He stood up while holding the mixed bowl high as if it was a sacred artifact of unimaginable power. It almost looked like he was about to worship it.

  "The heaviness of the bone broth tempers the fire of the chili! The elasticity of the thick noodles carries the sauce perfectly! You two are fools for fighting!"

  He pointed his chopsticks at the owners.

  "Combine your shops! Create the 'Golden Fire Dragon'! Or come up with a better name!... You will dominate the river trade! You will be rich!"

  Fat Zhou and Pepper Liu looked at the bowl in his hands. They looked at each other. A spark of realization and perhaps a hidden romance? Passed between them. The two quickly went to the bowl and each tried it. Their faces lit up as soon as they did. It was indeed better than when it was separate.

  "Golden Fire Dragon..." Fat Zhou mused. "It has a ring to it."

  "We could... try it," Pepper Liu blushed. It turned out that they had quite like each other but their competition had always pushed it into the background.

  Li Yu sat back down and proceeded to inhale the entire double-portion in under a minute. He slammed a spirit stone on the table.

  "Keep the change," Li Yu said as he burped with the force of a small explosion. "And bring me another one, please."

  He spent the next hour eating four more bowls. As he left he saw the two owners moving tables together.

  "I love this world," Li Yu muttered while patting his stomach. "There are battles everywhere and new things being created everyday."

  The afternoon dragged on as Li Yu waddled down the road and digesting his accidental new creation he helped with.

  The terrain shifted again, turning into rocky foothills. As the sun began to lower, casting long shadows, Li Yu heard a commotion ahead.

  A caravan of luxurious carriages was stopped on the road. Guards in flashy uniforms were standing around and looking nervous. In the center of the road, a young man in expensive silk robes was shouting.

  "Behold!" the young man cried as he was pointing a fan at a massive cage on a wagon. "The Beast King of the West! The Iron-Tooth Tiger!"

  Inside the cage was indeed a tiger. It was huge with fur like steel wire and fangs the size of daggers. It roared loudly, shaking the bars and terrifying the caravan guards.

  "I, Young Master Chen, tamed this beast with my own charisma!" the young man bragged to a group of impressed-looking servant girls. "It recognizes my superior aura! It bows to my noble blood!"

  Li Yu walked by and was trying to be inconspicuous. He just wanted to pass by and move on. But the road was blocked by the cage.

  "Excuse me," Li Yu said politely. "Could I squeeze past?"

  Young Master Chen sneered. "A vagrant? Walk around, vagrant! Can you not see I am displaying my beast? Can’t you tell by my aura how powerful I am? Yet you dare to talk to me!?"

  "It's a very nice beast," Li Yu agreed. "Very... stripey."

  The tiger saw Li Yu. Or rather, it smelled what was on Li Yu’s wrist.

  Beasts had instincts. They knew the hierarchy of the food chain. An Iron-Tooth Tiger was an apex predator in the mortal realm.

  But Tekton was many orders of magnitude higher than it.

  Tekton, who was bored and cranky from the lack of good rocks recently let out a tiny imperceptible pulse of annoyance. Just a little leak of his aura.

  'Quiet, furry snack,' Tekton projected.

  The tiger froze mid-roar. Its eyes went wide with fear. Its ears flattened against its skull.

  It didn't just cower. It rolled over on its back and was exposing its belly in the universal sign of "Please don't hurt me," and let out a high-pitched whimper that sounded like a kicked puppy. A puddle of yellow liquid began to spread beneath it.

  The silence in the clearing was absolute.

  "What..." Young Master Chen stammered. "Tiger? Why are you peeing?"

  The tiger covered its eyes with its paws. Li Yu coughed awkwardly because he knew what had happened.

  "Uh... it must be the heat," Li Yu suggested helpfully. "Tigers get... heatstroke? They get submissive when they're dehydrated. You should give it some water and take better care of it."

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  He shuffled past the cage. The tiger flinched as he passed by and was trembling violently.

  "My aura!" Young Master Chen wailed. "Is my aura broken?"

  Li Yu hurried away before anyone asked questions.

  'Pathetic,' Tekton grumbled. 'It didn't even have a core worth eating. Just fluff and fear.'

  ‘Be nice," Li Yu scolded. ‘You gave it emotional damage. That is not very nice now. Just remember when you were that weak and trying to survive as well?’

  The road grew busier as he approached the region bordering the Silent Hollows. The terrain became jagged and the air richer with Qi. He saw families of mortals and weak cultivators alike walking with wagons piled high with belongings.

  They weren't fleeing in panic. They looked... hopeful.

  Li Yu slowed his pace to match an old man pushing a cart filled with Singing-Bamboo cages which contained chickens.

  "Heading west, old man?" Li Yu asked friendly.

  "Aye, young master," the old man wheezed, smiling toothlessly. "Heading to the Cloud-Mist Peaks. We heard the stories."

  "Stories?"

  "About the new alliance there," the old man said with his eyes shining. "They say Commander Li Yu has established a sanctuary in that territory. They say he drove out the darkness and opened the valleys for the people. No bandits. No rogue cultivators bullying the weak. Taxes are fair as well, I heard."

  "They say he punched a mountain," a young woman walking beside the cart chimed in. She was carrying a baby wrapped in Sun-Weave Cloth. "My cousin saw it! He said Commander Li is ten feet tall and has eyes of lightning. He punched a mountain because it was blocking the sun for the farmers' crops."

  Li Yu choked on his own spit. "Punched a mountain? Just for that? I think that's an exaggeration."

  "No, no!" The old man insisted. "Heroes like that don't lie. That's why we're moving. The Cloud-Mist Peaks are supposed to be safe. Well… safer. The laws and rules they are setting up seem much more fair as well. We want our son to grow up somewhere where the strong are more likely to protect the weak."

  Li Yu looked at the baby. He looked at the hopeful faces of the family.

  He felt a strange warmth in his chest. It wasn't the pride of a conqueror. It was the heavy, grounding weight of responsibility. He had fought for that land during the war. He had fought for these people to have a better chance, even if it's just slightly.

  "It sounds like a good place," Li Yu said softly and mostly just to himself. "I hope it lives up to your expectations." then in a much quieter voice. “No, I must make sure it does.”

  "It will," the old man said confidently. “At least it gives us hope. The smaller forces are gathering there since it will be better than being bullied on our own.”

  Li Yu walked with them for a few miles, helping push the cart when the road got steep. He didn't tell them who he was. He didn't want to ruin the myth of the ten-foot-tall mountain puncher with the reality of the guy who had noodle stains on his robe.

  All the while he was thinking of how things happened. He didn’t originally plan for this place to be a home for these people. He just wanted an alliance that would live up to a certain code and for him to have a home base of sorts on this continent. He wanted a place that he could go to, to enjoy all the food and events that he witnessed on his travels.

  For those things to exist, the people needed a good place to live. A place where they can grow and dream of a better tomorrow. Li Yu didn’t know if the Alliance of the Jagged Peaks would provide them with such a place. However, if it even got them a little closer to it, that would be enough.

  When they reached a fork in the road that led up into the jagged peaks, Li Yu bowed.

  "Safe travels," Li Yu said. "May the Cloud-Mist Peaks and this new home give you peace."

  "And you, young master," the old man waved. "May you find your own hero to believe in. I wish you success in your future ventures."

  Li Yu chuckled as he watched them go.

  'I think I found my hero,' Li Yu thought. 'It's all of you people just trying to better your lives one day at a time.' Unknown to Li Yu one of the invisible shackles that had been holding him back shattered into tiny pieces.

  Night found Li Yu on a ridge overlooking the vast expanse of the Cloud-Mist Peaks. It was indeed a large area, Shen Tu had been generous in his dealings with Li Yu.

  Even from here, he could see the potential. The peaks pierced the clouds like jagged teeth, creating natural defensive barriers. The valleys between them glowed faintly with concentrated Qi. It was a fortress of nature, a place that could withstand sieges and possibly nurture dragons in the future.

  He found a massive Ghost-Maple Tree. Its leaves were translucent white and glowed softly in the moonlight and sat down against the trunk.

  He didn't set up a tent. He just sat on the thick roots and the moss soft beneath him.

  He pulled out a small jug of wine he had brought from the Divine Wind Sect and took a sip. It was good wine. But drinking alone always made the wine taste a little more bitter.

  ‘You know, Tekton,’ Li Yu said softly. His gaze was looking at the moon through the spectral leaves. ‘They say the path of cultivation is a lonely one. That in the end, we all walk up the mountain by ourselves.’

  Tekton enlarged and grew to the size of a large dog. He curled around the tree trunk.

  'Mountains are crowded,' Tekton countered. 'Too many bugs. Too many roots. Better to be a stone. Stones are never lonely. They are just stones. They wait for the earth to move them.'

  Li Yu chuckled. "I envy your simplicity."

  He closed his eyes while circulating his Qi. The barrier to the next realm was still there, stubborn and unyielding. But tonight, after seeing the hopeful faces of the migrants and the passion of the noodle chefs, it felt less like a wall and more like a door waiting for the right key.

  He wasn't just cultivating power. He was cultivating a world. A rustle in the Star-Ferns nearby made him open one eye.

  A small Moon-Horn Rabbit. A creature with pearlescent fur and a single tiny horn that glowed hopped into the clearing. It sniffed the air, looked at the terrifying Centipede, looked at the cultivator radiating immense power and decided they were boring. Non-threatening. It started eating a patch of spirit-grass near Li Yu’s boot.

  Li Yu smiled.

  "Hey there, little guy. Want a lychee?"

  He tossed a fruit. The rabbit sniffed it, took a bite and wiggled its nose. Li Yu leaned back and watched the stars wheel overhead.

  "Yeah," Li Yu whispered to himself. He was able to adjust a bit to being more alone. "This isn't so bad."

  The road was long. The enemies were waiting. The Seven Sins were out there in the dark. But for now there was wine, a cool breeze, a rock-eating centipede and a rabbit.

  It was a quiet night in the cultivation world. At least in Li Yu’s cultivation world.