Li Yu balled up his hand into a fist. ‘They are arrogant,’ Li Yu thought. ‘They are bullies. But they are human.’

  He sighed. He felt a bit of shame for even entertaining the idea of letting them die. It wasn't that the thought was wrong. In a strategic sense, it was correct. In most people’s mind that would be the correct thing to do. But it wasn't him.

  "I'm not an executioner. Deciding who gets to live or die like that." Li Yu whispered to the silence. "Maybe I am… but not today… maybe never… who knows… perhaps this will end up affecting me negatively in the future… perhaps it will benefit me…"

  He stepped out of the Void.

  To the beasts, it must have felt like the sky falling. One moment they were swarming the barrier and eager for the kill. Next, a figure appeared in the air above them and the pressure on all the beasts increased significantly.

  Li Yu didn't descend slowly. He dropped like an anvil. He landed in the thickest cluster of Rock-Crusher Beetles which was right outside the failing golden barrier.

  BOOM.

  The impact was cataclysmic. Li Yu slammed the butt of his staff into the ground, channeling the Mountain Collapse form. A shockwave of opalescent Qi exploded outward. A shimmering wave of multi-colored force that pulverized the rocky ground and turned fifty armored beetles into paste instantly.

  The beast horde screeched in confusion, recoiling from the sudden impact, blinding light and weight on their bodies.

  Inside the barrier, Sect Master Yin’s eyes bulged. "Li... Li Yu?" He couldn’t see the young man but he could sense him. He had made himself remember what his Qi felt like so he could get his revenge later.

  Li Yu didn't look back at the golden sphere. He spun his staff, the heavy rod humming with power.

  His Sentry avatar separated from his body without a word. It didn't need orders. It was him. The blue figure drifted to his back. It was condensing a spear of pure ice which instantly froze a centipede that tried to flank them.

  Li Yu moved.

  He was a tornado of violence. He didn't use flashy elemental spells. He used speed and blunt force trauma. He moved faster than the beasts could track, blurring from one area to the next. His staff was striking with a weight they couldn’t bear.

  Crack. A Web-Weaver’s skull caved in.

  Thud. A Flying-Iron Spider was batted out of the air and crashed into the canyon wall with a bang.

  Li Yu raised his left hand. The air above him shimmered with opalescent lights that were soon covered by black.

  "Rain," Li Yu said.

  Dozens of Abyssal Javelins materialized. With a flick of his wrist, he sent them plunging down. They didn't just pierce; they erased. Where they struck, holes appeared in the beast ranks.

  It was a slaughter. But it was a controlled slaughter. Li Yu was careful to aim for heads, for joints, avoiding the valuable areas like the cores in the chests. Even in a rage, he was thinking about the profit margin. He didn’t fret it too much but where possible he did his best. It was much better to kill faster and move on then to worry about every single thing that could be extracted

  Inside the barrier the Silver Sword Sect watched in stunned silence.

  "He... he's fighting them all," an elder whispered. "He's holding back the tide."

  Sect Master Yin watched Li Yu tear through a rank of beetles that had killed ten of his own troops. He felt a complex mix of relief and humiliation.

  "The pressure is lifting," Yin rasped as he was sensing the beast horde turning its attention to the new threat. "The barrier... save the energy."

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  He cut the flow of Qi to the Pagoda. The golden dome flickered and vanished.

  "Sect Master?" a disciple asked. "Are we retreating?"

  "Look at them," Yin pointed his sword at the beasts. "They are distracted. They are confused. We cannot just sit here. Form up! Kill the stragglers!"

  The Silver Sword disciples and elders hesitated then roared. It wasn't a roar of dominance but of survival. They surged out of the depression.

  They didn't dare charge into the center where Li Yu was turning beasts into scraps. That was a death zone. Instead, they instinctively became the "Broom." They engaged the smaller spiders that Li Yu knocked aside, the beetles that were stunned by his shockwaves and the flying pests that the Sentry froze out of the air.

  Li Yu noticed. He saw a Silver Sword disciple finish off a crippled centipede. He saw another blast a group of mosquitoes.

  ‘At least they aren't useless,’ Li Yu thought.

  Li Yu ramped up the pressure on each beast in the area. They felt the weight of a mountain all of a sudden pushing down on them. By this point Li Yu had taken care of all the Soul Formation beasts in the area.

  "Clean them up!" Li Yu shouted, his voice booming over the din.

  For twenty minutes, the Iron-Web Gorge was filled with the sounds of battle. The screams, the crunch of chitin and the roar of energy.

  And then, silence.

  Li Yu stood in the center of a circle of carnage. His simple robes were stained dark with green and black ichor. His staff rested on his shoulder and was dripping with all kinds of different fluids from the battle. He breathed steadily but was a bit tired. His opalescent Qi faded slowly, leaving a lingering shimmer in the air.

  He looked like the God of Death taking a break from his duties just now.

  Around him the survivors of the Silver Sword Sect collapsed. Some wept. Some vomited from tiredness. Others just stared at the sky, unable to believe they were still breathing.

  Li Yu walked over to Sect Master Yin.

  The haughty, imperious leader from the Silent Hollows was gone. In his place was a man who looked aged by ten years. Yin was leaning on his sword, his face grey with exhaustion and blood loss.

  When Li Yu approached, the Silver Sword disciples instinctively parted, lowering their heads a bit for some unknown reason. They had seen what he could do and strength was always respected. Those rumors they heard were true. No, they didn’t do him justice.

  "You," Yin rasped. He tried to straighten up. To regain some shred of dignity but he swayed.

  "Me," Li Yu agreed. He looked around. "About seven hundred left?"

  Yin flinched. "Seven hundred and twelve. We came with two thousand, not including the elders."

  Thirteen hundred dead. That plus the losses they suffered in the previous area made the losses to the Silver Sword Sect devastating. Sect Master Yin was still alive though and a strong power house like him would allow their sect to survive.

  "It was a trap," Yin said, his voice hollow. "We scouted. We checked the entrance. But the moment we committed... the ground opened up. They were waiting in the ground, walls and other places. The density... it was impossible."

  "I know," Li Yu said. "The beasts are getting smarter. Or someone is leading them. Their plans are not to be taken lightly. That is how your first group of men and elders died back at Silent Hollow. You did not learn from them."

  Yin looked up at Li Yu. His eyes were hard. He knew Li Yu hadn't saved him out of friendship. There was none to speak of between them. He knew Li Yu knew that he wouldn't suddenly become a loyal friend.

  "Why?" Yin asked quietly. "You could have waited. You could have let the barrier fail. No one would have known."

  Li Yu shrugged. He pulled out a cloth and began wiping his staff.

  "Shen Tu asked me to," Li Yu said. "And besides... letting you die would be too easy. It’s better if you live and have to protect these lands."

  Yin gritted his teeth. It wasn't a favor. It was a burden.

  "The Silver Sword Sect..." Yin started but then stopped. He took a deep breath. "We acknowledge the assistance. We will not forget this."

  It was a political statement and wasn’t a heartfelt thanks. It needed to be said though even if he didn’t mean it. Li Yu didn't care either way.

  "Good," Li Yu said. "Now, get your people moving. Can they walk?"

  "Those who cannot will be carried," Yin said firmly.

  "Fine. We're heading back to the entrance. My army is waiting there with medics."

  "Hey, Yin," Li Yu called out over his shoulder.

  "What?" Yin asked, wincing as he stepped over a corpse.

  "Maybe next time," Li Yu said, "don't call the people who are going to save your life 'rats'."

  Yin didn't answer. He just gripped his sword handle until his knuckles turned white and kept walking.

  Li Yu turned and began to walk back the way he came. He didn't check to see if they were following. He knew they would. Just as quickly as he had appeared, Li Yu was gone. As the battered procession began the long trudge out of the gorge, Li Yu glanced up at the dark clouds.

  ‘Thirteen hundred dead,’ he thought to himself. ‘And that was just the reinforcement. Cultivators are often known as uncaring to mortals but many still die defending the mortals. They might not have the intent of only going to save or help the mortals. It is to their own benefit as well but their actions indirectly help them anyways. The world truly is a complicated place.’