Li Yu did not leave the Azure Spire Mountains immediately as he had planned.

After descending from the snowy peak where he had his drunken epiphany, he found a small plateau halfway down the mountain. It was a vibrant and seemingly untouched paradise of wildflowers and fruit trees that were fed by the melting snow above. The air was crisp and fresh. There was a scent of pine needles, sweet sap and wild herbs in the air and it was intoxicating.

He decided to stop here and stay a few days.

For four days Li Yu simply existed. He sat by a crystal-clear stream and was watching the fish dart through the currents. He found two new species that he didn’t have before, small fish with no real power and added a breeding pair to his Koi Sanctuary. He climbed the trees to pluck "Star-Fire Persimmons," biting into them and letting the sugary juice with a hint of spice run down his chin.

He saw a massive Verdent-Stag. It had antlers glowing with soft moss-light and was drinking from the stream. In the past, he might have wanted to taste the potency of its meat and its flavor. In the present, he simply watched it and admired how beautiful the creature was. When his stomach rumbled he reached into his storage ring and brought out a piece of jerky to gnaw on instead.

He put the idea of trying out the flavor of the meat to the back of his mind, perhaps a thing to do at another time. Li Yu was enjoying the peace and didn’t want to disrupt that. It was a peace he hadn't known he was allowed to have.

On the morning of the fifth day, he adjusted his cloak, picked up his bamboo staff and began the descent proper. He hadn't gone more than a few kilometers when his steps faltered.

He tilted his head in the direction of the commotion. It wasn't the natural chaotic Qi of an incoming storm but the sharp dissonant vibrations of battle. It was coming from the direction of the hidden cave, the home of the Spirit-Brew Monkeys.

Li Yu sighed, looking at the horizon where he was supposed to be going and thinking back about the peace he had just enjoyed.

"I drank their wine," he muttered to himself. "And I only paid with rocks and weeds. Karma is a strict accountant." He felt a tug on his soul, like he was being summoned to go back. He didn’t understand the feeling but he knew it was telling him to go back and help. To pay his debt to the monkeys so to speak.

‘Could this be the pull of karma or fate? The feeling is so real, yet also so fleeting. I feel like I could ignore it completely if I wanted to but to do so also felt just as wrong.’ Li Yu thought to himself.

He made up his mind and vanished, his figure blurring as he employed the Void Step back to where the monkeys were.

When Li Yu arrived at the hidden valley the scene was chaotic.

The lush entrance to the monkey's cave was trampled. The smaller monkeys were cowering behind boulders and screeching in fear.

Surrounding the entrance were nearly thirty cultivators. Most were in the late Foundation Establishment realm, wearing matching blue and silver robes embroidered with a stylized mist serpent.

Leading them were three women. They floated in the air on silk ribbons and their auras radiating the pressure of the early Core Formation realm. They were beautiful in a sharp predatory way, their expressions filled with disdain as they looked down at the cave entrance.

Standing alone against this army was the massive Spirit-Brew Monkey Elder, the very same one who had tried to smash Li Yu into paste a few days ago.

Li Yu noticed something strange about the large monkey. He probed the Elder with his spiritual sense. The result made him pause and question his understanding of cultivation.

The Elder’s soul was radiant. It burned with the intensity of the Soul Formation realm, a blazing sun of will and consciousness. But his body... his body was a desert. There was almost no Qi circulating in his meridians. His dantian felt cracked, leaking energy as fast as he could gather it.

‘A broken vessel,’ Li Yu realized. ‘He is piloting a corpse with sheer willpower. That is why I didn't sense him before; he keeps it entirely internal to survive. I’ve never seen someone in such a state before. Could it be that once at Soul Formation, unless the body is destroyed beyond repair, the soul can keep it going? That is incredibly powerful, perhaps it is unique to this monkey?’

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"Leave!" the Elder roared. His voice was thunderous, not because of air in his lungs but because he was projecting his voice directly into the minds of those around. "This is forbidden ground!"

"Forbidden?" The central woman laughed, a cold tinkling sound. "Nothing is forbidden to the Mist-Serpent Sisters. We heard rumors you have more of a wine that helps with cultivation and other unique effects. We have tried it before. It is excellent."

"We require it," the woman on the left added, examining her fingernails. "All of it. You beasts will come with us to our sect. You will brew for us for the rest of your lives."

The Elder’s fur bristled, changing from a calm gray to a furious burning red. "We are not slaves! We are the guardians of the Peak! Leave! Or I will crush your minds!"

The third woman sneered. "We did our research, old beast. You were the 'Iron-Arm King' three hundred years ago. But then you fought the Thunder-Bird and had your core shattered. You have no Qi. You only have Soul Force."

The three women looked at each other and grinned. Simultaneously, they reached into their robes and pulled out three identical talismans. They were made of black spirit-paper and were inscribed with blood-red runes.

They crushed them.

A shimmering violet barrier erupted around the three women and their subordinates. It wasn't a physical shield; it was a Soul-Severing Barrier, specifically designed to negate mental attacks.

"We spent a fortune on these," the leader mocked. "Let’s see what you can do now."

The Elder roared in fury. An invisible wave of mental force slammed into the group.

CRACK.

The violet barrier shuddered. Spiderweb fractures appeared on its surface. The Foundation Establishment disciples behind the women bled from their noses and were stumbling.

But the barrier held.

"Get him!" the leader screamed. "Shatter his limbs! Keep him alive to teach the others!"

The thirty cultivators surged forward with their weapons glowing. The three women unleashed torrents of poisonous mist and water blades.

The Elder tried to dodge but without Qi to reinforce his body he was slow. With such a weak body, his soul couldn’t operate at full power either, leaving him with only a fraction of his soul strength.

A water blade sliced into his shoulder. The monkey elder grunted but he still was able to swing his massive fist at a disciple which crushed him but the monkey was being overwhelmed. The poison mist was already beginning to rot his fur with no qi to protect himself with.

Li Yu watched from the treeline. His expression was impassive but the temperature around him dropped. ‘Slavers,’ he thought. ‘Thieves. Murderers.’

The Mist-Serpent Sisters were still laughing in the air, preparing to unleash a combined technique to sever the monkey's tendons and capture it.

Li Yu stepped out and raised his hand.

‘Calamity Soul Spear.’

Three black spiraling spears materialized instantly above his head. They hummed with a frequency that made the teeth of everyone in the valley ache. The pressure from the soul energy in each one made the air in the area feel heavier and several of the disciples found themselves frozen.

"Break," Li Yu whispered.

THWOOM.

The spears launched and traveled to their targets instantly. No one in the area could keep track of them. Before any of the sisters could see them again the three spears hit the violet Soul-Severing Barrier.

The barrier that had withstood the mental roar of the Soul Formation monkey elder didn't just break. It evaporated into nothingness. Li Yu’s soul was far stronger than that of the injured elder monkey and his void aspected spear also had amazing destructive capabilities.

This combination made the spears punched through the barrier as if it were wet paper. The Mist-Serpent Sisters didn't even have time to stop laughing.

SPLAT. BOOM. BOOM.

The spears impacted their heads. There was no gore and no explosion of blood. The spears simply passed through their skulls and dissipated their heads and their souls instantly. Their bodies dropped from the sky like puppets with their strings cut. Li Yu was utterly ruthless in his attack and left no room for mercy.

The thirty Foundation Establishment disciples were stunned at the sudden turn of events. The silence was absolute. They looked at the corpses of their invincible leaders falling from the sky and then at the man standing calmly by the trees.

Panic instantly set in.

"Run!" one of them screamed. "It's a monster!" They turned to flee and were scattering in every direction, scrambling over rocks and into the brush.

Li Yu watched them run. These men had followed the sisters. They had attacked the monkeys. They had come here to enslave.

"No," Li Yu said softly. He raised his left hand and flicked his fingers.

Dozens of smaller needle-like projectiles materialized, miniature soul spears. They streaked through the air, seeking the signatures of those who bore ill intent.

There were no screams. Just the soft thud of bodies hitting the dirt and never moving again.

Within just mere seconds the valley was silent. Thirty-three intruders lay dead. No mercy. No escape. Li Yu lowered his hand once the job was completed. He didn't feel guilt. He felt the satisfaction of pulling weeds from a garden.