Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The flight through the Luminous Realm provided a scenic view of a world thriving in harmony with nature. Tielan and Li Yu soared over vast green plains and wide rushing rivers while sharing the sky with flocks of majestic winged serpents. They soon approached a towering mountain range where the grand headquarters of the Worldheart Clan rested among the clouds. The architecture of the clan blended seamlessly with the natural environment. Large pavilions and open training halls were carved directly into the cliff faces while thick vines and glowing blue moss provided a natural decoration that draped over the stone walls.

They descended toward the main entrance located at the base of the highest peak. The grand stone gates were a sight to behold and were not really practical in use but they sure looked magnificent. Giant stone pillars flanked the entrance and they were shaped to resemble the thick sturdy legs of an ancient beast.

A detailed carving of the Genesis Elephant adorned the archway above the wooden doors. The stonework depicted the creature carrying a swirling sphere within its chest to represent the innate inner world it possessed from birth. This was clearly a point of pride for the clan and was represented clearly for all to see.

Guards dressed in flowing green robes stood at attention near the entrance. They held long spears forged from beast bone and their auras indicated they were seasoned warriors at the peak of the King realm. Several tamed spirit wolves rested near their feet and panted softly in the cool mountain air.

The guards crossed their spears to block the path as Tielan and Li Yu approached. They did not recognize the woman wearing dark blue robes but the spirit wolves whined and backed away from her aura. Tielan did not waste time with pleasantries or formal introductions. She reached into her spatial ring and produced a smooth token bearing the crest of a trumpeting elephant. She tossed the token forward and the lead guard caught it with a swift motion.

The guard looked at the token and his eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the insignia carved into the surface. It was a supreme token representing a life debt owed by one of their highest ranking members. It was only given to those that had done a great service to their clan or as a reward given out rarely. Anyone who possessed the token was to be treated as an honored guest of the clan.

"Please wait here a moment," The guard said respectfully while returning the token to Tielan. He quickly took out a communication crystal and channeled his Qi to send a direct message to the upper peaks of the mountain.

They only waited a few minutes before a gentle breeze swept through the courtyard and scattered a few loose leaves across the stone floor. An elderly man materialized before them as the wind settled down. He wore flowing white robes embroidered with silver threads and his long white beard swayed gently even though there was no wind now. This was Supreme Elder Feng and he was one of the four supreme elders who guided the Worldheart Clan. He radiated a deep tranquility but his dark eyes held a sharp intelligence that missed nothing.

"Zhan Tielan," Supreme Elder Feng spoke with a warm voice and offered a respectful bow to her. "It has been many years since you saved the lives of many of our people. I always wondered when you would come to collect on the favor this old man owes you."

"I do not cash in favors for trivial things so it’s taken a while." Tielan replied with a cheeky smile while offering a polite nod. "I am here because my son needs your expertise. This is Li Yu."

Supreme Elder Feng turned his gaze to the young man standing beside the fierce warlord. "Your son and the grandson of the Worldkeeper. Your reputation is growing quite fast across the realms, young friend. Even I have heard of you and not just because of the titles you hold. It is an honor to welcome you both to our home. Please follow me inside so we can discuss this matter with proper tea."

The elder gestured toward the open gates and led them up a winding stone path that ascended the mountain. They passed by several open courtyards where clan members trained alongside their bonded beasts. The disciples practiced fluid martial arts while mimicking the movements of the creatures fighting beside them and their own beast heritage.

Li Yu watched a young woman sparring with a winged serpent and he noted how their Qi flowed together in a seamless rhythm. It was a level of mastery he never reached when he was still using a beast companion in battle and he wondered if he could have reached such a state if he had stayed on that path.

They eventually arrived at a quiet pavilion overlooking a misty gorge. A servant quickly brought a pot of fragrant spiritual tea and poured three cups before quietly leaving the area to ensure their privacy. The scent of the tea carried a soothing herbal aroma that calmed the mind and eased the tension in the shoulders. This was no simple tea and showed that he was treating them well.

"Now tell me what brings you both here to our humble mountain," Supreme Elder Feng said while taking a slow sip of his tea.

Tielan set her cup down and looked the elder in the eyes. "My son recently participated in a battle against the Hollow Husk. You probably have heard of them before. During the final battle, he absorbed a vast amount of ancient Qi from what we suspect to be a creature not from our traditional realms. In the process, he redirected that energy directly into his inner world to prevent his physical body from breaking apart."

Supreme Elder Feng lowered his cup and his white eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. "Absorbing foreign laws from an ancient being is a very dangerous path and usually done only if one had no choice. You must have been put into a dire situation to resort to such a thing. The inner world is one of the main foundations of a cultivator and introducing such energy often leads to instability or worse."

"That is why we are here," Li Yu spoke up while recounting the specific details of his situation to give as much information as possible. He went over many of the same things he told his mother but left out other details such as the armies and generals that he should not be revealing. Only telling things that were important to what had happened to him.

Supreme Elder Feng stroked his long white beard and a troubled look crossed his aged face. He remained silent for several minutes while processing the complex information and usual circumstances. The wind howled through the gorge below them and the silence in the pavilion grew heavy as they waited for his assessment.

"This is an odd occurrence," Feng finally said while shaking his head. "The survival instincts of your inner world acted to protect your core laws by isolating what it considered to be the threat. But that invisible barrier means the foreign energy is establishing its own rules within your domain. It is claiming territory actively, which is not usually a good sign."

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"Can you examine it?" Tielan asked directly while leaning forward. "Your clan knows more about the inner world than most."

Supreme Elder Feng sighed and poured himself another cup of tea. "There is no way for someone else to manually check the inner world of another person, Tielan. That you should already know, even with her understanding of it, it is impossible. The inner world is a private domain bound to the soul and the Dao of the individual. If I tried to force my consciousness inside his foundation, it would either be rejected by his natural defenses or it would cause a violent clash that could cripple him permanently."

"What if I project my inner world outward?" Li Yu suggested while trying to find a workaround. "You could look at the dark ocean then and examine the laws hiding inside."

"That would not be useful for an evaluation," Feng explained patiently while gesturing with his hands. "When a cultivator projects their inner world into the physical realm, they are only manifesting a surface level phantom of it. It is like showing me a painting of a house instead of letting me walk through its halls. If you project that dark ocean, I would only see a small body of purple water hovering in the air as you described it. The mysterious laws and the internal structure would remain hidden behind the projection and I cannot evaluate anything from a mere reflection."

Tielan frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "There must be another way to test him. You must have methods to detect anomalies since your ancestors spent their lives studying this field."

"I am not dismissing your request," Supreme Elder Feng replied calmly while raising his hands to placate her rising worry and temper. "I cannot look inside his inner world directly but the Worldheart Clan has developed other methods to detect negative anomalies over the centuries. We have tools that interact with the resonance of a foundation to see if we can detect anything bad taking root."

Supreme Elder Feng retrieved a unique treasure from his storage ring and placed it carefully on the wooden table. It was a smooth spherical stone that glowed with a soft golden light. The surface of the stone was etched with complex runes resembling the flowing rivers of a natural landscape and the object hummed with a strange energy.

"This is the Resonant Echo Stone," Feng explained while pointing at the intricate carvings. "It was forged by our ancestors using the core of a spatial beast to interact with the hidden layers of an inner world. It is designed to gauge the purity and the stability of an inner world without needing to enter it physically. I will project its light over Li Yu and wait for a reaction."

"What kind of reaction are we looking for?" Li Yu asked while keeping his eyes on the glowing artifact.

"If there is a malignant corruption or an evil spirit hiding within that dark ocean, the stone will shift in color," Feng answered. "It will turn a dark crimson and vibrate violently to warn us of the danger. If the energy is beneficial or benign, the stone will glow brighter and hum a pleasant tune. It reads the intent of the laws residing inside you."

"Do it," Tielan said while watching the elder closely.

Li Yu sat still and kept his breathing steady while preparing himself for the evaluation. Supreme Elder Feng picked up the spherical stone and channeled a stream of pure Qi into the artifact. The golden light intensified and illuminated the shadows of the pavilion. The elder raised his hand and projected the warm glow directly over Li Yu under Tielan’s watchful glaze. The light washed over the young man and bathed his body in a golden aura that felt slightly warm against his skin.

They waited for a reaction while watching the stone intently. The seconds ticked by and the wind continued to rustle the leaves of the nearby trees. Li Yu sent his awareness inward but his dark ocean remained churning behind its invisible barrier without any changes. The stone remained still in the elder's hand and the golden light did not shift in hue. Nothing happened at all even after a long time.

Supreme Elder Feng lowered his hand and a look of genuine confusion appeared in his sharp eyes. He inspected the artifact closely and ran a finger over the carved runes to ensure it was functioning properly.

"This is strange," Feng muttered while shaking his head. "Even a healthy inner world produces a faint hum from the stone to acknowledge the resonance. The artifact is acting as if there is no foundation to read at all. The invisible barrier inside your inner world must be incredibly dense if it can block the light of the Echo Stone from your entire inner world."

"Try it, again," Tielan suggested with a hint of impatience in her voice. "Push more Qi into the array and force it to pierce the veil or something. There must be more that can be done."

"I will attempt a deeper scan," Feng agreed without taking offense to her urging. He had dealt with her before and understood that was just her personality and she wasn’t actually being rude. He began again while gripping the stone tighter in his palm.

The elder closed his eyes and channeled a much denser volume of Qi into the artifact. His white robes fluttered as his cultivation base flared and the golden light of the stone erupted with a blinding intensity. Feng pushed the concentrated light over Li Yu once more and focused his senses on the intricate runes carved into the treasure. He tried to force the artifact to pierce the invisible barrier hiding within the young man and read what was going on.

A sharp snapping sound echoed through the quiet pavilion.

The golden light vanished instantly and the shadows returned to the structure. Supreme Elder Feng gasped and pulled his hand back as if he had been burned by a hot iron. Tielan stood up from her chair and Li Yu leaned forward to look at the artifact resting in the elder's slightly trembling palm. A tiny jagged crack ran down the center of the smooth spherical stone and split the flowing runes in half.

Supreme Elder Feng stared at the cracked treasure and he was stunned into silence. He ran his thumb over the broken surface and his eyes widened in disbelief. The Resonant Echo Stone was a durable artifact forged to withstand the pressure of all kinds of foundations. It had survived countless evaluations over the centuries without sustaining a single scratch.

"What does that mean?" Li Yu asked while breaking the heavy silence covering the pavilion. "Is that a bad sign?"

Supreme Elder Feng let out a long breath and placed the cracked stone gently on the wooden table. He looked at the young man with a sense of uncertainty and rubbed his aged brow.

"I do not know if that is a bad sign or not to be honest with you." Feng admitted honestly while picking up his tea cup with a slightly shaking hand. "Because this has never happened before in the history of our clan. The stone is meant to change color to warn of danger. It is not meant to break when searching."

Tielan frowned and her protective instincts flared as she crossed her arms. "If your artifact cannot read him and breaks under the strain, then what do we do next? You must have other methods to test him."

"The stone is only one of our evaluation tools," Supreme Elder Feng said while standing up and smoothing his white robes to regain his composure. He placed the broken artifact back into his storage ring and gestured for them to follow him out of the pavilion. "Since the artifact failed to provide a clear answer, we will move on to the next step. I will take him to the cleansing pool for another test."

"What does the pool do?" Li Yu asked as they walked down the stone steps.

"The pool evaluates the potential of an inner world through a different method," Feng explained while guiding them toward a higher peak on the mountain. "It relies on a natural reaction rather than a forced resonance. It might shed some light on this invisible barrier and tell us exactly what kind of issue you are harboring inside your foundation."