Young Master System: My Mother Is the Matriarch

The sky above the frontier plains churned like a wounded beast. Clouds, swollen with dust rather than rain, drifted low enough to scrape the tops of jagged hills. Beneath that oppressive canopy, Li Wei soared on Pei Wong's magical carpet, its woven sigils shimmering azure with every pulse of qi he fed into it.

He had been flying since dawn.

Below him, scorched villages littered the landscape like tombstones as roofs randomly collapsed, fields lay trampled, homes gutted burned. The Blood Lotus cultists had left nothing alive except a message itself.

Li Wei's brows knitted as he surveyed another skeleton of a settlement. 'All this ruin… simply because no one came to their aid.' He tightened his grip on the carpet's tassels. 'When the tiger sleeps, the wolves dance on his eyelids. The officials let these villages fend for themselves, it is no wonder devils now walk freely.'

The Heart Stone within his inner robe warmed faintly, pulsing in sympathy with his agitation. Its rhythm was quickening by the day, the situation was Not good.

Not good in the slightest.

He steadied his breath and forced his mind clear. The Heart Stone could not be allowed to rouse the forces searching for him on the outside. Already, its resonance had become harder to hide.

But he needed its power due to the repercussions without it, traversing into the subspace gate again would be impossible. "Just a bit longer," he murmured to the relic, though the words were meant for himself.

The wind stung against his face as he angled the carpet eastward, continuing his search for untouched settlements. He had to gather allies encamped in villages, outposts, stray militias. He had to work fast before the imperial dogs or the Blood Lotus could descend upon the Liu clan's quiet haven.

Yet each league of land only confirmed the same undeniable truth

He had been a step too late.

The destruction below was too systematic, too thorough. Someone was coordinating the cultists with intent far beyond mere pillaging. Whether it was the Wu clan, Li Wuji, or another hidden hand. Young Master Wei could not yet tell.

But he would.

He always had method of finding out things.

By the time the sun dipped toward its zenith, he had spotted it. It was a sign of formidable resistance to the rising tides of evil. A village, larger than the rest, clung to the base of a sheer cliff. Smoke rose from the outer ramparts as Blood Lotus raiders hammered at the makeshift fortifications with scarlet-tipped spears.

The villagers consisted mostly of old men, young women, and barely-trained youths that were currently fighting with the desperation of cornered prey.

Their wooden barricades cracked with each impact, as their arrow supply dwindled.

Numerous voices trembled… but none among them broke.

Li Wei inhaled slowly. "So. This village still has fangs."

He guided the carpet downward, his robes whipping in the wind. When he was close enough for the raiders to notice him, he called out, voice amplified with a vast amount of qi. "If you demons have any dignity, step forward. I will grant you a clean death."

Heads turned.

The Blood Lotus warriors recoiled immediately, causing them to snarl like beasts threatened by a larger predator. From the ramparts, hope flickered in the villagers' eyes.

"Look a cultivator!"

"A competent one! Look at his aura!"

"It is that foreign young master, the very same one the rumors speak of!"

Li Wei stepped off the carpet without a sound. He landed on scorched earth before dozens of cultists. Their leader, a broad-shouldered brute with blackened veins running up his arms, snarled.

"Who dares intervene in Blood Lotus territory?"

Li Wei's gaze didn't even waver. "A man tired of watching cowards overstep their boundaries..." The leader's expression twisted into one of bitter rage. "Kill him!"

They surged forward.

But Li Wei had already moved forward.

His sleeve flicked, revealing a talisman that shimmered with viridian light. He pressed his thumb against its center, and the rune ignited, bursting outward in a rushing arc.

[Azure Dawn—Binding Gale]

Wind roared like a living beast. A vortex of shimmering qi swept outward, hurling the first wave of cultists into the air. Their bodies slammed against rocks and broken carts, bones snapping.

Some tried to push through the gale with reinforced qi.

It availed them nothing.

Li Wei stepped calmly through the chaos, another talisman sliding between his fingers. His voice was soft, almost conversational:

"Your master sacrifices his own disciples freely. You obey him because you believe pandemonium brings strength. But did no one ever teach you…?"

He raised the talisman. Its sigils glowed gold.

"Strength without reason is the path of death."

He released it.

Golden light erupted. A ring-shaped shockwave swept across the battlefield, flattening cultists and splintering their standard pole.

Cries of pain echoed.

Dust settled.

And Li Wei stood alone among the fallen, the Heart Stone humming in rhythm at his restraint. Had he wished, none of the attackers would have drawn another breath.

But corpses only fed the soil. Survivors fed the truth.

He turned to the terrified cult leader, who now crawled backward, clutching a dislocated arm.

"Go," Li Wei ordered. "Tell your master the frontier has chosen its protector. If more of you come, more of you will crawl away on broken bones."

"Bastard! You will regret letting me live!" The man scrambled to his feet and vanished into the tree line. Only when the danger passed did Li Wei turn toward the battered village gates, which began to open slowly.

And through them stepped the elderly headman, leaning heavily on a crooked staff. His weathered eyes filled with awe and exhaustion.

"Honored cultivator… you saved us."

Li Wei shook his head. "I did what any man should do. A neighbor hears the wolf at another's door, how could he possibly remain silent?" The old man bowed deeply, followed by villagers emerging from behind battered shields and smoldering rooftops.

Children peered out from behind their mothers' robes, gazing wide-eyed at the stranger who descended from the sky. One of the younger fighters, a boy no older than sixteen, face smeared with soot had to swallow hard before speaking.

"You… you're really him? The Li Wei who opposed the imperial courts? The one who fought at Crescent Moon City?"

"Stories grow taller than mountains," Li Wei replied with a faint smile. "But yes. I am Li Wei." A chorus of relieved murmurs spread among the villagers.

"Then we are saved…"

" Heaven didn't abandon us after all…"

But Li Wei raised a hand.

"Not yet."

Silence fell.

"This battle was only the beginning. More raiders will come. The imperial forces won't help you. And the Blood Lotus will keep striking until every soul here kneels or dies."

Fear rippled through them.

He continued, voice calm but firm. "Which is why I will rally every nearby village, until every last stubborn settlement still refusing to submit is under my banner. Together, we stand a chance against what storms toward us. Alone… we will be devoured."

The headman nodded slowly. "Then let us stand with you, young master." Li Wei's gaze softened. "Good. Prepare your fighters. Gather your remaining supplies. I depart tonight to find the others."

The villagers dispersed to carry out preparations. But as Li Wei walked toward the rampart to examine the damage, someone approached. A woman in leather armor that was tall, sharp-eyed, carrying a spear chipped at the tip. She bowed formally.

"I am Qin Ruo, captain of this village's militia. My father died this morning defending the east barricade." Li Wei paused. "Am certain he fought bravely, then."

Her lips tightened. "I will mourn his passing later. What you said is true, I think this is only the beginning." She stepped closer. "Young master Li… if you need a guide through the frontier, take me with you."

Li Wei considered her for a moment.

"You're too injured."

"I can still walk."

Her eyes, fierce despite the exhaustion, met his. "And more importantly… I can still fight."

He exhaled quietly.

"Very well," he said. "But understand this well, once you join my campaign the path ahead will not offer rest."

Qin Ruo nodded. "Strength grows where comfort is not welcom."

Li Wei smiled faintly. "A good proverb."

By nightfall, the two of them stood atop the village wall. Torches flickered in the wind as villagers worked furiously to reinforce their barricades.

Qin Ruo glanced at the sky. "Do you believe the Blood Lotus will return tonight?"

"No," Li Wei said. "Even beggars know that cowards do not return to the fire that burned them."Her gaze shifted to him. "Then you are truly leaving."

"Yes. I must gather more forces before the cultists strike again. And… there is someone I need to find."

He didn't say the name.

Tang Li.

The child she protected.

The agreement he had made.

But Qin Ruo seemed to sense the weight anyway. "Then go. We will hold until you return."

He stepped onto the magic carpet, which stirred to life with a glow of pale blue.

As it lifted from the ramparts, Qin Ruo called out. "Young Master Li!"

He looked back."You gave my people hope today. If heaven refuses to answer their prayers… then let one man answer in its place."

He inclined his head.

And then he rose into the night.

Hours later, far beyond the village, Li Wei soared across the plains once more. The Heart Stone beat a steady, resonant rhythm against his chest.

But this time… its warmth felt different.

As though warning him.

He slowed, eyes narrowing as he looked toward the shadowed horizon.

The wind shifted.

An icy, unnatural chill swept across the plains.

And then from a distant ridge, he saw it:

A column of crimson smoke rising into the sky, twisting like a serpent.

Blood Lotus signal fire.

A declaration of war.

Li Wei's breath steadied. "You want to play soldiers in the dark? Fine."

His eyes sharpened.

"Let us see whose allies gather faster."

The carpet surged forward.

The world rushed beneath him.