Li Yu descended the canyon path. He had adjusted his appearance slightly. Roughed up his clothes and let his hair hang loose. He looked like a wandering cultivator who had seen better days.

  He walked toward the recruitment station. It was a chaotic scene but organized chaos. A line of prospective mercenaries stretched for a hundred yards.

  When Li Yu reached the front, a massive Lion-Kin recruiter looked him up and down.

  "Name?"

  "Crab." Li Yu said in a hurry. Once again, no other name came to mind. He wasn’t paying attention when others had gone up.

  "Race?"

  "Human."

  The Lion-Kin snorted. "Squishy… Cultivation?"

  "Early Soul Formation," Li Yu lied. He released a controlled burst of his Opalescent Qi to prove it.

  The pressure was heavy, dense and sharp. The Lion-Kin’s eyes widened. Early Soul Formation was very impressive for a random mercenary outfit.

  "Gold," the Lion-Kin muttered while checking a ledger. "High Gold. Captain material."

  He reached under the table and pulled out a strange artifact. It looked like a crystal skull with rune carved eye sockets.

  "One last thing," the Lion-Kin said. "Place your hand on the skull. It checks for Soul Seals. If you are a spy for the Infernal Court, it will scream. If you are clean, it stays silent."

  Li Yu placed his hand on the cold crystal. He felt a probing sensation. A tendril of spiritual energy seeking out binding contracts or blood oaths to Demon Lords.

  Li Yu’s soul was clean. He had no master in this realm. The skull remained silent. The crystal turned a soft, harmless blue.

  "Clean," the Lion-Kin nodded. "You're hired. With that strength, you command the 42nd Mercenary Company."

  He tossed Li Yu a heavy iron token with the rank insignia engraved on it.

  Li Yu caught it. "Who is in the 42nd?"

  "About a hundred heads," the Lion-Kin shrugged. "Mixed bag. Good luck."

  Li Yu walked to the designated camping ground for his new unit. In actuality, the strength that Li Yu showed was high enough to command more troops. However, he was just a random new person so the command he was given was limited.

  The 100 troops were lounging around a campfire. Some were gambling and others were sharpening weapons.

  It was, as the recruiter said, a mixed bag. About half were at the Foundation Establishment stage. Mostly younger beastmen or weaker demons. The other half were Early Core Formation veterans.

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  What surprised Li Yu was the diversity. There were Beastmen, certainly. But there were also demons. Red skinned Berserker, Horned Devils and even a few Imps.

  'They fight for the Beast Lord against their own kind?' Li Yu wondered.

  Then he remembered the tavern. In this realm, loyalty was a currency. If the Beast Lord paid better or offered better loot rights than the Infernal Court, the demons not already part of the armies would join the better one. They didn't care who sat on the throne; they cared about their own cultivation resources.

  A figure stepped forward to greet Li Yu. It was a Beaver-Kin. He stood about five feet tall. He was stocky and broad-shouldered.

  "I am Vice-Captain Gnash," the Beaver-Kin said as he saluted with a clawed hand. His aura was solid. Mid-Core Formation. "Of the Iron Tooth Tribe."

  Li Yu nodded and returned the salute. "I am Captain Crab."

  "Welcome Captain," Gnash said while his beady eyes assessed Li Yu. "The boys are curious. A human captain is... rare."

  "Strength is all that matters," Li Yu said calmly. "And I only care about results."

  Gnash grinned. "Good. Because we have orders."

  An hour later, Li Yu stood in the command tent with the other captains and higher members of the army. A map of the region was spread out on a table made of bone.

  A General stood at the head. It wasn't Krog but one of his lieutenants. A massive Tiger-Kin with stripes that glowed like molten lava.

  "Listen up!" The General roared. "The Infernal Court has sent the 7th Legion to stop our advance. They are marching to intercept us at the Black Pass."

  He slammed a claw onto the map.

  "We attack in one day."

  The tent erupted in murmurs. The 7th Legion was a regular army unit of the Court. They would be well equipped and disciplined.

  "Standard contracts apply," the general continued. "We operate on a Merit System as many of you know. Every kill is tracked by your command tokens. Every objective taken is points."

  He unrolled a scroll on the side of the tent. It was the Merit Exchange List.

  "You want pills? We have them. You want cultivation manuals? We have them. You want your freedom? Earn enough merits and you can buy out your contract."

  Li Yu scanned the list. His eyes narrowed. Near the bottom and in the "Rare Resources" section. A few things had caught his eye.

  Blood Amber of the Ancient Behemoth: Enhances physical constitution and regenerates vitality.

  Void-Bone Marrow: Strengthens the skeletal structure and affinity with spatial laws.

  'Body tempering,' Li Yu realized. Those items were expensive. Thousands of merits. But they were exactly what he needed.

  "Also," the General added while grinning ferally. "Whatever you loot from the dead is yours. If you kill a General you can keep his loot. Just bring me his head."

  The captains cheered. Greed lit up the room. This was what nearly everyone here had come over. The promise of loot at the cost of blood. They had to take the chance or die attempting to grab just a piece of something that could change their lives.

  One day later Li Yu stood at the head of the 42nd Company. His Star Crusher staff resting on his shoulder. Beside him Vice Captain Gnash checked the edge of his massive battle-axe.

  "They're coming," Gnash muttered as his nose was twitching. On the horizon a black line appeared.

  It grew thicker and eventually turned into a tide of armored figures. The 7th Legion of the Infernal Court. Thousands of demons in uniform black plates. Their banners were a bleeding eye on a black field.

  Opposite them, the Beast Army roared. It was a chaotic, organic mass of fur, claws and stolen steel. Li Yu looked at the enemy army. He didn't see demons. He didn't see monsters.

  He saw merits, resources and the path to getting stronger. The path to weakening the demons so that the humans he saw before could live a slightly better life, eventually.

  He raised his staff.

  "42nd!" Li Yu shouted as his voice was amplified by his Qi. "Stay close! Watch your flanks! And fill your pockets!"

  The horn sounded.

  DOOOOOM.

  The earth shook as the two armies, driven by hatred and greed, charged to meet each other in the center of the wasteland.