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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 Flame was burning strong with a blueish white tinge. The last 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 Flame 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 become a demon for sure. Or even worse, become a host or puppet for that damn monster, I’xol’ukz.

Nothing ever comes 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 only laughed as she lowered it to the floor again with a loud clang.

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–at 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 felt completely 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 guy come 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 the last 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 instruction later, but aside from this, focus on detecting your Frenzy while building your physical conditioning.”

I then gave her an exercise regimen similar 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 collapse 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’d come 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 hiccups though, but honestly I couldn’t really complain about the progress I’d made.

I had discovered a way to increase the size of the barrier, kindled Kelsey’s Flame and discovered a new path of cultivation to grow my spiritual inner core. All in all, a successful 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] combined, 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 and completely 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 for combat, 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-Class 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 calculated 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 either landed 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 drinks later to catch up before heading home to D Block. Things were going so smoothly that I was almost surprised when a wall of commotion 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 blade.

“[Second Heaven, Crescent Arc Strike]!”

A flash of white light flew from her blade 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, complementing 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 flawlessly 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 slapped the cultivator with a declaration 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 exclaimed, dropping to the floor in a bow. “This One welcomes your return!”

Everyone turned to me then, following suit with bows of respect and squirts of lemonade.

“Master Chun!”

“Welcome back, sect leader!”

“We are glad 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 glad 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 melancholy 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 displaced 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.”