The hum of the stabilizing Grand Formation was a steady bass note beneath the chaotic symphony of the harvest. The Array Masters were shouting measurements and the disciples were arguing over carcass distribution. Commander Lei was loudly recounting, with significant embellishment, how they had held the line against the beast tide to the guards.

  Li Yu found the noise counter-productive to thinking. He dusted off his hands and gestured for the old man, Gale, to follow him.

  They walked away from the illuminated center and down a side tunnel that led back toward the open sky of the outer valley. The air here was cooler and more relaxing now.

  Gale shuffled quietly behind Li Yu, his head bowed so low his chin practically rested on his chest. He was the picture of defeated servitude. It was a stark contrast to the catastrophic storm entity that had nearly wiped out an army not that long ago.

  They reached a wide natural balcony overlooking the deeper ranges of the Jagged Peaks. The sky above was no longer grey; it was a bruised purple as twilight approached.

  Just then a shadow fell over them. It wasn't a cloud. It was vast, segmented and descended with the unstoppable momentum of a falling mountain range.

  Tekton had returned.

  The Sky-Iron Dreadnought landed gently. His thousands of metallic legs digging into the stone, shattering bedrock to create a perch for himself. The wind whipped violently around the balcony as the massive centipede settled, his carapace gleaming in the fading light.

  Tekton dropped a storage ring that Li Yu had provided for him. Li Yu sent his spiritual sense inside and it was a tangled mass of beast cores and the body of the beasts that Tekton had defeated.

  Li Yu couldn’t tell where one beast ended and another began. The bodies were a mangled mess if there was one. It wasn’t even worth trying to harvest the bodies here. They would become fish food within his Koi Sanctuary. He would take the cores and leave it at that.

  ‘Sky is clear, Li Yu,’ Tekton’s voice rumbled in Li Yu’s mind. ‘Some tried to run. They didn't get far.’

  "Good work, buddy," Li Yu said while patting one of Tekton's massive armored legs that was gripping the edge of the balcony.

  Tekton’s enormous eyes swiveled. They were focusing not on Li Yu but on the grey-robed figure behind him. The centipede let out a low hiss that vibrated through the soles of their feet.

  ‘Boss,’ Tekton communicated with a note of confusion in his mental voice. ‘Why is the Grey-Wind Emperor here? And why does he look like a dried-up prune?’

  "You know him?" Li Yu asked mentally.

  ‘I’ve seen his storms from a distance in the deeper territories. I’ve steered clear of him before.’ Tekton replied. ‘He controls the Western Crags. Nasty piece of work. Likes to flay his enemies with wind and build towers out of their bones to warn others. He is nasty to his enemies but I hear he is quite good to his own people. Why isn't he attacking?’

  "He tried," Li Yu said out loud and was now glancing back at Gale. "We had a disagreement about the right of way in the tunnel. He lost. Now he’s Gale, the would be assistant to our forces."

  Tekton chittered. ‘A Soul Formation Emperor as an assistant? Only you, Li Yu.’

  Li Yu turned to the old man. "Gale, meet Tekton. He doesn't talk much out loud but he says hello. And he says your bone towers are tacky."

  Gale didn't dare look up at the mountain-sized insect that could swallow him whole. He just stood there and bowed to Tekton. "Greetings, Great One. This servant pays his respects."

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  "Alright, enough bowing," Li Yu said with his tone shifting. "We need to have a real talk. No more games and indecision. This clearly isn’t your normal attitude. Why are you going so far to stay alive?"

  He tapped the necklace around his neck. A soft light pulsed and two figures emerged, coalescing into solid forms next to Li Yu.

  The first was Si Luo and the second was Bai Ruo. His two traveling companions since they met. Li Yu told them to stay out of the fighting this time as their presence would bring more questions than help.

  Gale was surprised to see two other people appear. Li Yu’s body naturally made it difficult for him to detect anything on him. These two ladies were around mid stage Soul Formation experts. Powerhouses in their own right and no weaker than his own four followers from earlier. While surprised briefly, it made sense that Li Yu would also have strong beings following him.

  "We saw everything from inside the necklace," Si Luo said. She looked down at the old man with a mix of pity and calculation.

  "Indeed," Bai Ruo added softly. “Your fighting style is definitely different from how you are most of the time. If I hadn’t known you before you fought, I would have thought it was two different people.”

  Tekton shrunk down to the size of Li Yu and was now next to him. Li Yu leaned against Tekton’s leg and crossed his arms. He looked at Gale.

  "Get up, Gale. Sit on that rock."

  Gale scrambled to obey and was now perching on the edge of a boulder like a nervous bird.

  "So," Li Yu began with his eyes boring into the old man. "Let's get to the main reason. I have gotten all of the useful information I could from you about the beast lands on this continent, which wasn’t much with that soul lock. I want to understand your intentions. Why did you really submit?"

  Gale opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to offer more platitudes about mercy.

  "Don't lie to me," Li Yu cut him off before he could even begin. The casual demeanor vanished, replaced by the abyssal coldness he had shown in the Void.

  "An Emperor of your people and at the Soul Formation realm doesn't beg for his life just because he's afraid of dying. You have pride. I could see that during our fight. You have centuries of dominance backing you up. You should have fought until your soul shattered rather than become a slave to someone you don’t even know.."

  Li Yu leaned forward. "You gave up too fast in the Void. What are you hiding? What is so important that you would throw away your dignity to preserve your life?"

  Gale looked at Li Yu, then at the silent judging forms of Si Luo and Bai Ruo. The weight of their combined gazes broke the last of his resistance to share. He was conflicted because once it was revealed, his greatest weakness was revealed. He was a slave, yes, but Li Yu didn’t know why he was submitting.

  "My... my lineage," Gale whispered hoarsely.

  "Speak up," Si Luo commanded.

  "I have a mate. A Wind-Spirit Lioness. And... cubs. A son and a daughter. They are young. Barely Core Formation."

  The admission hung in the air.

  "In the Beast Territories," Gale continued with his voice thick with emotion, "power is everything. You know this to be true. If an Emperor falls in battle, his territory is forfeit. His rivals move in immediately. And to ensure no future challengers arise... they purge the bloodline."

  He looked up at Li Yu. The desperation was etched into every wrinkle of his human face. "If I die here today... if my aura vanishes from the Western Crags... within a week or less… the Magma Lords to the south or the Thunder-Roc King to the east will invade. Or some other force completely. They will kill my mate. They will hunt down my children and devour their cores."

  He bowed his head again. "I begged not for my life, Great Ones. I begged for theirs. As long as I exist, even as a slave, my soul lamp remains lit but more importantly my aura in my territory will remain. My rivals will hesitate not knowing about where I am or my revenge. My family survives."

  Silence descended on the balcony and was broken only by the howling wind.

  Si Luo’s expression softened first. As royalty herself, she understood bloodline purges better than anyone. The brutality of succession was not unique to humans.

  "A king's fall is his family's death sentence," Si Luo murmured. "It is the way of the world."

  Bai Ruo nodded slowly. Her eyes showed a glimmer of respect for the old man in front of her. Reminding her of her own father. "To sacrifice one's pride, one's freedom and one's very identity to shield one's kin... it is a noble intention, even for a beast known for cruelty."

  Li Yu didn't say anything for a long time. He just stared at the old man. He thought about the blood on Gale’s hands. Not just the human lives he didn’t know but the thousands of weaker beasts culled to build his army, his territory. Gale was no saint. He was a tyrant. But even tyrants loved their children.