡± ¡°Strong weapons, I guess,¡± I said and prepared to put them to the test. The fly boys were sending down sts of elemental Qi, but they seemed to be pissing it off more than hurting it. Still their distraction was enough for it to not notice us on its back. I had to bring this monster to its end now. ¡°Let me finish what you started there, Blue,¡± I said and then timing my leap forward, I mmed my Phnx ive in at a 45 degree angle into the small wound Blue Rose had made. It only got in a foot but that was okay. ¡°Get ready,¡± I said. ¡°It probably won¡¯t like this.¡± I summoned my Frenzy and spun with a [Lightning One Chop Cleave]! The t of my axe de mmed into the hilt of my sword and sent ive shooting into the base of the Jolup¡¯s skull like nail. Both Blue Rose and I were thrown into the air as the monster bucked upward and then stiffened. I rolled clear as it fell onto its back with a massive kathoom! sending a st of wind and sand into the air. Its legs spasm for a few seconds and then hissing out a final breath it grew still. A moment of deadly silent passed and then shock gave way to tion as the air filled with the yells of ecstatic cheers. My [Bloodlust] triggered and I quickly cultivated the Frenzy before is disappeared. I was still burning Frenzy like no tomorrow and with the creature now dead, once my [Bloodlust] subsided there¡¯d be no new Frenzy to replenish my pool to keep me alive. Once [Death¡¯s Door] ended¡­so would I. I needed to get help quickly. Staggering to my feet, I hurried to find Blue Rose. I ran into Tu¡¯lok first and the rest of the Mid-Tier cultivators now celebrating in victory. When they saw me, each one gave me expressions of awe and more importantly, fresh lemonade. I cultivated it quickly to stay on my feet. ¡°What in the hells are you?¡± Tu¡¯lok said staring at me incredulously but with a smile. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be Sacred Soul Realm! What are you doing in a white robe?¡± ¡°What is he doing still standing?¡± someone else quipped. ¡°They should make him a ck Robe just for this.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got to get back,¡± I said weakly. ¡°Need the infirmary. Healing elixirs or something. That thing poisoned me.¡± If I could, I would have tried to use a [Mark] to heal, but I couldn¡¯t risk another shift in my state. And besides, if I did that, I¡¯d be giving up all of my hard-earned gains. The Path of a Berserk was a brutal one, and in all honesty, I hadn¡¯t had a workout like this in ages. I¡¯d be a fool to cheat myself out of the progression from healing naturally. But I needed to survive first. ¡°I¡¯ve got you,¡± Blue Rose said, appearing miraculously by my side. ¡°We¡¯ll get you back quickly.¡± ¡°No one¡¯s going anywhere!¡± I looked to see Jei Su Long touching down on dune above us. Son of a bitch, I thought. Thebastard could fly all this time? ¡°You¡¯re quite something,¡± Jei Su Long said as he studied me. ¡°Lucky perhaps.¡± He then looked to the rest of the toon. ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± he shouted. ¡°Harvest that beast¡¯s core!¡± If Jei Su Long wanted a shot at killing me, now would be the optimal time. Thankfully he seemed more fearful when he looked at me now more than anything else. ¡°What were you speaking to it?¡± he said. ¡°And why did it speak to you?¡± He was on the right track if he was looking for reasons to be suspicious. ¡°They always talk to me,¡± I said with bravado and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°What? First time you¡¯ve actually fought an Awakened Spirit Beast? They¡¯re not just monsters, you know? Plus, they say the weirdest shit sometimes. I just echo it to piss them off.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a soul in there that created that core you want. You can check with Master Eiji if you want the details on how is done. Of course, if you¡¯d have ever served as a White Robe, you would have gotten that lesson already.¡± A few chuckles went through the ranks and inside Jei Su Long¡¯s anger boiled. ¡°Just get me that core,¡± he snapped. He grimaced and then finally left and I finally fell to the ground. Tu¡¯lok and Blue Rose rushed to aid me as a new pain coursed through my body. The poison taking its toll. ¡°Hey, hang in there,¡± Tu¡¯lok said. ¡°We¡¯ll get you bandaged up as best we can.¡± I nodded weakly as I began to ration the Frenzy reserves within my Dantian. I was half full now. And still burning quickly to maintain [Death¡¯s Door]. I allowed myself to feel the pain and used [Indifference] to stop from crying out as I cycled the minute increase in Frenzy the pain provided. At this stage every bit would help. ¡°Move fast,¡± Tu¡¯lok shouted to the Tributes now hacking into the Jolup corpse. ¡°We need to get the Iron Bull back to the academy quickly!¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be fast enough,¡± Blue Rose said staring at me like I was already a dead man. ¡°I¡¯ll run back to summon a skiff.¡± ¡°No, you will not!¡± Jei Su Long shouted from atop the corpse of the Jolup, apparently spying on us the entire time since he¡¯d left. ¡°I ordered everyone to stay until the work is done. We return as a toon.¡± He then leered down at me. ¡°No exceptions.¡± Blue Rose grimaced. ¡°He¡¯s waiting for the poison to kill you, I think,¡± she whispered. ¡°You¡¯ve caused him to lose too much face today.¡± I huffed out a chokingugh. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably right.¡± Her eyes then set as she seemed to make a decision. ¡°Just hang on. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Blue Rose stood and slowly paced behind the giant corpse, out of sight of Jei Su Long. Then, with a martial flexing of her hands, she disappeared. * * * An agonizing half an hour went by as the rest of the toon began chopping into the giant lizard to harvest its core. Jei Su Long looked on with glee while I suffered, micromanaging the operation and getting them to take way longer than needed to dive into its guts and extract the core. ¡°Harvest the heart as well,¡± he shouted. ¡°And the venom nds. They will fetch high prices on the off-world markets and earn the academy prestige and wealth. Take care you do not damage them. Work with diligent and care. Do not rush.¡± That son of a bitch¡­ Tu¡¯lok and a few other Tributes managed to bandage me some, as well as retrieve my sword, but the worried looks on their faces told me that even they didn¡¯t expect me to live very long. Jei Su Long was counting on it no doubt, smirking at me as he barked his orders to work slowly. Luckly, he seemed too obsessed with the process to realize Blue Rose had even gone. She had to hurry back soon though. I was down to less than a quarter of a tank now. By the time the Tributes finally produced the Julop¡¯s monster core, another twenty minutes had passed. The entire toon gathered around it then, like it was a newborn babe or something and when I finally got to see it for myself, I understood why. The thing was the size of a basketball, literally thergest core I¡¯d ever seen. It was rough around the edges and slightly oblong, like a giant walnut. It was ruddy brown, signifying it as an earth aspect core. ¡°Secure it and we¡¯ll get underway,¡± Jei Su Long said as he examined it. ¡°I will undoubtedly win the top-ranking toon leader with a prize like this.¡± ¡°Nice,¡± I said. ¡°Be even nicer if you helped earn it.¡± He red at me with contempt. ¡°Mind your tongue. It is the work of White Robes to harvest Cores. Not ck Robes. My job was to lead. And as you can see, I did do splendidly.¡± Delusional prick, I thought. I wanted to say that part out loud, but I needed to pick my battles. I was dangerously close to running dry now. ¡°Let¡¯s move,¡± Jei Su Long said. Tu¡¯lok helped me up and was about to sling me over his shoulder when Jei Su Long stopped him. ¡°What are you doing?¡± he said. ¡°Helping him, Commander. He¡¯s gravely wounded.¡± Jei Su Long smirked at me as if to say a ¡®checkmate¡¯. ¡°If he isn¡¯t strong enough to make it back on his own strength like the rest of us, then he isn¡¯t worthy to return. Leave him.¡± ¡°He won¡¯t make it on his own like this,¡± Tu¡¯lok said. ¡°Then so be it!¡± Jei Su Long shouted and then turned about. ¡°Let¡¯s move!¡± Sheepishly several of the tributes began slinking away, following after themander. I grinned with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me fes. I¡¯ming.¡± ¡°This is madness!¡± Tu¡¯lok shouted. ¡°Commander, the Iron Bull earned us this trophy nearly on his own. He has already proven his strength a hundred times over. We must help him!¡± ¡°Do that and it will be your head!¡± Jei Su Long shouted. ¡°I have given an order!¡± I could sense the defiance growing within Tu¡¯lok as he grimaced. ¡°The Chief Instructor would surely not approve of this.¡± ¡°Chief Instructor?¡± Jei Su Long quickly turned about to get in Tu¡¯lok¡¯s face, or as much as he could, being two heads shorted than him. ¡°Do you see her here? In the heat of battle the toon Commander makes the decisions on his own ord. And my decision has been made!¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Everyone paused at the powerful voice that called out. We all turned to see a skiff cresting over the top of the Jolup corpse, Chief Instructor Yora herself riding upon it, along was Master Eiji and Blue Rose. ¡°And what is this decision you have made on your own ord, Jei Su Long?¡± Jei Su Long¡¯s eyes nearly fell out of his head. He quickly fell to one knee. ¡°Chief Instructor! This One is honored that you would seek out my humble toon for a visit.¡± ¡°A visit?¡± she said coolly. ¡°Master Eiji, see to him quickly.¡± ¡°Yes, Chief Instructor.¡± Jumping from the skiff, Blue Rose led Master Eiji to me and he quickly produced a vial of purple liquid from his robes. ¡°Drink all of it,¡± he said, putting it to my lips. ¡°It will deal with the venom. There is a strong healing elixir mixed in with it also. You will be drowsy soon. Don¡¯t fight it. It will allow you to heal.¡± The concoction went down like fiery liquor, but as it hit my insides, I could already feel it making a change. My need for Frenzy lessened slightly as my body finally began to mend of its own ord. ¡°Thank you, Master Eiji.¡± I then looked past him to Blue Rose who was hovering over his shoulder. ¡°I owe you one.¡± She simply nodded, but I could see the relief on her face. Chief Instructor Yora then dismounted and slowly approached Jei Su Long. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to believe the report at first, but to see it with my own eyes¡­remarkable. An Awakened Jolup taken down by a toon of White Robes.¡± She then paused and narrowed her eyes at Jei Su Long. ¡°What did you mean just now by ¡®visit¡¯? Did you not send your tribute to summon help?¡± Blue Rose suddenly spoke up. ¡°Yes, Chief Instructor. Commander Jei Su Long was very wise to have sent me. As you can see, we arrived just in time to save the Iron Bull.¡± Jei Su Long didn¡¯t say anything for a moment, clearly caught off guard. ¡°Y-yes,¡± he said finally. ¡°I sent her.¡± Yora frowned clearly not believing a word of it. ¡°Get your men back to the academy. I¡¯ll debrief you upon my return.¡± Jei Su Long insides filled with anger and resentment as he red at blue Rose. ¡°Yes, Chief Instructor.¡± Yora then approached me. ¡°I hear that you were primarily responsible for this,¡± she said. ¡°Is this true?¡± ¡°You can ask these guys, Chief Instructor,¡± I said with a weak smile. ¡°I was too busy getting my ass eaten alive to really tell.¡± She chuckled with a bit of Lemonade. ¡°Get him aboard the skiff. When you recover, Iron Bull, I would very much like a debrief from you as well.¡± Ah shit, I thought. Maybe I¡¯d gone too far killing something so big. But screw it. I needed to advance somehow. As Tu¡¯lok helped me aboard the skiff the effects of Master Eiji¡¯s elixir began to take hold. Blue Rose then mbered aboard next to me and looked down at me from above. ¡°Thanks again, Blue,¡¯ I said as my eyes grew heavy. ¡°It¡¯s true what you said. You are loyal.¡± She smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t take that to mean that I love you.¡± I huffed out a painfulugh. As the skiff took off, I was oddly reminded of thest time I was running on [Deaths Door] in the belly of a skiff. Now here I was, repeating history on an alien world. Hopefully like before, a new breakthrough woulde with it as well. Myst thoughts were of Fia as the hue of the setting sun began to fill the sky. One step closer toing home to you, babe. And with that I finally gave in to sleep. Book 3: Chapter 24 Kelsey grimaced as the three cultivators encircled her, wielding spears and Jian des. She¡¯d already felt the bite from two of them. Her robes were riddled with shes, but the attacks hadn¡¯t been strong enough to do much against her Frenzy hardened skin. Still, it pissed her off that they¡¯d even managed to hit her at all. It was a grim reminder that for all her internal progression she was still a junior when it came to martial arts. Clobbering hordes of demons with wild axe swings was more her style. But she had a duty to keep here now as well. It waste afternoon when she¡¯d been alerted to these three thugs approaching the gate. She wasn¡¯t sure if they were even part of a sect or not. They looked washed up and over the hill as far as she could tell. It was the type she was used to fending off now after returning to the city.¡°This is yourst warning!¡± she shouted. ¡°You mess with the Terran Sect, you¡¯re going to get your face pushed in. If you leave now, I¡¯ll allow you to spread the word and keep your lives.¡± Jian Yi, who was a few paces behind her held up her self-defense forms. ¡°She speaks the truth. You have already vited our sovereign rights as well as imperialw just by being here.¡± ¡°So call the enforcers then,¡± one of the thugs, a wiry man wielding a spear said. ¡°Or if you want, you can pay us our due and we¡¯ll be on our way. Else prepare to meet your end and we¡¯ll take what we want.¡± The man then smirked at Kelsey. ¡°I got no qualms killing a kid who thinks herself a damn hero.¡± Ire burned in her gut. ¡°I¡¯m no kid!¡± she shouted. Kelsey charged at him with her axe, trying to remember to use her actually forms instead of attacking wildly. The three countered her while slipping out of her reach. She took three more embarrassing cuts to her robes and hardened skin beneath while her axe mmed ineffectually to into the ground, causing a huge crack in the asphalt. The one with the spearughed. ¡°Strong little bitch, you are. But your technique is shit!¡± She growled and roared, pumping Frenzy. If she could go all out, she could kill all three of them. But deep down she knew she couldn¡¯t. For as many demons as she¡¯d in, she¡¯d never killed an actual person before. At least not intentionally. Images of her taking Jim¡¯s life while under the effects of Dark Frenzy still haunted her, even if she had lost all control while in her demon form. This was no different. She was strong but she wasn¡¯t Max. She didn¡¯t have the same resolve of his Dao¡ªto fight against the cultivators and the empire who had taken over their world. Her battle was against the monsters and demons of the Bloodmoon. Not people. Even if they were assholes like these. It burned her inside, but they were right. In many ways, she was still just a kid. But that didn¡¯t mean she was weak. Summoning her me, Kelsey cycled her meridians and sent a burst solid Frenzy to her jing. Yellow lightning erupted from her axe as she let out a massive yell with [Fear the me]. She mmed her axe down in front of them again and an explosion of asphalt and lightning sent them flying into the air. She screamed wildly before they even hit the ground again, giving into her feral side. Kelsey finally sensed the fear she¡¯d been looking for and chased after them as they began to retreat. ¡°I didn¡¯t sign up for this!¡± one of them cried. ¡°That bitch is Core Realm!¡± Kelsey slung a few more bolts of lightning into the air for good measure. ¡°Tell that to your friends, assholes! The Furious Lightning n still protects the Terran Sect!¡± When then finally ran out of sight, Kelsey copsed to her knees exhausted. Summoning lightning still took a lot of out her and without the cultivators sparking fresh Frenzy from her me like the demon¡¯s did, she was always having to dip into her reserves. She was still breathing heavily and recovering when Jian Yi casually stepped next to her. ¡°Hopefully that should keep them away for a while,¡± she said. ¡°At least until the next group appears.¡± Kelsey sighed. ¡°Yeah.¡± She felt guilty for a moment. ¡°Sorry¡­I¡¯m not able to do much more than scare them away.¡± In every encounter thus far Kelsey had managed to use her inner strength and [Fear the me] technique to cause the cultivators to flee instead of killing them and on odd asions leave them with a serious wound or two. But it was nowhere near as effective as when Max wasying down thew. He didn¡¯t give a shit. If you kept messing around with Max you were about to find out. She wished she could be like that at times, and maybe she would be if the circumstances ever called for it, but she had to ept that just like the shuras said, every Berserker¡¯s path was different. And while Max had certainly helped speed her down her own path, it was indeed her own, she was not simply following Max¡¯s. ¡°You are doing more than you know,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think these are random urrences either.¡± Kelsey squinted at her. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I meant what I said about them breaking imperialw just by being here. Do you not find that strange?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Random Yee cultivators always seem to arrive when the enforcer patrols are nowhere to be found, yet when Fia risks a visit, they are here within minutes. See what I mean?¡± Kelsey pondered that a moment. ¡°So this was all set up?¡± ¡°Yes. More tinkering from the Bird sisters I imagine,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°I¡¯m just grateful you were able to return to us each time. I know you have other responsibilities at the bunker now.¡± Kelsey nodded. ¡°Yeah. Juggling this crap is hard. I don¡¯t know how Max did it.¡± For thest three weeks Kelsey had been making trips to and from the bunker almost nonstop. A day in the city and two in the wild. Every chance she got she was cultivating the Bloodmoon, strengthening her core and the spiritual root of her Dao. She¡¯d even seen that monstrous beast again, or glimpses it back at the bunker. It had follower she realized, because when she returned to the city the surges against the barrier had stopped. But eventually if she hung around, they would start up again. That meant the thing was actually hunting her and not just attacking the barrier randomly. That got her me ticking just thinking about it. A challenge like never before. Maybe she was still too young to understand the intricacies of the politics andws of the new world, but she understood demons. And a big one was itching to im her soul. And no way in hell was she going to allow that to happen. ¡°How much longer do you think this dumbw thing is going tost?¡± Kelsey asked. She didn¡¯t want to add that her needing to be here constantly was interrupting her training to face the demons, but without Zu Tien and Gui Zu to cover, it was really making things hard. ¡°I¡¯ve written twice already to the Chief Magistrate to appeal to the Princess,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°But nothing is moving forward. I imagine it is being intercepted by the Warden. I¡¯m going to try again though, but through a different route this time.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Jian Yi smiled craftily. ¡°Do you recall the Grand Sage who attended the courts for Fia¡¯s trial?¡± Kelsey shrugged. ¡°Kinda maybe? A lot was going on back then.¡± ¡°At any rate, Master Hei Dong was wise enough to keep in contact with him. He has agreed to use his influence to get a letter directly to the princess via her top aide. Hopefully we may see some movement then.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Kelsey sighed. ¡°I hope so. Doing this double duty is rough.¡± ¡°You¡¯re good for it though, Kel Zhi,¡± Jian Yi said with a smile. ¡°Our own little mini- Max as our protector. We are all so thankful for you.¡± Kelsey smiled and reluctantly epted the lemonade. It didn¡¯t feelpletely earned though. But when you were in a city with no demons, a Berserker like her had to cultivate whatever she could find. ¡°No problem, Jian Yi,¡± Kelsey said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll call you when the next group of punks arrive.¡± * * * Fia gently cultivated the diffuse essence of Qi around her, flowing it through her meridians with care. She took extra time and effort to cultivate now. Inwardly she could sense the second soul forming within her, and not of the sacred soul variety. Her child was growing. Would it be a boy or a girl, she wondered? Hopefully a strong boy to be Max¡¯s firstborn, she thought wishfully. An heir to carry on his bloodline. It had been nearly three months now. For all the research she had done when it came to childbirth, she knew she had to take care with cultivation beyond this stage. Too much Qi cultivation could affect the unborn soul within her. But the right type of cultivation could also do wonders. She eagerly wanted her mother¡¯s advice and support, but she hadn¡¯t spoken a word of it to anyone other than Max as yet. It was a hurdle she would need to ovee within the next three months, however. Her condition would be no longer easy to hide at that point. The guilt and shame of what she¡¯d done began to creep into her mind then. When she¡¯d made the decision, she¡¯d been so sure. But now with the reality of it on the horizon, the mechanics of just how she would share this secret with others and endure the consequences thereafter was wearing on her soul. At least she still had times toe to grips with it. Three months. Not much time all told. ¡°Lady Fia?¡± Fia roused from her meditation to find Ju Gong bowing patiently at her doorway. ¡°Ju Gong? What is it?¡± ¡°A thousand apologies for interrupting you, mydy,¡± Ju Gong said. ¡°But you are being summoned. There appears to be one of the Vice Wardens at the gate.¡± ¡°Vice Waren?¡± Anger and anxiety filled her immediately. ¡°Which one? And what do they want?¡± ¡°Some tax matter,¡± Jui Gong said. ¡°And I am not certain as to which Lady it is.¡± Damn them all, Fia thought as she rose from lotus position. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m on my way.¡± * * * Angry shouts from her father could already be heard as Fia made her way across the courtyard. One of the bird sisters was indeed there with a contingent of Enforcers and Imperial Guards along with a barrister dressed in imperial robes¡ªa court prosecutor it looked like. When Fia got close enough she could make out that it was Di Shen, the Lady Silver Dove. That caused her to pause. Di Shen was the quieter of the three, but just as calcting as Fi Shen, the Lady Silver Hawk. And now that she had true imperial power, who knew what they could be in for. Fia straightened herself as she approached the group standing just outside the gate, taking a ce beside her father. Fia bowed mechanically. ¡°Vice Warden Di Shen. Such a pleasure.¡± Di Shen furrowed her brow. ¡°Do not refer to This One by her Personal name. It is Vice Warden.¡± Fia smirked. Perhaps too much of Max was rubbing off on her. ¡°A thousand apologies,¡± she said. ¡°A pleasure to see you, Vice Warden. What seems to be the issue?¡± ¡°Your father is guilty of tax evasion,¡± she said as the prosecutor presented a set of papers to her. ¡°used, you mean,¡± Hei Dong said with a scowl. ¡°These charges are preposterous.¡± Fia nced over the papers briefly. They were transactions from the auction house, it seemed. Sales of items from the Furious Lightning Sect to various individuals. Fia knew right away what this was about now. ¡°These transactions have nothing to do with my house,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°I do not know why they are being presented as evidence.¡± Her father perhaps knew the same of course, but he was a barrister as well as an artisan. Fia kept silent and allowed him to take the lead. ¡°Chief Prosecutor,¡± Di Shen said to the man who had served the papers. ¡°Would you be so kind as to exin to Master Hei Dong the evidence against him?¡± ¡°The seven items listed on these transactions are signature weapons crafted by yourself are they not, master Hei Dong?¡± The prosecutor, a middled aged man with goatee said. ¡°Is this a court ofw?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°I am not obliged to answer any of your questions.¡± ¡°Your failure to answer speaks for you already,¡± the prosecutor said with a smile. ¡°The documents show evidence that at some point in time these weapons passed from your possession to that of the Furious Lightning Sect.¡± ¡°Spection at best,¡± Hei Dong said. The prosecutor chuckled. ¡°I think it would take a far less skilled schr to prove these weapons were crafted by your hand, Master Hei Dong, than it did to prove that that quill was produced by your daughter.¡± Fia¡¯s insides lurched with unease, the sudden reminder hitting like a punch to the stomach. ¡°How dare¡ª!¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Hei Dong said cutting her off, but Fia could see her father¡¯s jaw tightened with anger. ¡°I would tread lightly with your words, Chief Prosecutor. If you have a point to make, then make it.¡± ¡°By imperialw, all enrichment by the sale of direct goods is subject to taxation. It seems you have failed to report the said transactions where these items left your possession and entered into that of the Furious Lightning Sect.¡± Fia¡¯s insides bubbled with fear. She had not given thought to them sifting so closely in the dirt to prove something like this. Her father, however, wore an infallible countenance of neutrality. She wasn¡¯t certain if he had some clear way out of this or not, but the tensing of his jaw said that he wasn¡¯tpletely at ease. ¡°Even if your wild spections were urate,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Such an offense is a minor misdemeanor at best. Are you here to simply waste my time?¡± ¡°Whether minor misdemeanor or capital crime depends on amount, Master Hei Dong,¡± the prosecutor said. ¡°And judging by the value these items fetched on the open market, it would seem you have well passed the threshold of 5000 spirit stones, making this an offense worthy of incarceration.¡± ¡°Perhaps they were simply a gift,¡± Hei Dong said with a shrug. ¡°Perhaps we will need to order an audit of your family¡¯s treasury to see.¡± Sweat beaded on Fia¡¯s brow. She nced at her father, but couldn¡¯t tell what he was thinking. ¡°Well, Chief Prosecutor, if you believe that your research and evidence holds merit, then by all means present them to a magistrate to see if they will issue a summons. Until that time, I wish you good da¡ª¡± ¡°Do not mistake what this visit is, Master Hei Dong,¡± Di Shen said. ¡°Clearly, I could have issued an order for the Chief Prosecutor to pursue this matter through the courts already. I came to you directly to see if you would first like to settle the matter out of court to maintain your good standing within themunity.¡± Hei Dong harrumphed. ¡°A settlement?¡± ¡°What is maximum punishment for tax evasion, Chief Prosecutor?¡± Di Shen asked. ¡°25 years hardbor,¡± the prosecutor said. Di Shen smiled at Fia. ¡°A long time. Perhaps your father may even join your fianc¨¦ at Du Grok Bhong, should the Warden rmend it. What a reunion that would be.¡± Anger red within her. ¡°You¡¯re despicable, Di Shen!¡± Fia shouted, unable to contain herself any longer. ¡°You all are!¡± ¡°Mind you tongue!¡± Di Shen shouted. ¡°I am your Vice Warden. That insult alone is worthy of¡ª¡± ¡°What is your offer of settlement?¡± Hei Dong said, suddenly drawing her attention. ¡°What do you want?¡± Di Shen cut her eyes at Fia and then looked back to Master Hei Dong. ¡°To satisfy This One, you would need surrender your estate to the crown. If it pleases This One, I will allow a small stipend for you to rebuild your family. You would retain your artisan¡¯s license, of course.¡± Hei Dong let out a mirthlessugh. ¡°Is this a jest? Do you have any idea of what you are even doing in that position, Vice Warden?¡± ¡°I am Vice Warden now!¡± Di Shen snapped. ¡°And if you do not like the terms then you are free to seek your absolution in courts. But with such evidence, I wonder if only a martial challenge could save you.¡± Di Shen leered again, clearly well pleased with herself. There it was. What she truly wanted from all of this. To pull the Dong family into yet another fight. And the only one to defend them would be Fia. ¡°And who would the crown nominate if we were to challenge these charges by martial means?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°The Lady Silver Light is qualified as Gold. I know that you and your sisters have been so for some time now. You¡¯d certainly be eligible.¡± Fia looked at her father perplexed. What was he doing? ¡°I am a Vice Warden now,¡± Di Shen said. ¡°It would be entirely inappropriate for This One to¡ª¡± ¡°And yet your Great Aunt is cultivator enough to face her own challenges head on,¡± Hei Dong said with a countering smile. ¡°Are you not able to do the same? You are not an artisan like me. You have no excuse not to fight. A martial Vice Warden should be able to defend her position as well as the crown. Else you might be used of being unfit.¡± Di Shen blinked, clearly put on the backfoot now. She looked about herself suddenly unsure. ¡°Perhaps you need to confer with your sisters?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°It is quite rumored that neither of you can make a single decision without the others. Perhaps you share a single mind as well as birthday?¡± Hei Dongughed, and Ju Gong stifled augh with him, causing a few of the enforcers to chuckle as well. Di Shen¡¯s eyes swelled with fear, embarrassment and rage. ¡°S-silence! That was an insult I will not stand f¡ª!¡± ¡°I will make it easy for you then,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°I will not ept your offer of settlement, Vice Warden. Chief Prosecutor please do take your paltry evidence to the magistrate. If, per adventure, I do receive a legitimate summons, I will spare us all the burden of official court proceedings and will contest the charges via martialw. My capable daughter, the Lady Silver Light, will stand in our family¡¯s defense. In turn I will ept as nomination from the prosecution not only yourself as proxy, Vice Warden, but that of your two sisters as well. Simultaneously.¡± Fia¡¯s heart jumped. ¡°What? Father!¡± Di Shen opened her mouth, but didn¡¯t say anything, ncing at Fia nervously. ¡°I-I¡­¡± ¡°You need not answer now, Vice Warden,¡± Hei Dong said with a confident smirk. ¡°Confer with your sisters. I am certain they would relish the chance to prove themselves as worthy Vice Wardens to the popce by facing my daughter publicly in the ring as I am sure the courts would indeed with this to be a public trial, would they not?¡± Again, Di Shen had no words. Hei Dong smiled triumphantly. ¡°Well, until we receive the summons, I bid you all good day.¡± * * * Fia was beside herself as Ju Gong closed the main gates behind Di Shen and her entourage of imperial subordinates. She looked to her father next, a mixture of anger and confusion spilling from her heart. ¡°Father what was that?¡± she said. ¡°You truly want to put us in such risk?¡± He let out augh. ¡°Dear daughter. Do not let that daft little girl shake you. She¡¯s started a game she can barelyprehend much less finish.¡± ¡°What do mean? Are those charges legitimate or not?¡± ¡°They are,¡± he said. ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t think they would stoop so low, but clearly they mean to destroy us.¡± ¡°And you think me fighting them will be a fair fight?¡± ¡°It will likely not evene to that,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°I¡¯ve forced all three of them into a position where their own face will be at stake now. Chances are they will show their cowardice as usual and never even submit the ims to the courts. This matter is likely over already.¡± ¡°And if they do?¡± Hei Dong raised a questioning eyebrow at her. ¡°Need you even ask that, Fia? These are the Shen sisters! You¡¯ve bested all three of them since the time you were twelve. They are no match for you. If they send that writ, it will be to their own detriment. Although their hubris may well force them to do so regardless. And if that be the case, then enjoy getting your own vengeance for what they¡¯ve done in the ring.¡± Her father was right. Any other time facing the three Shen sisters, even all at once, would beughable. But now¡­? Fia looked down at her stomach apprehensively, fearful of the fragile soul growing inside of it. ¡°What?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°What is it? You can¡¯t seriously be fearful of such a match, are you Fia?¡± ¡°N-no father,¡± Fia said reluctantly, unsure what she would now do. ¡°I will do my duty. I will defend our family if and when the timees.¡± There was no other way. If the Shen sisters did pursue this, she would have to defend her family. Fia¡¯s only question now. Was how? Book 3: Chapter 25 Me, myself and I sat around the spiritual campfire that was my Frenzied me. I was inside my own head, on the virtualkeside beach made from my own imagination. The Struggler was on one side of the campfire, the Demon on the other. I¡¯d long since quit on trying tobine the two and instead focused on the various texts I had consumed from the library, still seeking the key to strengthening the Spiritual Root of my Dao. I¡¯d been reading for hours, but the best passage I had found thus far was thest chapter of a book entitled, Chasing the Heavens. I read it again as the words formed in my mind. Who can truly know oneself? Is our self-image not clouded in one¡¯s own prejudices and bias? How then can we trust what we see in ourselves? Or what we perceive ourselves to be?Or how can one gauge oneself when within oneself? Those around us are no better to judge, for they see only what we choose to present. The knowledge of self is paramount to truly discover the strength of one¡¯s Dao. And to truly see oneself a mirror is required. But a mirror reflects only one side. But a mirror which reflects all sides, is truth. An all-seeing mirror is the key to revealing one¡¯s true self. Therein lies the path of true self-discovery. The all-seeing mirror of one¡¯s soul. ¡°All seeing mirror,¡± I said and the Struggler gave me a slow nod. The Demon merely shrugged. The two of them was perhaps a type of mirror. But of what? My split soul? Maybe. Perhaps I had been trying to solve the problem the wrong way. I was shouting at the image in the mirror to do something, when in truth it was I who needed to do something all along. It was I was needed change¡­not them. The Frenzied me red before me, resonating with a new truth. Shit¡­finally getting somewhere, I thought. But change what? I¡¯d already changed so much already. Even my Struggler inner self had grown from an eight-year-old me to where he was now. A carbon copy of my current self. Did I need to grow even further? Or perhaps it was the Demon that now needed to change. To grow. The demon looked at me and growled. I scoffed back at him. ¡°Like you would even know.¡± But maybe he was right. Maybe I did need to push my demon self-further. The one time I had embodied the Demonpletely was in that desperate fight against Hin Wu and I had nearly lost full control then. Was that the way to go? To go even beyond that? The Struggler shook his head. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t like that idea either,¡± I said but the Demon continued to growl. My true self. What did that even mean? Did it mean bing a monster? The Struggler suddenly looked at me and pointed at the Bloodmoon in the night sky. ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± I said. ¡°No beuno.¡± He then shook his head at me again. ¡°No,¡± he said in my own voice. ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up.¡± Light shed, blinding me as my eyes opened in the real world. I took in a huge gasp of air, like I¡¯d been holding my breath and someone let out a started cry next to me. I turned to see Blue Rose seated in a chair by my side. I was in a bed in the infirmary, the stone walls of the former prison cell hemming me in. I looked down at myself and found bloodstained bandages encasing me like I were a mummy. I was still dazed, my head foggy. ¡°You scared the hell out of me, Bull Man,¡± Blue Rose said with an annoyed scowl, but inside I could sense she was happy to see me, bursting with lemonade. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you were ever going to wake up.¡± I had to pause a moment to what had happened. I¡¯d spent what felt like an afternoon in my own head, reading and training. But how long was it truly? I flexed my body to give me some kind of indication, and to my surprise I felt not a stitch of pain as I stretched. My joints popped and creaked like they hadn¡¯t moved in ages though. ¡°How long was I out for?¡± I asked Blue Rose. She huffed out a snort. ¡°Eleven days. Everyone thought you were going to stay like that forever.¡± Eleven days? Holy crap. ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°I think that¡¯s a new record for me.¡± It was then that I noticed her robes. They were no longer white, but ck. ¡°Oh shit!¡± I said. ¡°Blue, you ranked up? You¡¯re a ck Robe now!¡± She smiled. ¡°Yes, you missed quite a lot.¡± ¡°What was the exam like?¡± I asked. ¡°Easy,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°When you have the skills.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Who¡¯d you have to fight?¡± ¡°Guess,¡± she said with another grin. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me Jei Su Long¡­¡± Her grin grew even wider. ¡°Holy shit, so you ended up kicking his ass?¡± ¡°You see the new robes, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Oh man, I really did miss a lot.¡± Thest time I saw Jei Su Long he was shooting eye daggers at Blue Rose for disobeying his orders to help me and then embarrassing him in front of Chief Instructor Yora ¡°That bastard must hate the shit out of you now. Get him in trouble and then kick his ass in the ring?¡± ¡°He hates the both of us,¡± she said. ¡°Hence why I¡¯m here. I wouldn¡¯t put it past him to try something cowardly while you were recovering.¡± ¡°Thanks, Blue Rose,¡± I said and held out my hand with a fist bump. She looked at my fist strangely. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a Terran custom. We touch fists. It¡¯s a sign of camaraderie.¡± She smirked and tapped my fist with hers. ¡°Such silly ways you have, Bull Man.¡± I grinned. ¡°Yeah well, they don¡¯t call me Max Chun for nothing.¡± She jerked her head back. ¡°Max what?¡± Iughed and then spent a few minutes exining my personal name and nick name. By the time I had finished she was shaking her head even more. ¡°You a mystery, Max Chun. How one as strong as you can be so simple minded is¡­perplexing.¡± ¡°Now you sound like my friend, Mu Lin,¡± I said. ¡°She calls me the wonder that is Chun.¡± Blue Roseughed. ¡°I can see why those farmer brothers are so loyal to you now. You¡¯re basically just like them. You know they came here almost every day to check on you?¡± ¡°Lo Ren and Chu Ren?¡± ¡°Yes, or so I learned their names were.¡± That reminded me of something I still needed to do for them, but I had a few other concerns first. ¡°Hey how¡¯s Tu¡¯lok doing? Did he pass the exam too?¡± ¡°He did,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°With a little help from me. He¡¯s a ck Robe now. Joined the Phnx Division.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± I said. ¡°You actually helped somebody?¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°It was a joke,¡± I said quickly. ¡°So what did you do?¡± ¡°Helped him with a breakthrough,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s mid-tier Core Realm now. Although you more so helped with that than me.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°We were rewarded top ce that week thanks to your kill. Chief Yora said never before has a White Robe toon defeated a Jolup. The core yielded over a hundred high tier elixirs. We were each awarded half a draught as a reward.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°Did you go up a tier as well?¡± ¡°I¡¯m close,¡± she said. ¡°And you? You must be halfway to Lesser Deity Realm now, right? How in the hells are you so strong anyway?¡± Iughed good naturedly, but I didn¡¯t answer the question. I did wonder if hadn¡¯t had some kind of advancement though. My body hadpletely healed naturally. All those injuries had been converted into gains. I had no manual to guide me, but I figured I had to be Stage XV in my body refinement now. My natural skin was perhaps the same toughness as [Iron Skin] back in the day, which meant my [Steel Skin] was even tougher. I didn¡¯t feel the heaviness of the world¡¯s gravity anymore either. If felt normal. Which meant I was a lot stronger. ¡°Speaking of rewards,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°The Chief instructor said to send you to her the moment you awoke. Are you well enough to move?¡± I threw off the covers and spun my feet to the side of the bed. I felt my strength return as I stepped onto the hard stone floor. Blue Rose stared up at me, spilling a little lemonade. ¡°You healed remarkably well from those injuries. Your body cultivation is incredible.¡± I grinned. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m pretty much all made of meat. Speaking of which, I¡¯m freaking starving. Let¡¯s hit the mess hall before I see the Chief, yeah?¡± * * * I got more lemonade and bows when Blue Rose escorted me to mess hall. Most were from Brown Robes and White Robes, a few guys from my old toon included. I cultivated the respect and added it to my Dantian, which I sensed was now quite a bit denser than before. My fight with that giant monster had paid off in more ways than one. ¡°I see news must have gotten around,¡± I said. Blue Rose chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ve been the talk of Du Bok Ghong for days. I¡¯m sure you either earned or lost people a lot of money as well.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± She smirked at me. ¡°There was a betting pool on if you¡¯d ever wake up or not.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said and took in the onlookers with new eyes. There were a few ck Robes that nced at me with hints of disdain, but most still smiled with respect and in whispers I heard the phrase ¡®Jolup killer¡¯ more than once. The free lemonade was refreshing though and it refreshing to not care so much about how strong I was. No one knew my background here. I could just as easily have been a top tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator before I arrived. And no one here knew any better. A bunch of Brown Robes made way for me as I approached the mess line. ¡°It¡¯s the Iron Bull!¡± one of them shouted. ¡°Stand aside!¡± ¡°The Jolup yer!¡± ¡°He¡¯s alive!¡± I got a few pats on the back from the Brown Robes and an extra potion of braised pork from the chefs in the kitchen. When I sat down to finally eat, my appetite assaulted me like a linebacker. My body must have been surviving on Frenzy only for thest eleven days because my stomach was a bottomless canyon. I polished off the food in seconds and Blue Rose assisted by heading back to the line to get me some more. ¡°You¡¯re really cleaning up,¡± she said, studying me like I was a science experiment as she set down a fresh bowl of noodles. ¡°Should I get you even more?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± I said in between slurps of noodles and dunking the pork in chili oil. ¡°This One looks like he has had more than enough.¡± The haughty tone came from behind me and didn¡¯t even bother to nce over my shoulder to confirm that it was Jei Su Long. Blue Rose looked up at him. ¡°Jei Su Long. Greetings to you.¡± Jei Su Long stepped from behind me but didn¡¯t give any kind of acknowledgement to Blue Rose. ¡°So you are awake,¡± he said, like he¡¯d just heard a rumor and then came to verify that it was true. ¡°You truly are the luckiest man in the world it seems.¡± I shrugged at him with [Indifference]. ¡°Your words not mine. Sorry if you lost money on the bet, bud.¡± ¡°What did you call me?¡± he said suddenly infuriated. ¡°You still wear a white robe! And you are still within my toon. You will refer to me as Commander!¡± ¡°A shame he still needs to do so,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°You should have passed your leadership curriculum already, Jei Su Long. But it seems even with the ying of the Jolup, Chief Instructor Yora has seen fit to extend you for another term as toon Commander.¡± ¡°Thanks to you!¡± he snapped, finally acknowledging her. ¡°I don¡¯t think you deserve those ck Robes either. You won that match by pure trickery!¡± ¡°Trickery?¡± I said raising an eyebrow at Blue Rose. ¡°I thought you said you had the skills.¡± She merelyughed. ¡°I did.¡± ¡°No skill was involved!¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°That bitch hit me once and then disappeared for the rest of the match. A clear vition!¡± Blue Rose shrugged. ¡°A win is a win. You should have thought about who you were facing before you stepped in the ring.¡± I let out augh. ¡°Sneaky Blue. Very sneaky.¡± ¡°You should have nothing tough about,¡± Jei Su Long said looking to me again. ¡°You will have to face me in the ring as well if you wish to be a ck Robe and I relish the chance to put you in your ce.¡± I cocked an eyebrow at him. ¡°Oh yeah?¡± He lifted his chin to look down at me smugly. ¡°You may be strong, but I¡¯ve seen you fight. You have no skill. I however have been trained in the sacred arts of the Heaven Twin Rivers Sect since birth. There is no-one in this dump who can match my skill.¡± ¡°Not even Chief Yora?¡± Blue Rose said with another testy leer. It was then that I noticed the entire mess hall had quieted down and was listening in on the conversation. Jei Su Long became suddenly self-conscious, and side-stepped Blue Rose¡¯s pitfall of a direct question. ¡°You¡¯ll report to me when you are done eating, Bull Man,¡± he said. ¡°You will be on Martial Skills rotation. Then we¡¯ll see what you are truly made of.¡± ¡°No can do,¡± I said, rising from the table. ¡°I¡¯ve got a meeting with Chief Instructor Yora.¡± I then pinched the edge of his ck Robes. ¡°So unless you got some Jade Trim hiding under there to outrank her, I¡¯ll see your asster.¡± * * * Blue Rose couldn¡¯t stopughing as we made our way to Chief Yora¡¯s office. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you said that!¡± She nearly fell down as she leaned on my shoulder for support, stillughing. ¡°You are far worse than me.¡± ¡°Yeah, I try.¡± The office door opened before we even reached and Blue Rose straightened to attention as Chief Yora stepped into the doorway. She nodded to Blue Rose. ¡°You may wait here, Tribute. Iron Bull, pleasee inside.¡± I left Blue Rose in the hallway and closed the door behind me as Chief Yora took a seat behind her rusted metal desk which looked more like a ce to perform metalwork than paperwork. ¡°So,¡± she said, easing back in her chair as she folded her hands atop her desk. ¡°Tell me how you managed to kill a Jolup mostly by yourself?¡± I tried to y it off with [Indifference]. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say it was by myself.¡± ¡°I did say mostly. I¡¯ve interviewed every Tribute within your toon and the reports all concur. You killed that thing nearly single handedly as a Core Realm Cultivator and I¡¯d like to know how.¡± I studied her a moment, wondering if this was genuine curiosity or conjecture leading towards outing me as a Berserker. Whatever I would say from this point would define me as something: whether anomaly, oddity or heretic cultivator were all up for grabs. I decided to go with something that would hopefully throw her off. The truth. ¡°I killed it due to experience,¡± I said. That got her attention immediately, and she sat up in her chair. ¡°You¡¯ve encountered Jolup before?¡± ¡°Not exactly,¡± I said. ¡°But my world has a Bloodmoon and I¡¯m no stranger to killing awakened spirit beasts out in the wild. Yes, I am strong, a half step from the Sacred Soul Realm, but its not my strength that killed it. It was my confident in knowing exactly how to kill it.¡± That response got a curious raise of an eyebrow, but also a little lemonade. ¡°Exin further what you mean.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t hurt a creature like that from the outside unless you have a hundred well-armed cultivators. To kill it by yourself, as I have done in the past, you need to be willing to put yourself in harms way. Jump right into its mouth like I did and take out its main weapon. Its jaws.¡± Yora nodded slowly. ¡°I see. And you were confident you could aplish this when you jumped off that cliff?¡± I kept a straight face as I answered with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Hell no. You can never be sure with a monster like that. The trick is to not give a shit if you survive or not. My only intention was to kill it. And that I did. Luckily Blue Rose got me the help I needed so that I could survive thereafter. I survived because of Blue Rose, not my strength.¡± It was using words summoned straight from the Berserker handbook, but I hoped it wouldn¡¯te across as anything like that. Blind bravado maybe? It was the truth though and in a situation like this, showing full honesty and confidence whet over much better than trying to be deceitful. I was ying a Berserker in in sight. Luckily, most of the time that was indistinguishable from a madman with a death wish. I waited to see which Yora would peg me to be. She said nothing for a long while, tapping her desk as she studied me, still filled with lemonade. Finaly the smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve studied your home world,¡± Yora said. ¡°It was one of the news boasted by the empire to possess the potential for a high percentage of cultivation prodigies. I do not know you very well, Iron Bull but by what you¡¯ve demonstrated along with your age, I¡¯d say you fall squarely into that category.¡± I nodded at thepliment and was relieved the old ¡®prodigy¡¯ exnation was providing me a decent way out. ¡°Thank you, Chief Instructor.¡± ¡°You are a rarity in more ways than one,¡± Yora said. ¡°Your cultivation capabilities aside, you possess, as you said, experience, that is very applicably to our mission.¡± ¡°You mean jumping into the jaws of giant monsters?¡± She chuckled. ¡°I mean jumping into danger headfirst without giving a shit, but yes, more specifically, taking on creatures like that. The Hell Worlds of the Cursed Stars are filled with them. Most whoe through here only experience a taste of such here at the academy. But your experience and ease to face such dangers can be very useful on those worlds. And I would know.¡± I nodded, reminded that Yora had been once of the few to fight ande back. ¡°I wish to give you this,¡± Yora said and reaching into her desk drew, she produced a set of ck Robes and three glowing vials. ¡°You have well proven your worth. I understand you were toe here as a free tribute anyway. It¡¯s time to quickly get you back on track to be a Legionnaire. You are promoted to a ck Robe immediately and as reward for your great victory and to further your advancement, here are three full vials from the Awakened Jolup you killed.¡± My eyes widened as she pushed the robes and vials towards me. I had no use for the vials myself, but I knew who they could go to. As for the robes, however. ¡°I¡¯ll dly ept the elixirs,¡± I said. ¡°But I can¡¯t ept the robe. I haven¡¯t passed the test to earn it. If I¡¯m to earn one, I want to earn it before my peers.¡± Yora jerked back looking almost insulted. ¡°Excuse me? Am I not the Chief Instructor? I know your background. You are Gold Bracket. You need not prove yourself in a tournamentbat.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°But with all respect, Chief Instructor, I wish to prove it to those around me. I don¡¯t wish to get by on what may be considered a favor.¡± She harrumphed. ¡°So its pride is it?¡± ¡°No ma¡¯am,¡± I said. ¡°Just want to earn my status fair and square.¡± Plus, I wanted a crack at that asshole Jei Su Long, if I were being totally honest, but I wasn¡¯t going to tell her that part. She shook her head. ¡°Uncertain what ¡®square¡¯ means in this context , but I understand fair. Rest assured your reputation in the academy now precedes you. Your elevation to a ck Robe after what you achieved would be well epted and respected.¡± ¡°I know that but¡­I wish to earn my ascension the normal way.¡± ¡°Meaning by a tournament match.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And you do realize who you would be facing correct?¡± Lady, I¡¯m damn well counting on it, I wanted to say, but settled for a simple ¡°Yes¡± instead. ¡°I see,¡± Yora said. ¡°Jei Su Long mayck leadership capability as you may no doubt have seen for yourself, but he is proficient with a de. Are you certain you wish to challenge him? He is rumored to have qualified for Jade Bracket beforeing here.¡± That got my juices stirring even more. A true challenge indeed. I nodded. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. I¡¯m sure.¡± Yora chortled. ¡°I see. Strange. Butmendable in a way. Very well, I shall permit you your request, Tribute. You shall be allowed to take the ascension exam and will face Commander Jei Su Long in tournamentbat.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. ¡°I have only one additional request.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Can I take the test tomorrow?¡± * * * I left Chief Yora¡¯s office with a mile wide smile. ¡°What happened?¡± Blue Rose asked looking both concerned and intrigued. ¡°What did she say?¡± I handed her one of the vials. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you on the way. I need to make a delivery first.¡± I was as vague as possible with Blue Rose about Yora¡¯s actual questioning for fear it might trigger some questions from her as well. Luckily, she was so taken aback by her gift that she was more focused on it than asking me questions. ¡°Are you certain you want me to have this?¡± she said. ¡°This is extremely high grade. And I¡¯ve received a half portion already.¡± ¡°Think of it as payment for keeping watch over me,¡± I said as we entered the farming area. ¡°And considering that that, I have two more payments to make.¡± I called out to Lo Ren and Chu Ren who were in the fields and the two of them came running to greet me. ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡± Chu Ren shouted, giving me a bro hug. ¡°Thank the gods!¡± ¡°It¡¯s good to see you upright,¡± Lo Ren said giving me a bow. ¡°You gave us both a scare.¡± ¡°Thanks for helping to keep an eye on me,¡± I said. ¡°Blue Rose said you guys came almost every day.¡± ¡°It was the least we could do,¡± Chu Ren said. They then both bowed to Blue Rose. ¡°Greetings Senior Sister.¡± Blue Rose smiled. ¡°Bothers.¡± ¡°I have something for both of you,¡± I said and presented each of them a vial. ¡°I know only one of you has chosen to progress, but these vials are special. Its from the beast I killed, the Jolup. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s the same one that took your dad, but what I know of them it probably was. It won¡¯t bring him back, but it¡¯s as close as you can get to avenging his death.¡± They both stared back at shocked as I handed them the vials and then together fell to their knees and pressed the foreheads to the ground in a kowtow. ¡°Master Iron Bull!¡± Chu Ren said. ¡°You have given us the greatest gift. Thank you for avenging our father. We can never repay you for this.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Well, there may be one way.¡± Both Chu Ren and Lo Ren looked up at me. ¡°Anything,¡± Lo Ren said. ¡°Assemble after breakfast in the square tomorrow and bring as many others as you can,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s going to be a big show and I¡¯m going to need as many supporters as I can get.¡± ¡°What show?¡± Blue Rose said looking perplexed. I grinned at her. ¡°I¡¯m going to give Jei Su Long that ass kicking you cheated him out of,¡± I said. ¡°Tomorrow is going to be a duel to be remembered.¡± Book 3: Chapter 26 The post Bloodmoon, pre-dawn sky was streaked with orange and red as I approached the courtyard with axe and ive in hand. Sounds of the gathering crowd could be heard already, echoing off the stone walls of Du Grok Bhong as the air filled with excitement. Chief Yora hade through with nearly everything I had asked for. One match. But with a full audience. I¡¯d seen how Jei Su Long had handled his defeat by Blue Rose and I wouldn¡¯t put it past the punk toe up with some other means of discrediting me if I beat him now. But with an audience there would be no opportunity for a post-match exnation. Everyone was here to witness the match for themselves in real time. But it wasn¡¯t like this was going to be a cake walk either. I hadn¡¯t had a tournament bout in ages and if what Chief Yora said was true, then Jei Su Long was no slouch in the martial arts department. And that was just the kind of challenge I needed to hone my skills for my battle toe with the Warden. She was Diamond Bracket, after all.And if Jei Su Long was close to Jade, the [Odds were Against Me] indeed. Taking him on like this was like jumping into the jaws of a Jolup of a different kind. My reputation was on the line. And so was his. Neither of us was going to fold easily. The courtyard had been transformed, fenced in with the addition of wooden barricades to make a wide perimeter ring. Just beyond them the crowd surged back and forth in anticipation. It wasn¡¯t the full assembly, but it was close¡ªBrown Robes mixed with Whites and cks. On a small dais overseeing the makeshift ring, Chief Yora stood along with my old White Robe instructor, Yun Jen, who was there to keep score it seemed. The scoreboard was a simple chalkboard with our names written on it¡ªa far cry from the arena billboards I was used to, but it would do. Jei Su Long was already in ce at center stage. He gave me a scowl as I stepped inside the ring. ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you are overconfident or merely a fool,¡± he said with a spin of his dual Jian des. ¡°Either way you will face defeat this day, Bull Man, but the mockery of which will be all of your own doing¡­not mine.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] ¡°The pay per view match was my idea. That one¡¯s on me.¡± He squinted his eyes in confusion. ¡°Your words don¡¯t make sense and neither do you. Prepare yourself.¡± I did just that, cultivating the Frenzy now bubbling from my me. I swung my Axe and ive through a quick series of martial forms, warming up for the challenge. I felt rusty in a way. Too used to going ham with my Phnx ive to chop up giant monsters. But I had made use of my meditation time to practice my forms daily. Now, I just had to trust I had to skill to learn whatever martial form Jei Su Long used quickly enough to best him. The challenge of it had my me and nerves on edge. But there was somethingcking from the fight that I couldn¡¯t ignore. I didn¡¯t hate this guy enough to truly kindle my me. That¡¯s why I needed the crowd. They would have to be my main source of Frenzy. And that meant I¡¯d not only have to win, but also put on a show. I cracked a grin at Jei Su Long. ¡°Hey¡­for the record. This is nothing personal. Even though you tried to kill me multiple time, I really don¡¯t respect you enough to really care.¡± That sent his anger through the roof and he spat out a curse at me, but I ignored it with a snub of [Indifference]. It wasn¡¯t just a goad either. In truth, petty shit like this was below me now. Haters were going to hate and Young Masters were going to Young Master. Getting bent out of shape over that was a form of control I refused to hand over to this blue haired punk. ¡°En garde, bitch,¡± I said and gave him a halfhearted salute with my Phnx ive. Jei Su Long didn¡¯t say anything, but the anger and hatred in his eyes spoke volumes. Maybe I wouldn¡¯t need to rely purely on the crowd after all, I thought as I cultivated his anger, making his strength my own. ¡°Attention!¡± Chief Yora shouted. ¡°This morning¡¯s special assembly wille as a surprise to most. It isplements of the Iron Bull, who despite my intentions of promoting him to ck Robe for his valiant ying of the Jolup, insisted that he earn his ascension the same as everyone else. Let usmend him for his honor in this regard.¡± Yora then stared a round of apuse and the lemonade that filled the ring was exactly what I¡¯d been hoping for. I waved in acknowledgement and used the free Frenzy to harden myself with [Steel Skin] and heighten my reflexes. I wasn¡¯t going to be able to pull off using a [Mark] so it would have to be all skill this time. That ced the [Odds Against Me] even more. ¡°He will be facing the famed Jei Su Long,¡± Yora said. ¡°To most he needs no introduction. A prodigy of the jian de and a skilled master of the Twin Rivers Sect Style. I personally am most interest to see how the Iron Bull¡¯s most unorthodox use of a Phnx ive and Axe will fair against Jei Su Long¡¯s speed.¡± That sent murmurs through the crowd and I could sense the bets being ced against me already. Even though unofficial. ¡°Normal examination rules shall apply,¡± Yora said. ¡°A time limit of 30 minutes is set. Highest score at the end of time wins but the first to score 100 points can also be dered the winner. This is not a death match nor is it a measure of strength, but of skill. Thus, a knockout is worth only 10 points.¡± That was a little different, but I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way really. My skill was on disy here, not my strength. Jei Su Long closed his eyes and began to levitate off the ground as thin rivulets of water coursed around him and traced down the length of his jian des. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you,¡± he said. ¡°But I will enjoy bringing you to within an inch of your life. We¡¯ll see how much these peasants still worship you then.¡± So there it was, I thought. What he was really pissed off about. The blue-haired bastard was jealous. I could almostugh. I¡¯d have to use that against him if I could. Silence fell as we both dropped into a ready stance. Yora then cut the air her hand. ¡°Commence!¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition. A spray of water hit me like a firehose, sending me right on my ass. The biting sting of piercing des came next, punching straight through my [Steel Skin] with tremendous force. ¡°[River¡¯s Ford]!¡± ¡°[Waterfall Strike]!¡± ¡°[Stream Flows to the River Delta]!¡± Jei Su Long was going ham, annunciating technique after technique in quick session. It was all I could do to bolster my defenses as I slid backwards on the ground. His attacks were strong and the pain that came with them exquisite. The bastard wasn¡¯t holding anything back. I finally channeled my Frenzy into [Steel Lightning], the ative technique disrupting his flow of attacks and allowing me a moment to spring back to my feet. Time slowed as I spiked my reflexes and fought back with deflecting parries using my axe. I took a wild swing with my Phnx ive and missed him by a mile as he leapt out of the way. But that was my objective. To buy myself a bit of time and breathing space. I¡¯d underestimated how aggressive he would be. Shit, I thought. That first bout was no joke. I nced at the score board and Yun Jen was still counting the hits, totaling over 27 already. The bastard was over a quarter of the way to beating me now. Gears shifted in my mind as he took to the air and then peppered downward with his des. ¡°[Spring Rain Swells the River]!¡± I shieled myself with the broad side of my ive, charging it with [Steel Lightning] at the same time. The colliding techniques sparked off one another, causing small explosions of lightning and steam. I countered with a double swing of my axe, sending arcs of [Frenzied Lightning] into the sky. He broke off his attack to avoid them deftly and then backflipping through the air, came to a hover about fifty feet away from me, hanging thirty feet off the ground. The sucker began tough. ¡°Child¡¯s y,¡± he said. ¡°You see now you are as helpless as that Jolup being stuck on the ground against me. I¡¯ll be doing you a favor by preventing your advancement, Bull Man. No one without flight can survive those Hell Worlds for long. And you can barely survive me.¡± Pompous prick. But he was probably right. Still, I didn¡¯t give a shit about being a fly boy. A Berserker fought no matter what the terrain. I threw a couple more lightning arcs at him and he twisted in the air to avoid them. No good. I needed to bring this fight down to my level to even the score and for that I needed to use my skills where they had their greatest advantage. And for that¡­I would need patience. I went into turtle shell mode, blocking his long-ranged attacks with my [Steel Lightning] technique and Phnx ive. He wasn¡¯t scoring but neither was I. Futile minutes went by. I needed to push him a bit further if he was going to get him to move. ¡°Is Qi Techniques all you can do?¡± I shouted. ¡°You¡¯ve earned your matches with a crutch that way. Where¡¯s the skill?¡± Anger spiked within him just like I expected. ¡°Because my style is superior it doesn¡¯t mean I hold an unfair advantage,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°Every form in the Twin River Style is a Qi Technique. If you can¡¯t deal with it, you need to do better.¡± I chuckled to myself. The bastard just said I needed to ¡®Git Gud¡¯. ¡°Alright then!¡± I shouted, charging forward. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got!¡± He began peppering me with his water techniques from afar, but I paid them no mind as I ploughed through with [Indifference]. He racked up the score and I could tell he was getting giddy off the idea of making this a 100 to 0 fight. The score passed 50 and then I saw it, the slightest motion that he was diving in for the kill. I stopped immediately and transferred all my momentum into an overhead swing with my Phnx ive. The timing was wless. Jei Su Long zoomed in fullymitted only to find the weighted tip of my ive crashing down on him in the ce he¡¯d thought I¡¯d be. The move took the entire crowd by surprise and a collective gasp of shocked filled the air at the surprise reversal. He bounced off the ground in a daze and I used the opportunity to switch gears and close in with rapid strikes from my axe. I chopped into him again and again, evening the score with Frenzy-heightened speed. I could easily have killed him. His body cultivation was nowhere near mine. Unlike me, all his hits had been killing blowspared to my love taps, but I was out for score not death. By the time he came to himself I was up by 30. Sparks and lightning flew as he went into a series of quick parries to defend himself. I switched it up going for heavy strikes with my axe to force him into another retreat. It worked. With a burst of water, Jei Su Long flew to the side to avoid the strike, but my overhead swing with my Phnx ive was already well underway. With a twist of my waist, I adjusted my aim at just thest second, redirecting the tip of my de tond exactly where his dodge took him. The shock on his face was priceless as the ive came crashing down on him again. He blocked at thest moment, but that gave me ample time to get in four or five more hits with my axe. I repeated the move once more, controlling him like a rat in a maze as my ive found him again. The crowd roared with delight. A group of ck-Robed Sullieds threw their own Phnx ives in the air with a salute. Words of praise came with the lemonade now spewing from their hearts and souls. ¡°The Iron Bull is a ive master!¡± ¡°He must have been here before!¡± ¡°Spot on timing!¡± The words encouraged even me more than the fresh Frenzy and I said a little prayer of thanks to the Great ive Master himself, Old Iron Pot Wong, for teaching me so well. Jei Su Long was now battered and bleeding, his hands low with fatigue. We both nced at the scoreboard.
Iron Bull Jei Su Long
58 61
¡°You¡¯re just like that woman,¡± he spat. ¡°Full of honor-less tricks.¡± ¡°You¡¯re one to speak.¡± I said, hefting my ive onto my shoulder with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Going all out in a practice match with death blows? Nice form.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you all out!¡± Releasing a cry, Jei Su Long surged back towards me, luminescent water shimmering upon his des. ¡°[Heavenly River! Twin Tides Fall]!¡± He came swooping in with des twirling with radiance. I raised my axe to parry but as our weapons met with sparks, the luminescent water passed straight through them andnded on my chest. Ice chilled my body instantly as my me was nearly put out. Shit! A spiritual attack? It was so unexpected that the next three hits nearly did me in. Jei Su Long sensed my weakness and pressed on with a cackle. ¡°You are weak in mind and spirit, Bull Man!¡± he cried in my face. ¡°Your defeat this day will be permanent!¡± Son of a bitch! I thought. The bastard was going for a killing blow of a different kind. He was looking to damage my core. Thoughts of Fia¡¯s mom shed through my mind and the raw indignation of her suffering spurred me on. This wasn¡¯t just an arrogant cultivator looking for a win. This was a vile bastard looking to inflict cruelty and suffering in the long term. Just like Lo Fang. I tapped into the memory like a mantra, summoned the root of my Dao. ¡°So you want to y dirty pool, huh?¡± I cycled my Frenzy, summoning the [Soul Shield] technique. Instantly it red around my me, protecting it from Jei Su Long¡¯s attacks. I then looked inward, slipping inside my own mind to summon my connection to the Struggler. My blue [Spectral Body] superimposed itself over my form and the crowd gasped again with the demonstration of power. I nced at the score as he continued to get hit after hit.
Iron Bull Jei Su Long
58 63
Iron Bull Jei Su Long
58 65
It didn¡¯t matter. I needed only one good hit now. Dropping my weapons, I pushed straight into his attacks, taking a final hit to the chest that I brushed off with [Steel Lightning] and [Indifference]. Jei Su Long¡¯s eyes went wide with confusion and terror as I jumped right into his face. ¡°Think you¡¯re the only one skilled in the spiritual realm?¡± I shouted as I drew back my arm to strike. ¡°Feel the [Struggler¡¯s Fist of Fury], bitch!¡± My blue-hued knuckles mmed straight into Jei Su Long¡¯s jaw, sending a shockwave across the ring like thunder as my uppercut propelled him twenty feet into the air. He came crashing back down a few secondster,pletely out cold. Silence fell as I looked to the score board. Yun Jen was staring at the scene ck jawed and had to snap himself out of it to turn about and write the final score.
Iron Bull Jei Su Long
68 66
Cheers erupted from the crowd and I was rewarded with a wave of praise and fresh lemonade. I cultivated it quickly as I raised my fist in salute and the crowd went wild again. On the dais, I saw someone else had joined Chief Yora now. There, decked out in his ck robes with purple and gold trim was the academy president, High Marshall Tzu Li Zen himself. He stood with his arms folded across his massive chest, his one eye surveying the battlefield. He first looked down to Jei Su Long who was still out cold and drooling on the ground and then to me. I straightened and gave him a respectful bow and the High Marshall responded with a simple nod before stepping off the dais. Chief Yora then beckoned me forward. ¡°A well fought victory, Iron Bull,¡± she said as she presented me with a set of ck robes. ¡°It was an unnecessary match but an interesting one. Congrattions on your ascension to ck Robe.¡± I bowed to her as I received my new robes. Or my ¡®old¡¯ ones, if I were being more urate. I was finally back to where I should have started from. But as another round of apuse hailed me, I couldn¡¯tin. I¡¯d had a little detour but I¡¯d made some great gains along the way. A few of which were in the crowd cheering me on now. I waved to Tu¡¯lok and Blue Rose along with Chu Ren and Lo Ren. Pretty decent friends despite finding them in a damn prison. The me had a funny way of working sometimes. I wondered where it would lead me next. ¡°The real training begins for you now, Iron Bull,¡± Chief Yora said as if reading my thoughts. ¡°You¡¯ve proven you are capable, but now you¡¯ll take your first step to bing a true Legionnaire.¡± She then looked me briefly up and down. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the day off to tend to those wounds,¡± she said. ¡°But tomorrow, I expect you to be at the front of my ss. You¡¯re dismissed.¡± Book 3: Chapter 27 Tu¡¯lok was the first to greet me when the crowd disbursed. The grey skinned giant patted me heartily on the back with a toothy grin. ¡°You¡¯ve impressed the hell out of all of us Phnx hopefuls. Where did you learn to wield a ive like that?¡± I smiled at thepliment. ¡°An old dude named Iron Pot Wong. A semi-celebrity where I¡¯m from. He was a simple soldier, though and still an Iron bracket contender believe it or not.¡± ¡°Thems are the best kind,¡± another sullied Tribute said, joining Tu¡¯lok by his side. ¡°A great disy of skills, Iron Bull. Wee to the ck Robes.¡± More of whom I was quickly starting to dub the ¡®Phnx Crew¡¯ made themselves known, greeting me with respect for my skills. Most were sullied and there was even a white-haired woman amongst them who I desperately wanted to ask if she was rted to Threja, but thankfully my better sense prevailed, and I kept my mouth shut as she smiled and gave me a nod of respect. Blue Rose gave me a nod and a smile as well as she approached and then unexpectantly, she held out her hand for a fist bump. ¡°Nice job,¡± she said. ¡°But I still managed to piss him off way more than you, in my fight.¡± As she looked back towards the ring, Jei Su Long was being lifted to his feet by a couple of his ck Robed contemporaries. He was drooling blood as he slowly came around and I wondered if I hadn¡¯t given him a Gui Zu style smile. He avoided eye contact as his buddies dragged him past us, but inside I could sense Jei Su Long¡¯s anger and hate. I knew then what kind of person I was truly dealing with.He wasn¡¯t one to be humbled like Zu Tien. He would turn this humiliation into hostility and revenge. I chuckled at the irony of it. I was the same, in a way. Only difference was that I punched up at my oppressors while he punched down at those weaker than himself. Or those he thought were weak, anyway. I felt a sudden re of my me, a new inner truth revealed. ¡°Congrattions on your victory,¡± someone said, and I stirred from my inner thoughts to see a mousey looking guy with a bowl haircut and sses smiling up at me. ¡°I am Wing Pho,¡± he said. ¡°A recent arrival to Du Bok Ghong.¡± He gave me a bow and I stared puzzled at his ck robes. ¡°You make me d that I will never have to pass such an exam to earn my ranking here,¡± he said with augh. ¡°Although I will admit my cowardice shamelessly. I am no fighter. Especially not one as talented as you.¡± I returned his bow awkwardly. ¡°Yeah¡­ah. Thanks. No worries.¡± I took another look at his spectacles. ¡°You a schr or something then?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± he said with another bow. ¡°But my family it seems has a senseless tradition of only passing inheritance on to Diamond Bracket champions. Sadly, for my father I was his only male heir. Hence my presence here.¡± Heughed again, pushing up his sses. We all chuckled stiltedly with him. It was hard to ce just how old Wing Pho was. He could pass for thirty for his cleanly shaven and slightly pudgy baby face, but he had a slight bit of gray at his temples as well. Theughing died down and then he shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Anyway, I hope we run into one another again,¡± he said with another bow. ¡°Salutations.¡± And with that he ran off to catch up with the two ck Robes helping Jei Su Long. ¡°Another Token ck Robe,¡± Tu¡¯lok said with a hint of disdain. ¡°They all stick together in that group. Even the new ones, it seems.¡± ¡°Those two carrying him are Token¡¯s also?¡± Blue Rose asked. Tu¡¯lok nodded. ¡°This Wing Pho¡¯s one of the worst I¡¯ve seen though. A damn schr? No question he¡¯ll likely never leave the prison much less step foot on a Hell World to earn his Diamond Bracket status.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well, he seems harmless enough,¡± I said. ¡°And don¡¯t discount the powers of a schr. One of my best friends is one, and hell, this one time my fianc¨¦ got pegged for a mass murder because of the skills of a Grand Sage. Mind you, it was really me who did the killing, but I left some evidence that led right back to her. Not on purpose mind you. Well sort of on purpose.¡± Both Tu¡¯lok and Blue Rose stared at me ck jawed in silence. ¡°Is that true, Iron Bull?¡± A new voice. I looked behind me to see Lo Ren and Chu Ren, Chu having asked the question. ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Kind of a long story, but it all worked out in the end. Don¡¯t worry. She still decided to marry me after all.¡± He merelyughed. ¡°There is nothing about you that is not surprising, Master Iron Bull. Amazing disy of skill just now. Congrattions.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, returning his bow. ¡°We should celebrate,¡± Lo Ren said. ¡°I have just the thing.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®we¡¯,¡± Tu¡¯lok said crossing his arms imposingly before them. ¡°We can¡¯t be fraternizing with you Brown Robes. And what do you mean celebrate? We are still in a prison, you know?¡± ¡°Hey,¡± I said draping my arm over Lo Ren¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Once a brown robe, always a brown robe, I say. I won¡¯t forget my pigshit-shoveling roots so easily. Right, Rose?¡± Blue Roseughed. ¡°Gods that was awful. They must be the worse smelling animals in the empire.¡± ¡°Still,¡± Tu¡¯lok, still the straight shooter I¡¯me to know him to be. ¡°Rules remain. The academy will frown on this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more interested in this celebrating,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°What did you have in mind, Lo Ren?¡± The two brothers grinned at one another. ¡°There are perks to being responsible for the fruits and grains of the academy,¡± Lo Ren said and then ncing about he revealed a small y bottle in his robes. ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± Blue Rose asked. ¡°It¡¯s taste quite awful,¡± Lo Ren said. ¡°But it¡¯ll do the trick.¡± ¡°Count me in,¡± Blue Rose said without hesitation. Tu¡¯lok shook his head. ¡°This could lead to big trouble on so many levels.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be such a pussy,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°Plus, the Iron Bull deserves a celebration after beating that ass, Jei Su Long.¡± ¡°Damn right he does,¡± Lo Ren said and then he looked to me for some kind of confirmation. Every instinct said Tu¡¯lok was probably right. But to hell with it. I¡¯d done dumber shit than this before and having some true recreation after all these weeks was sounding mighty fine. ¡°Okay, but just a couple of drinks,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t afford to get busted down in rank right now.¡± Blue Rose elbowed me. ¡°What happened to all that ¡®once a Brown Robe always a Brown Robe¡¯ crap just now, huh?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Emphasis on the once part.¡± We allughed. ¡°Meet us in the grain shed just after chow, then,¡± Lo Ren said. ¡°We can get a few hours of drinking in before theye looking for us at lights out.¡± * * * A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition. With our pact for mischief sealed, we went our separate ways for the morning, Chu Ren and Lo Ren heading to the fields while Blue Rose and Tu¡¯lok went to their training sses as ck Robes. I headed to the infirmary. Upon entering, I had to avoid Jei Su Long and the Token ck Robe posse, as they eyed me from the opposite side of the stone walled infirmary. Only the new guy Wing Pho waved to me, oblivious to the beef now set between our two mini ns. I waited my turn as the healers tended to Jei Su Long and to my delight it looked like I did chip a couple of his teeth. Not Gui Zu level, but enough to make him remember that uppercut for a while I hoped. As they departed, Jei Su Long stopped as he passed me. ¡°Don¡¯t think that win was justified,¡± he said. ¡°You had to resort to tricks to win. No different than that ugly woman you¡¯re always with.¡± This guy¡­ I thought. I could let it slide but to hell with him. ¡°You ever think that maybe the problem is that you fall for too many tricks?¡± I said. ¡°Start getting a clue, dumb ass. And for your information, Blue Rose is best looking woman in this joint. Not that a shrimp dick like you would ever have a chance with her.¡± His anger spiked and he bit his lip like he wanted to fight me again, but I didn¡¯t even look at him, keeping my head straight with [Indifference]. ¡°Go on and throw the first punch if you dare,¡± I said with [Fear the me]. ¡°I¡¯m ready for round two anytime.¡± A few intense seconds went by and I was rewarded with a rivulet of fear leaking from inside of him. ¡°We should probably get you to your room, Master Jei Su Long,¡± Wing Pho said with a smile and augh to break the tension. ¡°Come on now?¡± Wing Pho gave me another apologetic bow as he ushered Jei Su Long pass me out of the room. As predicted, I thought. Jei Su Long truly didn¡¯t know how to take an ¡®L¡¯. It wasn¡¯t over between us. Not by a long shot. The healing masters saw to me next and after a quick patch up with some healing salve I left to find my new digs in the ck Robe Barracks. They were located on the upper floor of the prison and after some inquiries I found a room on the same wing as Tu¡¯lok and down the hall from Blue Rose. I then hopped onto my cot for some rest and meditation. I was honestly grateful I had managed to beat Jei Su Long as publicly as I did, even if it would never register with him. But even more so, I was thankful I had managed toe up with a new technique right on spot from it. I¡¯d never thought about summoning the [Spectral Body] technique for a single strike, but I¡¯d done it and had even given it an inspirational name to boot. The [Struggler¡¯s Fist of Fury]. I was certain the Struggler was well pleased with it too. Because I know I was. Punching that bastard in the jaw was satisfying as hell. I spent the next couple of hours trying to perfect it despite my wounds. It was mostly spiritual work anyway and I kept my body movements to a minimum. I then had the idea to create a whole repertoire around the idea, utilizing the [Struggler¡¯s Fury] as a cornerstone. I grabbed some paper and began to scribble down the concept,ing up with attacks utilizing my [Spectral Weapons] as well. [Struggler¡¯s Cleave of Fury] for the Axe and [Strugglers sh of Fury] for my ive. I then had the idea to add [Frenzied Lightning] to the mix. ¡°[Struggler¡¯s Lightning Cleave of Fury],¡± I said the technique out loud. Yeah, that sounds cool as hell, I thought. It would be one hell of a Frenzy Hog of an attack however, but man would it be worth it to do both physical, lightning and spiritual damage in a single hit. And it would be a heck of a lot faster and more Frenzy efficient than summoning my full [Spectral Body] to do the same. I got to work on the details then, drawing schematics and body positions. It took me another hour after that to jot down all the meridian sequences for each technique. It was noontime by then and while the eagerness of the new discovery had me yearning to continue, I had other things I needed to work on as well. A bit of free time was a rare privilege in Du Gok Bhong and I had to make the most of it. I grabbed some more paper and began writing to Fia. I had promised to do so days ago and still hadn¡¯t gotten around to it. After I finished, Iid back to actually get some rest. While I had made an advancement in my techniques, I had to ensure my body healed as well. I need to be in tip top shape for what was yet toe. I wanted to be in good form to enjoy our drink upter. * * * I awoke just in time for chow and was a bit stiff, but aside from that the residual Frenzy from my fight had done me good, healing me to again increase my gains. I did have to give Jei Su Long some credit for his raw power in that regard. His de techniques were strong enough to prate even my [Steel Skin], although I doubted that he¡¯d be able to do the same if I were I overclocked with my [Mark of the Demon] technique on top of it. I joined a table with all my new ck Robedpatriots taking a seat next to Blue Rose and Tu¡¯lok. ¡°How was ss, guys?¡± ¡°Routine,¡± Tu¡¯lok said. ¡°We did Phnx drills all day. Perhaps thanks to you.¡± I chuckled. ¡°What about you, Blue?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said between slurps of her soup. ¡°I wasn¡¯t paying attention much. A bunch of ssroom work on the history of the Legionnaires. You¡¯re going to have a lot of reading to catch up on.¡± That actually sounded super interesting to me. ¡°What books?¡± ¡°Who cares,¡± she said and then tossed her chopsticks into her already empty bowl. ¡°Are you two not done eating yet? Let¡¯s go.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°Looks like someone¡¯s eager for a drink.¡± ¡°Hush!¡± Tu¡¯lok said in a whisper. ¡°No one can know of this. I don¡¯t even know why I even agreed toe.¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re not a pussy,¡± Blue Rose said leering at him as she leaned back on her stool. Tu¡¯lok let out an exasperated sight and shook his head. But I was looking forward to the festivities myself. I finished quickly and then, due mostly to Tu¡¯lok¡¯s over abundance of cautions, left the table at separate times and then we all met up outside the courtyard at the start of the fields. It was just going on dusk and the Bloodmoon was cresting over the horizon. ¡°Let¡¯s make this quick,¡± Tu¡¯lok said. He then nced over his shoulder and back towards Du Gok Bhong as lights began illuminating within the prison cells, giving it an eerie fa?ade. ¡°I don¡¯t want to get caught.¡± We got underway, creping stealthily through the fields, or as stealthy as two near eight-foot-tall lummoxes could be anyway. It then dawned on me that Blue Rose could just disappear at any time and leave us two holding the bag. It was perhaps no wonder she was go gung ho. The is a risk-free venture for her. We arrived at the grain shed and after making a few bird calls, Lo Ren eased open the barn door to let us inside. ¡°You made it!¡± he said. ¡°Good job.¡± He ushered us in and led us to the back where Chu Ren had set up a small area lit with a shaded Qimp. On the floor were bowls and tworge y jugs. Blue Rose sat down immediately and grabbed one of the jugs. ¡°About damn time!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Lo Ren snatched it back from her. ¡°The honoree gets served first. Here you go, Iron Bull.¡± Iughed and held out my bowl while Blue Rose impatiently rolled her eyes. He then purposely served herst. ¡°For being so grabby.¡± ¡°Whatever,¡± she said and then held her bowl high. ¡°To the Iron Bull on her victory over the pompous Jei Su Long. We your fellow tributes solute you.¡± Then without warning she dumped the contents of the bowl down her throat. She squinted and shuddered. ¡°Ack! It¡¯s as bad as you said.¡± Tu¡¯lok and I then hesitantly took sips as well. Notes of rotten vegetables mixed with dirt filled my nostrils as the fiery liquid went down my throat. It was almost enough to make me spit it back out, but I guess I couldn¡¯tin about the quality of prison hooch. Tu¡¯lok wobbled his head from side to side. ¡°I¡¯ve had far worse. Another!¡± Lo Ren smiled and served us all again. After a couple more shots I started to get used to the vor or perhaps the stuff had just killed enough taste buds for me to no longer care. After a few more, I was starting not to care about anything. Laugher and stories began to flow as we all started to unwind. Even Tu¡¯lok seemed to loosen up and told us all about his n back home. ¡°Unlike most ces, on my world, to be a tribute is a great honor. We train and fight as youths for a chance to be sent, even as prisoner tributes. Our talents for cultivator run thin in our Bloodlines, but what weck in Qi we make up for in brute strength.¡± I smiled. ¡°Yeah, no shit. I always wondered what your home world was like. I had a mentor that came from there, I think. Name was Threja. Ever heard of her?¡± Tu¡¯lok shook his head. ¡°There are perhaps ten thousand Threjas. It¡¯s not an umon name amongst my people.¡± My hopes sunk a little, even though I knew it was a long shot to expect much more than that. ¡°Hey, why do people called you Sullied, anyway? Doesn¡¯t it mean dirty?¡± He huffed out a scoff. ¡°Our skin. When the Yee first came to our world, it is said they thought we covered ourselves in ash. They named the and our people after that. The Sullied. The name has been with us ever since.¡± I felt my me stir at that. ¡°What¡¯s the true name of your people?¡± I asked. ¡°What you call yourself. Do you know?¡± He smiled then. ¡°Vhalheen. That is the true name of our world. But it¡¯s illegal to speak such. To the empire. We are simply the sullied.¡± I nodded and took another drink. It was a reminder that I wasn¡¯t the only one from a conquered world. ¡°What about you, Blue?¡± I asked. ¡°What¡¯s your world like?¡± ¡°Nothing like that,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m from Tenus Prime. A core world.¡± We all nearly spilled our drinks. ¡°You¡¯re from a core world?¡± Chu Ren said. ¡°How did you end up here?¡± ¡°I came as a prisoner remember?¡± ¡°So what¡¯s your story?¡± I asked. Blue Rose didn¡¯t say anything and merely took another drink. ¡°We should probably start getting back,¡± she said. ¡°They¡¯ll be checking the rooms soon.¡± I sensed the sudden shift in her mood and decided not to push it. ¡°One more drink for the road,¡± Lo Ren said easing the tension. ¡°And then good luck to us all in making it back unseen.¡± * * * The trek back to the dorms was much harder than it was getting to the field. For one we were all tipsy as hell and giggling like idiots. And two, it was now dark with the Bloodmoon waxing high in the night sky. By crimson light we made our way slowly and carefully and by some miracle we made it back inside the walls of Du Gok Bhong without anyone else being none the wiser. Or so we all hoped. We shared a final round of fist bumps that I¡¯d passed on to everyone, now serving as our secret club handshake and then disappeared down the halls going each our separate ways. By the time I got back to my room, I was thankful I no longer had roommate and copsed into my bunk in the darkness, feeling light as a feather from all the alcohol. Not a bad day, I thought to myself with a mile wide grin on my face. I was just about drifting off when a loud bell sounded. I snapped up right, the room spinning and full of blinding light. ¡°Get up! Get up!¡± Fear and panic punched through my alcoholden bloodstream and I immediately feared that somehow we¡¯d been caught. As I rose from my bunk and opened my door, I saw Chief Instructor Yora in the hallway ringing the bell. Ah shit, I thought as I saw all the other tributes joining me, bleary-eyed in the hallway. Maybe that bastard Jei Su Long had seen us and ratted us out. I was just about to start piecing together what I¡¯d say if confronted when Chief Yora spoke. ¡°Grab your weapons and assemble in the courtyard. You have three minutes!¡± People dove back into their dorms then, fighting to put on robes and equipment. ¡°What¡¯s going on, Chief Instructor?¡± I dared to ask as she passed me. She stopped and stared at me with a wry smile. ¡°Did I not tell you to be prepared?¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s time for you first lesson, Iron Bull.¡± ¡°I though you said that would be tomorrow.¡± She chuckled. ¡°It is tomorrow.¡± As she walked off, I realized that it was now just after midnight. I must have passed out for three hours and didn¡¯t even realize it. Shit¡­ ¡°Chop chop, Iron Bull!¡± Yora shouted as she strode down the hall. ¡°This is a lesson you will not wish to bete for.¡± Book 3: Chapter 28 I stumbled down the stairs half-dressed and half-drunk out of my mind. I wondered if maybe there was little more than just alcohol in that hooch to have me still under its effects hourster. I cycled my Frenzy to purify my system, slowly ridding myself of the toxins. I bumped into Blue Rose and Tu¡¯lok on the way down. They returned my half-drunk stare with bleary-eyed stares of their own. By the time we assembled I was still wobbling on my feet but feeling a bit more in control as my cycling continued to clear my head. Chief Yora was at the front of what had to be the entire contingent of ck Robes. A toon some hundred strong. ¡°For all the neers who are here,¡± Yora said as she addressed us all. ¡°This is a special night. A full moon. It willst for a week. Under these conditions the potency of Demonic Qi that radiates from the Bloodmoon will more than double. These are close to the conditions that you will face on the Hell Worlds at night. The Demonic Qi at this strength is disruptive to one¡¯s core. You will need to increase your spiritual fortitude to withstand it and the only means of doing so, is to experience it firsthand.¡± A few murmurs wafted through the crowd at hearing that. ¡°For those of you who have already experienced a full moon or indeed attended sses, you will already understand the dynamics the Bloodmoon and the Cursed Stars have on any form of life and how their power is able to corrupt and mutate one¡¯s core. For those of you who have not been educated prior, you will gain firsthand this experience tonight.¡± My pulse sped.If the full Bloodmoon here was enough to affect even normal cultivators, I could only imagine what it would do to me. I needed to sober up right quick. ¡°This will be a formidable part of your growth and cultivation at the ck Robe rank,¡± Yora continued. ¡°Not all are able to achieve this. Only those who develop the mental and spiritual prowess to withstand the effects of the Full Bloodmoon will be selected to be legionnaires. You will understand why this is importantter on. For now, you will get your first taste of its effects. Any questions?¡± More murmurs. ¡°How do we defend our cores from the Demonic Qi?¡± someone asked and when I looked, I saw it was the new guy, Wing Pho. He looked surprisingly calm for what we were about to face, but whether it was from confidence or ignorance I couldn¡¯t tell. ¡°Cycle your Qi through your Dantian as quickly as possible,¡± she said. ¡°The pressure it will exert will push against the Demonic Qi and stop it from invading your system. Stop cycling, even for a moment and it will poison you. If you begin to feel ill, run immediately into the barrier. The more you train the longer you will be able to withstand the effects.¡± That sounded a lot simpler than what it took for me to develop my [Soul Shield] technique, but perhaps they didn¡¯t need anything as fancy as I did as Qi cultivators. ¡°One final thing,¡± Yora said. ¡°The demons and spirit beasts will surge on nights such as this, driven wild by the effect of the full Bloodmoon. They will be attracted to your cores. For tonight we will simply retreat when the hordese. But to pass sessfully and be legionnaires, you must withstand a full night¡¯s assault. To do so, the mastery of one¡¯s Qi and mind are paramount.¡± A full night? I thought. Shit¡­ Could I even do such a thing without Venja to cleanse me? Yora then nodded, looking us over a final time. ¡°That¡¯s it for the briefing,¡± she shouted. ¡°To the edge of the barrier now! Go!¡± * * * The closer we got to the barrier¡¯s edge the more I felt like a damn werewolf about to lose his shit in the full moon. If I started to go Demon mode in front of everyone, it¡¯d all be over. As we approached the ming beacons, Yora began separating us up into groups. Veterans were at the front, followed by the initiated, followed but us the neers and then behind us came the phnx crew. I supposed that made sense. The inner strength of the Phnx Tributes was objectively weaker than anyone who was on the legionnaire path. Having them closest to the barrier would allow them to bow out more quickly. Which meant I at least had to oust them. As Yora began marching us through the beacons I cycled my Frenzy but held off on engaging [Soul Shield] right away. For one I wanted to experience what the full moon effects would feel likepared to the Bloodmoon back home and two, if this was close to what was experience on the Hell Worlds, it would let me know just how prepared I would be to meet my final goal. As the braziers that signified the edge of the barrier loomed overhead, I took a deep breath and stepped through. Immediately I felt the crushing pressure of Dark Frenzy attack my me. It was strong. Strong as when I was down on the surface of the moon. I cycled my Frenzy to mimic what the Qi cultivators were doing, trying to press against the force impacting me. Sweat beaded on my brow and as I nced to my side, I could see Blue Rose reacting much the same. It was a good sign, I guessed. My raw core density and spiritual fortitude was enough to keep up with the Qi cultivators, at least. I couldn¡¯t see up ahead, but I imagined our upper ssmen were dealing with it much more easily. Chief Yora on the other hand lookedpletely unfazed. She walked up and down the ranks, inspecting us casually. ¡°Drop into lotus position if you need to,¡± she said. ¡°But do not. And I stress this. Do not attempt to cultivate. If you allow Demonic Qi into your system, you would be speeding the inevitable.¡± Moans of agony began toe from the Phnx crew behind me. I myself could rte as my vision subtlety began tunneling, the edges bing the ckness of the spiritual realm. Someone suddenly screamed. I looked behind to see the woman who reminded me of Threja suddenly standing and running for the barrier. Two more from the phnx crew quickly followed after her. ¡°Curse the stars!¡± one of them cried. ¡°What the hells was that thing?¡± I could only imagine what he¡¯d perhaps seen. Some apparitions of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz perhaps. I sensed the fear spike within everyone then. The primal fear of the unknown taken hold in their minds. I counted the time. This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. It¡¯d been a little over ten minutes now and my vision was beginning to ebb further. Writhing tentacles whipped past the dark corners of my vision and I sensed the cosmic god¡¯s hunger. A Tribute from the cohorts of neers jumped up from lotus position and ran for the barrier. I checked on Blue Rose. Her eyes were closed, her face locked in an intense scowl of pain. I grunted as my vision shrank further and the horrid shrieks of demonic forces began to invade my mind. 15 minutes. More new recruits began to bail, including Blue Rose. I was alone then. Thest new recruit standing. I felt my body start to transform, signifying the limit of my resistance against the demonic forces. And then something new entered my mind. ~There thou art husk~ Shit¡­I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡­it had found me. It knew I was here. I was just about to engage my [Soul Shield] technique when I sensed something else present. Something pure. Familiar. The faintest twinkling of a Frenzied me shone in the darkness. But I couldn¡¯t risk staying any longer to find out what it truly was. Engaging my [Soul Shield] technique, my vision snapped back to full focus as my me was instantly protected. The burning of Frenzy to maintain it was rapid, but I had a crap ton more density now than I did when I first visited the surface of the moon. Back then I had only minutes, but now, judging by how quickly it was training, I felt as if I couldst quitefortably for hours. The realization was a shock even to myself. The cultivating on this heavy world had advanced me even more than I thought. As I saw more and more people start to bow out from the ranks ahead of me, I contemted faking the same myself. I didn¡¯t want to have to exin how I was able to withstand more than the more seasoned ck Robes. I gave it another minute and then ran to join Blue Rose and the others. A few people were throwing up. The one guy who had screamed was still muttering about the stars and I wondered if his mind had been permanently broken already. ¡°You okay?¡± I asked Blue Rose, who still hadn¡¯t spoken as yet. ¡°That was intense,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m d I was half drunk. I don¡¯t think I could have stomached all that pain without it.¡± That made me wonder if the drinking did have any effect. I certainlysted a lot longer than I thought I would have. ¡°Take a fifteen-minute break and then head back in,¡± Yora said. ¡°Repeat for as long as you can manage. You will not be able tost as long the second time. Or the third. Stay until you can¡¯t stand for less than a minute. That¡¯s when you will know that you are making progress.¡± Grumbles and groans came in response. The guy who was screaming about the stars began crying into his hands. ¡°I can¡¯t do it! I won¡¯t do it! I won¡¯t!¡± ¡°See to him,¡± Yora said to one of the veterans, and he gave her a quick bow before leaving the field and to collect the screaming Tribute and drag him back toward the prison. ¡°Don¡¯t be rmed,¡± Yora said. ¡°Everyone reacts differently. Especially their first time.¡± I was just happy I had tons of practice at this already. It was challenging and a bit risky without Venja as a backup, but I was managing. I rxed my core, preparing myself to go another round. The whole process was faintly reminiscent of all the time I¡¯d spent with Kelsey, doing the same back home out in the wild, only there we¡¯d pushed it much further, actually dipping our mes into the tar ck goo that was Dark Frenzy to enhance our knowledge and awareness of the unseen world. And then it hit me. Strange that I barely remembered it until now. That faint me I had sensed. What was it? Was someone else here kindled? But no, it didn¡¯t seem as strong as that, and surely, I would have been able to sense their Frenzy already, if so. I tried to recall what I had sensed. It was faint. An after image almost. But familiar. Could it be? I wondered. But no, that didn¡¯t make sense. But I couldn¡¯t deny what I¡¯d felt. A me I knew all too well. Kelsey? * * * Kelsey grimaced as the hordes of demons thrashed against her body. She fought back instinctively, savagely¡ªher vision tunneling as she reached the edge of her limits. The Struggler was desperately trying to keep her window of vision open to maintain control. Hurry up guys. Move the sword! She desperately needed the healing safety of Venja¡¯s barrier now. But had she told them to wait too long this time? Faintly she felt it approaching. Distant. Like the frenzy of another me. But why was it so far away? Hurry up dammit! ckness took her and she awoke screaming again. Kelsey shuddered as she quickly regained her senses, the influence of the Bloodmoon subdued. She truly had pushed it this time. As she stood, Kelsey saw the evidence of the havoc she had wreaked. Hundreds of demon corpsesy in by her hand. Or the axe in her hand to be more urate. She limped back to camp and as usual the soldiers gave her a wide birth as quickly took hold of Venja. The harmonic Frenzy cleansed her soul and she exhaled a thick stream of ck smoke from her lungs, purifying her me. ¡°You okay, Kelsey?¡± Harris asked. She nodded. ¡°Yep. Thanks as always, guys. You saved my bacon as usual.¡± He nodded and the three soldiers who had helped push the cart containing Venja with him, took off for the night. Kelsey stayed and dove into her mind¡¯s eye to have a chat with Venja in the flesh. As she dove into the waiting blue body of the Struggler, Venja materialized next to her. ¡°Nicely done,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re improving quickly, Kelsey.¡± ¡°I hope so,¡± she said. ¡°Thatst one was close though. Maybe I¡¯m pushing too fast.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I told them to wait too long to move you,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I was nearly dead out there.¡± ¡°But you can survive nearly four minutes now. That¡¯s quite the improvement from one.¡± Kelsey sighed. ¡°Yeah, but not enough.¡± ¡°And what is your goal again?¡± Kelsey shrugged. ¡°I dunno. Long enough to kill that giant monster that keeps following my ass around.¡± For thest few weeks Kelsey had noticed a pattern with the surges from the demons. When she traveled to the wild, the demon surges in the city would stop and if she stayed long enough at the bunker they would appear there as well. Venja chuckled. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve always sensed it after you have left.¡± ¡°Well at least I¡¯m making it waste time going back and forth between here and the city. Do you have any idea what it is exactly?¡± Venja shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s unable to enter my domain fully, but it is a very powerful creature. One of the strongest I¡¯ve sensed.¡± That caused her insides to shift with anxiety and anticipation. She¡¯d already sworn to kill it, but she had no idea how strong it truly was. Or even what it was. Frustration filled her. Four minutes. That was it. Although you could do a lot in four minutes. ¡°You say it usually shows up the day after I leave right?¡± ¡°Typically,¡± Venja said. Kelsey had nned to leave early the next day as normal. But perhaps she could spare to stay an extra night more. ¡°I need more info on this thing,¡± she said. ¡°I need to know what I¡¯m facing and how strong I ampared to it.¡± ¡°What are you thinking?¡± Kelsey rolled her eyes. ¡°You already know what I¡¯m thinking, don¡¯t you?¡± Venjaughed deeply. ¡°That I do. A quick peek, is it? And best you try it here and not when you¡¯re in the city. At least I can be here to save you then, in case anything goes wrong. Assuming they move the wagon in time.¡± Kelseyughed. ¡°Yeah, that too.¡± She didn¡¯t know if she was quite ready. But hell¡­neither did Max half the time for all the crap he did. She¡¯d be Berserker bold just like him. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s set it up,¡± she said. ¡°Tomorrow night, I¡¯m taking a first crack at this damn demon.¡± * * * I sat in lotus position, sweating like my blood was on fire. The corners of my vision were closing in, but I was resisting the force of Dark Frenzy with new purpose now. I sensed beyond, deep into the spiritual darkness beyond my own soul. Where are you damn it? Were you even here? Am I going crazy? I embodied my Struggler self with [Spectral Body] but dared not venture too far off. The tentacles were flying back and forth, flooding my mind with the cosmic horror of their star ridden eyes, but I held firm. I had to know it what I¡¯d sense was real or not. ¡°Kelsey!¡± I shouted into the spectral void. ¡°Kelsey, are you here?¡± Nothing. Damn it. Maybe I was just trippin¡ª A sudden cry woke me out of my concentration and instantly I engaged my [Soul Shield] technique to bring myself fully to my senses. ¡°Look alive!¡± Yora was shouted ¡°Horde inbound! Move! Move!¡± In the darkness the familiar din of demonic cries filled the air. The entire toon of Tributes moved back behind the barrier swiftly, but I stayed a half second to see if there was any difference to these demons here and those back home. My mind nearly broke when I saw them. There had to be several thousand. But they looked nothing like what I was used to. Instead of the humanoid creatures I hade to know, these were instead mutated versions of what could only assume was the animal life of the. Some vaguely resembled the insectoid Takrids but others were more aquatic looking. Slugs and squid looking creatures that flew through the air. These were closer to the source, I realized. Or more exposed to the true essence of Dark Frenzy. Their bodies more closely resembling the horrors of the divine nature of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. My me surged at the realization. A new hidden truth revealed. ¡°Don¡¯t look at them!¡± Yora suddenly cried, and I could sense true fear exploding in her soul. ¡°Look away! Look away!¡± But for some it was toote. A few of the veteran Tributes screamed in horror at the horde of monstrosities stampeding towards us. Two of them fell to their knees, tearing their hair out as they continued to wail. Yora pushed us back from the edge again screaming for us to not turn about. ¡°Run!¡± she shouted. ¡°Run back to the academy!¡± We started a mini stampede of our own as the horrified cries of the tributes we¡¯d left behind were abruptly cut short and reced by the thunderous roar of a thousand demon bodies mming against the barrier. With my [Soul Shield] in ced, I dared to look again. ¡°I said turn around!¡± Yora shouted at me, snapping my head back forward. A few others had done the same, however and were now screaming as if in pain. I suddenly feared for one person in particr. ¡°Blue!¡± I pushed through the crowd of fleeing tributes, looking for her. ¡°Blue!¡± I finally found her along with Tu¡¯lok, the giant of man shielding her in his arms. Thankfully, both their backs were turned. ¡°You guys alright?¡± I asked. Blue Rose looked up at me shaking her head. ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty far from alright.¡± And that¡¯s when I noticed the wild look in her eyes and the panic in her soul. The same went for almost everyone else in the toon. Shit, I thought. We¡¯d all just stared into the unknown. ¡°Keep moving!¡± Yora shouted from behind. ¡°Everyone head to the infirmary! No exceptions.¡± And as she passed me, I heard her mutter, ¡°And pray you all haven gone insane.¡± Book 3: Chapter 29 It didn¡¯t take long to figure out that what had happened had been anything but normal. As soon as we got back to the prison, Yora split us into groups based on our reactions to the horde. More than half of us were lumped together into what she dubbed the unaffected; people who had listened and had turned away from the horde immediately, resulting in no negative reaction at all. Then came the moderate, or shell-shocked group for people like Blue Rose. The people who were screaming were hauled off somece else immediately. They then formed us into queues, with master Eiji examining the moderately affected people. Wing Pho, who was one of the unaffected then volunteered to assist and after getting a clean bill of health from Master Eiji began examining the less critical group that included myself. The whole time, hushed whispers filtered through the infirmary, all trying to specte on what the hell just happened. From listening in to some of the veterans, surges that size weren¡¯t umon, but most had never seen demons that looked like that before. ¡°Deep Dwellers,¡± one of my upperssmen said near to me. ¡°That¡¯s what I think they were. The expedition records speak of them existing on the Hell Worlds. Must have been the pull from the moon to wake them if they¡¯ve been dormant here all this time.¡± I was just about to ask what a Deep Dweller was when Wing Pho called me forward. ¡°Master Iron Bull,¡± he said with a bow. ¡°Please cycle your Qi for me.¡± I did so warily, conscious to vor my Frenzy with my [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique.Wing Pho leaned closer, adjusting his sses and then frowned. ¡°Something seems a little off,¡± he said. ¡°You should perhaps join the other line so Master Eiji can examine you.¡± Oh great, I thought. Just what I needed. I was already pretty sure that it was I¡¯xol¡¯ukz detecting my presence that had triggered the ¡®Deep Dwellers¡¯ or whatever the hell they were, but an examination might confirm it. I took a ce just behind Blue Rose and checked in with her again. She was still staring off into space in her own little world. When Master Eiji examined her, he immediately nodded and ced her to the side. My turn came next. Master Eiji ushered me forward and began peering at my Dantian as I cycled my Frenzy. He squinted as a very tense thirty seconds went by. ¡°You seem mostly fine,¡± he said finally. ¡°But there is the presence of something unfamiliar there. Perhaps you¡¯ve ingested a small dose.¡± I breathed a sigh of relief as he ced me to the side next to Blue Rose. He went through the rest of the line of the dozen or so of us that were in the moderate category. All but one of us were singled out and ced in the unaffected side. ¡°You all are toe with me,¡± he said. ¡°This way.¡± Master Eiji began leading us out of the infirmary and I could sense the fear creeping up inside everyone as we headed into the unknown. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to us, Master Eiji?¡± one of our upperssmen asked. ¡°Are we going to be alright? Where are going?¡± ¡°Be calm,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re all going to be fine. You¡¯ve just suffered a small dose of Demonic Qi poisoning.¡± ¡°Those things we saw,¡± the same guy said. ¡°What¡ª¡± ¡°Try not to think of it,¡± Eiji said. ¡°The more you do, the more you¡¯ll encourage the poison to spread.¡± We went to the highest floor of the prison and stepped onto the roof. As soon as we did, I sensed something change in the air. Something radiating energy that was strangely familiar to me. As we approached a tower set in the middle of the roof, I already guessed what was inside. Master Eiji opened a locked door and then ushed us in to confirm it. There, suspended on a set of chains was a chunk of Aetherite the size of a car. The handful of Tributes who had gone mad were already inside, basking in the soft yellow glow of the faintly humming crystal. Even from where I stood, several feet away from them, I could sense the Dark Frenzy being driven from their souls. But could it heal the damage to their minds as well? I wondered. Perhaps? Or maybe it was just the same as my spiritual progression. It all depended on your mental fortitude. If you survived, you got stronger when you eventually healed. Or you could just never heal at all. As I looked to Blue Rose, I hoped she fell into the former category. ¡°You must remain within proximity to the Aetherite crystal for healing,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°For you that I¡¯ve just brought, an hour of exposure should be enough.¡± He then looked to the small group huddling and shivering in the corner. ¡°They may take a bit longer.¡± ¡°Should we try to cultivate?¡± someone asked. ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°Do so freely. The more you can cycle your Qi the faster you will rid yourself of the corruption. I¡¯ll be back in an hour.¡± Almost immediately, everyone dropped into lotus position and began cultivating. I slowly did the same, even though there was nothing for me to cultivate from. But being this close to an aethrite crystal, I was starting to sense a lot of simrities between it and Venja. I could sense that same harmonic resonance, but fainter and cycling my Frenzy, it did seem to reinvigorate me, like restoking the embers of my me. I closed my eyes and decided to get some work done internally. Retreating into my mind¡¯s eye, I sat in the darkness with the Struggler and the Demon at my sides. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. I decided not to ask them their opinions on the horde. Even though the demon seemed eager to encounter them again. ¡°Good spiritual insight gains, I get it,¡± I said, and the demon nodded in confirmation. Too bad it nearly turned half the toon insane. It made me realize just how strong my spiritual fortitude waspared to normal cultivators. They¡¯d never seen stuff like that before. But I¡¯d seen enough weird shit to be able to tolerate it now. I thought back to that me I¡¯d sensed as well. Was it truly Kelsey? Could I sense her from across the stars? Just as I was beginning to think on that I began to sense something else in the spiritual darkness. A pulse of Frenzy like energy. Faint. The same as the crystal. I dove into the [Spectral Body] of the Struggler to explore the darkness and after traversing a while I came to what looked like a shadowy outline of the crystal itself. It was sparkling like golden glitter floating in the darkness, its shape pulsating like an ever-changing geometric design. How was it here in the spiritual realm? I wondered. Did it have a spiritual presence? As I dared to touch it, immediately alien thoughts entered my mind. Soft whispers. Far to faint to make out. But there was definitely¡­something. Was the crystal sentient? Just like Venja? The more I probed the more I began to sense other things. Emotions. Thousands of them. Different yet the same. A sense of loss and despair. Anger¡­ I was just about to try and probe further when my eyes shed open, my meditation interrupted by something. Master Eiji was there, waking everyone up to collect us all. Shit, had a whole hour passed already? I had no idea how long I¡¯d been engaged with that spiritual entity for but clearly time had slipped into a whole other dimension while I was doing it. ¡°My head feels clear finally,¡± Blue Rose said next to me. ¡°What the hell happened? What are we even doing up here?¡± I looked back at her oddly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Thest thing I remember is standing under the Bloodmoon when the horde was approaching. I remember Chief Yora ordering the retreat but not much else. Maybe I was too drunk.¡± Holy crap, she didn¡¯t remember a thing. And then I recalled a passage from the texts. To see the unseen is the root of all spiritual growth and understanding, but to do so unprepared is to frolic with disaster. The unseen worlds¡ªbe they the Heavens or the nine nes of hell¡ªneither can be seen by mortal eyes. For the eyes of mortals are shielded with the merciful veil of ignorance. To peel back this veil is to embark upon a path of both enlightenment and folly, for to see the unseen is to glimpse infinity. Her mind was protecting itself, shielding her with its veil. No different than when I had peered inside that demonic gate for the first time and couldn¡¯t remember what I¡¯d seen. She wasn¡¯t ready to see what she had seen yet. I looked about at my fellow Tributes and everyone else seemed the same. Disorientated, memories fuzzy. I looked to the four Tributes who¡¯d been screaming, and they now looked passed out or asleep. Perhaps this was how the crystal healed the mind as well as the soul. ¡°Each of you must be debriefed by Chief Yora now,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°Come with me.¡± As we traversed back down the steps, we passed the ¡®unaffected group¡¯ which was perhaps heading to the crystal for an even lesser dose of treatment than our own. I then pushed forward to walk next to the same Tribute who had mentioned the Deep Dwellers. ¡°Hey,¡± I said. ¡°You still think those things were Deep Dwellers?¡± The guy nced at me like I had grown three heads. ¡°Hell are you talking about? How you even know that name? Aren¡¯t you new?¡± Holy shit¡­even he didn¡¯t remember anything? I shook my head. ¡°Think I must have heard Master Eiji mention it.¡± ¡°Looked like regr old demons to me,¡± another Tribute said. ¡°Not that I¡¯d know the difference.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°They say to see a Deep Dweller will drive you instantly mad. No one can even describe what they look like.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°So they say. They only exist on the Hell Worlds.¡± I didn¡¯t know who ¡®they¡¯ were, but I wasn¡¯t going to push any further. He finally just shrugged and I quickly looked away to end the conversation. I was beginning to feel like I was in that stupid movie, Men in ck. In a secret army fighting against alien invaders but with mind wipe devices to keep everyone oblivious. Hell, even our robes were ck. But in realty there was no mind wiping going on here. Their minds were just choosing to not remember to protect themselves. The veil of ignorance. Their spiritual fortitude was not yet strong enough to bear it. This cosmic shit was dangerous, I thought. Or perhaps I was the dangerous one now. Able to now see the unseen without harm. As I stood in line outside Chief Yora¡¯s office for the debrief I began to contemte what I¡¯d say to her. If I told her the truth of what I could remember, I could be pegged for having way higher spiritual resilience than I ought to have for a new Tribute. But whether I¡¯d be hailed a prodigy or branded a heretic I didn¡¯t know. I could try and fake it, I thought¡ªpretend I didn¡¯t remember anything just like everyone else. Or maybe, by telling the truth, I could be ced on a new fast track of advancement if she realized I was already well down the path of where I needed to be. Anxiety filled me as I approached my turn at the door. Both scenarios kept shing through my mind as I sat across from her. Could I trust her? She certainly wasn¡¯t like the normal cultivators I¡¯de across. She seemed practical. Not so caught up in the bullshit. But she had also seen things that even I hadn¡¯t yet seen. Revealing the truth could be high risk. She could possibly even know what a Berserker was. ¡°So, Iron Bull,¡± she said as she began taking notes in a book. ¡°Tell me what you recall from this evening¡¯s exercise.¡± As my mind went into overdrive, I made a final decision. ¡°I recall the retreat,¡± I said. ¡°The horde hitting the barrier. Not much more.¡± ¡°You said you were from a world with a Bloodmoon, yes? Did you see anything different tonight than what you¡¯ve experienced before? The demons in particr?¡± There it was. The pointed question. But I¡¯d already made my decision, and for a reason that would hopefully benefit me in the future. I had to know more about that crystal. I definitely sensed a presence there, but I¡¯d need to be able to touch it to confirm. To see exactly what was inside. But to do that, I¡¯d need ess. Which meant getting sick again. Perhaps even for real. And I couldn¡¯t do that if revealed the true strength of my spiritual insight. Still, it felt kind of bad lying to Yora. She¡¯d dealt with me pretty straight up thus far. ¡°The moon was more intense,¡± I said, being as truthful as I could. ¡°Other than that. Not much difference.¡± She nodded but her eyes squinted. Skepticism? Perhaps. I smiled and shrugged with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to y it off. ¡°Demons are demons, right? Why, did something unusual happen?¡± A counter-offensive to throw her off my trail. I crossed my fingers hoping it would work. To my surprise she actually answered. ¡°An unusually strong surge yes, but nothing you need to be concerned about. I¡¯m suspending Bloodmoon cultivation activities for tomorrow night while the High Marshall and I investigate to ensure safety. Also given what has urred I¡¯m ordering a day of bed rest. You are dismissed, Iron Bull.¡± Damn that was it? I thought. But I wasn¡¯t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. ¡°My thanks, Chief Instructor,¡± I said with a bow. ¡°After this night, a day off to rest is well appreciated.¡± * * * I left the office to find Blue Rose and Tu¡¯lok waiting for me, both of them wearing ear to ear grins. I approached them warily, definitely not expecting to see them looking so upbeat after what had transpired. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I said. ¡°Didn¡¯t Chief Yora tell you?¡± Tu¡¯lok said. ¡°A day off! Can you believe it?¡± ¡°I say our luck is looking up,¡± Blue Rose said grinning. I marveled for a moment. A few hours ago, Blue Rose was bordering on beingatose, now she was back to her old self again. Better even. I supposed I should have been grateful for that. But it was a bit unnerving knowing the truth while they didn¡¯t. Just another struggle to bear, I reminded myself. The price of knowledge and truth. ¡°Yeah, sleeping in sounds nice,¡± I said. ¡°Must be close to morning now.¡± ¡°Forget about the sleeping,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°Let¡¯s make a n with the brothers for tonight. That brew of theirs is starting to grow on me.¡± I raised a brow and looked to Tu¡¯lok. ¡°You okay with all this now?¡± The big man shrugged. ¡°Wasn¡¯t as bad as I thought it would be.¡± I contemted it a moment. Another night of drinking sounded fun, but I was burdened with worrying about more than just that now. The crystal. Those monstrous demon entities I¡¯d seen. Even finding out if I¡¯d sensed Kelsey or not. But most of all, there was another more time sensitive opportunity to gain some answers, if I were willing to take the risk. ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good,¡± I said. ¡°One night a week is probably enough for me, but you two go on ahead. I¡¯ll let Ren and Chu know.¡± Blue Rose frowned and looked a little disappointed. ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, remembering what Chief Yora had mentioned about inspecting the horde tonight along with the High Marshall. ¡°I got some other dumb stuff I need to go do.¡± Book 3: Chapter 30 Kelsey cycled her Frenzy as she waited patiently in the darkness of her own mind. Across from her, Venja crouched to bring herself to eye level. ¡°Anything yet?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°The moon has only just risen an hour ago,¡± Venja said. ¡°Have patience, Kelsey. It will show.¡± All day Kelsey had been preparing for this. She¡¯s practiced her axe forms and every one of her manifestation techniques. She¡¯d likely need all of them, facing the unknown strength of this demon. She only wished she was as well versed with her [Frenzied Lightning] skills. She could manage the basics with most of them, but mastery still eluding her grasp. Just the thought of challenging something so powerful without being fully prepared put the [Odd¡¯s Against Her], she knew. But she wouldn¡¯t have it any other way. Time was of the essence. Kelsey cultivated the Frenzy the technique produced from her me and stored it within her Dantian, preparing for the battle ahead.¡°I can¡¯t afford to lose another day if this thing doesn¡¯t show up tonight,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I need to get back to the city no matter what tomorrow.¡± ¡°How are things going there?¡± Venja asked. Kelsey almost didn¡¯t want to think about it. Trying to bnce the needs of the sect along with her vendetta against this demon was really starting to take its toll. ¡°Jian Yi is keeping things together in terms of themunity,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Fia helps as much as she can from the shadows, covering for me when I¡¯m gone. But I need to get back there to be the face for the Sect. When people notice me missing, the attacks more than double.¡± She then sighed. ¡°Times like this I really wish Max were back. Fighting cultivators is really not my thing.¡± Venja chuckled. ¡°And doing what you are tonight is?¡± Kelsey shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a lot lessplicated. Plus, this thing is to start affecting me in the city. I can sense it getting stronger each time it attacks the barrier back there. It¡¯s going to break through one day and when it does¡­¡± Kelsey let her words trail off. She didn¡¯t want to think about where the first attack would be when it did. The handler station. Where Lee was. ¡°You¡¯re really starting to care for this boy, aren¡¯t you?¡± Kelsey¡¯s eyes went wide with embarrassment. ¡°Hey! Stop reading my thoughts, Vee!¡± Venja merelyughed again. ¡°Have you even told your mother about him yet?¡± Kelsey rolled her eyes. ¡°You know I haven¡¯t. And you¡¯d better not say anything either.¡± ¡°As if I could. But why not?¡± ¡°She¡¯d probably just freak out. Plus, she can¡¯t even meet him so what¡¯s the point.¡± ¡°She may find out eventually.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Through Max perhaps?¡± Kelsey shook her head. ¡°I told him not to say anything. Not until I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Venja said nodded. ¡°Any word from Max, by the way?¡± Kelsey shrugged. ¡°He was shoveling a lot of pig shit thest time he wrote. Other than that, it sounded like he was doing okay.¡± Venja smiled. ¡°Sounds like he is on quite the path out there amongst the star¡ª¡± Her words cut short as her eyes shifted to the side. ¡°It¡¯sing,¡± she said. ¡°Best to get ready Kelsey.¡± Kelsey nodded and then reopened her eyes in the real world. She was outside in the courtyard of the bunker, next to the wagon containing Venja along with Harris and his team; all set and ready to go. ¡°Wish me luck guys,¡± she said as she readied her axe. ¡°Definitely wait no longer than four minutes this time. Whatever I¡¯m going to find out there, it¡¯s bound to be a doozey.¡± * * * I stared out the narrow slit in the wall that was my cell window, looking for signs of Yora or the High Marshall leaving the main gates of the Academy. It was well after nightfall now and so far, I hadn¡¯t seen a thing. I¡¯d spent the entire day resting and cultivating and now I was waiting for my opportunity to get more answers. It was probably a dumb move, but my curiosity was eating me up inside. I needed to know what that horde truly was and if I was the one responsible for summoning it. But more than that, I needed to know just how serious such an event was on this world. Yora made it sound routine, but it felt like a watered-down response when I had asked her. Surely, if it was important enough to involve the Academy President, there had to be some significance to it. And if I was going to be the one ultimately pegged as the reason for the horde¡¯s arrival, I had to know just how much trouble I was stirring up for myself and how fervently they mighte looking for me afterwards. I thought I was safe to flex my power here at Du Gok Bhong, and while that was true to some extent, I had to always remember what my powers could peg me as. A demon. Or even worse now. A demon summoner. Another half hour went by before I finally saw what I¡¯d been waiting for. Chief Yora and High Marshall Tzu Li Zen appeared far below, heading off towards the barriers¡¯ edge. I had to move quickly to keep up with them. Stuffing my cot with a pillow, I slipped out of my room and padded down the hallway as if heading to thetrine. I stopped by Tu¡¯lok¡¯s room to nce inside and noted he wasn¡¯t there. Still partying with the Ren brothers, and Blue Rose, I thought. At least if I was caught outside, I wouldn¡¯t be alone. I made a quick dash for the stairwell but headed up instead of down. I¡¯d been nning on how I¡¯d do this all day and now was the time to put my non-existent stealth skills to the test. I was no Blue Rose after all. And no way was I going to be able to just waltz out the front door either, but the door to the roof was wide open. I reached the roof in less than a minute and had to resist the urge to try breaking inside the locked tower door housing the aetherite crystal. Even now I could sense the faint voices I¡¯d heard from before. Calling out to me almost. Pleading¡­ One mystery at a time, I thought as I pulled myself away. Depending on what I would learn tonight would let me know whether I could remain hidden in the shadows as a Berserker or if I would be the chief suspect of a witch hunt. I could pussy out and just take my chances in ignorance, but I¡¯d rather roll the dice on being caught to learn the truth than to hide and let blind luck determine my fate. Plus, I had more skills to rely on than just stealth. ¡°[Mark of the Beast]¡­¡± I whispered. My limbs elongated and my fingernails lengthened into ws as I took on my beastly form. With a burst of Frenzy, I leapt over the roof parapet and dug my ws into the soft stone of the outer wall, quickly crawling my way down. I took care to stay away from any of the window slits as I shimmied down the back side of the prison, exiting in thick clump of shrubbery. I then moved as quickly and as stealthily as I could, keeping low to the ground like a panther. My bestial instincts kicked in, heightening my senses of sight and sound in the darkness and I used them to track my quarry. I made for the fields and once through, picked up on movement far ahead. I made certain to douse my [Devil¡¯s Shadow] technique, keeping my Frenzy undetectable as Qi as I neared the two high tier cultivators. I honestly didn¡¯t know what realm they were in¡ª Sacred Soul Realm at least or even higher. I literally hugged the ground as they neared the braziers marking the edge of the barrier. I hid in some tall grass half a football field¡¯s length away, but my enhanced hearing could pick up even their breath from the distance. The moon was high and full and although I couldn¡¯t feel its Dark Frenzy I knew it was producing a shit ton of it. The wilderness beyond the barriery empty. No demons at all. Chief Yora and the High Marshall casually strolled to the edge of the ming brasiers. ¡°Well,¡± Tzu Li Zen said, as he folded his massive arms across his chest. ¡°I suppose now we wait to see whates.¡± * * * Kelsey steeled herself with [Iron Skin] [Iron Core] beforeunching herself into the writhing mass of demons. It was something she had done countless nights before, but tonight was different. Tonight, she was after more than just the weak beings that fell quickly under her swinging axe de. Tonight, she was after something more. ¡°Where are you?!¡± she cried into the darkness, her me spewing Frenzy like a volcano. ¡°Show yourself, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz spawn!¡± She spun in a circle, taking out four demons at once with a modified [One Chop Cleave]. She dared to progress a little further into the wilderness, away from the edge of the barrier and the safety it would provide if things went wrong. Stolen novel; please report. No guts no glory, she thought as she progressed further into the horde. Her [Soul Shield] technique was protecting her from Dark Frenzy and thankfully the conviction of her own me¡ªher vow of vengeance against the demonic invaders¡ªwas enough to produce enough Frenzy to keep it maintained. But she could keep it up forever. Even now, after a minute in, the faintest of a ck edge of darkness was forming around her vision. ¡°Show yourself you damn cowa¡ª!¡± Something burst violently through the crowd of demons, sending them flying like bowling pins. A massive tentacle suddenly wrapped itself around her waist and she was pulled off her feet as it retracted. Kelsey screamed in defiance, hacking away at the tree-trunk-sized tentacle as it dragged her through the forest. Ahead of her she could just make out the towering silhouette of the creature it was attached to. In the red hue of the Bloodmoon its features became clear. It was as big as she thought it was. At least two stories tall with a humanoid like body and head. Its skin was gray and corpse-like and in one of its hands was a huge club that glowed with Dark Frenzy. She immediately recalled the hammer that awakened corpse demon had used when she was down in the basement of the bunker. The thing that made her transform into a full-blown demon and kill Jim. Already she could sense its power attacking her me, desperate to break her [Soul Shield] technique. No, she thought as the trauma revisited her. Not again! The head of the demon was human looking. A bald scalp with a set of glowing red eyes tucked beneath thick brows. On its face was a gnarled beard, but as she looked closer the beard was made of writhing tentacles instead of hair. On its chest was a second face more resembling the demons she was used to. Grotesque and alien with twin sets of glowing red eyes. Where its stomach would be, instead became the mouth of the second face, a vertical maw lined with razor sharp teeth that was now open like an undone zipper and from within it spewed a mass of tentacles, like bowels spilling from a cut open abdomen. The sight of it alone was enough to make her scream. Dark Frenzy pressed on her soul and filled her mind with madness. Stay strong, she told herself, reaching for the spiritual root of her Dao. This is what you came for. The enemy you swore to destroy. Her [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] bolstered her psyche and she grimaced in defiance as the tentacle brought her face to face with the demon¡¯s massive human-shaped head. ¡°Not who I was expecting,¡± it said in a deep, reverberating voice. ¡°But no matter. The Lord calls for your demise all the same.¡± The tentacle began to tighten about her and as Kelsey struggled to free herself, she quickly realized she had just stepped way above her weight ss. This monster was indeed stronger than anything she had ever faced before. The [Odds Against Her] multiplied and caused a surge of Frenzy from her soul. But despite the raw energy, the strength of her techniques failed to resist the crushing force of the tentacle. She had to do something. But it would mean going in a direction that might send her soul straight to hell. ¡°[M-mark¡­ of the¡­ Demon]!!¡± Her vision closed in slightly as she gave into her primal urges. Horns erupted from her head as she released a visceral cry. Her [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] manifestation techniques tripled in strength, resulting in a bit of relief from the demon¡¯s crushing grasp. ¡°You show your true form,¡± it said, marveling at her as it spun her in the air. ¡°Foul Demon of the Traitorous me.¡± ¡°I will end you!¡± she cried. ¡°I will end you even if it kills me!¡± But it was more bravado than anything else. Her system was taxed just maintaining her [Demon] form along with her defensive techniques plus [Soul Shield]. She needed the power of [A Thousand in Souls] to break free, but she had yet to master the technique, much less be able to employ it when her Dantian was about to explode. A deep chuckle rumbled from the demon¡¯s throat. ¡°Bold words,¡± it said. ¡°But your strength iscking. I sought far more than you to quell my vengeance.¡± It then looked away from her and towards the direction of the city. ¡°But I will have it still. I will not rest until every soul in Jurin Province joins me in hell.¡± What? Kelsey thought. This ¡®thing¡¯ knows what Jurin Province is? ¡°What are you?!¡± she said. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Just a pitiful mortal like you once. But the Divine Herald of the Stars has blessed this soul with new purpose now. To destroy you and whatever else I wish of this mortal world.¡± The demon then turned and began plodding off deeper into the forest, further and further away from the safety of the barrier¡¯s edge. No! Kelsey thought as panic gripped her. I¡¯ve got to get back! ¡°I will break through the walls of the city and feast upon the weak. The mortals will feel the agony of this wretched soul. The vengeance of Hong Fang, resurrected to fulfill the wrath of I¡¯Xong¡¯Zhang the Reborn.¡± * * * Close to half an hour had gone by with nothing. No horde. No attack. Chief Yora and High Marshall Tzu Li Zen took turns stepping into the influence of the Bloodmoon, trying to coax out what hade the night before perhaps. As the time went by, it became more and more definitive that what I had already suspected was true. The horde was drawn to myself. And if that was the case, there was only one way to make it reappear. Protecting my me with [Soul Shield], I stalked towards the barrier¡¯s edge, taking a wide arc around Yora and the President. I put myself neatly three times the distance away that I¡¯d been before. As I stepped into the effects of the full Bloodmoon, immediately my Frenzy began burning away under its influence. I didn¡¯t know how long it would take for I¡¯xol¡¯ukz to sense me, but there was one sure fire way to gain its attention. Slipping within my mind¡¯s eye, I entered the spiritual realm and inhabited the Blue hued [Spectral Body] of the Struggler. All around me the wail of demons pierced the spiritual darkness, the rays of the Bloodmoon in spiritual form perhaps. It didn¡¯t take long for the monster itself to appear, its tentacles whipping past me with its thousands of star-ridden eyes. ¡°I¡¯m here you piece of shit!¡± I shouted at it with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] ¡°Send your minions toe and get me!¡± ~Foul husk~ It spoke within my mind, its screeches tranting into cognizant thought. ~Spreading thy putrid me across the cosmos~ It came at me then and I defended myself with a swipe of my [Spectral de]. It veered away, avoiding the hit. Sensing its weakness I pressed on, chasing after it in the darkness. I went in for another cleave and it backed off once more. What the hell? Why was it running from me? And then I remembered where I was. I was in the spiritual realm, fighting what was most likely a mere shadow of its true self. It was biding time. While its horde of demons was on its way. Bastard trying to catch me with my pants down in the real world, I thought with a grin. Not today, buddy. I was just about to avoid its chess move by punching out of the spiritual realm when a sudden re of Frenzy caught my focus. It was faint like before. But distinct. Kelsey¡­? I¡¯d have to risk getting trampled in real life for a few seconds more. I had to know if she was truly in here with me. I ditched chasing after I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and chased after the faint trace of Frenzy instead. It seemed an impossible distance away, but I pressed on, nheless. I burned extra Frenzy to quicken myself towards it. ¡°Kelsey! Can you hear me?¡± There was no answer. But I did sense something else. Fear¡­ Panic¡­ I arrived at where I thought the source was emanating from. It was as faint as that outline the crystal had made. Fainter even. I reached into it and for a split second I could sense a sudden turmoil in my soul. It was Kelsey, I could feel her. But something was wrong. She was in pain. * * * Kelsey screamed deliriously as the world closed in on her. Her body was being crushed, but that was nothingpared to what was happening to her soul. Her vision was shrinking to a pinprick, the capacity within her Dantian soon to run out. She had no idea where she even was anymore. Snarling demons and whipping branches. Cursed moonlight and a million stars. Nothing made sense. Her mind was slipping. The beast had its tentacles wrapped around her in both worlds. She¡¯d pushed too hard and too fast. Her peek into the unknown had turned into a gaze within Pandora¡¯s box. No way to get back home now. I¡¯m sorry, mom¡­ she thought, her mind wondering. I should have given you a better goodbye. Suddenly the tentacles released from about her soul as a thought forced itself inside her mind. ¡®Fight, Kelsey! Fight!¡¯ New energy filled her and in an instant her vision snapped back to normal. She was still within the monster¡¯s clutches, deep in the forest somewhere. But a rity now filled her mind and soul. Her Dantian was somehow replenished, her sanity returned, her abilities maintaining themselves at levels that were near impossible before. She didn¡¯t understand what was happening. Had she ascended? Had she died and was now living through [Death¡¯s Door]? She pushed it all aside to focus on the only thing that mattered now. Fight! ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± Kelsey fumbled with meridian sequences as she cycled the Frenzy through her Dantian, desperate to push full bore the technique she could scarcely manage to do in practice. Her body exploded with lightning and pain. ¡°ARRGH!!¡± The tentacle released from about her and she shifted with [Mark of the Beast] to quickly heal her crushed organs and bones as she fell towards the ground. She spat blood when shended, the transformation taking ce in mere seconds. Groups of smaller demons rushed her and with her enhanced speed she swatted them out of existence with a wide sweep of her axe de. ¡°Foul little creature,¡± I¡¯Xong¡¯Zhang crooned from above her and within its hand it raised its enormous club to crush her. Every instinct in her Berserker soul said to fight, but wisdom came as well. A passage from the Orb. Shura 3 Know this, kindled one. A Berserker can never back away from a challenge, or an injustice which ignites one¡¯s me. Even if victory is unlikely, press forth, for even in defeat, survival is never your aim. The destruction of your enemy is all that matters. If destruction is yet impossible you may retreat to gain more strength and return once again, but return you must, until victory or death. But to turn your back on a challenge or injustice, untested, is to stray from the path of the me. She¡¯d stayed to her Path. She¡¯d tested her opponents might and it was far beyond her own right now. ¡°I will return to kill you!¡± Kelsey shouted up at it with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°This I swear by the might of the [Frenzied me]!¡± The twin technique went off like a bomb in the air, the words of spiritual truth assaulting I¡¯Xong¡¯Zhang¡¯s demonic core. It reeled and screamed, bing enraged at the same time. Kelsen spun and dashed through the forest, pushing through the stray demons that blocked her way. She was still slightly disoriented, but she could sense Venja in the distance. She homed in on her, speeding as the giant monster tried to give chase from behind. But it was no match for her speed in [Beast] form. Kelsey finally broke through the edge of the barrier and the reprieve from the moon¡¯s assault lifted the burden pressing on her soul. She copsed on the ground, breathing heavily, her me resonating with the harmonics of Venja¡¯s aura. After a moment she finally sat up. That voice, she thought. The thing that had saved her and restored her soul. She¡¯d know it anywhere. But was it possible? ¡°Big brother¡­¡± she said as she looked up at the stars perplexed. ¡°Was that you?¡± * * * I channeled my Frenzy into the faint form that was Kelsey, urging her to fight on. I had no idea if it was even working or not, or what she was going through, but her me flickered in and out of existence a few times. It seemed to strengthen then and I sensed her soul once more. Stronger now. Fight Kelsey, Fight! I sensed her resolve return and then suddenly her me disappeared. ¡°No!¡± I shouted. ¡°Kelsey!¡± Before I could do anything else, I was suddenly knocked out of the spiritual realm by something. I opened my eyes to find myself in the middle of a swarming horde of demons. Oh shit! I punched and kicked in my bestial form, drawing ck blood and offal as I wed through several alien-shaped monstrosities. They hissed and squealed as they fell on top of me, covering me in their blood. I couldn¡¯t even make sense of what I was seeing. Flying squid demons and slithering eels. Creatures that looked like giant amoebas covered in razor sharp teeth. I suddenly wished I had brough a weapon with me, but I wasn¡¯t nning on fighting, much less being caught in the middle of a demonic swarm. I struggled to get my bearings, trying to head towards the braziers ming in the night, but they looked to be even further away now. It was as if I were caught in a rip current made of monsters. Suddenly a brilliant light shed from the sky as a powerful voice filled the air. ¡°[Monarch¡¯s Reign! Glorious Fist of the Heavenly Throne]!¡± An enormous translucent forearm three stories high punched into the ground a couple hundred yards away. A detonation like an atomic bomb went off, sending a massive shockwave ring outwards, consuming the demons like kindling. It was all I could do to summon [Steel Lightning] and [Steel Skin] to absorb the attack, crossing my arms in front of me as the shockwave hit. Blinding pain broke through all my techniques as I went flying head over heels into the barrier zone. I cked out for a second as I hit the ground. When I reopened my eyes a few momentster, I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing. The entire wastnd was on fire, thousands of demon corpses burning in the night. As I struggled to stand, a new presence filled my senses. I nced upwards to see a literal god hanging in the night sky above me. High Marshall Tzu Li Zen was standing in mid-air with his arms folded, ring down at me. He only barely resembled what he looked like before. He was twice the size he¡¯d been and radiated with a powerful glowing aura, his eyes a brilliant white. Gone were his normal robes, reced by cosmic armor that looked like glowing runes that superimposed itself over his bare skin, which was now metallic bronze instead of its normal tan. His red beard glowed like embers¡ªhis white hair flowing majestically as if underwater. I looked back to the wastnd and the burning demons. Holt shit¡­he killed all of them in a single technique? I fell to one knee, unable to suppress my awe. I¡¯d only seen power like this once before. Back when eight-year-old me watched the Earth be destroyed by cultivators as powerful as gods. And clearly High Marshall Tzu Li Zen was one of them. Chief Yora then appeared at my side, hands tucked behind her back. ¡°Good evening to you, Master Iron Bull,¡± she said, her tone even, her countenance unreadable. ¡°It appears you are outside after curfew.¡± I nced between her and Tzu Li Zen, the realization of my screw up bing clear as my awe began to subside. ¡°You have much exining to do,¡± Tzu Li Zen said, his voice like thunder. ¡°I suggest you speak quickly.¡± Book 3: Chapter 31 My mind raced as I stood under interrogation by the most powerful cultivator I¡¯d ever seen. I could kick myself for even getting caught, to be honest, but that was the price I had to pay for needing to find Kelsey in the spiritual realm, I supposed. I still wasn¡¯t sure what had happened, or if she was even alright. Her me seemed to get stronger o9nce second, but then it simply disappeared. I had no idea what that meant. I prayed she was still okay, wherever she was and whatever she was doing. But as for me, I had challenges of my own to deal with right now. Thankfully there was some luck on my side. Getting temporarily knocked out had by Tzu Li Zen¡¯s Heavenly Fist technique had disabled my [Beast] form, otherwise there would be more than just questions about curfew being asked. But Chief Yora was already asking more than just that. Asking why I was here was only the opener. Precious seconds went by as my mind went into overdrive. Whatever I would say next would determine the fate of my Path. And for all I¡¯d done, I still didn¡¯t have any real answers which had been the whole point of taking the risk. Now I¡¯de up with nothing. Shit¡­maybe this was a total ¡®chun¡¯ move after all, I thought. Being sneaky and deceptive definitely wasn¡¯t my strong point, or a feature of my Berserker Path. Perhaps that¡¯s why I¡¯d fail. Maybe being straight forward and upfront was the only way to go. Screw the consequences. Berserker style. And for as dead to rights as I could be right now, maybe telling as much truth as possible would be a good thing. ¡°I was curious,¡± I said eventually. ¡°When you mentioned heading out here with the President, I wanted to know for myself what those demons were.¡± Chief Yora gave a little smirk. ¡°So you did lie then. About what you had seen.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I suppose so¡­ yes.¡± ¡°Why?¡± The million-dor question. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to be thought of as a freak,¡± I said honestly. ¡°And I didn¡¯t want it to affect my progression either. I honestly didn¡¯t know what you¡¯d do if I told you the truth.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Well at least you¡¯re telling the truth now. You¡¯re a terrible liar Iron Bull. And predictable. Finding you here wasn¡¯t a surprise at all.¡± I furrowed my brow. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t tell everyone that I¡¯d being here with the High Marshall, but I told you as a test. I ensured following us would have been an easy task also. Or perhaps you didn¡¯t notice how simple it was to escape your room unnoticed.¡± I felt the rug get pulled from under me again. Had the escape been too easy? Maybe. Granted I didn¡¯t use the front door either. But maybe I could have. ¡°A test?¡± I looked up at Tzu Li Zen and then back to Yora before cracking a cheesy grin. ¡°Did I pass?¡± I waited to see if I would get smacked for my stupid joke, but thankfully Yora huffed out augh and even produced a bit of lemonade in her soul. Thank God, I thought. I¡¯d read the room right. Yora was just as curious about me as I was about them. If I yed my cards right maybe I could stille out of this on top. ¡°You¡¯re an interesting one,¡± she said. ¡°But yes, I told you in hopes of you venturing out for another look. If my intuition proved right¡ªthat you had indeed retained your memory and seen the unseen¡ªI had no doubt you would want to see more. So yes, I¡¯m not surprised to find you here. But we were both surprised to find you in the middle of the horde and fighting outside the barrier.¡± High Marshall Tzu Li Zen finally touched down on the ground to stand in front of me. ¡°What possessed you to think you were capable of surviving such a thing? Do you have a death wish?¡± No yet, but soon I hope, I wanted to say, but they wouldn¡¯t get that joke. ¡°I was just trying to see if I could still cultivate,¡± I said. ¡°After all your experienced yesterday and still you wanted to subject yourself to more?¡± Yora asked. I shrugged. ¡°I have sort of a timeline to keep. Any chance of advancement, I want to take advantage of it.¡± ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t think you would show,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°But now that you have, I can see clearly now why Chief Yora knew you were lying. You can¡¯t hide what you¡¯ve seen, boy. It¡¯s in as day.¡± I grew more apprehensive then. What was he talking about? ¡°Your eyes,¡± Yora said as if sensing my internal question. ¡°Once you have glimpsed the unknown, they never look the same way again. At least to those who have also glimpsed. The moment I asked you I could tell what you¡¯d seen and remembered. It was the lie that I found confusing. Which leads me to believe you know far more than you let on.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. Ah crap¡­ ¡°The question is how,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°How were you able to resist the horror of seeing those demons? Speak now.¡± Moment of truth, I thought. They did know too much. And I¡¯d have toe clean in some way. But I couldn¡¯t risk everything without gaining some truth myself. ¡°If I tell you, will you tell me what those demon actually were?¡± I asked. Tzu Li Zen huffed out augh. ¡°You are bold, I¡¯ll give you that. But yes, if you are able to behold them, you might as well know what they are. But your secret first. How are you able to resist the sight of them? As you saw, even your upperssmen, ck Robes who have been subjected to Bloodmoon cultivation already were nearly driven insane. I struggle to believe that your mental fortitude is so naturally gifted.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± I said, thinking quickly. ¡°As I told Chief Yora, Ie from a world with a Bloodmoon. For thest few years, I have been exposing myself to it. Just like you do here, I guess. I honestly didn¡¯t know if it was helping my cultivation or not, but I figured if the Bloodmoon could make spirit beasts it could somehow make me stronger. So¡­I guess it worked?¡± They both paused, looking to one another as their eyes widened. ¡°And you were simply allowed to do this?¡± Yora asked. I shrugged. ¡°More or less.¡± ¡°How?¡± Tzu Li Zen asked. ¡°Bloodmoon zones are restricted by imperialw.¡± ¡°I was a handler for many years,¡± I said. ¡°We have special ess privileges to the wild. I abused mine a little, I suppose. I did it in secret.¡± Another pause, but I didn¡¯t sense they weren¡¯t buying it. It was pretty much the truth anyway. Minus the actual cultivation method of course. ¡°You took an incredible risk,¡± Chief Yora said. ¡°As you perhaps no doubt understand now. You are lucky toe this far. Especially without the aid of an aetherite crystal to heal you.¡± I grinned like the chun I was. ¡°I just got lucky, I guess.¡± ¡°What have you seen?¡± Tzu Li Zen asked. ¡°While under its effects.¡± Another crucial question, but one I had to take care in answering. Tzu Li Zen had clearly seen more than I had, but I had no context for what was normal for a Berserker to see versus a Qi cultivator. I¡¯d have to leave out the details. ¡°A lot of weird looking monsters sometimes,¡± I said honestly. I then pointed out into the wastend of burning corpses. ¡°Some like those, I guess. Nothing specific. Maybe that¡¯s why I could bear looking at them. I¡¯d seen stuff like them before. Although just in glimpses maybe.¡± I held my breath hoping they would buy it. In truth I¡¯d seen much worse on the surface of the moon with those gargantuan demons with tentacles for eyes. ¡°How often did you do this?¡± Tzu Li Zen asked. ¡°And for how long?¡± ¡°Like every night?¡± I said, testing the waters. ¡°Over maybe three or four years?¡± In truth it was much shorter than that, but that length of time seemed feasible given my age. ¡°Extraordinary,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°And you suffered no ill effects?¡± ¡°I only did it for short periods at a time,¡± I said. ¡°Plus, our moon back home isn¡¯t as strong as this one. I never went out on a full moon either. We have demon hordes that spawn when that happens just like here. But they¡¯re nothing like the demons that came here tonight.¡± ¡°So you truly don¡¯t know what those things were?¡± Tzu Li Zen asked. I shook my head. ¡°One of my upper ssmen mentioned they were Deep Dwellers. Is that what they are?¡± Both Yora and the High Marshall looked at one another before letting out augh. ¡°Boy, if a Deep Dweller ever arrived here, it would likely sunder this entire apart.¡± Oh crap¡­ ¡°So¡­ what are they then? Deep Dwellers?¡± ¡°Ancient demons said to reside within the hearts of the Hell Worlds,¡± Chief Yora said. ¡°There are only reports of their existence, but no has ever seen one and retained their sanity enough to even describe them.¡± ¡°What you saw here tonight are much different,¡± Tzu Li Zen said looking back beyond the edge of the barrier. ¡°These are the surface dwellers of those Hell Worlds. Demons far more corrupted than anything you would find on a Bloodmoon. They thrive under the unholy light of the Cursed Stars. They shouldn¡¯t exist on this at all.¡± Oh damn. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz must have been pulling out all the stops to get to me. I had to ask the next obvious question. ¡°So how did they get here?¡± ¡°A new gate perhaps,¡± Tzu Li Zen said and then looked back out into the wilderness one more. ¡°One leading straight back to a Hell World.¡± I risked asking one more question. ¡°Is that normal?¡± ¡°Thest one to appear was perhaps a decade ago,¡± Yora said. ¡°We¡¯re unsure why one has appeared now.¡± ¡°The demons are forever trying to expand their territory,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°Sometimes they send gates randomly.¡± He then looked up at the moon. ¡°Unusual for them to try the same twice however. If this world held meaning for them, they would have long since corrupted the sun and turned it into a Cursed Star, but there is no aetherite for them here.¡± ¡°Do you think they have detected the crystals within the prisons?¡± Yora asked. Tzu Li Zen frowned in contemtion. ¡°Perhaps.¡± Oh shit¡­that was an alibi for me if I ever heard one. ¡°So the demons seek outs with aetherite?¡± I asked. ¡°That¡¯s the theory,¡± Yora said. ¡°And one you will soon learn within your sses as a ck Robe. Cursed Stars only form within systems that contain aetherite producings. Otherwise only the moons remained cursed. They demons then consume all Qi avable and abandon the like this one and simply move on.¡± My me red at the sudden insight. Was Earth going to end up like this ce in the future? Or perhaps even worse? Evolve into a Hell World? ¡°This is why we choose to locate the academy here,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°A ce to train under effects close to the Hell Worlds conditions, but not the same. If the demons were to ever discover the academy, I would expect them for them to attack en masse. Somewhat like what urred tonight¡­¡± I suddenly understood the gravity of what he was saying and felt immediately responsible. Was my very presence dooming the academy? ¡°We should perhaps assume it¡¯s random for now,¡± Yora said to Tzu Li Zen. ¡°We won¡¯t know unless it urs again.¡± He nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll close the gate. We¡¯ll see what happens afterwards.¡± He then rose into the air with a burst of Qi before looking down at me. ¡°As for you, Iron Bull. You need not hide your capabilities here. We are the defenders of the Empire, not its rulers. We are all but lowly tributes from conquered worlds. But the enemy we face is far greater than any noble would dare to understand. Now that we know you already have insight into the unseen world, we¡¯ll put you to use.¡± ¡°Put me to use?¡± ¡°Chief Yora will exin,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll be back by morning.¡± Yora then snapped to attention with a Legionnaire¡¯s salute. ¡°Go a mortal and return a god.¡± Tzu Li Zen nodded at the phrase and then flew away at a speed unimaginable, disappearing into the night. I stood there stupefied. I knew exactly what he would have to do to close that gate. Enter within the spiritual realm, defeat the embodiment of I¡¯Xan¡¯dra. Destroy the shackles around the crystal. Although I had only done that for a gate leading to the moon. Would one leading to a Hell World be different? ¡°Looks like he¡¯s already a god to me,¡± I said absently. Yora chuckled. ¡°Nearly. But he stays here for our sake.¡± I raised a brow at that. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Tzu Li Zen could have long since ascended past the Lesser Deity Realm,¡± Yora said. ¡°But he remains here within the mortal realm to ensure Legionnaires stand ready to bridge the gap. Or at least until he finds a sessor.¡± She then chuckled. ¡°Come. Now that we know what you are capable of there is much work for you to do.¡± She turned and began heading back towards the academy. As I followed after her a new sense of wonder and awe filled my soul. The universe was far more threatening than I imagined. And my struggle to free the Earth from the empire, might just be the beginning of my Path. Book 3: Chapter 32 ¡°Do you really think it was him?¡± Kelsey sat within the darkness of her own mind as Venja asked her the question. She still wasn¡¯t sure herself. But she couldn¡¯t deny what she¡¯d sensed. Or what she¡¯d heard. ¡°It sounded just like Max,¡± she said. ¡°Felt like Max.¡± The towering woman shrugged her shoulders. ¡°You seem as convinced as anything as far as I can tell. Whatever happened it was certainly real to you.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But is it possible? Did the real Big Sis ever do anything like this before? Sense other Berserker from millions of miles away?¡± ¡°The real Big Sis?¡± Venja said with mock offense. ¡°How insulting!¡±¡°Come on, Vee, don¡¯t joke around. This is serious.¡± Venja chuckled. ¡°You and Max both think I¡¯ve been alive for ages like Threja, but I¡¯ve only juste to be. And believe it or not, I am my own person. The real Big Sis is still the real Big Sis and I¡¯m still me. I¡¯m not a replica.¡± ¡°Okay, okay¡­sorry,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But what do you think? Really?¡± ¡°I think if you sensed it, you sensed it,¡± Venja said. ¡°But I have no idea of how any of it may be possible. But it all happened within the spiritual realm so who knows?¡± Kelsey sighed. ¡°Yeah, I guess so. But aside from that, what about the demon, did you see it too?¡± ¡°Only from what you described,¡± Venja said. ¡°I knew it was more powerful than anything I¡¯d sensed before and now this exins why. It¡¯s more than just an awakened demon, it¡¯s a corrupted human soul reborn.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s bad right?¡± Venja shrugged. ¡°Honestly, I have no idea. But it sounds pretty bad.¡± Kelsey sighed. ¡°I wish I had some way to put all this into perspective.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you recognized the name?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Hong Fang. He was nephew of Lo Fang, an enemy of Fia¡¯s Family. Max killed him and took over his sect.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Either way this I¡¯Xong¡¯Zhang or whatever it calls itself now is hell bent on revenge. It wants to destroy the whole city. I¡¯m not sure if it can even break through the barrier, but I¡¯ve never encountered a demon like this before. One that can think and express emotions. Like a real person.¡± ¡°Is that what you consider it? A person now?¡± Kelsey blushed, knowing Venja could sense her inner thoughts. ¡°Indeed, I can sense them,¡± Venja said. ¡°But you need not be ashamed, Kelsey. Taking a sentient life is cause for moral contemtion. Where would your humanity be without it?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± She sighed again. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s the thought that this thing might be able to outsmart me too. It¡¯s not some dumb mindless monster like the other demons I¡¯ve fought.¡± Venjaughed. ¡°Please, you are much smarter than Max and he seems to make out just fine.¡± Kelsey grinned. ¡°Yeah, but Max has the power of the Chun on his side.¡± Venjaughed again. There was no getting around it. The [Odds Against Her] had just increased. And preparing herself to face this demon would take time. ¡°One thing is for sure,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I¡¯m in no shape to kill this I¡¯Xong¡¯Zhang or whatever it calls itself. I need to up my game big time. And if it knows kung fu as well, I need to really start fighting more cultivators to hone my skills.¡± Venja nodded. ¡°So, what is your n then?¡± Kelsey thought for a moment. ¡°First, I need to get back to the city. Check on things there. Defend the sect. Make sure Lee is okay. Then I need to find out if there¡¯s ever been anything strong enough to breach the barrier before. Lee said they prepare for it, but I¡¯ve never actually seen it happen. Not yet. But I get the feeling this thing might be able to do it at some point.¡± ¡°Best to be prepared then,¡± Venja said. ¡°What else?¡± ¡°I need to find out if what I sensed was real or not.¡± ¡°You mean Max?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°It¡¯s time I wrote my blockhead big brother a letter.¡± * * * I followed Chief Yora back to the academy. Crossing the assemble yard we made for the library and after producing a set of borate keys, she let us inside. With a wave of her hand, she illuminated the Qi lighting within the building and then led the way upstairs to the top floor. ¡°This area is permittable to you now as a ck Robe,¡± Yora said as she unlocked one of the roped off areas at the back of the top floor. ¡°But I will grant you ess to something even greater.¡± My curiosity piqued at that. As we walked through the dusty bookshelves, I couldn¡¯t help but glimpse at how many ancient tomes I saw. Untold manuals, histories of the campaigns against the Hell Worlds, new techniques possibly. I wanted to sit down and soak it all up immediately, but Yora had us walking past them and towards the back swiftly. We finally reached a locked cab filled with several more tomes bound in ck leather. Upon opening the cab, she withdrew one of the tomes and set it upon one of the reading tables. ¡°Sit,¡± she said, and I did so immediately. I reached to open the book and she stopped me. ¡°Wait,¡± she said. ¡°Prepare yourself¡­for what you may see.¡± I nodded, still not knowing what to expect. I decided to channel my Frenzy and engaged my [Soul Shield] technique just in case. When I opened the book the first thing I saw was a giant illustration of a creature that looked like a disembodied brain with spider-like legs. Immediately my [Soul Shield] technique red, protecting my me from the sudden insight into the cosmic unknown. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Below it was some script. Mind Reaper (D¡¯Mjulthu) These dog-sized monstrosities aremon upon the Hell Worlds of Vaths and Elferum. While weak physically, they can exude massive auras of Demonic Qi that can immediately disrupt one¡¯s core. Often found apanyingrger hordes for protection, even one can easily turn the tide of a battle if not quickly dispatched. If discovered, they must the addressed with the utmost priority. -Imperial Marshall Wi Chu Lou ¡°Wow,¡± I said. ¡°You have hunter¡¯s manuals for the hell worlds?¡± Yora chuckled. ¡°We do not refer to them as such but yes, it is a manual of sorts. Apendium of the various demons encountered on the Hell Worlds. Unfortunately, not many have the mental fortitude to even recall their encounters if they survive. And if they do, it is normally clouded and obscure. Only a select few have the ability to behold so inly what would drive others mad. That picture included.¡± I looked up at her. ¡°Seeing this picture would drive people mad? Just the picture?¡± ¡°For mortals, most certainly.¡± ¡°Damn¡­¡± But then something else urred to me. ¡°Back on my world, we had things calledic books and movies. Fiction. They had monsters that looked sorta like this all the time.¡± ¡°Fiction¡­¡± Yora said contemtively. ¡°Perhaps it might have aided in your development of a resistance. But fiction and reality are not the same. The universe is connected in multifaceted ways. To see this, at some primal root of one¡¯s being, we understand it to be truth and not fiction. And the terror of that unspeakable truth is often enough to drive one mad.¡± I could certainly attest to experiencing that myself. Like when my me acknowledged something new. It didn¡¯t even feel like new discovery sometimes, but almost like remembering something forgotten. I looked back to the brain spider thing on the page. ¡°Guess our shield of ignorance was too strong to break through being Terrans.¡± Yora chuckled. ¡°Perhaps. Prepare yourself now¡­¡± Before I could even acknowledge her warning, Yora began leafing through the manual. My [Soul Shield] red again as I saw creatures I recalled from the horde just outside the academy. I saw others I did not recognize as well, alien looking things nearly impossible to describe, horrifying and mystifying at the same time. It was almost enough to make me look away, but I forced myself to endure. To behold the unseen. ¡°How good are you at illustrating?¡± Yora asked as she finally turned to a nk page. I shrugged. ¡°I can do a mean stick figure.¡± She twisted her lips into a frown. ¡°It is a skill you will need to acquire then. I will arrange lesson for you with Master Eiji. He is quite skilled with the brush.¡± I was starting to put two and two together now. ¡°So you want me to paint pictures of monsters?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Yora said. ¡°Of what you have seen. We have precious little information of the nature of our enemy. This tomeprises much of it.¡± She turned back to the first monster and then tapped on the name. ¡°This also. Themon name is what we have dubbed them, but the second name is its true name. It¡¯s demonic name.¡± I looked at the name again, D¡¯Mjulthu, and tried to pronounce it. ¡°Duh Meh Jul Thu?¡± Yora flinched. ¡°You must have gotten it exactly right. You just caused my skin to prickle.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be,¡± she said. ¡°You may possess a rarer talent than you think. Have you ever heard anything while you were cultivating the Bloodmoon back on your home world? Whispers? Voices?¡± I¡¯d heard a lot of shit, but I couldn¡¯t tell her that. ¡°Sometimes maybe?¡± She tapped the on the name signed at the bottom of the inscriptions. ¡°The man who inscribed this was a legionnaire of great skill and talent. An Imperial Marshall. He was able to make sense of the demonic noises the demons made and was able to decipher the true names of some of them. To hold one¡¯s true name is to give great power. His insights have helped us many times over the years.¡± I could certainly understand demon speak, especially when I was in demon form. ¡°Imperial Marshall Wi Chu Lou,¡± I read his name aloud. ¡°What happened to him?¡± ¡°He was lost on his fourth tour over a hundred years ago. We have not met a talent like his since. Until you perhaps.¡± My insides suddenly froze. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°That Awakened Spirit Beast spoke to you. That¡¯s notmon. You may have an affinity for these sorts of things. It was said that Wi Chu Lou possessed the same talent.¡± Damn, I was getting damn close to being outed, but it didn¡¯t seem like she was on a witch hunt. It made me look a bit closer at the name on the page. Could this Wi Chu Lou have been a Berserker as well? I huffed out augh. ¡°Perhaps I¡¯m his reincarnation.¡± Yora grinned at that. ¡°Let¡¯s hope so. The president would be well pleased to have such a resource. You could fill this tome with new insights. Speaking of which, did you notice any that you saw tonight that are missing from this book?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to check,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t recall seeing anything that resembled those flying squids, or that amoeba thing with teeth. ¡°Maybe¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have ample time to checkter,¡± Yora said closing the book. ¡°I will allow you strict ess to this cab. You wille here to study further to build you mental fortitude and also to add to thependium when your artistic talent is honed.¡± ¡°Can I start right now?¡± I asked. ¡°No,¡± she said, handing me the key. ¡°For now, get some rest. You will join the upperssmen in the morning as a new tier. You are already a half step from advancing to be a full-fledged legionnaire. You need only further hone your Bloodmoon resistance. You¡¯ll still need to be able to survive an hour or more to do any good on thoses.¡± I was rocked back on my heels. I¡¯d just gotten a huge boost in my advancement. ¡°Thank you, Chief Instructor,¡± I said, rising to give her a bow. ¡°This is a great privilege and honor. I will not waste it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about us wasting you,¡± she said with a smile and a subtle hint of lemonade. ¡°Which brings me to one final thing you shall need to master before I grant you the title of legionnaire.¡± I raised a brow at that. ¡°You have proven both your skill and strength as a fighter, but on the Hell Worlds being permanently bound to the ground is a distinct disadvantage. I¡¯m not certain what fighting path you follow, but you must expand your training to include some form of aerial maneuvering.¡± ¡°Aerial maneuvering?¡± I said. ¡°You mean like flying?¡± Yora chortled. ¡°If that is what you choose. Come.¡± She led me to another section of the library and selected three books. ¡°These are all manuals of various forms of techniques that will grant you air superiority in battle. From free flight, which most choose, but requires great reserves of Qi.¡± She pointed to one of the books. ¡°Then there is this one on utilizing the flying sword or flying weapon techniques and finally thisst one which is less popr but is very efficient¡ªair walking. Choose any you feel you may be able to master.¡± My eyes widened as I looked at the books. For a brief moment I had a shback to being within Hong Fang¡¯s den and looking in that chest containing martial training manuals, wondering how the hell I was going to afford any of them. Now, here I was, having my pick of top tier techniques and all of it for free. Chun, you¡¯vee a long way my boy, I thought to myself. The Struggler and Demon agreed. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to see Master Eiji about the art lesson,¡± Yora said pushing to books towards me. ¡°In truth, that may prove the most valuable talent you can provide as a legionnaire yet.¡± * * * I ascended the staired within Du Gok Bhong in a state a semi-shock and awe. I couldn¡¯t believe how the night had eventually turned out. I¡¯d gone from thinking of myself as the chief suspect to the chosen one. I still had things I wanted to discover, like the voices within the crystal and my connection to Kelsey, but now I could explore them far more freely. I only had to worry about I¡¯xol¡¯ukz opening another gate on my behalf perhaps. Hopefully I could control that somehow too. But in the meantime, I had a ton of new stuff I had to learn. Not least of which was learning how to draw. Who¡¯d have thought my Berserker path would lead me to bing an artist? I was just about to head down the hallway towards my room when a figure emerged from the darkened corridor ahead of me. I tensed immediately, squinting to see if it was perhaps Blue Rose, being so small. But the long hair didn¡¯t match nor did the male voice that came with it. ¡°Outte I see,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°I wonder doing what?¡± My apprehension turned instantly to irritation. ¡°What the hell do you want?¡± I said stepping forward. ¡°Another ass kicking?¡± ¡°I see you trying to curry favor with the Chief Instructor,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°But whatever you¡¯re up to, it won¡¯t work.¡± ¡°Pal, you have no idea what I¡¯m up to,¡± I said pushing past him to get to my room. ¡°And if you want a rematch just let me know. Until then, I don¡¯t have much to say to you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still your upperssman,¡± Jei Su Long said, stepping in my path again. ¡°You will show me respect!¡± ¡°Go check Yora on that one, chief,¡± I said with [Indifference]. ¡°I¡¯ll be joining your ss tomorrow and likely surpassing you soon after.¡± ¡°What?¡± Iughed as his insides filled with anger. ¡°You¡¯re not the only one blessed with special privilege,¡± I said. ¡°The only difference, is that I¡¯m earning mine.¡± I mmed my door in his face and ignored the yells and curses that came after. I had no time to waste on an upstart like him. I pulled out the three training manuals instead and set my mind to loftier goals. Which style should I choose? I wondered. Flying around like superman sounded cool, but it didn¡¯t seem very Berserker like. Neither did flying on my Phnx ive like a giant surfboard. That left air walking. But what the hell even was that? I didn¡¯t know what to pick just yet. Not until I studied them all. But one thing was for certain. No way was I going to learn how to soar with the eagles if I kept entertaining jive turkeys like Jei Su Long. Book 3: Chapter 33 Princess Lunh squinted at the report on her Qi tablet. Demonic activity had increased significantly over thest two months in Jurin province. Or so the heading of the report said at least. Lunh scrolled through several pages of text she had inclination nor intention of reading. ¡°Summarize this report,¡± Lunh said shifting her eyes to Ling Wei who was seated across the desk from her. ¡°What is the cause? And is there any impact to the excursions?¡± ¡°The cause is yet undetermined, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°There are demon swarms reported roughly every fortnightly that do not coincide with a full moon. On asions where they have however, the barrier hase dangerously close to being breached.¡± ¡°Is that so? And what are they doing about it?¡± Ling Wei paused a moment. ¡°They¡­ they have written to you in that regard, your majesty. The Warden has petitioned for a reservepany of army personnel to be transferred from the capital to Jurin province for six months while the anomaly is being investigated.¡± ¡°For what purpose?¡± Lunh said irritated. ¡°In case there is a breach?¡± ¡°If there is a breach apany ofmon soldiers would not save them anyway,¡± Lunh said. ¡°And besides, it will cost a fortune.¡±¡°147,650 spirit stones to be exact,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°The amount is detailed within the report.¡± Lunh scrolled through to see the figure as if to give it actual consideration. ¡°The report said the troop presence would also serve to quell concerns,¡± Ling Wei added. ¡°It would show that the capital is aware of the issue and is actively addressing those concerns.¡± Lunh released a sigh. The only good thing toe out of Jurin province had already left to join the academy. That was her only concern here now. ¡°Respond that the royal treasury is unavable to provide such support at this time,¡± Lunh said. ¡°Besides, the strength of our fortress barriers are well tested. They can handle anything this young moon could conjure. The masses fret like mortals. The Warden needs to get her poption under control. She must defend the city herself if she must. But I¡¯m not wasting money of solider to stand around doing nothing.¡± ¡°Noted,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But the report also speaks of the events intensifying, your majesty. Especially during full moon events.¡± ¡°Then write that they should hurry to find the cause. Give their sages and schrs something to do.¡± ¡°Shall I request that the academy here in capital lend assistance?¡± Ling Wei asked. Lunh raised a brow at her. ¡°Will it cost us anything?¡± Ling Wei shrugged. ¡°A skiff ride for a few schrs perhaps?¡± ¡°Fine,¡± she said waving her hand dismissively. ¡°Let it be. What else do you have?¡± ¡°Another petition from Jurin Province,¡± Ling Wei said presenting her a set of physical papers this time. ¡°It was sent care of a Grand Sage.¡± ¡°What?¡± Her interest was piqued immediately as she snatched the papers from Ling Wei. But as she began scanning through them, she saw blocks of archaic characters written in legal jargon. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It is an appeal by the Terran Sect against a new statute that was put in ce by the Warden.¡± ¡°The Iron Bull¡¯s sect?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°Their barrister ims the new edict is uwful.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°That is the im.¡± ¡°Well, is it?¡± ¡°I have attached a legal opinion from the Chief Justice in anticipation of that query, your majesty.¡± Ling Wei pointed to one of the papers in her hands. ¡°His determination is that the statute supersedes the authority set by a warden and that only your highness possesses such authority. As such it appears the statue is indeed ultra-vires as imed by the legal counsel for the Terran Sect¡± Lunh¡¯s insides suddenly red. ¡°That bitch dare to step above her authority to impose aw which supersedes mine? Annul it immediately!¡± Ling Wei bowed. ¡°Yes, your majesty. Shall I have her punished as well.¡± Lunh paused for a moment considering it. She still needed the Warden¡¯s assistance for the other matter. Punishing her would give her reason to renege and seek reprisal and the Warden knew far more secrets than Lunh wasfortable with at the moment. ¡°It depends on how grave the offence was,¡± Lunh said. ¡°What is the statute?¡± ¡°A local ordinance to prevent non Terrans from residing within the Native Housing District. The counsel for the Terran Sect ims that this has led to undo hardship on day to day activities and for families of mixed origin. She specifically mentions a married couple with a young child as well as the Iron Bull himself and his betrothed.¡± Her heart suddenly skipped. ¡°His betrothed?¡± ¡°Yes. There is also an unenacted portion of the statute preventing the marriage of Terrans to non-Terrans on the basis of preserving their unique ethnic makeup. Such an edict clearly falls within your imperial powers and hence the Chief Justice¡¯s determination.¡± That Lady Silver Tear, Lunh thought with contempt. Was she hinting again that she knew her ultimate aim to wed the Iron Bull? There was no way she would let this stand. Still, perhaps she was also carrying out her order¡ªmaking life for that little girl as miserable as possible in the meantime. ¡°Is such worthy of punishment, your majesty?¡± Ling Wei asked. Lunh thought a moment more. ¡°No,¡± she said finally. ¡°And by my order to repeal the statute as well.¡± ¡°Your majesty?¡± Ling Wei said confused. ¡°Are you certain? The Chief Justice¡¯s determination is quite clear.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Reply that I will take the appeal under consideration,¡± she said. ¡°But thew stands and shall remain in ce for now. Say also that I will give royal ascent to the unenacted portion of the statute should evidence of nonpliance justify it.¡± Ling Wei bowed her head. ¡°It shall bemunicated as such, your majesty.¡± ¡°Ensure the Warden is sent a copy of both my reply as well as the Chief Justice¡¯s determination.¡± Lunh then eased back in her chair and glowered. ¡°That woman needs to know my position and interest in this most unusual piece of legition she has enacted within her province. I shall be watching events carefully from here on.¡± * * * Master Hei Dong couldn¡¯t contain his grin as he received the imperial-sealed envelope from the courier. He already knew what was within it but still he opened the envelope with a fervor to confirm what was inside. ¡°Something important, Master Hei Dong?¡± Ju Gong asked. ¡°More than important,¡± Hei Dong said with glee in his heart. When he read the first page of the legal script, he let out augh of triumph. ¡°Ha! Those foolish girls couldn¡¯t contain themselves, just as I thought!¡± ¡°What is it, Master?¡± Gui Zu asked peering over his shoulder. Master Hei Dong had to admit, he had be quite ustomed to both Gui Zu and Ju Gong apanying him and assisting with the basic running of the household. Ju Gong was especially dutiful and wise with insight while Gui Zu was proving a capable aid in the forge. But today they were serving as sounding boards and audience to his great triumph. And in a household now teaming with women, it was nice to have other men to converse with openly. ¡°It¡¯s the writ I was expecting from the Vice Wardens,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°They have met my challenge and have put forward all three of the Shen sisters to prosecute the order in return for me offering Fia to challenge all three of them simultaneously as a defense.¡± ¡°So they took the proverbial bait,¡± Ju Gong said with a knowing smile. ¡°Indeed, they have,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°For a moment I feared their cowardice had won over and we¡¯d get nothing. But after a month I suppose they have finally worked up the courage to save their face.¡± ¡°Does that say the grand arena?¡± Gui Zu asked pointed to the location of the trial. ¡°Yes,¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°They have agreed to my every condition. The fools have fallen prey to their own vanity and ego. And for their folly, Fia will now restore our family¡¯s honor on the grand stage.¡± Hei Dong threw both Ju Gong and Gui Zu a shifty grin. ¡°Can you imagine the disgrace that would befall them, when Fia bests all three in the ring? They would be forced to resign!¡± ¡°At the very least I would imagine,¡± Ju Gong said. ¡°Their punishment from their Great Aunt, the Lady Silver Tear might perhaps be even worse.¡± ¡°I certainly hope so,¡± Hei Dong said folding the letter. ¡°I suppose we shall see. Where is Fia? I must tell her at once.¡± ¡°She is with Mother Dong and Yu Li in the gymnasium, training Su Ling.¡± ¡°I suppose it is that time, isn¡¯t it?¡± Hei Dong looked to the early morning sky. Normally he would avoid the practice room in the mornings to give himself some peace from the women who spent more time cackling and gossiping than training his granddaughter. But today would be an exception. They would have real news to gossip about this morning. Hei Dong left the courtyard and to find Fia. The practice room was on the far side of the main house and he could hear the sharp words of Fia¡¯s instruction as he neared the double doors to the gymnasium. ¡°1st Form, lotus bridge,¡± Fia said just as he opened the doors and he marveled as little Su Ling went through the ten step motion with a seriousness that defied her age. He couldn¡¯t help but let out augh and cheer. ¡°Well done, Su Ling! She looks as good as you at that are, Fia.¡± ¡°Gong gong!¡± Su Ling cried, breaking character from her cultivator stance immediately and rushing to him to give a hug. Hei Dong picked her up and mad her squeal as he ced kisses on her rosy cheeks. ¡°Father, please!¡± Fia said annoyed. ¡°We can never get her to focus when you¡¯re here. This isn¡¯t helping.¡± ¡°Fear not,¡± he said. ¡°I won¡¯t be long. And it is you who must begin your training now daughter.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Hei Dong handed her the paper with a waggling of his eyebrows. ¡°The idiots have fallen for my trap. You shall face the Shen sisters inbat three months from now.¡± Rhi Dong let out a gasp of excitement. ¡°The heavens have heard our prayers! We will have our revenge in the courts!¡± She then turned to Yu Li and the mother and daughter-inw jumped together excitedly. ¡°I will help you spar, mydy,¡± Zu Tien said bowing before her. ¡°As much as I can anyway.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°Fia could best those three in her sleep.¡± They all shared augh at that, save for Fia herself who looked somewhat peaked. Hei Dong studied her quizzically. ¡°What¡¯s the matter girl?¡± he said. ¡°This is an opportunity to embarrass all three of them publicly and restore our family¡¯s honor. You should be overjoyed.¡± ¡°I- I am,¡± she said, looking downward. Hei Dong studied her Qi. It was distorted. A jumble of confusion. ¡°Are you all righ¡ª¡± ¡°Sorry!¡± she said and suddenly ran for the door. ¡°I need the privy.¡± Fia ran down the hallway leaving them all in a state of confusion. ¡°Is thedy, unwell?¡± Zu Tien asked. Yu Li abruptly stood. ¡°I¡¯ll see to her. Fia has been worrying about Max ofte. I think that¡¯s it.¡± Hei Dong grimaced. ¡°No sense worrying about something three years away when we have something three months away.¡± Yu Li bowed to him before she left the room. ¡°I will ensure she is okay, Master.¡± Hei Dong huffed out a breath of irritation. Still, he wouldn¡¯t let Fia¡¯s reaction sully his mood. This was a clear victory handed down from the heavens. Three months was almost too long to wait. But all the more time to spread the word. The embarrassment of the Shen sisters would be very public indeed. * * * Fia heaved into the toilet for the forth or fifth time. The contents of her stomach were long emptied but still the sickness still remained. She wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand and then reached for a towel to clean herself up. ¡°Here,¡± someone said, and she looked up to see Yu Li. ¡°Thank you,¡± Fia said, taking the towel andposing herself somewhat. Yu Li folded her arms and leaned against the side of the doorframe. ¡°So¡­How many months are you?¡± Fia¡¯s mouth fell open, but she couldn¡¯t find words to speak. Yu Li merely shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t look so surprised. I have been through it myself, you know?¡± Fia still didn¡¯t know what to say. She felt guilty, ashamaed and embarrassed all at the same time. ¡°Was it that obvious?¡± she finally said. ¡°Am I showing?¡± Yu Li sighed. ¡°More like how often you¡¯re going to the bathroom every morning and pretending not to throw up. I surprised your mother hasn¡¯t caught on yet.¡± Tears welled in her eyes. ¡°Please don¡¯t say anything.¡± Yu Li took her by the hand and sped it within her own. ¡°I won¡¯t. But you¡¯ll need to say something eventually, Fia. Does Max know?¡± Fia shrugged. ¡°Kind of?¡± ¡°Kind of?¡± ¡°This is the ¡®curved ball¡¯ I threw at him,¡± she said. Yu Li snorted out augh. ¡°Heavens alive. That is one heck of a surprise. What happened?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t hate me if I tell you,¡± Fia said. Yu Li¡¯s countenance suddenly changed, her eyes growing wide with anger. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare tell me that you¡¯ve been with someone el¡ª¡± ¡°No, No!¡± Fia said quickly. ¡°Of course not. But it wasn¡¯t really with Max¡¯s consent either.¡± Yu Li¡¯s expression shifted from anger to relief to confusion. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fia finally exhaled and told her everything. Her fear and insecurity that led to the decision, her hope that he would return but dread that he would not. When she finished, she felt even worse than before. ¡°Am I a horrible person for what I did?¡± she asked looking to Yu Li for some kind of penance. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say horrible, but you¡¯ve curtained caused a mess for yourself,¡± Yu Li said, but then she grinned. ¡°But who am I to talk?¡± Yu Liughed then and her mirth caused Fia to as well. ¡°At least you¡¯re going to actually marry the father of your child,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°Your brother is yet to reply to any of my letters.¡± ¡°You write to him?¡± Yu Li shrugged. ¡°Su Ling is still his child. He has a right to know what¡¯s going on in her life, I suppose.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a good woman, Yu Li,¡± Fia said. ¡°Far better than me right now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t beat yourself up. We all do things we regret. But in the end they can be the greatest blessing.¡± Fia smiled, knowing she was speaking of Su Ling. ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°How many months now?¡± Fia frowned. ¡°Four and a bit?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be able to keep this a secret for much longer.¡± ¡°I know,¡± she said. ¡°But it¡¯s this court case that has me more concerned now. I can barely fight in this state, much less three months from now. What am I going to do, Yu Li? My family is depending on me. And I don¡¯t even want to think what my father would say. He seemed so happy just now. If I tell him this¡­¡± Yu Lu draped an arm over her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Fia. We¡¯ll figure something out.¡± Just hearing those words brought afort to her soul. It was something she¡¯d been yearning for but simply didn¡¯t realize she needed. She was finally able to share her burden with someone else. Someone who could understand. Fia¡¯s throat tightened with a sob as her shoulders heaved and she let it all out. Yu Li didn¡¯t say anything and simply held her tighter. When she was finally finished, Fia wiped her tears. ¡°Thank you, Yu Li.¡± ¡°This is what sisters are for,¡± she said. ¡°When you¡¯re ready, we¡¯ll tell your parents together, okay?¡± Fia nodded, sniffling back more tears. ¡°But what about the fight with the Bird Sisters?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that now,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°As Max would say, we¡¯ll cross that bridge when we get there.¡± Book 3: Chapter 34 The morning assembly was packed full of all ranks and robes. It was time for another two-week rotation¡ªnewborn Brown Robes joining us after surviving their gauntlet across the desert while a toon of Legionnaires returned from the Hell Worlds and another took their ce. As I rushed to take my spot within the ranks of the ck Robes, I spotted Blue Rose and Tu¡¯lok. Instinctually I gravitated towards them, but then Chief Yora caught my attention and directed me to stand two ranks ahead to rub shoulders with the likes of Jei Su Long and his crew. I could sense the confusion in Blue Rose and Tu¡¯lok¡¯sbined stares as I leapfrogged ahead of them, but I decided to brush it off with [Indifference] for now. Or at least until the assembly was over. This would be my tenth or twelfths now, but each time I was impressed at how the President Tzu Li Zen took notice of each and every one of us, mentally keeping track of who was advancing. And perhaps also who was not. I was no different, the High Marshal giving me a slight nod as he saw me in my new ce. His opening speech was the same as I¡¯d be ustomed to. A wee to the new Brown Robes joining us as well as a broad overview of our mission to defend the empire against the scourge of the Cursed Stars. When we got to the rotation of the Legionnaires however, something very different took ce. Where I expected to see a handful of half-sane Legionnaires stumble shell-shocked onto the parade ground, newly returned home from their deployment, I instead saw only Chief Yora step forward. ¡°Legionnaires of the 19th Deployment of the 5,073rd campaign,¡± Tzu Li Zen shouted. ¡°Give report!¡± Chief Yora bowed deeply before the High Marshal. ¡°High Marshal, the 19th Deployment was lost on entry to the Hell World of G¡¯har Xi¡¯ung. Zero gates destroyed. Zero Aetherite crystal recovered.¡±¡°Understood,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°Assembly! Let us pay respects to the lost toon! To the 19th of the 5,073rd who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the empire.¡± Where there normally came apuse for a sessful sortie, a somber silence stood instead. I could sense fearing from different pockets around me. More from the rear where the white and brown robes were than from the four ranks of ck Robes ahead of me. We were all well adjusted to what fate mayy ahead for us now. But damn, I thought. Only four ranks separated me from my goal. A few more ranks of advancement and I¡¯d finally be on rotation to the Cursed Stars. So long as I learned how to fly as well as survive a night under the Bloodmoon by that time, of course. But both those things were within my control. My advancement in them was up to my effort. And with Fia nearing the halfway mark with her pregnancy, no way could I afford to miss getting home before she gave birth. Less than five months. That¡¯s the time I gave myself. I had to be on my way back to Earth well before then. And I was well on my way to achieving it. ¡°May the 20th Deployment step forward,¡± Tzu Li Zen said and twenty ck Robes from the front rank advanced. ¡°Assembly, hail the 20th Deployment of the 5073rd Campaign, thest sortie to assault G¡¯har Xi¡¯ung before rotating to Fhae I¡¯ung. Give them your praise, respect and honor!¡± I thrusted my right fist into the air in a salute that was nearly instinctive now. The words that followed came instinctively as well. Words that resonated deep with the Dao of my soul. Words that would see mee home after my journey across the stars. ¡°To those who now face the Hell Worlds of the Cursed Stars, we the assembly of Tributes salute you! May we too one day tread the path of death and sacrifice ourselves for the glory of the Empire. Go a mortal and return a god!¡± * * * ¡°What the hell was that all about?¡± I jerked my head back startled as Blue Rose approached me aggressively after the assembly broke. We were on the edge of the courtyard away from most of the masses, but still I nced about nervously as I sensed an embarrassing conversation about to unfold. At first, I thought she was referring to the moment of silence, but then I saw the look on her face. One of confusion. Anger almost. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°How did you advance two ranks overnight?¡± she said. ¡°What did you do?¡± I froze as her blue eyes studied me. Piercing. usatory. I tried my best to engage my [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. I didn¡¯t want to lie, but I certainly couldn¡¯t tell her the whole truth either. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess I did a little better on that Bloodmoon test than everyone else.¡± ¡°Like hell you did. What did you say to Chief Yora in your debrief?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± I said honestly. ¡°I don¡¯t say anything.¡± ¡°Bullshit! What did you say, Max?¡± I shifted to my backfoot, eyeing her warily. ¡°I really don¡¯t have to tell you anything you know?¡± Her nostrils red. ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be, huh?¡± ¡°What the hell¡¯s gotten into you?¡± Then I sensed it. Full blown anger. ¡°I thought we were friends, Max! Help each other out. Work together. Or was all that stick together bullshit you were preaching, just aimed at me?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Where¡¯d you gost night, huh?¡± she said stepping into my space. ¡°You ditched us all to go do something. What did you go do? Did you bribe Chief Yora? Sleep with her?¡± ¡°Hey! Cut the shit, Blue!¡± I said, pushing her back. ¡°You¡¯re starting to sound like Jei Su Long. Ain¡¯t nothing going on like that. And how could you disrespect the chief by saying something like that anyway?¡± ¡°Well make it make sense then?¡± she said. ¡°How¡¯d we go from being peers to you being our upperssmen overnight? Or do you just have your head so far up Yora¡¯s ass now that anything is possible?¡± I tried to empathize with her but just couldn¡¯t. This shit wasing out of nowhere. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. And it was offensive. ¡°I don¡¯t have to exin myself to you,¡± I said. ¡°It is what it is. Simple as that.¡± Blue Rose nodded, looking more pissed off than ever. ¡°Nice. Real nice, Bull Man.¡± She turned and began stalking off. ¡°Well, I was going to ask you to help me learn how to fly,¡± I called after her. ¡°But I guess that¡¯s out of the question.¡± ¡°Go help yourself, Max!¡± she shouted without looking back at me. ¡°Seems you¡¯re getting pretty good at that. Damn hypocrite.¡± I grumbled under my breath as she walked off. Damn stupid woman. Hell was her problem? Suddenly Tu¡¯lok was standing beside me. ¡°What happened to you two?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. She got pissed off over nothing.¡± ¡°Nothing?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well, me advancing a little. Ahead of her, I guess.¡± Tu¡¯lok folded his arms across his chest. ¡°Probably thinks you tricked her into being partners instead ofpetitors.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t trick anybody.¡± ¡°I said she probably ¡®thinks¡¯ that.¡± ¡°Do you think that?¡± Tu¡¯lok shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m on a different path than you two. Phnx is my end. I expect you to be ahead of me. She clearly thought you¡¯d advance together.¡± Damn, I thought. I guess it might seem like a bit of betrayal from her point of view, but I didn¡¯t intend for any of this. But that didn¡¯t matter. It would look all the same to her. I sighed. Just another burden to bear, I thought. ¡°Youing to phnx training?¡± Tu¡¯lok asked. ¡°She¡¯ll be there. Maybe you two could talk it out some more.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Nah¡­she¡¯s too pissed off right now.¡± And frankly I was a little pissed off myself. But at what I still wasn¡¯t quite sure. I honestly hadn¡¯t given a thought to how leaving Blue Rose behind might make her feel. Hell, I wasn¡¯t thinking about her at all. I didn¡¯t have any reason to. And maybe that was the point. But I didn¡¯t know Chief Yora was going to elevate me like this either. It was just another reminder that advancement came at a price. Even the loss of friends. ¡°I¡¯ll see you around, Tu¡¯lok,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m going to take my frustrations out on some paper and ink.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re going to write her a letter?¡± Tu¡¯lok nodded. ¡°Good idea.¡± ¡°Wait what? No. I¡¯m going to¡­¡± I let my words trail off with a sigh. I had meant my artwork, but no sense exining to him what I was about to do either. ¡°Yeah,¡± I said finally. ¡°I¡¯m going to go write some letters.¡± * * * Although I had been referring to my art lessons with Master Egi, I did end up writing some letters in the end. I wrote to Fia of course but then added a letter written in English for Kelsey. I wrote what I had experienced that night and hoped that she could confirm the same had happened to her. That we somehow connected across the void of space. Berserker style. I did all this at the library. After using the key to open the cab I absorbed more cosmic knowledge from the picture book of demonic entities. I spent most of the morning doing that and between enduring the eyeball watering images I flipped between the three manuals I had gotten on flight techniques. I studied each with the same intensity as I did the foundation manual. And with each reading Imitted more and more to memory. After going over all three several times, I was definitely settling on the [Air Walking] technique as the one that best suited my style. But how was I going to adapt it to my use of Frenzy? The basic principle was using concentrated bursts of Qi at the soles of the feet to basically ¡®kick¡¯ off the air as if it were a solid surface. Not jet propulsion like the true flight style where Qi was constantly being expended to keep you afloat. Quick and controlled bursts, that was the principle. But Qi was not the same as Frenzy in a practical sense. It was a form of energy, but Qi could be exerted as a force as well. I¡¯d need some way to simte that through my use of Frenzy. I studied the meridian sequences in the [Air Walk] manual and in my mindpared them to the only other technique I knew that had someparison. [Frenzied Lightning]. Could I make it work? I pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and began scribbling down the basic lightning technique from my mind¡¯s eye. The heart of it was the jing meridian. Next to the [Frenzied Lightning] sequence I wrote out the basic [Air Walk] technique. There was a lot going on at once, with some meridians needing to be engaged by both of the technique. But perhaps not at the same time, I thought. I went to work puzzling through the characters, rearranging them like a mathematic equation. An hour went by as I scrapped the process four or five times, scrunching up the paper of my failed attempts. I was about to give up when I decided to go back through the texts again. The concept seemed sound, so why wasn¡¯t the ¡®math¡¯ lining up? And then suddenly it hit me. I was trying to line them up in sequence. Make lightning that I then sent though the [Air Walk] technique, which in itself was a method of turning energy into a solid form. But the [Frenzied Lightning] technique started with a solid form of energy. My core. Quickly I pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and began scribbling in earnest, not linking the two techniques together but ping-ponging them between one another, setting the connections on where they made sense in terms of the flow of energy not the oue. By the time I added thest meridian, the whole thing came together. A technique nearly two pages long. It would be a heck of a lot to memorize and master. But damn if I could do it¡­ I went to the top of the page and added a name. [Lightning Walk Technique] Well that sounds cool as hell, I thought. But can I actually make it work in reality? There was only one way to find out. I was just about to get up and leave to go to the practice yard when a voice came from behind. ¡°Ah so, here you are. Hiding in the back.¡± I looked about to see Master Eiji approaching with a set of brushes and fresh paper in hand. ¡°Master Eiji.¡± I stood and gave him a bow. He waved his hand dismissively. ¡°You need not bow to me. You are my senior now.¡± ¡°Never,¡± I said with augh. ¡°Our robes may be different colors but you¡¯re still the master here.¡± ¡°Indeed I am,¡± he said dropping the brushes in front of me. ¡°And you will be my student once more.¡± ¡°Actually, I just wanted to go try something real qui¡ª¡± ¡°Nope.¡± He pointed towards the seat. ¡°Yora said to might try to wiggle out of this, but she said it was of the upmost importance. So sit down and pay attention. Your first lesson in the brush starts today.¡± * * * I honestly didn¡¯t know what to expect from the art lessons. Or how long they would take. But Master Eiji was anything if not thorough. It was an hour before he allowed me to even hold a brush. That time was instead spent by me cleaning them. Several times. ¡°If you cannot maintain your tools there is no hope for you,¡± he said. He then exined concepts of perspective, scale, lighting. Finally, after another hour, he sat next to me and began to draw while I tried to follow along next to him. We were drawing an apple he had brought that was now sat on the table. I had no idea how difficult something could be. I had to keep starting over while he continued to reproduce the image wlessly. ¡°You know,¡± I said. ¡°Back on my world we used to have these things called cameras. Did all this in a second.¡± ¡°Your ¡®Kam Rah¡¯ sounds like a Qi Tablet. We could use this too. But what would be the point? The point is to develop skill so that you can produce what has yet not been seen. To create the image seen only in your mind¡¯s eye.¡± I sighed. ¡°Yeah, I get it.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Eiji said. ¡°Now start again.¡± We continued after lunch and went for the rest of the afternoon. By that time, I was itching to be done with drawing. In between the brush strokes I also had a lot of time to think about Blue Rose. Now that the anger had worn off, I eventually did feel bad that I had upset her. I¡¯d made her change and then what I did, probably looked like the same thing she had done to me back out in the desert. Seizing the prize to go on alone. That wasn¡¯t my intention. But it looked the same. I decided I¡¯d have to exin it all to her somehow, but right now some distance was probably good. As I looked to the setting sun a new idea hit. I had no idea if the High Marshal had managed to close the gate, but seeing as he was at the ceremony this morning, he must have had some kind of sess. Which meant they might start up the Bloodmoon cultivation sessions again while the moon was still full. But that also meant now was a very short window of opportunity to gain ess to the crystal alone. If I yed my cards right. ¡°Hey, Master Eiji, I have one more favor to ask.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± he said. ¡°Chief Yora said I should gain insight where I can. I know the Bloodmoon is still full and the sses have been cancelled, but I wanted to take a look for myself tonight.¡± He looked at me oddly. ¡°I have no authority over that. You will need to speak to chief Yora.¡± ¡°Oh, I know,¡± I said. ¡°And I will. But what I wanted to ask of you is if you could be avable to watch over me, in case I need to be rushed to the crystal.¡± His eyes widened some more. ¡°Oh¡­that sounds dangerous.¡± ¡°Which is why I need you as my back up,¡± I said. ¡°Will you help me?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t say I will unless Chief Yora approves it. But if she does, of course I will.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± I ignored his protests to finish the art lesson and left the library to find Chief Yora. I tracked her down in her office and after exining my idea, she leaned back in her chair with a wry smile. ¡°You never take a break, do you?¡± I mirrored her smile. ¡°No time like the present. The moon is still full to cultivate from and I figured there might be more Star Cursed demons out there as well.¡± ¡°Master Tzu Li Zen closed the gate,¡± she said. ¡°So unlikely, but there could be some stragglers, I suppose.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ll let me go?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still a risk.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already asked Master Eiji to apany me in case I get into trouble.¡± She chuckled. ¡°So, I see you¡¯ve thought of everything.¡± I nodded and grinned like an idiot. ¡°Pretty much.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± she said. ¡°I will apany you as well. I will use it as a test to see if training can be resumed for the rest of the ck Robes.¡± I pulled an internal fist pump. ¡°Thank you, Chief Yora.¡± ¡°Meet at the barrier at moonrise. We should know soon enough if the conditions are good or not.¡± She then huffed out a sigh. ¡°And I could do without anotherte night. So be prompt.¡± ¡°Understood, Chief Instructor,¡± I said and gave her a bow. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure not to bete.¡± Book 3: Chapter 35 Blue Rose continued to give me the cold shoulder in the mess hall, but I couldn¡¯t care. I had a major experiment to conduct and I needed a clear head to be prepared. After dinner, I headed down to the barrier to meet up with Chief Yora and Master Eiji. In my head I went over all the things I wanted to aplish. I needed to first see the limit it would take for me to attract the attention of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. Then I needed to see if I could sense Kelsey again. And finally, I needed to ingest just enough Dark Frenzy to be sick enough to warrant a private visit to the aetherite crystal. It would mean me dipping in and out of the Bloodmoon to limit my exposure and keeping a close eye on my spiritual surrounds while on the inside. Thest thing I needed was to be ambushed by I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and me losing control and turning into a demon right in front of both of them. The Bloodmoon was already cresting over the horizon by the time I reached the barrier. Yora was waiting for me with Master Eiji. ¡°You just about made it on time,¡± Yora said, looking up at the night sky. ¡°Are you prepared?¡± I nodded and cycled my Frenzy to engage my [Soul Shield] technique.¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± We both stepped past the barrier¡¯s edge and I sensed my [Soul Shield] re in response to the Demonic Qi. ncing over at Yora, I noticed her jawline tighten a little but nothing more. Thendscape was barren, no demons at all. But that didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t out there. ¡°We¡¯ll give it a couple of hours,¡± Yora said. ¡°If nothing abnormal appears we¡¯ll know it¡¯s safe to resume cultivation sses.¡± I merely nodded again, focusing on the dark areas of my peripheral instead. I lowered my [Soul Shield] technique and allowed the full effect of the Bloodmoon to take hold. It was like taking a punch to the gut. My me roared and shifted like being blown by a strong wind. As the edges of my vision began to darken, I dove into my [Spectral Body] and quickly traversed the spiritualndscape, seeking both Kelsey and I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. After about ten minutes I had sensed neither. I waited a bit longer and the pressure of the Bloodmoon began to truly weigh on my me. I was in the gains making zone now. On the edge of my limitations. This was where I had to bnce increasing my endurance naturally and resisting the sudden pull that might send me over the deep end into full demon mode. I waited until I felt my muscles begin to twitch before raising my [Soul Shield] again to give myself a breather. About that same time, I noticed the first eye-ridden tentacle appear in the corner of my vision. He¡¯sing, I thought. Time to ditch. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Yora asked, ncing at me. ¡°Fine,¡± I said, quickly jumping back into my physical form. ¡°I¡¯ll take a quick break and return.¡± I stepped back within the barrier, regaining my focus. But mostly I was biding time for I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s presence to dissipate. I got back ten minutester and repeated the process, going a bit further before quitting this time. I performed the same maneuver four or five times in a row, steadily building my resistance and tolerance while avoiding I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s eye-ridden stare. ¡°Something¡¯sing,¡± Yora said, halfway through my sixth attempt. ¡°Minor horde.¡± Within my mind¡¯s eye I snuck a peek at the outside world and sure enough there were screeches of demons being carried by the wind. It was bad timing, I hadn¡¯tpleted a full cycle yet, but I needed to poison myself before those monsters arrived. I had to speed the process up. Waiting for it to happen naturally was out of the question, which meant I had to do the next best thing¡ªcultivate a sip of the Dark Frenzy directly. Here goes, I thought and reversed my Flow of Frenzy, drawing in instead of pushing out. I braced myself as the putrid energy pulsed through my meridians like razor des. Instantly my me darkened, and I fought back the urge to shift into demon form as perverse thoughts invaded my mind. Anger. Malice. Hate. Rage. I pushed back with my [Soul Shield] and took in a gasp of air as I returned fully to my senses. ¡°Iron Bull?¡± Yora said staring at me, brow furrowed. ¡°What happened?¡± I realized then that I must have cried out. ¡°Too much exposure,¡± I said, stumbling towards the barrier, putting on less of an act than I had anticipated needing to. The Dark Frenzy really had done a number on my me. It was still darkened when I got to Master Eiji for him to examine me. ¡°Looks like you already overdid it,¡± he said, staring at my Dantian. ¡°Come on then. To the tower with you.¡± I smiled inwardly as the next part of my n unfolded, but my curiosity got the better of me and I hesitated to see just what kind of demons would show up. As the screams drew closer the familiar shapes of humanoids emerged from the darkness. Chief Yora immediately flew into the air, distancing herself from the horde as it mmed against the barrier. She held herself aloft with a whisper of radian Qi, the form enveloping her like a sheer silk robe. I peered into the writhing mass, looking for signs of the alien demons from before, but this seemed all in all like a normal swarm. Demons born of the humans who once inhabited this world. ¡°I see no anomalies,¡± Yora said as she touched down beside us. ¡°A good sign. The President must have cleared them all out.¡± ¡°Which means it¡¯s safe for the rest of the team to get back in the water again, right?¡± She looked at me oddly. ¡°What water?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Sorry. A Terran expression. Has to do with sharks and the ocean.¡± That only got a more confused stare. ¡°Whatever the case, yes,¡± she said. ¡°We will resume training tomorrow night. But as for you. Looks like you¡¯ll need some healing first.¡± ¡°We¡¯re on our way,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°See you in the morning, Chief Instructor.¡± * * * Anticipation built in my gut as Master Eiji and I made our way back to the prison and started the long climb of stairs towards the crystal chamber at the top of the roof. But as excited as I was, my soul was still poisoned for real and I had no idea if the crystal could cleanse me the same way as Venja. Be that as it may, I was honestly more eager to discover what those voices were that I¡¯d heard before, than to merely cure myself. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a good hour,¡± Eiji said as he unlocked the door. ¡°Remember to cultivate deeply. The crystal will cleanse your spirit of the Demonic Qi.¡± ¡°Thanks, Master Eiji,¡± I said as he closed the door behind me. I waited another painful five minutes to ensure he was gone, cultivating steadily as I did so. The harmonics of the crystal did indeed resonate with my soul, but for true cleansing I needed direct contact. The thing I¡¯d been dying to do for days. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition. ¡°Here goes,¡± I said, faintly hearing the muffled voices within the humming of the crystal as I outstretched my hand. I finally put my palm on the glowing crystal and my vision shrank to a pinprick as the entire world disappeared. * * * In the void of darkness, It waited. The Husk had appeared but briefly. A new aperture opened and then closed. Yet nothing, did It sense now. Had It been mistaken? Perhaps. The remnants of the Cursed me were widespread across the cosmos¡ªfoul effigies to the great betrayer of the One True me. But a husk was rare. A husk conjured wrath as well as defiance. The expansion of space within the primal realms was too vast to scour for it. It would wait until the Husk would traverse the realms again. Then, would it reveal itself to It and then It would know with certainty where ity. For now, the lesser Husk held more opportunity. Its location was clear and with Its champion would It destroy the foul remnantpletely. * * * I found myself in darkness, like the inner workings of my spiritual realm. I engaged my [Spectral Body] immediately, assuming my blue-hued form. I summoned my [Spectral Weapons] as well, just in case, feeling the grip of my Axe and ive form in my spiritual hands. A yellow glow appeared before me and in a brilliant sh of radiance a hovering figure emerged. It appeared to be female, a naked form with flowing golden hair. Her body was made of the same glowing skin. As soon as she appeared a deep sorrow resonated within my soul and I could see her angelic face was marred with a look of sadness or despair. Her golden eyes widened when she focused on me however and I sensed a sudden hope spring from within her. ¡°The Frenzied me,¡± she said, the words forming more in my mind than being heard. ¡°Arth thou here to avenge us now?¡± I wasn¡¯t even sure if she was speaking Yee, or English or if it even mattered, but what I was sure of was that she spoke in multiple voices. It was like listening to an auditorium of a hundred people all speaking at once. ¡°I¡¯m a follower of the Frenzied me,¡± I said, resting a hand on my chest. ¡°My name is Max. Who are you? What are you even?¡± ¡°We are the few of those who used to be,¡± she said in her reverberating multivocal voice. ¡°A remnant of what once was whole.¡± ¡°Do you have a name?¡± I asked. ¡°Our name is Fhae I¡¯ung but we are now but a remnant of the whole. Our memories are few and scattered. Pray thee Frenzied me, art thou nowe to avenge us?¡± The name sounded familiar for some reason, like I¡¯d heard it before but I couldn¡¯t quite ce where at the moment. But I had a bigger question to ponder about. ¡°Avenge you? What happened to you? And are you the crystal? Or are you trapped inside the crystal?¡± ¡°We are the few of those who used to be, a remnant of what once was whole. Our memories are few and scattered. Pray thee Frenzied me, art thou nowe to avenge us?¡± I paused, wondering if I had heard her right. ¡°Yes, I understand that. But what do you think I¡¯m here to avenge you for?¡± ¡°Our memories are few and scattered. We are the few of those who used to be, a remnant of what once was whole. Pray thee Frenzied me, art thou nowe to avenge us?¡± This certainly wasn¡¯t like having a conversation with Venja. It was almost like who or whatever I was talking to, wasn¡¯t quite real. A shadow or copy perhaps. I tried a different question. ¡°Where do youe from?¡± ¡°Our memories are few and scattered. We are the few of those who used to be, a remnant of what once was whole. Pray thee Frenzied me, art thou nowe to avenge us?¡± I stood back, studying the radian glowing woman some more. She was beautiful, but nondescript. Nothing significant at all. Like an amalgam of every beautiful woman my imagination could conjure. Whatever this was, she knew the me. Knew instantly what I was and referred to me as the me rather than myself. The same way I¡¯xol¡¯ukz did. Did this make her some kind of spiritual being like it was? ¡°Do you know I¡¯xol¡¯ukz?¡± I asked. ¡°Our memories are few and scattered. We are the few of those who used to be, a remnant of what once was whole. Pray thee Frenzied me, art thou nowe to avenge us?¡± I was batting zero for three. It was likemunicating with a brokenputer system or something. The interface was there but there was no data to back it up. A shell perhaps. But I couldn¡¯t deny what I was feelinging from her either. The pain and sorrow. Maybe I was asking the wrong questions. I had to try a different take. Cycling my Frenzy, I engaged a more subtle technique than blunt questions. ¡°You seem like more than one person to me,¡± I said, approaching her slowly. ¡°And I know you can¡¯t remember much, but I think I can sense [Everyone¡¯s Sorrow]ing from within you.¡± At the mention of the technique, the woman let out a surprised gasp. Instantly a pulse of energy radiated from her and as it crashed into me, visions of horrors filled my mind. There was nothing I could make out clearly. It was like watching a coge of a million points of view all at once. But in each there was amon theme. Death¡­ Thousands upon thousands of deaths. I cried out as I simultaneously experienced each one, my mind screaming. shes of the Bloodmoon appearing in the night sky, the sun bing the raging cosmic eye of a Cursed Star. People from some age and ce I didn¡¯t recognize fleeing in panic. People being torn apart by monsters and demons as terror filled their hearts. I felt it all. The helplessness. The cruelty. The suffering. And then from somewhere deeper a new sense emerged. One of sadness and despair, but also of vition and injustice. A sense that what was happening should not be so. A new power then appeared from within the madness and chaos. A power influenced by the fiery darkness falling from the stars and the pain and sorrowing from below. It sympathized, taking on a new form. From the hate and chaos of the Cursed Stars it emerged. A brilliant Frenzied me that gave strength to the suffering with a single thought. A single gift. ~Defiance~ The world exploded into bright yellow mes as I emerged from the vision with a gasp, still finding myself within the spiritual realm. My head was spinning, the remnants of what I had experienced evaporating like a dream. I had perhaps glimpsed far more than I couldprehend. ¡°No!¡± I said, trying to force my mind to not close. To force myself to remember. ¡°I will not choose to unsee what I have seen!¡± I engaged my [Soul Shield] technique, not knowing what else to do and with the sound of a striking tuning fork, my thoughts instantly cleared. I felt the Struggler within me copse to his knees and weep with the thousands of new memories from [Everyone¡¯s Sorrow] imposed upon his soul. I saw the shes of insight from the cosmic story I had witnessed rattling inside my mind. I could still barely make sense of it now. But at least it was still there. A half-finished puzzle yearning to bepleted. The golden hued woman was hovering over me still. ¡°Oh, Frenzied me,¡± she said while reaching down to me, her voices the ones of all those who had been in. ¡°Will thou now avenge us?¡± I didn¡¯t know how to respond. Icked the conviction and strength to say yes. Even though I felt I needed to. But I wasn¡¯t the me. Merely a follower. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said as honestly as I could with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I just don¡¯t know how.¡± Her face saddened, but then like she hadn¡¯t even acknowledged what I¡¯d said, she merely repeated her words again. ¡°Oh, Frenzied me, will thou now avenge us?¡± I was about to try and answer her again when a sound emerged from the real world. I quickly withdrew from the spiritual realm, just in time to pull away from the crystal and drop down into lotus position, right as Master Eiji entered the room. He looked surprised to see me, like he had forgotten I was in there or something. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d find you awake,¡± he said, helping me up from the ground. ¡°Looks like you could use some sleep now though. Those eyes of yours look more bloodshot than ever.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, mumbling my words. ¡°Guess I got a bit more exposed than I realized.¡± Master Eiji adjusted his sses as he examined my Dantian. ¡°Seems like the crystal did the trick though. No trace of Demonic Qi.¡± I checked and confirmed the same within my me. Not only was it back to normal, but it seemed evenrger and brighter than before. Filled with new truth and insights into the unknown. Had I just achieved another breakthrough? I wondered. Perhaps. I wouldn¡¯t be able to test for sure until I faced the Bloodmoon again. But I¡¯d had enough of dabbling in the cosmic realm for one night. As I followed Master Eiji back down the stairs, something else was nagging at me though. Something small yet something that couldn¡¯t be just trivial. Her name. I recognized it somehow. Heard it recently, but I wasn¡¯t sure where. I could still barely remember it myself. Just a phic sound. ¡°Master Eiji,¡± I said, taking a chance. ¡°Have you ever heard the name¡­ Fay..yung, I think it is?¡± ¡°You mean Fhae I¡¯ung?¡± My eyes widened instantly at the recognition. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s it. Where have I heard that name before?¡± Master Eiji chuckled. ¡°The assembly perhaps? It¡¯s the next on rotation.¡± ?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s the name of the set for our next deployment.¡± I briefly recalled it now, the president mentioning the name. But that caused only new thoughts to stir within my mind. ¡°How did it get its name?¡± I asked. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°The, did we name it that, or was that the¡¯s name already before it was attacked by the Cursed Stars?¡± ¡°We do not know the original names of those worlds or their inhabitants,¡± Master Eiji said. ¡°But the great Imperial Marshal, Wi Chu Lou, is said to have heard the whispers of those names from the aetherite crystals we recovered from thes they were on. He supposedly named all the Hell Worlds imprisoned under the Cursed Stars that way.¡± Wi Chu Lou, I thought. The same guy who drew all the pictures. ¡°Did our crystale from Fhae I¡¯ung?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Eiji asked. ¡°Is that the name it whispered to you?¡± I froze dead in my tracks. I¡¯d said too much. Master Eiji then broke into augh. ¡°I¡¯m only teasing, boy. Come on and get some sleep now. Clearly, you¡¯ve had a long day.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said relieved. ¡°It really has been a long day.¡± * * * As I said goodnight to Master Eiji and finally retired to my room, my mind was spinning. A deep unsettlement nowy at the core of my soul. I¡¯d felt the injustice of millions, yet I couldn¡¯t help them at all. My own struggles seemed selfish inparison, but I couldn¡¯t deny I cared more about them than the nameless millions I had just seen in. Perhaps it was the limitations of my human spirit, or my human nature in general. But with it came thoughts of Blue Rose as well. I had prioritized my advancement to get home to marry Fia over thinking about slowing my advancement to keep pace with her. Maybe that was just how it was. How things had to be. Maybe it was na?ve to even think that I could be everything and save everyone and do everything all at the same time. I had to choose. And I had chosen. I had chosen Fia and the people I loved. But I had to admit. With the knowledge I had now. Those choices weren¡¯t feeling very good at the moment. I pushed it all away with a sigh and then turned in my cot to try and get some sleep. Book 3: Chapter 36 The next day I got up to start training early. I began with some martial forms and calisthenics in my room before breakfast. I still had a lot on my mind, but the physical exertion worked as a wee distraction to it all. I was still pondering what I had experienced with that entity within the crystal. What was it even? Some kind ofbined spirit? A shattered soul of a? I had so many questions. Above them all though, was what I would do about her request to avenge them. Or even if the request was truly for me. Maybe it was something I would just have to ignore for now, I decided. I had more immediate situations to deal with. Like a fianc¨¦ who was about to be a mother in a few months and me needing to marry her before that. Or me just bing a dad in general. It still sounded strange to even think like that, but that was to be my future. The thought focused me and I felt a sudden reassurance as I realigned with my Path. I finished up my routine and headed down for chow. In the breakfast line I saw the other thing that was giving me mental heartburn.Blue Rose. I tried to make eye contact with her, but she turned her head sharply as soon as we did. I had to admit it kind of hurt a little. Still pissed off, I guessed and with some reason to be fair. Leaving her behind would leave her with a cohort of people she didn¡¯t know, or trust. And I had gained hers. Might have just broken it as well. I sighed inwardly. Maybe she woulde around in time so we could have a proper conversation, but I was feeling nothing but ice from her at the moment. I decided to eat by myself and then headed to the library for my art lesson with Master Eiji. With what I had learned the night before, the name at the bottom of those pictures held all new meaning for me now. Master Wi Chu Lou had to have been a Berserker like me. There was no doubt. And if he managed to survive¡ªif not thrive¡ªat the Academy, then so could I. * * * After my art lesson I spent some extra time digging into the histories of the sorties to the Hell Worlds. The entries were made by various toon leaders of the legionnaire deployments. They mostly contained the base information, such as the location of the drop, what kind of resistance they encountered, where and how far they dug down to find aetherite and how much they brought back. It appeared that the first few deployments to a Hell World were targeted at removing the gates. Those ones also seemed to have the lowest survival rates. There were several entries where only two or three legionnaires returned. But when they had taken out the gates within the vicinity, it cleared the way forter deployments to spend more time finding and harvesting aetherite crystals rather than fighting off hordes of demons. Details beyond that were sparse, but there were some that identified unique or unusual demon sightings. One in particr mentioned a ¡®Mountain Walker¡¯, which seemed something like those giant demons with tentacles for eyes that I¡¯d seen on the moon. I was tempted to waste more time looking through the drawings to see if Master Wi Chu Lou had drawn a picture of one, but I had other things to attend to. Gaining secret knowledge was cool and all, but that wasn¡¯t going to get me off this rock and back home. I needed to advance to be a legionnaire and top on my list to do that was learning how to fly. I grabbed the manuscript for my [Lightning Walk] technique that I had scribbled out the day before and headed towards the training grounds. A new cohort of ck Robes was already in ce undergoing Phnx instruction from the woman who reminded me of Threja. A few of the new ck Robes I recognized as former White Robes who were in my toon from when I took down the Jolup. They smiled and offered me bows of respect as I passed by, which earned them a good scolding from their instructor. I found a quiet corner away from the activity, both to give me some peace to focus as well as some privacy. I¡¯d never attempted the technique before and who knew how bad my first few attempts might turn out. I started by re-reading the meridian sequence again. There were a hell of a lot of steps and my spiritual muscle memory needed to be trained to carry them out in a heartbeat if I was going to make it all work. When I was confident that I had it at least memorized, I when through the actual motions, slowly channeling Frenzy through each of them. It was difficult at first. Generating lightning was second nature and my spiritual muscle memory in that regard was well trained. Several times I ended up just performing a [Frenzied Lightning] technique out of habit when I was trying to do something else. A good hour went by with nothing to speak of. I decided to switch up my method and start with the unfamiliar parts first, the parts rted to the [Air Walk] technique. Those came more slowly, but surprisingly more assuredly. In this case I was simply learning and not un-learning and learning as I had to do with the lightning. After another hour I finally went for a dry run with just the [Air Walk] by itself, channeling my Frenzy through the various meridians that ended at the balls of my feet. When I did, nothing particrly happened, but I did feel a warming sensation. Progress? I thought. Maybe. It was time to add some power to see if it really worked or not. I went back to the meridian sequencing for my lightning technique and beganbining it with the [Air Walk]. I went through all the sequences correctly but again nothing happened. It was too slow. The momentum of energy simply wasn¡¯t there. The timing was vital, I realized. I had to push this through fast to have any real effect. I tried again and again, getting slightly faster with each attempt. It was like trying to recite a twenty-word sentence in less than a second. After half an hour my brain and spirit was frazzled and I wondered if it was this hard for Qi cultivators who used true flight. I was nearly on the cusp of rethinking my method and giving the other flight technique books another try, but flying around like that just didn¡¯t suit my style. I dug deep, thinking about how much this meant for me to achieve. Fia and the Baby. Master Hei Dong and his position. And not to mention Kelsey and my people in the wild. You¡¯ve got to get it together man, I told myself. I started through the sequences again when a spat ofughter came from behind. I nced over my shoulder to see Jei Su Long along with a handful of his cronies, all of them wearing stupid grins. ¡°Did I not tell you we¡¯d find him here?¡± Jei Su long said. ¡°Let¡¯s see if it¡¯s true or not.¡± I turned slowly with a nk stare of [Indifference]. ¡°What the hell you want Jei Su Long?¡± The clown stepped forward slowly with his hands behind his back. ¡°A little bird told me that you¡¯re learning how to fly. So we all came to see if it¡¯s true or not. So what do you think boys, can a bull fly?¡± He broke into a mocking sarcasticughter again and his mates followed suit. Ire filled my gut, but I wasn¡¯t taking the bait. ¡°I have nothing to prove to you.¡± ¡°See!¡± he shouted, loud enough for everyone within the training ground to hear. ¡°The Iron Bull Man is just that. A weight far too slow and too heavy to fly. An ipetent ground pounder is all you¡¯ll ever be. You can forget ever bing a legionnaire.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred tform and support their work! The Threja-like woman instructing Phnx, sauntered across the grounds. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with being a ground pounder? Someone has to do the dirty work while you all fly away.¡± ¡°Watch your tongue, phnx!¡± Jei Su Long snapped. ¡°I have faith in the Iron Bull!¡± someone said. I turned at the familiar voice to see Tu¡¯lok stepping from out of the crowd. ¡°Show these scoffers,¡± he said with genuine lemonade in his heart. ¡°The Iron Bull already bested you without flight, Jei Su Long. Imagine what he would do with it.¡± Jei Su Long threw his head back with augh. ¡°Imagine is right! Because it will never happen! Go on and prove me wrong if you can, Lead Bull!¡± He continued tough while more of the lower ranked ck Robes got behind Tu¡¯lok and began chanting to spur me on. ¡°Bull man! Bull man!¡± Ah shit¡­ I thought. What the hell had I gotten myself into now? And how did I even get myself into this? One minute I was practicing in peace and this assholees from nowhere to start some shit and now I¡¯m on the grand stage with performance anxiety? And then I saw it. The orchestrator of this little disy of power gone wrong. Far to the back of the crowd and leaning against one of the courtyard pirs with folded arms was Blue Rose. A subtle smirk was on her lips. A look of satisfaction with malice in her heart. She was the only one I had told about learning how to fly. I thought I¡¯d be angry. But I felt something worse. Pain. ¡°Come on then!¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°Show us! Show us!¡± ¡°Show him, Master Iron Bull!¡± Tu¡¯lok cheered me on. ¡°Prove him wrong!¡± Although I was certain he wasn¡¯t part of Blue Rose¡¯s little n, Tu¡¯lok wasn¡¯t exactly helping me. The guy genuinely believed in me, though. All of these people did. I sensed the room and felt everyone¡¯s faith in me. Shit! I couldn¡¯t back out like a punk now. Especially not in front of Jei Su Long. Ah, what the hell, I thought. Berserkers work best under pressure. I cycled my Frenzy and ran through the meridian sequence again. I didn¡¯t need to do anything fancy, just hover in the air for a second. Show him it was easy peasy. I cultivated the ire in my heart to fuel my technique. I¡¯d show him and Blue Rose. [Lightning Walk]! As I shouted the name in my mind I busted through the meridian sequence in a sh, sending my Frenzy bouncing between my Jing and back before redirecting via the [Air Walk] sequence to my toes. A huge bang of thunder went off as a sh of lightning shot from my feet. I wasn¡¯t ready for the force that came with it. It felt like I¡¯d been shot from a cannon, but my feet took the lead, sailing over my head and twisting me into a lopsided somersault that sent me careening into one of the courtyard pirs with a bang! I fell to the ground,nding t on my back. A hushed and stunned silence filled the air as the heat of embarrassment filled my face. And then, with perfectedic timing, Jei Su Long and his crew let out a raucous mockingugh. Half the assembly joined in with them and as I slowly and painfully got to my feet, I could see the looks of disappointment in the faces of my supporters. Tu¡¯lok gave me a halfhearted smile and a shrug as if to say, ¡®you tried¡¯. ¡°Well, I guess we have our answer now!¡± Jei Su Long shouted above theughter. ¡°It¡¯s what we¡¯ve all known since we were children. Bulls can not fly!¡± That got another round of jeers and I suddenly found myself back in Foundation school all over again. Being teased and bullied by Yee kids who were better than me. Mocking me for my failures. Humiliating me for simply not knowing how to do something I¡¯d never done before. I wanted to be angry. I was angry. But none of that could help me now. I looked for the source of all of this. Blue Rose. I expected to see herughing right along with everyone else, mocking my failure. But instead, I saw nothing but pain and hurt in her eyes. Regret and shame. Like she¡¯d just done something she knew was wrong¡ªsomething she shouldn¡¯t have, but it was toote to take back now. I saw the beginning of tears forming before she quickly wiped her eyes and then dashed away. I endured the painful, jeeringughter in silence. Saying nothing. And then I understood. What it was that all cultivators hated worse than even death. The loss of face. * * * I wasn¡¯t sure for how long I remained there. By the time everyone got called to their next lesson and moved on, I was still just sitting there in the courtyard, enduring the pain of both betrayal and humiliation. I still didn¡¯t know how to process it all. I knew I¡¯d hurt Blue Rose, but did it truly warrant this in retaliation? And why the hell did I even care? The thought frustrated me. I should have used [Indifference]. I should have walked away with nothing to prove. But that would have made me look weak. And maybe that was the problem. I let my ego get the better of me. ¡°Still here?¡± I looked over my shoulder to see Chief Yora approaching. I scrambled to my feet to give her a bow, but she simply gestured for me to not get up and surprisingly she came and plopped right down next to me. ¡°So, I understand you had quite the bad first flight,¡± she said, jutting her chin towards the crack in the pir. ¡°So you heard, huh?¡± ¡°I believe the entire Academy has heard by this point.¡± That made me feel even worse. Damn, what a flop. I sighed. ¡°My own fault. I got egged into doing something I wasn¡¯t ready for.¡± ¡°But you did it anyway?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Stupid, I know.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Does it make you want to give up?¡± ¡°Give up?¡± I shook my head. ¡°No¡­but go back in time and choose to not do it¡­maybe.¡± Yoraughed. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. It¡¯s something you must be ustomed to, you know?¡± ¡°What? Failure?¡± ¡°Public failure. It can happen. You¡¯ve enjoyed quite a bit of public sess. Every Yin must have its Yang after all.¡± I thought about that a bit. ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡± Although this one felt more forced than natural. Or maybe it was just Karma. ¡°Do not let this setback deter you,¡± she said. ¡°You have already proven yourself quite capable and valuable, but trust me, I will not approve your next advancement until you can get off the ground when you need to.¡± ¡°Is learning to fly that important?¡± ¡°As I said, you are proving too valuable to lose on a stray demon surge that taxes you beyond your limits.¡± She then gazed out across the courtyard and by the distant look in her eyes I could tell she was already transported to somece else. ¡°The demon hordes of the Hell Worlds are vast like seas. Their surges like waves. No one can withstand them forever. To be able to extract yourself quickly before death is paramount.¡± I nodded, taking that in, my understanding of the risks increasing. A pause fell between us and I sensed a rare opportunity then. A chance to ask her anything. There were many things that I wanted to know. About the missions, the Hell Worlds, how we actually got to mining the crystals. But I knew all those woulde in time, when the sses presented themselves. I instead sought something a bit more abstract. Esoteric But perhaps crucial to what I was feeling in my soul. ¡°Chief Yora, have you ever had to make a choice between advancement and staying true to the ones you love?¡± She turned to me, raising a brow at the odd question. ¡°Do you find yourself at that crossroads now?¡± I thought of Blue Rose and what she¡¯d done as well as the entity within the crystal begging me to avenge her. ¡°Kind of, sort of. I need to get back home within a few months to protect my family and marry the woman I love. Yet here, meeting that goal has sort of led me to leaving some people behind that I also kind of love. Well¡­ not love, love. Like a friend love.¡± ¡°And this troubles you?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯ve always been pretty certain of my path. Still am, I think. But being here. Within these ranks. I didn¡¯t realize that advancement coulde with consequences. It¡¯s not in my nature to leave anyone behind, but more and more I think the universe is telling me that I have to, and that just rubs my soul the wrong way.¡± Yora didn¡¯t say anything for a while, perhaps digesting what I¡¯d said. ¡°Every two weeks I be thest voice that over a thousand people will ever hear before their deaths. And after that, after many months or even years of training I challenge those same few survivors to face a fate that will likely see their demise all the same.¡± I was now the one to look at her oddly. ¡°You asked if I ever had to make a choice between advancement and those I love. The reality is that few ever get that choice. What I must do every two weeks is a choice I make for those people. They have no choice but to advance. This is a blessing as much as it is a curse. The burden of such a choice is terrible, but in the end, there is only one correct answer.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°You see me still here, don¡¯t you?¡± she said. ¡°I could have returned to my home world a champion. Married. Raised a family. Livedfortably. Yet instead, I send thousands to their deaths every two weeks, all in the name of advancement. Is this the better choice?¡± I didn¡¯t know if she wanted a real answer or if it was a rhetorical question. I merely shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not the best choice for me,¡± she said. ¡°But it is for the empire. The enemy we face does not sleep. If we do not make the sacrifice to advance, to grow strong enough to push back against the Stars, all hope we have for a future will be lost.¡± I nodded. ¡°So you¡¯re saying when you advanced there is no choice?¡± ¡°Yes, if you advance you have made the choice already,¡± she said. ¡°Count it lucky if your choice still leads to some happiness and even more so, if it leads to love. It sounds like you may be lucky enough to have both.¡± With that she patted me on my leg and stood. ¡°You¡¯ll want to master this flying thing quickly if you want any hope of getting home to meet that deadline of yours. The best rotation for sess will be two months from now. You¡¯ll want to be able to pass your final exam before then.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the final exam?¡± I asked. ¡°A night of survival under the Bloodmoon. Your toon must stand by morning. But unless you havemand of the air, it¡¯s doubtful if you¡¯ll survive.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± I said and then stood to give her a deep bow of respect. ¡°Thank you, Chief Yora for your instruction and your words of wisdom.¡± She smiled with a hint of lemonade. ¡°I have high hopes for you, Iron Bull. Do what you must to stay true to your path, save your family, but always remember what you have learned here. The outside world has no idea of the terror that lurks in the darkness. And whether you choose to fight it here today or tomorrow, the truth is you will fight it one day. Because once you are strong, you will be called to fight. The only difference is where that fight will take ce.¡± She then chuckled. ¡°For me, I choose to make the sacrifice, so that the fight remains on those Hell Worlds and not our own.¡± Chief Yora then turned and walked away and a profound sense of resolution and revtion resonated within my soul. The world suddenly seemed both small and vast at the same time. I¡¯d seen the unseen and no matter what I did, I couldn¡¯t ignore what I knew to be the truth now. I thought of Fia and getting back to her, freeing the Earth from the empire¡¯s control. But in the end, would we all just be like those lost voices in that crystal? No matter what we did or what we aplished, would we all just be doomed to be another world conquered by the Cursed Stars? I couldn¡¯t allow that to happen. Wouldn¡¯t allow that to happen. I got myself off the ground and focused my Frenzy. That final fight might be decades or even centuries away, but as Yora had said, ¡°Count it lucky if your choice still leads to some happiness and even more so, if it leads to love.¡± I had to do both, but I wouldn¡¯t be going anywhere without learning how to fly. One step at a time, I reminded myself. And with that, I ran through the meridian sequences and again attempted to fly. Book 3: Chapter 37 Yo Max, How are you, bro? I hope you¡¯re doing better than us because things have pretty much gone to shit back here since you left. Those bird sisters have done a total number on us. They broke up the neighborhood with some stupid neww that prevents Non-Terrans from living in the Native Housing District. Fia kind of saved the day by moving Yu Li, Su Ling and Gui Zu into her parents¡¯ ce with her though. That¡¯s going okay I think, but now those damn bitches challenged her to a duel or some crap a month or so from now. Anyway, don¡¯t mention I said any of this when you write Fia. She was trying to not give you stuff to stress about, but I know how you work. I¡¯m not sure if you got any cultivators to hate out there in prison, so I figured I¡¯d give you the low down on those bird bitches so that you can cultivate some rage. You can thank me for the Frenzyter. I put Kelsey¡¯s letter down to digest what she had wrote. ¡°Son of a bitch¡­¡± I mumbled, causing a harsh whisper toe from one of the librarians. I was taking a break from my artwork, midway through my rendition of the flying squid monster. It¡¯d been a little over six weeks now and my artistry had gotten pretty good with Master Eiji¡¯s daily instruction. Between doing that, binging on the histories of the deployment drops, learning mining techniques for the Hell Worlds and spending my afternoons trying to perfect my [Lightning Walk] technique, my days were well spent. I was able to make three whole steps with the technique now. It was a bit like doing qinggong ept you were jumping off the air itself instead of objects like in parkour. It was mentally taxing though and it took all my concentration to get the timing of my body and my meridians right to ¡®kick¡¯ off the air at just the right moment and angle to propel myself through the air and maintain control. I was still at a novice level though, knowing that to truly be effective I¡¯d have to be able to [Lightning Walk] subconsciously while I fought with my other techniques. At nights I cultivated the Bloodmoon and pushed my limits to the max while skirting the detection of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. I couldst up to six hours now by cycling in and out of my [Soul Shield], which put me in good stead to challenge the final exam. A few times I had even detected Kelsey again as well, but it seemed mostly random and I couldn¡¯t reproduce the encounters at will. That was why when I received her letter, I dug into it with a fervor, hoping Kelsey might confirm the things I¡¯d sensed. But no way could I have expected her to open with something like this. What the hell were those damn bird sisters up to? A neww to separate us? Kelsey was right though. Just the thought brought ire to my gut. Part of me wanted to fly back to Earth right now and knock their damn blocks off, but I had to settle for what Kelsey had written instead. I had to trust they could take care of things while I was away. I read on. Now for what I was really writing you about. A huge demon has appeared in the wild and I think it¡¯s the reincarnation of that Hong Feng guy. The one you killed. Or one of the ones you killed. Anyway, he calls himself I¡¯Xong¡¯Zhang now but it¡¯s not really him I don¡¯t think. At least not fully. He¡¯s a demon for sure with maybe Hong Feng¡¯s memories or something, I guess? He¡¯s totally psycho though and wants to destroy the whole city. So far he hasn¡¯t been able to get through the barrier but I worry he might get strong enough to at some point. Any Berserker tips you can send to help please do. I¡¯ve been cultivating under the Bloodmoon as best I can, but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll ever match his strength in time. I put the letter down again. I totally wasn¡¯t expecting this. And thankfully Kelsey had had the sense to write to me in English and not Yee when mentioning all this stuff. I didn¡¯t even know I¡¯xol¡¯ukz had that kind of power to recycle demonic souls. I read on. I tried to fight the thing and got my ass kicked. But here is the weird part. I swear I sensed youe to my aid that night. Was that you? Please tell me that was you. I heard your voice and you sort of brought me back from the edge. Write me back to confirm, okay? If it was you, maybe we can find some way tomunicate in real time in the spirit realm or something. Also write back in English, okay? Don¡¯t be a Choon! Love you, Kelsey I sat back perplexed, taking in everything Kelsey had written. The demon. The bird sisters. The spiritual connection. It sounded like all hell was breaking loose back home. Literally. And I couldn¡¯t do much about it. The [Odds were Against Us] all in that regard, but that didn¡¯t mean I wouldn¡¯t try. With everything that was going on, I needed to get to the Hell Worlds and back faster than ever. I tore a fresh sheet of paper from my sketch pad and began responding to Kelsey in English. If there was some way for us tomunicate through the spiritual realm, we needed to figure it out. And fast. * * * Fia looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. She was wearing nothing but her undergarments and all she could see was belly. Six months on now and nothing was looking or feeling good. Anxiety roiled in the pit of her stomach, bad as the morning sickness that seemed toe at any time of the day it felt like, much less mornings. Even now she felt nauseous. She sighed at herself. ¡°I¡¯m such a chun,¡± she muttered. ¡°Why did I let myself get pregnant?¡± She knew why of course but it seemed so foolish now. What should have been a happy and expectant asion was now looming over her head like a death sentence. And that was due to just the thought of eventually having to tell her parents, much less having to fight the bird sisters in just over a month¡¯s time. It was enough to make her go weak in the knees and feel like throwing up again. Even her face was getting incredibly fa¡ª. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Her thoughts left her as a knock came from her door. Panic red immediately as she rushed to pull on the oversized robes she hade to wear ofte to hide her growing stomach. ¡°Just a minute!¡± she called out. ¡°I¡¯m not decent.¡± ¡°Fia, it¡¯s me!¡± a familiar and wee voice called back through the door. Praise the heavens, Fia thought. It was Yu Li. Fia still cautiously opened the door, making certain Yu Li was alone before she slipped her inside. ¡°I¡¯ve got them for you,¡± Yu Li said with the widest grin on her face. ¡°Wonderful! Thank you!¡± Yu Li quickly unwrapped the parcel she had tucked under her arm, removing the brown packing paper and revealing three sets of robes inside. Yu Li picked one up to present it to her. It perfectly matched her n¡¯s motif of ck with silver trim. Fia had asked Yu Li to secretly purchase herrger robes, but these ones seemed strange indeed. The craftmanship alone seemed odd and for some reason she couldn¡¯t tell if the robes were toorge or perhaps too small. She felt the material and they too felt somewhat odd to the touch. Not silk like she was used too, but something coarser, almost like bup in some parts. ¡°What sort of robes are these, Yu Li?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± Yu Li said with another grin. ¡°Try one on. It will amaze you.¡± Warily, Fia undressed to her undergarments again while Yu Li continued to grin at her almost mischievously. ¡°Yu Li, what are these robes, seriously?¡± ¡°Will you just get them on?¡± Fia rolled her eyes. ¡°Fine.¡± She pulled on the new robes which felt altogether too heavy and ufortable at the same time. She pulled the sash about her waist and felt the robes tighten around her enormous belly. ¡°Well, they fit I suppose,¡± Fia said. ¡°But what¡¯s so special about them?¡± Yu Li smiled and nodded towards the mirror. ¡°Have a look.¡± Fia did so cautiously and when she saw herself, she nearly let out a scream. Gone was the tummy altogether, the robes seeming to look as tight fitting as a swimming garment. She didn¡¯t understand what she was seeing. But something else was off. Her bust and belly seemed to have swapped ces. ¡°Yu Li! What have these robes done to me?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve done nothing to you,¡± Yu Li said, looking at her from behind through the mirror. ¡°They¡¯ve simply changed your proportions to trick the eye and take the focus off your stomach.¡± ¡°And put them on my breasts? I look like a harlot!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so dramatic,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°What are these robes, Yu Li?¡± ¡°They are mummer¡¯s robes,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°I had Jian Yi special order them for me from the next province. No one will know.¡± ¡°Mummer¡¯s robes?¡± ¡°Yes, mummers use them all the time to y different characters. Even a man can dress in this robe and appear as a woman.¡± Fia stepped back to admire herself in the mirror again with new eyes. ¡°Mummer¡¯s robes. How do they work?¡± ¡°There are wards lined within the fabric that can trick the eye and change the proportions of one¡¯s body. You can still feel your tummy, but others will only notice your bust.¡± Fia wasn¡¯t certain she liked the trade off, but what choice did she have? ¡°For the record,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°I think you look fabulous. Max will probably love it.¡± Fia rolled her eyes again. ¡°I¡¯m sure he will.¡± There was another knock at the door. Both women paused. ¡°Are you expecting someone else?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°Certainly not at my bedroom.¡± Another wave of panic took hold. She wasn¡¯t sure if she was ready for people to see her like this. ¡°Answer for me please!¡± Fia ran and hid in the privy while Yu Li answered the door. She heard Ju Gong¡¯s voice. ¡°Ah! Mistress, Yu Li. I assume Lady Fia is within?¡± ¡°Yes, in the privy.¡± ¡°Can you inform her that Mistress Kel Zhi hase to visit. She needs to speak with her on what seems quite an urgent matter.¡± Urgent? Fia¡¯s mind conjured up all kinds of mishaps that could be taking ce in the city below. ¡°Send her up!¡± Fia called out. ¡°Thank you, Ju Gong!¡± ¡°Will do, madam!¡± Once he had left, Fia re-emerged. ¡°What do you think it is?¡± Yu Li shrugged. ¡°Must be very important for her toe all the way up here.¡± A few momentster a knock came at the door and when Yu Li opened it, Kel Zhi burst inside. She was sweating profusely, like she¡¯d just run the entire way. And knowing Kel Zhi she probably did. But that wasn¡¯t what struck Fia the most. In her hands were several sheets of paper that she waved in the air as she approached her aggressively. ¡°Damnit, Fia!¡± she shouted. ¡°You¡¯re freaking pregnant?¡± The floor fell out from under her and she thanked the stars that Ju Gong hadn¡¯t apanied Kel Zhi to her room. Yu Li immediately mmed the door closed behind her, looking white as a ghost. ¡°How did you know?¡± Yu Li suddenly asked. ¡°Does she look that bad in the robes?¡± ¡°What?¡± Kel Zhi said, staring oddly at Fia now. ¡°Something seems off for sure, but no it it¡¯s not that. You don¡¯t even look pregnant.¡± She then shook the papers again. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean you aren¡¯t! Max just wrote me and told me that you are!¡± ¡°Max wrote to you?¡± Fia asked. ¡°Yeah. What the hell, Fia? You¡¯ve been hiding this?¡± Shame and embarrassment flushed her face red. ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s the curve ball,¡± Yu Li spoke for her. ¡°This was what Max was speaking of in hisst letter.¡± ¡°Yeah, no shit it¡¯s a curve ball,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°This is crazy, Fia! How are you supposed to fight the bird sisters like this?¡± She sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I try not to think about it.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s time you tell everyone the truth now, Fia,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°Your parents at least.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Not until after the trial. I¡¯m the only one who can represent the family. I can¡¯t give them any more stress than I already have. Plus¡­I just don¡¯t want to disappoint my father again.¡± ¡°Probably should have thought about that before,¡± Kel Zhi said sardonically. ¡°Kel Zhi!¡± Yu Li chided her. ¡°What?¡± Fia sighed. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I deserve it. I was thinking with my heart not my head. But it¡¯s toote to turn back now.¡± ¡°What about Kelsey fighting for you?¡± Yu Li said. ¡°I¡¯m sure she could fare well against the sisters.¡± Kel Zhi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Me? Well sure. I dunno if I could beat all three but I¡¯ll give it a shot.¡± ¡°No,¡± Fia said, shaking her head. ¡°I appreciate it Kel Zhi, but you¡¯re not the proper rank. You¡¯ve just entered the Iron Bracket and they are all Gold. And besides that, the writ is written specifically in my name. The bird sisters would not agree to the settlement match without it.¡± Yu Li frowned. ¡°I worry for you, Fia. Can you even fight in this condition? What about the baby?¡± ¡°I have no choice. Perhaps these mummer¡¯s robes will help.¡± ¡°So what has Max said?¡± Yu Li asked, reaching for the papers in Kel Zhi¡¯s hands. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Kel Zhi said, handing them to her. ¡°It¡¯s all in English.¡± ¡°Really? Max can write in English still? Let me see!¡± As she opened one of the papers, Kel Zhi¡¯s eyes suddenly grew wide. ¡°No wait! Don¡¯t look at that one!¡± Yu Li and Fia looked at Kel Zhi perplexed as Yu Li held up a nk page. ¡°What? There¡¯s nothing on it.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kel Zhi said, sounding surprised. ¡°You two don¡¯t see anything?¡± Fia looked again at the nk page. ¡°See what?¡± Kel Zhi thenughed. ¡°Nevermind. I must have gotten the pages mixed up.¡± ¡°So what is he saying?¡± Fia asked, as Yu Li handed the odd looking Terran script to her. ¡°A lot of stuff about his advancement. He¡¯s hoping to do his final exam soon and then he¡¯s off to the Hell Worlds.¡± Fia¡¯s heart suddenly jumped. ¡°What? Already?¡± ¡°I thought the time frame was three years,¡± Yu Li said. Kel Zhi merely shrugged. ¡°You know, Max. Where there¡¯s a will there¡¯s a way. He said no way is Fia having that baby without him being here.¡± Fias¡¯s throat tightened as tears filled her eyes. The heavens had answered her prayers yet again. ¡°This is wonderful news!¡± Yu Li shouted. ¡°Max will be home soon to sort all this mess out.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go celebrating just yet,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°The toughest part is yet toe, but don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll be helping him all the way.¡± ¡°Helping him?¡± Fia asked. ¡°How?¡± Kel Zhi suddenly blushed and grinned. ¡°You know. Prayers. Moral support. All that.¡± Fiaughed. ¡°Yes, of course. We all will.¡± ¡°This still doesn¡¯t solve the issue with you fighting the bird sisters, does it?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°Max won¡¯t be home that quickly, will he?¡± Kel Zhi shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe?¡± A new resolve filled her, as Fia once again looked at herself in the mirror. Gone were the self-deprecating thoughts and emotions. Her love had achieved the impossible for her and she would do the same. ¡°There is no issue,¡± Fia said confidently. ¡°I beat those stupid girls when I was twelve. And with these robes, I can easily do it when I¡¯m pregnant.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± Yu Li asked, looking uncertain. ¡°I¡¯ve got this,¡± Fia said. ¡°The bird sisters won¡¯t know what hit them.¡± * * * As Kelsey departed the Dong family estate, she couldn¡¯t help but reflect on what Fia had said. Although she had spoken with confidence, Kelsey had sensed the sliver of fear in Fia¡¯s heart. She was still taking a risk, but had the courage now to do what needed to be done. She wished she could help in some way. But her own limitations were preventing her there. Which meant she had to put her energies towards the next best thing. Helping Max and dealing with the demon that would destroy the whole city if she let it. Kelsey stopped briefly to read thest part of Max¡¯s letter again. I can sense you when I¡¯m out under the Bloodmoon so maybe that¡¯s the connection. I have a date for my final exam where I need to be under the influence for a whole night. Go under the Bloodmoon and spirit walk within your Struggler on that same date. Maybe we can find one another. If we can make this work, I¡¯ll be able to help support you to kill that demon bastard Hong Feng 2.0. Oh! And be sure to show no one that picture, okay? It will make them go insane. But you can look at it briefly to strengthen your spiritual cultivation. Kelsey had nearly forgotten about that. She nced about to ensure no one was around and quickly opened the ¡®nk¡¯ paper for another look herself. Instantly a sense of terror and dread filled her soul as the image of the squid monster stared back at her, the creature seeming toe alive on the page. She quickly closed it again, breathing heavily. If these were the types of creatures Max would have to face on the Hell Worlds, then he had a hard road ahead indeed. She dared not tell Fia or Yu Li though. It was enough for them to know that Max was making the struggle to get back home early. But if they had any idea of the reality of his Struggle. It truly would drive them insane. Kelsey took onest look at the date. It would be three days from now. Just enough time to sure up things in the city and then race back home to the bunker to try and connect to max under the Bloodmoon without that demon showing up for her and with Venja as a safety. ¡°Hang in there, Max,¡± Kelsey whispered. ¡°Your little sis is gonnae find you.¡± Book 3: Chapter 38 I centered myself as I stood within the middle of the training grounds. It was close to noon now and I¡¯d been training since dawn. High above me, three targets were ced atop the pirs in the courtyard. I cycled my Frenzy and with a burst of speed, leapt into the air with [Lightning Walk]. My foot pushed off the air with a sharp snap of thunder, propelling me higher. I performed the technique again with my opposite foot as I literally climbed an invisible staircase to the targets hanging high in the air. Swinging my axe, I used [Lightning Two Log Chop] to take out the first one and then pivoting, [Lightning Walked] to the next two targets to take them out as well. I found myself hanging high in the air after thest one and then allowed myself to fall to the ground in a somersault, hitting [Lightning Walk] at thest second to slow my descent beforending in a superhero pose. A small round of apuse came from behind me as the Phnx crew, who had admittedly been watching me perfect my technique for thest few weeks, cheered me on. But my true audience consisted of only one person. Chief Yora stepped towards me, hands sped behind her back, a neutral expression on her face. ¡°Quite an unorthodox style and a bit clumsy but you did make it into the air this time.¡± ¡°Does that mean I qualify for the final exam?¡± I asked hopefully. She paused a moment.I began to fear what she would say next, but then she gave me a smile. ¡°Just barely,¡± she said. ¡°This will be enough to survive the exam tomorrow night, but on the Hell Worlds you will need to be even more proficient. And arguably, you will need a faster form of travel as well. [Air Walking] is efficient but slow. You may need some form of quick escape that can transport you much more rapidly out of harm¡¯s way.¡± I grinned with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Running away from a punch usually ain¡¯t my style, but I understand. I¡¯ll work on something. I¡¯ll have it perfected before my deployment.¡± Yora chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t count your winnings early. You still need to pass the exam itself. Which won¡¯t be easy.¡± I nodded. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Be sure to attend the briefing tomorrow at noon,¡± she said as she turned to walk away. ¡°There will be some additional challenges to face besides just survival. You¡¯ll want to know what they are.¡± As Yora left a new sense of resolve filled me. New Challenges? What the hell could they be? No matter, I thought. Noon was basically 24 hours away. I¡¯d find out then, but 24 hours gave me ample time to at least start thinking about an improvement to my [Lightning Walk] technique. I plopped down into lotus position to ponder it some more within my own mind. The Demon and Struggler joined me on the secludedkeside beach of my inner domain. Seeing them reminded me that I still hadn¡¯t achieved the real breakthrough I needed to yetbining them somehow so that I could advance to the Sacred Soul Realm. I took a peek at the Foundation manual again just to confirm where I was.
Core Formation 1st Core Formation
2nd Core Body Refinement
3rd Core Mental Refinement
4th Core Density Refinement
5th Inner Soul Detection
6th Inner Soul Focus
7th Inner Soul Refinement
8th Inner Soul Projection
9th Secondary Soul Germination
I had definitely mastered the 8th Tier now. I could project my [Spectral Body] in the real world with ease and had even honed my [Fist/de/Axe of the Struggler] techniques, which allowed me to do spiritual damage on the fly without summoning my full [Spectral Body Projection]. But that damn Secondary Soul germination still eluded me. I had increased my Frenzy capacity by what had to be 100 fold by now as well, cultivating under the Bloodmoon each night. So much so, that I was fairly confident I could survive an entire night now by utilizing my [Soul Shield] technique. That put me in good stead to pass the exam. So long as I didn¡¯t burn too much extra Frenzy fighting the demons, I should be okay. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Which led me to my next impediment. Flying. I¡¯d gotten some basics down, but I had to trust what Yora was saying was true as well. The basics just wouldn¡¯t cut it on the Hell Worlds. But at least she¡¯d given me my shot at passing the exam in advance. I summoned the [Air Walk] manual from memory and began scanning through it. There was a more advanced technique within it that maybe I could adapt but I wasn¡¯t sure. I found the passage for it. [Wind Walk] If [Air Walking] is akin to strolling among the clouds, then [Wind Walking] is gliding upon the currents flowing between them. It requires a mastery of the [Air Walk] techniquebined with the physical agility to ride upon the wind itself. Riding the wind, I thought. That sounded like surfing or something and the more I read the more it appeared to literally rely upon a wind blowing as a form of movement. If there was no wind, the technique was useless. That certainly wouldn¡¯t be a reliable form of escape. Not unless a hurricane was blowing. Still, it gave me some ideas. If there was no wind, perhaps I could make some of my own. Or make something like it. A smile came to my lips the more I thought about it. The Struggler and Demon instantly agreed, reading my thoughts. ¡°It¡¯s settled then,¡± I said to them. ¡°I¡¯m going to figure out how to [Ride the Lightning].¡± * * * I was a good couple of hours into my research when I hit the first roadblock. The [Wind Walk] technique was simr to [Air Walk] in that it used the same meridians, but it was almost the same technique in inverse. Where [Air Walk] used Qi to ¡®kick¡¯ off the air, [Wind Walk] used the same to stick to it. Toplicate matters was how I was going to stick lightning in there to make it all work together somehow. I was beginning to fear I had bitten off way more than I could chew when something suddenly tugged me out of my meditation. ¡°I said congrattions,¡± a voice said. I opened my eyes and was stunned to see Blue Rose standing over me. And much more stunned that she was actually talking to me. We hadn¡¯t spoken to each other in weeks. Not since she blew up at me after the assembly. Part of me wanted to tell her to piss off, but the river of fear running through her soul urged the Struggler to hold the Demon at bay. I still wasn¡¯t sure what was going on between us. It was more her beef than mine, but she still hadn¡¯t apologized for embarrassing me either. Perhaps this was it. ¡°Congrattions for what?¡± I asked. ¡°On learning how to fly.¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if she was beingpletely sincere or not, but she did seem a little mousey about it. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. ¡°It took a while.¡± Blue Rose only nodded as an ufortable silence fell between us. ¡°Anyway,¡± she said. ¡°Good luck on the final exam.¡± She then turned and walked away, leaving me wondering if that was as good of an apology as I was going to get from her. Or if that even was one. Maybe I¡¯d have to go first. ¡°Hey, Blue!¡± I called out after her and she stopped. ¡°No hard feelings, alright?¡± ¡°About what?¡± she said. I merely shrugged. ¡°Everything?¡± She nodded slowly, but didn¡¯t smile. ¡°Sure. No hard feelings, Max.¡± And with that she left the training yard. It wasn¡¯t the reaction I¡¯d hoped for. I still didn¡¯t know if we were cool or not. But I couldn¡¯t worry about that right now. I had already made my choice to advance and as Yora had said, it was simply luck if rtionships could survive. I closed my eyes and tucked myself away again into my spiritual domain, setting my mind back to task. I had to figure this [Ride the Lightning] thing out. That¡¯s what was important now. Not friends. * * * I stayed up most of the night plodding away at the new technique, as well as continuing into the morning. By that time, I thought I might have constructed the bare bones of something that could work, but I had no time to test it. me willing, I would have a week or so before having to deploy anyway. I tucked the meridian sequence into the back of my mind as I joined the noonday assembly of ck Robes in the courtyard to prep for the final exam. Chief Yora was there along with the President who stood overlooking us with arms folded across his massive chest. A much smaller contingent of ck Robes had assembled¡ªthe upperssmen, which was only about 20 of us or so. Jei Su Long gave me a leer as he entered the square with his Token Tribute gang, but I paid them no mind with [Indifference]. Then I saw someone I wasn¡¯t expecting. Blue Rose sauntered in right behind them. What the hell? Had she advanced? Before I could ponder the situation, President Tzu Li Zen stepped forward to address us. ¡°Before Chief Yora exins the details of the final exam, I wish to congratte each and every one of you for making it this far in your progression. Many of you arrived here with only a sliver of hope for survival and yet you have beaten the odds and persevered. By standing here today, you have aplished more than 90% of the empire ever will. You are beyond just cultivators, you have toughened yourselves to face the fires of the Hell Worlds and tonight, you will face your final challenge to prepare you for that.¡± He then nodded to Chief Yora. ¡°I echo the president¡¯s sentiments,¡± she said. ¡°It is no small feat to achieve what you have. You are right now a magnitude stronger than when you arrived and perhaps stronger than any peer you faced in the outside world. But tonight, we will simte exactly what you will face on your tour of the Hell Worlds. Caches of salt crystals have been buried in the desert, which you will mine as Aetherite. You must do this throughout the night, under the effects of a Full Bloodmoon and defend yourselves from the hordes that follow. In addition, a newponent shall be added. Jei Su Long, Iron Bull, please step forward.¡± My heart jumped for a moment as she called my name. I went to the front of the assembly and stood next to Jei Su Long. ¡°These two have qualified for the final exam in all but one aspect,¡± she said. ¡°They are both required to partake in a leadership assessment. This final exam will incorporate their respective assessments in a unique way. You will be split into two teams with Jei Su Long and the Iron Bull as respective captains. It will be their job to direct the teams to locate the Aetherite, mine it and return home safely. The team captain who harvests the most Aetheirite will be named toon leader for the 28th Deployment of the 5073rd campaign.¡± Jei Su Long grinned next to me. ¡°Seems I¡¯ve been blessed with a rematch. I hope you prove better at this than you are at flying.¡± I chortled with [Indifference]. ¡°No worse than you are at fighting.¡± ¡°Bastard!¡± he hissed. ¡°You¡¯ll swallow those words.¡± ¡°The captains will now select their teams,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°The first pick will be decided by a coin flip.¡± ¡°Yin or Yang?¡± Yora asked as she produced a single coin. ¡°Yang!¡± Jei Su Long shouted. ¡°He can be Yin. It suits him more.¡± He broke out into augh that was echoed by a few of his cronies. I chose not toment. Yora flipped the coin. ¡°Yang it is. You may make the first selection, Jei Su Long.¡± ¡°See,¡± Jei Su long said, ncing at me sideways, the fates favor me with victory already. He then looked into the crowd. ¡°Blue Rose!¡± My heart did another jump, which seemed to mirror the shock on Blue Rose¡¯s face. As she shuffled almost reluctantly to stand behind Jei Su Long, I nearly forgot to call the name of my own pick. But it didn¡¯t really matter after that. We went through the process mechanically, but I was more concerned with what Jei Su Long had up his sleeve. ¡°Why the hell you pick her?¡± I said once we were through. The bastard merely shrugged. ¡°Because I could. We¡¯ll see how your friend fares under my suprememand.¡± Son of a bitch¡­ Chief Yora gave the order for us to disperse and prepare and I caught Blue Rose by the elbow. ¡°Hey, what are you even doing here?¡± Her brows lowered as she pulled her arm away. ¡°What? Do you think you¡¯re the only one who can advance? You think I¡¯m not at your level?¡± ¡°Chief Yora cleared you for this?¡± ¡°You want to ask her yourself?¡± I studied her and sensed the contempt in her heart. But I wasn¡¯t going to let that stop me. ¡°Blue, thest time you were under the Bloodmoon you nearly lost your mind. Are you sure you can spend an entire night?¡± ¡°That¡¯s thest time you saw me,¡± she said bitterly. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing a lot of stuff since then. Advancing on my own. Just like you.¡± Guess we weren¡¯t cool, I thought. But could she actually have advanced that quickly. As quick as me? ¡°Blue, I just want to be sure you can hand¡ª¡± ¡°Save the fake concern, Max,¡± she snapped. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, I¡¯ll prove it to you. I¡¯m good on my own.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you won¡¯t be on your own. You¡¯ll be with that idiot leading you.¡± She jutted her chin in the air. ¡°I¡¯m actually d Jei Su Long picked me first. That¡¯ll prove I did it through my own strength and not just by following you.¡± My insides red. I felt like slugging her. ¡°Still got that damn chip on your shoulder, huh?¡± She cut her eyes at me and then turned her back without answering. I cultivated the anger in my soul just to get rid of it. I turned to see the ten tributes on my team all looking to me expectantly. It was a reminder that I had a job to do and there was no time for a dumb ass grudge to get in the way. ¡°Go back to the barracks and get some rest,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll meet up after chow to go over the game n. Dismissed.¡± As they departed giving me salutes and bows, I couldn¡¯t ignore the whisperedments that came with them. ¡°Hell¡¯s up with those two?¡± ¡°They should just bang and get it over with already.¡± ¡°I hope this doesn¡¯t mess us up tonight.¡± ¡°Is it toote to switch teams?¡± I grimaced inwardly. Blue Rose¡¯s ability to inadvertently cause me to lose face was bing legendary. I shrugged it off with [Indifference]. I had to prove to my team that I was in control. Not let this crap affect me. I looked to the sky and the stars I couldn¡¯t see, imagining the globe of the Earth floating somewhere out there. Eye on the prize, Max, I told myself. Remember what you came here for. I cycled my Frenzy with the fresh resolve of my Dao. Tonight, I would get my first taste of the Hell Worlds and I had a lot more people than just Blue Rose to think about. Book 3: Chapter 39 Kelsey sat on the edge of the barrier, watching and waiting. The sun was still hanging low in the sky, a few hours yet until night fall. She reread Max¡¯s letter and mentally went through the gymnastics of calcting the exact date and time on Earth. She didn¡¯t know how the day and night cycles of Earth and the Max was on lined up, but hopefully there would be some ovep throughout the night where Max was supposedly going to spend it entirely under the effects of the Bloodmoon. Kelsey couldn¡¯t risk such exposure herself. She had managed to get her tolerance up to just under an hour now, but that was the most she could endure umtively. She decided she would take short ventures into the Bloodmoon a couple of minutes at a time and then space them out every half hour. That way she had the best chance of hopefully running into Max in the spirit realm. As for what would happen when they did however, she still had no idea. In the times prior she hadn¡¯t been actively looking for Max and it was he who had found her. But now they both would be seeking each other.The idea excited her. To find a way tomunicate across the stars. She prayed that Max was as excited as she was. * * * A mixture of anxiety and apprehension seized my gut as I headed towards the ming braziers at the barrier¡¯s edge. I¡¯d assembled my toon earlier and had all ten of them in tow as we together faced our final exam. I knew them each by name, but I couldn¡¯t say I knew them well personally. Not to the extent that I would need to in order to win this challenge. I¡¯d been plotting out a strategy all afternoon and had what I thought was a good n. I felt like I was back at the handler station again, training a batch of new recruits. This challenge was more than just survival and I needed to know everyone¡¯s strengths and weaknesses if I wanted to get the best performance out of my team. The majority were high-tier core realm cultivators with a couple on the cusp of breaking through to the Sacred Soul Realm like myself. But what really mattered, was their ability to withstand the Dark Frenzy of the Bloodmoon. ¡°Alright,¡± I said, stopping them and pulling them into a quick formation. ¡°Time to go over the gamen. I want to be able to rotate people in between the front lines and those who are mining and for that I need to know what everyone¡¯s tolerance is to the Demonic Qi of the Bloodmoon.¡± ¡°What difference will it make?¡± a guy named Juk Sui asked. ¡°We¡¯ll all be under the same effect.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be worse when you¡¯re looking those demons straight in the face,¡± I said. Most of these guys hadn¡¯t had the deeper insight like me¡ªknowledge of what glimpsing the unseen could do to one¡¯s psyche. Granted they wouldn¡¯t be facing off against those Star Born demons like before but for them even normal demons would count. ¡°It¡¯ll wear you down more. For front liners, I need people with mental fortitude as well as fighting ability. So who¡¯s on my front line?¡± Everyone raised their hands. ¡°Alright, hands down,¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Look, the bullshit stops now. There¡¯s no shame for one¡¯s abilities orck thereof in my toon. Everyone has a purpose. Now which of you just barely squeaked by yourst Bloodmoon assessment. Be honest.¡± Timidly three people raised their hands. ¡°Alright, you three are my core mining team,¡± I said. I then looked between them. ¡°Dim Wei, you¡¯ll be the team lead.¡± Dim Wei, a petite woman who I knew to be pretty smart in theb, snapped me a salute. ¡°Yes, toonmander.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be your job to mine and secure the crystals,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll lead the frontline team for defense. Now who is the best flyer here?¡± Everyone pointed to a guy named Ten Chui. He was tall andnky, with short cut hair and a mustache. I hadn¡¯t seen him fly but I respected everyone else¡¯s opinion. ¡°Ten Chui, you¡¯ll be our scout,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ll warn us of iing demon waves as well as seek out the next mining location.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± he said. ¡°Alright onest thing,¡± I said looking to the rest of the team. ¡°Above all else, everyone fights to survive this night, understand? No one gets left behind, even if it costs us the win.¡± That caused a bunch of murmurs and shocked looks. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re still gunning to win this, but we¡¯re all way too close to being able to do this for real to throw our lives away now.¡± ¡°Yes, toonmander!¡± they shouted in unison. ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it.¡± As we got back underway, a whistle called out to me from behind. I stopped and looked toward the bushes and was shocked to see Chu Ren and Lo Ren emerge. ¡°Hey!¡± I said in a hushed whisper, ncing over my shoulder as I approached them. ¡°What the hell are you guys doing out here?¡± ¡°We came to give you this,¡± Chu Ren said producing a bottle from his robes. ¡°We heard about your final exam.¡± ¡°Whoa,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t be celebrating early guys.¡± Lo Renughed. ¡°It¡¯s not liquor. It¡¯s a potent healing and revitalizing elixir. Figured you could use any advantage you can get out there.¡± I smiled, taking the bottle. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this counts as cheating, but thanks guys.¡± ¡°Here is one for Blue Rose as well,¡± Chu Ren said, handing me another. ¡°Blue Rose?¡± Chu Ren smiled sheepishly. ¡°I know you two don¡¯t get on anymore, but she¡¯s be a good friend to us. We wish to see her seed as well.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said, taking the second bottle. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure she gets it and knows it¡¯s from the both of you.¡± The brothers gave me a bow. ¡°Thank you, Master Iron Bull,¡± Chu Ren said. ¡°For everything. May this small token of what we can offer, be only a gesture of what we owe you.¡± I returned the bow. ¡°Thank you, fes. Wish us all luck.¡± As I turned to catch up to my toon, I stashed both bottles in my robes. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. I couldn¡¯t say I was surprised that they had made one especially for Blue Rose. They all liked to drink together after all. But it was a revtion that she had progressed and even maintained rtionships outside of my own. In a way, I wondered if I was the one who had been missing out all along. * * * Chief Yora was waiting for us once I rejoined my toon. Jei Su Long then arrived with his crew and I made an effort to pick out Blue Rose from his group. I desperately wanted to give her the brothers¡¯ gift, if not to just have the obligation over with, but there was no time for that now. Chief Yora quickly took center stage to address us. ¡°Here are the rules for the final exam,¡± Yora said. ¡°Several caches of crystals have been buried in the desert. Two are close to the barrier and each cluster found within is worth ten points. There are other caches of clusters further out in the desert, with crystals worth 20, 50 and 100 points each. The amount of crystals in each cache is random and be fewer with the higher value caches and more plentiful with the lower values. The crystals will be differentiated by color. Brown crystals are 10 points, ck are 20, Silver are 50 and Gold are 100. The team with the highest total shall be deemed the winners.¡± I wasn¡¯t expecting a tiered point system. This changed the strategypletely. ¡°Obviously, the closer you mine, the closer you will be to the barrier in case you get into trouble. The gold crystals will be at a point that is roughly the distance of the New Tribute run. If you venture past that point, you¡¯ve gone too far. The caches are marked, but you will need to rely upon your Qi sensitivity to detect them, much as you will have to do on the Hell Worlds themselves. A small quantity of aetherite has been added to each cache in this regard.¡± I was already recalcting what the best strategy would be now. Mine for more lower value crystals in the safer areas, or head into the deep and get the jackpot win? Both had pros and cons. ¡°Crystals can only be handed in at the end of the exam,¡± Yora continued. ¡°You must either transport them with you or stash them to be retrievedter. If you are unable to endure the exam, it is rmended you return to the safety of the barrier. You will fail your examination if you do so, but it is far better to fail and try againter than die at this stage. Keep this in mind when making your decisions of where to mine.¡± Chief Yora then looked over her shoulder and out at the barren desert. ¡°As for now there are no hordes, but your presence will soon attract them. The exam willmence when the first horde arrives. Are there any questions?¡± A silent pause filled the air. ¡°Then you may cross the barrier,¡± she said, taking a nce upward at the full Bloodmoon. ¡°Good luck.¡± I walked casually into the effects of the Bloodmoon and resisted the re of dissonance it produced within my me. I pushed against it with my strength of will and Frenzy alone, saving my [Soul Shield] technique for when I would need to take a break. I nced over at Jei Su Long and the bastard leered back at me. I looked further into his ranks to see Blue Rose and surprisingly she didn¡¯t break her gaze when I made eye contact with her. She stared back instead, but with eyes wide and full of fear, the same thing resonating in her soul. I shot her a quizzical expression, as if to say, ¡®Are you okay?¡¯ Again, to my surprise she nodded at me. But she looked anything but okay. Across the desert, the wail of a lone demon drifted across the air. It was quickly followed by another and then another. ¡°They¡¯reing,¡± Chief Yora said. ¡°Prepare yourselves.¡± It didn¡¯t take long for the howls and wails to rise to a fever pitch and the slow rumble of what sounded like thunder to roll in as the stampede approached. The horde was perhaps just minutes away, but their presence reminded me of something else. I yielded to the subtle effect of the Dark Frenzy to slip into a meditative state, essing the spiritual realm to quickly inhabit my [Spectral Body] of the Struggler. I still couldn¡¯t forget my other homework assignment while out all night under the Bloodmoon. I sprinted off across the spiritualndscape, seeking Kelsey¡¯s me. I couldn¡¯t sense anything. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t under the effects of the Bloodmoon herself as yet. I was just about to pop back into my body when I sensed something else. Something dark. Sinister. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz? I thought. So soon? I didn¡¯t see any tentacles yet, but I ejected myself from the spirit realm just in case. When I reopened my eyes, a tsunami of snarling demons was now approaching, less than a football fields length away and building speed. I readied my Axe and ive, surging with Frenzy as I engaged [Steel Skin] and my [Soul Shield] technique. ¡°Get ready!¡± I called out to my toon. ¡°We stand our ground and make a hole in the horde.¡± We formed into the ssic phnx defense formation, shoulder to shoulder with weapons at the ready. I couldn¡¯t sense Qi, but I could imagine the air was pulsing with it as each cultivator tapped into their various defensive Qi techniques. In the darkness the forms of the demons emerged. Twisted and red-bodied. All ws, horns and fangs. But at least they weren¡¯t Star Born. Suddenly Jei Su Long let out a cry. ¡°To the air!¡± he shouted and immediately took off into the night sky. ¡°Follow me! Anyone who can¡¯t fly gets left behind! Move!¡± He took off in a burst of speed, flying over the heads of the charging demon horde. The majority of his team took off with, including Blue Rose who winked out of existence at just thest second before the stampede hit. Two poor sods who couldn¡¯t fly were left out in the open. Shit! ¡°Quick advance!¡± I shouted. ¡°On me!¡± I took off in a sprint to intercept as the horde closed in on the two cultivators. ¡°Fall back to us!¡± I shouted to them. I didn¡¯t have to yell twice. They jumped into the midst of our defensive formation just as the wave of demons hit. I surged with Frenzy, releasing a [Lightning One Chop Cleave]. My ive and Axe swung in unison and a huge arc of lightning sailed outwards, cutting into the charging demons. The cultivators at my sides performed simr maneuvers, using Qi technique to ughter the demons in huge swarths. Ten Chui took to the air and sted downward with a fire technique to clear a path ahead of us. ¡°Keep pushing!¡± I shouted with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], charging headfirst into the swarm. ws and teeth raked against my hardened skin, but I bashed them aside with elbows and wide sweeps of my des. Time folded in of itself as my [Bloodlust] kicked in and my me began to spew fresh Frenzy. ¡°We¡¯re making headway!¡± Ten Chui called from above. ¡°I can see the waveing to an end!¡± ¡°How many left?¡± I cried. ¡°A thousand maybe!¡± A hundred to one, I thought. The sheer numbers put the [Odds Against Us]. My me surged a second time and I directed the Frenzy that came with it straight towards my jing as I engaged [Lightning Walk] to get above the horde and jump straight into their midst. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± Inded like I was performing a cannonball-dive into a pool, my technique going off with a massive ssh of [Frenzied Lightning]. The technique spread fifty feet all around and when I looked about the entire area was covered in smoldering demon corpses. A rush of lemonade came from behind as my toon stared at me stupefied. It was probably the first time they¡¯d ever seen me truly cut loose. I cultivated it to fuel my next [Lightning Arc Strike] as I pushed into the rest of the horde. I kept an eye on my Frenzy reserves as time wore on. I had plenty in the tank thanks to how much I was producing, but my [Soul Shield] was constantly engaged as well. I¡¯d have to manage it carefully to survive the entire night. I led the charge as I hacked and cleaved my way into a [Bloodlust] filled fervor. A solid ten minutes went by with nothing but carnage and rage. When some semnce of peace returned, the entire hordey decimated at our feet. A couple of my toon members fell to their knees in exhaustion, struggling to catch their breath. Ten Chui touched down next to me. ¡°I¡¯m not certain who the real demon is,¡± he said to me. ¡°You or them.¡± I cracked a smile as I cultivated thepliment. ¡°You got no idea, my friend.¡± I checked on my team and thankfully no one was badly injured, including the two tributes from Jei Su Long¡¯s group. ¡°What are we going to do with them now?¡± someone asked. I shrugged and looked to the both of them. ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re either under mymand now or you can both cross the barrier and fail. Which is it?¡± They looked to one another and then bowed before me. ¡°We humbly request to join your toon, Iron Bull,¡± one of them said. ¡°Please ept us.¡± ¡°Fall in under Dim Wei,¡± I said. ¡°You can join the mining crew.¡± I looked out at the sea of bodies and tried to get my bearings. We¡¯d traversed a good thousand yards or so from the barrier, the lights of the braziers just barely visible now. ¡°What now, Commander?¡± Juk Sui asked. ¡°Jei Su Long and his toon are probably deep into the desert by now, mining the high value crystals.¡± ¡°We should do the same,¡± one of my tributes said. ¡°We should get after them!¡± ¡°No,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°This is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to spend all night out here regardless of how much we mine. Jei Su Long is going to burn them all out flying like that.¡± ¡°And this won¡¯t?¡± Juk Sui said. ¡°That battle was brutal.¡± He had a point, but I needed to shut down any descension fast. Thest thing I needed was for morale to slip. Winning wasn¡¯t the main objective anyway. ¡°Do you think they will be any easier on the Hell Worlds?¡± I shot back. ¡°This isn¡¯t some dumb asspetition to be won. It¡¯s preparation for what we¡¯re going to have to deal with for real. If you want to cut corners for a cheap win, then you can march your ass back to the barrier right now.¡± I then shouted to the rest of the toon. ¡°That goes for everyone! You want an easy ride, let me know now.¡± I waited and a mixture of fear and lemonade filled their hearts. ¡°Good,¡± I said. ¡°Now let¡¯s get to mining. Since we made the effort to clear the first wave, we might as well grab what¡¯s here.¡± I turned to Dim Wei. ¡°Get on it. Once you find the cache, we¡¯ll all kick in to clear it quickly.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± She snapped me a salute and then ventured off with her mining team. ¡°Ten Chui, you go scout our next position.¡± ¡°On it,¡± he said. As Ten Chui took to the air I looked to the rest of my team. ¡°Everyone else, take a breather while you can,¡± I said. ¡°This is going to be a long night.¡± Book 3: Chapter 40 Kelsey waded through the sea of demons, cutting them down with swift chops of her axe. Her me was a Frenzy-brewing furnace, triggered by the root of her Dao. Demon after demon she killed, each one adding to her [Bloodlust]. It wasn¡¯t her objective to merely wait out the demon horde as she normally did when she cultivated. Tonight, she was trying to thin itpletely. To cut it down so she could have a moment of pause in order to enter the spirit realm. ¡°Come on! Come on!¡± she yelled impatiently, subtly gauging the time. ¡°Hurry up and die already!¡± She wished she had mastered the more powerful [Frenzied Lightning] techniques like [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] but she had to settle for killing only one or two at a time. It cost her precious seconds, but eventually she caused enough coteral damage for the demons to flee when she whittled them down to just a handful. Alright, no time to lose, she thought. Closing her eyes, Kelsey quickly jumped into the spiritual realm. She took on the blue-hued form of the Struggler and began racing through the darkness. ¡°Max!¡± she called out. ¡°Max!¡±She didn¡¯t even know if sound worked in spiritual space. Or if it worked like normal anyway. She decided to take a different approach and quieted herself instead. Closing her spiritual eyes, she listened and sensed instead of just charging forward randomly. She wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed, but eventually she sensed what she¡¯d been looking for. The essence of another me. She focused on it a second longer, determining a direction and when she reopened her spiritual eyes, she could just barely see a faint golden glow in the distance. There you are! With newfound excitement, Kelsey took off into the spiritual darkness, seeking her Big Brother. * * * I spun with a [Lightning One Chop Cleave], cutting into the huge abdomen of the giant insect like creature blocking my path. It was a Frenzy-mutated Takrid as far as I could tell, twice as big as a normal one and three times as mean. I pressed on with my men beside me, pushing back against the swarm. What had to be half an hour of straight killing went by as we charged into the hundreds of creatures¡ªinsect offal and blood mixing with ws, swords and fangs. By the time there was room for a breather, everyone in the toon was exhausted and panting like dogs. I stumbled atop the small outcropping we were upon and could see another wave of them already on the way. ¡°These things don¡¯t stoping, do they?¡± Juk Sui said. ¡°What a cursed night.¡± He wasn¡¯t wrong, but I had a feeling this was still easy modepared to whaty ahead. ¡°Dim Wei,¡± I called. ¡°Get to mining while you can. We¡¯ll prepare to defend against the next assault.¡± The five tributes in her small team began tackling an area right behind the outcropping with shovels and Qi sts. In less than a minute they had struck pay dirt and began extracting silver crystals worth 50 points each. ¡°Looks like 5 of them were here, Commander,¡± Dim Wei reported. ¡°What¡¯s the total now?¡± I asked. She spent a few moments to check therge ck duffle bags they were hauling the tennis-ball-sized crystals within. ¡°1870 points to my count.¡± ¡°I concur,¡± one of her team who was counting with her said. I looked for Ten Chui. ¡°How far is the next location?¡± ¡°Mile and a half east,¡± he said. ¡°Hoping it¡¯s a gold one. I spotted the other toon near there too, so if we want it, we¡¯ll need to hurry.¡± I looked back to the swarm of Takrids bearing down on us, a group at least three hundred strong. Fighting through them would cost us more time. ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re leap frogging over this next wave. But watch your backs after we do. We¡¯ll need to get to the next location and be ready to defend against them if they turn around.¡± ¡°And be ready to fight the next wave ahead of us as well,¡± Juk Sui reminded. ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°And possibly at the same time.¡± No rest for the Wicked, I thought. I cycled my Frenzy reserves, just over halfway depleted now. I would survive the night if I yed it conservatively, but I needed to fly to gain some speed right now. I took the lead, powering across the desert and heading straight for the swarm of demonic Takrids charging towards us. I got within thirty feet and executed [Lightning Walk] as I stepped into the air. It was a surreal feeling to perform the maneuver inbat, sailing right over the tops of my enemies like I was walking on a separate ne of existence. My toon came with me, most of them taking to the air easily, while the two tributes we inherited from Jei Su Long¡¯s team performed a rather slow levitating maneuver, like they were being lifted by a hot air balloon or something. I was surprised there was someone as bad as me at flying, but they got the job done and cleared the swarm. I pressed on for a couple hundred more yards, sprinting through the sky at a speed I¡¯d never experienced before. It was the first time I¡¯d gone all out with the technique and the ability to glide over the terrain at three times the speed as normal was addicting. But I was still rtively slowpared to everyone else, especially Ten Chui who was flying backwards and waiting for the rest of us to catch up. Hended after a minute more of flying, right on the edge of a cliff face that towered some three-hundred feet into the air. ¡°It¡¯s here!¡± he said. ¡°Start digging.¡± I touched down clumsily, tripping in the sand and saving myself with a roll. Dim Wei and her team immediately got at it while I formed the rest of the toon into a perimeter. We at least had the cliff to our backs now, which meant that was one side we didn¡¯t have to worry about defending against. It didn¡¯t look like the Takrid swarm we flew over was smart enough to turn around either. Scanning the dark horizon, now lit with the subtle red hue of the full Bloodmoon, I couldn¡¯t see anything stampeding towards us. That meant a rare opportunity for a break. ¡°Defense team!¡± I shouted. ¡°Rest and recover. Juk Sui, give Ten Chui a break and stand arial lookout. Ten minutes.¡± I didn¡¯t have to give the order twice. Immediately the team copsed onto their haunches and began chugging down water and snacking on small bits of food we had brought. I felt for the two bottles of elixir in my robes and considered taking a swig of one. But I didn¡¯t feel that spent as yet. Blue Rose though, I didn¡¯t know. I wished I had had the chance to give it to her. That worried look she had given me before the exam started was still etched in my mind. I stuck my Axe and ive in the sand and sat down for a break myself. After chugging down some water and tearing through some jerky, I disengaged my [Soul Shield] technique to give my Dantian and Frenzy reserves a break as well. Ipensated instead by cycling my Frenzy and allowing the strength of my spiritual pressure alone to fight against the dark aura of the Bloodmoon. It reminded me that my entire team was doing the same thing constantly. They didn¡¯t have the advantage of a [Soul Shield] technique like me, although granted the effects of the Bloodmoon on them was probably a tenth of what I experienced as a Berserker. As the effects of the Bloodmoon increased, the edges of my vision began to slip into the darkness of the spiritual realm. It was something I¡¯d gotten used to after all these weeks of cultivating. I knew just how long I could push it before I started to wig out and turn into a demon, or before I¡¯xol¡¯ukz mighte snooping around to find my location again. About a minute went by when I began to sense something else. Frenzy. But not my own. Kelsey! I dove deeper into the spiritual realm, taking on the persona of the Blue-hued Struggler. As I took on my [Spectral Form] I could sense the faint presence of Dark Frenzy permeating the spiritual air. The effects of the Bloodmoon itself. I cycled my Frenzy to focus on what I¡¯d sensed earlier and then like a ghost emerging from the darkness, the faint outline of Kelsey¡¯s me appeared. ¡°Kelsey!¡± I shouted as I stepped towards her, tapping into her me. ¡°Kelsey, can you hear me?¡± The glowing blue image before me red a little and I could sense her excitement and relief. We did it, I thought. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. We¡¯d connected across the stars under the influence of the Bloodmoon. But it wasn¡¯t like directmunication it seemed. Orplexmunication was perhaps a better way to describe it. I could sense her emotions perhaps. Sentiments. Joy at finding me. Some anxiety about being out in the open while she connected to me in the spiritual realm. Curiosity about what the hell I was doing. I chuckled internally. Her personality came through loud and clear. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m out in the open too, Kelsey,¡± I said to her me. ¡°Fighting off endless hordes of demons. You¡¯d be loving it out here.¡± I waited a moment and her me pulsed. I wasn¡¯t certain how much I expressed across the void, but I got a sense of jealousy from her. Iughed. This was freaking wild. We were actuallymunicating. In real time! I went back and forth with her, trying to perfect the crude form ofmunication. I spoke aloud into the spiritual void and imagined Kelsey doing the same in return on her end. But what came back were only vague senses of emotions and feelings. It was almost like we were both ying a game of charades with each other. Communicating by gestures alone. Still, I was beginning to make sense of things. She was concerned about something. Fia. But I wasn¡¯t sure quite about what. I tried to ask her. But I don¡¯t think it was getting across. Suddenly I sensed rm from her. Fear and panic. What the hell¡­? It was then that I noticed an eyeball ridden tentacle whip past me. Shit! I immediately ejected myself from the spiritual realm, hoping I¡¯xol¡¯ukz hadn¡¯t sensed me. I¡¯d lost track of time, staying well past my safe limit. I opened my real eyes to find my toon already on their feet. Amotion was brewing with people yelling and shouting. When I got to my feet, I saw something that caused my mind to spin. A couple hundred yards away was an enormous creature that looked straight out of the prehistoric era. It had the body of a tortoise that was nearly five stories high and its shell was covered with spikes. Where its head would be was an elongated neck that ended in a massive head that resembled a cobra. I recognized it immediately. The creature I was hunting for when the Jolup decided to attack instead. A Pythor. It made sense why it was here, burrowed under a cliff. But that wasn¡¯t all. Scattering before it was the disorganized remnants of Jei Su Long¡¯s toon. Two cultivators were in the air, hammering it with Qi techniques, which seemed to do nothing as they bounced off its shell. At its feet I could see four more and at least one tribute who nowy dead. My heart jumped. Blue Rose. I prayed it wasn¡¯t her. Everything seemed to be ying out in disorganized chaos. Half the team wasn¡¯t even with those fighting the Pythor. Jei Su Long was a further distance away, yelling at three other tributes who were digging in the sand. The whole scenario became clear when they extracted several golden crystals from the sand and then Jei Su Long gave the order to retreat. The tributes in the air were clearly only distracting the monster. As soon as Jei Su Long gave the order they withdrew, leaving the four tributes on the ground open to its wrath. The monstershed its head downwards, striking at one of the cultivators. I couldn¡¯t tell who it was, but they barely managed to defend against the attack, but was knocked back a good thirty feet or more by the force of the hit. Then with the sound of a roaring furnace, jets of bluish mes erupted from the creature¡¯s mouth. One of the tributes on the ground formed a shield against it, the mes deflecting to the sides and turning the sand to ss. The gigantic creature then lurched forward, hundreds of tons moving with a speed that seemed impossible. It crashed into the sand,nding on top of the tribute generating the shield, killing him instantly. The other three scattered and ran in seemingly random directions. My stomach lurched at the sight. What the hell was going on? I looked for where Jei Su Long was, but the bastard was already in full retreat with the rest of his men, the ck duffle bags containing the crystals in tow. My me stirred. That son of a bitch¡­ ¡°Dim Wei, stay with the crystals. The rest of us, let¡¯s go!¡± I cried. ¡°We¡¯re rescuing those tributes!¡± ¡°But they¡¯re on the other te¡ª¡± Juk Sui began, but one re from me with [Fear the me] and he shut the hell up. I kicked off the sand with [Lightning Walk], elerating through the air to get to the monster. The closer I got the bigger it loomed. I didn¡¯t even check to see if my men were following me. I couldn¡¯t really care. All I wanted to know was if Blue Rose was among those still alive. I armored myself with [Steel Skin] and [Steel Lightning] as I sted through one of the creature¡¯s fiery roars. My ative technique protected me, but even through it I could feel the heat and power of its strength. Under the effect of the Full Bloodmoon, the beast had to be well above S ss ranking. Double or even triple perhaps. When the mes cleared, I finally got sight of the tributes up close. My heart soared when I finally saw Blue Rose but then immediately sank when I saw what she was doing. She had her hands atop her head and wasughing with tears in her eyes. I looked to the other tributes and they were all in a simr state of semi-psychosis. Shit! It was no wonder they hadn¡¯t fled like the others. But Jei Su Long had done nothing to try and save any of them either. Anger poured into my soul as I looked back at the towering monster. There was no way they could run in that state. And this thing was about to cook them alive. ¡°Focus on its head!¡± I shouted to my toon as I took to the air with [Lightning Walk]. I vaulted up the five stories with quick lunging steps, like climbing a set of giant stairs. It took most of my focus to do so, but I had enough wherewithal to kick off the air and jump to the side just as the monster took a strike at me. The massive cobra-like head bit nothing but air and up close I could see its jaws dwarfed that of even the Jolup. mes and beams of Qi came from above and struck the monster on the side of its scaly hood. I looked to see Ten Chui and two other tributes hammering away at it from afar. Below, the rest of my team had joined in the fray, attacking the creature along its snakelike neck. I kicked off the air again with a spinning sh, striking it full force with my Axe and ive. I was rewarded with a deep ssh of crimson as I cut through one of its fangs. As I retreated with another kick to the air, several more of my toon members joined in, attacking its head and using their more elegant flight techniques to stay aloft while they shed away. I sensed anger building within the creature and then with an explosion it breathed me right into us. I went flying back involuntarily, enduring the intense heat as I lost my aerial footing and went crashing to the ground. The wind was knocked out of me and as I struggled to get back up, I saw a whole new threat bearing down on us. The Takrid swarm from earlier had returned and was now about to hem us in between the Pythor and the cliff face. I looked for Blue Rose and saw her kneeling on the ground still screaming andughing. I didn¡¯t know where the other two tributes had gone. And then I saw them. Both of them running straight towards the mass of giant insects. At first, I thought they were attempting to repel the horde, but they both stopped and opened their arms wide, as if inviting the creatures to devour them. The reality of what happened next was hard to bear. They were snapped up like twigs. Torn apart. Their screams a mixture betweenughter and terror. I looked to Blue Rose and feared the same would soon happen to her. No, I thought. I wouldn¡¯t allow it. I ran to her, withdrawing one of the Elixirs from my robes. I didn¡¯t know if it would work to preserve her psyche or not, but it was all I had left to try. I grabbed her about the head and forced the neck of the bottle into her mouth. She fought against me, but I pinched her nose to force her to swallow. She gasped and spluttered as she downed it all and then she stared at me with a maniacal look in her eyes and beganughing again. Damn it! I looked back to see the team still chopping away at the Pythor, its head a bloodied mess now, but they looked to be getting the better of it. I turned to the approaching swarm of Takrids. I needed backup. ¡°Mining team!¡± I called. ¡°On me!¡± No response. ¡°Dim Wei!¡± I looked about and spotted her still back at where I had told her to stay. But the rest of her team was still with her and they weren¡¯t alone. Fighting them was another group of tributes who were attempting to pull the duffle bag from her grasp. I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing. Jei Su Long. That damn bastard! I didn¡¯t even have time to process my anger. The three hundred or so Takrids were about to m right into me. And I was the only thing left standing between them and Blue Rose. I cycled my Frenzy, pulling out all the stops as I engaged [Mark of the Giant]. With a primal yell, I surged into the wall of insects, spinning with the [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. My lightning technique went off with a thunderous boom and a dozen demonic Takrids exploded into a fine mist of shell and guts. I let go of the handbrake and spent as much Frenzy as my meridians would dare, channeling technique after technique with abandon. My rapid explosions of lightning went off like a string of firecrackers, taking out the Takrids whole groups at a time. I endured the cut of their razor-sharp ws through my [Steel Skin] and pressed on through the blood and pain, not stopping until I killed them all. Saving Blue Rose was all that mattered to me now. I felt the strength of my me increase as the revtion of the single-minded goal solidified within my Dao. To hell with all the misunderstandings and grudges. With the endlesspetitions and keeping score. This was about life and death now and no way was I going to let my friend be killed. I channeled my Frenzy with a supercharged st to my jing, releasing a thunderstorm of lightning fifty-yards wide. In an instant, a hundred Takrids exploded, sending their body parts raining from the sky. I copsed to my knees, my Dantian down to under a quarter now. But I¡¯d done it. They were all dead. Get up, I told myself. Not done yet¡­ I staggered back to my feet, dragging my weapons to face the Pythor. I was just about tounch myself into the sky with [Lightning Walk] when I saw Juk Sui perform a brilliant crescent de technique midway in the air. A huge sh of Qi traced his sword strike in a giant arc that cut straight through the creature¡¯s massive neck. Time froze for a second, before a huge fountain of blood sprayed and the monster¡¯s giant head and neck copsed to the ground like a tower of falling bricks. Cheers of victory went up from my toon and inwardly I cheered with them. But my soul was too troubled to be relieved in full. With trepidation I looked about for Blue Rose and found her curled up in a ball and sitting on the sand. Please be okay, I thought as I lowered myself to her. ¡°Blue?¡± I said. ¡°Speak to me. Are you alright?¡± Fearful seconds passed as her head remained buried between her knees and then slowly, she raised her face to mine. Tears were in her eyes, but she wasn¡¯tughing anymore. ¡°I¡­ I lied Max,¡± she said. ¡°Blue!¡± Perhaps it was the elixir, or the Pythor being killed, but she seemed okay again. ¡°Thank God you¡¯re alright!¡± ¡°No!¡± she shouted. ¡°I¡¯m not alright. I lied Max, I lied.¡± What was she talking about? ¡°Lied about what?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not ready. I wasn¡¯t ready. I lied Max. On the assessment. I cheated.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I blinked in and out of the barrier to keep from being over exposed. I knew I couldn¡¯tst more than three hours out here.¡± My eyes widened. ¡°Why the hell did you do something like that? This is not a game to be wo¡ª¡± ¡°Because I wanted to be with you, okay?¡± she shouted and then burst into a sob. ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to leave me behind. I didn¡¯t want to face those Hell Worlds alone. Without you.¡± My heart melted a little. ¡°You damn idiot,¡± I said and then pulled her into an embrace. ¡°You¡¯ll be strong enough when you¡¯re ready. And if I need toe back to do a second tour with you, I will.¡± She looked up at me as a huge surge of adoration and lemonade filled her soul. ¡°You really mean tha¡ª¡± ¡°Commander!¡± The shout hade from Ten Chui who was still flying in the air. ¡°What is it?¡± I shouted back. ¡°Another horde?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is¡­ I¡­¡± He suddenly cried out and fell from the sky. I didn¡¯t understand what had happened to him, but then I felt it for myself. Dark Frenzy. The truly potent kind. From the severed neck of the Pythor, bone and sinew began to snap. I quickly shut my eyes for a peek into the spiritual realm and sure enough the source of what was happening was clear. There, somewhere in the distance, the purple hue of a demonic gate was spewing Dark Frenzy into the spiritual realm. Damn it, I thought. So it had found me. When I opened my eyes, I instantly spotted the gate in the physical world for myself. It was fixed in midair, about where Ten Chui had been hovering. It was small, only man sized, but the strength of the Dark Frenzy pouring out of it was immense. There was no mistake what wasing through it. It wasn¡¯t an army I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was sending this time. The gate was small, but stillrge enough to send its own will. A will that would soon inhabit the body of the pythor and turn the already Triple S rank monster into something even more. Blue Rose began to scream as did several other tributes. The gate was sending them into the realm of the unseen and the monstrosity the Pythor corpse would soon be would be no exception. ¡°I¡¯m losing it again!¡± Blue Rose cried. ¡°I¡¯m losing my mind! Max! Maaax help me!¡± Panic surged as my heart raced. I had to get her back to the barrier, to the healing warmth of the Aetherite crystal. But she wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the next few minutes, much less the trip back to Du Gok Bhong that was nearly twenty miles away. I looked to my toon who were slowly falling apart under the direct effects of the Herald of the Stars. They wouldn¡¯t survive much longer either. My mind reeled as an impossible decision fell before me. I could stay and fight, but lose Blue Rose in the process. Or I could try to save her instead and leave my men. Men who had entrusted their lives to me and the decisions I would make. But I couldn¡¯t just run and leave this gate open either. If I¡¯xol¡¯ukz discovered what it was we were doing here, our fight against the Cursed Stars would be over. I wanted to save everyone. But how the hell could I? It was either her or them, I realized. Shit! I thought. How the hell do I choose? Book 3: Chapter 41 Kelsey re-entered the spiritual realm and immediately began looking for Max¡¯s me. She had to retreat to the safety of Venja¡¯s Barrier for the tenth time already. Thest interaction she¡¯d had with Max was hours ago now and she wasn¡¯t able to detect his me since. They¡¯d been interrupted by the sudden appearance of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz as well some pesky demons in the ¡®real world¡¯ on her side. She still wasn¡¯t sure what it meant for Max topletely disappear like this. Had he gone back within the barrier on his world? Or maybe she¡¯d only caught him at the tail end of the night. There was no way to be sure until they shared letters weeks from now. It dawned on her then that for all their superiority when it came to strength and even technology like space travel, the Yee cultivation empire was still in the stone ages when it came tomunications. She wondered for a moment if that was by design.Jim had always said whoever controlled the flow of information in a conflict held an advantage. And speed ofmunication had to be a factor. In the old world they¡¯d been able tomunicate instantaneously across the globe. Granted it didn¡¯t do much for the Earth when the cultivators came. Still, it made her wonder. ¡°What am I even thinking about?¡± Kelsey said. All this stuff was Max¡¯s Dao, not her own. She only cared about killing demons. But it intrigued her to ponder just how Yee society worked outside of their. She envied Max again for his opportunity to experience the true outside world. A world she too hoped to venture to and explore one day. She was just about to call it quits for another half hour when she sensed Max¡¯s me reappear. Excitement filled her as she rushed towards it, but when she finally touched her disembodied me to make contact with his, an equal amount of concern filled her soul. Max was in trouble. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. And he was fearing for someone else¡¯s life that she didn¡¯t know. But most of all, she sensed something she rarely did within Max. Uncertainty. * * * Blue Rose was growing worse by the second. I held her in my arms and theughing fits started again. As her sanity ping-ponged back and forth between madness and rity, she looked to me with tear-soaked eyes and struggled to get words out in between. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ Max,¡± she blurted in betweenughs. ¡°For what¡­ I did. You¡¯ve been¡­ the best¡­ friend¡­ to me.¡± ¡°Blue, just hang on!¡± I shouted at her. But I could sense her soul dying inside. Twisting with the Dark Frenzy and bing something else. No, no, no! The same would happen to my men if they stayed here as well. The Dark Frenzy was just too strong. Even I was starting to suffer. As I took another peek into the spiritual realm, I could see dark tentacles flowing from the spectral form of the gate now hanging in the air. There was too much happening. She wouldn¡¯t survive this, I realized grimly. Blue Rose was simply too far gone. My heart broke as I came to the realization. I couldn¡¯t save her. But I could still try to save everyone else. ¡°Full retreat!¡± I shouted. ¡°Take to the air! You won¡¯t survive what¡¯s about to happen here!¡± It would seem a cowardly call, especially considering everything we had faced up until now, but these guys were not ready for this. I looked back at the Pythor corpse, its body still popping and convulsing. I didn¡¯t know how long it would take to fully transform and be I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s new husk, but once it did, everyone here would be driven mad. ¡°Head for the barrier!¡± I shouted. ¡°You all need to be cleansed!¡± My toon hesitated at mymand, some of them still mesmerized by the pulsing corpse of the Pythor while others were questioning the order itself. It didn¡¯t matter. They all needed to clear the area so I could face this beast alone. ¡°Commander?¡± Ten Chui said as hended next to me. A new thought sparked. Ten Chui was fast. ¡°Take her,¡± I said, pushing Blue Rose towards him. ¡°Get her back to the barrier as fast as you can. Don¡¯t stop for anything.¡± It was a slim chance. It would take hours to get back to the barrier. She might not even make it. But I had to try to save her at least. Ten Chui stared back at me perplexed as Blue Rose began to struggle in his arms. ¡°I can¡¯t move as fast carrying her. Especially with her fighting like this.¡± ¡°No!¡± Blue Rose suddenly shouted, pushing Ten Chui away. ¡°I stay with, Max!¡± She was in a moment of rity again. ¡°Rose, you can¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ll die. You¡¯ll lose your mind.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care!¡± She gritted her teeth, struggling to maintain control between theughing fits. ¡°Won¡¯t make. It. Anyway. Rather stay! Die here with you!¡± My soul broke a second time. She¡¯de to the same realization herself. Blue Rose then burst into a maniacalugh, rolling on the ground. ¡°Blue!¡± I shouted. ¡°Blue!¡± But she didn¡¯t respond and just kept onughing and crying. I knew all hope was lost then. ¡°Get going, Ten Chui,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Get everyone out of here.¡± He paused a second, before nodding to me. He then turned about and began barking orders. ¡°The Iron Bull has granted memand as toon leader!¡± he shouted. ¡°The order is retreat! Move quickly! Back to the barrier! Now, now!¡± People paused unsure. ¡°You heard him!¡± I shouted. ¡°He hasmand now! Go!¡± The toon reacted with soldierly efficiency, taking to the air and heading back toward the Academy. I looked to Dim Wei and her team, who looked to have won the battle against Jei Su Long. Or perhaps more likely, Jei and his boys had turned tail and run as soon as they saw the corpse begin to mutate. ¡°Leave the bag!¡± I shouted to her, as she struggled to carry the crystals while trying to fly. ¡°Save yourself! Go! That¡¯s an order!¡± Reluctantly she dropped the bag and took to the air with a burst of Qi. I watched them all depart as Blue Rose¡¯sughter and tears grew worse. The Dark Frenzy was permeating the air rapidly now. As the edges of my vision began to tunnel, I looked back into the spiritual realm. The tentacles were growing longer. I had no idea if I could even fight this thing. My Dantian was down to under a quarter now. I probably didn¡¯t have enough Frenzy to make it back to the Academy myself without bing a damn demon. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Shit... I thought. Could this be game over for me too? I¡¯d burned too much Frenzy fighting. I was in as bad a position as Blue Rose now. A sudden resonance filled me as a familiar presence made contact with my soul. Kelsey?! I edged further into the spiritual realm, splitting my consciousness in two. I inhabited the blue form of the Struggler and made connection with Kelsey¡¯s me again. ¡°Hey,¡± I said to her. ¡°I¡¯m dealing with all kinds of crap right now, Little Sis. Things aren¡¯t looking good.¡± Her ¡®words¡¯ came to me fast and furious. She understood. She encouraged me. Fight back, was the sense I got in my mind. ¡°Not so simple,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t summon demon fury like you can. Fighting demons isn¡¯t really my thing.¡± It was true. My anger was fueled by the injustice of the empire. Not the threat of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz directly. It made me pause and wonder if I was making the right decision here. I looked again to Blue Rose, quickly losing her sanity and going out of her mind. She might even be too far gone already. Already lost perhaps. But I stood to lose everything now. If I died here, Fia would have to raise that baby alone, in a world where the Warden would have won. What kind of future was that? I would have failed my n, failed Fia and her father and lost all hope of restoring the Earth with the seed of humanity hidden in the bunker out in the wild. I could perhaps still achieve it all if I left now, I thought. I looked back towards the Academy as I considered it. Fighting I¡¯xol¡¯ukz wasn¡¯t my true battle. Not right now. This was all still just a means to an end for me. This was perhaps Kelsey¡¯s Path. One that I could help her along. But it wasn¡¯t mine. I needed toplete my own path first. My heart broke as I looked again to Blue Rose. I¡¯d have to leave her too. But she was dead already, wasn¡¯t she? I took one step towards the academy and froze. What the hell am I doing? If I left this gate open, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz could discover the Academy. Who cares? I thought. I need to save Fia. My mind teetered on indecision again. My path was guiding me one way, but my heart was swaying to another. I felt Kelsey touch my soul again, lending me her strength as more ¡®words¡¯ of encouragement came. She acknowledged my anguish and indecision. The turmoil in my soul. Fight it! That was her message to me. If you see no path, just make your own. Just like you always do. I wasn¡¯t sure if those were Kelsey¡¯s thoughts or my own. Or even if it mattered. Perhaps they wereing directly from my me. I focused on it as the Dark Frenzy grew stronger and the skin-crawling, nail-on-chalkboard screeches of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz filled the air. My own path? I looked across from me to the Demon within my soul. He was staring at me imploringly. Like he wanted to say something. But he was me. What the hell did I need to say to myself? To do? Should I run away andplete my path or stay with Blue Rose and try to fight the demon to save the Academy and maybe even the empire? The same Empire I was trying to destroy. It didn¡¯t make sense. And then it hit me. The source of the rift in my soul. The Struggler had his own mission, that same that mirrored my own. To defeat the empire, free the Earth and restore my people. But the Demon had his own path as well. And this was it. The same as what that spirit within the Aetherite crystal had begged me for. To seek revenge against the demons of the Cursed Stars I finally understood now. The two paths were diverging, or perhaps they¡¯d always been separate. That was why my soul was split. It wasn¡¯t the Demon and the Struggler that needed to amalgamate. It was my paths. As the thought came to me the demon outstretched his hand. I knew what it meant. He was inviting me to join his path. Perhaps this was the Will of the Frenzied me all along. The reason why It had lent me its strength, the power to achieve my own Path of the Struggler, but in return, it wanted my strength to fulfil Its own. If I chose though, would I be giving up my own path? No, I thought with conviction. I wouldbine them. But what did that mean? Could I still save Fia? Save Blue even? Trust. Kelsey¡¯s message came to me. Fight! Easy for you to say, I thought with augh. This is your path already. But she wasn¡¯t wrong either. At every step of the way, I had trusted the me and it hadn¡¯t steered me wrong yet. Even if what it was asking me to do seemed contrary to what needed to be done. I made my decision. I would follow both paths. I would defeat the empire as well as destroy the demons of the Cursed Stars. I would destroy this gate and prevent I¡¯xol¡¯ukz from learning the location of the Academy and fight across the Hell Worlds and beyond. Not to just save my people, but to protect the mortal realm itself. ¡°Alright you son of a bitch,¡± I said to the demon. ¡°You got yourself a deal. But now you need toe through for me. Give me the power to make all this shit happen! Right now!¡± Within the Blue [Spectral Body] of the Struggler, I shook the demon¡¯s hand and the world exploded in a brilliant sh of light. I was ejected from my [Spectral Body] to see both the Demon and the Struggler, hands joined, and dissolving before my eyes. My me pulsed, ring like an explosion going off and shifting from bright blue to all white. New power filled me like never before. My soul was replenished. In the darkness of my mind¡¯s eye, my [Spectral Body] began to reform. It grew from the bottom up, strong legs with red skin, covered in scars. My new height was easily that of the demon or more. My face resembled my own, the true form of my [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] but on my temples were a set of bull¡¯s horns that looked far more elegant and refined than before. Across my scar ridden body, slow pulses of electricity formed my [Spectral Armor], now a permanent fixture within my new [Spectral] form. Holy shit¡­ I thought. This was it. I had finally germinated my Second Soul. I had broken through the 9th Tier of the Core Realm and pushed beyond. I had ascended to the next realm. I was a Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator now. * * * Kelsey blinked in shock at what she was witnessing. Max¡¯s me pulsed and transformed before her spiritual eyes. He seemed ten times as powerful as before, like he¡¯d just had a breakthrough or something. His thoughts too had evolved. Coalesced and refined. She wasn¡¯t sure what had just happened, but she hoped she had yed some small part in it. ¡°Good job, Max!¡± she shouted. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you, Big Bro!¡± She wasn¡¯t sure if he could hear her. Or even understand her fully. But she prayed he could. She sensed his thoughts responding to her. Gratitude. tion. Power. But beneath it all she sensed what he desired the most. The desire to protect. To save. He¡¯d just made a choice, but wasn¡¯t sure if he could aplish it all. ¡°Do it, Max!¡± she urged him. ¡°You¡¯ve got this, bro. I believe in you. Save everyone!¡± * * * I opened my eyes in the real world and a new sense of conviction filled me. My me burned white hot like a furnace. No, not a furnace¡­like a forge now. A forge that had formed my new soul. A soul of the Struggler and Demonbined. My Dantian seemed smaller, but denser, my Frenzy increased by a hundred fold. ¡°M-max?¡± I looked over my shoulder to see Blue Rose kneeling on the ground. Her eyes seemed steadier than before, her soul more stable. ¡°Blue?¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°Is that you?¡± I wondered what she was talking about, until I realized I was covered by the red-hued form of my new [Spectral Body]. I must have projected it reflexively when the transformation took ce. I realized then I was seeing in double, able to see both the spiritual world and the real world at the same time. ¡°You¡¯ve¡­ ascended,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°Was that what I felt?¡± Felt? ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I can sense something in you,¡± she said. ¡°Like it¡¯s¡­ shielding me. From the Demonic Qi of the moon.¡± I checked my [Soul Shield] technique and it seemed to have evolved. Not only was it protecting my me but some distance around me as well it seemed. ¡°The true you,¡± she said, marveling at my [Spectral Projection]. ¡°Guess you really took that ¡®bull¡¯ thing to heart.¡± I nearlyughed. I supposed I was lucky. With my moniker, it was far more easy for people to see a red-skinned Bull Man instead of an awakened demon lord. And that was just fine with me. Blue Rose broke into a suddenugh again. Shit! I was able to protect her now, but she was still damaged on the inside. I looked back and saw the creature still forming itself. I had mere minutes maybe. Once it emerged there was no telling what would happen. But I was looking at the situation differently now. Before running or staying meant turning my back on either one path or the other. But they werebined now. And I felt the power to achieve both. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± I said to Blue Rose. ¡°We¡¯re getting you back to the academy.¡± ¡°What?¡± she said. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Drink this,¡± I said and fed her the second elixir. ¡°It¡¯ll help keep you together until we get there.¡± She wiped her mouth as she finished off the bottle. ¡°That¡¯ll take hours.¡± I grimaced as I cycled my Frenzy. ¡°Not if I can help it.¡± I scooped Blue Rose up within my arms as I dropped my sword and axe. ¡°I¡¯ll be back for thoseter,¡± I said to the monster. ¡°And for you too, bitch.¡± ¡°Who are you talking t¡ª¡± Blue Rose let out a gasp as I leapt into the air with [Lightning Walk]. I pushed forward with a burst of speed as my steps quickened. I had no idea what level my abilities were at now. If I was still keeping score, my Internal Strengthening had to be at stage 20 or more. That meant the potency of my techniques had more than doubled and that went the same for my [Lightning Walk]. I could push off the air with much more force and speed now, literally sprinting through the air. I was moving fast, but I needed to go faster. Blue Rose was still in between sanity and madness. She needed to get to that crystal. I dared to pull out the stops and try the next phase. I hadn¡¯t even attempted the technique yet much less perfected it, but it was all down to necessity now. I went through the meridian sequences in my head and began cycling my Frenzy. A spark of intuition said to forget using my feet and just use my whole body. I sent a burst of solid Frenzy to my jing in the form of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] and then redirected the force as I annunciated my newly modified technique. ¡°[Ride the Lightning]!¡± The world exploded in a burst of lightning as I went corkscrewing through the air like I¡¯d just been shot out of a cannon. Blue Rose screamed, holding onto me for dear life as the world spun. The ground sped by like we were in an airne, thousands of feet eaten up in seconds. I had no idea how fast we were traveling but I didn¡¯t let up. I poured on the Frenzy to keep the maneuver going. At some point I saw the remnants of my toon sh by and a moment after that Jei Su Long and his team. I had no idea what I looked like to them, but I was moving too fast to even see a reaction. The glow of the beacons soon appeared on the horizon, and I had to reverse the direction of the technique to quickly slow down. As I zoomed towards the ming braziers, I saw a horde of demons assaulting the barrier¡¯s edge. ¡°Hold on!¡± I shouted to Blue Rose. I aimed for a point closest to the edge andnded with another full burst of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. The explosion of lightning went through the horde, clearing a space over a football field wide, killing them all. As I arose from the charred embers and burnt demon flesh, a voice rang out from above me. ¡°Iron Bull?¡± I looked up to see Chief Yora hovering in the air. ¡°No time to exin,¡± I said as I pushed Blue Rose past the threshold and into the barrier. ¡°Can you please get her to master Eiji and the Aetherite crystal? She¡¯s been badly poisoned by Demonic Qi.¡± Chief Yora looked to a couple of ck Robes who were assisting. ¡°Take her right away.¡± Blue Rose reached out to me as they carried her away. ¡°Max! Come with me!¡± I shook my head. ¡°I got work to finish yet.¡± ¡°What in in the nine hells is going on?¡± Yora said as she touched down next to me, ncing about at the destruction I just caused. She then looked up at the translucent form of my [Spectral Body] superimposed over my physical self. ¡°Did you just ascent to the Sacred Soul Realm?¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± I said quickly. ¡°My toon is on its way back here. The same for Jei Su Long¡¯s.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± I thought quickly. ¡°Let¡¯s just say some stragglers from before were still out there. The Cursed Star born kind. Everyone may need some Aetherite treatment.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll alert the President,¡± she said, but I stopped her. ¡°No need,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it. And besides, I need to go back for my crystals.¡± I took back off before she could ask or say anything else,unching into the sky with [Ride the Lightning]. As I flew away, I couldn¡¯t help but reflect on my newfound power. I was getting closer and closer to god-mode and was only a realm away from being a Lesser Deity now myself. But I couldn¡¯t focus on that. I gritted my teeth as I poured on the speed. I had a dark god of the stars that I needed to go kill. Book 3: Chapter 42 I soared over the open desert at what had to be close to the speed of sound. I shot past both my toon and Jei Su Long¡¯s, and this time I noticed a couple of heads look up towards the sky. I was pushing through the air like a rocket, passing huge swarms of demons as they roamed thendscape, looking for prey. I had the power to take out hundreds of them now in just a single technique, but I was after only one demon in particr at the moment. I arrived back at the cliff to see the corpse of the Pythor nowpletely transformed. The first thing that hit me was the smell. The animated corpse reeked like it had been dead for days, not minutes. Where its long neck and cobra-like head had been, was now a squid-like face with a maw full of tentacles. Its legs had transformed into tentacles as well, which the beast now stood upon, like long spindly legs. The bulbous, building-sized spiked shell remained, but now it was encased in a ceaseless shroud of green mes. I touched down next to my weapons still buried in the sand. I grabbed my axe but decided to stow it on my back. There was no need for my mixed Axe and ive technique. This thing was a giant monster, not a skilled cultivator, and for that, only one weapon would do. I pulled the Phnx ive from the sand and hefted it onto my shoulder. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m back, shithead,¡± I said with [Fear the me]. ¡°You ready to get your ass kicked back to the Hell Worlds?¡± The monster responded with a sort of scoff.~Foul husk. Thou impudence hast grown~ ¡°That¡¯s not the only thing that¡¯s grown,¡± I said, flexing my core. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bone to pick with you now. You¡¯re going to pay for all the destruction you¡¯ve caused.¡± Those scattered memories from the crystal returned to the forefront of my mind in vivid rity. Before, I could just vaguely visualize them, but now I could feel their fear, pain and suffering in full form. I internalized it with [Everyone¡¯s Sorrow] and a burst of Frenzy emitted from my me. It was the first Frenzy from my newlybined path. A path that seemed to extend to the very stars. I cultivated it into my newly refined Dantian, the amber crystal forming in my mind¡¯s eye. It seemed even more radiant than before. Closer even to the hue of the Aethrite crystal itself. My [Soul Shield] technique was protecting my enhanced me to the point where I didn¡¯t feel the effects of the moon at all, but it put a steady drain on my Frenzy still. With the Frenzy density I had now, I could probably withstand the Dark Frenzy of the Bloodmoon for days instead of mere hours. But the dark energy shooting out of that gate was another story. I had to be wary of that even after my ascension. With my [Spectral Body] still projected, I could see the tendrils of dark energy connecting I¡¯xol¡¯ukz to the Pythor¡¯s corpse. I could probably sever the connection by destroying the gate and ending the fight prematurely. But where would be the fun in that? This son of a bitch needs to feel some pain for all it¡¯s done, I thought. ¡°This is for you folks,¡± I whispered as I channeled my Frenzy. ¡°You nameless souls that suffered under the blight of the Cursed Stars.¡± I bolstered myself with [Steel Skin] and [Steel Lightning] before engaging [Mark of the Beast] and [Mark of the Demon]. My body transformed, taking on the beastly image of what used to reside within my mind¡¯s eye. For a second, I thought I might have transformed into something that resembled my new [Spectral Body], but it figured I would need to master [Spectral Form] to do that first. That was the same technique I had seen Threja use when I first met her along with [Furnace of the Frenzied me]. Maybe I would even need to advance to the Lesser Deity Realm to achieve it, but now that I was a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator, anything seemed possible. Maybe even¡­ three forms at once? I toyed with the idea for half a second, but decided to let it slide for now. I needed to see how strong I¡¯d grown from just my ascension first, and I didn¡¯t want to risk going full demon mode and losing my mind in I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s presence either. He¡¯d snap me up for sure then. I waited. The beast wasn¡¯t moving, seemingly waiting for me to make the opening attack. Fine, I thought. You asked for it, bitch! I flew into the air with [Ride the Lightning], spiraling straight towards its head with a [One Chop Cleave]. One of the tentacles came flying out of nowhere, shooting through the air like aser beam. It struck me hard across the chest and pped me right out of my aerial technique. The world spun as I tumbled to the ground and thennded hard, my head dazed. Holy Crap¡­What was that..? As I sprung to my feet, I narrowly avoided another whip from one of its massive tentacles. I leapt backwards to give myself some distance. I totally wasn¡¯t expecting a hit that strong or fast, and considering the power I¡¯d felt through it, I was perhaps lucky I had already ascended to the next realm in order to have survived it. I was still too high on my breakthrough, I realized. Filled with overconfidence and bravado. I guess the universe had a way of humbling you no matter what level you reached. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take that,¡± I said, steeling myself again. ¡°Rushing in was a dumb move.¡± But I wouldn¡¯t let that deter me. I took to the sky again but with the more controlled [Lightning Walk] technique this time. I ping-ponged through the air in a zigzag formation causing the tentacles to fly in all directions as I misdirected its attacks. As one of the tree-trunk-sized appendages flew past me, I kicked off the air and spun with a [Lightning Three Log Chop]. My Phnx ive met the strong resistance of its Demonic hide. For a moment, it felt as if time stood still as I poured on the extra Frenzy to power through. With a sharp snap of steel, the tentacle gave way, and I was rewarded with an exhrating screech of pain from the monster. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± I shouted. ¡°Wee back to the mortal realm, bitch!¡± I kicked off the air again just as I¡¯xol¡¯ukz sent another tentacle to p me. With [Mark of the Beast] in my newly ascended realm I was moving faster than I ever had before. It was a reminder that a change in realm was nothing like a change in a mere tier. I was easily moving ten times as fast as I was before. I released a yell of exhration as I continued to avoid the flying tentacles like they were standing still. I kicked off the air and tentacles alike, keeping myself airborne as I continued my assault. I lost track of time as I began cutting the giant creature down piece by piece. Small snippets of pain came with each one as the tentacles spewed their ck blood all over the sand. I cultivated it quickly, adding to my reserves as my Dantian dropped to about the three-quarter mark. I¡¯d gotten a heck of a lot stronger, but I wasn¡¯t without my limits still. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the tform they originally published on. ~Foul husk of the Cursed me. BE GONE!~ As its words roared in my mind my soul shook. A wave of anger spewed from within it as something else spewed from its tentacled-faced maw. A stream of green mes shot through the air, covering an area fifty feet wide. I couldn¡¯t kick off the air fast enough to get out of the st and a sticky substance covered me in the emerald mes. The gunk ate straight through my ative technique and began seeping into my [Steel Skin]. The pain was excruciating and I howled with defiance as I struggled to stay in the air. Something hit me hard, a tentacle perhaps. I elerated like a bullet as the ground rose up the hit me right in the face. The world went ck. Dark thoughts entered my mind. I could see my [Spectral Body] looking down at me mournfully. Tentacles of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s spiritual form writhed behind him. Get up! It was Kelsey¡¯s voice. Get up, Max! She was still with me. I came to with a violent gasp for air. I found myself face down in a crater that had to be a hundred feet wide and nearly half that in depth. Every bone in my body ached and as I looked at my singed skin, I realized that all my techniques had dropped, including my [Soul Shield]. I gasped for air a second time as I saw my me being assaulted like it was in the middle of a hurricane. The bright white glow was now a struggling ember, like one of those trick birthday candles that kept defying the odds and reigniting again. As I felt Kelsey¡¯s presence still with me, I realized what was happening. I had passed out, leaving myselfpletely vulnerable. But it was Kelsey¡¯s me from afar that was keeping my candle lit. Damn that was close. ¡°Thanks again, little sis,¡± I said as I struggled to my feet and prayed she could feel my thoughts. I cycled my Frenzy to push back against the Dark forces about to choke my me. It sputtered and sparked and gave me just enough juice to engage my [Soul Shield] technique again. It red with a kickstart and my me returned to full power as the technique glowed with a protective barrier that I could almost see in a ten foot radius around me. I struggled to find my weapons next, glimpsing my Phnx ive a good thirty feet away. I then looked about fully, wondering why the hell I¡¯xol¡¯ukz hadn¡¯t attacked to finish me off already. I saw the reason why in the form of the giant Pythor shell being on the move. It was nearly a football-field-length away from me, a testament to how far I¡¯d been flung. It was advancing on the stubs of its ¡®legs¡¯ that I¡¯d cut short, eliciting pain as it half dragged the mammoth tortoise shell through the sand. The sight amused me for some reason. ¡°Missed your chance to kill merdass!¡± I shouted at it with a grin of [Indifference]. ¡°That¡¯s going to be yourst mistake.¡± A cauldron of anger and rage bubbled up from within its soul. ~Thou art hubris incarnate, husk! Know thy ce!~ The words echoed through both real space and in my mind. The monster then stopped moving, getting about half the distance to me. ~ All traitors of the One True me shall be consumed for their crimes against the Greater Will~ As it said the words something shook in my soul. A truth. A hidden secret revealed. The Greater Wil¡ª? The shroud of green mes about its body suddenly red and I sensed Dark Frenzy intensifying around me. Before I could even react, the world exploded in a torrent of the same green mes now erupting from the sand below me in a circle thirty feet wide. My [Soul Shield] red to protect me, but I didn¡¯t have time to raise my [Steel Skin] or lightning armor for protection. The violent heat burned straight to my soul. I screamed with a primal pain as my skin was set on fire. It felt like Hin Wu¡¯s technique turned up to eleven. It took all my will to break out of the sudden shock to my system and flip to retreat through the green mes. I mmed into a wall I couldn¡¯t see. Shit! I was trapped! I screamed again as a sudden panic overtook me. All I could see was green! It was just like Hin Wu¡¯s technique. No¡­ it was the other way around. This was the true technique that the demonic Fire Bird cultivators had merely copied. I had to breakout. I engaged [Mark of the Giant] and felt my skin quickly renewed as my body transformed. I struck the edge of the green mes with my ive but it felt like hitting steel. My skin was being burned again, even through my [Steel Skin]. Speed, I thought. I had to hack this barrier down like a tree. I engaged [Mark of the Beast] and was topped up with a second wind as my body was restored yet again. I focused my dwindling Frenzy, jack-hammering away with my ive at what had to be two or three hits a second. Still nothing! ~I sense thy demise. A disappointment. Be consumed foul husk~ ¡°No!¡± I cried as my skin and soul burned. To hell with that shit! I wasn¡¯t going out like this today! But as the damage took its toll, my body failed me, my limbs growing weak fromck of muscles as they were burned from my body in the violent torrent of acrid mes. I copsed to my knees, struggling to survive at [Death¡¯s Door]. All I could see¡­was green mes. Shit¡­not like this. Deep in the psyche of my mind, I fought to center myself. For a moment I glimpsed thekeside beach, and the sight brought a calmness to my soul. My path was now far too strong to end here. I had a twin Dao to strengthen my resolve. Fia and the Empire. The demons and the Earth. The Frenzied me and the scourge of the Cursed Stars. In the darkness of my mind¡¯s eye, I saw myself. My true self. My second soul. It was the familiar visage of the Struggler now d in red skin instead of blue and with the power of a demon in his heart. He nodded at me, as if to say ¡®get ready¡¯, and I wondered what the hell he was talking about. But he was only a few thoughts ahead in my mind. I had one mark left to use. Two were already burning just to keep me alive. Could I handle a third? Guess we¡¯re gonna find out, I said to my inner self. My second soul smiled. ¡°[Mark of the Demon]¡­¡± As I said the words, a monstrous form suddenly appeared within my mind¡¯s eye. It was as tall as my new self, a demon of immense violence and aggression, even more than the one that existed before. My Second Soul immediately grabbed it in a headlock as my body transformed and my mind began to scream. The demon flexed in his strong grip and as he gritted his teeth, I got the message. Be quick. I can¡¯t keep this shit up forever. He didn¡¯t have to tell me twice. I released a howl as my body was reformed for a third time. With all my [Marks] engaged at once, my techniques withstood the mes, bolstering my body with [Steel Skin] and [Steel Lightning]. I grabbed my ive and went to town on the edge of the mes and with a sound like shattering ss, broke through the invisible barrier. The night sky reappeared above, and I never thought I¡¯d be so grateful to see the Bloodmoon again. But the relief was short lived. I already felt the Dark Frenzy intensifying around me again, as the monster tried to trap me in another column of me. I roared as Iunched myself toward the giant creature, moving so fast that by the time the mes erupted they were already well behind me. I choked up on my ive but it felt like almost a hindrance to me now. I threw it with all my might towards I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s squid like head instead, and it flew with a high-pitched whistle, spinning like a helicopter de. It struck the monster dead in the face and a horrid screech pierced the air. I wasn¡¯t sure if I¡¯d killed it, and I didn¡¯t care. I had more work to do. I needed to kill! I needed to kill more and more! I roared with savagery as I leapt onto the top of its ming shell with [Lightning Walk]. The mes did nothing as I fell to my knees and began to m the top of the shell with my bare fists alone. A madness overcame me as the red-hued Struggler of my Second Soul began to lose his grip. Hurry up! I know, I know! Just a bit more! I kept pounding away at hypersonic speed, my fist bing a blur. Suddenly the shell cracked and copsed and my fists buried themselves in blood, ichor and gore. I didn¡¯t stop. I kept on driving straight through, sinking deeper and deeper into the foul body of the beast. I couldn¡¯t see anymore, but I didn¡¯t care. All I could see now were all those people in the crystal, theirst thoughts burning within my mind¡¯s eye. Thoughts of terror and hopelessness, of fear and death as the demons descended upon their world from the zing orb of the Cursed Star. It was no different than what we had suffered on the Earth. This bastard I¡¯Xol¡¯ukz needed to know what It¡¯d done. It needed to feel [Everyone¡¯s Pain]!! As my Frenzy erupted into an ocean of power, new thoughts and feelings emerged. I felt the new root of my twin Dao. A right to exist. A defiance against annihtion. AN INDIGNANT RAGE!! ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls!]¡± The technique went off like a nuclear bomb, shattering the giant shell from the inside. Pieces flew from it like a grenade going off as the shockwave raced across the desert with a thunderp. My technique quelled slowly as the tendrils of lightning receded back within my body. I remained standing in midair at the center of it all. Chunks of shell, bone and rotten flesh rained down from the sky all around me. My [Marks] all fell, leaving me weaker, yet fulfilled within my soul. The presence of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz was gone. But I could still feel the presence of Dark Frenzy permeating my soul. Onest thing to do. I [Lightning Walked] back to the gate and with a glimpse into the spiritual realm could see the dark tentacles of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz slipping back inside of it. Retreating like a coward. ¡°Don¡¯te back here looking for me again, you hear?!¡± I shouted at it through the gate. ¡°Because next time I¡¯ming to look for you!¡± The gate was small like the one I¡¯d taken out in the bunker. Not a giant one like what I had to take out by fighting I¡¯Xan¡¯Dra in the spiritual realm. Still, this small one existed in both the real world and the spiritual realm and I needed an attack that affected both to destroy it for good. I reared back with a single punch. ¡°[Frenzied Fist of the Struggler].¡± As I punched the gate into oblivion, the red hued form of my Second Soul appeared. I made the true connection then. The demon and the Struggler hadbined, but the Struggler was still with me. No, more than that. The Struggler was me. In the form of my Second Soul. I exhaled as I looked down at the enormous mess that I had caused. The debris from the Pythor¡¯s corpse was spread over a mile wide and demons swarms were rushing towards the pieces of foul flesh to feed. As I stood in the air like a god, I realized I had broken through to the next level in more ways than one. I nced up at the Bloodmoon and felt both hatred and kinship now. The Frenzied me and the Demons of the Cursed Stars were connected. But by what Greater Will, I was not sure. Youid the path for us to be consumed by the Cursed Stars, I thought. But now, I¡¯ll take that same path back to you¡­ to destroy you all. As the vow took hold in my soul, I felt my me stir. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go,¡± I said to the Struggler. ¡°Time to get back to reality. We still got an exam to pass.¡± Book 3: Chapter 43 Kelsey breathed a sigh of relief as she once again entered the safety of Venja¡¯s barrier. It would be for thest time tonight, or so she hoped. The Bloodmoon was setting, and the first rays of dawn were cresting over the horizon. She was exhausted both mentally and spiritually¡ªher Frenzy reserves depleted and her body full of fresh scars. A tough night, but one she was d to be a part of. Kelsey still wasn¡¯t certain what exactly had happened to Max, but she knew from herst encounter that everything was now ¡®all good¡¯. No¡­better than good. He had ascended. Even the presence of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz seemed to have lessened somewhat after it urred. Even here on Earth. But she knew it was still out there. That demon-spawned zombie of Master Hong Feng especially. But Max¡¯s ascension gave her hope.If he could progress, even in a prison, then so could she. * * * I arrived back at Du Gok Bhong in a burst of [Frenzied Lightning]. As I skidded to a halt in mid-air, stopping right before the barrier¡¯s edge, I had to pause to take in what I was seeing. I had expected to find no one here at all, with everyone having evacuated to the Aetherite crystal in the tower, but instead I saw my toon busily fending off a horde of demons while Dim Wei and her team extracted Brown crystals from a pit a few yards from the barrier. Jei Su Long¡¯s toon was there as well but were sitting back and doing mostly nothing as they watched and jeered my team from afar. ¡°Iron Bull?¡± I turned about to see Chief Yora approaching me. She flew through the barrier with a burst of Qi and then stopped before me. ¡°Thank the heavens,¡± she said. ¡°I thought you might have died out there.¡± I couldn¡¯t me her for thinking that. It was just before dawn now, the official end of the exam, and I had been MIA for a while. It had taken me the better part of an hour to find the duffle bags buried beneath the mile wide crater containing the Pythor guts and another to find both my Axe and ive. ¡°I came close,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°But today¡¯s not the day, it seems.¡± I then outstretched my hand to show her the two blood-soaked duffel bags in my grasp. ¡°Took me a little extra time to bring these back.¡± Chief Yora nced at the bags dubiously. ¡°Are those your teams crystals?¡± ¡°Yeah, like I said, it took me a while to find them.¡± ¡°Find them?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t ask.¡± I then looked back to my toon, still busy digging away and fighting off monsters. ¡°Is everyone okay? Did Master Eiji check them all?¡± ¡°Only Blue Rose appeared to be deeply poisoned by Demonic Qi,¡± Yora said as she hovered next to me. ¡°The rest refused to forfeit the exam and have stayed outside the barrier.¡± She then looked up at me and smiled. ¡°As have you, fortunately.¡± Yora then straightened herself, taking on a more professional demeanor. ¡°We can debrief about what you sawter,¡± she said. ¡°You still have twenty minutes toplete your exam. I suggest you reassumemand of your toon and hold onto those bags until the official hand in.¡± I smiled. She didn¡¯t have to tell me twice. I jumped back into the fray, weapons swinging, taking out a dozen demons as I rejoined my team. * * * The battle to push back the final horde was a quick one. After what I¡¯d just fought, taking out normal demons, even ones influenced by a Full Bloodmoon, was child¡¯s y to me now. My toon cheered for me when I rejoined them, which caused nothing but res of disdain toe from Jei Su Long and his crew. As we finally cleared out thest horde of demons, my toon mobbed me with questions. ¡°Was that you in the sky?¡± ¡°Did you ascend?¡± ¡°What happened with that gate? With that monster?¡± ¡°You seem ten times stronger now!¡± Dim Wei, however, was more interested in the crystals. ¡°Thank you for bringing these back,¡± she said, dropping the duffle bags at her feet. ¡°There was nothing but low point clusters here. We feared we would be under Jei Su Long¡¯s control for good.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said, tapping the duffle bags with my foot. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to leave you all hanging.¡± More smiles and cheers came with that. My toon gave me salutes of respect, but that paledpared to the lemonade now filling their hearts. They all gazed upon me awestruck, like I had just be someone else. And I suppose I had, in a way. Advancing to a new realm wasn¡¯t just about gaining power. Everything about me had changed. How I viewed myself. How I viewed the world. But some things remained constant no matter what, and as much as I relished the praises of my team, there was something far more important I wanted to go do. As the exam finally ended, we were let back inside the barrier and Dim Wei dropped the bags full of crystals at Chief Yora¡¯s feet. Her assistants then rapidly began counting them as well as the bags from Jei Su Long¡¯s team. The bastard continued to re at me with a mixture of envy and fear now, perhaps not quite knowing how to view me as the whispers of my ascension began floating through his own ranks. But I paid him no mind, ignoring him with [Indifference]. President Tzu Li Zen then appeared, emerging from the direction of the Academy. We all fell into formation and then saluted as he took a ce next to Chief Yora. He didn¡¯t say anything, but he gave me an intense stare. I could feel he was sensing the strength of my Dantian and his eyes widened with a bit of surprise before he slowly gave me a nod. ¡°Congrattions,¡± Chief Yora said as she stepped forward to address us. ¡°All of you here today have passed the final examination. While there were some unusual events, I believe it even more so confirms that you have been well prepared for what is yet toe. President Tzu Li Zen hase to address you on your sess. President?¡± Tzu Li Zen nodded while looking us over. ¡°You have all been deemed fit to venture forth to defend the Empire from the scourge of the Cursed Stars. This is a great honor and you should be proud of your aplishments today. Sadly, three who ventured out into the wild shall never return, having been lost to the desert this night.¡± He paused then and the gravity that three tributes had died took hold. Knowing their deaths were primarily from Jei Su Long¡¯s ipetence brought a heated anger to my stomach, but I quelled it knowing that I¡¯d done what it would take to ensure that such would never happen again. ¡°Be that as it may,¡± Tzu Li Zen continued. ¡°We are but soldiers in this conflict and casualties are to be expected. Even in training. And what you are about to face will be many times harder than what you faced tonight.¡± He paused yet again perhaps to let it all sink in. ¡°But that day wille soon enough,¡± he said. ¡°For now, you will celebrate your achievement. You will be granted one week to recuperate before your deployment. But on this day, I now grant you a new rank and title.¡± Yora¡¯s assistants began handing us new sets of ck robes, but these ones came with a white stripe. ¡°With the bestowing of these robes, you are all hereby promoted to the rank of Graduate Legionnaire. Congrattions.¡± A round of cheers and hollers went up as Chief Yora and the President himself both gave us a bow. It was an odd sort of feeling. I¡¯d done it. I¡¯d passed the academy and be a Legionnaire in record time. Well, a graduate one anyway, but still, I had true title now and was but a step away from fully reaching my final goal. ¡°Wear these new robes with pride,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°Fewer than one percent within the entire Empire ever reach such a stage of advancement. You are indeed a select few.¡± He then turned to Yora. ¡°I believe there is one other matter to consider tonight, Chief Yora?¡± This tale has been uwfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The president then stood to the side as Chief Yora took center stage again. ¡°We will now proceed to the matter of the leadership assessment,¡± Yora said. ¡°Do we have a final tally of the two toons?¡± ¡°Yes, Chief Instructor,¡± one of the aides said. ¡°What is the score?¡± ¡°For the toon of Jei Su Long, the total recovery was 32 Gold, 42 Silver, no ck and no Brown for a total of 5300 points.¡± Jei Su Long threw his fist in the air. ¡°No way you will beat that score.¡± ¡°And no way you should be leader with how you tried to earn your score either,¡± Dim Wei quipped from behind me. The out of cement threw him off and he red at Dim Wei with disdain. Chief Yora looked to Dim Wei imploringly. ¡°What was that?¡± She was just about to speak when I spoke ahead of her. ¡°I¡¯ll apprise you in the debrief, Chief Instructor,¡± I said. ¡°Please continue.¡± There was no need to sully the exercise right now. Especially as I was now most assured of the results. ¡°For the toon of the Iron Bull, the total recovery was 28 gold, 23 silver, 35 ck, 74 Brown for a total of 5390 points. The winner is the Iron Bull!¡± Jei Su Long¡¯s jaw fell to the floor as both toons went wild. It was a reminder that thepetition was never between our toons, but Jei Su Long and I alone. All but his Token Tribute cronies, left his side to join with mine and together they let out more cheers, chanting my name. ¡°Iron Bull!¡± ¡°Iron Bull!¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± Jei Su Long shouted. ¡°There was no way he had that many crystals before. I saw¡ª!¡± ¡°And when did you see?¡± Dim Wei said. ¡°When you were trying to steal them from me?¡± Ah shit, I thought. So much for keeping things cordial. A mini argument broke out, but Chief Yora quickly brought it to a close. ¡°Enough of that,¡± she said. ¡°I will review the details of the exercise in full after my debrief from the now substantive toon Commander.¡± She then turned to me. ¡°Well done Iron Bull, you have proved once again your prudent ability to lead.¡± As she gave me a bow I returned it graciously. I was thankful then that I had spent the extra time to suss out a couple more Gold crystal stashes while I was looking for my sword. There was no way I was going to allow that bastard Jei Su Long to win and lead us all to a fiery death on the Hell Worlds. ¡°Congrattions to you all once again,¡± Yora said. ¡°Legionnaires, you are dismissed.¡± * * * As we all dispersed, Chief Yora pulled me to the side along with the president. ¡°Now then,¡± she said. ¡°Tell us what really went on out there. What did you encounter?¡± Shit¡­What could I tell them? Certainly not that I¡¯xol¡¯ukz had paid me a personal visit. But I could start with something more mundane. ¡°Jei Su Long caused the death of those tributes,¡± I said. ¡°They must have run into that Star Born demon earlier. The one I spoke of. Anyway, they were all Qi poisoned, just like Blue Rose, but a bit further gone. He left them there to fend for themselves and die.¡± Tzu Li Zen let out a terse sigh. ¡°The things we must tolerate to maintain our funding in this day and age.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°Funding?¡± ¡°Jei Su Long¡¯s family is a major sponsor of the Academy,¡± Chief Yora said. ¡°The Twin Rivers Sect make up over a quarter of our annual budget through their donations.¡± ¡°Which means from time to time we must acquiesce to ept one of their Young Masters to our elerated program,¡± Tzu Li Zen said with a grimace. ¡°Even one¡¯s as destructive and irresponsible as Jei Su Long.¡± He then shook his head. ¡°At times¡­we must all bow to someone.¡± ¡°You did well to win thepetition,¡± Chief Yora said. ¡°Not that I had any doubts.¡± ¡°I would have ensured your victory even if I did have doubts,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°I trust the lives of these legionnaires in your hands, Iron Bull. Do your upmost to bring as many back with you as possible.¡± I gave them both a bow. ¡°Understood, President.¡± ¡°What happened to the demon?¡± Yora asked. ¡°Did you kill it?¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s good and dead alright.¡± ¡°What type was it?¡± she asked. I smiled. ¡°Not sure, but I¡¯ll draw it for youter.¡± I then nced at the newly rising sun.window.yaContextCb=window.yaContextCb||[] window.yaContextCb.push(()=>{ Ya.Context.AdvManager.render({ renderTo: ''yandex_rtb_R-A-2282848-6'', blockId: ''R-A-2282848-6'' }) }) ¡°Will that be all for now?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes, of course,¡± Chief Yora said. ¡°After tonight, you¡¯ve earned a well-deserved rest.¡± ¡°Later for sure,¡± I said. ¡°But right now, there¡¯s one person I need to go see.¡± * * * I raced up the stairs with a mixture of apprehension and anxiety in my soul. Blue Rose seemed on the mend when I had left her. But that was hours ago and there was no telling what kind of permanent damage being exposed to Dark Frenzy for so long had done to her psyche. I prayed for the best as I hit the rooftop and saw Master Eiji half asleep and leaning against the tower door. ¡°Master Eiji,¡± I said, shaking his shoulder to wake him. ¡°I need to see Blue Rose, is she okay?¡± He stirred instantly and then his eyes snapped wide open as he looked up at me. ¡°By the nine heavens. You¡¯ve ascended!¡± I smiled. ¡°Guess nothing gets past those spiritual eagle eyes of yours.¡± ¡°Well done,¡± he said, rising from his stool to give me a bow. ¡°And I suppose it is Legionnaire Iron Bull now.¡± ¡°Graduate Legionnaire,¡± I said correcting him. ¡°I¡¯m not iming the real deal until I make it back from my first tour. But enough about me. Please tell me Blue Rose is okay.¡± The smile on his face faded. ¡°Her poisoning was quite severe. She¡¯s been under therapy for some time now.¡± ¡°Can I go see her?¡± ¡°You can try,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve tried to wake her a few times now.¡± Shit¡­ I thought. ¡°She will be okay though, right? Eventually?¡± ¡°Spiritually yes,¡± he said. ¡°But I have no idea how much her mind was forced to endure. As it mends, there is no telling what it might choose to forget to protect itself.¡± ¡°So she might not remember anything, like before?¡± Master Eiji wobbled his head from side to side. ¡°It depends on the strength of one¡¯s mental fortitude and how much they saw.¡± He then paused. ¡°You should prepare yourself. I have seen times like this where the mind chooses to remember nothing at all. Not even who they once were.¡± My stomach fell through the floor. ¡°But she was alright, she was speaking to me.¡± ¡°As the mind heals, who knows what it will choose to forget.¡± Master Eiji stepped to the side and held open the door. ¡°I pray she is still the friend you remember.¡± Nerves and anxiety built in my stomach as I gingerly eased open the door. The resonating hum of the Aetherite crystal instantly greeted me as I looked within and saw Blue Rose curled in a ball in the corner. ¡°I¡¯ll give you some privacy,¡± Master Eiji said and then closed the door behind me. As I passed by the crystal, I paused. It seemed to resonate even stronger now. Or perhaps it was my soul being more in tune with it. I touched it briefly and in my mind¡¯s eye, I embodied the form of the red-hued Struggler as the luminescent form of the crystals spirit emerged. She still looked the same, an elegant, celestial figure with skin and hair made of gold. As she hovered towards me, I could sense hope in her heart. ¡°Oh, Frenzied me,¡± she said, the words again forming within my mind. ¡°Art thou returned to avenge us now?¡± ¡°I have and I will,¡± I said. ¡°But I need your help now, Fhae I¡¯ung.¡± At the mention of her true name, a spark of recognition lit within her golden eyes. ¡°Thou dost remember us?¡± ¡°Please if there¡¯s anything you can do to restore my friend¡¯s mind, do so.¡± She looked off in the distance and into the darkness, perhaps towards where Blue Rose was in the real world. ¡°The scourge is removed. We have done all we can. Please remember us. Avenge us.¡± I flexed my core with [Strugglers Resolve]. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I can sense [Everyone¡¯s Pain] inside of you. The [Frenzied me] will avenge you against the Cursed Stars.¡± She smiled with relief and hope. ¡°Bless thee, oh righteous me.¡± I felt the root of my twin Dao increase, but that wasn¡¯t going to help Blue Rose. As I returned to the real world, I realized it was just as Master Eiji had said. The crystal could heal her spirit but not her mind. It would be up to her to do that. ¡°Please still be you,¡± I whispered as I knelt down next to her. I shook Blue Rose gently and after a few tries she eventually stirred and slowly opened her eyes to look at me. ¡°Blue,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s me, Max. Do you remember me? Are you okay?¡± She didn¡¯t respond, her eyes still shaky. A long second passed as they focused. But I didn¡¯t see any recognition there¡ªnothing but a hollow stare. My heart sank. Dear God¡­ did she remember anything? ¡°Blue!¡± I shouted at her again. ¡°Say something please! Blu¡ª!¡± My words cut short as Blue Rose suddenly leapt into my arms. She squeezed me tightly as a sob escaped her lips. ¡°Blue?¡± ¡°Shut up, Max,¡± she said as she squeezed me tighter. ¡°Just let me thank you, while no one¡¯s looking. Cause no way am hugging you like this in front of other people.¡± I let out augh as I hugged her back, crushing her with relief and gratitude in my heart. I still had my friend. ¡°Okay, okay!¡± she said, finally pulling away. ¡°Enough of that.¡± ¡°How much do you remember?¡± I asked. ¡°Please say everything.¡± ¡°Everything.¡± ¡°Seriously, no more jokes. What do you remember?¡± She sighed. ¡°I remember that you actually look kind of handsome with those bull horns in your Sacred Soul form. Not that I¡¯m into you like that.¡± Iughed again. ¡°Shit this is great, Blue! It means you¡¯ve advanced. Your spiritual and mental fortitude have grown stronger now. You¡¯ll definitely be able to handle the Hell Worlds in time.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, sounding a little deted. ¡°In time. I¡¯m assuming you made legionnaire right?¡± I nodded. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m going to keep my promise to you. I¡¯m going toe back and join you for your deployment.¡± She shook her head with augh. ¡°Come on, Max. I know you were just saying that to keep me from going insane. I¡¯m not going to hold you to that. How could I? That¡¯d be like asking you to sign up tomit suicide twice.¡± It probably was, but she didn¡¯t know the change I¡¯d just made to my path. ¡°Trust me,¡± I said. ¡°I got a lot of trips to the Hell Worlds nned in my future. Just hang here until you¡¯re ready. I¡¯ll need to pop home to take care of some business but after that I¡¯ll be back for sure.¡± She looked back at me like I was crazy. ¡°Are you serious, Max?¡± ¡°Like a heart attack.¡± ¡°Like a what?¡± Iughed. ¡°It means I mean it. I¡¯m not going to let you go without me.¡± Her eyes shifted back and forth rapidly and then began to tear. She tackle-hugged me again just as a knock came from the door. ¡°Just checking to see if¡ª¡± Master Eiji cut his words short as he saw Blue Rose in my arms. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re awake!¡± Blue quickly pulled away again, blushing embarrassed. ¡°Yes, Master Eiji. I thank you for your help. I wouldn¡¯t have been healed without you.¡± Blue Rose then quickly performed a bow on her knees. ¡°I¡¯m d,¡± he said. ¡°And all intact?¡± He looked to me as if for confirmation and I nodded. ¡°She¡¯s back and better than ever. I think she¡¯s had a breakthrough.¡± ¡°Wonderful news,¡± he said. ¡°And good timing. I have a few more visitors who would like to see you, Blue Rose.¡± ¡°Visitors?¡± Blue Rose said. As Master Eiji stepped to the side, he opened the door to reveal Lo Ren and Chu Ren along with Tu¡¯lok. ¡°Guys!¡± Blue Rose shouted as she sprang from the ground. She then rushed to hug each of them in turn. ¡°Yo, what the hell?¡± I said. ¡°You can hug them in front of other people but not me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not other people,¡± she said. I could onlyugh. ¡°Congrattions, Legionnaire.¡± Tu¡¯lok greeted me with a salute and the brothers did the same. ¡°I understand you ascended as well.¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± I said. ¡°Always the modest one,¡± Master Eiji said with a chuckle. ¡°We should all celebrateter,¡± Chu Ren whispered and then revealed the top of a bottle hidden in his robes. ¡°Ah, screwter,¡± I said grabbing the bottle from him. ¡°This many wins in one night, calls for a celebration now. You don¡¯t mind do you, Master Eiji?¡± Eiji chuckled. ¡°Well technically, you out rank me now, so it¡¯s up to you.¡± ¡°Well only if you join in then.¡± Eiji smiled as I opened the bottle. ¡°I¡¯ll go lock the door,¡± he said. * * * We partied away with the homemade hooch, sitting around the edge of the glowing Aetherite crystal. It¡¯d been a long night, but I didn¡¯t mind losing out on some sleep to celebrate my victory with my newfound friends. As we joked, talked andughed I couldn¡¯t help but feel it the perfect capstone to my Du Gok Bhong career. My school days were now over and I was a graduate legionnaire. The only thing stopping me from returning home was a week of R&R and then a quick tour to the Hell Worlds. Quick being the key word, because now, with my new path, I was bound to being back for more. ¡°To Max!¡± Blue Rose gave me a toast. ¡°Legionnaire, Bull man, extraordinaire¡± ¡°Got a nice ring to it!¡± Eijiughed, half toasted himself. ¡°To Max!¡± They all drank to me and I gave them a toast right back. ¡°To good friends,¡± I said. ¡°May the bonds we create, keep us across the stars.¡± As we raised our cups in salute, I raised one internally to the Frenzied me. Today we conquered Du Gok Bhong¡­next stop, the Stars. Book 3: Chapter 44: Epilogue I finished penning thest character of my letter to Fia before sealing the envelope and then stuffing it inside my duffle bag. I would have to find time to send itter, but as of right now, I was in a rush. It was early morning still and the gongs were already sounding for the two-week assembly tomence. It would be bad form to bete for my final assembly, especially when I was a toonmander now. I gave myself a once over in the mirror, smoothing the seams of my freshly pressed ck Robes. The white stripe signifying my Rank as a Graduate Legionnaire was ented by a small bronze pip, designating me as the toonmander. I had no love for the empire, but I had to admit, I felt a bit of pride when I looked at myself in the mirror now. Maybe it was the fact that despite it all, I was still a damn outcast in some sense when it came to true Yee society. We were all just prisoners and scum in Du Gok Bhong. Unless you were the likes of Jei Su Long and his Token Tribute crew. I had to earn my stripe through the ying of thousands of demons and enduring the madness of the Cursed Stars. And that was just the fun part. I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way, though. I¡¯d made it through on my own steam. Technically, when I returned to Earth, I could look the Warden straight in the eye, equal to her in rank. Or superior even. When I got my Jade Stripe that was. But even now, I could feel the nature of my advancement kindling my me as it tapped into the root of my twin Dao. Surviving through the shit as a prisoner tribute anding out a Legionnaire was the biggest middle finger to the Empire that I could think of. And now all I had to do to make it permanent was to survive my first tour.The thought brought a smile to my lips as I looked at myself in the mirror again. Hell yeah, I thought. I¡¯m almost home, baby. And I¡¯m ready to kick ass. * * * I entered the courtyard with my toon of Graduate Legionnaires following in close profile behind me. We marched through the assembly of Brown, White and ck Robes like a well-tuned machine¡ªa far cry from my very first assembly where I stumbled in from the desert wilds. I could sympathize with the wild-eyed stares I got from the newly joined Brown Robes as we passed by the ranks. The fear and lemonade they produced was an extra treat. I cultivated it as I passed by the other robes, giving Chu Ren and Lo Ren a brief nod as they stood in the back ranks of the White Robes now. Over the past week I had used my R&R time to help train the both of them, conditioning them to pass their first exam. It¡¯d been brutal they¡¯d said, but with the elixirs I had given them over the past few months, they had both cultivated enough inner strength to get to the deep of the desert and back again unharmed. Chu Ren was now in charge of overseeing the new Brown Robes in the farming discipline and Lo Ren had joined Master Eiji to train exclusively in theb after revealing his skilled brewing technique. They would probably never advance far enough to leave Du Gok Bhong, but they both seemed much happier now. I hoped that I¡¯d done both Kou Ren and Su Ren proud to get them where they were. I spotted Tu¡¯lok and Blue Rose next. Tu¡¯lok was within the middle ranks of the Phnx Crew, another stalwart who would perhaps never leave the academy. Blue Rose was another story. She gave me a warm smile as I maneuvered my toon just in front of her own. She was next in line for advancement, her only impediment being passing the final exam again. Over the past week we had trained together as well, in her off time, but not in a physical sense. With the breakthrough she¡¯d had with her mental fortitude, she could now tolerate further glimpses into the unseen. I made a sketch of a Star-Born demon for her and she practiced enduring its maddening sight for just a few seconds each night before folding the picture closed again. ¡°Keep it up,¡± I¡¯d told her. ¡°By the time I get back to take you on your tour, you¡¯ll be as strong as me in the psycho monster department.¡± She hadughed and then gave me another one of her never-to-be-seen-by-anyone-else hugs again, thanking me for all I¡¯d done. I couldn¡¯t tell her exactly when I would return to keep my promise¡ªrescuing Fia from her dilemma and saving my family came first, but Blue Rose seemed content to wait. ¡°I¡¯ll look at your terrible drawing every day,¡± she¡¯d said. ¡°It will remind me that even a Chun can have talent.¡± Just the memory of that moment made me smile as I passed by her and she gave me a slight nod and a burst of lemonade. The exact opposite came from Jei Su Long as I glimpsed him from within my ranks. The blue-haired cultivator was exuding nothing but anger and rage, but I didn¡¯t care. He had technically failed his leadership assessment based on my report and those of others on his team. But being part of Yee high society had its privileges and he was passed through regardless. The prick would be apanying me on my first tour as a subordinate, but now that I had both the authority and power to keep him in check, everything would probably be okay. This novel is published on a different tform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Or so I hoped. With a bastard like that though, you just never knew. We all came to attention as Chief Yora appeared, followed closely by the Academy President Tzu Li Zen. The assembly began and like I had endured a dozen times already, the Imperial anthem yed before President Tzu Li Zen gave his usual wee speech to the new recruits. I only half listened to it, but the sentiments rang home true now more than ever. Our purpose and mission. Our station within the Academy and how it would be up to us to grow to reach the rank of Legionnaire. The whole thing filled me with an anxiety and anticipation, especially when the Legionnaires from thest deployment were called forth. ¡°Legionnaires of the 27th Deployment of the 5,073rd campaign,¡± Tzu Li Zen shouted. ¡°Give report!¡± The toonmander, a Dharmian guy I knew by face, but not name, stepped forward. ¡°High Marshal, the 27th Deployment gives this report of our endeavors on the Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ung. Zero gates destroyed, with 25,115 taels of Aetherite crystal recovered.¡± ¡°Excellent report, 27th Deployment,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°Assembly! Congratte them on their sess!¡± As the salutes and cheers went up, I couldn¡¯t help but feel the me was yet again guiding my path. The fact that they¡¯d not had to destroy any gates meant they¡¯d all been taken out already. Which meant my tour should be a rtive milk run. Not that I was looking for an easy ride, but this was still a means to an end for now. Plus, me-willing, I would be returning to kick demon ass in earnest for many years toe. ¡°May the 28th Deployment step forward!¡± At High Marshal Tzu Li Zen¡¯smand, I gave the order for my toon to advance, and we marched forward with a salute. ¡°Assembly!¡± Tzu Li Zen shouted. ¡°Hail the 28th Deployment of the 5073rd Campaign. Give them your praise, respect and honor!¡± We all braced ourselves at attention as the rest of the assembly raised their fists in salute. ¡°To those who now face the Hell Worlds of the Cursed Stars, we the assembly of Tributes salute you! May we too one day tread the path of death and sacrifice ourselves for the glory of the Empire. Go a mortal and return a god!¡± The words poured a new sense of purpose and conviction into my soul. Especially thest part. The free Frenzy that came with it was like a tidal wave, the twin path of my new Dao kicking in. I cultivated it eagerly, reveling in my new expanse of power. I was still a fledgling Sacred Soul, with no idea of how to advance down my next cultivation path, but tons of Frenzy was a good start. As we were given the order to dismiss, Chief Yora approached. ¡°You have thirty minutes to board the army transport skiff,¡± she said. ¡°Commander, assemble your toon ten minutes prior.¡± ¡°You heard thedy!¡± I said, dismissing my toon. ¡°20 minutes to grab your gear and go.¡± As they departed, Jei Su Long gave me the stink eye. ¡°Yes, toon Commander. May your reign inmand be long.¡± He said the words sardonically, edged with venom and it took all my wherewithal to not backhand him for insolence. The smirk of [Indifference] was far more effective, causing a burst of anger toe from within him. ¡°Ensure he does not leave the safety of the transport,¡± Tzu Li Zen said as he joined us. ¡°Strict orders from the royal house.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± I said. ¡°Will probably be safer for all of us as well.¡± Yoraughed. ¡°Never one to mince words. Here, these are for you.¡± She handed me a small metal case the size of a notepad and when I examined it further, I found it opened to reveal an actual book inside along with a metal quill. ¡°For your artistry,¡± she said. ¡°Ensure to capture us something new.¡± ¡°You can count on it,¡± I said, giving her a bow. I then turned and gave the same to the president. ¡°Thank you, High Marshal, for your support.¡± ¡°Good luck Legionnaire,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°Bring them home safely.¡± * * * I spent my final moments in Du Gok Bhong prison gathering my belongings and saying goodbye to my friends. They gathered to see me off at thending pad high atop the prison, next to the Aetherite crystal chamber. Chu Ren and Lo Ren gave me bows of respect and a bottle of special hooch to take on my travels. Tu¡¯lok gave me a firm forearm to forearm handshake and a royal salute with his Phnx ive. ¡°Go a mortal and return a god, my friend,¡± he said. ¡°Off to the stars with you now.¡± Iughed. ¡°Thanks, Tu¡¯lok.¡± I finally approached Blue Rose who gave me a snarky little smile. True to her nature she offered me a fist bump instead of a hug. ¡°See you in two weeks, Bull Man.¡± I ignored the fist and gave her a hug anyway, causing her to yell in protest as I pulled her off her feet. ¡°Hey! Put me down, damn it!¡± ¡°See you in two weeks, Blue,¡± I said, dropping her back down. She blushed and smiled, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯ll get you back for that one.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you will. See you guys soon.¡± I gave them all a final wave and then turned to head towards the army transport skiff parked on the rooftop. I nced upwards at the clear blue sky. Somewhere up there was a star ship waiting to transport me and my men to the Hell Worlds. As I approached the skiff, two army personnel in olive green and ck-trimmed robes, came to attention and gave me a salute. ¡°Greetings Legionnaire Commander,¡± one of them said. ¡°I am Infantryman Wei, Third Spear, 566th battalion, Imperial Army Infantry aboard the battleship Xing Long. I will be your liaison for this deployment. Your men have all assembled. Are you prepared for departure?¡± I took a final nce over my shoulder and saw my friends waving to me in the distance. I then expanded my view to epass the aetherite crystal chamber and imagined the spiritual entity thaty within. I had a whole lot of people rooting for me now and I wasn¡¯t about to let them down. ¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± I said to the soldier as I made my way inside. ¡°Let¡¯s get to the stars.¡± * * * In the outer darkness, It reeled¡ªcontemting what had transpired. The Cursed me had grown stronger. Much stronger¡­the Husk now able to repel It from the very firmament. And in a strengthened vessel no less. Still, that vessel was not Its true champion. Its champion was not yet formed. Soon, It thought. But the Husk grew yet stronger and bold in Its hubris. The Husk had dared to even threaten It. To dare to seek It out within Its own domain. Folly. Perhaps It would need not a champion if the Husk delivered itself to Its very gate. The Husk would seek its own demise. Yet still something within Ity unsettled. The Husk grew rapidly in power. Disturbingly so. Its defeat upon the firmament was unexpected. What would transpire if the Husk grew even more so? The strength of the Cursed me within it, more than doubled before Its eyes. How though? The unsettling sensation came again, a sensation alien to it, but not unfamiliar. It produced it easily within others, but for Itself, this was something new. Something novel. For the first time¡­ It felt Fear. Book 3 to Release on KU tomorrow! Hey guys! It''s nearly that time. Book 3 will release in about 12 hours and I want to have these chapters down on RR before then. So This is the six hour warning. Read them while you can. And you can ways get the full story on Patreon for around $1 right now as well. Stolen story; please report. Also, if you can leave a review when the bookunches that would be awesome! Thanks again for all the support guys! See you in the next book! Rick xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Prologue - The last night on Earth November 4th 2023 Denver, Colorado, United States Thest night on Earth I was eight years old when the cultivators first arrived. It was a Friday night, a fun time to rx and chill after a boring week at school. Dad was in the living room with Mom, watching a movie. My older sister, Jess, pretended to be watching the movie with them, sitting the wrong way on the love seat, dangling both legs over the padded armrest as she thumbed away on her cell phone. I yed Minecraft in the adjoiningputer room, just out of sight and earshot of the PG-13 movie. That¡¯s why it took me a few extra seconds to realize something was wrong. I was too busy clicking away at blocky pixels to notice the loud beep of the emergency broadcast warning. It was only when my mother let out an rming gasp, did I look up and see all three of my family members standing and gawking at the tscreen on the wall. My heart sped a little as I joined them, confusion turning to apprehension as I entered the living room. My dad, a plumber by trade who sported a grey-streaked beard and a beer gut, upped the volume on an Asian-American anchorwoman on the news. She was visibly distressed, but clearly doing her best to remain professional as she read from an unseen teleprompter. ¡°¡­reports as far as Australia, China, parts of the Middle East. As far as our sources can confirm, this is a global phenomenon we are witnessing.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked my mother.She didn¡¯t respond to me, her hazel eyes wide as they remained glued to the TV. ¡°Mo¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up, Max!¡± my sister snapped. Normally I would have snapped right back at her, but something in the way she said it caused me not to. That strange tremble of fear in her voice said to do exactly what she said. So I did. And for the next thirty minutes I stood in dead silence as I watched the end of the world y out on the TV. The first anomaly detected were the golden pagodas floating in the sky. Minutes of chaos ensued as footage rolled in from TikTok and YouTube stars filming the strange objects. It took them a few minutes more to realize they were not in the sky, but in space. And getting closer. White House press secretaries and Department of Defense personnel came on next, blubbering about the sightings, mostly trying to downy it. That¡¯s when the first of the attacks happened. I can¡¯t recall which country was first. Indonesia? China? It didn¡¯t really matter. They all folded just the same. The only thing I truly recall were the images on the TV screen. It was like something out of a bad sci-fi movie. I watched the snow-capped peak of Mount Everest get cleaved off like a watermelon being sliced by a katana. Later I learned that the actual truth wasn¡¯t too far from that. A shaky image of an aircraft carrier taken from a helicopter, I assumed, came next, depicting a man-sized figure hovering over it, suspended by nothing. It was an old man as far as I could tell, with loose flowing white hair and a matching beard that undted as if underwater. Robes made of some unknown, sparking material moved in sync with the beard as three golden rings rotated in a circr pattern behind him. Missiles and anti-aircraft guns fired on the old man at point-nk range, only to detonate prematurely as they collided with an unseen barrier expanding several meters around him. After the assault, he raised his hand and huge bolts of purple lightning crackled from the sky, shaking the footage with static as they struck the deck of the carrier. Huge explosions engulfed the vessel and a hundred thousand tons of steel upended and sank into the sea. Another image caught a woman with cat-like ears, wielding a sword against a battalion of tanks, slicing through them like they were made of y-Doh. A group of warriors in ancient bronze armor and spears faced off against apany of modern-day soldiers with assault rifles and tactical gear¡­the warriors won. At one point some country panicked andunched a nuke, I think, but as it detonated the enormous mushroom cloud was consumed by a vacuum, generated from the palm of a bare-chested old man wearing a rusted crown who flew through the sky like a Greek god. My young mind didn¡¯t know how to make sense of it all, still in that stage of deciphering fact from fiction. They were like superheroes to me, or superviins, I suppose. I kept waiting for the real superheroes to appear. To arrive at the veryst minute and save the day, just like in myics. But no heroes came that night and things only got worse. Reports of strange creatures began to appear. Giant leviathans crawling out of the sea, wildlife mutating and attacking people in the streets. The footage grew more and more graphic as the editors, I assume, gave up and let the reports stream in uncensored in real time. There were ghastly scenes of carnage my young mind couldn¡¯t handle, and I recall my mother pulling me to her chest at one point to shield me from it. But she couldn¡¯t shield me from the sounds. I can still hear those screams to this day. Yet strangely it was still all just like a movie to me at the time. Unreal. Perhaps almost¡­not real. Or so my young mind sought to protect itself. Only when I saw the reactions of my family did the reality of the situation finally hit me and my heart began to race. I vaguely remembered my sister crying and my mother desperately trying to console her despite the tears streaking down her own face. My father was as I¡¯d never seen him before. The blue-cor tough guy reduced to a man trembling and fearing for his family¡¯s safety, yet not having the slightest clue as what to do. He stayed fixed to the TV as if waiting for answers. Only when the lights flickered and the power cut off, did he finally spring into action. ¡°Everyone, get to the truck. Grab what you can. Now!¡± ¡°What?¡± my mother cried. ¡°Where the hell are we going to go, Steven?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± my father fired back aggressively, but more out of fear than anger, I could tell. He thenposed himself a little. ¡°Look, we can¡¯t stay here. We need to get out of the city. Maybe head into the mountains or something.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition. ¡°Steven, it¡¯s November!¡± My father ignored her. ¡°Kids, grab your things now. Come on! Move it!¡± That¡¯s when I finally began to cry. The next ten minutes went by in a flurry of sobs, tears, and hasty confusion. By the light of cell phones, we tossed canned goods, sleeping bags, and whatever we could think of into the back of my dad¡¯s plumbing truck parked in the garage. I remember packing my iPad, someic books, and a stuffed walrus named Sammy that I was growing too old for, but that night, I clung to like he was my veryst friend on Earth. After wrestling the garage door open with no power, we hopped in the truck and my dad gunned it in reverse and onto the street. It¡¯s hard to remember what happened next, because there was a loud bang and my head flew into the side of the car door. The ring sound of an unyielding car horn woke me and I realized I must have cked out for a moment. My head hurt and felt wet when I touched it. ¡°Mom?¡± My mother was there in an instant, already outside the truck, helping me and Jess out of the wreck with tears in her eyes. My sister was screaming and crying almost hysterically, causing me to do the same when I saw blood gushing from her nose, having smashed it into the back of the headrest. When my mom finally got us out, I saw a convertible had mmed into the back of the truck, spinning us in a 180. My father was outside yelling at the driver, a guy in his 20s that was holding his own head and bleeding while shouting aggressively in my dad¡¯s face. Fear and pain paralyzed me. All I could do was cry and cling to my mother and sister. ¡°It¡¯s alright, babies,¡± she said, trying her best to console us. ¡°Everything¡¯s going to be alright.¡± I stared up at her and the vacant, fear-soaked look in her eyes did the opposite of fill me withfort. I looked past her instead to the night sky beyond. In that odd moment I recall never seeing the stars so vividly before. The entire street was pitch ck, with only the sound of sirens filling the cold November air. Then I saw it. One of the golden pagodas floating in the sky. It had looked so fake on the TV, but now with my own eyes, it looked both real and unreal. It was small yet huge, looming like a second moon in the sky. The moon itself was also odd-looking, tinted a deep orange-red. Small objects streamed out of the pagoda like a trail of ants and in the sky, shooting stars whipped by like lightning. The ring car horn must have alerted something, because the next moment an object the size of a semi-truck dropped violently out of the sky. It decelerated rapidly, stopping just meters before impacting the ground. It was shaped vaguely like a sailing ship, made of what looked to be wood with a mast and sails of stiff, white cloth. A loud humming emitted from several glowing rocks lining the bottom of the hull. All of us grew silent then, even my dad and the man arguing with him. My breath caught as a gangnk lowered from the strange craft and visions of all the horrors I¡¯d witnessed shed through my mind. Two men in ck robes trimmed with jade descended the nk, curved scabbards held tightly by their sides. They looked somewhat Asian to me, but darker skinned, like Mysian perhaps. A woman then followed behind them and as soon as she looked in our direction, my blood froze with an inexplicable fear. Her face was what you¡¯d think an angel would look like, narrow with elegant features, her skin so pale it was nearly paper white. In the darkness she seemed to produce a light of her own, entuated by her silvery eyes. Her body was as slender as her face and moved with a grace that made her float more than walk in her silver robes. Her tinum hair was pinned in a top knot and held in ce by a small crown of jade and gold. I could hear only sniffles from my sister as the woman approached us, nked by the two men with swords and although I could see no sword of her own, something told me she was far more dangerous than the two men with her. They shared quick nces between themselves, speaking in a clippednguage I didn¡¯t understand. Finally, the woman took hold of a small jade bead on her ne and began speaking into it. While her lips moved, sound came from the bead itself in perfect, ent-less English. ¡°This One is known as Silver Tear, Seventh Warden and Silver Leaf sect elder, Chief Administrator for Cultural Appropriation of this¡­¡± She paused and whispered something to one of the men who whispered something back. ¡°¡­of this formerly known to you as Earth. You are now wards under the protection of her divine majesty, Third Princess Lunh, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seventh heir to the Imperial Yee Dynasty.¡± No one said anything, stupefied by what the woman had just said. The guy in the car made a sudden break for it, his fight or flight response choosing thetter. He got all of five steps before one of the men literally shed across the street twenty meters to reach him and stomped him into the tarmac with a swift kick to the back of his thigh. The man cried out, wailing in pain, cursing about his leg being broken. My sister shuddered against me, whimpering even more. ¡°I want to go home¡­¡± The silver-eyed woman spoke again. ¡°You are mortal savages unfamiliar with our ways. Thus, only due to your tremendous ignorance, shall This One pardon your transgressions for not showing proper respect. This one shall spare your lives, but you will pay for this insult with something else.¡± ¡°What?¡± my dad said. ¡°What are you¡ª¡± ¡°Luckily This One has need of what you possess.¡± She then turned to her subordinate. ¡°Deliver the children to me.¡± ¡°What?¡± my mother screamed. ¡°No!¡± Her cries went unheeded as the other man zipped across the distance to us and grabbed both my sister and I by the arm. We screamed and struggled in unison, our feet skidding across the asphalt as he dragged us towards the vessel. My father let out a primal cry as he rushed the man. He mmed a fist into the back of the man¡¯s head and suddenly his eyes shot open with pain like he¡¯d just punched a bowling ball. He cursed, grasping his wrist, but that didn¡¯t stop him from trying again. He lunged into the man with a shoulder tackle. My mother joined him, screaming as she thumped the man repeatedly on the back. ¡°You can¡¯t do this!!¡± my mother screamed hysterically. ¡°Max! Jessie!¡± The man finally pushed them both aside with a gentle sweep of his arm that somehow threw them back ten meters across the road, mming them forcefully into the side of the truck. It was Jess and I¡¯s turn to cry out now, wailing for our parents. They stirred slowly, stumbling to get back on their feet, but both clearly had broken bones or more. ¡°Mom! Dad!¡± My vision blurred as I cried uncontrobly, tears filling my open mouth with salt. Just as we were being dragged up the gangnk the silver-eyed woman stopped and gripped my sister forcefully by the chin to stare directly into her bloodied face. ¡°Not this one,¡± the woman said. ¡°Too old. She will remember too much. Never learn our ways. Leave her.¡± The woman stared into my face next and pinched her slender brows together curiously. ¡°How old are you, boy?¡± I¡¯d always been small for my age, but I prayed that somehow, just this once I¡¯d look older than I was. I steeled myself, purposefully trying to hold back my sobs. ¡°Twelve,¡± I said. The woman smirked, amused. ¡°Clever, but not very wise. You barely look half that age. You¡¯d have been better off saying seven. Even then you¡¯d be too old.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± I shouted. ¡°I¡¯m eight! I¡¯m really eight!¡± She chuckled. ¡°This one has spirit. Take him. He may have potential to assimte even at his age.¡± ¡°No!¡± I cried. My sister screamed, reaching out for me as they pushed her down the gangnk. ¡°Max!¡± Our fingers barely touched before they pulled us apart. I screamed my lungs out, crying for my sister and my parents. As the gangnk raised my father made a desperatest attempt to rush the boat. He got halfway up the gangnk just a few feet from the silver-eyed woman, fist cocked with a punch. In a sh, one of the men jabbed him lightly in the stomach with his scabbard, causing my father to keel over with blood leaking from his mouth. ¡°Daddy!¡± My sister and mother rushed to his side, cradling him as he wheezed in pain on the ground. ¡°Shall I kill him for attempting toy hands on you, Lady Silver Tear?¡± The man¡¯s words caused my heart to stop. I looked desperately up at the woman¡¯s cold, steely eyes. ¡°No,¡± she said finally before gazing at the sky. ¡°The Bloodmoon is nearly formed. The aberrations shalle to devour them soon enough.¡± I didn¡¯t know what that word meant but images of those frightful monsters came to my mind and I began to wail uncontrobly. ¡°No! Please, no! Don¡¯t leave them! Mommy! Daddy! Jessie!¡± ¡°This One will waste no more time here,¡± Silver Tear said as she turned her back to me to depart. ¡°Go.¡± With that, the gangnk was secured and the craft began to rise. I dashed to the side of the boat, screaming over the railing for my parents and sister, my stomach sick, my mind filling with the horrors of what would soon happen to them. I cried out for them futilely, their figures growing smaller and smaller in the darkness as the screeches of monsters began to fill the night. New Cover Reveal Hey guys! Just thought I''d share this with you all. Final cover is ready for Path of the Berserker Book I. Let me know what you think! :D This tale has been uwfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I hope to start back up with book 2 in a few weeks. Just undergoing final editing process for Book I. Once it gets uploaded to KU the bulk of the story will have to be removed, so if you haven''t finished reading please do so before next month. and if you know anyone who may be interested let them know. Book 2 moves to KU on Friday Hey all! It''s that time again. Book 2 will be releasing on KU on friday, which means the chapter will have toe down before then. I''ll leave aste as possible, but assume sometime on Thursday. Book 3 is already started on Patreon and will being to RR in due course. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. Thanks again for all your support and if you wish to leave me a positive review onunch day I''d appreciate : Path of the Berserker 2: A Daopocalypse Progression Fantasy eBook : Scott, Rick: Kindle Store Peace! Rick Book 2 is live on Amazon! Good morning all. Path of the Berserker Book 2 just released on Amazon today. If you have time, please consider leaving me a positive review as it truly makes a difference in the early days of aunch. This tale has been uwfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. You can click the link below to get to the Amazon : Path of the Berserker 2: A Daopocalypse Progression Fantasy eBook : Scott, Rick: Kindle Store I once again wish to thank you guys who have stuck with me for this journey with Max that is going on near two years now! Thanks so much again guys! Cheers, Rick Book 4 - Intro and Book 3 Recap Blurb A world destroyed. An axe to grind. And a path to infinite power. Wee to my reality. School is out, but my education is just beginning. My trials at Du Gok Bhong Academy pushed me to my limits and then some, fueling my breakthrough into the Sacred Soul Realm. But with new poweres new responsibilities, and my twin Dao to not only defeat the Empire but protect it from the demonic scourge of the Cursed Stars has me on a collision course for the Hell Worlds. Good thing that¡¯s where I¡¯m headed next. Now the only thing standing between me returning to Earth a full-fledged Legionnaire, is a full of eldritch demons ready to tear me a new one. With my problems back home multiplying and the ones ahead of me looking even worse, the odds are against me like never before. But that¡¯s okay. Beating the odds is just what a Berserker does. Path of the Berserker Book 4 is a progression fantasy novel that contains immortal cultivators, an oppressive intergctic dynasty, rage-inducing imperial bureaucracy, magical spirit beasts, fantastical martial arts and one pissed off MC who¡¯s sick of it all. Fans of western style cultivation fantasy, post apocalypse and Xianxia will enjoy. #Max¡¯s Techniques and AbilitiesMax¡¯s Berserker Techniques Taken from the sacred scripts regarding the Path of the Frenzied me. ¡°Thou art indeed a kindled me, a frenzied spirit, tempered by struggle and sorrow, fueled by rage and pain¡­¡± -Unknown Shura 1 Think not that we speak for the me, for the me of Frenzy has no master nor does it seek to create masters of its own ord. We who speak, have through consult agreed to these doctrines, not by direction, but through independent revtions of the me. Know with confidence then, that these words are true and are fit for enlightenment along your path. Shura 2 They call us Berserker, we who follow the Frenzied me. Let us embrace the moniker, for it instills fears in our enemies. And fear is our strength. [Frenzied me] ¨C the most basic of all techniques within the Berserker¡¯s domain. Use it to instantly channel your internal energies of Fear, Rage, and Pain into Frenzy. Evoking this technique can also stir the embers of an Unkindled or even reignite the fallen me of a Waning Ember. [Fear the me] ¨C the simple baring of one¡¯s fangs is sometimes all that is required to defeat one¡¯s foe. Gather your Frenzy and with a mere look or phrase, exert your dominance and feed from the fears of your enemies or bolster the resolve of your allies. [Mask of the Despised] ¨C take heed always, kindled one, for the hatred of the Frenzied me is great amongst those who follow the path of Qi. Use this technique to mask your strength while in their presence, for their own arrogance shall paint you as a mere fool, simpleton, or dull brute in their eyes. Use this to your advantage to move freely among them while posing no threat. [Lust for Battle] ¨C not a true technique, but a trait shared by all kindled of the Frenzied me. The drawing of blood in battle, even one¡¯s own, can trigger a burst of Frenzy. And to y one¡¯s enemy will produce even more so. Yet take heed, kindled one, for the pull of the bloodlust is strong and the need to draw blood can easily extend to a friend as well as foe, if left unrestrained. Let not the Demon within you take full control. [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] ¨C the path of the Struggler is forever filled with tribtion. This technique will convert your Frenzy into an iron will of determination that even others can feel and see. [Indifference] ¨CThink not, dear kindled, that your power lies in aggression and hostility alone. To induce rage and fear in others can be many more times as effective, for nothing offends the proud and powerful more than indifference. Use this technique to withstand attacks and to demoralize your foes through your apathy when you disregard even their strongest techniques with a scoff. [Odds Against Me] ¨C there is no greater thrill than a challenge. Without challenge, without struggle, there can be no progression. The cowardly prey on those who are weaker to ensure easy victory, but the Berserker seeks to oppose strength far above his own. When facing greater odds, either by strength, numbers, or both, this technique will generate enormous amounts of Frenzy by suppressing your inner fears and unleashing your me¡¯s full potential. The power of this technique is limitless, bound only by the strength of your foe and your ability to withstand him. [My Turn] ¨C a retaliation technique used best whenbined with [Indifference]. Unleash a mighty burst of Frenzy with your next strike by releasing the stored Pain energy of any previous attacks endured. [Death Mastery] ¨C the fear of death grows only stronger the closer one gets to immortality. Power over this fear defies not only the Heavens, but mocks it to its face. Consider it no small wonder then, dear kindled, that your path shall be blighted with misfortune, for the Heavens are not lightly mocked. In exchange for this rebuke, you shall enjoy the bounty that is rity of mind, body, and soul in ces where others falter and fail. Your words and actions will instill fear and respect in others and your me will burn yet brighter with each evolution, heightening the potency of all your abilities. (Max¡¯s Death Mastery Levels) Fear of Uncertain Death (Mastery) ¨C [Foundation Realm] Fear of Certain Death (Mastery) ¨C [Core Realm] Fear no Death (Mastery) ¨C [Sacred Soul Realm] Death Wish ¨C [Deity Realm] [Iron Core] ¨C (internal) use concentrated Frenzy to temporarily form ayer of protective armor around vital organs and bones to withstand tremendous blows. [Death¡¯s Door] ¨C (internal) should you suffer a fatal wound use concentrated Frenzy to rece any bodily function that is lost. This story has been uwfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. [Iron Skin] ¨C (external) use concentrated Frenzy to temporarily form ayer of hardened armor on a specific part of the body.Use defensively to avoid critical strikes or offensively on the knuckles, feet, or palms when fighting unarmed. Marks of the Berserker Take special care when utilizing the marks. While initially only one Mark may be used at a time, higher levels can sustain as much as two. In very rare practitioners, all three marks can be manifested, but take heed, as such will quickly Frenzy thy me towardsplete madness. [Mark of the Beast] ¨C (external) take on the likeness of a frenzied beast, greatly increasing one¡¯s reflexes and speed. [Mark of the Giant] ¨C (external) grow in physical size, greatly increase all of one¡¯s physical strength and power. [Mark of the Demon] ¨C (external) take on the likeness of a demon, greatly increasing the potency of one¡¯s Frenzy and the effectiveness of Frenzy techniques. [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] ¨C enhanced variations of the [Iron Skin/Core] techniques. [Soul Shield] ¨C the most elementary of soul techniques. Use it to guard thy me from attacks from both without and within the spiritual realm. [Spectral Body] ¨C the form of one¡¯s soul is forever being molded, but for it to take true shape, it must first develop a body. Use this technique to both envision and inhabit a spectral body within thy own Core. Tread thou carefully however, for the refection of one¡¯s true inner self is forged not by will, but the history of one¡¯s thoughts and deeds. [Spectral Armor] ¨C once developed, this armor can embody the strength of one¡¯s soul and protect one¡¯s spectral body in the spiritual realm. [Spectral Weapon] ¨C the extension of one¡¯s will in spiritual form, use it to inflict damage within the spiritual realm. [Everyone¡¯s Fear] [Everyone¡¯s Sorrow] [Everyone¡¯s Rancor] ¨C thementations of the masses can hold much strength when inrge numbers. Be they the oppressed or the downtrodden, so long as a focus for their oppression can be challenged, so too can a Frenzied me lend its strength to aid the many. Max¡¯s Demonic Cultivation Techniques [Absorption] ¨C a demonic technique that renders Qi essence from solid cores. [Devil¡¯s Shadow] ¨C a demonic technique that masks one¡¯s Dantian with the Qi gained through [Absorption]. By absorbing the essence of a sliver of Lightning Core imnted in his body, Max is able to mask his Frenzied Core as a normal lightning core. [Faux Lightning] ¨C bybining [Absorption] and [Devil¡¯s Shadow], a small sliver of lightning core can be sent to Max¡¯s jing meridian to create a small spark of lightning. Max¡¯s Martial Training One and Two handed Axe Mastery ¨C derived from a standard training manual. Phnx ive Mastery ¨C perfected under the tutge of Venja and Iron Pot Wong Axe and ive Mastery ¨C abined martial form utilizing the quick strikes of the axe in conjunction with the slow and heave strikes of the Phnx ive Max¡¯s Self Made Martial Techniques [One/Two Log Chop] ¨C a powerful vertical cleave utilizing the power of Frenzy [One Chop Cleave] ¨C a powerful spinning horizontal chop designed to fell a tree in one blow. [Struggler¡¯s Lightning Fist/de/Cleave of Fury] -¨C a group of hybrid spiritual techniques involving the partial projection of his [Spectral Body] and [Spectral Weapon] for a single attack that can cause Lightning, physical and spiritual damage simultaneously. Max¡¯s Lightning Techniques [Frenzied Lightning] ¨C by utilizing solid frenzy and sending it to his jing meridian, Max is able to produce Lightning the same as a Lightning Qi master. [Lightning Arc Strike] ¨C manifests an arc of lightning that is cast from the edge of his de. [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] ¨C a manifestation technique that releases arge burst of [Frenzied Lightning] from Max¡¯s body. [Lightning Splits the Towering Oak] ¨C a techniquebining [Frenzied Lightning] and [Three Log Chop] to produce a devastating killing blow. [Steel Lightning] ¨C an ative armor technique utilizing abination of [Steel Skin] and [Frenzied Lightning] [Lightning Walk] ¨C a modification of the [Air Walk] techniquebining [Frenzied Lightning] to produce the ability to walk on air. [Ride the Lightning] -¨C an advanced form of [Lightning Walk] utilizing the power of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] to move at incredible speeds. Max¡¯s group affiliations, titles and martial rankings Furious Lightning Sect -¨C Sect Leader Terran Sect ¨C Founder, Leader and Warden Wooden Bracket League ¨C 1st ce Ranking and overall winner Iron Bracket League ¨C 1st ce Ranking and overall winner Gold Bracket League ¨C 92nd Ranking Du Gok Bhong Academy ¨C Graduate Legionnaire #The story so far As Max prepares to leave for his training at Du Gok Bhong Academy, he struggles to breakthrough to the Sacred Soul Realm due to not being able tobine the split personalities of his soul¡ªthe Demon and the Struggler. Fiaforts him and they have ast intimate moment together before they leave to say their goodbyes to themunity. Upon his departure Max learns that the Warden has made the three bird sisters Vice Wardens of Jurin Province in order to harass Fia and his family while he is away. Fia, worried she may not see Max again, foregoes her Qi technique to prevent pregnancy in order to conceive a child from theirst union. Max only learns of thister, putting him in the dilemma of possibly having a child out of wedlock while he is off at the academy. On route to the academy via a prison transport, Max encounters a prisoner name Shen Liu who is a notorious pedophile. On a stopover on a remote asteroid, Shen Liu escapes and Max is tasked to hunts him down as a volunteer tribute. After being jeered and taunted by the man that he is too highly connected to face punishment, Max decides to deliver the justice the empire refuses to and kills him. The swift justice earns Max a demotion to a prisoner tribute for his crime of murder, and he joins the academy several levels below where he should have as a volunteer tribute. Now as a prisoner Tribute, Max befriends a family of prisoner tributes who are destined for Du Gok Bhong as he is. Facing a gauntlet upon arrival, Max manages to save the two sons of the family, Lo Ren and Chu Ren while their parents both eventually die. Having passed his first trial, Max is elevated to a Brown Robe and meets two more cultivators, Blue Rose and Ho Chin who are both antagonistic from the start. After saving Blue Roseter however, Max eventually earns Blue Rose¡¯s trust and the two be friends along with Chu Ren and Lo Ren. Back on Earth the bird sisters enact a neww that prevents non Terrans from living in the Native Housing District, tearing apart themunity. Fia steps in and helps by moving Yu Li and her family to live with her parents in the Imperial city. Without Zu Tien and Gui Zu being able to protect the Terran Sect, it is left to Kelsey to do so. Kelsey has newfound problems of her own however as she discovers a powerful demon has emerged in the wild and learns that it is also seeking her out specifically. Upon confronting it, she discovers it is a reincarnation of Hong Feng who is determined to not just destroy Kelsey, but the entire city as revenge. After nearly dying to the monster, Kelsey senses Max in the spiritual realm which leads her to realize that there may be a way for her and Max to somehowmunicate across the stars as Berserkers. Max encounters a rival Tribute named Jei Su Long who is from a privileged family and who is only at the Academy to earn an easy Diamond Ranked title as Legionnaire. He despises Max immediately and their mutual resentment grows, culminating in a duel which Max wins, embarrassing Jei Su Long further. Max discovers that he is able tomune with the aetherite crystal protecting the academy and discovers a spiritual being within that appears to be the remnants of an entire¡¯s civilization. The being known as Fhae I¡¯ung urges Max, as the Frenzied me, to take revenge for what the Stars have done. Max advances through the academy quickly, especially when he learns that his powers as a Berserker allow him to resist the eldritch effects of seeing the unseen, allowing him to retain his sanity while others are driven mad. This propels him ahead of his ssmates, including Blue Rose, who feels jilted and hurt that she is being left behind by him and that she may have to face her own tour of the Hell Worlds without Max by her side. This eventually leads to resentment and a betrayal of Max when he is trying to master his new [Air Walk] technique, with Blue Rose embarrassing him in front of the entire academy as revenge. Blue Rose instantly regrets doing it, but has too much pride to admit what she did was wrong and leaves this unsettled between them. Max and Kelsey eventually figure out a crude form ofmunication is possible if they are both under the effects of the Bloodmoon. They also use the link to lend strength to one another when in need. On his final exam, Max is pitted against both Blue Rose and Jei Su Long in an exercise where they must both harvest crystals as well as endure the Full Bloodmoon for an entire night. In the course of the exam, Max discovers that Blue Rose cheated on her assessment and was not ready to endure the Bloodmoon exposure. At the risk of seeing her permanently driven mad, Max abandons the exam to save her. In the process to try and get her to safety, Max relies on Kelsey¡¯s strength and discovers the secret tobining his inner souls, is tobine his paths. After swearing to not only avenge and free the earth, but to also destroy the demons of the cursed stars, Max ascends to the Sacred Soul Realm. With his newfound power, Max saves Blue Rose and then faces off against I¡¯xol¡¯ukz directly as the dark god inhabits the corpse of a giant spirit beast. After defeating it Max swears his vengeance to follow I¡¯xol¡¯ukz back to its home world. Max manages to still pass the final exam and attains the rank of Graduate Legionnaire. He reconciles with Blue Rose and promises to return to join her on her own tour when she is ready. Max departs as Commander of the Legionnaire toon, set to board the army transport vessel Xin Long for passage to the Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ong. The book ends with I¡¯xol¡¯ukz perplexed at the rapid growth it sees in Max and the gall of him threatening to confront it on its home world. For the first time, It feels ¡®fear¡¯. Book 4: Chapter 1 Dear Fia, Well, today is the day. I¡¯m finally departing for my tour of the Hell Worlds to battle the scourge of the Cursed Stars. I know that sounds kind of dramatic and all. Honestly, they say most of that time will be spent on an army cruiser just getting there and then a single night to get it all done. It sounds dangerous, I know, but trust me I feel more than ready. I¡¯ve grown a lot since I¡¯ve been here. I¡¯ve learned new things. About myself. About my path. Most of all, I¡¯ve finally broken through to the Sacred Soul Realm. I¡¯m a hundred times stronger than when I left Earth and now, I can grow even stronger. Not that I have a manual or anything to guide my progression through the Sacred Soul Realm. Those things don¡¯t seem to exist. At least not here anyway. But like everything else, I guess I¡¯ll just need to figure that part out. If things go to n, I¡¯ll be back home in less than a month. Plenty of time to marry you before the babyes. I know you¡¯re going through a lot back home. But just hold the fort. When I get back, the Bird Sisters and the Warden are going to pay for what they¡¯ve done. And then I¡¯ll put everything right. I re-read the words of my letter to Fia as I rode the Army skiff skyward. It was like no skiff I had been on before. There were no seats on the inside, only harnesses on the walls to strap yourself into for the violent ride to orbit. For me and my toon of Graduate Legionnaires it was a jostling rollercoaster ride in a tin can with windows the size of rice bowls. It reminded me a bit of the prison skiff I had rode down from orbit when I had first arrived at Du Gok Bhong. Now here I was, some seven monthster, riding the same kind of craft back to the stars again. But unlike before, where I had no clue of what I was in for, now I was heading eyes wide open into the fray. A battle that would push the core of my twin Dao. To confront I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and his ilk on home soil. It was what I had trained for, prepared for, felt ready for, but executing it wasn¡¯t going to be a barrel ofughs. I nced at my letter again. By the time it reached Fia, I would hopefully already be done and on my way home to her. But there would be a heck of a lot for me to do in that time. Not least of which, was to ensure that as many of the legionnaires with me, returned home safely again. I looked over the men I was responsible for as they shook back and forth within their harnesses. The mustached Fly boy, Ten Chui who I had made our chief scout. Juk Sui, the often times pessimistic sword master who liked to question everything, but who was pretty skillful in the Qi technique department. Then there were stalwarts like Jin Po, Li Hei and Ben Wu who I could count on to be perfect soldiers. Rounding up the ¡®reliables¡¯ was Dim Wei who had proven herself fairly capable when it came to handling the mining duties. These were the backbone of my team. But there was one more I had under my charge that was anything but reliable. Jei Su Long. The blue-haired prick had been leering at me the whole ride up. I didn¡¯t know why, or cared, but even the likes of him I had to make sure returned safely home. Although I wouldn¡¯t be going out of my way to guarantee it. The jostling finally stopped and when I peered through the tiny porthole, I could see our main ride waiting for us in orbit. The Imperial Battlecruiser Xing Long hung in the darkness of space in the form of a giant Chinese dragon made out of brass and stone. It was a reminder that within the Yee society of cultivators, form yed just as much of a role as function. Myst star ship had been shaped like a simple pyramid, being a prison transport, but this bore the image of its namesake. A star dragon. As we approached the ornate vessel, I estimated the thing had to be at least half a mile long. A door opened within the brass scales on its side, revealing arge hanger and as our craft entered it, I could see thousands of troops lined up in rank and file within a space that wasrge enough to fit two football fields. The door to our skiff opened and Infantryman Wei, our liaison from the army, approached me from the front of the craft. He was young, but capable looking with a pair of thin rimmed sses hanging on the tip of his nose. By his athletic build, I didn¡¯t peg him for a schr, but he could be one considering anyone in the army needed basic fitness. ¡°The battalion has been assembled to greet you, Legionnaire Commander,¡± Wei said. ¡°You may all leave your weapons and personal affects here. I will see to transporting them to your quarters.¡± With that, he ushered on board a small team of infantrymen who scrambled to collect our gear. They each gave us bows of respect as they entered and me all the more so being the leader, producing faint amounts of lemonade in their souls. As Wei led us outside, I gauged what had to be over 5000 soldiers lined up in fivepanies before us. They were all dressed in olive robes with ck trim, but eachpany had an additional color in the form of sashes across their uniforms. Yellow, Bright Green, Blue, Red and ck. I didn¡¯t know what the colors meant besides distinguishing their variouspanies from one another, but besides that all of the soldiers looked the same. Slim, fit, shaved heads and faces and all armed with simple spears. It was a throwback to the day the Earth was conquered. It was almostughable to see people wielding spears in the belly of a star ship, but such was the power of cultivation. Our special forces and sniper rifles didn¡¯t have shit on these guys when they came to end our world. And I was no different from them now. Even unarmed I could probably take out what would have been an entire army of mortal soldiers back in the day. A testament to my growth as a cultivator and Berserker. Wei led us to the front of the assembly where three men stood waiting for us. One was dressed in gray and blue robes and wore a box like hat on his head. He looked in his fifties, with salt and pepper hair cut short with a thin mustache. The man next to him was short and portly, with a bald, liver-spotted head and a short white beard. He wore olive robes with ck and silver trim. His chest was decorated with medals and numerous pins that I couldn¡¯t make sense of but that made him look impressive none the less. Thest man looked out of ce somewhat. He looked only in his thirties, but carried an air of a man far older than the two next to him. He was tall and clean shaven, with long blue hair, the same color as his eyes. His robes too, were more ornate and illustriouspared to the more functional robes of the military personnel. But the biggest difference between thest man and the two he stood next to was something I couldn¡¯t sense at all. The power of Qi. By his hair and eyes, it was obvious the man was a cultivator of some standing and from a prestigious house given the quality of his robes and the twin Jian des that hung at his sides. It was also a reminder that most military personnel within the Empire were not gifted cultivators. They were martial artists whocked the ability to cultivate beyond the foundation realm most times. People like the Phnx crew back at Du Gok Bhong or the veterans I¡¯d run into back home at the Golden Spire when Iron Pot Wong invited me over for a visit. Still even as low tier cultivators, they were much stronger than most mortals. I brought my men to a halt and then turned them to face the three officials. Performing a deep bow in unison, I then looked to Wei for what to do next, but he was already speaking ahead of me. ¡°General, may I present to you, the newest Legionnaire contingent from Du Gok Bhong,¡± he said. ¡°The 28th Deployment of the 5073rd campaign.¡± The short bald guy in the army greens nodded as he stepped forward. ¡°Greetings Legionnaires of the 28th Deployment,¡± he said in a voice that seemed aged by too much wine and smoke. ¡°I am General Gong, 3rd Shield Battalionmander within His Imperial Majesty¡¯s Army. I and my men, will be your escort to your target destination of the Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ung.¡± He then turned to the man in gray robes next to him. ¡°Transport for this mission is provided by Captain Li Jeng of His Majesty¡¯s Imperial Navy. Anything to do with the Xing Long falls under he and his crew¡¯s responsibility. I am certain this will be a step up from what is provided through His Majesty¡¯s Prisons, but I wouldn¡¯t get used to suchfort until you are on your return trip home.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. He then chuckled making a joke of it. We all chortled politely, maintaining our discipline as legionnaires. When General Gong turned to introduce thest man, I could already sense what Jei Su Long had been smiling about the entire ride up. It wouldn¡¯t take a genius to figure they might be rted by the hair and eyes, or from the same n at least. ¡°We have a special guest joining us on our voyage,¡± General Gong said. ¡°He is One of our long-standing patrons from the Twin River Sect and a former Legionnaire himself. May I present to you, Master Tai Su Long, 3rd Elder of the Twin River Sect, 2nd Warden and Governor of Lu Shui III and Legionnaire of the 19th Deployment of the 5038th campaign.¡± At that, the entire army of 5000 men began a chorus of ps that filled the enormous hanger with sound. The man Tai Su Long waved his hand in the air like a celebrity and from within my ranks I spotted Jei Su Long beaming with what looked like pride. ¡°I thank you general for your introduction,¡± Tai Su Long said, giving Gong a nod. ¡°Fellow legionnaires, you may be surprised to see One of this status attending your deployment. But rest assured Ie with a purpose. Legionnaire Commander, step forward!¡± My heart jumped a little at being suddenly called out, but I acquiesced, stomping my foot at attention as I advanced. A pause of confusion came next as Tai Su Long looked at me with a cross-eyed stare. ¡°Who the devil are you?¡± he said, but he didn¡¯t wait for me to give an answer. He instead looked directly at Jei Su Long. ¡°What is the meaning of this, nephew? Why has this man stepped ahead instead of you?¡± Jei Su Long didn¡¯t skip a beat, dropping to one knee and then speaking like he¡¯d been rehearsing the encounter the entire ride up. ¡°Honored uncle, the shamelessness of this man knows no bounds. He has forced the president into giving him a leadership position over me by winning but a singlepetition that should not have been.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what I was hearing, and I wasn¡¯t the only one. The eye rolls that went throughout my toon was almost palpable. But all of it was lost on Tai Su Long. The man gritted his teeth in anger. ¡°The indignation! I will not stand for this! You are a member of the Twin River n! You shall not be denied your position for any reason.¡± ¡°It is his fault,¡± Jei Su Long said looking at me. ¡°He should be punished. The Iron Bull has usurped my position through mischief.¡± Murmurs reverberated within the ranks of the soldiers. ¡°Silence!¡± General Gong shouted. I wanted to punch the hell out of the little prick, but I was back in the cultivator¡¯s world of broken rules and bullshit again it seemed. The ire of it triggered the core of my Twin Dao and filled my me with Frenzy. Endure it, the Struggler whispered to me. Now is not the time. Tai Su Long red at me. ¡°I will not waste my time dealing with a mere runt. General Gong!¡± The man looked to him questioningly. ¡°Yes, Governor Tai Su Long?¡± ¡°I need request you dy departure. I must travel to the surface for a word with the president.¡± General Gong stuttered a moment. ¡°Ah¡­ we do have a schedule to ke¡ª¡± ¡°I care not for your schedule!¡± he shouted. ¡°My family donations support half this fleet. I will not be denied my request!¡± Gong sighed. ¡°Captain, how long may we dy before we miss the rendezvous window with the ster gate?¡± ¡°47 minutes, General.¡± Tai Su Long harrumphed. ¡°More than enough time. Summon me a skiff, I will away at once.¡± The General bowed his head. ¡°But of course. How could we deny one of our greatest patrons.¡± ¡°You may keep them in rank,¡± he said as he snapped his fingers for Infantryman Wei to join him for the ride down. ¡°This shan¡¯t take long.¡± * * * 47 minutes stretched out into an hour and then some. The silence of standing in rank and formation was starting to kill me and I mentally retreated into the seclusion of my own mind forfort as the minutes wore on. As I sat on my private beach with the Red-hued Struggler of my secondary soul, I cursed my fate for what would likely transpire. How this family held such influence over even the military was beyond me. It reinforced just how connected Jei Su Long was. His uncle was governor of a whole damn, it seemed. In Du Gok Bhong Jei Su Long was merely a dumbass prick. But here he was more than dangerous. He was Hein squared and had a powerful family to back him to the hilt. When the return of the skiff stirred me out of my meditation, I was shocked to see that Tai Su Long had not returned alone. There joining him was none other than the President himself, High Marshal Tzu Li Zen. The president wore a grimace as he followed Master Tai Su Long to the front of the assembly. Tai Su Long gave his nephew a knowing smile and then whispered something to General Gong. The old man released another exasperated sigh and then addressed the assembly again. ¡°Troops, the great Master Tai Su Long has graced us with another rare opportunity. Be honored that he has seen fit to summon the Academy president himself, High Marshall Tzu Li Zen to grace you all with his presence. Please show him your respect as a High Marshal.¡± We all bowed in unison, even the general and the captain, but Tai Su Long barely acknowledged him with a head nod. The Blue haired cultivator then gestured for Tzu Li Zen to address the crowd. I could sense the anger within him as he stepped forward and when his eyes found mine, he raised his brows in an oy vey expression. ¡°As the Academy President, it falls under my responsibility and authority to designate those worthy of leading the legionnaire toons upon their sorties within the Hell Worlds. It is thus with much¡­embarrassment that an error has been made in oversight.¡± The anger within my soul matched that of the president¡¯s. I couldn¡¯t believe what was happening. ¡°So,¡± he continued. ¡°It is with much dy that I now bestow a fitting ranking upon This One, Jei Su Long, for hispletion of his training regime within Du Gok Bhong. Jei Su Long please step forth.¡± The bastard sauntered forward without an ounce of shame, a wry smile on his lips as he gave me a sideward nce. Those words he had said came back to me. ¡®Enjoy your leadership position while itsts.¡¯ The punk. He likely orchestrated the entire thing, ensuring he wrote to his uncle to be on the ship when it arrived. ¡°Jei Su Long,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°As we already have a toonmander, I hereby promote you to the superior rank of Senior toon Commander. Congrattions.¡± Hisses and mumbles went through my teams ranks, but it was drowned out as Tai Su Long began pping loudly, causing the General and eventually the entire battalion to do the same. Heated ire and anger burned in my gut, but I let none of it show as I cultivated it and put on a firm mask of [Indifference] to the bullshit ying out around me. When the apuse died down, Jei Su Long took a ce next to me at the head of the toon. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ll be answering to me now,¡± he whispered. ¡°I hope you are prepared to pay much penance for your insults over thest few weeks.¡± If the little shit was hoping for a reaction, he wasn¡¯t getting one out of me. My me burned with indignation internally, but outwardly I remained non-plussed. The assembly finally dismissed and the troops behind us began falling out. Before I could do the same, President Tzu Li Zen approached us, apanied by Tai Su Long. ¡°Iron Bull, you may dismiss your troops,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°I have need to speak with you and Jei Su Long alone.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°Should it not be I who dismisses the t¡ª¡± ¡°Legionnaires, fallout!¡± I shouted before he could even finish, and my team did so with mutters and curses. ¡°Report to Infantryman Wei,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯ll take you to our quarters.¡± Wei bowed as he ushered the legionnaires further into the ship. We were then left alone with the big wigs. The General, the ship¡¯s Captain, the President and Uncle Asshole, Tai Su Long. ¡°It is good to see things put right,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°I thank you, High Marshal, for your continuedmitment to ensuring all is in its proper order.¡± Tzu Li Zen¡¯s jaw flexed, shifting the bright red hair of his short beard from side to side. ¡°It is the least the Academy can do for all that your family has donated over the years.¡± Son of a bitch, I thought. ¡°But I wish to make one thing clear,¡± he said and then took a step next to me. ¡°As per our agreement, Governor Tai Su Long, the Iron Bull shall remain the fieldmander for any exercise on the Hell Worlds. Jei Su Long may retain oversight as the Senior toon Commander.¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°It would be beneath Jei Su Long¡¯s station to do so anyway. He will happilymand from above. Right, nephew?¡± Jei Su Long paused like he didn¡¯t know what to answer. A swift stare from his uncle got him speaking. ¡°Y-yes, yes of course. I will leave the grunt work to the¡­ Junior toon Commander.¡± Tzu Li Sen grimaced. ¡°There is no such rank. The Iron Bull has not been demoted. He remains the toon Commander.¡± Tai Su Longughed. ¡°I am certain that was said only in jest. Well, thank you foring in person, High Marshal. It did much to resolve the loss of face I and my n have suffered this day from the Academy¡¯s oversight.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± he said with a tone like ice. ¡°I will take my leave then. I¡¯ll see you all in two weeks.¡± ¡°It may perhaps be a bit longer than that now,¡± Captain Li Jeng said. Tzu Li Zen raised a brow in question. ¡°We missed the rendezvous with the stargate. It will not reappear for another two weeks. We will need to travel to the next viable jumping point to remain on route.¡± Shit¡­ I cursed inwardly. This damn bastard and his family were costing me in more ways than one. ¡°How far away?¡± Tzu Li Zen asked. ¡°An extra seven day voyage to the Scorpion¡¯s Tear Gate and we can pick up the Silver line through the interior before picking up the crimson line again back towards the Cursed Stars.¡± My mind spun a little as he said it. On the prison ship, I had no idea what was happening but now that I was privy to how space travel truly worked, it amazed me. Gates that appeared and disappeared plus what sounded like highways through the stars. It made me wonder if cultivators created all of it, or if they were natural phenomena. Or perhaps unnatural ones, like the scourge of the Cursed Stars themselves. ¡°Splendid,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°A trip through the interior will take us past Lu Shui Prime. We could have a short stop over so that we may thank you and your men for your hospitality, General.¡± Tsu Li Zen cleared his throat. ¡°Most generous, Governor Tai Su Long, but I must remind you that the timing between deployment is important. We don¡¯t want to lose ground that legionnaires have already fought and died for.¡± The man chuckled. ¡°I am quite aware, High Marshal. But a single banquet will not hurt. Did you not say that you were departing? I know you are very busy at the Academy.¡± Anger burned in my gut and I could sense the same from Tzu Li Zen as Tai Su Long dismissed him, but the President retained hisposure. ¡°Indeed,¡± he said and then shifted his eyes towards me. ¡°A quick word, Iron Bull.¡± As Tzu Li Zen ushered me away, Tai Su Long pulled his stupid nephew into a celebratory hug, pping him on the back for his great achievement. ¡°I apologize for all this,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°I had no idea his uncle would show up to do something like this.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said. ¡°I understand the situation.¡± ¡°Regardless, I made it clear that he is to steer clear of actuallymanding any men. The rank is all they are truly concerned about. When ites to the actual deployment, I¡¯m sure he will be more than happy to stay out of harm¡¯s way. It was the same for his uncle when he passed through the academy years ago.¡± ¡°You were there for Tai Su Long as well?¡± ¡°He is even worse than his nephew. But as I told you before. No matter how powerful one bes, we all have someone to bow to.¡± Not me, I wanted to say. Not unless I respect them. I took the opportunity to do just that. I bowed deeply before Tzu Li Zen. ¡°My apologies for the disrespect and shame you received today. When it is within my power, I will ensure they pay for what they forced you to do today.¡± Tzu Li Zen chuckled. ¡°Why am I not surprised that that sounds like more than just token words. I appreciate it, Iron Bull, but truly, there is no need. When I took this position, I knew there would be times such as this. Even as a High Marshal, there are those who wield power greater still.¡± His words were a reminder of what I was truly fighting for. I needed this rank to face the Warden back home and then the Princess beyond her. But they both seemed like small potatoespared to Jei Su Long¡¯s Uncle. A 2nd Warden and the Governor of a core world. I¡¯d vowed to defeat even the Emperor, but the reality of it was clearly moreplex than that. From the looks of Tai Su Long, there would be a lot of damn mini bosses to defeat along the way. ¡°Remember your promise,¡± Tzu Li Zen said finally, before pping me on the back. ¡°Bring them all home.¡± As he turned to depart, I couldn¡¯t help but feel my troubles multiply. I looked back to Jei Su Long and his stupid uncle, nowughing and cajoling with the General and Captain Li Jeng. Shit¡­ I cursed. This mission was going to hell already. And not the hell I needed. Book 4: Chapter 2 Fia cycled her Qi as she formed her three jian des into a triangle formation behind her back. She leapt into the air with qinggong just as Kel Zhi came at her with a lightning arc strike from her axe. She avoided it deftly and retaliated with a st of radiant Qi from her palms. Just as she did so, Zu Tien emerged from thin air behind her, utilizing her [sh Step] technique. Fia was quick to parry her with her three des, causing sparks to fill the air. With a loud shout, Gui Zu joined the fray,pleting the three on one scenario bying at her with a series of rapid pole arm techniques. Gui Zu, being still in the Low-Tier Foundation realm, couldn¡¯t hurt her, but that wasn¡¯t the point. Any hit from him would count as a mortal wound. As would any from her three opponents. They came at her in unison and Fia fell back to her martial training to both anticipate and counter each move. It was challenging, even though her skill level was far above each of them. Zu Tien was her pupil, employing the same martial techniques as her own. Gui Zu was perhaps just as skillful, if not more so with a Bo Staff and Kelsey, while still learning had an unpredictability to her forms that constantly put her on edge. With all threebined it was a workout worthy of someone of even her talent. She kept up the pace for perhaps a minute, before the inevitable happened. ¡°Stop!¡± Fia shouted, panting. She held out her hand, yielding as the pain from her stomach grew acute and sharp. ¡°I can¡¯t take anymore.¡± Yu Li, who had been watching the sparring match from the side of the gymnasium came running to her aid. ¡°Are you alright, Fia? I told you not to push it.¡± Zu Tien, Gui Zu and Kel Zhi echoed Yu Li¡¯s concern as they all dropped martial form and rushed to her side. It was bothforting and humiliating all at once. Her friends were here to support her, even in sparring but she couldn¡¯t keep up with them at all.¡°How long was that?¡± Fia asked. Gui Zu half frowned looking to Zu Tien. ¡°That felt like five minutes, right?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Zu Tien echoed him. ¡°A good five minutes, I¡¯d say.¡± Fia rolled her eyes and looked to Kel Zhi. ¡°How long really?¡± The blond-haired girl chuckled. ¡°I¡¯d give you two minutes tops that run.¡± Fia sighed. You could always count on getting the raw truth from Kel Zhi. ¡°This is bing much harder than I imagined,¡± Fia said. Yu Li harrumphed. ¡°What do you expect at being nearly eight months pregnant? This is so dangerous for the baby.¡± ¡°I know. I know.¡± Her friends looked down at her silently as she continued to mewl quietly in fetal position on the ground. It would pass, she knew. The crippling pain that ran through her stomach and seemed to pierce straight through her Dantian. Fia has shared her secret with both Gui Zu and Zu Tien now and while they now aided her in her preparation for the court duel with the Three Bird Sisters, they also now joined Yu Li in their worried and disapproving stares. ¡°What?¡± she said. ¡°I can do this. I just need to get used to where my new limits are.¡± ¡°Is it truly worth it, Lady Fia?¡± Gui Zu, always the voice of reason asked. ¡°If your father knew, perhaps he could do something to back out of the match without losing too much face.¡± ¡°Back out?¡± Fia shook her head. ¡°My father has bet our entire family¡¯s reputation on me beating all three of those sisters. And it has to be me, I exined this already. They wouldn¡¯t have agreed if it wasn¡¯t a chance to get at me personally. And besides it¡¯s already being advertised in themunity. People are setting dates for the match already.¡± ¡°I really wish I could fight this one for you, Fia,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°Those bird-brained bitches have really pulled a number on our sect and I want payback like no tomorrow.¡± The young girl flexed as she said it, throwing a fist into her open palm. Kel Zhi practiced the same style as Max, the Furious Lightning technique but even more so, she was a Berserker as well. Or so Max had confided in her before he had left. Fia knew vaguely how their rage and disdain for their opponents added to their strength. With what Kelsey was feeling against the three bird sisters, she perhaps did indeed have the strength of both body and purpose to defeat them. But the legal and political impediments still remained. Not to mention that only she knew Max and Kel Zhi¡¯s secret and ¡®cutting loose¡¯ as Max often called it, was something both he and Kel Zhi needed to hide when in the ring. ¡°So you have to be the one to fight,¡± Gui Zu said throwing his hands in the air exasperated. ¡°We get it, but we don¡¯t need to like it. That¡¯s my nephew you are carrying in there.¡± ¡°Nephew?¡± Zu Tien perked up surprised. ¡°Have you ascertained the gender already?¡± Fia shook her head with augh. ¡°I refuse to use the Qi technique to do so.¡± ¡°Then how do¡ª?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m iming it!¡± Gui Zu said boldly. ¡°Max deserves a firstborn son as an heir.¡± He said it in jest, eliciting a round of chuckles that lightened the mood as always. But deep down it triggered another pain. Even if she were able to survive the match safely and defeat the bird sisters, there was the status of her unborn child to worry about. Besides going through the shock and disgrace it would cause her family, if Max did not return home in time to marry her, the child would be born a bastard. Regretfully the same as little Su Ling. While Fia¡¯s parents still cared for the little girl out of love, the same that they would her own child, she was sure, when it came to their future, however, they would never be able to bear their true family name or title. She sighed inwardly. Fia had purposed this pregnancy out of desperation and fear, as insurance incase Max never returned. Her decision haunted her bitterly now. Here she was, on the brink of disaster and Max hade through for her in near record time. He was almost home. ¡°I should have had more faith in him,¡± Fia whispered, more to herself than to anyone else. ¡°Maybe he¡¯ll surprise us once more and be home even before the match.¡± Yu Li rested aforting arm over her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t dwell on that. What you did, you did out of love for both you and Max. You did not know he would return so quickly.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°And don¡¯t forget. He could still note back at all. The shit he¡¯s up against is pretty damn heavy.¡± Everyone let out a gasp, all looking at Kel Zhi in shock. ¡°What?¡± she said, shrugging her shoulder. ¡°I said ¡®could¡¯. And I was just saying it to make her feel better about getting knocked up.¡± They all let out another sigh of exasperation. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that helps to make her feel any better Kel Zhi,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°But thanks, I suppose.¡± Kel Zhiughed. ¡°Meh¡­ don¡¯t worry about me. Me and Max got a whole different view on this death thing than you guys. It¡¯s no big deal really. If it happens it happens. So long as you kill the other guy first is all that matters. I¡¯m sure Max is thinking along those same lines when he goes to fight that full of space monster demons. The odds are really going to be against him.¡± More silence fell as anxiety filled Fia¡¯s heart. Gui Zu chuckled and pped Kel Zhi on the back smiling. ¡°Still not helping. Worse even! Let¡¯s shut up now for Lady Fia¡¯s sake, yeah?¡± ¡°Whoops,¡± Kel Zhi said with a smile. ¡°Zipping it.¡± Fia sighed. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I appreciate the efforts. Regardless, I still need to fight this battle on my own and I can barelyst a minute at a time.¡± ¡°Perhaps it is your style you need to change,¡± a voice said from behind her. Fia¡¯s heart jumped. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. She looked behind her to see her mother, Rhi Dong, the Lady Silver Moon at the door to the gymnasium with Su Ling in her arms. All of her friends let out a collective gasp of fear and shock. Fia immediately turned to her to bow on her knees and her friends followed suit. ¡°M-mother,¡± she stammered. ¡°H-how long have you been standing there?¡± ¡°Long enough,¡± she said walking to stand over her. Fia dared to look up. ¡°So¡­ you heard¡­ everything?¡± Rhi Dong let out a scoff. ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid girl. Do you think you could fool your own mother for so long? I¡¯ve been waiting for you to finallye to me, but after seeing this ridiculous show, it is clearly now time for me to intervein.¡± Tears formed in Fia¡¯s eyes as her heart broke. She let out a sob. ¡°Mother, I¡¯m so sorry. It was foolish what I¡¯ve done. Please forgive me!¡± ¡°And you lot,¡± Rhi Dong said, ignoring her to shoot an usatory nce at her friends. ¡°Aiding and abetting. But at least you have proven your loyalty to her. And good friends also to try to dissuade her from fighting, but she unfortunately is right. Only she can contest this match with the Shen sisters.¡± Zu Tien, Yu Li, Gui Zu and Kel Zhi all pushed their foreheads to the floor, apologizing in unison. ¡°Forgive us Mother Dong!¡± ¡°We meant no disrespect, Lady Silver Moon.¡± ¡°Please forgive us for hiding this!¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Rhi Dong said, but in a lighthearted tone. ¡°You pander to me for no reason. I¡¯m not here to chastise you. I¡¯m here to help.¡± ¡°Help?¡± Fia raised her tear-soaked eyes to her mother. ¡°How?¡± ¡°As I said, you need a different style.¡± Rhi Dong handed Su Ling over to Yu Li and then helped Fia from the floor. ¡°You are used to using your agility as it is the core of the Silver Leaf n style, but with my second grandchild in your belly, I will forbid it. You must use a more graceful and less intense style to defeat those girls now.¡± ¡°What style do you speak of mother?¡± Rhi Dong gave her a thin-lipped smile. ¡°I know someone who can help.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°You will see,¡± she said. ¡°But for now, you are to discontinue this form of training until you have learned it, understood?¡± ¡°But the court date is less than a month away,¡± Fia said. ¡°How am I to learn a totally new style in that time?¡± ¡°Did I say it would be easy?¡± Fia sighed. ¡°No, mother. Thank you, mother.¡± ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°And no one said getting pregnant out of wedlock would be easy either. You had best pray that Max does indeed return home intime to make this child a true heir. But as for you, you need nowmit yourself to defending this family¡¯s honor in his stead.¡± ¡°Yes mother,¡± Fia said, feeling the gravity of her choices weighing on her soul. But it was a great relief in some extend for her mother to now know and for her to choose to help her also instead of disowning her. But then another thought urred. ¡°Does father know?¡± Rhi Dongughed. ¡°Of course not! He is not as perceptive or as interested in yourings and goings as I. You are fortunate that he is still preupied with keeping this ever-growing household afloat while keeping a step ahead of the Warden.¡± Fia noted the way her mother looked at her stomach when she said ever growing. ¡°But you were not wrong about not telling him,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°This would be too much for him to bear right now. And as I already have a solution to it, it will all be fine. We will tell him as soon as you win the match.¡± Fia didn¡¯t know whether to feel relief or uneasy at that. ¡°He will despise me won¡¯t he?¡± ¡°He is your father,¡± she said. ¡°And I can say from experience that much good can stille from what was previously a rash choice.¡± Rhi Dong smiled at little Su Ling as Yu Li held her in her arms. Fia was thankful. Her mother¡¯s grace was perhaps as much due to little Su Ling as anything else. ¡°And splendid choice on those mummer¡¯s robes,¡± Rhi Dong said as she nced her up and down. ¡°You can barely tell you are with child.¡± Yu Li smiled. ¡°See! Didn¡¯t I tell you they would work?¡± ¡°These were Yu Li¡¯s idea,¡± Fia said. Rhi Dong grinned. ¡°Figures a mother would know. Now off to rest with you, Fia. I will summon your help. They are but a province away and should arrive in a few days. For the rest of you, go keep my husband busy. The less he knows about all this, the better.¡± * * * Princess Lunh could barely contain her excitement as she dropped into lotus position within the confines of her office. Cycling her Qi, she peered inwardly and tapped into the heart of her Dantian. There, deep within the core of her being, she glimpsed her sacred secondary soul. It was the same image of herself, only ten times more refined. More beautiful, if even it were possible. It stymied her that she was perhaps still decades from breaking through to the Lesser Deity Realm, where she could actually embody the form of her Sacred Soul in the physical realm, but as a 9th Tier Sacred Soul cultivator she was close. Perhaps closer than she even gave herself credit for. Her Qi density was perhaps appropriate for an attempt, but she had seen far too many of her older siblings attempt to test the fates and fail. If they were lucky, they would end up merely dead. The less fortunate would survive to live out the disgrace of their failure, often ending up crippled spiritually and physically for life, bing even less than mortals. Others still, ended up on the wrong side of the spiritual realm, bing demons that ughtered their entire n and households before being put down. She shuddered at the thought. Perhaps that was the true reason why she opted to wait. There was far too much for her to still do before temping the fates. And what purpose would ascension truly serve her right now? She had political power to gain in the lower courts first. Being but a third princess was already a great hurdle to ovee, but she could distinguish herself greatly from her older sisters if she were to secure not only a love match, but one that would put their dowdy, perfunctory husbands to shame. Just the thought of it riled her insides with excitement. And now, her wishes were seeminglying true far faster than even she had hoped. Truly a sign, she thought. The fates are with me. Embodying her spirit within her secondary soul, Lunh focused her Qi a moment more to perform the technique that truly defined one as a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator. The ability to not just project one¡¯s secondary soul outwardly, but to truly inhabit it, be it and venture forth with it across the physical realm. When she opened her eyes, she was in the body of her spectral self, a towering goddess two stories tall and encircled by six jade crystals that spewed constant spiritual energy for her to cultivate from. With a glimpse into the spiritual realm, she honed in on the spiritual energy of her target. The Lady Silver Tear. She was in Jurin province as expected. Lunh could will herself there instantly through the spiritual realm, but she chose to traverse thend in spectral form instead, getting a true sense of the scale of her great empire. She traveled west at unimaginable speed, taking in vastndscapes of desert, mountain and forest. She flew over huge cities, filled with both natives and citizens from her home world. If they could ever get the Omni Gatepleted, there would be countless more from the interior core worlds to fill her treasury with wealth. But now her treasury was near empty. No matter, she thought. Her Legionnaire Consort would soon return to her with both a bounty to fill her treasury and a passion to fill the desires of her heart¡ªif fate would have it, that was. And now fate seemed to be doing just that, fulfilling her wishes in abundance and in record time. Lunh had been prepared to wait three years, but the Iron Bull had seen fit toplete his task in less than a third of that time. It was another confirmation that he was indeed the true fruit of this otherwise fruitless world. A prodigy of cultivation and one worthy of only her hand in marriage. The thought spurred her on as her spectral form crossed the great continents of the East. After crossing a small ocean, she reached the Western continent which contained the province of Jurin and quickly sought out the Lady Silver Tear. Lunh found her within the private garden of her estate, at the topmost portion of the Imperial city, now radiating with the light of the aetherite crystal in the darkness of early evening. Lunh hid her appearance as she approached, but the Lady Silver Tear, being a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator herself, quickly sensed the presence of her Qi and stopped. ¡°Why, Princess Lunh,¡± she said, turning about to offer a deep bow. ¡°To what do I owe this esteemed private visit?¡± The woman was filled with false pleasantries as usual. But no matter. The news she had to share was of too great of import to douse her spirits. Lunh revealed herself, her ghostly spectral image appearing before Lady Silver Tear with a burst of Qi. It had the effect she had hoped, forcing Silver Tear to bow even more deeply before her. ¡°You need not have gone through such trouble to reach me, your majesty,¡± Silver Tear said. ¡°I could have travelled to you via skiff to save you from spending your Qi reserves needlessly.¡± It was more pandering, but Lunh decided to y along with it. ¡°Too true. But these days I find very little opportunity to expend my Qi and thus even a short jaunt such as this is quite wee to exercise one¡¯s spirit as it were.¡± Silver Tear smiled. ¡°I see. In that case, I am happy to be of some service in that regard.¡± They shared a pleasant artificial smile between one another, taking up the void of silence that quickly fell between them. Eventually Silver Tear spoke again. ¡°Be that as it may, I am certain even an exercising of one¡¯s spirit alone is not enough to warrant such a direct visit from her majesty?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Lunh said. ¡°I shall get to the point. I have word that the Lady Silver Light has been challenged in the courts for a three versus one battle with your grandnieces. Is this your doing?¡± The Lady Silver Tear hesitated a moment, perhaps not knowing if she would be praised or chastised depending on what she uttered. ¡°It is a somewhatplicated matter,¡± Silver Tear said guardedly. ¡°But yes, I saw it as an opportunity to fulfill your mandate to harass the girl. Rest assured I keep your ultimate goal in mind. No permanent harm wille to the girl as of yet.¡± Lunh chuckled satisfied. ¡°Well done, Seventh Warden, but I am pleased to tell you that you may not need worry of taking care when your nieces enter the ring with this girl now.¡± Silver Tear raised a brow. ¡°Oh? Has something changed?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Lunh said, barely able to contain herself. ¡°I¡¯ve received early word that the Iron Bull has passed his final examination at Du Gok Bhong Academy and is currently enroute to the Hell Worlds. And it was by no help from me, I assure you.¡± All color drained from Silver Tear¡¯s face. ¡°What? How is that possible? It has not been even a year.¡± ¡°The man is clearly gifted, it would seem.¡± Silver Tears eyes grew unfocused, looking at the ground. She was no doubt contemting what this rapid increase in the Iron Bull¡¯s power might mean for her own duel toe with him. ¡°Fear not,¡± Lunh said. ¡°My promise to you is assured. So long as you follow through with my wishes, you need not ever fear your future encounter with the Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Are you saying you wish me to kill this girl now? At the court battle?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Lunh said. ¡°But you must await my confirmation first. The Iron Bull must pass hisst trial on the Hell Worlds with certainty before the match is to take ce. Is that understood?¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± ¡°When is it scheduled?¡± ¡°It is just under a month away.¡± Lunh smiled. ¡°The timing should be perfect then. And when it happens, ensure it appears idental. I would not want him distracted by some fruitless quest for revenge.¡± ¡°Such would only be against my grandnieces,¡± Silver Tear said. ¡°And were it toe to such, their loss to the n would not be a great one.¡± Lunhughed. ¡°Shrewdly calcting as always, Lady Silver Tear. Even your own n holds no special favor in your unbiased sight. Once my domain reaches the point of expansion, I will indeed call on your expertise of dispassionate discernment to lead the cultural appropriation of whatever savage new world we will be destined to tame.¡± Silver Tear smiled at thepliment. ¡°I shall always be at your service in that regard, your majesty.¡± ¡°Very good,¡± Lunh said. ¡°You only need fulfil this special service in a few weeks¡¯ time, to ensure your longevity in my kingdom.¡± Silver Tear smiled once more. ¡°Consider it done, your majesty.¡± Book 4: Chapter 3 ¡°Come on, Junior toon Commander! Get it together!¡± I clenched my fists and teeth as Jei Su Long¡¯s obnoxious crooning drilled into my ears. Even my mask of indifference was starting to slip as his constant badgering threatened to push me over the edge. It was only the fact that I knew that that was exactly the result he wanted, that kept me fromshing out and pummeling the little bastard in front of the entire battalion of army personnel. It was our third day on the Xing Long and I was assembled with my toon within therge hanger that I now knew to be the main assembly point for the military personnel on board. Ship time was training time, or so I quickly came to understand and one thing the army did better than anyone else, was marching drills. In Du Gok Bhong, we learned the basics of military formations and drill routines, but we were like rank amateurspared to even the most basic of the soldiers here. Normally, the Legionnaire toon on board would be on the viewing side of such activities, taking in the various drill routines andpetitions as entertainment. But the dumb asshole Jei Su Long decided to make uspete against the other soldiers, putting me in charge while he and his uncle lounged on the dais next to the General and watched us make fools of ourselves. With but a hour¡¯s notice and practice, we were now trying to replicate theplex drill routines that the infantrymen knew from the depts of their souls. ¡°This isplete bullshit,¡± Juk Sui muttered as we failed yet another attempt to get the routine right. ¡°Why are we being subjected to this loss of face?¡± ¡°Because that¡¯s what the Senior Commander wants,¡± I said with just as much venom, but I had to at least try to keep my men¡¯s morale intact. ¡°Just deal with it for now. Remember our true mission.¡± ¡°But he brings us shame, Commander,¡± Jin Po, a stocky cultivator with deep brown skin and green eyes said. ¡°We are being mocked as Graduate Legionnaires bymon foot soldiers!¡± His fellow countrymen, Li Hei and Ben Wu both nodded in agreement.I nced about at the barely-out-of-their-teens infantrymen who were stomping around us in their polished boots with ease, performing the drill routines wlessly. I couldn¡¯t sense any maliceing from any of them. If anything, there was even a little lemonade from being able to see us Legionnaires up close. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I said. ¡°These guys have nothing but respect for us still. Trust me.¡± I nced back up at the dais where Jei Su Long was pping like an idiot for thetest infantry toon on disy. It burned me up inside. He was doing all this because of me, forcing my men to face disrespect just because he wanted to embarrass me personally. Little prick, I thought. But I held my mask of indifference as I put shoulder to the task and reformed my men for another attempt. I barked out the orders, barely remembering them myself. About half of them had gotten it, but poor Dim Wei had two left feet. The whole thing was frigging ridiculous. We passed by the other ten toons on disy, and I suddenly felt a strong sense of anger. I looked for where it wasing from and noticed one of the Infantry toonmanders staring at me. I shot him a questioning look and he quickly broke eye contact with me, ncing away as his soul spiked with fear. What the hell? I decided to pay him no mind and kept up the effort performing the drill routine, but in the end, it was all for naught. We screwed it up just like the previous six times and were finally kicked out of the event. Mumbles and curses filled the ranks as I pulled my toon to the side and away from the remaining teams. It took Jei Su Long a whole ten minutes to realize we weren¡¯t in thepetition anymore and when he finally did, he jumped off the dais and stormed towards us like the pissed off Karen he was. ¡°Why have you shamed us so, Iron Bull?¡± he shouted. ¡°Can you not do what even these lowly soldiers can?¡± He then smirked. ¡°Clearly this proves the President¡¯s wisdom in cing me over you as Senior toon Commander.¡± He paused as if to make a big show of it. Like he had done all this just to give him the tform to make such a ridiculous statement. As for the intended audience, thankfully not a soul in my toon was buying it. ¡°Wisdom indeed,¡± I said with a shit-eating grin. ¡°By making you Senior Commander you can now observe from a safe distance while Imand on the ground. Just like you did today.¡± That got a few snickers and he immediately turned beet red with anger. ¡°Who justughed?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything,¡± I said dismissively. ¡°Anyway, just remember our orders, Senior toon Commander. Up here you¡¯re in charge, but on the ground¡­ it¡¯s me.¡± His face twisted into a scowl, and he opened his mouth as if to say something else, but his words were drowned out by a ring xon that resounded throughout the hanger. Immediately the drillpetition ended and the soldiers on the square quickly fell into their normal battalion formation. Jei Su Long looked about dumbfounded, not knowing what to do. I stepped in front of him and issued themands to get us in rank and file. ¡°Ah¡­ good!¡± Jei Su long said after he realized what I was doing. ¡°Yes, get them in line Junior Commander.¡± I let out another restrained sigh as Jei Su Long took his ce to my left, heading up the toon. Infantryman Wei then took a spot next to him as our liaison. The ship¡¯s Captain, Li Jeng appeared and immediately met with the general along with Jei Su Long¡¯s uncle, Hai Su Long on the dais. After a brief conversation they all seemed to nod to one another and then Captain Li Jeng disappeared while General Gong took center stage. ¡°Battalion!¡± he shouted and the entire contingent of soldiers brought themselves to attention. ¡°Listen clearly. Our missing of the first gate and our detour into the core worlds seems to have been guided by the fates. We have just received an imperialmunication that a fringe world has been impacted by a fallen Cursed Star. We are fortunate to be the closest vessel to respond. I have given orders to Captain Li Jeng to change course for the El D¡¯shar. As a fringe world, defending it from this cmity will bring our battalion much honor. Reports indicate that it is a C ss event, which also falls in our favor. We have faced worse and thus this battle should be routine, but do not growcent.¡± He then turned to smile towards my toon. ¡°Let us show our honored guests that we can do more than simply march.¡± He paused for augh and the battalionughed with him. ¡°Time to reach El D¡¯shar is 14 hours. The order is rest and preparation. We will make fall as soon as we enter orbit. Battalion dismissed!¡± * * * Being in the army was the definition of hurry up and wait. Or so I was learning. After rushing around like banshees for a couple of hours, grabbing gear, prepping drop skiffs and mming down chow, the entire ship went silent for a solid eight hours of rest and recovery before the assault. For me, I found a ce where I could get some peace and quiet. I sat in lotus position, staring out at the stars in the forward observation port, behind one of the gigantic eyes of the celestial dragon ship. That was how the cultivators referred to it, I¡¯d learned. A celestial dragon. And to be fair, I could find no better way to describe it myself. I let my mind drift as my body drifted through the cosmos at unimaginable speed. I had no idea how far away El D¡¯shar was, but to get there in only 14 hours sounded like they had to be hauling ass. As I reflected inwardly, I extended my peace and solitude by venturing onto thekeside beach back home, tucked away in the core of my mind¡¯s eye. The red-hued Struggler of my secondary soul was there, greeting me with a wave. It was still a bit odd to see him and not my usual twin selves of the Demon and the Struggler chilling around the camp fire, but it was confirmation yet again of my ascension. I still hadn¡¯t had time to decently reflect on that. My increase in power was one thing, but now I needed to find a new path to progression as well. The Sacred Soul Realm wasn¡¯t the end, in fact it was only the beginning if I wanted to face down the likes of the Princess and whoever else would stand in my way. The question now was¡­how? I summoned the shuras in my mind¡¯s eye and considered the techniques I still had yet to master. There were the advanced manifestation techniques such as [Spectral Form] which would turn me into my red-hued doppelganger in the real world and [Furnace of the Frenzied me] which would turn the real world into my own personal version of hell. Or something like that. While the information was there, I ran into the same issue as when I first started learning from the shuras. They were written in a way that assumed you were already skilled at cultivation at a base level. For me, I had to figure out how to be a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator first. There was only so much I could glean from the library at Du Gok Bhong. But maybe there would be an opportunity still. One just on the horizon. Jei Su Long¡¯s uncle had mentioned forcing us into some kind of pit stop on a core world. Surely a ce like that would have ess to any manual you could think of. And with my status as a Graduate Legionnaire, I probably had the clout to gain that ess too. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The Struggler grinned at me as he nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah, you know what I¡¯m thinking, you bastard,¡± I said with augh. At first, I was pissed off as hell about this detour dying me from getting to the Hell Worlds and eventually back home. But maybe this was all the me again, guiding my path. When would I have gotten ess to a core world before now? Of course, I had no idea how I¡¯d even navigate or go about such a thing as snagging a Sacred Soul Realm cultivation manual from somewhere. But now that it held some possibility, I had to put my mind to it. * * * The ride down to side was bumpy as hell. I was strapped into my harness along with the rest of my toon, but we were joined by General Gong and Governor Tai Su Long, along with several of their aides, being in the mainmand skiff. It was a great honor to be numbered among them, or so we were told in the final assembly before we were rushed to theunch bays of the Xing Long for deployment. The main toons were sardine canned inside skiffs the size of cargo nes and then thrust into space against the backdrop of a vibrant green and blue sphere that was the El D¡¯shar. I had watched two of them depart via a small view port before we ourselves were ushered inside themand skiff. As we leveled out, Infantryman Wei gave a signal for us to undo the harnesses and once we had all unstrapped, he gave a second signal for us to stay clear of the walls. We huddled around a center console in the middle of the skiff and then to my surprise, the roof and sides of the craft began to peel back in segments, turning the enclosed craft into a normal side skiff again. The hurricane st of rushing air hit me at what had to be over a hundred miles an hour, but I reacted swiftly with a cycling of my Frenzy to keep me glued to the deck. My legionnaires instinctively did the same, some stumbling a little, but the military personnel on board seemed well prepared for it, not flinching a bit. Bright sunshine spilled from a radiant aqua blue sky, dotted with clouds. Being out in the open, the sight was freeing in more ways than one. I¡¯d been stuck in prison cells and tin cans for months and the sky above Du Gok Bhong was nowhere near as pretty as this. I could sense the same from my men as they basked in the sunlight looking skyward, grins on their faces. As we dropped more altitude and slowed further, we punched through anotheryer of clouds and a vastndscape appeared below us. We all instinctively edged towards the railing on the skiff¡¯s side and leaned over for a better view. There wasnd as far as I could see, t and cultivated with farms and forest all cut into checkerboard squares. Lakes and rivers ran between thend and then slowly the topography changed, bing dotted with small viges and then what appeared to be a vast city emerged, something that had to be ten times the size of Jurin province. Huge pagoda like towers and monuments stood between thousands upon thousands of smaller buildings. For a moment I wondered if even here I could find the knowledge I sought. But the thought was scattered when smoke came into view. We dipped even closer to the surface, perhaps just a couple hundred feet up and the stillness of thendscape suddenly grew rife with chaos and turmoil as we drew closer. At what appeared to be the perimeter of the city was a sea of demons that were breaching an outer wall and pouring into the streets. Fires were breaking out everywhere as monsters the size of buildings demolished everything in their path. One of the battalion carriers was already on site,nded in a field just outside the city. Thousands of troops were pouring forth and attacking the demons from the rear. It all yed out like a wargame as General Gong began tapping things on a Qi screen built into the center console of the skiff. ¡°Gold Company is addressing the major breach in this area,¡± one of his aides reported. ¡°Jade and Saphire are quelling the same to the west. Ruby is defending a town further north that ispletely under siege.¡± ¡°What of the strike zone?¡± General Gong said. ¡°Reports indicate it is a hundred miles North-East. No visual of it as yet.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get there then,¡± Gong said. ¡°Bring Onyxpany with us. We¡¯ll start softening the impact zone while the rest of the battalion stabilizes the area here. Once done, give orders for Saphire to remain on defensive rotation while Ruby, Jade and Gold reinforce Onyx at the strike zone.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± the aide said and immediately began punching things into the console. I marveled for a moment at it all and what the aide was now doing in particr. They had to have some form of instantaneousmunication to ry themands, the same as how they received the initial distress call while in space. But it wasn¡¯t like they were talking into a mic or anything. It was like he was tapping out Morris code or something. ¡°Hey,¡± I said to Infantryman Wei. ¡°How is he rying thosemands?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± he said, looking at me confused. ¡°How is he getting the general¡¯smands to the otherpanies?¡± He frowned a little. ¡°Have you no concept of Qi stone pairing?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m from a real backwater world. We don¡¯t even have an Omni Gate.¡± I still wasn¡¯t sure what an Omni Gate even was, but I knew we didn¡¯t have one. ¡°Whenbined with aetherite, Qi stone pairs can resonate across vast distances near instantaneously,¡± he said pointing to the console. ¡°There are identical consoles on eachmand vessel with matching pair sets. They mimic what we do and see here.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± I said. ¡°So it is sort of like Morris code then.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°Never mind.¡± But it made me wonder why they still made us send physical letters and shit. Maybe it was just less expensive, or more likely, it was just another way to keep the elite the elite while usmoners remained the scum of the universe and had to rely on snail mail. The thought sparked my me and I went back to viewing the conflict below to quell my ire. Gold Company was making a good push into the demon horde from behind. From our height, I couldn¡¯t tell what kind of demons they were, but obviously they weren¡¯t the Cursed Star born variety. But clearly, they weren¡¯t from a Bloodmoon gate either. ¡°Hey Wei, one more question,¡± I said calling him over again. ¡°What are these Cursed Star falls exactly? Do theye from the Cursed Stars themselves?¡± ¡°In a way,¡± he said. ¡°They areets caused by the remnants of Bloodmoons that explode.¡± I did a double take. ¡°Bloodmoons explode?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Sometimes. These are the results.¡± Shit, I thought. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz had all kinds of jacked up ways to spread his ilk. But it made sense in a way. I looked at the conflicts more closely and saw what had to be your everyday cultivators defending themselves in the streets. I then realized that something was missing. ¡°These ces don¡¯t have barriers like on Bloodmoon worlds, do they?¡± Wei shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s our job to protect them.¡± He then pointed down into the fray, where barricades were set up in the middle of the streets and defended by soldiers and martial sect cultivators alike. ¡°It appears we came just in time. The local regiments are taxed and about to fall.¡± He was right. The civilians and local military personnel were overwhelmed. And without a barrier to retreat into, everyone down there was fair game. The thought brought an unsettling to my soul that stirred my me, my twin Dao kicking in. I had to defend these people too. And as much as I hated the imperial system, if I didn¡¯t defeat the Cursed Stars on their home turf, more meteors or cursedets like this would fall. We finally headed away from the city towards where the strike zone was. The ground below us was dotted with wandering demons and it made me wonder if there wasn¡¯t some minor effect from the meteor that mirrored that of the Bloodmoon. ¡°Do these Bloodmos caused people to mutate into demons?¡± I asked Wei. He raised a brow at me, almost as if surprised I would ask such a thing. ¡°For those unlucky enough to be caught in the initial st, yes. But that phenomenon is not well known. The meteor bes dormant after that. Did you study such things at the academy?¡± I wobbled my head. ¡°Sort of. Demon hunting is sort of a hobby of mine.¡± He chortled. ¡°Interesting. It was lucky this fallen star onlynded close to a small town. If it hadnded within the city, this would have easily been an A ss event. The demons would have been in millions.¡± Poor bastards, I thought as I looked down at the demons with new eyes. They were likely all just victims too. The topography changed yet again as we neared what had to be the strike zone. The earth was scorched and barren, like it had been ravaged by a wildfire. Wandering through were even thicker hordes of demons and then finally I saw the Cursed Fallen Star for myself. Nestled in a crater that had to be five miles wide was a reddish-brown hunk of space rock that was smoldering with heat. It was as big as an office building and filled with cracks that spewed new demons from within. From the size of it, there was no question now that over half the demons we¡¯d seen had to havee from people being mutated. I couldn¡¯t sense any Dark Frenzying from it from where I was, but the subtle stench of it was in the air. The drop skiff of the Onyx battalion was already on the ground and the soldiers from it were spilling from the gangway to engage the demons head on. As we got closer, I could see they operated much like the phnx crews back at Du Gok Bhong, working in formations that leveraged their numbers over their individual strengths. They made good headway taking outrge numbers at a time, but their assault on the meteorite wasn¡¯t without incident. As the demons retaliated from the surprise attack, they mmed into Onyx Company¡¯s formations brutally. Bodies of soldiers went flying into the air,nding within the hordes to be torn apart. It was maddening and sickening to watch. Jei Su Long and his uncle however seemed oblivious to it all, pping and cheering like they were still watching the damn drillpetition. I grimaced, feeling my me churning within like a caged beast. ¡°General Gong,¡± I said as I approached him with a small bow. ¡°Would you allow my legionnaires to assist? I feel awkward standing here and doing nothing while men die.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Tai Su Long said, apparently overhearing me. ¡°These soldiers are meant to die. Let them im their honor. You would cause them to lose face by bailing them out of trouble now.¡± General Gong merely smiled. ¡°The Governor speaks wisely. I appreciate your offer of assistance, but attending to something like this is far below your station, toon Commander.¡± ¡°Or perhaps not,¡± Jei Su Long said, joining in the conversation. ¡°This One is from a lowly colony world after all.¡± He thenughed. ¡°For that reason, I will forgive your impudence of a request to the General outside of mymand, Iron Bull. Recall your own words. On the ground you are in charge, but up here¡­ it is I.¡± I stifled my anger with [Indifference]. ¡°So it seems.¡± Jei Su Long and his uncle shared augh together and resumed their viewing of the battlefield. General Gong pped me on the shoulder with a smile. ¡°Do not mind them,¡± he whispered. ¡°They are core-worlders. It is their way. And I do indeed appreciate your offer of supp¡ª¡± His words cut short as a deafening p of thunder belted the air with a tremendous BOOM! Everyone on the skiff ducked instinctively at the sound, but it took us a second more to realize where it hade from. Below a huge crack had formed in the meteorite, splitting it nearly wide open. Whatever shock wave had caused the thunder had mmed into half the toons within Onyxpany, killing the men instantly. Holy shit¡­I thought. But then I saw something even worse. An enormous, scaled leg stepped through the crack in the meteor, followed by a pair of wed hands that gripped the crack at its side and tore it further apart. A monster that had to be six stories tall emerged and bellowed a roar from below. Even from our distance it caused my ears to hurt. Its body was bestial in form, like a gori with red hued scales, but its head was like that of a lion with a flowing mane. On its back were a pair of wings that looked far too small for its size. The closest thing I could describe it to was perhaps a manticore. I looked to General Gong and his face had gone pale. ¡°Send emergencymunicate to allpanies!¡± he shouted. ¡°The fallen star was concealing a Thrantor! This is no longer a C ss event! Esction is now at S ss. Order allpanies to fall back to our position to engage!¡± ¡°But General!¡± his aide said. ¡°Allpanies are deeply engaged already. It they withdraw now we will lose the city.¡± ¡°To hell with the city!¡± Gong said. ¡°If that monster has time to develop its wings, it will be airborne and wipe out this entire!¡± My me stirred. ¡°My offer still stands, general. Let me and my men deal with that monster down there while your otherpanies defend the city.¡± He paused a moment and then looked to Jei Su Long and his uncle for ascent. ¡°I would indeed take that offer of help now, Senior Commander.¡± Jei Su Long red at me, his anger palpable. He then nced up at his uncle. Tai Su Long merely shrugged offering the decision back to him. Long seconds passed as all eyes fell on Jei Su Long. He looked to the ground, his eyes shifting, calcting. ¡°No,¡± he said finally, and everyone¡¯s jaws dropped. ¡°I will not have the junior toonmander¡¯s errant directive to assist be qualified by myself. This is a duty below that of a legionnaire. We are trained to fight upon the Hell Worlds. Let these here earn their honor and glory for the empire upon their own merit. Your decision is overruled¡­Junior toonmander.¡± General Gong was speechless. Governor Tai Su Long however nodded in approval. ¡°Well said. I believe the Senior toon Commander has given his decision, general. Your men are on their own.¡± Jei Su Long then smirked at me, as if he had just won some kind of battle. That he had one upped me in front of everyone, but at the cost of perhaps millions of lives. I couldn¡¯t believe it. My me erupted with the outrage of my twin Dao. ¡°Are you frigging serious, man?¡± I shouted at him. ¡°This is about more than just your damn ego!¡± Tai Su Long reeled back in shock. ¡°H-how dare you speak out of turn!¡± ¡°You are to be reprimanded!¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°You cannot speak to me like that! You are but the Junior toon Commander!¡± ¡°The hell I am!¡± I said as I grabbed my Axe and ive. ¡°I am the toon Commander and by order of President Tzu Lu Zen himself, I holdmand over the toon when on the ground.¡± I then hopped onto the railing of the skiff. ¡°And when I hit the ground, my order is this.¡± I flew into the air with [Lightning Walk]. ¡°Follow me.¡± Book 4: Chapter 4 I didn¡¯t have to give my order twice. My men jumped with me off the skiff before Jei Su Long could even get a word out. I tucked my arms close to my body and went into freefall, wind pressing into my face as I dove to get to the ground as quickly as possible. Scorched earth and demon hordes rose up to meet me as I mmed on the brakes with a burst of [Lightning Walk] right before mming into the ground itself. My body exploded with a shower of earth and lightning, taking out at least a dozen demons as Inded in a superhero pose. As I rose from my crouched position, a sea of lemonade greeted me as the remainder of Onyxpany turned to stare at me. There had to be over five hundred soldiers still pressing against the hordes and when they saw me, I could feel their tion grow. I cultivated their awe and redirected it back towards them with a rally cry. ¡°Onyx Company! Fall back and make a perimeter around the meteor. We¡¯ll clear out everything here and then deal with the Thrantor!¡± My words boomed across the chaos of the battlefield, supercharged with Frenzy and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. The technique resonated within their souls, bolstering them with confidence. Immediately the toonmanders began echoing my order to reorganize their men just as my own teamed mmed into the ground behind me. ¡°Hard press towards the meteor!¡± Imanded, pointing my axe to the building sized boulder that was a couple football fields away. ¡°Kill everything on the way there!¡± I let out a battle cry as I led the charge, Axe and ive tearing through the stray demons with ease as I poured on the speed. The demons themselves now paused to take note of us as we tore through their ranks, exuding nothing but fear. They were red skinned and humanoid, with horns, wings and ws. The normal variety as far as I could tell and although they fought back, I didn¡¯t even try to evade their attacks as their ws bounced off my naturally hardened skin as ineffectively as if I had been using [Steel Skin]. Holy shit, I thought reflectively. Was I this much stronger now?This was the first time I had fought ¡®normal¡¯ demons after training on the Heavy World at Du Gok Bhong and then ascending to the Sacred Soul Realm. I knew I had grown in strength and power, but all I had to test it out against were things far more powerful than what I had left behind on Earth. But now I could see how much I¡¯d grownpared to ¡®normal¡¯ monsters again. It was like returning to the tutorial zone after beating the damn final boss. I was powerful as shit! The thought boosted my confidence as I went all out, cleaving through whole swarms of demons with heavy swings of my [Frenzied Lightning] charged Axe and ive. My men did just as much damage as they followed in my wake, spreading outwards to pick off stray demons as the troops from Onyx toon turned their backs to defend us from the outside while we cleared everything within. I was getting so caught up, I nearly forgot the main attraction. The Thrantor. The giant monster was bellowing in the distance, taking swipes at what I could only imagine were a few stray toons caught up closer to the giant meteor. I spent a few more precious minutes clearing out more stray swarms of demons in the area before setting sights on our main target. There was still a sea of chaos between us and it. More patches of demons mixed with splintered toons of infantryman. I couldn¡¯t go all out like before. Doing that would kill just as many soldiers as demons. ¡°New orders,¡± I shouted to my team. ¡°Save as many of these infantrymen as we can before heading to the Thrantor. Let¡¯s get to it! Steady advance!¡± We progressed forward, but more slowly now. I jumped from swarm to swarm, taking out small handfuls of demons to liberate the one or two soldiers who were being pinned down and overwhelmed. To my surprise, once we had done so, they didn¡¯t immediately run for the perimeter to join with the other toons. Instead, they ran back into the fray. ¡°Hey, what are you doing?!¡± I stopped one of them, a woman¡ªI realized¡ªwho was clean-head shaven like the rest of the troops. But she looked older than most and also wore a set of gold ribbons on her robes that denoted her rank as a sergeant. ¡°You and your men can fall back now, sergeant. We¡¯ve got it from here.¡± Lemonade and fear spiked within her as she stared up at me and then she fell to one knee, bowing her head in deep respect. ¡°M-master Legionnaire Commander,¡± she stammered as she spoke. ¡°I apologize, but thest order from our toonmander was to retrieve the dead.¡± ¡°What?¡± I said. And then I saw what was really going on. The handful of soldiers here were all part of the same toon. But they weren¡¯t fighting to protect themselves. They were fighting to bring their fallenrades home from the battlefield. I took a step back within my own mind. This wasn¡¯t the selfish cultivator mindset I was ustomed to. It was a reminder that these people were the same that I had met at the Golden Spire with old Iron Pot Wong. They were a brotherhood, not constantpetitors like cultivation sect members. No way were they going to leave their own behind. Dead or alive. I couldn¡¯t help but produce a bit of lemonade of my own for their sacrifice and nobility. I nodded to her. ¡°I understand, Sergeant. Carry on then, we¡¯ll shield you as best we can while you carry out your work.¡± ¡°Thank you, mastermander,¡± she said and then she paused. ¡°But I would humbly request you not waste your skills and abilities on protecting us. Please, if you must save anyone. Save ourmander, Battalion 2nd Spear and 1st Lieutenant of 7th toon.¡± I raised a brow at her. She then pointed towards the Thrantor. ¡°He set out to distract the beast so we could retrieve the bodies. Please. He is a skilled cultivator, but I fear no true match for the creature alone. He will be killed eventually. He may be close to being killed already.¡± I studied the giant beast, still thrashing around as if trying to catch a fly. Was there truly only one cultivator keeping that thing¡¯s attention? I looked back to the sergeant who was now on both knees. ¡°Please save our, lieutenant,¡± she said. ¡°If you can. He¡¯s a good kid.¡± I nodded to her. ¡°Consider it done.¡± I left the sergeant and pressed the team forward with a new sense of urgency. Anyone who would be willing to sacrifice themselves just so their lostrades could make it back home was worthy of a save in my boo¡ª. Wha-boom! My thoughts left me, as the world exploded in a shower of earth and fire. I went flying end over end, crashing into the backs of a couple of stray demons and killing them instantly in the process. I was more surprised than hurt, wondering what the hell just happened. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition. I flipped back onto my feet, surveying the area. A thirty-foot-wide crater burning with fire now stood where I had just been. No¡­I thought with sudden apprehension. Where I and the sergeant had just been. ¡°Sergeant!¡± I cried out as I scanned about looking for her. My heart jumped as I spotted her uniform in the distance, now a good fifty feet away. I sped to her with [Lightning walk] kicking off the air as I bounded over burning shrapnel and demon corpses. When Inded next to her, my stomach lurched. Her eyes were wide open, ssy and fixed, and half her bald head was now missing, as were both her legs. I¡¯d experienced death before. Hell, even my own, but somehow, seeing the woman now dead after speaking to her only seconds ago, caused a pain that went to the root of my Dao. Shit¡­ I thought, looking down at her. I didn¡¯t even know her name. But I knew enough about her to care that she was now gone. She¡¯d lost her life trying to bring her men home. And more than that, she cared enough about her lieutenant to ask me to try and save him as well. Another explosion went off about fifty feet away, throwing bodies and debris everywhere. As I shielded my eyes from it, I scanned about trying to find what the hell was causing it. ¡°There!¡± Ten Chui cried, now hovering a good twenty feet in the air above us for a better view. ¡°Giants!¡± I looked North-East to where he was pointing and spotted three towering figures atop the ridge of therger impact crater. They were red skinned demons but several stories tall, give or take, given the distance we were from then. One of them lobbed something in the air and it sailed like a missile before exploding in a ball of fire half a football field away. ¡°They got damn artillery?¡± Ju Sui said next to me with a grimace. ¡°Bloody smart demons this time.¡± ¡°New ordersmanders?¡± Ten Chui asked. ¡°Those bombs will wipe out what¡¯s left of the infantry toons with how fast they are tossing them.¡± He wasn¡¯t wrong. Already another one of the giants had picked up what looked like a ming kettle bell and was spinning it like a hammer throw. I looked down at the dead sergeant, rage and violence filling my heart. My me roared with it. It would take the toon far too long to get to them. ¡°Ten Chui,¡± I called to him. ¡°Assumemand and follow through with thest order. Target is the Thrantor. Save as many as you can along the way.¡± ¡°But the giants.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll deal with them,¡± I said as I rose off the ground with [Lightning Walk]. We couldn¡¯t all get there as a toon in time, but I could as a Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator with [Ride the Lightning]! As I cycled the technique internally, my skin exploded with lightning, shooting me into the sky. I flew like a rocket as I corkscrewed through the air, angling slightly to intercept thetest bomb being thrown by the giants. The world exploded in fire as I tore through one of them, bursting it out of the sky. I then went for another, protecting my men and what was left of Onyx battalion from their assault as I closed in on the lobbers¡¯ position. I zigzagged like an out-of-control firecracker, sting the projectiles apart without even a fragment touching my skin. When I finally got close enough to see the giants up close, I could see they were indeed at least three stories tall. Bald-headed and covered in scars, they were chained to arge wagon, that looked filled with whatever the hell they were throwing at us. y pots filled with something explosive, it looked like. A group of normal-sized demons were whipping the hell out of them, striking the giants on the back of their legs with long ils. They grunted and roared like pack animals and began grabbing for the pots even faster. No you don¡¯t, I thought. It¡¯s karma time, bitches! I angled towards them, aiming straight for the wagon as I applied [Steel Lightning] and [Steel Skin]. I struck like a literal lightning bolt, setting the entire cache of explosives off with a massive ka-thoom! mes, shrapnel and debris flew everywhere as a new crater formed around me. I felt nothing as it went off, the damage unable to prate my duel defensive techniques, now jacked up to 11 in just my normal state. When the smoke cleared, two of the giantsy dead along with their ve master brethren. Thest demon, which looked to have been shielded by the other two was stomping about in a circle holding its ears. I nearly felt sorry for it. Nearly¡­ The anger of losing the sergeant returned to my heart and caused my me to roar. ¡°Back to hell with all of you bastards!¡± I cried as Iunched in to finish it off. To my surprise, the giant reacted with a startled swipe of its hand. I avoided it at just thest second, but didn¡¯t see the length of chain still attached to its wrist. Rusted metal links the size something you¡¯d anchor a cruise ship with, belted me out of the sky and mmed me into the ground. This time I actually felt it and realized the monster had more than just brute strength behind its massive size. It wasn¡¯t as strong as on a Bloodmoon world, but I could sense a core of Dark Frenzy churning within it. The giantshed out savagely, whipping the chains on top of me with a speed and violence that caused the very ground to liquify. I braced myself with my weapons, sparks flying as the chains bounced off of them, but the force prated straight through to me. I gritted my teeth as I absorbed it all, grunting with a hard grimace of [Indifference]. Eventually the giant tired itself out and stepped back breathing heavily, dragging the chains with it. Clearly it must have thought it had killed me, because when I pushed myself out of the ground, the monster let out a surprised roar and stumbled back even further. ¡°That¡¯s right, asshole,¡± I said as I readied my Axe and ive. ¡°It¡¯s [My Turn] now!¡± I sprinted at it with [Lightning Walk] as I activated my retaliatory technique, pulling my weapons back for a [Frenzied Lightning] charged strike. The giant, now spent, could all but sumb to its fate as I cut through its hardened skin with the incredible force of my duel ded attack. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± I cleaved through the giant from head to heel and a few secondster, the massive body of the demon fell apart in two halves, sundering to the ground with a massive thoom! I cultivated the [Bloodlust] trigger by my kill and said a small prayer for the sergeant. It wasn¡¯t much, but at least I had granted her revenge. But I still had her other promise to keep. If I could make it in time. I looked for the Thrantor and saw it still in the same spot, close to the meteorite. But it wasn¡¯t hopping around anymore. Shit¡­ I thought. Was I already toote? Had it killed themander? The thought spurred me on and I jumped back into the sky with [Ride the Lightning] again. As I flew across the battlefield, I got a sense of the true scale of the engagement. Thousands were dead. Demons and humans both. The massive meteorite loomed ahead of me, growingrger as I closed in with the speed of a jet fighter. Its true size became evident, towering at least twenty stories and the Thrantor that had emerged from it, perhaps just under half that height. Holy crap, I thought. This would be the biggest monster I had fought yet. The wings on its back looked perhaps half formed and at least triple the size of when I had seen them before. But what truly shocked me was the Dark Frenzy palpable in the air. Again, not as strong as a full on Bloodmoon, but definitely enough to mutate anything the giant rock hade into contact with. I tried to look for the cultivator lieutenant the sergeant had spoken of, but didn¡¯t see anyone flying around it. The monster¡¯s back was to me and it seemed focused on searching for something, looking from the ground and to the air and then back again. I spotted a small cluster of infantrymen hightailing it away from the monster, carrying several stretchers of bodies with them. I flew downwards and stopped myself in midair above them with a st of thunder. Fear jumped into their souls as they looked up in fright, but then it quickly converted into lemonade once they realized who I was. They all bowed deeply. ¡°Master Legionnairemander!¡± one of them said, out of breath. ¡°Thank the heavens it is you.¡± ¡°Where is yourmander?¡± I said. ¡°Is he still alive?¡± ¡°Which one?¡± another one asked. At first I thought he was simply being an idiot, and perhaps he was, but I guess from where he was in the chain ofmand there were perhaps half a dozenmanders above his rank. ¡°The one distracting the Thrantor,¡± I said with as little sarcasm as possible. I then recalled the title the sergeant had given him. ¡°Battalion 2nd Spear, 1st Lieutenant of 7th toon.¡± ¡°Ah! The lieutenant lives still!¡± the same soldier answered. ¡°He has the beast befuddled at the moment. But it won¡¯tst long. He¡¯s given us ourst chance to escape.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m here to save him.¡± I pushed ahead and towards the Thrantor,ing level with its massive head. It was still distracted, looking at the ground as if waiting to pounce. A low growl rumbled from it, deep and powerful like a volcano about to erupt. The Dark Frenzying from within it was strong enough to make my me flicker. If that giant was strong, then this thing was going to be off the charts. I looked back for my team and saw them still making their way to me. A sudden movement caught my eye and I saw a figure emerge from thin air. He was amon looking soldier, like any other, but I could see from his uniform the pips and insignia that designated him as a lieutenant. The Thrantor immediately roared, finally spotting what it¡¯d been waiting for. The lieutenant caught sight of me and when our eyes met, I caught a sudden mixture of fear and anger,e from inside him. What the hell? I then realized it was the same guy I had seen from before at the drillpetition. He disappeared then, shing out of existence to avoid a paw strike from the lion like beast. He then reappeared with two jian des floating at his sides. Luminescent beams of Qi burst from his palms as he went through a series of techniques to keep the creature¡¯s massive jaws at bay. I recognized the techniques immediately. The patterns and forms. The flying jian des. Nah, I thought, rejecting the idea immediately. But then the lieutenant cried out with an annunciated technique. ¡°[Third Heaven, Double Sword Strike]!¡± My heart leapt at the voice. I¡¯d know it anywhere. The face now clicked as well, sans the long hair. But I still couldn¡¯t believe it. As I watched the lieutenant face off against the beast there was no doubt in my mind as to who he was, yet still it didn¡¯t make sense. ¡°Hein?¡± Book 4: Chapter 5 I was beside myself with questions. How the hell could he be here? Well¡­ I kind of knew the answer to that one already. Master Hei Dong had packed him off to military school after I trounced his ass nearly two years ago, so finding him in the army was perhaps no big surprise. But to find out that Hein and the person the Sergeant had begged me to save¡ªthe one now fighting the S ss behemoth in front of me to save his men¡ªwas one in the same, was what was now blowing my mind. The little prick I knew was like a mini Jei Su Long. But not this guy here. Or was he still? I just didn¡¯t know. ¡°Are you here to help or just watch me be killed?¡± Hein shouted.I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I nearly forgot what I¡¯de here to do. Hein was now ping-ponging through the air with [sh Step], barely keeping ahead of the Thrantor¡¯s w swipes and snaps of its jaws. He kept its attention by interspersing his dodges with radiant Qi sts aimed right for its eyes. It was a good strategy. It kept the giant monster both disorientated and pissed off enough to focus solely on killing him instead of rampaging across the. I cycled my Frenzy as I hovered in midair with [Lightning Walk]. Hein was providing the perfect opportunity for a full-charged opening strike. I holstered my Axe, going full ¡®bigboy¡¯ mode with my ive. The monster was powerful, both physically and spiritually and a preemptive attack like this would allow me the time to hurt it on the spiritual ne as well. Working my meridian sequences, I engaged my defensive techniques of [Steel Skin] and [Steel Lightning] as well as [Steel Core]. I then dove into my mind¡¯s eye to summon my Sacred Soul. ¡°[Spectral Body Projection]¡­¡± I whispered as I annunciated the technique. Instantly my vision doubled, seeing both the real world and the spiritual realm at the same time. The image of the Struggler emerged, red skin and bull¡¯s horns superimposing itself over my body in translucent form. I peered deep inside the body of the Thrantor and could see the pulsating ck mass that was its demonic core. Dark Frenzy was cycling throughout its body, but it seemed it was using it for only one purpose now. I followed the thick rivulets of dark energy to where it was supplying its massive wings with power, slowly growing them in size. There was no question now where I needed to strike first. Once those wings were done growing, not only would it be able to fly, but who knew what other techniques it could then employ with that huge reservoir of Dark Frenzy at its disposal. General Gong was right. If this thing managed to get airborne it would be game over for this world. I shot towards the monster with a burst of [Lightning Walk], pulling back my ive to strike. ¡°[Struggler¡¯s Lightning de of Fury]!¡± I spun with the massive sword in tow, lightning trailing from its tip. My [Spectral Weapon] briefly appeared as I made contact with the Thrantor¡¯s giant wing and felt the resistance send a shockwave back through my body. Damn, this thing is tough! I poured on the Frenzy to break through and with a final push, both the boney structure within the wing and the Dark Frenzy running through it gave way. My ive spun free and the beast let out a horrid guttural cry as its wing copsed in two pieces. ck blood jetted from the severed bone like an uncontrolled oil well and Dark Frenzy spewed along with it. The Thrantor immediately fell on its side, mewling and kicking in pain. The result was a mini earthquake that created a dust storm a mile wide. I was just about to swoop down to get a couple more free hits in when I noticed my toon of legionnaires had already arrived to do the same. Ten Chui was leading the pack, sending scorching Qi techniques into the huge body of the wounded beast. The rest of my team mbered onto it like a swarm of fire ants, eliciting more wails of pain as they cut into its hide with a variety of martial techniques. They seem to have it under control for now, I thought. Which allowed me thetitude to turn my attention to something even more important than an S ss monstrosity with the potential to be a world killer. My damn future brother-inw. ¡°Yo, what the hell man?¡± I approached Hein across the air with a glide of [Lightning Walk]. ¡°You saw I was on your ship, and you weren¡¯t even going to say anything?¡± Hein merely shrugged. ¡°It seemed like the best strategy. Until now.¡± I studied him as a stupefied pause fell between us. Thest time I¡¯d seen Hein he¡¯d been crying like a baby after I¡¯d finished kicking his ass and breaking his dad¡¯s prized sword. But a whole lot had changed since that day. His sister had be my betrothed and his family was now my own. Which made Hein my family now too, I supposed. In my mind, I still expected for him to be the same punk ass kid I remembered him to be. But I sure as hell had grown in leaps and bounds in thest couple of years and I guess it was na?ve of me to think that he wouldn¡¯t have done the same. And grown he had. Hein was perhaps close to twenty now, but looked somewhat older than that. Gone was the smug and boyish babyface, reced by a visage that was far more gaunt and grave and marked with a couple of scars. Again, it was hard to recognize him fully without his long silver-streaked hair, but what I could see inly now were his features. They hadn¡¯t changed. Features inherited from his dad, Hei Dong. But what truly had changed the most, were his eyes. They were still silver in color, but they had seen things now, I could tell. Perhaps not as otherworldly as the unseen things that I had seen, but it was clear that he¡¯d been exposed to the brutality of war, much like I had just experienced with the sudden loss of that sergeant. Shit, I cursed inwardly. I still don¡¯t even know her name. ¡°Is that all you¡¯vee to say, Chun?¡± I grew suddenly agitated. ¡°Look, I haven¡¯t spoken to you in two years and a lot has changed between us.¡± ¡°Oh? Like you screwing my sister because I screwed yours?¡± He smirked at me. ¡°Way to get even, my friend.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe this guy. ¡°So, you want to go there right away, huh?¡± ¡°Apparently you did.¡± My anger red. ¡°It ain¡¯t nothing like that between me and your sister!¡± I shouted and suddenly felt those old feelings of resentment return. ¡°What you did to Yu Li was jacked up! What Fia and I share are different. Way different.¡± I sensed some anger flicker within him as well. ¡°Was that before or after you did the deed?¡± ¡°Bitch, I didn¡¯t even know she was your sister at first. That¡¯s how different it is between Fia and Ipared to you and Yu Li.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. ¡°You really think that?¡± He squared up on me, still smirking and it took all my wherewithal to maintain myposure with [Indifference]. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to marry her for one,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Not that I¡¯d want you marrying Yu Li. Thankfully she¡¯s found a much better guy for that.¡± Hein scoffed, shaking his head. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that one. Gui Zu of all people.¡± I pointed at him threateningly. ¡°You watch what you say about him. He¡¯s twice the man than you¡¯ll ever be for stepping up to take care of your kid.¡± He grimaced as more anger red. ¡°Stop holding that over my head! I was just a damn kid mysel¡ª¡± An ear-shattering roar cut his words short. We both immediately looked to the Thrantor and saw it back on its feet again. My guys were still doing their thing, shifting to aerialbat to keep attacking its lion like head. But the Thrantor seemed oblivious to them. It instead was gnawing at what was left of the wing that I¡¯d nearly cut in half. It seemed to finally get a good grip and then with a whip of its head, it tore the dangling appendage straight off. A painful roar followed as more blood and Dark Frenzy jetted from the stump on its back. It was enough to make Hein freeze with fear next to me, and I realized that he was perhaps sensing a bit of the Dark Frenzy now permeating the air. I could see for myself what the creature was doing with it. It was still circting the Dark Frenzy throughout its body, but now it was stemming off the flow to its wings. As its one good wing folded to its back, the flow of Dark Frenzy to its wings ceased altogether. But then something else happened. Its Demonic Core began to pulsate and the flow was redirected not towards its wings but to its mouth and ws. ¡°Oh shit,¡± I said. ¡°I think things are about to get real ba¡ª!¡± My words hung as the Thrantor opened its jaws and a stream of dark green mes shot out of its mouth and began saturating the ground at its feet. It was the same green mes that monstrosity had conjured up when I¡¯d fought I¡¯xol¡¯ukz back at Du Gok Bhong. The emerald mes were thick and viscus like burning napalm, spilling and flowing like moltenva as it covered the ground. My men scattered, backing away as the Thrantor swiped at them, its ws now ming as well. They had faced simr back at the academy, but perhaps not on a scale like this before. ¡°My men!¡± Hein cried and immediately shed stepped towards the ground. ¡°Hey!¡± I shouted and then charged after him with [Lightning Walk]. I caught up to him with three rapid steps. ¡°We¡¯re not done here, Hein! There¡¯s a hell of a lot more that we need to talk about.¡± ¡°Well can it wait?¡± he said. ¡°My men are about to be killed by that thing.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that thing,¡± I said. ¡°Me and my men are taking care of it.¡± ¡°Then do so!¡± ¡°I Will!¡± ¡°Fine!¡± ¡°Fine!¡± He then disappeared in another series of [sh Steps] and I halted in mid-air, wondering what the hell had just happened. Shit! I thought. Was I just on the emotional backfoot in an argument with damn Hein? I tried not to think about it as I looked to the Thrantor again. The giant monster was wreaking havoc on the ground, killing indiscriminately, demons and soldiers alike. My legionnaire toon was doing a good job at keeping it busy and in one ce, but I could tell it would take them hours to take the thing down. And likely not without incident. The [Odds were Against Us] it seemed. I tapped into the power of the technique, flushing my body with fresh Frenzy. Readying my ive, I charged at the Thrantor with [Ride the Lightning], bing a missile. I punched through the sky andnded a smiting blow to the beast¡¯s snout with all my might. Its massive head snapped back like an invisible giant had struck it, causing it to cease its discharge of green mes. I marveled for a moment at how much power I was able to pack into that one hit. But as much force as I¡¯d put behind it, I failed to break its hardened skin. Damn, I thought. Could my guys even hurt this thing now? With its inner strength now redirected to its physical form instead of its wings, the Thrantor had just grown ten times more powerful than before. As if to emphasize the fact, its massive, ming ws sped towards me like a bullet train. It was quicker to block than to dodge, but I regretted my decision immediately. Pain filled every cell of my body as the force of the hit was tranted through my Phnx ive and into my bones. I went flying backwards like a tennis ball hit by a racket, tumbling and spinning. When I finally got myself back under control with a burst of [Lightning Walk], I found I was over half a mile away. Shit¡­ It looked as if I was going to need to pull out more stops than I first thought to face this thing. The translucent form of the struggler still surrounded me, but now I¡¯d need to draw on the true power of the demon itself. I charged forward with [Ride the Lightning], corkscrewing through the air with my Phnx ive spiraling in front of me. The thing needed to die and fast. Before its mes killed anyone else. Even Hein as he tried to save his men. I engaged [Mark of the Demon] enhancing my defensive techniques tenfold. As I flew towards the Thrantor I aimed directly for its gaping mouth still spewing green mes. At this speed, no one would be able to see me in my demon form and for what I was about to do next, they probably weren¡¯t going to see me at all. I pushed into the Thrantor¡¯s streaming breath and the effect of Dark Frenzy immediately attacked my Frenzied me. I protected it with [Soul Shield] and pushed right on through, seeing nothing but green mes licking about me. The mes themselves had minimal effect on my body as my [Steel Lightning] technique kicked in, keeping them off of me with its ative effect. I mmed into something that felt like skin and pushed right on through with my ive leading the charge, spinning like a top. Hot blood and offal pressed in on me and when I finally struck something solid, I let out a cry to push through to the other side,ing up with words on the spot. ¡°[Lightning Drill of Fury]!¡± Okay, it was kind of a dumb name, but damn it, if it didn¡¯t do the job. I broke through what I figured was the back of the Thrantor¡¯s skull, channeling through what had to be a good three feet of Dark-Frenzy-reinforced bone. As sunlight hit me again, I wiped my face to get a better view of the effectiveness of my impromptu special attack. The Thrantor fell to the ground spasming, its eyes dted and fixed. As it fell, it was consumed by its own mes which now filled an area a mile wide. That had to be my biggest kill yet, I pondered as my [Bloodlust] kicked in. I cultivated the free Frenzy greedily, replenishing what I¡¯d spent in addition to tucking a sizable amount away into my Dantian. I lowered myself to the ground to rejoin with my team and dropped [Mark of the Demon], although with as much blood as I was now covered in, they probably wouldn¡¯t have even noticed. Ten Chui was, not surprisingly, the first to reach me, followed by Dim Wei and then the rest of the team. The looks on their faces matched the lemonade pouring from their souls. ¡°Commander that was incredible!¡± Dim Wei blubbered. ¡°You killed that thing in a single technique!¡± ¡°No question why you¡¯re the toon Commander,¡± Jin Po said with augh and caused his fellow countrymen Li Hei and Ben Wu to do the same. ¡°What ssification do you think that was?¡± Juk Sui said, folding his arms as he looked at the massive corpse of the beast. ¡°S ss?¡± ¡°At least a double S,¡± Le Hei said. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re going to be on the ground with us on Fhae I¡¯ung,mander. At least we know you can take out something that size with ease.¡± I chuckled politely. ¡°It was big, but perhaps not as strong as it looked.¡± ¡°I would say the opposite for you.¡± We all looked towards the new voice that had entered the conversation and saw a man that looked in his forties, limping with the help of a stick. Joining him was none of than Hein himself, who walked a few paces behind. ¡°I thank you for your assistance legionnaires,¡± he said bowing deeply. ¡°I am Captain Yungi, First Spear and leadingmander of Onyxpany. Your actions today saved many of my men, and also that of my second inmand, Lieutenant Dong.¡± As I looked at Hein, I could sense a mixture of fear, anger and lemonade all directed at me at once. I cultivated all three, but then had to admit that there were mixed feelingsing from me as well. I still didn¡¯t know where we stood, but I couldn¡¯t deny what I¡¯d seen him do, or the respect I had for the lieutenant who risked his life to defend his men¡ªall before I knew his name was Hein. ¡°Your lieutenant Dong acted admirably, captain,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] so that it was clear I wasn¡¯t being facetious. ¡°He perhaps saved far many more men than we did.¡± The look of shock on Hein¡¯s face was priceless. I was sure he didn¡¯t know what the hell to think. As he opened his mouth to say something, the backwash from a descending skiff drowned out whatever he was nning to say. We all looked up to see themand skiff lowering from the sky. Ah shit, I thought, already preparing to face the music. It didn¡¯t take long. Jei Su Long and his prick of an uncle leapt over the side of the craft and came storming towards me. ¡°Insubordination!¡± Jei Su Long cried at the top of his lungs. ¡°You are guilty of insubordination, Iron Bull!¡± General Gong and his aides followed after them, looking peaked. Hein raised a brow as he looked over at me. ¡°What the hell did you do, Chun?¡± I ignored the wise crack with a sigh of [Indifference]. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it?¡± Jei Su Long echoed as he came to a stop in front of me. He then looked to the rest of the team. ¡°You should all be worried about it. You are all guilty of the same!¡± ¡°No, they¡¯re not,¡± I said stepping to him. ¡°They were only following my orders. The only one guilty of not following your shittymands¡­ is me.¡± That caused anger to re within Jei Su Long and fear in everyone else. ¡°How dare you¡ª!¡± ¡°A court martial,¡± Tai Su Long said, silencing his nephew. ¡°That is the only solution for this insolent conduct. General Gong you should arrest this man.¡± General Gong shuffled forward sheepishly. ¡°Well¡­I can¡¯t say that I would disapprove of the oue the Master Iron Bull¡¯s insubordination has caused.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Captain Yungi said, dropping to one knee. ¡°Governor, this man and his team saved many of my own.¡± ¡°That is not the point,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°The chain ofmand was broken and clearly remains so.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I muttered. ¡°But not in the way that you think.¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Governor,¡± General Gong said. ¡°While I agree in protocol, I remind you that the legionnaires do not fall under mymand. I am simply their transport. They still technically fall under the authority of His Imperial Majesty¡¯s Prisons. As such I could not confine this man under my military authority.¡± Tai Su Long harrumphed. ¡°That is why you are still merely a general. But no matter. I am certain there is a branch of His Imperial Majesty¡¯s Prisons on this world. You will take us to one so that he can be processed immediately. Now arrest him in the meantime!¡± Gong hesitated again while Jei Su Long smirked. ¡°Seems you¡¯ve outsmarted yourself this time, Iron Bull,¡± he said. I could sense anger building around me,ing from my men more so than from me. ¡°General Gong,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°If you do not arrest this man, I will see to it that you¡ª¡± ¡°No need,¡± I said, stepping towards the skiff. ¡°I¡¯lle of my own free will. Take my native ass back to prison.¡± Book 4: Chapter 6 I sat in the back of themand skiff with my hands bound by a pair of shackles that I had ced upon myself. It was frigging ridiculous, but I¡¯d have to let things y out for now. Or at least until I figured out what the hell I could do next. With my anger now reduced to a simmer of irritation, the Struggler was assessing the situation, and it wasn¡¯t looking good. For all my bravado, no way in hell could I afford to spend another stint in prison. Fia was due in a month, and I had to get to the Hell Worlds and back long before then. I nced over the railing of the skiff to where Jei Su Long and his uncle were now taking their frustrations out on my toon, chewing them out and letting them know that Jei Su Long was now solely in charge. Shit¡­I thought. This couldn¡¯t get much worse. My irritation was starting to boil again. The twin shackles of both the empire¡¯s imperial control and the fascistw of might imposed by cultivators themselves now stood in my path. I was a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator now. I had just killed something that would have taken thousands of normal men to y. But here I was in shackles in obedience to thew. But why, was the question. I could perhaps kill everyone here. All save for Governor Tai Su Long. I had no idea how powerful he truly was, but I pegged him on the same level as Chief Yora or even the President. But even if I could beat him, there would be someone else to take his ce.And that was the twin shackles that was at the heart of the Yee empire¡¯s power and control. They hadw, but unlike in the old world, wherew was backed up by police control or military might, now it was backed by the might of individual cultivators of increasingly godly power. Right up to that of the great Soul Emperor himself. Something seemed to resonate in my soul at that. A new hidden truth unlocked. As powerful as I now was, I was still in the pecking order of the great game. Sure, I could go on a rampage and ughter as many as I could before I eventually ran into someone strong enough to kill me. But I¡¯d be sacrificing not only everything back home, but also the second path of my new twin Dao. I needed to survive to protect the entire realm. Which made dealing with assholes like Tai Su Long all the more unbearable. Still, I wouldn¡¯t take back my actions for anything. Not in the slightest. Those men needed to be saved. And defeating the Thrantor quickly perhaps even saved the entire. Confirmation of that came when Captain Yungi and Hein arrived at themand skiff to report on what was left of Onyxpany. It had taken them nearly an hour to get everything squared away, but when the final tally was done some 537 of the 1000 strongpany had been killed in battle. ¡°A heavy loss,¡± Captain Yungi said before looking over at me. ¡°But I stand by what I said. It would have been a lot worse without the legionnairemander¡¯s intervention.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± General Gong said. ¡°We would have had to sacrifice the entirety of Onyxpany while the other four mobilized. And who knows how many would have died in the end.¡± The general gave me a deep bow. ¡°I am sorry for what the Governor is now imposing on you, Master Iron Bull, but you have my deepest gratitude.¡± ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t mention it,¡± I said with chagrin. He then chuckled as he leaned over to whisper to me. ¡°Don¡¯t look so glum. I think I have an idea.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Before he could say anything else, Jei Su Long and his uncle mbered aboard the skiff along with my toon. The anger dripping off of them was palpable, especially when they saw me seated on the ground in chains. Juk Sui looked like he was about to open his mouth to say something, but I slowly shook my head at him. No, I conveyed the message with my eyes. Now is not the time. Dim Wei gave me a look of sympathy and then shot a scowl at Jei Su Long. They knew the bullshit that was transpiring. But thankfully none of them was as hotheaded as me to actually start anything to make matters worse. ¡°Are we prepared to depart now, general?¡± Tai Su Long said as he stepped towards the center console of the skiff, hands behind his back. ¡°We must get this disgraced legionnaire back to his masters.¡± My me surged with contempt and rage, and it took the Struggler¡¯s full strength to keep the demon from grabbing the controls and sending me off the deep end. I practiced [Indifference], cultivating the rage within me to be usedter as Frenzy. And hopefully in some fashion that would involve kicking Tai Su Long¡¯s ass. ¡°We are prepared, Governor,¡± General Gong said with a bow. ¡°I¡¯ve alreadymunicated ahead. We can get to the closest prison within an hour.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Tai Su Long said before pointing at me. ¡°Ensure you have someone keep watch on him, general. He has already proven he favors jumping out of skiffs. I wouldn¡¯t put it past him to do the same to avoid punishment.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°He was quite the coward at the Academy.¡± The demon snapped. ¡°The only cowa¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ll watch over him,¡± Hein said, shutting me up. ¡°I happen to know this man. I will ensure he does not try to escape.¡± Both Tai Su Long and General Gong looked at Hein bemused. ¡°You know him?¡± General Gong asked. ¡°It¡¯splicated, but I will serve the duty,¡± Hein said. ¡°With mymander¡¯s leave, of course.¡± Captain Yungi nodded. ¡°By all means, Lieutenant.¡± ¡°I care not who it is,¡± Tai Su Long said dismissively. ¡°So long as it is done.¡± ¡°Then consider it so done, Governor,¡± Hein said with a bow. ¡°I shall watch over the foulmouthed beast and ensure he does not escape.¡± * * * I red at Hein as the skiff took off and he came to take a spot next to me, leaning his back against the railing. ¡°Was the foulmouthed beast part really necessary?¡± I said. ¡°Or was that you getting even somehow?¡± ¡°You should be thanking me for stopping you from getting yourself into more trouble,¡± he said. ¡°You truly are a chun with that mouth of yours.¡± Uwfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. I started a snarky reply, but stopped myself. The kid was mostly right. ¡°Yeah, I guess I owe you one for that. Thanks.¡± Hein chuckled. ¡°Consider it repayment for your assistance. How did you get yourself in such a mess anyway? What did you do?¡± I sighed and then told Hein the story. He simply nodded. ¡°So you caused the Governor and his nephew to lose face.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s what you call saving a and a battalion of troops from certain death, sure.¡± Hein chuckled again. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I was only stating the issue from their point of view.¡± ¡°And you would know,¡± I said with a smirk. ¡°Not too long ago, you¡¯d be thinking just like those pricks. I¡¯ve got to say Hein, I¡¯m impressed with how much you¡¯ve grown.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me,¡± he snapped. ¡°And I would be nothing like those two core worlders.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got a short memory pal.¡± ¡°On that we¡¯ll disagree.¡± ¡°Anyway, back to our original conversation,¡± I said. ¡°As jacked up as it may seem, me getting with Fia wasn¡¯t revenge. It was love.¡± ¡°Please,¡± he said, making an ick face. ¡°You¡¯re making me ill.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the truth.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what it is,¡± he said. ¡°I just care not to hear about it. I suppose, in a way, I now understand how you felt about Yu Li.¡± ¡°That was totally different.¡± ¡°As you already said.¡± ¡°And what was up with you selling Zu Tien to that whore house?¡± ¡°What?¡± he said. ¡°You know about that?¡± ¡°I had to rescue her from there. She¡¯s one of my Wardens now.¡± He chuckled. ¡°You don¡¯t say¡­¡± ¡°You did some really messed up shit, Hein,¡± I said, feeling some of the old feelings of resentment return. ¡°Some, I don¡¯t think I could ever forgive you for.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°I can¡¯t control how you feel. But like I said. I was a child doing childish things. I can only seek to atone for them now.¡± He said it matter-of-fact, with no malice or anger in his soul. It caused me to pause. ¡°What the hell happened to you?¡± I asked looking up at him. ¡°You¡¯re like a different person now. And in a good way I mean, no bullshit.¡± He huffed out augh. ¡°The army has a way of making you mature very quickly. Although, I¡¯m not certain the same applies to you. You seem as belligerent as ever. Or perhaps the Legionnaire Academy is different. How did you even make it through the Academy anyway? I heard that ce is a death sentence.¡± ¡°It is for many, not gonna lie,¡± I said. ¡°But I made it through with a lot of blood, suffering and pain. Some madness too. Plus, a little help of a few good friends didn¡¯t hurt either.¡± ¡°Madness?¡± ¡°Yeah, best not to ask about that one.¡± He shook his head at me. ¡°You are a mystery, Chun. I can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve advanced so far. Just look at you. The way you killed that Thrantor. It was incredible. What realm are you now? Sacred Soul?¡± ¡°Around first Tier, but yeah,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I had a breakthrough right before my graduation.¡± He scoffed. ¡°Some people are just born lucky.¡± I could sense a hint of disdain. Hein being appreciative for my help or not, I guess I had still surpassed him by quite a bit and it was probably only natural for him to feel a little envious in that regard. Especially about a former enemy and rival. ¡°I see that you¡¯ve advanced yourself,¡± I said, trying to take the subject off of me. ¡°What are you? Around Mid-Teir Core realm now?¡± ¡°Slightly beyond that,¡± he said. ¡°7th Tier. Nearly 8th.¡± ¡°Congratz,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re progressing quickly yourself.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not hard when all you have to do with your time is train,¡± Hein said. ¡°The army is good for that.¡± ¡°So was the academy,¡± I said. ¡°It was like boot camp. Eat, drink, sleep training.¡± ¡°My boot camp was a nightmare,¡± Hein said and then chuckled a little. ¡°I was angry at the entire world. At you most of all, I¡¯ll admit. But after a few months they pretty much beat all that crap out of me.¡± He then looked down at me. ¡°The world does indeed take on a whole new perspective when you start as a nobody instead of a royal heir of the ruling n.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say for a moment, until he smiled and then I felt free tough. ¡°Yeah, I get it. I had to start at the bottom at the academy too. At Shit Robe Tier.¡± ¡°Shit robe?¡± I then went into the details of my Academy ordeal, starting with getting busted down to a Gray Robe after I killed the pedophile ex-Warden, Shen Liu. ¡°You truly do have problems following orders, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Bad ones, yeah.¡± As the skiff ride went on, I filled the time conveying stories of my time at Du Gok Bhong. I was careful to leave out the details of the Bloodmoon training and such, but I freely shared the training regimes and examspetition, plus how much of a dick Jei Su Long was¡ªalbeit in a lowered voice so the prick himself wouldn¡¯t overhear me. It gave Hein augh and he interspersed my stories with some of his own. Starting with his first few months at the military academy where they beat discipline into him and then how he soaredter when he was able to apply his cultivator skills to be a 3rd Spear. That kicked off an exnation of the infantry rankings and how Core Realm cultivators were treated in the military¡ªnormally made officers and toonmanders with their cultivator rankings denoted as spears, with the First spear being the highest ranked cultivator in thepany. His mention of rankings reminded me of something else. ¡°Hey,¡± I said, more solemnly. ¡°I met your toon sergeant. Unfortunately, right before she was killed. I didn¡¯t get her name, but she was the one that really urged me to try and save you. She said that¡­ you were a good kid.¡± The countenance on Hein¡¯s face dropped, and I could sense a spike of paine from within him. He looked away from me and out at the passing clouds. ¡°That would have been Sergeant Wi Sui.¡± He paused a moment, shaking his head and thenughed. ¡°Just like her to say something like that. She basically taught me how to lead the toon.¡± ¡°You served under her?¡± I asked. ¡°No, I was hermander from the start, but it was my firstmand. She taught me what to do and what not to do and how to rte to the men. She taught me how to truly lead. She taught me everything really.¡± He let out a sigh. ¡°Can¡¯t believe she¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°Wi Sui,¡± I said her name like a remembrance. ¡°I could tell you meant a lot to her, even though I only spoke to her for a second. You made an impression, and a good one.¡± ¡°She made more of an impression on me, I think.¡± I smiled as a pause fell between us and I could see Hein quietly reflecting. Perhaps Sergeant Wi Sui was the one most responsible for Hein¡¯s change. A mentor, like the same I had found in Chief Yora or even Threja and Venja. The loss now was perhaps even greater than I imagined, for Hein. ¡°But it¡¯s like that in the infantry,¡± he said eventually. ¡°We suffer losses often.¡± He then paused again. ¡°Unfortunately, the routine doesn¡¯t make the losing any easier.¡± * * * Hein and I spoke more freely after that, switching back to lighter conversation about war stories and our mutual time in the military. He told me of others he had been called to defend. Missions not unlike this one. He then told me about ones that would take him into the heart of the core worlds where they were sometimes stationed for weeks doing nothing but party while on shore leave. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re enjoying yourself here,¡± I said. Hein smiled. ¡°I should honestly thank you for kicking my ass that day. It changed the trajectory of my pathpletely.¡± He then looked at me andughed. ¡°And no offense, but your mudball world of Terra and Jurin province seempletely inconsequential now. It¡¯s a huge world out here and I for one, enjoy no one knowing who I am when I¡¯m out exploring it.¡± I could see the wanderlust in his eyes as he said it. ¡°Fia thinks a lot like that you know?¡± ¡°What?¡± he said, sounding surprised. ¡°Her?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know your own sister, man?¡± He rolled his eyes. ¡°In case you didn¡¯t notice, we¡¯re not exactly close.¡± ¡°Well, I think she¡¯d like the new you when you meet up again.¡± He huffed out augh. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be anytime soon.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re noting back for the wedding at least?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be in three years?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Nah. It¡¯ll be a lot sooner than that. Which is why I can¡¯t afford to be messing around with going back to prison. I have to get to the Hell Worlds and back to Fia before she has the baby.¡± Hein¡¯s eyes flew wide open. ¡°Baby?!¡± he said. ¡°What baby?!¡± Oh shit¡­ I thought. I forgot I hadn¡¯t told anyone about that yet. ¡°You mean you¡¯ve gone and gotten my sister pregnant!¡± Anger filled him as his nostrils red. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare tell me this isn¡¯t revenge now, Chun! You damn bastard!¡± ¡°No man, it¡¯s not like that!¡± ¡°How is it not?¡± I was just about to start exining when one of General Gong¡¯s aides suddenly called out. ¡°We¡¯ve arrived at the prison! Preparing for descent andnding!¡± A flurry ofmotion came next as the skiff dropped altitude. Hein looked like he wanted to tear my head off, but maintained his professionalism as he hoisted me up from the floor. ¡°This is not over,¡± he whispered to me. ¡°You¡¯d better have some way of getting out of this, Chun, because I want some answers.¡± ¡°You and me both,¡± I said. ¡°On the getting out part, that is.¡± I grinned like an idiot, but he didn¡¯tugh. As I looked over the edge of the skiff, a small township came into view, but evenrger than it, was what had to be the prison itself. It was constructed in a way that reminded me of Du Gok Bhong. No frills, a single tower with arge roof that we were now poised tond upon. As we dropped closer, I could see that we were not the only skiff present. There below us was a skiff that looked nearly three times asrge as a normal vessel. It was made of brilliant, polished ivory, ented with gold trim. No less than two dozen people were standing in formation before it, all of them in imperial robes of beige and off white. ¡°What the devil is that?¡± Jei Su Long wrinkled his nose as he looked down at the skiff. ¡°Does a lowly prisonmand such a vessel? How rich is this?¡± ¡°That¡¯s no prison vessel,¡± Tai Su Long said as he approached the railing. ¡°That¡¯s an imperial skiff.¡± He then looked to General Gong. ¡°What¡¯s it doing here?¡± Gong shrugged. ¡°One can only guess, Governor, but I would assume that as we transmitted our intended destination that perhaps the imperial pce also intercepted themunication.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It would be only customary for theary ruler to express their personal gratitude to those responsible for preventing such arge cmity on their world,¡± Gong said. ¡°In this case, the Iron Bull, may well get to meet the Princess herself before being sentenced.¡± General Gong beckoned me forward, and Hein gave me a little push. Tai Su Long¡¯s face was pale as I passed by him, but General Gong gave me a little wink. ¡°Come Iron Bull,¡± he said. ¡°Fix your robes. You are about to meet the ruler of El D¡¯shar.¡± Book 4: Chapter 7 I shuffled along with my hands bound in front of me as Hein guided me by the arm towards the gangnk leading to the top of the prison roof. I got about halfway across the skiff when Governor Tai Su Long suddenly cried out. ¡°Wait, stop!¡± he said. Sweat beaded on his brow as his eyes darted back and forth rapidly in thought. ¡°How much did youmunicate about the battle, General Gong?¡± he asked. ¡°Did you give details?¡± Gong shrugged. ¡°Not much. Qi stone pairmunications are limited after all.¡± ¡°Good, good,¡± he said, looking to Jei Su Long. ¡°We will tell the princess the role your legionnaires yed in the defeat of the Thrantor, nephew. She will be very impressed.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± General Gong said. ¡°The Iron Bull¡¯s disobedience of Master Jei Su Long¡¯smand to not intervene, especially. He should be well punished for not respecting the chain ofmand, as you said.¡± I paused for half a second, shocked at what the General had said, until I caught the irony in his voice. That slick son of a bitch, I thought with an inward grin. He just yed Tai Su Long like a fiddle.My men quickly picked up on it too, jumping on the bandwagon to expose Jei Su Long and his uncle¡¯s idiocy. ¡°Yes,¡± Juk Sui suddenly called out. ¡°The princess should know how the Iron Bull forced all of us to defy the Senior toon Commander¡¯s orders to follow him in ying the Thrantor and not to stay aboard the skiff!¡± ¡°Yes, I agree!¡± Dim Wei chimed in. ¡°We followed the wrong orders. We should have stayed on the skiff along with the Senior toon Commander. We should be rightly joining the Iron Bull in prison for what we did.¡± ¡°Silence!¡± Tai Su Long shouted. ¡°We need not mention any of that to the princess. Those are trivial details far below the royal audience we have before us.¡± Gong stopped short. ¡°But how else do we exin using to the prison, Master Tai Su Long?¡± Tai Su Long¡¯s mouth hung open in silence. I nearlyughed out loud as the tables were suddenly turned, but I kept the smile off my face with a grimace of [Indifference]. ¡°And who knows what the princess herself might have been observing of the battle in her spectral form.¡± Gong shrugged. ¡°She would have clearly seen the Iron Bull disobeying the direct orders, if so.¡± That caused another wave of dismay to sh across Tai Su Long¡¯s face. ¡°Of course,¡± General Gong added quickly. ¡°It was quite a hectic series of events on the skiff. I¡¯m not quite certain whichmand the Senior toon Commander did give. Remind me, Governor, was it to assist or to not assist?¡± ¡°What madness are you speaking of?¡± Jei Su Long shouted with a scowl. ¡°My order was clearly to not a¡ª!¡± ¡°It was to assist!¡± Tai Su Long shouted ahead of him and then let out augh. ¡°Clearly we all heard that, didn¡¯t we?¡± As he looked to each of my toon members, pandering to them with a smile, the shit-eating stares he got in return were palpable. What a piece of work, I thought. But his pathetic cultivator mindset was working in my favor now. And props to General Gong for the simple yet effective n he had sprung on him to earn me my freedom. I gave the old man an appreciative smile as the silence drew on. ¡°Yeah,¡± I spoke finally. ¡°That¡¯s what he said. We were all just following his orders, right toon?¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± ¡°Ayemander!¡± ¡°Following his orders, sir.¡± As my men all chimed in, I held up my chains. ¡°Don¡¯t know why I¡¯m in these shackles then.¡± The anger within Jei Su Long red. ¡°Because you are a disobedient piece of¡ª¡± ¡°Remove his shackles,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°The princess need not see those.¡± ¡°And us stopping at a prison?¡± Gong asked. Tai Su Long harrumphed, flustered. ¡°I¡¯m sure that you can think of some valid reason for us to rendezvous with the Princess at a prison, General? Can you not?¡± ¡°Oh, why yes,¡± Gong said with a smile. ¡°It was perhaps simply the closestndmark. Wasn¡¯t it?¡± One of his aides snapped to attention with a bow. ¡°That it was, General.¡± ¡°There we have it,¡± Gong said. Tai Su Long snorted and then fixed his robes. ¡°Very well.¡± He then pushed Jei Su Long ahead of him. ¡°Go on, nephew. It is time for you to receive the honor of having saved this.¡± * * * I held my tongue as we approached the assembly of imperial officials. Jei Su Long was grinning excitedly like an idiot, having been prepped in thest two minutes by his uncle on exactly what to say and do. I was trading my fifteen minutes of fame for my freedom, but I didn¡¯t care. It was a good trade in my books. I didn¡¯t crave or require the attention like these two vain-glory-chasing schmucks. Plus, I had enough attention from my own damn princess. ¡°You truly are the luckiest man alive,¡± Hein whispered next to me. ¡°How you weasel in and out of trouble unscathed is beyond the realms ofprehension.¡± ¡°Just got to stick to your path no matter what, man,¡± I said with a satisfied smile. ¡°It¡¯ll always see you through.¡± Hein looked at me quizzically and was about to say something else, when a gray bearded man at the front of the assembly greeted Tai Su Long with a deep bow. ¡°A thousand greetings to you, honored Governor Tai Su Long,¡± he said. ¡°I am her majesty¡¯s Chief Aide, Teu Sen. May I be the first to officially wee you to the El D¡¯shar.¡± Tai Su Long returned the bow with a mere head nod. ¡°One would wish the visit were under more pleasant circumstances, Master Teu Sen, but perhaps a timely visit in any case.¡± ¡°This One would have to agree, Governor,¡± Teu Sen said. ¡°The Princess is very appreciative of your most timely response to our crisis.¡± ¡°You would have to thank the general here,¡± Tai Su Long said, gesturing to General Gong. ¡°His troops did most of the work. As well as my nephew of course.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Teu Sen said and then turned to bow to Jei Su Long. ¡°The legionnairemander. The princess is very much interested in meeting you.¡± Jei Su Long beamed like a peacock. ¡°No doubt she would. I would indeed be most honored.¡± Teu Sen chuckled politely at the ¡®not so subtle¡¯ self-aggrandizement. ¡°I shall let her know that you have arrived.¡± Teu Sen then turned to venture towards the skiff, while Jei Su Long wiggled excitedly like a stupid little kid. I suppressed an eyeroll as I stood at attention with the rest of my men. As I studied the other officials in front of us, I couldn¡¯t tell if there were a security detail or political cronies. Some were armed and look fit as cultivators, while others looked more like schrs or barristers. All members of her royal court I supposed. Stolen novel; please report. They all remained as stiff as statues, the same as we were, until Teu Sen reappeared to address us all with a loud shout. ¡°Presenting her royal majesty, First Princess Ul¡¯vera, One Hundred and Twelfth heir to the Imperial Yee Dynasty, ruler of El D¡¯shar and the greater D¡¯shar system.¡± At the call, the imperial staff immediately fell to their knees in a kowtow, pressing their foreheads to the floor. We all did the same, including Tai Su Long who now stood at the head of our assembly, being the highest ranked in status, I presumed. From my vantage, the only thing I could see of the princess approaching were long, sheer robes that were white with gold trim. ¡°You may all rise,¡± a matronly voice said. As I did so, I took in the full view of the princess, and she looked nothing like I was expecting her to. The woman now standing behind Teu Sen looked in her fifties with pale skin that was kissed with but the slightest wrinkle of age. Her tall, slim stature was slightly bent at the neck, giving her another impression of maturity. Her hair was golden like Lunh¡¯s but was cut short in a style that reminded me of Blue Rose. Her features were striking, with thin lips and a sharp nose. Below a set of dark brows, her eyes were a brilliant blue and held a yful gaze as a smile curled the corner of her lip. ¡°Governor Tai Su Long,¡± she said in an elegant almost sing-songlike tone. ¡°What a pleasure indeed. I trust my older sister is still treating you all well within the core worlds?¡± Tai Su Long smiled and bent at the waist. ¡°That she is, your majesty. Princess Rheutera remains as just and benevolent as ever. I will be sure to give her your regards when I return to Lu Shui prime in just a few days.¡± Her brows arched high. ¡°Oh? Are you to venture there so quickly? If so, I must provision you with gifts for my dear sister. If it is no bother, of course.¡± ¡°I am certain it will not be,¡± Tai Su Long said before looking to General Gong. ¡°Will it General?¡± ¡°We live to serve the Great Soul Emperor and his heirs, your majesty,¡± Gong said with a bow. ¡°Our hold is yours to fill. We will ensure it reaches the realm of Princess Rheutera unharmed.¡± Princess Ul¡¯vera smiled. ¡°My thanks, general. And excuse me for imposing upon you so quickly for a favor after you have just liberated my fair from the tyranny of the Cursed Stars. You have my deepest gratitude. I will see to it that your battalion ismended for their responsiveness and sacrifice.¡± With that she performed a small curtsey with a bow of her head. Gong chuckled and even blushed a little. ¡°Only doing our job, your majesty.¡± ¡°And a splendid job they did,¡± Tai Su Long said with an unabashed grin. ¡°But there is one group that went beyond their remit to also assist, your majesty.¡± He then gestured to Jei Su Long. ¡°The Xing Long was fortunate enough to have a toon of graduate legionnaires on board. Theirmander, my nephew, Jei Su Long, valiantlymanded his toon to assist the battalion in defeating the Thrantor. And, as General Gong will no doubt attest, should they not have intervened, the losses to your would have been catastrophically worse.¡± I nearly burst outughing. What a shit heel turn around, I thought. Luckily, I was able to stifle myugh with a mild cough and a clearing of my throat. ¡°Why yes,¡± Ul¡¯vera said, squinting her eyes as she looked at Jei Su Long seemingly confused. ¡°The intervention was most timely and appreciated. For a moment, I feared that I myself, might have had to put these old bones to use once more to vanquish that monster.¡± ¡°Heavens forbid it,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°A task far below your station. Although, I must admit that I too was fearing that I would have to soil my hands on so base a task, until my valiant nephew opted to do so in my ce with his legionnaires.¡± I stood there baffled at the exchange. Instead of being thankful for all the lives being saved, the princess was grateful for not having to dirty her hands? It was incredible, but it sort of mirrored Tai Su Long¡¯s original reaction to the situation. Their status mattered more than oues. It made me wonder what the hell these cultivators did with their power besides beat each other up for bragging rights. The twisted irony of it all triggered the root of my Twin Dao. These people were the worst. ¡°Well received, Master Legionnaire Commander,¡± Princess Ul¡¯vera said with another bow of her head. ¡°Your assistance spared me much difort and perhaps even embarrassment at my ripe old age.¡± She then threw her head back with a loud and obnoxious fakeugh that sounded like a cackle. I cringed inwardly but managed to put on a smile of politeness along with the rest of the assembly. Theughter died out and she eyed Jei Su Long with that strange look again. ¡°You are the toonmander, yes?¡± ¡°No, your majesty,¡± Jei Su Long said and then straightened himself with pride. ¡°I am the Senior toon Commander.¡± Princess Ul¡¯vera looked at him nonplussed, clearly unimpressed by the additional title. ¡°Oh¡­ I see,¡± she said, with a littleugh. ¡°Where then is the man I saw? Clearly you are not he. Is he one of your subordinates? I pray he hasn¡¯t died.¡± The princess craned her neck to look over Jei Su long¡¯s head and before I could even duck for cover, she made eye contact with me. A pulse of lemonade exuded from her soul as her eyes grew wide with excitement. ¡°There you are!¡± she eximed with a wide smile and pushed between Jei Su Long and his uncle to make a bee line straight for me. She was a talldy, even with her craned neck,ing just a head shorter than me as she got up close and personal. ¡°Now this is the man I came to see,¡± Ul¡¯vera said with a lingering grin. ¡°I watched you kill that beast in a single technique and with no regard for your person, diving into those mes like you were born to them. Tell me your name, young man.¡± The sudden attention was a bit startling, but the reaction from everyone else was even more so. Hein was literally shitting bricks next to me as were most of my men. They¡¯d probably never been this close to an actual princess before. And granted, neither had I, but I had spoken to mine and had even gotten weird pseudo love letters from her. So perhaps I was a bit immune to being star struck, or maybe it was just my natural [Indifference] kicking in, but I maintained myposure as I responded. ¡°They call me the Iron Bull, your majesty,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°toon Commander of the 8th Deployment of the 5073rd Legionnaire Campaign.¡± ¡°Junior!¡± Jei Su Long shouted from behind her. ¡°Juniormander!¡± But Princess Ul¡¯vera wasn¡¯t paying attention to him anymore, her eyes now locked with mine. ¡°Your name suits you well,¡± she said. ¡°It mirrors the image of your Sacred Soul perfectly. The sign of a truly powerful core.¡± She paused to study me some more without saying anything, the stare bing almost ufortable. But I yed it off with more [Indifference] which seemed to only crank up the lemonade. ¡°Tell me, where do you hail from?¡± she said finally. ¡°As a legionnaire, I assume you are a native, but I am not familiar with those from your world. Where is it?¡± ¡°My is called Terra,¡± I said. ¡°We are on the outskirts of the empire. Far from the core worlds. Or so I understand.¡± ¡°Terra,¡± she echoed me quizzically. ¡°I have not heard of it. Tell me, who is your ruler?¡± ¡°You mean my princess?¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Third Princess Lunh, Two-hundred and...¡± Shit, what was it? ¡°Two hundred and Fifty-Seventh heir to the throne, your majesty,¡± Hein answered for me. Ul¡¯vera raised a questioning brow at him. ¡°The Iron Bull and I happen to be from the same world,¡± he said. She cocked her head with interest. ¡°Oh, is that right?¡± ¡°Indeed, your majesty,¡± I said. She chuckled. ¡°What a small world.¡± Ul¡¯Vera then cupped her chin in thought a moment. ¡°Lunh, you said?¡± Then suddenly her eyes lit up with recognition. ¡°Why¡­ that must be one of Revenah¡¯s daughters. Your world must not be very old then.¡± ¡°No, your majesty,¡± I said. ¡°We¡­ joined the great empire about fourteen years ago now.¡± Her eyes truly grew wide now as her mouth fell open. ¡°You have achieved such power in only 14 years? Broken through to the Sacred Soul Realm in less than two decades?¡± That got more attention than I wanted it to. Even Tai Su Long now looked at me with eyes full of envy, iprehension and hate. Jei Su Long mirrored the same. Shit, I thought. My cover of anonymity was blown. ¡°You are clearly a prodigy,¡± Ul¡¯vera said, sounding almost out of breath. ¡°I swear, were I not old enough to be your grandmother¡¯s, grandmother, I would perhaps make room for you as my 4th husband!¡± She let out another one of her overly fake cackleughs again, and everyone joined in with mild difort. She was clearly joking, or so I hoped, but the lemonade pouring out of her soul and the coy look in her eyes sent me mixed signals. This was a new kind of ick, but I endured it with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Perhaps I should introduce you to my granddaughter upon your return from the Hell Worlds, Master Iron Bull,¡± she said. ¡°She is yet in her prime. A fitting match you would be.¡± I was taken aback by her forwardness, but I suppose at her age and power, nothing was out of her reach to request. ¡°I¡­ ah.¡± ¡°He¡¯s spoken for,¡± Hein said. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes. He is betrothed,¡± Hein said and then shot me a threatening side nce. ¡°To my sister.¡± Ul¡¯vera blinked shocked. ¡°Oh my. How small a world indeed. Brothers-inw-in-arms?¡± ¡°To be,¡± Hein added, as if for rity. Iughed it off with a grin. ¡°Yes, to be.¡± ¡°Well then,¡± Ul¡¯vera said. ¡°I suppose that is that. I certainly wish you the best, Iron Bull and thank you so much again for your valiant assistance today. It was a treat and a marvel to see.¡± Ul¡¯vera performed her little curtsey bow again and then spun on her heel. She got a few steps away and then paused. ¡°And should things not go as nned, or if, per adventure, you grow tired of your first bride, as most inevitably do, be sure to remember me.¡± She then looked over her shoulder with an almost predatory smile. ¡°I have many granddaughters that would relish the chance at being even your second wife.¡± * * * I scratched the back of my head with confusion as I watched the imperial skiff depart. What the hell even was that? I wondered. Hein was standing next to me, looking up at the skiff and perhaps thinking the same. ¡°How do you even do it, Chun? You had a damn tenth generation princess practically eating out of your hand. I just don¡¯t understand it.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Women with power dig guys who aren¡¯t impressed with them, I guess. And what the hell was with you outing me like that anyway? The whole empire doesn¡¯t need to know I¡¯m getting married.¡± ¡°Are you kidding me, Chun?¡± Hein said, narrowing his eyes at me. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten my sister pregnant out of wedlock. No way in hell am I letting you flee from her with some damn princess granddaughter.¡± ¡°As if, man,¡± I said shaking my head. ¡°And for your information, getting through the Hell Worlds to marry Fia before the babyes is exactly what I¡¯m aiming to do.¡± ¡°So you say¡­¡± Hein harrumphed, folding his arms. ¡°And speaking of being unimpressed. I am officially unimpressed by you, by the way. You¡¯re still a Chun in my books. And furthermore, there are others who are now unimpressed with you, if you haven¡¯t notice.¡± ¡°The hell are you talking about?¡± Hein lifted his chin to where Jei Su Long and his uncle were eyeing me like I was public enemy number one. ¡°You¡¯ve caused them to lose face before the princess and now they are jealous of you as well. You must be wary of them now. They will perhaps seek to kill you somehow.¡± I huffed out augh. ¡°Yeah, no shit.¡± ¡°I mean it, Chun,¡± Hein said, his tone suddenly serious. ¡°You must take care on your journey from here on. Your very existence is an afront to them now.¡± He then pped me on the back. ¡°And I would know. Because you were the same to me.¡± Hein left me then and I stared back at Jei Su Long and his uncle. Just great, I thought. The target on my back just got Governor sized, and my next stop, would be on his home world. Book 4: Chapter 8: Fia stood on the balcony veranda outside her bedchamber, nervously looking down into the main courtyard below. There, her father, Hei Dong, was engaged in a lively conversation with Gui Zu and Ju Gong as they yed a game of Xiangqi. This was something that had be a routine ofte. Evey mid-morning, Gui Zu would engage her father with a lively game while they enjoyed tea and discussed business and politics with Ju Gong. This was all by design of course, and thankfully her father had be so engaged with the process that he looked forward to it each day now. It was the perfect distraction. But today was the day. Today it was not just preparation. Today she would have to count on their distraction for real. Their sessions wouldst at least five games. Which gave her at least three hours and hopefully longer if Gui Zu dragged out the time to make his moves as nned.Here we go, she thought. Fia left the balcony and exited her room with swiftness. She maneuvered to the back of the estate where she gingerly opened the small servant¡¯s entrance gate in the rear courtyard. As she swung the wooden gate inward, she saw her mother standing there with two other figures in hooded travelling cloaks. ¡°About time,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting in this alley for nearly half an hour. What took you so long?¡± ¡°Apologies Mother,¡± she said with a bow. ¡°Father took longer than usual to join the game.¡± ¡°So be it,¡± she said brushing past her and then ushered the two people with her inside. They both bowed to Fia politely and she barely caught their features below their hooded cloaks. They were old women and non-cultivators by the looks of them, both of them looking far too old to have even passed the foundation realm. But looks could be deceiving. Perhaps they were skilled, nheless. In what style Fia still did not yet know. Her mother kept it a secret even till now. Seeing who these secret practitioners were only piqued her curiosity more. And her skepticism, if she were being honest. Fia followed behind her mother and the two women as they made their way through the estate and to the gymnasium. One of them was noticeably carrying arge bag, but she could only guess what was inside. After a small knock on the gymnasium door, Yu Li ushered them all inside and then closed the door behind them. ¡°These are the trainers, Mother Dong?¡± Yu Li asked with a unmasked look of doubt on her face. ¡°Don¡¯t be so judgmental,¡± Rhi Dong snapped. ¡°Now take Su Ling and y with her by the courtyard as a lookout. If Master Dong approaches, I need warning.¡± Yu Li quickly bowed. ¡°Yes, Mother Dong. Come Su Ling.¡± Su Ling gave Rhi Dong a hug around her legs before she departed. ¡°Bye, nainai!¡± Rhi Dong smiled and patted the little girl on her head. ¡°Go with mommy now. Keep a look out for Gung gung!¡± ¡°Gung gung!¡± she cried with a cheer and then ran out the door with Yu Li. One of the old women chuckled. ¡°How adorable.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t she?¡± Rhi Dong said still smiling. ¡°My first grandchild. But today is all about my second.¡± She then jabbed a finger towards Fia¡¯s stomach. ¡°Still in there.¡± The two women crowded around Fia. ¡°Oh, I would not have even noticed,¡± one of them said. ¡°Are those mummer¡¯s robes?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Fia said. ¡°Pray now can you tell me who these mystery masters are, mother?¡± One of the womenughed. ¡°No mystery here child. I am Mei Mai. This is my sister Sei Mai.¡± The other woman bowed as they both lowered the hoods of their travelling cloaks. They were elderly as she first thought, looking perhaps in their seventies, but they moved with the grace of women much younger. Their hair was gray and bound in small topknots and Fia could see more than mere familial resemnce between them. ¡°Are you twins?¡± Fia asked. They bothughed. ¡°Not identical,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°But I suppose at this age it¡¯s hard to tell.¡± ¡°Yes indeed,¡± Mei Mai said. ¡°Now, how may we assist you both Lady Silver Moon and Lady Silver Light?¡± Fia looked to her mother confused. ¡°Have you not already exined about the lessons?¡± ¡°Oh, that we know,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°What we ask is the purpose. It would greatly aid us in determining what we need to teach you.¡± ¡°Tell them,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°They can be trusted.¡± Fia inhaled a deep breath before speaking. ¡°I am due to face a match with the three bird sisters in barely a month¡¯s time, but as you can see, I am heavy with child. I require a way to battle them without my babying to harm. Please, if there is a style you could teach me to do so, I would do my utmost to master it in the time we have.¡± The two women turned to one another and began speaking in anguage Fia didn¡¯t understand. It sounded like Yee but slightly different. A dialect she didn¡¯t know perhaps. They went back and forth a few times in the strange, clipped dialect and then seemed toe to some kind of consensus. ¡°We can help you,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°But it will not be an easy style to master. It normally takes years, but we can show you but a handful of techniques that may be enough for you and your child to survive this ordeal you now face.¡± Fia beamed with hope. ¡°Please. I¡¯m willing to learn anything.¡± ¡°Very well then,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°We shall begin with a demonstration.¡± The sisters then busied themselves, removing implements from therge bag they had brought with them. Fia had assumed there would be weapons inside but was surprised when all they produced was a set of fans and a guzheng, a traditional hand-plucked zither that Mei Mai then set on the ground and began to tune. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Sei Mai took hold of the fans, which were made of ck felt and decorated with brilliant white, orange blossoms. When the sisters removed their hooded traveling cloaks, Fia saw that their robes within were also ck and decorated with the same white, orange blossom pattern. Sei Mai said something to her sister in the dialect again and after a head nod, Mei Mai began ying the guzheng with a slow and haunting tune. Immediately Sei Mai began to dance in ordance with it, matching the slow rhythm and every so often pausing in a stance with the fans at a punctuated note or chord. The dance was mesmerizing to behold and after a few minutes of ying, Fia found herself almost entranced by thebination of eerie music and the slow, subtle movements that were entuated by the graceful flow of the fans. The melody came to an end and Sei Mai stood frozen in ce for a moment in silence. Fia felt the need to apud at the performance and nearly did so before Sei Mai animated normally again with a smile. ¡°That dance is known as the ¡®Widow Weeps amidst the Forest¡¯,¡± she said. ¡°It is one of the most basic forms of the Hidden Sword Dancer technique.¡± ¡°The style is to teach me how to dance?¡± Fia asked quizzically. Sei Mai chuckled. ¡°It may not look like much, but trust me, it can be very effective inbat.¡± Fia furrowed her brow at that. She did not see how, but dared not say the words aloud to offend them. ¡°I sense your skepticism still,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°Which is natural and perhaps even the heart of the technique itself. Misdirection and creating an illusion of motion and non-motion are the key to the technique.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Fia said. ¡°Another demonstration perhaps. Please if you would utilize one of your wooden swords.¡± Sei Mai pointed to one of the many training des hung on the walls of the gymnasium. ¡°While I have confidence in my technique, I would rather a bruise than a lost limb incase your skills are beyond even what I can withstand.¡± Fia grew even more skeptical as she collected one of the wooden jian des from the wall. She certainly didn¡¯t want to be sparring with an old woman, much less injuring her. Mei Mai began ying again and Sei Mai started to dance with the same rhythm. ¡°Attempt to strike me,¡± Sei Mai said, ¡°Using your techniques alone, mind you.¡± Fia grimaced inwardly as she approached the woman. She was nearly standing still. ¡°Go on,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°I promise you won¡¯t hurt me.¡± Fia wasn¡¯t so sure. With a sharp exhale, Fia lunched forward with a most basic of striking techniques. The wooden de hit one of the fans, which Sei Mai instantly folded inward with the direction of the blow, deflecting it away from her. Fia tried again with a series of three shing arcs. To her surprise, the woman managed to weave between them all, barely moving while the fans switched ces from being in front of her and then behind. Fia felt a slight challenge form as she furrowed her brow. She was going lightly at first, not wanting to hit the woman, but now she put in a bit more effort, using a slightly more advanced martial form. Sei Mai shed her fans as she spun with the slow rhythm of the haunting tune and Fia once again found her wooden de striking nothing but air or one of the fans. ¡°You may try harder,¡± Mei Mai said with a smile as she continued to y the tune. ¡°Sei Mai is a master of some degree. While she has neverpeted, I would say that some even within the Jade Bracket would have a hard time hitting her.¡± That caused a bit of pride to bubble up within Fia. She was still gold. Did that mean she could not hit this woman at all? Surely not, she thought. Fia gritted her teeth as she reapplied her focus, moving in with an advanced technique, utilizing quick footwork and a series of martial forms. The music sped a little as Sei Mai reacted to the new pace, still moving gracefully but at a tempo to now match her own. Again, she struck nothing but air. Fia tried again with more determination and speed. Still nothing. Damn this! she cursed inwardly. Thepetitor within her was now fully engaged as she tried again and again, yet still somehow the old woman eluded her without barely moving at all. Sweat beaded on her brow as Fia doubled her efforts, pulling out all the stops with a bit of Qi to heighten her speed. The sword finally broke through one of the fans and touched the woman on the shoulder. Immediately both the music and Sei Mai stopped. ¡°Well done,¡± Sei Mai said with a smile. ¡°Although I think you cheated a little on thatst one.¡± A chuckle came from Rhi Dong. ¡°Fia was never one to lose a challenge given. No matter the cost.¡± It was only then that Fia realized how hard she was breathing and the amount of sweat now drenching her robes. The music too, she realized, had grown to a fever pitch the moment before it was cut off. ¡°How?¡± Fia said, shaking her head. ¡°This technique cannot be so strong as to rival that of the Silver Leaf n.¡± She then looked to her mother. ¡°Can it?¡± Rhi Dong shrugged. ¡°You experienced the results for yourself, did you not?¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t understand it,¡± Fia said looking to Sei Mai. ¡°And you are barely sweating or seem exerted at all.¡± ¡°That is why your mother sought us out,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°And why this would be the best fighting style for your present condition.¡± ¡°But how? I am skilled beyond many. I know I can defeat even gold bracket contenders and still I could not hit you. How is that possible?¡± ¡°Hush child,¡± Sei Mai said with a smile. ¡°What causes us folly is not what we don¡¯t know. It is what we know for certain, but truly¡­is not so.¡± Fia furrowed her brow at that. Sei Mai lowered the fans and approached her slowly. ¡°You seek exnation, I give it to you now. These fans work much like your mummer¡¯s robes. They create an illusion of where my body is and where it is not. The reason you could not hit me, is because I made you hit what you thought was me.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°People take the Hidden Sword Dancer technique to be a purely defensive style ofbat, but it is not so. I am in no way skilled enough to react to your speed inbat. Instead, I am attacking first, by leading you to strike where I want you to. To a ce where I am not. In this style the dancer takes the lead, while the attacker believes that they are leading.¡± Fia¡¯s eyes widened as the hidden truth was revealed to her. ¡°Is this truly so?¡± ¡°Try hitting me again,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°A single strike, but this time, where you see my fan to be.¡± Fia thrusted her sword at the fan, and it copsed easily to touch Sei Mai¡¯s shoulder. ¡°See?¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°It is that simple. And indeed, that easy to defeat as well. Those who know the trick cannot be fooled by the Hidden Sword Dancer technique.¡± ¡°It is why it was never adopted as a true martial style,¡± Mei Mai said. ¡°But it is useful on the stage for performers. Luckly for you, it has fallen so far out of vogue that few cultivators even know of it, much less how to counter it.¡± Fia felt somewhat relieved after hearing the exnation. ¡°So I¡¯m not losing my mind then. I was hitting you. Only what I thought was you, was not you.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Sei Mai said with a smile. ¡°This is brilliant!¡± Fia said. ¡°I can cause the sisters to strike everywhere but at me.¡± ¡°And especially not there,¡± Sei Mai said pointing at her stomach. ¡°There is one further thing that you should know about this technique,¡± Mei Mai said. ¡°Lady Silver Moon, would you mind assisting with a demonstration?¡± ¡°What would you have me do?¡± ¡°Attempt to strike Sei Mai as your daughter has, but do not cheat. Strike at where you see her body to be.¡± Rhi Dong chuckled as she retrieved a second wooden sword from the wall. ¡°Very well, start the music.¡± Mei Mai did so and Sei Mai began her dance again. Fia watched perplexed as her mother tried to strike Sei Mai with her martial forms and hit nothing but air. Mei Mai increased the tempo and Fia saw for herself that it was indeed Sei Mai that was controlling the flow ofbat. ¡°You now Lady Silver Light,¡± Mei Mai said. ¡°Assist your mother, but again do not cheat.¡± Fia nodded and joined in with attacking Sei Mai from the side, striking where she perceived her to be. Her wooden de instantly found Sei Mai¡¯s shoulder and the music stopped. Fia blinked perplexed. ¡°I didn¡¯t cheat. I swear.¡± Sei Mai chuckled. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t. And there lies the second w of this technique and why it is considered a mummer¡¯s art and not a true martial style. It works by fooling the eyes of only one attacker at a time. Keeping the attention of two sets of eyes is extremely difficult and situational.¡± ¡°But I need to fight three,¡± Fia said. ¡°Can such be done?¡± Sei Mai frowned a little. ¡°I would say near impossible.¡± Fia¡¯s heart sank. ¡°Then what good is this technique then?¡± Sei Mai shrugged. ¡°It is all we can offer. Perhaps there may be a way to fight one at a time?¡± ¡°The rules of the match are set,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°She must face all three at once, but no matter, this is a step forward Fia. It is something to build upon.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Mei Mai said strumming a chord on the Guzheng. ¡°Necessity is the mother of invention after all and I am not as pessimistic as my sister.¡± Sei Mai red at her and muttered something in their dialect. Mei Maiughed. ¡°Do not mind her. We will help you find a way to face three at once, if it is possible.¡± Fia felt a sliver of hope return as the old woman Mei Mai smiled at her. She had no choice but to move forward now. She had ced herself in this predicament and only she could see herself through it. ¡°If I must face three, then I will train three times as hard,¡± she said. ¡°Let us together find a way to make this work.¡± Rhi Dong smiled at her. ¡°That is the daughter I know.¡± Fia nodded and felt her resolve grow. Sei Mai let out a sigh but chuckled. ¡°I see there is no convincing you all otherwise. So we shallmence. But before you figure out a way of how to elude three attackers, you must first master the art of eluding just one.¡± Sei Mai dipped back into the bag and produced another set of fans. ¡°Are you prepared for you first lesson, Lady Silver Light?¡± Fia took the fans with a bow. ¡°I am ready Mistress Sei Mai,¡± Fia said. ¡°Teach me in the ways of the Hidden Sword Dancer art.¡± Book 4: Chapter 9 Princess Lunh¡¯s mind drifted as Ling Wei delivered her briefing on thetest global economic report. They were within her private office as usual, but Lunh wished she could be anywhere else. The tedium of rule had be burdensome ofte and her only reprieve was found within the refuge of her own thoughts and imagination. Happier days were yet toe. Of that she was assured. Days when she would find herself finally betrothed after these long decades of istion and solitude. Those days wille, she told herself like a mantra. But for now, she had to endure Ling Wei¡¯s report. Lunh sighed as she droned on about returns and expenditures. The economy was fairing marginally well despite theck of treasury funds. The finance minister attributed the uptick due to the long term, residual effects of the tournament. Lunh wasn¡¯tpletely certain if that were true, but she didn¡¯t want to dwell on the topic to spare herself the grief of having to relive the debacle. It was the main reason why the treasury funds were so low in the first ce.She should never have agreed to support such a venture. But what was done was done. ¡°What of the miningmissions?¡± she asked. ¡°Surely their returns must be of some help.¡± ¡°They are,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But production has slowed significantly in the Xiang Xian region due to thebor shortage.¡± ¡°Whatbor shortage?¡± Ling Wei paused a moment. ¡°Your majesty does recall the events at Zho Yun vige, no?¡± The name didn¡¯t register at all. ¡°Remind me.¡± ¡°You had to personally intervene due to Warden Tu¡¯loc Rhen¡¯s ipetence. Arge number of mortals were killed when you destroyed Zho Yun vige. But they also happened to support the main farming industry in the region.¡± Lunh remembered the incident vaguely now. She had to teach that fool a lesson in ruling. But still it didn¡¯t make sense. ¡°What does any of that have to do with mining?¡± ¡°Thebor force had to be shifted to ensure the popce did not starve that winter, your majesty.¡± Lunh creased her brow. ¡°Who made such a decision?¡± ¡°It was a proposal by the Minister of Agriculture, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°You approved it over a year ago.¡± Lunh harrumphed. ¡°Well surely it is no longer needed now. Have they not recovered?¡± ¡°Not in just a year, your majesty.¡± ¡°Well, we cannot wait,¡± Lunh said. ¡°Send half the workforce in the fields back to the mines. We need money right now, not food.¡± Ling Wei bowed. ¡°I will be sure to delivery your edict to the cab.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Lunh said. ¡°What else is there?¡± Ling Wei opened her folder and produced an borately sealed white envelope. ¡°A specialmunication from the D¡¯shar system, your majesty.¡± ¡°D¡¯shar?¡± Lunh snatched the envelope and studied it. ¡°One of the fringe worlds. Why would they be contacting us?¡± ¡°No idea, your majesty.¡± Lunh broke the imperial seal on the envelope and began reading the letter within. My dearest younger half-sister, I pray this letter finds you and your well. I know it has been perhaps some decades since we have seen each other in person, but I trust you recall our meeting within the lower courts during the emperor¡¯sst centennial celebration on Selenus Prime. You had just reached your own first centennial not long before, if I recall. Be that as it may, I write to you now with a humble request. I had the extreme pleasure of meeting one of your subjects recently. Your legionnaire tribute, the Iron Bull, rendered his assistance to my in a most spectacr fashion. He single-handedly disposed of a rampaging Thrantor that was threatening the sanctity of my domain. I was most impressed by this valiant act and seek to reward him for his actions. I realize he is still in duty to you as a tribute, but I wish to enquire whether you would be open to re-patronizing him to my domain thereafter. I would be willing to offer fairpensation of course. I would offer the same for any family he would have join him as well, considering he is currently betrothed. Or so I understand. Although I do not wish to rob you of a tribute¡ªand thus would not seek this transaction to take ce before the fulfilment of his duty to you¡ªI wish to make my intentions known early so that you can give full consideration in advance. I have over a dozen granddaughters in need of suitable spouses, and I would think this Iron Bull could satisfy the needs of perhaps two or three of them easily as second, third or even fourth wives. For this reason, I am willing to offer a very fair level ofpensation indeed. I present an opening offer of 500,000 spirit stones for the Iron Bull to repatriate to the D¡¯shar where he would serve initially as a royal imperator in the first instant, while he courts my various eligible granddaughters. This already sizable amount would be open to negotiation of course. Please consider this seriously as I am keenly interested in adding his lineage to my bloodline. For the love and respect of our mutual father, who I am sure would support such an offer, I trust that we wille to some agreement. Sincerely yours, Your dearest elder sister, Her Royal Majesty, First Princess Ul¡¯vera, Imperial Regent of D¡¯shar and the Greater D¡¯shar territories, One Hundred and Twelfth heir of the Imperial Yee Dynasty. Lunh stared at the letter incredulously as her heart raced. How in the nine hells had this happened? A humble request? Her stomach churned with indignation and contempt. Her elder half-sister was all but demanding her first fruits. It was extortion! ¡°Is everything alright, your majesty?¡± Ling Wei asked, no doubt seeing the change of countenance on her face. Lunh tossed the letter to Ling Wei. ¡°That presumptuous old hag! And to hint at involving our father even? Who does she think she is?!¡± ¡°Who your majesty?¡± ¡°Read it for yourself,¡± Lunh said. ¡°That self-entitled Ul¡¯vera seeks to purchase my Iron Bull from me as if he were livestock!¡± Ling Wei studied the letter and her eyes grew wide. ¡°That is a sum that would settle the treasury nicely. You should perhaps consider it, your majesty.¡± ¡°What!¡± Lunh shouted. ¡°Are you mad? This is proof of how valuable he is. And whose side are you on, anyway?¡± Ling Wei immediately bowed. ¡°Apologies, your majesty. I meant no disrespect.¡± But Lunh was barely listening to her now, her mind reeling. ¡°It was I who patiently cultivated the mortal mongrels of this,¡± she said, more to herself than Ling Wei now. ¡°And now that it has borne fruit, that evil wench seeks to pluck him from me the moment he gains the status worthy to wed a royal?¡± The anger within her seethed the more she thought of it. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. How dare she even make such a proposition. How forward! And how dare she assume that he would be worthy to marry anyone besides her. ¡°The Iron Bull belongs to me,¡± Lunh said through clenched teeth. ¡°That woman has no right to demand me sell him to her. And for what? To marry one of her granddaughters? The nerve! She has no idea how valuable he truly is. For him to marry her twice diluted, third generation offspring is an insult!¡± It was true that Lunh herself was only a 3rd Princess, being the third born in her family, but she was at lease a true daughter of the great emperor. What Ul¡¯vera was offering held no im to the throne at all. ¡°How dare she!¡± Lunh mmed her fist upon her desk. ¡°This is why I despise those we left in the lower courts. So presumptuous in their thinking. They would take my finely cultivated pearl and throw it to their swine!¡± Ling Wei lowered her head in embarrassment. ¡°This One apologizes for suggesting to ept the offer, your majesty. This One was only thinking of our financial position and not of therger implications.¡± Lunh huffed out an angry sigh. ¡°It is just as well. You did not know. And besides, the Iron Bull will solve our treasury issues on his own. He will follow through with my order to be the sole survivor of his sortie to the Hell Worlds. He will earn us twice the amount she has offered when he returns home victorious.¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said with another bow. ¡°That is true.¡± Lunh eyed Ling Wei warily. Perhaps it was good that she exined it in a way that made it seem an insult rather than a loss she could not bear. She shared many things with Ling Wei, but revealing her affections for the Iron Bull would be far too premature right now. ¡°Shall I prepare a letter for you to decline Princess Ul¡¯vera¡¯s offer?¡± ¡°No,¡± Lunh said. ¡°I shall write it myself. The fair First Princess must learn the folly of making such an underhanded and insulting proposition. I may be but a Third Princess, but I am no fool. I know value and I know when someone is trying to rob me of my treasures.¡± ¡°Are you certain, your majesty?¡± Ling Wei said cautiously. ¡°You would not want to send a letter that might offend too greatly. We could dare afford to kindle the wrath of even a fringe world leader at the moment.¡± Lunh thought on that a moment more. ¡°I will write it,¡± she said but then paused. ¡°But I shall send it to you first, so that you might¡­edit it appropriately. You would perhaps have a far more delicate pen than I, in this matter.¡± Ling Wei smiled. ¡°A wise choice, your majesty.¡± * * * The Lu Shui Prime was a heavy world, or so I quickly surmised as the transport skiffnded with me and the rest of my team on board. We were subjected to the full gravity of the core world and while it was nothingpared to Du Gok Bhong, after spending the past five days in the neutral gravity on board the Xing Long, the heaviness was noticeable. The regr infantry troops onboard with us had a different experience. I could hear their grunts of exertion as we touched down, but they put up with the extra strain without the slightest hint ofint. As the doors to the mammoth craft opened, bright daylight of a cloudless afternoon sky seeped into the stadium sizedpartment we were in. I¡¯d been relegated to travelling with Onyx Company along with my team, ousted from themand skiff. It was our punishment for our mini rebellion, it seemed. But I didn¡¯t mind at all. It gave us time away from Jei Su Long and his uncle at the very least and I also got to hang with Hein and Captain Yungi some more. But besides being relegated to riding the bus instead of the Rolls-Royce as a means of punishment, there was a practical reason for sending us all to Onyx Company¡¯s drop skiff. It unfortunately was only half full of troops now due to how many had fallen. Besides us, the rest of the space was taken up by Princess Ul¡¯vera¡¯s ¡®gifts¡¯ to her older sister, the Royal Princess Rheutera of Lu Shui Prime. A cacophony of animal cries filled the hold as no less than two dozen steel cages filled the space with all manner of native wildlife from the D¡¯shar. From exotic birds, to monkey-like creatures, giant lizards and even things that resembled unicorns. But as diverse as they all were, they now shared amonality. They were all screaming in pain. The animals floundered at the bottom of their cages, falling prey to the effects of the heavy world as well. I stared iprehensibly at the cruelty of it all. What the hell was wrong with these people? ¡°Why did she send animals?¡± I shook my head at the struggling creatures. ¡°Didn¡¯t she realize that this would happen to them?¡± Captain Yungi pped me on my shoulder. ¡°It adds to the exoticism, I suppose. These are animals that would never be seen on this world.¡± He then sighed. ¡°Most will be out of their misery by tomorrow, don¡¯t worry.¡± I balked at that. ¡°They¡¯re going to kill them?¡± ¡°No son,¡± Yungi said with a chuckle. ¡°The itself will do that. Nowe on and muster your troops. We¡¯ll need your team¡¯s strength to offload these.¡± With chagrin I got to work and directed my team to assist the infantrypanies as we hauled the doubly heavy cages out of the cargo hold and into the open air. As I hefted one corner of arge cage containing a walrus-like animal down the ramp, I got a full view of what had to be the royal capital of Lu Shui Pime. A castle the size of one of the pagodas loomed above us, its base rising firmly from the ground at what seemed like miles away. We were in a massive courtyard, topped with plush grass and separated by well-manicured hedges. The troop carriers of the other fourpanies had already disembarked with their toons on disy in parade formation in front of them. Themand skiff too was alreadynded well ahead of us and had the top brass and their aides on disy. We were thest to arrive it seemed and it became our job to not only unload the bleating animals but to also parade them regally before the assembly of what looked like the entire royal family. A huge dais had been erected in the center of the courtyard and upon it were a couple dozen dignitaries all dressed in the finest of robes. Seated high above them in a throne that was being lifted by a troop of no less than ten servants was the Princess Rheutera herself. From the distance I couldn¡¯t make out many details other than her being blonde and somewhat petite, but she appeared younger than Ul¡¯vera despite her being older, perhaps having reached the Sacred Soul Realm at a much younger age. It was a reminder that I myself had now slowed in age. As a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator, I could live decades and not change a bit. I didn¡¯t want to think about what that meant for the people I loved. One issue at a time, I reminded myself. As I brought my toon to a stop, we finally dropped therge cage in a formation with the others and then stood at attention to the side. The contingent from themand skiff marched forward towards the dais with Governor Tai Su Long leading the charge. Jei Su Long followed after him with General Gong and Captain Li Jeng bringing up the rear. Tai Su Long performed a deep kowtow before the royal assembly and waited until the princess spoke first. ¡°You may rise, Governor,¡± she said. Her voice was soft and youthful but filled with a power that resonated across the massive courtyard that was big enough to fit a couple city blocks easily. ¡°Pray tell what you have presented me with today?¡± Tai Su long rose to his feet. ¡°Gifts from your sister, Princess Ul¡¯vera. She shows her gratitude for our assistance on her home world.¡± Princess Rheutera then nodded from her throne. ¡°Excellent. I shall perform an inspection. General Gong, wee home.¡± Gong performed a simr kowtow. ¡°A thousand thanks for receiving us, your majesty. It is not often a battalion can return to her home port.¡± ¡°And as champions no less,¡± Rheutera said with a smile. ¡°Are your troops prepared for inspection as well?¡± ¡°Indeed, your majesty,¡± General Gong said. I was slowly beginning to understand why Tai Su Long had so much pull with the general. The battalion belonged to this system, and perhaps by extension his royal family, seeing as they seemed to own half the ce. The servants carried the throne off the dais and the entourage of dignitaries followed behind her as an extremely slow promenade of the princess began. I let out an involuntary groan as she started with the inspection of every toon within Gold Company and then proceeded to do the same with the next. By the time she got to us in Onyxpany, a good hour had gone by. To everyone¡¯s credit, the only sound was that of the whining animals with everyone remaining at attention with razor sharp discipline. ¡°And now, the best forst,¡± the princess said with a hint of glee in her voice. She then hopped down from her throne and floated to the ground with a burst of Qi. ¡°I simply adore animals.¡± Up close I could see the princess looked even younger than I thought. She looked in her early teens with long blond hair ited in a single braid. Her eyes were a vibrant gold that sparkled with delight as she went from cage to cage admiring the beleaguered animals. It was almost surreal to watch¡ªlike a little girl having fun at the zoo, onlypletely oblivious to the plight of the creatures that were bleating in pain and all for a mere half second of amusement on her part. When she got to my cage, I hid my disdain with [Indifference]. I realized my mistake when she did a double take and furrowed her brow at me. Damn, I thought. I should have used [Mask of the Despised] instead. A wry smile came to her lips as she approached me, the top of her head barely reaching my chest. ¡°You must be the prodigy Legionnaire Commander, my sister Ul¡¯vera spoke of,¡± she said. ¡°Uh¡­yea¡ª¡± I began to say, but then she quickly cut me off. ¡°I hear you¡¯re from a world young enough to perhaps be put in one of these cages yourself as a native savage!¡± Her face then spread wide with a grin. ¡°How droll!¡± Before I could even react to what she¡¯d said, she burst outughing with a cackle that rivaled her sister¡¯s. And with that she moved on to look at the next disy. What the hell¡­? She moved on so quickly I didn¡¯t even have enough time to let my anger steep at what she¡¯d said. Damn it if these people didn¡¯t get more aloof and jacked up the further they went up the food chain, I thought. After what felt like another hour, Princess Rheutera finally ascended the dais again upon her throne and then stood to address us. ¡°Members of the 566th battalion and honored legionnaires of the 5073rd campaign,¡± she said in an elevated voice. ¡°I, Second Princess Rheutera, crown regent of the Lu Shui territories and 98th heir to the imperial throne, greet you in the name of our Great Soul Emperor. To celebrate your visit and your recent victories I shall hold a tournament in your honor. In three days¡¯ time, your fellow soldiers from around the will gather to participate. You are all free to participate as well at your various levels of skill. Prizes will be awarded to the winners of their respective brackets. In preparation, I grant you three days shore leave to rest and prepare. Feel free to enjoy the wonders of the capital in that time.¡± With that she sat back down and then everyone bowed in a kowtow as she and her entourage departed. It took another good twenty minutes but after they all had left, General Gong took to the front to address us. ¡°I have only one order,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t embarrass me. Dismissed!¡± * * * I had to step to the side with qinggong to avoid the stampede of soldiers as they ran to the skiffs to grab their gear and then get the hell out of dodge. I couldn¡¯t me them. I myself wouldn¡¯t mind a bit of R&R but damn it, I didn¡¯t want to be stuck here for three freaking days or more just to watch some tournament. The impotence of it all caused my blood to slowly boil. As if summoned by my me, Jei Su Long and his uncle then appeared¡ªthe true objects of my contempt. If not for their dumb asses I would have been to the Hell Worlds and back by now. I grimaced and took a wide step to avoid them but Jei Su Long cut me off at the pass. ¡°Juniormander,¡± he said. ¡°I have a special task for you.¡± What the hell was this now? ¡°Oh yeah?¡± ¡°My uncle will exin.¡± I looked to Tai Su Long and had to use [Indifference] to keep from belting the cocky smile off his face. ¡°You¡¯ve been dubbed a rarity by her majesty,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°For that reason, you shall join the tournament as part of the disy for Princess Rheutera. As you are still ssified as Gold, I shall select a suitable Gold Ranked opponent for you to challenge from within my sect.¡± I eyed Jei Su Long. ¡°Guessing it won¡¯t be you then.¡± Anger red within him as he opened his mouth but Tai Su Long stopped him. ¡°Jei Su Long is still within the Core Realm. You have ascended to the Sacred Soul Realm. Even at low tier you are in a different ss¡­ for now.¡± ¡°Yes, for now,¡± Jei Su Long echoed him like a parrot. ¡°I would use your three days to prepare yourself, Iron Bull,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°The Sacred Soul Realm Cultivators of my n are exceptionally skilled.¡± ¡°If its all the same to you, you can just go ahead and give them the win,¡± I said with [Indifference]. ¡°Not looking for some pointless tournament win. We got a war to get to.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll have a war alright,¡± Tai Su Long said, contempt spilling from his soul. ¡°And it starts three days from now.¡± He snapped his fingers, calling Jei Su Long like a dog and the two of them left. ¡°Stupid assholes,¡± I muttered. ¡°That tongue of yours will get you no ce fast,¡± someone said, and I looked behind me to see Hein approaching. ¡°You see that bullshit?¡± I said. ¡°What do you expect?¡± He gave me a shrug. ¡°I told you they¡¯ll be looking to kill you now.¡± I huffed out a sigh. ¡°Come on,¡± he said stepping past me. ¡°No sense in worrying about all this now. These are the first three days of shore leave I¡¯ve had in over six months and I¡¯m not going to spend them watching you fume and mope.¡± ¡°Where the hell you going?¡± ¡°Where all soldiers go when they¡¯re back in civilization.¡± Hein pointed towards the city. ¡°The Golden Spire.¡± Book 4: Chapter 10 When I ran into the old guy, Sung Wei at the Golden Spire back on Earth, he¡¯d told me that there¡¯d be ¡®ces like this¡¯ on every world. But I didn¡¯t think he meant literally. Especially not by name even. But I supposed it made sense in a way. How else were star flung soldiers to find their way to the veteran¡¯s bar no matter where they were? Although I figured the Golden Spire here would be ten times better than the one back in Jurin, judging by what I could see of the capital city of Lu Shui Prime thus far. The street I was making my way down looked straight out of the imperial city back home. Ornate blockwork covered every road like tile and along the sides were all manners of shops and stores, just like being in a city back in the old world on Earth. People by the thousands pushed up and down the streets, some of them driven in rickshaws, hauled by people dressed in nothing but rags. The disparity became even more evident the further we got from the imperial pce, with cultivators of standing dressed in the finest of robes ignoring the filth-covered beggars lining the streets. I tried my best not to ignore them myself, shelling out a few coppers here and there, but after a couple of blocks, the spare Wen in my purse waspletely exhausted. I kept close to Hein, who seemed to know both exactly where he was going and who to stop and bow to and who to simply ignore. We got a few bows as well, but only from people of the lower castes it seemed. ¡°How do you know who to bow to?¡± I asked. ¡°Anyone who is in finer robes than you, is a good rule of thumb,¡± Hein said looking at me oddly. ¡°Even you should know that. Although, I guess with what you used to wear back home, that would be everyone to you, so you probably wouldn¡¯t know the difference.¡± I justughed, mostly because it was true. ¡°Yeah, whatever,¡± I said with [Indifference].¡°You can¡¯t be so flippant here,¡± Hein said. ¡°Everyone here has status. Martial ranking. Royal family blood. You name it. So don¡¯t be a damn chun. I don¡¯t want to get killed today due to your mouth.¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± ¡°This is not Jurin,¡± he said giving me a cautionary re. ¡°No one here will care that you are the Iron Bull or even a Graduate Legionnaire. In the core worlds, those of society, even those of low status are all High Tier Core Realm Cultivators or even greater and you can never know who might be passing you in the street. Show respect always. They won¡¯t hesitate to kill you if you are a whelp to them.¡± I grimaced at the thought. ¡°Tough crowd. Sounds like a bunch of assholes live here.¡± ¡°You see what I mean about that mouth?¡± I could onlyugh again, guilty as charged. ¡°But it is true. It¡¯s stifling in ces like this,¡± he said. ¡°Even we were nobodies here in the lower courts of the core worlds. I was d when we moved. In the core worlds, everything rots from the top, they say.¡± That made me think about him and Fia a bit and how they possibly grew up in a ce like this. And then something clicked and Hein¡¯s whole point of view became clear to me. ¡°So, you guys were the native scum back in the day, huh?¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Makes sense now.¡± Hein scowled at me. ¡°What makes sense?¡± ¡°Why you were such an asshole,¡± I said. ¡°You went from bottom of the barrel to top dog. And you treated us how these people treated you here.¡± Anger boiled within him. ¡°Don¡¯t try to psychoanalyze me, you bastard.¡± ¡°Hey take it easy.¡± I pped him on the back with a grin. ¡°I said ¡®were¡¯ an asshole. You¡¯re a lot better now.¡± He pped my hand away. ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me either.¡± I merelyughed, but I did indeed get an insight into what growing up was possibly like for him an Fia in a ce like this. It was stifling like he said. The constant reinforcing of caste and status. We couldn¡¯t go more than ten feet without having to stop and bow to some rich-looking prick passing by in a rickshaw or being carried by servants in a sedan chair like they were Li Gong Chui. That made me realize something else that I noticed was off. ¡°I thought this ce was supposed to be rich,¡± I said as we passed another poverty ridden alley filled with people living under tents. ¡°Why are there so many poor people here?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Hein said. ¡°That¡¯s a sign of its wealth.¡± ¡°What?¡± I gave him a double take. ¡°Some of this shit looks worse than the Native Housing district back home. How¡¯s that supposed to make it look wealthy?¡± ¡°They are just the mortals of this world,¡± Hein said. ¡°The princess does not care for them. They are not citizens. But as you can see. Everyone else is wealthy.¡± ¡°But why are they here?¡± ¡°The society has need of servants. That is their role.¡± ¡°And the princess lets them live like this? In the streets?¡± Hein shrugged. ¡°There is no other space for them. This is an old world. Everything is well developed. There is no ce else for them to go, besides where they came from perhaps.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s that?¡± Hein smiled. ¡°The ce that we are headed. The Jiangu.¡± * * * The freaking Jiangu. I hadn¡¯t heard that name for a while, but I knew its meaning well. The seedy underworld of cultivator society. It was the ce I snagged my first martial training manual back home. I wound up paying quite a hefty price for it in the end, but it was worth it. It set me on my path for mastery of my first basic martial skills and had gotten me through the Wooden and Iron Brackets as well. But now my advancement required far more than that. As Hein and I walked through a more rundown part of the city, where the tall, elegant buildings became multistory warehouses and burnt-out factories, a new idea began to flow. Or perhaps it was an old idea rehashed. I¡¯d promised myself to try and find a Sacred Soul Realm Cultivation manual while I was here on the core world and perhaps wading into the Jiangu was my best bet to find one. As we sidestepped another group of beggars streaming from an alleyway, I rested a hand on Hein¡¯s shoulder to drag him closer. ¡°Hey, brother-inw to be,¡± I said. ¡°I need your help.¡± He brushed my hand away annoyed. ¡°Help with what? And the answer is probably no, so don¡¯t bother asking.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a prick,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°I need help getting a Sacred Soul Realm Cultivation manual. Can you help?¡± He looked at me even more annoyed. ¡°Why would you think that I could help you with something like that? Aren¡¯t you a Fire Bird or some bastard derivative thereof? Go see them for one.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ you think they have one?¡± Now he looked like he wanted to punch me. ¡°I swear you are indeed the biggest chun in the empire. How did you reach that stage of cultivation without knowing these things?¡± I merely shrugged. ¡°Well, the Fire Bird sect back home was kind of decimated. By me. So¡­ they couldn¡¯t really answer too many questions for me.¡± Hein shook his head. ¡°Such things are relics, Chun. Only inner sect elders would possess a copy and yes one would probably not even exist on Terra.¡± ¡°But one might exist here, right? On a core world?¡± ¡°Likely yes. The sect Patriarchs are all here on the core worlds. But don¡¯t think I, as a Silver Leaf noble would be helping you with anything involving the Fire Birds.¡± I let out a scoff. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Trust me, I don¡¯t want anything to do with the Fire Birds either.¡± Another odd look came from him. ¡°Then how are you expecting to find a manual here?¡± ¡°Honestly I was hoping to get one off the ck market, in the jiangu.¡± Hein stopped and then started tough. ¡°You truly are a chun! If there were one, do you think that you of all people would be able to obtain it? Whole sects would be ughtering one another to obtain that kind of knowledge. And if it¡¯s a manual outside your cultivation path, what good would it be to you anyway?¡± Hein let out an exasperated sigh and then continued on down the street, leaving me standing there perplexed. What he said was unfortunately everything I had feared to be true. Looking for a Sacred Soul manual outside of a sect was sounding like a pipe dream. I¡¯d gotten as much from Chief Yora back at Du Gok Bhong, although I wasn¡¯t as direct with my questions as I was with Hein just now. At this level, I should already know these things and perhaps be already versed in cultivation methods from my martial sect. But no way in hell was I going to be checking in with the local chapter of the Fire Birds to do anything like that. I¡¯d gotten everything I needed from them, which in the end was an borate cover under a fake fighting style¡ªthe Path of Furious Lightning. I let out a chuckle. I was perhaps the one expected to be writing such a manual now. Screw my life, I thought. I took off in a trot to catch up to Hein but stopped short when two kids ran out of an alleyway ahead of me. ¡°Hey!¡± I shouted, but the kids were too engrossed in whatever game they were ying to even notice. They looked to be only six or seven, dressed in dirty scraps of cloth that served as robes. They were both probably the same age as most of the kids who survived the invasion back home. I wondered for a moment between the two, who actually had the better life. It was sad to think, that despite losing everything, the people of Jurin had better opportunities than the mortals here. Who would be these people¡¯s champion? They weren¡¯t even conquered. They were just. Mortal. It seemed a small sin to be punished for with a lifetime of poverty and servitude. I felt the stirring of my me, a tinge of rebellion against a new kind of injustice. The empire not only conquered. It oppressed in a myriad of ways. As I watched the two kids run off, they were suddenly joined by two adults who looked to be their parents chasing after them. All I could do was shake my head. Hein was right about the core worlds of the empire. The closer you got to the top, the more it was rotten. * * * I caught up to Hein just as the scenery made another dressing change. Gone were the blocky warehouses, reced by streets lined with bars, brothels and other forms of entertainment. This was the heart of the jiangu. The street life that perhaps ran half the city from the depths of the underworld. Evidence of that was found in the form of finely dressed men and women being driven around in rickshaws. They had clearly juste from the nicer part of town and were looking to dip their toes in the seedy decadence and debauchery that only the bad parts of town could provide. What looked like enforcers also patrolled the streets. Martial thugs armed with bamboo clubs, but they didn¡¯t look hired by the empire. Hein kicked in with the bow routine again as we passed a couple of stately dressed cultivators who looked stered out of their minds. It wasn¡¯t even dark yet, but I guessed that wasn¡¯t stopping them from starting the night early. And I couldn¡¯t me them. I was itching for a drink myself. ¡°How much further to this ce?¡± I asked. Hein pointed to the end of the block. ¡°Just on that corner. We should have splurged to buy a rickshaw. I bet half the battalion is already in there and getting drunk alrea¡ª¡± A shrill scream rang out, stopping Hein mid-sentence. Across the street, I spotted the same two little kids, only now one of them was being held in the air at the wrist by a man with a thick beard and wide chest. The other child with him was the one who had screamed, now crying ¡°Baba! Baba!¡± as he sat on the ground. ¡°Little shits!¡± the man cursed. ¡°Dare run into me without apologizing?¡± The man grabbed the other child about the neck, cutting off his cries while he threw the other to the ground. He put his foot on the boy¡¯s chest, and I instantly saw red. I was about to charge forward when Hein caught me by the sleeve. ¡°Leave it be. It¡¯s none of our concern.¡± I looked back at him incredulously. ¡°What?¡± The boys¡¯ parents then appeared, running and out of breath. They instantly fell to the ground in a kowtow before the man. ¡°Please, honored master!¡± the father cried. ¡°Kill but one of them as a lesson for the other. We beg of you. They are the only two children that we have.¡± ¡°Be merciful dear lord!¡± the mother echoed him. ¡°Kill but one!¡± The kids cried out in terror and I nearly lost my shit. The man eased his foot off the one on the ground. ¡°Perhaps I will be merciful.¡± Merciful my ass, I thought. I wasn¡¯t going to wait to find out. I stepped forward and Hein pulled me back. ¡°Chun, don¡¯t do it,¡± he whispered through clenched teeth as he gripped my arm. ¡°Stay out of this. You have no idea who that man might be.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t know who he is, but I know plenty about what he is,¡± I said as my me roared. ¡°He¡¯s a piece of shit. And he¡¯s about to find out just what the hell I am as well.¡± I threw off Hein¡¯s arm. ¡°This is the one that ran into me,¡± the man said, tightening his grip about the boy¡¯s neck with murder in his eyes. ¡°He shall pay. Witness now the price of your disrespect.¡± ¡°Son of a¡­¡± I took off. ¡°Chun, don¡¯t do it!¡± Hein cried from behind me. ¡°Shit! Damn it, Chun!¡± But I was already ignoring him and halfway across the street. Iid into the big bastard with a swift kick to his ass. He cried out, more from shock than pain and as he let go of the child, I pulled the kid away from him. ¡°Take your sons,¡± I said, pushing the children to their parents. But to my surprise, instead of instantly running away, the parents pressed their foreheads to the ground again. ¡°Honored master!¡± the father yelled. ¡°Please! We do not know who this man is. We would never seek to interfere with your justice.¡± ¡°Take him!¡± the mother cried and pushed her son back towards the man. ¡°Spare the other!¡± What the hell? I was so shocked that I didn¡¯t see the man¡¯s de until all but thest second. I leapt in front of the kid and took the blow meant for him. The cuss hit my bare skin but I didn¡¯t feel anything at all. Maybe he hadn¡¯t gone all out on a killing blow meant for a kid, but either way, I pegged his strength for what it was. A Mid-tier Core Realm Cultivator at best. I pushed his de aside with [Fear the me] as I cycled my Frenzy. ¡°That¡¯s the only free hit you¡¯re gonna get today, asshole,¡± I said as I brandished my axe. ¡°I suggest you take it and piss off before it¡¯s [my turn] to give you a taste of the same.¡± The man squared up on me, with a bit of fear mixing with the bravado of his soul. ¡°You think I¡¯m afraid of that uniform?¡± he said and then spat on the ground. ¡°Glorified prisoner scum is all you legionnaires are.¡± ¡°Nice,¡± I said. ¡°And how dare you interfere with my justice.¡± ¡°Justice?¡± I nearlyughed. ¡°Against a six your old, bro? Are your balls really that small?¡± I sensed [Everyone¡¯s Fear] pop up all around me and I realized half the neighborhood of street dwellers had now gathered to watch. The parents were still groveling on the ground and crying for the man to take their son¡¯s life as payment for the offense. How jacked up was this world to form that kind of mentality? I thought. I didn¡¯t need to understand it to know it was real though. What I had prevented from happening was clearly what should have happened in all of their eyes. But I wasn¡¯t settling for that crap. Not on my frigging watch. ¡°No way is someone killing a kid in front of me,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re a fool,¡± the man said. ¡°You¡¯ve chosen death to save a useless mortal child? They are destined for death anyway. And don¡¯t you know they¡¯ll simply breed more?¡± He let out a bellyugh then, roaring with delight at what he clearly thought was the most ridiculous thing in the world. And by the way Hein was now holding his head in his hands, he probably agreed. But to hell with them. ¡°You just try and touch me,¡± the man said. ¡°And you¡¯ll see what will be of you and your entire monkey troop of prisoner assholes.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t got to do shit, mate,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s your move, asshole. You either piss off or take another swing. So, which is it going to be?¡± The fear within him doubled as Iid on a shit-eating grin. ¡°Better make sure you kill me too,¡± I said. ¡°Cause you won¡¯t like myeback.¡± His fear and anger peaked, and he let out a yell. ¡°Arrogant bastard! You¡¯ve earned my ultimate technique. [Crow Storms the Hell¡¯s Gate]!¡± ck mes emerged from his cuss as he spun in a wild swing. It would have been easy to dodge, but I met it with [Steel Lightning] instead. His weapon hit my lightning-rippled skin and shattered. He cried out in shock and pain but I grabbed him by the cor, to prevent him from being blown back by the exploding steel. I grinned in his face. ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d choose violence. Now it¡¯s [My Turn] bitch!¡± I pushed him back and then spun with a spinning uppercut straight to his stomach. ¡°[Struggler¡¯s Fist of Fury]!¡± My red-hued [Spectral Body] emerged just as I mmed him in the gut and his eyes went wide with pain as Iunched him into the air. I followed through with a hatchet kick to the shoulder that brought him back down to earth again, cracking the pavement in the process. He was stunned for a second, but then slowly he struggled to his knees, coughing and sputtering as he clutched his stomach in pain. He gasped for air like a drowning man, and then finally he managed to get some words out. ¡°Y-you.. What did you do?¡± ¡°I decided to be merciful as well,¡± I said. ¡°I spared your life, but crippled your Dantian. If you¡¯re lucky it might recover. But either way, you¡¯re going to have a chance to live just like these mortals you despise for a while.¡± ¡°W-what? Y-you!¡± ¡°And if you even think about taking revenge on that little kid, your destined death will be assured. You got that?¡± The fear in him was absolute. I¡¯d broken more than just his core. I¡¯d broken his very soul. ¡°Y-yes,¡± he said. ¡°Please, I-I did not know¡ª¡± I belted him across the temple, knocking him out before he could even finish his pathetic plead for mercy. As his body hit the ground unconscious, the crowd around me bolted like I¡¯d just pulled a fire rm. I looked back and saw the couple now holding their two kids as well. The expression on their faces was unreadable. Disbelief. Shock. Fear. Awe. But the lemonade in their souls told me they were grateful to have both their sons tonight. ¡°Take yourselves far from here,¡± I said and tossed them a couple of 5 tael coins from my purse. ¡°Go now and don¡¯t look back.¡± The father collected the coins with tears streaming from his eyes. It was perhaps more money than he¡¯d held in his life. I know it was for me the first time I held one. They both kowtowed again, pulling their kids to the ground with them. ¡°You are a saint from the heavens,¡± the father said. ¡°It is no wonder you are a legionnaire. No demon of Hell could stand against you!¡± I gave them a nod of thanks and they took off running. As I cultivated the residual lemonade in the air, I sensed Hein approach from behind me. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be the stupidest man alive,¡± he said as he stepped next to me and then looked down at the man. ¡°But you do pack a powerful punch.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. ¡°And you¡¯re probably right about the stupid part, but I don¡¯t really give a shit.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s pretty obvious,¡± he said ncing about. ¡°Look we need to get out of here. We can hide back at the pce.¡± ¡°What are you freaking out about?¡± I said. ¡°This wasn¡¯t some high society prick. He was just some thug. And trust me. He¡¯s too chicken shit now to do anything.¡± ¡°Thugs have friends, Chun.¡± ¡°So do we.¡± I shrugged. ¡°If these street scum think they can take on a toon of legionnaires let theme and try.¡± With that I got stepping towards the Golden Spire. Hein hesitated a moment and then followed after me. I smiled as he caught up. ¡°d to see you¡¯ve grown a pair.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not balls I¡¯ve grown but brains.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re actually right Chun,¡± he said. ¡°When theye looking for us, no one would think we¡¯d be stupid enough to hang around and grab a drink. The Golden Spire will be the perfect ce to hide for now.¡± Book 4: Chapter 11 As we stepped through the doors of the Golden Spire, it felt as if I¡¯d been instantly transported back home again. It wasn¡¯t that the ce looked the same as the Golden Spire back in Jurin, far from it actually. The ce was huge for one, more like a dining hall than a bar and there had to be over apany worth of soldiers already inside. What was instantly familiar, however, was the atmosphere. Lively music yed in the backdrop,peting with the loud and raucousughter and conversation filling the air. Haze filled the air as well in the form of Qi herbs being smoked in chalices and pipes. Arge banner hung from the rafters of the ceiling, with bold characters in Yee. ¡°Wee Home 566!th¡± It was an amazing sight to see, especially with how many infantrymen were eating, drinking and carousing. Both Hein and I got pats on the back and bows of respect as we waded through the masses of half-drunk soldiers and pushed-to-the-max wait staff. I nudged Hein and smiled. ¡°See, nothing to worry about. No street thug assholes are going to find their way in here.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get to the officer¡¯s mess,¡± Hein said. ¡°It¡¯s upstairs.¡± As we continued to push through the crowd, I ran into my own toon who were taking up most of the room at the bar. At first, I thought they were hogging up all the space, but then I saw they were buying drinks for everyone, passing bottles of wine back through the crowd behind them. Juk Sui and Dim Wei greeted me with half drunken salutes andughs. ¡°What took you so long to get here,mander?¡± Juk Sui said. ¡°Were you trying to avoid buying us drinks?¡±I chuckled. ¡°Had to take care of some business. Besides, it looks like you all have the drink buying part under control.¡± ¡°Yeah, we do!¡± Dim Wei said, before letting out a drunken howl of celebration. ¡°Wooo! Get themander one, Juk Sui!¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh. It was a reminder that we¡¯d all been caged up for months or even years in some cases. Most deployments we would have only seen the inside of an infantry transport and then the Hell Worlds before returning right back to Du Gok Bhong, but my toon was having the rare treat of tasting the freedom of the outside world in advance. It was probably a gift beyond measure. Especially considering if we all didn¡¯t make it back home. Nah, screw that noise, I thought. No one was going to die on my watch. I happily received the small bottle of wine from Juk Sui and then asked him for another as I passed mine on to Hein. We both then toasted with my team. ¡°To the 28th Legionnaire Deployment!¡± I shouted, raising my bottle and then I clinked it with Hein¡¯s. ¡°And to our hosts, the 566th Battalion!¡± That got a banger of apuse and yells from the crowd. ¡°To the Iron Bull!¡± someone shouted, and a cacophony of cheers went up with a tsunami of lemonade. I cultivated the essence into Frenzy while I downed my drink. Before I knew it, I had another in my hand and was toasting some more. A good half hour or so went by with all of usughing, shouting and talking shit¡ªreminiscing about the good ¡®ole days back in Du Gok Bhong or the various other ces across the stars, where everyone was from. ¡°Come on,¡± Hein said eventually, after emptying his second bottle. ¡°Enough fraternizing with the enlisted personnel. We should be in the officer¡¯s lounge. Let¡¯s go.¡± Hein dragged me away and my team gave me a final salute. ¡°Don¡¯te looking for us for two more days,mander!¡± Dim Wei called out, double-fisting two bottles in her hands. ¡°But if you do, we¡¯ll probably still be here!¡± Everyoneughed and toasted to her for that. We finally made our way up a set of stairs to the back and emerged on an upper floor that was far moreid back in atmosphere, but perhaps just as lively in terms of activity. Officers from the 566th and other visiting battalions were lounging around gambling tables or ying games of Xiangqi. A sharp whistle drew our attention and across the room I saw General Gong gesturing for us to join him at his table. When we approached, I saw he was sitting with the ship¡¯s captain, Master Li Jeng and Captain Yungi from Onyx Company along with the four otherpany captains of the battalion. I knew them all by face now but was still learning their names. Captain Lin Fei of Saphire Company was easy to remember, being the only women amongst them as was Captain H¡¯ul Thorg of Gold Company who was Sullied. The other two were Captains Yi Xing and Jing Ru of Emerald and Rubypany respectively, but they looked so simr in appearance that I couldn¡¯t tell them apart at times. It didn¡¯t seem to matter though as General Gong instructed Hein to pull up a couple of chairs for us to sit with them. ¡°There you finally are,¡± Gong said with augh. ¡°I suppose I should me Yungi¡¯s prot¨¦g¨¦ here for holding you up!¡± He jabbed Hein in the ribs, but Hein raised his hands in innocence. ¡°The legionnairemander¡¯s tardiness is all his own doing, General. You should be thanking me for actually getting him here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to give that one to him, general,¡± I said as I sat. ¡°Guilty as charged on that front.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ll pay with a drink,¡± Gong said. ¡°Next rounds on you, but this one¡¯s on me.¡± With a snap of his fingers a server came with two sses and poured Hein and I spirits from a dark bottle. ¡°To Legionnaire Commander Iron Bull,¡± Gong said raising his ss. ¡°May you fare well in the uing tournament. Whoever your opponent may be.¡± We all clink sses and I let out a scoff. ¡°Thanks for reminding me,¡± I said with chagrin. ¡°That¡¯s one fight I¡¯m not looking forward to. How do you even know about that already?¡± ¡°Governor Tai Su Long has been on about it ever since we left D¡¯shar,¡± Captain Li Jeng said. ¡°You upstaging him and his nephew before the Princess Ul¡¯vera, has certainly seemed to have left a bruise.¡± ¡°Yeah, no kidding,¡± I said. ¡°Well at least you need not worry about seeing those two for a while,¡± Gong said. ¡°Neither of them would be caught dead in this ce. So you¡¯re safe here for now.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll drink to that,¡± Captain Li Jeng said, and the rest of the officersughed. ¡°Is it true your only twenty or so?¡± Lin Fei asked, narrowing her eyes at me skeptically. She looked about twice that age herself, with short hair like Dim Wei and a face etched with a deep scar on one side. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve reached the Sacred Soul Realm already.¡± ¡°This one is full of surprises, captain,¡± Hein said, pping me on the back. ¡°I¡¯ll have to keep an eye on him for my sister¡¯s sake.¡± That got another round ofughs. ¡°You should think about joining the 566th when you return,¡± Gong said. ¡°You¡¯d be leading your ownpany in no time with that level of skill.¡± ¡°Gong are you serious?¡± Captain Li Feng said. ¡°He¡¯d be a damn Full-Blooded Legionnaire. What the hell would he need to join the army for?¡± ¡°Exactly my point,¡± Gong said. ¡°He could demand a starting battalion as high as the 566th with that kind of clout.¡± He then winked at me. ¡°And who knows? By the time you make general, you could be way up there in the top 100 battalions, smooshing it with the top brass of the core worlds.¡± Iughed. ¡°Thanks for the offer, but I got a bunch of stuff I need to do back home first.¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences. ¡°Like marry my sister,¡± Hein said deadpan as he sipped his drink. ¡°And she¡¯d probably have me killed for snatching him away from her, if he ever joined the battalion for real.¡± We allughed at that. But it did get me thinking how all this battalion ranking system worked. ¡°General Gong,¡± I said. ¡°When the Princess weed you home, did she mean you, as in, this is where you¡¯re from?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Gong pointed to himself andughed. ¡°Hell¡¯s no kid. I wasn¡¯t born into this kind of luxury.¡± Damn, I thought. I was kind of hoping he could lead me to another connection to finding a cultivation manual while here. But it probably made sense. Gong didn¡¯t strike me as someoneing from a core world. But that led to another question. ¡°How you got into the 566th then?¡± ¡°I got here the hard way,¡± he said with a chuckle. ¡°By kissing the right ass and a lot of close calls.¡± That got politeughs around the table and then he rolled up the sleeve to his robes. He showed me his forearm and on it were several tattoos all depicting various battalion insignia. I studied them, starting from the top down. The first was a dragon with the numbers 8,254th underneath. The second was a wolf with the numbers 4,735th underneath. The third was a lion with the numbers 2,332nd underneath. The fourth was an eagle with the numbers 1,113th underneath. And the final one was another dragon representing his present battalion of the 566th. Gong smiled as heid out his resume for all to see. ¡°I¡¯ve had a long career kid, and as you can see, I started out in the sticks like most folks.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never seen that before,¡± Hein said leaning closer. ¡°Wow¡­ much respect, general. You pulled yourself up from the 8000¡¯s to way up here in the 566th? I guess I was damn lucky to get in here as my first posting.¡± Li Jeng chuckled. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be so impressed. We both did it. And you should have seen this one on his first deployment. It was embarrassing as hell.¡± ¡°You shut up,¡± Gong said. ¡°So you two started out together?¡± I asked. Captain Li Jeng rolled up his sleeve as well and showed an identical career path of tattoos. ¡°Started and will likely finish together as well. Every time I jumped ship, this bastard followed me.¡± Gong merelyughed. ¡°More like you followed me.¡± ¡°How did you manage to go up in battalion like that?¡± Hein asked. ¡°By deferring promotions,¡± Gong said. ¡°I stayed a sergeant for a lifetime. Whenever I made the cut to be a lieutenant, I opted for a transfer to a higher battalion instead. I waited until I joined the 1,113th before I finally epted promotion to lieutenant and then joined the 566th as a Captain. I¡¯ll end out my career here. Leave this seat for one of you pups to soon take over.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s to retirement,¡± Li Jeng touched sses with him. ¡°Soon toe!¡± We all toasted to that, but I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off the first tattoo. I swear, I¡¯d seen it before and the number too. And then like lightning it hit me. The tattoo, the name, the number, the rank. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± I said looking to the general. ¡°Sir¡­Are you, ¡®Shitpants¡¯ Gong?¡± The table went deadly quiet as everyone¡¯s mouth hung open, mortified. All save for Captain Li Jeng who spit out his drink in augh, spraying General Gong in the process. ¡°Holy shit he knows!¡± he yelled pping the table whileughing his head off. ¡°How the hell does he know?¡± General Gong lowered his brows at me. ¡°Answer quickly, boy. How the hell do you know that name?¡± Guess there was no denying that I was right. Holy crap. ¡°Well, it¡¯s an honor to actually meet you,¡± I said. ¡°I bring greetings from your former battalionrade, Iron Pot Wong.¡± ¡°Pot?¡± Gong said incredulously. ¡°You know Iron Pot Wong?¡± I nodded. ¡°He lives in my city back on my home world. He taught me my ive technique.¡± Li Jeng was stillughing. ¡°Stars alive! Gong and Wong back at it again. You two were hrious.¡± ¡°Shut up, Jeng,¡± Gong snapped. ¡°How is the old bastard?¡± ¡°Not doing as well as you, I¡¯d say, but he seems to be having fun,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯s been trying to win in the local Iron Bracket Tournament for thest ten years or something.¡± Both Gong and Jengughed. ¡°That sounds like him,¡± Gong said. ¡°Always fancied himself a true martial artist. Never had the Qi for it mind you, but he was a good fighter.¡± ¡°Still is,¡± I added. ¡°General,¡± Captain Yungi said. ¡°About this name of yours.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± H¡¯ul Thorg said. ¡°What¡¯s the story behind it?¡± ¡°Aye, what¡¯s the story?¡± Lin Fei added. ¡°You must tell us now.¡± ¡°There is no story!¡± Gong yelled, waving his hand dismissively. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you bastards anything.¡± ¡°No, you won¡¯t,¡± Li Jeng said. ¡°I will tell it!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± ¡°Come on, Gong. They already know the name. They¡¯re owed the story now!¡± ¡°Come on general!¡± ¡°Please general!¡± Gong sighed again. ¡°Fine tell it. You damn, bastard.¡± Li Jeng grinned gleefully and began recounting General Gong¡¯s first deployment in a drop skiff. It was word for word almost exactly how old Iron Pot Wong had described it and by the time he was finished the entire table was in stitches. General Gong shook his head but chuckled good humoredly. ¡°So two lessons to learn from this,¡± Gong said. ¡°One, always find atrine before a drop and Two, if you can¡¯t, don¡¯t be afraid to swap battalionster.¡± That got us allughing again. ¡°To the great shitpants, Gong!¡± Captain Li Jeng said with a toast. ¡°Let it be an example, that no matter where you start, you can always end up on top. Even general of the 566th.¡± ¡°Here, here!¡± H¡¯ul Thorg shouted. We all toasted to that and from there the conversation opened up as to who could top that story with the most embarrassing situation they¡¯d ever been in. It didn¡¯t turn out to be too hard with stories ranging from Captain Yungi being singled out in an entire battalion for messing up in a parade when he was just a recruit, to H¡¯ul Thorg being caught masturbating by hispanymander, only to have him simply say, ¡°carry on¡± before he quickly left the room. The stories got worse as everyone tried to one-up each other. ¡°Just remember,¡± Gong said. ¡°What¡¯s spoken of in the Spire, stays in the Spire.¡± ¡°What about you, Iron Bull?¡± Lin Fei said. ¡°You must have some stories of your own.¡± ¡°This one?¡± Hein said, jerking his thumb at me. ¡°He has plenty. They don¡¯t call him Max Chun back home for nothing.¡± That instantly gotughs and Hein and I went at it. I exined my nickname while he exined the crazy situation with him, Yu Li and I. We then went back and forth, trying to give our own versions of what happened between us, which seemed to not line up in the slightest, even to our final battle together. ¡°It never happened like that!¡± Hein was shouting by now. ¡°How would you know? You were unconscious by then.¡± ¡°That¡¯s bullshit!¡± To my surprise, Hein kept everything above board in front of the crowd, not revealing anything too deep that would open old wounds or bring down the jovial mood. The end result was a humorous banter that had everyoneughing by the end. ¡°Well, it looks like you two will never agree on that one,¡± Captain Yungi said. ¡°But at least the fates have brought you both to the 566th.¡± ¡°To the 566th!¡± Gong toasted loudly and the entire mess joined in. ¡°To the 566th!¡± The night went on and the stories and liquor flowed. Perhaps it was the open sharing of our most embarrassing moments or the camaraderie in general, but as the night wore on and the alcohol started kicking in, I feltfortable enough to share an actual problem with them to find an answer. I still needed that manual and I needed someone who knew the truey of thend to find it. ¡°Hey guys,¡± I said. ¡°Are any of you actually from here? Like not transferred from another battalion?¡± ¡°You mean from Li Shui Prime?¡± Captain Yi Xing asked with a raised brow. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I am,¡± Lin Fei said. ¡°Why?¡± My eyes widened with hope. ¡°Do you know the people around here? Those that might be connected with the Jianghu maybe?¡± ¡°The Jianghu?¡± Hein sighed. ¡°Give it a rest, Chun. You¡¯re not going to find that here.¡± ¡°Find what?¡± Lin Fei asked. ¡°A cultivation manual for the Sacred Soul Realm.¡± The table suddenly went quiet and all eyes turned to me in shock. ¡°Even you still have need of such a thing?¡± Captain Yungi said. ¡°At your level of strength and power?¡± It was embarrassing to admit, but as General Gong had said, hopefully what was said in the Spire remained in the Spire and I trusted them to be discreet after how much we¡¯d already just shared. ¡°As Hein will tell you, much of my sect life was a bit of a turmoil,¡± I said. ¡°I only ever learned the basics. The rest has been mostly self-taught.¡± Their eyes went wide again and there was even a little lemonade. ¡°Self-taught?¡± Lin Fei said, blinking at me shocked. ¡°You¡¯re not just a prodigy, you¡¯re a damn genius.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t tell him things like that,¡± Hein said dismissively. ¡°It¡¯ll make his head even bigger.¡± That got a fewughs to break the tension. ¡°But honestly yeah,¡± I said. ¡°I could really use a connection to find a manual of some sort. Nothing crazy illegal like a sect manual, just something generic that¡¯s above a foundation level manual.¡± ¡°I already told him such a thing is likely to not ex¡ª¡± Hein began, but Lin Fie quickly cut him off. ¡°Oh, they exist,¡± Lin Fei said. ¡°And I know who could get you one.¡± ¡°Who?¡± I said excitedly. But before she could speak General Gong raised his hand. ¡°That¡¯s quite enough.¡± My heart sank as I sensed aying down of thew. Perhaps I¡¯d gone too far to assume that everything that happened in the spire would be cool. Gong then stood. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re about to talk about I need not know,¡± he said. ¡°I need some usible deniability in case things go wrong. As does everyone else. So you three should get on your way to discuss whatever you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°Us three?¡± Hein said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re the one who mentioned the manual.¡± ¡°My first order still stands,¡± Gong said as he invited us to leave the table. ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t embarrass me.¡± * * * Hein trailed behind us apathetically, as I discussed the idea with Captain Lin Fei, making our way downstairs. ¡°So you truly know someone who can get me this manual?¡± ¡°Anyone who grew up around here would,¡± Lin Fei said. ¡°I was fortunate enough to get selected in a recruitment drive when I was ten. Luckily, I had developed some aptitude for Qi by then. But up until that time, I lived in these streets. And when you did, you knew who to pay your respect. The ck Crows of Lu Shui City can get every and anything for anyone. So long as you pay the price.¡± ¡°And what kind of price you think this would be?¡± I asked as we pushed through the crowd towards the front doors. ¡°No clue,¡± she said. ¡°Tens of thousands of spirit stones probably. And that would be just for a peek.¡± With my mental agility, a peek or two would perhaps be all I needed. ¡°That¡¯d be fine. So where do we find these guys?¡± ¡°Guy,¡± she corrected. ¡°I can take you to the underboss of the region. His name is Mak Tung.¡± ¡°Where is he?¡± ¡°Across the city,¡± Lin Fei said as we stepped out into the night. ¡°We can grab a rickshaw. I¡¯m feeling way too drunk to walk that fa¡ª.¡± She stopped short and when I got out the door myself, I quickly saw why. There before us, was no less than a hundred cultivators in mismatch robes. But they all had amon theme. ck feathers. I spotted a tall man at the front. Bearded with a set of cusses at his sides and tattoos all over his face. Next to him was a man I recognized immediately. The same one that I¡¯d beaten the core out of. ¡°No need for that rickshaw,¡± Lin Fei said, squinting her eyes puzzled. ¡°Looks like Mak Tung and his crew are already here for some reason.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Hein said with a sigh as he rolled his eyes at me. ¡°And I¡¯m sure that reason has absolutely nothing to do with us.¡± Book 4: Chapter 12 ¡°Oh well,¡± Hein said. ¡°Looks like our n didn¡¯t work, Chun.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Lin Fei said. ¡°What n?¡± ¡°That¡¯s him!¡± the crippled man shouted, pointing at me while clutching his stomach. ¡°That¡¯s the one. That¡¯s the bastard who crippled my Dantian!¡± Well, shit¡­ I thought. Guess Hein was right after all. I cycled my Frenzy as I stepped out in front of Captain Lin Fei. ¡°I¡¯ll handle this. My problem really.¡± She looked up at me perplexed. ¡°Did you actually cripple that man?¡± ¡°Kind of,¡± I said. Hein stared at me as well. ¡°Kind of?¡± I rocked my shoulders with a shrug, loosening up for a possible fight.Or however the hell this was about to turn out. Just my luck the same guy I needed for the manual was also the one now looking for me to exact some kind of revenge. There were a couple ways I could y this, I supposed. I could be apologetic and im it was all an ident or something, or maybe even suggest some kind of settlement. But screw all that. That wasn¡¯t the Berserker way. That bastard deserved his punishment and possibly more. No way in hell was I back-peddling on that. Even if it cost me the manual in the end, being straight up was the only way to handle trash like this. ¡°Yeah, it was me,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. I then squared up with the man Mak Tung. He was a couple inches shorter than me, but had a tattoo on his body for every scar on mine. His eyes werepletely ck, including the whites, which gave him an unnerving gaze, like that of a shark. He grinned, disying teeth that were filed down to points,pleting the shark motif to a Tee. ¡°You admit it so easily, eh? A brazen bastard, you are. Just like Lu Pin said.¡± ¡°Yeah! I told you,¡± the injured man, Lu Pin said, echoing him. ¡°A brazen bastard!¡± I cycled my Frenzy with [Fear the me] ensuring I used enough perfume from my [Devel¡¯s Shadow] technique so they could sense it as Qi. ¡°He deserved that and more for what he was about to do. And I¡¯d do it again, and to anyone else if they fancy the idea of killing a damn kid.¡± I stared right at the bastard Lu Pin as I said it and then paused to let the words sink in. The fear already spiking in his soul tripled and he looked as if he was about to flee. Fear emerged from the man Mak Tung as well, but to a far more measured degree. It was a cautious energy more than anything else. He could detect the power of my Dantian, but wasn¡¯t scared shitless like his pal. Which meant he was either the same caliber or used to dealing with Sacred Soul Realm cultivators like me. Either way he wasn¡¯t a pushover like Lu Pin. ¡°Youe to my territory, cripple one of my captains and then have the nerve to say you¡¯d do it again?¡± He smirked at me. ¡°That¡¯s some balls you got, legionnaire.¡± I nced about at the cultivators with him. They were all within the core realm more than likely, which meant a good work out if I decided to take them all on. But that wasn¡¯t the way I needed this to go down. Especially not if this guy truly possessed the manual I sought. ¡°I¡¯d call it just a matter of fact,¡± I said with a shrug of [Indifference]. ¡°But I¡¯m honestly not looking for another fight tonight. In fact, I was looking for you to make a deal.¡± His brows creased in a furrow. ¡°You want to make a deal with me? What kind of deal?¡± ¡°He speaks the truth, Boss Mak Tung,¡± Captain Lin Fei said stepping next to me. ¡°I was just about to bring him to you.¡± ¡°And who the hell are you?¡± he said, jutting his tattooed chin at her. ¡°Captain Lin Fei of the 566th Imperial Infantry Battalion and Commander of Saphire Company,¡± she said with a hint of authority. ¡°But before that, I was just a girl from Tai Pan Street.¡± His dark eyes widened with interest as he clearly recognized the name. ¡°A local gal, are you?¡± ¡°One that made it out of the Jianghu,¡± she said. ¡°But I know my roots. You were just a street soldier yourself when I was a girl, but it¡¯s nice to see that we¡¯ve bothe a long way since then.¡± I thought he might be offended in some way at theparison, but the way he smiled at her and licked his lips, said he might have some other kind of interest in Captain Lin Fei. He then looked to me. ¡°And who is this one, little sister?¡± ¡°He is legionnairemander, Iron Bull, of the 28th Deployment of the 5073rd campaign,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s enroute to the Hell Worlds, so whatever issue he¡¯s caused here, I¡¯m sure something can be worked out.¡± ¡°Damn right,¡± he said, eyeing me. ¡°You just cost me a captain, asshole. Lu Pin is next to useless to me now.¡± I looked at Lu Pin andughed. ¡°You sure he wasn¡¯t useless before?¡± Anger spiked inside Lu Pin ¡°You watch your tongue, you¡ª!¡± Mak Tung cut a hand in front of him to be silent, and Lu Pin instantlyplied. ¡°You know, for someone who says they¡¯re looking for a deal and not a fight, you send a lot of mixed messages. So I¡¯m going to go and set the terms of this ¡®deal¡¯ from here. You owe mepensation for the loss of a captain.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not lost,¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t kill him for a reason. He can still recov¡ª¡± With a quick swipe of his bare hand, Mak Tung struck Lu Pin in the neck, crushing his throat. He fell to his knees, eyes bulging as he gasped for air. My stomach sickened, but I hid my reaction with [Indifference] as he fell fully to the ground and began to convulse. Mak Tung snapped his fingers and a handful of flunkies next to him reacted without skipping a beat, dragging Lu Pin¡¯s thrashing body away as he slowly and painfully expired. Mak Tung grinned with his sharklike smile again. ¡°Oh? Do I have your attention now?¡± He certainly did, but perhaps not in the way that he was hoping. This was a man capable of anything and I¡¯d have to be on my guard about that. Still, he hadn¡¯t attacked me yet, so he perhaps knew where to draw the line. I shrugged. ¡°Killing a Qi-less man supposed to impress me?¡± Mak Tung scoffed. ¡°That¡¯s to show what you owe me. A captain. The question now is, how are you going to repay me legionnaire?¡± ¡°So it¡¯s blood money, you¡¯re after?¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Fine I¡¯ll pay the 50 Wen.¡± Surprisingly, that got a couple of chuckles from his own crew and Mak Tung himself thenughed. ¡°A damnedian, are you? Lucky for you, I¡¯m not looking for your cash, Prison Boy. And I¡¯m not looking for a fight either. If I wanted that, we would have busted into the Golden Spire and dragged you out hours ago. But I got too much respect for the 566th for that.¡± I raised my brows in surprise. ¡°Nice to see you respect the home team. So what do you want then?¡± ¡°Your service,¡± he said. ¡°Six months in my employ should probably do to pay off the debt.¡± His eyes then shifted to Lin Fei. ¡°Or this one permanently maybe. What do you say, Tai Pan Street? A captain for a captain is only fair?¡± To my surprise Lin Feiughed instead of scowled. ¡°I¡¯m not a part of this deal, Mak Tung. You want a piece of this, you¡¯re going to have to pay my price.¡± She leered back at him and got a series of hoots and hollers from his gang. Mak Tung threw his head back with a cackle. ¡°Feisty! I love it!¡± I merely chuckled. Lin Fei was proving as tough as the streets she came from. But none of this was going to get me the win I needed. ¡°You named your price, Mak Tung,¡± I said. ¡°Now let me name mine.¡± ¡°Your price?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking for something, that Captain Lin Fei here says you maybe got?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± he said looking to Lin Few with his shark smile again. ¡°And what¡¯s that, love?¡± ¡°A cultivation manual,¡± Lin Fei said. ¡°The Sacred Soul Realm variety.¡± Mak Tung paused for a moment and then threw his head back with augh. His menughed with him, only dying down once he focused on me again. ¡°You got some nerve,¡± he said. ¡°Kill one of my men and thene round begging for a prize?¡± ¡°Technically, you killed him,¡± I said. ¡°And I¡¯m noting here begging. I¡¯m willing to pay, if you truly have the goods.¡± ¡°How much?¡± he asked. ¡°Including the debt of course.¡± ¡°Depends on what you got first. I want to see proof.¡± Mak Tung furrowed his brow again and then shifted his eyes to Lin Fei as if for some kind of confirmation. She shrugged. ¡°I told you that I was on my way to bring him to you.¡± Mak Tung thought for a moment and then eventually harrumphed. ¡°Fine then,¡± he said. ¡°Come with me, legionnaire.¡± * * * ¡°I still don¡¯t see why I need toe,¡± Hein muttered as he dragged his feet next to me. ¡°You two seem to have it under control.¡± We were now surrounded by Mak Tung and his gang, walking through what looked like the worse parts of the capital in the dead of night. Nervous faces peeked out at us from the alleyways, no doubt curious as to what was involving a full-fledged outing of the ck Crow gang or whatever the hell Mak Tung¡¯s group was called. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I still hadn¡¯t bothered to even ask what they were called yet. ¡°You¡¯reing because you¡¯re my brother-inw, man. I need someone to have my back.¡± ¡°I¡¯m your brother-inw to be,¡± Hein said. ¡°And this isn¡¯t how I wanted to spend my leave.¡± ¡°Easy Lieutenant,¡± Captain Lin Fei said with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re among my people now. You¡¯ll be fine.¡± But I wasn¡¯t sure how much of that was just bravado by the fear rising in her soul. I honestly didn¡¯t feel a thing. The conquering of the [Fear of Certain Death] had that effect, I guessed. Which ced me on the [Fear no Death] path now. For my next breakthrough to ur past the Sacred Soul Realm, I would need to follow Threja¡¯s route and challenge the [Death Wish]. But I was a couple of realms from that stage as yet, and key to getting there would be knowledge. Knowledge like the kind I was trying to get my hands on tonight. I still wasn¡¯t sure how legit any of this was, or how I¡¯d even pay for a manual, if one were there. But where there was a will there was a way. I kept a loose sense of my bearings as we navigated the run-down city blocks and eventually, we came to a walledpound that looked as big as a city block itself. Guards atop the twenty-foot-high wall, called out at seeing us and two steel gates, adorned with Crow emblems slowly swung inwards to wee us inside. The interior wasprised of arge courtyard and in the center was a surprisingly stately looking building with multi terraced roofs that was at least five stories high. Around it, were smaller tenement-block like buildings where I guessed the outer disciples all lived. ¡°Wait here,¡± Mak Tung said, and he departed with a couple more of his captains while the rest of his posse circled us in a tight formation. ¡°This how they normally do business?¡± I asked, looking to Lin Fei. She merely shrugged. ¡°I haven¡¯t been here in over twenty years. I wouldn¡¯t really know, but I would say he is treating us fairly thus far.¡± ¡°Yeah, I suppose,¡± I said. But the proof would be in the seeing. The opportunity finally came a few minutester when Mak Tung returned with what looked like a scroll case in one hand and one of his men carrying a table. His man set the table down in from of me and then Mak Tung opened the scroll case andid out a small booklet sized document that looked only a few pages thick. ¡°Feel free to inspect,¡± he said. ¡°But nothing leaves the table.¡± I opened the booklet and scanned through the text. My eyes widened at what I saw. After the formation of one¡¯s Sacred Soul, the cultivation of one¡¯s spirit must double in intensity. One must nourish both thine own Dantian and that of thy Sacred Soul. The formation of one¡¯s inner world is the next step of progression. Only by eschewing the cares of the mundane realm and preparing thy inner space, can one truly prepare thyself for the transition to the next realm and the celestial realm beyond. Neglect thy inner spirit and growth and rely only upon the power they grant thee, and thou shalt have thine reward in but the mortal realm. But true transcendencees from the strength of the inner man. Not the outer. I turned over the page and finally saw the progression route I¡¯d been craving.
Sacred Soul Realm 1st Sacred Soul Formation
2nd Sacred Soul Refinement
3rd Sacred Soul Inhabitation
4th Sacred Soul Evocation
5th Sacred Soul Projection
6th Inner World Creation
7th Inner World Refinement
8th Inner World Projection
9th Sacred Soul Manifestation
I quicklymitted the list to memory and then flipped the page to see how each stage was aplished. 2nd Tier Mastery ¨C The physical and spiritual being of your inner soul must be first nourished and then cultivated with¡ª A hand mmed down on the page, blocking my view. ¡°I think you¡¯ve seen enough, my friend,¡± Mak Tung said, sweeping the manual off the table. ¡°Convinced it¡¯s the real deal now?¡± I hid my interest with [Indifference]. ¡°You call that a manual?¡± I said. ¡°That thing¡¯s barely a couple pages long.¡± ¡°What do you expect? You think anyone would possess more than this? It¡¯s more than you¡¯d find anywhere outside a martial sect¡¯s inner library.¡± The bastard was probably right. Still, now came the real challenge. How do I get it from him? ¡°What do you want for it?¡± I asked inly. Heughed. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not for sale. But you can read it for a price.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°Considering what you owe me for Lu Pin,¡± he said, ncing upwards in thought. ¡°I¡¯d say a good two years¡¯ service should cover it.¡± I scoffed out augh. ¡°Let me make this clear. I¡¯m not in the business of trading my time. I¡¯ve got deadlines andmitments to keep. What¡¯s the cash price?¡± He showed me his shark teeth again. ¡°Not looking to invest, huh? Too bad. That would be a good price for what I offered. But if you want cash, 50,000 spirit stones sounds about right for a day¡¯s viewing.¡± ¡°What?¡± Hein said. ¡°You must be joking!¡± ¡°Who asked you?¡± Mak Tung snapped. ¡°My price is my price. You think you can do better, try finding it elsewhere.¡± I grimaced, my inner desires betraying me. Time to go on the offensive, I thought. It was hostile negotiation time. ¡°What makes you think I couldn¡¯t just take it from you now?¡± I said with [Fear the me]. Mak Tung responded with a leer. ¡°Because you would have done so already. It¡¯s the same reason you didn¡¯t kill Lu Pin, or me for that matter. I pegged you for what you were the moment I saw you, soldier boy. You¡¯ve got the curse that¡¯ll likely be the death of you one day.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°A hero¡¯s honor,¡± he said and thenughed out loud mockingly and his men echoed him doing the same. ¡°Or a fools honor as we call it here.¡± My me stirred. The Demon wanted to prove him wrong, but the Struggler looked at me disapprovingly. Shit, I thought, looking to the Struggler within me. You¡¯re proving him right, you bastard! The Struggler shrugged his shoulders at me with a ¡°no shit¡± expression. Damn it. ¡°Further more,¡± Mak Tung said, stepping back a bit. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t make the assumption that taking it from me would be so easy either.¡± Both Hein and Lin Fei¡¯s eyes widened, and they took a quick step back. I figured it must have been something Qi rted to trigger them, but confirmation came a secondter when a sh of dark energy burst from out of Mak Tung. The air was pushed back in a gust, and from within him emerged a translucent form that looked at first like a shadow but then formed in the shape of a massive crow, that had a human skull for a head with glowing purple eyes. Eesh, I thought. ¡°You¡¯ve got to work on cultivating that inner soul some more, bro,¡± I said, cycling my Frenzy to summon my own Sacred Soul. ¡°Not gonna catch too manydies looking like that.¡± As Ipleted the technique, my red-hued Struggler emerged, bull¡¯s horns and all. A bit of fear and lemonade came from his gang as they marveled at the two Sacred Souls on disy. ¡°Mine¡¯s a lot prettier, I¡¯d say,¡± I said with a cheesy grin, making it clear it was a joke and not a true taunt. ¡°I¡¯d take him!¡± some woman cried out from the gang and herrades allughed. Mak Tung himself thenughed, folding his arms as he looked up at my secondary soul, a bit of lemonade emerging from within his own. ¡°Now that¡¯s why I¡¯d prefer the service and not the cash. But you only prove my point, Off Worlder. A soul looking like thates from honorable intent. So you¡¯ll either pay my price, or piss off. So which will it be?¡± I blew out a sigh and let my Sacred Soul dissipate. ¡°Look, I¡¯m in transit right now. I don¡¯t have that kind of cash on me. But I can probably get it to you in the future.¡± ¡°This shop don¡¯t work like that,¡± he said. ¡°Cash up front. You think I don¡¯t know you¡¯d probably memorize this book in a day? Because it¡¯s what I did. Money or no deal.¡± I nced at Hein and Lin Fei for help, but they both just stared right back at me shrugging. Shit¡­ I needed a n. But what? I was right back to those early days again, groveling before a crime boss for secret knowledge with nothing but pennies in my pocket. 50,000 spirit stones? How the hell could Ie up with that kind of money? And then it hit me. Bo Ren, I thought. ¡°Look,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t have the money now, but I got a surefire way to get you it, or however much as you want in only two days.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°They do bet on this world, don¡¯t they?¡± I said. ¡°I got a special showcase matching up in two days. Me against some royal Sacred Soul Realm cultivator from the Twin River n. I¡¯m an outsider and the organizer, Governor Tai Su Long hates my guts. The [Odds are bound to be Against Me]. If you bet on me, I guarantee I will win, and you can get whatever payday you¡¯re willing to wager.¡± He scoffed. ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°He can probably do it,¡± Lin Fei said. ¡°I witnessed this man kill a Thrantor in a single technique. Plus, he is only twenty years old. A prodigy. The odds will sway quickly when he starts to win.¡± Mak Tung looked to the ground, his dark, shark-like eyes unreadable. ¡°Sway quickly, you say¡­? If you want to read this book then, I¡¯m going to need more than just a win.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I said. ¡°People will expect you to win mid-fight if you¡¯re as good as she ims. But to make the money I need. I need you to do more than just win. I need a swing back.¡± ¡°Hell¡¯s a swing back?¡± I said. Lin Fei chortled. ¡°Are you serious Mak Tung?¡± ¡°I repeat,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s a ¡®swing back¡¯?¡± ¡°Odds will be against you at the start, like you said. I¡¯ll buy up some cheap bets. And then when you look to be winning, I¡¯m going to trade all my position at a premium to those rich assholes who see they¡¯re about to lose for my first pay day. And then, right before you win, you throw the fight and I collect more than double by cashing in all the bets they sold to me. That¡¯s a swing back. You think you can pull it off?¡± Shit, talk about upping the ante. ¡°Winning once not enough for you, huh?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my counter. You want to read the manual or not?¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°But since I¡¯ll be putting up my own money, I need some coteral. Just so you don¡¯t renege.¡± ¡°Coteral?¡± ¡°The captain here looks worthy,¡± he said grinning at her. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t want nothing bad to happen to her, would you?¡± She gave him a rude finger gesture, but smiled. ¡°I told you. I¡¯m not part of this deal, asshole.¡± He merely smiled back at her with his shark teeth, chuckling. I looked to Hein. ¡°Him!¡± ¡°What?¡± Hein said. ¡°He¡¯s my brother-inw. You can take him as my coteral.¡± ¡°What!?¡± Hein eximed. ¡°Come on, man.¡± I turned to him, pleadingly. ¡°Do this for me, please!¡± ¡°Is this for real?¡± Mak Tung asked, looking to Lin Fei. She nodded. ¡°They are kin, apparently.¡± Hein fumed at me. ¡°For one, I¡¯m your brother-inw to be. Emphasis on ¡®to be¡¯!¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not as good,¡± Mak Tung said with a frown. ¡°Just give me a minute,¡± I said and then dragged Hein to the side with me. ¡°Hein, please you gotta do this for me,¡± I said, in a whisper. ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you down.¡± ¡°Let me down? As in get me killed if you screw up? Do you forget your nickname is Chun?¡± He was practically shouting for everyone to hear now, but I couldn¡¯t care. ¡°Come on, Hein. I¡¯m not going to screw this up. I need that manual.¡± ¡°And I need to live!¡± ¡°Come on, he probably won¡¯t kill you anyway. He¡¯ll just make you work off the debt.¡± ¡°No. I¡¯ll kill him,¡± Mak Tung said, inly overhearing us. ¡°No real coteral for you otherwise. Plus, there¡¯s more incentive that way.¡± ¡°See?¡± Hein said, jutting his hand at Mak Tung. I sighed. ¡°Come on, Hein, you owe me for all the jacked up shit you did to me and Yu Li before.¡± ¡°I already paid for that! Broken sword? Busted ass? Remember?¡± ¡°Yeah, but you said that all helped you in the end, so it doesn¡¯t really count as an apology.¡± ¡°Are you frigging crazy?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Mak Tung said, nodding to Lin Fei. ¡°They are definitely kin. He¡¯ll do fine as coteral.¡± ¡°You see?¡± I said. ¡°Even Mak Tung agrees.¡± ¡°You must be the biggest Chun in the¡ª!¡± ¡°Look,¡± I said more seriously. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll make this up to you, Hein.¡± I then spoke with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] to let him know I wasn¡¯t bullshitting. ¡°I¡¯ll put in a good word with your family, and with Yu Li and Su Ling. I know by how much you¡¯ve changed that you¡¯ve got to give a shit about them and what they think of you now.¡± Hein scowled but remained quiet, his eyes flicking back and forth in thought. ¡°You¡¯re a real bastard you know that?¡± he said. ¡°So you¡¯ll do it?¡± ¡°Only if you promise to do what you said.¡± I grinned. ¡°I was gonna do it anyway, but hell yeah, man! A deal¡¯s a deal!¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Mak Tung,¡± I called out. ¡°We have your coteral!¡± * * * We spent another fifteen minutes hashing it all out, settling on the logistics of the deal, with Hein turning himself over to Mak Tung at the start of the match. Once he had his winnings, he would turn Hein back over to me and then allow me to read the manual for a day. ¡°We seal the deal with a drink,¡± Mak Tung said and one of hisckies poured three shots of whiskey for us on the table. Hein and I took one, Hein more begrudgingly so, but we saluted and all three of us downed the fiery liquid in a single gulp. ¡°Remember,¡± Mak Tung said, wiping his tattooed chin. ¡°Don¡¯t deliver and it¡¯ll be his head.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± I said, jerking my thumb at Hein with a grin. ¡°He knows.¡± Hein just red at me. Mak Tung¡¯s entourage then escorted us back to the main gate. ¡°You two can find your own way back, right?¡± Captain Lin Fei said as she stopped just shy of the gate. ¡°I¡¯m going to hang out here for a while.¡± ¡°Are you serious, captain?¡± Hein said. She shrugged. ¡°A woman has needs boys and like hell will I be fulfilling them with anyone in the battalion.¡± With that she turned about and walked back into thepound. She grabbed the bottle of whiskey from Mak Tung and then pulled him after her by the robes as she walked towards the main building. ¡°You see that shit?¡± Hein said incredulously. ¡°She could have been the damn coteral!¡± ¡°Yeah, who¡¯d have thought she would have gone for old shark face, huh?¡± I grinned. ¡°But nah, I like you more as coteral anyway, buddy.¡± Iughed and Hein pped me across the shoulder. ¡°Damn Chun. Now what?¡± ¡°Now you help me train for two days,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m already helping you!¡± ¡°This will be helping you as well. You don¡¯t want me to lose, do you?¡± He harrumphed ¡°Fair enough.¡± As we walked into the deserted streets another idea came to me. ¡°Oh, I need your help with one more thing,¡± I said. ¡°What now?¡± ¡°I need you to help me find out as much as we can about who I¡¯m going to face in the ring.¡± ¡°And why would you think I could help do something like that?¡± ¡°Cause you¡¯re still high society, sorta. You can hit the tea houses and find out about them. Plus, you like that sort of stuff still, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Tea houses? Not really¡± he said. ¡°But fine. I¡¯ll do it. ¡°Great!¡± ¡°But there¡¯s one thing missing though,¡± Hein said as he gave me a frown. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°We still don¡¯t know who it is.¡± Book 4: Chapter 13 Kelsey drifted through the ether of the spiritual realm. How much time had passed now? she wondered. 5 minutes? 10? In the hidden darkness surrounding her [Spectral Body], she felt the pressure of Dark Frenzy pressing in on her, but she maintained her focus, seeking the essence of Max¡¯s me. She dared to wait a minute more, before sensing the strong presence of a greater foe. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz? No¡­ it was something else. Kelsey reopened her eyes in the real world to see a wall of demons charging at her. She gritted her teeth, fortifying her body with [Iron Skin] as sheid into them with abandon. The demons fell quickly under the swift martial swings of her axe and when she was finished about two dozen of themy dead at her feet. But they were not the presence she had sensed.In the early rays of dawn, she could just make out a towering figure in the distance. Three stories tall. The demon monster of Master Hong Feng reborn. ¡°I¡¯Xong¡¯Xiang¡­¡± Kelsey muttered his name like a curse and the monster responded to it with a deep bellow. It had finally found her. Traversing the distance from the city and back to the wild where she now was. But her n was not to face it today. She¡¯d already tried that once and hade up short. Still, spending the entire night, popping in and out of the Bloodmoon looking for Max, had aided her in her spiritual cultivation. ¡°Not yet,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But soon.¡± She said the promise with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and then retreated about thirty feet into the cleansing warmth of Venja¡¯s barrier. The resonance of pure Frenzy embraced her as she passed through it, its energy shielding her from the effects of the Bloodmoon now quickly setting in the pre-dawn sky. Fatigue took her immediately. Her Dantian was well spent, and her mind was reeling with the effects of the cosmic darkness oozing from the sinister presence of the moon. It was good cultivation training for sure, but damn was it exhausting. She was perhaps another half-step closer to a breakthrough in tiers, but that wasn¡¯t her goal for tonight. Where the hell is he? she thought. She¡¯d been looking for Max but so far hade up empty handed. And now dawn was here. The night was over. Slowly, Kelsey made her way back towards the vige center. She began to wonder if she had miscalcted the dates and gotten things wrong. Max had written to her with the time it would take for him to travel from Du Gok Bhong to reach the Hell Worlds. She had painstakingly worked out her schedule to spend the entire night under the Bloodmoon just as she had done before to give him support while there. But for some reason he never showed up. Uncertainty gnawed at her. She prayed she hadn¡¯t missed it by a day. Or perhaps she was a day early? A shout from the fields distracted her from her thoughts and she looked to see three teenagers, shin deep in freshly turned earth as they went about plowing a new plot ofnd. ¡°Morning, Sergeant Kelsey!¡± a girl named Sarah called out to her. ¡°How was the training?¡± ¡°Good,¡± she said with a wave. ¡°How was yours?¡± Sarah, who was a couple years younger than her, hefted the plow into the air with only one hand. ¡°3rd Tier now! We¡¯re catching up to you!¡± Kelsey gave her a thumbs up and they allughed. It was a miracle to see. A year ago, those three kids were stuck in the bunker just like her, but now, with the guidance of the manual Max had transcribed for them, they were now Low-Tier Foundation Realm Qi Cultivators. She watched a moment more as they went about their work tending the fields, with Sarah pushing the plow all by herself while her two helpers, boys who were barely in their teens, lifted 55-gallon drums full of water as easily as if they were small pails. It was nothing she wasn¡¯t used to seeing in the city, but out here in the wild, it was a breakthrough of progression worthy of pausing to take note of. This was the future Max had fought for. No¡­what she now fought for as well. A future where Terran society forged their own cultivation destiny. More evidence of their advancement filled her with pride as she made her way deeper into the vige. Log cabins and stonewalled structures nked the cobblestoned roads that now weaved their way through the homes surrounding the main square of their vige. Kelsey waved to her neighbors as she passed the front gate of her two-bedroom cabin and to no surprise, her mother, Susan, stuck her head out the kitchen window and smiled at her. ¡°Did you find Max?¡± she asked. Kelsey shook her head. ¡°Think I must have gotten the day wrong.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± was all she said, before tucking her head back inside and then continued to work on something within the kitchen. ¡°Well, I hope you can stay for lunch before heading back. I¡¯m making pasta.¡± Kelsey smiled at the thought. They truly hade a long way from living off decade-old MRE¡¯s and rat meat. Now they could grow wheat to make flour, tomatoes to make sauce, onions and herbs to season. They were perhaps just a few more months away from making something truly monumental though. Cheeseburgers. It was something Max said he missed eating from the old world and a number of the older residents agreedpletely. So after figuring out what was in one, Kelsey had gone through the efforts of finding the closest things to cows that she could find back in the city, transporting a mating pair of water buffalo across the wild. With them, they were able to produce milk to make cheese and soon the first herd would be old enough to ughter for meat. She was hoping to surprise Max with a meal from his childhood past upon his return home. But at this rate she wasn¡¯t sure if he was on his way home or not. ¡°I¡¯ll stay for sure, Mom,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll just go meditate until then.¡± She was dead tired, but the tainting of her soul by the Bloodmoon required swift treatment. Arriving at the center of the square, Kelsey connected with Venja and allowed the harmonic vibrations to cleanse her me while she manifested her [Spectral Body] within her mind¡¯s eye. Venja herself quickly joined her in the spiritual realm with a look of anticipation on her face. ¡°How did it go?¡± she asked. Kelsey sighed. ¡°Not well. I didn¡¯t sense him at all.¡± Venja frowned and then crouched down next to her, bringing the giantess equal to her in head height. ¡°Perhaps the distance was too far this time?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Does distance even matter in the spiritual realm?¡± Venja merely shrugged. ¡°It matters to me and what I can experience, but what you and Max experienced was quite different. So I¡¯m not sure.¡± Kelsey sighed. ¡°Probably doesn¡¯t. Which means I must have gotten the date wrong.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Venja said. ¡°Last night was the night. Unless Max supplied you with the wrong date, of course.¡± That was possible. Max was a Chun, after all. Venjaughed, reading her thoughts. ¡°Will you stay to try again tomorrow?" ¡°Don¡¯t know if I can,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I need to get back to protect the Native Housing District in the city.¡± Although it had now be routine, chasing off stray cultivators and dealing with the three Bird Sisters¡¯ antics was a total pain in the ass, and not to mention a near full time job. ¡°Perhaps just return when you can,¡± Venja said. ¡°Your bond with Max is strong. I am certain your paths are already winding their way towards one another again.¡± Kelsey smiled. ¡°Thanks, Venja. I hope so.¡± Even though she knew there was nothing she could do about it, Kelsey stillmented inside. It wasn¡¯t like she could spend every night out here looking for him, and there was no telling now when he might show up, or if she might miss him while being back in the city. Not to mention she still had problems of her own to deal with in the meantime. Like that monstrous demon looking to im her soul. The thought irritated her and she sighed. ¡°Damn it, Max,¡± she swore. ¡°Where the hell are you?¡± * * * I studied the piece of paper Hein had just handed to me. It was a billboard flyer for the uing match. In celebration of the return of the 566th Imperial Battalion Her Imperial Majesty, 2nd Princess Rheutera hosts a three-day Martial Tournament. All Brackets are invited topete with a Special Exhibition Match to take ce on the final day. ¡°The Battle of the Prodigies¡± The Lady Rhe Su Long of the Twin River Sect Versus the Iron Bull of Terra! Below the headliner were two images. One was of a young woman with two jian des and the second was of a fire breathing minitour with glowing red eyes. It was total propaganda, a beauty versus the beast kind of story. ¡°What is this bullshit?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask me how they got the idea for that picture,¡± Hein said. ¡°I had nothing to do with it.¡± I eyed him suspiciously. ¡°That¡¯s a very specific defense, Hein.¡± ¡°What?¡± He then shrugged. ¡°The Governor asked me what you dressed like in the ring. It¡¯s not inurate, is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a damn caricature!¡± I said with a grimace. Although it probably worked in my favor in a way. ¡°That reminds me. I need to get myself a bull mask constructed and some body paint before this thing.¡± ¡°See!¡± Hein said as if vindicated. ¡°Anyway, we can probably get that before the start of the match. We¡¯ve got two days still.¡± It¡¯d already been a few days since cutting the deal with Mak Tung and the tournament was now underway. I¡¯d spent most of that time training to get myself back into form. Although I¡¯d had plenty of practice ughtering demons and ying giant monsters, fighting cultivators was a different story. I had to get used to using my axe and ive techniques again and changing my mindset from brute force to using strategy, skill and finesse. Not exactly Berserker strengths, but when in Yee society, I had to y by the rules. And it would be for much longer than I thought. Now that I had brushed shoulders with the upper echelons of the core worlds, I could see just how far my pathy ahead of me in terms of defeating the empire. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Bing a Legionnaire would put me as a top dog back home, but here, I¡¯d be a petty noble at best. Still, rank was rank, and I was about to willingly get my ass handed to me on the grand stage. But before that I would have to beat my opponent into near submission. No matter who I was facing, this wasn¡¯t going to be an easy task. Between sparring with Hein and practicing where I could, the muscle memory of my tournament fighting days was slowlying back to me. Myst true match was against Jei Su Long back at the academy, but even that wasn¡¯t a true match. This one would have the added pressure of a-sized audience that was already picturing me as the viin. ¡°The [Odds are truly Against Me],¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve], ring at the stupid flyer. Hein nced at me quizzically. ¡°Hell are you talking about?¡± Oops, I thought. I had to remember using Berserker techniques out loud probably sounded crazy as hell to people. ¡°Nothing,¡± I said, quickly, cultivating the burst of Frenzy the technique produced from my me. It was paltry though, mainly because there was no true substance behind it. To truly know if I was going to be the underdog, I needed to know exactly who this Lady Rhe Su Long was. ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Time for you to get some tea.¡± * * * We headed back to the main city to an upscale part of town where Hein could find one of the high-end tea houses where the real big wigs liked to hang out. I kept hold of the flyer and waited outside while Hein went in and did his thing. It took about an hour, with me having to bow to all manner of pompous pricks while trying to hide myself with [Mask of the Despised]. An hourter Hein eventually re-emerged. ¡°So what you find out?¡± I asked eagerly. ¡°Who the hell is this Lady Rhe Su Long?¡± ¡°Well she isn¡¯t from here,¡± Hein said. ¡°She¡¯s from the Governor¡¯s, which is why it¡¯s maybe going to take a couple of days for her to get here after the tournament starts.¡± ¡°What Cultivation Realm and Bracket is she?¡± ¡°Most of the people I asked seemed to think Low to Mid-Tier, Sacred Soul Realm,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s a top tier Gold Rank contender though. Qualified for the Jade bracket.¡± ¡°Shit,¡± I said. ¡°She outsses me for real. Looks like that bastard Tai Su Long is taking out all the stops to get back at me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not all,¡± Hein said. ¡°They call her the little princess.¡± ¡°The what?¡± Hein shrugged. ¡°She¡¯s the Princesses¡¯ Granddaughter or something. But I gathered they call her that because she¡¯s a prodigy just like the princess was.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± ¡°What? You didn¡¯t notice how young the princess looked?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Didn¡¯t really care, to be honest. She was kind of a bitch.¡± Hein shook his head disapprovingly. ¡°That damn tongue of yours.¡± ¡°Anyway, what else can you tell me about her? What¡¯s her win record like? She got any weaknesses?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not your damn bookie, Chun. I couldn¡¯t get information like that from casual conversations. The most I know is that she¡¯s a rising star in the Twin River n. This won¡¯t be an easy fight. You¡¯d better damn well be up for it, because I¡¯m not losing my head over this.¡± I could sense a real touch of fear in his soul. That centered me a bit. I needed that manual, but I was fighting for more than just that now. Hein¡¯s ass would be grass if I didn¡¯t pull this off. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got you bro,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°But I¡¯m definitely going to need that mask.¡± * * * The next two days were filled with more sparring and training. The entire battalion was inpetition mode, with soldiers sparring against each other for the honor of representing their various toons in the tournament. I stuck to sparring with Hein for the most part. He¡¯d certainly advanced in his own martial prowess, perhaps being close to Fia¡¯s level of proficiency now. Still, I had no idea if even that would be enough to prepare me for someone who was qualified for the Jade Bracket. Our efforts to gain more intel on my mysteriouspetitor proved fruitless as well. Lady Rhe Su Long seemed to be known by reputation only, being from a different world perhaps. Besides the picture on the flyer, I didn¡¯t even know what she looked like. That made me only redouble my efforts to be in tip-top shape for the match. I sparred with Hein during the day and then meditated and trained within my own head at night, utilizing my timepression technique within the spiritual realm. In two days, I packed in an extra week¡¯s worth of practice with my martial forms. When the day of the match finally arrived, I was hyped to the max with anticipation and anxiety. The morning started with me collecting my mask from an armor-smith who in only two days, managed to piece together a crude, yet identifiable helmet made of angled ck iron tes with a set of horns that were more like welded pipes. It looked likeplete shit, but serviceable for what I would need it for. The Lady Rhe Su Long would be the most formidable opponent I¡¯d faced yet, and sure as hell was I going to need to dip into my Berserker [Marks] to gain an edge. In the afternoon, right before the match, we met up with Captain Lin Fei and paid a final visit to Mak Tung to go over the final details of the deal. ¡°I¡¯m going to have 5,000 spirit stones riding on this,¡± he said. ¡°I hope you think your brother-inw is worth that much.¡± Hein shot me a grimace, perhaps having second thoughts. ¡°Hey,¡± I said. ¡°Defeating this Rhe Su Long is going to be the easy part, trust me. You just need to be quick on your trades, so you don¡¯t miss out. I won¡¯t be responsible for that part.¡± Mak Tungughed with a shark-toothed grin. ¡°That¡¯s what I like to hear.¡± It was still mostly bullshit at this point, but I couldn¡¯t let him or Hein know how risky things might actually be. For both their sakes, I was going to make this shit happen no matter what. ¡°I¡¯m staying here to make sure nothing happens to Lieutenant Dong prematurely,¡± Lin Fei said. ¡°You don¡¯t have a problem with that, do you?¡± Mak Tung grinned at her. ¡°So long as there will be a victory party when I return.¡± She snorted out augh. ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± I wasn¡¯t certain what kind of rtionship the two now shared after their fling, but I was thankful for Lin Fei to give me some furtherfort for Hein¡¯s safety while I was in the ring. ¡°Thanks for this, Captain,¡± I said to her in a whisper, pulling her to the side. ¡°I appreciate it.¡± ¡°Just make sure you seed,¡± she whispered back. ¡°I¡¯d rather leave my home world without things bing a bloody mess. Understood?¡± ¡°Totally.¡± ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t screw this up, Chun,¡± Hein echoed her as he handed himself over to Mak Tung¡¯s guards. He then added with dripping sarcasm. ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting in eager anticipation.¡± ¡°As will I,¡± Mak Tung said and then, pulling out the manual he waved it in front of me, before pping it across Hein¡¯s chest. ¡°Come through and both shall be yours. Mess up and this will be thest time you see him with his head still attached.¡± He gave me a grin and those soulless, sharklike eyes of his said he¡¯d kill Hein in a heartbeat if given reason to. I eyed the manual in his hand. So close, yet so far. If I were stupid enough, I could try and kill him and just take it. But that would leave us in a shit storm, considering what Captain Lin Fei had just said. And I still needed to be on my way and off to the Hell Worlds, not embroiled in a gang war that would likely draw in the entire battalion. Just y the game, I thought. Trust the path. My me would see me through. ¡°Like I said.¡± I shrugged my shoulders with bravado. ¡°Winning is going to be the easy part. Let¡¯s get to the ring.¡± * * * I entered the Imperial courtyard with Mak Tung following closely by my side. The turnout of the crowd was overwhelming. I¡¯d been in the arena previously, and while it had been packed, with at least a dozen rings set up for the various brackets and matches to take ce, now it was like the entire had shown up. The same ce where we had been inspected by the princess was now converted into a single-staged ring the size of two football fields. king the ring was a crowd of what had to be a quarter million people or more. In the sky above them, hung a sea of skiffs which had to include the true royalty of the and city. Above the stage was an enormous Qi lighting disy that currently had my beastly caricature versus the elegant Lady Rhe Su Long. We were the main attraction it seemed and the battle at sunset was fitting for a final showdown. ¡°I¡¯ll be watching you,¡± Mak Tung said, making an ¡®eyes on you¡¯ gesture with his fingers. ¡°I¡¯m off to the bookies.¡± He disappeared into the crowd then and I made my own way through the sea of people to the staging areas set up just in front of the ring. A presiding official didn¡¯t believe who I was at first, until I showed him my ID plus my bull mask to boot. The son of a bitch merelyughed. ¡°This should be good. The Lady Rhe Su Long rarelypetes anymore. I hope you make it worth her getting out of bed, off-worlder.¡± I crinkled my nose at that but didn¡¯t say anything. I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the makeshift locker rooms. Once out of sight, I went through my routine of greasing myself up with the red body paint and prepping my bull mask. I spent a few more minutes to focus myself then, slipping into my mind¡¯s eye to go through my martial forms while remaining seated in lotus position. My Dantian was filled to the brim and my me was surging. This was it. I was ready. ¡°You¡¯re up, Bull Man!¡± an official shouted to me after a while. ¡°Get on the court!¡± I hefted out a sigh as I gathered my weapons and after ascending a short flight of wooden stairs, I entered the open air of the stadium proper. High above me, my minotaur caricature was brought to life with animation, breathing fire and bellowing like a bull. The crowd responded with roilingughter as people pointed to both the disy and myself, perhaps shocked that I actually looked the part with my painted skin. I raised my makeshift helmet in the air toplete the gimmick and got even moreughs and jeers. I probably looked like a clown to them, but I didn¡¯t care. This would be my ticket to using my greater powers right before their eyes. With none of them being the wiser. ¡°So, this is him, everyone!¡± a familiar voice resounded throughout the stadium as I made my way towards the center of the ring. ¡°The infamous Iron Bull from the Terra!¡± I looked for where the announcer was, and finally spotted him high up on a floating skiff, along with a royal entourage that included the Princess herself. But the voice I heard was none other than Tai Su Long¡¯s. The governor was moonlighting as an MC, it seemed. Or at least for my match he was. ¡°Please everyone!¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°Let us all apud his great courage. He who dares to defy the might of the Twin River n. This day may well be hisst. Apud him for his bravery! Come on now!¡± Tai Su Long began pping and that got even moreughs and jeers as people took to their feet in a mock standing ovation. I red up at the man and felt my me surge. To his side was none other than Jei Su Long, pping andughing right along with him. My anger spiked inside, contempt mixed with rage. For a half second, I had the vision of proving to all these people how powerful I truly was. I was already imagining burying that Lady Rhe Su Long in front of the crowd. Whoever the hell she was. But I had to remember the n. Get close to winning, but then lose. ¡°Let it be known that this man ims himself a prodigy,¡± Tai Su Long continued. ¡°Hailing from a weak, outer world, this rare specimen has reached the sacred Soul Realm at only twenty years. Commendable¡­ for a savage.¡± He burst into a mockingugh and the crowd joined in with him. My ire spiked even more. ¡°But this exhibition match was called the battle of prodigies for a reason. Many will know, that my esteemed niece, the Great Lady Rhe Su Long, is herself a prodigy. But unlike our backwater savage prodigy here, she reached his same level of progression at only 9 years old.¡± The assemble began pping as Tai Su Long paused for apuse. But the news was crazy to me as well. Nine years old? I thought. What the hell¡­ ¡°Let us now wee to the ring, a prodigy rivaled only by our great princess herself, the undefeated star of the Gold Bracket and Master of the Twin River arts, the ¡®little princess¡¯ herself¡­ Lady Rhe Su Long!!!¡± A fanfare of dramatic music began to y as the image of the screen was showered with orange blossoms. At the far end of the ring a diminutive figure stepped onto the battlefield. She looked all of about four feet tall and wore her blue hair in pig tails. Two jian des were in her hands and as I squinted to get a better look at her, her entire body shimmered with a luminescent blue glow. From where she stood, a huge serpentine dragon suddenly erupted from the ground like a geyser and flew into the air. It corkscrewed and weaved, its translucent body at least a hundred feet long and thick like a tree trunk. Riding upon its back was a figure that was d in celestial armor, wielding a giant spear. The dragon spiraled through the air in time with the fanfare and the crowd roared with delight. The dragon and its rider dove towards the center of the ring and upon closer inspection I could see the tiny frame of Lady Rhe Su Long riding upon one her jian des, which was on the dragons back. Her other de was in her hand and her thrusts and twirls with it were mirrored by the armored dragon rider. ¡°A true disy of power by the ¡®Little Princess¡¯!¡± Tai Su Long shouted above the crowd. ¡°A Twin Scared Soul so powerful at such a young age! Lady Rhe Su Long¡¯s River Dragon Spirit looks big enough to swallow the Iron Bull whole! Much less what she will do to him with the Armored Spiritual Body of her core!¡± Shit¡­ I thought. The [Odds Were Against Me] for real now. I¡¯d never seen a Sacred Soul that big, much less two of them in one. Was that even a thing? Two Sacred Souls? I know I kind of had two as a Berserker but could a Qi cultivator have the same? Before I could contemte any further, the dragon turned towards me and charged. I braced myself but need not have bothered. It dove towards the ground at just thest moment and the rider hopped off as the spectral beast disappeared into the surface of the battlefield,nding right in front of me. Up close, I could see the figure was definitely that of a woman, so tall that she reminded me a bit of Venja. But there was no muscles or scars here. Just under the cowl of the ornate helm was a face fitting of a princess. The crowd was still going wild, but above it all a high-pitched giggle caught my ear. ¡°Impressed, are you?¡± It took me a moment more to focus on the little girl in pigtails hidden within the translucent form of the giant armored warrior woman standing before me. She looked all of about 12 years old, and I immediately had a shback to that obnoxiously little Green Bird Bitch from my first Wooden Bracket match. But Rhe Su Long wasn¡¯t a normal 12-year-old. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± she said. ¡°Not speaking? I heard you have quite the devilish little tongue on you.¡± She then smiled. ¡°Looking as good as you do, I¡¯d relish to put it to use one day.¡± The smile turned into a mischievous grin and a disturbing squirt of lemonade came from her soul. My stomach lurched, bing instantly sick. ¡°What?¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t make that face at me. I was only paying you aplement.¡± I backed up reflexively. ¡°Look, my name ain¡¯t Shen Liu, understand? I don¡¯t dig getting sexualpliments from little girls.¡± Her eyes suddenly widened with recognition. ¡°Ah! Little Finger! That one did spend an inordinate amount of time trying to put his fingers on me.¡± She beganughing and my stomach turned so bad I nearly vomited all over the floor. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so dramatic,¡± she said, her tone bing sharp. ¡°You don¡¯t really think I¡¯m the age I look, do you? I¡¯m perhaps twice as old as you are.¡± ¡°Look, I don¡¯t care how damn old you are,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not into this. If you¡¯re here to fight, then let¡¯s fight!¡± She sighed. ¡°Why so soon to business? You do realize in a few decades I¡¯ll be looking closer to your age, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Believe me when I tell you, being a prodigy is no prize.¡± She then rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re lucky you were already fully grown when you broke through to the Sacred Soul Realm. I could kill my parents for forcing my breakthrough at only nine. I¡¯ve been stuck a half-step to the Lesser Deity Realm for over a decade now, because of that. If I transition now, I¡¯d be stuck in this damn body forever. At least as a Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator, I can age a year for ten at this rate.¡± I blinked perplexed. ¡°Cool story, sis, but still not interested.¡± She grinned and then nced up at the towering warrior woman surrounding her. ¡°Does that look like the soul of a juvenile? I could invite you to explore my inner world if you like. Encounters within the spiritual realm can be just as satisfying.¡± What the hell kind of reverse pedo crap was this shit? My ick meter finally hit the limit and Ished out at her with a swipe of my axe to ward her off. ¡°I said piss off with that shit!¡± She deflected my axe without even flinching, her jian de moving on its own. Tai Su Long¡¯s voice then boomed from above. ¡°Looks like she said something to rile him up! You can always count on the little princess to lite someone¡¯s fire! Or perhaps ire!¡± That got a roil ofughter going. Rhe Su Long cackled, leering at me. ¡°If only they knew what I¡¯d really said.¡± ¡°To hell with you, you weird little bitch!¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s get this match over with.¡± The smile dropped from her face and her soul filled with resentment and rage. ¡°Have it your way then,¡± she said, her tone bing icy. ¡°I tried to be nice, but I suppose you¡¯ll end up dead like all the rest. This One does not take rejection from men very well.¡± Rejection from men? All the rest? What in the actual hell? The Lady Rhe Su Long spread her arms and the majestic spectral dragon emerged from the ground again, coiling itself around her like an imprable shield. She gave me a final, shit-eating leer. ¡°Are you ready, bull man?¡± I donned my mask and cycled my Frenzy, preparing for the weirdest fight in my life. ¡°Bring it on, bitch.¡± Book 4: Chapter 14 The gong for the match sounded and I immediately sprung backwards, fortifying myself with [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core]. It was not a moment too soon as the coils of the dragon unwound like a tightly-packed spring, pping me clear across the stadium. The pain went straight through my bones and into my soul, the hit doubling as a disruptive technique as it shook my me. I bounced off the ground twice and ended up on my feet after a quick roll, but the Rhe Su Long was already charging at me with a follow up. I was right to anticipate her aggression. Driven by insult and rage, she was now a woman scorned. Or a little girl scorned, anyway. Iughed inwardly at that. Seriously, what the hell man? I thought. Rhe Su Long was one messed up chick, but I had to push all that aside to get my head into the game. I¡¯d been preparing for a battle with a cultivator, but this was turning into more of a monster fight with that dragon. And that was just fine with me.I stowed my Axe and readied my ive alone, bolstering my defenses with [Steel Lightning] and [Soul Shield] to protect my me this time. I waited for her dragon to lunge in with a strike and then rolled to the side at just thest second. The dragon¡¯s jaws shot past me, and I countered with a sideward sh of my ive. I expected to feel resistance as my de cut through the body of the beast, but instead I felt nothing. It was spectral after all, but the monster flew through my ive like it was an illusion or something. Just when I was thinking that perhaps it was, Rhe Su Long¡¯s rider form suddenly appeared with a swift jab of her spear as she flew by. It struck me dead in the chest and I saw stars. I went flying across the arena again, blood filling my mouth as what felt like my entire rib cage copsed in on itself. I got back to my feet struggling to breathe. What the hell? Did that attack go straight through all my defenses again? Even my [Soul Shield] technique? Then I realized what had happened. Her spiritual attacks were so powerful that they disrupted my me even through [Soul Shield] and once disrupted, all my other abilities would drop, leaving me with only my raw body cultivation for defense. Was she truly that strong? Stronger than even the effects of a Bloodmoon? That shifted the [Odds Against Me] to the extreme. My me reignited with the fresh outpouring of Frenzy and I immediately sent it to repairing the damage to my chest and organs. Across the battlefield Rhe Su Long hade to a stop and was now observing me with a smile. ¡°Not looking like much of a match so far,¡± she said. ¡°Why did they think to even put you against me? You¡¯re but a fledgling. Prodigy or no prodigy.¡± It was true what she¡¯d said. She outssed me by nearly an entire a Realm. If she¡¯d been dying her progression for decades just so her physical body could age, then that meant she was a 9th Tier Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator with only a half step from being a Lesser Deity. It was no wonder she was overpowering my defenses so easily. She was nearly a lesser god. I nced up at the scoreboard.
The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 5:1 Time - 28:49
Little Princess Iron Bull
2 0
The goose egg stared at me like a bad omen. And the odds were a shit as they could be. Still. This was all part of the n. Well¡­ not that I was nning to get my ass handed to me in only two hits. But if Mak Tung wanted to buy cheap bets on me, now was the time. All I had to do after that was somehow turn this match around and then lose when no one expected. At the moment, however, that was sounding like a damn pipe dream. At least for a normal cultivator anyway. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate me,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯m just getting started.¡± There was no time to mess around. I needed to pull out all the stops if I wanted to be able to stand toe to toe with her. ¡°[Mark of the Demon],¡± I whispered. ¡°[Spectral Body].¡± My Frenzy surged as my body morphed both physically and spiritually. As my horns grew inside my helmet, my inner soul emerged for all to see. The crowd reacted with a chorus of oo¡¯s and ah¡¯s and Tai Su Long followed right along with them. ¡°So the beast finally reveals itself after an early thrashing,¡± he said as if narrating a damn y. ¡°Can our fair Little Princess stand against such a fiend? Come Little Princess, show us your courage!¡± The crowd shifted to whistles and cheers at that and Rhe Su Long took the time to give the crowd a salute with her spectral spear. Theypped up the silly pantomime even more, showering her with praises. I decided to give the crowd a one-fingered salute of my own and they switched to boo¡¯s. ¡°Such an uncivilized brute!¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°Let us pray to the heavens for divine punishment of this abomination in the form of our great Lady Rhe Su Long¡¯s justice!¡± They cheered again and I wondered for a moment if Rhe Su Long wasn¡¯t cultivating some form of lemonade of her own from the crowd. One thing was for certain though. I was sure as hell generating some lemonade in her. ¡°The form of your Sacred Soul pleases me greatly, Iron Bull,¡± she said with a suggestive leer. ¡°I would wee that romp in the spectral realm with you.¡± ¡°Yeah, in your damn dreams, bitch!¡± I said, cycling my Frenzy to send a solid chunk to my jing. ¡°[Lightning Drill of Fury]!¡± I shot at her like a missile, corkscrewing through the air with [Frenzied Lightning]. The move took her by surprise, and I connected with the attack, spiraling into her armored chest te. I pushed her back across the arena as I poured on the juice, increasing my spin to try and break through her defenses. ¡°[River¡¯s Ford]!¡± I was knocked out of my technique by a tidal wave of water emanating from Rhe Su Long¡¯s spear as she thrust it into the sky, sending two walls of water cresting from either side of her. The force sent me back across the arena again. I rolled to my feet as the tsunami subsided and to my surprise, I was bone dry. Shit, I thought. Was that wave made out of Qi? Rhe Su Long looked none the worse for wear from my attack. She flew back towards me, riding her dragon casually. ¡°Not bad,¡± she said. ¡°But you¡¯re nowhere near strong enough to defeat me.¡± Her words did nothing but stir the ire percting in my soul. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen my true strength yet¡­¡± ¡°And you haven¡¯t seen mine,¡± she said and with a wave of her spear, her spectral body took on an even greater luminescence. ¡°I have mastered the Legendary River Dragon Rider technique, a style thought impossible to reproduce after the great sage Kai Su Long invented it over 900 years ago. My spectral body is imprable and my celestial spear capable of piercing the armor of any god that stands against me. My technique and prowess is invincible.¡± She then paused to huff out a dismissive scoff. ¡°You fail to understand. I am not just a prodigy, Bull Man, I am the reincarnation of a Legendary Saint. My time on this mortal ne will be a short one. My true destiny lies within the celestial heavens, alongside the Great Soul Emperor and Kai Su Long himself. I seek only the pleasures this world has to offer, before I move on and leave it and all you petty mortals behind.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I was rocked back on my heels by whole-new level of cultivator depravity. I¡¯d always wondered about the celestial realm and what the draw was for people who sought to ascend to it. But to hear itid out like that, sounded like the most selfish, evil shit in the world. ¡°Again,¡± I said with [Indifference]. ¡°Cool story, sis, but I don¡¯t really give a shit. My destiny lies in defeating the Hell Worlds and thening back to curb-stomp selfish, arrogant cultivators like you.¡± My words tapped into the root of my Twin Dao. If this was the kind of people I was fighting the Hell Worlds to save, then no way could I let the empire stand. Rhe Su Long was staring at me iprehensibly. ¡°You¡­ you wish to do what to me? Kur Xom?¡± Shit, I thought. Damn English words messing up my ¡®I¡¯m gonna kick your ass¡¯ speech, but no matter. ¡°Forget about it,¡± I said, cycling my frenzy. ¡°I¡¯ll show you in anguage you¡¯ll be sure to understand¡­ pain.¡± I flew at her with [Ride the Lightning], preparing to fight her in the air. She coiled her dragon swiftly, deflecting my strike with her spear. I pulled my Axe back out then. If she wanted a fight, I was going to give her one. I went through my martial forms, in midair, keeping myself aloft with [Lightning Walk]. She responded with violent spins on the Dragon, meeting my lightning charged strikes with swift parries and countering thrusts with her spear. I took care to avoid it now. Although the Berserker in me wanted nothing more than to face-tank it and chop her in half, I had to respect what she¡¯d said. That spear already proved capable of piercing through my [Soul Shield], and I would put it past her to try that move again. We shed back and forth, our Sacred Souls flying across the air above the arena like a pair ofbating gods. Hell, we were pretty much near that in reality. Lightning and sparks flew as we shed again and again. Her spear tip grazed me more than once and I could feel the tremendous power behind even her normal strikes. I wished to hell I could pull out [Mark of the Beast] to equal her speed, but she was observant and that might be taking it a step too far, especially in front of a crowd like this. Still, my [Mark of the Demon] was proving invaluable. Where she was slicing through my defenses before, now with my techniques being supercharged, they were at least holding up. I risked a nce at the scoreboard.
The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 8:1 Time - 22:38
Little Princess Iron Bull
17 2
Shit! That score wasn¡¯t going in the right direction. Rhe Su Long came at me again, blurring with speed. It took all my wherewithal just to keep track of her, much less parry and counter, all while keeping aloft with [Lightning Walk]. The pain of her strikes was overwhelming, and even the ncing blows were causing internal damage, filling my mouth with the taste of blood. I cultivated the pain and endured it with [Indifference] as I focused on the root of my Twin Dao. Facing the burning Hell Worlds to protect the entitlement of an arrogant bitch like this? No freaking way! I screamed with my techniques,shing out in every direction. ¡°[Struggler¡¯s Lightning Cleave of Fury]!¡± ¡°[Lightning Two Log Chop]!¡± ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± But none of it was hitting. She was just too damn fast. I looked to the score again.
The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 27:1 Time - 17:42
Little Princess Iron Bull
35 4
Ah, to hell with it, I thought. I wasn¡¯t going to win this standing on only one leg. ¡°[Mark of the Beast]¡­¡± As my limbs and canines elongated, the world suddenly slowed, and I could see Rhe Su Long moving at normal speed again. Hell yeah! I tapped into my Frenzy reserves with renewed vigor, going all out with my techniques. She was skilled but she wasn¡¯t anticipating my sudden quantum leap in speed. I deflected one of her spear thrusts with my axe and then struck her with a ive swing I had initiated moments before. The odd timing threw her off and I finally felt the edge of an upper hand. I initiated another Iron Pot Wong stylebo and faked her out with a ncing blow from my axe before opening her up for a powerful overhead strike from my ive. I backed it up with as much Frenzy as I could muster. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± My ive struck her armored Spectral body on the shoulder, and it cut through this time, the de finding her true self hidden within. Rhe Su Long let out a surprised yelp and then retreated a hundred feet or more in a sh. She touched her face and then looked at her fingers. ¡°You¡­ you actually made me bleed...¡± She said it like it was something impossible, like it was something that went against thews of the universe itself. For the briefest of moments, I sensed feare from inside her, and I wondered then if putting on both [Marks] was a good idea. I looked again to the score.
The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 22:1 Time - 11:29
Little Princess Iron Bull
78 12
My odds had improved slightly, but my score not nearly enough. And my time was running out as well. Shit! ¡°I was going to go easy on you, seeing as this was nothing personal,¡± Rhe Su Long said in her creepy tween voice mixed with the venom of a madwoman. ¡°But no one harms me like this. NO ONE!¡± As she screamed the words, her Spectral Body transformed, her lower half merging with the body of the dragon to turn the giant armor-ted woman into a kind of mermaid, only with the lower body of a snake instead of a fish. The crowd was on their feet with excitement as Tai Su Long took back the mic. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± he screamed. ¡°A surprise from the Little Princess, giving us the honor of taking on the highest form of the River Dragon Rider technique. Twin soulsbined! The ultimate River God Naga Form! The Iron Bull¡¯s insolence has pushed her to her limits and now he will face the full wrath of the Twin River n!¡± Rhe Su Long screamed like a harpy and then slithered toward me with the speed of a bullet train. Even with my heightened agility it was all I could do to sidestep her, but she followed up quickly with a swipe of her tail. It struck me so hard my teeth cked, and I went flying end over end. More pain ensued as she flew fast enough across the battlefield to intercept me and then mmed her serpentine body on top of me. It felt as if I¡¯d been hit by a mountain. I realized that through all my defenses, my innards were crushed. I took another blow from her writhing body as I struggled to stand. My Frenzy was being expended just to keep me on my feet as she went into blur mode again. She¡¯d just leveled up herself and now I was outssed once more. She came at me blow after blow. Even with my [Marks] and [Spectral Projection] I was powerless to do anything about it. The pain was numbing but with it came something more. The pain of regret. The fear of loss. Shit¡­ ¡­Hein. I cursed inwardly for ever thinking I could pull something like this off. And all for what? A damn book? I cried out with anguish, tapping into the depths of my soul to turn it all around. I couldn¡¯t let this all fail! ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in¡ª]!¡± My words were cut short as something hit me right in the chest. Rhe Su Long¡¯s spear tip pierced straight through all my physical defenses, hitting my me. I cked out for a moment and then came to, hanging in mid air, the translucent spear impaling me as my limbs iled weakly. Even though it wasn¡¯t physically injuring me, the pain was excruciating. I was unable to breathe. My weapons had already fallen to the ground. I was dangling helplessly as my sputtering me struggled to keep me alive through [Death¡¯s Door]. Rhe Su Long stared up at me through the translucent form of the giant armored woman. ¡°This ended far more violently than I would have liked,¡± she said. ¡°But you left me no choice. I hope you see now why fighting me was always pointless.¡± She then lowered me towards herself and slowly removed my helmet. Shit! To my surprise it came straight off, unhindered by my horns. Rhe Su Long smiled up at me as my mask ttered to the ground. ¡°Rx,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re not dead, you know? My technique is merely immobilizing your core.¡± I winced and wheezed as I struggled to cycle my Frenzy, but indeed her spear tip was acting like some kind of circuit breaker within my system, stopping me from restarting my me. Although in a way, it was a god send. It had at least knocked out my [Marks] making me purely human again for when she removed my Bull mask. ¡°Looks like this is the end!¡± Tai Su Long shouted. ¡°The Little Princess is toying with her prey before the final strike!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not toote for you to reconsider my offer,¡± she said with a sickeningly-sweet dose of cringy lemonade. ¡°What say you? A spiritual romp? Or even a real one, if you like.¡± My stomach lurched again, and I actually vomited this time. Hot puke and bile gushed out of my mouth and fell right on Rhe Su Long¡¯s face. The little girl screamed in shock and revulsion. Her armored Sacred Soul form flickered out of existence, leaving me to fall twenty feet to the ground,nding straight on my face. Iy there stunned for a moment as the entire crowd went silent. Rhe Su Long¡¯s shrill cries echoed throughout the stadium. I barely came to myself, finding my Frenzy again. As I staggered to my feet, Rhe Su Long, the twelve-year-old, was there shaking, covered in my vomit. The smell finally got to her and she gagged. She put a hand to her mouth, letting out a retch and then sprinted out of the arena, heading for the changing rooms. She got all of halfway before she began vomiting all over herself, leaving a trail of puke in her wake as she stumbled through the crowds, causing a mini stampede as people fled from her. ¡°What a dastardly technique!¡± Tai Su Long shouted. ¡°The Iron Bull should be condemned for that dishonorable act! We will need an official ruling on this!¡± I was still only half paying attention, my body slowly recovering as I wobbled on my feet. I then looked to the score board.
The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 75:1 Time - 3:12
Little Princess Iron Bull
198 22
Holy Shit¡­ What a damn score. I looked up at the floating dais where the princess was, to see Tai Su Long arguing furiously with a man in imperial robes. After nearly a minute the princess finally stood. ¡°Enough!¡± she shouted, her voice echoing across the stadium even without a mic. ¡°I will rule on this matter. This is but an exhibition match, but the rules of tournamentpetition are clear. If you leave the ring you are disqualified.¡± Tai Su Long fell to his knees before her, pleadingly. ¡°I will not hear of it!¡± she shouted. ¡°Does a warrior flee from the battlefield if her opponent tosses sand in her face? Or even bile? This entire match was a disgrace. I dere the Iron Bull the winner by default. Thepetition is over!¡± The scoreboard changed a final time.
The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 75:1 Time - 3:12
Little Princess Iron Bull
Disqualified 22
Winner The Iron Bull
I stared at the screen perplexed. Oh shit¡­ the deal¡­! I wasn¡¯t supposed to win. * * * The gravity of the situation began to sink in as I ran to the edge of the arena, heart in my throat. Not only had I not beaten Rhe Su Long fairly, but she had pretty much beaten my ass to a pulp. Yet still I had won. And failed. I looked for where Mak Tung might be. The bookies! A wall of hate, insults and curses hit me as I pushed through the crowd. People spat at me like a pariah, yelling obscenities. It was all I could do to shield myself with [Indifference] and [Mask of the Despised]. My mind was reeling as for what I would even do when I found Mak Tung. Would he be understanding that I lost all his money? Could I cut another deal? I entered the makeshift hut where the bookies were. ¡°Hey,¡± I said to one of them. ¡°You guys seen a guy with shark teeth and ck eyes, full of tattoos? Goes by Mak Tung.¡± The man¡¯s eyes widened at me. ¡°You!¡± he shouted. ¡°You get your filthy, dishonorable ass out of here! You damn cheat!¡± ¡°Look, man, I just need to know if you¡¯ve seen him.¡± ¡°Mak Tung took off screaming like banshee the moment the match ended,¡± another man said from behind the counter. ¡°After the results, I¡¯m pretty sure you can guess why.¡± My stomach dropped through the floor as my worst fears were confirmed. There was only one answer. My blood ran cold with the stark realization of the truth. Mak Tung was rushing back to kill Hein. Book 4: Chapter 15 Trying to push through a crowd while remaining incognito was damn near impossible. I finally gave up on the incognito part altogether, dropping [Mask of the Despised] and just going for broke, pushing and shoving people while yelling for them to get out of my way. The response was more curses and insults, with people threatening to do all kinds of crazy shit to my ancestors. I couldn¡¯t give a damn. My mind was focused on only one thing. Beat Mak Tung back to his hideout. I wasn¡¯t sure how much of a lead he had on me, but I would stop at nothing to get there first. The pushing and shoving helped distract me from the thoughts that were spiking in the back of my mind though. I was already reeling from my defeat, but on top of that I had the guilt of carelessly hanging Hein¡¯s life in the bnce, betting on the [Odds Being Against Me] to see me through. Shit, was I wrong¡­ A lump of fear rose in my throat.I didn¡¯t know if I was even in any condition to fight Mak Tung. I barely had enough Frenzy reserves left to keep upright and my me was still struggling to recover from that spectral spear attack. Even now, I could still feel the residual effects of the thing being stuck in my chest like bad heartburn. Not in the best of shape, I thought. But I had to prepare for another battle nheless. If I was even given that chance. Visions of me arriving to find Hein already in gued my mind. No¡­ I didn¡¯t want to think about it. I had to hurry! I finally got to some open road and was about to pump some Frenzy toy on the speed when a hand like iron caught me by the cor and pulled me dead to a stop. I was about toy into whoever the hell it was, thinking it was perhaps Mak Tung, but I was shocked to see the ornate ceremonial robes of Governor Tai Su Long instead. ¡°Running away like the rat you are, eh?¡± he said with a piercing re. ¡°This is not over, Bull Man. You have caused my n to lose much face this day!¡± I was about to shrug off his grip, but then tempered my soul with [Indifference] instead. I was already in enough trouble and thest thing I needed was topound it by giving this fool a reason to detain me further. ¡°Governor,¡± I said with as much humility as I could muster. ¡°Please, I have somewhere I need to be. We can talk about my punishment when I return to the ship. I well deserve it, I know.¡± I said the words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and the sincerity of my tone caused him to pause. I did indeed consider myself worthy of punishment, but not for what he thought. I couldn¡¯t give a shit about his n¡¯s honor or them losing face. But I deserved all the punishment in the world for what I¡¯d done to Hein. I just prayed I could get to him in time. To take the punishment for him. Tai Su Long harrumphed and held his head in the air. ¡°You¡¯ve done more damage than you know. I¡¯ll be meeting with the princess to discuss how you can atone for this sin.¡± ¡°So be it. Can I go now?¡± He red at me like he wanted to rip my head off, but finally he released my robes. ¡°We¡¯ve been ordered by the princess to depart before dawn. Your failure now extends to the entire battalion. I¡¯ll be speaking to both General Gong and your superior officer, Senior toon Commander Jei Su Long, to decide your fate.¡± Just the mention of his stupid nephew caused more ire to brew in my soul, but I was in no position to be angry at anyone else besides myself right now. Tai Su Long finally released his grip. ¡°Go,¡± he said. ¡°And if you decide to turn coward and not return to the ship, I will ensure you are not just hunted down, but executed for abandoning your post.¡± I red at him, but instead of saying anything, simply ran off. His threats meant nothing to me. The was only one execution I was concerned about stopping right now. Hein¡¯s. * * * I yearned for the Struggler¡¯s sweet embrace as I raced through the city at top speed, but not even he couldfort me right now. I cycled my Franzy constantly, trying to reignite my me after the spiritual disruption of Rhe Su Long¡¯s spear. I finally got enough juice flowing to get above the rooftops using [Lightning Walk], but I had to stop short of [Ride the Lightning]. My Dantian just couldn¡¯t take it right now. Shit¡­I¡¯ll just have to make due, I thought. I sprinted through the air with sparks flying from my feet. I finally saw Mak Tung¡¯s hideout up ahead and my heart dropped when I saw his entire gang gathered in the courtyard and riled up for a fight. They were all screaming and hollering with a massive bonfire burning in the center of the main square. I prayed with all my might that Hein wouldn¡¯t be on a stake in the middle of it. As I got closer, I actually spotted him. Hein! He was with Mak Tung and Captain Lin Fei. They were all seated behind a table or altar it looked like, with Hein and Lin Fei perhaps tied to their chairs. An execution, waiting to happen. Damit¡­ The bastard was waiting for me to return to kill him right in front of me? To hell with that! He was in for a rude awakening if he thought I¡¯d just allow something like that to happen. I leapt over the perimeter wall of thepound with [Lightning Walk] and crashnded right before all three of them in a flurry of sparks and dust. I pumped my Frenzy with [Fear the me], putting on as much bravado as possible to hopefully back him into quick submission. Although I¡¯d lost to Rhe Su Long, he¡¯d seen my strength in action, and he didn¡¯t need to know I was running on near empty. For all he knew, I was more than capable of going toe to toe with him. ¡°You touch Hein and you¡¯re a dead man, Mak Tung!¡± I shouted and the entirepound went silent. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences elsewhere. The roar of the bonfire behind me was all that could be heard as Mak Tung cocked his head quizzically at me. He shared a quick nce with Captain Lin Fei and a subtle smile crept upon her lips. What the hell? Had she turned against us? I then looked to Hein, and he was grinning as well. Now, I was really confused. ¡°You daree into my home and demand my death after you renege on your end of the bargain?¡± Mak Tung rose from his chair and drew a long cus from his waist as he slowly stepped towards me. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I haven¡¯t ughtered him already.¡± I readied my axe, fortifying myself with [Steel Skin]. He then stopped short of me. ¡°Do you know why I haven¡¯t killed him yet?¡± I grimaced and cycled my Frenzy. ¡°Because you just made me filthy rich, bitch!!¡± He let out a howling cackle and the entirepound joined in with him, hooting and hollering again. At the table, Hein and Captain Lin Fei wereughing as well. I suddenly felt like the dumbest kid at school as the punch line went right over my head. Mak Tung sheathed his sword and then slugged me on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯d be within my rights to kill the both of you for how bad you messed up this whole thing, but damn it if you didn¡¯t pull aeback from the pits of hell! Vomit in her face? Genius! Who does something like that?!¡± Moreughs and hollers ensued. ¡°Damn effective though,¡± Mak Tung said raising a bottle to me. ¡°Well yed, Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± I said, still dumbfounded. ¡°Wasn¡¯t an actual y, but I¡ª¡± ¡°Who gives a shit now?!¡± he said. ¡°I was hoping to maybe make five or ten times my money with the switch back. But when you started losing like hell, I knew no way were you going to pull it off. But I damn well waited, hoping. And then, from out of nowhere. Boom! Puke to the face! Instant victory!¡± His gang cheered for him again. ¡°So, you still made money?¡± I said. ¡°Made money?¡± He let out anotherugh. ¡°Bull Man, I came this close to ripping up those bets,¡± he said, pinching his thumb and forefinger together. ¡°But son of a bitch! 75 to 1? Can you believe that? I had to run the hell out of that betting booth with my winnings, before they all tried to kill me. I must have bankrupted three royal families today.¡± I was rocked back on my heels as the situation became clear in my mind. I hadn¡¯t been thinking straight. I was so stressed out about getting my ass kicked and possibly getting Hein killed that I didn¡¯t even consider what winning the match outright might have done. I fell to my knees exhausted and thankful. me, you pulled it off again, I thought. Captain Lin Fei and Hein came to join me, pping me on the back. ¡°Hein, I¡¯m so sorry, man. I really shouldn¡¯t have pushed you into this. I was no match for that girl. Or woman. Or whatever the hell she is.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t win out right,¡± Hein said. ¡°I have to admit, I took out some insurance on you, so don¡¯t feel too badly.¡± I looked up at him shocked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I bet against the n,¡± Hein said. ¡°Knowing how hot headed you are, just in case you couldn¡¯t control yourself and still ended up beating the hell out of her instead of throwing the match, I bet for you to win. That way I¡¯d have money to pay Mak Tung off and not kill me. Didn¡¯t go as I nned, but I made the same odds off you as Mak Tung, 75 to 1, so I guess for that, I can consider your debt of being a total dumbass paid.¡± Heughed then and I stiltedughed with him. ¡°You fail upwards, every time,¡± he said. ¡°What was it you said your schr friend calls you? The mystery that is Chun?¡± He paused for anotherugh. ¡°Anyway, I knew you¡¯d figure it out somehow.¡± Figure it out? I couldn¡¯t im credit for that, but damn was the entire experience humbling. I stayed there on my knees while everyone in Mak Tung¡¯s gang pped me on the back and ruffled my hair like I was a team mascot or something. And for as bad as I had performed, yet still seeded, I probably was one. ¡°Come on,¡± Mak Tung said, dragging me off my knees. ¡°Enough sulking. When fate throws an unexpected peach in yourp, enjoy it!¡± He pulled up a chair to the table and sat me down. Music began to y as wine and whiskey flowed. I still couldn¡¯t believe what had happened. Five minutes ago, I was fearing for Hein¡¯s life but now he was clinking cups andughing with Mak Tung¡ªhis would be executioner. ¡°Oh!¡± Mak Tung said, reaching into his robes. ¡°Before I forget. Here. Your payment.¡± He tossed me the cultivation manual. I looked at it nearly beside myself. A dozen small pages of life-changing information that was perhaps one match and a couple of months of preparation toote. Losing to Rhe Su Long made me realize the jumps between tiers in the Sacred Soul Realm were perhaps two or three times that of those between Core Tiers. I was expecting a challenge, but not to get floor-wiped by her. A bit of that was due to the false advertising by Tai Su Long as well. It was supposed to be an even match, but there was nothing even about it. Rhe Su Long was a 9th Tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator, and up against that, a fledgling 1st Tier like me should perhaps have lost, if not be killed. Which is perhaps what Governor Tai Su Long wanted. But it was sobering in more ways than that as well. As I reflected on what had happened some more, I realized the me was indeed guiding me, but not in the way I had thought. My lesson wasn¡¯t just correction for the hubris of thinking I could tackle any battle, ill prepared. It was confirmation that I needed the knowledge in this manual more than ever. And it had seen me through to obtain it. Bless the me, I thought. ¡°I¡¯ll have this back to you by morning,¡± I said. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ll skip the festivities to go meditate and memorize this.¡± ¡°Forget it!¡± Mak Tung said. ¡°You know how much money you just made me? That¡¯s yours to keep. Let it help you in winning against the Little Princess next time.¡± Heughed and I chuckled a bit. ¡°Thank you. Doesn¡¯t feel fully earned, but I appreciate it.¡± ¡°To tell you the truth, you did a lot better than you think,¡± he said. ¡°The little princess rarely pulls out her Naga form, even forpetitors in her Tier Realm and Bracket. The fact that you were able to do it at your level says Hein was right to think you might have actually won against her.¡± That made me feel a bit better. I realized something else then. My bout with Rhe Su Long was like a preparatory fight. The Warden back home was about on her same level. And she had a couple hundred years of experience on her to boot. And no way would she be grossed out by some puke either. I flipped through the manual and thought about my journey ahead. I not only had to survive the Hell Worlds. I would need to use my exposure there as a form of cultivation as well. I needed to get to at least 5th tier to face the Warden, possibly more. I looked through the manual again. My me burned with the eagerness of knowledge and advancement, spurred on by my humbling loss. ¡°If its all the same with you,¡± I said, starting to rise. ¡°I¡¯m still going to start reading.¡± Mak Tung¡¯s dark eyes shed. He stood quickly to shove me back down. ¡°Like hell you are!¡± he said. ¡°You don¡¯t make over 350,000 spirit stones in a single day and not celebrate with a night of drunken stupidity! Now sit your ass down and enjoy your damn self!¡± ¡°Yes, Iron Bull,¡± Lin Fei said, pouring me another drink. ¡°Let¡¯s celebrate your victory. Vomit and all!¡± Sheughed good naturedly and Hein toasted to me as well. ¡°To the Iron bull. May no obstacle stand in your path!¡± ¡°To the Iron Bull!¡± Ah, what the hell, I thought and slugged back a shot of whiskey. As the fiery liquid went down my throat, I rxed a little. One night of partying couldn¡¯t hurt. And we were off by dawn anyway. Best to make the most of it. A smile finally returned to my face as Hein poured me another drink. ¡°Thank the heavens for people who are smarter than me,¡± I said with a salute. ¡°To the gamblers who won, despite the Chun.¡± * * * It was the early hours of the morning by the time Hein, Captain Lin Fei and I rolled onto the massive square where our drop skiffs were being prepped forunch. The ce was abuzz with activity, with soldiers busy stowing gear and making ready for our departure. I was swimming on my feet by that time, half-stered and grinning like an idiot. Hein and Captain Lin Fei were in much worse condition, leaning on each other for support as we made our way inside thepound. Thebination of alcohol andughter had taken the sting out of my loss, but as I sobered up just enough to catch the looks from some of the soldiers that passed by me, I had some of that sting suddenly reappear. People were ring at me and the contempt in their souls was palpable. Even when I finally left Hein and Lin Fei to find my own toon, I could sense something was off. My men were overly quiet around me, giving me only polite smiles and bows of respect. The elephant in the room was my unworthy win, no doubt. But no one said anything out of respect, or perhaps shame. ¡°Ah, so he finally shows up!¡± I didn¡¯t need to turn about to know it was the bane of my existence approaching. Unlike the rest of my men, Jei Su Long had no reservations when it came to disrespecting me. ¡°Legionnaires!¡± he shouted. ¡°Let us thank the Junior toon Commander here for our speedy departure from civilization. It is due to his ill-gotten win, that the Princess herself has now ejected us from her domain. Come, let us apud him.¡± He began pping and then barked for my men to do the same. They responded with half-hearted golf ps, humoring him. ¡°Nice,¡± I said. ¡°Did uncle Tai teach you that one?¡± The idiot looked surprised, like I hadn¡¯t just endured Tai Su Long doing the same to me mere hours ago in the ring. He became flustered then and quickly said, ¡°Were you a true prodigy, we would no doubt have been rewarded with another week of shore leave for a true victory in the ring.¡± I was going to let it slide with [Indifference], but to hell with that. ¡°I say its good timing,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Or have you forgotten we¡¯re still on a mission here? Every day we waste getting to the Hell Worlds is another inch of ground that we have to retake in sweat and blood. Blood that¡¯s already been shed by our brothers and sisters who ventured before us.¡± Jei Su Long harrumphed. ¡°Then even more blood shall be on your hands, Junior Commander.¡± I scowled at him. ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± ¡°Sins must be atoned for,¡± he said. ¡°And in this case, ites in the form of the entire battalion.¡± I looked to my men, but they seemed as dumbfounded as I was. Jei Su Long onlyughed. ¡°We have another pitstop to make thanks to you,¡± he said. ¡°And I¡¯m certain you will not enjoy it.¡± Book 4: Chapter 16 Fia breathed in deeply, and centered her Qi, as Sister Mei Mai began to y subtle chords on the Guzheng. They were in the gymnasium as usual, with her mother and Zu Tien looking on as the two sisters, Sei Mai and Mei Mai, acted as both instructors and invigtors of her mastery of the Hidden Sword Dancer art. She swayed with the gentle tempo of the music, just as she had been practicing for over a week now. Their sessions in the gymnasium were rtively short, about three hours each time, thanks to the distraction Gui Zu and Ju Gong provided to keep her father away, but after the sisters left, Fia would remain for another eight hours on her own, practicing all she had learned that morning. Today was the final test of all those efforts. ¡°Go all out, Zu Tien,¡± Fia said as she prepared herself. She lifted the painted fans in her hands to take the First Form of the technique. ¡°Strike as if this were truebat.¡± ¡°Are you certain, my Lady?¡± Zu Tien looked as nervous as she was, ncing down at her stomach. Fia was wearing the mummer¡¯s robes, and while her growing abdomen was barely visible, both she and Zu Tien knew the risks of her striking there. Even identally. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Fia said, stoking her confidence. ¡°I am certain. You may proceed.¡± With a quick nod, Zu Tien dropped into the low stance of the 3rd Martial form of the Hidden Leaf arts. Fia forced herself not to react by adopting the countering 5th Form. She was not here to defeat Zu Tien as a practitioner of the Silver Leaf Arts.She was here to prove her mastery as a true Hidden Sword Dancer. Carefully, she adjusted her fans. ¡°Come!¡± Fia shouted and Zu Tien let out a battle cry. The younger woman pitched forward, executing a lunging strike with her wooden jian de. Fia forced herself not to move. She had already made the preparation, performing the Hidden Sword Dancer technique subtly. Now all she had to do. Was not move. She closed her eyes briefly and like magic, Zu Tien¡¯s strike hit exactly where Fia had intended. The jian de touched the outer tip of the fan in her right hand. She was so thrilled that it had worked, that she nearly forgot to twitch the fan in her left hand, to distract Zu Tien¡¯s next attack. As the second attack too went astray, Fia shifted her body slowly to the next position. She outstretched her arms, putting them as far away from the center of her body as possible. She again twitched the fans and Zu Tien¡¯s attacks hit where she had directed them. She focused on the rhythm of Mei Mai¡¯s Guzheng as she controlled the pace. Fia moved faster and Zu Tien¡¯s attacks did the same. After a volley of nearly six attacks at once, Fia lowered the tempo, and Zu Tien¡¯s attacks followed suit. Her heart soared with aplishment and her confidence grew. The sparring session went on for another ten minutes, with Fia gettingfortable with the newfound power of the technique. She was barely moving at all, the routine effortless. Meanwhile, Zu Tien was visibly tiring. Fia finally drew the battle to a close and Mei Mai ended the song with a finishing strum. In the absence of the music, the only thing that could be heard was the panting of Zu Tien as she rested her hands on her knees, struggling to catch her breath. ¡°That¡­ that was incredible, mistress,¡± she said in between gulps for air. ¡°I¡­ I could not hit you at all!¡± Fia smiled. The test was a sess. ¡°Well done, Lady Silver Light,¡± Sei Mai said, who had been simply observing the entire time. ¡°It is quite the aplishment. I would say you have well near mastered the technique.¡± ¡°And in only a week!¡± Mei Mai said with a smile. ¡°You prove your mother urate. You are indeed a diligent and skillful practitioner.¡± ¡°And a hard worker,¡± her mother, Rhi Dong added. ¡°Well done, daughter. All of your extra training has paid off.¡± Fia bowed deeply to them all. ¡°It was via your instruction and support, that I advanced so quickly. Thank you all.¡± ¡°Now then,¡± Sei Mai said, stepping forward. ¡°The basics are aplished. Now to the task we truly came for. You can battle one foe. But can you do the same for three?¡± Fia furrowed her brow with determination and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m ready to try.¡± ¡°Perhaps we shall start with just two,¡± her mother said, dropping into a martial stance next to Zu Tien. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Although physically, Fia had barely broken a sweat, mentally she wasn¡¯t certain if she was prepared. Still, there was no way to know how far she was from her goal without trying it first. They waited a moment more for Zu Tien to catch her breath and recover and then started the sparring match anew. Mei Mai yed the tune and Fia took her position. Both Zu Tien and her mother attacked simultaneously, and Fia twitched both fans. To her relief, they struck separate ones. Fia, moved positions to reset, spinning a half turn and moving both fans again. Zu Tien missed and her mother struck the same fan, missing as well. It was working. Fia kept it up for two more rounds, keeping both Zu Tien and her mother in sight. Her mother then circled behind her and in an instant, she felt the cold tap of wood on her shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re hit,¡± Mei Mai said, stopping the song. ¡°But not bad at the beginning.¡± ¡°Try again,¡± Rhi Dong said. They reset and yed out the scenario three more times. In each one, Fia managed to keep control for but a few rounds before one of them nked her. Other times they both struck different fan locations, leaving her vulnerable for the next volley. ¡°It¡¯s no use,¡± Fia said. ¡°I¡¯d need another set of arms to defend against the both of you.¡± ¡°Make that two more sets,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°Two?¡± Fia asked. ¡°If you intend to face three attackers that is.¡± Fia huffed out a sigh. Defeat was looming above her, but she would not give in yet. While they took a break, Fia looked down at the fans. They were the key to the technique. The main distraction. But unless she could keep more than one set of eyes transfixed on them, the whole n was useless. Then suddenly a thought urred. ¡°Do you have more fans?¡± Fia asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°Do you wish to try a different set?¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°No,¡± Fia said. ¡°I have another idea.¡± It took her close to half an hour to set up, but Fia collected three more wooden jian des from the walls of the gymnasium and then painstakingly tied the extra fans to them with long pieces of ribbon. She resumed her stance, but this time tapped into her Silver Leaf techniques. At her level of advancement, she could control but three des with her Qi. Lifting her fans, she did the same with her des, elevating them in the air and turning them to give three more targets. Her mother, Rhi Dong smiled. ¡°I knew you would think of something. You were never one to let a challenge ovee you. Clever girl. Well done.¡± Fia blushed inwardly. It was rare to get such an unabashedplement from her mother. ¡°I see the concept,¡± Mei Mai said, studying the three, levitating fan-des. ¡°But the question is, can you actually make it work?¡± Controlling the des was second nature to Fia now, a splitting of her subconscious to move with muscle memory through the various forms and techniques she had practiced since she was Su Ling¡¯s age. But now, she would have to employ them through very different movements and be able to keep a third eye out for her would-be attackers as well. She gave it a go, dropping into the First Form of the Hidden Sword Dancer Art. It was all overwhelming and she felt as if she were trying to do a hundred things all at once, but slowly she went through the basic forms of the Hidden Sword Dancer technique and began to employ the three extra fans. Having a fourth would be ideal, but she had only advanced to the point of being able to control three swords at yet. After a few more rotations, Fia took a deep breath and looked to her mother and Zu Tien. ¡°There is only one way to know for certain,¡± Fia said. ¡°Come at me, both of you.¡± Fia assumed her stance as Mei Mai began strumming the Guzheng. As Rhi Dong and Zu Tien advanced, Fia utilized all five fans, twitching them at different moments while keeping her body out of harm¡¯s way with slow sweeping motions and turns. Their jian des hit nothing but air and a spark of excitement rushed through her. Rhi Dong circled to her back and Fia split her consciousness to direct two of her jian des there. She went through the motions, and misdirected attacks from both the front and behind. Fia then switched positions, putting Rhi Dong at her front and leaving the less skilled Zu Tien to content with the semi-autonomous fan-des floating at her back. The result allowed her to go three more rounds before she finally missed a movement with her des, while also trying to move her hands and Zu Tien tagged her from behind. Fia copsed to her knees, more mentally exhausted than physically. A round of apuse came from the Mai sisters as well as Zu Tien. ¡°That was amazing, young mistress!¡± Zu Tien said. ¡°Indeed,¡± Sei Mai echoed her. ¡°You seem to have created a new style.¡± Rhi Dong smiled, but gave a harrumph. ¡°Let us not celebrate too quickly. She has proved the concept can work, but she is far from mastery. Plus, she will be fighting three opponents, not two and would have but a single fan to defend against the third.¡± ¡°Can she not advance in her sword techniques as well?¡± Zu Tien asked. ¡°I believe in the Lady Silver Light. Nothing is out of her reach if she puts her mind to it.¡± Fia suddenly felt the path ahead of her double. Learning a new technique andbining it with another was one thing, but a breakthrough like what Zu Tien spoke of would require an advancement of both spirit and soul. ¡°That might be a bit out of my reach for now, Zu Tien,¡± Fia said. ¡°Advancing a new sword rank is not easy.¡± ¡°It may be, if all you are learning to do with it is turn a fan,¡± Rhi Dong said. Fia looked to her mother dumbfounded. ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°This is not an advancement tournament you are preparing for,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°You simply need to beat those three girls in a court ofw and protect your baby in the process. Do whatever you need to do to win. Partial mastery and all.¡± Fia smiled as she felt her mother¡¯s growing support. ¡°I will teach you the 4th sword technique,¡± she said. ¡°Sei Mai and Mei Mai will continue to help you master thebining of the Hidden Sword Dancer and Silver Leaf forms to prepare you to face three opponents.¡± It still felt like a tall order. It was less than six weeks until the court date now. But she had mastered the basics of the Hidden Sword Dancer technique in only one. But could she do it? She would have to work twice as hard now, if not more, to achieve her goal. Right¡­It was only two breakthroughs at once, Fia thought with chagrin. But then she thought of Max. She need only survive thisst ordeal long enough for him to return. Finally, she nodded. ¡°Alright,¡± she said. ¡°I will learn both.¡± She then raised her fan-des again. ¡°We start now.¡± * * * I stood on the inner deck of the Xin Long at attention with the rest of my toon. It¡¯d been three hours since our departure from Lu Shui Prime and we were already deep into space. Or so the Qi disy hovering above the assembled battalion was showing us. There, in crude pictograms, was a dragon which represented us, moving along a line which led to something called Mijin Gate, ording to the disy. I was still a little drunk and dead tired from no sleep, but I spent a bit of Frenzy to keep myself alert. After five more minutes of waiting, the top brass entered, and we all gave salutes to greet them. General Gong entered first, followed by Captain Li Jeng and finally Governor Tai Su Long. I would have expected to see that asshole Jai Su Long following right behind his uncle, if he were not already position at the head of our toon as the Senior Commander. Still, the words he said earlier haunted me and the constant smirk on his face said that he¡¯d already been in a closed-door meeting with the General and Captain Li Jeng already. ¡°Battalion!¡± General Gong addressed us. ¡°Listen carefully. This assembly will serve as a debrief of our recent stay on Lu Shui Prime as well as preparation for the next leg of our journey. You will be pleased to know that, due to a new course correction plotted by Captain Li Jeng, we will be but five days away from our arrival at the Hell Worlds. However, this new routees with an additional task.¡± He then cleared his throat and rolled his eyes a little before looking to Tai Su Long. ¡°The Governor here, shall exin.¡± Tai Su Long stepped forward slowly. ¡°I need not remind you all of the embarrassing way we had to depart our core home. I would bbor the point, but be thankful that General Gong has persuaded me otherwise. Know only that there is only one person responsible for this travesty. He, who shall not be named, shall bear his own shame for his pathetic disy of dishonor in the ring. Let us be thankful that there is a highlypetent seniormand of the legionnaires to keep him in check on the true battlefield.¡± My gut lurched with intense anger and rage. That piece of shit¡­ Jei Su Long gave me a sideward nce and I could sense his glee. All around me, I could feel something else though. Hatred from spots, here and there, as Tai Su Long turned the battalion against me. Son of a bitch, I thought inwardly. I wanted nothing more than to run up to him and take his head off, but I suppressed my anger with [Indifference], lightly cultivating the anger and frustration in my soul instead. ¡°Nevertheless,¡± Tai Su Long continued. ¡°A win is a win, in thew of the ring and such was reinforced by our great Princess Rheutera. And as the winner, we, on behalf of the one who shall not be named, have inherited a task that was intended for the defeated and now, unjustifiably disgraced, Lady Rhe Su Long. While it is a personal blow to my family, I as the sponsor of this battalion and you, as her body proper, have been given the opportunity to restore the loss of honor from the damage that, he who shall not be named, has caused.¡± My [Indifference] slipped, and I rolled my eyes at my new, ludicrous title. He who shall not be named¡­? What an asshole, I thought. ¡°The known as Heu Zen has, unfortunately, be thetest casualty in our battle against the Cursed Stars.¡± My anger slipped a little at the mention of that. I instantly perked up. Was this the me again? I thought. ¡°Our Great Soul Emperor has prophesized that a Bloodmoon will soon form in the orbit of this insignificant, mortal world, causing all inhabitants to be unwitting vessels for the demonic horde. In his wisdom, he has tasked Sixth Princess Remh, the youngest sister of our beloved princess Rheutera, with the saving of this backwards before it is toote. As a reward, she will be granted its domain to rule as her own to further expand the empire.¡± Images of me being eight years old again, went through my mind. Pagodas in the night sky. Monsters turned by the Bloodmoon. Turmoil and death. Hopelessness and defeat. This was one of the core roots of my Dao. The empire was about to invade another world. Holy shit¡­ was this happening? ¡°Our task will be a simple one,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°This backwards world will not understand the salvation we bring and will likely resist our help. If this urs, we are to nullify any such resistance, so that the saving of their people canmence by the Warden tasked with cultural appropriation.¡± Cultural appropriation¡­? I thought. No way¡­ The two words resonated in my mind like a bad shback. That was the Warden¡¯s title back home. How she first introduced herself to us. My family. Right before she abducted me and then left them all to die. Ire sparked in my soul. Enving us all and separating us from our families was her task. ¡°Our Princess Rheutera had offered the services of Lady Rhe Su Long to assist with nullifying any resistance as a gift to her younger sister. Due to the actions of, he who shall not be named, this task now falls to us, the 566th.¡± That got a mixed response, people murmuring, some looking excited. I didn¡¯t know how the hell to feel. I was the damn enemy now. ¡°It is perhaps fitting that we have legionnaires on board for this,¡± Tai Su Long said and then looked to us. ¡°You may all consider this a warmup for your assault on Fhae I¡¯ung.¡± As General Gong gave the order to dismiss and prepare for the assault, my head was spinning. The soldiers around me looked non-plussed. Just another day on the job to them, I supposed. But for me it was much, much more. I looked to my toon of Legionnaires and expected to see some distress in their faces like my own. But they were all from worlds too old to remember the horror of being invaded like I did. ¡°This will be a spectacr way to win back our honor,¡± Jei Su Long said, turning to us. ¡°And it will be easy too. A chance to y countless mortals if they heed not to ourmand. This shall be a glorious battle indeed.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what he¡¯d said but no one seemed to disagree with him either. He¡¯d been right about one thing though. I was certainly not about to enjoy this mission, indeed. Book 4: Chapter 17 I stared out the forward observation port with anxiety and dread building within my gut. It was less than an hour till our mission now, and everything was prepared. Everything except for me. From behind the eyes of the massive Star Dragon, I now had a clear vantage of the known as Heu Zen. It was lush and green, with purple seas, made so by the slightly blue-hued star that governed the system. It had a single moon like the Earth and sure enough, the satellite had the faintest red tint to it already. There had to be a gate forming on its surface, a demonic conduit linking the moon back to the Hell Worlds. In my mind, I could envision that enormous, inverted triangle that I¡¯d seen on the Hell Scape of the moon back home. I wondered if one day I might be powerful enough to destroy something as massive as that. But I¡¯d have to go through that bitch I¡¯Xan¡¯dra first, no doubt. It was her power connecting these worlds. The blue-skinned handmaid to the Herald of the Cursed Stars. I blew out a sigh and added another goal to my to do list.Stop the Bloodmoons. But stopping this Bloodmoon from forming wasn¡¯t something I was going to achieve today. Today I just needed to figure out how I was going to be a conscientious objector in the middle of aary assault. Even now my me waned with the inverse pull of my Dao. The fact that I¡¯d spent thest two days memorizing the cultivation manual, helped keep my mind off of it, but the dread of whaty ahead, had left me anything but enthused when it came to cultivating. Faintly, around the edges of the, I could see the silhouettes of familiar shapes hovering in orbit. The giant pagodas of the imperial cities, waiting to forcefully inhabit their new home. Those massive things would have taken years to get to this from the core worlds. It made me wonder how the emperor knew so far in advance a Bloodmoon would form. Was he so powerful that he could sense such changes even from the celestial realm? Or was there a much simpler answer? That he was somehow causing the gates to form himself. ¡°Here you are,¡± a voice said, suddenly pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked to the stairwell leading to the observation port, to see General Gong ascending. ¡°I thought I might find you up here,¡± he said with a smile. I immediately stood and braced myself at attention. ¡°General.¡± ¡°At ease, son,¡± he said and then took a seat on the observation bench next to me. ¡°Is your team prepared?¡± ¡°As good as ever,¡± I said. That much was true. We had spent thest few hours packing supplies onboard the drop skiff as well as prepping several smaller defense skiffs that we would deploy during the descent. It was something we only practiced in theory back at Du Gok Bhong. The Hell Worlds¡¯ monsters would destroy a skiff trying tond in a sea of demons and thus we had to deploy smaller skiffs to reach the surface first and clear a path, or else we¡¯d risk losing the drop skiff and our ride back home. This ¡®assault¡¯ would provide us an opportunity to practice. That was perhaps the only saving grace this mission had to offer. ¡°Try not to feel badly about what¡¯s happened to you,¡± General Gong said. ¡°The Governor is a powerful and influential man. He will stop at nothing to have his way. Your survival of that exposition match, much less winning it in the way you did, has embarrassed him greatly.¡± I huffed out augh. ¡°Yeah, no kidding. It embarrassed the hell out of me too.¡± Gong chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve learned it best just to go along with him initially and then guide him along the way.¡± Go along with it, I thought. Perhaps that¡¯s what I had to do for now. ¡°Just remember for this mission, you are here as a token gift only,¡± Gong said and then slowly he stood. ¡°You need not participate¡­ fully.¡± I looked up at him shocked, wondering if he had just read my mind. He then smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve seen you sulking, Iron Bull, and I can guess why. I know your history, son. This mission will likely bring back a lot of bad memories for you. Just focus on your ultimate goal. We¡¯ll be but a night here and then we are back on track to the Hell Worlds.¡± ¡°Thanks, General Gong.¡± ¡°Come on then,¡± he said. ¡°There is a bit more formality yet.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Gong then pointed through the viewport. ¡°The princess¡¯mand ship has arrived. You legionnaires will have your final briefing there along with all the other members of the Royal Tributes.¡± ¡°Royal tributes?¡± Gong chuckled. ¡°A bit different than the type of tribute you were back at the Academy. It was what Lady Rhe Su Long was intended to be. A gift of strength from the royal houses to help subdue any resistance quickly.¡± I chortled mirthlessly. ¡°So that¡¯s us now, right? Subduers?¡± ¡°In token only, as I mentioned,¡± Gong said. He then smiled. ¡°Trust me. When you see the real subduers, you¡¯ll understand why you are considered only tokens.¡± * * * General Gong¡¯s words filled me with curiosity as we made the trek through orbit to the Princess¡¯mand ship in our legionnaire¡¯s skiff. We were sardined canned inside, all twenty of us, along with the Senior toonmander. He made a big deal about us performing well and not embarrassing his family name, but barely anyone was listening. Despite me making an ass of myself, my men still respected me and conversely still hated the shit out of Jei Su Long. That wasforting to know. Especially going into what we were now. Themand ship was shaped like a giant fish, and as we entered its mouth, we passed through a barrier that sealed the inside from the vacuum of space. We exited the skiff into a brightly lit interior and found a small contingent of imperial guards and officers standing in formation. In front of them was a woman who looked in her thirties, with wless skin, long golden hair and wearing imperial robes, along with a small crown. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Sixth Princess Remh resembled her older sister and while she was supposedly the youngest of her siblings, she looked far older than Princess Rheutera. It was another confirmation that Rheutera had been a prodigy in her youth. Standing next to Princess Remh was a tall, matronly looking woman in dark trimmed robes who wore a small headdress of her own on her crown of ck hair. General Gong was already there, along with the Governor. We marched in formation, and I brought the toon to a halt for inspection. Jei Su Long, not surprisingly, left us to take a ce next to his uncle. ¡°Is this it?¡± Remh asked, eyeing us with ackluster frown. Governor Tai Su Long smiled obsequiously. ¡°Just wait till you see them inbat, your majesty. They are fitting of a Royal Tribute, I assure you. They will be led by my very own nephew, Young Master Jei Su Long.¡± At that Jei Su Long dropped to one knee with a bow of his head. ¡°My Legionnaires are at your service, your majesty.¡± I groaned inwardly. Damn, kiss ass. Remh looked none too impressed however and was just about to say something when her eyes suddenly widened with excitement. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± she shouted. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± Before I could even figure out who or what she was even talking about, the air literally split apart before us, with a sudden p of thunder. A shimmering, oval portal that was about ten feet high appeared, its interior opaque with an eerily familiar purple glow. Three figures stepped through the portal, one by one. The first was a giant of a man, who wore nothing but a white loincloth and a set of thick prayer beads around his neck. He was so tall he had to stoop through the ten-foot-high opening. He was not only tall but thick, beefy like a pro-wrestler. He wore a gnarled white beard and on his bald head was a rusted crown. Time froze as the recognition hit me. I knew this guy. Not by name, but by face... and power. He was the one I¡¯d seen stop a damn nuke with his bare hands when I was eight years old. My blood froze as I relived the memory, bing that scared little kid again, staring iprehensibly at the giant figure before me. Stepping out from behind him, came a woman with cat ears, wearing tightfitting, ck robes with a huge ten-foot-long katana, hovering just off her back. Lastly, a white-haired man in purple robes, wielding a staff that was crowned with golden rings, stepped through and once he had, he tapped the ground with his staff and the portal disappeared. Everyone in the assembly immediately fell to their knees and I dumbfoundedly, followed suit. The only person who didn¡¯t, was the princess. She instead let out a girlishugh and ran to the big man with the rusted crown and hugged him about his waist. Her tiny arms barely encircled him at all. ¡°Thank you so much foring, Lord Nephew!¡± The big man rumbled with augh as he stooped to hug her. ¡°My little aunt. Anything for the family. And you can thank Lord Victus here, for summoning me so quickly through the ether.¡± The man in the purple robes tipped his wide brimmed hat to the princess and she responded with a curtsey. ¡°If only we could all travel such as you, Lord Victus,¡± she said. The old, whitehaired man smiled. ¡°One might, if One has the fortitude, my dear Princess.¡± She grinned. ¡°I shall leave such, to the likes of you and these legionnaires.¡± They bothughed at that and I raised a brow confused. The Princess then curtseyed to the cat-eared woman. ¡°And Lady Sylph, so wonderful for you toe. I have long yearned to see your legendary, mountain-cutter de in action.¡± ¡°I and the P¨©sh¨¡n Zh¨§ live only to serve, your majesty,¡± the woman said, with a bow of her head. ¡°It will be an honor to im this in your name.¡± Princess Remh grinned like a kid about to open her presents on Christmas. I was still beside myself, taking it all in. ¡°King Theos,¡± Tai Su Long addressed the giant man, his face still to the ground. ¡°This One, Governor Tai Su Long, is humbled by your mere presence. I extend jovial exaltations from the Twin River n and of course, our beloved princess, 2nd Princess Rheutera, from whom we have been sent. We bring also a toon of legionnaires, ably led by my very nephew, Young Master Jei Su Long.¡± The giant man, King Theos, looked down at Tai Su Long and grunted. ¡°Fine, governor. Just ensure they all stay out of my way.¡± Princess Remh bounced on her toes. ¡°I¡¯m so excited. I¡¯ve waited over fifty years for my very own. Please ensure you leave some valuable endemics behind, Lord Nephew. My Warden is hoping to secure me a fine crop of seedlings for this world.¡± My mind nearly came undone. The casual way she summed up my¡¯s worst trauma was sickening. ¡°I shall use the utmost finesse, Little Aunt,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°Excellent, I shall turn matters over to her now, Second Warden Qin Xe, my Chief of Cultural Appropriation. Warden?¡± The matronly woman stepped forward and spoke with a strong and authoritative voice. ¡°Honored Lords and servants of the throne, I greet you all in the name of our Great Soul Emperor. May this day expand his immortal kingdom and push back the scourge of the Cursed starts. To the emperor.¡± ¡°The emperor,¡± everyone said in unison like a salute. I was a few seconds too slow to respond. The woman turned towards the open mouth of the fish we were now inside, the decorative hangar door giving a close-up view of the Hue Zen. ¡°Our initial investigations have determined that this is a mundane world, moderate in Qi density, but rich in minerals,¡± she said. ¡°We have discovered no evidence of true cultivation, but the native inhabitants have developed a form of golem control using Qi Stones. We do not anticipate the resistance to be very strong, but care should be taken in dealing with any golems.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± King Theos said, folding his massive arms. ¡°This should not take long.¡± She then turned to him and bowed. ¡°My lord, we would be appreciative if you and your lieges would take on the primary assault wave, striking just before the umbral shade of night. My teams will follow thereafter with the 566th to triage the survivors, appropriating younglings where we can and then finally, Governor, your nephew¡¯s legionnaires may take up the rear guard, clearing any leftover resistance as the Bloodmoon takes control. As legionnaires, your team would be most suited for that task.¡± ¡°Consider it done, Madam Warden,¡± Jei Su long said. The words began to blur as she went into the finer details of the n, like which hemispheres and major cities they would attack first and how the imperial pagodas would move into ce to contain them thereafter. My mind however was still stuck on the appropriation of¡­ younglings? What the hell¡­ I still couldn¡¯t believe I was even here to witness it all. These people were the stuff of my nightmares. The superviins who arrived on Earth and destroyed it in less than a day. And now history was about to repeat itself again. On a different world. Ire built in my gut as my me stirred. It wasn¡¯t my, but I couldn¡¯t allow it to happen again. The demon inside me raged, but swiftly the struggler took back the controls. What the hell could I actually do? The [Odds were more than merely Against Me] now. When I was a kid, these people were like gods to me. And now. Several realmster. They still were. Shit, I thought. What Realm were these guys even in? They had to be knocking on the True Deity Realm like Threja, or were they even beyond that? Had that portal been from the celestial realm? I didn¡¯t know, but that portal certainly might have something to do with the Bloodmoon realm that was for sure. That eerie purple glow mirrored what I¡¯d experienced on the Bloodmoon and what he¡¯d said about fortitude sounded a lot like spiritual resistance to Demonic Qi. But beyond all that, this was like looking into a portal of the future. How the hell strong would I need to be to protect my against the likes of people like these? Just the thought stoked the inner core of my me. A hell of a lot stronger was a damn understatement. I grimaced as a streak of defiance ran through me. That baldheaded bastard alone was responsible for killing millions if not billions of people on Earth. I let my mask of [Indifference] slip as I red at the man. His eyes suddenly shifted to me and he did a double take. Shit! I quickly looked away, applying [Indifference] again, but the damage was done. He continued to stare at me for a few more seconds with a puzzled look on his face, before the Princess finally distracted him with a question. ¡°Are you prepared to begin, Lord Nephew?¡± King Theos nodded. ¡°On your word, Princess.¡± ¡°Release the notice,¡± Remh said. The Warden bowed to her and then issued amand to one of the imperial staff present. He disappeared then and not more than five minutester returned. ¡°The message has been released,¡± the officer reported. ¡°There has been no sign of epting our offer of protection from the Bloodmoon.¡± Remh nodded. ¡°So be it. Another backwards world to save it is. Lord Nephew, we follow your lead.¡± King Theos nced at Tai Su Long and then looked back towards me. ¡°As I told you, Governor,¡± he said, and a hint of anger churned in his soul as he continued to stare at me. ¡°Ensure your nephew and his legionnaires, stay out of my way.¡± King Theos mmed his fists together and a powerful wind suddenly filled the hangar. I was pushed back, as his massive body rose into the air and seemed to double in size, bing radiant, as if his skin was made of gold. A luminescent sphere formed around him and as it grew to engulf both Lady Sylph and Lord Victus, they too rose off the ground, caught up in the whirlwind forming inside the sphere. Theos released a mighty yell, and with the speed of a bullet, the sphere shot out of the hangar, taking the three of them with it. I stared, stupefied as they flew into the ckness of space at incredible speed, growing smaller, to the size of barely a pinprick as they approached the. Seconds passed and all eyes were drawn to the faint glow that illuminated briefly as the spere passed through the mes of re-entry. More seconds passed, before huge, silent explosions could be seen detonating across the surface of the and reaching the upper atmosphere of space. ¡°Well then,¡± the princess said with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. ¡°It¡¯s our turn next. Let us now go and liberate this backwards little in the name of my father, the Great Soul Emperor, Yin Yee.¡± Book 4: Chapter 18 Wind sted into the interior of the drop skiff as the reentry dome retracted from overhead, forcing us to shield our eyes as we went into freefall. Hue Zen¡¯srgest content loomed before us like a giant map, now pocketed with burning impact craters which now denoted the major cities destroyed by the trio of Lesser Deity Realm cultivators tearing the shit out of the. I gritted my teeth as the wind pressed into my face, uneasiness building in my gut. I was heading into some messed up shit, but I couldn¡¯t let my emotions get the best of me. For better or worse, I had to keep it together for the sake of my team. ¡°Deployment in one minute!¡± I shouted above the hurricane howl of the wind. My toon was spread around the edges of the skiff, each one of us grabbing hold of one of the smaller defense skiffs, preparing to leap over the side. There were two or three of us to each skiff and I was teamed up with Juk Sui and Dim Wei. Jei Su Long was in the center of the main skiff, alongside the pilot now guiding us through a thinyer of cloud. As we headed towards our predetermined drop zone, I could just see the darkness of night cutting the ¡®map¡¯ of the world in two halves before us. Where the craters trailed huge plumes of smoke on the light side of the, they burned like erupting volcanoes in the dark. That¡¯s where we were headed. The dark side. Literal Hell on Earth.Or a soon to be like it. I looked to Juk Sui and nodded. It was time. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I shouted the order. ¡°Disembark!¡± We hefted the canoe-sized skiff over the side and mounted it with a burst of propulsion from our flight techniques. Dim Wei, the smallest of us, took to the bow to steer, while I bnced the middle and Juk Sui took up the rear. I bent my knees and took hold of the guide straps to keep bnce as the skiff bucked and kicked like a surfboard beneath us. As nned, all eight of our skiffs departed from the main drop skiff, elerating in a dive to hit the ground first. The sky darkened as we slipped towards the umbral shadow of the, crossing the line between day and night. As we neared the burning remnants of a once major city, my heart sunk. The destruction was unthinkable. I wasn¡¯t certain what kind of technological era these people had been in, but from the looks of the buildings, the ce look like something out of the 1920¡¯s on earth. Low rise buildings made out of concrete or stone, were now crumbling and on fire. Remnants of vehicles made of steel and even something that resembled a trolly cart, now derailed, burned in the middle of a wide multne street. As we got even closer, I could see the people themselves. They were human as far as I could tell. We were still too high up to see any distinguishing features, but one thing I could see just fine. They bled just like we did. Huge piles of corpsesy scattered throughout the remnants of the city and as we entered our drop zone somewhere near its outskirts, I could finally hear screams. Below us, people ran for their lives in droves while the Warden¡¯s imperial officers herded them like cattle. My heartbeat sped with fear as memories flooded my mind. I could only imagine what they were going through. Families being pulled apart. Mothers and fathers left to die, while their children cried out for them. And then suddenly I realized, I wasn¡¯t justimagining it. It wasn¡¯t my fear I was feeling at all. It was [Everyone¡¯s Fear]. I took a mental step back as I realized I could now sense the Fear of all these people. But my me was in no state to process it. It barely flickered as my resolve waned. A sudden explosion rang out and something zipped past my head with a sonic boom. ¡°Resistance!¡± Dim Wei shouted, pointing ahead of her. I followed her line of sight, to see a wall of what looked like medieval armor facing us. The things stood at least twenty or thirty feet tall, humanoid in shape with ornate crests embossed upon the chest tes that looked to be made of iron or steel. On the shoulders of the armor were what looked like guns or cannons and where the helmet would be, was instead a rampart where two or three soldiers were pointing what looked like rifles at us. Muzzles shed and with a boom from one of the cannons, one of our skiffs was blown out of the air. I couldn¡¯t tell who it was, but all three cultivators jumped before the impact hit andnded on the ground below unfazed. I doubted anything they were shooting at us would prate even my natural defenses at the moment, but I bolstered myself with [Steel Skin] more out of habit as I gave the order to charge. ¡°Take down the golems,¡± I shouted. ¡°Leave the soldiers alive!¡± As another volley of cannon and rifle fire went off, another skiff was blown out of the sky. We pressed on undaunted, and I jumped from the skiff with [Lightning Walk] to barrel into the line of towering golems. I cleaved one of them in two with my ive, the Currupted Steel cutting through the armor like it was made of cloth. Up close, I could see the horror and iprehension in the faces of my enemy. They were fair skinned, with features that were reminiscent of people from the Mediterranean back home, like Greek or Italian. They screamed in anguage I couldn¡¯t understand, but the mixture of both fear and lemonade in their souls tranted into what could only be something like ¡®Oh My God!¡¯ ¡®Oh My God!¡¯, over and over again. I suppressed the guilt and remorse building in my gut like bile as I cleaved through another suit of armor. My men quickly joined in to finish the job and in less than thirty seconds we had decimated all resistance from what would have had to have been the equivalent of a battalion of armored tanks. Inded before the soldiers themselves in a burst of lightning and about half of them fell to their knees in what looked like prayer or surrender, perhaps both. I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing. Or experiencing was perhaps a better word. I looked to the darkened sky and saw the moon glowing redder and the familiar tingle of Dark Frenzy came with it. One of the soldiers, who looked to be an officer of some kind based on his headdress¡ªa blue beret adorned with feathers¡ªbegan speaking to me in his nativenguage. He pointed to himself and his men and I realized he was offering himself to me in exchange for his soldiers¡¯ lives. My stomach soured. They¡¯d all be dead within hours anyway. Taken by the monsters of the Bloodmoon or mutated into demons themselves. I felt my me finally stir then. But not for the duty I was tasked with. I tapped into the same indignation I¡¯d felt on Earth, but only now for the people here. But it wasn¡¯t just for the loss of their lives. I looked at the scraps of golem armor and saw the bits of Qi Stone hidden within the interior, fixed within aplex set of gears and springs. That was human ingenuity at work and while it was primitive in strengthpared to us, who knew what future innovations a technology like that might lead to. But now. After today. It would be buried along with the rest of this world¡¯s identity. Lost forever. I felt it then. The true core of my Twin Dao reacting. ¡°Told you this would be easy!¡± a voice cried out from above, and I looked to see Jei Su Long at the front of the drop skiff, hovering above us. ¡°What are you all waiting for? Kill all of them!¡± Before my men could even think toply, I shouted back. ¡°Do not follow that order!¡± Tension rose as my men froze and Jei Su Long looked down at me with contempt. ¡°Did you just dare to contradict my orders again, Junior Commander?!¡± ¡°We¡¯ve gotten our orders directly from the Princess of this realm,¡± I said with conviction. ¡°Our mission is to subdue any resistance. These soldiers here have surrendered and show no resistance now. Killing them would be a cowardly act of ughter. There is no honor in it.¡± ¡°You¡­ you honestly think these savages worthy of honor?¡± He looked down at me andughed. ¡°You are a fool, Junior Commander!¡± ¡°Our honor is a reflection of who we are, not who they are,¡± I said and then I looked to my team imploringly. ¡°As graduate legionnaires, we are all native tributes to the empire. It was not long ago that our very worlds were subjected to the same. We are all descendants of the lucky few who were selected for cultural appropriation. Let us not dishonor the memory of our ancestors by subjecting these few here to senseless ughter.¡± I paused as I said the words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and could see the looks of agreement in my men¡¯s eyes as they all nodded, lemonade stirring in their souls. I then looked back up to Jei Su Long. ¡°It seems me and my men are all in agreement, Senior Commander,¡± I said. ¡°And please don¡¯t forget¡­while on the ground, its my orders that stand.¡± Jei Su Long fumed and then stepped up on the railing. ¡°Well then, perhaps it¡¯s time I ventured to the ground to give themands myself!¡± My me red. ¡°You¡¯d better stay where you damn well belong!¡± I shouted with [Fear the me]. ¡°That¡¯s an order from our president! Or do I need to remind you of that, Jei Su Long?¡± As my words resounded across the burningndscape, the native soldiers burst into cries of terror and fell on their faces, reacting to the technique. My men too cowered away from me as Jei Su Long fell back into the skiff as if my words had shoved him physically. It was only then that I realized that I had tapped into [Everyone¡¯s Fear]. The sea of raw emotions, sh converted to Frenzy as what had to be millions of souls channeled their anguish through my me. I¡¯d gone and pushed it with Jei Su Long, but I no longer cared. No way in hell would I consent to ughtering these people. I fully expected to face another court martial I could narrowly afford, but the reaction of fear within Jei Su Long said I had knocked the wind right out of his sails. Lemonade streamed from my men, as they came to stand next to me. I realized I had full center stage then. I had to act quickly to capitalize on this opportunity to seize control and change the game n. I knew what my me was telling me. I had to try and save these people somehow. The demon in me wanted to fight against the entire empire, but I wasn¡¯t strong enough to defend my own much less this one, now under assault by three near gods on the rampage. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Still, I could do other things to try and save them. But I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything in front of an audience. ¡°This area is secure,¡± I shouted. ¡°We have lots of ground to cover. New orders. We¡¯ve tested the strength of the resistance, and it is weak. Just one of us will be strong enough to level any resistance we might find. Spread out in ten-mile search areas. Destroy any golems you find. Once the natives have surrendered, move on.¡± I then looked up at the moon with disdain. ¡°The Bloodmoon would have sealed their fate already.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± they all chimed. ¡°Move out!¡± As my toon split up and departed in their various directions, Jei Su Long again looked down at me over the railing of the skiff. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for disrespecting me in front of the toon like that,¡± he said. ¡°You can send me the bill. I got work to do.¡± He grimaced. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of you, Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± I said with [Indifference]. ¡°Your soul says differently.¡± It was true too. He was pissing with fear. Whatever I¡¯d said had just shaken him to the core. And he damn well knew it. Jei Su Long finally just harrumphed and then shouted to the skiff operator. ¡°Move us now! Keep us ahead of this Bloodmoon. Go, go!¡± With that, the skiff departed, and I was left alone. I finally looked to the toon of native soldiers surrounding me, gawking at me like I was some angel of deliverance or perhaps even the hand of God. Shit, I thought. Now what? * * * I spent the next five minutes trying tomunicate with the native officer. ¡°You need to go underground!¡± I kept saying in both English and Yee, trying to pantomime with my hands. ¡°Below ground is safe. No demons! No monsters!¡± He kept staring at me and saying things I couldn¡¯t understand in return. This wasn¡¯t working. I looked at the Bloodmoon and sensed it growing stronger, howls of monsters in the distance getting closer. Ah, to hell with it, I thought. I finally threw caution to the wind and transformed right in front of them, putting on [Mark of the Giant] and [Mark of the Beast]bined. Fear spiked in their souls, as all of them screamed and some of them even ran. I ignored the reaction and immediately set to tearing into the ground, using my axe as a shovel. With mybined strength and speed, the loose earth and rock was jettisoned into the air like a geyser. I used my [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] technique, to ze the sides of the tunnel with molten ss, allowing me to dig even deeper. As I did so I began to sense something new. Something far ahead of me in the depths of the ground. Emotions? Grief, loss, fear, terror. Were those the souls of more people ahead of me? Did they have some kind of underground bunker as well? The thought spurred me on and I began to dig faster. I¡¯d gotten to a hundred feet in about ten minutes but couldn¡¯t seem to find the source of what I was sensing. I finally re-emerged on the surface, to see only about half of the soldiers remaining. ¡°You need to stay away from the moon,¡± I said pointing to the sky. I then pointed to the tunnel. ¡°Stay safe underground.¡± Themander and a few of his men ventured to the edge of the tunnel apprehensively. They looked fearful to go inside, but before I could try to encourage them further, snarls and roars filled the air as a pack of creatures that looked like mutated bears burst from a nearby tree line. ¡°Shit! All of you get back!¡± I leapt forward, engaging two of the beasts. I killed them easily with a chop from my axe, but they ughtered the native soldiers just as easily as one of them leapt into the midst of the toon. More creatures came in a wave and then I saw something that took me off guard. There, amidst the mutated beasts was a demon that had the body of an insect like a praying mantis, but where its head would be was instead a cluster of eyestalks that each ended in a single, bloodshot eyeball. A star-born demon. And one I had never seen before. The sting of madness and Dark Frenzy streaming from it was enough to make me raise my [Soul Shield] in defense. But for the mortals around me, there was no such reprieve. They immediately screamed in madness and began attacking each other, killing themselves to flee from the cosmic horrors invading their very minds. I spun towards the creature with [Ride the Lightning] and cleaved into its body with a [Three Log Chop]. There was a surprising amount of resistance, its body no doubt bolstered by Dark Frenzy, but I hacked through it with a push of strength and the creature finally fell dead and its aura of concentrated Dark Frenzy disappeared. But as I turned about, I realized it was already far toote. The men I had been trying tomunicate with, were now all dead and even their bodies began to twitch in the strengthening moonlight of the Bloodmoon. My shoulders slumped in defeat. All that effort for nothing. Clearly there must be a gate on the surface of this world now, extending right back to the Hell Worlds if a star-born demon like that had gotten here. I could try to seek it out and close it. But what purpose would that serve? These people were already dead. I grieved with [Everyone¡¯s Pain]. What the hell was the point of any of this? At this stage the people here had already gone through the hellfire of King Theos and his crew as well as gotten picked over by the Warden and her team. There was no fate left for them other than the Bloodmoon. But I couldn¡¯t leave things like that. I had to do something. My mind reeled. There was only one hope to save a portion of these people. I had to get ahead of the storm. Lifting from the ground, I engaged [Ride the Lightning] and tapped into the swelling Frenzy of [Everyone¡¯s Pain] to move at supersonic speed. * * * Night turned to day, as a rocketed across the sky. I crossed the great divide of an ocean and didn¡¯t stop until the destruction of King Theos was far behind me. It waste afternoon wherever I was, and I found a mid-sized city that already seemed to be alerted to the attack on the. Ahead of the city was an army of the same armor-suited golems, preparing for the attack. And just behind them was what had to be at least a thousand troops. I paused in the sky to consider my options. How could I exin in just a few minutes theplexity and horrors of what they were soon about to endure? I thought a moment more, wishing I had one of those damn pearls the Warden had used on us when she had first arrived. But then something else came to me. I couldn¡¯tmunicate to them through words. But there was an old saying I remembered. A picture was worth a thousand words. And damn it, I could now draw. * * * Chief Yora¡¯s gift to me came in handy as I spent the precious time I had, to draw a crudeic book of the events toe. I depicted King Theos and the destruction of the Bloodmoon. Animals turning into monsters. I then drew images of them using their golems to dig into the earth to form a city underground and them stockpiling it with supplies. Finally, I drew what would be them hunkering down while the surface was overrun with monsters and demons. I paused a moment more, before considering if I should draw one final image or not. It was crazy and I had no way of even being able to ensure it would happen, but I couldn¡¯t leave that abysmal fate of them being stuck underground forever as a final image. What kind of future was depicted in that? I drew a picture of a radian godlike being with bull¡¯s horns defeating the demons and then returning them to the surface. It was hubris to think I would be able to aplish that anytime soon. But I had to leave them with something more than just an advanced warning. I needed to give them hope. When I was finally done drawing, the explosions from King Theos¡¯ techniques were on the horizon. I had to hurry. I swooped down to the assembly of soldiers and not surprisingly the cannons immediately opened fire on me. The impact of the shells on my body felt like someone had merely hit me with a tennis ball. I was impervious to even their most powerful weapons, just as I had presumed. Panic emerged from the soldiers, but I flew over them seeking out what I quickly discerned as amand center near the rear of the troops. Amidst rifle fire and turmoil, I weaved through the masses of soldiers to pause before a massive golem that was nearly twice the size of the others. It was ted with white armor, decorated with gold trim and on the rampart was a handful of soldiers and an official who looked dressed in ceremonial garb. Two of the soldiers opened fire on me with rifles, but I put up no resistance and simply [Lightning Walked] towards them as they emptied their magazines and then began to reload in a panic. I knew they couldn¡¯t understand my words, but I knew they could sense the strength of my me. ¡°Ie in peace,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s resolve] and stowed my axe and bowed to demonstrate my non-aggression. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the technique or the actions, but I sensed their fear subside a little. The guy in ceremonial garb, an older man in his sixties it looked like, gave me a kind of salute with a small de. I nodded and then approached further, stopping just short of joining them behind the rampart of their golem. ¡°You¡¯re about to face a cmity,¡± I said and showed them the drawings. ¡°I¡¯m here to try and give you a chance to survive it.¡± I pointed to the explosions behind me and then tapped on the image of King Theos. I pointed out the Bloodmoon next. Their fear subsided even more went they all seemed to realize what was happening and then the man in ceremonial garb barked an order. It was echoed throughout the battalion and all gunfire ceased. I handed the drawing to him and he took them with shaking hands. ¡°You need to do this right away,¡± I said and pointed to the image of them digging. ¡°You must go now. Understand. Now!¡± I pointed towards the ground and then back at the explosions. ¡°Now!¡± He seemed to understand what I was saying and shouted moremands. The troops began falling back into the city along with the golems. I had no idea if they had catbs or dungeons or even a subway system, but hopefully they understood what I was telling them and were seeking to get underground as quickly as possible. I was just about to fly away to see where they were all headed, when the leader suddenly thrust his hands out towards me, as if to tell me to stop. I did so and looked at him quizzically. He began rambling on, pointing to the images as he did so. I couldn¡¯t understand a word. Finally, he pointed at thest image and paused looking for some kind of answer. Clearly this guy was smart enough to be asking perhaps the most important question of all, either who this was or when would it happen? I couldn¡¯t answer the when, but I could show him the who. Summoning my Frenzy, I engaged my [Spectral Body Projection] and the red-hued image of the Struggler formed about my body. Fear and lemonade both filled the man as he reeled back in shock. With wide eyes he stared up at me, perhaps even more convinced that I was some kind of god. I pointed to thest image and then myself and he got the picturepletely. He fell to the ground the same way the other soldiers had, revering me with some kind of prayer. It felt awkward as hell, especially since I had no idea if I could live up to the promise I had just made or not. ¡°Go now,¡± I said, pointing towards the city. ¡°Go prepare. I¡¯ll buy you as much time as I can.¡± Themander shouted more orders and the giant golem turned and began marching them into the city. I took off then, gaining altitude to see if they had indeed understood. I was relieved when I saw the armored golems entering what looked like an underground train depot. Perhaps they were going to dig further from there. I was just about to take off to head further across the continent to see if I could perhaps save one more city when a powerful voice came from behind me. ¡°What in the hells are you doing here?¡± I nced over my shoulder to see the massive form of King Theos standing in the sky. He was indeed twice the size I¡¯d seen him before, and his body radiated a golden light of its own. If I could detect Qi, I probably would have sensed himing from miles away, but now I was suddenly caught tfooted. Shit¡­ My mind reeled for an answer. Whatever I would say next, would either doom me, along with these people I¡¯d just tried to save and indeed my entire life¡¯s path. Including not getting back to Fia. I tried to ce myself in his position. A man of such power that destroying an entire was a cakewalk to him. ¡°Apologies for my impudence,¡± I said with a deep bow. ¡°But I was not satisfied defeating only the remnants of what this world has to offer. I sought only to test the strength of their defenses unsoftened by your great power, King Theos.¡± The man scowled. ¡°I told you and your people to stay out of my way. You¡¯re lucky I sensed you first and didn¡¯t just destroy this entire city and you from ten miles away.¡± He probably wasn¡¯t bullshiting either. This guy could kill me in an instant. The demon in me wanted to rise to the challenge, but thankfully there was enough [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] in me to realize that was a fight for apletely different day. Now, I needed only to get out of here alive. ¡°This One apologizes deeply for slowing you down in this manner. My¡­ curiosity got the best of me. It is not often one conquers a new world.¡± ¡°Not often for some,¡± he said with a scoff. He then studied me. ¡°You¡¯re that prodigy legionnaire, aren¡¯t you? The embarrassment.¡± A flicker of anger spiked in me, but I forced myself not to react with [Indifference]. ¡°Nevertheless,¡± he continued, unfazed. ¡°I see your Sacred Soul is quite strong for one so young. Go on then. You may have this city. But immediately fall back to your position afterwards. I won¡¯t tolerate having to stop to avoid killing you again. You get me?¡± ¡°Fully,¡± I said. ¡°This One again apo¡ª¡± He thundered away before I could even finish, leaving me with my heart racing. But inside I jumped for joy. I had damn well gotten away with it. At least for now. * * * I returned to the city and assisted the people as much as I could. I found that they did indeed have awork of old sewers beneath the city with a subway running atop it. I helped by breaking through severalyers of concrete and stone to connect the two, giving them quicker ess to the lower chambers below. I then dug through the earth even more, and like before I began to sense even more thoughts and emotionsing from people I couldn¡¯t quite find. But they were less this time. By the time an hour had passed, I had dug a vertical shaft some three hundred feet deep. I had no idea if it would even be helpful, but by the amount of lemonade I was now eliciting within the soldiers and people around me as I toiled, clearly, I had to be making a difference somehow. When it seemed most of the nearby popce had gotten inside, I found the man in charge again and once more pointed to my drawing of the destruction toe. ¡°It¡¯s starting now,¡± I said. ¡°I need to go.¡± I knew he couldn¡¯t understand me, but I simply bowed to him and when he returned the gesture, I quickly disappeared into the night sky. I kept my promise to him and stayed as long as I could, battling the monsters and demons that appeared as the Bloodmoon rose. I toppled buildings and debris upon the sealed entrances to the makeshift underground domain and prayed it would be enough to keep the monsters and demons out for the months and perhaps years toe and then prayed even harder than I hadn¡¯t just buried these people alive in a massive tomb. * * * I eventually rejoined my toon and sadly left the city behind to fall under the hordes of swarming demons as we continued our advance across the. Fourteen hourster, when we hadpleted an entirep of the world, we were squeezed back into our dropship and then copsed with exhaustion as the pilot took us home. We all had no words, too worn down with massacre and grief to speak. All save for Jei Su Long, that is, who tastelessly recounted his personal destruction of an entire toon of armored golems and soldiers. I didn¡¯t have the strength to say anything to him, but merely cultivated the ire he lit in my soul. As the Xing Long came into view I felt a sense of relief. This ordeal was finally over. But perhaps it too was a nned stop along my path. Now that I was finally off to the Hell Worlds, preparing to face the demon scourge, perhaps it was only fitting that the me had seen fit for me to tap fully into the other side of my twin Dao. My hatred for the empire had grown more than ever. Seeing this was a reminder of my original struggle. My need to get back home, protect my family and defeat those in charge. But I had nted the seed of my next struggle as well it seemed. At some point in the future, I would need to return and hopefully liberate the hidden people of Hue Zen. Book 4: Chapter 19 My dearest younger half-sister, I write to offer my sincere condolences on the most embarrassing situation that has befallen your beloved tribute, the Iron Bull. It would be an understatement to say that news of it has run amuck throughout the lower courts. To be clearly beaten and then im a victory in such a vulgar and dishonorable manner has no doubt caused you as much distress as it has indeed the entire royal household. I trust that you may have received letters of criticism and malcontent from our beloved sister Rheutera already. But if you have not, rest assured, it will be soon toe. It is with that in mind that I have reached out to you with an offer of grace. Whilst I have received your letter of rejection of my initial offer, I shall put that in abeyance in light of the present circumstances. Your tribute has no doubt be a worm found most distastefully within a prized apple. As such, any connection to him would likely, as it has already, affect your standing within the lower courts. With your¡¯s already questionable contributions towards the empire, I would hate to think what this may do to your reputation permanently. I thus offer you, once again, a way to salvage this most dire predicament.My granddaughters are still in need of a suitable spouse, and whilst the Iron Bull¡¯s status has certainly fallen, he would still be of suitable standing to marry those of their station as minordies within my house. Of course, due to what has transpired, I simply cannot offer what I did previously. Whilst I am still willing to offer a fair level ofpensation, I believe that value has now fallen to 100,000 spirit stones. For an asset that would likely bring you ought but criticism and reputational loss, I believe my offer is more than generous. As I am certain you may still be conflicted based upon yourst letter, I regret to inform that this offer willst for one week and depreciate by 5000 spirit stones per week thereafter. Act quickly and you may find some value to be had. Act not, and you will simply receive far less when you finallye to the same conclusion, I have. That selling the Iron Bull to me, is in your best interest. You have already missed out on 400,000 spirit stones by making the wrong decision previously. Please do not make the same mistake again, little sister. One would be a fool to do so. Sincerely yours, Your dearest elder sister, Her Royal Majesty, First Princess Ul¡¯vera, Imperial Regent of D¡¯shar and the Greater D¡¯shar territories, One Hundred and Twelfth heir of the Imperial Yee Dynasty. Princess Lunh shook with rage as she clutched the letter within her hands. It took all her wherewithal to not simply crumble it. ¡°That audacious bitch,¡± she swore bitterly. She was thankful she had already dismissed Lin Wei, deciding to read the letter in the privacy of her chambers alone. She let out a scream of frustration as her insides soured with anger, disappointment and unease. She had watched the recorded feeds from the match and the images still haunted her. How could the Iron Bull have performed so badly in the ring? Clearly there must be more to it. They must have poisoned him or something. She wouldn¡¯t put it past Ul¡¯Vera herself to have orchestrated such, just to bring the price down on her offer. Lunh read the letter again, each word dripping with condescension and superiority. They were filled with more than just venom. They also stung with truth. Tears of anger and frustration blurred her vision. Why did catastrophe follow her like a bad stench? Born a Third Princess. Bequeathed a Qi-less world. And now, when the only good toe from it finally emerges, it is proven valueless as well? She released another cry of frustration and rage. She looked at the offer. What Ul¡¯vera said was true. What transpired would stay with the Iron Bull for life. Could she be coupled with someone with such a reputation? She refused to believe it, although she knew the answer was clear. The gossips of the lower courts were merciless. Still, she could not deny what her heart spoke on the matter. She desired him no less. And it was clear Ul¡¯vera desired him as well. Then suddenly it became clear to her. ¡°That bitch¡­¡± Ul¡¯vera was attempting to swindle her. She orchestrated the entire affair to snatch her Iron Bull from her at an unreasonable price. Why else would she even still offer, if the Iron Bull had lost all his value? A wicket smile crept upon her lips. ¡°Nice try, big sister,¡± she said with venom in her heart. She reached for a pen and paper. This time she would not bother with summoning Lin Wei to edit for her. She wanted Princess Ul¡¯vera to hear her words unfiltered. My Dearest Older Half Sister, I bid you do not wait for a further reply, for none shall being. My previous rejection to your initial offer still stands. Additionally, your assessment of my prized tribute is false. If he were not worthy of sale at 500,000 spirit stones, how dare you offer less? As our dear sister Rheutera rightly judged upon the day, ¡®A win is a win¡¯. While I firmly believe the Iron Bull has brought no shame upon my house, I will ensure he has the opportunity to clear his name and reputation within the Lower Courts at a future date. Until then, you may refrain from your paltry offers to obtain him as your own. The Iron Bull is mine! Sincerely, Third Princess Lunh Ruler of Terra Lunh stopped just short of writing ¡®betrothed of the Iron Bull¡¯ under her name, just to make the point clear. But that would have to wait. His rematch too would have to wait, until perhaps after his return from the Hell Worlds. She thought more on what that future rematch might look like. A decisive win on the grand stage as a full-fledged legionnaire would no doubt solidify his status. One more than fitting to be her Prince Consort. She smirked as she stamped the letter with her imperial seal. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°We shall see who is the fool in the end, Ul¡¯Vera,¡± she said. ¡°We shall see.¡± * * * I sat in lotus position within the observation deck of the Xing Long, but this time I wasn¡¯t looking out at the stars. I was deep inside my own mind, enjoying the sunshine on my face as I reclined on thekeside beach with the Sacred Soul Realm cultivation manual within my hands. I had memorized the entire thing already, but I manifested it in physical form within my domain to bring more authenticity to the experience. This was one of the first things I had learned from the manual already. If I wanted to progress to the next realm, I would need to focus on developing my personal inner world just as much as my Sacred Soul. I flicked to the beginning of the book to ascertain just where I was at the moment with my progression. The table containing the nine tiers of my next stage of progression loomed before me.
Sacred Soul Realm 1st Sacred Soul Formation
2nd Sacred Soul Refinement
3rd Sacred Soul Inhabitation
4th Sacred Soul Evocation
5th Sacred Soul Projection
6th Inner World Creation
7th Inner World Refinement
8th Inner World Projection
9th Sacred Soul Manifestation
As I read through the manual, it mentioned just like in previous realms, there were no boundaries or breakthroughs to be made from Tier to Tier, per se. It was more like mastery and the mastery of a lower tier was often somewhat of a pre-requisite to master the next. But that didn¡¯t mean you couldn¡¯t attempt to master even the final tier first. You¡¯d probably just waste decades trying to do so. Everything worked together. From the descriptions of each Tier, I was definitely still a Low Tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator right now. I had decent mastery of the 1st Tier, havingbined my twin paths to form my Sacred Soul of the Red-hued Struggler. I was still working on refining it, or making it even more powerful. That involved not just additional Qi or Frenzy in my case, but progressing my Sacred Soul through the same challenges as my physical body, but only in the spiritual realm. That led to the need for my 3rd Tier ability of being able to inhabit my Sacred Soul, which I had done many a time in my former Blue-hued self, but I hadn¡¯t gotten much opportunity to test drive my new Struggler form in the spirit realm yet. Utilizing that, and fighting within the spiritual realm, would no doubt help speed my mastery of both 2nd and 3rd Tier. The 4th Tier, or Sacred Soul Evocation was, from the description, quite simr to my [Spectral Body Projection] technique, but involved not only being able to execute physical attacks with my [Spectral Body Projection] but to be able to use Qi techniques through it as a well. In this case, I was touching on it briefly with my use of such techniques like [Struggler¡¯s Lightning Fist of Fury]. I would need to try using higher level techniques through my [Spectral Body Projection] to master it. But all that was just precursors for the next tier. Sacred Soul Projection. This was different than simply [Spectral Body Projection] which just formed my [Spectral Body] over my own in the real world. Sacred Soul Projection was literally being able to leave your body and project your spirit within the body of your Sacred Soul to roam the physical world. This was the same way the Princess was able to show up at Fia¡¯s trial with her physical body being thousands of miles away. I could only imagine what power it would take to do that. I had only just begun to try to master the technique and could not move my [Spectral Body Projection] more than an inch or so before it felt like it would simply disappear. If I could master it however, I could definitely consider myself a Mid-Tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator then. But as for right now, that seemed a way off in terms of mastery. The next three tiers after that, 6th, 7th and 8th, were rted to my Inner World. From the manual I had rightly figured that my inner world was the ce I was lounging in right now. An internal manifestation of a spiritual realm where my [Spectral Body] could roam. I had that part down, so I think I perhaps qualified as being somewhatpetent in terms of Inner World Creation. The 6th tier, however, Inner World Refinement was where it became truly interesting. ording to the manual, developing one¡¯s inner world took more than just Qi or Frenzy. The limitations of creating worlds was as wide and varied as one¡¯s memories or even imagination. What made the difference between a purely spiritualndscape like the one I was in now and one that could be truly considered an ¡®Inner World¡¯ was anchoring it with artifacts and relics from the real world. Transcribed in the manual was a technique not dissimr to the Demonic [Absorption] technique where one could absorb powerful artifacts into their [Spectral Body], to then be stored within their Inner world. Not only did this enhance the integrity of the inner world, but the world could take on the characteristics of the artifact itself. The manual wasn¡¯t specific on what artifacts could be used, but they varied depending on style, focus, elemental affinity and so on. There was mention, that when one became powerful enough, one¡¯s weapons could also be stored as artifacts. That kind of blew my mind in a way, but thinking back I¡¯d seen it before, when Lesser Deity Realm cultivators like President Tzu Li Zen or even the Warden back home, materialized their weapons from thin air. It was something to truly aspire to aplish, and damn if it wouldn¡¯t help with lugging my massive axe and Phnx de around everywhere. I set Inner World Refinement as one of my top priorities for that alone, but as for now, the most I had done was to try and transcribe the cultivation manual itself to my inner world. The manual instructed that a spiritual temte had to be created first and then the transfer could ur. So far, I hadn¡¯t had much luck making the physical manual ¡®disappear¡¯ but it was what I was focusing on first. Thest two tiers in the Sacred Soul Realm were Inner World Projection and Sacred Soul Manifestation. Both involved mastery of the refinement of both one¡¯s Sacred Soul and Inner World, but surprisingly enough, I already knew the Berserker Equivalent techniques for both these tiers. [Furnace of the Frenzied me] and [Spectral Form] were both documented in my Berserker Shuras from Threja¡¯s sword. And while I already knew the meridian sequences to activate the techniques, now, thanks to the manual, I had a pathway of gaining the spiritual skills and abilities to actually make them work. Just thinking about it filled me with excitement. Especially since being able to manifest my full [Spectral Body] in the real world would essentially push me into the next realm as a Lesser Deity. I was still a heck of a long way from that, but having this roadmap, made the journey seem possible, where before I was simply shooting guesses in the dark. It certainly made risking everything to get this manual, worth it in retrospect. And thank goodness it all worked out in the end for me and Hei¡ª I was pulled from my thoughts by the presence of someone in the real world. I opened my eyes, just in time to see General Gong ascending the stairs to the observation deck. He let out a chuckle. ¡°The ever-vignt warrior. No one could ever get the drop on you.¡± I rose and gave him a salute. ¡°General Gong, sir.¡± He waved my salute away and sat down next to me. ¡°I¡¯vee to check on you. It¡¯s been a few days now since ourst talk up here. Are you doing all right?¡± I smiled and reflected on what I had aplished on that conquered world. I had managed to get a small remnant of the Heu Zen civilization to safety. Although a part of me still feared that I had doomed them all. I didn¡¯t know their chances. Fifty-fifty maybe? Hopefully better than that. One thing was for certain though. The longer it took me to get back to them, the lower those chances would be. If I could get back to them even. ¡°I¡¯m doing okay,¡± I said. ¡°It was an eye-opening mission.¡± ¡°As I said. It would not be one cut out for you.¡± I smiled. ¡°Did I at least pay my penance for the princess? Or is she still mad I puked on her original tribute?¡± ¡°The gods only know,¡± Gong said. ¡°The royals are a strange and fickle bunch.¡± His mention of ¡®strange¡¯ reminded me of something else I wanted to ask. ¡°Hey, General Gong, do you know those cultivators we were with?¡± I asked. ¡°King Theos and his gang?¡± ¡°Know of them, yes,¡± he said. ¡°It was the first time I have ever met them in person. You should consider yourself quite lucky to have done so at your age.¡± I was going to say it was my second encounter with them, but I didn¡¯t want to get into all that. ¡°What was that weird crap between him and the princess? Her calling him Lord Nephew and her, Little Aunt? It was kind of creepy.¡± Gongughed. ¡°Well. Technically, the Princess is King Theos¡¯ Aunt, but he is her senior by perhaps 2000 years. King Theos always lends his strength when the emperor designates a new world to be protected from the Bloodmoon by one of his daughters.¡± ¡°Yeah, he seems pretty powerful. Who is he exactly?¡± ¡°He is the firstborn son of the Emperor¡¯s twelfth daughter, First Princess Xiu Yee. His father was one of the emperor¡¯s greatest enemies, the Barrond King, Prince Consort Theandros.¡± I blinked. ¡°Damn, I was just expecting which n he came from or something. How the hell do you know all this stuff?¡± Gong chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re forced to learn a lot of history to be an officer in the Imperial military. Luckily for me, I kind of like the stuff.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re a history buff?¡± ¡°Not sure what a ¡®buff¡¯ is, but yes, I do enjoy the stories of our histories.¡± His eyes then twinkled with nostalgia as he leaned into me. ¡°Did you know, it is written that when the emperor finally defeated King Theandros at the end of the 100 year war, that instead of destroying his kingdom, the emperor offered Theandros his most beautiful daughter¡¯s hand in marriage. The emperor¡¯s advisors and detractors alike all thought him weak for doing such, but he proved himself a ruler of vision. Theandros had no choice but to ept of course, but that marriage forged a bond that expanded the empire with new strength. King Theandros was said to be near equal to the emperor in power at the time, so with those two powerful bloodlines, it is no wonder that today King Theos is more god than demi-god, even as a Lesser Deity Realm Cultivator.¡± My head was swimming with all the details. ¡°So he married off one of his daughters to his arch enemy?¡± ¡°A strategy he still employs today,¡± Gong said. ¡°Or do you think it uncanny that the emperor seems to only produce daughters?¡± I raised a brow at him. ¡°He has no sons?¡± ¡°By choice,¡± Gong said. ¡°He thus always has a plethora of fitting daughters to marry off to any of his rivals, or potential enemies. Taking over a Qi-less mundane world is not the same as conquering a cultivation empire. There, to unite the various ns and families, marriage is required.¡± I scoffed at the idea. ¡°And what if one of his rivals or enemies turns out to be a woman?¡± Gongughed. ¡°Then he marries them himself of course! Makes himself a new wife.¡± My stomach sickened at the thought of it. ¡°So, he runs his empire like a harem?¡± Gong shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s kept it together for over 14,000 years so far.¡± I grimaced inwardly. This merelypounded the battle thaty ahead of me. Not only was the empire filled with increasingly powerful cultivators, they were all linked and allied through marriage and the emperors endless stock of princesses. If we as Terrans rebelled, it would be hard to find allies indeed. ¡°But enough of that talk,¡± Gong said. ¡°We are nearly to the Hell Worlds now. We will reach Fhae I¡¯ung by tomorrow. Are you prepared?¡± I paused as I reflected on that. I was already two or three steps ahead of myself, worrying about fighting the empire and righting their injustices. But right now, I had to get back to the basics of why I was here. The God of Dark Frenzy was waiting for me to show up on his doorstep, and I had a promised ass-kicking to give him. After that, it was to get back home, defeat the Warden, im my bride and then maybe think about my next big move against the princess herself, before setting off on another sortie to help Blue Rose and maybe a side tour to help the people on Heu Zen. But I had a literal shit load of crap to get through before all that. One of them being bing a dad. Holy crap, I still hadn¡¯t reallye to grips with that yet. One step at a time, I reminded myself. I cleared my mind and centered on the other side of my twin Dao. It was now time to do the me¡¯s bidding. My payment for all that it had helped me with involving the empire thus far. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m ready,¡± I said to General Gong finally. ¡°It''s time to face the Hell Worlds.¡± Book 4: Chapter 20 We were all assembled in the main hangar bay of the Xing Long, kitted out in our legionnaires robes and armed with our weapons of choice for the mission thaty ahead. As I stood at the head of the toon, I could already feel the tingle of Dark Frenzy in the air. Or perhaps it was just my imagination, seeing as there was no atmosphere between us and the single that nowy in view dead ahead of us through the open hangar bay doors. The Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ung was finally within my sights. We were facing it from the dark side, and while I could see no features on its surface, the was haloed by a fiery red aura that gave form to it, like a ring of fire in the ckness of space. It was a sinister looking thing, like an eclipse of a Bloodmoon, but I knew what the was now eclipsing was something far worse than a moon. Somewhere at the center of this system, a Cursed Star was broiling the¡¯s opposite side, filling it with horrors and nightmares from the Nine nes of Hell. Or so my imagination was filling in the gaps anyway. Just the thought of it triggered the core of my Twin Dao and my me roared in anticipation of finally being able to do the bidding of its true master. The Frenzied me itself. It was a reminder that my power, as much as I needed to Struggle to advance it, was still a borrowed gift in the end. But today I was going toy im to it personally. I was going to pay my dues and give the me itself some long overdue payback.I thought back to the aetherite crystal within the tower back at Du Gok Bhong and that spirit I had discovered inside it. Today I would make a difference in avenging all those lost souls. Even now, I felt as if I could sense [Everyone¡¯s Pain] from across the stars. ¡°Listen in,¡± General Gong said as he arrived on deck, along with Captain Li Jeng and Governor Tai Su Long. We all braced at attention and saluted. ¡°We have arrived at our destination,¡± he continued. ¡°The preparations you have made at the Academy will finally be put to the test. I¡¯ve ferried over a hundred Sorties to the Hell Worlds in my career and I can say with certainty that the strength you have demonstrated to me thus far, put you in a ss far above any I¡¯ve seen from the academy. But don¡¯t let that go to your heads. I¡¯ve never stepped on a Hell World and don¡¯t intend to. Only you have an idea of what¡¯s down there and what you need to do to survive. Your skiffs are prepared. I¡¯ll turn it over now to Captain Li Jeng for the particrs of the drop.¡± Li Jeng stepped forward and bowed. ¡°I salute your bravery, one and all. Without your sacrifice, we would have no means to traverse the various realms of the empire. Our job is to get you down as safely as possible and return you home again. As you can see, we have approached Fhae I¡¯ung from the dark side. Even with the aetherite shielding of the Xing Long, we cannot endure direct exposure to the Cursed Star. ¡°The approach will not be dissimr to what you experienced already during your assault on the Heu Zen. The Xing Long will make a sweeping pass by Fhae I¡¯ung¡¯s orbit, just long enough to deploy your skiff. You will need to deploy in your defense skiffs to provide protection on the way down. Tethered to the drop skiff, will be the cargo skiff that will be left with you on the surface. Our pilots cannot endure the rigors of the Hell World, as there is a Bloodmoon here as well of course. The cargo skiff will therefore be lowered by tether from four hundred feet above the surface. They will have no visibility from that high up and at night, so the protocol is run by timings. ¡°As soon as you reach the surface, it is paramount that you clear anding zone for the cargo skiff and detach the tethers as quickly as possible. You will have fifteen minutes for this task. That is the maximum time our pilots can safely endure the Bloodmoon through the shielding of the skiff. After that time, they will have to depart. If the cargo skiff is still attached, it will be presumed that the entire team died onnding.¡± That sent a shiver of fear to run through my toon. ¡°In such an event, there will be no attempt at rescue. With a sessful detethering, however, the drop skiff will return in 14 hours. The timing for tethering the cargo skiff will be even tighter as we will be facing the oing sunrise. Again, if there is no skiff at the end of the tether, the mission will be logged as having no survivors.¡± More fear flowed throughout the team. ¡°But we need not worry about that,¡± Governor Tai Su Long cut in, smiling. ¡°My brilliant nephew, and your Senior Commander, Jei Su Long, shall remain with the centralmand on board the Xing Long, as he should, but he will personally venture aboard the Drop skiff to oversee the tether windows and ensure Captain Li Jeng¡¯s pilots do not depart a second earlier than they should.¡± ¡°That is right,¡± Jei Su Long said and then he looked at me. ¡°It will be your job to keep them alive on the surface, Junior Commander, but it will be mine to ensure theye home.¡± Ire built in my gut. He was thest person I wanted overseeing anything. ¡°We¡¯ll be sure to be on time,¡± I said, looking past Jei Su Long and to Captain Li Jeng, to ensure he knew exactly who was really in control of the process. ¡°Your pilots will not have to risk any exposure from our tardiness. I guarantee it.¡± ¡°Very good,¡± Captain Li Jeng said. ¡°The skiffs are prepared and the Xing Long is on final approach. Your deployment will be in five minutes.¡± * * * There wasn¡¯t time to do much of anything besides prepare and pray. As we packed into the skiff, I gave my men a final briefing with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Remember,¡± I said. ¡°We all passed an exam for this. The conditions are going to be like what we experienced before. Just another long night of killing demons and we¡¯ll be back home as Full-fledged legionnaires before you know it. Stay together, watch each other¡¯s backs and remember your training. We clear out any resistance first and then Dim Wei¡¯s team will focus on mining as soon as possible. The faster we can get some aetherite into the cargo skiff, the sooner we can start using it as a base camp to give us a breather from the effects of the moon.¡± ¡°Yes,mander!¡± they all chimed. I looked to the pilot next. ¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± I said. ¡°My men are ready,¡± Jei Su Long instantly echoed me, speaking to the same pilot. ¡°You maymence the drop.¡± I stifled my eye-roll with [Indifference]. It was going to be a long night. * * * The skiff pitched and rolled as we were jettisoned from the Xing Long. Thirty secondster if felt as we¡¯d mmed into a wall as the skiff hit the atmosphere of Fhae I¡¯ung. Through my small viewport, I saw the fires of reentry re around us and then a minuteter they were gone. The craft jostled and vibrated as we continued to fall. The pilot then pitched the nose of the skiff downward into a steep dive. The feeling of being out of control was unnerving, but my mind was focused on what we¡¯d have to do as soon as the canopy peeled back. ¡°Thirty seconds!¡± the pilot said, and we all grabbed hold of the canoe-sized defense skiffs. I was again teamed with Juk Sui and Dim Wei. I cycled my Frenzy, preparing for what was toe. ¡°Good luck to you all,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°Be certain to mine as much aetherite as possible. It¡¯s what we are here for, remember. Its why prisoners like you are given a second chance.¡± I was about to counteract his brilliant pep talk with something more positive, when the canopy suddenly rolled back and a hot wind hit us like the insides of a st furnace. An acrid stench like ammonia burned my nostrils and we all coughed involuntarily. Despite it all I gave the signal to deploy. ¡°Go! Go!¡± I leapt over the side with [Lightning Walk], Juk Sui and Dim Wei jumping with me. We mounted the surfboard like skiff and as soon as we streaked across the red-hued sky, a force from above assaulted my me. Dark Frenzy, stronger than it had even been at Du Gok Bhong radiated from the-sized moon looming above us. Instantly, I could see the strain on Juk Sui and Dim Wei¡¯s faces as they cycled their Qi to put up a resistance. I did the same as with my Frenzy, saving my [Soul Shield] for when I might really need itter. That alone was evidence of my internal growth. Before, I would have to raise my [Soul Shield] to even have a chance at not turning into a Demon. But now, as a Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator, the density of my spiritual pressure alone was enough to push back against the Dark Frenzy just by cycling it. But it wasn¡¯t something I could keep up forever. Especially when I had to start using my Frenzy to fight. And fight we would from what I was seeing below us. I almost couldn¡¯t trust my eyes at first. Thendscape below us spanned endlessly like a vast desert, sand tinted red by the Bloodmoon. But when I looked closer, the sand was moving and I realized, just like I¡¯d seen on the Hell Scape of the moon, the entire¡¯s surface was covered in demons. Dotted in between the near endless sea of bodies,rger creatures towered over the others. One of them looked like a demonic buddha, with eight arms and four faces on each side of its head. Dim Wei let out a little gasp as she saw it too, and I could sense her fear spike within her. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. But that wasn¡¯t all. I counted at least five enormous gates in our immediate vicinity alone. The President had been right. Whatever progress we had made here previously was now gone. Shit¡­ I thought. Making anding zone wasn¡¯t going to be easy now. I pointed ahead for Dim Wei. ¡°Head for that gate that¡¯s furthest from the others. We¡¯ll have to make a stand there.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to have us fight against a gate right away?¡± Juk Sui asked incredulously. ¡°It¡¯s either that or fight all five of them,¡± I said as I engaged my [Soul Shield]. Immediately, I could see relief on their faces as my shield created a mini-barrier around us, protecting us from the Dark Frenzy. ¡°What is that?¡± Dim Wei said. ¡°It¡¯s my core,¡± I exined as easily as I could. ¡°I can make a small barrier of protection around me now. If you get battle weary from the effects of the Bloodmoon just fall back to me for a while.¡± ¡°Gods in heaven,¡± Juk Sui said. ¡°No wonder you¡¯re so damn confident. Okay! To destroying our first gate it is!¡± As Dim Wei steered us towards the gate, I looked back to the floti of skiffs trailing behind us and pointed to our target, showing them the way. Just when I was about to look back ahead, something crashed violently into one of the skiffs. It was moving so fast, I couldn¡¯t tell what it was, other than it was nearly as big as the skiff itself. I looked in the direction it hade, and saw a sky filled with what looked like flying manta rays, with writhing tentacles in their mouths. There had to be hundreds of them and when I looked further, they all seemed to be spilling out of the gate we were closing in on. Another skiff went down as one more of the monsters kamikazed into us. I then looked upward to where the cargo skiff would be. It¡¯d be just a few hundred feet above us now, even though I couldn¡¯t see it yet. ¡°Protect the cargo skiff!¡± I shouted. ¡°If they destroy it we¡¯re all getting left down here!¡± The cultivators who were hit immediately went into aerialbat mode, using Qi techniques and hand to hand alike to cut into the near endless stream of rays. One of them flew at us and I sliced the air with a [Lightning Arc Strike] to send a shockwave of crackling energy into the mobs of creatures, killing over a dozen of them instantly. They weren¡¯t tough but they were numerous. ¡°We need to close that gate!¡± I said. But we also needed to protect the skiffs, I realized. ¡°Ten Chui!¡± I called out to our best flyer. ¡°Takemand of half the toon. I¡¯ll take a small contingent down to make a hole in the enemy and take out the gate.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± he shouted back. ¡°Skiffs one through four with me!¡± With that I gave Dim Wei the order to dive and when we drew close to the surface, the sea of demons came to life with snarls, hisses and screams. The Frenzy within my Dantian instantly began to sh evaporate as the eldritch nature of the beings triggered my cosmic fears of the unknown. I recognized many of the creatures from the unearthly picture book my predecessor had created, but there were some I was seeing for the first time as well, like those manta rays for one. But there was no time to categorize anything right now. All these things needed to die. I leapt from the skiff, bolstering my body with all of my defenses and then crashed right into the midst of them with [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. Demons shrieked and wailed as I cleared an area the size of a football field. But as soon as their brethren fell, the mass of the horde came pressing in. It was just a few seconds, but it was enough time for Juk Sui and Dim Wei to join me, along with the rest of her mining team plus Jin Po, Li Hei and Ben Wu. ¡°Dim Wei, form a phnx with your team to hold the perimeter,¡± I shouted above the chaos. ¡°Juk Sui and Jin Po, with me!¡± I pressed into the mass of demons, fighting against the ws and teeth raking against my [Lightning] charged skin. It was like trying to reverse the flow of a river. So many of them wereing at once, I barely had the free space to swing my weapons and clear a path. Juk Sui and Jin Po nked me at each side, setting off Qi techniques that sted deeply into the horde, but like pushing against water, they simply filled in any gap that was made. Still, we pressed on. Every second had to count. I understood now firsthand why so many of the first deployments on a new world failed. If this was what it took to merelynd, then no way could anyone make true progress. But I wasn¡¯t just anyone. I was a follower of the [Frenzied me]! As I evoked the thoughts in my mind, my me roared in response, filling my body with fresh Frenzy. I tapped into it to double my speed, hacking through the masses of tentacles and teeth with lightning-charged abandon. We began to make head way and when we finally neared the gate, I jumped ahead and cleared the area around the base with another st of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. Juk Sui and Jin Po quickly joined me and together we stared up at the massive thing in front of us. It stood at least a hundred feet tall, an inverted triangle made of pulsating sinew and bone. Within the triangle was a familiar purple glow, an oppressive symbol of demonic hate. My Dantian burned Frenzy like crazy as I stared into it and my [Soul Shield] went into overdrive to protect my me. ¡°How are we not going mad?¡± Jin Po said perplexed as he stared into the purple void. ¡°It¡¯s themander¡¯s core,¡± Juk Sui said. ¡°It¡¯s protecting us. But we need to hurry! Ten Chui is looking overwhelmed up there.¡± I nced upward to see the tentacle-rays¡ªI¡¯d decided to call them¡ªstill streaming out of the top of the inverted triangle. Ten Chui and his team hade to a standstill. Their backs were against the hull of the cargo skiff that was now slowly being lowered from the sky. We didn¡¯t have much time left. ¡°Break it down!¡± I shouted. I mmed my axe into the gate and a huge piece broke off. One more m and it cut clean through. The purple light faded, and I knew the connection had been severed. At least temporarily. But before I could even turn to try and help Dim Wei, the severed joint healed and the purple within the gate reappeared. Shit! Both Juk Sui and Jin Po stopped hacking at the gate then. ¡°There¡¯s no use!¡± Juk Sui cried. ¡°We need more people for this!¡± I wondered for a moment how the teams did this before. They must have destroyed enough of it to make the regeneration take weeks. But we didn¡¯t have that kind of time or firepower. My team was split three ways and each of us was on the edge. Destroying this gate was the only thing that could bnce the scales. And there was only one way to do it quickly. I had the pluck this thing out from the damn roots. ¡°I¡¯m going to need you guys help,¡± I said and then took a deep breath, preparing myself. ¡°I need you to protect my body while I slip into a state of meditation.¡± ¡°What?¡± they said shocked, in unison. ¡°Can¡¯t exin now. Just keep the things off of me. I¡¯ll try and help out as much as I can.¡± I didn¡¯t wait for them to ask for further exnation. Withdrawing into myself, I immediately entered the [Spectral Body] of the Red-hued Struggler. I left a window open in my mind¡¯s eye to see through my real eyes. I could even move to an extent, but it was hard, like trying to operate a remote-control car while driving a real one. I leapt into the spectral void of the spirit realm and immediately sensed the Dark Frenzy in the ¡®air¡¯. It didn¡¯t take long to find the gate. It was literally right in front of me, physically and spiritually, but I could sense the other gates as well. I used my timepression technique and instantly I saw the world slow through my physical eyes. Now I could stretch seconds into minutes, and I would likely need it for what was toe next. I paused a moment before the inverted triangle before me, tethered to some unseen point behind it with chains. Last time I did this I had Kelsey¡¯s me as a lifeline. But there was no time to go looking for her now. And there was no guarantee she was even in the Bloodmoon realm. I¡¯d have to do this run solo. Bolstering my inner [Soul Shield], I jumped through the portal and began freefalling towards the purplish Hell Scape of the moon. The pressure of Dark Frenzy increased exponentially as I plummeted, but unlike on my first trip, my Dantian was handling it easily. I wasn¡¯t certain if it was the new-found strength of my technique or the density of the Frenzy now powering it, but either way, that was at least oneplication off of my back. But I couldn¡¯t let that lower my guard. The [Odds were Against Me] in more ways than one. That cargo skiff was going to hit the ground soon and if it was destroyed or left with those straps still tethered, sure as shit that asshole Jei Su Long would leave us all here to die without a second thought. That tapped into the other side of my Twin Dao, and suddenly it felt like my me had just ignited a back up engine. Double streams of Frenzy flowed, filling me with even more strength. Heck yeah! I thought and a grin spread across my face as I plummeted towards my second sea of demons for the day. Just like in the real world, I engaged them with [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls], clearing a path. The demons evaporated into ash and as I took a look at them, I saw a mixture of the Star Born demons and the human variety both. But while they gave me a bit of a spiritual workout to enhance my Sacred Soul, I wasn¡¯t after any of that today. I looked back to the purple sky where I had fallen from and followed the chains extending downwards. They ended at a familiar inverted obelisk made out of rune etched crystal and bound by three golden rings. There were hundreds of them here, and I imagined each one was pointing back to another gate on the surface of Fhae I¡¯ung. I charged through another swarm of demons, cleaving them with my Axe and ive. When I reached the obelisk, I cleared the area with another st of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] and then immediately went to town on the obelisk. I aimed for the golden rings, trying to break them, but as expected the things were invulnerable, protected by something unseen. I sighed. Guess there¡¯s no quick way around this, I thought. I mmed the obelisk itself with the t of my de, causing it to resonate like a tuning fork. ¡°Come on! Wake the hell up, bitch! I¡¯m in a rush here!¡± Purple tendrils of energy seeped from the golden rings, forming chains as they coalesced into shackles about the body of a blue skinned woman nearly twenty feet tall. She looked down at me surprised, but then anger marred her angelic face with a scowl. ¡°Foul Demon of the Cursed me! Thou hast returned!¡± ¡°Told you I would,¡± I said. ¡°Told your master that too, but I got no time to chit-chat. Prepare to get buried, bitch!¡± Before my words could even register, Iunched forward with [Lightning Drill of Fury]. Or so I tried. I ended up jumping straight at her and then falling t on my face. What the hell? The realization of my failure came far toote as her scythe came crashing down on top of me, slicing right into my back. The pain was brilliant, cutting into my very soul. ¡°Braisen cur!¡± she shouted with venom. ¡°Thou dost seek to mock me to mine face? The burial shall be your own!¡± I fought back with [Steel Skin] and [Steel Lightning], deflecting her de from my back. I then got to my feet, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. And then the words of the cultivation manual came to me. I needed to refine my sacred soul through the same process I used in the real world. I¡¯d only ever used [Lightning Drill of Fury] once or twice and perhaps needed to master it in both the real and spiritual realm to be able to use it here. But no matter. I was twenty times as strong as I was when I was herest, and the raw strength of my soul alone was enough to defeat this minor form of I¡¯Xan¡¯dra¡¯s true self. I nced behind her and glimpsed a huge, inverted triangle that had to be the thing tethering the moon itself to whatever source I¡¯xol¡¯ukz spawn from. ¡°One day I¡¯ll be powerful enough to kill the real you, I¡¯Xan¡¯dra,¡± I promised her with a pointing of my phnx ive. ¡°But today I¡¯ll settle for this minor avatar.¡± ¡°Thou speaks as if¡ª¡± She didn¡¯t get thest word out as I advanced with a lightning quick Axe and ive form. I knocked her scythe aside with my axe and then followed through with a stab to her chest with my ive. I then flipped with a summersault, cutting straight up her throat and breaking the shackle about her neck. As she fell backwards grasping her gaping neck, I followed through with two more swipes of my axe, breaking the shackles about her wrists. ¡°You got lucky with that first hit,¡± I said as she began to dissolve into ash. ¡°But that won¡¯t happen again. Tell your boss I¡¯m here and that I¡¯ming for him next.¡± Her lips moved as if trying to speak, but she vanished into smoke before she could say anything else. I wasted no time, breaking off two of the golden rings that had now faded to lead. I grabbed hold of the chain before breaking thest one and then catapulted myself into the violent purple sky. I emerged back in the spiritual realm back on Fhae I¡¯ung a secondter and immediately spun at the gate with a [One Chop Cleave]. The triangle shattered with an explosion of Dark Frenzy and I was instantly thrust back into my actual body as the gate mirrored the action in the real world. The massive gate exploded, and the shock wave took me off my feet. I went sailing backwards, with Juk Sui and Jin Po flying and screaming beside me. I must have flown back a good hundred feet or more before I finally rolled to a stop and stood. I was still in a bit of a daze, both from the explosion and the rapid ascent from the spiritual world. Where the gate once stood was now a crater that spanned a good three hundred feet all around. Every demon inside of it was dead. I heard shouts and cries, and I looked behind me to see the Cargo skiff now just a few feet from being lowered to the ground. Dim Wei and her team were holding back thest of the resistance and Ten Chui fought back thest of the tentacle-rays to join them. A moment of relief filled me as Ten Chuinded atop the skiff and quickly released the tethers. Thank God, I thought. Juk Sui slowly rose to his feet next to me. ¡°W-what just happened?¡± He then looked to where the gate once was. ¡°Did¡­did you just do that? All by yourself?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, honestly. ¡°But don¡¯t break your mind trying to figure out how.¡± ¡°But how did you?¡± Jin Po said, standing as well. ¡°Maybe one day I¡¯ll tell you,¡± I said. ¡°But for now we got work to do.¡± I looked up at the Bloodmoon in the sky. ¡°We got 14 hours before Captain Li Jeng circles back, and we need to take down four more gates and fill that cargo skiff with aetherite before he does.¡± Book 4: Chapter 21 It sensed a great disturbance. An aperture shattered violently within one of Its prime domains. It was no surprise when the Chainmaiden herself soon appeared, requesting an audience. It exercised Its Influence to manifest a portion of Its Will within the maiden¡¯s domain. Visions of opaque crystal, tinted a violet hue, filled its senses as It appeared. The maiden was tethered hand and foot by chains, suspended within the center of the crystal void. It sensed that the chains caused the maiden immense pain, and It sampled the sweet savor of it. ¡°Exalted one¡­¡± The Chainmaiden bowed her head before It. ¡°The foul Demon of the Cursed me hast returned. It vites thy realm andmits grave transgressions. And it has grown yet stronger still.¡± It seethed inwardly. The Husk had kept its promise.It had arrived. ~The Foul Husk respects no boundaries. No sanctity, it knows.~ ¡°What willest thou to be done, Exalted One?¡± It contemted. It divined the course of Its Will. ~Endure yet the transgressions. The husk is yet far from its origin and thine. It can do ought but transgress and no true harm. Endure then, for I shall offer retribution in kind.~ ¡°In what manner, Exalted One? Shall I assist Thee?¡± ~Yae, I shalt need but a fraction of thy strength. A portion of mine Influence shalt I bestow upon the firmament once more.~ ¡°This One shall prepare an aperture for thee upon the domain it did vite.¡± ~Nae¡­ the thralls have strength enough to defend our domain. I shall seek another firmament. One already well tilled.~ Hatred welled within It. Disgust. But in Its recesses, a sliver of Fear yet remained. The Cursed me would pay for instilling such a thing within It. ~It is but a Husk. A Shadow. The Cursed mes appears to burn within it brightly, but an image is all it be. It possesses the hubris to attack our domain. And for this great transgression, I shall assault its domain in kind.~ * * * Sweat and blood ran freely down my brow as I crashed into the next wave of demons. It was just as Chief Yora had described. The demons were endless. We never stopped fighting. Ever. We couldn¡¯t. The masses were just that numerous. A roiling sea of monsters just like I experienced on the Hell scape of the moon. Except these things were real in every sense. Blood, guts, gore and all. ¡°Keep advancing!¡± I shouted. ¡°We¡¯re nearly to the next gate!¡± I had split the toon again, this time leaving half to defend the skiff and bringing the other half with me to assault the gates. There were still four in our vicinity and with the amount of demons spewing out of them each second, there was no way we could do any mining with them still active. Not to mention, none of them could be there to let loose more tentacle-rays when the drop skiff finally returned. I kept a close watch on the level of Frenzy within my Dantian as I let loose [Lightning Arc Strikes] to thin out the bulk of the horde pressing down on us. Thankfully my new Twin Dao supplied me with fresh Frenzy from my me, bncing the output as I performed not only techniques but had to keep a constant feed to my [Soul Shield] to protect my me from the ever-present Bloodmoon. But that wasn¡¯t the only thing we had to worry about. Just the sight of these unworldly monsters was taxing everyone¡¯s psyche to the limits. I could already see it in the faces of some of the less seasoned legionnaires I had left back at the skiff. Two of Dim Wei¡¯s people were bordering on psychosis already, their eyes full of fear and terror. I¡¯d stayed with them as long as I could, allowing them to recover a little in the sanctuary of my extended [Soul Shield] barrier, but eventually I had to press on. Now, those who were along side me benefitted from it and with the types of demons spawning from the gates, they would need it. I¡¯d seen most of them before personally from studying the collections of drawings, but they hadn¡¯t. Even with my shielding I could tell, that after this mission, even if they were blessed to survive, they would either forget the thing entirely, or return home the broken vessels I had seen countless times during the handover ceremonies back at Du Gok Bhong. That spurred a second burst of Frenzy from my me, triggered by the other side of my Dao. The damn empire and their jacked-up policies when it came to abusing the lower castes of the dynasty. It was clear that mental fortitude and Qi mastery were not one in the same, else people like King Theos would be able to mop up a Hell World deployment with ease. Either they didn¡¯t want to subject themselves to the risk of going mad and turning into a demon, or they simply couldn¡¯t. Either way made them elitist pricks in my mind. Using their immense power to ughter helpless mortals while we, the scum of the empire, lowly prisoner tributes, were subjected to front lines of the true battle the empire faced for survival. The imbnce and hypocrisy of it all filled me with rage and I let loose on the demons with even more fury. It took us another half hour but we finally reached the base of the second gate. I turned to Juk Sui and Jin Po. ¡°You guys know what to do. Protect me while I do my thing.¡± My men formed a perimeter around me while I slipped into the spirit realm. I performed the descent and when I crashnded on the Hell Scape of the moon, I saw a weing party had been assembled. There, amongst the horde of normal-sized demons was one of the gargantuan behemoths with tentacles for eyes. The monster charged at me immediately and stomped the ground with its massive, wed foot. I leapt into the air with [Lightning Walk], but somehow the technique failed. I was caught just on the edge of the impact and the spiritual damage of it crushing my leg left me hollering in pain. I used it to cultivate more Frenzy as I bolstered myself with [Steel Core]. When I finally got from underneath it, I was reminded of my limitations in this realm. I still needed to remaster my techniques in a purely spiritual sense. And I supposed there was no time like the present to do it. I cycled my Frenzy and repaired my injuries, clearing a space within the mass of normal sized demons with [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. As the giant monster reared back for another sweeping attack with an enormous club, I calmed my senses and timed my evading of the hit with a rolling dodge to the side. As the club came crashing down, I retaliated with a series of martial forms from my Axe and ive technique, lighting the giant creature up with sparks. I then used my [Lightning Walk] technique again, but more deliberately this time. In the real world I had muscle memory to rely upon, but here it was like learning it all over again. Still, the base was there. It was more like familiarizing myself with the interior of a new car rather than learning how to drive from scratch. I managed a few steps to bring myself equal with its head and then performed a [Lightning One Chop Cleave]. My ive spun and connected with the creature¡¯s giant neck, severing it clean. A wailing groan filled the air as the monster¡¯s massive body crashed into the ground, killing many of its smaller siblings before they all vanished in a cloud of ck ash. My Bloodlust triggered, despite there being no blood involved, but I didn¡¯tin. I cultivated it eagerly, refilling my Dantian and even causing it to expand. I approached the crystal and gave it a tap and then waited for the Chainmaiden to arrive. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Next time bring more,¡± I said to her as she finally appeared. ¡°I could use the spiritual workout.¡± She didn¡¯t have time to utter a word in response before Iid into her with a series of axe and ive strikes. My movements were so quick that she was freed from her chains even before I had time to disarm her. She fell to the ground and immediately began to screech, as if the chains provided not only protection for the obelisk but a lifeline for her as well. ¡°Foul beast¡­¡± she said with raspy breath. ¡°Enjoy thy senseless ughter while thou still can¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what she meant and didn¡¯t really care. ¡°Will do,¡± I said with [Indifference] and then ended her with a quick strike to the neck, severing her head. I reappeared in the real world, just in time to brace myself against the detonation of the gate. We were all blown back and when we recovered, I was pleased to see the gate was not only destroyed but a fair number of the demons that were surrounding it as well. That gave us time for a quick breather. As I crouched down to sip a little water and have a chew of Jerky, my men immediately and near instinctively did the same. Jin Po was staring at the destroyed gate, perplexed. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how you are doing that,mander. What are you doing to destroy them so easily?¡± I grinned at him. ¡°Ancient Chinese Secret.¡± He stared back at me, looking even more perplexed. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nevermind,¡± I said with augh. ¡°Let¡¯s go! To the next one.¡± It took us another hour or more to fight our way to the next gate. Once there, I popped into the spiritual realm and not surprisingly, there were two giants waiting for me this time instead of just one. I dispatched them with rtive ease, honing my spiritual techniques in the process and gobbled up the free frenzy afterwards. I¡¯xan¡¯dra had less and less to say the more I encountered her. It took another four hours, but by the time I destroyed thest gate, she had all but surrendered to me, not even bother to defend herself. ¡°What thou dost do, is all in vain,¡± she said. ¡°It all shall be undone.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± I said. ¡°But it still feels good doing it.¡± As I left and destroyed thest gate, I eased back to look at what we had aplished. Thendscape of the Hell World was now transformed. Where before there were five gates surrounded by throngs of demons so thick, there was no space to even move, now the ce was a barren desert, marked by five craters and dotted with stray demon hordes here and there. It was a lot like what the exercise was like back at Du Gok Bhong now. ¡°This looks a lot more manageable,¡± I said, still catching my breath from the endless fighting. ¡°Damn right it does,¡± Juk Sui said, and then he shook his head with augh. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it. We might actually make it home.¡± ¡°Have you no faith?¡± Jin Po said grinning. ¡°The Legendary Commander Chun is with us. Five gates destroyed already! That has to be a record.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not get ahead of ourselves, gents,¡± I said and then checked on the time. We¡¯d spent just over seven hours thus far. ¡°This is only half the job. Come on. It¡¯s time to get to mining.¡± * * * With the horde thinned out, Dim Wei and her team got to work sourcing aetherite. The harmonics of the crystal seemed less sensitive to Qi cultivators than it did to me, but Dim Wei had been practicing the art for a while. It took her only an hour to locate three spots in rtively close vicinity to the skiff. ¡°It could be fairly deep,¡± she said. ¡°But I know its here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take first crack at it,¡± I said and then using my Axe, I went at it the same way I had digging those tunnels back on Hue Zen. It took about ten minutes, but finally I reached a patch of hard rock that shattered like ice when I struck it. I instantly felt a pulse of Frenzied harmonics and when I examine the bottom of the tunnel, there at my feet was b of pure aetherite the size of a small brick. I picked it up and instantly sensed [Everyone¡¯s Pain] as visions of people being ughtered shed before my eyes. I dropped it instantly and then called for Dim Wei. ¡°Dig up as much as you can find,¡± I said, once she arrived. ¡°I¡¯ll start the next one for you.¡± I stayed with the mining team for more than just to speed up the process of digging. We were into the ninth hour now and I could see the telltale signs of Demonic Qi poisoning on Dim Wei¡¯s team. Keeping them inside my [Soul Shield] technique, helped to preserve what little psyche they had left. I prayed they would all make it to the end. Juk Sui led a small unit tackling the stray hordes of demons while Ten Chui kept close watch overhead, feeding information to the perimeter guard we had set up around the skiff. Once I had dug out the tunnels, I rejoined the front lines, defending the drop zone from wave after wave of demons which seemed to being in ever increasing frequency. We fell into a routine then and by the time we hit the twelfth hour, Dim Wei had managed to salvage what had to be half a skiff worth of aetherite. With the barrier the aetherite produced, the new source of protection from the Bloodmoon was helpful, allowing me to rotate legionnaires from the front lines to the skiff, to recover. By the final hour, despite my me producing its own source of Frenzy from my Dao, my Dantian was nearly depleted. And as the early rays of predawn formed in the night sky, I immediately felt why. Dark Frenzy like I had never experienced before trickled through the air. It was sharp and acute. It Dark Frenzy was like vinegar, then this felt like straight up industrial strength acid. ¡°Commander!¡± Ten Chui suddenly called from above. ¡°We have iing. A huge surge! Giants as well!¡± I strained my eyes in the moonlight, searching in the direction he was pointing. There, spilling over thendscape like a ck tar was a mass of demons the like I¡¯d never seen before. They had to be twice the size of the ones we had fought thus far and dotted within them were behemoths that were at least three or four stories tall. And then I saw something else. Something smaller and familiar but perhaps twice as deadly as the behemoths. ¡°D¡¯Mjulthu,¡± I whispered, recalling their true name from the book and Juk Sui suddenly winced next to me. ¡°What was that?¡± he said. ¡°Mind Reapers¡­ They look like brains with spider¡¯s legs, but they have Demonic Qi auras than can cripple us. Especially now.¡± I looked at the sky and could only imagine what the rays of the Cursed Star itself would feel like. We needed some kind of defensive barrier. No way could we fight against that kind of horde directly. I thought quickly and an idea struck. ¡°Dim Wei!¡± I called to her. ¡°Start offloading that aetherite and use it to make a perimeter around us, a hundred yards radius from the skiff. We need to keep these things out or they¡¯ll destroy out ride home!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Dim Wei shouted back and then she rallied her own troops. ¡°You heard themander! Move, move!¡± Desperate minutes went by, as all together we moved as much aetherite as we could to form the perimeter. The pieces were small, fist and arm-sized chunks at best. I still wasn¡¯t sure how effective they would be, but it was better than nothing. As Dim Wei¡¯s teamid thest of the aetherite in ce, I ordered them back to the skiff. ¡°You are the rear guard now,¡± I said. ¡°As soon as you see those tethers drop, get them attached. We¡¯ll pull back as soon as you do and get the hell out of here.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± she said and saluted. The rest of the toon was spaced out in an arc along the perimeter to protect against the onught. The earth began to tremble beneath us as the horde drew near and I could sense the fear building within my team. ¡°Brace yourselves,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°We fight not for this aetherite. We fight for one another. Protect your brothers and sisters and we¡¯ll all make it home.¡± Their fear lessoned a little and I used the words to bolster my own determination and resolve. Everyone would return home this day. The howl and screeches of demons drew to a fever pitch and when they finally came into sight, even my cosmic-toughened mind did a double take. The creatures we now faced were like mutated forms of what we¡¯d been fighting already. Centipedes crossed with spiders. Giant slugs that moved as fast as snakes. And some my mind could not register to describe at all. All of them were hideous. One of my legionnaires cried out in sheer terror and he turned to flee. ¡°Hold the line!¡± I shouted. But it was toote. Another of my men joined him, retreating to the center of the perimeter with Dim Wei. Shit! I charged all my defenses and prepared for the worst as the horde surged towards us. The entire swarm mmed into an invisible wall in front of me with a colossal boom! and I breathed a sigh of relief that my n had worked. Jaws and ws snapped, and the hisses of anger and hatred was palpable even if I couldn¡¯t already feel them attacking my soul. ¡°Push them back through the barrier!¡± I shouted. ¡°But keep behind it!¡± With a battle cry we pressed forward, cutting down the monstrous creatures from beyond the stars. Acrid ck blood burned and hiss as it sttered across my skin. But I endured the pain with [Indifference] to generate even more Frenzy to feed my quickly depleting core. Another terrified yell came from one of my team and I looked just in time to see a Mind Reaper jumping straight through the barrier. The spider-like creature pounced on top of him, and his screams were quickly cut short as the creature stabbed its legs through his body, now frozen in fear. Shit! No! ¡°Kill it!¡± I shouted. ¡°Kill it quickly!¡± But as two more of my team charged at it, they stopped short a few feet from it and dropped their weapons, wing at their scalps instead and began screaming. Damn it! I left the perimeter to give them support and when my [Soul Shield] barrier reached them, they immediately stopped screaming. But from the Mind Reaper I could feel a powerful barrier of its own, one that rivaled mine and was clearly protecting it from the aetherite. I leapt forward and hacked at it with my axe. It was nimble but I was faster, and I split the creature in half with a single strike. Instantly, the pressure of its aura subsided, but no sooner had I killed it than two more jumped through the barrier. ¡°Stay at the front!¡± Imanded the two legionnaires with me. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with these.¡± My heart raced with endless adrenaline and cosmic induced fear as I faced off against two of the creatures at once. I utilized my Axe and ive technique to stay on my toes, spinning and twirling to keep the things fromnding on me. I had just managed to dispatch one of them, when I saw something new that caused my heart to drop. Breaking through the barrier with ease was one of the gargantuan monsters, its body crawling with three or four mind reapers. I barely had chance to understand what I was even seeing when it came to the monster itself. It walked on two legs, had a torso with a woman¡¯s face imprinted upon it like a mask, no head and at least twelve arms, each of them wielding some kind of weapons. It immediately began swinging and two of my men died instantly to the ferocity of its attacks. My mind broke at the sight and I threw caution to wind, engaging [Mark of the Giant] as I left the Mind Reapers behind and immediately went for the behemoth. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± I spun in mid-air with my Axe and ive, hitting the monster with everything I had to take it out as quickly as possible. My weapons struck what felt like steel, but thankfully my power pushed through, and my des cut down the length of its body, cutting half of its arms clean off. A horrific screech filled the air and as Inded, I was immediately swarmed by two of the spider-like Mind Reapers that were crawling on the half of the body I had just cut off. I fended them off with my axe, but then out of nowhere, the body of the giant shifted with a speed unimaginable, and six sets of arms suddenly grabbed me and lifted me off the ground. The world became a spin cycle as I was thrashed back and forth on the hard shale of the ground. I clenched my teeth with pain and tasted coppery blood in my mouth as my body was put through the ringer. ¡°Aid themander!¡± I heard Juk Sui call out and from my haphazard vision I saw legionnaires begin cutting into the monster. But no sooner had they attacked, did their war cries became screams of terror as the Mind Reapers swarmed on top of them. I dug down and released my inner rage to perform a st of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. The creature roared and released me, and I fell to the ground still dazed. As I struggled to get my bearings, my mind reeled with new panic as I saw two more giant creatures breaking through the barrier with the aid of the Mind Reapers. This wasn¡¯t good. These things were strong as hell and getting stronger by the second in the growing predawn light of the Cursed Star. I was just about to throw caution to the wind and engage [Mark of the Beast] when a new voice caught me ear, filled with terror. ¡°Commander!¡± Dim Wei? I looked back to the skiff, expecting to see it overrun with spider-like Mind Reapers, but instead I saw something far worse. The skiff was lifting off the ground and standing atop it was Jei Su Long. Book 4: Chapter 22 My mind reeled with a shback to when Jei Su Long was wrestling that duffle bag full of salt crystals from Dim Wei¡¯s hands during our final exam. Here he was doing the same thing, only now he was stealing a whole damn skiff and wrestling with Dim Wei directly. The bastard had his hands around her neck, with Dim Wei struggling to put up a resistance. I looked for the rest of her team and saw nothing but bodies at the base of the skiff as it quickly rose into the sky. My soul came undone. I expected the bastard to try and hog all the glory somehow, but to go as far as killing fellow legionnaires? My me Surged with a primal rage. Even the cosmic monstrosities around me paled inparison to the pure evil that was Jei Su Long. I sprung off the ground with a savage cry, willing every ounce of my being to the singr goal of tearing his damn head off. I crashed into the multiarmed behemoth I had injured and plowed straight through it with a burst of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. It wasn¡¯t enough to kill it, but it was enough to push it out of my way and get a few steps beyond to try and reach the skiff. Juk Sui and Jin Po were battling one of the other behemoths and I spared a few seconds to chop down a couple of the Mind Reapers that were swarming at them with my axe. I was about to leap into the air with [Lightning Walk] when something caught me by the ankle. I was flipped upside down as the third behemoth caught hold of me and then swung me overhead, mming me hard into the ground. Pain shook every bone in my body, and I saw stars. I gritted my teeth with blood-soaked aggravation.¡°You damn shits!¡± I cursed as my rage exploded. ¡°I ain¡¯t got time for you right now!¡± I pushed off the ground with my arms and then, using a step of [Lightning Walk], performed a bicycle kick in midair with the monster still gripping my leg. The roles were suddenly reversed as I uprooted the giant monster with the strength of my one leg alone, sailing it overhead and mming it into the ground with a massive Thoom! My Frenzy surged with a satisfying rush of [Bloodlust] and I nearly stayed to finish it off, but I had bigger fish to fry. I sprinted into the air with [Lightning Walk] trying to catch up to the skiff that was now at least a hundred feet or more off the ground. ¡°Jei Su Long, you son of a bitch!¡± I seethed with rage as I zeroed in on him. ¡°What the hell have you done?!¡± He was still atop the skiff, but had Dim Wei gripped from behind now, wielding her like a human shield. ¡°Stay back or she¡¯s dead!¡± he cried. I slid to a halt in mid-air despite myself. She looked beat up but still alive. ¡°Commander, just kill him!¡± Dim Wei cried. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me!¡± ¡°He won¡¯t do it!¡± Jei Su Long taunted me with a grin despite the fear running through his soul. ¡°He¡¯s always had a softspot for weaklings like you.¡± Anger and resentment boiled within me, but deep down the Struggler wouldn¡¯t let me barrel straight through Dim Wei to get to him. Shit¡­! The bastard was right. ¡°I told you you¡¯d pay for disrespecting me!¡± he said. ¡°Now all of you will!¡± ¡°You¡¯ll die right along with us, you stupid asshole!¡± ¡°Not from where I stand.¡± My anger and hatred seethed. Ah, to hell with it! I thought. We were all dead anyway if I didn¡¯t stop that skiff! I charged forward despite myself, gritting my teeth with determination and rage. Jei Su Long¡¯s eyes widened with terror as my weapons charged with lightning. ¡°Take her then!¡± he cried, shoving her forward. ¡°Take her, if you wish to save her so badly!¡± Jei Su Longunched Dim Wei off the skiff with a violent st of Qi. She cried out as the technique struck her in the back and she flew at me so fast, that I had to pull back my own technique at just thest second as not to kill her. I tried to catch her instead, but with the force of Jei Su Long¡¯s technique propelling her, she mmed into me like a missile and sent us both hurtling towards the ground. The world became a blur of violet sky and demons as we spun and eventually crashed into the hard shale below. I took a few seconds to right myself and immediately checked on Dim Wei who was now coughing up blood within my arms. ¡°H-he, he came down with the tethers,¡± she sputtered. ¡°S-said he was here to help¡­¡± ¡°Easy,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t talk.¡± I looked back to the sky and could no longer see the skiff. Shit! Rage and anger burned me up inside, but I couldn¡¯t worry about that now. All around me the world was exploding into violence. Another behemoth had entered the perimeter and at least four more of my meny dead. Dim Wei suddenly began to scream within my arms and when I looked into her tear-soaked eyes all I could see was terror and fear. ¡°The Star!¡± she cried. ¡°The Cursed Star!¡± I dared to look behind me in the direction she was facing and there on the horizon was a ming red orb of darkness and hate. Its rays cast a horrid wave of heat, sending a broiler-like red light across thendscape and where it touched, the demons grew even more ferocious. A loud hissing noise filled the air and to my horror I saw the aetherite crystals starting to crack and pop as they evaporated like ice in a frying pan. I felt the rays myself then. Stronger than any Dark Frenzy I¡¯d ever experienced before. But it wasn¡¯t Dark Frenzy exactly. It felt¡­ more pure. Almost like true Frenzy even, but not quite. My [Soul Shield] went into overdrive trying to fend it off, draining my Dantian even further, but even through it I could feel alien thoughts starting to enter my mind. Rage. Destruction. Oblivion. ~Oh, wayward Child. Hasth thou returned for thine penance?~ I couldn¡¯t tell where the words wereing from. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz? Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the tform they originally published on. But no, it felt like something else. Something I didn¡¯t yet know. But deep down. Somehow, I did. It terrified me. Dim Wei cried out again from behind me and when I looked back to her, I nearly screamed myself. Her head was swollen to perhaps twice its normal size, her face bloated, and her hair was starting to twist and writhe as if having a mind of its own. Her skin was turning red and her eyes a vibrant crimson. ¡°Help me,¡± she said weakly. ¡°Dim Wei, hang on!¡± I tried to increase the strength of my [Soul Shield], but whatever this new power was, it was clearly strong enough to pierce through both it and the dwindling barrier of aetherite around us. Resignation and resolve entered her eyes then, a grim eptance. ¡°P-please kill me,mander,¡± she begged. ¡°I- I don¡¯t want to be a dem-o¡ª¡± I spared her from even finishing the thought, severing her neck quickly with a single clean cut of my axe. My heart ached with grief as her body copse before me, and I let out a gut-wrenching cry of remorse. Dim Wei¡­ damn it. I¡¯m sorry. I looked to the rest of my men and saw them in equal states of demonic transformation. They were already far too gone like Dim Wei. But dammit, I owed it to them to not die a demon. With sorrow in my heart, I sped across the battlefield, seeking out each one of myrades. Most were dead already, but a few, the strongest of them, were turning into creatures that would be perhaps far more powerful than the behemoths closing in on me. I flew into the sky to tackle Ten Chui. He was howling and convulsing in fits, fighting against the bat-like wings tearing through his skin. His face was contorted and melting, revealing a skull that looked like an insect¡¯s head within. My stomach lurched at the sight, and I cried out with rage as I lopped him in two with my ive, delivering swift mercy from his ordeal. As his body fell to the ground, I spoke a silent prayer. That somehow their souls would find their way to a better ce than this. I dove back to the ground, chopping through the resistance put up by the behemoths and the Mind Reapers. I took out my rage and anguish on them, channeling the pain of what Jei Su Long had done to us, to force me to have to do this to my own men. Behemoths and Mind Reapers fell as I gave into my savagery, ignoring the wounds they inflicted upon me as I dished out the same, but killing them did little to quell the burning anger in my soul. Somehow, someway, I would make Jei Su Long pay for this. I found Jin Po locked inbat with one of the reapers, but he wasn¡¯t human anymore. His back had sprung a shock of fine spikes like a hedgehog and his head had split into two parts, waving in the air on a set of tentacles. I dispatched him from behind, cutting through his body and killing the Mind Reaper at the same time. A sharp pain thennced through my side and I looked down to see a silvery de piercing through me. ¡°I¡¯ve always despised you,mander.¡± I turned to see Juk Sui. Or the monster he had fully be. He stood at least ten feet tall and had a chitinous armor that covered his skin like ck scales. His swords were now imbedded in his arms like single talons and for a face was now only a mass of writhing tentacles. My mind shrieked at the sight and the words that came from him, hinted at even more horrors that I could not see. ¡°Bold is the fallen, but redemption is near. Sumb to the Greater Will and rejoin the One True me.¡± I had no idea what was talking through him or what it was even talking about, but I rejected it with a pulse of [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I follow only the [Frenzied me]!¡± As I invoked the technique, it made Juk Sui flinch, and I used the opportunity to close the gap between us with a burst of Frenzy. I flew into a series of martial strikes and my instinct to engage him like a cultivator rather than a monster, was proven right. I countered his parries as he defended against my Axe and ive technique like a champion in the ring. Each parry felt like I was deflecting a shot from a cannon, a testament to just how strong the Cursed Star had made him. But he was Juk Sui no longer and I needed to free his soul from the monstrosity he had be. I poured on the dwindling Frenzy in my Dantian and engaged [Mark of the Beast]. It was a risk in my current condition and surroundings, but I had nothing else to draw on now. My added speed was enough to ovee him and I ended Juk Sui with a quick sever of his neck. I paused for a moment, trying to regain my breath and then suddenly the air shifted with a harmonic resonance of Frenzy I¡¯d never felt before. It hit me like a piercing ringing in my ears and I nearly dropped my weapons to cover them. But this was no sound. This was a resonance in my soul. The reason for it became clear as the demons who were stuck behind the barrier suddenly surged forward. The aetherite was gone, evaporated by the Cursed Star and now I could feel the full effects of the Cursed Star itself drilling through my soul. My [Soul Shield] felt like it was about to implode under the immense spiritual pressure and even with it engaged, the corners of my vision began to fade into darkness, like I was under the raw effects of the Bloodmoon again. The wall of charging demons mmed into me and my body went into a near autonomous mode of pure survival and self-defense. Under the power of the Cursed Star, the creatures were strong enough to tear straight through all of my physical defenses and I found myself quickly tapping into [Death¡¯s Door] to remain upright and alive. I lost all sense of time then. Seconds felt like hours of tortuous agony. Hope faded as the stark realization hit me. Here I was. Trapped on an alien Hell World, broiling under the rays of a Cursed Star. Barely any Frenzy left to soothe or save me. My men lost. Turned into demons. And me, forced to y them with no hope of escape myself. I cried out in bitter anguish as I somehow summoned the will to continue to fight. The Demon inside me was about to give up and give in. To say ¡®to hell with it¡¯ and just be another demon amongst them. Another lost soul. ~Truth¡­ rejoin the fold, Fallen One~ The words entered my mind and suddenly pissed me off. ¡°To hell with you!¡± I cried out. ¡°Whoever the hell you are!¡± The red-hued Struggler pushed back against the darkness, restoring my vision of the real world. I can¡¯t end now. The deepest core of my Dao was still pulling for me. Fia. The baby. I needed to get home to be a husband and father. To save my world. To save even the wretched empire from total destruction, before I tore it the hell down myself. I surged forward with newfound strength, releasing an enormous pulse of [Fear the me] and [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. The shockwave of [Frenzied Lightning] cleared an area a quarter mile wide, vaporizing the demon horde where they stood. In the brief reprieve I found rity of mind. I needed to hide from the Cursed Star to survive. Deep in the ground. I needed to get to the tunnels I¡¯d just dug for Dim Wei. I scrambled to find the nearest one of them. After thatst attack I was literally running on ¡®E¡¯ when it came to Frenzy and my me seemed too embattled to produce much more. The demonic horde surged behind me yet again, filling in the quarter mile gap I had just created. Finally, my Dantian drained altogether, and my [Soul Shield] copsed. It felt as if I¡¯d just taken a sucker punch straight to my soul as my me instantly twisted and red under the effects of the Cursed Star. It was like setting off a stick of dynamite in a campfire and the resulting explosion was enough to knock me out of my senses. Violent thoughts of aggression and annihtion returned, tearing my mind apart as my body began to mutate and change, bing the true demon that I was. The Struggler wrestled for the controls, running my body as if by remote as my world view shrank to a pin prick. In the darkness a new presence threatened my soul. I couldn¡¯t see it, but yet it was there. An all-consuming fire. A Cleansing me. I screamed in a mixture of pure delirium and agony as I fled from it and finally somehow, I managed to dive into one of the tunnels. Immediately I felt relief from the oppression of the Cursed Star as the tunnel shielded me from the direct impingement of its rays. My mind began to reform itself the deeper I crawled, and the effects grew less and less. And then I began to sense something else. Those same thoughts and feelings as when I had dug the tunnel initially. A chorus of voices in agony and despair. But with them came the promise of something sweeter. Pure Frenzy. There was more aetherite down there somewhere and I needed to get to it to cleanse the impurities in my me. It was burning with a strange deep red hue and the effects was even affecting my [Death¡¯s Door]. I wouldn¡¯t have long to survive if I didn¡¯t find a substantial source of aetherite soon. I hit the bottom of the tunnel and began digging deeper. Flesh and bone snapped as my body literally cannibalized itself trying to perform the task. But I didn¡¯t stop, my mind bing a fuzzy, haze of singr purpose. Endure the pain. Dig. Fight. Survive. I heard the screech of demons as they entered the tunnel from above, but I still didn¡¯t stop. I couldn¡¯t. I had no strength left to fight them. Digging to find that aetherite was the only way I could eventually return strong enough to kill them all. Something finally gave way beneath me and I found myself freefalling into darkness. Second passed before I hit something hard with a violent thud. I cked out from the pain for a second and then came to, experiencing even more. I could no longer breathe, my shattered lungs heaving blood in the darkness. I could barely see out of one eye and the only thing I could make out was a faint shaft of light of where I had perhaps fallen from. It seemed incredibly high up, a couple, hundred feet or more. Shadows and screams came from it, but the demons seemed to stop just short of jumping into the abyss to finish me off. I then sensed as to why. Somewhere close to me, was the pull of aetherite. I rolled onto my stomach and began crawling towards it. My eyes barely worked, but faintly, through the agony and pain I began to see a faint yellowish glow. My vision tunneled as I pushed on through [Death¡¯s Door]. I lost count of how many time the darkness took me, but somehow the Struggler kicked me back into consciousness, and I continued on. Finally, I reached the base of a solid chunk of aetehrite crystal. I couldn¡¯t tell how big it was and I didn¡¯t care. The only thing I cared about was that it was enough to send a small vibration of Harmonic Frenzy through my soul to begin cleansing my me as I touched it. As I finally gave into the inevitable darkness, the sounds of sorrow and chaos reigned. I had made it, just barely. And now, it would be purely up to this crystal, if I survived. Book 4: Chapter 23 General Gong folded his arms apprehensively as the boy, Jei Su Long continued to tell his story in the debriefing room. He had arrived less than an hour ago along with the pilot, carrying half a skiff full of aetherite and nothing else. Captain Li Jeng and Governor Tai Su Long were there along with him, listening intently as Jei Su Long recounted what had transpired in detail. ¡°So you did breach the protocol then?¡± Gong said. ¡°I did,¡± Jei Su Long answered far more quickly than he would have expected. ¡°And it is a good thing that I did. It was my intention to only lend assistance to the toon, but imagine my surprise when I found the Iron Bull in the midst of killing his own men.¡± Gong immediately grimaced at the thought. Nothing rang true about it. ¡°Killing his own men?¡± Gong questioned him further. ¡°Why would he do such a thing?¡± ¡°I had the same question, general,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°It was only after I managed to y the Iron Bull himself that I found the answer.¡± ¡°You killed the Iron Bull?¡±¡°It was in self-defense,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°The man attacked me.¡± ¡°I mean that¡­ I find it strange that you were even capable of such a thing,¡± Gong said. Jei Su Long¡¯s brows lowered in a re. ¡°You think I not strong enough to defeat one such as him?¡± ¡°Nevermind that,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°Clearly my nephew¡¯s skills were superior. Speak of this answer that you found.¡± Jei Su Long reached into his robes and produced a piece of parchment that was stained with blood. ¡°I found this on his corpse after I slew him. It exins perfectly why he did it. He was following the orders of his princess.¡± ¡°His princess?¡± Gong said. ¡°I always knew that Bull man was up to something,¡± Tai Su Long said as he studied the document. He then handed the paper to him. ¡°Here, General Gong. Read for yourself.¡± Gong took the bloodstained parchment and began reading. My Dearest Tribute, First, well done for making the correct decision in rejecting my false offer of ease through the Academy. It was a test¡­and one that you have passed. It was always my intent to send the strongest and bravest of what our fair has to offer, and you, my dear Tribute, have once again proven your worth to me. Rest assured, however, that the opportunity to be a royal consort may still be in your future. Should fate destine it between us. Especially if you return to me a Legionnaire. On that note, there is another task you must assure me ofpleting. When you do return from your tour of the Hell Worlds, as I am sure you will, ensure that you return alone. There is a significant grant that is awarded by the imperial treasury to be split amongst the home worlds of the tributes who survive. It should go without saying that my is the only one worthy of receiving this grant. You must ensure that it is so. Do not disappoint me. Until the fates reunite us again. In my thoughts always, Princess Lunh General Gong stared at the letter stupefied. ¡°This is a letter from the Third Princess Lunh to the Iron Bull?¡± ¡°It is stamped with her imperial seal, is it not?¡± Jei Su Long said. Tai Su Long harrumphed. ¡°That settles it. The Iron Bull¡¯s motivations are now clear. He likely was nning this from the start. The reward of wedding a princess is something a low born peasant like him would dare not cast aside.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Gong said sardonically. ¡°Even to the point of ughtering his own men apparently, despite it betraying every disy of his character thus far. An incredible actor he must be.¡± ¡°Yes, yes,¡± Jei Su Long said quickly. ¡°He¡¯s a born liar.¡± ¡°And one guilty of far more,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°His record at the academy must be expunged. The president himself must learn of this treachery.¡± Gong seethed inwardly. A blind man could see past this charade, yet he possessed neither the station nor proof to deny it. How indeed had Jei Su Long obtained such a document? Was it authentic? Or an act of forgery? ¡°This letter proves more than just the Iron Bull¡¯s treachery,¡± Gong said. ¡°Does it not implicate the very princess as well?¡± The notion seemed to take both Tai Su Long and Jei Su Long by surprise, almost as if the two had overlooked the true mastermind of the deed to simply ce more emphasis on the Iron Bull¡¯s so-called treachery. ¡°Indeed,¡± Captain Li Jeng said. ¡°I would think a letter such as this would create quite an uproar within the lower courts.¡± Tai Su Long snatched the letter away from Gong. ¡°I shall be the one to disclose this to our princess directly. You are right. If handled carelessly this could cause a rife throughout the entire empire.¡± ¡°Perhaps there is one already,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Gong said. ¡°How do we know that other royal households are not plotting the same?¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°Uncle, I have served my tour of duty and am now a full-fledged legionnaire, having braved the fires of the Hell Worlds. But I would hate to think that with the knowledge I have now, that other deployments might be at risk. I propose that for the next two deployments I shall volunteer as a Senior Commander to oversee the operations as I have done here today to ensure their safety and integrity.¡± Gong nearly died inside. ¡°Two more tours?¡± ¡°Why yes,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°I will make the sacrifice for the empire.¡± ¡°A capital idea,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°I am certain the president will be most pleased to hear it. Captain Lu Jeng, make for Du Gok Bhong with haste. We have much evidence of this treachery to share.¡± As Tai Su Long and his nephew left, Gong¡¯s insides soured with disgust. ¡°Did you buy any of that?¡± he asked Captain Li Jeng. ¡°Not a word,¡± the captain said. ¡°No way could he have faced the Iron Bull and won. I¡¯ve questioned my pilot. He left a full minute ahead of schedule due to a signal from Jei Su Long from below. He likely stranded them there. In the face of this evidence however, I doubt we could even bring it up as an usation.¡± ¡°He would likely exin it away in any case,¡± Gong said. ¡°Not to mention it would be the end of our careers or even lives if we did.¡± ¡°So what do we do from here?¡± Gong sighed and thought of the Iron Bull. A brilliant legacy cut short by the arrogance and greed of the elite. ¡°We can do naught but follow our orders and endure the Governor and his wretched nephew for two more tours perhaps. They will use this as a means to im even more glory and favor for their n. In the meantime, we have to do our utmost to ensure that a travesty such as this does not ur again.¡± * * * I was lounging on thekeside beach with Fia, her head nestled against my chest. She was talking to me about something, but I couldn¡¯t figure out quite what. I just smiled at her while I ran my fingers through her hair, enjoying the warmth of her body as she pressed against me. Then I noticed the size of her stomach. It was huge. That¡¯s right, I thought. The baby. Then I figured out what she was talking about. The baby and how much we needed to prepare. Where we¡¯d have to find a crib, perhaps borrow some clothes from Yu Li. We¡¯d have to get married first of course. Then that reminded me of all I needed to do to make that happen. Defeat the Warden. Gain my status as a Legionnaire. Du Gok Bhong. The Hell Worlds. I looked up at the sky and it had suddenly turned a violent red. There at its center was the oppressive orb of the Cursed Star, nked by a Full Bloodmoon. Fia screamed next to me and when I looked, I saw it was no longer her, but Dim Wei. Tears streamed from her eyes as she begged me to kill her, over and over again. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. I jumped up and found myself surrounded by my toon, all of them in varying states of demonic transformation. They begged for their deaths as they suffered under the effects of the Cursed Star, wailing and moaning for me to kill them. I awoke from the nightmare with a jolt. It was pitch ck. For a moment, I wondered if I was still within a nightmare, but then, my body gave the reassurance of reality with the harsh bite of pain. Every cell cried out in agony, but I found I didn¡¯t have the strength to even grunt, much less scream. With the return of physical pain came the true memories of my ordeal as well. The truth that my subconscious was trying to suppress with those moments of bliss with Fia. But my conscious mind could suppress them no longer. My stomach curled as I thought of each of my men. Dim Wei. Juk Sui. Jim Po. It was still hard to believe they were all gone now. The weeks and months we had spent together. The friendships and camaraderie we had formed. And not to mention, how they had entrusted their lives to me, no question. Everything had been progressing so well. We¡¯d nearly made it. And to have all of it scattered at thest moment. All because of him. Embers of rage kindled within my soul. That damn bastard Jei Su Long, I cursed him inwardly. He had caused all of this. Slowly my grief ebbed, and rage took its ce, forming like a pit of bile in my soul. My me coughed and sputtered as it reacted to it. It was still choked something fierce with a gunk like Dark Frenzy, but not quite. Something stronger and more potent. I¡¯d been poisoned by a Cursed Star, so Cursed Frenzy was perhaps the best way to describe it. My hand was still on the aetherite crystal and as I struggled to try and reignite my me, what little Frenzy I could draw on was instantly zapped. I copsed in on myself and my consciousness gave way to darkness again. * * * I awoke sometimeter. I had no clue how much time had passed. Was it hours or mere minutes? It could have been days. I had no idea. I went in and out of consciousness frequently then¡ªglimpses of pitch-ck pain and reality mixing with fever dreams, gued by the nightmarish monsters of the Hell Worlds. The cycle seemed to go on for ages, but each time I regained consciousness, I struggled for a moment to reignite my me. I lost track of how many attempts I made. Of how many times I endured the nightmare of seeing my men turned into demons, over and over again. But in the madness, the Struggler was there, lending his silent and solemn support. It was the thought of who and what I needed to survive for, that kept me going. Fia. The baby. Freeing my home. I had no idea if I could even get home now, but I would have to find away. No way was I dying in this Hell ridden darkness. The [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] gave me purpose and slowly, but surely, with each glimpse of consciousness, I chipped away at the Cursed Frenzy clogging my soul. * * * I came to with a start and breathed in a huge lungful of air. I then hacked it out immediately, choking on the acrid taste of sulfur. It was the first time, I realized, that I had actually breathed when I came to. The other times, I must have been teetering on the boarder of [Death¡¯s Door]. Now, however, my body seemed to have healed enough to actually be under its own power, albeit just barely. I checked my me and saw the Cursed Frenzy was finally gone. It was just a little candle right now, but the aetherite crystal had done its job. I still didn¡¯t know how long it had taken. Was I out for days? Weeks? I prayed not. But days was likely. I hadn¡¯t been this badly beat up in ages and that went for both physically and spiritually. The only upside was, that if I survived this and managed to heal all the way naturally, I¡¯d be in for a shit-ton of gains. The thought made meugh inwardly and I hacked out a little chuckle. Doing that hurt like hell. I struggled to get on my hands and knees in the darkness and the effort felt like I was trying to perform a pushup with an elephant on my back. It took time, but eventually I managed to get to crawling. Hard rocks bit into my palms and I realized I must have very little of my naturally hardened skin left to even feel such a thing. How did I even lose it? I didn¡¯t recall burning my hands or anything, but then the realization hit me as a gnawing growl twisted my stomach with pain. My body was cannibalizing itself. I was dying of hunger and thirst and my parched throat felt like it was filled with knives. I tried to find my canteen, but my robes were shredded. I couldn¡¯t even find my weapons. If I had the strength to shift with [Mark of the Beast] I could perhaps see in the dark, but my body was lightyears away from doing something like that right now. Hell, even a spark of lightning would help, but I had no spare Frenzy to speak of. My Dantian was but a sliver and anything I had in it was now devoted to the most basic functions to keep me alive through [Death¡¯s Door]. I didn¡¯t know where I was heading in the darkness, but I needed to find water. I stumbled around for countless minutes, and slowly my eyes adjusted to the faint light produced by the aetherite crystal. It wasn¡¯t much, the crystal itself being only the size of a football, but from it, I could just barely make out that I was within arge cavern. I found that my weapons had fallen close to me, but I was in no condition to try and lift them. I searched on my hands and knees for any remnants of my ration pack, dreaming of finding a sliver of jerky and my canteen. But after spending what felt like an hour, I couldn¡¯t find anything at all. Hope faded to desperation but subtly I began to sense something else in the darkness. It was faint, but in the distance, I could hear what sounded like voices. At first, I thought it wasing from the crystal, but as I touched it again, I could sense no living spirit within it, like what I had experienced back at Du Gok Bhong. Perhaps it was too small. But as I focused on the voices, I sensed that same spiritual presence as when I was digging earlier. Perhaps there was arger crystal somewhere. Something that could perhaps sustain me. I looked to the small lump of aethrite that had sustained me thus far. I¡¯d have to leave it behind to find whatever it was. But what other choice did I have now? I summoned my strength and honed my spiritual focus as I crawled towards wherever the voices wereing from. Pitch ckness returned and I found myself literally stumbling in the dark with nopass other than the voices of desperation and fear, drawing me nearer. I didn¡¯t know how far I traveled but fatigue set in as hours went by. But, then along with the voices I heard something else. The gentlepping of water sshing against a rock. A jolt of excitement and hope ran through me, reinvigorating my weary bones. I crawled towards it, enduring the pain of both exhaustion and the numerous abrasions that now blistered my hands and knees. I sensed I was heading downward, lowering towards some depth unseen and then finally I found the source. Water I couldn¡¯t see, trickled down a rockface and pooled in a small basin below it. It was cool to the touch and soothed my burning skin. Scooping the water into my palms, I sampled it and didn¡¯t care that it tasted like mud. Ipped it up hungrily and the water soothed my aching throat. I sensed something move within the water and flinched back startled. What the hell was that? In my mind I conjured up all manner of creatures that could be slithering in this water. Worms, leeches, giant cockroaches? It all turned my stomach and made my flesh crawl, but then another thought urred. What the hell else was I going to find to eat down here? I summoned my [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and fished through the small pool of water to find whatever the hell it was. Something slimy slipped past my hand and I sshed through the water to snatch it. A mixture of revulsion and disgust filled me as I finally grasped whatever it was. It was long and slimy and twisted within my grasp. I didn¡¯t know what the hell it was. It could be some poisonous demonrva for all I knew. But it was protein my body desperately needed to repair itself. To hell with it, I thought. Whatever the oue, I¡¯d have to trust that I could survive eating whatever this thing was by relying on [Death¡¯s Door]. I nked my mind as I pushed the writhing thing into my mouth and bit down hard. Nasty, bitter tasting juices filled my mouth, and I nearly spit it out and retched, but the thought that all my body needed was fuel right now, forced me to keep it down. I imagined it being some kind of fish, like raw sushi and that helped me bite and choke down the rest of it. I nearly vomited as the thing filled my stomach and I washed out to taste with the foul-tasting water. I propped myself against the rock face then, breathing heavily from my ordeal. As the minutes passed, my mind and body seemed to settle. My stomach went to work digesting whatever I¡¯d just eaten and then, like it finally knew I had sustenance to process, my body gave into the fatigue, and I fell into a long and restful sleep. I awoke sometimeter, feeling surprisingly refreshed and renewed. Even my me seemed to burn a little brighter. My stomach surprisingly did not feel sick and even had a bit of appetite gnawing at it. I went back to the pool and drank more water, before searching for more of the nasty worms or whatever the hell it was that I had eaten. No, not worms, I thought. Eels. I convinced myself, that that¡¯s what they were. Like unagi. Fresh Japanese sushi was on the menu. I found and scarfed down three more of them, blocking my nose as not to actually taste the things, but I managed to fill my stomach. I rested then and like before, my body gave way to sleep. I repeated the process until it became a routine and slowly, I recovered and regained my strength. After what had to be a couple of days or so, I finally had enough strength and wherewithal to think straight again. My body was still rtively weak and recovering, but at least my mind and spirit were now functioning as they should. In between my disgusting meals, I dove into my mind¡¯s eye to enjoy the sce of mykeside beach. But after a while even that became tedious. I finally set my mind to what I really needed to do. I needed a n to get the hell out of here. My body still needed to recover, but my mind and soul were free to roam. I needed to get back to the surface, strong enough to rendezvous with the next deployment. If things went to schedule, that gave me two weeks or so to recover and prepare. But how much time had passed already? I had no clue. Which meant I needed to get strong enough to reach the surface as soon as possible. Not to mention to be able to defend myself against the hordes of demons roaming up there. As I contemted my predicament, a new thought urred. I needed to scout out my surroundings. Slipping into the spiritual realm, I inhabited the Red-hued [Spectral Body] of the Struggler and then ventured into the darkness of the spiritual realm. Above I could sense the rays of Dark Frenzy from the surface and the gates that spawned the demons there. But below, where I was, I sensed that¡¯s same presence as I did before. A huge source of harmonic Frenzy and the voices that came with it. As I ventured to reach it, I saw the faint glow of it in the spiritual ne. A ghostly form the same hue and shape as the aetherite crystal appeared, but surrounding it was something else. Something vile and powerful. As I drew nearer, I could sense a malevolence and rippling across the faint outline of the crystal, were purple tendrils of Dark Frenzy. The tendrils pulsed and suddenly I sensed an unearthly presence draw near. Something shed and I felt myself quickly ejected from the spiritual realm and suddenly I was back in my own body again. Shit, I thought. What the hell was that? But whatever it was, I had no way to find it in the physical realm. At least not yet. My body was still too weak. But perhaps¡­ I ventured back into my mind¡¯s eye and read a few versus from the cultivation manual again before attempting to project my [Spectral Body] into the real world. It was a new technique, but not dissimr to those I already knew from before. It started out with me inhabiting my [Spectral Body] in the spiritual realm, but then from there I would need to project my [Spectral Body] into the real world. I could manage but a second at first, the technique draining what little Frenzy I had. I would then have to rest and recover before trying again. It took me close to a day and over a dozen tries, but eventually I got the meridian sequences down just right and was finally able to [project] my inner self into the real world. It was simr to me summoning my [Spectral Body] as I had done countless times before, but this time, instead of seeing double, with my [Spectral Body] superimposed over my true self, I was now seeing only through the eyes of my [Spectral Body] alone. I¡¯ve done it! I thought. My spiritual consciousness was now inhabiting my [Spectral Body] in the real world. Immediately my surroundings came to life as my demonic eyes pierced through the darkness. I could see myself leaning against the hard rock shale of the cavern wall. I looked a mess. Emaciated. I needed real food. I took a few steps and suddenly my [Spectral Body] dissipated, and I found myself thrust back into my body again. Shit, I thought. Not much of a projection range. But it was a start. After a few moments to muster a bit more Frenzy, I tried the technique again and this time I managed to make three steps before my [Spectral Body] dissipated once more. Progress, I thought. It was slow, but it was there. If I could master this, I could venture far away enough to find a better source of water, or perhaps even venture to the surface to scrounge up some real food. If such a thing even existed. But whatever the case, this was now my ticket to greater freedom in this mini-dungeon of a Hell World. You¡¯ve got this Max, I told myself. Get the hell out of here. Encouraged, I summoned my hatred for Jei Su Long to cultivate a bit more frenzy, before settling back within my mind¡¯s eye and then trying again. Book 4: Chapter 24 I spent the next few days perfecting the [Spectral Projection] technique. Not that I had a true way to even count days. I measured time from when I woke, cultivated and trained, ate and then slept again. It was a crude measurement, and it could just have easily been 12 hour periods instead of 24, but I trained and practiced until I lost all mental focus and then woke again when my body and soul were ready for more. By the end of the first ¡®day¡¯, I managed to project as far as thirty feet and maintained it for about ten minutes. By the end of the second day, I could do about a hundred feet and could hold the technique for about an hour. My progression was still limited by the amount of Frenzy I could generate, but as I got used to maintaining the technique, I found I could vary the distance widely depending on how long I needed to maintain it. I also discovered the limitations of the technique as well. I could exert brute force through my spectral form and use Frenzy techniques as well, but manipting objects with fine motor control was quite difficult. I¡¯d have to use even more Frenzy to just hold something. I practiced this by hunting for the eels in my [Spectral Body] rather than fishing blindly in the pool. I almost wished I hadn¡¯t, because the true look of the ¡®eels¡¯ was more revolting than my imagination had conjured. They were about two feet long and rippled with segmented bodies that were blood red. No eyes, just a mouth. They were probably closest to being leeches that fed on rocks. Seeing the things for real made eating them a lot harder, which made my need to widen my area of search even more important. By day five I found I could project nearly a thousand feet and could hold my [Projection] that distance for close to an hour at maximum. That was pretty close to what I would need to get back to the surface, I figured. I could do ten times that distance if I held it for only ten minutes.And for what I needed to do next, that would perhaps be enough time. My body was still recovering, but I needed more protein than what the ¡®eels¡¯ could provide if I wanted to recover fully. Of all the creatures I¡¯d seen on the surface, the most ¡®edible¡¯ of them seemed to be those tentacle-rays. And right now, as hungry as I was, the idea of barbequing some tentacle-ray meat over an open fire had my stomach rumbling. I took the first opportunity I could, to finally venture back to therge cavern where I had fallen in from the surface. Utilizing a bit of my solid Frenzy, I watered it down back to a liquid form and then, using one of the first true manifestation techniques I had mastered, I produced a small me in my palm to see in the dark. I was still weak, and making the physical trek back to where I¡¯d stumbled from in the darkness earlier was an ordeal in and of itself. I knew then that the ¡®eels¡¯ weren¡¯t really helping me to heal. They were simply keeping my body from slipping back through [Death¡¯s Door]. That made my struggle to find real sustenance even more desperate. There was quite a distance from the cavern entrance to the small pool I had found. At least a quarter mile, although it was hard to gauge distance with the difference in elevations involved. As I neared the main cavern, the familiar stench of sulfur burned my nostrils. I then looked about and saw my Axe and ive stillying undisturbed on the cavern floor. I joined them on the floor then, sitting in lotus position in order to project my Sacred Soul. As I performed the technique for what seemed like the thousandth time, my projection emerged near effortlessly and I went from being a weakling holding a meager me to see in the dark, to the robust red-hued Struggler. It was a sign at least that my spirit had not atrophied from my ordeal. In my [Spectral Body] I left my withering husk behind and wasted no time floating up to the hole in the ceiling with [Lightning Walk]. It was probably more mind over matter considering I didn¡¯t really weigh anything as a projected spirit. I could have probably just floated up there but that was a challenge for another day. Right now, I needed to hunt me some food. I entered the opening in the cavern ceiling and found my tunnel still intact. I followed it upwards for a couple hundred feet before I ran into a dead end where I found it had copsed. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Damn it. I summoned my [Spectral Weapons] and took a swing with my axe, evoking [Struggler¡¯s Lightning Cleave of Fury] to st away the debris and clear the copse. To my surprise, I broke straight through, being much closer to the surface than I expected. But then something else hit me. My soul instantly melted as boiling rays from the Cursed Star filled the tunnel entrance. It felt like I was being doused with acid. Even engaging my [Soul Shield] did little to help. I managed to get a quick glimpse out the tunnel and saw teaming herds of demons, but thankfully no gates. I retreated back into the shade and waited a moment more to see if any of the demons had seen or sensed me. Nothing. I couldn¡¯t tell how high the Cursed Star was in the sky, and I loathed the idea of trying to wait until nightfall, but in my current state I didn¡¯t have much choice. The rays of the Cursed Star were strong enough to dispel my [Spectral Projection]pletely. Much like they did the aetherite crystals. I supposed it made sense, considering I was a Frenzy-manifested form of my physical self, right now. My defenses were not really a part of me in this form. I was still like a ghost in many ways. I could dish out damage still, but I couldn¡¯t really take it. I went back to my physical self and then checked back on the tunnel every few hours. By the time the Cursed Star finally set and the Bloodmoon rose, my stomach was killing me. I nearly made the decision to trek back down to the pool to eat more ¡®eels¡¯ but I was physically spent and had exerted far too much effort to go back empty handed now. Summoning thest dredges of my Frenzy, I reassumed my noncorporeal form and ventured to the edge of the tunnel again. This time, when I looked outside, it was shocking to see the roaming hordes of demons looking almost cidpared to their Cursed-Star-crazed counterparts. When I stepped out of the tunnel, I felt the effects of the Bloodmoon too draining my essence, but it was much reduced and tolerablepared to being under the Cursed Star. Still my Frenzy was burning and so was my time. I jumped outside, scanning the star-ridden skies for any signs of the tentacle rays. With the gates gone however I didn¡¯t readily see any. My hope faded a bit as I scanned the volcandscape for anything else that looked edible. Humanoid like demons were abound but that was way too close to my DNA to stomach. Trekking a couple hundred feet I finally spotted something that looked like a scorpion. My hunger craved mind tranted that into nd lobster¡¯. There was a group of them, but with the scorpions being close to the size of a horse, I only needed one. I waited until one of them meandered from the herd and then chopped at it with a [Lightning Arc Strike]. To my chagrin, my lightning attack cleaved the thing in two and the five others with it all turned and began to charge at me. Shit! I instinctively prepared to kill them all, but luckily the Struggler had enoughmon sense to turn and run. The point wasn¡¯t to kill them. I needed to get one of these things to my physical body. I dove into the tunnel and the scorpion herd followed after me. I pushed downward and when I got close to the edge of the tunnel exit, suddenly they paused. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was abination of them sensing the small aetherite crystal below or perhaps them losing connection to the Bloodmoon above, but either way they began to retreat. I cursed inwardly, but then thought otherwise as this phenomenon was likely what kept me safe and alive in the bottom of the cavern those first few days. Nevertheless, I needed to eat. I dashed backwards, leaping ahead of the retreating scorpions. With a burst of Frenzy, I punted one of them out of the tunnel with a [Lightning] charged kick. I heard itnd with a crash below. Looking over the edge, I did a mini victory dance as the thing floundered on its back at the bottom of the cavern. But suddenly the scorpion righted itself and after turning in a certain direction, made a beeline for the edge of the cavern. I was confused by its reaction at first, thinking it was trying to flee, but then something in the back of my skull triggered like a self- defense instinct. Wait a minute... The bastard was headed for me. The real me! I opened my eyes just in time to see the giant scorpion bearing down on top of me. Adrenaline spiked and I reacted more from impulse and instinct rather than true control, the Demon taking the reigns. I flew out of my lotus position with a [Lightning] charged punch. ¡°[Struggler¡¯s Fist of Fury]!¡± My knuckles mmed into its thorax with a sharp pain, but I pushed through it and the force of my strike was enough to crack its shell open. Guts sprayed everywhere as its legs twitched in a violent death throw. I nearly fell back down from all the exertion, but the [Bloodlust] of my kill triggered a surprise burst of Frenzy that I couldn¡¯t let go to waste. Consolidating it into liquid form, I raised my palm and sted the twitching scorpion corpse with a stream of [Frenzied mes]. I held it for what had to be five or ten minutes before my Dantian finally gave out and I copsed to my knees. The thing smelled terrible but that didn¡¯t deter me or my appetite. Ignoring the heat of its burning shell, I tore off one of the huge scorpion limbs and then cracked it open like it was a giant skan King crab leg. I pulled out a steaming piece of meat that did indeed resembled something that coulde from a crab. I bit into it and to my surprise and delight, it tasted like the sweetest meat on Earth. Not that I was on Earth anymore. And I wasn¡¯t sure if this was truly safe to eat either. It probably certainly wasn¡¯t kosher being demon meat and all. Ah, screw it, I thought. What happens on Fhae I¡¯ung stays on Fhae I¡¯ung. I tore into the rest of the scorpion meat greedily and then, after tearing off another leg, managed to truly fill my stomach. With a satisfied belch I finally breathed a sigh of relief andid down to rest. I could really go for a chug of muddy water, but I was too tired and spent for now. I closed my eyes and drifted off to a well needed sleep and this time, I could truly sense my body beginning to heal. Book 4: Chapter 25 Blue Rose stood firmly at attention at the front of the assembly as the gong sounded, and the music of the imperial anthem began to y. It was the two-week deployment rotation, the general assembly that ushered in new recruits, sent new legionnaires to the Hell Worlds and brought the victorious one¡¯s home. Although in this case, it was closer to nearly four weeks now. When news hade that Max¡¯s deployment had been dyed, it came as somewhat of a sign to Blue Rose, that the universe was giving her yet more time to prepare. And so, she had done just that. Utilizing the drawing Max had left her, she trained doubly hard to increase her spiritual endurance. The first few days, looking at the horrific drawing had gued her with vivid nightmares and shbacks to when she¡¯d nearly lost her mind in the desert during the final exam. And without Max¡¯s help she certainly would have. But now his help was aiding her to build her own strength tobat the effects of the Demonic Qi exerted by the Bloodmoon. With the extra time of being dyed, she retook her final exam and passed with ease. Now she stood with pride at the head of the assembly, awaiting the return of Max¡¯s deployment to start her own. Deep down she wondered if Max would still be able to keep his promise to her. To join her on her deployment. She knew he had to get home though. To see his future wife and start his family. But in a way she wouldn¡¯t even mind if he couldn¡¯t join her. Max had given her a gift in more ways than one.She had now found her own strength and confidence to challenge the Hell Worlds on her own. A part of her was beaming with inner pride, eager to show him just how much stronger she¡¯d grown since he had left. Not that she wouldn¡¯t mind hispany, of course. But the weakness that had gued her to need it, was now gone. Still, she couldn¡¯t wait to just see him again period. Not as a savior or protector. But simply a dearly missed friend. President Tzu Li Zen finally entered the assembly from the back of the square to perform his inspection of the various ranks and Robes on disy within Du Gok Bhong. Butterflies of excitement and anticipation roiled within her stomach. She still couldn¡¯t believe this day was finally here. As President Tzu Li Zen passed by and gave his final inspection, she braced herself even firmer, but sadly he didn¡¯t pause to spend much time inspecting their toon. A brief nce was all he gave, his mind seemingly elsewhere with preupation or stress. It was an unusual demeanor for him and the look of it caused a ripple of apprehension to course through her soul. The hastiness continued as he gave his usualmencement speech to the new Grey Robes who had survived the gauntlet and when he finished, she waited in anticipation for the next part of the ceremony. ¡°Tributes,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°As is our custom, on every second week, we hold this assembly to not only wee our new cohorts, but to wee home those who have served their final tours as fully blooded Legionnaires. Legionnaires of the 28th Deployment of the 5,073rd campaign, step forward and give report!¡± Her heart pounded with excitement and anticipation as she eagerly awaited to see Max step on stage, but then the pounding of her heart turned to fear, as all she saw appear was Jei Su Long. What the hell? Where was he? Where was Max? Fear continued to grip her soul as the blue-haired bastard stepped on stage now wearing the jade trimmed robes of a full-fledged legionnaire and when he bowed to the president, he had the slightest smirk of superiority upon his face. ¡°High Marshal, I, Senior Commander Jei Su Long of the 28th Deployment gives this report of our endeavors on the Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ang,¡± he said. ¡°Zero gates destroyed and 9,855 taels of aetherite crystal recovered.¡± Seniormander? Blue Rose waited for the other shoe to drop. For Max and the rest of the toon to emerge. Clearly, this had to be some powery by Jei Su Long to hog all the glory of the announcement. No way Max would not have survived. She pushed the thought out of her head immediately as the ceremony proceeded. ¡°Well done, 28th Deployment,¡± Tzu Li Zen said almost solemnly. ¡°Assembly¡­ congratte the deployment on their sess.¡± A measured round of apuse was given, but nowhere near the usual level of celebration and enthusiasm for a returning deployment. As Blue Rose nced up and down her own toon, she could see her colleagues shared the same looks of concern. What the hell had happened out there? ¡°May the 29th Deployment step forward,¡± Tzu Li Zen said and Blue Rose was still so shell-shocked she nearly forgot to advance with the rest of her toon. ¡°Assembly, hail the 29th Deployment of the 5073rd Campaign. Give them your praise, respect and honor!¡± Everyone in the assembly thrust their right fist into the air and began shouting themencement chant as one. ¡°To those who now face the Hell Worlds of the Cursed Stars, we the assembly of Tributes salute you! May we too one day tread the path of death and sacrifice ourselves for the glory of the Empire. Go a mortal and return a god!¡± Blue Rose couldn¡¯t feel the power and conviction of those words right now. Her soul was bleeding with anxiety and dread. Her mind didn¡¯t want to acknowledge was she knew theck of Max¡¯s presence meant. No, she thought. This didn¡¯t just happen. This isn¡¯t happening! ¡°All of you remain here,¡± Chief Yora said as the assembly broke. ¡°The President wishes to speak with you all personally.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on, Chief?¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°What happened to the Iron Bull?¡± Chief Yora¡¯s eyes shifted down toward the ground and then to the side. ¡°All will be exined in a moment. Remain in form.¡± Blue Rose did so, suppressing the dread and anxiety building in her gut. Her eyes watered. She felt like she was about to throw up. The President approached them, joined by Jei Su Long and another man she didn¡¯t recognize, but by his robes and blue hair, he clearly had to be some senior member of Jei Su Long¡¯s n. ¡°29th Deployment,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°This is Governor Tai Su Long of the Twin River n, the chief benefactor of Du Gok Bhong. He joins us here to apprise you of an anomaly which took ce during thest deployment. The information you are about to receive is strictly confidential and should not be repeated, but because it will impact your deployment, you are being made aware. Governor?¡± More apprehension filled her as Tzu Li Zen stepped to the side to make way for the governor. His introduction too had been given with ackluster nature as hismencement speech earlier. As if he didn¡¯t want to say much, or anything at all. ¡°Graduate Legionnaires of the 29th deployment.¡± The governor acknowledged them with a short dip of his head. ¡°I bring unsavory news about the 28th deployment. There was a plot that was uncovered, but sadly toote before the damage was already done. My, nephew, the Senior Commander was the only one to survive.¡± The words hit her like a thunderbolt. There it was. The confirmation. Max was dead. No¡­ She shook her head reflexively, rejecting the notion. She didn¡¯t want to believe it. Couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°How?¡± she said, her voice cracking. ¡°What happened to all of them?¡± ¡°I shall let the seniormander exin,¡± Governor Tai Su Long said. ¡°Commander?¡± Jei Su Long stepped forward to address them. ¡°It appears the Iron Bull, who you all adored so much and put so much faith in, was against all of us from the very start.¡± He paused to shake his head as if in disappointment. ¡°When I ventured to the Hell Worlds, I found the Iron Bull had in his entire toon and then sought to kill me. Thankfully I was strong enough to defeat him, but on his body, I found evidence, in the form of a letter, of a plot to return as the sole legionnaire, in order for his world to receive the imperial benefit alone.¡± Her disbelief quickly turned to anger as she stared at Jei Su Long. ¡°What?¡± she blurted out despite herself. ¡°You killed the Iron Bull? How?¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences elsewhere. ¡°He was weak,¡± Jei Su Long said, ncing at her with a smile. ¡°And I was stronger.¡± That son of a bitch. She wanted to say more, but she held her tongue. What treachery had he wrought? What had he done to achieve this? No way Max would have done anything like what he¡¯d said. Although she did recall reading that letter from the princess that he¡¯d gotten. Surely, he wouldn¡¯t have gone through with it. And then something else struck her. She wanted to say more, but she read the circumstances. Now wasn¡¯t the time. Whatever Jei Su Long had done, he had convinced everyone of his story, and his alone. Anger and rage seethed within her soul as the reality was slowly setting in. Max was gone and this bastard was responsible somehow. But he couldn¡¯t have killed him directly. He was far too weak and cowardly for that. Her anger built as her hands curled into fists, but then suddenly, her heart broke. The realization hit her again. Despite how it happened. Max was now gone. She choked out a sob as her eyes teared. Damn it, Max¡­ what the hell happened to you out there? ¡°Due to this transgression,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°My Nephew will be apanying your toon as its seniormander to ensure no further anomalies ur. I shall leave it to your president to ensure that the Iron Bull¡¯s name is not retained within the history of this grand institution. Were he still alive, the punishment for such treason would be execution. That is all.¡± ¡°You¡¯re dismissed,¡± Tzu Li Zen said dispassionately, like he himself didn¡¯t want to be here. ¡°Prepare now for your deployment. The skiff will leave in thirty minutes.¡± As the assembly broke, Blue Rose immediately rushed to Chief Yora. ¡°I need a word please, Chief.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°He¡¯s lying,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°Jei Su Long. He¡¯s lying.¡± Her eyes widened and she immediately pulled her to the side. ¡°Do not say such things openly. The man and his uncle stand just over there.¡± ¡°What he said does not make sense,¡± Blue Rose said. Yora sighed. ¡°Not much of this does, but it¡¯s the reality we have to ept.¡± ¡°I mean more than what happened to the Iron Bull,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°I have proof Jei Su Long is lying.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°That evidence he spoke of,¡± she said. ¡°The letter. There is no way he found that on the Iron Bull¡¯s body.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The letter exists, but Jei Su Long confiscated it from him months ago during training. And it does indeed say what he says, but no way Max would carry out such a deed. Besides his honor, he hates his princess.¡± ¡°Max?¡± Yora said. ¡°Sorry, the Iron Bull,¡± she said, realizing not many referred to him as such. ¡°If Jei Su Long was so weary of a plot, why did he not disclose that letter to you or the president earlier. Clearly, he must have liked the idea himself and is now perpetrating this fraud to clear himself as the sole survivor and benefactor while ming the Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Quiet now,¡± Yora said in a hushed whisper as her eyes shifted to something behind her. ¡°He approaches.¡± Blue Rose stiffened as she turned to face Jei Su Long. ¡°Ah, Blue Rose,¡± he said with another cold smile. ¡°So fateful for you to be joining me on this tour. I must extend my condolences on the Iron Bull. I know you two were estranged lovers or something, but clearly now I hope you can appreciate that the man was a fraud in all his ways.¡± Deep anger and resentment burned within her soul, but she took a page out of Max¡¯s book and would not give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing it on her face. ¡°Never lovers,¡± she said, matter-of-factly. ¡°Max was my friend.¡± Jei Su Long raised his brows in mock surprise. ¡°Oh, I see. Well, it matters little now. The man is dead. But fear not, I will ensure your safety on your tour of the Hell Worlds, Blue Rose. You just ensure, that you are assembled on time.¡± And with that he left, hands behind his back. The rage returned and she would have given anything to plunge a dagger into his skull. ¡°Easy with those eyes,¡± Yora said. ¡°The killing intent within them is palpable even without the Qi.¡± ¡°Please, you must believe me,¡± Blue Rose said, turning back to her. ¡°Something is not right here. You can confirm my story with Tu¡¯lok. He was there with us when Jei Su Long confiscated the letter.¡± Yora sighed. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I believe you. I¡¯ll mention what you said to the President, but I¡¯m afraid Jei Su Long is still correct in the long run. There is little that can be done for now. y things smart, Blue Rose. I understand you may wish revenge, but an assassination will not go unnoticed, nor uninvestigated. And this proof of yours would look very weak in retrospect, if that urs.¡± Blue Rose nodded, taking the words of wisdom from the Chief like a whisper from heaven. Her mind had already been busy calcting how she could quickly and quietly kill that bastard while enroute to the Hell Worlds, but that would raise more suspicions than anything, just like Yora had said. ¡°You should focus on yourself,¡± Yora said. ¡°That boy betrays his intentions as inly as you do. Watch your back out there. All of you.¡± * * * I stretched and flexed as I went through my calisthenics routine. My body was bathed in sweat from the three-hour long workout, but I could feel my full strength finally returning like never before. It was now day five of my demon meat only diet and I had to say, the results were nothing short of phenomenal. I stuck to the scorpions mostly because they actually tasted good and were somewhat easy to round up and kick down the hole. And just one of them could feed me for a couple of meals. I did eventually manage to snag one of the tentacle rays on day three. The meat turned out to be a lot less vorful than the scorpions and was chewy to boot, but it was a lot hardier and chowing down on one of them kept me full for longer. My appetite was ravenous once I started eating regrly, which I guess was my body¡¯s natural response to shifting out of starvation mode. By day four I was eating two whole scorpions a day to stay full. The whole thing reminded me of this ¡®carnivore diet¡¯ my dad had tried for a few weeks to lose weight. My mom had been totally against it¡ªsaid he would give himself a heart attack or something from all the cholesterol. He argued with her about it constantly, but then quit on his own after about a month anyway. ¡°Ain¡¯t worth giving up my beer,¡± he¡¯d said. I chuckled at the thought now. He was probably right about that. But for me, thankfully I had no such luxuries to be tempted by. And the results were now showing for themselves. Instead of losing weight, however, I was gaining it by the day, quickly returning to my normal physique. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the demon meat itself, or the fact that my body was healing from the worst thrashing of its life, but now that I had the fuel to fully heal, I was feeling beefier and stronger than ever. After just a day I could lift my weapons again and with them I practiced not only my martial forms but my Frenzied Techniques as well. But it wasn¡¯t just my body that had repaired itself. My mind was working better now too. Even though I was training my spirit and soul when I was down by the pool, I had no clue how much brain fog I¡¯d been stumbling through thanks to the reduced calories. After eating that first scorpion, I had the strength to truly explore the cavern in my physical body and to my delight I discovered that my pack had bounced down a small crevasse and was dangling by its straps. Finding that thing had felt like the damn Fourth of July to me. Rooting through it, I found my water canteen, a stash of real food and even my writing implements I¡¯d promised Chief Yora I would use to capture the unseen monsters of the Hell World. I used the jerky sparingly as a condiment and seasoning, which sent my meals to the next level. The pack itself was helpful to filter the muddy water from the pool and turn it into decent tasting stuff that I stored in my canteen. After that life was looking up in many ways. I had the strength to train physically during the day, and also to study the cultivation manual to further hone my [Spectral Projection] technique. By night, I kept watch on the sky for the next deployment. I truly had no idea just how long I¡¯d been down in the cavern, but it had to be over two weeks by now. I feared that perhaps I¡¯d missed the next drop, which filled me with a bit of dread. That would be the 29th Deployment. After that woulde the 30th. That would be the final drop on the Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ung before they rotated to a different. If I missed that, it would be all over. Another deployment would not visit Fhae I¡¯ung for another year and who knew where the drop zones might change to. Even now I knew they probably changed the drop zones already. With that bastard Jei Su Long reporting a total loss, they would assume it an unsafe drop zone, despite us clearing out five gates and making it the safest drop site on the. From my study of the records in the archives at Du Gok Bhong, the standard procedure was to deploy about a hundred miles from thest failed drop with a rotation back to the initial drop zone on the final deployment. That meant I needed to be ready to assist the next deployment wherever and whenever it came down. That kept me keeping one eye on the sky every single night. The other I kept on my drawing pad as I sketched the new creatures I¡¯d seen. Those tentacle-rays were one of them, but I had no idea what their true name was. Their demonic name. But I was sure therger aetherite crystals of this would know. If I could find onerge enough, perhaps it would be inhabited by an actual conscious spirit that I couldmunicate with¡ªjust like my legionnaire Berserker predecessor, the Imperial Marshal Wi Chu Lou, had done. It was that thought that stuck in my head as I was about to get some sleep while the Curse Star rose on the surface. I¡¯d been busy improving my physical self, but now that I was back into shape, I could turn my attention to more spiritual matters again. And those voices I¡¯d heard from the first time I started digging still haunted me when I returned to the pool for water. I had to find out what it was. It had to be a massive aetherite crystal of some kind, perhaps even what that spirit had told me to seek out back at Du Gok Bhong. What the hell, I thought as I roused myself from sleep. I had a good 14 hours until the Cursed Star set. And that gave me plenty of time to explore. * * * I started from the pool and began making my way downward. With light from a constant spark of [Steel Lightning] the terrain was well lit, and I could find my footings easily. I dipped in and out of the spiritual realm, every so often to orientate myself. In the spiritual realm, I could find the source easily. It was huge, whatever it was, but just like when I had seen it previously, the dotted outline of the crystal was bound in purplish tentacles of Dark Frenzy and when I tried to approach it, I was immediately ejected from the spiritual realm and thrust back into my own body again. I cursed frustratedly as it happened for the fourth or fifth time. It was well over seven hours of exploration now and I had descended what had to be close to a mile, but I could find no way to go further or deeper. Yet still, in the air, I could sense the power of the crystal resonating and calling me to go deeper still. I sighed and plopped down on a hard piece of shale in lotus position to think. I would need to start heading back up to the surface soon. As deep as I¡¯de, I would not be able to keep an eye on the night sky from here with my [Spectral Projection] and even if I did happen to be lucky enough for the deployment to arrive, I¡¯d be a good seven hours behind in trying to reach them. I was just about to call it quits when a new idea urred. I spilled back into the spiritual realm and found the source again, but this time I didn¡¯t try to touch it. Instead, I readied myself and activated my [Spectral Projection] technique. As my meridian sequences connected, my [Spectral Body] materialized in the real world wherever this crystal was and instantly I was transported to somece else. Blinding golden light filled my eyes as I suddenly stood before a massive crystal the likes I¡¯d never seen. It was bigger even than those I had seen within the imperial cities, easily the size of a mountain. And the cavern I was in was barelyrge enough to contain it. I felt my Frenzy zapping instantly just to maintain my projection. I had to be many miles away and the rate at which I was being depleting I would have perhaps a half an hour at maximum. But then I noticed my Frenzy was depleting for another reason. Dark Frenzy. It permeated the air like a putrid stench and as I focused on it, my spiritual vision saw where it wasing from. There, crisscrossing the giant crystal was attice work of what looked like spider webs, each one pulsating like a living thing. Suddenly a malevolent presence filled my soul as eldritch thoughts filled my mind. ~The me draws a new me. Folly upon thee for venturing into my dominion~ I instinctively looked upward and there upon the ceiling of the giangantic cavern, was a spider sorge I couldn¡¯t even find something to easilypare it to. It had to be the size of a ne or more. It was blood red and covered in hairs, but where its eyes would be, was something even more disturbing. A woman¡¯s face,plete with long white hair, leered at me from a distance that had to be over a quarter mile away. The giant spider then leapt upon the crystal, covering the sizable gap between it and the cavern wall in an instant. The sight of seeing something sorge move so quickly sent a primordial fear running through my bones. My me converted it instantly and the new Frenzy helped keep my [Spectral Projection] sustained. ~Come now, foul traitor. Receive thy just punishment~ As the spider began racing along the surface of the crystal toward me, my heart did the same. This thing was no ordinary demon or monster. I knew no true name for it. Not yet. But in my soul, I understood immediately exactly what it was. I was now facing a Deep Dweller. Book 4: Chapter 26 I charged my body with [Steel Lightning], [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core], preparing for the worst. I¡¯d only heard whispers of these ancient creatures before. Even the manuals back at Du Gok Bhong had nothing about them. But now, witnessing the gigantic spider rushing down the face of the massive crystal towards me, I knew I was seeing something few would ever survive to tell the tale. That alone put the [Odds Against Me]. The burst of Frenzy, again lessened the depletion of my Dantian, but I would need to use a lot more to fight this thing. The sight of it alone should have driven me mad, but perhaps it was a testament to not only my body recovering stronger than ever from my ordeal, but my mind as well. The true size of the spider became apparent the closer it got. Its legs could easily span the width of an Olympic sized swimming pool, tip to tip and its body was the size of a semi-truck. But its size wasn¡¯t the only feature that had my Frenzy boiling. What I thought were bristles or hairs, were actually thorny spines and below its human like face, was a set of fangs that ttered rapidly with a sound that sent my flesh crawling. Not that I had flesh right now. Tendrils of wispy grey fluid spurted from its fangs, and I instinctively leapt to the side to avoid it. Rock and shale hissed where itnded, eaten away in seconds by the corrosive substance. I paused for half a second. I still didn¡¯t know the limits of this [Spectral Projection] technique. Could physical attacks even harm me? Only one way to find out, I thought. Bolstering myself with Frenzy, I pushed into the air with [Ride the Lightning] to meet the giant spider halfway. As predicted, the monster shot at me with its venom again, but this time I charged straight through it with [Indifference].I didn¡¯t feel a thing as the liquid squirted right through my translucent body, unaffected. Yes! I celebrated inwardly. I returned the favor and hacked into one of its tree trunk sized legs with a [Lightning] charged cleave from my ive, but to my chagrin, I did little more than put a scratch in it. For a moment I wondered if the ghostly formed worked both ways, in that I couldn¡¯t affect it either. But that didn¡¯t make sense. I knew I could affect the real world with my Frenzy techniques. I¡¯d done it countless times now hunting my scorpion dinners on the surface. And then it hit me. I was not as strong as my physical self in this form. I was just phoning it in long distance and my damage was minuscule because of it. The [Odds shifted even further Against Me]. How the hell was I supposed to kill something this big with mere scratches? ~Cunning little me.~ The creature intoned, without using its mouth. ~Thou art but an apparition. I shall shunt thee from mine dominion~ The pressure of Dark Frenzy increased as the sounds of bones popping and cracking filled the air. The ¡®face¡¯ of the spider rose into the air on a long, thin neck. Multiple shoulders and arms came next, extending upwards as a somewhat human half-torso of a woman emerged. The creature was now like a centaur with a spider¡¯s body, and all about it, a purplish glow began to form. ?? No way¡­ I thought, as I realized what I was seeing. This thing was performing the equivalent of a [Spectral Projection] of its own, showing me its inner Sacred Soul, or perhaps Cursed Soul was more urate. The spider woman¡¯s eight arms hung off its body at all kinds of random angles, someing out of its back and sides. Within the hands of each one, deep purplish implements of concentrated Dark Frenzy began to form. A crude de. A chipped scythe. A dangling piece of chain. It was reminiscent of those multi-armed behemoths I had fought on the surface. Only this thing¡¯s versions of weapons were much worse. Perhaps this was their mom. Iughed aloud at my own joke, and I sensed angere from the spiderdy. ~Thou dost dare to mock This One? Thy hubris is renowned~ ¡°Yeah,¡± I said with [Indifference]. ¡°I annoy the shit out of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz too. So, what¡¯s your name then? Is it Spider Bitch?¡± More fury erupted. ~Insolent whelp! Thou dost now face a first born of the One True me! I, G¡¯hru¡¯jh existed even before thy treacherous master!~ At the mention of her true name, a shudder ran through my soul. It was true what she¡¯d said. This creature was ancient. But that didn¡¯t mean I would give it any of my respect. I turned her anger into more Frenzy, giving her a shit-eating grin. ¡°Well, Gahjuju or whatever the hell you¡¯re called. I¡¯m here on a mission from my master, just like you said. The [Frenzied me] send¡¯s its salutations.¡± As I executed the [Frenzied me] technique, the spiderdy winced and then shuffled backwards on its multiple legs. It raised one of its arms to its face as if to shield itself. ~Treachery~ she said. ~Thou art indeed a vessel of pure treachery. But the traitor is toote. My work here is done. The me within Fhae I¡¯ung will soon extinguish, as will yours~ As the words formed in my mind, the crisscross tendrils of webbingced over the crystal began to pulse and I sensed the glow within the aetherite crystal begin to fade. This thing was killing whatever was inside it. As the thought urred, a sudden surge of Frenzy came from the root of my Dao. Just like protecting my own world, I couldn¡¯t allow it. I screamed with a primal indignation as my anger surged. ¡°You¡¯ll face judgment for what you¡¯ve done to these people!¡± I flew at the giant spider with [Lightning Drill of Fury]. I¡¯d been perfecting the technique within the spiritual realm for days now, and within my [Spectrally Projected] form, the attack came together like a masterpiece. I struck the creature at the base of one of its massive legs and spun. A piercing screech filled the air as the limb popped off just like one of my scorpion legged meals and putrid ck blood and ichor jetted into the air. It retaliated by spinning its entire body in a defensive maneuver, swiping at me with one of its other legs. The thing was too big to avoid and instinctively I braced myself with [Indifference] to take the hit. I needn¡¯t have bothered as the giant limb passed straight through my translucent form, but then something else came with it. Pure unadulterated pain. I screamed. It was as if my soul itself had just been ripped in two by the attack. A huge chunk of my Frenzy evaporated and my spiritual connection to my projected form shuddered briefly. The result was like being stunned and my body froze. The spider woman took instant advantage and leapt upon me with its giant fangs. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Fresh pain ripped through my soul as the fangs pierced me, augmented by the Cursed Soul, now formed about her body. ~Foul being¡­thou shalt pay for injuring this one. An unconscionable insult thou art!~ As the fangs pressed in on me, I screamed in more [Pain], but not even the Frenzy produced from it could keep up with the amount I was now losing. Suddenly my vision blurred, and I found myself thrust back into my own body, screaming like a mad man. It took me a few seconds to catch myself and I had to look down and examine my torso to check that I didn¡¯t have two huge puncture wounds in my chest. The pain began to subsite as my mind centered itself. What the hell just happened? It was as if I had been ejected from the spiritual realm again. I was still sat in lotus position, my chest heaving with exertion. My soul was spent, and my Frenzy was depleted. Fighting through [Spectral Projection] was definitely a different kind of experience. In one sense, I now knew I couldn¡¯t really ¡®die¡¯ from it. But taking damage there wasn¡¯t like taking a hit in my true body. In the real world, I could rely on my brute strength and physical fortitude, but my [Spectral Projection] was based on the strength of my Frenzy and Spirit alone. And enough damage would simply break my technique. A tremor of irritation ran through me as I considered my sudden defeat. That spidery bitch probably thinks she killed me, I thought with venom. The idea steeped with fresh insult to injury and rage. The result sparked my me and I quickly cultivated the new Frenzy to fill my Dantian. No way in hell am I going out like a ¡®one hit wonder¡¯ with this bitch, I thought. I cycled my Franzy and popped back into the spiritual realm again. As I retraced my path back to the translucent form of the crystal, I could feel a greater sense of desperationing from it, and by the increase in the Dark Frenzy of the tendrils encapsting it, I could surmise why. G¡¯hru¡¯jh was intent on killing Fhae I¡¯ung. As the ancient names filled my mind, so too did they fill me with a new sense of purpose. A purpose not my own. But one born of the me. This was a battle that had gone on for eons, and it surpassed my need for vengeance to restore my petty pride. Like a map being unfurled before me, suddenly my true purpose became clear. This was the [Path of the Frenzied me], not my own. And it had summoned me here, to this exact moment, to defend one of its own. To defend Fhae I¡¯ung. Something opened up inside of me and my me surged even brighter. A new hidden truth revealed. Dense Frenzy flowed from the Core of my Twin Dao, refilling my Dantian as I quickly cultivated it into solid form. ¡°Alright you bitch,¡± I said as I connected my meridians to [Project] myself back into the Spider woman¡¯sir again. ¡°Time to face my true master now.¡± I re-emerged in the cavern to find the spider atop the crystal, its huge abdomen now connected to thetticework of pulsating webs crisscrossing its surface. In the air, I could sense the screams of anguishing from within it. Millions of souls begging for retribution for the injustice served upon them. The injustice still being served upon them now in the form of this spider bitch feasting upon their souls. The righteous indignation stirred within me again. Something not born of me, but something my own soul embracedpletely. I would stop this annihtion at all costs. I rallied with a series of [Lightning Arc Strikes], pelting the Deep Dweller with a wave of [Frenzied Lightning] from afar. The massive spider hissed and screamed, spinning its body towards me. ~Thou art a recurring pestilence. An annoyance. A foul gnat to be trampled and scorned!~ Tendrils of Dark Frenzy infused venom streamed towards me, and I shifted in the air with [Lightning Walk] to avoid it. The strength of conviction within the [Frenzied] Path of my twin Dao had restored me, but I couldn¡¯t waste this second chance by being hit with something like that again. The cries within the crystal were growing more desperate by the second. I hit G¡¯hru¡¯jh with more [Lightning Arc Strikes] again, but the damage seemed miniscule. As the acrobaticbat went on for another minute, I knew I was in a battle of attrition I could not win. And why should I? I thought as I recalled one of the Shuras in my mind. Eschew the bow or any means of attacking from afar, for such will never satisfy the cravings of one¡¯s bloodlust. Choose instead that which brings you close to your foe and that which can withstand the full might of your fury. Absolutely, damn right, I thought. I couldn¡¯t fight this thing like some punk ass bitch scared to take a hit. I needed to fight this thing like a true Berserker. I brandished my spiritually manifested Axe and ive and dove towards the giant creature with a burst of [Ride the Lightning]. I crashed onto the spiny back of its giant abdomen and immediately felt thencing pain of the spear like quills puncturing my [Spectral Body]. I endured it with [Indifference], gritting my teeth as I went to work with my [Lightning] Charged weapons, clearing a path as I cut the spines off at their base. The giant spider bucked and kicked, but I sunk my axe into her flesh and used it like an anchor as I hacked my way towards the human like torso of her body with my ive. She screeched and wailed and then uttered something in anguage I at first didn¡¯t understand, but then their meaning instantly imposed themselves within my mind. ~[Fire of the Cleansing me]!~ Huge rivulets of Dark Frenzy jetted from the quills and shot through my body, burning my soul like acid. I engaged my [Soul Shield] to push back against it, but while it lessened the pain only slightly, it burned nearly the same amount of Frenzy that the creature¡¯s Demonic technique was stripping from my body. The dreaded battle of attrition had resumed, and I had only one tank of Frenzy left to get the job done. The thought reinvigorated me, and I pushed through the pain and draining Frenzy of my Dantian to get to its head. ~You are weak. A mere husk! You can not defeat a First Born such as I!~ A sudden increase of Dark Frenzy came with her words, and I felt myself draining even further. For a brief second, my connection shuddered again. No¡­ not now. I continued to hack away at its body with a fervor, gore and ichor flying. But my Frenzy was nearing zero again. Shit¡­ I pushed on with every bit of spiritual strength I had left, wishing my true strength could join this battle, that I could instantly teleport my true body to where I was and let this spider bitch feel the full strength of my wrath. But I was a realm away from being able to do something like that. A haughtyughter filled the air. ~You do naught but exert thy strength in vain. I shall soon devour the soul of this world, and shall take yours as a trophy along with it~ The thought did nothing but enrage me. But she was right. The constant draining of my Frenzy from her [Cleansing me] aura was slowing my progress and would soon eject me from my [Spectral Projection] again. I pushed on, trying to do as much damage as I could before that urred. Hoping it would be enough to kill her. And then I sensed something else. Pure Frenzy. Sweet and harmonic. Something extended from the crystal and as it touched my soul, suddenly I could sense [Everyone¡¯s Pain]. Images of the demise of Fhae I¡¯ung¡¯s people entered my mind and the images of their annihtion caused fresh Frenzy to erupt from my me. Suddenly my Dantian was gaining in strength and was pushing back against the Dark Aura. A worth of in souls was lending me their strength and I couldn¡¯t contain the power they gave me. ¡°[Wrath of a Million in Souls]!¡± My newly advanced technique went off like an atom bomb, filling the entire chamber with bolts of [Frenzied Lightning]. The First-Born Deep Dweller, G¡¯hru¡¯jh, cried out in a primal scream of pain and terror as I electrocuted her with extreme [Indifference], true fear erupting from her soul. ~W-what is this? The Cursed me doth conspire against me! How is its strength magnified through thee? Through but a mortal!~ I kept the technique going, the Frenzy from my me and that from the crystalbining to give me a near limitless source of power. The stench of burning demon flesh filled the air as she screamed and cried, her legs exploding with the steam from me boiling her blood and popping her organs. As her convulsion stilled, I finally relented and slowly approached her smoldering half-human torso from behind. To my disgust and horror, she twisted her snakelike neck a full 180 degrees to look back at me, her human face now streaked with bloody tears. I didn¡¯t know if it was just another illusion or transformation to invoke some kind of sympathy, but up close I could see the face was that of a matronly woman, like someone¡¯s sweet old grandma with her long white hair. ~Please, Stop!~ she said with desperation in her voice. ~We are kin. We be brethren. Spare my life and I shall vouch for thee.~ ¡°Save it, bitch¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if this was true desperation or just a ploy to lure me into a false sense of victory in order tounch another surprise attack. The fear now pouring from her soul said the former, but I wasn¡¯t taking any chances. I hacked off one of the mutated limbs on her back and she screamed in pain. ~Please! Truth I speak! I am a first born of the One True me. Spare me and I shall ensure thy restoration. I shall bare witness to thy contrition so that absolution may be had~ This bitch had to be joking. ¡°Tell your master, the [Frenzied me] bows to no one.¡± With that I swung my axe and cut off old granny¡¯s head. The bitch¡¯s face contorted and transformed as she screamed in pain and disbelief, revealing her true self in those final moments. It was a monstrous form, a demon with multiple eyes and a mouth full of spinelike teeth framed by ck lips. ~Curse thee! Curse the Cursed me. Thy folly defies the Greater Will and brings destruction upon us all!~ As her final death cries rang out, a hissing noise filled the air as her body began to dissolve into a cloud of ck smoke and Dark Frenzy. I soaked it all in with [Bloodlust] and the Frenzy produced by my biggest kill to date, registered dividends within my soul. I cultivated it all, refilling my Dantian and stretching it even further. The tendrils of pulsating spiderwebs covering the crystal, pulsed for thest time and as they hardened like rock, began to crumble away. I approached the crystal slowly, sensing the cries of pain had now eased. But a new cry came from it. One of haste and desperation. ~Hurry~ I could sense words forming in my mind, a voice familiar to me. One I had heard before. ~Hurry before our demise. So that we may bequeath thee~ Bequeath? What the hell? I wasn¡¯t sure what it was exactly referring to, but I knew who was speaking. This was the voice of Fhae I¡¯ung. The true Fhae I¡¯ung, not the shadow of her that I had experienced on Du Gok Bhong. There was only one thing to do. I approached the giant crystal and ced my [Spectral] hand upon it. My vision swirled as I felt myself being drawn inward. And suddenly I was transported once again across space and time. Book - Chapter 27 I emerged into a spiritual space that felt just as big as the cavern that I had left. The floor was made of polished crystal as were the roughly hewn walls that rose to a peak at the center far above, like a dome. I then realized that what I was seeing had to be the crystal from the inside. Bright yellow light washed over me, and in the Red-hued form of the Struggler, my spiritual body basked in it like warm sunshine. Any taint I had gotten from the spider woman was now gone. The presence that I sensed from the outside was here as well, but the giant space seemed empty. I stepped forward and called out into the air. ¡°Fhae I¡¯ung, I am Max Chun, a follower of the [Frenzied me]. I havee to avenge you.¡± At the mention of the technique, the air shimmered and right before me the figure of an enormous woman appeared. I recognized her immediately. She shared the same form as her fragmented self from within the crystal at Du Gok Bhong. Long golden hair, a naked body that glowed with the same hue as the crystal itself and an angelic face that could rival any earthly princess. Her enormous body took up nearly the entire space within the crystal, but as soon as it fully formed, she copsed to the floor in a heap,nding on her side. Instinctively, I rushed forward is if to try and catch her or something, but this woman was literally twenty stories tall. I made better sense of the situation and took to the air with [Lightning Walk], bringing myself to the same height as her face. She looked in distress and as she opened her huge golden eyes, I could see the light fading within them. ¡°Oh, Frenzied me,¡± she said, her voice reverberating with the tones of millions. ¡°You returned as promised. Bless thee.¡±Just like before, she saw me as the me and not me myself. Maybe it didn¡¯t even matter. With my twin Dao I was representing both of us now. ¡°What can I do to help you?¡± I asked. ¡°There is naught you can do now,¡± Fhae I¡¯ung said. ¡°The ancient one, known as G¡¯hru¡¯jh, has fulfilled its purpose in bringing about our demise. But you, Frenzied me, at least have returned to render justice and retribution as first promised. For this we are forever grateful.¡± I noticed she used we and not I, the same as her fragmented-self had done. She wasn¡¯t lying about dying either. The harmonic Frenzy I could sense from her was growing weaker. I realized I was witnessing something that perhaps even my predecessor, Imperial Marshal Wi Chu Lou, had never seen. This was a rare opportunity for secret knowledge of the unknown. I had scant time to ask all the questions I had. ¡°Please,¡± I said. ¡°Tell me exactly what you are. G¡¯hru¡¯jh called you the soul of this world. Are you the guardian spirit of this or something?¡± ¡°We are the spirit of all life upon this world,¡± she said. ¡°We are the embodiment of the souls that have been created here.¡± ¡°What will happen to this world when you die?¡± ¡°It will be the domain of the Greater Will.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure exactly what that meant, but I had other questions. ¡°Are there crystals like this inside every?¡± I asked, looking about at my surroundings. ¡°Does every have a soul like you?¡± ¡°Once cultivated long enough, yes, every will develop a soul, but this crystal is different¡­ this is a gift of the Frenzied me.¡± Holy crap¡­ I did recall sensing the same kind of spirit when I was digging those tunnels on Heu Zen. Voices reaching out to me, just like Fhae I¡¯ung had. Did that mean Earth had a spirit like this too? I almost asked the question aloud, but I needed more pertinent answers first. ¡°How are you and the me connected?¡± I asked. ¡°Allow us to bequeath thee with knowledge,¡± she said. ¡°It is all we have to repay thee for thy service and kindness. And all that we have, so that we may be remembered.¡± I bowed my head. ¡°What must I do?¡± She lifted her giant hand towards me and it began to glow. ¡°Gaze into the light and see truth.¡± Instantly, visions of horror filled my mind. I recognized it immediately. It was the same vision I had received before when I was inside the crystal back at Du Gok Bhong. A coge of a million points of view all at once. The deaths of thousands. Just like before, I could feel each one, but now they tapped into the root of my twin Dao. I saw the Bloodmoon appearing in the night sky for the first time and then the sun itself bing the raging cosmic eye of a Cursed Star. ¡°This is what befell our world,¡± Fhae I¡¯ung said, adding narrative to the vision that I had only seen before. ¡°A force from beyond the stars, heralded by the Dark God, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and culminating with the arrival of the Cleansing me, a child of the Greater Will.¡± I watched as the people of Fhae I¡¯ung were torn apart by monsters and demons, terror filling their hearts. I felt it all too, just like before. Their helplessness. The pain and cruelty being inflicted upon them. The suffering. And then from somewhere deeper a new sense emerged. A sense that what was happening should not be so. A new power that appeared from within the madness and chaos. A power influenced by the fiery darkness falling from the stars and the pain and sorrowing from below. It sympathized, taking on a new form. From the hate and chaos of the Cursed Stars it emerged. A brilliant Frenzied me that gave strength to the suffering with a single thought. A single gift. ~Defiance~ The world exploded into bright yellow mes, and I emerged from the vision with a new sense of conviction. ¡°Wait¡­¡± I said. ¡°So¡­the Frenzied me¡­ was created by you?¡± ¡°Not us,¡± she said. ¡°One of us¡­ but created is not the right word. Inspired is more urate. The Frenzied me, saw our plight and gave us the ability to fight back against the Order of the Greater Will. To fight back against our eminent demise.¡± The images from the vision began to take on new meaning and make more sense, but I had even more questions now. ¡°What is this Greater Will?¡± I asked. ¡°It is an outer god from beyond our world,¡± she said. ¡°One not native to our domain. When it arrived, it sought to undo what it saw. To create its own Order. It created the Cleansing me to carry out this task¡­to cleanse all that existed before it. The Cleansing me gave birth to the ancient ones like I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and G¡¯hru¡¯jh¡­servants to carry out its purpose to destroy all and remake anew.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The visions in my mind returned and my me pulsed with acknowledgement of the new truths revealed. ¡°But the Cleansing me discovered one such as we,¡± Fhae I¡¯ung said. ¡°A soul of strength from a world that rejected its own demise. It influenced the Cleansing me and a part of it did agree and sympathize. A great schism did ur. The Frenzied me was born from within it, a me that rejected the Order of the Greater Will and rebelled against the Cleansing me, granting to us the power to withstand our own demise with the gift of defiance.¡± As she said the word, I felt it resonate with both cores of my twin Dao. Defiance¡­ That single word summed up the core of my strength. It was the strength to fight back. To fight against annihtion. It protected a single immutable truth. One that the Cleansing me and the Greater Will itself had perhaps never encountered before, until it met us. The right to exist. I felt something open up inside of me as my me shed even brighter with a new unlocking of spiritual truth and revtion. I reopened my eyes to see the giant woman staring at me. The faintest hint of a smile was on her face now. ¡°These are the great truths we wished to bequeath unto thee,¡± she said. ¡°Carry them within thy soul so that thou may grow yet stronger. Take this also, for we have over the eons gleaned great revtions from the Frenzied me. Ones that perhaps are better suited for thee.¡± Fhae I¡¯ung raised her hand once more and with another pulse of light my vision again changed. This time however, it wasn¡¯t images I saw, but words. Thousands of them. They filled my mind as if being transcribed telepathically. I barely had chance to decipher what they were, much less read them, but within seconds it became clear what I was seeing. These were Shuras. Direct revtions from the Frenzied me. If I had been seeking a cultivation manual to navigate the sacred soul realm and perhaps even beyond, then this was it! I focused my mind with Mental Agility, rushing tomit to memory everything I was seeing. It was an infodump that I dare not let spill over. I couldn¡¯t afford to lose a single drop. As my vision returned, the face of Fhae I¡¯ung gave me another smile. ¡°Fare thee well, fellow follower of the Frenzied me,¡± she said, and in that moment, I realized she could see me for my true self now. And even more so, that we were perhaps one in the same. She too had been touched by the [Frenzied me] and had resisted the dark forces threatening to destroy her world. I raised a hand to her as the light in her eyes began to further dim and fade. ¡°Thank you, Elder Sister¡­ I will treasure your knowledge always.¡± As she closed her eyes, I was ejected from the crystal and found myself in the cavern again. The enormous aetherite crystal dimmed and faded, but I knew now what it was. It madeplete sense now why aetherite could produce barriers against the Bloodmoon and even cleanse my me. This was the solid, Frenzied Core of a Berserker. A Berserker with a soul the size of an entire. The revtion struck me perhaps harder than everything I had learned already. Aetherite was solid Frenzy. But I dare not think of it further. I had other thoughts now running through my mind. Or other words running through my mind was perhaps more urate. I disconnected my [Spectral Projection] and opened my eyes in my true body. I jumped up with the urgency of a man about to drown. I had secret knowledge filling my head that I needed badly to transcribe. I kept cycling it over and over, like it was a phone number I was trying not to forget. There was only one way to get it all out quickly. I reached for my ive and held it aloft in the air. ¡°[Brand of the Frenzied me]¡­¡± As I invoked the words, the Currupted Steel of the ive heated within my palm and then across the surface of the de itself, infinite tiny characters began etching themselves into existence. I dumped everything I could, the old Shuras and the new¡ªa fullption of the Path of the Frenzied me. The process took less than a minute, but when I was done, I looked at my handiwork with a new sense of wonder and exhration. I¡¯d started my journey to the Hell Worlds with no clue of how to progress to the next stage of my advancement, but the me had led me to not only a cultivation manual but to this. A true Berserker¡¯s Path in ordance with the Frenzied me. This was perhaps my true purpose foring here all along. To meet with the dying soul of this so that she could pass on the knowledge to defeat the Cursed Stars. I understood now why the demons considered me a traitorous kin. I was exactly that, in every sense of the word. The Frenzied me and the power of the Cursed Stars was one in the same. Two sides of the same coin. One bent on the destruction of our universe in the name of the Greater Will and one, who in defiance, chose to oppose it. I bowed my head in reverence, more thankful than ever for the gift it had bestowed upon me and indeed our entire universe. The gift of defiance. The gift of the Frenzied me. * * * A great shift resounded throughout the ether. No¡­ not one, It sensed. But two. One a great victory and the other a great defeat. It knew, all at once, where. It knew, all at once, who. The hubris of the Husk knew no bounds. The Husk had promised to bring this Chaos to the Order of the Greater Will and it was doing so. But far faster than It had perceived. Like skittering vermin, they were. Weak, but agile. Cunning and crafty in their mortal desperation. But It would exploit this weakness. Through the aperture, It slowly cultivated Its own means to strike at the core of the Husk¡¯s domain. One strong enough to ovee all defenses while the Husk was yet afar. Soon, it thought. Continue to waste thy strength. It shall all be for naught. * * * I wanted to do nothing more than to sit down and study the brand-new Shuras I had just discovered, but learning them wouldn¡¯t mean a thing if I couldn¡¯t get off this Hell World. So, after collecting my gear, I started the five or six hour trek back to the first cavern so that I could [Spectrally Project] to the surface and keep an eye on the night sky for the next deployment. Still, every chance I got, I took a quick peek at the new inscriptions on my Phnx ive. There had to be a dozen or so new techniques that utilized my Frenzy in all sorts of new ways. As before, they were not broken down into clean Tiers and Realms like in the Cultivation manual. This was more a freeform style. Like practitioners all over the universe were adding to the wealth of knowledge daily. The same went for my own hybridized techniques, like [Strugglers Lightning Fist of Fury] or [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls], which I now added to the de as cannon. I was about to add its upgraded version, [Wrath of a Million in Souls] as well, but I still needed to think about the meridian sequences I had used to create that one, in order to perfect it. But besides my own techniques, I saw things that looked like upgraded versions of my defensive styles¡ª[Diamond Skin] and [Diamond Core]. There was even an upgraded version of [Brand of the Frenzied me] which I had just used, which could not only impart knowledge but a part of one¡¯s soul. I immediately thought of Venja for that. After a while, I had to force myself to stop looking at the de, because I was slowing down to read it too often. For thest few hours, I disciplined myself and shouldered the task of traversing the tight crawl spaces and cliffs, to get back to the ce I now considered home. I was dead tired by the time I reached the main cavern and luckily, I had some leftover scorpion meat to chow down on to replenish all the calories I had burned on the way up and down to the crystal. By the time I¡¯d polished that off, I was craving a nap, but the Cursed Star was setting, and I needed to keep watch. Luckily, my [Bloodlust] from killing the Deep Dweller, had given me a full tank of gas when it came to Frenzy. That just left my mental and physical fatigue to deal with. I told myself that if nothing happened within the first hour, then I was probably good to hit the sack. They would deploy right at sunset to get the maximum time possible under the lesser ills of the Bloodmoon. That meant all I needed to do was stay awake for another 45 minutes or so. With a sigh to clear my head I plopped back down into lotus position and once again [Projected] my [Sacred Soul]. I traversed the tunnel to the surface and used [Lightning Walk] to climb into the quickly darkening sky. Tendrils from the Bloodmoon were already affecting me, but it was thankfully far less than what the Cursed Star would incur. The night was clear, with not much cloud cover overhead, which gave me a spectacr view of the stars. For a moment I wondered if Fia was looking up at them at the same time. I didn¡¯t know if I could even see our star from where I was. As my mind paused to consider it, a new thought urred. Something that my brain, being in survival mode, hadn¡¯t stopped to consider yet. Shit! I thought. At some point Fia is going to learn that I¡¯m dead! My heart began to race. Damn it! Why the hell didn¡¯t I think about this sooner? I didn¡¯t have good answers for my rhetorical questions. I supposed I was so focused on recovering and getting back quickly to take revenge on that bastard Jei Su Long, that I didn¡¯t give thought to what was likely already taking ce. That the official news of my demise was already on its way to Fia. The idea of her thinking I was dead, chilled me to the core. It would make her worse fearse true. Cause her to lose all hope. It was the whole reason she had decided to get pregnant in the first ce. Mild panic began to set in. How long had it truly been now? Weeks? Granted, letters and that form ofmunication took more than a few weeks to make it all the way home, and maybe the bureaucracy would help in dying that some, but shit, even Hein would likely write to her now. Damn it¡­this made getting back to civilization all the more important. But perhaps there was another means to share the truth. One much faster. I looked up at the Bloodmoon and saw a new reason to stay up all night. I needed to not only watch the sky, but the stars. Kelsey, I thought. She was the key. I needed tomunicate with her through the Bloodmoon to let Fia and everyone else know that I was alright. Because if the Warden ever learned I was dead then there was no telling what she would do to Fia and the rest of my n. Anxiety filled my gut and I half wanted to jump into the spiritual realm right away to start randomly looking for Kelsey. But that in itself would be a game of inteary phone tag. We¡¯d been able to coordinate before through letters in advance, but now I would just have to sit there and hope she would show up. The same as I was with the next deployment from Du Gok Bhong. It grated me in a way. It was like pushing on a rope. There was no way to rush any of it. As I huffed out a semi-depressed sigh, I waited on the sky and as the time ticked by, was just about to switch duty to looking for Kelsey when a sh of lightning caught my eye. I zeroed in on it and immediately my heart jumped. Something was happening in the distance, but at least a hundred miles from where I was right now. I rose higher in the sky to get a better look and when I did, my heart leapt again. There, far away was definitely the signs of a battle. And being that far away made sense with the protocol. A hundred miles from thest failed drop zone, I recalled it to a tee. All thoughts of weariness and trying to find Kelsey, vanished from my mind. To hell with all that. My ship had finallye in. I was getting off this damn rock tonight. Book 4: Chapter 28 Blue Rose eyed Jei Su Long from behind with murder in her heart. As the skiff bucked and swayed with turbulent air all around her, she felt the presence of Demonic Qi rising from the surface below and the Bloodmoon overhead. But, at the moment however, all she could think about was sinking her knife into Jei Su Long¡¯s back. Chief Yora¡¯s words haunted her. She would be willfully throwing her life away if she did that right now. Part of her was doing that already, justnding on a Hell World. But she had to remember she had revenge to fulfil beyond that for Max. But avenge him she would, if the opportunity presented itself. If Jei Su Long dared to step upon the Hell World himself, that would be her chance. ¡°Prepare to disembark!¡± Jei Su Long cried. ¡°You shall descend upon the defense skiffs in waves. Thest descent was nearly lost because all deployed at the same time. Another mistake by the ipetent Iron Bull. We will do so differently now, under mymand.¡±Ire burned in Blue Rose¡¯s gut, quelled only by the fantasy of slitting Jei Su Long¡¯s throat. He would pay for destroying Max¡¯s name. Somehow, someway, she would make him pay. ¡°You heard the Senior Commander,¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°Everyone to the defense skiffs.¡± Blue Rose still couldn¡¯t believe the mousey, Token ck Robe, Wing Pho had been made the actual toonmander, but under Jei Su Long and his uncle¡¯s influence, anything seemed possible. Not that she had anything against Wing Pho personally. He was anything if not agreeable and was humble in a way that defied his station. Still, the pudgy man with the bowl haircut looked ill fit to be a ck Robe of any sort, much less a legionnaire. Yet here he was, inmand none the less. Blue Rose did as ordered and grabbed hold of the small skiff that would see hernding before the cargo skiff touched down. Her heart raced with anticipation and terror. Although she¡¯d passed her final exam, that was on the safety of a world ruled by only a Bloodmoon. This one had a Cursed Star. ¡°Wing Pho, join Blue Rose,¡± Jei Su Long said. The pudgy man looked back at Jei Su Long with his mouth open. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You are the Junior toon Commander. You must lead them on the ground.¡± ¡°But, I¡¯m not¡ª¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you lead us, Jei Su Long?¡± Blue Rose said, cutting him off as anger filled her heart. ¡°You are the Senior Commander. You have experience. It should be you leading us down there, not him.¡± Anger burned in his blue eyes. ¡°I have served my tour on the Hell Worlds already. You should count yourselves lucky that I volunteered for further duty for your sakes. My role is to oversee. Yours is to do you duty. And Wing Pho¡¯s is to lead you. Go on now! Join her skiff. You shall deploy first.¡± Son of a bitch, she thought. Jei Su Long gave Wing Pho a kick in his ass, humiliating him as he pushed him towards her skiff. While indignation burned in her heart, the rest of the toon remained silent and sullen. It¡¯d been like that the entire voyage. A mise that seemed to have zapped the camaraderie that Max had built within their ranks. With his loss, everyone had reverted to bing subservient prisoners again. Perhaps she herself was a fool for thinking she should do anything but the same. Maybe even revenge was foolish. She needed to only survive this and then never see Jei Su Long again. But that would dishonor his memory. One opening, she thought. Just one for you, Max. Wing Pho mbered besides her, sweat and fear dripping from his brow. ¡°Please¡­ you¡¯ll protect me, won¡¯t you?¡± Blue Rose red at him with disdain. How he even managed to pass his final exam was beyond her. ¡°Just do what you did you survive the exam,¡± she said. ¡°I can manifest a protection aura,¡± he said quickly, almost as if to earn his keep. ¡°I can protect us from the Demonic Qi, but not the demons.¡± That was something at least. ¡°Go now!¡± Jei Su Long shouted. ¡°Skiff one, two and three! Go, go!¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Blue Rose said to Wing Pho as she hopped onto the railing of themand skiff and then pulled him up with her. ¡°Stay close and do exactly as I say.¡± * * * It took me less than five minutes to jump back into my real body and prep myself for racing to the drop zone. I packed what meager possessions I had into what was left of my bag. My canteen and drawings mainly, which I double secured within the metal tube of my brush holder, like scrolls. I then slung the bag across my chest and for the first time in weeks realized I was practically naked. I barely had a loin cloth anymore, but it didn¡¯t matter. Hopefully I wouldn¡¯t offend my fellow legionnaires when I rejoined them. Just the thought had my insides bubbling with excitement. I took to the air with [Lightning Walk] and then, entered the tunnel at the top of the cavern before racing to the surface. The taste of sulfur and Dark Frenzy filled the air. But hopefully I would be tasting it for thest time. Well¡­ at least for this round. I¡¯d be returning to fulfil the mes battle against the Cursed Stars eventually. But now I had just weeks to get back to Fia and I had to ensure I didn¡¯t miss my flight. I took to the air once again, bounding over the swarms of demons and then sted through the sky with [Ride the Lightning]. * * * Blue Rose screamed with a mixture of desperation and primal terror as yet another wave of therge batlike creatures with tentacles dove at them. She¡¯d already seen two of the skiffs that had left with her, destroyed by the creatures. It was perhaps only due to the barrier that Wing Pho was generating that the monsters were avoiding them, more than diving into them now. Perhaps the idiot Jei Su Long had done her a favor in that regard by forcing Wing Pho onto the skiff with her. She delivered another Qi strike with her [Hidden Dagger Thrust] technique from afar, killing two of the creatures right before they mmed into the side of the main skiff now hovering high above them. More screams came from above as a dozen or so of the creatures flew straight into the hull of the skiff, sacrificing themselves to break open half the vessel. Her heart froze as two of her toon mates tumbled out of the skiff unprepared. One of them righted himself with a burst of Qi and immediately began defending himself with a ming jian de. The other continue to tumble and fall. It wasn¡¯t until his shrill cries plummeted right past her skiff that she realized it wasn¡¯t one of her toon mates at all. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences. Nine hells, she thought. Was that the pilot? Blue Rose nced back up with new fear in her heart. The main skiff was now pitching back and forth uncontrobly with legionnaires jumping out of the craft for dear life rather than to defend it. The entire thing had be a ¡®shit show¡¯ as Max would have put it. ¡°Hang on!¡± Blue Rose cried and tilted her skiff out of the way, just narrowly avoiding the main skiff as it plummeted towards the ground. She had dodged a direct hit, but the backwash from the vessel sent her into a tailspin of her own. Wing Pho released a terrified scream as he clung to her robes. ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡± The world spun as she struggled to regain control. A sea of demons rose up to meet her at incredible speed. Blue Rose barely caught sight of the main skiff hitting the ground and breaking into pieces before her own did the same. Pain and chaos came next as the ws and fangs of countless demons, bit into her skin. She cried out as she mmed into them, their bodies doing just as much damage ripping into her as cushioning her fall. She lost track of where Wing Pho had gone and simply acted on instinct, [Shadow Stepping] her way out of the mass of bodies and cing herself above them. She rained down on them with a hail of Qi attacks, unleashing her [Dagger Fall] technique. The monsters screeched and howled in response, sending her nerves crawling with fire and Demonic Qi. Above the din she could make out the confused cries of herrades and on top of that the annoying shoutsing from their so-called Senior toon Commander from within the crashed debris of the skiff. Jei Su Long was actually fighting for once, delivering water techniques from afar, that were admittedly powerful enough to push back the demons in droves. But as she watched the blue-haired boy curse and scream for people to fall back and defend him, the murderous intent re-emerged in her heart. That fool had doomed them all with his actions. They would have had a better chance deploying all at once instead of in waves. What little resistance the first three skiffs could put up were nothingpared to that flying horde of monsters. Now the skiff itself was destroyed. How were they ever supposed to return to the ship now? I should have doneit, she thought. Killed him earlier while I had the damn chance. She would have perhaps been put back in prison eventually, but at least she would have been alive. ¡°Blue Rose!¡± she heard a cry from below. ¡°Blue Rose, help me!¡± It was Wing Pho. He was pinned with his back against a rock, but was surprisingly keeping the demons at bay with his barrier technique. Sweat and blood streamed from the bowl haircut above his brow and by the way he was standing, one of his legs had to be sprained or broken. For a moment she thought of helping him, but then what would be the point in that? They were all as good as dead now thanks to Jei Su Long. The only thing she had left was to kill the bastard first before they all died. A small measure of payback for all his sins. She was just about to [Shadow Step] to the interior of the downed skiff when a blinding crack of lightning drew her attention to the night sky. Skidding to a halt in mid-air was a half-naked figure of pure muscle, brawn and steel. Her heart leapt before her mind could even fathom what she was seeing. ¡°Max?¡± * * * I pulled out of my [Ride the Lightning] technique to survey the ground below me. There were two gates nearby with at least one of them spewing tentacle-rays into the air. The ground itself was in a simr predicament, with throngs of demons rampaging in swarms and closing in on an epicenter I couldn¡¯t quite yet discern. As I focused though, I finally saw what I¡¯d been looking for. There, atop a small ridge was the cargo skiff. I bounded towards it with a burst of [Lightning Walk] desperate to see if the tethers had been released. I didn¡¯t see any cables streaming into the air. That was a good sign. My hopes lifted, but then I didn¡¯t see something else I was expecting to see either. Where the hell was the toon? I would have expected at least a handful of legionnaires to be putting up a resistance to defend the skiff, but surrounding it was no one. More rm bells went off as I got a closer look and saw both tethers atop the skiff were still attached. What the hell? But then instead of the cables streaming into the night sky, I saw them lying t and strewn across the ground. No¡­ I thought. No, no, no¡­ This couldn¡¯t be happening. I raced to follow the fallen cables and then came to what I had feared to see the most. There, broken to pieces was the remnants of themand skiff itself. It was being swarmed by demons and a handful of legionnaires were fighting desperately for their lives. Instinctively I dashed towards them. I could only imagine what had happened. Somehow that bastard Jei Su Long must have sabotaged the whole damn skiff this ti---. My thoughts trailed off¡­my mind unprepared for what I saw next. There, yelling like a madman atop what was left of the skiff was none other than the arrogant, murderous little piece of shit himself. Jei Su Long¡­ My Frenzy boiled and instantly I saw red. I screamed with a primal rage as the images of my men shed before my eyes. All of them mutating and begging to be killed because that son of a bitch left us all to die. That instantly fueled the root of my Dao. He was no different than the Warden in his actions. But so much worse. These were people he knew. People he callously discarded for some ridiculous hope of gain. I had no idea why he¡¯de back or why he was even here. And I didn¡¯t care. I trusted that the me had somehow seen fit to deliver him right into my hand. ¡°JEI SU LONG!¡± I screamed. His head snapped towards me and his eyes went wide as all life drained from his face. Fear exploded in him like a volcano, and he staggered backwards in disbelief. He was seeing a demon of vengeance returned from the grave and I relished every second of it. ¡°You left us all here to die you bastard! You¡¯ll pay for your sins now!¡± I thundered across the sky with my axe raised to cleave him in two. Something shed in front of him, and I pulled back at just thest second when I saw who it was. There in shredded robes was Blue Rose. A new mixture of feelings filled my soul. I couldn¡¯t believe she was here either, but then why the hell was she protecting him? ¡°Max! You can¡¯t kill him!¡± she said quickly. ¡°I know you want to and so do I, but you just can¡¯t kill him right now!¡± For a second, I wondered what the hell she was talking about, until I finally noticed the wall of demons closing in on us. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re all going to die because of what this prick has done. But that doesn¡¯t mean he doesn¡¯t get to die first.¡± ¡°No!¡± she shouted. ¡°You don¡¯t understand. Theres more to it than that.¡± I didn¡¯t know what the hell she was talking about. All I wanted to do was sink my axe into his head. ¡°How the did you survive down here, Max? Is there a refuge? A crystal, like at the academy?¡± She was talking sense. The struggler finally engaged, backing down the Demon. I looked at her again and still couldn¡¯t believe she was even here. That either of them were here. Jei Su Long especially. The bastard was still trembling with his mouth open, unable to speak. ¡°You said I can¡¯t kill him,¡± I said as I stowed my axe and summoned my Frenzy. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t beat the living shit out of him!¡± ¡°No wait!¡± Jei Su Long screamed. He cried out like a little bitch before I could even reach him, turning to flee. I mmed him hard in the back, sending him crashing through what was left of the skiff. ¡°Max, don¡¯t kill him!¡± Bue Rose shouted again, but I was barely listening to her now. I tore down through the wreckage to reach him and started pummeling Jei Su Long in his stupid face, over and over again. The anger inside me was a torrent of hate and pent-up rage, but the Struggler jettisoned it all straight into my Dantian so that I couldn¡¯t use it to strengthen my blows. Still, it felt good as hell to let the damn bastard have it, even at a quarter of my true strength. By the time I finished, his face was an unrecognizable mess of bloodied hamburger and broken bone. He coughed and sputtered, but I could tell he waspletely out cold. ¡°Tell me why the hell I can¡¯t finish the job, Blue,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Tell me now before I do it anyway!¡± ¡°We need to get out of here first or it won¡¯t matter!¡± she said, slinging a volley of Qi daggers into the horde. ¡°Max,e on! Focus!¡± Her words pulled me out of my [Bloodlust] and I refocused on the true enemy at hand. We were still out in the open on a Hell World and there were things that needed to be killed way sooner than Jei Su Long. Iunched into the mass of demons while channeling my hatred for the little bastard. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]!¡± My body exploded with a shockwave of violent energy that rippled through the demon horde like bomb going off. Horrific screeches filled the air as they exploded in a chain reaction of devastation that cleared an area the size of a football field. In the brief reprieve of calm, I looked for who was now left alive. Besides Jei Su Long and Blue Rose, there was that chunky guy Wing Pho plus two more of Jei Su Long¡¯sckies that I barely recognized for as much as they¡¯d been torn up. Granted Blue and Wing Pho didn¡¯t look much better. Jei Su Long looked worse than all of them though. And that was just fine with me. ¡°We need to get to shelter underground,¡± I said. ¡°But no way we¡¯re going to be able to dig while keeping this horde off of us with the numbers we have, especially not with there being two gates here.¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± Wing Pho asked. I weighed the odds. Even if we could dig there was no telling what I would find down there. That cavern system was a Godsend but I had no idea how rare it might be. Especially now being a hundred miles away, who knew how much the subterranean environment might have changed. Plus, heading back would be in the direction we needed to head anyway. ¡°We run and fly,¡± I said. ¡°One hundred miles. I have a refuge but we need to reach there before the end of the night.¡± ¡°What about the seniorman-?¡± Wing Pho started, but just the mention of that stupid title sent me off. ¡°You two carry that piece of shit,¡± I said, cutting him off while pointing to his two cronies. I then looked to Blue Rose. ¡°And then you need to tell me why the hell you stopped me from killing his ass, Blue.¡± Blue Rose just stared at me, looking as if on the verge of tears. Suddenly she threw her arms around me in an embrace. ¡°I¡¯m so damn d you¡¯re still here, Max. You¡¯ve got no idea.¡± I was now the one to be embarrassed by one of our hugs in front of strangers, especially being almost naked. ¡°Okay, okay,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m damn d to see you too.¡± I then looked to Wing Pho and the other two legionnaires whose names I still couldn¡¯t remember. ¡°All of you.¡± ¡°We should get going like you said, Master Iron Bull,¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°The demons are regrouping.¡± I nodded as I picked out my bearings. ¡°This ain¡¯t going to be easy. This will be every bit as bad as surviving your final exam.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go then,¡± Blue Rose said, finally pulling away. ¡°On the way, I¡¯ll fill you in on why I stopped you from killing him. There¡¯s a lot you need to know about what¡¯s going on in the outside world, Max. What you think you know about what Jei Su Long has done, is just the beginning.¡± Book 4: Chapter 29 General Gong read the status report and grimaced. Behind him, Governor Tai Su Long argued with Captain Li Jeng. The results were certain, as far as he could ascertain. The skiff due to return from the deployment was overdue by thirty minutes with no trace of contact at all. A heaviness hung in his heart. All those souls lost. But of course, for the governor, only one mattered to him. ¡°Must I make it an order?¡± Tai Su Long said agitated. ¡°Send another skiff! My nephew must be found.¡± Li Jeng, to his credit, handled the governor with the upmost professionalism. He bowed with an apologetic frown. ¡°Would that we could, governor, but the protocols strictly forbit it.¡± ¡°To hell with the protocols!¡± Tai Su Long shouted. ¡°You have a member of the royal family down there!¡±Something suddenly snapped inside General Gong and he turned about swiftly to face the governor. ¡°Master Tai Su Long, I¡¯ll remind you that your nephew was there by choice and as a legionnaire, not a member of your royal house. We have lost twenty legionnaires today, plus a pilot and our protocols prevent us from losing any more.¡± ¡°I know the damn protocols, general!¡± Tai Su Long shouted. ¡°I am giving the order to override them!¡± ¡°We have done so twice already with allowing your nephew to apany the skiff!¡± Gong shouted back. ¡°And we have witnessed nothing but tragedy as a result!¡± Tai Su Long¡¯s eyes widened with insult. ¡°What are you insinuating? Choose your next words carefully, general!¡± Gong indeed did just that. Tai Su Long was a powerful man, but even he was not above his own station. Still, he would need to demonstrate it for him inly so that he would understand. ¡°We must respect the experience of what hase before us and learn the lessons thereof,¡± Gong said. ¡°A totally failed deployment is an indication that whatever resistance encountered on the surface was too strong for even a toon of legionnaires to withstand.¡± ¡°Well send a battalion then!¡± ¡°Governor, sending another ship for a rescue will have the same result. And a toon of legionnaires is far stronger than a battalion of normal soldiers. This theory has been tested for centuries, which is why the protocols exists. I am sorry to say, Governor, but your nephew has been lost. Along with twenty other legionnaires and I remind you, a full toon of legionnaires before that. One could only imagine the report I would have to offer Princess Rheutera, if I lost a full battalion as well.¡± Tai Su Long¡¯s jaw tightened, but he didn¡¯t say anything. Then, as if the reality finally hit him, he let out a groan. ¡°What am I going to tell my sister? Jei Su Long was her first born.¡± Gong could not say that he sensed any kind of grief or true remorse from the man. Perhaps his own involvement in causing his nephew¡¯s death prevented him from doing so. But at least there was eptance and for Gong, that was all that mattered now. ¡°Tell her that he died a legionnaire,¡± Gong said. ¡°They all did. Thest deployment as well.¡± A sudden malevolence entered his eyes. ¡°Not the Iron Bull. Do not conte the loss of the previous deployment with this once. My nephew put down that traitorous dog. He should be doubly honored for saving the empire that time too.¡± A look of resolve then entered his gaze as he stared off into the distance. ¡°Yes, my nephew shall be honored. I will see to it that the president does so publicly and then, once I return to the core worlds, I will break the news to his parents personally.¡± ? Li Jeng bowed. ¡°We shall away at once then Governor. Our condolences for your loss.¡± Tai Su Long merely grimaced again. ¡°Not a word of this leaves here until I return. I don¡¯t want his parents finding out by some other means.¡± ¡°Understood Governor,¡± Gong said, and then breathed a sigh of relief when Tai Su Long finally turned and left. He looked to Li Jeng. ¡°Well handled.¡± Li Jeng nodded. ¡°Yes. But a heavy price this was. At least our dealings with the Su Long family will be over with for now.¡± Gong let out a scoff. ¡°That rotten boy¡¯s karma caused all of this, I¡¯m sure. I pray for all those lost souls down there. The Iron Bull especially.¡± Both he and Li Jeng remained silent for a moment. ¡°Perhaps it was this Hell World that was cursed,¡± Gong said eventually. ¡°Fhae I¡¯ung. The next mission will be our final deployment to it, thank the heavens.¡± ¡°A full reset,¡± Li Jeng said. ¡°We¡¯ll loop back to the initial drop zone for the final run. Let¡¯s hope thest deployment has better luck on ground already tread upon.¡± ¡°I pray so,¡± Gong said. ¡°After two losses like this, President Tzu Li Zen will need a win indeed to keep within the good graces of the empire.¡± * * * Princess Lunh trembled as she read the letter in her hands. Having arrived by special courier and marked with a royal seal, she had immediately taken it to be another correspondence from her half-sister, Princess Ul¡¯vera. But this was a letter of a different kind and from a sister she didn¡¯t expect. Third Princess Lunh, I know you not personally. But I now know that your shame has no bounds. How dare you attempt to perpetrate such a selfish and traitorous act? Your showboating tribute, the Iron Bull, has not only embarrassed himself in my court, having disgracefully won an exhibition match by unsavory means, but he has further disgraced your by having nowmitted an act so vile, it can easily be considered treason against the empire. And one sanctioned by your very own pen. Lunh paused at the same point in the letter again, hesitant to read further. She knew who her elder half-sister, Rheutera was, but she had never met her. She was far out of her realm when it came to status, further even than Princess Ul¡¯Vera in that sense. Ul¡¯vera had warned her that Rheutera might write to her regarding that exhibition match, but now she seemed to be hinting at something else. Something that she was somehow responsible for. She read further. I have attached a copy of the bloodied letter that was found on the corpse of your so-called prodigy tribute. Her breath caught and she read the line again. Corpse? What was this letter saying? She read on as her heart began to race. She turned the page and saw something was indeed attached to it, a transcription of the very letter she had written to the Iron Bull weeks ago. Her world came crashing down as she re-read it quickly. The subtle inuendo of the words mocked her like a p in the face, knowing that someone like Rheutera had read them. But what did this mean? Corpse? Her mind still couldn¡¯tprehend it. You clearly instructed your tribute to murder his entire toon for the selfish gain of your. And so he tried. But failed. His death came at the hands of one of my subjects, a young master of the Twin River sect and a fellow legionnaire. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°No!¡± Lunh cried out. ¡°No, it¡¯s not true!¡± He¡¯s not dead! she said in her head over and over again. He couldn¡¯t have died! She read the words again and her heart shattered, a ragged sob escaping her lips. Shock and horror turned her stomach. She felt sick. Faint. No¡­This had to be a lie. A fabrication. ¡°Your majesty, are you alright?¡± The muffled words came from behind her closed office door and a secondter Ling Wei poked her head inside. ¡°Your Majest¡ª?¡± ¡°Go away, Ling Wei!¡± she cried. Shame and embarrassment burned her face and her vision blurred with tears. It had been over a decade since she had cried like a damn mortal. No way could she do that in front of Ling Wei. ¡°Go!¡± Ling Wei rushed out of her office, closing the door. Lunh let out a sob openly then, unable to contain the shock and grief ripping apart her soul. Why? She thought. Why has this urred? Her ns unraveled by some lowly young master? How? Visions of the Iron Bull returning triumphantly to push aside his betrothed and take her as his own, fueled Lunh¡¯s grief-stricken mind. She screamed in rage and frustration, lifting her desk overhead before smashing it into the marble floor. She struck out at the walls next, unleashing her tears and screams as she tore holes through the stone. She pounded on them again and again until finally she lost all strength along with her will to even live anymore. ¡°How could you die?¡±she whispered with bitter tears of desperation and loss.¡°You¡¯re all I had to hope for¡­¡± She finally copsed to the ground sobbing. Her Iron Bull. Her hope for love. Her hope for everything. Now gone. She still couldn¡¯t ept it. Didn¡¯t want to believe it. But then why else would she have written this? Lunh finally reached for the letter again. Half of it stilly unread. The cavaliering bitch Rheutera had dared to make light of her loss, but what else was she using her of? Anger quickly matched the grief in her heart as Lunh read on. You should count yourself lucky that his uncle, so happens to be one of my governors and brought me this letter discretely. If I were to share it with our father, who knows what would be of your pretty little head. But I will have mercy on you for now, little sister. This shall remain between only us, so long as youply with my wishes. As for what those are, I still have yet to decide. You have so little to offer. But when you do, rest assured, it shall be mine. Second Princess Rheutera Lunh balled up the letter and threw it across the room. ¡°Damn bitch!¡± She began sobbing again. Why was her life so cursed? To havee so close and to now have not only lost her love, but to now be used of treason and ckmailed by her own sister? She released another frustrated cry and suddenly felt a soft hand upon her back. She jumped startled, until she saw it was Ling Wei again. ¡°How did you get in here?¡± she spat. ¡°I told you to leav¡ª!¡± ¡°Your majesty created new ways of ess, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Ling Wei said. Lun looked and saw in her grief that she had indeed copsed one of the walls. Ling Wei handed her a handkerchief and Lunh took it wordlessly, immediately drying her eyes. ¡°You should not see me like this.¡± ¡°Like what, your majesty? I see nothing out of the usual.¡± Lunh paused. Ling Wei was nothing but loyal. Thank goodness it was only her within earshot. ¡°Ensure no one else enters and have my office repairs addressed discreetly. I am clearly unwell and will retire to the pce.¡± ¡°Understood, your majesty.¡± Lunh pulled herself from the floor and was about to leave when a thought urred. ¡°Ling Wei,¡± she said. ¡°Has there been any official correspondence received from the Legionnaire academy?¡± ¡°Concerning the Iron Bull?¡± ¡°Any,¡± she said. ¡°I would not expect to see anything until perhaps a week from now when the normal transport carriers arrive. Are you expecting something?¡± ¡°Monitor all iing parcels for anything from Du Gok Bhong, even those addressed to the Lady Silver Light. Understood?¡± Ling Wei raised a brow. ¡°Will do, your majesty.¡± Lunh could barely bring herself to care about the stupid little girl anymore, but with this threat now over her head from Rheutera, who knew what the academy itself might be saying about the Iron Bull¡¯s demise. She couldn¡¯t risk anything being known about the details. And perhaps it was only fitting that she, his true destined, would learn of his death first. Not that clueless little girl. ¡°Are you alright, your majesty? You still look troubled.¡± Lunh looked at Ling Wei and hesitated. She could see sincere concern behind her eyes. The ache in her heart yearned forfort. From anyone. Even her. ¡°The Iron Bull is dead,¡± she said simply. ¡°Killed upon the Hell Worlds.¡± Ling Wei let out a gasp, but Lunh couldn¡¯t tell if it was genuine or not. ¡°I am so sorry to learn of this news,¡± Ling Wei said with a bow. ¡°Such a terrible loss for our nation.¡± It was a loss worth far more than that, but she didn¡¯t correct her. Lunh had revealed far too much to Ling Wei already with her actions. The worst thing she could do now, was confirm them with her words. ¡°Shall I inform the Warden of Jurin Province?¡± she said. ¡°The Lady Silver Tear was going through much preparation for the Iron Bull¡¯s eventual return and their impending duel.¡± Lunh had nearly forgotten about all that. ¡°No¡­ we shall keep this quiet until I have received official notification from the Academy.¡± Thest thing she needed was rumors spreading. ¡°As I said, I wish to vet allmunications first.¡± ¡°Should his betrothed not be informed?¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°She is herself preparing for a duel of her own.¡± His betrothed has been informed, Lunh wanted to say, but those kinds of thoughts, which once brought the joy of fantasy, merely pricked her soul with anguish now. ¡°What duel?¡± she asked. ¡°A court challenge from the Warden¡¯s three nieces whom she made vice wardens,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°It has be quite the public event. The entire city will be in attendance.¡± Lunh¡¯s heart waxed cold. This was likely the Warden¡¯s doing, carrying out her instructions to make the girl¡¯s life as miserable as possible before her demise. But the Iron Bull would no longer be returning. So what was the point in any of it now? So much preparation and all for naught, she thought. The emptiness of it filled her only with hate. Anger and hatred for everything. For everyone. Why should that little girl get the right to grieve him, as well? She¡¯d done nothing to deserve him. A new thought twisted its way through her grieving mind. One that brought her sced if not a small sense of revenge. Against the universe. Against everything that was conspiring against her. ¡°I shall inform her personally,¡± Lunh said. ¡°When is this duel of hers?¡± ¡°Two weeks, your majesty,¡± she said. That would coincide with any official correspondence from Du Gok Bhong. She could vet the information then and easily pass it off as genuine concern. But truly, the loss in her heart could only be quelled by inflicting the same pain she felt on another. And Lunh would deliver that pain via the most egregious means possible. The thought returned the faintest of smiles to her lips. A bitter grimace of hate and satisfaction. ¡°Do not reveal my purpose. Communicate to the Warden that I only wish to observe the proceedings.¡± Ling Wei nodded. ¡°I will do so, your majesty.¡± * * * The Bloodmoon was hanging low in the sky and my Frenzy reserves were hanging even lower. We¡¯d been at it for two hours nonstop, sting across the hellish sky where we could and thennding to fend off surging hordes of demons on the ground when the tentacle-rays and other flying monstrosities got too thick to [Lightning Walk] through. I wished for anything that I could just grab Blue Rose and [Ride the Lightning] with her to get back to the tunnel in a matter of minutes, but we had Wing Pho, plus Jei Su Long¡¯s unconscious ass and his two cronies to worry about. With the constant fighting and flying, we hadn¡¯t even had chance to discuss why he was needed to be kept alive yet, but I trusted Blue. She was a hell of a lot smarter than me and had been on the outside to boot. We barely had chance tomunicate enough for me to learn the two other Tributes names were Wu Liang and Song De. I knew them by face, and recalled they were already ck Robes when I first got to Du Gok Bhong, which meant they were on the slower side when it came to progression. I had arrived a Brown Robe and had surpassed them and was still ahead of them by a couple of rotations by the time I deployed. That meant when it came to surviving, they were closer to token legionnaires like Wing Pho than true ones. Blue Rose had to keep an extra eye out on them as they carried Jei Su Long, using her Qi Dagger techniques to cut down huge swarms of demons from over-running them. It was surprising to see how much Blue Rose herself had grown. A couple months ago she was on the brink of insanity under the Bloodmoon¡¯s Demonic Qi, but now she was thriving. Part of that was perhaps due to the small barrier technique I could sense from Wing Pho. It seemed to be a weaker version of my [Soul Shield] technique that ran on Qi instead of Frenzy. That proved helpful when we would stop to catch a breather and replenish our reserves for the next hop into the sky. It gave me a chance to save some Frenzy by turning off my [Soul Shield] technique. It was from its protection that primarily gave us the ability to run across the Hellishndscape without goingpletely insane. After my recovery, I found that the radius of my aura had expanded substantially, now covering a good fifteen-foot radius where it had only been about five before. Still, even with it, traversing the Hell World was a savage gauntlet and I could already sense the Dark Frenzy building within them, slowly poisoning their souls. I could shield them from the demonic rays of the Bloodmoon, but I couldn¡¯t cleanse them from the Dark Frenzy. That meant we needed to get to a source of aetherite before too long. I put in most of the work, cleaving through the vast swarms of endless demons with my [Lightning] charged techniques. Wu Liang and Song De were de Masters and acted as a defensive phnx to take care of stray demons that got to close. Blue Rose yed scout, popping into the air with her [Shadow Step] techniques to get a quick vantage above the endless sea of demons, while at the same time looking out for Wing Pho. Jei Su Long, as per normal, was good for nothing and stayed unconscious the entire time. And that was just fine with me. We were a rag tag team of mix-matched talent, but I shouted themands to make it all work smoothly together. I didn¡¯t realize it until now, but over thest couple of weeks, while hunting for food on the surface, I had developed a handler¡¯s sixth sense for the general ecosystem of the Hell World. I knew which types of demons roamed with others, and how to spot the tell tales signs of the behemoths that roamed the scorched earth. We were far too weak to handle one of those. With precision and patience, I navigated us through the harsh terrain, choosing the paths that provided the least resistance. After another hour I finally saw a familiarndscape. We were close. I took a quick detour to track down a couple of scorpions and when I quickly killed them and slung them on my back, Blue Rose looked at me questioningly. ¡°What¡¯s that for?¡± she said. ¡°Dinner.¡± Wing Pho looked appalled. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Come on, we¡¯re nearly there.¡± I sted through thest swarms of demons surrounding the tunnel entrance and dove inside. I warned them about thest step and together we floated down into the cavern. I¡¯d never been so grateful for refuge before. After the constant exertion and adrenaline, the ability to finally just stop caused us all to copse. I pulled them towards the small aetherite crystal. It still had its healing properties, but I couldn¡¯t sense Fhae I¡¯ung¡¯s voice anymore. This was the remnants of her core. No different than the sliver of lightning core still tucked below my Dantian. Weariness overcame me immediately. Fighting and moving like that had been even more taxing than surviving my initial night on the Hell World. I was just about to ask Blue Rose what the hell was going on, but under the effects of the crystal she had immediately passed out along with everyone else. ¡°Well shit,¡± I muttered, realizing I was the only one still awake. It was a testament to just how much stronger I had be by being down in this hole. It had been an intense work out for me, no doubt, but for them, it was an ordeal. One that had perhaps nearly killed them, and certainly would have it I wasn¡¯t there. I got with the program and settled in for some rest myself. They had to recover from the effects of the Dark Frenzy before we could go any further. But when we woke, we had a lot of stuff to figure out. Book 4: Chapter 30 ¡°So, what¡¯s the deal, Blue?¡± I asked as I tore into another bite of scorpion leg. She watched me horrified, looking like she was about to vomit. All of them did. I awoke before everyone else and after spending a couple of hours studying from the new Shuras, got to work barbequing one of the scorpions. It wasmon to me now, but the revulsion on their faces reminded me that I had truly been surviving like a savage down in this hole for thest couple of weeks. Still, I had burned a lot of calories and needed to replenish them. Plus, the stuff tasted pretty good to me now. ¡°You guys don¡¯t know what you¡¯re missing,¡± I said, taking another bite and then washing it down with some muddy water. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll eat it once you get hungry enough.¡± ¡°I still have some rations,¡± Wing Pho said, grimacing. ¡°I can do with just that for now.¡± It¡¯d been about four hours since we arrived in the cavern. Thankfully the aetherite crystal seemed to have done its job. Although one of the guys, Song De, seemed to be suffering from some memory loss. He couldn¡¯t recall anything after the crashnding. It was a reminder that not every mind could take the rigors of the Hell World.It wasn¡¯t just physical. The eldritch horrors of the unseen, attacked one¡¯s very mind and spirit and not everyone was equipped to withstand them. I made a note that Song De now fell into that category, which didn¡¯t put his chances of survival very high. At least not in the long run. Jei Su Long was still unconscious thankfully. Hopefully I had put his ass in a damna. But even without hearing his annoying voice the bastard irked me. ¡°Okay time to spill it, Blue,¡± I said, putting aside my empty scorpion leg shell. ¡°Why did we haul that piece of shit across the desert instead of us just leaving him out there to die?¡± I had a couple of guesses, myself, many of them being to inflict more pain on him and to make him suffer, but I knew Blue must have had a better reason than that. Otherwise, she surely would have gotten involved in my ass kicking of him earlier. ¡°He¡¯s framed you for everyone¡¯s deaths,¡± she said. ¡°He still had that letter of yours.¡± ¡°What letter?¡± ¡°The one from your princess, telling you to ensure you returned alone. He used that as proof that you had motive to kill the whole toon. He said you attacked him, but that he managed to kill you before escaping on the skiff alone. He said he found the letter on your body.¡± My mind saw red. ¡°That piece of shit said what?!¡± I was on my feet in a second, about the wake the bastard up just to put his lights out again. Blue pulled me back down. ¡°Did you hear nothing I just said? You need him alive, Max. You being alive is living proof that he lied, but he needs to be alive to take ountability for it. For everything. Even today. He caused all this by making us deploy in waves instead of all at once. The guy is a piece of shit, yes, but death is too good for him now. You need him to clear your name. And these guys need to vouch for you as well. Tell him, Wing Pho.¡± Wing Pho looked between Song De and Wu Liang nervously. ¡°Well, what do you two think?¡± Wu Liang, who looked in his thirties with a bald head and goatee frowned. ¡°The Su Long family is very powerful. My family is subservient to there¡¯s on the core worlds. I would not want to make an usation that might be one day overturned or even forgiven.¡± ¡°Forgiven?¡± Blue said. ¡°How could he deny any of this if we all returned home to tell the truth. He would be forced to admit his lies.¡± Song De, who wore his hair long and sported a full beard, shook his head. ¡°You all do not know his family like we do. They will exin it away. Such is how it goes in the core worlds.¡± ¡°I¡¯m from a core world too!¡± Blue Rose said, jutting a thumb at her chest. ¡°For small things what you say is true, but this is far too big now. Jei Su Long was responsible for those deaths in Max¡¯s deployment, not him.¡± ¡°Are you sure of that?¡± The annoying voice came from behind us, and I turned to see Jei Su Long awake and propped up against the wall. His face was swollen but no longer a bloody mess thanks to Wing Pho cleaning him up. My anger seethed at just the sight of his crooked smile. But I was d to see he had lost a tooth or two. ¡°So, it seems you managed to survive my death blow, Iron Bull,¡± he said, leering at me. ¡°But I know what I saw. You killed your men. Not me.¡± Rage burst inside of me like a volcano. ¡°You¡¯re still trying to lie? You incredible sack of shit!¡± He then pointed at me. ¡°Look, Wing Pho! See how he immediately gets defensive. It¡¯s his guilty conscience at work. Look, all of you.¡± I then realized what he was doing. Trying to convince hisckies that he could still be trusted. ¡°I honestly can¡¯t believe this shit,¡± I said, nearly lost for words. ¡°Still trying to weasel your way out?¡± ¡°What you reported was no where in Max¡¯s character,¡± Blue Rose said, standing next to me. ¡°And when he is able to speak for himself in a court, everyone will know it. Plus, you already messed up with your lies.¡± He squinted at her. ¡°What lies? I spoke the truth.¡± ¡°Well, you clearly didn¡¯t find that letter on the Iron Bull¡¯s body now, did you?¡± A silence fell and Wing Pho, Song De and Wu Liang all looked to Jei Su Long for an answer. Blue Rose thenughed. ¡°See? It was that easy for me to prove your guilt and I¡¯m not even a barrister.¡± I chuckled at her. ¡°Maybe you missed your calling.¡± ¡°This is nonsense!¡± Jei Su Long cried. ¡°You¡¯ll prove nothing. And Song De is right. My uncle would never allow such a trial to ur. So, make your choices now. Will you three stand with me, or with the Iron Bull and his stupid little whore?¡± I flew across the room so fast, Blue Rose didn¡¯t have a chance to stop me this time. I grabbed Jei Su Long by his throat and lifted him into the air. His legs kicked at me futile as he gasped for breath. ¡°Now listen up and listen quick,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Your dumbass lies stop now. However it ys out in the courts, the only thing I know for certain is that its better for you to be alive. Because you¡¯re so damn stupid even a blind man can see through your bullshit story. Count yourself lucky, because I¡¯m itching to send your soul straight to hell for everything you¡¯ve done.¡± I could sense the fear pouring off the trio of Song De, Wu Liang and Wing Pho. They were always together at the academy. Sticking by Jei Su Long¡¯s side, regardless of the oue, was perhaps a self-defense mechanism for them. But none of that would even matter if we didn¡¯t get off this Hell World first. ¡°Now listen up all of you,¡± I said. ¡°Jei Su Long¡¯s justice will have to wait. Our main priority now, is getting off this rock and to do that we have to catch thest deployment out of here.¡± I dropped Jei Su Long back on the ground like the sack of shit he was, leaving him sputtering for air. It was necessary to keep him alive, but dealing with him down here was like keeping a cobra for a pet without a cage. Already I could sense the hatred in him, desperate to strike back at me. ¡°Protocol says they¡¯ll circle back to the initial drop zone of Fhae I¡¯ung for the final deployment,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s 900 miles from where we are now. And we have two weeks to get there.¡± ¡°900 miles?¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°How long did we travel just now?¡± ¡°About a hundred,¡± I said. ¡°And it damn near killed all of you. Doing nine times that is going to be straight up impossible.¡± That cause a heavy silence to fill the air. I¡¯d been contemting it for thest couple of hours while everyone was asleep. Working out the math while recalling the deployment charts I¡¯d seen on my prep missions before our deployment. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences. ¡°It took us over three hours to get back here to the tunnel,¡± I said. ¡°Which means doing nine times that is a journey well over thirty hours total. No way are we doing that.¡± At least not right now, I thought to myself. ¡°We have two weeks,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°We can make our way there more slowly. A hundred miles each day. Less even.¡± I sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve thought about that. But this ce you see now, I came across it by luck. I can¡¯t be sure we¡¯ll find a cave each time we dig into the ground. And digging itself is an issue. To get down this deep without being overrun by the demons, I had a full toon backing me up and forming a perimeter to hold them off.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re saying we couldn¡¯t do the same?¡± De Song said. ¡°Do we look like a toon to you?¡± He frowned. ¡°The point is,¡± I said. ¡°Each time we leave this cave we¡¯ll be taking a risk. This is the only safe ce I know toe back to. We have food, water and shelter. As far as I know, I¡¯ve been the only Legionnaire to aplish this in history. And it was mostly by luck, like I said. We have no way of knowing just how rare this set up might be. Aetherite, water and shelter all in one ce. Even if we could dig, we¡¯d be rolling the dice nine times, even more if we take shorter hops. With the terrain changing each time, there¡¯s no telling what we may or may not find. Chances are, we¡¯d roll snake eyes on at least one of them and if we¡¯re caught out in the open when the Cursed Star rises¡­¡± I paused, reliving the horrors of seeing my toon transformed into demons and howling for their own deaths. ¡°Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s not something you want to experience for too long.¡± ¡°So how will we do it?¡± Wing Pho asked. ¡°Is it even possible?¡± ¡°If you could all fly as fast as me, maybe,¡± I said. Jei Su Long scoffed. ¡°Tubby can barely fly at all.¡± ¡°Shut the hell up!¡± I spat, but the bastard wasn¡¯t wrong either. None of them were in a condition to make that kind of trek. But I didn¡¯t fancy rolling the dice nine times either. ¡°We¡¯ve got a choice,¡± I said. ¡°We could spend two weeks risking our lives every day trying to get there and risk failure each time, or spend the next two weeks getting strong enough so we can make a single journey all at once.¡± Blue Rose looked up at me and blinked. ¡°That¡¯s insane. Travel 900 miles across a Hell World in one day?¡± ¡°Two days,¡± I said. ¡°Well, a day and a night technically. The days are 28 hours long here. We¡¯d need to leave at daybreak and travel straight through night and hopefully meet the skiff just before the next sunrise. But we¡¯d have to push it a bit faster than what it took us to cross just now.¡± ¡°No way,¡± Song De said. ¡°That¡¯s crazy. We only trained to survive a single night under the Bloodmoon. Plus, you just said yourself we couldn¡¯t survive for long under a Cursed Star.¡± ¡°The aetherite!¡± Wing Pho said pointing to the crystal. ¡°We can use that to get across, right? It will shield us.¡± I shook my head. ¡°That stuff evaporates like ice under a Cursed Star. But you¡¯re not wrong either.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± he said. ¡°I need to test something. Blue you need toe too. The rest of you stay down here and keep an eye on shithead.¡± I took to the air with [Lightning Walk] before the bastard could even retort. I didn¡¯t like the idea of leaving him alone with those three, but for what I needed to test, it wouldn¡¯t take but a few minutes. As I entered the tunnel, I could already feel the difference in the air. The Cursed Star was out and the sounds from the surface had changed. The howls and wails took on a supernatural tone, chilling right to the soul. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Blue Rose said as she touched down in the tunnel entrance next to me. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ve never heard anything like that before.¡± I could sense the fear in her soul. She was needed for this test, and I had to hope it worked. But I¡¯d needed to be careful for her sake as well. ¡°I¡¯ve been cultivating while I¡¯ve been here,¡± I said. ¡°What!?¡± ¡°It¡¯s sort of like what we did for our Bloodmoon training,¡± I said, exining it away. ¡°Anyway, I think I¡¯ve gotten a lot stronger now. I could just barely survive under the Cursed Star before, but I need to see how much I¡¯ve grown. If my aura can withstand it, and protect you, then we have a real fighting chance of making it across this.¡± She blinked at me. ¡°Max, are you sure about this? Are you truly that strong now?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Let¡¯s find out. Stay here until I call you.¡± I left before she could say anything else and perhaps try to change my mind. What I¡¯d told her wasn¡¯t fully bullshit either. Since defeating that Deep Dweller and obtaining the essence of Fhae I¡¯ung, I had felt my spirit and me grow. My core density had increased as well, growing smaller yet holding just as much Frenzy. Plus, from my studying earlier, I found I had an upgraded form of [Soul Shield] I still had yet to master and try. I recalled the knowledge of the scripture from memory, even though it was now etched in glowing runes upon my sword. [Sacred Soul Shield] Upon the emergence of one¡¯s Sacred Soul, so too does one gain a renewed defense against the forces of the unseen world. This technique will utilize not only the strength of one¡¯s spirit but the strength of thy Sacred Soul as well. I had just barely scratched the surface in terms of learning it but that didn¡¯t matter. A mere test was all I needed right now. Finding this one technique was what gave me hope that a crossing was even remotely possible. I hovered at the edge of the tunnel exit and tested the rays of the Cursed Star upon my skin. It burned like acid. Like I was under a damn broiler. But it was more bearable than I recalled. As I risked to ventured further, I took on the full effects and it was like breathing in superheated air. I gasped and choked on what smelled like concentrated ammonia and above me, the oppressive dark rays of the Cursed Star itself caused my me to re. But not in a good way. It was reacting like a candle in pure oxygen and now, knowing my true rtion to the Cleansing Fame, I understood exactly what was going on. It was trying to absorb me. Bring my me back into its own. Across thendscape the horrors of the Star Born demons etched my mind with fresh madness. Creatures that walked on tall spindly legs over a dozen stories tall. Giant starfish with hundreds of eyes that pinwheeled across the desert like tumbleweeds. Something that resembled a giant cockroach with a human head and which stood like a man. I bared it all as my Frenzy drained as if through a sieve. This was what I needed to do to grow even stronger. Tax myself just like I did under the Bloodmoon. Only now it was under the Cleansing me of a Cursed Star. My vision began to tunnel and stray thoughts entered my mind. Pure destruction and chaos. Cursed Frenzy. ~Come hither fallen one¡­Seek thy redemption from the One True me~ The Demon in me wanted to ponce, but the Red-hued Struggler kept him at bay. My Dantan was already below half. Now was the time. I engaged my Meridians, activating the new technique. It was a mixture of [Sacred Soul Projection] as well as [Soul Shield] and as I finallypleted the sequence, I felt the oppressiveness of the Cursed Star instantly subside. I panted for air, my full vision returning. I didn¡¯t even realize how close I hade to cking out and losing my soul to the Cursed Frenzy. But now that I was back under control, I could see the world for what it was. My new technique was difficult to maintain, but I could feel it working. With [Soul Shield] I could still feel the rays prating, but this kept the power of the Cleansing me at baypletely. I was still paying the price of Frenzy for it, but a much lesser extent now. Holy shit, this is powerful, I thought. I¡¯m surviving under the light of a Cursed Star. What turned normal cultivators into demons, was something I could now endure, so long as I had enough Frenzy in my core. Time for the final test. ¡°Blue!¡± I called. ¡°Come quick.¡± This would all be for nothing if I couldn¡¯t protect her and everyone else with it. I heard her scurrying behind me. ¡°Just be carefu¡ª¡± Blue Rose immediately began screaming before I could say anything else. She was staring straight up at the Cursed Star with her hands atop her head. Shit! I thought. Did it not work? I sensed the extreme terror in her soul. Finally, she closed her eyes and turned her head away. ¡°Max, get it away from me!¡± she cried. ¡°I can¡¯t unsee it! I can¡¯t unsee all this. Those creatures. That Star!¡± I quickly grabbed her and pulled her down the tunnel. We re-emerged at the exit and I floating her down from the ceiling with [Lightning Walk]. Immediately, I ced her in front of the aetherite crystal. Blue Rose huddled around it and shuddered like it was a campfire warding off extreme cold. Wing Pho rushed to her side. ¡°Let me check her. She must be poisoned again.¡± He studied her, adjusting his sses, but then he looked confused. ¡°I sense no Demonic Qu in her soul at all. What did you do up there?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to know,¡± Blue Rose said as she rocked back and forth. ¡°Damn it, Max. You could have warned me, at least. I¡¯ll never unsee that shit now.¡± A huge grin spread across my face. ¡°No Demonic Qi?¡± Wing Pho shook his head. ¡°It worked!¡± ¡°What worked?¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°What are you yelling about?¡± ¡°What¡¯s going to get us off this rock,¡± I said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°I¡¯ve grown strong enough to withstand even the rays of the Cursed Star. Like you I can produce an Aura, but this one can protect us during the day.¡± ¡°What?¡± Song De said. ¡°Then what happened to her?¡± ¡°His aura protected me against the Cursed Star, yes,¡± Blue Rose said, spitting on the ground as if trying to remove a bitter taste from her mouth. ¡°But not the things you will see, hear or feel.¡± This was it, I thought. Our means to a way out. The mission began crystalizing within my mind. ¡°Listen up, legionnaires,¡± I said. ¡°We have a new goal. We will train by the light of the Bloodmoon and under the poison rays of the Cursed Star. This will be Du Gok Bhong Academy to the extreme. You need to grow your spiritual strength to not go instantly mad out there and we don¡¯t have much time to do it. But if you can survive the basics, I can see us all through.¡± ¡°900 miles, under a Cursed Star?¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°You can forget about that,¡± Jei Su Long said. ¡°I¡¯m not doing anything you say.¡± I finally fixed my eyes on the bastard. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said as I slowly stepped towards him with a mixture of [Indifference] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] in my heart. ¡°You won¡¯t have to.¡± The mixture of techniques caught him off guard and fear instantly spiked within his soul. ¡°Wait,¡± he said, backing up against the wall. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± ¡°We¡¯re all going to get stronger to survive,¡± I said. ¡°But not you, Jei Su Long. You¡­ You, I just can¡¯t trust with more power.¡± ¡°Max¡­¡± Blue Rose said warily. ¡°Don¡¯t kill him, remember?¡± ¡°You heard her!¡± he echoed in panic. ¡°You can¡¯t kill me!¡± ¡°Who said anything about killing.¡± I surged forward with a touch of Frenzy, grabbing him by his cor this time. I contemted a second more, just to be sure I was correctly weighing the odds. Jei Su Long was strong despite himself and his cowardice. He had powerful Qi techniques that could be invaluable in keeping away the demon hordes. But on the other hand, he was a piece of shit that I just couldn¡¯t trust to turn that same power against us the first chance he got. Turning him into a human duffle bag was a much safer option for us all. ¡°Sorry pal,¡± I said. ¡°But your shitty reputation precedes you. The only way to feel safe around a rat-bastard like you, is to tear out your fangs and ws.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± True fear crept into his soul now. I summed my Frenzy with a disruptive technique. ¡°[Struggler¡¯s Fist of Fury]!¡± He tried to block, but I was far too quick. My fist struck him right in the Dantian and I felt the satisfying give of something break inside of him. Wing Pho, Wu Liang and Song De all cried out in shock and fear, no doubt terrified at the repercussions of what I had just done. Jei Su Long fell to the ground holding his stomach and spitting blood. ¡°You¡­you..!¡± he kept crying over and over, and then like an infant, he began to cry for real. ¡°My core! You crippled me! You bastard! You¡¯ll pay for this! My family will kill you. I¡¯ll kill you!¡± I looked down at him with [Indifference]. ¡°Nice to see your true colors finally showing now.¡± ¡°Was this wise, Iron Bull?¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°What you¡¯ve done is¡ª¡± ¡°Absolutely necessary,¡± Blue Rose said cutting him off. She then pulled herself away from the aetherite crystal to stand over Jei Su Long. ¡°If Max hadn¡¯t done it, I would have done something simr. No way I was trusting him for two weeks down here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll kill you too,¡± he whimpered. ¡°I¡¯ll kill all of you!¡± It was a pathetic sight, but I could spare him no pity. This piece of shit was beyond redemption. Yet still, I had to bring his sorry ass home alive. ¡°Take away his weapons and tie him up,¡± I said to his two formerckies. ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot of training to do, and we don¡¯t need this asshole getting in our damn way anymore.¡± Book 4: Chapter 31 I started by building Jei Su Long a prison cell made out of rocks. Busted down to mortal or not, I didn¡¯t want him roaming around free. Shoving him in a corner of the main cavern, I formed the cell around him, leaving enough gaps in the heavy boulders to see what he was doing but with no way for him to squeeze out. He cursed and threatened us the whole time but after a while he eventually got tired and shut the hell up. I gathered everyone then and set out the training regime we would follow for the next two weeks. My main goal was to increase my Frenzy density and master the [Sacred Soul Shield] technique to make it as potent and efficient as possible. But even with it, my test with Blue Rose had confirmed that their spiritual fortitude would need strengthening just to endure the environment alone. ¡°What about him?¡± Wu Liang asked, jerking a thumb towards Jei Su Long¡¯s stone cage. ¡°Won¡¯t he go mad as well and even more so now without a core?¡± ¡°We can blindfold him,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°Block his ears too. You can¡¯t unhear some of those things either.¡± Song De frowned. ¡°Perhaps I should opt for the same. I was neverfortable with seeing those unnerving things.¡± ¡°I might join in that,¡± Wing Pho said with a chuckle. ¡°Hey, we can¡¯t all be blind out there,¡± I said. ¡°But I hear you. We can only push as far as your mind will allow. I don¡¯t need you alling back with no memories.¡± ¡°How will we do this?¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°We don¡¯t have a barrier for protection like we did back at Du Gok Bhong to go in and out of for safety.¡± ¡°You and I will be the barrier,¡± I said. ¡°We expose ourselves to the Bloodmoon each night, starting at midnight when the moon is at its peak. We endure till dawn. I¡¯ll start my own spiritual cultivation then, doing the same but only under the effects of the Cursed Star.¡±¡°That sounds incredibly dangerous,¡± Wing Pho said. I nodded to him. ¡°It will be. Especially as I won¡¯t have much in the way of backup.¡± That reminded me of something else. Something that I would do during the nights when I was training the team under the Bloodmoon. ¡°There may be a way for me to get some though,¡± I said. ¡°From across the stars.¡± Blue Rose looked at me with a furrowed brow. ¡°What?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Too hard to exin, but when we¡¯re under the Bloodmoon, I¡¯ll need to slip into meditation for a few minutes every hour to venture through the spirit realm. During that time, I need you all to protect me.¡± ¡°Meditate?¡± Song De was staring at me like I was crazy. ¡°While on the surface a Hell World?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be worth it, trust me,¡± I said. Already, I could feel the anxiety of myck of whereabouts growing back home. I needed to bump into Kelsey to let her know I was alright. Thest thing I needed was for Fia and everyone back home to lose hope when they learned by entire deployment was lost. Much less when they were told Jei Su Long¡¯s lies. Just the thought of that irk me some more, but I quickly cultivate it away to stay on focus. ¡°There¡¯s one more thing that I think we¡¯ll need to get across this,¡± I said. ¡°And Wing Pho and Blue Rose, I¡¯m going to need your help to do it.¡± They both looked to me quizzically, but intrigued. ¡°What is it?¡± Wing Pho asked. I smiled. ¡°Follow me.¡± I led them to the small chunk of aethrite crystal and pointed at it. ¡°I want to see if you two can turn a piece of that into an elixir.¡± Wing Pho¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Aetherite? You must be mad. Or wish to be so.¡± I squinted at his response. It wasn¡¯t exactly what I was expecting. ¡°What do you mean ¡®wish to be so¡¯?¡± Heughed. ¡°Please, do not think you are the first to ever have the clever idea to imbibe the power of pure aetherite to cultivate. It is well documented. Many sages have concocted elixirs through various means, but they are all poisonous to one¡¯s mind and soul. It is akin to Demonic Qi poisoning, turning them mad or into demons. We would not progress in the right direction by doing this.¡± The smile on my face widened even more. What he¡¯d said was proof positive that the elixir derived from aetehrite would be the same as an elixir derived from a Frenzied Core. In this case, the Frenzied Core of Fhae I¡¯ung. The result would be pure Frenzy. To a normal cultivator, the stuff would indeed act like what would be Demonic Qi to them. Poisoning them and turning them straight to the dark side of the Berserker¡¯s twin soul. No Struggler, all Demon. But for me, it would be dog gone lemonade in a can. ¡°I want to try it anyway,¡± I said. ¡°But just for me. You guys won¡¯t touch it.¡± ¡°Max, you can¡¯t do this,¡± Blue Rose said, real concern in her voice now. ¡°We¡¯re already doing enough risky things without experimenting like this. You¡¯re strong but you need to listen to Wing Pho. He is a schr. He knows his histories.¡± ¡°And I know me,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. Blue Rose let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°We don¡¯t have the luxury to argue this, Max. What if you¡¯re wrong? If you die or go crazy, how are we going to get home? We¡¯re all relying on you.¡± I felt all of their concern then. And it was well ced. Still, they didn¡¯t know what I truly was. And I couldn¡¯t reveal it to them either. But I had to convince them that my idea was still worth giving a shot. One more white lie, I thought, and the Struggler groaned with the added burden. ¡°I know it will work,¡± I said. ¡°Because I¡¯ve kind of done it already.¡± Wing Pho¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What? How?¡± ¡°Well, not ¡®done it¡¯ done it,¡± I said, trying to keep a straight face. ¡°After Jei Su Long abandoned us, what was left of my toon transformed into demons from the rays of the Cursed Star.¡± I paused then as the memories suddenly relived within my mind. The trauma of having to kill them. But I wouldn¡¯t share that much. Not now. ¡°I had to fight through entire hordes of demons alone,¡± I said. ¡°I was pretty beat up. When I finally made it to safety down here, I was so weak I could barely move. I tried eating a bit of the crystal to see if it would help me heal. It made me sick like you said, but then, I think, from eating all this demon meat, it kind of bnced me out.¡± They all looked stupefied and horrified at the same time. And for me, it felt shitty as hell lying to them. But I couldn¡¯t risk them knowing what I truly was. Especially not in front of Jei Su Long. ¡°And you want us to eat that crap too?¡± Blue Rose said incredulously. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know if it will work for sure,¡± I said. ¡°But all I¡¯m saying is being down here and cultivating, my body has changed. I won¡¯t push it, but I¡¯m sure if the likes of you two refined an elixir, rather than me trying to eat it raw, I believe it will aid in my cultivation mastery and help my barrier technique. I mean it only makes sense right? What better way to help strengthen my barrier than by using the source of the natural barrier itself?¡± Wing Pho and Blue Rose looked to each other skeptically. I couldn¡¯t tell if they had totally bought it or not, but I had to push. ¡°I¡¯ll take one sip,¡± I said. ¡°I promise. If I freak out. You throw the rest away.¡± I used [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] for thest bit and finally Blue Rose let out a sigh. ¡°Well, you somehow survived on a Hell World for two weeks, so why not this? What do you think, Wing Pho? We have anything here that we could use to make this?¡± He nced upward thoughtfully. ¡°What aspect would this even be?¡± ¡°Earth,¡± I said. ¡°Definitely earth.¡± They both looked at me again. ¡°Well, ites from the ground, right?¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s not how it works,¡± he said. ¡°But you are correct in that the methods for extraction are simr. That means we need a means of dissolving the crystal and then purifying the resulting effluent afterwards.¡± I thought about the Spider Bitch, G¡¯hru¡¯jh, and her toxic venom. That shit ate through rocks like nothing. Getting some from her would be impossible, but she clearly had spider like kin on the surface that I could hunt down and extract venom nds from. ¡°Leave the solvent to me,¡± I said. ¡°Some of the demons have acidic nds.¡± Wing Pho nodded. ¡°Alright. Then to purify we would need some kind of metal to neutralize the acid.¡± Blue Rose reached into her robes and produced a couple of copper Wen. ¡°Will this work?¡± Wing Pho¡¯s face lit up. ¡°Ah, splendid. It should.¡± ¡°Perfect!¡± I said, getting more excited by the minute. ¡°Only one thing,¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°We don¡¯t have any implements to carry all this out. We need ss that won¡¯t be dissolved by the acid.¡± Blue Rose frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. I don¡¯t have that.¡± But I merely smiled. ¡°One ss bowling up.¡± I grabbed another boulder and using the edge of my axe, carved out an impression, making a deep basin. I told everyone to stand back and then sted it with a burst of [Frenzied Lightning]. The result was a granite sink with a zed interior. ¡°Will this work?¡± I asked. Wing Pho studied it, feeling the inside, and then quickly snapped his hand back. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Still hot,¡± he said. ¡°But it feels like ss. Should work.¡± I smiled. ¡°You two do the math to figure the amounts of materials to use. I¡¯ll go get the acid.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°Isn¡¯t it still daytime up there?¡± ¡°Best time to go hunting for this stuff,¡± I said, but in truth I was just excited to see if this would work. Plus, I needed to get used to the idea of fighting on the surface under the Cursed Star as well as to cultivate and progress my [Sacred Soul Shield] technique. ¡°Be right back.¡± * * * It took me a little over four hours to find the exact kind of demons I was looking for. With my new [Sacred Soul Shield] ability though, plus my breakthrough in conditioning from recovering naturally and with my new insights and advancements from killing G¡¯hru¡¯jh, I was feeling more confident than ever. Not that it was easy, mind you. I could only leave the tunnel and go out in short bursts, facing the wailing monstrosities of the Cursed Stars. It was a literal madhouse. Shark headed bears that were hairless and covered in oozing sores, centipedes that crawled into the sky like they were walking on invisible walls. None of it made sense. It was like looking into a mixing bowl where everything that was natural was suddenlybined and turned upside down. It did wonders for my spiritual progression, however. I was memorizing everything I saw. Desperate not to unsee it. For every minute I spent outside the tunnel in the broiling rays of the Cursed Star, I needed to spend nearly double that, just to regain my sanity and recover. That was the time I took to jot down quick sketches of the various demons and monsters I saw. After recovering, I¡¯d then go back at it again. Slowly, I was working my way up with each exposure. Starting with a minute, then two, then three. My Frenzy density could endure far more, but I needed to go slowly. At five minutes, I took the time to start killing some of the demons, for added [Bloodlust] and to test how my [Sacred Soul Shield] technique held up inbat. I hewed through the howling, screeching monstrosities, with [Frenzied Lightning] and was once again, surprised by how tough they were despite my new upgrades. Under the influence of the Cursed Star, even the minor demons were what had to be ssified as S ss monsters back home. The result was a workout for mind, soul and body, with me retreating to the tunnel when the edges of my vision began to darken, and I sensed the presence of my me¡¯s master. The Cleansing me of the Cursed Star. It was the father of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and all the monstrosities here, but unlike the Herald, its motivation for me seemed different. Where I¡¯xol¡¯ukz saw me as an enemy and traitor to bepletely destroyed, this Cleansing me wanted me to reunite and be one with it again. As I sat in the shade of the tunnel contemting it, I supposed it made sense. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and the Frenzied me were like brothers, both born of the One True me. Which meant the Frenzied me was more like a prodigal son, and just like in the Bible story, he was hated and despised by his older brother. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz didn¡¯t want to see his wayward brother reconciled to the father. He wanted him punished and destroyed. I felt something open up inside of me as the new truth was revealed. My me brightened. I was emboldened even further now that I knew where I stood in rtion to that Dark God. Before it was simply a monstrosity with motives unknown. But now, it had be my vengeful, jealous uncle who wanted to see me and my dad destroyed. Which made the Cursed Star grandpa, I guessed. Iughed at my oversimplification of it all. But I wasn¡¯t wrong as far as I could tell. As my time under the Cursed Star got longer, so too did my recovery periods and I used the time to study the other gift I had received from my battled with G¡¯hru¡¯jh. The new Shuras bequeathed to me by Fhae I¡¯ung. There was no way I could master them all in the time I had, but of those I saw, I tried to at least master the basics of the ones I found interesting and that could perhaps be useful in trying to get back home. The first was an upgrade to [Frenzied me] and one that tied right into the new revtion I had just learned. [Furious me of the Father] Know thee not, oh kindled one, from whence thy might doth flow? For we who Struggle against, there is no greater strength, but to sumb is annihtion. In times of dire need, one may use the strength of thy progenitor to greatly multiply the effectiveness of thy me, but to do so for too long will see it consumed and returned to its origin. The next ones seemed to be upgrades to my existing abilities, of [My Turn], [Fear the me] and [Indifference]. [I Still Live] When thou doth suffer a fatal blow by thy enemy and through thy strength doeth survive, use this technique to ensure that such kindness is repaid one hundred-fold. [Torment of the Frenzied me] Use thy Frenzy to strengthen thy words with the power of the me itself, for the [Fear of the me] is innate. Do so to sharpen thy tongue as a barb, where thy words prick and shatter the very spirit, mind and soul of one¡¯s foe. For the proud and boastful, often fortify themselves with words, creating confidence where there is truly none, for false confidence is no confidence at all. [Barren Ground] Thy inner world can be a ce of fortification and also peace. Yet take care, oh kindled one, that thy struggles are not overshadowed by one¡¯s loss and grief. In such time, one¡¯s [Indifference] can be harnessed to produce a void of sce. A ce where thy cares can be cast down. Yet, where thy cares lie, thou shalt see not one, for thou carest not and all shall be barren ground. Thest one seemed kind of heavy, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of it. I searched further through the Shuras for some more practical manifestation techniques. [Trudge] Combine the strength of ones resolve and indominable will to step forward with a dominance that strikes fear and terror in the hearts of one¡¯s foes. To fly quickly intobat and gain an initiating strike are the tactics of the weak and unsure. Do thou the opposite, for surely, one who marches slowly into the face of battle, or the presence of his foes, will show them no mercy nor weakness. Once initiated, such steps cannot be broken nor stalled. For not even the gates of Heaven nor Hell can withstand the trudge of a Berserker¡¯s iron-willed resolve. [Focused Fury] It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Use this technique for one to take a glimpse within thy own. As thy eyes be burning embers of rage and pain, use it to shatter the will of thy foes or to bolster thy allies with hope and resolve. [Burning Soul] If thy eyes are yet not good enough, use thy entire body instead. Draw upon the strength of thy me to create a burning effigy of thy indominable spirit, terrorizing all. [Three Fold Frenzy] An advanced manifestation technique that brieflybines all three of thy forms for a single technique or blow, greatly amplifying one¡¯s strength. Do so sparingly however, for such will greatly tax both body and soul, resulting in an immediate slumber. Be assured then, oh kindled one, that a death blow of one¡¯s foe is assured. [Fury of the Fallen] The fall of one¡¯srades in battle can be a source of great loss and grief, but also power. Use this technique to channel one¡¯s inner rage and despair, drawing in the very essence of the fallen to aid in retribution and rpence. I paused contemting thatst one. It was something I could perhaps have used when I lost my toon. But damn it, what a hell of a price. I feared to think of what that meant now. The thought of losing Blue. Hell no, I thought. That wouldn¡¯t be worth all the Frenzy in the world to me. Which meant I needed to ensure my n worked. That doubled my resolve and thankfully after the next couple of checks onto the surface, I finally found the demons I was looking for. They were spider kin and looked just like miniature versions of G¡¯hru¡¯jh. There were only three of them, and they were nestled within the midst of a massive demon horde. I wished I had mastered that [Trudge] technique already. That would definitelye in handy out here. But for now, I had to do it the old-fashioned way. I leapt into the fray, chopping and hacking at the demons while watching my Frenzy reserves. My [Steel Skin] and [Steel Lightning] needed upgrading as well, I realized. As teeth ws and all manner of sharp appendages ripped across my skin, they drew blood, which further heightened my pain and rage. I finally reached the three spider sisters and let loose with an attempt at [Torment of the Frenzied me]. ¡°Condolences for killing your mom, bitches!¡± I shouted, while activating the meridian sequence for the technique. ¡°Old G¡¯hru¡¯jh sends her regards from hell!¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if the technique had even worked or not, but all three of them shrieked like banshees as rage spiked within their souls. Then they did what I was hoping for them to do. Streaks of venom spurted from the fangs lining their undercarriages and where they hit the ground, the rock hissed and melted away. I smiled back at them. ¡°Bingo.¡± * * * It took a bit more time and effort killing all three of them than I first thought. But with an application of [Mark of the Beast] I used my axe techniques at close range to hack off their limbs to cripple their mobility. By the time I was done they were reduced to using the same old bag of tricks as their mom did to survive, only this time, instead of turning into sweet olddies, they took on the guise of seductive geishas, promising to service me like no human woman ever could. I let them feel my disgust by giving them a taste of my ¡®axe head¡¯ instead. I had to unleash a volley of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls] to push back the next wave of demons crashing down on top of me, clearing them out before I could get back to butchering the spider women¡¯s corpses to find their venom sacs, while at the same time pocking their demonic cores. Awakened demons like them were still a rarity and the cores were needed at Du Gok Bhong. I finally returned to the tunnel to find Blue Rose waiting for me at the halfway point. ¡°Damn it, Max!¡± she shouted. ¡°Where the hell were you? I was worried sick! It¡¯s been five hours!¡± ¡°Yeah sorry,¡± I said. ¡°I found these three spiderdies out there and they really wanted to suc¡ª¡± ¡°Will you stop with the jokes!¡± she shouted. ¡°Seriously! Now did you get the nds or what?¡± I couldn¡¯t suppress myugh. ¡°Damn, I¡¯ve missed making you mad Blue.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Come on. Wing Pho and I have everything ready. I truly hope this doesn¡¯t work, because you don¡¯t need to be doing this crap every day.¡± ¡°I kind of do actually,¡± I retorted, but I didn¡¯t say anything else due to the re in her eyes. We went back to the cavern and found Wing Pho had chipped off a thimble worth of aetherite and ground it into a fine dust. Along with it was a single Wen coin. ¡°This will be enough to bnce the reaction,¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°How much acid do I add?¡± I asked. ¡°Pour it to the height of the mound,¡± he said. I pulled out one of the slimy spider girl sacs and squeezed out a portion of the venom. The vibrant green liquid covered the pile of dust and all of us then gathered about to see what would happen. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem to be working,¡± Song De said. ¡°Not strong enough?¡± Blue Rose asked. ¡°It¡¯s pretty powerful stuff,¡± I said. ¡°Melts most rocks like nothing.¡± I then poured some on the ground to demonstrate, resulting in a small hissing crater on the floor. ¡°Give it time,¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°Thettice structure of aetherite is incredibly strong.¡± We did just that and true to his prediction, or calctions perhaps, the venom began to fizz. After ten minutes the reaction stopped and there was no powder left at all, with the green venom turning slightly yellowish now. ¡°The reduction isplete,¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°Now for the purification.¡± He ced a sizable rock into the liquid, but nothing happened. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked. ¡°A catalyst,¡± he said. ¡°Something needs to absorb the impurities removed from the solution. There is a mineral in this type of rock that will swap ces with the copper once it reacts with the acid.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°d you¡¯re here, Wing Pho. I probably would have tried to drink it just like this.¡± Blue Rose shook her head. ¡°Gods, you¡¯re such a chun.¡± Wing Pho dropped in the Wen coin, and it began popping and fizzing immediately. The color then changed, turning from yellow-green to vibrant blue. ¡°Whoa,¡± I said. ¡°Pretty just like your name Blue.¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± she snapped. ¡°Did the copper do that, Wing Pho?¡± ¡°The rock,¡± he said. ¡°It is called sh¨ªq¨©ng or Blue Stone. The element has traded ces with the copper. He lifted out the rock and it was now green.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°Is it safe to drink now?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°Not safe for anyone. But it is now purified, if that¡¯s what you mean. You may attempt to consume it at your own risk. And against my professional advice as a schr.¡± I grinned and scooped a handful of the liquid into my palm. ¡°One sip!¡± Blue Rose shouted. ¡°Just taste it.¡± ¡°Okay, okay.¡± I lifted my hand to my mouth and let a few drops dribble inside. Warmth spread through by body like fire. It was like drinking straight moonshine and the metallic taste had my mouth feeling like it was growing crystals inside. But for my soul, the stuff did wonders. New concentrated Frenzy poured into my Dantian, replenishing me with just a couple of drops. The stuff wasn¡¯t just liquid Frenzy, it was super concentrated, like drinking soda syrup. I hungrilypped up some more and got another throttling boost of Frenzy. ¡°Hot damn!¡± I shouted. ¡°This shit is Blue Lemonade for real!¡± Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°He¡¯s speaking nonsense! It¡¯s turning him mad!¡± ¡°No, wait, wait!¡± I said, stopping her. ¡°That was just a phrase from my home world. It means its really good. It¡¯s working for me, Wing Pho. Thank you. But none of you can try this. Seriously. It will turn you crazy, like you said.¡± Wing Pho adjusted his sses staring at not my face but my Dantian. ¡°Unbelievable,¡± he said. ¡°His Qi density has increased. H-how?¡± I merely shrugged. ¡°Like I said. Maybe its being around these demons for so long. Or eating them.¡± ¡°I rather eat my own leg, I think,¡± Wing Pho said, shaking his head. ¡°You honestly feel alright?¡± Blue asked, staring into my face as if looking for signs of dementia. ¡°You¡¯re okay?¡± ¡°Better than okay,¡± I said. ¡°With this. I know our n can work.¡± Two weeks of training to perfect [Sacred Soul Shield] and a possibly limitless supply of Frenzy to haul us across half the? There was no way we could fail now. The only thing we needed was more. ¡°Wing Pho, get working on enough to use up all this venom,¡± I said, showing him the three sac nds in my hands. I wasn¡¯t sure if there was anything strong enough to dissolve aetherite outside the venom of an Awakened Star Born Demon. Probably not. Which meant I needed not just enough supply to get off the Hell World, but enough to keep in reserve for when I left it as well. This was truly the equivalent of a Qi Cultivator elixir for me. And I understood now, why they went so gonzo over the stuff. With this, I could cultivate enough Frenzy to st through to the next realm. ¡°We should get some rest,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°It will be night soon and we need to be up at midnight to start our Bloodmoon training as well.¡± That reminded me of needing to make contact with Kelsey. Everything wasing together perfectly. I had new Shuras to master, a new source of Frenzy to cultivate from, a huge window of opportunity to find Kelsey and a bunch of people to keep mepany to boot, even if one of them was the asshole Jei Su Long. ¡°Sounds good,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s get some rest. Our training begins in earnest at midnight.¡± Book 4: Chapter 32 My dear sister, I write to you with a woefully heavy heart. I am unsure how the machinations of officialmunications will transpire, but I did not want you learning this news from any source other than me. We have not had the closest of rtionships growing up, but as an adult now, I realize that family is everything. That now includes the man you have chosen to marry. The man I at one time viewed as a cursed enemy, but that I now view as a brother and friend. This makes it all the harder to write this. Fia, I do not know how else to express this, but as of an hour ago, I have learned that Max died upon the Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ung. The only surviving member was the Senior Commander, a man named Jei Su Long of the Twin River Sect, whom I do not trust. He and his uncle Tai Su Long, a Governor of the Lu Shuisystem, has been targeting Max for some time. He has returned with a story that Max turned against his own men, killing them all in order for the princess of your world to receive a great reward. My sister, if you hear these vile things, do not believe them! I have grown to know your Max and he is a man of honor. I have all reason to believe, but no proof, that the Senior Commander Jei Su Long is both behind this story and Max¡¯s death and indeed that of his entire toon.I know you will grieve when you read this, as I do so now. I am so very sorry, sister. I can not imagine your heartache as you read this. I realize it may be littlefort at the moment, but I will do everything in my power to right this wrong against your betrothed. His loss is terrible enough, but to see his name and yours by extension, besmirched in such a manner is unconscionable. It demands justice. Stay strong dear sister. I am with you in your loss. Please tell mother and father and especially Yu Li and Su Ling, that Max and I became good friends and that I will seek to restore his honor as a brother. Yours, Hein Princess Lunh finished reading the letter and let out a mirthless scoff. She was within her newly repaired office along with Ling Wei. The girl had done her job of collecting the official letters from Du Gok Bhong as promised. Within those official letters, which briefly informed of the Iron Bull¡¯s demise, there was thankfully no mention of the circumstances involving her influence at all¡ªunlike this one. But thankfully Ling Wei¡¯s acuteness had caught this personal letter as well. ¡°You did good to bring me this letter Ling Wei,¡± Lunh said. ¡°How did you evene about it?¡± Ling Wei bowed. ¡°This One made it her duty to track all letters from Du Gok Bhong. This one was a personal transfer, but when I saw the addressee, I had to assume that it might contain relevant information.¡± ¡°You were very right,¡± Lunh said. ¡°I shall confiscate this letter. Its contents are not to be seen by any other eyes.¡± ¡°Understood your majesty.¡± Lunh could only imagine the heartache that little girl would suffer once she¡¯d read this letter. She almost couldn¡¯t wait to inflict that mental harm upon her right now. ¡°How soon till that girl¡¯s duel?¡± she asked. ¡°The one, Silver Light.¡± ¡°About a week your majesty.¡± ¡°I shall deal with this matter officially then,¡± Lunh said. ¡°For now, this matter is closed. Please continue to keep an eye out for anymunications from Du Gok Bhong, personal or otherwise.¡± ¡°I will your majesty. Is there anything else?¡± ¡°That is all for now. Dismissed.¡± As Ling Wei bowed and left, a new thought entered Lunh¡¯s mind. This letter did indeed mention her involvement, but it mentioned quite something else as well. She retrieved her brush and began drafting a letter of her own. Second Princess Rheutera, I will advise you to tread carefully with that letter of yours. I have every reason to believe that the entire thing is a fake. See here, I have attached a letter of my own to share with you. This is an ount of what truly transpired on the Hell World, from the Iron Bull¡¯s intended brother-inw. I will remind you that both the Twin River Sect and the Silver Leaf n hold important value within the royal lower houses. I am certain that, like myself, both the Silver Leaf n Elders and our father would hold keen interest to know if this young man¡¯s suspicions are true. Can you imagine? A governor, whom you appointed, along with his nephew, involved in a scandalous plot by forging a letter and then murdering my innocent tribute for their own glory and gain? And, instead of investigating, you instead are gullible enough to not only believe this clear deceit, but to use it as a weapon against your very own sister? Our father would be deeply disappointed indeed. I may yet write to him with my concerns, but I shall stay my brush to see in which manner you respond. Trust that I will be doing all within my power to investigate this matter in the meantime. Something you should have done, as a supposedly wiser and more experience, older sister. I await your reply. Lunh. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred tform and support their work! * * * Fia readied herself within the center of the gymnasium. She cycled her Qi, even though she would not use much of it. Her sole use of it came in the form of the now four Jian des hovering with power behind her. Hanging from the des of the weapons like gs was fabric with the same blossom pattern as the fans in her hands. Her mental focus was now split three ways. Directly facing her was her mother, Rhi Dong. To her left was Zu Tien and to her right Kel Zhi. Her two tutors in the Hidden Sword Arts, Mistresses Sei Mai and Mei Mai, looked on with eager anticipation, along with Yu Li and little Su Ling. This would be her final test. Fia had only sparred with her mother and Zu Tien thus far, but inviting Kel Zhi today would be the true test to determine if she was ready to face all three Bird Sisters in the ring. She had worked incredibly hard in thest month to master the enhanced Hidden Sword technique as well as achieving the breakthrough of adding a fourth sword to her repertoire. But none of it would matter if she couldn¡¯t execute it all in truebat. The trial was now merely days away and the anxiety in her soul was palpable. She felt a kick from her stomach, as if the baby too was nervous about the oue of today¡¯s final test. Fia closed her eyes briefly, imagining the newborn face of her first child. Hush, little one, she thought. We will get through this together. Fia refocused and then gave a nod to Mei Mai who plucked a single string on the guzheng. At the sound of the instrument, Kel Zhi immediately flew into action, releasing a savage battle cry. Fia had anticipated her aggressiveness, being so close to Max in her thinking and style. She had prepositioned the two gs which faced her, ensuring Kel Zhi¡¯s initiating strike would be a miss. The look on Kel Zhi¡¯s face when her wooden axe hit nothing but air was both hrious and encouraging. ¡°What the hell, Fia?¡± she cursed. ¡°Where¡¯d you go?¡± But Fia dare not let up on her concentration. She positioned her other two swords to distract Zu Tien¡¯s series of attacks, while leaving her true eyes to mislead the most skilled opponent facing her. Her mother. Rhi Dong didn¡¯t hold back either, utilizing the full range of her Silver Leaf techniques. It was a testament to just how skilled her mother was. Even without the use of Qi, she was formidable with near wless martial forms. Fia kept the pace while Mei Mai strummed on the guzheng. She led their attacks to strike exactly where she was not. Doing all three at once, while controlling her des was a workout for both mind and soul. But thankfully not her body. She moved very little during the spar, relying on the slow and graceful dancelike motions of the Hidden Sword art. As the sparring match went on, she found herself falling into a rhythm. At first it was overwhelming, but as she rxed, she truly did find that she was not defending as it looked to everyone else, but rather conducting. She spent most of her attention distracting the attacks of her mother, who used a very quick tempo. Next came Zu Tien who used the same style as Rhi Dong, but slower. Kel Zhi, despite her aggressiveness, Fia found took the least attention as she preferred to use slow but powerful attacks. Fia rotated between all three of them, keeping each of their attacks focused on nothing but the fans in her hands and the gs upon her swords. An inner joy emerged as she truly felt herself in full control. I¡¯m doing it, she thought. I¡¯ve mastered it! Mei Mai strummed a final chord on the guzheng and ended the match. Fia found herself breathing heavily, but not exhausted. But more than that, the exertion seemed to have no effect on the baby at all. She checked her stomach again just to be sure and subtly she could detect even the baby¡¯s heartbeat through the acuteness of her senses. ¡°Well done, daughter,¡± Rhi Dong said smiling while giving her a bow. ¡°You never cease to impress me with how much you can aplish once your mind is put to it.¡± ¡°Thank you, mother,¡± she said and then turned to everyone else. ¡°Thanks to all of you.¡± ¡°Thanks nothing,¡± Kel Zhi said testily. ¡°What the hell was that bullshit, Fia?¡± Everyoneughed. They had purposely not told Kel Zhi how the technique worked to give the test more authenticity. Now that she had passed it however, Fia took the time to fill Kel Zhi in on how it all worked. She had to prove it to her by sparring with her again, but once Kel Zhi saw through the illusion, she seemed more convinced than ever. ¡°Pretty impressive,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°Max would be he proud of you.¡± ¡°We all are,¡± Yu Li said and then released little Su Ling to jump into Fia¡¯s arms. ¡°Auntie good!¡± Su Ling said pping. ¡°So good!¡± Fiaughed. ¡°Thank you, Su Ling.¡± ¡°So what about actually winning?¡± Kel Zhi said. Fia looked at her quizzically. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t get hit, but can you hit back?¡± Her stomach dropped like a stone. ¡°I¡¯m hoping so. I¡¯ve only advanced this far as yet. I still have a few days.¡± ¡°She will be fine,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°The bird sisters are weak. Fia could best all three of them in her sleep. Now that she has developed an adequate defense to resist all three of them, while at the same time protecting the baby, she need only wait and strike when the opportunity presents itself.¡± Fia smiled as her mother¡¯s words filled her with confidence. She indeed prayed it would be that easy in the ring. Yu Li suddenly let out a gasp. ¡°The time!¡± she said. ¡°Gui Zu would have finished his three Xiangqi matches with Master Dong by now. You all must be away.¡± Sei Mai and Mei Mai both bowed. ¡°I believe our work here is now done. We wish you the best Lady Silver Light.¡± Fia ran to them and hugged them both. ¡°You have be like precious aunts to me. Thank you so much my, dear masters. I will treasure what you have taught me always.¡± The old women chortled and hugged her back in turn. ¡°Ensure you do not let this technique die,¡± Sei Mai said. ¡°You have not only mastered it, but improved upon it. That in turn makes you not only a practitioner but an elder of the art. May the rhythm of the guzheng resonate within your soul always, Hidden Sword Mistress.¡± Fia couldn¡¯t ignore the burst of pride and aplishment that came from within her. It was truly a means to an end, and although it was not a true martial form, she could not help but think her creativity and ingenuity had indeed added a small part to the world. A part that did not exist before. She then looked down at her stomach and felt the same way. You will be a big part of this world as well, she thought. She gave Sei Mai and Mei Mai a final kowtow of deep respect and then waved to them as they and her friends departed. When she spotted Kel Zhi, however, she rushed to stop her. There was something else weighing on her soul besides the impending match. One that she had been perhaps suppressing. ¡°Kel Zhi,¡± she said. ¡°Have you¡­ sensed Max at all?¡± The blond-haired girl frowned at her. ¡°I haven¡¯t¡­ but it doesn¡¯t mean anything. Max and I both need to be under the Bloodmoon at the exact same time for it to work, and I have no idea to know when or if he might be doing it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been three weeks since he should have returned,¡± Fia said. ¡°I¡¯ve received no letters from him. No responses to mine.¡± ¡°He¡¯s likely still in transit,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°I¡¯m sure as soon as he gets back to Du Gok Bhong he¡¯ll write or try to reach out to me under the Bloodmoon.¡± Fia nodded as Kel Zhi¡¯s words rekindled the hope in her heart. ¡°Please keep trying.¡± ¡°I will, Fia,¡± she said. ¡°I will go again tonight. I promise.¡± * * * As Kelsey left the Dong Family estate and made her way back to the Native Housing District, she couldn¡¯t help but feel some of Fia¡¯s anxiety about Max touch her own soul. Although hers was tempered a bit, she could understand how Fia might be feeling being totally blind. It was true in thest few weeks that she had not been sessful in reaching Max, but it wasn¡¯t something to be unexpected. It was literally like rolling the dice each time. But there was another reason she perhaps had not been sessful. And one that she could perhaps never exin to Fia. She waited until nightfall, and after spending a bit of time with Lee as usual, stayed behind after he had left to venture into the cursed rays of the Bloodmoon. She steeled herself with Frenzy and her [Soul Shield] technique, but as soon as she entered, she felt it. The demonic presence of something even more than before. It was I¡¯Xong¡¯Xiang, the reincarnated demon of Hong Feng. But it was different this time. Kelsey could sense it. See it even. The three-story tall outline of the giant monster was just in the distance. And staying there. It was unnerving in the way that a shark might circle its prey. Kelsey had tried to face it once before and hade up short and while she had progressed since then, so too had it somehow. That made dipping into the spiritual realm all the more dangerous. She wasn¡¯t certain if it would charge to attack her once she did. That meant her time looking for Max was limited to very small windows indeed. She rxed her [Soul Shield] and allowed the Dark Frenzy to invade her me ever so slightly, just enough to darken the edges of her vision with the spiritual ne of the moon. Diving into her Blue-hued form of the Struggler, she raced across the spiritualndscape screaming Max¡¯s name. Almost instantly the Dark presence of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and I¡¯Xong¡¯Xiangbined, invaded her spiritual space. She sensed hatred and rage. A desire for her destruction. But not only that. A desire to destroy more. Immediately, Kelsey jumped back into her physical form and reengaged her [Soul Shield] again. The giant demon had once again not moved. What game was it ying? Was it even a game? ¡°The hell are you waiting for!¡± Kelsey shouted at it. ¡°I¡¯m right here! Come get me!¡± A disturbingugh drifted across the night breeze. ¡°Patience fool,¡± it intoned in its haunting demonic voice. ¡°When all is prepared, thy destruction shalt be ensured.¡± Book 4: Chapter 33 I took another sip of Blue Lemonade and cultivated the burning hot liquid to replenish the Frenzy in my Dantian. It¡¯d been ten days since Wing Pho had cooked up his first batch of the stuff and now I had a supply of two canteens worth to carry us across the and hopefully some left over to take home. From the tunnel entrance, I nced out onto the Bloodmoon drenched hellscape where Blue Rose, Wing Pho and Wu Liang were cultivating their spiritual fortitude by subjecting themselves to both the monstrous creatures driven mad by the moon as well as the influence of the Bloodmoon itself. They had been progressing steadily each night, starting at midnight and going until they simply couldn¡¯t push themselves anymore. When that happened, I would engage my [Sacred Soul Shield] technique at the edge of the tunnel to give them a source of refuge from the Dark Frenzy. When they recovered enough, they would go back at it again, killing demons and fighting to stay alive. By the sixth night they were alreadysting till dawn before needing a break. We revised the training after that, starting earlier each night to give them more and more exposure. At dawn I would begin my own training, subjecting myself to the Cursed Star and then returning to my tunnel and using my [Sacred Soul Shield] technique to recover. I chugged Blue Lemonade like it was water most days, just to ensure I always had enough Frenzy to fuel myself through both fighting off the Star Born demons and maintaining my spiritual defense technique. If not for needing to use it, I would probably have three canteens of surplus by now. But it took money to make money, as my dad used to say. Which meant I couldn¡¯t progress unless I was willing to spend some of my winnings. I myself had made it tosting a few hours past noon right now. My goal was being able tost the entire day.As I waited for my own training tomence, I made good use the time during the Bloodmoon. While Blue Rose and the crew were out there fighting, I released my [Sacred Soul Shield] technique to slip into the spiritual realm and go looking for Kelsey. I hadn¡¯t had much luck thus far, but I did believe I felt a few nibbles here and there. A few days back, I sensed her briefly, but she was gone before I could zero in on her. Maybe being this far away it would be harder than when I was back at Du Gok Bhong. I split my vision while I traversed the spiritualndscape, keeping a small window of what my physical eyes were seeing in the corner of my spiritual sight. I kept an eye on the crew that way, ensuring they didn¡¯t run into hordes of demons that were toorge to handle or a stray behemoth. Blue Rose was impressing me with each night. She was a fearless warrior and could pump out damage like nobody¡¯s business. A Super high DPS ss Cannon, I had told her once, but she of course didn¡¯t get the English or the video game reference, but in truth that¡¯s exactly what she was. High damage and high speed, but fragile and in need of protection from direct contact with the enemy. That¡¯s where Wu Liang and Wing Pho came into y. Wing with his barrier and Wu with brute force. Song De helped out too, for as long as he could manage, but as predicted he usually had to bail and retreat to the soothing of the aetherite crystal an hour or two before everyone else quit. While within the spiritual realm, there was much less for me to monitor and see. I could sense I¡¯xol¡¯ukz everywhere and could even discern the trace outlines of behemoths when they appeared, perhaps sensing the power of their awakened demon cores. But the only other thing to see was the spiritual sides of the various dimensional gates that littered thendscape like monuments to the Dark God. I paused for a moment as I studied one of them and sensed the power of Dark Frenzying from within it. But I sensed something elseing from it as well. Something faint but familiar. A sound almost. Kelsey? I could definitely sense her now. Somewhere out there. I was about to run off to find her, but then I swore I could sense hering from inside the gate as well. I thought about it some more, about how all the gates and moons might be connected. Perhaps I could use it like a short cut. But could I take the risk trying to find out right now? I nced at my window of vision from my true eyes. Blue Rose and crew were fighting back against a moderate sized horde and would need the refuge of my [Sacred Soul Shield] soon. Still, there was a way to move more quickly within the spiritual realm as well. I focused my senses and sped up within the spiritual realm, which essentially slowed everything down outside. As Blue Rose moved in slow motion, I quickly hopped within the spiritual portal of the gate. I crashnded on the spiritual ne of the Bloodmoon and immediately began cleaving through the swarming hordes of demons. I focused my senses while doing so. Where are you, Kelsey? I looked at all the crystals chained to the surface. Each one of them led to another gate on the surface. Too bad we couldn¡¯t all just traverse through here, I thought. Wouldn¡¯t need to slog it 900 miles across the surface if I knew which one of these led to the next drop zone. But if all these led to other ces on the surface? Which one would lead me closer to Kelsey? The answer came in the form of a giant upside-down triangle that hovered off in the distance. There was one just like that on Earth¡¯s moon. That had to be the one that linked the moon to whatever source this all came from. A sense of curiosity and anxiety gripped me as I considered exploring it. I truly had no idea where it could lead. It could send me on a one-way ticket to I¡¯xol¡¯ukz for all I knew. Still, something drew me to it. Kelsey again. I could sense her me. But she could disappear at any time, just like before. And so too could the Bloodmoon. I didn¡¯t want to think what would happen to my soul if I lost connection now. I could be trapped here forever while my body died. Speed, I thought. I needed speed. I took to the air with [Ride the Lightning] and sted across the purple sky. My [Bloodlust] yearned to kill all the demonic spirits below me, but I had bigger things on my menu right now. I flew to the entrance of the enormous gate and stared of the purple haze inside. Once I crossed that, I would truly be venturing into the unknown. To hell with it, I thought. My Berserker nature took over, and I sted forward. My world spun as I tumbled down yet another set of chains and then like d¨¦j¨¤ vu I found myself crashnding on the surface of a moonscape again. This time however the crystals littering the hellscape were as tall as the gate I had travelled through. The pressure of Dark Frenzy crashed in on me like I was at the bottom of the ocean again. My me was nearly snuffed out, but I engaged my [Sacred Soul Shield] technique to push back against it. My Frenzy was draining incredibly fast now. It was like when I first traveled to the surface of the moon. But now, I supposed, I was oneyer deeper than that. I could still just barely see my vision to the outside world back on Fhae I¡¯ung. I needed to do something. With a piercing mental strain, I willed my arms to mechanically put the sk of Frenzied Elixir to my lips and drink. It was like operating through a hazy dream, but it must have worked because I suddenly felt the contents of my Dantian replenished. This shit is crazy, I thought. A malevolent presence suddenly surged from behind me. ¡°Cursed Husk of a me,¡± a feminine voice said. ¡°Thou doth now seek to invade the very depths of my loins?¡± I looked over my shoulder to see the giant blue bitch, I¡¯xan¡¯dra hovering in front of the crystal I had just descended. I smirked at her with [Indifference]. ¡°Invade your loins? You wish you were so lucky, bitch. And as much as I like to hack you down right now, I need your services in another form today.¡± I took to the air again before she could respond. As I flew across the terrain with [Ride the Lightning] I¡¯xan¡¯dra followed me, reappearing at the nearest crystal I passed. Below me the ground was littered with demons, but they weren¡¯t normal sized. They were all behemoths and within them were giant monstrosity that dwarfed even them. I increased the stream of Frenzy to my [Sacred Soul Shield] to not go mad from just the sight of them. On the horizon, there was something that moved slowly across thendscape, like a giant conch. I couldn¡¯t even conceive how massive it was, but next to it was something even more massive. There at the center of the hellscape was another giant gate. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition. If this hell scape connected all the Bloodmoons, I thought. Then where did that one lead to? To the true source of I¡¯xan¡¯dra? Or To I¡¯xol¡¯ukz itself perhaps? ¡°You won¡¯t escape here!¡± I¡¯xan¡¯dra called out to me, swinging at me with her scythe from the nearest crystal. ¡°You¡¯ve ventured beyond your depth.¡± She wasn¡¯t wrong about the depths part. Where was I even going? There were hundreds of crystals here. ¡°Kelsey!¡± I cried out. ¡°Speak to me!¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if she could hear me or not, but I focused my senses to try and hear her respond. Nothing¡­ and then, faintly I sensed a blip of her. A resonance. I turned in mid-air to direct myself towards it. There! I thought. It had to be that crystal that led to Earth¡¯s moon. I¡¯xan¡¯dra materialized above it as I approached, ready with her scythe. ¡°Face me now!¡± she said. ¡°I am 100 times stronger that what you fought of me before.¡± ¡°No time!¡± I said and blew right past her. I headed up the chains of the crystal and towards wherever they would lead. I¡¯xan¡¯dra screamed from below me with impudent rage. ¡°Rain check, bitch,¡± I shouted back at her. ¡°You¡¯re on my list, but not right now.¡± I passed through the top of the gate and instantly found myself upon a new hellscape with the pressure of Dark Frenzy much reduced. It was like surfacing from the depths of the ocean and I breathed easier. But I was still on the surface of a Bloodmoon. ¡°Kelsey!¡± I called again. This time I felt the response much stronger. One of the crystals here had to lead to somewhere close to Jurin. But in truth, either of them would bring me a hell of a lot closer than I was before. I discerned which crystal held the strongest presence of Kelsey and then, whipping past I¡¯xan¡¯dra again, [Rode the Lightning] up the chains and emerged in the darkness of normal spiritual space again. I sensed her Kelsey¡¯s me immediately then. Strong and Bold. I rushed across the expanse of spiritual darkness to find her and realized my spirit was still tethered through the gates of the Bloodmoon somehow. The golden hue of her me emerged in the darkness and I instantly engaged it with my own. ¡°I found you!¡± I said. ¡°Kelsey, I¡¯m alive! I¡¯m still here! But I¡¯m stuck on the Hell World!¡± A mixture of emotions and conjecture flew back at me. Relief. Hope. Confusion. tion. But also concern. Concern for Fia? But also, something else. Something I couldn¡¯t quite understand. Darkness¡­ Hong Feng? Before I could make any sense of it, my connection was suddenly cut off. My soul flew backwards, rubber-banding back through my travels in reverse. It was like my vision was a video being yed backwards at 100x the speed. I was jolted back into my body again and found myself staring up at Blue Rose as she pped me hard across the face. ¡°Wakeup damnit!¡± she yelled. ¡°Max!¡± I came about with a start, shocked to see the blinding rays of predawn streaking across the Fhae I¡¯ung sky. How the hell long had I been in there? Wu Liang was shuddering next to me like he was dying from hypothermia or something. Wing Pho was trying to use some kind of Qi technique on him, but it didn¡¯t seem to be working. I immediately engaged my [Sacred Soul Shield] and the protection from the rays seem to help him some. But perhaps too much damage had been done already. ¡°Where the hell were you, Max?¡± Blue Rose shouted in my face, clearly still in a panic. ¡°You were totally catatonic. It was like you were a million miles away.¡± More like a few billion, I wanted to say. Or even a few trillion. Who knew? But saying that would only make her more pissed off. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s get him down to the crystal.¡± As I grabbed Wu Liang, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit guilty for his condition. I was perhaps onlyte by half a minute but the effects of not having a barrier present when you needed it were severe. Still, doing what I did to get to Kelsey was likely worth it. I¡¯d only had a second or so tomunicate with her, but hopefully the message I sent back was clear. I¡¯m here. I¡¯m alive. * * * Kelsey retreated back into her body after her brief encounter with Max. The timing could not have been more close as she now found herself neck deep in a throng of demons. She pushed them back with a st of [Wrath of a Thousand in Souls]. Her mastery of the lightning techniques had progressed and while she could now definitely enact the technique onmand, she was yet to back it with enough punch to kill the demons outright. But stunning them did just as good a job. She went to town ughtering the creatures and then retreated when she sensed the all familiar presence of I¡¯xong¡¯Zhang just staring at her. For over a week now she had risked being attacked by the monster to make contact with Max and it had all finally paid off. She¡¯d done it. She¡¯d reached him. But the short conversation left her with more questions than answers. Where the hell was he exactly? He still seemed a great distance away, yet he felt somehow closer than he was before. Did that mean he was on his way home? Kelsey had tried to convey as much as she could as well. About Fia and the uing match. About him needing to get home. But most of all, her concerns about the monster now staring at her without making a sound at all. She sensed it had grown even stronger. Even from where she stood, just outside the city¡¯s barrier she could sense the strength of its Dark Frenzy. She released an exhale. If Max was on his way home, then maybe together they could defeat it. That brightened her spirits and her me. ¡°You¡¯ll get what¡¯sing to you, asshole,¡± she muttered. ¡°Max is going to have the pleasure of killing you twice.¡± A low chuckle was all she heard in response. She didn¡¯t have time to wait around for more of its bullshit though. She had great news to share with Fia. Max was close and he would be home soon. And it wasn¡¯t a minute too soon. Her match was in three days now. Hopefully he could make it home before then. * * * I breathed a sigh of relief once Wu Liang came back around. He seemed to have all his memories still intact as well, after recovering under the warmth of the aetherite crystal. He¡¯d gotten the briefest of tastes of the Cursed Star and the results were extreme. It was a reminder of how harsh the journey would be to cross the surface and just how much I couldn¡¯t fail. Losing my [Sacred Soul Shield] for even a second could spell disaster for us all. And that meant every second I spent now counted. ¡°I¡¯m going back to train,¡± I said, and Blue Rose shot me a questioning stare. She didn¡¯t say anything though, so I left, but sure enough, after I¡¯d gotten only a few minutes into my Cursed Star exposure, I sensed her approaching through the tunnel behind me. I activated my [Sacred Soul Shield] to protect her. ¡°What is it Blue?¡± ¡°You want to tell me what happened just now?¡± she said. ¡°What were you doing?¡± I gave her a goofy grin. ¡°Getting in touch with a friend.¡± Anger brewed within her as she scowled. ¡°Look, enough with the jokes. I trust you, Max, but you¡¯re doing things I don¡¯t understand. How the hell are you even able to do the things you do? You¡¯re cultivating the damn Cursed Star, eating demon flesh, drinking pure aetherite.¡± She then paused and I saw true concern in her eyes. ¡°What has this ce done to you, Max?¡± I had to hide my own emotions with [Indifference]. Blue had be like another sister to me, perhaps even more than that¡ªa true ally and friend. She was pretty smart too, so whatever bullshit I was spinning to basically act out my Berserker nature was clearly wearing thin on her. But how could I exin what I truly was to her? Should I even? Could I trust her with knowing that much? Would she even care? I sighed. One thing I knew. I didn¡¯t want to lie to her anymore. Especially if crossing this could mean the death of us all. For all that she¡¯d done for me, I owed her that much. ¡°There¡¯s a reason I can do all these things,¡± I said. ¡°And its not from being here. Or at least, not from being here directly.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯m willing to tell you Blue, but it¡¯s something you can¡¯t share with anyone. It could cost me my life and yours.¡± Fear emerged in her soul now, but she didn¡¯t seem deterred. ¡°Go on,¡± she said. ¡°I follow a unique form of cultivation,¡± I said. ¡°One condemned by the empire. I¡¯m a Daoist and I follow the Path of the Frenzied me. Some people, know us¡­ as Berserkers.¡± I waited for a reaction, but all I got was an empty stare. ¡°A Doaist?¡± she said. I guess the whole berserker part went over her head. It was a reminder that not everyone even knew of the term. And maybe that was the best for now. ¡°The point is,¡± I said. ¡°I cultivate something other than Qi. And I¡¯m somewhat closer to these demons than you think. I¡¯m not one of them, but I have one inside me.¡± She shuddered a little. ¡°A demon?¡± ¡°Not the bad kind. It¡¯s like a fire inside that helps me kick all kinds of ass.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s why you¡¯re able to be so far ahead? You can cultivate what¡¯s outside there?¡± She pointed to the rays of the Cursed star. ¡°Not directly,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s different for me.¡± She shook her head. ¡°No wonder you¡¯re so damn strange.¡± Iughed a that and felt the tension finally break. I was right to have trusted her. Blue Rose didn¡¯t seem to give a shit, but that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t concerned about things overall. ¡°I¡¯ll get us home, I promise.¡± She smiled and sat down next to me in the tunnel. ¡°I know you will. You always manage to keep your promises. Even from beyond the grave apparently.¡± I looked at her with a creased brow. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You promised you¡¯d be with me on my first tour and well, here you are,¡± she said. ¡°Not exactly what I was nning when I jumped out of the skiff with revenge in my heart for Jei Su Long murdering you. I¡¯m d I didn¡¯t off the bastard now.¡± ¡°You were going to kill him for me?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± she said. ¡°If you haven¡¯t noticed, I¡¯m pretty big on revenge.¡± Iughed, but her mention of revenge reminded me of something. ¡°So what¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°What¡¯s mine what?¡± ¡°Your revenge,¡± I said. ¡°When we first met, you told me that was your sole purpose for leaving Du Gok Bhong.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I told you that?¡± ¡°You were pretty pissed at the time,¡± I said. ¡°You probably don¡¯t remember.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°No, I remember¡­ I just don¡¯t like sharing it much.¡± ¡°Well, I just shared a hell of a lot with you,¡± I said nudging her. ¡°I think you owe me.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll probably sound petty to you.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t all revenge kind of petty?¡± ¡°You¡¯re just saying that to be pokey now.¡± Iughed. ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± A pause came then, and I could see Blue Rose staring into nothingness. Eventually she spoke. ¡°I told you I was from a core world, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°What I didn¡¯t tell you, and why I make a rule of not telling anyone, is that my family is probably twice as rich as Jei Su Long and his damn uncle.¡± I blinked at her. ¡°What?¡± She chuckled. ¡°I was good at theb work at Du Gok Bhong for a reason. It¡¯s our family¡¯s core business. My personal name is Lin Yi Fae, fourth born to the so-called Barron of Elixirs, Wen Yi Fae. We operate out of the core world of Genisha. Or did.¡± I was looking at Blue Rose with new eyes now. ¡°Barron of Elixirs¡­ so you¡¯re a filthy rich bitch?¡± She red at me. ¡°Was¡­ is¡­ supposed to be. Whatever. It never mattered much to me to be honest. That was my father¡¯s work. I took after my mother. She was an elder of the Dim Mak n. She taught me her style.¡± ¡°What happened to her?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You said was. Is she dead?¡± Blue Rose sighed. ¡°She is now. Along with my father. She died defending him in court.¡± ¡°Against what?¡± ¡°My father was gifted but was a far too trusting man. He couldn¡¯t see the vipers all around him. By the time they sprang their trap and turned the ruling family against us, it was toote. They had the ear of the princess.¡± ¡°What did they use him of?¡± ¡°Treason,¡± she said. She then let out a mirthless chuckle. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s why I pushed you to keep Jei Su Long alive so much. I know what happens to you when lies are told and believe. Clearing you name is important, Max. For your future and that of your family.¡± ¡°Are you able to clear your father¡¯s name?¡± Blue Rose shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I don¡¯t think so. Maybe. But all I have for sure right now is revenge.¡± I felt a bit of ire stir in my gut. A stirring of my Twin Dao. Blue Rose was a victim of the vicious cultivator society as well. ¡°Hey,¡± I said, tapping her arm and then waited for her to be looking at me fully before speaking with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯m going to make another promise to you. When I¡¯m done saving my family, we¡¯re going to go avenge yours.¡± She snorted out augh. ¡°Come on, Max. It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s my struggle.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m adding it to mine,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure whoever is responsible feel¡¯s [Everyone¡¯s Pain].¡± As I evoked the technique her eyes widened. I could tell she believed me then. Finally, she smiled. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not going to turn down free help. Especially from a badass berserker like you, or whatever the hell you are. Thanks, Max.¡± She held up her fist and I gave it a bump with my own. ¡°Alright,¡± I said, standing up. ¡°Back to the grind. No one¡¯s getting any revenge if we don¡¯t get off this rock. We got two days left before we start our run. I¡¯ve got to make sure I¡¯m ready.¡± Blue Rose smiled. ¡°Your secret is safe with me too. You can trust that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to it, Lin Yi Fae.¡± She rolled her eyes and gave augh. ¡°That one stays a secret as well.¡± Iughed with her. ¡°Deal.¡± The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Book 4: Chapter 34 Fia bounced anxiously on her toes as she looked up at the night sky. She was back where Max had left her, on the topmost point of the Imperial city, the sky port that would soon wee her Max home. She could already see the traces of the imperial transport in the night sky and the skiff that would soon descend from it. Coming here to await the fortnightly transport arrival was something she hade to do on a regr basis. Each night would be one filled with both hope and disappointment when Max did not arrive. Tonight however she had more than hope. She had faith. And friends. Kel Zhi and Yu Li joined her on the tform, braving the strong winds that blew their robes wildly as if in a typhoon. Ever since Kel Zhi had told her of discovering Max and that he was close, she had been filled with excitement and anticipation. Fia had pegged this night, thest transport arrival before her trial as when Max had to being home. With his return, he could challenge the Warden and put a swift end to all her nonsense and that of her nieces. There would be no trial for her then and more than that, they could even be wed before the baby was born. Just the thought of it all happening made her lightheaded with joy. Yet still, her nerves were on end. ¡°Do you sense him yet, Kel Zhi?¡±Kel Zhi chuckled. ¡°I told you, it doesn¡¯t work like that, Fia. It¡¯s a Bloodmoon thing. I can¡¯t sense it while under the dome.¡± ¡°Even under a full moon?¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°It¡¯s not quite full yet,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°Will be in a couple of days though.¡± Yu Li furrowed her brow as she looked up at the starry sky. ¡°Looks full to me.¡± ¡°Trust me, it¡¯s not.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°I¡¯m kind of an expert on the thing, Yu Li.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t matter anyway,¡± Fia said, cutting short the silly argument between the two of them. ¡°Not if Max is on this skiff.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om She pointed for them to see and indeed there was a light glowing brighter and stronger in the distance. Her heart sped with eager anticipation and excitement. Just seeing him again would be an tion worthy of fainting, to hold him, a dream. Yu Li chuckled. ¡°Well, it would be just like Max to wait until the veryst moment to show up and save the day.¡± They allughed at that. As the skiff touched down, Fia rushed forward along with Kel Zhi and Yu Li. The gang nk lowered, and the passengers within began to disembark. There were several imperial officials in beige and white robes, some cultivators from the core worlds, no doubt on excursion to explore the wilds in search of monster cores. But as the moments drew on and the stream of passengers drew to a close, her spirits sank. No Max. Fia¡¯s heart fell through the floor as her soul melted. She ran towards the skiff to check the interior, but the pilot stopped her. ¡°Please is there anyone else inside?¡± she said. ¡°Someone called Max.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all the passengers for Jurin province,¡± the man said. ¡°There¡¯s no one else on board.¡± Fia poked her head inside nheless and the pilot obliged her. ¡°See?¡± he said. ¡°Now move back please, miss. We need to depart.¡± She did so solemnly as her world once again came undone. ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± she said. ¡°I was sure he¡¯d be here. He promised.¡± Yu Li rested a set of hands on her shoulders. ¡°Fear not Fia¡­ all will be fine.¡± Fia looked to Kel Zhi who seemed as confused as she was. ¡°You did sense him, didn¡¯t you, Kel Zhi?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± She paused a moment. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure of it. And he was close. Closer than ever.¡± ¡°What does this mean?¡± Fia asked. ¡°It means Max will bete is all,¡± Yu Li said no nonsense. ¡°The original n still stands. You¡¯ve trained for your trial with the Bird Sisters, Fia. You can still defeat them on your own. And you still have two days to prepare.¡± But those thoughts were the furthest from her mind at the moment. Her stomach was sick and not just from the baby within in. Max¡­where are you? ¡°You are certain, Kel Zhi?¡± she asked again. ¡°You sensed him, right? Could you have been mistaken?¡± It was the only thing that made sense. Kel Zhi frowned. ¡°I can only tell you what I experienced. It¡¯s not an exact science, I admit. He felt close. Really close. But¡­ maybe close was not as close as I thought. I¡¯m sorry Fia. To have given you this false hope.¡± ¡°Speak no ill of it,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°There is no fault here other than my brother¡¯s normal tardiness. He wouldn¡¯t be Max if he wasn¡¯tte, after all. Am I right?¡± She smiled and her levity brought about a quickugh from all of them. Fia was thankful to have such wonderful sisters-inw. She hugged them both. ¡°Thank you, Yu Li and Kel Zhi.¡± ¡°Now enough moping,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°The trial is in two night¡¯s time. That gives you all of tomorrow to practice plus the morning after. A good night¡¯s sleep is what is called for now.¡± Fia chuckled. ¡°Yes mother.¡± Subtly she felt the baby stir within her. A mother is what she would be soon. Please return home before that, Max, she whispered the prayer inwardly. I will fight for all three of us until then. * * * ¡°Come on, move you lying ass bastard¡­ before I change my mind about restoring my name and just leave you to starve down here.¡± I said the words with abination of [Fear the me] and [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and Jei Su Long responded with a scowl on his face but with a river of fear running through his soul. I¡¯d mostly ignored him for thest two weeks, leaving him in the charge of Song De. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the vition. ¡°I¡¯d likely have better chances than what you are nning to do, Iron Bull,¡± he said with disdain. ¡°Everything you touch turns to shit.¡± I shook my head at him. What an incredible asshole. But it made the next part much easier. ¡°Gag him and bag him,¡± I said, and Blue Rose dly obliged, pinning Jei Su Long to the ground with her knee while she hogtied him. She shoved a dirty cloth in his mouth next and then threw one of their empty backpacks over his head. ¡°That should hopefully keep him from going insane,¡± she said, once she had finished. She then looked to Song De. ¡°You ready?¡± The man nodded and Blue Rose ced Jei Su Long, wiggling and screaming, onto his back. She then ced an empty backpack over his head as well. It was literally the blind leading the blind, but in this case it was necessary. Song De hadn¡¯t progressed nearly as much as the rest of them when it came to his spiritual fortitude. That put his risk of going mad from just the sight of the Star Born demons that much greater. Blue Rose tied a rope between him and Wing Pho, who himself wore a blindfold, but one he could easily slip on and off himself depending on how crazy things got. Wing Pho would act as theirbined handler, leading Song De while at the same time acting as a back up for me when it came to the barrier. Granted his would probably only be useful when night finally fell. But now, with dawn approaching, the moment of truth was nearly at hand. ¡°It¡¯s nearly time,¡± I said. ¡°Last-minute preparations before we set off for the tunnel.¡± Each of us checked over our gear. For me, it was perhaps more sentimental than it was to the others. This cave had be my home for over a month. A refuge on a Hell World. It was something yet unheard of. Yet to me, it was something I had forged into reality. Or something the Frenzied me had. Perhaps we were closer to bing one in the same now. I was still nearly naked, but that didn¡¯t bother me any. It showed off my new scars and tapped fully into the bad-assery of my Dao. Armor was for pussies. It dide in handy for hanging my weapons and all, but thankfully I wouldn¡¯t be needing even that utility anymore. Diving into my mind¡¯s eye, I summoned my inner world and found myself once again on Fia and I¡¯skeside beach. The Sacred Soul cultivation manual was nestled atop a rock. It was the first artifact I had sessfully managed to store inside my Inner World. Next to it was the second, the slim metal tube of my art supplies gifted to me by Chief Yora. I took a moment to examine the artwork within. In thest month I had cataloged over twenty new species of demons, Star Born and Bloodmoon alike, including a depiction of the spider woman Deep Dweller G¡¯hru¡¯jh. I had managed to fathom the whispers of some of the other demons¡¯ true names as well. The scorpion demons I hade to enjoy were known as Rh¡¯ulgrk. I affectionately named them ¡®Land Lobsters¡¯ as themon name. I had tried to store some of the legs within my inner world as well as an emergency food supply, but it didn¡¯t seem to work with biological material, dead or alive. Or perhaps it was something I couldn¡¯t quite master as yet. What I was proud of mastering, however, was shoved, pointy end first, in the sand beside the rock. My two weapons. My Axe and Phnx ive. Before I took hold of them to manifest them in the real world, I flipped through the cultivation manual onest time. I turned to the page with the various ranks of the Sacred Soul Realm to see just where I was now in terms of my progression.
Sacred Soul Realm 1st Sacred Soul Formation
2nd Sacred Soul Refinement
3rd Sacred Soul Inhabitation
4th Sacred Soul Evocation
5th Sacred Soul Projection
6th Inner World Creation
7th Inner World Refinement
8th Inner World Projection
9th Sacred Soul Manifestation
I had clearly mastered Sacred Soul Evocation and Projection now. My ability to defeat G¡¯hru¡¯jh while in my [Sacred Soul Projection] form was evidence of that. And my ability to inhabit my Inner World with real life artifacts was proof of my progression within the 7th Tier of Inner World Refinement. I guessed that was where I was now. A 7th Tier Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator. I probably still had a way to go in terms of Inner World Refinement and then even more to be able to project my Inner World as an 8th Tier Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator, but I had been progressing steadily. Not to mention all the Spiritual training and Frenzy I had been cultivating through my daily exposure to the Cursed Star. My Dantian had probably grown ten times in capacity since being down in the hole and the strength of my techniques had grown with it. I felt more confident than ever that I could make the voyage across Fhae I¡¯ung. Cursed Star Born demons and all. ¡°Max, are youing or what?¡± Through the window of my true vision, I saw Blue Rose staring at me with her hands on her hips. I smiled at her as I grabbed my Axe and ive out of the sand and then, pulling back to my true self, manifested them in a burst of lightning and sparks. I enjoyed a quick dose of lemonade from her as I showed off my new ability. True to self, though, Blue Rose let none of it show outwardly and merely shook her head. ¡°Neat trick. Now can you get us across this and back home please?¡± ¡°My pleasure.¡± After a final check, I secured my three canteens full of Blue Lemonade and took to the tunnel with [Lightning Walk]. My team followed close behind me, with Blue Rose at my side, followed by the Three-Blind-Mice trio of Wing Pho, Song De and Jei Su Long and the rear being pulled up by Wu Liang. With the rays of pre-dawn in the air, I could already feel the effects of the Cursed Star taking hold as I neared the exit of the tunnel and looked out onto the Hellscape that was daytime Fhae I¡¯ung. I was used to it by now, but the moment of truth was here for mypanions. I engaged my [Sacred Soul Shield] and beckoned them forward. The howling screeches of the demonic horde was a cacophony of violence. Teeth, bone, flesh and ws all intermingled in an alien mosaic of disturbing images. I beheld it as always, but then waited to see how Blue Rose and Wu Liang would react. They stiffened, but didn¡¯t flee or scream. Wing Pho shuddered and slowly pulled down his blindfold. ¡°I will hang on to the back of your robes, Blue Rose, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± She nodded back at him. ¡°Whatever you need to do to get through.¡± ¡°Getting ¡®through¡¯ seems like it¡¯s going to be the key here,¡± Wu Liang said sardonically while flexing his jaw. ¡°Lead the way, Iron Bull.¡± I cycled my Frenzy. ¡°Stay close. I¡¯ll clear a path.¡± I charged into the fray with weapons drawn, sending [Frenzied Lightning] and ck blood flying as I carved my way through the demonic horde. The monsters reacted to my [Sacred Soul Shield] like it was kryptonite, shrieking in pain and vehemence. Their demonic thoughts pervaded my own. ~The Cursed me!~ ~Repent! Repent!~ ~Repent oh Cursed me!~ ¡°Tell Grandpa he can piss off with that repent shit!¡± I shouted back at them with [Torment of the Frenzied me]. ¡°We bow to no one!¡± My technique sent a torrent of shrieks throughout the horde, some of them even wing themselves to death, choosing oblivion over my words of extreme sphemy. I caught Blue Rose staring back at me perplexed by my words as well, but she didn¡¯t say anything. Perhaps she knew well enough now not to question my insane methods. I hacked and cleaved and threw lightning, pushing ever forward and taking to the air where I could. It was much harder than when we had to cross the surface at night. There we had gaps every now and then to fly, but under the Cursed Sun the horde was relentless. A literal sea of demons unlike anything I had faced before. But I dare not stop. There was no turning back now and momentum was our only strength. ¡°Keep pushing!¡± I shouted to mypanions with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°Stop and we die!¡± I sensed their fear turn to determination as I tapped into the core of my Twin Dao. I was doing my master¡¯s work and my own. Defiantly desecrating the legions of the Hell Worlds to get back home and right the wrongs of the Crooked Empire. The thought made me smile. 28 hours of hard running across a demon infested Hell World under the broiling radiance of a Cursed Star¡­the [Odds were Against Me] indeed. And I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way. We would Struggle. But we would survive. * * * ¡°Exalted one¡­carest thou not that the errant Husk doth traverse mine very entrails to carry out its misdeeds? What vitions yet, must I suffer still while it transgresses unabashed?¡± It sensed the Shame and Indignation within the Chainmaiden. But It would not react so basely in kind. Such was far below It. ~I instructed thee to endure yet its transgressions. Even now it doth seek to mock even the One True me to its face. What station have ye,pared to that of our almighty sire, to be offended so?~ The Chainmaiden shuddered with terror and bowed her head immediately. ¡°Forgiveness, oh exalted one. This one shall remember its lowly ce.¡± It knew naught of forgiveness, but It would stay the Chainmaiden¡¯s chastisement a moment more. It had need of her services yet. ~Have thee patience still. The Apex of thy strength grows nigh upon the chosen firmament. Through it, shalt mine Will be made known. Through it, shalt destructione upon the domain of the foul Husk. And through it, shalt mine retribution finally be served in whole~ Book 4: Chapter 35 Princess Lunh studied herself in the full-length mirror, turning slightly to get a view of her figure from the side. Her elegant robes were adorned with the imperial trim of beige, white and gold. Her crown, a sacred artifact which augmented her cultivation speed was nestled perfectly atop her head of golden locks. So too had she decorated her six Jade Urns with gold trim, which now hovered soundlessly behind her, serving as both a means to passively cultivate as well as to augment the techniques of her Sacred Soul arts. It was perhaps a bit much for the backwater of Jurin Province. But gracing even her lowest of subjects in person demanded nothing less. It wasn¡¯t often she made appearances outside the capital in physical form, but for this event, she wanted to see and feel the despair within young Silver Light¡¯s heart when she finally made the announcement of the Iron Bull¡¯s death. His loss still saddened her. But today her grief would be sated with malice. ¡°You look elegant as always, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said, standing next to her. ¡°Summon the skiff,¡± she said, ignoring Ling Wei¡¯s shameless pandering. Lunh knew how well she looked. She didn¡¯t need the likes of some lowly aide to confirm it. ¡°I wish to arrive right before the trial begins and leave as soon as it is over.¡± * * *I pushed hard through thetest horde of Star Born demons, Frenzy and hatred burning through my soul. My Twin Dao was in full effect, tapping into the core of retribution thaty at the heart of [Everyone¡¯s Pain] when it came to the people of Fhae I¡¯ung. They were gone now. And so too was the embodiment of their life force¡ªthe spirit of Fhae I¡¯ung herself. All that was left. Was me. And my rage. I cleaved through a monster that looked like a giant elephant with three sets of tusks and a trunk that ended with the mouth of amprey. Just the sight of the bizarre thing made my flesh crawl but thankfully my mind was focused more than ever. I lost track of how many wounds I had now endured. My body was slick with both my blood and that of my foes, but I pressed on with [Indifference]. The martial cries of Blue Rose¡¯s annunciated techniques was a constant presence within my ears, and my main means of ensuring she was still alive. She was relentless with her dagger sprays, finishing off and cutting down any stray demons that snuck past my axe. The three-blind-mice and Wu Liang was still with us as well, running as close to me as possible to stay within the range of my [Sacred Soul Shield] but far away enough to not taste a stray swing of my axe. I¡¯d kept my technique going strong, using the Frenzy generated from all my killing and my Dao, but still that wasn¡¯t enough. I had long lost track of time, but I had chugged down an entire canteen of Blue Lemonade already. Monitoring how much supply I had left became my only measure. Still, we pushed on. Close call after close call, but I didn¡¯t care. My vision was tunnelling, my body numb. I was in a zone of madness and aggression, tempered only by the faint voices of myrades every now and again. It was only when I heard Blue Rose screaming repeatedly that I finally paid attention to what was actually going on. ¡°Max Stop!¡± I finally understood what she was saying and came to myself. I looked around. Surrounding me was a mountain of demon corpses, seeped in ck blood. But that wasn¡¯t what truly surprised me. I looked up to find us now under a nket of stars and the subtle red hue of the Bloodmoon. I immediately copsed to my knees, breathing out a huge sigh of exhaustion and relief. We¡¯d done it. We¡¯d gotten past the worst part. ¡°How long has it been night?¡± I asked. ¡°For nearly an hour,¡± Wing Pho answered. ¡°You were in such a frenzy. We didn¡¯t think you would stop.¡± I chuckled at his choice of words. ¡°You got no idea, buddy.¡± Muffled shouts came from the hog-tied Jei Su Long, but I paid him no mind. ¡°You guys alright?¡± ¡°Dead tired but alive thanks to you,¡± Wu Liang said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you did it. You took a killing blow meant for me more than once.¡± ¡°That goes double for me,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°Are you certain you are only within the Sacred Soul Realm?¡± Wing Pho said, staring at me through his Schr sses. ¡°What you did today has made history.¡± ¡°Well, we won¡¯t be able to tell any of it if we don¡¯t get to thending site,¡± I said, looking up at the stars. I studied them trying to get a bearing on our current position. ¡°The slog through the Cursed Star demons was tougher than I thought. I figure we¡¯re just over a third of the way there now.¡± ¡°A third?¡± Wing Pho said. ¡°How will we make it? We have less than half the time left.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll make it,¡± I said and reach for my second canteen of Blue Lemonade. As I gulped down the fiery liquid, I felt my Dantian replenish. I cycled the fresh, concentrated Frenzy and instantly my vigor and body felt restored. Hot damn, I thought. This stuff was invincibility in a can. ¡°We can make up the time at night,¡± I said. ¡°Thest deployment would havended by now.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s pray they made it down safely,¡± Wing Pho said. I chortled and kicked Jei Su Long in the ass, causing more muffled screams. ¡°With this bastard no longer messing shit up, I say they have a good chance,¡± I said. ¡°All we got to do now is get there before they leave.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om ¡°Can we do it in only 12 hours?¡± Wing Pho asked. ¡°We got no choice,¡± I said and charged my body with lightning. ¡°From here on. Every chance we get. We fly.¡± * * * Fia¡¯s stomach roiled with anxiety and the movements of the baby both as she readjusted her mummer¡¯s robes. Her mother, Rhi Dong, and Yu Li, both fussed with her robes as well, constantly shifting them from side to side. Kel Zhi was there as well, but focused her attention on dressing her jian des with the flower-covered gs that would soon serve as her extra sets of fans. From within the changing room beneath the floor of the arena Fia could hear the muffled roars of the crowd gathering upstairs. She had arrived when the arena was empty, but now she could only imagine how many people had turned out for this trial now turned public event. A knock came from the changing room door. ¡°Fia are you ready? It¡¯s time.¡± The voice was that of her father, Hei Dong. Fia looked to her mother nervously, biting her lip. ¡°Everything will be fine,¡± Rhi Dong said, pushing aside a stray lock of Fia¡¯s silver hair. ¡°He hasn¡¯t noticed you yet and neither will anyone else. Once you have won the trial, we¡¯ll reveal your little secret to him.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the vition. ¡°I¡¯m still worried about Max showing up in time,¡± Fia said, ncing down at her now hidden stomach. ¡°I¡¯m just a few weeks away now.¡± ¡°He¡¯ll be here in time,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°He wrote to me about that. Getting home before the baby is born is his only goal. Plus, it¡¯s a full moon tonight. After the match I¡¯ll try and make contact with him again. If he¡¯s close I¡¯m sure to reach him.¡± Fia prayed it would be so. ¡°Okay,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be cheering for you from the front lines,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°Make those Bird Sisters pay.¡± Fia smiled and nodded to her, the gusto in Yu Li¡¯s voice filling her with fresh confidence and resolve. I can do this, she thought. It¡¯s just the bird sisters. I¡¯ve beaten them a hundred times before. Collecting her two fans and four jian des, Fia opened the changing room door to find both her father Hei Dong and Jian Yi standing there, each of them dressed in their barrister robes. With all the excitement from the crowd, it was easy to forget that this was still a matter before the courts, but the reason for it became all too clear once she entered the floor of the arena with her father and Jian Yi by her side. There, hovering high above the stadium was thergest and most ornate skiff she had ever seen. Banners of the imperial seal hung from it and upon its deck looked like what had to be a hundred or more, armed guards all dressed in imperial robes. Just below it was another skiff that was equipped like a dais with three separate chairs. In one was the Warden, Lady Silver Tear, in another the High Magistrate, Yi Xhi Yen, but the third chair that sat in between themy bare. There was no question whom it was for, but as for why the Princess herself had chosen to attend the event was beyond her. The people in the crowd didn¡¯t seem to mind though. The seats of the stadium were filled beyond capacity and below the floating Dais was a floati of smaller skiffs that lit up the night sky like strungnterns. On the floor of the arena, three figure stood already at its center. The bird sisters. Thedies Silver Hawk, Silver Dove and Silver Sparrow. Or as Fia hade to know them from childhood: Wi Shen, Fi Shen and Di Shen. They were dressed in their imperial robes instead of the normal garb of the Silver Leaf n. It was yet another reminder of the nature of this match. They were representing the crown and not themselves. Could that be why the Princess had decided to attend? she wondered. Silver Hawk, ever the boldest of them, stepped forward with a smirk on her lips. ¡°We didn¡¯t think you¡¯d even show, little Fia. And what the hell is that which you are wearing? Have youe to entertain us as a clown?¡± All three of them burst into their cacklingughs. Fia bit her lip, her hand balling into a fist. ¡°I¡¯ll remind you that your contention is with me, Vice Wardens,¡± her father, Hei Dong said. ¡°The Lady Silver Light is here as my proxy.¡± ¡°And I am here as the former vice warden¡¯s counsel,¡± Jian Yi said, cutting in before any of them could respond. ¡°As you are all here as mere proxies for the crown, I suggest you refrain from making directments to my client or his proxy and instead wait for your services to be called upon by the magistrate. You are here to do your jobs as mere public servants today. I suggest you adhere to just that, least you find yourselves in contempt.¡± Silence fell as Silver Hawk¡¯s mouth fell open, but nothing came out. Fia nearlyughed in her face, but suppressed her own reaction with a smile. Her father did the same, but let out a chuckle. Dumbasses, Fia thought. Or at least that¡¯s what Max would have called them. And thank goodness for Jian Yi. Her tongue was as quick and as sharp as her wit. The loud banging of a gavel resounded throughout the arena and Fia looked up to see the High Magistrate, Yi Xhi Yen had risen from her seat and had taken a position at the head of the dais. The crowd settled until the only voice that could be heard was that of the High Magistrate when she finally addressed the assembly. ¡°I hereby call this trial of martialbat to order,¡± she said. ¡°Will the used step forward.¡± Hei Dong did so with his hands behind his back. ¡°My client is here, your honor,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Master Hei Dong, former Vice Warden and member of the Silver Leaf n.¡± ¡°Master Hei Dong, you are charged with tax evasion of the highest order, a crime that has a penalty of 25 years imprisonment. As a formal writ by the crown has been served against you, which you have contested through martial means, who now do you send to stand as your defense?¡± ¡°High Magistrate,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°We wish to contest the charges via his daughter, the Lady Silver Light.¡± Fia stepped forward and bowed. ¡°Very well,¡± Magistrate Yi Xhi Yen said. ¡°Master Hei Dong, as already proposed and agreed by yourself, the crown has elected to nominate the three Vice Wardens, Lady Silver hawk, Lady Silver Sparrow and Lady Silver Dove to answer your contestation.¡± ¡°Our proxy stands ready, your honor,¡± Jian Yi said and then turned about to her a little smile. Fia smiled back but could feel the anxiety boiling her insides. The High Magistrate then took a step back. ¡°As this is a writ filed by the crown, it would normally be the role of her majesty¡¯s representative, the Seventh Warden, Lady Silver Tear, to discharge the responsibility tomence the trial. However, people of Jurin Province, we are graced with a special privilege. Tonight, the highest representative of the imperial crown is within our very midst. I now acquiesce to her authority tomence this trial bybat. Please all be standing, for the arrival of Her Divine Majesty, Ruler of Terra and its surrounding domains, Third Princess Lunh, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seventh heir to the Imperial Yee Dynasty.¡± * * * At the mention of her title, Princess Lunh stepped from off her imperial skiff and descended with the slightest burst of Qi. The crowd was on their feet, cheering and pping as the imperial anthem began to y. She circled her six jade urns behind her, adding to the pageantry of her entrance, creating a sight befitting of the most powerful cultivator on the. She waved elegantly to her subjects, greeting them all with a pleasant smile. But within her, her heart was aze with hate and envy. She could barely look at the girl. The Lady Silver Light. Everything about her irked Lunh. Her beauty. Her youth. Her cursed naiveite. But today she would put and end them all. ¡°Cherishes citizens of the realm, and natives alike,¡± Lunh said in a Qi augmented voice as she touched down on the dais. ¡°I greet you in the name of my father, the Great Soul Emperor Yin Yee.¡± At the mention of her father¡¯s name, Lunh performed a small head bow and her subjects mirrored her action with deep bows of their own. ¡°Before I perform my official duties inmencing this trial bybat, I have an announcement to make.¡± Lunh paused to retrieve one of the official letters from Du Gok Bhong from her robes. ¡°It is well known that this year was one of history for both this and Jurin province. For the first time in fourteen years, this had the privilege of sending a royal tribute to the prestigious Legionnaire Academy of Du Gok Bhong. And it is because of that great achievement that I chose to be here amongst you today to issue this very special announcement.¡± * * * Fia¡¯s heart leapt. She looked up at the Princess and to her royal skiff beyond. tion filled her. The princess hade because of Max? It could only mean one thing. A smile spread across her lips. The timing made sense. Max did arrive on time or perhaps only slightly dyed, but he was never on that transport vessel in the sky. He must have been transported via the Princesses very own means as a reward for his sess. Fia bounced on her toes, trying not to look excited. Now it made sense why the princess chose to attend the trial personally. She was going to reveal Max as their hero returned from the Hell Worlds and he would easily step in her ce to win this trial. Fia closed her eyes, thanking the heavens for working things out so perfectly. I should never have doubted you, she thought. She could barely wait. Where are you, Max? The princess paused a moment more before lifting a piece of paper to eye level and then began reciting from it. ¡°Honorable Third Princess Lunh, I President Tzu Li Zen of Du Gok Bhong academy do salute you in the name of your father, the Great Soul Emperor Yin Yee. It is with the deepest of regret that I have the sad duty of informing you, that your tribute, the Iron Bull has been killed upon the Hell world of Fhae I¡¯ung.¡± Silence fell. Fia¡¯s countenance fell with it. And then her heart fell right through the floor. Her breath stopped. Her mind froze. No¡­she must not have heard her right. The world spun as her knees grew weak. Max can¡¯t be dead! Max, you can¡¯t be dead! A violent gut-wrenching cry ripped the air and it took her a moment more to realize that it hade from her own throat. A throat now raw with grief and disbelief. Tears blurred her eyes as she looked for Kel Zhi in the crowd. She found her standing next to her mother and Yu Li. It didn¡¯t make sense. She had sensed him, hadn¡¯t she? Kel Zhi stared back at her with unsure eyes, a slight shake of her head. Fia¡¯s stomach grew sick with grief as the realization hit her again. It was the pr opposite of what she had envisioned just moments ago. But in some sad way, it made far more sense than the fantasy she had quickly concocted on the spot. There was a reason she hadn¡¯t heard from Max for weeks. Why Kelsey couldn¡¯t ce where he was. Why the princess hade. Max¡­was gone. No¡­she still couldn¡¯t believe it. Max¡­ was gone? * * * Lunh reveled in the anguished cries that came from the center of the arena as Silver Light fell to her knees in shock and grief. She drank in every second of it. Every ounce of the girl¡¯s heart ache recing that within her own soul. Feel the loss, you stupid little girl, she thought as a smile creased her face with delight. Feel the loss of what you should never have had. ¡°Your majesty?¡± the Lady Silver Tear whispered next to her. ¡°Is this true?¡± She chortled. ¡°Yes, Warden. You need not fear your impending duel with the Iron Bull any longer. He has failed his mission. Your position to rule this putrid little province is secure.¡± Silver Tear grimaced before ncing down into the arena. ¡°And what of her?¡± Lunh¡¯s hatred and anger stirred as she watched Silver Light wallow and sob on the floor of the arena. ¡°Carry out my instructions as nned,¡± she said. ¡°Your nieces should find her a much easier opponent now.¡± Silver Tear smiled. ¡°I am sure they will.¡± ¡°I hope they enjoy it,¡± Lunh said and then stepping center stage of the dais, she raised her Qi augmented voice again. ¡°To the Vice Wardens, I expect you to carry out your duties to the full extent of thew. Show no mercy to those who seek to break it.¡± They turned and bowed to her and then each of them dropped into a low, ready stance. They encircled Silver Light¡¯s prone form like a trio of jackals about to pounce and rip apart their prey. Lunh couldn¡¯t wait to witness it all. ¡°Oh¡­ and to the betrothed of the Iron Bull,¡± she said flippantly, purposefully posing it as a stray after thought. ¡°Condolences. Best of luck in your fight.¡± She then leered at the girl as Silver Light stared up at her perplexed. ¡°Commence!¡± Book 4: Chapter 36 It waited with patience a fraction of a moment more until the Chainmaiden¡¯s strength was at its peak. There. The shell It had refined was now ready for Its Will to be deployed. Through the aperture, It exerted Its influence to send the slightest portion of Its Will into the foreign domain. As the transformation took hold, It encountered the presence of the mortal soul It had enved within the shell of the being. Memories of its history melded with Its own, and a surprise further yet emerged¡­knowledge of the foul Husk itself. The mortal soul loathed the Husk. Fortuitous...It thought. A borrowed hatred would It dly now employ. As It extended Its senses, the brilliance and opulence that was the prime firmament filled Its being. Diffuse energy, thriving with life essence. All around it, were Its throngs. They fell to the ground in worship. Looking star ward, the Bloodmoon was now full. But it would not be so for long.Time was of the essence. In the distance, the darkness was pierced by floating lights. The domain of the Husk. Destroy it, master¡­ the mortal soul begged it. Destroy them all! The residual defiance of the Cursed me shielded the domain, but It had extended Its Will for a greater purpose. The D¡¯Mjulthu It had summoned from the depths, at great cost, were now grafted to the shell. But without the glorious light of the One True me, they would not survive long. No matter, the mortal soul interjected. There is time enough to destroy. It concurred. Summoning Its Will again, It moved the shell and took a step towards the lights. * * * The first hit from one of the bird sisters came so fast that Fia couldn¡¯t tell which one of them it even was. It barely mattered, as all three of them came for her then. Her mind was still reeling from the confusion of shock and loss. She didn¡¯t want to believe it. That Max was dead. With what Kel Zhi had said it didn¡¯t make sense. But the evidence was undeniable. A hand pped her hard across the face, followed by a scoffingugh. ¡°So sorry for your loss, little Fia!¡± Silver Hawk said. ¡°Looks like you left your n for nothing, you stupid little whore.¡± They all tore into her then, shouting,ughing and kicking. ¡°Serves you right!¡± ¡°Disrespect us?!¡± ¡°Now you¡¯ll pay!¡± It was all she could do to curl into a ball, clutching her stomach to protect her precious baby within. Tears stream from her eyes as the emotional and physical distress took their toll. All her hopes and dreams were shattered in an instant and were now being dragged through the mud by these cruel, cruel girls. Yet was this her fate again? To die like this? Both her and her child? Part of her wanted to. To just sumb and join Max wherever he was. But that was not the future she envisioned. Nor what her child deserved. Get up, Fia, she told herself. You¡¯re grieving but you have more than just you to think about now. The cold reality of her situation sharpened her mind with rity. She had chosen to have this baby without Max¡¯s permission for a reason. A reason that had nowe true. A piece of Max was still with her and she couldn¡¯t allow these cursed cousins to steal that away from her too. As the jeering kicks and taunts came, Fia filtered them out and instead listened for the chords of Mei Mai¡¯s guzheng. She yed them back from memory, the soft and rhythmic tones resonating within her and bringing peace to her soul. ¡°For you little one,¡± she whispered softly. ¡°For you and your father.¡± Fia rose from the ground in a single fluid motion, spreading her fans and jian des. She spun and twirled on the spot, evoking the dance of the hidden sword art. She engaged her attackers, picking out each of them by name. Silver Hawk, she took head on, using her fans directly. She ced Silver Dove to her side, directing her attacks with her g-covered, jian des and left the weakest of them, Silver Sparrow, to her rear. They continued to hurl insults, scoffing about Max¡¯s death, but Fia focused only on the rhythm of her technique. They were much easier to deceive than her mother and Kel Zhi, their attacks sloppy and slow. After a while the mockingughs became curses of frustration. ¡°What nonsense is this!¡± Silver Hawk cried. ¡°Why can¡¯t you two idiots hit her. I¡¯m setting everything up for you!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not hitting her either!¡± The crowd too seemed to notice the anomaly, and people stood to their feet to get a better look at how the woman, once prone on the ground was now defending against three attackers at once wlessly. But it wouldn¡¯t be enough to merely defend, she knew that. She needed to fight back as well. The ire and grief in her soulbined and Fia released a yell of anguish as sheunched a quick strike with one of her jian des. She aimed at Silver Dove and the girl cried out as it cut her cleanly across the arm. The action cost her to lose rhythm though and immediately one of Silver Hawk¡¯s des sliced through her fan and into her mummer¡¯s robes. Her heart stopped for a second and Fia instinctively covered her stomach. The result was a loud ripping sound as the fabric was cut in two by the de. Fia broke into a sweat of panic then, desperately trying to regain her rhythm. But the loss of her fan was crippling and the assault from the three bird sisters kept oning. * * * Kelsey watched in muted horror as the three on one match yed out. Fia had recovered admirably, but now she appeared to be in trouble again. The three bird sisters took turns mocking and taunting her and every so often, they wouldnd a strike. Her me burned with indignation but behind it all, the uncertainty of the princess¡¯s announcement yed on her mind. Max dead? There was no damn way. She had sensed him. But still he wasn¡¯t here. So, what the hell did that mean? She thought about running for the edge of the barrier to seek him out under the full Bloodmoon. If she came back with fresh proof that Max was still out there, she could give Fia hope again. But no way could she get all the way there right now. Still, she needed to restore hope not just for Fia, but for everyone else. Yu Li was sobbing and being consoled by Fia¡¯s mother Rhi Dong. Gui Zu and even Lee looked distraught with shock and grief. Master Hei Dong and Jian Yi hadn¡¯t said anything at all, still perplexed by the announcement, it seemed. She needed to say something. She couldn¡¯t exin how she knew, but she needed to give them all hope. ¡°Guys, it¡¯s not true,¡± Kelsey said, and everyone suddenly looked to her. ¡°Max is not dead.¡± ¡°What?¡± Rhi Dong said, looking at her quizzically. ¡°How do you know, Kel Zhi?¡± Gui Zu asked, but with more hope in his tone than skepticism. ¡°Is he truly not dead?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Kelsey said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I can¡¯t exin how I know but I know it to be true. We all need to encourage Fia with the same. She can¡¯t lose hope out there.¡± They still all looked at her perplexed but she didn¡¯t have time to exin any more than that. Kelsey rushed to the edge of the arena then, leaning over the railing to yell to Fia. ¡°Don¡¯t believe what she said,¡± Kelsey shouted. ¡°Max is still alive, Fia! Keep fighting for him! Keep fighting!¡± Kelsey wasn¡¯t sure if Fia could even hear her or not, but she kept yelling anyway. Part of her desperately wanted to run out of the barrier and get under the Bloodmoon. She looked to the night sky, past the floating skiffs and saw it hovering ominously there. It looked twice as big as usual and as she focused on it, she could swear she could sense its Dark Frenzy even through the barrier. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the vition. Or is iting from somewhere else? she thought. Somewhere closer? Before Kelsey could even consider it further, a loud cry came from the arena. When she looked back to Fia, Kelsey saw that she was now wearing only half her robes. The fabric was torn to shreds. Sliced apart by the bird sisters who now stood back from her with a mixture of shock and bemusement on their faces. And when Fia turned about, Kelsey saw as to why. The mummer¡¯s robes were gone, and with it, so too went the illusion. Fia was now fully exposed for all to see. And her stomach was ripe with child. * * * Princess Lunh stood to her feet. She peered into the arena to exact a better view of what her eyes were already telling her could not possibly be true. The girl was pregnant? A million thoughts raced through Lunh¡¯s mind. That girl carried the seed of the Iron Bull. And had kept it hidden. Her prized tribute was gone, but he still lived on. Within her. A mixture of hope, jealousy and anger filled her. That child could have the very same potential as the Iron Bull himself. Perhaps more even, being born to a true cultivator. But that was what angered her the most. Yet again, the stupid little girl had been blessed beyond measure with gifts she did not deserve. ¡°This is nonsense,¡± the Magistrate said, as she stood to her feet as well. ¡°That girl is heavy with child. She is unfit to serve as a proxy.¡± She then banged her gavel. ¡°Ceasebat! There is an anomaly here! A decision must be made.¡± The crowd grew restless with interest and confusion as the bird sisters and Silver Light retreated to their corners of the ring. ¡°I did not foresee this,¡± the Warden said. ¡°Shall we stop the trial, your majesty?¡± As both the Warden and the Magistrate looked to her for an answer, Lunh dove into the depts of her soul for a response. She could stop the trial. Allow both Silver Light to live and for the child to be born. Perhaps she could even kill Silver Lightter and then usurp the child as her own. It made sense. She could perhaps still have her consort then¡­ in twenty or thirty years more time. It was a n that could work. But could she stomach it? Even now her insides roiled with the envy and hatred of that little girl. Why should she have even the privilege of giving birth to the Iron Bulls child? The hatred grew within her like seething venom. She should have been the only one to ever bare the Iron Bull a child. It was her destiny, stolen from her yet again. By this na?ve little whore of a girl. No¡­she thought finally. If she could not have the Iron Bull or his children, then neither should this girl. ¡°The trial will continue,¡± she said. The High Magistrate blinked at her. ¡°Your majesty?¡± ¡°Master Hei Dong chose his proxy unwisely. Let the oue of thew stand where it may.¡± She then shifted her eyes to the Lady Silver Tear. ¡°Warden¡­a word.¡± As they both withdrew from earshot of the magistrate, the Warden whispered to her. ¡°Yes, your majesty?¡± ¡°See to it personally that your nieces get this message,¡± she said. ¡°Thedy Silver Light is to die this day, but ensure her baby dies first.¡± * * * Fia stumbled to the edge of the arena was shame and pain in her heart. The stare of disbelief from her father was the most painful of all. ¡°Fia,¡± he said. ¡°What is this? What have you done?¡± ¡°She did what she had to do,¡± Rhi Dong said quickly. ¡°And yes, we didn¡¯t tell you.¡± ¡°We?¡± he eximed, looking to his wife with shock. ¡°You knew?¡± ¡°We all did,¡± she said. ¡°They did not want to keep it from you, husband, but I knew it would cause you too much distress. So I made the decision. To protect you from it, until it was all over. And we had it handled. This match should have been perfect with the new style Fia has mastered.¡± Fia smiled weakly at her mother. It was only her quick words that could disarm her father¡¯s wrath. Still, he looked more concerned and confused now. ¡°New style?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Is that what those robes were?¡± Fia nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, father. We knew me not being able to stand as proxy, would have put you at immediate risk.¡± ¡°But now you risk this child,¡± he said. ¡°And with Max gone¡­¡± ¡°He is not gone,¡± Kel Zhi said, stepping forward. Fia looked to see Kel Zhi staring at her with fire in her eyes. ¡°He is still alive, Fia,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m certain of what I sensed. The princess. Everyone. They are all mistaken. Max lives. I know it.¡± Fia felt a glimmer of hope stir within her. But could she believe it? ¡°How sure are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stake my life on it,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how, or why he¡¯s not here. But we connected but a few days ago, Fia.¡± ¡°Connected?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°Connected how? What do you speak of?¡± ¡°Just trust me, Fia, please,¡± she said. Fia nodded. ¡°I will.¡± ¡°What happens now?¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°Is this all over?¡± ¡°In one way or another, yes,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°Fia should not have been allowed to stand proxy in her condition. If the magistrate stops the match, the im will fall on Master Hei Dong with no defense. Or he himself will have to stand trial.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go in,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°I¡¯ll rip those bird bitches to pieces.¡± ¡°We spoke of this already,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°The conditions that were put in ce won¡¯t allow it. It¡¯s Fia or no one.¡± Her heart sank for what had to be the hundredth time. She looked across the arena to see the Warden had now descended from the dais to speak with her three nieces directly. They, in turn, eyed her like vultures, their lips peeled back with knowing leers. In that moment the oue became clear. ¡°They aren¡¯t going to stop the trial,¡± Fia said tly. The realization hit her seconds before the Magistrate¡¯s gavel banged. ¡°Order!¡± the High Magistrate shouted. ¡°The trial will continue. Special conditions were applied to the details of the proxies and these conditions must stand. Proxies, to the center of the ring for the restart of the trial.¡± ¡°No, this can¡¯t happen!¡± Yu Li shouted. ¡°She no longer has her robes or her fans!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just take the punishment,¡± Hei Dong said solemnly. ¡°I¡¯ll plead guilty to the charges. It¡¯s my mess that I have made anyway.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let you do that, father,¡± Fia said, as a new resolve filled her. ¡°You wouldn¡¯tst a month in a prison.¡± ¡°Fia, you can¡¯t fight like that!¡± he shouted. ¡°I can,¡± she said. ¡°And I will. For all three of us.¡± She turned to Kel Zhi and smiled. ¡°I trust you, sister. If Max is still out there somewhere, fighting to get back home, then I will fight for us as well.¡± She turned before either of them could try to talk her out of it again. ¡°Hold on little one,¡± she whispered. ¡°Father is going to be home soon. We just need to survive this.¡± As she came toe to toe with the bird sisters, Silver Hawk gave her a nasty sneer. ¡°This is going to be the end of you and that bastard child,¡± she said. ¡°Hope you all have a happy reunion in hell.¡± Fia clenched her teeth and flexed her four jian des behind her back. Perhaps she had been too pessimistic about all this from the very start. She was carrying a child, but it was Max¡¯s child. It was strong. And so was she. Fia grinned back at Silver Hawk. ¡°You all are forgetting one thing.¡± The Magistrate suddenly banged the gavel. ¡°None of you, dumbass bitches can fly.¡± Fia took to the air with a burst of Qi, utilizing her [Silver Sail] technique. The rapid movement caused a jolt of pain to rip through her stomach, but she endured it with a grimace. The bird sisters immediately began pelting her with quills, but she flexed and twirled in midair with abination of pure reflexes and her newly gained Hidden Sword Art technique. Fia retaliated with quill techniques of her own and sent a hail of the silver needles falling atop Silver Dove. She cried out as several pierced her body and Fia immediately followed up with aerial sweeps of her jian des. Blood flew as she carved a sizeable wound in Silver Dove¡¯s thigh. ¡°Help me, sisters!¡± she cried out as she fell to the ground. But her siblings were too busy focused on Fia. Good, Fia thought. It meant one less to worry about now. She [Shadow Stepped] to close in on Silver Sparrow next, causing another sharp pain to rip through her stomach. She ignored it. Just get this done quickly, she told herself. Speed is the key.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Fia pushed past her limits and held out her palm to release a Qi technique at point nk range. ¡°[Ninth Heaven, Zero Point Stri¡ª]!¡± Her words cut short as a scream ripped from her throat, the pain in her stomach exploding. It radiated even to her Dantian. All at once her Qi left her and she dropped out of the sky like a stone. Fia fell towards the ground face first, but then twisted her body in midair to avoidnding on her stomach. She crashed down hard on her side instead. New pain immediately filled her, as her stomach twitched and convulsed. It was excruciating. She cried out, paralyzed. Fia had no idea whatbor felt like, but this had to be it. Damn it, she thought. I pushed it too far. Had she now forced her child to be born early? ¡°No!¡± she cried. ¡°Not now!¡± ¡°Kill her!¡± Silver Dove screamed while still nursing her leg on the ground. ¡°Kill her for wounding me!¡± ¡°Hold her down!¡± Silver Hawkmanded, and immediately Silver Sparrow grappled Fia from behind. She struggled as Silver Sparrow pushed her head into the ground and then Silver Hawk moved to stand over her. ¡°I¡¯ve never liked you, Fia,¡± she said as she looked down at her smugly. ¡°You or your unworthy father and the stain your entire family has brought to our n. Thistest disgrace being the height of it.¡± She nced down at her exposed stomach. ¡°But I¡¯ll put an end to it all now. I¡¯ll stomp that ugly, mixed breed mongrel right from out of you.¡± ¡°No!¡± Fia cried as Silver Hawk raised her leg. ¡°No sto¡ª!¡± Her foot came down like a hammer, crashing atop her stomach and Fia saw stars. She wailed as the shock and pain ran through her like lightning. Deep within, she felt something break. No! Dear gods no! ¡°Again!¡± Silver Dove screamed. ¡°Kick her again!¡± Fia was beside herself with pain and disbelief, the cruelty of their jeers assaulting her ears as Silver Hawk raised her leg once more. * * * ¡°Get away from her, you damn bitch!¡± Kelsey screamed as she tore across the arena. She cursed herself for not jumping in a half second sooner. The vision of that woman stomping on Fia¡¯s stomach was now burned into her mind. Her me roared in response, pumping Frenzy as she sprinted. The crowd was on their feet and the Magistrate was banging her gavel like crazy, but Kelsey couldn¡¯t care. The bird sister that was about to kick Fia again, suddenly turned her way. ¡°Who the hell are¡ª?¡± Kelsey barreled into her full force,nding a punch straight to her head. She knocked her to the ground and kept punching, fury igniting her soul. ¡°You piece of shit!¡± she screamed as she mmed her fist into the woman¡¯s head again and again. She tapped into her rage, screaming with each punch. ¡°Trying to kill a child?¡± Kelsey was vaguely aware of something cutting into her and it took her a half second to realize a jian de was now piercing her from the side. ¡°Get off me, you filthy Terran!¡± the woman shouted, and Kelsey suddenly found herself flying in the air with a kick. She managed tond on her feet and suddenly felt the pain resonating from the de in her side. It burned like it was on fire. Kelsey cultivated the Pain quickly, and then used the Frenzy to cover for any organs the de might have pierced with [Death¡¯s Door]. She hid a wince with [Indifference] as she pulled it from out of her. ¡°d you drew first blood,¡± Kelsey said as she reached for the axe strapped to her back. ¡°Will make cutting your head in two all the more satisfying.¡± She was just about to charge forward, when she sensed something flying at her head. She shifted and a silver quill sailed past her nose. She turned to see one of the other bird sisters had tossed it at her, but was keeping her distance otherwise. As well you should, Kelsey thought. These bitches would learn to [Fear the me] today. As she invoked the technique, they cringed away from her and one of them even screamed. More screams suddenly filled the air and Kelsey feared she might have affected the entire stadium as people began screaming en masse. What the hell¡­? And then she felt it. A presence of Dark Frenzy so strong it made her toes curl. She looked immediately to the sky for the Bloodmoon and saw skiffs flying about haphazardly, some of them crashing into one another. She looked to the crowd next and saw people running and stampeding over one another, some of them running across the arena itself. The bird sisters began running away as well, two of them grabbing the third that was lying on the ground. What the hell was going on? ¡°Kel Zhi¡­¡± Fia called to her weakly and Kelsey immediately rushed to her, falling to her knees by her side. ¡°I¡¯m here, Fia,¡± she said. ¡°Are you alright?¡± But Kelsey already knew the answer. Tears were streaming from her eyes and what was left of Fia¡¯s robes was covered in blood from the waist down. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t feel the baby, Kel Zhi,¡± Fia muttered through choaking sobs. ¡°I can¡¯t feel the baby anymore.¡± Her stomach sank, but she pushed it down with [Indifference] to stay strong for Fia. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll find you a doctor. Everything is going to be fine.¡± She was just about to lift Fia into her arms when a resounding Boom! rang out from behind her, followed by more screams. Fear and Dark Frenzy permeated the air and as Kelsey stood and turned about, she finally saw the reason why. There, crashing through the side of the stadium was a towering five-story tall monstrosity that she recognized immediately. I¡¯Xong¡¯Xiang¡­ But it looked different than it did before. Bigger. And clearly stronger. How did it get through the barrier? The answer came in the form of the rusted shackles and chains hanging from its wrists and neck. Kelsey recognized them immediately, even though they were only ever described to her by Max. The implements of the giant blue bitch, I¡¯xan¡¯dra that controlled the gates of the moon. And there, within the center of the beast¡¯s massive chest was the small, inverted triangle of a gate itself. But that wasn¡¯t all. At the behemoth¡¯s feet, hundreds of normal sized demons were swarming and ripping into the crowd. It didn¡¯t make sense. Had the barrier failed? No, it couldn¡¯t have. The gate or the demon itself had to be producing a barrier of its own. A barrier of Dark Frenzy. But she couldn¡¯t think about that now. People were dying by the second or were being driven mad by the Dark Frenzy streaming from the gate. The inner core of her Dao flew into high gear. This was what the monster had been taunting her with all along. And it would now be up to her alone to stop it. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Book 4: Chapter 37 Princess Lunalah¡¯s chest tightened as the enormous demon ploughed straight through the outer wall of the arena and into the stadium beyond. It took all her wherewithal to even look at the thing¡ªso horrid was it in ferocity and form.Body like a bloated corpse, covered in oozing sores and things that looked like exposed brains. A demonic face sat in the center of its torso and upon its shoulders, its malformed head had a second face that resembled something akin to a man, but with grotesque features and putrid black eyes. She could sense the Demonic Qi pouring off of it even from where she stood atop the dais. The crowd fled in panic before the monster as the entire situation quickly devolved into chaos. The High Magistrate and her aides had already done the same, leaving both her and the Warden alone on the skiff, hovering above the chaos. To her surprise, the demon¡¯s hands went through a series of martial incantations and huge torrents of flames erupted within the arena. The fires spread quickly, filling the stadium with smoke as thousands of citizens either ran for their lives or were burned alive. It all unfolded in a matter of moments. Anyone on the ground was at risk of being killed now. But Lunalah cared only about one person in particular. ¡°Did they kill her?¡± she asked. Lunalah turned to the Warden, who was now staring wide eyed into the fiery turmoil below. She looked back at her quizzically. ¡°Your Majesty?¡± ¡°The girl Silver Light. Did your nieces do as instructed? Did they kill her and her child?¡± The Warden shook her head as if in disbelief. ¡°Princess, can you not see what is transpiring? An Awakened demon has breached the barrier! There¡¯s an inferno below!¡± ¡°Did I ask you to state the obvious?¡± Lunalah¡¯s insides flared at her insubordination. ¡°Is the girl dead or not?¡± The warden furrowed her brow with incomprehension before glancing back to the arena again. ¡°I can not tell but likely, your majesty. And if she isn¡¯t dead already, she soon will be. Her along with everyone else in the city. What are we to do about this?¡± ¡°?¡± Lunalah scoffed. ¡°Are you not the Warden of this province, Lady Silver Tear?¡± Silver Tear¡¯s brows lowered. ¡°I sent you communications about these Demonic surges for weeks now, your majesty. I asked for reinforcements from the central military and received nothing!¡± Lunalah recalled the matter, but she would not take the blame for the Warden¡¯s inability to protect her own domain. ¡°Lack of preparation will not help you now. These are your wards. Protect them as you see fit. You should be more than capable yourself, shouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°That is no ordinary demon, your majesty,¡± Silver Tear said. ¡°It has breached the barrier. We need your strength. Are you not the ultimate protector of this realm?¡± Lunalah risked another glimpse at the monstrosity below. A few cultivators were now attempting to put up a resistance, but they were quickly swarmed by the smaller demons under its influence, burned to ash by the torrents of flames or went running in madness due to the Demonic Qi itself. Tendrils of fear rose up inside of Lunalah. It had literally been decades since she had done anything close to fighting a threat like this. Or ever perhaps. Such things were for lesser people to face. But the thought of being subject to that Demonic Qi frightened her most of all. She knew stories of even the most brilliant of cultivators succumbing to it. No way would she risk her life on such a futile task. But she could not show such weakness in front of the likes of Lady Silver Tear. Best to show indifference instead. Lunalah lifted her chin and scoffed. ¡°There is nothing within this province that I find of value any longer,¡± she said and as the words were uttered so too did they resonate within her soul. The Iron Bull was all that truly mattered to her and now that he was gone¡ªnothing mattered at all. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Not even the death of that little girl meant anything to her now. A hollow victory. The emptiness within her heart swelled, and with it came the hardening of her soul. ¡°Let that creature raze the lower city and all its native inhabitants to the ground,¡± she said. ¡°Let it destroy everything.¡± Silver Tear¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°Your majesty?¡± ¡°There is nothing left for me to see or do here. I shall be returning to the capital. If there are any citizens amongst the populous below, I suggest you order them to flee to the safety of the imperial city and mount a defense there if you can.¡± Silver Tear continued to stare at her stupefied, but she had no time for her incompetence. ¡°Report on the losses once it¡¯s all over,¡± she said. With that, Lunalah lifted into the air with a burst of Qi to return to her skiff, eager to leave the pitiful province of Jurin far behind. * * * Kelsey screamed with rage as she tore through another wave of charging demons. Her Flame was burning incandescent, but that paled compared to the true flames now burning all around her. Max had said Hong Feng was an elder within the Fire Bird Sect and it seemed his demonic reincarnation had retained some of his talent, if not improved upon it. Huge flaming tornadoes were ripping through the stadium, killing people indiscriminately along with the demons. But the people she cared about the most were cowering at the edge of the arena, and she was doing everything in her power to protect them. ¡°[Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls]!¡± She released the massive lightning technique to stun a new wave of demons that were attempting to get past her and then quickly dispatched them with her axe. A stray cultivator glanced at her perplexed, mouth ajar, filled with lemonade¡ªseconds before a demon jumped out of the billowing smoke and killed him. ¡°Shit!¡±Kelsey cursed. This was insane. For her, fighting demons was just another night of cultivating or searching for Max under the Bloodmoon, but for these people, this was perhaps literally their worst nightmares come true. She needed to get Fia and the others to safety before she could turn her attention to the monster that was truly causing all of this. I¡¯xon¡¯xhang. Deep inside her Berserker soul yearned for the rematch. She was destined to die fighting that thing, she knew, but she didn¡¯t care. Not as long as it died with her. ¡°Fia!¡± Kelsey cried rushing back to the edge of the arena to check on her. She arrived to find Fia now joined by her entire family as she lay on the ground wincing in extreme pain. Her mother was cradling her, and her father was holding her hand. Yu Li was clutching little Su Ling while Gui Zu and Zu Tien were doing their best to fight off stray demons that ventured too close. Jian Yi was staring up at the monstrosity now at the center of the arena with a smoldering ember in her heart. Kelsey could sense it all. Their fear. Their confusion. But there was only one thing they could do. ¡°You all need to leave now,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°That thing will kill you all and if it doesn¡¯t, you¡¯ll go mad from the Demonic Qi.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t move her,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°She¡¯s gone into labor.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kelsey said. ¡°Then the baby is¡­?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know,¡± Rhi Dong said quickly, as if not to get her hopes up. Fia then looked up at her, whimpering amidst her sobs. ¡°I still can¡¯t feel it, Kel Zhi. I don¡¯t feel the baby anymore¡­¡± Kelsey¡¯s heart sank. ¡°She¡¯s deeply wounded inside,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°Any movement now is a risk until the baby is out.¡± Kelsey didn¡¯t know what that meant for Fia, but she knew what it meant for her. If they couldn¡¯t move, then that damn demon had to go. ¡°Leave it to me,¡± Kelsey said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°That thing will be dead before you know it.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Kel Zhi wait!¡± Gui Zu shouted after her, but she was already sprinting into the fray. Past the smoke and blazing infernos, Kelsey tapped into her true strength and bolstered her body with [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core]. She then engaged her [Soul Shield] technique when the Dark Frenzy began to get too thick and tug at the edges of her vision. Even with it, she had to fight with every bit of Frenzy she could muster to keep the Darkness at bay. But thankfully her Flame was in rip-roaring, full Dao mode. This was her purpose. To rid this world of demons was calling. She approached the monstrous form of I¡¯Xong¡¯xhang, screaming with a warcry. ¡°Face me now, demon! I¡¯ll send you back to the damn moon!¡± Kelsey leapt from the ground, jumping two stories high to come face to ¡®face¡¯ with the giant second face on the demon¡¯s torso. She laid into it with a [Lightning Three Log Chop] and felt the satisfying of her axe sinking deep into the monster¡¯s flesh. It roared in pain and rage. Kelsey held onto her axe handle for leverage and then pummeled her fist into the eye of the monster repeatedly, desperate to burst it wide open. ¡°I¡¯ll show you how insignificant I am you overgrown basta¡ª!¡± She never got the last curse out before her world ignited into a torrent of flames. She lost grip of her axe and fell to the ground, her body now on fire. Searing hot pain ripped across her hardened skin and she cried out in rage, as her Flame flash converted the pain into even more Frenzy. The monster was now incased in a shield of swirling flames. And it still had her damn axe too. , she thought. She didn¡¯t know who could still see her or if it even mattered anymore, but she had no choice but to shift it into high gear. ¡°[Mark of the Demon]¡­¡± As she evoked the technique, her charred skin was restored anew, but this time in a deep red hue. Horns grew upon her head as well and as she tapped into her Dantian, she felt the density had grown ten-fold. She leapt toward the demon again, not giving a shit about its protective flames. With her [Steel Skin] technique heighted by [Mark of the Demon] she withstood their impact but wasn¡¯t spared their pain. She didn¡¯t care. It just added more fuel to her Flame. She screamed with pain and rage as she retook her axe, ripping it from the beast¡¯s torso. She then climbed up instead of down, hacking at it with a savagery until she reached its very head. The hideous face of the being filled her insides with a primal terror and when she looked into its black eyes, all she saw were the stars. She froze for a second, as her [Soul Shield] technique went into overdrive, desperate to protect her mind from the hidden truth she had now stared dead in the face. This wasn¡¯t just I¡¯xong¡¯Xhang. This was an embodiment of I¡¯xol¡¯ukz as well! The words intoned directly within her mind, but her ears heard only the nail-on-chalkboard screeches she had come to expect from the dark god. The words shook her to her core. It was like the reverse of [Fear the Flame]. The monsters gaping mouth then opened before her and she had to force herself to move with a yell. But it was too little too late. From within the demon¡¯s mouth, a solid stream of green fire struck her and pelted her into the ground. Kelsey cried out as the firehose like stream of emerald flames pinned her down. Her demon skin and flesh smoked and charred as her vision began to blur. She was at [Death¡¯s Door] already and she had barely scratched the thing. The thought infuriated her, and her Flame responded in kind, ripping with fresh Frenzy to keep her alive. But it wasn¡¯t enough to break free of the technique itself. This demon was strong, infused with the power of the god of Dark Frenzy itself. As her vision began to tunnel, she saw the brief opportunity to do one thing yet. But it would mean risking everything. , she thought. Kelsey deactivated her [Soul Shield] and used the cycling of her Frenzy alone to push back against the Darkness. Instantly the corners of her vision shrank as she gained insight into the spiritual realm. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz¡¯s dark tentacles were everywhere, blocking her vision, but she slipped into the blue hued form of her [Spectral Body] to dive further ahead. There was only one person who could help her now. At the top of her spiritual lungs, she cried out into the darkness. ¡°Max! I need you! Find me!¡± she screamed. ¡°Wherever the hell you are!¡± * * * I crested the rise to a sight I had been yearning to see for hours. There, less than half a mile away was the sleek hull of a supply skiff, nestled atop a ridge. Elation filled me like never before. We¡¯d done it. We¡¯d made it! ¡°Guys look!¡± I shouted back to my team. ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± Blue Rose rested her hands on her knees next to me, panting and sweating. ¡°Holy shit¡­ I didn¡¯t think we were going to make it at all.¡± She had good reason to think that. We had more than half the distance to make up but we pushed on with a fervor that would not relent. We had just full sprinted twenty marathons and with salvation being so close, our bodies were collectively about to throw in the towel. But we couldn¡¯t just yet. ¡°We still need to make it to dawn,¡± I said, glancing upwards. Already the rays of the Cursed Star were beginning to brighten the sky. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go back up our fellow legionnaires.¡± It felt like performing a victory lap as we sped across the last quarter mile, slaying stray hordes of demons along the way. The legionnaires of the 30th deployment had set up a wide perimeter and by the looks of it they had even managed to take out a gate. That gave me even more comfort that we would all be heading home soon. ¡°What in the Nine Hells?!¡± someone cried out as we got closer. ¡°Platoon Commander! You must come see this!¡± Black-robed legionnaires rushed to the edge of the perimeter before us and as all of us staggered to a halt in front of them, their eyes went wide with shock and disbelief. ¡°Are you all from the 29th?¡± the platoon commander, a guy I recognized by face, but not by name said. ¡°You¡¯re all alive?¡± ¡°Alive thanks to what¡¯s left of the 28th,¡± Blue Rose said and then nudged me. They then all looked at me, as if not even noticing me before, and perhaps after thinking me already dead, they mistook me as some other beefy lunkhead from the 29th that they had simply forgotten about. But as the stares of incomprehension turned to recognition, all of them suddenly began crying out with elation and lemonade. ¡°Holy shit!¡± ¡°The Iron Bull!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Iron Bull!¡± ¡°The Iron Bull lives!¡± They crowded around me like a was a celebrity or something then, some of them looking fearful to even touch me. The questions then became even more bizarre as their thoughts went from disbelief to pure speculation now. ¡°How did you survive?¡± ¡°Did you ascend to godhood here?¡± ¡°He must have!¡± ¡°Look at him! He no longer needs to wear even clothes!¡± I laughed at the absurdity of it all, but I suppose I was like seeing a man return from the grave. ¡°Take it easy guys. Its still the same old me. Plus, I got another relic from the 28th with me as well.¡± I grabbed a hold of Jei Su Long by his arm and pushed him forward while pulling the bag off his head. A new collection of gasps went into the air. Jei Su Long then began shouting into his gag, desperate to communicate to them¡ªand with fresh lies no doubt. ¡°Is that Jei Su Long?¡± one of them asked. ¡°It is,¡± Blue Rose said. ¡°And as you can see, he lied about killing the Iron Bull and everything else. He¡¯s also the one responsible for the loss of the 29th deployment as well. If you wish to stand for justice, stand against him when the Iron Bull puts forward his claim to clear his name.¡± That got a series of conversations going, but it was too much to get into right now. ¡°My fellow legionnaires,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°While I would no doubt appreciate your support once we reach the Xin Long, I would implore you to wait until we actually reach it. We cleared out most of the demons on the way here, but the Cursed Star is about to rise and a whole new world of hurt will be on its way. We¡¯ll reinforce you where we can.¡± The Platoon Commander gave me a salute. ¡°Rest easy all of you. We have less than a half hour before the dropskiff returns for retrieval. I can only imagine what you all have lived through to make it this far. Relax by the aetherite haul. We¡¯ve got you.¡± Wing Pho and Wu Liang gave tired bows and then made a bee line for the skiff, basking in the harmonic radiance of the aetherite once they reached it. Blue Rose did the same, dragging Song De and Jei Su Long with her. I dropped my [Sacred Soul Shield] once I reached the small barrier produced by the aetherite, saving the last sliver full of Frenzy left in my Dantian. As I sat down next to Blue Rose, I breathed out another sigh of relief. ¡°Almost home,¡± I said and in that moment, I could almost let myself be free. I¡¯d survived hell and back and now I was nearly on my way. My conflict with Jei Su Long aside, I had basically achieved my goal. I was now a full-fledged legionnaire ready to face the Warden to take over the whole of Jurin Province. When I had left Earth, I didn¡¯t know if I would return strong enough to defeat her. But now, I felt more than ready. As I gazed up at the Bloodmoon a new thought occurred. Maybe I could run into Kelsey one last time to let her know I was finally on my way. I stood back up and Blue Rose looked at me quizzically. ¡°Where are you going?¡± she said. ¡°Going to make a quick phone call,¡± I said and then laughed at the way her face scrunched up in confusion. ¡°Nevermind. I¡¯m coming right back.¡± As I reached halfway to the perimeter, the protection of the barrier fell away and I was exposed to the full influence of the Bloodmoon. It was kind of bizarre to think that only months ago, being exposed like this would have had me sweating bricks and seeing monsters. But now, it was like wading into a warm bath. I extended my senses and let the darkness of the spiritual space invade my field of view. I jumped into my red-hued Struggler form and almost instantly a shrill ¡®cry¡¯ met my ears. It was sharp and caused a stirring in my soul. At first, I thought it was I¡¯xol¡¯ukz, but there was a signature to it that had only one name. . I focused on it more and sensed it again. A shrill cry. Desperate. Like a cry for help almost. I glanced back to the real world for a moment. ¡°Hey Blue, come here a sec please.¡± She did so with a question on her face. ¡°What now? Aren¡¯t you damn tired?¡± ¡°I need to go into meditation again. Like when I was cultivating back in the cave. Can you watch over me?¡± ¡°Now?¡± Blue Rose looked up at the brightening sky. ¡°Max, the skiff is going to be here soon.¡± ¡°I know, this will be quick¡­ I think someone I know might be in trouble.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just stay by me,¡± I said and then dove back into the spiritual realm. I flew across the darkness with [Ride the Lightning], searching for the closest gate. I jumped right in once I found one and then ignored I¡¯xan¡¯dra when she showed up to protest against me riding through her gates unchecked again. I flew overtop the demons instead of plowing through them, eager for speed as I homed in on Kelsey¡¯s Flame. I dove one floor down and then up again, reappearing on the hell scape of Earth¡¯s moon. Kelsey¡¯s voice was more prominent then and as I found the crystal it was coming from, I flew right up the chain with [Ride the Lightning] again. As I appeared back in normal spiritual space, I could sense the great distance I had travelled yet again. It didn¡¯t take me long after that to find Kelsey¡¯s Flame. It was burning brightly but looked distressed and studying closer, I could see why. Next to it was another gate, but smaller than the ones I had just jumped through. As I connected with her Flame, a flood of emotions filled me. Panic. Pain. Destruction. A need for help. And not just for her. For Fia¡­ the baby¡­ Everyone. I pulled away in shock, feeling her turmoil within my own soul. ¡°Shit! Hang on, Kelsey!¡± I joined my Flame with hers, channeling fresh Frenzy but still it didn¡¯t seem to be enough. It kept her going but I could sense her death. And more. I took a step back once again. I needed to know what the hell was going on. I thought back to my fight with I couldn¡¯t find her in those caves, but had used my [Spectral Projection] to reach her instead, jumping across space and time. I didn¡¯t know what distance that had been. Thousands of feet? Miles? The most I had done was half a mile before that, but could it work over this vast distance when connected through the gates? , I thought. I gathered my [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] and in the corner of my vision, superimposed the image from my true eyes. I could see Blue Rose staring at me confused. ¡°Yo, Blue,¡± I said. ¡°Hand me my last canteen.¡± She paused for a moment, but then complied. I couldn¡¯t really feel the canteen in my hands but guided it to my mouth and drank deeply. I wasn¡¯t sure how much Frenzy this would take, but having a full tank of gas couldn¡¯t hurt. I passed the canteen back to her half empty and then jumped back into the spiritual realm again. I engaged my meridians and then focused on sending my [Spectral Body] across the galaxy to inhabit the real world. My mind and soul screamed as I felt my spirit being stretched across lightyears. Violent colors flashed before my eyes and then in a final brilliant burst of white light, I was there. My spiritual eyes were blurred, still disorientated from the technique, but as I gained focus, I found myself hovering in midair. I was in the stadium back in Jurin Province. And everything was covered in flames. Book 4: Chapter 38 My Frenzy was draining like I was back under the rays of the Cursed Star again, but this time it wasn¡¯t from the effects of Demonic Qi. However far I was now projecting my soul was coming at a price.And by the looks of things, I couldn¡¯t waste a single second. Towering above me was a monstrous demonic form that resembled a behemoth from the Hell Worlds. Its body was covered in flames, and it had a gate built into its chest that was spewing tons of Dark Frenzy, but that wasn¡¯t what pulled my attention. Vomiting from its mouth was a stream of green fire that was pinning something to the ground. Something screaming and surging with Frenzy. ¡°Kelsey!!¡± For a split second I nearly rushed to the ground to shield her with my body. But I had no body right now. I was a [Spectral Form]. I looked instead to the source of the flames. The demon was at least as strong as that giant Pythor I had fought during my final exam back at Du Gok Bhong. Mini Hell gate, green flames and all. But how the hell could something so strong have found its way here? Strong enough to penetrate the barrier even. , I thought. I didn¡¯t have time to ponder its origins right now. I just needed to kill it. I lacked a body, but my spirit could still pack a punch. ¡°[Lightning Drill of Fury]!¡± I corkscrewed through the air with the technique, aiming straight for the demon¡¯s head. Sparks flew as I collided, but I didn¡¯t feel a thing. The force of my technique shattered its jaw nonetheless, knocking the giant monster right off its feet. It came crashing down with a massive explosion of flames behind me, shaking the ground like an earthquake, but I was barely paying attention to it anymore. I raced back to where I sensed Kelsey instead. As I searched the ground, I saw only a charred corpse where I had seen the green flames. But there were no more screams. ¡°Kelsey!¡± I cried out as I landed on the ground next to her. I reached out to her instinctively, but my translucent hand passed right through her body. And then I sensed it. The sudden surge of her Flame. It was weak, but it was there. I joined my Flame with hers, channeling fresh Frenzy into her spirit. ¡°Come on, Kelsey. Shake it off. Come back from [Death¡¯s Door].¡± I kept pushing and her body suddenly moved. ¡°¡­¡± The words croaked hoarsely from her charred lips and then like a phoenix rising, the blackened flesh of her body flaked away as new muscle and sinew began to grow. Kelsey stood as the [Mark] took form and within less than a minute, my not so little sister stood before me again, clothed in nothing but burned and tattered rags. She was at least seven feet tall now, buff as hell and with a shock of wild blond hair that made her look just like Threja. As she shook her head to reorientate herself, Kelsey¡¯s eyes fell on me and then squinted with confusion. ¡°Max?¡± For a moment I wondered if she couldn¡¯t recognize me or something, until I remembered I was not only a translucent specter hovering before her, but in the form of the red-hued struggler as well¡ªa version of me she had never seen before. ¡°Holy shit¡­¡± she said as she stepped cautiously towards me, lemonade filling her soul. ¡°Max, is that freaking you?¡± I wanted to rush in and crush her in my arms, but the most I could do was give her a smile. ¡°Damn good to see you, little sis. I thought I lost your ass just now.¡± ¡°Max!¡± she cried out and jumped to try and hug me anyway. Her body passed straight through mine, and she looked back at me shocked and perplexed. ¡°Oh my God. You¡¯re not really dead, are you, Max? Please don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re a ghost or some shit!¡± ¡°What?¡± I said, and then realized the stories of my demise must have actually reached her. ¡°No, I¡¯m alive Kelsey. But I¡¯m still on the Hell world.¡± ¡°You¡¯re what!?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain. What the hell is happening here?¡± I said glancing about. I could sense [Everyone¡¯s Fear and Pain], hundreds dead and dying in the swath of destruction all about us. ¡°Is everyone alright? Where¡¯s Fia?¡± Kelsey shot me a blank stare and my heart lurched. What the hell did that look mean? ¡°Kelsey?¡± ¡°Max, she¡¯s okay but the baby¡ª¡± Her words cut short as a huge tentacle suddenly wrapped itself around her waist and yanked her right off her feet. She went screaming into the distance and I traced the tree trunk sized tentacle back to the figure of the giant demon that was now slowly rising back to its feet. It¡¯s flaming shield was gone and I could now see its corpse-like body in full view. I immediately saw how it had penetrated the barrier. There were no less than four Mind-Reapers embedded in the creature¡¯s flesh and upon its torso was a second face. It was grotesque and demonic and where its stomach would be, was instead a vertical maw of razor-sharp teeth from which poured a mess of tentacles like spilled bowels. And one of them now had Kelsey. I blasted after her with [Ride the Lightning], focusing on the giant tentacle about to pull her into its mouth. I was just about to sever it with a [Lightning Arc Strike] when a sudden pulse of Dark Frenzy caught me off guard and the next thing I knew, something the size of a truck crashed into me. My world went spinning with violence and pain and I found myself sailing in the opposite direction through the air. As I righted myself with [Lightning Walk], I realized I had been slapped halfway across the arena by a giant club now wielded by the fiend. For a second, I was confused at how something physical could affect me in this form, but then I saw it radiating with the putrid red glow of Dark Frenzy, filling the air with even more chaos. I checked my Dantian reserves. That hit had taken a lot out of me and with how fast my Frenzy was now draining just to maintain my [Spectral Form] there was no way I could afford to take another. As I sprinted through the air with [Lightning Walk] back towards the monster, a deep bellowing laughter filled the air. I paused in mid-air at the sound of the voice. I knew it. And as I looked to its bald head, even with half its jaw and beard now missing from my initial attack, the recognition hit me. And what I sensed from Kelsey from across the stars finally made sense. Or at least the name did. ¡°Hong Feng¡­¡± I said, brandishing my [Spectral Weapons] as I manifested them from thin air. ¡°Never expected I¡¯d see your ugly-ass face again. Although it seems you¡¯ve managed to get even uglier somehow.¡± This was an awakened demon, but clearly Hong Feng¡¯s soul was mixed in there somewhere. it said. I looked down to see Kelsey being dragged into its stomach, kicking and screaming. Tough as she was now, I wasn¡¯t that concerned for her safety, as much as I was for what she was about to say earlier. What the hell was wrong with the baby? My insides churned with uncertainty. I had to know. ¡°No offense, bro,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°But I have bigger concerns than your recycled, dumbass, right now! Get the hell out of my way!¡± I wanted to barrel right into him, and just tear him apart but I needed to be conscious of what precious time I had left to expend as well. In the corner of my vision, I could still see blurrily through my true eyes. Blue Rose was yelling into my face and as I focused on her a second more to zoom in, I saw her pointing at the sky. There, descending behind her were the tethers from the drop skiff. . I had only 15 minutes before we would have to get on board or be left behind forever. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I forced a message through to Blue Rose. ¡°I¡¯m coming. Just need a few more minutes!¡± She shouted something back at me, that reading her lips, sounded like ¡°No time!¡± She was right. I didn¡¯t have any time. At least not to waste. Efficiency would be key. ¡°Kelsey! Tear his ass up from the inside!¡± I shouted and then rained down on the monster with a series of [Lightning Arc strikes] from my axe. As expected, the demon shielded itself with its massive club, which was exactly what I needed it to do to avoid another hit. I then launched my true attack, spinning up with another [Lightning Drill of Fury]. The technique had worked well once already and I didn¡¯t have time to experiment with anything else. I flew into the giant monster like a missile, tearing through its shoulder and knocking it off balance again. The hit was enough to break its focus and it let out a massive roar of pain and shock as a second scream filled the air. ¡°[Wrath of a thousand Slain Souls]!¡± Kelsey burst from the monster¡¯s insides with an explosion of lightning, stunning it yet again. I used the opportunity to make a second piercing strike with my [Lightning Drill of Fury] and then a third. Kelsey and I went back and forth battling the monster, avoiding its club swings while getting in attacks where we could. I aimed for the brain-like bodies of the mind-reapers, and destroying two of them, I could sense its power to resist the barrier diminish. But my powers were diminishing as well. I was burning Frenzy like crazy, down to a third of a tank. As the minutes stretched by, I glanced to my Hell World vision to see the tethers now already connected to the skiff and Blue Rose seemingly arguing with the other legionnaires to wait for me to embark. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I thought. I needed this thing dead, and quick. Suddenly I felt a new source of Frenzy growing as lemonade seemed to seep from all around me. With a quick glance, I saw a mass of skiffs high above the arena, now all stopping to stare at what was happening below. I couldn¡¯t make out the details of anyone onboard the vessels, but I could imagine what they were possibly thinking by seeing my Sacred Soul form laying into the giant demon along with Kelsey. The monster finally retaliated with another burst from its fire shield and a pound of its club that sent debris flying high into the air, but Kelsey avoided both deftly before jumping onto its torso and laying into it with a series of Axe strikes. ¡°Max, I¡¯ll go for the gate!¡± Kelsey cried. ¡°Keep it busy!¡± As I saw her climbing up the monster¡¯s second face to get to the gate at the center of its chest, I invoked my [Sacred Soul Shield] to give her added protection. The monster winced and roared as I activated the technique, shielding its eyes like I was shining it with a spotlight. A new voice then emerged, all scratches and high-pitched squeals. ? I thought. ¡°Why am I not surprised you¡¯d decide to show up now?¡± I said. But I didn¡¯t have time for any of its shit either. I ping-ponged back and forth through the air with [Lightning Walk], drawing blood with each pass as I kept its attention on me and not Kelsey. I could sense the anger and resentment building inside the beast, coming from both I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and its dark passenger, Hong Feng, or whatever the hell he had become now. I heard Kelsey cry out from below again and saw her swing her axe straight into the purple window of the gate. A huge lightning bolt sparked, but her axe bounced right off if it. Its flaming shield roared to life again, shifting to a bright green color as it exploded with Dark Frenzy. Kelsey and I were both blown back by the sudden increase in power, but I could only fathom what it was going to do next as I sensed even more Dark Frenzy building within it. It shifted into a martial form, cycling its Dark Frenzy, preparing for some ultimate attack as the monster began uttering words in some ancient language I couldn¡¯t understand. I flew down to Kelsey just as she was getting back to her feet. ¡°New plan,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t affect it physically in this form, but you can. We need to swap spots. I¡¯ll take out the gate. You attack its head.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can climb it with those flames on it now,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°You won¡¯t have to. Hang on.¡± I honed my mental focus to grab her about the waist with my [Spectral Body] and then took to the air with [Lightning Walk]. ¡°Hit it with everything you¡¯ve got once its shield is down,¡± I said and then used a good dose of Frenzy to toss her high into the air, above the creature¡¯s head. As the monster looked up to track her, I used the opportunity to lunge at it with [Lightning Drill of Fury] again, but this time I aimed for not its head, but its heart. I pierced the flaming green barrier and pushed straight into the small triangle of the gate beyond. I passed right through it, emerging in a microcosm of spiritual space again. I kept the momentum and attacked the gate both internally and externally, destroying it physically with my lightning and spiritually within using the same technique, at the same time. The result was an explosion that tore straight through the monster¡¯s bloated body as my translucent form passed through unscathed. Huge wails of pain emerged from both I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and Hong Feng and quickly its flaming shield dissipated. ¡°Now, Kelsey!¡± I cried. But my little sister was already way ahead of me. She was falling towards the demon with her axe held high above her head in a downward swing. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± Her axe hit Hong Feng¡¯s bald head with a flash of lightning from the sky and Kelsey¡¯s momentum send her straight on through. She carved down the massive, building sized creature with a single cleave and then hit the ground in a crouch. A split second later, the two halves of its body erupted in blood and fell apart. A new dose of Frenzy surged as both Kelsey and I were triggered by our [Bloodlust]. I cultivated it greedily to keep my reserves at just above the 10 percent mark now. I landed to rejoin Kelsey as blood and offal rained from the sky. With it came an angry and terrible whisper from the dark. ¡°Yeah, keep talking your shit, Big Bro,¡± I said with [Torment of the Frenzied Flame]. ¡°I have a good idea where you truly live now, and when I¡¯m done with family business, I¡¯m going to come home to sort out the Flame¡¯s.¡± The monster released another horrid screech as it was assaulted by both the technique and my words. Then all at once the Dark Frenzy ceased as I¡¯xol¡¯ukz crawled back down its hole once more. Kelsey, now covered in demon blood, looked up at me. ¡°Big Bro?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll explain later,¡± I said. ¡°What were you saying before about the baby? Is Fia alright? Is the baby alright?¡± A bit of the victorious jubilation faded from Kelsey¡¯s eyes as she looked up at me. ¡°Just prepare yourself, Max. I¡¯ll take you to her. Follow me.¡± * * * Lady Silver Tear stared down into the burning arena with a mixture of incomprehension and disbelief racing through her soul. She saw the giant Awakened demon fall, slain by some unknown cultivator, using an axe technique that looked familiar and aided by a [Sacred Soul Projection] that looked far too familiar as well. Her mind raced as she tried to reconcile what she was seeing with what she knew to be true. Or thought she knew. Silver Tear studied the glowing red image of the bare-chested man with bull¡¯s horns, wielding the axe and glaive. There was no question as to who he was, even if she couldn¡¯t readily see his face. As he disappeared into the smoke below her, her heart raced. How could this be? Was he truly dead? Or had he not only ascended, but now held such remarkable power as to [Astrally Project] his soul from even the planes of hell? The thought unnerved her. She glanced over her shoulder to the rear of the imperial skiff. Her niece Di Shen was there, whining and crying as she was being attended to by one of the healing staff from the arena. Meanwhile, her sisters Wi Shen and Fi Shen were bickering about who indeed took more credit for killing the Lady Silver Light and her child. ¡°I was the one who kicked that brat out of her stomach!¡± Fi Shen said. ¡°It was me.¡± ¡°But I held her down for you,¡± Wi Shen said. ¡°Yes, but on command. You all don¡¯t do anything unless I tell you to, anyway.¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± Silver Tear snapped. ¡°I care not for such trivialities. I only need know if you are certain she is dead. Her and her child.¡± Her nieces looked between one another again, like idiots, until finally both Wi Shen and Di Shen looked to Fi Shen. ¡°She is dead,¡± Fi Shen said. ¡°I saw her die with my own eyes. Consumed by the flames where we left her bleeding out.¡± Silver Tear grimaced. ¡°Then we had better leave. And quickly.¡± All three of them looked at her quizzically, but she didn¡¯t have time to give them all a detailed explanation. And she herself was not 100 percent certain. But she could not deny what she had just seen. ¡°Pilot,¡± she said. ¡°Take us to the imperial city at once. Top speed. And then relay an emergency communication to the Princesses¡¯ skiff via Qi Stone.¡± ¡°At once, Madan Warden,¡± the pilot responded with a salute. ¡°The message?¡± ¡°Tell her, the Iron Bull yet lives¡­and is somehow¡­ in Jurin Province.¡± * * * Fear and trepidation filled my soul as I raced after Kelsey through the burning ruins of the arena. The unnatural flames of Hong Feng 2.0 were now gone, but the natural fires they had started were still burning, with some of them now being tended to by cultivators desperate to douse them. But all I could care about right now was finding Fia. We pushed through the thick smoke and finally reached the edge of the arena, and there, huddled under a piece of the stadium roof that had fallen, I saw my entire family gathered together. My heart soared with elation and fear all at once. Kelsey rushed ahead. ¡°Everyone, he¡¯s here, look! Max is here. Fia, he¡¯s here!¡± I couldn¡¯t feel the ground beneath my feet as I touched down upon it, rushing behind Kelsey. Heads turned with confused stares, yet with eyes wide and full of hope. There was Yu Li and Gui Zu, along with little Su Ling. Rhi Dong and Master Hei Dong, Zu Tien and Jian Yi. But in the midst of them all¡­was Fia. She was on the ground, covered in blood and screaming. ¡°Shit! Fia!¡± I rushed to her side, but she seemed almost delirious in pain, not even able to acknowledge I was there. Her mother, Rhi Dong was tending to her, but I had no idea what was going on. ¡°What happen to her? Fia?¡± She looked up at me weakly at the call of her name, and she sort of half smiled. ¡°Max is that you? Where are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± I said and used all my mental acuity to briefly hold her hand in my [Spectral Form] ¡°I¡¯m here, Fia.¡± ¡°Max!¡± she suddenly exclaimed, as if realizing it was truly me and not some dream. ¡°You¡¯re here!¡± ¡°Sorta of,¡± I said. ¡°Hang on, Fia. We¡¯ll get through this.¡± She shook her head as her eyes teared. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Max. I never should have done this and now the heavens are punishing me for it. I¡¯ve lost the baby.¡± My heart lurched. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t feel it anymore.¡± ¡°Max, come with me,¡± Rhi Dong said calmly and then stood and walked to the edge of the arena, away from Fia. I held Fia¡¯s hand a moment more. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back. I promise.¡± When I joined Rhi Dong outside, the look on her face was grave. ¡°Listen to me now, Max,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t understand how you are even here, but I believe the divine heavens have sent you here to make a terrible choice.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°They are both dying, Max. I can try to save one but not both. Fia has lost too much blood and the baby no longer moves. You must choose...quickly.¡± The world swayed beneath me as my head grew light. I looked back at Fia as she went through another screaming fit. My soul ached and not just for her. This child I didn¡¯t yet know¡­would now have to be sacrificed to save her? I forced down my anguish with a fa?ade of [Indifference] as I struggled to stay strong for Fia. I rushed back to her side and once again took her hand. ¡°Fia¡­ I love you no matter what happens, understand? I forgive you for everything. You¡¯ve done nothing wrong in trying to preserve our family.¡± She choked out a sob and reached a hand to my face. ¡°You look so different, Max¡­ but the same. Where are you?¡± I checked the corner of my vision for the Hell World. Blue Rose was yelling at me again. There was no time. ¡°I¡¯m far away. But I¡¯m coming home. Soon. Trust me.¡± I looked to Rhi Dong and then gave a slight nod towards Fia. Rhi Dong closed her eyes and nodded back, accepting my decision. There was no other choice to make. I couldn¡¯t lose my wife. By why was I forced to even make such a terrible choice? ¡°Fia,¡± I said. ¡°No matter what happens, I¡¯m here for you. I¡¯m alive and I¡¯m coming back for you and our family.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see to her now,¡± Rhi Dong said. ¡°Yu Li, help me. Quickly.¡± My sister gave me a sad smile as she reached out to touch me. ¡°She¡¯s safe with us, Max. Come home to us. Soon.¡± The rest of my family reached out to me as well. Gui Zu and Zu Tien. Master Hei Dong and Jian Yi. It was surreal. Far from the happy homecoming I imagined. I stumbled away from them, trying to collect my thoughts. I¡¯d worked my ass off to get home in time for my child to be born. And now, I had come this far¡­ only to have them die? My gut twisted as I let out a heart wrenching cry. Grief filled my soul and my Flame roared in resonance with it. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Max,¡± Kelsey said next to me. ¡°It¡¯ll be okay.¡± But it wasn¡¯t okay. This shit never should have happened. Not if I had been here. Anger flared, consuming the pain and grief in my soul. There was only one question left to ask. ¡°Who the hell did this to her?¡± Book 4: Chapter 39 Princess Lunalah stared at the message in her hands.It was sparse, as all Qi stone communications were. But its contents spoke volumes. Her heart raced, all her melancholy quickly turned into hope and aspiration. Could it be true? Could it possibly be true? ¡°Who sent this message?¡± she called to her pilot. ¡°It was sent from the Warden¡¯s skiff, your majesty.¡± How could she know this to be true? Unless he truly was there. But how? Were there more lies at work than she thought from her dastardly older sister of hers? But she could care less about all of that right now. The only thing that mattered was to confirm if this message was true. ¡°Turn us about!¡± she shouted. ¡°We are heading back to Jurin Province.¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± As the skiff began to bank into a slow turn, her insides boiled with impatience. ¡°Never mind. This will take far too long.¡± She then folded her palms together and sat in lotus position as she prepared to project her Sacred Soul. ¡°I¡¯ll get back there on my own.¡± * * * Jian Yi jutted her chin towards the sky when I asked the question. ¡°They did,¡± she said, gesturing to the flotilla of skiffs in the sky. ¡°The bird sisters.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe my ears. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It was a trial for some nonsense they trapped Master Hei Dong into,¡± Jian Yi explained. ¡°Fia was standing as a proxy and they were standing as proxy for the crown.¡± She then pointed to the sky again. ¡°They¡¯ll be on that imperial skiff along with the Warden, no doubt.¡± ¡°It was awful, Max,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°I tried to stop them, but I was too slow.¡± A slow burning anger entered my gut and began boiling into rage. ¡°Tell me exactly what happened. Play by play.¡± As Kelsey began relaying what had occurred, I kept focus on the skiff now speeding away in the night sky towards the Imperial City. Every blow was a wince to my soul. The only thing worse would have been witnessing it with my own eyes. ¡°Then they held her down, Max,¡± Kelsey said, her voice breaking a little. ¡°And one of them. Silver Hawk, I think¡­ just stomped her right in the stomach¡­ like she was aiming to kill both Fia and the baby. Who does something like that? I¡¯m sorry. I should have moved faster. I got to her before she could kick her again, but she was going to, Max. She was really out to kill the both of them.¡± My blood was effervescent with rage and hate, but on the outside, I kept it all in check with a stone-cold visage of [Indifference]. My breathing, however. That I could not control. My breath was whistling through my nostrils in shaky spurts of increasing ferocity. Or at least that¡¯s what my body was doing back in the physical world. Back on the Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ung. I tapped back into my senses for a moment to see Blue Rose yanking on my arm. ¡°Max, we have less than twelve minutes before they leave us!¡± she screamed at me. ¡°I¡¯m not spending a year stuck on this demon invested rock with you. Now come on! Snap out of it!¡± Was that enough time? Everything Blue Rose said was true. This was the final rotation for planet Fhae I¡¯ung during this campaign. The next deployment wouldn¡¯t come for another year. And with the spirit of the planet now dead and no new aetherite being produced, it could even be the last visit period. Once the moon set on Fhae I¡¯ung, my long-distance link to the Earth would be severed and I would be trapped there, possibly forever. And by the looks of it, Blue Rose was probably dumb and loyal enough to try and tough it out with me. It wasn¡¯t much time. But maybe there was just enough. Enough to at least make those bird bitches pay for what they did to Fia. To our child. ¡­ I thought as my soul filled with grief and tears. My grief exploded into rage as I released a primal scream. I was in the air with [Ride the Lightning] before I knew it, jetting across the sky to sate the hatred and vengeance in my soul. Suddenly I didn¡¯t give a damn about anything except their deaths. I was a missile of destruction and there was only one target in my sights. The Warden¡¯s skiff was cruising just ahead of me and had already reached the imperial city. I poured on the gas, burning even more Frenzy, but the rage in my heart was producing enough of it from my Flame to keep me going. In the corner of my vision, I looked to Blue Rose. She was holding up both hands of fingers for me. ¡°Come on¡­come on!¡± I finally caught up as they slowed down to navigate the interior buildings of the city, but I didn¡¯t do the same. I ploughed straight into the back of the skiff, rearending them with a burst of lightning and sparks. I couldn¡¯t feel a thing in my incorporeal body and that only pissed me off more. I wanted to feel their bones break within my hands. Their blood on my skin. The skiff spun sideways before crashing into a courtyard below. People scattered as I landed right behind the skiff, my body swirling with a storm of sparks. I was only vaguely aware of a crowd running and screaming all around me. Desperate to flee. But I couldn¡¯t give a shit. My child was dead. And all around me was but [Barren Ground]. As the technique took hold, a numbness entered my heart. A steely resolve that said nothing mattered anymore. Laws. Rules. None of it matter. Only the vengeance in my heart. The three bird sisters were scattered across the lawn of the courtyard. One of then was already screaming in pain, cradling her leg. As I stepped towards her, she screamed even more, but now in terror instead of pain. ¡°Please!¡± she yelled. ¡°I¡¯m wounded.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± I said with ice in my heart, manifesting my [Spectral Axe]. ¡°And she was pregnant.¡± I raised my axe with a burst of lightning, and she screamed as I brought it right down on top of her. ¡°[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!¡± Her body exploded in a shock of sparks and her shrill death cry was instantly cut short. I stood over my handiwork, reveling in my [Bloodlust] as what was left of her body lay strewn all over the ground. ¡°Di Shen!¡± a pained voice cried out. ¡°Di Shen!!¡± Immense spikes of fear came from behind me, along with the shouts and I turned to see the other two bird sisters pelting me with Quills and Qi blasts. Ice cold anger pumped through my veins as I [Trudged] through their attacks unabated. ¡°What the devil is it?¡± one of them¡ªWi Shen I figured¡ªsaid as she backed away slowly towards the skiff. ¡°Is it him? It can¡¯t be him!¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s me, bitches,¡± I said with [Struggle¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°[I still live]¡± The words rippled through them, and by the fear in their souls I could tell they were on the verge of trying to flee. But no way was I going to allow that to happen. I didn¡¯t have my true body, so pummeling them wouldn¡¯t be as satisfying as I wanted. But there were other things I could do to them now. Terrible things from beyond the stars. I channeled my inner pain and grief with [Fury of the Fallen], feeling the wrath for my lost child. I then let them see my [Burning Soul] and my [Spectral Body] erupted into true flames. They both stopped pelting chopsticks at me then and one of them fell to her knees. ¡°It was her!¡± she cried pointing at her sister. ¡°She¡¯s the one who kicked Fia. It was, Fi Shen, the Lady Silver hawk who did it! She¡¯s the one who killed Fia and your baby!¡± The other bird sister¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°You lying bitch! You¡¯re Silver Hawk, not me!¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. I chuckled mirthlessly as they both fell to their knees before me. ¡°You two still trying to play the same old game? Huh? Wi Shen and Fi Shen?¡± I then looked to the one who had spoken first. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, because you¡¯re both going to die this day. But damn it, Silver Hawk, if you aren¡¯t the worse piece of shit still alive.¡± Her eyes flashed with terror, and I knew I had picked her out correctly. ¡°You¡¯re going to pay worst of all for what you did, but your sister held Fia down. So you¡¯re both guilty as sin.¡± ¡°No! No, please,¡± Wi Shen cried. ¡°Mercy, Iron Bull! Mercy!¡± I heard the words, but they fell on [Barren Ground]. I turned to the Shuras in my mind and adlibbed one of the descriptions one the spot. As I spoke the words, I invoked the technique itself. ¡°Witness now, the [Furious Flames of the Father]!¡± Instantly my Flame changed, shifting from bright white to a dark red hue. The Frenzy spewing from it shifted as well, becoming Cursed Frenzy and through the fires of my [Burning Soul] the two Bird Sisters witnessed it all. Shrieks of sheer terror filled the air, as the skin began to melt off their faces, revealing quickly rotting flesh beneath. Silver Hawk drew her blade and immediately began thrusting it into her own stomach. ¡°Kill me! Kill me, please!¡± she screamed over and over. ¡°Make it stop! I don¡¯t want this! I don¡¯t want this!!¡± Wi Shen used one of her quills to stab herself in the eyes. She wailed and cried bloody tears as she blinded herself screaming all the more. ¡°I can still see it! No! I can still see it all! Horror! Horror!¡± I drank it all in with vehemence, not giving a shit anymore. Wi Shen finally drew her own blade and stabbed herself through the throat. Silver Hawk was laughing manically as she continued to run herself through, her flesh starting to smoke as my [Furious Flames of the Father] grew even more intense. They finally both burst into flames and the screams of pain and terror intensified, even as they continued to run themselves through amidst the inferno. But eventually their cries became whimpers and gurgling rasps and with a final burst of flames, their corpses disintegrated. I grimaced with [Indifference]. ¡°God damn evil bitches,¡± I cursed and spit on their remains. ¡°Hope Hong Feng tortures you all in hell.¡± It wasn¡¯t as good as pulling them apart with my bare hands, but it was close. And the best I could muster at the moment. Still, in the end, the results were the same. The bird sisters were no more. And my lost child was avenged. * * * I wasn¡¯t certain how long I stood there watching the flames burn away, but eventually cries from Blue Rose won out. ¡°Max, come on! Six minutes!¡± I was just about to push off and see Fia one last time, when a new spike of fear resonated with my soul. I turned about to see the Warden hovering in midair. The look on her face was like that of someone who had seen the unseen for the first time. A primal terror and incomprehension. ¡°What manner of cultivator are you?¡± she said. ¡°What realm have you reached to be capable of something like this?¡± Strangely enough, deep within that terror was a subtle hint of lemonade. ¡°You¡¯ll see soon enough, when I return for real,¡± I said and pointed my axe head towards her. ¡°Our duel will be a short one Silver Tear. Count yourself lucky that I don¡¯t have the time to start it right now.¡± Silver Tear opened her mouth to say something else, but then a new voice boomed from nowhere. ¡°As well you shouldn¡¯t, Iron Bull.¡± Above both of us, a new Sacred Soul Projection emerged. Golden hair with six jade stone circling about her, the Princess Lunalah appeared, three stories tall and with a soul drenched in lemonade. ¡°Your battle with the Warden should be one of note,¡± she said, smiling down at me. ¡°And one that demands my full attention.¡± She then looked to the charred bodies on the ground. ¡°I see you have already taken vengeance for the death of your betrothed and child. My condolences for your tragic loss, Iron Bull. I extend my consolation to you always.¡± She bowed her head with respect, and I wondered if she was for real or not. ¡°He violated the law in doing so,¡± the Warden said quickly, as if suddenly emboldened by the Princess¡¯s presence. ¡°It was an unsanctioned attack against a fellow martia¡ª¡± ¡°But one I shall permit,¡± Lunalah said without even looking at her. ¡°Your nieces were out of line, Seventh Warden. To have preyed upon a pregnant woman like that¡­it was¡­¡± She then paused, shaking her head as if in disbelief. ¡°Beyond reprehensible.¡± The Warden¡¯s mouth fell open, aghast. ¡°The Iron Bull was clearly within his rights to exact such vengeance directly,¡± Lunalah said. ¡°And I condone it.¡± The Warden looked stupefied by what she had said, but I was more concerned with what she had said earlier. And then I sensed it. Another ungodly dose of unwarranted lemonade. ¡°Are you truly projecting your Sacred Soul from across the stars, Iron Bull?¡± she said, gliding closer towards me. ¡°The power you possess is unimaginable.¡± I looked to Blue Rose again. She was holding four fingers in the air. There was no time left. ¡°I am, your majesty,¡± I said. ¡°But I must leave now if I¡¯m to return in the flesh.¡± I took one last look at the Warden. ¡°See you in the ring, Silver Tear.¡± I jettisoned away with [Ride the Lightning] before either of them could stop me or say anything else. I didn¡¯t know what the hell was going on, but the only thing I cared about now was seeing Fia one last time before I boarded that skiff. I was on the ground in less than a minute and racing back towards the partially fallen ceiling where my family was all gathered about. Sobs from Fia reached my ears before I even reached her. She was sat on the ground now with her back to me, rocking back and forth and cradling something in her arms as she cried. My gut sank as I approached her from behind, grief and loss filling my soul. As my family caught sight of me, they all turned their heads, just as a second cry filled the air. A weak cry, but sharp and shrill. A newborn¡¯s cry. My heart leapt and I rushed forward to look over Fia¡¯s shoulder to see a tiny face poking through a bundle of cloths with huge blue eyes. Fia looked up at me then with tears in her own eyes but a wide smile on her face. ¡°We have a son, Max,¡± she said and let out another choking sob of joy. ¡°We have a son!¡± * * * Lunalah¡¯s stomach fluttered with excitement and sheer joy. Her Iron Bull was alive. Alive¡­and all hers. It was as if the fates themselves had aligned events just perfectly for her to both rid herself of Silver Light and to be free of any wrath from the Iron Bull because of it. The evidence of that wrath was clearly etched upon the courtyard lawn and thankfully those responsible had already paid. ¡°We will prepare for your duel with the Iron Bull as soon as he lands within the city,¡± Lunalah said. ¡°Do ensure you have the stadium repaired and in good order before then.¡± Silver Tear¡¯s brow lowered in a scowl. ¡°Princess Lunalah! Did you not see what I witnessed? That power he possesses is unlike anything outside the Celestial realm!¡± Lunalah nodded excitedly. ¡°Isn¡¯t it amazing. A true prodigy my planet has now birthed. A true prodigy.¡± ¡°It looked demonic!¡± Silver Tear said. Lunalah scoffed. ¡°Please. You take his Sacred Soul form for a demon? He is the essence of the Iron Bull, through and through, is all.¡± She could almost taste him already. The moment of having him all to herself would soon be at hand. A quick match to vanquish the Warden and then install him in her place. A few months to morn his loss for that whore Silver Light and then she would remind him of her promise of making him a Royal Consort. Perhaps she could even make him a Duke for achieving what he had for the empire. The possibilities seemed endless. The smile was impossible to wipe from her face. ¡°Princess!¡± Lunalah suddenly became aware of the Warden scowling at her again. ¡°What is it, woman?¡± Silver Tear fumed. ¡°Care you not what has become of my nieces? What will befall my clan?¡± Lunalah smiled. ¡°The solution for you is clear, Lady Silver tear,¡± she said. ¡°You simply must not lose.¡± * * * Blue Rose was holding up two fingers, but all I could do was gush with inner tears over my newborn child. I used all my mental fortitude to allow my finger to stroke his face, but I dare not try to hold him. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. My Frenzy was well spent and so too was my time. ¡°What shall we name him?¡± Fia asked looking up at me. I literally hadn¡¯t thought that far ahead. I was just happy for him to be alive. ¡°What about a Terran name?¡± Gui Zu said. ¡°He was born here after all.¡± I thought for a moment more. ¡°Bryce,¡± I said. ¡°It was my dad¡¯s middle name.¡± ¡°Bryce?¡± Kelsey said and then smiled. ¡°Bryce Chun. Nice ring to it.¡± Fia suddenly frown again and then let out a small sob. ¡°Max¡­I thank the heavens for out child, but I¡¯ve gone and made him a bastard now. We are unwed. He will never bear your name.¡± I let out a scoff of [Indifference]. ¡°Fia, after all I¡¯ve been through, I could give a damn about that anymore. When I get home, I¡¯m about to take over this damn planet. We¡¯ll rewrite our own damn rules.¡± She looked at me like I was crazy for a second and then she let out a laugh. ¡°Who am I to stand in the way of your destiny. Thank you, Max.¡± I stroked her cheek as well. ¡°It won¡¯t be safe for you here anymore, Fia,¡± I said and then looked to my family all around me. ¡°For any of you. I killed the bird sisters, but the Warden is still alive and waiting for our duel. I can¡¯t think of what she might try to do to you all in that time. The good news is, both she and the princess think you¡¯re dead Fia. If none of you show back up, they¡¯ll probably assume you all are as well.¡± ¡°What?¡± Hei Dong said. ¡°What are you saying?¡± I looked to Kelsey. ¡°You know where to take them. Take as many as you can from the neighborhood as well. You need to leave tonight, before dawn. If they see no one here in the morning, they¡¯ll assume you all dead.¡± She looked back at me baffled. ¡°Max, its night. Plus, they can¡¯t survive a journey like that.¡± ¡°They can with this,¡± I said and pointed towards her axe. ¡°Hold it towards me.¡± I checked back to the hell world. Blue Rose was holding two fingers up now. ¡°Coming, one more second!¡± I cried to her with my real voice. ¡°Max please!¡± I shifted back to Kelsey and trained my mental focus to grab the axe within my [Spectral] hand while she held it aloft for me. As I internally invoked the technique, Frenzy poured from my spectral body and with it a small piece of my Sacred Soul entered it as well. The axe flared to life with glowing runes as I imprinted everything I had gained from not only Threja but from Fhae I¡¯ung as well. Kelsey¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Holy crap! You just made another Threja¡¯s Sword!¡± ¡°It¡¯s Xam Nuhc,¡± a familiar voice said and when I looked, I saw a mirror image standing across from me, holding the axe as I was. ¡°Xam Nuhc?¡± I said. I realized then I was seeing into the spiritual realm and so was Kelsey by the way she was staring at my red skinned twin. ¡°It¡¯s your name backwards, you damn ,¡± he said. ¡°Weren¡¯t too creative on that one, but oh well. Only you and Kelsey need to know it.¡± , I thought. ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself,¡± Xam said. ¡°But you better get your ass back to Blue Rose before she leaves you on that rock.¡± I couldn¡¯t agree more. I let go of the axe and Xam disappeared. ¡°I have to go, but I¡¯ll be back. I¡¯ll come to find you all after my duel with the Warden. Kelsey will take you to a safe place in the wilderness. Her axe will keep you all safe from the demons and the Bloodmoon. Get going now. All of you.¡± ¡°Not me,¡± Jian Yi said. I looked back at her perplexed. ¡°You¡¯ll need a Barrister to represent your interests during this duel and besides, I can¡¯t leave. I¡¯m the Sect Leader until your return. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll protect us till you come.¡± I smiled. ¡°Thank you, Jyan Yi.¡± I went back to Fia¡¯s side one last time and gave both her and my newborn son a kiss through lips they couldn¡¯t feel. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon,¡± I said. ¡°I promise.¡± ¡°Love you, Max!¡± I raised my hand to her. ¡°I love you bot¡ª¡± My world was violently shaken as my soul rubber-banded back through space and time. I came back to myself in a flurry of sweat as the first rays of the Cursed star began to shine. ¡°I had them wait a whole extra two damn minutes for you, jack ass!¡± Blue Rose screamed. ¡°Now come on!¡± She didn¡¯t have to tell me twice. I leapt from my lotus position and raced to the skiff following Blue Rose. We hopped onboard and one of the legionnaires from the 30th yanked on the tether and the entire skiff began to rise. As we soared into the air, horrid screeches came from below. I looked over the side to a nightmare approaching us. D¨¦j¨¤ vu to my initial descent kicked in as a swarm of Tentacle-rays flew towards us, ready to kamikaze us into oblivion. Blue Rose immediately began slinging daggers into the air, taking down two of them in the process. ¡°We have to fight!¡± she shouted. ¡°We have to fight and defend this skiff or we all die!¡± She was right. I could see the fatigue in everyone¡¯s faces as they rose to battle. My Dantian was far spent as well, just a sliver in the tank left after that massive, long-distance call. I took a swig of Blue Lemonade and topped myself up and then stepped up on the crest of the bow. Anger seethed within me as I focused on the demons below. I¡¯d had enough. ¡°Just piss the hell off, all of you!¡± I screamed and inside my Flame triggered with [Torment of the Frenzied Flame]. The tentacle-rays flew into what looked like an invisible wall, assaulted by the power of my words alone. They fell from the sky in droves as my voice carried across the Hell Scape of Fhae I¡¯ung. My fellow legionnaires came to stand next to me, looking over the railing baffled and confused. They all then look at me as lemonade filled their souls. ¡°What manner of man is this?¡± the Platoon Leader of the 30th said. ¡°Is he even still a man anymore?¡± I was beginning to wonder the same myself. But I let out a scoff of [Indifference]. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m just your average with the heart of an Iron Bull.¡± As I diffused the situation with laughter, we all collapsed within the hull of the skiff. I caught sight of Jei Su Long then, tied to the side railing. There was nothing but hatred and fear in his soul and he quickly diverted his eyes away from me. Dealing with him would have to wait for another day. But right now, I was basking in the warmth of my salvation and the gift of my firstborn child. Blue Rose sat down next to me with a scowl on her face. ¡°So, you going to tell me why the hell we all nearly died waiting for you back there?¡± she said. ¡°What the hell were you doing, Max?¡± I stared back at her and smiled. ¡°A lot of crazy shit,¡± I said truthfully. ¡°But the main thing is, I became a father, Blue.¡± Her mouth fell open as her brows twisted with confusion. ¡°You ?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± I said, as joy filled my soul. ¡°I had a baby boy, Blue.¡± And then it hit me for real and my heart began to race with panic. ¡°Holy shit¡­I¡¯m a dad.¡± Book 4: Chapter 40: (Final Chapter)[Book 4 now complete. STUBBING in a Week]! we all stumbled out of the skiff and into the interior of the xin long like shipwrecked sailors finally reaching dry land. wing pho burst into tears as he collapsed upon the deck and song de did the same. the rest of the 30th were more jubilant about our arrival, sending up salutes of praise.most of them were for me, with praises sung for the iron bull. the platoon of regular infantry, who were on parade for our arrival, were perplexed but none more so than their lieutenant, who rushed forward and pushed through the platoon of celebrating legionnaires. ¡°chun?¡± hein¡¯s face emerged from the crowd and my heart soared with elation when i saw him. his expression was a mixture of incomprehension and awe, but then slowly, it shifted to surprise and elation as well. ¡°chun!¡± he cried out and then ran to clutch me in an embrace. ¡°by the nine hells and the heavens, both! i thought you dead, brother!¡± i laughed and slapped him on the back. ¡°it¡¯s good to see you again too, bro. we¡¯ve got a lot to talk about.¡± ¡°yes, but not now,¡± he said. ¡°you smell like a damn sewer!¡± we both laughed. he then stepped back from me, still looking shocked but more perplexed now. ¡°how are you alive?¡± ¡°long story,¡± i said and then i pushed jei su long ahead of me, with him still bound and gagged. ¡°the rumors of my demise and that of my platoon have a lot to do with the lies of this one.¡± hein glared at him with disdain. ¡°not surprised at all.¡± he then pulled jei su long¡¯s gag off. ¡°what stories do you have for us this time, jei su long?¡± ¡°this man is a monster!¡± he spat immediately. ¡°he has crippled my dantian! me, a member of the twin river clan. we have royal favor. such an act will not go unpunished!¡± he then raised his voice, as if to make the whole platoon hear. ¡°we have royal favor! we shall remember who stands with us and who does not!¡± i was just about to slap the gag back on, when hein gave him a real slap to shut him up instead. ¡°silence! the iron bull being here is proof of your lies! i too am from an influential clan, and i will see to it that you stand trial.¡± ¡°how dare you strike me!¡± he shouted. ¡°who the hell even are you?¡± ¡°he¡¯s my brother-in-law,¡± i said proudly. ¡°and you¡¯d do well to remember that in the future.¡± jei su long snared at me. , i thought. it was a miraculous transformation. one minute a sniveling and whining wretch and the next an arrogant, seemingly untouchable ass again. it was almost as if he could sense his superpowers of political invincibility returning the moment he set foot into even the slimmest form of cultivator civilization again. i was just about to give him a reminder of his place when a shout filled the air. ¡°attention! general on deck!¡± we instinctively all braced at attention as general gong and captain li jang entered the hangar. they all but ran as they caught sight of me, smiles spread across their faces. ¡°this is a miracle!¡± gong said. ¡°when i heard the news, i had to come and see for myself. but here you are, lad. back in the flesh.¡± ¡°do not be so hasty to honor him, general,¡± jei su long said. ¡°this man is a criminal! he has assaulted me, crippling my dantian. and i have witnesses. my family controls this battalion. it will not take lightly what he has done to me.¡± general gong looked to jei su long and then smiled. ¡°a criminal, you say?¡± ¡°yes, this man is a criminal!¡± ¡°he is also a man whom you claim to have killed,¡± li jang said. ¡°how is that?¡± jei su long stumbled with his words for a moment, perhaps not having thought that far ahead in his stupid plan as yet. ¡°c-clearly he must have survived my death blow, someho¡ª¡± his words were cut short by a ringing backhand from blue rose. ¡°that¡¯s enough of your bullshit! no one here is buying it anymore. the iron bull saved not just your worthless life, but what was left of the 29th platoon as well. the only criminal here is you.¡± a silence then fell, as every set of eyes from within the platoon gazed balefully upon jei su long. he opened his mouth to say something but then his bird brain must have finally gotten the clue. it was just as blue rose had said. his bullshit had run out of gas. with everyone. ¡°there clearly is much discrepancy in what transpired during the 28th deployment,¡± general gong said. ¡°and during the two which followed. now that the iron bull has resurfaced, along with members of the 29th which were also thought to be lost, their testimony will be key in determining both the truth and the truth of your own involvement in them, master jei su long.¡± jei su long snared. ¡°what is that supposed to mean? remember who pays for this battalion, general! my uncle, were he here, would not stand for this!¡± ¡°i do intend to inform your uncle right away,¡± gong said. ¡°he may well need to organize a defense for you.¡± ¡°what?¡± gong harrumphed and then turned to captain li jeng, ignoring him. ¡°captain, send a priority qi stone communication to be relayed to du gok bhong. alert the president of the situation. a high magistrate must be summoned from the core worlds in order to arbitrate this matter as soon as we arrive at the academy.¡± ¡°a magistrate?¡± jei su long said, aghast. ¡°you may well prove the iron bull a criminal,¡± general gong said. ¡°but until that time, from what i can see, the only likely criminal here is you.¡± the color drained from jei su long¡¯s face as fear filled his soul. general gong then looked back at me and gave me a wink. ¡°send him to the brig.¡± * * * as they crested the top of the rise, fia saw the wooden structure kel zhi had been describing to them for days now. it was a wall made of logs all stuck into the ground, and she had said the span of it went on for miles. she was likely the first to see it before everyone else, being in a sedan chair now carried on the shoulders of gui zu and kel zhi. within her arms, young bryce slept soundly, which was a miracle considering the night they had had. for three long days now, kel zhi had led them through the wilderness, defending them against the horrors of the bloodmoon at night and giant spirit beasts during the day. being confined to the sedan chair and weak as she was, fia could barely stand being unable to help, but kel zhi proved every bit as capable as max when it came to handling the beasts of the wild. and now, after all these days, their refuge was finally here. if you come across this story on amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from royal road. please report it. ¡°i¡¯ll run ahead to let them know you¡¯re coming,¡± kel zhi said and then handed over the sedan chair duties to two of the dozen or so terran sect members, who had traveled with them. kel zhi bounded off, leaping over the tall wall and when she returned a few minutes later, a huge gate within the wall itself opened and a swarm of people came out with her. fia had heard the stories before¡ªof max and kelsey¡¯s people living out in the wild, but to now see them with her own eyes, it was like seeing people from a totally different world. their manner of dress was unusual as were the way they waved and greeted them with wide smiles and terran phrases she only barely understood. but she knew the words, was a greeting. kel zhi returned with an older man and woman following after her. ¡°fia, this is my mother,¡± kel zhi said in yee. ¡°and this is the leader of the community, colonel hai riz. he¡¯s a soldier.¡± fia did her best to bow while both being seated within the sedan chair and holding little bryce within her arms. ¡°please, tell them i am honored and humbled to be here amongst max¡¯s people.¡± kel zhi relayed the message in terran and they both promptly smiled. the woman, kel zhi¡¯s mother then performed a bow herself and spoke in near perfect yee. ¡°it is a pleasure to finally meet you, fia.¡± it was fia¡¯s turn to smile now as she laughed in surprise. ¡°you speak yee? and so well!¡± ¡°i am learning. we all are.¡± ¡°i am honored to finally meet you as well,¡± fia said. ¡°my name is xu xan,¡± she said. ¡°come, let me introduce you to all of max¡¯s family.¡± as she did so, fia did the same, introducing her mother and father as well as gui zu, yu li and little su ling. they traveled while they made introductions and by the time they reached the village center they were all genuinely laughing and able to communicate with one another on at least a basic level. her mother rhi dong seemed eager to engage with max¡¯s people, but her father hei dong less so. for the last three days he walked in a constant daze, and he did so now at her side, hanging back while the others explored the vast fields of crops and grazing livestock. ¡°is this not amazing, father?¡± fia said, intentionally drawing his attention. ¡°max had cultivated all of this. we could live here for years according to kel zhi.¡± ¡°is that what you wish?¡± he said without looking at her. fia frowned. she knew the losses he faced now were more than just position. he had lost his very existence within yee society. ¡°fear not, father,¡± fia said. ¡°this is but for a season. when max returns, he will put all this right. have faith. and we have a son now. that in itself is a blessing, no?¡± he smiled and looked into the sedan chair to play with his grandson¡¯s cheek. ¡°it is true,¡± he said. ¡°max, always delivers¡­ eventually.¡± he then furrowed his brow. ¡°what is that?¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°on the back of his neck. is it a mole?¡± fia turned the infant¡¯s head and sure enough there was a small birthmark on the nape of his neck. it was barely the size of a pinprick, but slightly pointed. like a triangle almost. except it was upside down. * * * it took me a while to readjust to normal life again. after washing off over a month¡¯s worth of blood, sweat and demon filth, i sat down and ate real food for nearly two hours straight. my companions were with me, but we barely spoke, all of us far too ravenous to waste our mouth time making words. stuffing myself brought on an afternoon nap that lasted for three days, but when i awoke, it felt like my body had gone through yet another transformation again. and not just physical. fighting for 28 hours straight across a blistering, cursed-star-baked hell world was a recipe for all kinds of gains, but to shoot my soul across lightyears to kick ass and take names was in a whole other category. my soul felt stronger than ever before as did my flame and my bodily constitution was matched only by the new density of my dantian. i never set out for my mission on the hell worlds to be anything other than a check box to get back home and defeat the warden, but i had come much farther than that. when i considered where i was on my progression path, i couldn¡¯t consider myself anything less than a high tier sacred soul realm cultivator now. the only masteries i had yet to acquire was of 8th and 9th tiers, with inner world projection and sacred soul manifestation left. and with how powerful i felt now, achieving those would just be a matter of time. that¡¯s exactly what i focused on with the time i had left to travel back to du gok bhong. going over the shuras, adding to the complexity of my inner world and then preparing for the breakthrough of how i would turn my [sacred soul projection] into my own flesh. but i didn¡¯t spend all my time training. if my long-distance projection across the stars had taught me anything, it was that having family and friends was worth way more than the fury produced from losing them. i counted myself blessed to not only still have fia to return to, but also a child. s§×arch* the n??el fire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. i relayed the whole thing to hein and blue rose while on the observation deck one night, recounting what the bird sisters had done and how i had left things back home. hein¡¯s mouth was hanging ajar by the time i had finished along with blue rose. ¡°but they¡¯re all safe you think?¡± hein asked. ¡°out there in the wilderness?¡± ¡°they¡¯ll be fine with kelsey,¡± i said. ¡°she¡¯s a mini version of me, plus the weapon i forged for her will be as strong as any aetherite crystal. they¡¯ll be safe until i return.¡± ¡°until return, you mean,¡± hein said. ¡°i¡¯ll ask general gong for a leave of absence. no way i can head back to the stars knowing my family is in such a situation.¡± i smiled. ¡°i¡¯m sure they¡¯ll all be dying to see you again too, hein. especially the new you.¡± he chortled. ¡°yeah, i¡¯m sure.¡± ¡°i¡¯m coming too,¡± blue rose suddenly said, and we both looked at her. ¡°this really isn¡¯t your fight, blue,¡± i said. ¡°don¡¯t worry. i¡¯m still keeping my promise to you. getting revenge for your family is the first thing on my list once i¡­ well, once deal with back home. it doesn¡¯t have to be reciprocal. plus, you¡¯ve already helped me more than you know.¡± ¡°it¡¯s not reciprocation, asshole,¡± she snapped with a roll of her eyes. ¡°it¡¯s called helping out a friend.¡± i laughed. ¡°okay, okay, fair enough.¡± ¡°what¡¯s this revenge of yours?¡± hein asked. i sensed a sudden jolt of fear come from inside blue rose and she quickly shook her head. ¡°it¡¯s a small matter really,¡± she said, turning her head away from him. ¡°nothing like what you and max are dealing with, master hein.¡± i eyed blue rose warily. ¡°what do you mean a ¡®small matter¡¯? didn¡¯t you say your family was rich as shit?¡± hein furrowed his brow with keen interest. ¡°who is your family?¡± ¡°it really doesn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°it¡¯s yi fae,¡± i said. ¡°her dad was the elixir baron of her world or something.¡± hein¡¯s eyes went so wide they nearly fell out of his head. ¡°you¡¯re a yi fae of genisha?¡± she blushed then and elbowed me. ¡°way to keep a secret, max.¡± ¡°what?¡± i said. ¡°he¡¯s my brother-in-law. it¡¯s safe with him. right, hein?¡± but he was barely even looking at me now. his eyes were instead glued to blue rose with a new kind of interest and intrigue. ¡°max, you are such a , you don¡¯t even realize how much of a you are.¡± ¡°what? what i do now?¡± ¡°there is a reason you must not spread this name,¡± he said. ¡°you have any idea how much money we are talking about here? you think tai su long and his family are influential? is the family that would crawl to in order to borrow money from.¡± i gave blue rose a double take. ¡°is this true?¡± she sighed. ¡°yes, but it doesn¡¯t even matter anymore. it¡¯s all ancient history now. our empire is gone, usurped by my father¡¯s enemies. the most hope i have is to get revenge on the assholes who framed him one day.¡± ¡°there¡¯s far more hope than that,¡± hein said and both blue rose and i, looked at him in surprise. ¡°so long as you live, blue rose, there is hope,¡± he said. ¡°birthright is a powerful claim. your father¡¯s enemies no doubt thought you too weak to survive du gok bhong, but the fact that they knew they had to eliminate you, speaks volumes.¡± for the first time, i saw something that resembled hope enter blue rose¡¯s eyes. ¡°anyway, i have to get back to duty,¡± hein said. ¡°i¡¯ll go see general gong about requesting that leave now.¡± as he left the observation deck, blue rose kept staring at him with that same look of hope in her eyes. ¡°he must look amazing with a head full of hair,¡± she said suddenly, and i shot her a questioning glance. ¡°what?¡± ¡°nothing,¡± she said quickly. i¡¯d never seen blue rose take interest in anyone before. but hein? then i had to remember that he was basically the male equivalent of fia. and fia was hot as hell. plus, yu li fell for him too, and that was before he reformed and turned from mere pretty boy into ¡®officer hardcore¡¯. i chuckled at it all. ¡°what?¡± blue rose said. ¡°nothing,¡± i said mimicking her, but then i smiled. ¡°hein is right though, blue. you may have more of a shot than you think in restoring your family name. plus, in my experience, i¡¯ve found restoring one¡¯s family is a far greater reward than pure revenge alone.¡± as i spoke the words, all i could think about was when i destroyed the bird sisters with my rage and then how hollow i still felt afterwards when i returned to fia. ¡°if not for my son, i don¡¯t know where my soul would be right now,¡± i said. , i thought. . it was odd to even think his name. a name i was now responsible for. for protecting and teaching. to create a better world for. ¡°fine,¡± blue rose said. ¡°but let¡¯s not get ahead of ourselves. you two sound like you have a lot to do before you can focus on any of my problems and you¡¯re going to have another hurdle even before that, once you reach du gok bhong.¡± ¡°what do you mean?¡± ¡°my family might be richer than the su longs, but don¡¯t think they won¡¯t mount a defense. and you won¡¯t even have a barrister to represent you.¡± a smile spread across my lips as i envision the court battle to come. ¡°don¡¯t worry,¡± i said. ¡°there is always trial by combat.¡± i then smiled even wider. ¡°in fact¡­i¡¯m counting on it.¡± * * * it seethed and raged. defeat was not a condition it knew well. but one it abhorred. but through it all, it had accomplished yet a greater task. the husk had proven even more formidable than first assumed. the shell it had conjured to assault its domain was frail compared to it. yet, its original plan had not swayed. a true vessel did it still seek. and a true vessel did it now find. one yet shy of being birthed into the firmament of the prime domain. but it was strong. as strong as the husk. a seed of it, it had sensed. it would be patient for now. it would allow the seed to grow and when fully matured, would it be able to inhabit the vessel now prepared. the vessel now marked¡­for its domain. Book 5 - Intro Blurb and Book 4 Recap Path of the Berserker ¨C Book 5 (A Daopocalypse Progression fantasy)Blurb A world destroyed. An axe to grind. And a path to infinite power. Welcome to my reality. I¡¯ve survived my tour of the Hell Worlds¡­no¡­scratch that.I did more than just survive¡ªI damn well thrived. I¡¯ve unlocked secret knowledge, advanced to the edge of the Sacred Soul Realm and even managed to perform feats of cultivation that no one in history has ever done before me. And now it¡¯s time to put my new-found strength to the test. My path hasn¡¯t gotten any easier and a new set of trials awaits me upon my return home. Good thing I got a damn good barrister and a family of loyal supporters to back me up. Theres been a lot of shady business going on while I¡¯ve been away. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But Daddy¡¯s home now and there¡¯s going to be hell to pay. Path of the Berserker Book 5 is a progression fantasy novel that contains immortal cultivators, an oppressive intergalactic dynasty, rage-inducing imperial bureaucracy, magical spirit beasts, fantastical martial arts and one pissed off MC who¡¯s sick of it all. Fans of western style cultivation fantasy, post apocalypse and Xianxia will enjoy. Click buy to read now! #Max¡¯s Techniques and Abilities Max¡¯s Berserker Techniques Taken from the sacred scripts regarding the Path of the Frenzied Flame. ¡­¡± -Unknown [Frenzied Flame] ¨C [Fear the Flame] ¨C [Mask of the Despised] ¨C [Lust for Battle] ¨C [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] ¨C [Indifference] ¨C [Odds Against Me] ¨C . [My Turn] ¨C . [Death Mastery] ¨C (Max¡¯s Death Mastery Levels) Fear of Uncertain Death (Mastery) ¨C [Foundation Realm] Fear of Certain Death (Mastery) ¨C [Core Realm] Fear no Death (Mastery) ¨C [Sacred Soul Realm] Death Wish ¨C [Deity Realm] [Iron Core] ¨C [Death¡¯s Door] ¨C [Iron Skin] ¨C [Mark of the Beast] ¨C [Mark of the Giant] ¨C [Mark of the Demon] ¨C [Diamond Skin] and [Diamond Core] ¨C enhanced variations of the [Iron/Steel Skin/Core] techniques. [Soul Shield] ¨C . [Sacred Soul Shield] ¨C an enhanced variant of [Soul Shield] that can grant protection from even the rays of a Cursed Star. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. [Spectral Body] ¨C [Spectral Armor] ¨C . [Spectral Weapon] ¨C . [Everyone¡¯s Fear] [Everyone¡¯s Sorrow] [Everyone¡¯s Rancor] ¨C The next ones seemed to be upgrades to my existing abilities, of [My Turn], [Fear the Flame] and [Indifference]. The last one seemed kind of heavy, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of it. I searched further through the Shuras for some more practical manifestation techniques. Max¡¯s Demonic Cultivation Techniques [Absorption] ¨C a demonic technique that renders Qi essence from solid cores. [Devil¡¯s Shadow] ¨C a demonic technique that masks one¡¯s Dantian with the Qi gained through [Absorption]. By absorbing the essence of a sliver of Lightning Core implanted in his body, Max is able to mask his Frenzied Core as a normal lightning core. [Faux Lightning] ¨C by combining [Absorption] and [Devil¡¯s Shadow], a small sliver of lightning core can be sent to Max¡¯s meridian to create a small spark of lightning. Max¡¯s Martial Training One and Two handed Axe Mastery ¨C derived from a standard training manual. Phalanx Glaive Mastery ¨C perfected under the tutelage of Venja and Iron Pot Wong Axe and Glaive Mastery ¨C a combined martial form utilizing the quick strikes of the axe in conjunction with the slow and heave strikes of the Phalanx Glaive Max¡¯s Self Made Martial Techniques [One/Two Log Chop] ¨C a powerful vertical cleave utilizing the power of Frenzy [One Chop Cleave] ¨C a powerful spinning horizontal chop designed to fell a tree in one blow. [Struggler¡¯s Lightning Fist/Blade/Cleave of Fury] -¨C a group of hybrid spiritual techniques involving the partial projection of his [Spectral Body] and [Spectral Weapon] for a single attack that can cause Lightning, physical and spiritual damage simultaneously. Max¡¯s Lightning Techniques [Frenzied Lightning] ¨C by utilizing solid frenzy and sending it to his meridian, Max is able to produce Lightning the same as a Lightning Qi master. [Lightning Arc Strike] ¨C manifests an arc of lightning that is cast from the edge of his blade. [Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls] ¨C a manifestation technique that releases a large burst of [Frenzied Lightning] from Max¡¯s body. [Wrath of a Million Slain Souls] ¨C an enhanced variant of [Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls] [Lightning Splits the Towering Oak] ¨C a technique combining [Frenzied Lightning] and [Three Log Chop] to produce a devastating killing blow. [Steel Lightning] ¨C an ablative armor technique utilizing a combination of [Steel Skin] and [Frenzied Lightning] [Lightning Walk] ¨C a modification of the [Air Walk] technique combining [Frenzied Lightning] to produce the ability to walk on air. [Ride the Lightning] -¨C an advanced form of [Lightning Walk] utilizing the power of [Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls] to move at incredible speeds. Max¡¯s group affiliations, titles and martial rankings Furious Lightning Sect -¨C Sect Leader Terran Sect ¨C Founder, Leader and Warden Wooden Bracket League ¨C 1st place Ranking and overall winner Iron Bracket League ¨C 1st place Ranking and overall winner Gold Bracket League ¨C 92nd Ranking Du Gok Bhong Academy ¨C Graduate Legionnaire #The story so far Max¡¯s mission to the Hell Words is immediately derailed by the appearance of Tai Su Long, a governor from the core worlds and uncle to Jei Su Long. As the Su Long family is a major sponsor of both the Academy and the military transport the Xin Long, Tai Su Long is able to exert his influence over President Tzu Li Zen and forces him to grant Jai Su Long a new title of Senior Platoon Commander above Max. The mission is further interrupted by a distress call from the planet El¡¯Dshar which has suffered a meteor strike from one of the cursed stars. Max assists in battle and saves a young Lieutenant which he later discovers is Hein. The two have a rocky reunion at first, but his time in the military has changed Hein greatly and Max and he soon learn to become friends as well as future brothers-in-law. Max suffered a few more trials on the way to the Hell World with first having to participate in an exhibition match with a High Tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator named Rhe Su Long, which he wins by default, but by embarrassing himself and his opponent. As punishment, Max and the battalion are forced to join a planetary assault on a native world, led by the very same team of Lesser Deity Realm Cultivators who conquered the Earth. While on the planet, Max manages to hide away a small portion of the local population which hopes he can save later save once he has more influence within the empire. On their descent to the Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ung, Jei Su long double crosses the entire platoon and leaves them all to die, but tells the powers that be that Max killed the entire platoon and that he eventually killed Max in self-defense. He then convinces his uncle to give him authority to go on another two tours as ¡®security and oversight¡¯. Back on Earth Fia is preparing for her upcoming trial against the three bird sister and is helped by her mother to learn a new martial art that will allow her to defend herself without putting stress on her body or the baby. While Fia trains on Earth, Max trains on the Hell World after finding a refuge underground. He learns how to project his Sacred Soul and in doing so discovered there is a planetary Spirit of Fhae I¡¯ung dwelling deep inside the planet. Max uses his projection technique to teleport his spirit to find her and discovers that she is under attack by a Deep Dweller. After defeating the Deep Dweller, Max realizes Fhae I¡¯ung is already dying. She uses the last of her strength to gift Max with new revelations from the Frenzied Flame as well as secret knowledge of the true relationships between the Frenzied Flame, the Greater Will, I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and the One True Flame which is the embodiment of the Cursed Stars. Max uses this new knowledge to train and grow stronger while he awaits the next tour of legionnaires to arrive. When they do, Max meets up with them, only to see Jei Su Long again as well as Blue Rose, but through Jei Su Long¡¯s incompetence, the skiff and most of the platoon is lost. Max, furious for what Jei Su Long has done, cripples him by destroying his Dantian, but stops just short of killing him thanks to Blue Rose, who counsels him that he will need Jei Su Long alive to face court and help clear his name. Max keeps Jei Su Long alive while they make a plan to trek across the Hell World to the next drop zone. Kelsey, who has been training under the Bloodmoon, discovers the demonic reincarnation of Hong Feng growing ever stronger. She is able to connect with Max while he is on the Hell World and Max tries to convey to her that he is still alive. Princess Lunalah learns of Max death and is painfully distraught, but decides to keep the news from reaching Fia so that she may vengefully injure her with the news on the night of her match with the bird sisters. Princess Lunalah travels to Jurin Province for this sole purpose and ahead of the match, publicly announces Max¡¯s death which causes Fia much emotional distress. Kelsey tries to refute it, but Fia is torn and confused. As a result, when the match begins, the bird sisters get the better of her and manage rip off her robes, revealing Fia to be pregnant. The princess, incensed that Fia now carries a child which she believes should have been hers, orders the Warden to ensure both Fia and the baby are killed in the match. The Warden relays the order to her nieces and the Lady Silver Hawk manages to kick Fia in the stomach, gravely wounding both her and the baby, but is stopped from causing further damage by Kelsey who jumps into the ring. At the same moment, the demonic Hong Feng breaks into the arena, now super powered by a cosmic gate in his chest and partially inhabited by I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. In the turmoil, the bird sister flee, leaving Fia going into labor and fearing the baby is already dead. Kelsey tries to connect to Max to convince Fia that he is still alive. She finds Max while he is just about to depart the Hell World and Max uses his [Spectral Projection] technique to appear back on Earth in a spectral form. He joins Kelsey in defeating I¡¯xol¡¯ukz and Hong Feng, but is enraged when he sees what the bird sisters have done to Fia. He chases after them and brutally slays them as retribution for killing his unborn child. He is about to take on the Warden next, but is out of time and is further stopped by the Princess who is overjoyed to see Max still alive. The princess promises him a proper match with the Warden upon his return, but envisions her own future with Max, thinking that Fia and the Baby are already dead. Max returns to Fia to find she has given birth to a son, which somehow survived the trauma. Max names him Bryce and uses his [Sacred Brand of the Frenzied Flame] technique to imbue Kelsey¡¯s axe with a portion of his spirit, turning it into a barrier producing weapon just like Venja. He then tells Kelsey to take the entire family into the wild as the Warden and Princess already assume them all dead. He still has two weeks to get back to Earth and doesn¡¯t trust what might happen to them while he is still away. Max returns to his real body just in time to get off the Hell World and reunites with Hein on board the Xin Long. Jei Su Long is sent to the brig to await trial once they return to Du Gok Bhong. Kelsey gets Fia and her family to the settlement out in the wild and they see hope there, but Fia then notices a small birth mark of an inverted triangle on the back of the baby¡¯s neck. I¡¯xol¡¯ukz, having finally found its true vessel in the form of Max¡¯s son, has marked him to be inhabited once he reaches maturity. Book Book 4 KU Release Tomorrow! [RR Chapters Stubbing Tonight] Hey all,To assist with the launch, If you have the opportunity to leave a review or even pick up a copy tomorrow, I''d greatly appreciate it. To do so you can click the link on the cover image above. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. In sadder news, my Dad unfortunately passed away yesterday in hospital. I wish to thank everyone for all their well wishes over the past couple of weeks while he was getting treatment. While its been quite the blow, as you can imagine, I am thankful to God allow he allowed me a great about of time to spend with him before the end. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That said, I have quite a bit to deal with over the next couple of weeks while I settle his affairs. I''ll be back to start book five as soon as I can. My thanks everyone for all of your support. It''s truly appreciated. Sincerely, ~Rick Book 4 Live on Amazon Today! Hey y''all, Just me again with a reminder that Book 4 is now live on Amazon and KU. Link is here -> https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DVKHTWLV If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Or you can click the cover image above. If you have the time to leave an amazon review or even grab a copy now is the time! Its been a great launch so far and every little bit added will make it even better. My thanks in advance if you can! Appreciate the support, guys! Best, ~Rick Book 5 - Prologue Lunalah¡¯s insides curled as she re-read the letter from her older half-sister. , she thought. For all her luck in finally securing a clear path to the Iron Bull, now this woman throws a further obstacle in her path. It had only been days now since the Iron bull had revealed himself to her, projecting his Sacred Soul across the stars. That feat alone was worthy of some kind of ascension, but it seemed he would have a trial even before arriving home now. ?¨¤??????¨¨? Lunalah looked across her desk to where her aide, Ling Wei, was waiting patiently for a reaction to Rheutera¡¯s letter. The girl knew as well as she did the truth regarding the letter she had sent, instructing the Iron Bull to return from his Hell World mission alone so that Terra could benefit from the imperial reward. In retrospect, it was a rash and hasty act. One born of desperation for balancing the planet¡¯s finances. But now it had become a weapon in the hand of one of her sisters. No way could she afford to have something like that revealed in court. ¡°Ling Wei,¡± Lunalah said. ¡°You are trained as a barrister, are you not?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ling Wei bowed humbly. ¡°Indeed, I am your majesty.¡± ¡°What do you make of it then?¡± she said. ¡°This letter.¡± Her brows furrowed with uncertainty. ¡°What aspect, your majesty?¡± ¡°Well can she prove my letter is real or not?¡± Ling Wei again looked stumped for an answer. Lunalah sighed. ¡°Perhaps I need to make myself more clear. Is it possible to prove my letter was fraudulent?¡± ¡°That is¡­a great challenge indeed, your majesty, considering it is not.¡± ¡°Who says it is not?¡± Ling Wei blinked. ¡°I suppose only those who consider it is not?¡± The girl was being careful around her. As well she should. But she was also quite clever. Lunalah smiled at her. ¡°Exactly. So, who is needed to say my letter is a fraud to convince those who say it is not?¡± Ling Wei¡¯s eyes shifted to the side in thought. ¡°Well¡­ perhaps the best and only way, would be for the Iron Bull to deny its authenticity?¡± Her heart soared. The Iron Bull would be needed to come to her rescue yet again. ¡°Yes. Surely with his standing now, they could not deny such a testimony.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that is if he agrees.¡± ¡°What do you mean ?¡± ¡°He would have received the letter from you already, your majesty. He would know it is authentic.¡± Lunalah could not fathom what she was talking about. ¡°Then tell him it isn¡¯t. I will simply write to him again to tell him to deny it in court.¡± ¡°Your majesty, I have dealt with the Iron Bull previously,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°He is not one easily tamed. Or commanded.¡± , Lunalah thought with a wicked smile. It was just those qualities that brought a stirring of her desire. A wild untamable beast. But one she would make her own. ¡°We must use tact then,¡± Lunalah said. ¡°Let us commence drafting the letter immediately.¡± ¡°But time has passed since this letter arrived, your majesty. The Iron Bull is likely to arrive at Du Gok Bhong in a matter of weeks. A letter may not reach before his arrival.¡± She was right. Time was of the essence. Lunalah smiled at Ling Wei. ¡°Then you shall attend to Du Gok Bhong as my royal hand. The Iron Bull will no doubt need a barrister to defend him from the treachery my elder sister has planned. You would be the perfect envoy.¡± Ling Wei blinked in surprise. ¡°Me? I¡­ well yes, your majesty. I suppose so.¡± ¡°You must convince him that the letter is a fake and ensure both he and I are delivered safely out of the net that has been cast by my elder sister, understood?¡± Ling Wei bowed. ¡°Y-yes your majesty.¡± , she thought. But she would ensure his success by any means. ¡°You will travel by my own imperial vessel to arrive in time for the Iron Bull¡¯s return to Du Gok Bhong,¡± Lunalah said. ¡°And you will return with him on the same.¡± She then smiled. ¡°I wish to be the first to greet the Iron Bull on his return home. He will then immediately have his duel with Lady Silver Tear for control of Jurin Province. From there I will see what other accolades may be befitting of the trials he has overcome upon the Hell Worlds.¡± , she thought with a smile. She then thought a moment more. The Iron Bull had just lost his betrothed and child. He would be nursing deep wounds. Wounds she yearned to heal with her own warmth. But she had to be certain that it was only warmth that he would seek. Even sending the likes of Ling Wei was perhaps a risk. ¡°Ensure you spend no more time with him than necessary,¡± Lunalah said. Ling Wei raised a brow. ¡°The man is grieving, Ling Wei,¡± Luanalah said. ¡°Or did you perhaps forget his recent loss? It would not be appropriate for an unwed woman such as yourself to be in such close proximity to a man perhaps seeking comfort. Your relationship must remain strictly professional. Is that understood?¡± Ling Wei looked aghast. ¡°Why of course your majesty! I would never dream of any such impropriety taking place!¡± S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The girl seemed almost offended, but in truth Lunalah envied her. The thought of spending a week or so alone with the Iron Bull aboard her imperial cruiser was a thing of fantasy. The temptation was almost enough for her to force going on the trip herself, but such a move would be too bold for many reasons. One, she would not dare to confront her older sister in person, especially upon her home territory. And two, she could not so quickly make her intentions with the Iron Bull known. , she reminded herself. The hard part was over. Ridding herself cleanly of the Iron Bull¡¯s betrothed was accomplished. All she had to do now was fulfil his every desire for power. And that started with clearing both his name and hers. ¡°Ensure the Iron Bull knows that his discretion regarding the letter will hold very high reward,¡± she said. ¡°Reward that I will bestow upon him personally on his safe return.¡± ¡°I will, your majesty,¡± Ling Wei said but still looked unsure. Lunalah didn¡¯t like that. The task had no room for error. ¡°Ensure you do not fail me either, Ling Wei,¡± she said and then narrowing her eyes threateningly, she made sure the message was clear. ¡°For future relies on the success of the Iron Bull¡¯s trial as well.¡± Book 5: Chapter 1 As I peered out the view port of the drop skiff, the twisted spires of Du Gok Bhong came into view and a sense of relief and nostalgia washed over me. I smiled. Who would have thought I¡¯d be so happy to see a damn prison again. But here I was. My final pitstop before being able to return to Earth, fight for my freedom and see Fia and my newborn son again. But a fight was waiting for me here as well. As we touched down and the doors to the skiff opened, the familiar stench of sulphur greeted me. But that wasn¡¯t all. On deck were a cluster of people awaiting our arrival and when I saw who they were, I was filled with elation and chagrin, both. I gave a bow of respect towards President Tzu Li Zen, Chief Yora and Master Eiji, all of whom looked more than happy to see me. Less so were the cluster of people standing next to them. There was a tall man with a full white beard and bald head that I didn¡¯t know, but whom I assumed was the magistrate judging by his imperial robes and funky hat. Joining him was none other than Governor Tai Su Long himself as well as a group of three men who wore barrister¡¯s robes. That was to be expected, I supposed, but most surprising was the last figure, whom I recognized but couldn¡¯t quite believe was standing there. It was Princess Lunalah¡¯s aide, the one who had accompanied me on the skiff to the prison transport. I thought, trying to remember. Before I had a chance to think further, Jei Su Long was pushed off the skiff by my soon to be brother-in-law, Hein. Jei Su Long still had his hands bound and when Tai Su Long saw him, he immediately went into a tirade. ¡°What is the meaning of this!¡± he screamed. ¡°Release my nephew at once!¡± A chuckle came from behind me, and I looked over my shoulder to see Blue Rose shaking her head. ¡°And so it starts, right? What bullshit.¡± I merely smiled at her, holding a fa?ade of [Indifference]. Blue Rose knew as well as I, the fight that lay ahead. Clearing my name from the accusation of that prick Jei Su Long, who would now be backed by his uncle and a team of barristers it seemed. But I didn¡¯t care. I couldn¡¯t give a shit how the court case actually went. So long as it ended in an eventual trial by combat, I was all in. General Gong stepped off the skiff next and quickly issued a command to Hein. ¡°Release him to the custody of President Tzu Li Zen,¡± he said and then turned to Tai Su Long. ¡°Governor, as per my communication, your nephew stands accused. It is fit that he remains¡ª¡± ¡°And crippled!¡± Jei Su Long suddenly cried out, cutting him off. He then turned to me. ¡°That man! The Iron Bull crippled my Dantian! He is a liar and a savage. He survived my killing blow somehow and now he seeks to¡ª¡± ¡°That will be enough, young master!¡± one of the three barristers with Tai Su Long said. He then bowed to Master Tzu Li Zen. ¡°President, I would demand that Young Master Jei Su Long be released to the custody of his uncle.¡± ¡°That decision will be mine,¡± the tall man in the magistrate¡¯s robes said, stepping forward. ¡°President Tzu Li Zen, I will remand both the Iron Bull and Young Master Jei Su Long into your custody pending the outcome of this trial. As far as I understand it, this is a highly complicated matter, with claims being launched from both sides. As I am yet to hear official opening arguments from either side, I want both under the care of a neutral party.¡± Tzu Li Zen bowed. ¡°It will be done, your honor. Both the Iron Bull and Jei Su Long will be confined to private quarters.¡± He nodded to Yora and with a snap of her fingers a set of legionnaires took Jei Su Long away, kicking and screaming. Chief Yora herself came to do the honors for me personally, giving me a smile as she gently took hold of my arm. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°It¡¯s good to have you still in the flesh, Iron Bull,¡± she whispered to me. ¡°Your friend Blue Rose shared everything with us. This court case will be but a formality.¡± ¡°Thanks, Chief,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s good to be back.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you had time to focus on your artwork?¡± I grinned at her. ¡°Trust me. What I have to show you, will literally blow your mind.¡± Her smile widened as she led me away and President Tzu Li Zen gave me a swift nod as we passed by him, but nothing else, perhaps to not to seem biased in front of the magistrate, but the lemonade in his soul spoke volumes. As I passed by Governor Tai Su Long, he shot me a nasty snare. ¡°You will pay for what you have done to my nephew,¡± he said with hatred and anger in his heart. ¡°You have crippled a member of the Su Long family, a very influential family within the Twin River Clan. We have the favor of our princess! You will pay with your very life, Iron Bull!¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I would not be so certain of that,¡± a voice said. The interjection came from Ling Ling or whoever she was. She approached Tai Su Long with an air of confidence that seemed unreal, hands behind her back and all. She then gave him a polite bow. ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± Tai Su Long spat. ¡°This One is Ling Wei,¡± she said, and instantly I recalled her correct name. ¡°I am personal aide to Third Princess Lunalah of Terra and the appointed legal representative of the Iron Bull.¡± Tai Su Long harrumphed. ¡°A barrister, eh? Good. He¡¯ll need it.¡± He gave me the stink eye as he departed with the three barristers of his own. Ling Wei then gave me a bow. ¡°It is a great relief to see you again, Master Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Yeah, you too,¡± I said. ¡°Didn¡¯t think I was going to have a barrister for this, but you¡¯re more than welcome to represent. So, you¡¯ve come to extract me from this mess?¡± She smiled. ¡°In all hopes. But there is much we need to discuss.¡± ¡°You can do that once he is confined,¡± the magistrate said. ¡°I will give both parties an hour to confer with their respective counsel. After that the trial will begin.¡± He then frowned. ¡°I wish to be away from this stinking place as soon as possible.¡± * * * Out of the sight of the magistrate, Chief Yora pulled me to the side and allowed me to have a brief reunion with my friends. There was the towering Tu¡¯lok as well as the Ren brothers Ku Ren and Lo Ren. They all embraced me like madmen, tears in their eyes with being so happy to see me alive again. Blue Rose shared in the reunion as well, enduring a crushing hug from Tu¡¯lok. Master Eiji greeted both of us with slaps on the back, staring at us as if we were both returned from the dead. And for all intents and purposes, I suppose we were. We fell into quick conversation then, all of them eager to hear how we had survived the horrors of the hell world for weeks. Before I could even get going however, our conversation was cut short by a clearing of the throat from Ling Wei, who then reminded us of the one-hour time constraint. Chief Yora then hurried them to speed things along and I said quick goodbyes to my friends before Yora took me to my old room and led me inside with Ling Wei. ¡°I¡¯ll forgo the lock,¡± Chief Yora said with a smile. ¡°But I trust you to behave, Iron Bull. I leave now to have the assembly for the return of the 30th deployment. After the trial, hopefully we can have the same for you and what remains of the 29th.¡± She left then and Ling We immediately began diving inside a satchel, pulling forth documents. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time to prepare,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°Tell me exactly now what transpired upon the hell world.¡± I sat down and prepared to give her the full story, albeit the quick version considering the time. ¡°That prick left us down on the surface for dead,¡± I said. ¡°He even killed a handful of my men before he did it. I did attack him, that much is true, but he used one of my legionnaires as a shield.¡± I paused for a moment, considering Dim Wei and how horribly she had died. Screaming for me to kill her while she transformed into a demon. ¡°They suffered horribly because of what he did,¡± I said. ¡°I was lucky enough to use one of the tunnels we had dug for shelter, which led to a cavern below. That cavern is why I and the rest of the 29th are still alive.¡± ¡°So what happened when you saw Jei Su Long again?¡± ¡°I nearly killed the bastard of course. My companion Blue Rose stopped me just short of that. But knowing the prick he is, I couldn¡¯t risk him pulling something while we waited for the next transport, so I pulled out his fangs instead.¡± ¡°So you did cripple his Dantian.¡± ¡°Yup,¡± I said proudly. ¡°I hope it never recovers too.¡± Ling Wei scribbled some notes down. ¡°And his version of events?¡± ¡°He told everyone he killed my ass after he witnessed me killing everyone else.¡± ¡°What did he say about the letter?¡± ¡°You mean the one from the Princess?¡± ¡°Yes, I mean¡­ no, there was no letter from the Princess. But what did he claim?¡± I eyed her warily. ¡°He said he found it on my body, but that¡¯s bullshit because he snatched it out of my hands months before. I didn¡¯t realize he hung onto it all that time. What the hell are you talking about there was no letter?¡± A bit of fear bubbled up inside of her. ¡°Well¡­ we have reason to believe that the letter itself was a fraud. Written by perhaps the Governor and sent to Du Gok Bhong under the guise of the princess.¡± I studied her and watched her melt like wax under my gaze. ¡°You expect me to believe that shit?¡± I emphasized my words with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve] causing Ling Wei to shift uncomfortably in her seat. ¡°Well, it is a theory that somehow¡ª¡± ¡°Let me spare you,¡± I said, cutting her off. ¡°No way the contents of that letter came from anyone besides the princess.¡± Even now I could recall the cringy inuendo dripping from each word. ¡°Either that, or the Governor has one sick ass imagination.¡± Ling Wei finally blew out a sigh. ¡°Fine, I knew you would never believe it, but I had to try.¡± ¡°Had to try what? What are you even saying?¡± ¡°Iron Bull, the contents of that letter are damning to the princess.¡± ¡°Yeah, no shit,¡± I said. ¡°It was like she was begging me to bang her or something.¡± ¡°Not that part!¡± she said covering her ears. ¡°By the heavens your words are so vulgar!¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Did you not recall where she requested you return alone?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Yeah, of course. That¡¯s probably where the dumb prick got the idea.¡± ¡°Well, in a certain perspective, something like that could be considered treasonous.¡± ¡°Treasonous?¡± That got my attention 100 percent. ¡°Like the princess can be accused of treason?¡± ¡°If it is not proven a fake, yes,¡± Ling Wei said. I leaned back in my chair and let out a whistle. ¡°Hot damn.¡± I thought. This could be the leverage I needed to oust the princess eventually. Or at least force her to do perhaps whatever I say. ¡°Master Iron Bull,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s imperative that you deny the authenticity of this letter. The safety of our princess and by extension, your world, depends on it.¡± I thought on that a moment. ¡°How am I supposed to do that? Other people saw it too, you know?¡± ¡°Did they?¡± ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know how you think this is going to work, but I¡¯m honestly more concerned about clearing my name at the moment. That bastard Jei Su Long had me pegged for murdering my own platoon, and I ain¡¯t going to lie down for that.¡± ¡°So we are in agreement then,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°The idea of murdering your platoon must remain a fabrication by the Su Longs.¡± ¡°Yeah, but his previous story of finding the letter on my body is where he messed up. That¡¯s like my whole defense. Kinda¡­¡± ¡°You being alive is proof,¡± she said. ¡°Yeah, but you heard that prick just now. He¡¯s trying to say I merely survived the attack. The letter is the clincher.¡± Ling Wei sighed. ¡°I need a moment to think. I have only minutes to prepare an argument.¡± She then paused a moment before looking back at me. ¡°What was it you said just now about Jei Su Long lying about the letter?¡± ¡°He said he found it on my body. Which is bullshit. He took it off me weeks prior.¡± Ling Wei stared at the ground while she rocked back and forth in her chair. ¡°I may have an idea that will clear your name,¡± she said eventually. ¡°But you will need to deny that letter while on the stand.¡± Book 5: Chapter 2 I had a roiling mixture of emotions churning through my gut as I made my way towards the assembly quad behind Ling Wei. Perpetrating a fraud wasn¡¯t my style. Straight up and direct was the Berserker way. But having a trump card to hold over the princess¡¯s head wasn¡¯t anything to sneeze at either. Still, did I have the stomach to do this? The story didn¡¯t make sense to me, so how would it look to everyone else? Plus, Blue Rose and Tu¡¯lok had read the letter as well. I wondered for a second if perhaps Tai Su Long and his lawyers had already figured this out. Proving the letter was a fake was damn near impossible. If that was going to be our defense, then I couldn¡¯t see how it could possibly work. But I was in Ling Wei¡¯s hands now. For the most part she said to keep quiet. I might not even have to say anything. And considering what I might to say, that would be just fine with me. We descended the stairs, and the wide expanse of the courtyard greeted me with more nostalgia. I could almost envision the ranks of Brown, White and Black Robes who had perhaps just left the bi-weekly assembly that had welcomed the 30th deployment home. Now, instead of ranks of tributes, there was an impromptu courtroom set up, complete with a dais for the magistrate and robed off boxes for the plaintiff and the accused. I for once was in the plaintiff box, led by Ling Wei. I looked around, hoping for some moral support from Blue Rose and Tu¡¯lok, but Ling Wei cautioned that them being called as witnesses might work against us. I still didn¡¯t have a good grasp of her plan, but I was going with the flow for now. Across from me, Jei Su Long was gathered with his uncle and three barristers. The barristers were conferring with one another like crazy, almost seeming to be in an argument. ¡°That a good sign?¡± I asked, nudging Ling Wei towards them. ¡°Perhaps,¡± she said, ¡°We won¡¯t know until we present our case and see how they respond.¡± The magistrate was joined by President Tzu Li Zen and Chief Yora and once they took seats flanking him, he banged his gavel. ¡°I now bring this court to order,¡± he said. ¡°I, High Magistrate Dim Fok will now preside over this matter.¡± I snorted out a laugh when I heard his name and had to stifle it quickly with a stone-cold grimace of [Indifference]. Ling Wei glared at me from the side. ¡°What is the matter with you?¡± she whispered in a hiss. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. ¡°His name sounds like something kind of funny in my native tongue.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯d better shape up. He is a high magistrate from the core worlds. You do not want to offend him, even in this makeshift court.¡± Luckily old Dim Fok didn¡¯t seem to hear me and continued on with the proceedings. ¡°I have with me two writs it seems today,¡± he said glancing over some documents in his hands. ¡°A writ by the Iron Bull against Master Jei Su Long and a counter writ by the Su Long family against the Iron Bull. I will now allow the counsel for the Iron Bull to present their writ.¡± ¡°Thank you, your honor,¡± Ling Wei said with a bow. ¡°Our case against Master Jei Su Long is a simple one. Jei Su Long falsely claimed that he witnessed the Iron Bull slay his entire platoon on the hell world of Fhae I¡¯ung. He then further claimed that he fought and slew the Iron Bull himself and found a so-called official letter penned by Third Princess Lunalah on his body that commanded this action. Our claim is that none of that is true and the letter was falsified by Jei Su Long to cover his actions, which were to not only slay several of his own men, according to the testimony of the Iron Bull but to also leave him for dead.¡± ¡°And your evidence?¡± the magistrate asked. ¡°The fact the Iron Bull still lives is proof that Jei Su Long¡¯s entire story was fabricated. How could he have found a letter on a body if there was no body? The entire story is fabricated in order to shift the blame of Jei Su Long¡¯s crimes from himself to the Iron Bull. He is the one who should be charged with the loss of the 28th deployment and face the consequences of not only committing the act, but shamefully trying to cover it up.¡± Ling Wei stepped back and I had to give her a little nod of appreciation. She had mastered the details of everything already. In like an hour. ¡°And the defense?¡± the Magistrate said, as he wrote something down. One of the barristers from the Su Long family stepped forward. ¡°Your honor, it is clear that this clanless native seeks to besmirch the name of the Su Long family, in an act of vengeance. Master Jei Su Long maintains his version of events. He caught the Iron Bull in the act of killing his own men, and in a selfless act of bravery, Master Jei Su Long took on the Iron Bull. Clearly with the evidence now presented. That of the Iron Bull being alive, the only logical conclusion is that Master Jei Su Long, weary from his battle, mistook the Iron Bull being simply unconscious, for dead. He found the letter and left. Somehow, the brute managed to survive and now here he is, furthering lies to protect himself from the truth.¡± ¡°And you also have a counter claim?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the barrister said. ¡°We now charge the Iron Bull with the crime of an unsanctioned assault against a fellow martial sect, crippling a member of the Twin River Clan in a senseless act of revenge. Clearly, he was not strong enough to defeat Jei Su Long before and resorted to this cowardly act so that the Young Master would not be able to defend himself under martial law.¡± I was rocked back on my heels with how much bullshit he had just spouted. Ling Wei however, looked nonplussed. ¡°And evidence?¡± the Magistrate asked. ¡°We have the letter your honor,¡± the Barrister said. ¡°Penned by Third Princess Lunalah herself.¡± ¡°Allegedly!¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°There is no proof that letter is real.¡± ¡°It is marked with Princess Lunalah¡¯s imperial seal,¡± the barrister said. ¡°Seals can be faked.¡± The magistrate banged his gavel. ¡°Order, these arguments are irrelevant to the claims before us. Are there any counter arguments from the plaintiff?¡± ¡°We have, your honor.¡± ¡°Speak then,¡± Dim Fok said, looking almost bored as he continued writing without looking up. ¡°Your honor, the defense has laid its cased based only upon the testimony of Jei Su Long. However, if there was any truth to Jei Su Long¡¯s story, even if the Iron Bull miraculously survived his killing blow, would it not have served the Iron Bull¡¯s interests to slay him, when he had a second chance?¡± The magistrate finally looked up this time. ¡°Second chance?¡± ¡°The Iron Bull saved Jei Su Long¡¯s life during the 29th deployment. If the matters were as Jei Su Long claims, the Iron Bull would have sought to silence him through death. But he did not. He crippled him for safety but that is all. Also, how would it have been possible for Jei Su Long to even bring the Iron Bull to a state of unconsciousness? The Iron Bull at the time of the deployment was within the Sacred Soul Realm. Master Jei Su Long is still within the Core Realm. None of his testimony makes logical sense.¡± ¡°The letter does though, your honor,¡± one of the Barristers said. ¡°There was no motive for Master Jei Su Long to do anything that the plaintiff claims. But there is plenty of motive held within that letter for the Iron Bull to do so.¡± ¡°A letter penned by the Su Long family, your honor,¡± Ling Wei said. Tai Su Long suddenly burst into yells. ¡°Blatant lies! That letter can stand for treason!¡± ¡°Order!¡± the magistrate yelled. ¡°Your honor,¡± one of the barristers said. ¡°The defense stands by its testimony. The letter was clearly found on the unconscious body of the Iron Bull. He was in possession of it. Not Jei Su Long.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Bullshit!¡± I shouted. The courtyard went silent and I suddenly found myself on center stage. Ling Wei was looking back at me with warning signs in her eyes, subtly shaking her head, but I didn¡¯t care. That damn bastard had gotten away with far too much already. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Jei Su Long took that letter from me weeks ago. He hatched the plan because the letter gave him the idea. He¡¯s a weak, pathetic piece of shit who killed his own men. If he can¡¯t mount a proper defense then order him to sort it out in the ring! Because I¡¯m damn well ready to fight him or whoever else he chooses to cover for his weak ass!¡± The magistrate was banging his gavel like a blacksmith, trying to get control of the court as all manner of shouting words broke out. I got a little bit of lemonade from Chief Yora and the President, but inside Ling Wei all I could sense was fear. ¡°What the hell have you done!¡± she hissed at me in another whisper. ¡°I told you not to say anything! Not only do you say something, but you say what I told you not to say!!¡± She was probably right, but I didn¡¯t give a shit about the Princess either at the moment. The pandemonium continued as Ling Wei banged her palms against her temples. ¡°The defense wishes to file a second counter claim, your honor,¡± one of the barristers said as the court settled down. ¡°Based on the Iron Bull¡¯s statement, we conclude that the letter is authentic. We thus file, on behalf of Second Princess Rheutera, a writ against Third Princess Lunalah for inciting treason against the throne.¡± ¡°Shit!¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°Your honor that statement should not be allowed!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll allow it,¡± he said. Slowly I was beginning to see the bigger picture unfold. Maybe that was what they were arguing about earlier. This thing seemed to have less to do with me and Jei Su Long and more about that letter and the princesses. ¡°Think, think,¡± Ling Wei said to herself as she paced in a circle. Suddenly she looked up at me, her eyes a deathly stare. ¡°Alright Iron Bull. You said you¡¯re looking for a fight. Then I hope you¡¯re ready for one. A big one.¡± Before I could even gather what she was saying, she yelled to the magistrate: ¡°Your honor, I present this final argument. The defense is claiming two counter arguments that cannot co-exist. If their claim is that the letter is authentic based upon the Iron Bull¡¯s statement, then that would mean the statement from Jei Su Long is false. So which is it? Is Jei Su Long a liar, leaving the letter to be true, or the opposite?¡± She then turned to look at Master Tai Su Long. ¡°What say you, Governor Tai Su Long? Is your nephew a liar deserving of death? Or are you standing by his story, which proves the letter a fake. It can not be both.¡± ¡°Objection!¡± one of the barristers cried. ¡°She should not be speaking directly to our client!¡± The magistrate rubbed his beard. ¡°I¡¯ll allow it. Answer for your client. Is the boy lying or not?¡± A mischievous grin spread across Ling Wei¡¯s face and in that moment, I understood how this unassuming woman was a true genius in disguise. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°We need a brief recess your honor!¡± one of the barristers said and as soon as it was granted, they went into a huddle. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± I asked. ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°Just be ready for what comes next.¡± My curiosity was piqued and when the other side finally got their act together, it looked as if Tai Su Long had swallowed a cactus. His face was red and he looked like he wanted to die. Jei Su Long however was in a much worse state. He was shaking visibly and tears were streaming from his eyes. ¡°Your honor, I wish to address the court directly,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°You may, governor. What say you to the accusations?¡± ¡°The Iron Bull¡¯s statement is proof that letter is authentic,¡± he said and then paused a moment. ¡°Which makes it clear, that my nephew¡­ has lied.¡± I laughed inwardly as Jei Su Long burst into sobs like the damn crybaby he was. ¡°We wish to now claim a martial defense, your honor,¡± one of the barristers took over. ¡°But more importantly we wish to officiate the writ against Third Princess Lunalah as a result.¡± ¡°A martial defense?¡± the magistrate said. ¡°And who will stand for the defendant seeing as he is a cripple?¡± ¡°We will need time to summon a suitable proxy,¡± the barrister said. ¡°As you rightly said, Jei Su Long is now a cripple and¡ª¡± ¡°His uncle is suitable, your honor,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°To claim a martial defense mid-trial they must have a proxy ready to stand, else Jei Su Long must face the full consequences of the sentence.¡± ¡°I will have to agree,¡± the magistrate said. ¡°A proxy must be put forth, but is the Iron Bull of equal standing to Master Tai Su Long?¡± ¡°He is of the diamond bracket now, your honor,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°Having completed his tour of the hell worlds.¡± ¡°Yes, but I am a governor,¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°I can not be dragged into martial combat with a man of such lowly standing as the Iron Bull.¡± ¡°I beg to differ, your honor.¡± All eyes turned to President Tzu Li Zen who had spoken. The magistrate wrinkled his brow at him. ¡°You wish to speak in my court, Master Tzu Li Zen?¡± ¡°I do,¡± he said and then stood. ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°Your honor, the Iron Bull has accomplished something this four thousand year old institution has never seen before. He has survived for over forty days on a hell world and saw to the survival of others as well. A single tour is but a day upon such a place. While unofficially this breaks every measure we have, officially he survived three tours. As such, his return here today, makes him not just a legionnaire, but an Imperial Marshal.¡± Hushed whispers went through the court as chills went up my spine. ¡­ I wasn¡¯t even considering that. ¡°As such,¡± Tzu Li Zen continued. ¡°He would be more than equal to face a mere governor. He in fact should officially outrank me. Or any who have come before me. He should be considered not just a Grand Marshal, but a High Grand Marshal and perhaps the first and only in history to accomplish such a ranking.¡± As Tzu Li Zen sat back down, I could sense the lemonade in the air. They all looked at me like I was a god. A huge spike of fear came from Tai Su Long. He was looking at me with new eyes as well. And I pressed it by letting him have a glimpse into the [Focused Fury] of my [Burning Soul]. As my eyes lit up, he seemed to take an involuntary step back. ¡°Your honor,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°I believe that more than settles the matter. In fact, it may be clear that the governor is not of high enough ranking to face the Iron Bull and unable to mount a martial defense.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Tai Su Long suddenly blurted. ¡°I¡­ I do not have the standing.¡± ¡­ I thought. . ¡°Uncle?¡± Jei Su long said. ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°Governor, will you no longer mount a martial defense?¡± the magistrate asked. All eyes turned to Tai Su Long and the cowardly piece of shit folded like tissue paper. ¡°It is clear, this¡­ this trick has rendered me unsuitable at the moment.¡± The magistrate harrumphed unimpressed. ¡°Then your nephew shall face the full consequences of the charges raised against him,¡± Dim Fok said. ¡°Do you understand?¡± The pathetic nephew and uncle duo shared one final sad look, before Tai Su Long responded. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Uncle!¡± Jei Su Long cried. The magistrate banged his gavel. ¡°I rule in favor of the Iron Bull. You, Young Master Jei Su Long have been found guilty of the murder of your platoon and will be sentenced for your crimes.¡± ¡°Wait, your honor,¡± Tai Su Long spoke again. ¡°We beseech your mercy in sentencing. The boy is already rendered a cripple. The Iron Bull has had his revenge. Please allow him to return home to his family.¡± The magistrate shrugged. ¡°That decision is not mine to make. I was summoned to discern the truth of this matter and I have. As Jei Su Long is still an official ward of Du Gok Bhong, I will leave it to the president to determine his fate.¡± A cold chill blew through the courtyard as a smile drew across President Tzu Li Zen¡¯s face. He then stood. ¡°The legionnaires are a brotherhood. The actions of Jei Su Long go against everything this institution stands for and his punishment shall be fitting of such.¡± ¡°President!¡± Tai Su Long said. ¡°Remember whose domain you dwell within. We ask for mercy.¡± Tzu Li Zen¡¯s face became grave. ¡°Those ties no longer extend to behind these walls, Governor. Not for this. As Jei Su Long chose to execute his peers, so too will he be executed before them.¡± Jei Su Long¡¯s mouth hung open. ¡°What?¡± ¡°A general assembly will be called at sunset,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°To suffer the same fate as those he left behind on the Hell World of Fhae I¡¯ung, Jei Su Long will face the horrors of the Bloodmoon as a mortal.¡± ¡°No!¡± Jei Su Long cried. ¡°You can¡¯t do this! I¡¯m innocent!¡± ¡°Silence!¡± the magistrate shouted. But Jei Su Long kept up his rant, now pulling on Tai Su Long¡¯s robes. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you fight, uncle? You need to fight for me! What will my mother say? Are you a cowa¡ª!¡± The ringing backhand from Tai Su Long sent his nephew sprawling across the ground. ¡°Idiot!¡± Tai Su Long shouted down at him. ¡°Face your destiny like a man. It¡¯s your foolish actions that led to this and now your sacrifice is necessary for the greater good of Lui Shui and the princess. For the sake of my sister, I¡¯ve done everything I could to protect you. But you have gone too far this time.¡± Jei Su Long held his face to his hand in stunned silence. I could almost feel sorry for the bastard. Almost. That piece of shit deserved everything he had coming to him. Even the betrayal by his pussy of an uncle. But at the moment, I couldn¡¯t tell who the bigger piece of shit was between the two of them. I looked at Tai Su Long and smirked as I shook my head. The bastard avoided eye contact like the plague, and I could sense his soul shriveling up with fear inside of him. , I thought. And soon I hoped. The magistrate banged his gavel. ¡°The sentence for Jei Su Long is death. President, you may remand Jei Su Long into custody until his execution.¡± The kid began to scream and wail, then suddenly he was on his feet and running towards me. ¡°You did this!¡± he screamed. ¡°You did all of this, you bastard!¡± I responded with a shit eating grin. ¡°Damn right, skippy. And I hope you burn in hell.¡± I said the words with [Torment of the Frenzied Flame] and he stopped dead in his tracks as if struck by a bullet. He fell to his knees then, curling into a ball and crying. ¡°He is not natural!¡± he screamed. ¡°There is something wrong with him. Don¡¯t you all see it? He¡¯s some kind of demon. A monster!¡± I chuckled. For once the kid wasn¡¯t wrong, but Chief Yora was already on her way to collect him from the ground. As she picked him up, I gave him a final nod and smile. A cold realization filled his eyes then and he looked beside himself. I chuckled. ¡°So long, Jei Su Long.¡± He didn¡¯t respond right away. Merely looked back at me perplexed. ¡°What the devil are you?¡± he said. As Yora led him away I felt a sense of both closure and emptiness run through me. The asshole was getting what he deserved, but that wouldn¡¯t bring my men back. Dim Wei. Juk Sui. All of them I prayed this would at least bring them some comfort. Wherever their souls might be. * * * The law had worked in my favor for once, but not without a price it seemed. After Jei Su Long was led away, the lawyers went back at it, discussing the matter of the princesses and the damn letter. I could barely keep track of it all, but eventually the magistrate banged his gavel again. ¡°Madam counselor,¡± Dim Fok said to Ling Wei. ¡°We have gone back and forth over the arguments several times now. How do you respond to the writ against the Third Princess Lunalah? The accusation is serious and would have to go before a high council.¡± That sound serious. I didn¡¯t even know what the hell a high council was. ¡°We wish to raise a defense by martial means,¡± Ling Wei said without skipping a beat. ¡°And the Princess¡¯s proxy will be none other than the Imperial Marshal known as the Iron Bull.¡± I looked down at her. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°I told you to be ready for a fight,¡± she said. ¡°A big one.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t got time for this shit!¡± ¡°We have no other choice.¡± .bg-container-10448ed3ed0{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } .bg-ssp-10448{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;display:flex;justify-content:center;} .bg-container-10448f61e68{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } ¡°What do you mean ¡®we¡¯?¡± ¡°We accept the challenge, your honor,¡± one of the barristers said. ¡°We will await the summons from the High Council and identify a suitable proxy to represent the Princess Rheutera to face the Iron Bull within that time.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Dim Fok said. ¡°The matter is adjourned for now. Both parties should expect a summons before the High Council within eight months. I suggest both parties use that time to prepare.¡± He then banged his gavel one last time. ¡°Court dismissed.¡± As the various parties went to their respective corners, I couldn¡¯t help but think I had just gotten myself screwed over again. I had a wife to marry, a son to raise and a planet to free from a degenerate princess, that I was now forced to defend before a High Council? ¡°Shit,¡± I cursed, causing Ling Wei to jump. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m the real Dim Fok here.¡± Book 5: Chapter 3 The sky was bathed in the crimson rays of sunset as we gathered at the edge of the barrier. The entire assembly was formed, just as President Tzu Li Zen had promised. I found myself tethered to Blue Rose, Song De, Wu Liang and Wing Pho, all of us representing the lost deployments returned. We were grouped together and positioned atop a dais that had been erected close to the barriers edge. Front row seats for the main event that would soon transpire. Out about a hundred feet from the edge of the barrier and staked to the ground by a set of chains, was Jei Su Long. He was in a set of gray robes. A true prisoner now. He wasn¡¯t gagged, but for once he wasn¡¯t saying anything. I could sense his fear from even where I stood a hundred feet away. In mere minutes his life would be violently ripped from him and for once, there wasn¡¯t a damn thing he could do about it. At the far end of the dais his uncle looked on. The man hadn¡¯t risked a look at me as yet, but I could sense a seething mixture of fear and hate inside of him as well. The fact that I could cultivate it however, said it was truly all directed towards me. President Tzu Li Zen and Chief Yora then joined us on the dais. We saluted them and then Tzu Li Zen took center stage, bringing us all to attention. ¡°Tributes!¡± he shouted in a resounding voice. ¡°We gather this evening for an occasion that will be forever marked in the history books of Du Gok Bhong. One of our own has been found guilty of not only crimes against his fellow legionnaires, but of a scheme to both cover it up and shift the blame to someone else.¡± He then paused and glanced towards Tai Su Long. ¡°There was a time when such things were tolerated at this institution, but the dawn of a new era is at hand. The time of seeing good legionnaires lost from outside influence is over. We will stand proud as those who are charged to do what the rest of the empire dare not. To face the horrors of the Hell Worlds. To see the unseen. And tell tales of the unspeakable. We few will now stand tall upon our accomplishments and resist those who war against us, both inside and out.¡± As his words echoed across the expanse of the desert, a sense of pride welled within me, and within the faces of my colleagues as well. For Tai Su Long however, it was as if a dagger had been plunged into his back. He shot the President a glancing stare and from within him a new sense of hate emerged. ¡°The Bloodmoon now rises,¡± he continued. ¡°Jei Su Long, for the crimes you have committed, you are now condemned to die. The first wave of demons is already on the horizon. If you have any final words, now is the time.¡± The entire assembly went silent. Jei Su Long looked up at me. For a second, I almost expected to see some kind of contrition. But then, true to form, he scowled. ¡°You¡¯ll all pay for doing this!¡± he shouted. ¡°Think you have won? My family will crush this institution and everyone in it! Starting with you, President Tzu Li Zen! You could have granted mercy, but you didn¡¯t!¡± He then looked at me. ¡°And you¡­ you¡¯ll die at the hands of one of my family. It will not be forgotten what you did to me, Iron Bull!¡± Tzu Li Zen harrumphed. ¡°Sadder last words have never been spoken. Only the heavens can have mercy on your soul.¡± ¡°To hell with all of you!¡± he screamed. ¡°Even you uncle! To hell with you!¡± Jei Su Long then began pulling on his chains as he looked over his shoulder behind him. A weird, gurgling cry then escaped his throat as he gazed towards the Bloodmoon now cresting over the night horizon. It was then I realized he was already under the effects of the Dark Frenzy. His eyes were wild with fear and panic and within his soul I could already sense it succumbing to the Demonic Qi. Without a Dantian to push back against it, he was the embodiment of what would happen to any mortal caught under the effects of the Bloodmoon. He began screaming like a banshee. Howling and crying. ¡°This is barbaric,¡± Tai Su Long muttered, as he averted his gaze. But for me and everyone else. We just looked on. The rays of the Bloodmoon were not strong enough to transform him physically like it did Dim Wei and the rest of my platoon, but he at least experienced the same agony they did before they died. Of losing his mind to the otherworldly presence of an outer god. Even as the thought emerged, I could sense the monster¡¯s presence consuming his soul. Jei Su Long began laughing then as well as screaming, fits of hysterical laughter between wails of sheer terror and pain. After a while he ceased to be Jei Su Long and just became the latest poor bastard to fall victim of the war between humanity and Hell. Suddenly, he stopped screaming and looked right at me. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His eyes were pitch black circles and I could sense a new presence there. ¡°¡± he spoke with words not fully his own, his voice reverberating with a dual tone. He riled up in a frenzy again, screaming and ripping at his chains. My ears sharpened at that. That wasn¡¯t Jei Su Long at all. That was I¡¯xol¡¯ukz. And what did it mean about my seed? ¡°Let me go!¡± Jei Su Long suddenly cried, reverting to his true self again. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die! I don¡¯t want to die like this! I don¡¯t want to go where are!¡± His pathetic pleas for help continued amidst the laughing fits as a stampede of demons barreled across the desert toward him. They were the normal variety, not a Star Cursed in the bunch, but still more than capable of tearing him apart, body and soul. ¡°Please!¡± he cried. ¡°Help me! Please!!!¡± His final cry drew into a high-pitched wail of panic as the horde slammed into him. The monsters ripped him from where he stood, tearing the limbs from his body as his arms were still tethered to the chains. There wasn¡¯t anything to see after that. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Only the chilling screams of pain and horror as he was torn apart. Finally, after a few seconds even they were silenced. When the demons finally moved on, the chains were empty and bloodied. Jei Su Long was no more. * * * What should have been a moment of triumph and justice, for me became one of contemplation and concern. What the hell had I¡¯xol¡¯ukz meant about my seed? I instantly thought of Fia and Bryce. Was it somehow aware that I now had a son? ¡­ I cursed inwardly. Just as I felt like breaking formation and running into the effects of the Bloodmoon to make a long-distance call, Governor Tai Su Long stepped across the dais towards us. His face was a visage of pure anger and grief. ¡°As my nephew rightly said,¡± he spoke to Tzu Li Zen directly. ¡°Your lack of mercy will not be forgotten and nether will your words.¡± He then shot a glance at me. ¡°I will see you in court.¡± He turned and left then, storming off the dais. Tzu Li Zen let out a scoff. ¡°And so the die is now cast. Fates be with us.¡± It was my turn to give him a stare of question. ¡°Sir?¡± ¡°We will discuss it all, in a moment,¡± he said. ¡°For now, there is some unfinished business to yet complete.¡± Before I could understand what he even meant, President Tzu Li Zen took center stage again and then addressed the assembly. ¡°Now that that unpleasant but necessary business is over, I wish to now switch focus and honor those who have returned to us from the Hell Worlds. May the legionnaires of the 29th deployment step forward.¡± Confused looks shot between Blue Rose, Wu Liang, Song De and Wing Pho, before Chief Yora gestured for them to stand next to the president. ¡°These here have survived not just one, but two official tours of the Hell Worlds,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°Let us honor them as they take on now, their well-earned jade trim as full-fledged legionnaires.¡± The assembly broke into whistles and applause as Chief Yora did the honors, granting each of them a strip of jade ribbon that she placed bout their necks. Blue Rose looked back at me and smiled excitedly. It was the first time I could remember seeing her looking so happy for once. ¡°I now call forth the sole survivor of the 28th deployment,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°The Iron Bull!¡± As I stepped forward, a hail of applause and lemonade washed over me. ¡°It goes without saying that the Iron Bull has made history at Du Gok Bhong,¡± Tzu Li Zen continued. ¡°Having officially survived three tours, he is now granted the title of not only legionnaire, but Imperial Marshal.¡± Chief Yora then approached me and stood on her tiptoes to drape a set of jade and gold ribbons around my neck. ¡°Congratulations,¡± she whispered. ¡°Marshal Iron Bull.¡± A chill ran through me as she addressed me by my new title. I was still reeling from that when Tzu Li Zen addressed the assembly again. ¡°It will go without saying that the rank of Imperial Marshal is woefully understating what the Iron Bull has accomplished. He has survived on the surface of a Hell World for weeks and is the sole reason these members of the 29th deployment have returned home safely as well. Their combined fortitude sets a new standard and will see the Academy achieve new heights of success. We now eagerly await the secrets the Iron Bull has gleaned upon his excursion, as it will no doubt aid us in our battle against the Cursed Stars. Let us, once again, congratulate him for this remarkable achievement.¡± As the applause went up, I was faced with an ocean of adulation and praise. I was almost too embarrassed to cultivate it, my eyes welling with tears. In the crowd, I spotted Hein, along with General Gong and Captain Li Jeng. They bowed to me and then President Tzu Li Zen did as well. The assembly finally broke and I was mobbed by the hundreds of Black Robes surrounding me, starting with Blue Rose. ¡°An Imperial Marshal?!¡± she said, her eyes wide with awe. ¡°Holy shit! Congratulations, Max!¡± ¡°Congratulations, Imperial Marshal!¡± Wing Pho said with a bow. ¡°All hail Marshal Iron Bull!¡± someone else shouted. ¡°Master of the Hell Worlds!¡± ¡°Marshal Iron Bull!¡± ¡°Marshal Iron Bull!¡± The shouts of praise and slaps on the back continued, causing my head to spin. ¡°Let us not forget,¡± Tzu Li Zen said, more to the Black Robes than the full assembly now. ¡°The Iron Bull has spent more days upon a Hell World than anyone in history. He outranks me now in terms of ability.¡± He then cracked a smile. ¡°But he will have to return to serve his full duty to wear those already well-earned stripes to outrank me officially.¡± I shot the president another quizzical stare, but he merely laughed again, causing everyone around us to as well. I spent close to half an hour, being greeted by every color of robe in the assembly. Finally, Ling Wei found me as the crowd thinned out. ¡°The imperial transport is ready to depart,¡± she said. ¡°I trust you have now served your duty and are free to leave Du Gok Bhong?¡± I looked to Chief Yora and the president. ¡°Not until you have a full debriefing,¡± Yora said. ¡°And remember you need to transcribe your new art collection as well.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I might need an extra day or so Ling Wei.¡± She smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sure the princess wont mind. It will give me a chance to communicate your arrival to her in advance.¡± As she turned and walked away, President Tzu Li Zen slapped a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Well done, Marshal,¡± he said. ¡°But now that we are alone, I wish to make my true intentions known to you.¡± ¡°True intentions?¡± I said. ¡°The execution today was more than the putting down of a vile coward and a monumental pain in the ass,¡± he said. ¡°For the Su Long family and indeed even the Princess Rheutera, it was a declaration of war.¡± I stared back at him stupefied. ¡°What?¡± ¡°They would have expected me to offer Jei Su Long clemency,¡± he said. ¡°By not doing so, I crossed a line. But it was your return that gave me the courage to do so.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± He chuckled. ¡°I meant what I said just now, about you returning to earn your stripes. I realize you have other matters to address, not least of which will be defending your princess against the accusations by princess Rheutera. I have no idea who they will put forth to challenge you, but after what you have accomplished, I have no doubt, that you will soon be, the strongest cultivator in the mortal realm.¡± He said it without a hint of bullshit or humor and the steady look in his eyes said he was seeing the unseen. ¡°For now, your exploits upon the Hell Worlds will be a thing of whispers and rumors. This will work to your advantage while you consolidate your power. People will be wary of you. But when the time is right, you must return to Du Gok Bhong to finish what you have started here. In preparation I will write to the emperor himself to establish a new ranking of Supreme Grand Marshall. One you will immediately qualify for.¡± I looked at him, stupefied again. Yora laughed. ¡°You really can not grasp what you have accomplished, can you?¡± ¡°How can he?¡± Tzu Li Zen said laughing with her. ¡°He is too humble in his ambitions. But trust me Iron Bull, once your exploits become widespread, you will be tested, as will this academy. They will fear you, but with the granting of this title, you and by the extension, the Academy will be protected by will of the emperor himself.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Yora said. ¡°We need only suffer the loss of funding till then.¡± Tzu Li Zen harrumphed. ¡°I would suspect the Governor is even now planning to beseech his elders to withhold our funding for next year. Which is why you must return as soon as possible, Iron Bull.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand. How would me returning have anything to do with funding the academy?¡± ¡°When you reveal your true power, people will fear you, some may even try to destroy you if they believe you are still weak. But when the emperor himself acknowledges what you have achieved, every cultivator in the realm will cower, just as Tai Su Long did in court.¡± He then looked out at the Bloodmoon. ¡°For all the strength of cultivators, they lack the mental fortitude necessary to face the unknown. You will have accomplished something impossible in their eyes. You will be feared as a dark god. When that happens, I will be in a position to seek patrons other than the Su Longs, but also of greater support by the emperor himself.¡± That suddenly made me think of Blue Rose and her family ties. ¡°Actually, I know someone who might have access to a lot of money already.¡± So long as I could restore her family title, that was. ¡°That is good,¡± he said. ¡°The academy has fallen out of favor in the public eye, but with you, it will be placed squarely in the forefront again. It¡¯s your accomplishments that gave me the fortitude to make this step, Iron Bull. For too long I have had to endure the mockery of people like the Su Longs. But I meant what I said in my speech just now. With your triumph, all that ends today.¡± I suddenly felt a new weight of responsibility fall upon my shoulders. A Supreme Grand Marshal? I couldn¡¯t even fathom it. But everything Tzu Li Zen said, was right. A title like that would paint a huge bullseye on my back right now. And I had a lot to achieve before then. But the stance he had just taken set the stage for a greater conflict to come. That against not just the Hell Worlds, but the very scum of the empire who ignored it. The thought brought on a stirring of my Twin Dao and a flare of my Flame. This was indeed both the Demon and Struggler¡¯s new path combined. I chuckled inwardly with chagrin. The scope of my battle against the empire, just got a hell of a lot wider. Book 5: Chapter 4 The plan was to leave Du Gok Bhong by evening the next day, which gave me about ten hours, starting from dawn, to keep my promise to Chief Yora and share the knowledge I had gleaned upon the Hell Worlds. After a hardy breakfast, I hit the library and began making my insertions into the tome that contained the monstrous illustrations, curtesy of my predecessor, Imperial Marshal Wi Chu Lou. It was a bit surreal that I was now following in exactly the same footsteps¡ªadding new illustrations of the demonic creatures, providing descriptions and names and even signing with the same title now: Imperial Marshal Max Chun. When President Tzu Li Zen and Chief Yora came to check up on me, I provided them a slide show presentation and much to my surprise, even they suffered mental strain from viewing the drawings. Most surprising however was when I told them that I had encountered a Deep Dweller. After priming them, I showed them the picture I had made of the monstrous Spider woman, G¡¯hru¡¯julah, and was shocked when they both only saw a blank piece of paper. It was a reminder of just how much I had been exposed to. ¡°I suppose we may never know what one looks like,¡± Chief Yora said, staring at the page. ¡°You alone will hold that secret. Or at least until either the President or I have a breakthrough to withstand what you are now showing us.¡± ¡°Truly remarkable,¡± Tzu Li Zen said. ¡°Now, you must explain to us how you managed to survive upon the Hell World. Is it something we can replicate as a new strategy?¡± ¡°Not easily,¡± I said. ¡°Finding that deep cavern with a chunk of aetherite at the bottom was the key to our survival. It protected us from the rays of the Cursed Star and healed us when needed. I didn¡¯t have the luxury to test the theory of how common such set ups might be, but from what I could gather, I lucked out in many ways finding that when I did.¡± ¡°So not a guaranteed strategy then,¡± Tzu Li Zen said, nodding conclusively. ¡°What else have you learned?¡± I went into some smaller details about the eco systems of the planet surface, how I navigated, avoided behemoths and even what I did for food. They were perplexed by my affinity for the scorpion meat. Even now I still had a taste for the stuff. I pondered internally for a bit how much else I could share regarding the secret knowledge I now possessed. I knew the true correlation between the Bloodmoon and the Cursed Stars, how the aetherite was formed and why. Going into all that would perhaps not even be helpful in terms of strategy. Considering both Chief Yora and the President¡¯s reaction to the drawing just now, to seek out and destroy a Deep Dweller was a task perhaps only a Berserker could undertake. Besides that, the levels of Dark Frenzy would need a [Soul Shield] technique to withstand. I decided to keep the rest of the debriefing basic with them, but once finished I made a pledge to ensure my knowledge was shared in some way. Once they had left, I paid a visit to Master Eiji in his lab. He had access to a furnace, and I put in a request to have a bit of my axe handle melted down into a thin sheet. ¡°What¡¯s this for?¡± he asked. ¡°A drawing I¡¯m working on,¡± I said. ¡°I want to make a stencil of it.¡± ¡°You can use something a bit cheaper than this,¡± he said, pointing to my axe. ¡°Nah,¡± I said. ¡°I want it to last a long time.¡± Thankfully Eiji merely shrugged and after filing off a sliver of material from my axe, he assisted me in melting it down to something the thickness of a soda can. ¡°Perfect!¡± I said. ¡°Thanks, Master Eiji.¡± ¡°No problem, Marshal.¡± We both had a chuckle at my new title and then I returned to the library. Once I was sure no one else would be coming inside, I evoked my [Brand of the Frenzied Flame] technique and inscribed the thin sheet of Corrupted Steel with every ounce of secret knowledge I possessed. I describe what Fhae I¡¯ung had revealed to me, about the alien origins of the Greater Will and how it sought to recreate our realm by first destroying it, through the power of the First Flame, and remaking it in its own image. I then described the origin of the Frenzied Flame and how a single human concept caused it to come into being. The act of defiance. An instinctual rebellion against annihilation. Even as I thought on it, I felt it resonate with my Flame. I added information about I¡¯Xol¡¯ukz next, the Chain maiden I¡¯xan¡¯dra and notes about Fhae I¡¯ung and G¡¯hru¡¯julah. There wasn¡¯t a whole lot of space left, but I ended my inscription with what I saw as the true cosmic struggle at hand. As I sat back to admire my engraved handiwork, I could not help but feel a bit of permanence now added to my progression. Not that my Strength could falter and regress, but now at least, even if I failed, there was now a record of the knowledge I had obtained that could be understood by any Berserker that followed after me, to continue the great struggle against the stars. I pressed the thin leaf of corrupted steel into the inside back cover of the book and then closed it before sealing it away. * * * I made use of the rest of the day to get in some meditation time before doing my final rounds of goodbyes. As I sat in the courtyard, I inhabited my inner world and relaxed on the lakeside beach. This had become my default retreat. A place where I could gather my thoughts, study or even practice martial arts and techniques if I wanted. But I decided this could not be the inner world that I would seek to project to accomplish my next tier of advancement. I brought up the Sacred Soul Tier Levels in my mind. Sacred Soul Realm 1st Sacred Soul Formation 2nd Sacred Soul Refinement 3rd Sacred Soul Inhabitation 4th Sacred Soul Evocation This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. 5th Sacred Soul Projection 6th Inner World Creation 7th Inner World Refinement 8th Inner World Projection 9th Sacred Soul Manifestation I had been refining my lakeside home for ages now, but that wouldn¡¯t be the world I would want to project. I recalled when Threja used [Furnace of the Frienzed Flame] during that first battle and how the sky had turned dark and was streaked with fire. I perhaps couldn¡¯t feel it then, but the entire atmosphere was perhaps exuding Frenzy. Since my execution of the Bird Sisters, a new thought of what my [Furnace of the Frenzied Flame] should be, had come to my mind. Just like with Threja, my Inner World Projection could be a weapon if crafted right. I evoked the multiple spheres of my inner worlds and selected the one I had been working on for the past few days while on the transport to Du Gok Bhong. It had originally started as my mental image of when I was on the spiritual surface of the moon. But after experiencing the Hell Worlds and the divine radiance of a Cursed Star, there was no question what an ultimate trump card arena would look like for me. As I touched the sphere, my surroundings instantly change, turning from peaceful beach to a rocky desert under the oppressive light of a Cursed Star and a waning Bloodmoon both. Just looking up at the turbulent sky brought back memories, but that was all they were for now. I had no idea if I could power my inner world with their unearthly powers to be true sources of Cursed and Dark Frenzy to scorch my enemies while I remained protected within my [Sacred Soul Shield], but it was something to aspire to. The framework was at least in place. I just now needed the artifacts to absorb to bring them to life. I was still trying to figure out what that would even mean. Perhaps another trip back to the Hell Worlds was in order. But at least I would have a focus for my down time now. With the battles I had yet to come, I would probably need to advance to the Lesser Deity Realm sooner than later. Which was even more reason to perfect Inner World Projection before making my attempts at Tier 9, Sacred Soul manifestation. Like all the realms before it, mastery of the 9th Tier was basically entering the 1st Tier of the next Realm. I had already proven pretty formidable with just the ¡®ghost¡¯ form of my Sacred Soul. I could only imagine how much power I could crank out if that became my actual body. And that was before I would even put my normal manifestation techniques to use, like [Mark of the Giant] [Mark of the Beast] and [Mark of the Demon] on top of that. I wondered for a moment if they could even be stacked on top of one another like that. Or if perhaps taking on my [Spectral Body] was a manifestation in and of itself. I supposed that I would have to wait until I broke through to the Lesser Deity Realm to find out. That made me even more eager to¡ª ¡°The last time I found you here sitting on the ground, you were moping about not being able to fly.¡± The interruption stirred me out of my inner world, and I opened my eyes to find Chief Yora smiling down at me. I smiled back at her. ¡°That brings back some interesting memories.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interrupt but there is one final official task for you before you depart.¡± I looked at her quizzically. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Come with me,¡± she said. * * * I was racking my brains trying to figure out what this could possibly be. I had given my report, updated the demon manual and hell even left a secret note behind for some future Berserker to find. But as Chief Yora led me to the far side of the courtyard, I saw a group of Black Robes all gathered together and from their makeup I started to get an inkling of what this was all about. Most of the Black Robes were s, way more than half in fact, but common among all of them were the large Phalanx Glaives resting on their shoulders. ¡°Is that the phalanx platoon?¡± I asked. Yora chuckled. ¡°Yes. It is customary for departing Legionnaires to select a Phalanx guard. Gathered are all those who qualify.¡± ¡°Damn, I¡¯d nearly forgotten about that.¡± ¡°It would normally occur with the return assembly, but as you had a somewhat unordinary promotion, I decided to arrange this special selection for you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feel like I really need a bodyguard,¡± I said. ¡°Perhaps not you, but for many, especially those who return home with their minds and souls damaged from Demonic Qi, it¡¯s a necessity. It is in fact, for just that reason the phalanx guard exists.¡± I frowned as I thought back to some of the weak and struggling legionnaires I had seen return home in the past. ¡°I never really gave thought to that. Perhaps I¡¯ll forgo this to leave phalanx for those who truly need it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be silly,¡± she said. ¡°This represents an opportunity for the phalanx as well. It is their way to leave Du Gok Bhong. And, not to mention, that for you, as an Imperial Marshal now, having such a retainer would be almost expected.¡± I stopped. ¡°Wait, so I need to have a ¡®retainer¡¯ now?¡± It didn¡¯t quite make sense to me. ¡°But I would be much stronger than any phalanx. What purpose would that serve?¡± Chief Yora chuckled as she placed both hands on my shoulders like a proud aunt. ¡°Iron Bull, for as powerful as you have become, you still have much to learn to navigate the ways of Yee society. Especially that which you are about to enter now. Your retainer will be for your political protection and status. Not to mention, there are some conflicts now, which must fall below you. It will be the role of you retainer to address such matters.¡± I thought on that a moment. ¡°Like a mini-boss?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is, but they should be someone you can trust. They will be oath bound to be loyal to you to death. Come now, they are waiting.¡± As we approached the platoon, they all stomped their feet to attention. I hadn¡¯t given any thought to who I would select to be my retainer, but there was only one person that came to mind. ¡°Where is Tu¡¯lok?¡± Yora chuckled. ¡°Already selected by your friend, Blue Rose.¡± ¡°Shit,¡± I cursed. ¡°That bitch stole him from me?¡± Yora shrugged. ¡°Apparently.¡± As I looked over the faces within the platoon, I spotted the woman who reminded me of Threja. I still didn¡¯t know her name, but I remembered she defended me when that ass Jei Su Long tried to ridicule me about not being able to fly. ¡°I choose her,¡± I said, pointing to the giant woman in the crowd. Yora lifted her brows. ¡°Oh¡­ so you choose to rob us of our best Phalanx instructor, do you? Very well then.¡± She then lifted her voice, calling to the woman. ¡°Mal¡¯kira, step forward.¡± As she did, the rest of the platoon let out a gasp. It puzzled me for a moment, until I realized most people looked almost sad to see her go. She came to stand before me, dwarfing me by a head or so and then immediately dropped to one knee. ¡°I swear my loyalty to you, Marshal Iron Bull,¡± she said. ¡°While I still take breath, I will serve you till my very last.¡± She then glanced up at me. ¡°But, should you somehow predecease me, rest assured, I will find my way back to Du Gok Bhong to fulfil my service.¡± ¡°Your service is well fulfilled, Mal¡¯kira,¡± Yora said. ¡°You have been selected and you must go.¡± S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°But who will train them now, Chief Yora?¡± she said and then stabbed a thumb over her shoulder. ¡°Ghim¡¯jo?¡± ¡°Oy!¡± someone, who I assumed was Ghim¡¯jo shouted out in mock offense. That caused a rumble of laughter to ripple throughout the platoon. ¡°We¡¯ll manage,¡± Chief Yora said. ¡°You¡¯ve earned your freedom twice already now. And like before, I will look forward to your return.¡± I gave Chief Yora a double take. ¡°She¡¯s left twice already?¡± ¡°I have,¡± Mal¡¯Kira said. ¡°But considering you are now my master, I don¡¯t expect to be returning here anytime soon.¡± It was a compliment I realized, coming with a chuckle and a hint of lemonade. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°I do plan on returning myself. Just have a few urgent items to deal with first.¡± She then bowed to me deeply. ¡°I am at your command.¡± I felt even more assured about my choice considering what I knew of her now. She was loyal to the core, and to the cause of the academy as well. I returned her a bow. ¡°I suppose you had better get packed up while I make my final rounds then Mal¡¯kira.¡± ¡°You may refer to me simply as Kira, Marshal Iron Bull,¡± she said. ¡°Only if you call me Max.¡± I then shook her hand, wrist to wrist. ¡°Come find me when you¡¯re finished packing. There are some people you have to meet.¡± * * * It was about an hour later when Mal¡¯kira showed up at my quarters, duffle bags in hand. I had taken care of the majority of my official goodbyes already, meeting a final time with the President and Chief Yora, along with Master Eiji. For the final round of goodbyes, I saved the best for last. Dragging Mal¡¯kira with me, I left the prison compound and headed for the fields and the barns just on the outskirts. When I knocked, Blue Rose greeted me at the barn door with a cup of homebrewed booze in hand. ¡°About time you showed up!¡± she said, clearly buzzed already. ¡°Lo Ren! Chu Ren! He¡¯s here!¡± As I made my way inside, I saw Tu¡¯lok along with Hein and the Ren brothers, all of them chugging away on the moonshine. Tu¡¯lok¡¯s eyes went wide when he saw Mal¡¯kira behind me and he immediately stood at attention. ¡°Master Kira?!¡± he said, a worried expression on his face. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Relax, Tu¡¯lok,¡± she said, waving her hand. ¡°I was drafted like you. I¡¯m the personal phalanx of Marshal Iron Bull now.¡± His look of worry turned instantly into a wide smile. ¡°Well nine hells! That¡¯s excellent news! You¡¯ll be joining us then! Come! We are having a last toast.¡± ¡°I thought we¡¯d wait till we were back in the real world for this,¡± she said, but took a seat next to Tu¡¯lok. ¡°Why wait?¡± Lo Ren said, passing her a cup of brew. ¡°We have the best liquor in the empire right here.¡± That started a round of laughs and as I downed my first drink, I was transported back to the first time we had snuck away to do something like this. While technically we were still sneaking, as an Imperial Marshal now, there wasn¡¯t much anyone could say. I made introductions between everyone, which turned out to be only Hein and Mal¡¯kira really, since everyone else knew each other. My last few hours at Du Gok Bhong flew by with merriment and laughter. Tu¡¯lok and Mal¡¯kira got along famously, as did Blue Rose and Hein, for obvious reasons, considering how much time they had spent together on the trip back from the Hell Worlds. I still didn¡¯t know if they were an actual item or not, but I didn¡¯t care. So long as they were getting along that was just fine with me. By the time we were ready to depart, we were all half drunk and made our way sloppily to the rooftop of Du Gok Bhong to find an imperial skiff waiting for us. Ling Wei was there with a couple of guards and when she saw the lot of us, her mouth fell open. ¡°Who are all these people?¡± she said in a hushed whisper as she rushed towards me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said half drunk. ¡°It¡¯s just my entourage. We¡¯re all headed back to Terra.¡± ¡°Entourage?¡± ¡°Hey, what can I say? I¡¯m an Imperial Marshal now.¡± I then gave her a cheesy grin. ¡°I got new standards to uphold.¡± ¡°You¡¯re due to meet with the princess as soon as we arrive,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°But only you have been granted an audience. Not all these people. And this is her personal transport.¡± An audience with the princess? That sounded just about as fun as eating glass. ¡°Well, you better let the princess know in advance somehow,¡± I said, pushing past her. ¡°Because we¡¯re all a package deal now.¡± I didn¡¯t wait for a response. With title came privilege. And with me finally returning back home, I was going to damn well make the most of it. Book 5: Chapter 5 Princess Lunalah stopped reading as her mind filled with rage. ¡°That old bitch!¡± she cursed. She was nearly tempted to tear the letter up, but Ling Wei had written much more. She stomached the insult to read further. Lunalah¡¯s heart jumped. This was the exact outcome she had sent Ling Wei to avoid. How could she have failed so miserably? She dared to read on. Lunalah¡¯s heart leapt again, but for a different reason this time. Her Iron Bull had grown far stronger than even she could have imagined. It was nearly too good to believe. She had prayed for him to return home a legionnaire, but an Imperial Marshal? And now worthy of rank far beyond even that? Her heart swooned. He would be more than just worthy of becoming her consort. In the public eye, she would be envied amongst her peers. Envied even by her older sisters. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lunalah let out a giggle as she stomped her feet with excitement. She hadn¡¯t felt this giddy in decades. Centuries even. She¡¯d done it. She¡¯d cultivated the perfect husband. One fitting of a true princess. And now, in mere days, he would be returning home to her. And betrothed to no one. Lunalah¡¯s mind spun with daydreams of how it would all unfold. She would have to literally sit on her hands when he came to present himself to her. She had to remember he would still be grieving. She would have to woo him with tact. But Ling Wei had chosen well in making him her proxy. What better way to display his talents and worth than in the largest of public eyes. The High Council. The trial would have to take place upon the core worlds on the edge of the Celestial Realm. She would be in a position to display herself on a stage even greater than that of the lower courts. Perhaps even her father might deign to watch from afar. she thought, as her excitement dampened a little. In truth she had not seen her father for over a century. After the celebration of her eighteenth birthyear, he had long since moved on to his next wife and family. And the times seeing him before that were sparse as well. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Lunalah shook the thoughts away. She was too old to be some girl pining for her father¡¯s attention. She would have her own husband soon. A man to finally call her own. One she would now, not only be proud to put on display, but one that would be the envy of all her dreaded sisters. She was so enthralled that she skimmed the rest of the letter. Most of it spoke of the details of the trial and how they should prepare. The Iron Bull would have at least eight months. According to Ling Wei, Rheutera would be hard pressed to find a subject worthy of matching him in status much less power. Her victory was nearly assured. That caused Lunalah¡¯s heart to jump for a third time. If he reached Lesser Deity Realm, the Iron Bull would surpass even her. She needed to wed him quickly. Eight months should be more than enough time to grieve the loss of that foolish girl and her child. Lunalah¡¯s mind quickly went to work, strategizing. She would need to use the trial as a means to make the offer. A reward even. Yes. She would be his prize for defending her. Lunalah read through the rest of the letter. Luanalah grimaced at the thought. She didn¡¯t like the idea of being dictated decisions by a subordinate, but in this case, Ling Wei was likely correct. The Iron Bull had saved her planet by securing that grant and with that money they could complete the gate in record time. In months instead of years even. Perhaps even fast enough so that they could travel to the High Council hearing not by ship but through the gate itself. she thought with a smile on her lips. Lunalah made a mental note to issue a new edict to General Xi Lui to restart the project and to spare no expense to get it completed in record time. She finally read the last page of the letter. Lunalah chuckled inwardly. She thought. She would rather for him to come home and satisfy a different kind of lust with her, but that would have to wait for their wedding night. Still, there would be much to do before then and not least of which was to meet her foolish sister¡¯s challenge head on. She drew a fresh sheet of parchment and began writing. She ended the letter with a laugh. , she thought. But there was one other sister she needed to put in her place. She wet her brush again. Lunalah laughed as she sealed both letters with her imperial seal. The second letter was perhaps a bit immature and unnecessary, but to hells with Ul¡¯vera and her presumptuousness. Still, she was certain, if Ling Wei were here, she would perhaps try to convince her to send neither of them. Lunalah laughed again. Ling Wei would probably be right, but she had an Imperial Marshal to defend her now. And one soon to be her husband. Lunalah quickly summoned her administrator and posted both letters. Book 5: Chapter 6 Kelsey crouched within the darkness of her spiritual domain, her spectral eyes fixed on the tiny red ember radiating a scant amount of Frenzy that resonated with her soul. Two figures looked on with her, flanking her at her sides. One was intimately familiar. Towering muscles and gray skin, with a shock of white hair¡ªMs. Venja in all her glory. The other was familiar as well, but in form only. There, standing opposite Venja was a spitting image of Max. It was Xamthe spirit that now inhabited her axe, orrather, the small piece of Max¡¯s soul that had brought her axe to life. ¡°So that¡¯s Max¡¯s kid, huh?¡± Xam said, looking at the tiny glowing ember illuminating the darkness between them. ¡°Seems weak.¡± ¡°Weak?¡± Kelsey said with a scowl. ¡°He¡¯s just a baby! And what do you mean ¡®Max¡¯s kid¡¯? Isn¡¯t that like your nephew or something? Show some respect, man!¡± Xam shrugged. ¡°Just calling it like I see it. Plus, I¡¯m my own man, Kelsey. Max is Max. I¡¯m me.¡± ¡°I keep trying to tell her this,¡± Venja said. ¡°Well, yeah, no shit, V,¡± Kelsey said with a disgusted shake of her head. ¡°Him and Max are as opposite as their damn names.¡± ¡°Yes indeed, but that aside¡­¡± Venja then stooped down for a closer look. ¡°What are we truly looking at here? Is this really an ember within a newborn¡¯s soul?¡± Everything Kelsey knew about Berserkers said that this should be impossible, yet here it was. The first traces of an unkindled Flame. ¡°You tell me,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°That¡¯s why I brought him to you guys. Have you ever seen anything like this before?¡± Xam folded his arms. ¡°I have a few of Max¡¯s memories from the Hell Worlds and some from when he was at the academy. But nothing like this, rings a bell. Smells like a real ember to me, though.¡± ¡°But how is it possible?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°Can a baby kindle an ember like this? Is it because it¡¯s Max¡¯s son? Or something else?¡± Kelsey almost didn¡¯t want to say it out loud, but she feared the trauma Fia faced in the ring had indeed affected the baby somehow. It made her wonder if little Bryce had faced death even before he was born. ¡°That¡¯s a good theory,¡± Xam said, reading her thoughts. ¡°He probably was at [Death¡¯s Door] at some point.¡± Kelsey rolled her eyes. ¡°Keep forgetting my thoughts aren¡¯t private in here.¡± ¡°They are,¡± Venja said. ¡°Just not to us.¡± Xam and Venja then shared a laugh. ¡°Damn weapons,¡± Kelsey muttered. ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s something else you guys need to see.¡± Opening a window in her spiritual domain, Kelsey gave Xam and Venja a view of the outside world through her real eyes. There, nestled in Fia¡¯s lap before her, was Bryce. The infant was just a few weeks old now, his cheeks rosy and bright. Kelsey was thankful to see him looking so well, but the true worry was no longer about his health. Fia had him resting face down in her lap while he napped, giving her a full view of the small, inverted triangle on the nape of his neck. ¡°See that?¡± Kelsey said, pointing to it. ¡°That shape is too well defined to be anything natural. And it looks like a demonic gate to me.¡± ¡°So it does,¡± Xam said, nodding. ¡°I can¡¯t sense any Dark Frenzy from it,¡± Kelsey said. ¡°But I was hoping maybe you guys could maybe sense something I can¡¯t?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have a closer look,¡± Venja said and leaned in towards the ember. Her eyes squinted for a moment and then shot wide open. ¡°Oh¡­that¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kelsey asked. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be 100% certain, but I do sense something there,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s small right now. But it will grow.¡± * * * Fia waited pensively while Kel Zhi meditated before her. It was close to noon day now and the village center was abuzz with activity. People were returning from the fields with fresh produce, while others were setting up stalls for trade. There was not a huge amount of people within the village, but there seemed to be enough that each family had found a niche to pursue. Some grew crops using basic cultivation methods to enhance their yield. Others hunted for wild game and butchered their catches to provide fresh meat. There was also a smith of sorts who made and repaired tools. All told, it was a quaint and thriving community that seemed to work well together. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Former residents from the Native Housing District soon came to intermingle with the villagers as they arrived within the square. The air quickly filled with a mixture of Yee and Terran language both as people struggled to communicate through an odd system of gestures, smiles and head nods. They had been living here in the wilderness for nearly a month now, and in that time a lot had changed. The first few days were difficult, as she was healing from both labor and her wounds from battle, but Kel Zhi¡¯s mother had made her a bed in her own home to rest and recuperate. In about a week, Kel Zhi and the men of Max¡¯s village had constructed a house large enough to fit her parents and herself comfortably. It wasn¡¯t the finery of the Imperial City that she was accustomed to, but it was a shelter and given their circumstances a much appreciated one. From there she healed slowly, but the people of the village fawned over her like she was royalty. Kel Zhi made a few trips back to the city in the weeks that followed, bringing with her fresh supplies, news from Jian Yi and even a few extra people who decided to make the trek out of the city with her. The result was the population of Max¡¯s village growing by some fifty people or more. It was a strange sight to see people who all looked like Terrans, but that were as far removed in culture as cats and dogs. Still, there was a deep familiarity and bond that instantly seemed to form between them. The elders of the village especially embraced the younger people from the city, some of them even bursting into tears of joy when they saw them. Max had explained how important this village was. That how this was the last remnant of his original home world and how his society might be reborn from it. But to see it unfolding with her own eyes sparked a sense of wonder within her soul like nothing else. They were still all strangers essentially, but the strong bonds Max had forged on both sides were self-evident in the way the two groups immediately embraced one another. It made her even more proud to be with someone like Max. And soon, she hoped to be with him again in the flesh. ¡°So¡­ what exactly is she doing?¡± The question came from Yu Li, who was sitting next to her. She stared at Kel Zhi while simultaneously fending off little Su Ling who was pulling at the sleeves of her robes. ¡°It my turn to hold baby!¡± she yelled. ¡°My turn!¡± ¡°Hush, Su Ling!¡± Yu Li chided her. ¡°He¡¯s not a toy.¡± ¡°But he my cousin!¡± Fia laughed. ¡°Yes. Yes, he is, little Su Ling. Auntie Fia will let you hold him soon, okay? Right after Auntie Kel Zhi finishes her meditation.¡± Su Ling pouted and sat down, folding her arms crossly. ¡°Okay. But my turn soon!¡± ¡°So again,¡± Yu Li asked. ¡°What is she doing exactly?¡± Fia eyed Kel Zhi as she sat in lotus position with both the massive sword and axe laying across her lap. ¡°She said she needed to commune with the spirits within those artifacts to see if anything is wrong with Bryce.¡± ¡°Wrong how?¡± Fia pointed to the mark on the back of the baby¡¯s neck. ¡°Kel Zhi said there was something ominous about the shape of this birthmark. She fears it might have something to do with the Awakened Demon she and Max slew that night.¡± Yu Li bit her lip, looking worried. ¡°I know,¡± Fia said, anxiety building within her own stomach now. She decided to change the subject. ¡°Have you heard the latest from Jian Yi?¡± Yu Li nodded. ¡°Kel Zhi shared the letter with me when she got back. I have to hand it to her. Being so professional even in a time like this. Who has time to write an actual letter, right? Anyway, she said the Warden is running amuck back home, placing new hardships on the Terran Community wherever she can.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°She¡¯s tripled the taxes and even tried to invoke that crazy mixed-race thing.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good thing Kel Zhi got us out of there when she did. Our children would not be safe. Jian Yi is doing her best to counteract it through the courts though. She believes the Warden will do anything ahead of her match with Max to antagonize him.¡± ¡°But why? Did she not see how powerful he has become? Does she seek to provoke his wrath intentionally?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Yu Li said. ¡°She already thinks you and the baby are dead. That would mean she thinks Max would be coming for her head regardless.¡± Yu Li then shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe she¡¯s taking a last act of vengeance out for her nieces before she dies.¡± Fia shook her head. It was ridiculous, cruel and petty all at the same time. But knowing her Great Aunt, it was perhaps accurate on all accounts. ¡°Max can¡¯t come home soon enough,¡± Fia said. ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll be able to go back to the city then?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I hope so. Eventually.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± Yu Li said blowing out a sigh. ¡°This place is nice and all but I¡¯m a city girl not a country girl.¡± Fia laughed. She could only imagine what possibilities Max¡¯s return held for them. The city was currently a mess, that was true. But when Max returned to face the Warden, he would control the entire province when he won. ¡°We just need to be patient, I guess.¡± Kel Zhi¡¯s eyes suddenly flashed open. Her reanimation was so abrupt that it startled her. ¡°Kel Zhi?¡± Fia said. Her eyes focused and she looked directly at Fia. ¡°I have good news and bad news.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Yu Li asked shuffling closer. ¡°There is something there,¡± Kel Zhi said, pointing to the birthmark. ¡°It¡¯s very small and not dangerous for now, but as he grows up, we think it could allow an influence of Demonic Qi to¡­ I dunno. Affect him somehow?¡± Fia¡¯s heart leapt with fright. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I think its going to be okay, though!¡± Kel Zhi said quickly. But far too quickly for Fia¡¯s liking. ¡°Tell me the truth, Kel Zhi,¡± she said. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to Bryce?¡± S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Kel Zhi remained quiet for a moment and then sighed. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know, Fia. But that symbol represents a gate of sort. To the demonic realm. That bastard must have put it on him, before we sent him back to hell.¡± ¡°What bastard?¡± Yu Li said. Kel Zhi shook her head. ¡°Never mind his name. Just know it¡¯s like the source of the Demonic Qi. Which means it¡¯s pretty serious.¡± She then looked back to Fia and frowned. ¡°Sorry, Fia.¡± Fia barely heard her. She was beside herself, her heart pounding with fright. She looked down at her newborn child and felt as if she were losing him all over again. ¡°What do we do?¡± she said. ¡°We need to do something!¡± But Kel Zhi looked at a loss for words. , Fia thought. ¡°What about the artifacts?¡± she said. ¡°Did you commune with them? What did they say?¡± Kel Zhi frowned again. ¡°They could only tell me so much, Fia. They¡¯re not all knowing.¡± Her stomach was sick. She almost wished Kel Zhi hadn¡¯t told her. ¡°We need to wait on Max,¡± Kel Zhi said. ¡°He¡¯s experienced a lot more of this stuff than any of us have. And no way is he going to let anything bad happen to his son.¡± Fia nodded. She was right of course, but it still did little to ease the anxiety in her soul. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Kel Zhi said again. ¡°We just have to be patient. Max will know what to do.¡± She then paused a moment. ¡°I hope.¡± Book 5: Chapter 7 I downed my fourth shot of straight plum wine as Tu¡¯lok slapped me hard across the back, laughing like a mad man. Opposite me was Blue Rose, quickly slamming back shots of her own as she worked her way down the line of glasses before her. She amazingly got to ten before me and Mal¡¯Kira immediately jumped in her seat and began a new line of shots. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Tu¡¯lok screamed in my ear. ¡°Go, go, go!¡± I downed my tenth shot and Tu¡¯lok tagged teamed to jump in my place. He began double fisting the rounds to catch up to Mal¡¯kira who was already nearly done. ¡°And it looks like the girls are ahead,¡± Hein said in a cheesy fake announcer¡¯s voice. ¡°Will they make it? Or will the boys pull it out of their asses to take the lead? Only one handover left to go!¡± Having a drinking competition right before meeting the princess probably wasn¡¯t the smartest idea in the world. But it was our last chance for free booze aboard a luxury space yacht and plus the old bag was footing the bill, so we were going to take full advantage. The best part was there was no need to transfer to a skiff. We were already riding down from orbit comfortably. Tu¡¯lok tagged me back and I began tossing down the small cups of plum wine. Blue Rose was already way ahead of me though. She slammed her last cup down with a resounding yell of victory, throwing both fists into the air. Mal¡¯kira joined her in celebration, lifting Blue Rose onto her massive shoulder. ¡°Haha, eat shit you two!¡± Blue Rose roasted us with a laugh. Tu¡¯lok waved his hand dismissively. ¡°Eh, that was a bullshit win.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, half drunk. ¡°Plus, you girls have an unfair advantage. You¡¯re used to having things shoved down your throats all the time.¡± I cracked a cheesy grin and Tu¡¯lok and Hein let out a hollering laugh. Blue Rose and Mal¡¯kira immediately began pelting us with the empty glasses. ¡°You bastards!¡± ¡°Come here! I¡¯ll shove something down your damn throat!¡± ¡°Catch him, Blue! Catch him and show him how it feels!¡± Shattering glass and laughter filled the air as the small bar within the ship¡¯s gally turned into a mini arena. Blue Rose tried to tag me as we ran around the table and then suddenly a loud bang filled the air. We all froze mid-shenanigans to see Ling Wei standing in front of the galley door she had just slammed. ¡°What in the nine heavens is going on here?¡± I instantly smiled. ¡°Oh, Ling Wei! Wanna join? We need another girl for the girl¡¯s team, then Hein can join in.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? What are you doing? We land in under fifteen minutes! You have an audience with the princess! Did you forget?¡± ¡°Trying to forget is more like it,¡± I said laughing. ¡°This is ridiculous!¡± Ling Wei said flustered. ¡°You are behaving like animals! This is not acceptable! This is not a prison!¡± ¡°Take it easy, Ling,¡± I said, sauntering over to her. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine for the meeting.¡± She shook her head. ¡°You had better be. The Princess will have very important matters to discuss with you.¡± I sighed. Honestly the only thing I wanted to do was get home to Fia and my family, to hold my newborn son. But I had to go through this cringy meeting with the princess first. I still had no idea what to even expect from it. ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°This is going to be relatively quick though, right? There is a lot I want to do when I get back home.¡± ¡°Of course it will be,¡± Ling Wei said. ¡°I have informed the princess already of such. Your match with the Warden is set for as soon as you return to Jurin Province. We will be landing at the stadium. The match begins at sunset.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Is that not why you wish to return home so promptly?¡± Ling Wei asked. ¡°To seek revenge against the Warden for the loss of your family?¡± , I thought. I¡¯d much rather reunite with my family first. But Ling Wei and the princess didn¡¯t know that. To them, my family was already dead. So revenge right away did make sense. Still, I was hoping for at least a couple of days to prepare. But no matter. The rigors of surviving forty plus days on a Hell World had prepared me well enough. ¡°Yeah sure,¡± I said. ¡°I want to deal with that right away.¡± Ling Wei nodded. ¡°Good. Now please, go clean yourself up.¡± She then cast a baleful glance over at my drunken companions. ¡°And I would insist your ¡®entourage¡¯ remain onboard. I would not wish to risk the ire of the princess to see such a¡­¡± She paused for a moment, looking at my companions warily as she tried to find the right word. ¡°Such an -immaculate crew.¡± We all burst into laughs even though she wasn¡¯t making a joke. ¡°To un-immaculance!¡± Hein toasted, making up his own new word and everyone cheered. ¡°To un-immaculance!¡± Ling Wei sighed exasperated, but I quickly comforted her with a pat on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll be downstairs, dressed and ready in five.¡± * * * It took more like ten minutes, but by the time I exited the ramp of the space yacht, I was decked out in my full robes, complete with Gold and Jade trim, signifying my new rank as an Imperial Marshal. A fanfare of music played from a small contingent of artisans on the landing pad as an honor guard gave me a salute. A frail looking, Dharmian man in imperial robes bowed to me as I approached. ¡°Greetings in the name of the princess, Marshal Iron Bull,¡± he said. ¡°I am Wui Lang, Chief Administrator and Minister of Commerce. I welcome you to the Imperial Palace of Li Wan Province. Third Princess Lunalah eagerly awaits your audience with her. Right this way.¡± I had to admit, with all the pomp and grandeur, the build up to meeting the princess was causing a bit of nerves to float through my stomach. I had met other princesses before, even ones of higher ranking than Lunalah herself. But this was the woman I was one day destined to defy to take back my world, and now I was finally going to meet her face to face. As we weaved through the interior of the imperial palace, every foot soldier and palace guard braced to attention and saluted me. It was a new feeling to be shown this much respect, but I was digging it. I returned the salutes and bows and even cracked a smile or two, made easier by my now slowly receding buzz. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. As we crossed an elevated walkway, I was given a bird¡¯s eye view of both the expanse of the Imperial Palace and the greater lower city of the province below. Both were impressive, rivaling what I had seen upon the core world of Lu Shui Prime. Towering buildings and flying skiffs. Well-manicured gardens and sprawling fields. For a split second I got the sense of rivalry that had to exist between all the princesses. Cultivators competed at everything and when you were in control of an entire planet, I guess it was no different. Everyone wanted to look their best in front of their rivals. And that included me right now too, I supposed. Looking my best for the woman I would one day soon depose. We entered a large antechamber and there in the center, seated on an elevated throne was the princess herself. Surrounding her were six jade urns that hovered with a slight hum of power. I couldn¡¯t sense Qi, but I was sure they had to be producing a crap load of it. As we got closer, I got a good look at the princess herself. She was smaller in person than I expected, although to be fair, she had always been jumbotron sized every time I had seen her previously. Either spread across a Qi display screen for one of the propaganda ads or hovering in midair with the giant projection of her Sacred Soul Form. But now, in the flesh, she looked like a normal woman. Not that she wasn¡¯t exquisitely beautiful, as all the princesses were, but seeing her true form was like finally looking behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. Just a normal cultivator like everyone else. But she still had power over me. Power that I would be forced to acquiesce to for now. A subtle smile spread across Lunalah¡¯s lips as we all prostrated ourselves before her, and to my surprise she actually arose from her throne to stand before us. I had my head down, but I could sense her soul dripping with lemonade, as she stood over me. ¡°My champion tribute,¡± she said. ¡°Do rise before me Iron Bull and let me be the first to congratulate you on attaining the most notable rank of Imperial Marshal.¡± She was far from the first to congratulate me, but I wasn¡¯t going to try to correct her. As I stood, I was yet again surprised to see she was rather tall even without her magnifying imagery, with her head reaching the top of my chest. As she stared up at me, an unnerving look filled her eyes. It was like she was looking straight through me. An insatiable hunger that mirrored the lemonade in her soul. I was immediately repulsed, but I masked my natural reaction with a strong fa?ade of [Indifference]. I simply bowed to her again. ¡°My thanks, your majesty.¡± sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°You may call me princess,¡± she said with a quick grin. ¡°Come let us sit. We have much to discuss. Wui Lang, you may leave us now.¡± The old Dharmian guy looked shocked by his quick dismissal, but he didn¡¯t protest and immediately turned and left the antechamber. Thankfully she hadn¡¯t dismissed Ling Wei as well and I carefully placed her between myself and the princess for safety. We sat on two stools next to the throne and Lunalah instantly let out a short laugh. ¡°This is so exciting, is it not? The Iron Bull within the Imperial Palace at last.¡± I had no idea what the hell she was talking about, but I smiled politely and just nodded. ¡°It is indeed,¡± Ling Wei said, covering for me. ¡°Your majesty, we should perhaps start with the details of your impending trial before the High Council. The Iron Bull will need to know exactly what is at stake here.¡± ¡°Yes, of course,¡± Lunalah said. ¡°It will seem perhaps a petty matter to one such as you, Iron Bull, but my elder sister Rheutera seeks to take revenge for you rightfully claiming the full Imperial grant for your service to the empire as a tribute. And before I forget.¡± She then leaned forward and placed her hand atop mine. ¡°I must thank you deeply for doing that. You¡¯ve saved our treasury.¡± I tactfully wiggled my hand from beneath hers and distracted her with a grin. ¡°Not sure I had much to do with it. That was all Jei Su Long¡¯s- do--.¡± ¡°Oh, yes and regarding that family,¡± she said, cutting me off. ¡°They will no doubt be seeking revenge as well. I would imagine they will beg their princess to send one of their very best against you in our trial.¡± I shrugged with [Indifference]. ¡°Let them bring it on. Won¡¯t matter to me who the hell they send.¡± Her eyes lit up. ¡°Such an indomitable spirit. I love it.¡± An uncomfortable paused lingered as that hungry look entered her eyes again. ¡°Perhaps now, your majesty, would be a good time to discuss how the Iron Bull shall prepare for the trial?¡± Ling Wei said, bailing me out once more. I thanked her with a quick smile. Ling Wei had said there were important matters to discuss, but this seemed like something else. It reminded me of when Princess Rheutera callously went about inspecting the animals gifted to her by Princess Ul¡¯vera. A chance to gawk at her new prized possessions and show them off to the rest of the world. In Lunalah¡¯s case that was me. A native-born Imperial Marshal. It sickened me a little, but I stomached it for appearances sake. Now was not the time to start my rebellion. Ling Wei kept the conversation on track with how I would schedule my time with training, relocating to the capital and making routine check in with her and the princess. Ling Wei I didn¡¯t mind so much. She was actually pretty competent, and I got a kick out of how she tried to maintain professionalism at all times. Even with a bunch of like us But living in the damn capital with unlimited cringy meetings like this? That would defeat me long before any court case. ¡°I¡¯ll have to insist on my own training regime,¡± I said with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°And I train best in my own back yard. No offense, princess.¡± Lunalah looked shocked by my decline of her offer. ¡°But we have the best facilities here. The best sparring partners on the planet would be available to you.¡± I chuckled. ¡°My sparring partners exist on the Hell Worlds, princess. Ain¡¯t nothing you got here that could challenge me.¡± I thought she might get pissed off at that, but it had the opposite effect. Her lemonade kicked into high-gear and I swore I heard her gasp a little. ¡°Indeed,¡± she said. ¡°You projected your Sacred Soul across the very stars. There is perhaps nothing on this world that can match you now. You are exquisite.¡± Her lemonade intensified. As did my cringe. ¡°Then perhaps routine visits to the capital might suffice?¡± Ling Wei again came to my rescue, inserting herself into the conversation. ¡°A fair compromise I would think, your majesty.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Lunalah said, eventually breaking her gaze from me. ¡°But it shall be very routine.¡± , I thought. But becoming her champion would be an opportunity like none other. A chance to literally have the princess¡¯s fate resting in my hands. I could blackmail her. Throw the match and let her suffer the consequences, or even demand she hand the planet over to me directly. I still couldn¡¯t see that far down the road yet, of course, but the possibilities seemed endless. ¡°Rest assured that I do not take your standing in as my proxy lightly, Iron Bull,¡± Lunalah said. ¡°To successfully defend me against these false allegations will earn you much honor and reward. I would be indebted to you in the extreme. I have yet to decide how I shall reward you, but trust that it will be one worthy given by the hand of a princess.¡± She grinned at me again and simply nodded. I wanted to say. But there were smaller battles to win before that. ¡°Well, all this will be moot unless I win against the Warden, right? Maybe we should focus on that first.¡± Her eyes flashed open as if just remembering the match. ¡°Yes, of course! I have much to discuss with you about that as well. You may leave us now, Ling Wei.¡± Ling Wei looked surprised for a moment but then quickly bowed. ¡°I shall be just outside, Marshal Iron Bull.¡± I suddenly felt naked and alone as she left. Lunalah then leaned forward and rested her hand atop mine again. ¡°I first must offer you my sincere condolences on the loss of your betrothed and child,¡± she said. ¡°I know it must have come as quite a shock to you to learn of their demise.¡± Although it wasn¡¯t true, the casual way she brought it up irked me. ¡°I did not know the Lady Silver Light well, but by all reports she was a fine woman. I know losing her must leave a huge void in your soul.¡± She rubbed my hand some more. ¡°If there is anything I can do to ease your pain, let me know.¡± I eased my hand away. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Time heals all wounds.¡± She smiled, almost looking relieved. ¡°I pray that it does, but there is something you should know. Something that may perhaps speed your recovery with their loss.¡± I raised a brow at that one. ¡°It is not my place to interfere with your match with the Warden,¡± she said. ¡°My role is to simply officiate. However, you should know that, while you rightly took your revenge against the three Bird Sister¡¯s already, they were not the one¡¯s responsible for your family¡¯s demise.¡± My pulse sped a little. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°When the condition of your betrothed was exposed in the ring, it was overheard by one of the stadium staff, the Warden giving instructions directly to her nieces. Instructions to kill both her and the baby.¡± The words chilled me. I suddenly had a flash back to how the Warden callously left my father, mother and sister to die under the Bloodmoon. And now she had come for my present family as well? Deep ire burned within my soul as the root of my Twin Dao kindled. I thought. ¡°I know this must come as somewhat of a shock,¡± Lunalah said, patting my hand again. ¡°But I thought it important for you to know the truth behind the murder of your family. To know who was truly responsible.¡± Rage flooded my mind like a bursting damn. No other thought mattered. ¡°I leave you to do what must be done,¡± Lunalah said, finally letting go of my hand. ¡°Drink full your revenge, Marshal Iron Bull. This battle you face is more personal than you know.¡± * * * I left the princess¡¯s antechamber, mind spinning. When I first touched down, I wanted nothing more than to get back home and leave facing the Warden for another day. But the priorities had reversed completely now. I looked to Ling Wei who was waiting for me just outside as promised. Her brows furrowed. ¡°Are you alright? You seem upset.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more than upset,¡± I said, the Struggler fighting to keep the Demon at bay. ¡°You were right Ling Wei. I do want to get home immediately to fight the Warden.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± she said surprised. ¡°Well good. If we leave now, you¡¯ll still have a few hours to prepare.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need time to prepare,¡± I said. ¡°I need to go now¡­and strike while the fire is raging hot.¡± Book 5: Chapter 8 Princess Lunalah could barely contain herself. The excitement of finally touching the Iron Bull in the flesh was still coursing through her system like a surge of concentrated Qi. Even now as she retreated to her inner chambers, she could feel the texture of his rugged hands within her own. She prayed she had masked her intentions well enough. Now was not the time to speak of marriage, but she hoped she had tilled the soil well enough to plant those future seeds later. She would have wished nothing more than to join the Iron Bull upon her transport and attend the match in person. But such were the sacrifices she had to endure now. Not only would that look biased against the Warden, but she had to take care of how much time she spent visiting that province now. The last thing she wanted to be accused of was chasing after the Iron Bull. In fact, she would need to orchestrate the opposite. To have her be the one to be chased instead. And that started by maintaining her exclusivity and majesty. Her unobtainability. The match with the Warden would not start for a few hours, but Lunalah prepared anyway. She would project her Sacred Soul instead of attending in person. A means to put on display, her powers before the masses. Powers that could also be his, if he chose to pursue her and join her upon the throne. That same giddiness of a young girl rose up inside of her again. She finally had a man worthy to entice. A man she would drive mad with her intoxicating feminine charms. And when it came to enticing men, dangling the bait was often the most exciting part. Lunalah could not wait. * * * The view of Jurin Province from above did nothing but further fuel my ire. It had been nearly a month since the attack by that demonic bastardization of Hong Feng and the entire city still looked like crap. All save for the stadium that was. The Native Housing District was still in shambles, but the stadium, which had been nearly reduced to ashes was completely rebuilt in all its glory. I could only imagine what kind of effort it took to do that, but it was clear everything else had been neglected as a result. It was once again the cultivator mindset at its best. Putting the petty and ridiculous above the basic needs of the people. But that would all end tonight. After this match, I would be the Warden of Jurin Province. The idea fueled me with fresh Frenzy as I once again tapped into the root of my Twin Dao. My Struggle against the Empire and all of its wickedness. I cultivated the Frenzy and tucked it away into the solid core of my Dantian. The battle before me was one I had waited for my entire life it seemed. Or at least, my life after that night some fifteen years ago now. The night the Earth fell to the Yee. The night I lost everything. The night I would now finally avenge. ¡°You good, Max?¡± I gave Hein a nod as he stood next to me on the observation deck of the imperial transport. In mere minutes it would be delivering us to the stadium proper, where I could see what had to be the entire population had now gathered. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m good,¡± I said. ¡°Will be even better after this match.¡± Hein chortled. ¡°Who would have thought that one day I would be rooting for the fall of my own sect leader?¡± I glanced at Hein, able to get out of my own head for a bit. I hadn¡¯t given much thought to that beyond being a soldier now, he was still a member of the Silver Leaf Clan. ¡°How does all this make you feel, Hein?¡± He looked surprised by the question, but merely shrugged. ¡°I feel unconstrained by Sect politics now. But I still don¡¯t think I would be able to look her in the face today. Lady Silver Tear is a powerful and terrible woman that way.¡± He then chuckled. ¡°And an even worse great aunt.¡± ¡°Yeah, Fia described her much the same.¡± ¡°You¡¯re powerful now brother,¡± Hein said. ¡°Certainly, as powerful as she is, or even more so, but don¡¯t let that breed overconfidence. Lady Silver Tear is still renowned in our clan for her martial prowess.¡± I smiled. ¡°Yeah, I get it. She hit Diamond Bracket the old-fashioned way. Skill in the ring, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never seen her truly fight myself, but back in the core worlds she was undefeated.¡± What Hein said was likely true. I¡¯d grown a shit ton in terms of raw strength and power, but fighting monsters and demons versus fighting cultivators were two different things. And I hadn¡¯t been honing my fighting techniques much of late. Plus, I couldn¡¯t cut lose in the ring with my manifestation techniques either. I would have to rely on skill and the strength of my techniques alone. And being put up against the two-hundred plus year old Warden, perhaps the [Odds were Against Me] now. I chuckled as my Flame rendered an additional surge of Frenzy. ¡°Thanks for the pep talk, Hein,¡± I said. ¡°It helped more than you know.¡± * * * I stepped down the ramp of the imperial transport with Blue Rose at my side. Flaking each of us were our respective retainers, Tu¡¯lok and Mal¡¯kira. Ahead of us Ling Wei led off, joined by Hein. We formed quite the formidable assembly and if the amount of fear and lemonade produced by the awaiting arena staff was anything to gauge by, we were putting on an S-tier show of force. We were atop the highest point of the new stadium, upon a landing pad that could oversee the entire arena. The night air was filled with skiffs, although notably a few less than what I had seen a month ago when I appeared in my spectral form. Nevertheless, the place was as packed as I could remember and even from where we were, I could hear the muffled roar of the huge crowd below. High above us, the Imperial City itself loomed with the radiant luminescence of its glowing Aetherite crystal and for a moment I wondered what the name of the planet was that it had been harvested from. Once I was Warden, I would make a note to find out. As we crossed the landing pad, a couple of people were gathered to greet us. I spotted the tall figure of the Stadium Manager, Master Lein Cho along with Master Bo Ren. Despite my mental focus and getting my head in the zone, seeing the two of them brought on a joy of nostalgia that was reinforced by their yells of welcome. ¡°There he is!¡± Bo Ren shouted. ¡°The Iron Bull returns!¡± He ran to me and slapped his arms around me in an embrace. ¡°Well done, my boy!¡± ¡°Bo Ren!¡± Lein Cho shouted. ¡°You can not greet him so commonly now!¡± Master Lein Cho then performed a formal bow. ¡°We welcome you home, Iron Bull.¡± ¡°Ah right!¡± Bo Ren said and then quickly bowed as well. ¡° Iron Bull.¡± I quickly waved their praise away. ¡°Please, if not for the both of you I¡¯d still be stuck in the Wooden Bracket. Master Bo Ren and Master, Lein Cho, its wonderful to see you both again.¡± I shook both their hands heartily in turn. ¡°We made arrangements for a few of your clan members to join you,¡± Lein Cho said. ¡°Bo Ren, show them up.¡± ¡°Right away,¡± Bo Ren said and then disappeared down a set of steps below the platform. He returned less than a minute later with three people I had seen but a month ago, but not with my real eyes for ages. ¡°Lee! Jian Yi! Zu Tien!¡± I rushed to embrace them all. Lee slapped me on the back. ¡°Damn great to see you, boss.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Zu Tien and Jian Yi both resisted my hugs with awkward discomfort, but I didn¡¯t care. I was happy as hell to see them both. ¡°Man, it¡¯s great to see all you guys.¡± Zu Tien stepped back and fell to both knees, pressing her forehead to the ground. ¡°I praise your return, most honorable Sect Leader. Your great ascension is an honor to behold.¡± I laughed. ¡°Thanks, Zu Tien.¡± Jian Yi on the other hand merely smirked at me. ¡°Good to see you¡¯re not late for once.¡± I laughed even harder at that. ¡°Man, it feels great to be home.¡± ¡°There is much to catch you up on,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°There are major developments within the clan.¡± ¡°I can only imagine,¡± I said. ¡°Once this match is done with, we¡¯ll have to¡­¡± My words trailed off as I was distracted by the entrance of another group of people. There was an older woman in imperial robes who I recognized as the High Magistrate, followed by a Dharmian man with a red beard who I knew to be the Silver Leaf Clan¡¯s chief Barrister, Lui Wi or something, if I recalled his name right. But seeing them was not what made me pause. There, following behind them, was the chief bitch herself. The Warden, Lady Silver Tear. She was decked out in a modified variant of her normal black and silver trimmed robes, with these ones clearly build for combat. No different than the ones Fia had worn for our own duel. Her long silver hair too, was styled in a top knot fashion, a fixed by her small crown. Her cold, silver eyes met mine and I could sense only a deathly indifference within her soul. The aloof ice queen as always. , I thought. But I was going to make her atone for his sins before the night was over. Already I could feel my ire returning. She would pay for killing my family. And pay even more for targeting Fia and my unborn child. Before she died, she would damn well know why she was going straight to hell. ¡°I see both parties are gathered,¡± the High Magistrate said. ¡°Will counsel for both sides please approach.¡± Ling Wei took a step forward but stopped short when Jian Yi shot her a set of dagger eyes that would have killed even the princess. ¡°Excuse me. am the Iron Bull¡¯s counsel.¡± Ling Wei blushed embarrassed. ¡°Why, yes of course.¡± She then bowed to me. ¡°My very best to you, Marshal Iron Bull. I take my leave now to rejoin the princess. It was an¡­interesting task to escort you and your entourage home.¡± ¡°Pleasure was ours,¡± Blue Rose said with a grin. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure it was,¡± Ling Wei said sardonically with an eye roll. ¡°I will be in contact, Marshal Iron Bull.¡± I bowed to her. ¡°Take Care Ling Wei. And thank you.¡± As she departed for the transport, Jian Yi made her way to the magistrate. Her counterpart Lui Wi stood opposite her. ¡°As this contest for power will be viewed publicly, I wish to dispense with any legal matters beforehand.¡± The High Magistrate then turned to Jian Yi. ¡°Counsel for the Iron Bull. Based upon your writ, your client has filed for a vote of no confidence against the current Warden of Jurin Province, the Lady Silver Light, and challenges her for dominance as a fellow martial sect leader. The matter was upheld by the princess, even though at the time, your client possessed insufficient bracket ranking to challenge. A reprieve of three years was granted by the Princess in order for your client to obtain Diamond Bracket ranking. You seem to have returned in but a third of that time. Can you please attest to your client¡¯s current status?¡± ¡°I can, your honor,¡± Jian Yi said and then gestured towards me. ¡°Witness now that the Iron Bull has successfully returned from service as a tribute to Du Gok Bhong where he fought valiantly across the Hell Worlds. He has not only obtained automatic Diamond Bracket Ranking as a Legionnaire, but an even higher ranking of Imperial Marshal.¡± She then stopped for a quick smile. ¡°I would question the defending counsel if client is now of sufficient ranking to face this match.¡± Liu Wi let out a harrumph. ¡°This is not a civil matter before the courts but one of martial sect precedence. Social ranking has no meaning. All that matters is a matching of Martial Bracket and Realm. My client, the Lady Silver Tear stands as a 9th Tier Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator on the cusp of breakthrough to the lesser Deity Realm and a Diamond Bracket contender. I ask for verification of the Iron Bull¡¯s Current Tier and Realm to ensure he is sufficiently matched to challenge Lady Silver Tear.¡± ¡°Your honor, I object,¡± Jian Yi said. ¡°My client, as little as a month ago, demonstrated powers to perform a Sacred Soul Projection a distance no cultivator has in history. This is clear evidence that he is too on the cusp of breakthrough to the Lesser Deity Realm.¡± ¡°Sacred Soul Projection is a 7th Tier ability, your honor. No matter the display of mastery it is still below grade. A mere 7th Tier cannot challenge a 9th.¡± I huffed out a laugh. ¡°What is this bullshit? Are you looking for a loophole to get out of this fight, Lady Silver Tear?¡± ¡°Your honor!¡± Liu Wi said. ¡°I call for order! The counter party seeking to address my client direc--¡± ¡°It is fine, Lui Wi,¡± Silver Tear said. ¡°Your honor, I now give instruction for my counsel to withdraw the request to verify the Iron Bull¡¯s current realm and tier.¡± She then paused and gave me a little smile, along with a surprising splash of lemonade. ¡°Even a Qi-less mortal could sense the strength of that core inside of him. I am ready to proceed, your honor.¡± Liu Wi huffed out a sigh and then shrugged, shaking his head. ¡°Then it is settled,¡± the Magistrate said. ¡°I deem both parties sufficiently fit to defend their positions in the match. While I shall be officiating the match itself, Third Princess Lunalah will present via Sacred Soul Projection to proclaim the winner and the new ruler of Jurin Province following its outcome. I wish you both good luck.¡± She then bowed and Lady Silver Tear and I did the same. ¡°Counsel Jian Yi,¡± the Magistrate said. ¡°Lady Silver Tear has indicated her readiness. Is your client prepared?¡± ¡°More than ready,¡± I said, answering for her and then shot Silver Tear a glare with [Fear the Flame]. ¡°Very well, you may proceed to your respective corners.¡± Silver Tear stared back at me, but didn¡¯t say anything. , I thought. Not an emotion in sight. I scoffed at her one last time. ¡°See you in the ring, bitch.¡± * * * The imperial pomp and fanfare was in full swing by the time I reached my side of the arena. High above, on the floating dais, was the image of Princess Lunalah that I had come to expect far more readily. She was hovering next to the High Magistrate in her thirty-foot-tall form, her gleaming spectral robes surrounded by not jade urns but huge jade crystals that were their spiritual counterparts, I supposed. She was making a grand speech about the reopening of the stadium and was giving praises to the hard-working staff and the citizens of Jurin Province who had made it all happen. She made little mention of the awakened, star born demon that caused all the damage though. She ended the spiel by ushering in the singing of the imperial anthem and everyone stood as they sung along. I lacked my Bull Mask to hide my face, so I mouthed the words with pure contempt in my heart. I lacked my normal red body paint as well, choosing to attend the match in my legionnaire¡¯s robes. Silver Tear¡¯s barrister was trying to make a point about the power disparity between us. Little did the guy know it was probably skewed in the other direction. But I was keen now to give the Warden a fair fight, not for her, but for me. I wasn¡¯t going to overclock my abilities with my [manifestation] techniques. I had advanced enough to challenge her with my normal strength. And that alone would see me through. That, and my pure rage for her destruction. A new song began to play as a familiar announcer came over the loudspeaker. ¡°And now citizens and natives of Jurin Province, it is the moment we have gathered for,¡± he said. ¡°It is time to introduce our challengers for the night. She is the leader we have known since the inception of this great province. The architect who populated not only Jurin, but every great province across this planet. Selected by the hand of the princess herself, this elder of the Silver Leaf Clan has attained her standing from decades of hard work and service to the empire. Ascending to the Sacred Soul Realm and attaining the Ranking of Diamond Bracket some 113 years ago, she now comes with over a century of martial experience to bear in her defense of her position as Warden of Jurin Province. Please join me in welcoming to the ring, Seventh Warden, the most honorable, Lady Silver Tear!¡± The arena broke into measured applause as Silver Tear entered the arena. She was flanked by what looked to be the senior members of her clan. People that would have perhaps included Fia¡¯s mother by the looks of them. They all stopped short as she progressed to the center of the arena alone. The music then changed to a familiar theme. Booming drums with a warrior¡¯s chant. ¡°And now, we have the challenger,¡± the announcer said. ¡°He¡¯s a hometown boy who rose up through the local brackets with a fervor. He¡¯s competed in enough matches in this arena to carve out a name for himself, but now that name extends to the very stars. Representing our planet as its first ever tribute, he now returns victorious over the Hell Worlds. But let us not forget, that even while defending the empire, he did not forget his home. In the devastating demon attack last month, an attack that saw this very stadium nearly destroyed, he performed a technique never seen in history and defended his hometown from millions of miles away. He returns to us now with a ranking unheard of for most planets, much less first-time native tribute. Having obtained the rank of Imperial Marshal, stand with me now as we welcome home the savior of our city and the gleaming pride of our planet, the IRON BULL!!¡± The entire stadium went wild with thunderous applause as people stood and stomped their feet on the bleachers. A tidal wave of lemonade surged from them, and I cultivated it as I stepped onto the battlefield with my honor guard. Blue Rose, Tu¡¯lok and Mal¡¯kira held straight faces of discipline as they walked by my side, but even within them I could feel the surge of pride with their souls. The same went for me, I supposed. They greeted the Warden with honor and respect. But the vast majority now greeted me with love and adoration. Were this the old world, I would have won this competition already by winning over the masses. But this was a martial world. Power was obtained by force. And given who I was now up against, that would be just fine with me. I gave the Warden a head nod as I squared off against her and she cooly did the same. ¡°Yes indeed, folks,¡± the announcer continued. ¡°The Iron Bull has returned home at last. And while we all know and love him as the Iron Bull, I can¡¯t help but think that his monumental achievements call for yet another ascension in rank. An Imperial Marshal is a great achievement indeed, but to us he will always be the stalwart champion of iron-willed determination. So, tonight let us join in combat the contenders for the rulership of Jurin Province. The incumbent, Seventh Warden, Lady Silver Tear versus the IRON MARSHAL!¡± As my new moniker was declared the scoreboard solidified it into existence. Seventh Warden vs The Iron Marshal Odds: 5:8 Time ¨C 30:00 Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Seventh Warden Iron Marshal 0 0 I chuckled at the odds. Guess they weren¡¯t against me this time. But no matter. The surging roar of adulation from the crowd at my new title was all the Frenzy I would need to bury this bitch in hell. ¡°Contestants at the ready!¡± I manifested my Axe and Phalanx Glaive, pulling them from my inner world. Lady Silver Tear did the same, drawing a single blade from her side, but then five more emerged from thin air to form an array of glowing steel behind her back. She then shimmered with a radiance as her Sacred Soul emerged. What looked like liquid mercury poured out of her back and it stretched like elastic in five separate strands, each of them joining with one of the floating blades behind her. The strands of amorphous silver liquid then began to take shape, each forming a human figure before turning instantly into a perfect copy of herself. The five new forms of the Warden then each produced five new blades of their own. , I thought. . Perhaps the [Odds were Against Me] indeed. ¡°Feel honored, boy,¡± Lady Silver Tear said in her multiple voices. ¡°You are one of the few to ever face the full unveiling of my Sacred Soul in combat. Are you ready?¡± I grimaced and summoned my own Sacred Soul, the red-hued struggler forming over my body and filling me with new power. ¡°I¡¯ve been ready for this since I was eight years old, bitch.¡± She merely smiled in response. I focused on my hatred of her as my Flame surged. Tonight, I would avenge my parents and sister. Avenge Fia and my child. To take back fully a portion of what we had all lost. The crowd then grew silent as we readied for the start. ¡°Commence!¡± Book 5: Chapter 9 I flew straight into the air at the sound of the bell. As predicted, Lady Silver Tear held back no punches with her opening move, unleashing a blinding barrage of Qi blasts centered at where I¡¯d just been seconds ago. Her follow up was equally aggressive, with two of her clones soaring after me with [Flash Step] and then engaging with all twelve of their blades at once. The air became a maelstrom of sparks and clashing steel as I struggled to deflect the hits with my [Spectrally] charged axe. It was futile and not just because it was twelve weapons versus one. Her speed was incredible. I parried perhaps a third of the attacks as the rest tore through my robes and bounced off my [Diamond] hardened skin. I [Lightning Walked] to evade a third clone and then retaliated with wide sweeps of my Phalanx Glaive, cutting loose with huge arcs of [Frenzied Lightning]. She evaded as I anticipated, buying me a bit of breathing room. I could barely keep track of which one was the real her. Although Silver Tear¡¯s clones were all spectral forms, her dark robes made it difficult to tell which ones were see through or not. It probably didn¡¯t matter. Each clone seemed as formidable as she herself was. Silver Tear¡¯s clones fanned outward, surrounding me on all sides. ¡°Just as I predicted,¡± she said in her multiple voices with a mocking scoff. ¡°Incredibly strong, but yet unskilled.¡± Her insult irked me, feeding my Flame, but she probably wasn¡¯t wrong either. I felt rusty as hell trying to perform my Axe and Glaive techniques and my moderately slow style versus hers was a bad match up to begin with. Much less that she had augmented her potency by five-fold. Still, I wasn¡¯t going to let her know that. ¡°Skill is the last thing I¡¯m going to need to kill you, bitch!¡± I shouted with [Torment of the Frenzied Flame]. ¡°I got rage on my side!¡± The technique set off a chain-reaction that rippled through Silver Tear¡¯s clones, ending with a pang a fear sparking within the real Silver Tear herself. I homed in on her and charged forward with [Lightning Drill of Fury]. The spiraling attack caught her off guard and as my blades drove into her, I elicited a sweet scream of pain. ¡°[Shadow¡¯s Sacrifice]!¡± she cried and instantly her body burst into a cloud of black smoke. I was blinded for a second and then heard another cry in multiple voices. ¡°[Eighth Heaven! Radiant Soul Strike]!¡± I knew that technique. I activated my [Sacred Soul Shield] just as five beams of blinding energy slammed into me. My [Soul Shield] flared with burning Frenzy as it suppressed the disruptive attack. She kept it up for a few seconds, but eventually cut it off when she perhaps noticed it wasn¡¯t doing crap to me. As the smoke cleared, Silver Tear changed her formation yet again, swirling in a cluster, but I noticed that one of her clones had now disappeared. I didn¡¯t know of this [Shadow¡¯s Sacrifice] technique, but it clearly appeared she could use it to save her true self from a killing blow with it at the expense of one of her clones. , I thought. ¡°An amazing initial bout for this legendary match up,¡± the announcer crooned over the speakers. ¡°Lady Silver Tear has the point advantage thus far, but the Iron Marshal is showing he¡¯s unfazed by most of it.¡± I glanced at the scoreboard. Seventh Warden vs The Iron Marshal Odds: 5:6 Time ¨C 28:34 Seventh Warden Iron Marshal 46 2 I thought. ¡°What manner of beast have you become, Bull Man?¡± she chided me. ¡°Did you trade your soul for power on those Hell Worlds?¡± It was my turn to pause now. Could she sense my Frenzy somehow? Or was it the fact that I could easily deflect five disruptive techniques like they were nothing? It was probably the latter, but in any case, she now knew she had to pull out her A game. And for me that could mean even more pain. ¡°You Fire Birds could never be trusted,¡± she said. ¡°Tell me now! How did you grow so strong?¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t you heard?¡± I flexed with [Struggler¡¯s Resolve]. ¡°I¡¯m a damn prodigy.¡± I fueled my Frenzy into another lightning charged combo, sending a torrent of white lightning her way. I closed the gap as she quickly parried each one and then dived in with a huge sweep of my Glaive. The distraction worked and I managed to clip one of her clones. No sooner than I had done so however, she blinked out of existence and then five screaming forms whizzed past me with brilliant flashes of steel. ¡°[Fifth Heaven! Nine-Point Strike]!¡± I felt stuck in slow motion as the attacks struck me seemingly all at once, but each one etched a small chip in my [Diamond Skin] armor and by the end of it, I was covered in wounds that began to weep blood. The pain hit a few seconds later, burning like a thousand papercuts soaked in acid. I hissed through the pain, cultivating it for my own strength. ¡°Ah,¡± Silver Tear said from everywhere around me. ¡°So the beast is killable after all. I suppose it will be just a matter of time.¡± She glanced at the scoreboard and I did the same. She¡¯d scored another 100 odd points and while it didn¡¯t kill me, if time ran out, she could still technically win this match. Anger boiled within as I thought of such an infuriating outcome. No way was I going to allow her to stall for time. ¡°Cowardly bitch!¡± I shouted. ¡°Fight me head on!¡± I blasted her with axe and glaive techniques, but she easily kept her distance with a combination of fending me off with her clones and [Flash Stepping] in and out of range. I knew her techniques thanks to Fia¡¯s training, but the way she executed them was on another level. By the time I recognized what type of attack she was using, she had already executed three more via her clones. The result was a battle of attrition I didn¡¯t have time to win. But to hell with winning. I wasn¡¯t here for a damn win. I was here to kill. We ping-ponged around the arena, drawing huge cheers from the crowd. The wounds on my body worsened as I desperately tried to match her speed. With [Mark of the Beast], I¡¯d probably well exceed her, but I couldn¡¯t cut loose like that right now. And neither did I want to. I had to prove I had enough raw strength to match her. Even if short on skill. I landed on the ground to regain my focus and Lady Silver Tear again surrounded me. ¡°I hope you haven¡¯t given up already, Bull Man,¡± she said, tauntingly. ¡°I was hoping for far more from you, after what I saw you do to my nieces.¡± I flashbacked to me using [Furious Flame of the Father] and wondered if the Warden herself hadn¡¯t gotten a quick look. It might certainly explain her interest in the origins of my newly gained powers. ¡°That was a fraction of my true strength,¡± I said, my anger seething. ¡°But you¡¯re going to get it full on from here. For what you did to my family. To Fia. You¡¯re going to suffer far worse than your nieces before you die!¡± I unleased my rage with thoughts of my mother, father and sister in my heart. That night so long ago. I finally had the strength I wished I¡¯d had back then. The strength to stop the madness. To save them. But there was no saving them now. All that was left. Was revenge. I let out a guttural cry as my Flame surged with Frenzy, tapping into the root of my Dao. I no longer tried to engage her with skillful axe and glaive techniques. She was too advanced for that anyway. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I went old school. Back to my roots. Back to the core of what it meant to be a Berserker. And gave into my rage. The world tunneled as I let the Demon have full control of the reins. He had waited a lifetime for this, and I wasn¡¯t going to deny him. I blasted through the air with a combination of [Ride the Lightning] and freeform swings of my Axe and Glaive. I was only vaguely aware of her multiple sword techniques, slicing through my defenses and cleaving through my flesh beneath, but I was on too much of a roll to care. Awe arose from the crowd as fear began to seep from the soul of the Warden herself. ¡°What a fearsome rally from the Iron Marshal!¡± the announcer screamed. ¡°The Lady Silver Tear looks completely overwhelmed! Her techniques are landing but the Marshal just doesn¡¯t seem to care!¡± I thought, as my mind continued to rage. I could count the zero shits I could give as I crossed the [Barren Ground] and made my way through [Deaths Door]. Blood and bone shattered as I endure technique after technique, but with every death blow I took came one of my own. ¡°[Shadow¡¯s Sacrifice]!¡± Silver Tear cried. ¡°[Shadow¡¯s Sacrifice]!¡± One by one, I popped her nine lives. Or five in this case. Before too long I got her down to one. The countenance of her soul shifted then, from fear to outright panic. ¡°Enough!¡± Silver Tear cried. ¡°Time to end this and you!¡± Her single form was in my sights and my tunnel vision was zoomed in on her. ¡°Lightning Drill of Fur--!¡± Before I could get the technique off, the world was suddenly plunged into darkness. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± the announcer¡¯s voice echoed in the pitch-black void. ¡°The Lady Silver Tear has pulled out all the stops and summoned her inner world! We can only imagine what¡¯s going on inside that black cloud now! Will the Iron Marshall survive? I¡¯m certain only one of them will emerge!¡± , I thought. This was the same as when I fought Lo Feng. Only Lady Silver Tear¡¯s inner world was much different. ¡°Very impressive,¡± her voice came from all around me in the darkness. ¡°You are one of the few to ever bring me to this stage of combat.¡± A blinding light appeared, and I braced myself to defend against it, but it grew from a pinpoint and exploded into a huge visage of heavenly clouds and pink skies. Then one by one, I saw sparkles in the clouds and when I looked closer, I saw they were gleaming swords. Hundreds of them, suspended on nothing. I floated in the air, panting and bleeding; pain as constant as the pulse flowing through my gushing veins. Silver Tear emerged in the center of it all. She was glowing like a god, radiating new power, her skin gleaming like silver itself. ¡°Witness Bull Man, my life¡¯s work and creation.¡± She floated to one of the swords and took it in her hand. ¡°You are one of the few to ever see my great collection. I have curated over a thousand blades and stored them within my inner world.¡± I fought to push back against her, trying to summon an inner world of my own. ¡°Yeah, well your vision of heaven will burn in hell when you see inner world.¡± I thought, hoping for a breakthrough. She started to laugh. ¡°I know not what you hope to accomplish, but it seems you are indeed but a 7th Tier after all. Your inner world is too weak to supersede mine.¡± I thought. She was right. I had no idea how to counteract this. ¡°But you have fought well, Bull Man,¡± Silver Tear said as she whipped her blade through a series of martial forms. ¡°As I knew you would. For this, you have the privilege of facing my ultimate technique.¡± She began to shimmer and one by one, clones appeared at each sword dangling in the sky. It was her Shadow Clone technique amped up to a thousand. ¡°[Final Heaven! Thousand Point Unlimited Blade Strike]!¡± I barely had chance to channel all my Frenzy to my defenses as the sky rained down on me with a thousand blades of steel. My [Diamon Skin] shattered instantly as the barrage of attacks went straight through and crashed into my [Diamond Core]. I cried out with a maddening pain as my Dantian began depleting like I was back on the Hell Worlds again. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Her sustained attack was so powerful, it took all my Frenzy to counteract it and stay alive through [Death¡¯s Door]. But even that would give in soon once it hit zero. I needed more power. More Frenzy to push back against this and see me through. I needed a reset, to turn the tides. I didn¡¯t want to resort to using a [Mark] but now, stuck within her inner world, I didn¡¯t have much choice. But that meant no one else could see me from the outside either. At least for just a second anyway. I thought back to that final image of my family as Lady Silver Tear callously condemned them to death. But not just them¡­ She was responsible for who lived and died across the entire world that night. Billions of people, died by her hand. I cried out as I tapped into the power of [Everyone¡¯s Sorrow] and felt the strength of my Dantian growing again. It was now or never. I needed something so powerful that it would end both the technique and her in an instant. I tapped into my meridians and lined up two techniques in quick succession. ¡°[Three Fold Frenzy]!¡± A blinding rage filled my mind as my body morphed with all three [Marks] at once. My skin and bones were instantly healed and the Demon went from being in command to being totally out of control. The Struggler gripped him by the horns, giving me but a fraction of a second to react with my rational mind. ¡°[Wrath of a Million Slain Souls]!¡± The technique went off with the power of the [Demon], [Beast] and [Giant] combined. Huge tendrils of white lightning ricochetted between every sword in Silver Tear¡¯s domain then focused on Silver Tear herself. She let out a horrific cry as the entire world exploded and in a flash the arena reappeared again. Along with it came the shattering of a thousand swords as metal began raining from the sky. Silver Tear was stunned in midair, and I surged towards her with [Lightning Walk], lifting my Glaive overhead for a killing blow. ¡°[Lightning Splits the towering Oak]!¡± She seemed to come to herself at just the last moment and with a scream of shock she pushed both palms towards me and formed her last, six blades into a triangular formation. ¡°[Ninth Heaven! Six-Point Guard]!¡± My blade struck the translucent pink barrier that formed between her swords, and I felt it give a little as my power pushed through. Fear, panic and incomprehension filled her silver eyes, and I stared right back at her with [Focused Fury] within my own. ¡°H-how?¡± she said as both fear and lemonade filled her soul. ¡°How are you still alive? How have you been made whole?¡± ¡°Because I follow the Son of the [Furious Fame of the Father], bitch!¡± As I invoked the technique, I could see her catch a glimpse of the One True Flame as it was mirrored in her silver eyes. She let out a primal scream of terror and her defensive technique faltered, leaving my glaive to break through it like shattering glass. A huge boom went off as she went careening towards the ground. I was after her in a flash, punching through the air with [Lightning Drill of Fury]. We both hit the ground at the same time, my technique going off like a bomb as it drilled right into her chest. A resounding shockwave went throughout the entire stadium and when the dust cleared, Silver Tear was impaled to the ground with my Glaive twisted through her midsection. Deathly silence fell as the crowd stood to their feet. I looked down at her as she gurgled and spat blood, her arms shaking in spasms. ¡°I don¡¯t believe this arena has ever seen such raw power before,¡± the announcer came over the speakers. ¡°But it¡¯s a definitive victory, folks. The Lady Silver Tear is no more! We have a new Warden in Jurin Province. All hail the Iron Marshal!¡± The crowd burst into thunderous cheers, and I could feel the surge of awe and lemonade that came with it, but none more so than that which was coming from the Warden herself. It puzzled me for a moment and then, with a bloodied hand, I could swear she was beckoning me. ¡°Come quickly, boy,¡± she said, emphasizing ¡®boy¡¯ like it was a curse. ¡°I won¡¯t last long from this damn deathblow of yours.¡± I touched down on the ground next to her and her silver eyes filled with a sort of delight as she looked up at me, teeth bloodied with a smile. ¡°You did not fail to deliver, Iron Bull. Well done.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°When I stepped onto this battlefield, I knew there was a very good chance I would not survive. For weeks I anticipated my own death at your hands.¡± She then paused to hack out a wad of blood. ¡°It¡¯s a comfort, I suppose, to at least be right about something.¡± I grimaced, looking down at her as she began to laugh. ¡°What the hell do you want? A cookie?¡± I¡¯d had enough of this shit. ¡°Go rot in hell, you bitch. I¡¯m glad your death will be a painful one. For both leaving my family to die and for trying to kill Fia and my son. You¡¯re lucky your dumbass nieces failed, or you and the rest of this planet would be a burning ember by now.¡± Her brows lifted in surprise as I gave her a shit eating grin. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right bitch. They¡¯re both still alive. And now, with you gone, I¡¯ll be returning her and her father to their rightful place in this city.¡± She let out a scoff that grew into outright laughter. It infuriated me and I felt like punching her right in the damn face and probably would have if she wasn¡¯t already bleeding to death. ¡°Hell¡¯s so funny?¡± ¡°Oh, my dear, dear boy¡­so amazingly clever, yet still not very wise.¡± My ire peaked. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Bull Man, I barely cared about your first family, why would you think I would care anything of your second?¡± The statement filled me with anger and confusion both. ¡°What do you mean?¡± She let out a sigh. ¡°It was the Princess who ordered their deaths, you foolish boy.¡± ¡°What?¡± My mind struggled to comprehend it. It didn¡¯t make any sense. The princess wanted Fia and my baby dead? ¡°Why? Why would she want that?¡± She laughed again. ¡°Don¡¯t be so daft, child. Did you not discern that the woman is infatuated with you?¡± Infatuated? ¡°Look, I know I¡¯m like her prized tribute or something, but why would she try to kill Fia?¡± ¡°To have you to herself, you idiot.¡± I was starting to feel every bit as stupid as my nickname. Was I really being a here? ¡°You can sense it even now, can¡¯t you?¡± Silver Tear said and craned her neck to look up at the floating dais where the Princess was. ¡°See the way she stares down at you? She desires you as more than just a tribute or trophy. She desires you all to herself. As a husband.¡± The world went off kilter as my stomach lurched. ¡°The hell?¡± ¡°I dutifully carried out the deed, as did my nieces,¡± Silver Tear said. ¡°But for me there was no personal interest in it. For her, however, it was much more.¡± My mind reeled yet again. ¡°That bitch ordered you to kill my wife and child?¡± ¡°Future wife,¡± she said. ¡°And yes. She wanted no trace of Silver Light¡¯s lineage to sour her fantasy, I suppose.¡± New thoughts raced through my mind. I recalled the way she kept patty my hand in that meeting. ¡°That dirty old slut! I thought those damn letters of hers were strange, but this is crazy!¡± I seethed as my anger was redirected. I looked up at the Princess again and the bitch actually blew me a kiss. I recoiled inside, torn with revulsion and hate. ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill her. I¡¯m going to damn well kill her!¡± ¡°Calm yourself, Bull Man,¡± Silver Tear said, chuckling until she spat up blood. ¡°Still so unwise.¡± Unwise? ¡°What the hell are you talking about now? And why are you telling me all this?¡± ¡°Know you not that a dead man tells no tales, but a dying man tells all?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± She laughed again. ¡°You truly are but a fool... You seek power, don¡¯t you? To restore your petty world? Think you can do that by being the ruler of Jurin Province?¡± I felt like slapping her again. ¡°I¡¯m doing it one step at a time, bitch. I¡¯ll get there eventually. I beat you, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°So full of fire¡­ do yourself a favor, Bull Man. If you truly wish to kill the princess, keep your family hidden and marry the ridiculous old woman first.¡± I was rocked back on my heels by the notion, instantly disgusted. ¡°To hell with that!¡± She laughed. ¡°Let her make you a Duke. True royalty with land of your own. That will get you much farther than being an Imperial Marshal alone.¡± I paused at that and in the back of my mind, the Struggler was starting to do the math on what she¡¯s said. ¡°I still don¡¯t know why you¡¯re telling me all this.¡± She smiled with bloodied teeth. ¡°Because I hate the bitch and the ruling clan¡­just like you.¡± A distant look then entered her eyes as the light in them began to fade. ¡°My dear Bull Man. You were my only mistake. A boy I let across the threshold when I knew you were yet too old. What a fitting end to befall me for my folly. You distracted me from my path. Never before did I practice compassion.¡± She chuckled once more. ¡°But at least it allowed me to see both the pinnacle of my creation and my demise. My one mistake, which led to the prodigy that foretold my end. I take some pride in knowing that I played such a critical role in your path.¡± My mind reeled yet again as I took in what she¡¯d said. She was absolutely right. That one decision. Her choice to take me in, instead of leaving me to die with my family, was what changed everything. ¡°I know not what darkness you partake of now boy, but I wish you well with it.¡± She then smiled. ¡°And spit in the princess¡¯s face for me before you kill her, yes? But be smart for once and marry the deluded old bitch first.¡± With that Lady Silver Tear wheezed her last. I was left perplexed and beside myself, thinking new thoughts as the crowd and the princess herself showered me with their accolades from above. ¡°What the hell¡­¡±