Heaven’s thunder shatters the mountain hit Bakunawa’s palm.

The boom shook the earth and shattered the windows he had taken great care to avoid damaging.

Screams of shock and pain filled his ears from all directions.

Jagged glass shards pierced flesh a hundred times over.

The sound was unmistakable.

These assholes don’t care about their own people, he thought hard, tell me you’ve already cleared a spot I can take this fight to?

The stadium and surrounding area are just about clear.

Thanks, how’s things with Bai and Bei?

He used the master cultivator in his hand as a club to batter the other cultivators away, as for the old cultivator in his other hand, well… he tossed the man into a soft-looking pile of garbage.

I’ve got him safe and sleeping. Just waiting on Bei and we’re gone. I’ll let you know, so you can bounce too.

No rush. These assholes need some lessons about why collateral damage isn’t justifiable.

He tossed the bloodied and battered cultivator into a hard-looking pile of garbage before taking to the sky.

Cloud-stepping cultivators had no hope of keeping up, which was why he moved at a snail’s pace compared to what he was capable of.

Tongues of flame burned his clothing.

Razor-edged leaves came out of nowhere to shred what remained, leaving him clad in compression shorts and nothing else.

Such embarrassment, such indignity.

He listened to their heartbeats to keep track of those that tried to attack out of concealment.

Twenty-five high level cultivators at first count.

Maybe another couple of master level ones that were really good at stealth.

He flew higher to take them past their capabilities.

His body stayed warm even as the night sky became freezing.

The cultivators fell away, they couldn’t take the cold and the lack of breathable oxygen.

He flipped over into an artful dive, resisting the urge to make fighter jet sounds.

A stray thought remembered when, as a child, he could only dream of flying.

Wouldn’t it be nice to just be able to fly?

See the world and once he had seen it all, see what was on other worlds or even the stars.

He’d been to the moon a few times. He’d only stuck around long enough to check out the old lunar lander and to make sure that there wasn’t anything like an ancient evil lurking within. Incidentally, the moon wasn’t artificial. None of that ancient alien stuff. Just rocks.

A cultivator dropped concealment to thrust a spear into his back.

He took it and slapped the man upside the head into unconsciousness.

“Best grab him before he goes splat.”

A pair of cultivators from the same sect peeled off their own attack to do so.

He cut through the sky like an orca hunting among baby sharks.

A slap here, a punch there.

Every move put a cultivator to sleep.

He took care to target those that had a fellow sect member nearby to catch them before they hit the ground.

Sure, if one could survive a fall at terminal velocity then one could theoretically survive a fall from any height. Granted there were a multitude of other factors, such as air resistance, the landing and the type of ground.

He’d put these cultivators on the right side of the odds in this case. He just didn’t want to risk an unconscious one landing on his head, on something sharp or an innocent person.

Only a handful of cultivators made it to the stadium with him.

“This is a less—”

His words were drowned out by a withering gale of wind and razor-edged leaves.

It seemed that they weren’t in the mood for a lecture.

He dug his foot into the dirt and kicked a spray at several times the speed of sound.

The leaf cultivator cried out in pain.

The wind cultivator moved her arms in wide circles, gathering up the dirt to shoot back.

“Like a gentle rain drops,” he said.

He blurred forward through a tornado to hit the cultivator in the stomach.

She doubled over gasping for air.

He grabbed her by the back of her robes and threw her at the leafy one.

Two more out of the fight.

“C’mon, I’ve got a whole sp—”

An impossibly large mace head cracked the ground where he had been standing, creating a small earthquake.

The wielder was almost comically small compared to his spike-covered weapon.

Two could play the same game.

Bakunawa stomped.

A true earthquake shook the entire stadium.

He could play at a much higher level.

The mace cultivator hesitated.

The tremors were enough to slightly unbalance him.

A costly misstep when fighting those that moved with blinding speed.

Bakunawa punched the cultivator in the face.

“Don’t worry, I know you can probably grow those back,” he nodded to the shattered ivory scattered around the downed man. “Three down—”

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Whistling wind caused him to duck reflexively.

Not that the wide, curved blade would’ve done much to his neck.

He kicked back.

Bare foot met impossibly sharp blade.

“Ow,” he said flatly.

The cultivator’s eyes widened like saucers.

“Spiritual weapon having performance issues? Don’t worry… happens to everyone sometimes.”

The sword struck out with scorpion stings the frog.

Except this frog was invulnerable.

Blade met hand.

The former cracked.

The cultivator’s eyes crossed.

“I’ve been told that it’s like the worse ice cream headache when a spiritual weapon gets damaged.”

“Shut up and take this, you worm!”

The sword swept out wildly with a dozen strikes in less than a second.

“You’re lucky I’m not too big on crippling people for months, if not years,” he pulled the sword and held out his other fist for the cultivator to run face-first into. “However, I’m not above making you regrow your teeth. It takes time and is painful from what I’ve heard. Might force you to reflect and really internalize the lesson I’m trying to impart.”

“And what lesson are you trying to teach us, foreigner?”

The cultivator was an older woman. Tall and stern-faced, reminding him of a teacher. She wore plain, gray robes with gray hair tied in a tight bun. No visible weapons.

“Now you’re going to listen? Naturally, you’re only doing it to buy time. After seeing me wipe the sky with your best. Did you call for help from the Phoenix Dynasty? Sects two cities over? That must sting. You do know they’ll just use this as a sign of your weakness and a perfect opportunity to take over your city.”

“That is what you have wrought. All the lives lost in the future struggle is on your head.”

“No, actually, it’s on your head. All the sects. It’s because you decided to steal a little boy from his family, but going back to the beginning, it’s because you decided to go back to feudalism. So, bemoan your sudden lack of physically capable cultivators on that. I mean, there are so many peasants that might be just like you. Maybe even more powerful if they had the same opportunity you did.”

“We took our chances. They did not.”

“Maybe, but if you truly believed in that creed then you wouldn’t be putting all sorts of obstacles in their path into joining your club.”

“Dogs have their place!” a big cultivator with a wild mane of dark hair boomed. “It just isn’t with us lions!”

“Fine, then going by your logic, you all have to do what I say now. Cause, I’m, like, a super lion among little kitty cats. Not even normal cats, but those poor cats we bred to have tiny legs. Who the fuck thought that was a good idea? Like breeding bulldogs to have difficulty breeding,” he shook his masked head.

“Are you… insane?” the old woman cultivator said.

“I’m not going to dignify that with a response. I’m the one asking questions here, you smol cat with short legs. So, what say you? Do I have to beat you all up before you do what I say since might makes right, the strong rule and any number of petty justifications to be a power hungry ass?”

“Perhaps an accord is possible,” the last standing cultivator smoothly slid out from behind the big, lion-like man. She thrust her spear into the dirt and walked toward Bakunawa with arms held open wide. “I am ‘Radiant Liu Mei’ and I ask a simple question. What do you expect for us to do? You speak of turning peasants into cultivators. Yet, would they not become one themselves if they truly desired it?”

“How about they get enough food to eat for starters? Stores generate food for free and I know you’ve built up generous stockpiles with the excess you aren’t releasing to the people. As for the farming, well, if someone wants to be a farmer then that’s fine. My problem is with you forcing people into those roles. We all know by now that the best classes come from true passion. And the brothels. Fix that. Let it be a real choice.”

“Who’d want to work in a brothel!” the big cultivator laughed.

“You make my point for me. In fact, that’s off the table. I’m not going to wait on you to handle it. Once I’m done with you here I’m going to fix your brothel situation.”

“You make impossible promises. No one man can do—”

“Quiet,” the old cultivator’s voice was enough to silence the man twice her size. “For the sake of clarity, how would you go about fixing that situation?”

“You might think I’m a soft touch based on how I haven’t killed anyone yet, but that’d be a mistake. You see, I’ve killed before. Unrepentant sex traffickers, rapists, murderers and the like. There’s a real intersection between all those things. Real monsters. I know you know the type. You have them amongst your number. It’s a real black mark on your souls that you’d let them get away with it just because they have power.”

“You can’t kill everyone” Radiant Liu Mei said.

“Can’t I? I’ve shown you that the only thing stopping me is me. Sure, that’d be a last resort. But, think about it in this way. Eventually, I’d kill all the real monsters. I can tell she’s thinking about it,” he regarded the old, stern-faced cultivator. “I’d do all the work and you’d reap the benefits. Secure in your power and control minus the ones that are too strong or too connected for you to go after yourself.”

Silence reined for a long moment as the three cultivators still standing regarded each other.

“It won’t work. We’d be weakened as a whole. Vulnerable to other sects, raiders and monsters,” Radiant Liu Mei said.

“We’d lose control of our encounter challenges without our current numbers. The spawn zones would drown us in monsters like the tides on a full moon,” the big cultivator agreed.

“The Phoenix Empress would burn us for aligning with a foreigner. Unless you’d swear to protect us from the consequences of your desires,” the old cultivator said. “If not, then your words are as empty as a dying man’s promises.”

“It’s a large world and things are going to get worse. I’m needed in a thousand places.”

“Ha! Typical. Your dog mouth is too large for your stomach!” the big cultivator slapped his knee.

“That isn’t an insult when you factor reality into account because dogs are awesome.”

“Enough! Let us end this, dog! I shall avenge the dishonor you’ve heaped upon—” the big cultivator choked thanks to the fist jabbed into his throat.

Bakunawa stood back where he had been in the cultivator’s eyes.

“Forgive the foolish one, he knows not what comes out of his mouth at the best of times,” Radiant Liu Mei bowed at the waist. “Perhaps, this one may invite you to her home in order to discuss matters further in a… less fraught atmosphere. If honored elder permits,” she bowed to the old, stern-faced cultivator.”

“Elder, am I? Peh,” she snorted. “You’re only a decade behind me. I simply care not for appearances and don’t waste Qi on mine.”

“The betrayal of your so-called wisdom stings this young maiden’s heart.”

“The oaf was right about one thing. Enough of this. Do what you will. My sect will no longer oppose you,” the old cultivator said.

“Dishonor—” the big cultivator managed to get out before the old one silenced him with a glare.

“It is dishonorable to throw our best against an unbeatable foe without a truly cause. I’m leaving to prepare for the consequences of this ‘Bakunawa’s actions,” she vanished.

“The ancient one speaks truth. It will be difficult to perform regular maintenance on our encounter challenges with the number of higher level cultivators you have injured. Oh well, it will prove a good challenge to the young ones. The strong will rise and the weak will fall, as is our way,” Radiant Liu Mei bowed once again. “The invitation stands,” she too vanished in a swirl of silks.

“I swear this insult will be av—” the big cultivator suddenly found himself standing in a dirt field surrounded by ruined ground and unconscious cultivators.

Bakunawa took to the sky.

Change of plans, he thought.

I’m ahead of you. Bei’s almost here. Once I take them to Manila, I’ll be right back.

Your manner of flight is more comfortable than mine.

Less traumatic too. Slight complication though.

Phoenixes?

Fledgling ones.

Ha ha. Dad jokes are lame.

Finding yourself making them more often these days?

Shut up.

Doth protest too much. Anyways, kid phoenixes are flying our way. Going to be here in an hour.

Good thing they don’t know the orbital trick. How’d they get word?

I can’t do anything about someone sending a spires message.

I thought you were going to encourage people to not even consider doing that.

I thought I did. Clearly, someone slipped through.

You’re getting old. 30 on the outside, 50 on the inside.

You shut up.

Alright, I’m going to start.

Good luck and be careful.

Nothing here can hurt me.

Physically, but I didn’t mean that.

It’s fine. I’m moving people out of bad places. I’m not specifically out to kill the people responsible.

I know, still have to say it as an older brother.