A strange almost unsettling peace settled over Talon's Peak Pass in the aftermath of the rout. The sun climbed higher, illuminating the battlefield of those who had died in the initial panic or trampled by their fleeing comrades. The town's defensive barrier shimmered weakly but held.

Li Yu descended from the sky, landing lightly just outside the main gate, which remained sealed. His pristine white robe stood out starkly against the blood-soaked ground and the scorched rock of the pass. He didn't immediately move on. Instead, he found a defensible position atop a section of the outer wall that had partially crumbled during the siege, giving him a clear view of the surrounding mountain passes.

He sat cross-legged, his black staff resting across his lap and extended his spiritual sense outwards. He remained there through the day and into the night. He was a silent white-robed sentinel. The peace was interrupted one time by the captain of the pass who had come to check for his tokens and why he was here. Once that was determined Li Yu was allowed to stay there

He wasn't idle; while his spiritual sense constantly swept the area, he calmly ate rations from his storage ring, circulated his Qi to maintain peak condition and mainly to think about the events of the battlefield. The use of the cult was extremely helpful, it broke morale and ranks. It was a weapon that could be used and Li Yu would have to add more fuel for it to burn even brighter.

His calm presence was both unsettling and reassuring to the defenders within the town, who saw him maintaining his vigil. As the sun rose the next morning, painting the peaks in hues of gold and rose, Li Yu decided it was time to leave.

The pass was secure enough for the local garrison to manage and his original mission still awaited. He stood up stretching slightly, preparing to resume his journey towards the Serpentwood Marsh. Just as he was about to take flight, his merit token vibrated.

It was Theron. "Little Crab," the Grand Elder's voice came through, sounding slightly strained, almost apologetic. "Is the Pass secure?"

"Secure, Grand Elder," Li Yu confirmed. "No enemy activity for over twenty-four hours since the rout."

"Good. Excellent work," Theron said, relief evident in his tone. "However... I must divert you again. Apologies, I know your original target was the marsh but a new situation has arisen."

Li Yu waited patiently. War was fluid; plans changed.

"Intelligence has located one of the enemy's mobile commanders," Theron continued. "A Soul Formation expert, first level. He's operating near the Whispering Peaks, west of your current position. He's been elusive, coordinating raids that have crippled our supply lines in that sector. We need him eliminated."

Theron paused and Li Yu could almost hear the unspoken thought. "I know," Theron said, his voice lowering slightly acknowledging the oddity. "It sounds... strange, asking a Seventh-Level Core Formation disciple to hunt down a Soul Formation expert. But your performance against Vespertine... it proved you are no ordinary person. Can you handle this?"

"I will go," Li Yu replied without hesitation.

"Excellent," Theron said. "Be cautious, nonetheless. These commanders are slippery. Go now." The connection ended.

Li Yu changed direction again, his form blurring into a black streak as he shot westward towards the Whispering Peaks, leaving Talon's Peak Pass behind him. The journey took several hours, the landscape shifting from jagged mountains to rolling, mist-covered hills.

He arrived at the location Theron had provided, a region known for its strangely shaped rock formations that caused the wind to create eerie, whistling sounds. But he found no battle. No sign of a Soul Formation expert. Only a small, weary-looking patrol of about fifteen disciples wearing the familiar five-sect-alliance armor, resting on a wind-carved stone arch.

He descended, landing lightly before them. The disciples immediately scrambled to their feet, weapons raised, their eyes wide with alarm.

"Relax," Li Yu said as he descended, presenting his authority token. "I am Little Crab of the Abyssal Crab Cult, sent by Grand Elder Theron. I'm looking for an enemy Soul Formation commander reported to be in this area."

The disciples visibly relaxed upon seeing the token but their expressions shifted to confusion, then outright skepticism as they took in his youthful appearance and his Core Formation aura. The patrol leader, a grizzled man who looked old enough to be Li Yu's grandfather despite only being at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm, squinted at him.

"Commander... Little Crab?" he repeated, stumbling over the name. "Grand Elder Theron sent you? A Core disciple? To hunt a Soul Formation expert?" He exchanged disbelieving glances with his squad.

"Lad, are you sure you heard the orders correctly? We don’t want you to die just because you misheard. There was a Soul Formation commander here, yes. 'Ironhide' Garo. Second Level, not first. He smashed Patrol Leader Vanya's squad just this morning. Tore right through them. But he left hours ago, heading east."

Li Yu frowned. Second Level? And already gone? Had Theron's intelligence been faulty?

Before he could ask further, his merit token vibrated again. It was Theron.

"Little Crab. Update, Our scouts just picked up Ironhide Garo's. He's doubled back. He's currently attacking the mining outpost at Blackstone Gully. It's east of your position. You must intercept him."

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Li Yu looked at the grizzled patrol leader. "Blackstone Gully? Where is that?"

Before the leader could answer, Theron's voice boomed directly from Li Yu's token, clearly audible to everyone nearby. "Whoever is with Commander Little Crab! Guide him to Blackstone Gully immediately! That is a direct order!"

The patrol leader Roric and his entire squad jumped as if struck by lightning as they recognized the Grand Elder's voice. They stared at Li Yu, then back at the token, then at Li Yu again, their skepticism instantly replaced by obedience and still confusion on their face.

"Yes, Grand Elder!" Roric stammered, bowing hastily towards the token, then towards Li Yu. "Right away, Commander! Blackstone Gully... it's this way! We'll lead you!"

Without another word, the entire patrol took to the air, flying east as fast as their cultivation allowed, Li Yu following behind them. Some of the younger disciples kept glancing back at him. They were intentionally flying towards a Second Level Soul Formation expert, a being who could likely kill all of them with a single technique.

They would be stupid not to be scared. Their only solace was the impossible calm radiating from the white-robed young man behind them and the fact that Grand Elder Theron himself had given the order. If Theron hadn't ordered it they would have pointed Li Yu east and fled west without a second thought.

They arrived at Blackstone Gully a bit later. It wasn't a town but a fortified mining outpost built around a rich vein of spirit ore. A heavy earth-element defensive formation covered the main structures but it was visibly cracking, great fissures appearing with every blow that rained down upon it from the sky.

Hovering above the outpost was a single, massive figure: a man whose body seemed partially fused with dark metallic rock, giving him an armored inhuman appearance. Ironhide Garo. His aura was indeed that of a Second Level Soul Formation expert and he was methodically pounding on the outpost's barrier with oversized stone-like fists, each impact sending shudders through the earth. Inside the barrier, dozens of cultivators frantically poured their energy into the formation core, desperately trying to keep it from shattering. They wouldn't last much longer.

Li Yu saw the situation and didn't hesitate. This was his target. He shot forward, leaving Roric's stunned patrol behind.

As he closed the distance, he took a deep breath and yelled, his voice echoing through the gully, momentarily drawing Ironhide Garo's attention.

"Praise the God Crab, his mighty claw!"

The moment the words left his mouth, a change occurred. Down below, within the failing barrier several cultivators' heads snapped up, recognition and a spark of desperate hope flashing in their eyes. Even Ironhide Garo paused his assault, turning his stony gaze towards the approaching white figure. He had clearly heard the rumors.

Black Abyssal Javelins materialized around Li Yu, dozens of them, crackling with void energy.

Seeing the javelins, several figures near Garo, likely his subordinates who had been watching the assault, instantly turned and fled. They were vanishing into the surrounding hills without a second thought.

Garo himself sneered, clearly unintimidated by a mere Core Formation disciple regardless of his affiliation. He turned back to the barrier, raising his massive stone fist for another blow.

Li Yu ignored the fleeing subordinates. His target was Garo. An idea came into his head, ridiculous but perfectly in line with their established persona, sparked in his mind. He came up with a way to explain some of his power.

He yelled again, his voice ringing with false conviction. "His boundless void are our laws! Everyone! I need your faith to empower my attack! Repeat after me! Lend your strength to the Crab God!"

He then bellowed the second verse of Jian's insane creed:

As he shouted the words, he simultaneously unleashed his soul attack. "Leviathan's Strike!"

Much to his surprise, the allied forces holding out in the formation yelled after him. Some even said it the same time as him, clearly knowing the words beforehand.

An invisible hammer blow slammed into Ironhide Garo's spiritual sea. The massive stone-like man grunted with his eyes going wide with shock and pain. His Soul Formation soul was weaker than Vespertine's so he stood no chance against Li Yu's devastating attack.

Garo's concentration shattered and his body went limp. He began to plummet from the sky completely dazed.

"...Through shell and claw his rule shall reign!!" Li Yu finished the chant with the others, launching the Abyssal Javelins as Garo fell.

Several javelins slammed into the falling Soul Formation expert. His rocky hide managed to deflect a few but others punched through, sending up sprays of blood and stone fragments. He crashed heavily into the ground below. He was wounded and stunned but still alive.

Silence descended. The cultivators within the barely activate barrier stared dumbfounded. They had been moments from death and this white-robed disciple... this Core Formation disciple... had just knocked a Second Level Soul Formation expert out of the sky with a chant?

Then, a voice roared out from the group within the barrier, filled with a mixture of relief and zealous fervor. "LITTLE CRAB! It is him! It's Little Crab! It must be, he’s the only one that would look that young. Did you see that?! The chant! It worked! Everyone, keep chanting! Empower him! That's the source of his power! Continue chanting so he can defeat that brute!"

Li Yu froze in the air by what he had just heard. He didn’t recognize the voice. If he did, he would have known it belonged to the disciple ranked seventh on the merit list, Torin Stonehand, from the Stone Binders Sect. Likely stationed here to protect the mine. And this psycho was running with his impromptu lie?

Torin wasn't just shouting; he was leading the chants. Inspired by their near-death experience and Torin's belief that Li Yu somehow drew power from their chanting and faith, the other cultivators inside the barrier joined in. Their voices continue to rise in a desperate hopeful chorus.

They chanted again and again with their eyes fixed on Li Yu. They believed… or at least hoped, that their faith was funneling power into him in some way, how else could he have beaten him? It was giving him the strength to finish off this brute of a man that was about to kill them.

Li Yu just hovered there, utterly speechless. He had only paused for a second after Garo fell, deciding his next move. But his inaction was now being interpreted as him gathering their power, absorbing their faith until he was strong enough for his next move.

"It's not enough!" Torin yelled frantically, seeing Li Yu remain motionless. "He needs more power to finish him! Louder! Chant louder! With more vigor! For the Crab God! For Little Crab! Save us!"

The chanting intensified. It became a desperate roar. Li Yu felt a headache coming on. He was stuck. He couldn't just attack now; it would break the illusion. He had inadvertently created a feedback loop of utter lunacy. He glanced down at the dazed, wounded Ironhide Garo, who was slowly starting to stir but was incredibly injured and then back at the sea of chanting faces.

What had Jian Xuan gotten him into? What did he get himself into? He could only shake his head. People were hard to deal with. You just never know what they are thinking.