Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation
116. Where Do The Males Go?

Bin Yu trudged up the steps to the elders’ observation platform, a dejected look on her face.

As she passed by, Jin Shu spoke up to reassure her.

"Don't be too sad. You did really well, Bin Yu—I was impressed."

She stopped, turning to give him a cheerful smile.

"I know I did. I'm just upset I wasted all my knockout and explosive powders," she sighed. "They're so expensive. I'm going to end up spending more than the rewards were worth."

"I see. Well, I'm glad you’re not upset about the loss itself."

She nodded, gave him a wave, and continued on to join her mother at the back of the platform.

Jin Shu glanced over as she reached her.

"Momma, did you see my fights? Did I do well?" she asked in a cutesy voice, hugging her mother tightly.

Her mother, Bin Yin, merely nodded.

"Then can you help me buy more materials for knockout and explosive powders? Hm? Pwease?"

"No," Bin Yin said, closing her eyes and ignoring her daughter's pleas.

"Bo~o," Bin Yu huffed, slumping into the seat beside her mother.

Jin Shu chuckled and turned back around.

With some downtime between matches, he decided to ask Tian Li and Biyu something that had been on his mind.

"I've been wondering—where do the male cultivators in the eastern region go?"

"It depends," Biyu said. "If they're talented enough, they might head west, or even to the northern regions. But most end up joining small sects or the Sun Empire."

"There are other sects in the eastern region? I thought the Sun Empire was mostly made up of mortals."

Tian Li nodded and picked up the explanation.

"There are around five or six small sects in the east—similar numbers to other regions."

Then Biyu chimed in again.

"While the Sun Empire is technically a mortal empire, because of the unique circumstances in our region, it actually has more cultivators than the other three empires." She paused, then added, "At least, that’s the common belief. In reality, the northern empire has the highest ratio of cultivators to mortals. Then comes the southern region. The western and eastern regions are about the same."

Jin Shu tilted his head, brow furrowing.

"Why’s that?"

"Because most of the cultivators in the Sun Empire are demonic cultivators," Biyu said casually.

His eyes widened. "What?!"

The outburst drew a few curious glances. He bowed slightly in apology. "Sorry."

Biyu continued once the elders looked away.

"You remember what happened on Sun Li’s boat, right?"

"Of course."

"Then you should’ve realized—Sun Li, a prince of the Sun Empire, had a close servant who was a demonic cultivator."

He blinked. "Right… I was so focused on finding my mom back then, I didn’t stop to think about that."

"So they’ve infiltrated our empire? Why hasn’t the emperor done anything?"

"It’s not just our empire—they’ve spread into the west and especially the south too. They’re just most concentrated here, since it’s easiest for them to infiltrate."

"But why?"

"Because the emperor doesn’t care—well, not that he doesn’t care, but because on paper, they’re still part of his empire. So why turn away what he sees as free labor?"

"That sounds incredibly dangerous. For him and the empire. Like he’s playing with fire."

"He is. But what can you do? The only empire with little to no demonic cultivator presence is the north. They have the Long Family backing them, and they’re the furthest from the cult’s base."

"Hmm…" Jin Shu wasn’t sure what to make of it all.

Letting demonic cultivators settle so close to the royal family sounded like sheer madness—but that was politics. It rarely made sense.

He had just wanted to know where the male cultivators went. Instead, he’d learned that his uncle was playing games with the lives of millions.

Honestly, he didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if one of the princes joined the demonic cult and became emperor.

He shuddered at the thought.

Truthfully, he didn’t want either of the older two princes on the throne. Both were capable, but one was a politician through and through—not the worst choice, but likely to make the same decisions, if not worse, than his father. The other was a downright scumbag, which would be the absolute worst-case scenario.

He’d much rather see Sun Li become the next emperor. She was more compassionate—perhaps a little too vain, but at least she cared about people.

The more he thought about it, the more his uncle seemed like the best option after all. As the current emperor, and with his decent cultivation talent, he could probably rule for several hundred more years.

Then again, emperors rarely lived to old age.

By the time he finished sorting through his thoughts, the next round was starting. He blinked away the lingering distractions and refocused on the tournament.

One of the competitors he’d been watching was already eliminated, but the person who knocked her out had caught his attention in return.

Still, this round didn’t have much to offer. Both Zhu Ren’s and Bing Hou’s opponents forfeited before even stepping into the arena. That was interesting in its own way, but not exactly exciting.

The remaining matches dragged. The participants were strong, but clearly holding back—just as he had in his own fights—which made for slower, less engaging battles.

After several long minutes, the round ended, leaving only eight participants in the tournament.

Di Ti stepped onto the stage once more.

“We now have eight participants left in the elimination portion of the tournament!” Her voice echoed across the stadium. “There are just two rounds left before we crown the top two and move on to the ranking portion with the seeded participants!”

The crowd erupted in cheers.

This was what they’d been waiting for.

The elimination rounds had their thrill, but the real action would begin once the core disciples entered the arena.

After all, three of the seeded participants were Spirit Realm cultivators. The crowd was eager to witness real spirits in battle—a rare sight, even for them.

Once the excitement calmed, Di Ti continued.

“After the next round, we’ll split the final match into two separate fights, instead of holding them simultaneously as we’ve been doing.” She smiled. “So, get ready for some excitement!”

Another cheer rang out as she left the stage.

The next round began shortly after.

It proved to be another easy victory for both Zhu Ren and Bing Hou. Their opponents were both Eighth Stage Core Realm cultivators.

Bing Hou finished her match in an instant, summoning a bright blue flame that nearly froze her opponent into an ice sculpture. The poor girl had to be defrosted by elders wielding powerful fire qi.

Zhu Ren’s match lasted only a moment longer. Her opponent attempted to close the distance using a movement technique, but unfortunately for her, Zhu Ren’s daggers were faster.

After the round ended, Chen Ai Yun took out a communication talisman and spoke to someone on the other end.

Jin Shu couldn’t hear what was said—she was using a voice transmission technique.

Every time he saw one, he felt a twinge of jealousy. He still hadn’t learned that technique. That was going to be one of the first things he looked for in the sect’s library—right after placing second.

Shortly after she put the talisman away, Di Ti reappeared on the stage.

“Hello again!” she said with a bright smile, waving to the crowd. “We have a surprise! Sect Master Chen has invited the top four to the elders’ platform so they may receive a special reward for their efforts. And she will double the contribution points for all those who participated in the earlier rounds!”

Cheers broke out among the defeated participants at the mention of extra rewards.

“Additionally,” Di Ti continued, “just for being here today, everyone will receive ten contribution points!”

The stadium erupted with wild applause.

Jin Shu blinked, a little confused. “Is ten a lot of contribution points?”

Biyu shook her head. “Not really, but the lowest-ranked sect mission—picking herbs in the gardens for a week—only gives five. So they just made two weeks’ worth of points by sitting around.”

“I see.”

He glanced back toward the arena just in time to see the top four ascending the long stairs that led from the stage to the platform above.

Zhu Ren and Bing Hou walked at the front, side by side. Behind them followed the third-ranked inner sect disciple, Wu Ming, and the fifth-ranked, Mei You Ren.

When they reached the foot of the platform, each of them announced their presence.

“Bing Hou, as requested by the Sect Master!”

“Zhu Ren has also arrived!”

“Wu Ming is here at the Sect Master’s request!”

“Mei You Ren, here to see the Sect Master!”

“Come up,” Chen Ai Yun said, her voice soft—but somehow carrying through the entire arena.

The control she had over her qi to project her voice like that was something Jin Shu could hardly comprehend.

The four young women climbed the final flight of stairs and bowed at the platform’s entrance.

“No need to be shy,” Chen Ai Yun said, waving them over. “Come closer.”

Bing Hou stepped forward without hesitation, Zhu Ren following shortly behind. The other two hesitated before eventually trailing after them.

Now standing before Chen Ai Yun, the differences between them were clear.

Bing Hou stood tall and composed, coldness radiating from her in invisible waves. Zhu Ren looked around with open curiosity, her eyes landing on Jin Shu behind the sect master. She narrowed her gaze at him.

Wu Ming fidgeted with her sleeves, shifting nervously. And Mei You Ren was sweating profusely, unable to lift her eyes from the ground.

“First of all, congratulations on making it to the top four,” Chen Ai Yun said. “You now represent the strongest of the inner sect disciples—surpassing even a few of the core disciples who competed.”

She clapped for them, her applause joined by Sun Mei’er, the other elders, the core disciples, and finally the entire crowd.

When the cheers died down, she continued.

“I will now offer you a choice of rewards,” she said, gesturing to the elders behind her. “First, you may choose any one of them to become your master and be made a core disciple.”

She paused, waiting for them to nod in understanding.

“Second, you may select any technique from the sect’s library—aside from the founding technique.”

Again, they nodded.

“Third, I will grant you one hundred thousand contribution points.”

Mei You Ren gasped, quickly covering her mouth. Chen Ai Yun chuckled lightly.

“Lastly, you may ask for something I haven’t listed, and I will consider your request.”

With one final round of nods, Chen Ai Yun gave them time to think.

Silence fell over the arena.

Jin Shu used the moment to study each of them.

Mei You Ren was practically shaking. Her tight red combat robes clung to her from sweat—fresh sweat. She had been dry before climbing the stairs.

Wu Ming, while calmer, was still clearly nervous. She wore an unusual robe—voluminous, flowing, with sleeves past her knees and a trailing hem. He had seen her fight before. Her technique allowed her to manipulate the robes, shifting them from soft and flowing to rigid and weapon-like.

Then his eyes shifted to Zhu Ren. He’d already seen her in battle and fought her himself, but gave her another once-over.

She was short. Fierce.

He had assumed she was maybe fifteen or sixteen. But according to the chatter during the matches, she was twenty-one.

Among the short women he knew—like his mother and Sun Li—Zhu Ren was the shortest by far. His mother was just under average at five-foot-two. Sun Li was still growing.

But Zhu Ren? She had stopped growing at four-foot-six.

Honestly, he thought she and Bin Yu would make a cute pair of sisters—despite one being twelve and the other a full-grown adult.

She must have felt his gaze—or sensed his thoughts—because she suddenly jerked her head up and glared at him.

He smiled in response.

She huffed and turned away.

Finally, his gaze settled on Bing Hou.

The secret daughter of Long Aotian, and the girl Sun Mei’er had once tried to… recruit as his main wife.

Her long black hair was streaked with two white strands that framed her face, and her piercing blue eyes made her seem like she belonged in the land of ice and snow—the icy northern region.

A memory surfaced from Gold’s lifetime.

A Yuki-onna. A snow woman. Pale like snow. Beautiful, but cold as ice.

It fit her perfectly.

A chill swept across the platform, and her hair fluttered in the wind.

Jin Shu narrowed his eyes. For just a moment, he caught a glimpse of something on her forehead. A mark.

A tattoo? he wondered.