Li Yu didn't use a magical artifact to judge them. He used his eyes and his ‘inner voice.’ As he had delved deeper into the laws of the world, his perception of Karma—of cause and effect—had sharpened. It wasn't perfect but he could sense the heavy dark shrouds that clung to those who had committed atrocities.

  The first person in line was a trembling kitchen servant. He could barely walk and was using his entire will to keep himself from falling down. He clutched a small bag to his chest and was looking like he expected to be struck down.

  Li Yu looked at him. He saw nothing but fear and flour dust. He also scanned the man for something else. A specific Karmic thread of theft. If this man had looted the sect’s coffers before running, Li Yu would feel it, there would be some karma that the man stole from him since it was his loot. The greed would hang on him like a smell.

  There was nothing.

  "Go," Li Yu said.

  Almost instantly some spirit stones appeared in Li Yu’s hand. He tossed the spirit stones to the man.

  "Travel money. The Five Mountain Alliance didn’t seem too bad from what I saw. They could always use more people to work for them. Perhaps think about joining them. Don't look back."

  The servant caught the spirit stones as his eyes widened with disbelief. Not because he was given some generous sum but because he was let go and given something at all. He just bowed frantically and bolted for the open gate. It was like the reaper’s scythe had swung and missed him this day. He was weeping with relief as he went. Others in the line saw this and mixed feelings developed.

  The next person came up. An outer disciple. He had a storage bag on his hip.

  Li Yu looked at him and started to analyze. He felt the minor transgressions such as petty bullying but no deep darkness or evil. Li Yu then checked for theft and didn’t feel anything.

  "Go," Li Yu said and tossed him the same amount as before.

  Li Yu didn't ask them to empty their pockets of everything. He didn't demand they hand over everything they owned. If they were relatively innocent, their belongings were theirs. If they had stolen from him he would have sensed it.

  This continued for a while. The line moved steadily. Most of the people here were victims of the system and not the architects. They were people who cleaned floors, fed beasts or guarded empty hallways. Li Yu handed out spirit stones like candy which for some was a large amount. This would help fund their new lives.

  Then a man in the robes of a logistics administrator stepped up. He held his head high and was trying to look dignified. He had three high-grade rings on his fingers. The man didn’t seem to understand the situation he was in.

  Li Yu looked at him. He felt an oily aura clinging to the man. He sensed the screams of people who had been starved, resources withheld, punishments meted out for pleasure.

  And he sensed something else. A sharp stinging thread of Karma connecting the man to himself. He must have stolen loot before Li Yu came or during the battle.

  Li Yu pointed to the right and away from the gate.

  "Stay."

  The administrator blustered. "I am a non-combatant! I manage the grain! You have no right—"

  Whoosh.

  Kael stepped forward in an instant. The Tidal Cleaver swung in a blur of motion. It was the strike of an executioner who had been waiting to spill more blood. The massive blade cleaved through the air with the sound of a crashing wave.

  The administrator fell silent forever. Some in the crowd screamed at the scene and were recoiling. Others had a smirk on their face, as if they knew of the man and were overjoyed that he got what was coming to him.

  Kael waved his hand and stripped the three rings from the corpse’s fingers and tossed them to Li Yu. Li Yu caught them calmly and they disappeared into his own storage ring.

  "Next," Li Yu said calmly.

  The judgment continued for hours. It was a strange scene. For some it was absolutely terrifying. For others it was a line that would start their new life.

  Li Yu didn't enjoy any of this. He had mixed emotions the entire time but carried on. Not everything he was going to do would be easy. Not everything he was going to do would be right. However, he still had to walk forward and make the best choice he could at the time. He simply looked, judged and directed.

  Those who were innocent—or innocent enough—were given resources and freedom. Those who were monsters hiding in plain sight met Kael’s blade.

  By the time the sun began to set, the valley was empty of people. The gate stood open. The silence was absolute.

  Li Yu let out a long breath and was now leaning heavily on his staff. The use of his karmic sense for so long was draining on his soul and Qi. He hadn’t realized it at the time but after continuous use he was feeling fatigued. Much more so than any fighting he had done since arriving on this continent.

  ‘It is truly harder to try to do good than it is to just do evil…’ Li Yu thought to himself. He could have just killed everyone and it would have been so simple. But he could never allow himself to do such a thing.

  "It's done," Li Yu said.

  Kael cleaned his blade one last time and sheathed it on his back. "It's done at last. I can finally put this memory to rest..."

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Night fell over the ruins of the Crimson Fang.

  Li Yu gathered the group in what used to be the Patriarch’s private garden. It was the only part of the central palace that hadn't been smashed during the battle.

  A fire crackled in a stone pit. The group sat around it and exhaustion was finally setting in. Li Yu stood up and walked to the center of the circle. He waved his hand.

  Crash.

  A mountain of items appeared on the grass. It was the loot. Not all of it. He kept the relatively common bulk resources. However, the choicest picks from the vault, the Elders’ rings and the items recovered from the battlefield.

  Weapons, armors, manuals, rare materials and artifacts gleamed in the firelight.

  "Time to share the loot and take what we each need. The rest of it will be stored away for my own usage or eventually be given to the Golden Shell Guild for operations. You all of course can take from the guild whenever needed in the future." Li Yu announced. "We did the work. We get the rewards. Take what you need. Take what you want. Strengthening yourself further "

  He looked at Krell first.

  "Krell. You're the craftsman. You get the first pick of the materials since your needs are more specific than the rest of us. The ores and metals are also not something most of us would need."

  Krell didn't pretend to be polite. He hadn’t done much during the fighting earlier but he had his own role to play. He came over and hovered over the pile. His eyes lit up at the sight of materials he hadn’t seen before and those that he recognized.

  "I’ve never seen some of these ores before…" Krell muttered. "Star-patterned metal... Void-Silver… What is this over here… and here… Oh this too. Jade slips!"

  He went straight for a collection of jade slips that contained the Crimson Fang’s forging techniques, techniques they have collected over the years and crafting secrets. He also grabbed several chunks of rare ore that Li Yu had found in the back of the vault.

  "These manuals are... acceptable," Krell grunted after taking them like a kid and tucking them into his robe. "And these ores can be used to upgrade your equipment later. Come to me in the future if you need some better gear."

  Li Yu smiled as he watched. It is rare to see Krell excited for things. "Glad you like it."

  He turned to Kael.

  "Kael. You need to rebuild your strength. And your arsenal."

  Kael stood up. He walked to the pile. He ignored the spirit stones and the flashy artifacts. He picked up several bottles of high-grade cultivation pills. Resources that would help him stabilize his foundation and push forward his cultivation.

  He also took a set of defensive throwing knives and a cloak made of Shadow-Silk.

  "This is enough," Kael said quietly as he went back to sitting down. "I have my blade. I will ask Krell to improve it later. I just now need the strength to swing it."

  Li Yu nodded. "Fair enough."

  He looked at Lin Xia.

  "Empress," Li Yu said with a grin on his face. He didn’t forget that was the name she was going with for the Crab Cult. "Your turn."

  Lin Xia stood up with the same grace as she always had during the previous three days. It was as if she didn’t hear him at all. She walked to the pile and her eyes scanning the items. She too wasn’t going to let go of this opportunity. She did after all fight just now, even if the fighting was low level.

  She reached out and picked up a delicate hair ornament. It was a pearl hairpin and was glowing with a soft lunar light. It was a defensive artifact that was capable of blocking a soul attack but she was attached to it because it was mainly beautiful.

  She held it up to the firelight with a soft smile playing on her lips. It was the smile of the gentle Senior Sister. A definite contrast to how she looked just hours ago.

  "It is lovely," she murmured.

  Jian Xuan watched her and was completely mesmerized. "It suits you, Senior Sister. I mean... Your Majesty."

  Lin Xia chuckled. Then in a blink of an eye her expression shifted. The softness remained but a glint of steel entered her eyes.

  She reached down with her other hand and picked up a fan.

  It wasn't a normal fan. The ribs were made of a special cold-steel and the silk was woven with Frost-Spider silk. It radiated a chilling aura. It was another mainly defensive but also a control type treasure.

  "And this," Lin Xia said as she snapped the fan open with a sharp clack. "For when people forget their manners." She then went on to grab a sword that was slightly better than her own and then she also took a few cultivation resources. Jian Xuan couldn’t help but watch her every move.

  Li Yu on the other hand watched on in interest. She was nice and charming most of the time but also had an extremely domineering personality when it came to combat. He was trying to figure out which one was her true self but determined that it was probably both.

  She was serious and focused on what she is doing at the time. Nice and charming most of the time but when it was time to get serious. She would be even more ferocious in battle or other important matters.

  She sat back down as she was placing the beautiful hairpin in her hair and the deadly fan in her lap. The contrast was perfect.

  "And finally," Li Yu said, looking at Jian Xuan. "The Champion."

  Jian Xuan jumped up. "Is there any good food in that pile?" He said with a laugh.

  "No," Li Yu said. "But there is this."

  Li Yu kicked a small and metallic object toward him. It looked like a model boat carved from driftwood. However, it was made of metal and wood.

  Jian Xuan picked it up. "A toy? I know I joke around a lot but I am not a child, Li Yu."

  "Inject your Qi into it." Li Yu instructed.

  Jian Xuan pushed his golden earth Qi into the object.

  Hummmm.

  The model expanded instantly and began hovering in the air at waist height. It was a Sky-Crossing Shuttle. It was sleek, aerodynamic and engraved with speed and wind-walking arrays. It was a very fast flying artifact, capable of carrying a dozen people at incredible speeds.

  "A ship!" Jian Xuan roared in delight. "A flying ship! We can sail the clouds!"

  "You don’t have one yet from what I can see and it is better to use it for travel instead of flying by yourself. That way you can reserve your Qi in case a fight breaks out." Li Yu explained. "And it has defensive shields. It's yours."

  Jian Xuan hugged the ship to his chest. "I shall name her... The Golden Claw! I must ask Krell to modify it to look more like a claw."

  "Please don't name it that…" Lin Xia said gently.

  "We can discuss the name later," Jian Xuan amended. He went to grab a few cultivation resources since he just advanced and some other things that he needed. He sat back down but couldn’t help keep looking at his flying craft.

  Li Yu looked at the remaining pile. There was still a fortune left. He knew the others didn’t want to take too much. He would just have to give it to them over time.

  He waved his hand and it all vanished back into his rings. Then he sent those rings into his Koi Sanctuary for safe keeping.

  "The rest goes to our treasury," Li Yu said. "Remember you can get what you need from the Golden Shell Guild any time you need it.”

  Li Yu sat back down and was leaning back against a stone pillar. He looked at his friends—his family. They were tired and stained with the dust of war but everyone was okay.

  "Not a bad haul," Li Yu said as he was closing his eyes. "Not a bad haul at all."