Path of the Berserker

THE MIXING OF Zu Tien into the fold went about as well as could be expected.

People were initially shocked, confused and even angry, but Gui Zu, the master bridge-builder, stuck by Zu Tien’s side as he introduced her to people as an ally, reassuring them of Zu Tien’s penance the same way he had with me. Not everyone took to it, but Jian Yi at least accepted the logic that we had no other options at the moment.

“You should probably make an announcement,” she said when we were all gathered in the square. “People will wonder where you have gone and why she’s here in your stead.”

I watched as Zu Tien bowed to Yu Li who returned the bow awkwardly, while glancing sideways at Gui Zu. The big man patted Yu Li’s shoulders with a laugh, which eventually caused her to laugh as well.

“I thought of that,” I said. “But making an announcement publicly would be the same as making an announcement to our enemies. I don’t want anyone to know that I’ll be going missing.”

Jian Yi nodded. “I see. That does make sense. But I don’t think people will feel comfortable around her.”

I watched as Gui Zu continued to make the rounds with Zu Tien, the girl bowing deeply to people she probably would have spat upon just a few short weeks ago. Jian Yi was likely right. It would take a lot of work on Zu Tien’s part to win the people’s trust. It was a reminder of what the loss of face and honor could do to a cultivator. I guess it was 50-50 whether she would have doubled down with resentment and resolve, aiming to better herself to come and take her revenge against me, or to fold in despair like she had and then switch her loyalties to serve the stronger master.

Even in the world of cultivators there were leaders and followers, I supposed.

Knowing which Zu Tien was now, I was even more assured of her loyalty.

Acceptance of her within the sect would take time.

But I didn’t have the luxury of time right now.

I needed her in place so I could get to training.

“Gui Zu will have to handle it,” I said. “He’s my true stand-in anyway. Zu Tien is his overpowered sidekick.”

Jian Yi chuckled. “I suppose. How long will you be gone for?”

I calculated the time in my head.

I’d cut it way too short last time getting back in from the wild. Now, I at least knew a better route to get between here and there, but I would be lugging a whole bunch of crap with me as well. I figured I needed a good ten hours to make the trip each way. I didn’t know how long I could spend out in the wild helping them, but three days sounded reasonable to start with.

“Maybe five days altogether,” I said.

“That long?” Jian Yi said, her eyes widening with shock.

“That’s not that long,” I said with a shrug. “Gui Zu and Zu Tien should be able to hold down the fort for that time.”

“For the small fry who show up maybe, but if a Core Realm cultivator comes along looking to pick a fight with the Iron Bull, they’re going to know something is up if you don’t appear within a couple days. You’re going to need to cut it shorter than that, Chun.”

I sighed. “Okay maybe I could squeeze it to four days, but I’ll probably have to go back and forth a lot.”

Not that that gave me a lot of time with Kelsey and Susan.

And there was more than just aiding them that I needed to do out there as well.

I needed knowledge from Threja’s sword.

And the people there needed knowledge too.

Not to mention quite a few of them had unkindled embers smoldering within their souls.

If I could kindle their flames, we’d have an army of Berserkers to throw against the empire. Just the thought of that was enough to ignite my own Flame with determination and resolve.

All these damn headaches, I muttered to myself. The bureaucracy and legalese. The drama with Fia and this new Fire Elder woman. All I really wanted to do was cultivate and get strong enough to stand our own ground and take our planet back.

But life wasn’t so simple.

Not yet anyway.

It would be once I could punch a damn pagoda right out of the sky.

Patience, I told myself. Threja didn’t get as strong as she did in a day and I had a whole year ahead of me to prepare. I glanced over at Jian Yi as she continued to watch Gui Zu making the rounds with Zu Tien.

“That guy has the biggest heart in the world,” Jian Yi said.

I chuckled. “He sure does. And he was once a disciple of Hein as well, if you can believe it. Let’s hope Zu Tien follows in his footsteps.”

Thinking about what dangers they both might face while I was away reminded me of something else.

“Hey Jian Yi, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” I said.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, some admin I need to square away before I head out tomorrow.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” She looked up at me, shocked.

“No time like the present, right?” I said with a grin. “It will be early too. Before dawn.”

She chuckled. “I guess no one could ever blame you for not being a man of action. What do you need to talk about?”

“Let’s head to the office,” I said. We’re going to need to do some paperwork for this one.”

* * *

Jian Yi studied the imperial document as I spun it around for her to read.

Her eyes squinted as she scanned through it but then widened when she got to the end.

“Vice Leader?” she said looking up at me. “You want me to become a vice leader of the Terran Sect?”

I shrugged with a smile. “Hell, you already are, Jian Yi. The people respected you long before they did me. You’ve earned it. Plus, you’re going to need that added level of clout for when I’m not around.”

I didn’t enjoy imperial bureaucracy, but it was a double-edged sword that cut both ways.

On one hand it was the overriding force that kept my people enslaved––a direct extension of the princess’s control. But it was also what kept predatory cultivators at bay from simply rubbing us out of existence.

It was the main thing that was keeping us all alive right now.

And the more we could use it to our advantage the better.

“I’m also making Gui Zu Vice Warden and Zu Tien Second Vice Warden.”

Jian Yi raised a brow. “You certain something like that won’t go to her head?”

I grinned at her. “I’m sure the Vice Leader would never tolerate such a thing happening under her watch.”

Jian Yi laughed.

“Seriously though, the titles are more for our enemies than for us. Cultivators respect strength, power, and prestige. Have enough of it and they might not mess with you at all.”

Jian Yi nodded and then paused, tapping a finger on her chin. “You know, Chun, there is perhaps another way you can protect the Sect without you even being here. Perhaps it could even buy you more time to stay out in the wild and train.”

“Huh?” I was all ears now. “What do you have in mind?”

“You just mentioned it yourself,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “There’s a reason that Foundation Realm cultivators do not rise up to challenge us, no?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess because they know how strong I am, probably.”

“Yes,” she said. “But how do they know this?”

I squinted, trying to figure out where she was going here. “You’re talking about my reputation?”

“Bingo,” she said. “Even the Core Realm cultivators who come to challenge you are few. They don’t come here looking for Max Chun, they come looking for the Iron Bull.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I’m saying you need to keep growing your reputation in the arena, Chun. You stopped at the Iron Bracket, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. There wasn’t much point going further. I only needed to Rank 20 out of 100 cultivators to win my B-class citizenship to establish the sect.”

“Fair enough,” she said. “But now, no one from the Wooden Bracket would even dare to try to test you, knowing you had ranked that high, right? The same would happen for Iron Bracket contenders if you were to make a name for yourself in the Gold Bracket.”

My mind paused as she said it. The Gold Bracket was the arena of high-tier Core Realm and even some low-tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivators. Just the thought of going up against fighters of that caliber set my Flame alight with challenge.

But even succeeding wouldn’t come without issues.

“True, but won’t that mean Gold Bracket assholes would start showing up too?”

“One already has,” Jian Yi said. “Or have you already forgotten about the silver-haired whore you need to fight in a year?”

She grinned making it a joke, but I couldn’t help but wince at the insult against Fia. Damm it, I wasn’t even with this girl, and I still felt the need to defend her. But then again, she had defended me too.

Shit, I really needed to get my feelings in check here.

I smiled, playing it off. “Yeah, Hein’s big sister. How could I forget?”

“But she speaks to the level of those that would actually come to seek you out for a challenge. Just competing in the arena alone is a big deal. Only the best of the best within each sect compete. Few would dare compete with a Gold Bracket contender in the ring, much less outside it. If you were to rank in the Gold Bracket, even at a low ranking––that would set your reputation and ours very high indeed.”

I mulled it over for a moment.

I couldn’t deny that what she said was true.

I’d seen it at play for myself.

If there was one thing a cultivator hated more than disrespect, it was losing, especially publicly. And avoiding a potential loss was all about knowing if you were assured of a win. The more they feared a loss from me, the less there would be to challenge.

And that meant me becoming top dog in the city.

“Shit,” I said, more to myself than to Jian Yi. “I thought my fighting days in the ring were over.”

Jian Yi smiled. “Well, it’s either a fight in the ring, in the streets, or in the courts right? Beat ‘em in the streets and in the courts and you’ll still have people lining up. But one win in the arena and your reputation alone will keep the lower tiers at bay, just like it’s doing now.”

I sighed. “You’re making too much damn sense, Jian Yi. But I guess that’s why I made you vice leader.”

She chuckled again.

“Alright,” I said. “Guess I need to add another goal to my to-do list.”

I had only just qualified for the Gold Bracket, but was I really ready to advance any further than that? Cycling my Frenzy, I engaged my Mental Quickness and recalled the qualification requirements for the tournament.

[Iron Bracket]

Entry Fee: 50 Spirit Stones

Qualification Requirements: Previous Top 20 Ranking in [Wooden Bracket]

Rewards

20th Rank and higher - Class-B Citizenship

Winner - 1000 Spirit Stones

[Gold Bracket]

Entry Fee: 1000 Spirit Stones

Qualification Requirements: Previous Top 20 Ranking in [Iron Bracket]

Rewards

20th Rank and higher - Class-A Citizenship

Winner – 10000 Spirit Stones

Shit! 1000 spirit stones to enter?

I balked internally.

That was the equivalent of 10000 Taels of Silver!

Even with the huge sums of money we were making now, something like that would wipe out the treasury. Not to mention it would take twenty times the amount of people joining the sect to make that number possible.

“Shit,” I cursed. “I’m going to need to re-enter the Iron Bracket.”

“Why?” Jian Yi asked. “I thought you said you qualified for the Gold Bracket already.”

“I did, but I didn’t think of the entry fee. It’s 1000 spirit stones just to enter the Gold Bracket.”

Jian Yi’s jaw hit the floor. “Oof. Sorry I even mentioned it then. No way you’ll be able to compete in that. Guess it was a stupid idea.”

“No,” I said. “The idea was fine. Reaching the next bracket will afford us more protection. It just means I’ll need to work a little harder.”

“What do you mean? We don’t have that kind of money, Chun.”

“Not yet,” I said. “But 1st place in the Iron Bracket earns 1000 spirit stones. The exact amount we need.”

I let out a sigh.

“Looks like the Iron Bull is coming out of retirement.”

It was time for the Iron Bull to become Champion of the Iron Bracket League.