Two days after the sky broke over Grey-Water Valley, the wind seemed to have stopped howling.

  In its place, a heavy suffocating silence settled over the snow. The rift above had sealed itself shut the previous evening. What was left behind was only a jagged, discolored scar in the heavens. A reminder of where the rift had tried to swallow the world.

  The valley floor had been transformed. It was once a battlefield of churned mud and demon ichor. Now, the surviving cultivators worked tirelessly to the dead.

  They hadn't rebuilt the Iron Cliff Sect; there was nothing left to rebuild. Instead, they had cleared a massive circular space in the center of the ruins. The broken stone had been swept away, the useless parts of demon corpses piled and burned in separate, foul-smelling pyres that were located on the very far edges.

  But in the center of the clearing, a different kind of structure had been raised.

  It was a large pyre but not a haphazard one like the ones for disposal. It was built from logs of Black-Iron Pine. A wood so dense it didn't float in water. The logs were stacked in a perfect square and rose thirty feet into the air. Interspersed within the wood were blocks of Spirit Coal, intended to burn hot enough to melt bone and steel alike.

  Li Yu stood on the periphery of the gathering with his grey cloak wrapped tight against the chill. Krell stood beside him, his massive form once again shrouded in swirling black mist to avoid unnerving the locals.

  "They don't bury their dead here," Krell murmured to Li Yu. His voice was low from within the fog.

  "The ground is permafrost," Li Yu observed quietly. "To bury someone is to trap them in the ice forever. Talking with the locals, they believe the soul needs heat to rise and rest."

  Thousands had gathered here. Not just the survivors of the battle but delegations from neighboring territories, merchant caravans that had paused their journeys and common folk from the villages the Iron Cliff Sect had protected.

  The mood was not one of weeping despair. There were tears, yes. Li Yu saw a woman clutching a child, her shoulders shaking silently. He saw tough scarred men staring at the ground with red-rimmed eyes. But beneath the grief, there was something harder. Something sharp.

  It was the feeling of a whetstone grinding against a blade.

  A young disciple, barely sixteen, stood near the front. His left arm was in a sling and half his face was bandaged. He wasn't looking at the pyre with fear. He was glaring at the scar in the sky with his good hand gripping the hilt of a broken sword so tightly his knuckles were white.

  "I will kill them," the boy whispered. It wasn't a scream of rage; it was a statement of fact. "I will destroy their cores. I will wear their hides. I will not stop until they learn to fear my name."

  Beside him, an older woman placed a hand on his shoulder. She didn't shush him or shame his resolve. She squeezed his shoulder firmly. "Eat well, train hard and sharpen your steel. Rage is fuel, boy. Don't let it burn you up; let it burn them."

  Li Yu listened to the quiet whispers and felt the resonance of their intent.

  "The Warrior Spirit," Li Yu noted. "They mourn and remember but they do not break. They sharpen and prepare." It was a sentiment that resonated with him and how his thoughts had become towards his revenge.

  Just then a horn blew. A deep mournful sound that echoed off the valley walls.

  The crowd parted. Twelve high-ranking elders dressed in ceremonial robes of white wolf fur and chainmail approached the pyre. They carried torches burning with a distinct blue flame.

  "We commit the fallen to the Ash," the lead Elder intoned. His voice was amplified to reach every ear. "They stood when the sky fell. They held the wall when the stone cracked. They gave their heat so that we might see another dawn."

  He didn't list names. There were too many and that wasn’t the way here. Instead, he threw his torch into the base of the pyre. The other elders followed suit.

  WHOOSH.

  The Spirit Coal caught instantly. The fire didn't start slowly; it roared to life. A pillar of intense smokeless heat that shot straight up into the grey sky and punched a hole into the sky.

  As the flames rose, the crowd began to chant. It was a rhythmic, guttural sound, accompanied by the stomping of feet. Thump. Thump. Thump. It sounded like a heartbeat. It sounded like an army marching.

  “From the fire, we rise. To the fire, we return. Iron breaks, flesh fails but the will endures.”

  Li Yu watched the flames dance into the sky. He saw people stepping forward to throw items into the fire. Broken weapons. Written vows. Locks of hair.

  It was a ceremony of transmutation. They were turning their grief into resolve and feeding it to the fire so it would harden them like steel in a forge.

  "Powerful," Krell said. "This is a good culture. Honest. I like it here."

  As the ceremony reached its peak a group of figures separated from a section and made their way toward Li Yu.

  They moved with the effortless grace of high-level cultivators. Leading them was a woman who looked to be in her fifties, though her cultivation suggested she was much older. She wore armor of polished silver plate beneath a cloak of blue velvet. Her eyes were sharp, intelligent and currently focused on Li Yu.

  This was the delegation from the High Council of the Dominion. The loose coalition of the strongest sects and clans that governed the continent's defense. It was loose in the fact that there were no sworn oaths, policies or contracts made. However, the coalition was stronger than steel in their unity. This continent has survived until now because of it.

  Li Yu straightened slightly. "Business."

  The woman stopped a few feet away and her entourage fanned out slightly. She didn't bow but she offered a sharp and respectful nod to Li Yu.

  "I am High Elder Valda of the Silver Spear Clan," she said, her voice crisp. "I speak for the Council. You are the one that helped a few days ago. Saving the lives of Vorgnir and others. The one who stopped the Half-Step Divine Transformation demon?"

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "I am Li Yu, yes." He replied politely. "This is Krell."

  Valda’s eyes flicked to Krell but she had already scanned him for the token long ago. She nodded, satisfied, before turning back to Li Yu.

  "You are not from the Dominion," she stated. It wasn't a question. "Your fighting style, your clothing, your accent... and the fact that a cultivator of your strength is unknown to our registries."

  "Yes, I am not from here. We are travelers," Li Yu said smoothly. "From across the ocean."

  Valda was high rank enough to know about the other continents so this came as no surprise.

  "Travelers with the strength to crush a Demon General are rare," Valda said. "The Council is grateful. The Iron Cliff Sect was a tragedy, without your intervention, the breach would have spilled into the civilian zones. You saved countless families. We thank you again for that."

  She gestured to a scribe behind her who stepped forward holding a flat rectangular box made of dark wood.

  "The Dominion repays its debts. However, we also have questions regarding your intentions. A force like yours... unaligned... makes the lords nervous."

  Li Yu smiled disarmingly. "No need for nervousness. As I said, I am a traveler. I plan to stay for a while, explore and perhaps make a living if it makes sense."

  "A living?" Valda raised an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

  Li Yu paused. He hadn't actually finalized his story yet. He needed something that allowed him to move freely, fight demons and access resources without being tied down to the politics of a single sect. The idea was to be mercenaries but perhaps there was a better plan. However, with no more time now, he decided to go with that.

  "Mercenary work," Li Yu said. "I am establishing a... specialized response group. For hire."

  "A mercenary company," Valda mused. "We have many. What is the name of your company? We will need to register it if you wish to accept official Council contracts and more."

  Li Yu froze for a fraction of a second. He needed a name. Something tough. He looked around in hopes of something coming to mind. Snow. Fire. Dead demons.

  His mind went blank. Then his mind moved to a name that he often used as a cover. It all started with Jian Xuan and while Li Yu didn’t love it. He couldn't for the life of him think of anything else.

  "The Crab Claws," Li Yu blurted out.

  Silence stretched between them. Krell’s mist swirled violently as he seemingly choked back a laugh. ‘What’s this kid's obsession with crabs?’ Krell thought.

  Within Li Yu’s Koi Sanctuary, Khaos smiled briefly.

  Valda blinked. "...The Crab Claws?"

  "Yes," Li Yu said, committing to the bit with absolute seriousness. "Crabs are... resilient. They have hard armor. Strong grip. They are survivors."

  Valda stared at him. She looked at nonexistent power radiating from him which could only mean he was way above her in strength. Then she looked at the hulking demon beside him and then thought about the name Crab Claws.

  "I see," she said with her face carefully neutral. "Very well. The Crab Claws."

  She signaled to the scribe who wrote it down with a trembling hand.

  "As a registered mercenary group," Valda continued while recovering her composure, "you are entitled to access the Defense Exchange System."

  She opened the wooden box. Inside sat a heavy slate-grey tablet made of smooth stone and inscribed with glowing runes.

  "This is a Command Token," Valda explained. "It is linked to the Council's central array. It will alert you to nearby rifts, open contracts and bounty postings. It also tracks your merits."

  "The currency of the war," Valda continued. "Gold and spirit stones are fine for food and lodging. But for cultivation resources, techniques and high-grade artifacts, you need merits. You earn them by closing rifts, killing demons and turning in resources."

  She tapped the tablet and a projection of light hovered in the air. She was scrolling through a list of exchangeable items for Li Yu to see.

  "You can exchange merits for almost anything the Council has in its treasury. Celestial Steel, Spirit Herbs, pills... take a look."

  Li Yu scanned through the list. It was impressive. It was better than the list from the Southern Continent and Eastern one combined. There were all kinds of items and even land deeds.

  Then, his eyes drifted to the "Exchange Rates" section. The part where you sold items to the Council for merits.

  He noticed the value of Beast Cores. They were high. A single high-ranking Beast Core could net a lot of merits. Demon Hides and Bones were also valuable and listed as critical resources.

  Then he looked at Demon Cores.

  The value plummeted. It wasn't just lower; it was insulting. A Demon Core of the same rank as a Beast Core was listed for a fraction of a fraction of the price. It was treated as waste disposal rather than a sale.

  Li Yu blinked as he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He looked closer. Then he looked at the "Purchase" section where you bought items from the Council.

  The cost to buy a Demon Core was laughable. It was practically free compared to other resources.

  "These prices for Demon Cores..." Li Yu pointed at the list. "They are... remarkably low."

  Valda shrugged dismissively. "Who wants them? They are poison. You can't cultivate with them unless you want to go mad or explode. We use them to power simple heating arrays or trade them to the Sanctioned Clans or Demons for labor. Honestly, we have warehouses full of them. If you want to buy them, be my guest."

  Li Yu’s heart skipped a beat. He could use them, a lot of them. He could use them better than the demons could. Krell for example, could only absorb so much within a day. Even as a demon himself, the cores from demons contained all different kinds of things. It took a long time for the body to break it down and convert it into something usable.

  With Li Yu it was completely different. He didn’t care at all what it was. His Koi could convert it all for him nearly instantly. To the locals, this was hazardous waste. To Li Yu, this was an unlimited buffet of high-grade cultivation resources being sold for dirt.

  "I see," Li Yu said as his voice was forcibly steady. "I might have a use for them. Experiments and other things, you understand."

  "As you wish," Valda said while losing interest in the topic of trash loot. If only more people brought them she thought. "The Crab Claws are now active in the system. Lord Li Yu, we hope you will head further North. The Northern Front is where the fighting is thickest and strongest. Where your... unique talents... are needed most."

  "We are heading North," Li Yu confirmed. "We have an acquaintance to meet up there."

  "Good," Valda nodded. "Safe travels. And again... thank you for the valley."

  She bowed formally this time, a warrior's bow, fist to chest. Then she turned and led her delegation back toward the pyre. Li Yu stood holding the stone tablet, staring at the exchange rates.

  "Krell," Li Yu whispered.

  "I saw it," Krell rumbled from the mist. "The exchange rate is broken. It’s robbery."

  "It's an opportunity," Li Yu corrected. "We can buy power here, Krell. Vast amounts of it. If we hunt beasts, trade the cores for merits and then buy Demon Cores... the ratio is absurd. No one can use demon cores here like me."

  He tucked the tablet into his robe, a small, satisfied smile touching his lips. "My cultivation speed is going to increase significantly here."

  The ceremony lasted for another hour. The fire burned down to glowing embers. The chanting faded into a solemn silence.

  The people began to disperse. There was no grand banquet and no celebration for the dead after that. Just people returning to their wagons, checking their weapons and preparing to move on. Preparing for the next rift to open. The dead were honored; now the living had work to do.

  Li Yu watched the young boy from earlier—the one who had vowed revenge. The boy was walking back to a sled and wiping his eyes with his good hand. He stopped, picked up a heavy crate of supplies and gritted his teeth against the pain of his injuries.

  "Time to go," Li Yu said.

  He and Krell turned away from the dying fire and the gathered mourners. They walked out of the valley, past the shattered remains of the sect gate and back onto the main trade road.

  The wind picked up again and was biting at their exposed skin.