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 similar-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 a lackluster 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 glanced 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 Clan. Second in line to succeed 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 Lunalah, 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, a common 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—”

“Must I summon the princess herself to tell you?” Li Gong Qui shouted. “Do you not understand who I—”

“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 clasped hands high above his head. “This One proposes a solution. Please allow my handlers to act as your porters. They will gladly ferry you into the wilds and safely back again. They will come at no extra charge to you, of course.”

The bastard. I should have seen that one coming.

Li Gong Qui glanced at Sumatra and huffed out a scoff. “This One is pleased by your proposal, sullied one. I will instead file only a complaint with your local Warden and not alert the princess to your transgressions.”

Sullied one? I expected to see some measure of disdain come 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 short laugh. “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, clapping 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?” Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

He prompted me with a slap 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 incomparable 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 glancing 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 like last 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 their lazy asses wouldn’t hurt either. But more irritating was how this was going to affect my extra-curricular activities. I was planning 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 my comrades though and as we left the gate and navigated into the wild, I could hear them puffing with exertion already.

I played 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’ve come for.”

“That’s what my master has—”

“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 Qui laughed. “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’t complete bullshit. Belrugs were D-class 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—”

“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 father lament about all the time, about how celebrities were worshipped on the screen but in real life they could be complete 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 proclaim 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 balanced 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 me coming 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 Hui laughed. “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—”

“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 relatively 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 the large thirty-foot-high mounds of mud and debris laying 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 recommend.”

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 alarm.

But Li Gong Qui merely laughed. “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 avalanche of ice and snow erupted from the staff and blanketed the three belrugs as they closed in on him. They froze in place, 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 belrugs lay there dead.

Su Wen leapt into the air clapping 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 another laugh. “Child’s play. 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 occur. 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 bladder. It stinks like hell, but it’ll attract these things even more than their blood. You guys find the bladders in the other two. We’ll make a trail of them leading up the closest nest over there to keep a steady stream of them coming.”

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 place, 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 bladders and place 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-splashing 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 Flame ignited, flash 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 to land on top of me. I leapt to the side, the beast shaking the ground as it landed 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 blade 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 the last second, but its jaws clamped 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 I landed my first kill, my [Lust for Battle] going out of control. I quickly cut open the belrug and found its gall bladder, tossing it towards the nest to lure out some more.

As I waited for them to come, 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 bladder 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 to lash 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 success. One of them managed to slam 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 slam 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 all coming 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 Avalanche] 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 flat and smooth like a tadpole and its body long and sinewy, ending in a tadpole-like tail. Blaring waves of heat poured off its orange-red skin as torrents of flames spewed from its mouth as it unleashed an ear-shattering roar.

The flames 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 flames 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.