"Uh... well. Let’s just say I am around 20 years old." Li Yu did some quick mental math. "Yeah that seems about right. I haven’t really been celebrating my birthdays."

  Clatter.

  Shen Bo dropped his chopsticks. His stoic, 200-year-self, but 20 something year old face crumbled into a mask of pure existential horror.

  Shen Lang froze mid-sip and wine was dribbling down his chin. Shen Yan’s mouth formed a perfect 'O' with her eyes bugging out.

  "Tw-twenty?" Shen Bo stammered. "Not twenty centuries? You mean... two decades?"

  "Just years," Li Yu clarified apologetically.

  Shen Bo looked like he wanted to go find a hole and bury himself in it. He was many times Li Yu's age and a realm lower. He looked at his father to see if this was some sort of prank or joke that he had a hand in.

  Shen Tu chuckled and was pouring himself a drink. "Close your mouth, Bo. The bone age does not lie. I told you the world was vast and you should always strive to get stronger."

  "Twenty," Shen Lang whispered and was staring at his hands. "I was still a fool at twenty."

  "He is a baby," Lady Yun whispered while staring at Li Yu not with shock but with a motherly sort of awe. She had no reason to check his bone age until now and the news was surprising. "A baby who commands such strength"

  "Don't feel too bad," Sect Master Tie laughed as he went to slap Shen Bo on the back. "He makes us old folks look bad too. Just accept that he is a freak of nature and move on. It’s better for your heart that way."

  "I... I have had some lucky encounters," Li Yu said modestly.

  "Lucky encounters don't get you here at twenty," Shen Tu said. His eyes were serious but warm. "Brother Li, you are an anomaly. You should embrace that. Tonight, that is cause for celebration. It pushes the next generation to work harder."

  He glanced at his devastated children.

  "Or it makes them give up entirely," Shen Tu added dryly. "We shall see. I look forward to great things from you, Li Yu. I want to brag about you later to people I know."

  Li Yu eventually extricated himself from the Shen table, leaving the children to have an existential crisis about their achievements. They were people with strong minds and great parents. He was confident that they would use it as further motivation.

  He moved to the next table of guests that were important to him.

  Feng Meilin sat there and was peeling a grape with elegant wind-infused movements. Si Luo and Bai Ruo sat on either side of her and looked like her personal advisors.

  "You survived the mountains," Meilin smiled as Li Yu approached. "Did Shen Tu try to recruit you into his family? He has a daughter, you know."

  "He has a very nice family," Li Yu said honestly but deflected. He quickly sat down. "But I think I've caused enough shock for one night. I told them my age."

  Meilin laughed. "Oh, that is cruel. You broke their worldview."

  "How are things?" Li Yu asked as he was looking at Si Luo and Bai Ruo.

  "Efficient," Bai Ruo replied. "The banquet seating arrangement increases social cross-pollination. However, the food consumption rate of the Frost Iron Sect is alarming. They are consuming 80% of the meat supply."

  "Let them eat. They brought most of what they are eating." Li Yu said. "What about you, Si Luo? Learning a lot?"

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  Si Luo swirled her wine, her violet eyes thoughtful. "I am. Meilin has been... illuminating. She showed me how she manages the internal factions of the Divine Wind. It is less about force and more about... directing the flow. Like wind."

  "She is a natural," Meilin praised and patted Si Luo’s hand. "Give her time and she will rule her people with a smile that hides a dagger."

  "I aim to rule with a smile that hides a bigger smile," Si Luo corrected. "But a dagger is a good backup."

  Li Yu felt a warmth in his chest. They were safe but that was to be expected. They were growing.

  "Good," Li Yu said. "I'm glad."

  A heavy thud shook the ground near the edge of the plaza.

  Li Yu looked over. A massive bonfire had been set up there and a whole roasted Thunder-Ox was turning on a spit. It looked like that group of people had some additional ideas for food.

  Sitting on a log in front of the fire and tearing into a leg of meat the size of a tree trunk was Sect Master Torben. He was alone, mostly because his aura of freezing cold kept the weaker cultivators away.

  Li Yu walked over.

  "Is the meat to your liking?" Li Yu asked.

  Torben looked up at the newcomer. He swallowed a chunk of meat without chewing.

  "It's soft," Torben grunted. "Southern beasts are soft. Too much plants and not enough fighting. But it fills the belly."

  He gestured to the log. "Sit down for a moment."

  Li Yu sat. The cold aura washed over him but it didn’t affect him at all.

  Torben watched him. "You handle the cold well."

  "You are strong," Torben said bluntly. "But you are hungry."

  Li Yu blinked. "I just ate two bowls of noodles recently."

  "Not for food," Torben tapped his own chest. "For power. I can smell it on you. You are stuck. You have hit a ceiling."

  Li Yu stiffened. This brute was sharper than he looked.

  "Maybe," Li Yu admitted. "Resources here are... limited. I had originally come to this continent to help them and obtain resources. I have done that but of course I will need more."

  "The East is a garden," Torben scoffed. "Gardens are nice. But gardens don't grow monsters. They grow flowers."

  He pointed a massive calloused finger to the North.

  "The Northern Continent. That is where the world is broken."

  "Broken?"

  "The boundary between the Demon Realm and the Beast Realm is thin there as you probably already know." Torben explained his eyes gleaming with the thrill of the hunt. "Rifts open daily. Beasts and demons from the other side. They pour through constantly. We fight them. We kill them. We eat the beasts and the demons we have to mostly throw away sadly."

  He leaned in.

  "The resources there? They aren't grown in a field. You rip them out of the chest of the enemy. You harvest them from the bones of a Frost-Titan. The Qi density in the North is chaotic and violent. It tempers the body like a hammer on steel."

  "You're saying I should go North."

  "I'm saying if you want to break your ceiling, you need a hammer," Torben grinned. "My sect, the Frost Iron Sect, we are always looking for hunters. High-class mercenaries. We pay well in the North."

  He tossed a bone into the fire.

  "If you ever get bored of playing politics here... come to us. I'll give you a badge. You kill, you keep. No taxes. No bullshit. You can be a King of Mercenaries there if you have the fist for it."

  Li Yu looked at the fire. The North. Constant fighting. Rare resources. A place where strength was the only currency. It sounded... perfect. At least for what he needed. Resources.

  "I might take you up on that," Li Yu said slowly. "I have some things to settle here first. But... I need that hammer."

  "Good," Torben laughed as he handed Li Yu a flask of wine that smelled strong. "Drink. This is Yeti-Blood Wine. It puts hair on your soul."

  Li Yu took a swig. It burned all the way down to his toes.

  "Smooth," Li Yu wheezed.

  As the night deepened, the banquet turned into a true celebration.

  Disciples from the Iron Blood Sect were arm-wrestling with the Five Mountain disciples that had come. The Violet Silk dancers were performing alongside the Divine Wind musicians. Cultivators from the North were sharing frozen treats with the locals.

  At the center of it all, Li Yu sat back, watching his city come alive.

  He saw Shen Tu laughing with Zhou. He saw Meilin teaching Shen Yan how to pour wine. He saw Torben scaring a group of mercenaries with a story about a two-headed bear.

  The Alliance of the Jagged Peaks was real. It was currently weak but it had the support of the strong.

  But looking at the stars, Li Yu knew his path wasn't stopping here. The conversation with Torben had planted a seed.

  "North," Li Yu whispered to himself.

  The banquet raged on and looked like a beacon of light in the Cloud-Mist Peaks. They were all celebrating the founding of a sanctuary. But the founder himself was already looking toward the horizon, where the snow never melted and the monsters roamed.