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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 the complex 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 might come 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 glanced about quickly to see if any of her lackeys 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, lady,” I said, stirring my Flame with [Struggler’s Resolve]. “If you want your death tonight, you can have it.”

She leaned her head back and laughed. “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 black emerged from the darkness, crouched on rooftops and slipping from out of shadows. With their faces covered in black 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 your lady 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 plan, 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 my laughter. “You’re not serious, are you?”

Hin Wu responded with a scowl, her lemonade now accompanied 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, lady, but I’m good. No way in hell am I ever serving you or Lo Feng.”

Her anger flared and I thought she might throw her hat at me again.

Her Qi must have flared as well, because instantly a dozen silver needles struck the ground at her feet––a warning from the Silver Shadows still watching our every move.

Hin Wu regarded them balefully as she glanced 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 pillar of flames.

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 clasped 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 clan.

The Silver Shadows looked bewildered at what I’d said for a moment, all of them glancing 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 you later.”

I chuckled with [Indifference].

“Yeah, yeah…” I said. “I’m sure that’s the case.”

But I could read Fia’s playbook 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 plagued 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 place to sleep, I would have chosen to remain with those displaced by the fire anyway. After assembling the community in the morning, I let them know my plan.

“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 play 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 Slain Souls] to turn everything to glass had given me an idea. Although I had used it to make the glass, it had also protected me somewhat from his projectiles.

What if I could use a variation of the technique to achieve a similar 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 even combine 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 bunker community out in the wild. Everyone here was already used to me being a powerhouse, especially after most of the neighborhood had come to see me fight at the arena last 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 balance the splitting of my time between the two communities.

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 accomplished 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—expand the barrier and also farm cores.

But to do that I needed training and a weapon to practice with.

“Okay I have a plan,” 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 a laugh. “I don’t normally go to tournaments myself, but my neighbor was talking my ear off last night. Said he saw you pull off quite the victory in the ring.”

I laughed. “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 replace 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 Phalanx Glaive.”

“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 fella as strong as you. It’s a sword but they call it a glaive for a reason.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re made intentionally with an imbalance,” he said, tapping at the tip of the place. “Dissimilar 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 imbalance is. You need the skill of a glaive master to wield it.”

Well, that explained 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 place. 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 blade had a name at all. “I did not know that.”

“You’ll need special training to use it,” Edrik said. “A glaive 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 a laugh. “You truly are a mystery, lad. It’s as if you know things before you even know what they are at all.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment 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 unaccompanied. Each Legionnaire has an entourage of retainers. An Imperial Phalanx. This sword, this glaive 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 to come to Earth to find her [Death Wish]?

“Do these handlers or Phalanx 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 glaives. 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 planning on visiting those hell worlds anytime soon.”

We both laughed but in the back of my mind, I wondered if those Cursed Stars were where the King of the Moon had actually come 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 fairly common and we don’t need much. So did you come across more of those orbs or something?”

“I wish,” I said, laughing 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 glanced 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 place you might be able to land some Corrupted Steel as well as sell those cores,” he said with a grin. “The auction.”