Path of the Berserker

The Tarim wastelands made the perfect venue for the duel. A sandy desert, without a population for miles, but it meant enduring the oppressive heat as well. The large awning of her imperial skiff provided shade over the length of the three-hundred-foot-long craft, which was now filled with over a hundred dignitaries and officials, eyes glued to the match as servants refreshed them with fine spirits and foods brimming with Qi.

Lunalah herself was serviced by no less than three attendants. One fanning her with a taunshan blessed with Ice Qi, another holding an additional parasol above her head to ensure the sun caused no blemish upon her flawless white skin and a final one to offer her sips of Qi-infused ice wine when commanded.

Personally, the outcome of the feud between the Holy Mountain and Orange Blossom sects interested Lunalah little—a trivial turf war over some segment of farming lands within the Xiang Xian region to the south. Had it not been for the fact that the duel provided an opportunity to test the arena for the final match of her invitational Jade Bracket Tournament, Lunalah would have gladly skipped the affair. But the two cultivators had certainly put the facilities to the test.

Flanking all sides of the rectangular arena, four massive skiffs, ten times the size of her own vessel, made up the seating areas for the common spectators. The floating barges contained amphitheaters and amenities to cater to over a quarter million souls each. And if she had her will, each seat would be filled by an off-worlder from the core planets of the empire to ensure the tournament was a success.

For today however, the seats remained sparsely dotted with members of the two clans now battling in the ring. The cultivators were barely the size of ants from her vantage, but Qi projectors provided a magnified holographic image of them that hovered over the stadium grounds, as wide and as large as the arena itself. Even in the height of the noonday sun the image was clearly visible, the three separate screens focusing on each cultivator as well as the match details in the center.

The Holy Mountain representative, a 9th-Tier Core Realm cultivator named Shen Xiu went through a series of martial forms, armed with only a staff—his bald head and flowing white beard marking him as a senior monk within the conclave of mountain recluses. His opponent, Ei’Ren Nghi in contrast, was a woman who barely looked past her teens, a testament to her speed of advancement as an 8th-Tier Core Realm practitioner. She flew across the desert arena with bursts of white flower petals, her dark green hair and fiery jade eyes another clear sign of her status as a seasoned Wood Aspect cultivator.

Lunalah glanced at the score board.

Shen Xiu vs Ei’Ren Nghi

Odds: 13:11

Time - 23:48

Shen Xiu

Ei’Ren Nghi

243

296

Ei’Ren Nghi was ahead on points as to be expected, being the quicker of the two, but the old monk had experience on his side. Lunalah watched the battle play out for a few moments. Shen Xiu focused on using his ranged Qi techniques, summoning boulders the size of houses and dropping them from the sky. Ei’Ren Nghi countered with her speed and agility, avoiding them with a grace that even Lunalah could admire.

“A thousand pardons, your majesty…”

The soft and gentle voice that pulled her away from the fight belonged to her personal aide, Ling Wei. The young woman bowed before her, her dark hair and plain face completely unremarkable, but Lunalah knew a fierce intelligence hid behind those soft brown eyes of hers.

“Speak.”

“I have the latest reports from the provinces along with communications from the interior.”

Ling Wei presented her with a Qi tablet and taking it from her, Lunalah began eagerly swiping across its surface to find the latest figures. But there were too many to decipher.

“Have you reviewed this?”

Ling Wei bowed again. “Yes, of course, your majesty.”

“Give me a summary then,” she said. “How do we fare?”

“Arrival figures have risen by nearly 20 percent after the announcement of the Jade Bracket Tournament,” Ling Wei said. “But unfortunately, most of those were comprised of the tournament attendees, which were paid for by the state. True new arrival figures have increased by only 2 percent.”

Lunalah’s stomach dropped. “What? So little?”

“Apparently so but, Finance Minister Hui Long projects an uptake in arrivals right before the Jade Bracket finals commence. He predicts that High End guests would not waste their time attending the Gold and Iron Tournaments and would only start arriving when the Jade Tournament begins in three months from now.”

“He had better be right,” Lunalah muttered as she looked out over the thousands of vacant seats. “I’ve bet half the treasury on this tournament. Send word to Hui Long to release another 5,000 spirit stones for advertising in the lower courts of the core worlds. I want every one of these seats filled.”

Ling Wei bowed. “Yes, your majesty.”

“Anything else?”

“An urgent communication from your mother, your highness.” Ling Wei tapped on a corner of the tablet to reveal the message.

Lunalah sighed when she saw it.

There was nothing urgent about it at all.

Upon the tablet were the profiles of two mid-tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivators, men of Jade Bracket ranking. They were middle-aged in appearance, evidence that their cultivation speed was somewhat lacking in taking so long to retard their aging process by reaching the Sacred Soul Realm.

Why in the nine hells has Mother sent these?

The note attached explained it all.

Dearest daughter,

I appreciate you may be busy, but do not neglect your duty to start a family. You are into your third century now and people of the lower courts have begun to talk. I have attached two suitors who have expressed interest. Both are of good family standing and of comparable cultivation level. I am certain you would be of equal standing to either of them in the ring. I would feign defeat to whoever you find more appealing.

-Mother

Lunalah grimaced. If she could tear up the Qi tablet she would have, but for sake of saving face in front of her subjects, she chose to show as little emotion as possible. The two prospects were an insult. She was in no rush to marry a common-looking practitioner, no matter what their ranking or background. It was true she had sacrificed the best of her courting years pursuing her own cultivation and martial advancement, but that meant that any who wished for her hand would need to be that much stronger than her.

And by the looks of the profiles, these men were lacking.

Her stomach felt sick.

Surely this can not be all the lower courts have left to offer me.

Disgusted, Lunalah looked back at the fight just in time to see Shen Xiu summoning a mountain-sized chunk of rock from the sky. Even from this distance she could sense the strength of his Qi, an ultimate technique. It seemed he had grown tired of Ei’Ren’s dodging his boulders and was seeking to flatten the entire arena and her along with it.

It was a mistake.

Locked in the focus of his technique and managing the enormous strain of his Qi, Shen Xiu had made himself vulnerable. Ei’Ren Nghi took quick advantage, switching tactics to go on the offensive. She closed the half-mile gap between them in the blink of an eye. Crimson sprayed the desert sands as her twin fan blades sliced through the air.

A moment later the huge mountain of stone fell to the desert floor with a colossal boom while Shen Xiu’s head fell to the sand, severed cleanly at the neck. Thunderous applause arose from supporters of the Orange Blossom clan, but Lunalah could find no thrill in it.

“Send word to Warden Tu’loc Rhen that the territorial dispute within Xiang Xian province has now been settled,” Lunalah said. “Any further disruptions by either sect will be met with executions by the state.”

“I will see to it,” Ling Wei said and then she paused, frowning, no doubt noticing Lunalah’s change in countenance. “Is someone wrong, your majesty?”

“Nothing.” Lunalah handed the Qi tablet back to her. “How about you just bring me some good news next time?”

Ling Wei turned bright red with embarrassment. “Apologies, your majesty. I… I do have some good news. But perhaps thought your majesty might find it… trivial.” She bowed again. “Please forgive me.”

“Out with it then,” Lunalah said, casually sipping her iced wine as the officials dragged Shen Xiu’s body from the arena. “I need something to cheer me up.”

“This One has reports from Jurin Province, your majesty,” Ling Wei said. “Incidents of lost visitor excursions have fallen to zero over the past week. The Warden, Lady Silver Tear, attributes it to the increased security measures that you recommended earlier this month.”

Lunalah nodded with satisfaction. Her wisdom and leadership had benefited her people once again. “Good.”

“The Lady Silver Tear also reports a large uptick in arena sales by the locals due to a one-hit victory in the Iron Bracket Tournament by a man known as the Iron Bull.”

“Oh, a one hit?” Lunalah raised a slender brow in interest. “A rarity, but a shame it was only in the Iron Bracket. Such an occurrence at the Gold Bracket level would no doubt have sparked great interest from the interior.”

“True,” Ling Wei said. “But This One thought it may still be of some interest to you in particular, your majesty.”

Lunalah raised a brow again, bur with curiosity this time. “Oh? And why is that?”

Ling Wei grinned mischievously. “There is a rumor that the Iron Bull is a Terran.”

Her interest piqued immediately. For over a decade she had waited for some prodigy to finally emerge from the dullards of the local population. Only one in ten could even develop Qi sensitivity, much less become true cultivators, but she had sensed a strong potential for accelerated growth on this planet—the flora and fauna under the effect of the Bloodmoon a testament to that.

But had a human specimen now finally emerged?

“Why rumors?” Lunalah questioned. “Is he a Terran or not?”

“He wears a mask in the Ring,” Ling Wei said, tapping on the Qi Tablet. “But there is another man who is now also claiming to be the Iron Bull. He is known as Max Chun and is the founder of a so-called Terran Sect.”

“Did you say Terran Sect?” Lunalah laughed out loud. “Is it a jest? Have the pigs now formed their own sect as well?”

Her three attendants giggled at her joke, but Ling Wei responded with only a smile.

“It is true though, your majesty, see here.”

Lunalah snatched the tablet with a roll of her eyes as Ling Wei handed it to her. “A Terran Sect… utterly ridicu—”

She paused mid word as the profile image of the man on the tablet illuminated.

It was a simple ID scan. Low quality and monotoned, but even that couldn’t stop the ticklish feeling that came from just below her Dantian the more she looked at it. The man was alien to her, but that only heightened her intrigue. Dark hair cut in Terran fashion, cropped on the sides but long and disheveled on top. Chiseled features with a strong angular jaw, covered by a coarse beard. Piercing eyes with a warrior’s focused stare. The bust shot gave only a hint of his body—his broad shoulder falling off the frame, but her imagination filled in the rest.

“Who is he?”

“As I said, he is known as Max Chun, your majesty,” Ling Wei said his name again. “I believe the personal name may be Terran in origin. If he is indeed the Iron Bull, then he is qualified for the Gold Bracket, placing 20th in the Iron Bracket Tournament before withdrawing. A 2nd-Tier Core Realm cultivator at last evaluation.”

Lunalah marveled. If any of her suitors looked this good, she would feign defeat in the ring to them in an instant. But this man was yet a mortal, barely past two decades by the looks of him. She would be robbing the womb, not the cradle. Still, if he were actually able to achieve a one-hit win in the Iron Bracket and even qualify for Gold at his age, perhaps he was indeed exactly what she had been waiting for.

A Core Realm prodigy at only twenty.

Perhaps he’ll even manage to reach Sacred Soul Realm quickly enough to preserve those youthful good looks forever, Lunalah mused with an inward smile. I may get a chance for a taste of him yet—as a concubine at the very least.

“Create a new personal file for me,” Lunalah said, handing back the tablet. “I wish you to keep an eye on this man’s progression. And send an envoy to Jurin Province to confirm these details. I wish to know all there is to know about the Iron Bull.”