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-class 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 I compressed 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-class monster. Would it take an A class? 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 plains 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 my lack 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 it completely 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 slapping 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 hours later. That meant there were plenty of rings free to rent. I approached the counter inside the competitors’ 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 my last 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 glad you healed up in time. Your preliminary match is coming 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 100 competitors 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 to complete 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

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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 scholars does it,” he said. “Your aspect and cultivation level makes a huge difference for the match ups. We want matches to be entertaining and balanced, not a slaughter fest, so we try and place competitors 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 balance the matches that way. Place a lower-tier opponent against a higher tier of a weaker aspect.”

I recalled the circular 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 play an even bigger role when it come to the odds in the betting pools, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

I laughed at his joke, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the list.

I looked at number 96 in particular, 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 a late 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 15 competitor or something based on her cultivation level.

I blew out a sigh.

A 4th-Tier Core Realm cultivator and royal member of the ruling clan. 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 explain 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—and considering Lady Silver Sparrow that was looking like a pretty big if right now—I’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-ranked competitors. 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 glanced up at numbers 99 and 100, my current peer group—two 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-level competitor 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 be competing this year,” I said with confidence, my Flame backing up my conviction. “I’ll be registering in a couple of days.”

* * *

A few hours later, I was sitting with Gui Zu in the cheap bamboo chairs of an open-air restaurant, buying him dinner after our sparring session. The late 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 eaten last 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—Gui 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 catacombs 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 my lack 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.”

He laughed, 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’t come 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. Congratulations! 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 become…” 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 successful, 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 available.”

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—”

I laughed, 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.”

I laughed 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 glanced 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 place 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 started laughing. “I guess I’m not that good with kids.”

“Don’t worry,” Yu Li said graciously, with a nervous laugh. “She’s always like this when it comes 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 him completely. You’ll like him, I’m sure.”

Yu Li glanced 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 teeth later 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, come 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 glaring 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 accomplished something for the better, but there was a hell of a lot more that lay 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.