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What the hell…?

My heart rate climbed as I inched forward. It was late but not that late. The place 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.

I was rocked back on heels by the sudden flurry of excitement. The entire neighborhood had gathered and began greeting me with applause and cheers.

“Well done, Master Chun!”

“Congratulations 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.

“Congratulations, 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 planning this all week in secret. A damn good thing you won, eh?”

I burst out laughing as Yu Li gave me a grin. My head had been full of plans 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!”

I laughed with nervous apprehension as she seated me at a large 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 display 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 flavor 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 place. 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 did come 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. The complication 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 royal lady.

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 accomplish, I thought as I knocked back another drink.

Part of me wanted to go into planning 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, we lay 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 playfully. “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 Phalanx Glaive 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 Flame, more or less. “How do you defend against it?”

“It comes naturally with spiritual refinement,” Fia said. “The maturing of one’s spiritual root and Dantian.”

“How does that relate 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 not common, 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 balance.” 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 days later, 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 Flame. 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] – 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] – an advanced manifestation technique, to summon thy Spectral Body into the physical realm.

Threja had used [Spectral Form], which according to the Shuras, was a reflection of her [Spectral Body] which seemed to be the closest thing relative to the inner soul for Qi Cultivators. But she didn’t appear like some giant incandescent flame, so my Flame couldn’t be my true inner self.

Maybe it was just a flame borrowed from the true Flame.

The Frenzied Flame.

“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 Flame, 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 planning 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 Yee language complete 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 Flame, 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 may come 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 plan 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 other languages worked in general really helped.

By late 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 one last time from the source material to ensure I’d been practicing it correctly and then sat in lotus position with the blade across my knees as I peered deep into my inner soul.

I sensed my Mental Capacity expanding as I compartmentalized my thoughts, one eye looking inward while the other was focused on the various meridians through which I circulated 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 collapsed.

A black 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 Flame, 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 place between places. 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 display. 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 resemblance. The form I took when I went all out. The Mark of the Beast, Demon, and Giant combined.

But if this was the demon inside of me, then was the child version of me—?

“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.”