My dearest younger half-sister,

I write to offer my sincere condolences on the most embarrassing situation that has befallen your beloved tribute, the Iron Bull. It would be an understatement to say that news of it has run amuck throughout the lower courts.

To be clearly beaten and then claim a victory in such a vulgar and dishonorable manner has no doubt caused you as much distress as it has indeed the entire royal household. I trust that you may have received letters of criticism and malcontent from our beloved sister Rheutera already.

But if you have not, rest assured, it will be soon to come.

It is with that in mind that I have reached out to you with an offer of grace.

Whilst I have received your letter of rejection of my initial offer, I shall put that in abeyance in light of the present circumstances. Your tribute has no doubt become a worm found most distastefully within a prized apple.

As such, any connection to him would likely, as it has already, affect your standing within the lower courts. With your planet’s already questionable contributions towards the empire, I would hate to think what this may do to your reputation permanently.

I thus offer you, once again, a way to salvage this most dire predicament.

My granddaughters are still in need of a suitable spouse, and whilst the Iron Bull’s status has certainly fallen, he would still be of suitable standing to marry those of their station as minor ladies within my house.

Of course, due to what has transpired, I simply cannot offer what I did previously. Whilst I am still willing to offer a fair level of compensation, I believe that value has now fallen to 100,000 spirit stones.

For an asset that would likely bring you ought but criticism and reputational loss, I believe my offer is more than generous. As I am certain you may still be conflicted based upon your last letter, I regret to inform that this offer will last for one week and depreciate by 5000 spirit stones per week thereafter.

Act quickly and you may find some value to be had.

Act not, and you will simply receive far less when you finally come to the same conclusion, I have. That selling the Iron Bull to me, is in your best interest.

You have already missed out on 400,000 spirit stones by making the wrong decision previously. Please do not make the same mistake again, little sister.

One would be a fool to do so.

Sincerely yours,

Your dearest elder sister,

Her Royal Majesty,

First Princess Ul’vera,

Imperial Regent of D’shar and the Greater D’shar territories,

One Hundred and Twelfth heir of the Imperial Yee Dynasty.

Princess Lunalah shook with rage as she clutched the letter within her hands.

It took all her wherewithal to not simply crumble it.

“That audacious bitch,” she swore bitterly.

She was thankful she had already dismissed Lin Wei, deciding to read the letter in the privacy of her chambers alone. She let out a scream of frustration as her insides soured with anger, disappointment and unease.

She had watched the recorded feeds from the match and the images still haunted her.

How could the Iron Bull have performed so badly in the ring?

Clearly there must be more to it.

They must have poisoned him or something.

She wouldn’t put it past Ul’Vera herself to have orchestrated such, just to bring the price down on her offer. Lunalah read the letter again, each word dripping with condescension and superiority.

They were filled with more than just venom.

They also stung with truth.

Tears of anger and frustration blurred her vision.

Why did catastrophe follow her like a bad stench?

Born a Third Princess.

Bequeathed a Qi-less world.

And now, when the only good to come from it finally emerges, it is proven valueless as well?

She released another cry of frustration and rage.

She looked at the offer. What Ul’vera said was true. What transpired would stay with the Iron Bull for life. Could she be coupled with someone with such a reputation? She refused to believe it, although she knew the answer was clear.

The gossips of the lower courts were merciless.

Still, she could not deny what her heart spoke on the matter.

She desired him no less.

And it was clear Ul’vera desired him as well.

Then suddenly it became clear to her.

“That bitch…”

Ul’vera was attempting to swindle her.

She orchestrated the entire affair to snatch her Iron Bull from her at an unreasonable price.

Why else would she even still offer, if the Iron Bull had lost all his value?

A wicket smile crept upon her lips.

“Nice try, big sister,” she said with venom in her heart.

She reached for a pen and paper.

This time she would not bother with summoning Lin Wei to edit for her.

She wanted Princess Ul’vera to hear her words unfiltered.

My Dearest Older Half Sister,

I bid you do not wait for a further reply, for none shall be coming.

My previous rejection to your initial offer still stands.

Additionally, your assessment of my prized tribute is false.

If he were not worthy of sale at 500,000 spirit stones, how dare you offer less?

As our dear sister Rheutera rightly judged upon the day, ‘A win is a win’.

While I firmly believe the Iron Bull has brought no shame upon my house, I will ensure he has the opportunity to clear his name and reputation within the Lower Courts at a future date.

Until then, you may refrain from your paltry offers to obtain him as your own.

The Iron Bull is mine!

Sincerely,

Third Princess Lunalah

Ruler of Terra

Lunalah stopped just short of writing ‘betrothed of the Iron Bull’ under her name, just to make the point clear. But that would have to wait. His rematch too would have to wait, until perhaps after his return from the Hell Worlds.

She thought more on what that future rematch might look like.

A decisive win on the grand stage as a full-fledged legionnaire would no doubt solidify his status. One more than fitting to become her Prince Consort. She smirked as she stamped the letter with her imperial seal.

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“We shall see who is the fool in the end, Ul’Vera,” she said. “We shall see.”

* * *

I sat in lotus position within the observation deck of the Xing Long, but this time I wasn’t looking out at the stars. I was deep inside my own mind, enjoying the sunshine on my face as I reclined on the lakeside beach with the Sacred Soul Realm cultivation manual within my hands.

I had memorized the entire thing already, but I manifested it in physical form within my domain to bring more authenticity to the experience. This was one of the first things I had learned from the manual already.

If I wanted to progress to the next realm, I would need to focus on developing my personal inner world just as much as my Sacred Soul. I flicked to the beginning of the book to ascertain just where I was at the moment with my progression.

The table containing the nine tiers of my next stage of progression loomed before me.

Sacred Soul Realm

1st

Sacred Soul Formation

2nd

Sacred Soul Refinement

3rd

Sacred Soul Inhabitation

4th

Sacred Soul Evocation

5th

Sacred Soul Projection

6th

Inner World Creation

7th

Inner World Refinement

8th

Inner World Projection

9th

Sacred Soul Manifestation

As I read through the manual, it mentioned just like in previous realms, there were no boundaries or breakthroughs to be made from Tier to Tier, per se. It was more like mastery and the mastery of a lower tier was often somewhat of a pre-requisite to master the next. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t attempt to master even the final tier first.

You’d probably just waste decades trying to do so.

Everything worked together.

From the descriptions of each Tier, I was definitely still a Low Tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator right now. I had decent mastery of the 1st Tier, having combined my twin paths to form my Sacred Soul of the Red-hued Struggler.

I was still working on refining it, or making it even more powerful. That involved not just additional Qi or Frenzy in my case, but progressing my Sacred Soul through the same challenges as my physical body, but only in the spiritual realm.

That led to the need for my 3rd Tier ability of being able to inhabit my Sacred Soul, which I had done many a time in my former Blue-hued self, but I hadn’t gotten much opportunity to test drive my new Struggler form in the spirit realm yet.

Utilizing that, and fighting within the spiritual realm, would no doubt help speed my mastery of both 2nd and 3rd Tier. The 4th Tier, or Sacred Soul Evocation was, from the description, quite similar to my [Spectral Body Projection] technique, but involved not only being able to execute physical attacks with my [Spectral Body Projection] but to be able to use Qi techniques through it as a well.

In this case, I was touching on it briefly with my use of such techniques like [Struggler’s Lightning Fist of Fury]. I would need to try using higher level techniques through my [Spectral Body Projection] to master it.

But all that was just precursors for the next tier.

Sacred Soul Projection.

This was different than simply [Spectral Body Projection] which just formed my [Spectral Body] over my own in the real world. Sacred Soul Projection was literally being able to leave your body and project your spirit within the body of your Sacred Soul to roam the physical world.

This was the same way the Princess was able to show up at Fia’s trial with her physical body being thousands of miles away. I could only imagine what power it would take to do that. I had only just begun to try to master the technique and could not move my [Spectral Body Projection] more than an inch or so before it felt like it would simply disappear.

If I could master it however, I could definitely consider myself a Mid-Tier Sacred Soul Realm cultivator then. But as for right now, that seemed a way off in terms of mastery.

The next three tiers after that, 6th, 7th and 8th, were related to my Inner World.

From the manual I had rightly figured that my inner world was the place I was lounging in right now. An internal manifestation of a spiritual realm where my [Spectral Body] could roam. I had that part down, so I think I perhaps qualified as being somewhat competent in terms of Inner World Creation.

The 6th tier, however, Inner World Refinement was where it became truly interesting. According to the manual, developing one’s inner world took more than just Qi or Frenzy. The limitations of creating worlds was as wide and varied as one’s memories or even imagination.

What made the difference between a purely spiritual landscape like the one I was in now and one that could be truly considered an ‘Inner World’ was anchoring it with artifacts and relics from the real world.

Transcribed in the manual was a technique not dissimilar to the Demonic [Absorption] technique where one could absorb powerful artifacts into their [Spectral Body], to then be stored within their Inner world.

Not only did this enhance the integrity of the inner world, but the world could take on the characteristics of the artifact itself. The manual wasn’t specific on what artifacts could be used, but they varied depending on style, focus, elemental affinity and so on.

There was mention, that when one became powerful enough, one’s weapons could also be stored as artifacts. That kind of blew my mind in a way, but thinking back I’d seen it before, when Lesser Deity Realm cultivators like President Tzu Li Zen or even the Warden back home, materialized their weapons from thin air.

It was something to truly aspire to accomplish, and damn if it wouldn’t help with lugging my massive axe and Phalanx Blade around everywhere. I set Inner World Refinement as one of my top priorities for that alone, but as for now, the most I had done was to try and transcribe the cultivation manual itself to my inner world.

The manual instructed that a spiritual template had to be created first and then the transfer could occur. So far, I hadn’t had much luck making the physical manual ‘disappear’ but it was what I was focusing on first.

The last two tiers in the Sacred Soul Realm were Inner World Projection and Sacred Soul Manifestation. Both involved mastery of the refinement of both one’s Sacred Soul and Inner World, but surprisingly enough, I already knew the Berserker Equivalent techniques for both these tiers.

[Furnace of the Frenzied Flame] and [Spectral Form] were both documented in my Berserker Shuras from Threja’s sword. And while I already knew the meridian sequences to activate the techniques, now, thanks to the manual, I had a pathway of gaining the spiritual skills and abilities to actually make them work.

Just thinking about it filled me with excitement.

Especially since being able to manifest my full [Spectral Body] in the real world would essentially push me into the next realm as a Lesser Deity. I was still a heck of a long way from that, but having this roadmap, made the journey seem possible, where before I was simply shooting guesses in the dark.

It certainly made risking everything to get this manual, worth it in retrospect.

And thank goodness it all worked out in the end for me and Hei—

I was pulled from my thoughts by the presence of someone in the real world.

I opened my eyes, just in time to see General Gong ascending the stairs to the observation deck.

He let out a chuckle. “The ever-vigilant warrior. No one could ever get the drop on you.”

I rose and gave him a salute. “General Gong, sir.”

He waved my salute away and sat down next to me. “I’ve come to check on you. It’s been a few days now since our last talk up here. Are you doing all right?”

I smiled and reflected on what I had accomplished on that conquered world.

I had managed to get a small remnant of the Heu Zen civilization to safety.

Although a part of me still feared that I had doomed them all.

I didn’t know their chances.

Fifty-fifty maybe?

Hopefully better than that.

One thing was for certain though.

The longer it took me to get back to them, the lower those chances would be.

If I could get back to them even.

“I’m doing okay,” I said. “It was an eye-opening mission.”

“As I said. It would not be one cut out for you.”

I smiled. “Did I at least pay my penance for the princess? Or is she still mad I puked on her original tribute?”

“The gods only know,” Gong said. “The royals are a strange and fickle bunch.”

His mention of ‘strange’ reminded me of something else I wanted to ask.

“Hey, General Gong, do you know those cultivators we were with?” I asked. “King Theos and his gang?”

“Know of them, yes,” he said. “It was the first time I have ever met them in person. You should consider yourself quite lucky to have done so at your age.”

I was going to say it was my second encounter with them, but I didn’t want to get into all that. “What was that weird crap between him and the princess? Her calling him Lord Nephew and her, Little Aunt? It was kind of creepy.”

Gong laughed. “Well. Technically, the Princess is King Theos’ Aunt, but he is her senior by perhaps 2000 years. King Theos always lends his strength when the emperor designates a new world to be protected from the Bloodmoon by one of his daughters.”

“Yeah, he seems pretty powerful. Who is he exactly?”

“He is the firstborn son of the Emperor’s twelfth daughter, First Princess Xiu Yee. His father was one of the emperor’s greatest enemies, the Barrowland King, Prince Consort Theandros.”

I blinked. “Damn, I was just expecting which clan he came from or something. How the hell do you know all this stuff?”

Gong chuckled. “You’re forced to learn a lot of history to become an officer in the Imperial military. Luckily for me, I kind of like the stuff.”

“So, you’re a history buff?”

“Not sure what a ‘buff’ is, but yes, I do enjoy the stories of our histories.” His eyes then twinkled with nostalgia as he leaned into me. “Did you know, it is written that when the emperor finally defeated King Theandros at the end of the 100 year war, that instead of destroying his kingdom, the emperor offered Theandros his most beautiful daughter’s hand in marriage. The emperor’s advisors and detractors alike all thought him weak for doing such, but he proved himself a ruler of vision. Theandros had no choice but to accept of course, but that marriage forged a bond that expanded the empire with new strength. King Theandros was said to be near equal to the emperor in power at the time, so with those two powerful bloodlines, it is no wonder that today King Theos is more god than demi-god, even as a Lesser Deity Realm Cultivator.”

My head was swimming with all the details. “So he married off one of his daughters to his arch enemy?”

“A strategy he still employs today,” Gong said. “Or do you think it uncanny that the emperor seems to only produce daughters?”

I raised a brow at him. “He has no sons?”

“By choice,” Gong said. “He thus always has a plethora of fitting daughters to marry off to any of his rivals, or potential enemies. Taking over a Qi-less mundane world is not the same as conquering a cultivation empire. There, to unite the various clans and families, marriage is required.”

I scoffed at the idea. “And what if one of his rivals or enemies turns out to be a woman?”

Gong laughed. “Then he marries them himself of course! Makes himself a new wife.”

My stomach sickened at the thought of it. “So, he runs his empire like a harem?”

Gong shrugged. “It’s kept it together for over 14,000 years so far.”

I grimaced inwardly.

This merely compounded the battle that lay ahead of me. Not only was the empire filled with increasingly powerful cultivators, they were all linked and allied through marriage and the emperors endless stock of princesses. If we as Terrans rebelled, it would be hard to find allies indeed.

“But enough of that talk,” Gong said. “We are nearly to the Hell Worlds now. We will reach Fhae I’ung by tomorrow. Are you prepared?”

I paused as I reflected on that.

I was already two or three steps ahead of myself, worrying about fighting the empire and righting their injustices. But right now, I had to get back to the basics of why I was here. The God of Dark Frenzy was waiting for me to show up on his doorstep, and I had a promised ass-kicking to give him.

After that, it was to get back home, defeat the Warden, claim my bride and then maybe think about my next big move against the princess herself, before setting off on another sortie to help Blue Rose and maybe a side tour to help the people on Heu Zen.

But I had a literal shit load of crap to get through before all that.

One of them being becoming a dad.

Holy crap, I still hadn’t really come to grips with that yet.

One step at a time, I reminded myself.

I cleared my mind and centered on the other side of my twin Dao.

It was now time to do the Flame’s bidding.

My payment for all that it had helped me with involving the empire thus far.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said to General Gong finally. “It's time to face the Hell Worlds.”