Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The canyon remained quiet as Gongsun Bao dragged his feet back to his fellow disciples. The Sundered Peak Sect ranks parted to let the broken warrior through and no one offered him a word of comfort because there was nothing that could be said. They had just witnessed one of their strongest peers dismantled without a single drop of blood being spilled. The psychological terror of Li Yu's precision hung over the visiting faction like a dark storm cloud.

Up on the outer ridge, Elder Kuang Shan clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white and was trembling with anger. His breathing grew ragged while he stared down at the glowing treasures resting on the cracked stone.

Those resources belonged to his personal treasury because he had been so confident in this mission but a single variable had thrown everything into chaos. He had brought them out to secure a crushing victory and humiliate the Heavenly Sword Sect but now they were sitting there waiting to be collected by his rivals. The duels were finished and the Sundered Peak Sect had suffered a clean sweep of defeats at the end that he couldn’t even remember that they won some matches at the beginning.

Kuang Shan could feel the mocking gazes of the Heavenly Sword Sect elders drilling into his back without even looking. He knew that walking away right now would cement his legacy as a profound failure for his sect. The story of this day would spread across the realms after the day was done.

People would talk about how an elder of the Sundered Peak Sect was the one who started this but was the one to leave with empty hands. The humiliation would stain his reputation and that of the sect as well as potentially damage his own Dao Heart. If it did affect his Dao heart, it would halt his cultivation progress for the rest of his life. He needed a victory to wash away the shame he was feeling. He needed to prove that the Axe Dao possessed a weight no other could ever match.

"We are not finished here!" Kuang Shan yelled while jumping down from the elevated ridge himself this time.

He landed heavily on the stone plateau just outside the suppression dome. The impact kicked up a cloud of dust as he glared at the gathered crowd.

Ling Wuji stood on his high pavilion and looked with a cold expression. "The duels are concluded, Kuang Shan. Your champions have been defeated in fair combat under your own rules. Leave the wagers on the ground and take your disciples back to your mountain. You have embarrassed yourself enough and hurt the honor of this place for one day."

"I decide when we are finished!" Kuang Shan snapped back and breaking with even the tiny decorum the two sides held for one another.

He reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a strange object. It was not a weapon or a piece of armor. It was an ancient brass scale covered in archaic runes. The relic radiated a soft golden light and smelled of old incense. Two wide brass plates hung suspended from a central pillar by thick metal chains.

"This is the Dao Weighing Crucible," Kuang Shan announced while holding the relic up for everyone to see. "Physical combat is only one aspect of a cultivator's journey. Any brute can win a fist fight but true power stems from a cultivator's understanding towards the Dao. This ancient scale does not measure spiritual energy or cultivation realms or physical strength. It measures the depth of a person's comprehension. It measures their mastery over worldly laws, the density of their soul strength and the purity of their weapon intent. We will hold one final challenge to see who has walked further towards the path of the Dao."

The Heavenly Sword Sect elders murmured among themselves upon seeing the relic. Some recognized the Dao Weighing Crucible from ancient texts, historical records or have seen it used themselves. It was a rare artifact used to test the foundations of core disciples in a more ancient era and some of them had survived into this period.

The scale worked by allowing a cultivator to project their understanding of the cosmos directly onto one of the brass plates. The relic would then translate that ethereal comprehension into physical weight and tip the scales accordingly. A cultivator could possess oceans of Qi but if their understanding of the Dao was shallow, the scale would not move an inch. The scale itself would scan and measure all the other characteristics as well while this was happening.

Kuang Shan placed the brass scale onto the stone floor and knew the Axe Dao was inherently focused on the earth, gravity and cleaving force. His own understanding of these laws was naturally dense and filled with the essence of the world. He believed this was a guaranteed victory for his faction even if he had to lose a bit of face to secure the win himself. He could use this relic to claw back some ideological dignity before framing it as trying to teach an arrogant youth some humility so he himself wouldn’t look petty.

Kuang Shan looked back at his own ranks one more time to see if he really had to be the one that took on this challenge. His eyes swept over the armored youths but his heart sank as he already knew the truth.

Tuoba Leng was still unconscious and receiving medical treatment from his peers. Tuoba Xiong was leaning against a rock with a pale face after being knocked out by a simple tap to the head. He was clearly in no condition to go. Gongsun Bao stood near the back of the group staring blankly at his own hands and was still recovering from the mental damage he had suffered. None of them possessed the mental fortitude to project a strong understanding of the Dao right now.

The elder ground his teeth together as he was just as he feared, he could not rely on anyone else to salvage this situation. He had to take matters into his own hands even if it meant breaking unspoken rules and inviting scorn from the older generation. Kuang Shan turned his fierce gaze back to the center of the arena and pointed his thick finger directly at Li Yu.

"The people I brought to challenge today are unable to continue," Kuang Shan declared with a loud voice that echoed off the canyon walls. He then said the words that would stun everyone around. "I will take this final challenge myself. I challenge you, Li Yu, to step up to the crucible and weigh your comprehension against mine."

Silence fell over the canyon once again. The disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect stared at the elder in disbelief. They could not comprehend what they had just heard. An elder who had cultivated for thousands of years was directly challenging a young man who was not even a century old to a test of Dao comprehension.

Elder Huo Zheng broke the silence with a booming laugh that shook the surrounding trees. He leaped down from the high pavilion and landed next to the suppression dome with a wide grin on his scarred face.

"Are you truly that desperate, Kuang Shan?" Huo Zheng mocked while pointing at the visiting elder. "Have you lost your sense of shame? You are a senior elder of the Sundered Peak Sect and you are challenging a junior. You have lived for thousands of years and you have had all that time to study your laws. Challenging a young man to this kind of contest is nothing short of cowardly. You might as well ask a toddler to a wrestling match and call yourself a grand champion when you push them over."

The sword disciples joined in the mockery without hesitation. They pointed their fingers and laughed at the visitors while shaking their heads in disgust.

"The Axe faction has no pride left!" Zhou Ming shouted from the edge of the plateau. "They send their elders to fight our juniors because their own prodigies are too weak to stand up!"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"What a shameless display of character," Lin Xue added while crossing her arms. "They come to our sacred ground to boast and now they resort to bullying just to save face. It is pathetic."

Ling Wuji remained on the pavilion but his voice carried a sharp edge of disdain. "If you wish to test your understanding of the Dao, Kuang Shan, then you should test it against someone of your own generation. Step up to the crucible and I will gladly weigh my sword intent against your axe. Leave the Holy Son out of your desperate attempts to look strong, it is beneath even you."

Kuang Shan felt his face burn with embarrassment under the relentless mockery but he already expected this so the words did not sting as much as he thought they would. He knew his actions were highly unorthodox and bordered on pathetic. The cultivation world valued seniority and respect above many other things but winning was even more important. A senior taking the field against a junior was a significant loss of face under normal circumstances.

Kuang Shan was backed into a corner though. Fighting Ling Wuji was a gamble he could not afford to take and he did not feel confident he could win. The Sect Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect possessed a terrifying comprehension of the sword that might actually break the crucible before the Axe elder could even project his own strength. Kuang Shan needed a sure victory and he needed it against the person who had just dismantled his faction.

Kuang Shan stood his ground and raised his chin to project a false sense of pride. He decided to spin the narrative to justify his actions and silence the laughing crowd.

"You call it bullying but I call it an elder educating a junior." Kuang Shan argued while crossing his thick arms over his chest. "This boy is not a normal junior. You proudly claim him as the Holy Son of the Heavenly Sword Sect and he carries the blood of the Zhan Clan and the Li Clan in his veins. All of those things together have made him arrogant and lacking in humility. I can see that and chose to do this for his sake. I will restore his humility by showing how small he is and then he will be able to make greater strides on the path of the Dao."

The elder took a step closer to the brass scale and gestured toward Li Yu to emphasize his point.

"I do not view him as a simple junior," Kuang Shan continued with a loud and convincing tone. "I view him as the embodiment of two powerful legacies and a third if you coin your own. He carries the prestige of your sect, the brute strength of the Zhan family and the sharp edge of the Li family. He can see it himself during this test if his Dao holds any true weight."

Kuang Shan looked up at Ling Wuji with a challenging glare. "Besides, this is not a contest of Qi capacity or cultivation realms. The Dao Weighing Crucible measures the pure essence of a cultivator's path and their understanding of the world. A true genius can possess a comprehension far deeper than an elder who has lived for as long as I have. Age does not dictate the strength of the soul either. This is a fair exchange of martial truth and I am offering the Holy Son a chance to prove his Dao to the world."

The canyon grew quiet as the crowd processed the elder's words as they strangely enough made a bit of sense. It was a clever reframing of a cowardly act but it kind of worked and also made it seem like the elder was truly helping Li Yu out. An act of a caring elder to a promising talent. The elder was essentially painting himself as the wise old man taking care of a junior that has strayed from the path a bit.

'Kuang Shan is playing a dangerous but pretty smart game,' Sect Master Ling Wuji thought while narrowing his eyes. 'He is trying to force Li Yu into a corner by challenging the depth of his path, challenging to face his own self. If Li Yu refuses the challenge, the sect will claim the Zhan and Li Clan descendant is afraid of a simple test of understanding. If Li Yu accepts, he has to beat a man who has cultivated for a much longer period of time.'

Elder Huo Zheng scoffed and prepared to hurl another insult but Li Yu raised his hand to stop him. Li Yu had been standing quietly within the dome and listening to the exchange. He looked at the ancient brass scale resting on the cracked stone floor and felt a spark of interest in the treasure and what was said it could do.

Li Yu was currently experiencing a lack of understanding where he stood compared to others. He knew he was stronger than most within his same realm and after the Tribulation he truly felt he was invincible within the same realm. Having survived that awful event was painful but also gave him confidence.

He had reached the current ceiling for his comprehension of the universe for some time now and was at a bottleneck in many different laws but the fact he had so many was an impressive fact already. To name a few of the more notable ones, he stood at the ten thousandth step on the River of laws for the laws of Life, Destruction, Decay, Void, Storm, Lightning, Water, Wind and various other elemental concepts. Progressing past this monumental threshold required specific inspiration or a chance of enlightenment acting as a catalyst. Meditating at this threshold deepened his innate understanding and clarity of these elements even if he could not step past it just yet.

He was also standing at the same threshold for the esoteric laws such as Fate, Karma and Yin Yang. These conceptual paths required life experience, careful observation and also chance to advance safely without suffering a devastating spiritual backlash.

Furthermore, he could walk freely through the rivers of Time using the Koi soul and the river of Soul using the Fisherman soul but still could not understand why. Because he encountered no resistance or pressure in these currents, he theorized he was making very little tangible progress. He was gleaning no new insights because there was nothing to struggle against though he continued to observe them diligently.

The Dao Weighing Crucible offered something he desperately needed at this stage in his cultivation. It offered a measurement and comparison he could make against an elder of a strong sect. This was an opportunity for him to see where his Dao stood compared to someone else, at least when comparing using the metrics of that treasure. Who knows if it was accurate or what it was actually testing.

Li Yu stepped out of the suppression dome and let the cool mountain air wash over his dark robes. The restrictive array hummed behind him as his vast Creation Lord energy reserves settled back into their natural state. He walked up to the Dao Weighing Crucible and observed the archaic runes glowing on the brass surface to check it out first.

The relic was forged from a dark yellowish brass that seemed to absorb the ambient light of the canyon. The central pillar was carved with intricate depictions of ancient beasts carrying mountains on their backs. The two wide plates were suspended by chains that looked delicate but radiated an aura of indestructible strength.

"You want to weigh your understanding of the Dao against mine? Someone not of your generation." Li Yu spoke with a calm and even voice. "You want to temper my arrogance and let me learn a bit more humility? What an interesting statement."

"That is exactly what I want to do because I can see potential in you." Kuang Shan replied while trying to look wise and mysterious. He then pointed toward the outer ridge. "I want to show everyone that there is always a larger mountain and a stronger fist. This is an important lesson for all disciples to see. I will place the World Anchor Stele on the line to match the resources sitting on the ground. If your comprehension outweighs mine, you can keep the stele and the resources because I was mistaken. If I win, I will take back my treasures and you will admit to yourself that your foundation is lacking."

The Heavenly Sword Sect elders grew tense at the mention of the wager. The World Anchor Stele was a powerful treasure that manipulated gravity and space. It was a great tool that a sect could use for training their disciples. Winning it would be a huge boon for their sect but losing this contest would invalidate all of their victories today and let the other sect walk away from here with some pride intact.

They worried that Li Yu might not have developed a sufficiently deep understanding given his extremely young age. His path seemed to be a chaotic mixture of many things. He was clearly a genius and must have had direction from the great Worldkeeper as well as his parents so he shouldn’t be doing too crazy of things though. The main problem was his age, it was already incredible for him to reach the stage he was at, at that age. A miracle in of itself and already a legend in that regard. However, they feared it would lack the conceptual weight needed to beat the laws practiced by the Sundered Peak Sect elder.

Li Yu looked at Kuang Shan and offered a serene smile that unnerved the elder. He had seen that terrifying smile all those other times before his disciples were beaten into the ground.

"I accept your challenge, elder Kuang Shan," Li Yu stated simply while gesturing to the crucible. He felt okay with taking things into his own hands here because everything won so far was earned through his victories and he could dictate what happens to it. "You wager the World Anchor Stele and I wager the resources sitting on this plateau. We will let this ancient scale decide whose path holds true understanding. Since you brought the relic and you are so eager to teach me, you may go first."

The junior disciples held their breath as Kuang Shan stepped up to the brass scale. The elder cracked his knuckles and gathered his mental energy. The final contest of the day was no longer about physical combat or cultivation realms.The Heavenly Sword Sect watched with anticipation to see if their Holy Son could overcome an elder.