The Frost Iron Sect did not sit upon the mountain; it pierced it.

  As Li Yu and Krell crested the final ridge, the stronghold of one of the North’s premier beast hunters revealed itself. It was a fortress that rejected elegance. There were no sweeping pagodas, no delicate jade bridges and no serene meditation gardens.

  Instead, there was a citadel of violence.

  The main keep was carved directly into the black granite of the highest peak. It was reinforced not with masonry but with the fused plates of gargantuan beast carapaces. The walls were a patchwork of dark iron and white bone. They were shimmering with defensive runes that pulsed like a slow and dangerous heartbeat.

  "Quite subtle… They prefer beast materials over metal." Krell commented with a bit of disdain while staring at the main gate.

  The gate wasn't flanked by stone lions. It was framed by the actual preserved skulls of two Ancient Frost-Wyrms. Their jaws propped open to form the archway. The teeth were jagged pillars of bone.

  "It fits their identity and what would a beast hunting sect have the most of? Of course, it's beast resources." Li Yu replied dryly. "A place built by hunters, for hunters."

  Tekton didn’t have much of an opinion on the matter. He had been happily stationed on Li Yu’s wrist for the majority of their journey on this continent. Only leaving to eat up beast carcasses that they killed along the way.

  Li Yu and Krell moved closer. They passed through the outer perimeter where disciples were training. Unlike the drills in Oakhaven, this training was more feral. Li Yu saw a group of body cultivators wrestling a live, muzzle-bound Snow-Bear in a mud pit.

  Their skin was glowing with the bronze light of a defensive technique. Others were practicing with massive weapons. They were oversized claymores, glaives and hammers. They were swinging them with a devastating force.

  ‘It seems like the northerners enjoy using big weapons.’ Li Yu thought to himself with images of Vorgnir appearing in his head.

  But the most striking sight hovered above the sect’s docking spires.

  "Look at the ships," Li Yu pointed out to Krell.

  Floating tethered to the iron spires were the sect’s Spirit Arks. They were terrifying feats of biological and formation engineering.

  One ark, in particular, caught the eye. It was the same ship that Vorgnir had taken to the Eastern Continent.

  The hull was constructed from the massive, bleached ribs of some leviathan beast, curved and reinforced with grey Frost-Iron rivets. There were no banners flapping in the wind. No sect insignia painted in gold. Only the trophies of dead beasts.

  "They really stay on theme. Metal would have been stronger and better though." Krell noted appreciatively after seeing it for the first time.

  "Let's go find the man responsible," Li Yu said.

  In the the Hall of the Alpha

  They were escorted into the main hall by armored guards who radiated a heavy and oppressive Qi. The interior of the sect was warm, heated by massive hearths that burned with smokeless spirit coal. The floors were covered in thick rugs made from the pelts of Dire Wolves and Saber Cats.

  The main hall was a cavernous space and the ceiling lost in shadow. The walls were lined with weapons, swords nearly as long as doors and axes that hummed with bloodlust.

  At the far end and sitting on a throne carved from the spine of a behemoth beast , sat Torben. He was currently shouting at a terrified-looking logistics officer.

  "I don't care about the market price of spirit rice!" Torben roared out loud. His voice shook the dust from the rafters. "My hunters need meat! High-grade, Qi-rich meat! If they don't eat, they don't fight! Buy the damn yaks!"

  "Yes, Sect Master!" The officer bowed frantically and scrambled away.

  Torben huffed and slammed a fist onto the table so hard it cracked the stone. He looked up. His eyes narrowed, scanning the two figures standing near the entrance.

  "Li Yu!"

  Torben didn't stand; he exploded from his chair. He crossed the hall in three massive strides, ignoring the stunned looks of the sect elders.

  "You scrawny ghost!" Torben roared as he grabbed Li Yu in a bear hug that would have crushed the ribs of a normal cultivator. "You actually came!"

  "I have arrived. I couldn’t miss it after what you said about this land." Li Yu laughed.

  Torben laughed out loud. He turned to Krell. "And the soot-demon! Still ugly as I remember. I hope you have forgotten how rude I was to you when we first met."

  "Still louder than a collapsing mine, I see," Krell shot back while grinning. Krell had long forgotten.

  Torben slapped Krell on the shoulder, a blow that sounded like a hammer hitting an anvil. "Good to see you again. Come! Drink! Eat!"

  He dragged them to the main table. In one fluid motion he swept aside maps and reports to make room for flagons of ale, beer and platters of roasted meat. There was not a vegetable in sight.

  "We had gotten news that a new mercenary group was created." Torben said as he was pouring ale that looked as thick as oil. "A merc group called the Crab Claws. Two men and a centipede. I knew it was you right away. I told my elders, 'Only Li Yu would name a group something that stupid.'"

  "It was a spur-of-the-moment decision," Li Yu defended himself as he took a sip. The ale was strong enough to strip bark off of a tree. "It seems your continent is keeping you busy."

  Torben’s smile faded slightly. He sat back down with the throne creaking under his weight.

  "Busy is one word for it," Torben grunted. "Hell is another. I’m sure you have experienced it yourself by now."

  "We have," Li Yu nodded. "Rifts opening daily. Civilians training to be the next line of defense. A true warrior’s spirit occupies these lands."

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "It is indeed the warrior’s spirit," Torben said with pride and sorrow warring in his voice. "The North has always been hard. The cold kills the weak and the beasts or demons eat the slow. But this... this is different. The frequency is increasing even for us. We are a continent under siege. And we have no way of decreasing the frequency."

  "I met Vorgnir," Li Yu said to shift the topic slightly.

  Torben raised an eyebrow. "The Death Seeker? Did he try to fight you?"

  "He tried to ignore me," Li Yu smiled. "He sent a message. He says the rifts are getting wider. He thinks you need to prepare for something bigger. Be on guard."

  Torben sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. "Vorgnir is a madman but he has the instincts of a wild animal. And a lifetime of experience to back it up. If he says the sky is tearing wider, he's right. We've been mobilizing our elite squads around the clock. Sleep is a luxury we traded for survival years ago."

  Li Yu looked around the hall, at the trophies and the weapons.

  "Your people are resilient," Li Yu observed. "If you took this level of constant threat anywhere else right now, it would have caused a collapse. Here... it seems to act as a forge. It tempers them."

  "You make it sound like a positive but truly we don't have a choice." Torben said simply. "We hold the walls or we die. It clarifies things and makes it simple. Unite or die."

  Just then the defensive array hummed. It wasn't a sound but a vibration in the ambient Qi that every cultivator in the room felt instantly.

  Pulse. Pulse. Pulse.

  Torben’s expression didn't change but his eyes sharpened instantly.

  "Speak of the devil," Torben growled. He stood up. "Seven miles out. It is a Beast Breach."

  He looked at Li Yu. "Want to see how the Frost Iron Sect handles pest control?"

  "Lead the way," Li Yu said, standing up. He was indeed curious. The fighting style up here was vicious, brutal and direct. It was similar to how his style had developed.

  Li Yu, Krell, and Torben stood on the deck of the massive Spirit Ark, named the Bone-Breaker. The formation array in the hull flared to life. The ship surged forward with the dragon-hide sails filling with channeled wind Qi.

  "We don't use Vorgnir's method," Torben shouted over the wind as they sped toward the coordinates. "He fights like a hero would. One man against the tide. We fight like a pack. And I’d like to think more cunningly."

  Below them the frozen landscape blurred. Ahead, the purple bruise of a rift was tearing open above a snowy valley.

  Beasts were already pouring out. Most of them were Armored Rhinos. Massive, tank-like creatures with obsidian plates and horns that crackled with earth energy. There were dozens of them and they were stampeding toward the treeline.

  "Deployment!" Torben roared.

  On the deck twenty elite disciples moved with terrifying synchronization. These were not sword cultivators seeking a duel; they were hunters.

  "Bind them!" the squad leader shouted.

  Ten disciples stepped to the railing, their hands flashing through a series of complex seals.

  Technique: Chains of the Frost Giant.

  Massive chains made of condensed and semi-translucent blue Qi erupted from their hands. The chains snaked through the air and were seeking the lead Rhinos. They wrapped around the legs and horns of the beasts. They sizzled as the extreme cold bit into the obsidian armor.

  "Anchor!"

  The disciples slammed their palms onto the deck and locked the Qi chains into the ship's own formation. The Bone-Breaker banked hard to use its massive weight and momentum.

  The Rhinos roared as they were yanked off their feet. They were flipped onto their backs and their soft bellies exposed to the sky.

  "Drop team, go!"

  Another ten body cultivators jumped from the railing. They didn't glide. They activated gravity techniques to increase their weight. They fell like meteors and with their bodies glowing with bronze light.

  "Titan Fall!"

  They landed on the overturned Rhinos. They didn't use any weapons. They used their knees and fists which were reinforced with earth-shattering Qi.

  CRUNCH.

  The impact was visceral. Rib cages shattered. Hearts burst. The body cultivators rose from the craters of flesh and were shaking off the gore.

  It wasn't a duel. It wasn't a martial arts display. It was industrial slaughter that was brutal.

  "Support team, seal the flank!"

  Another group of disciples on flying swords swept around the edges of the herd. They didn't attack directly. They threw out talismans that exploded into walls of ice and was funneling the remaining beasts into a kill zone.

  As the beasts bunched up, the sword cultivators combined their Qi.

  Technique: Thousand Blade Rain.

  A storm of Qi-blades rained down and began piercing the gaps in the armor of the confused herd. Torben watched from the bridge with his arms crossed. He didn't lift a finger in this fight. He didn't need to.

  "Impressive," Li Yu admitted. "Teams that work well together and everyone knows their tasks. It also seems they are quite fearless as well."

  "Of course. We are warriors!" Torben said with pride. "We are a grinder. A sword can break. A grinder just keeps turning no matter what."

  Below, the battle was over in minutes. The rift was fading. The snow was littered with carcasses but there were no human casualties. The disciples were already moving to harvest the bodies. Their movements were practiced and efficient. Honed through years of experience in such work.

  "Secure the cores!" the squad leader barked. "Strip the armor plating! Leave the meat for the sled teams!"

  Li Yu watched them work. There was no cheering for a job well done. No individual glory-seeking. They checked their qi reserves, consumed recovery pills and signaled the ship for pickup.

  "This is the fighting you talked about," Li Yu said. "It isn't about rage or revenge. It's about competence and getting the job done."

  "Rage burns out," Torben agreed. "Competence keeps you warm and safe."

  The Bone-Breaker descended and was now hovering low to allow the disciples to load the most valuable carcasses into the storage hold. The storage hold was acting like a massive storage ring. This allowed them to store everything they needed on expeditions to hunt beasts and destroy rifts.

  "We head back," Torben ordered the helmsman. "The ale is getting warm."

  The return trip was quieter. The adrenaline of the deployment had faded and was replaced by the satisfaction of a job well done. The teams sat in circles and went over how the battle played out. People offered suggestions for what could be done better, critiques of mistakes and what improvements could be made. They all had the goal of just being better.

  They landed back at the spire as the sun began to set and was casting the fortress in blood-red light. The trophies on the railing rattled in the evening breeze.

  Back in the main hall, the atmosphere had shifted. It was busier now. The elite team and support team had returned and they were mixing with the other disciples.

  Torben led Li Yu and Krell back to the high table.

  "Another day, another rift." Torben began. He took a long pull of ale. "But enough about my war. Tell me about yours. You didn't come all this way just to watch me yell at logistics officers."

  Li Yu leaned forward and was resting his elbows on the table.

  "I came because I need power," Li Yu said honestly. "And I heard the North, from you, is where I can get it."

  "I have a plan," Li Yu said. "A way to turn the trash of this war into strength. I need a lot of demon cores."

  Torben laughed. "Demon cores? We have no use for demon cores. If you want them, take them."

  “I will happily trade or pay for them. I don’t want to take it for free.” Li Yu smiled.

  “That’s one of the things I like about you. Fair. Good, we will be happy to exchange.” Torben laughed.

  He gestured to the fortress around them.

  "The Frost Iron Sect is open to the Crab Claws. Stay as long as you like. Hunt with us if you wish. Drink with us."

  Torben raised his flagon.

  "To the hunt."

  Li Yu raised his own cup. Krell raised a massive tankard.

  "To the hunt."

  The hall roared in approval. The fire in the hearth crackled. Outside, the wind howled. The scent of snow and upcoming violence in the air.