The sun rose on a new day with a revealing light over the wilderness. The time for reflection and idleness was over. The time for action and most importantly looting had begun.

  ‘Tekton.’ Li Yu said as he was tapping the metallic bracelet on his wrist. Time to stretch your legs. We need a ride.

  ‘Sure thing, Li Yu!’ Tekton hummed back.

  Li Yu tossed the bracelet into the air. Mid-flight, the metal began expanding. It was unfolding with the sound of grinding gears and shifting plates. In seconds, the small accessory transformed back into a leviathan of the sky—the Sky-Iron Dreadnought. Tekton hovered above the clearing, his shadow plunging the camp back into twilight.

  “Hop on.” Li Yu said as he leapt up to land on the flat expanse of Tekton’s armored neck.

  Jian Xuan cheekily grabbed Lin Xia’s hand and together they flew up, landing gracefully behind Li Yu. Krell followed, his form blurring into shadow before reappearing on the beast’s back. Kael was the last to join, his movements efficient and devoid of wasted energy.

  “To the Crimson Fang Headquarters” Li Yu said. “Kael, you’re the navigator.”

  Kael nodded and pointed a finger towards the northeast. That way. Their headquarters is hidden within the Blood-Mist Valley.

  “What are we walking into?” Li Yu asked. “Do you have a headcount or any other information about them?”

  Kael shook his head slightly. “Exact numbers? No. I know the rough layout, I know the rough defenses. But the population... it fluctuates. It’s a city, Li Yu. There could be thousands. Maybe ten thousand. It’s the heart of their power.”

  Li Yu nodded slowly. ‘Thousands.’ He thought to himself.

  Tekton roared and surged forward. The acceleration was instant but a thin barrier of Qi rose from Tekton’s skin to shield them from the wind shear.

  As the landscape blurred beneath them, a heavy silence settled over the group. The thoughts of the previous night had faded and were replaced by the grim reality of what they were about to do.

  They weren't going to a tournament. They weren't going to a duel. They were going to exterminate a large clan. A clan with thousands of people working for them, with them or forced to work.

  Li Yu sat cross-legged near the front, looking at the clouds. His mind was a battlefield of conflicting thoughts.

  ‘Total annihilation is the safest route.’ Li Yu mused. ‘Cut the grass and pull up the roots. If I leave survivors, they might grow up to seek revenge like myself. It’s the standard backstory of so many tales old men tell in inns. I don’t want to be the reason some kid trains for who knows how many years and eventually kills me.’

  It was the logic of the cultivation world. It was cold, efficient and brutal. When destroying an organization, pull the roots, salt the ground and burn the land. Take care to not leave any traces behind that could come back to get you. It was normal and the right of the victor.

  But Li Yu frowned. He remembered the Green Mountain Sect. He remembered the disciples who just wanted to learn, the servants who just cooked the food and like him when he first joined, the people who were there because they had nowhere else to go.

  ‘Not everyone in the Crimson Fang is Valen or Cyrus.’ Li Yu argued with himself. ‘Some are just unlucky. Some were forced. If I kill the janitor just because he sweeps the floor of an evil sect, am I any better than them? But what if that janitor was actually a hidden elder of the sect?’

  He looked back at his friends. Jian Xuan and Lin Xia were still holding hands but their faces set in grim determination. They had lived for a long time and had seen such things before. You take from others so you, yourself can get stronger. The Crimsonfang had done it countless times to others, now it was their turn.

  Kael was already holding his Tidal Cleaver, a massive curved blade shaped like the wing of a giant manta ray. There was no reason for him to hold it now but perhaps he was readying himself. Krell also had his weapon out but he was simply checking his hammer. Making sure it was ready for battle.

  They were ready to kill as needed. These people have been hardened from hundreds of years of being in the cultivation world. Li Yu was the odd one among this group. He was much younger and while he understood how the world worked, he still thought a bit differently.

  Was he ready to butcher? He had been thinking about it long and hard during these last three days. The decision to destroy the leadership of the Crimson Fang had been simple. This decision was much harder.

  “Let me talk a bit about what we will do once we arrive. It will not be just annihilating everyone there and pulling the roots.” Li Yu announced suddenly.

  Jian Xuan looked confused. “Brother Li? We are here to destroy them, are we not? It is a simple thing and is what they deserve. You don’t need to overthink it so much. I know what you are thinking and you don’t need to be this way.”

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  “I know…” Li Yu began. “But I don’t want us to be just mindless butchers. I want to give those who are not ‘evil’ a chance to survive. I know it is quite subjective what ‘evil’ really is but it is my sense of evil and it is all that I can do.”

  He looked at the group as his expression turned serious.

  “When we arrive, I will give them a choice. One, surrender and be judged by me. I have a sense for these things since I started diving into the Law of Karma. Once again, it is the best I can do and offer them. They can surrender or resist and die. Those who surrender will be screened. If they are ‘evil’ I will kill them myself. If they are just following orders to survive or if they are victims themselves, they can go.”

  Krell frowned. “That is risky, boy. A snake playing dead is still a snake. Mercy leaves loose ends. You are being generous to others while hurting yourself. You are still truly a child…”

  “I know.” Li Yu said. “But I still want to give them the chance. If they are bad, I will not let them get away. I will make sure those that have hurt others unjustly will pay.”

  “How can you know that? Are you so sure that you understand what you call the Law of Karma? How are you going to do this boy?!” Krell roared back. Thinking he was a fool. He didn’t want Li Yu to make such a mistake because of his youth.

  “It has proven to work and my abilities in that area have only grown. I believe in myself. Once again, this will come across as me enacting ‘my justice’ but it is the best I can offer them. If they feel wrongly, that is too bad for them…” Li Yu calmly responded.

  Li Yu looked over at Kael. “Are you okay with this?”

  Kael gripped his weapon. He thought about the screams in the cave. He thought about his peace.

  “As long as those that deserve to die, die.” Kael said after a while. “Every single one of them. The Elders die. The rest… I don’t care. If they come for me in the future, they deserve their revenge too.”

  “I can promise you we will get all the bad ones.” Li Yu said with confidence.

  ‘Li Yu.’ Tekton interrupted. ‘We are approaching the location soon. The so-called Blood-Mist Valley. I can sense from here that their formations and arrays are activated. They must have been waiting for us all of these days.’

  Ahead of them, the horizon was dominated by a massive swirling nebula of crimson fog. It filled a gigantic basin in the earth. It was obscuring everything beneath it. Flashes of red lightning arced through the mist and a palpable aura of malice radiated from the valley.

  It was a fortress designed to intimidate and keep others out.

  ‘Tekton.’ Li Yu communicated back to Tekton. ‘Time to show off your abilities. Knock on the door.’

  ‘With pleasure.’ Tekton roared internally.

  The Sky-Iron Dreadnought accelerated. He didn’t slow down as he approached the red fog. The group jumped off of him once they got closer. Tekton continued forward and turned his body into a spinning and living battering ram.

  Boom!

  Tekton slammed into the defensive array of the Blood-Mist Valley with his huge body.

  The impact was like a meteor strike. The red fog rippled violently while revealing a shimmering, semi-transparent dome of blood-colored energy underneath. The dome groaned under the stress of a Divine Transformation beast’s physical impact.

  Inside the valley, alarms screamed. Tekton had been moving too fast and Li Yu was hiding his presence with his skills.

  Li Yu stood above and was looking down through the rippling shield. Below, he could see a sprawling city of black stone and red tiles. Thousands of figures were scrambling like ants in a disturbed hill.

  Li Yu took a deep breath and began channeling his Qi into his voice.

  “Attention, House of Crimson Fang!”

  His voice didn't just echo; it thundered. It shook the tiles off some of the roofs below. It vibrated in the chests of every cultivator in the valley.

  “I am Little Crab of the Crab Cult! You probably already know by now who I am. I have killed your Patriarch! I have slaughtered the five Elders with him! Your leadership is practically gone!”

  Panic erupted below. The news had clearly traveled through the main members and family by now but not everyone knew. They had kept it hidden from most to not cause widespread panic. Li Yu could see it. People stopping, pointing and screaming.

  “I am here to collect the rest of the debt!” Li Yu roared. “But I am merciful!”

  He paused, letting the silence hang heavy over the valley.

  “Drop your weapons! Drop your storage rings. Kneel on the ground! Surrender! and you will be judged fairly! Resist, and only death will await you! You have ten breaths to decide for yourself!”

  Li Yu’s voice rang across the area. For a moment, there was a mix of chaos below and those that were standing still. Then, Li Yu saw the change.

  On the outer edges of the sect there were the servant quarters. People there began to quickly drop to their knees. Many didn’t fully understand what was happening but they had heard the quickly traveling rumors. The Crimson Fang finally went after someone they shouldn’t have.

  In the outer disciple barracks, some people were dropping to their knees as well. Many of these people were new or didn’t have much connection to the Crimson Fang yet. They didn’t want to be dragged down. There were hundreds of them. They were terrified. They had no desire to fight a monster who just said he killed their leader.

  In the center of the sect, near the grand palaces and the cultivation pagodas, the reaction was different. A group of cultivators flew up. There were hundreds of them. They wore the ornate red robes of the inner sect. Leading them was a man with long black hair and even now had a face twisted in arrogance. It was an Elder who had likely been left behind to guard the base.

  “Lies!” The Elder screamed back. His voice was amplified by one of the arrays. “The Patriarch is invincible! You are a fraud! Who are you to judge us? Who are you to decide who lives and dies?”

  The Elder pointed his sword at Li Yu through the shield.

  “We are the Crimson Fang! We do not kneel to outsiders! Activate the Blood-Cannon! Blast this fool from the sky!”

  Li Yu sighed. ‘There’s always at least one.’

  He looked down at the defiant Elder.

  “Who am I to decide?” Li Yu repeated. His voice dropped to a cold conversational tone that somehow carried further than the shout.

  “I am the Victor.” Li Yu said. “And in this world—in the world you built—the victor decides everything. Isn’t that your philosophy? Might makes right? The strong eat the weak?”

  Li Yu raised his hand.

  ‘Tekton. Break it.’