The sun beat down on the ravaged sands of Sector 4 but the heat felt almost pleasant compared to the cold kiss of the void that had permeated the air only an hour ago. The brave heroes that held the line at the rift were now currently trying to heal and recover.

  The surviving members of the Alliance team sat in a loose circle. They were drinking water and nursing their wounds. Their eyes, however, weren't on their bandages. They were fixed on the figure standing near the slowly collapsing rift, nonchalantly poking at the fading violet energy with a black staff. Li Yu and the two ladies with him were doing their best to study the rift.

  "That's him," a Core Formation cultivator named Jaren whispered while wincing as he adjusted his broken arm. The bones were already beginning to heal thanks to some pills he had taken. However, the pain from bone repair was great. "That’s Little Crab."

  "I thought he'd be... bigger," muttered another disciple. It was a burly man named Korg who was currently trying to hammer the dents out of his shield. He was in much better shape and besides nearly depleting his Qi, he was okay. "With a name like 'Little Crab,' I expected a mutant that was small and had some claws. Or at least someone wider. He looks nothing like his name."

  "It's an ironic name, you idiot," Jaren hissed. "Like calling a giant 'Tiny'. You saw what he did to that general. He popped its head like a grape. Don’t let his size or age fool you. That kid over there is as much a monster as his name implies. It’s a blessing that he isn’t a monster coming out from the rift. He’s on our side of this war."

  A hush fell over the group as they watched Li Yu toss a pebble into the rift, only to see it bounce off of it. Presumably he was testing its stability. Beside him, the two mysterious women—one clad in shimmering void armor, the other looking like a lost scholar—were arguing over a notebook.

  "I heard stories about him from friends at headquarters," a female cultivator named Elara piped up. She then leaned in to get closer to the others. She wiped soot from her forehead. "They say he stopped that massive beast tide that was gathering single-handedly. The one that no faction in the Alliance wanted to take part of. They said he just walked out in front of the stampede and raised his hand."

  "I heard he didn't even raise his hand," Korg interjected, lowering his hammer. "My cousin was in the logistics division. He swears that Little Crab just stood there and released a breath so heavy that the beasts' legs gave out. They say he conquered them with just his presence, his aura."

  "And the centipede," Jaren pointed to Tekton. Tekton was currently curled up nearby, happily crunching on the severed leg of the Void-Chitin General. The sound of metal shearing through bone made their ears hurt but no one was brave enough to ask him to stop. "That’s the Sky-Iron Dreadnought. The beast that was the leader of that tide. The one that terrorized and they said could not be hurt by anyone within Soul Formation."

  "Terrorized?" Elara scoffed. "Please. I heard that when Little Crab found it, the thing was trying to eat an entire sect. Little Crab apparently climbed onto its back, rode it like one does a horse for three days without sleeping. He then broke its will by whispering poetry into its ear until it surrendered."

  "Poetry?" Korg frowned.

  "Terrible poetry," Elara nodded solemnly. "The kind that shatters the soul. That’s why the beast is so obedient now. It fears the rhymes. I was told it doesn’t want to hear another word!"

  Nearby, sitting slightly apart from the rumor mill was High Mystic Caelia and Sylvia. They too had heard the stories and rumors. They didn’t have friends or connections at the alliance but it was a topic that was constantly being discussed when it had happened. They were now listening to the whispers.

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  Sylvia choked on her water. "Poetry?" she whispered to her master. "Do they really believe that?"

  Caelia sighed, resting her head against a rock. She looked drained, her usually pristine robes stained with dust and beetle ichor. "Soldiers need legends, fun stories, Sylvia. It gives them hope. It gives them something, no, someone to look up to. If our monster is this crazy and strong. Of course, we will win. If they believe their savior is a poetry-reciting god of death, let them."

  "But it's Li Yu," Sylvia muttered and was looking at the young man who was now laughing at something one of the women had said. "He's just... he's Li Yu. Besides the few fights I have seen him in, he is rather unimpressive. He has no presence. I was told by some Crab Cult fanatics in the Southern Continent that he raises fish as a hobby. How did he become this?"

  Caelia too watched him. She remembered the young man she had met on the Southern Continent. He had been strong then, yes. Absurdly so for his age. No, just absurdly so. But there had been a rawness to him. Now?

  "He killed a peak Soul Formation beast with one strike," Caelia said softly. "I barely scratched its armor with my strongest attack earlier. He erased it casually. The difference between us now is like the distance between the heavens and the ground. That isn't just cultivation, Sylvia. That is a fundamental difference in existence."

  "He destroyed the CrimsonFang Clan too," Sylvia reminded her master. For some reason she lowered her voice when she said this. "The stories said the clan head, a man known for his high cultivation and ruthlessness, was turned into an old mortal man. Completely powerless. They say Li Yu didn't even draw a weapon. He just... slapped him and it was over."

  "I heard he used a fish," Caelia corrected with a faint smile touching her lips. "Rumor has it he slapped the CrimsonFang leader with a frozen carp. The scales of the fish went flying and each person of the CrimsonFang that the scales touched was killed too."

  Sylvia giggled, the sound relieving some of the tension in her chest. "A carp. Honestly, with Li Yu, that might actually be the true version. He seems that powerful. I looked down on him before, not because I thought he was weak. Mainly because he was so unassuming and quiet. Because I thought I could eventually catch up to him. Now… I can only look at his back and admire."

  "He is leaving us behind," Caelia murmured with her smile fading into a look of contemplative respect. "Not just in distance, but in the Dao. We are climbing a mountain, Sylvia. Li Yu... he is simply flying over it. I told you before as we were coming to this continent. Don’t compare yourself to him. He’s a freak. You are already really impressive."

  They fell silent as Li Yu turned away from the rift and began walking toward them. The chatter of the disciples died instantly. Jaren sat up straighter. Korg hid his dented shield behind his back. Elara smoothed her hair.

  Li Yu approached with a casual, bouncy step with his straw hat slightly askew. He looked less like a war god and more like a farmer coming back from a successful harvest.

  "High Mystic Caelia," Li Yu greeted them while bowing slightly. "Sylvia. Is the team recovering well?"

  "We are alive," Caelia said. She stood up to return the bow. Even exhausted, she maintained the grace of a High Mystic. "Thanks to you, Little Crab."

  Li Yu winced slightly at the name. He had almost forgotten about it since it had been a while since someone referred to him as that. "Please, just Li Yu is fine. 'Little Crab' makes me sound like a soup ingredient."

  "To the Alliance, you are the Little Crab," Caelia said. "You might want to get used to it. The name is already spreading faster than the rifts."

  Li Yu sighed. "Wonderful."

  He reached into his storage ring. "Anyway, I didn't come over to chat about nicknames. I have harvested the battlefields since coming to this continent."

  He waved his hand. A pile of items materialized on the sand in front of them. It was a treasure trove. There were glowing cores that pulsed with spatial energy. There were weapons that Li Yu had pulled from his own collection, items he had gathered from the CrimsonFang treasury and the various rings he had obtained since coming here.

  The two of them had come here with him to this continent. He had separated from them but they had agreed they would share some of the spoils of war. Li Yu was a person of his word and would honor it. The equipment was mostly things he couldn’t use and the cultivation resource was something he had a lot of currently.