Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The shimmering barrier of the suppression array hummed with a low resonance and cast a pale silver glow across the elevated plateau. The heavy gravity radiating from the World Anchor Stele just outside the boundary continued to warp the air, yet the space within the glowing dome remained a stabilized arena designed for an equal exchange of martial truth. The stele itself was more or less useless against Li Yu and continued to have no presence within the dome.

Tuoba Xiong stepped forward from the ranks of the Sundered Peak Sect and the heavy chainmail covering his broad frame clinked with a dull metallic rhythm. He did not carry the boisterous pride of his younger martial brother. His face was a tapestry of thick scars earned through centuries of brutal border skirmishes and his eyes were cold pools of calculating intent. He walked past the edge of the outer ridge and descended onto the cracked stone floor of the plateau without uttering a single word.

The glowing silver and brown runes of the suppression matrix washed over him the moment he crossed the threshold. The array restricted his Origin Awakening realm and forced his surging energy down to the peak of the Karma Severing realm just like it did to Li Yu. Tuoba Xiong did not fight against the restriction as that would be pointless. He accepted the sudden drop in spiritual power with the calm grace of a seasoned warrior who relied on skill just as much as cultivation.

Li Yu stood near the center of the dome and rested his dark staff against his shoulder. He observed the veteran Axe expert and noted the difference in demeanor between the two challengers. Tuoba Xiong did not shout insults and he did not point his weapon in a mocking challenge to rile up the crowd. He simply drew a heavy battle axe with a dark iron haft and settled into a grounded defensive stance while keeping his eyes locked on Li Yu. Xiong reminded Li Yu of the people from his own Zhan Clan, this was what a true expert was like.

'This one is a seasoned killer,' Li Yu thought while analyzing the steady breathing pattern of his opponent. 'He most likely fights with lethal efficiency and does not waste energy on useless words or grand gestures. This is exactly the kind of test subject that will provide me with much better training. I need to focus solely on defense so I can calibrate my bodily strength over a longer period of time. If I go on the offensive too early, I might cause another disaster and accidentally ruin this area for good.'

Elder Kuang Shan glared down at the arena from the high ridge and raised his thick hand. "Begin the exchange!"

Tuoba Xiong moved the instant the command left his elder's lips. He did not charge forward with a wild overhead cleave like Tuoba Leng had done. He glided across the cracked stone floor with surprisingly light footwork for someone of his size and wearing such heavy armor. He closed the distance in a heartbeat and initiated a series of tight horizontal sweeps aimed directly at Li Yu's ribs and knees.

Li Yu tightened his grip on Star Abyss and brought the dark metal staff down to block the incoming strikes. He deliberately suppressed his power and tried to match the exact kinetic force of the Axe expert as a form of training for himself. He wanted to use just enough strength to exactly counter the attack of his opponent.

The first clash produced a dull thud that echoed across the canyon. Li Yu felt the heavy and cleaving axe intent trying to crush his forearms but his innate physical robustness absorbed the energy with ease. He realized he had still used a fraction too much force because the recoil sent a violent shudder up Tuoba Xiong's arms and forced the veteran to take a half step backward.

Xiong was stunned and was also not stunned at the same time because while the Zhan Clan was known for their physical strength, Li Yu looked nothing like a Zhan Clan member. He must have inherited something from the clan but it seemed so strong that such a frame should hold such a power.

'Dial it back a bit more,' Li Yu instructed himself while shifting his weight to his back foot. 'Let him dictate the pace of the exchange and focus on absorbing the impact without pushing back against his weapon too much. It should be a perfect exchange where our weapons come to a dead stop with no one overpowering the other.'

Tuoba Xiong recovered quickly from the unexpected recoil and his cold eyes narrowed. He realized that only physical attacks would not work against the young man holding the dark staff. The veteran shifted his grip and his aura underwent a drastic transformation. He drew upon his comprehension and infused the Law of Earth and the Law of Gravity into the iron head of his battle axe.

The space surrounding the weapon began to warp and distort as yellow runes manifested along the sharp edge. Tuoba Xiong stepped into Li Yu's guard and thrust the axe forward. The strike no longer carried just physical weight, it carried the conceptual weight of a falling continent. The air within the suppression dome screamed as the Law of Gravity attempted to lock Li Yu in place while the Law of Earth sought to grind his bones into dust.

Li Yu brought the shaft of Star Abyss up and parried the strike to the side with a smooth motion as if it wasn’t much at all. The moment the staff touched the axe, the invading laws rushed into his body.

Normally a cultivator would be severely injured by such a dense concentration of laws from an opponent's attack but Li Yu was fundamentally different. His physique naturally generated a field of balance to counter the foreign elements. The oppressive gravity simply washed over his skin and dissipated into the air while the heavy earth intent crumbled against the vibrant life laws imbued within his blood.

Tuoba Xiong used the redirected momentum to spin his body and deliver a brutal backhand swing aimed at Li Yu's head. The gravity well surrounding the axe blade pulled Star Abyss downward and made the dark staff feel ten times heavier. Li Yu did not fight the pulling force opting to instead allow the staff to drop and simply ducked under the heavy iron blade. He brought his weapon back up in a sweeping arc to block the follow up downward chop that carried a mixture of both laws.

The clash produced a bright spark of yellow energy as the ambient air trembled as the laws fought against the physical density of the staff. Li Yu absorbed the strike without sending a destructive shockwave back into his opponent's weapon. He smiled brightly as he felt his muscle control starting to align with the restrictions of the suppression array which made him look like a bit of a manic given the circumstances he was in. Li Yu was finding the precise balance needed to neutralize the laws through just physical force and careful posture.

Outside the glowing dome, the junior disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect watched the exchange with rapt attention. They did not see a cultivator struggling to control an unruly physical body they were not used to. They saw a display of martial mastery unfolding before their very eyes and mistaking what Li Yu was doing with something else completely.

Lin Xue leaned forward and her eyes followed the fluid movements of the dark staff. "Look at how he handles those strikes imbued with those laws. He is not fighting force with force like a common brute but looks like he is. He is absorbing the dense earth intent and letting the gravity pull dissipate harmlessly around him, like he isn’t affected by any of it at all."

Zhou Ming nodded in agreement while clutching his bruised chest. "It is the true essence of yielding without losing ground. Tuoba Xiong is striking with the massive force and using gravity to lock him down but our Holy Son is acting like a deep ocean. The boulder sinks into the water and loses all of its momentum without causing any real damage to the ocean. He is displaying the ultimate execution of some of the great principles we discussed at night by the campfire."

Feng Tianyi watched the duel with a calculating gaze and his grip tightened on his own sword hilt. "He is doing much more than just yielding. He is reading the veteran's intent before the axe even moves. Notice how the dark staff is always in the correct position a fraction of a second before the gravity field expands. Li Yu is severing the intent before it can form into true destructive power. It is a flawless defense using nothing but a blunt weapon and careful skill."

Sect Master Ling Wuji and Elder Huo Zheng stood on the high pavilion and listened to the juniors analyzing the fight. The two elders exchanged a knowing glance as their insight was much deeper than that. They could see that Li Yu was treating the veteran Axe expert like a training dummy to figure out his own boundaries but why he was doing so was unknown to them.

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They began to believe that Li Yu was holding back his true capabilities to ensure he did not shatter the opponent into a mist of blood so there would be no terrible political fallout between the sects. They appreciated his understanding of the situation and breath of mind in doing so. It was also a highly educational for the young swordsmen who sought to understand the flow of battle.

Inside the ring, the duel turned into a grueling battle of attrition for the Sundered Peak champion. Tuoba Xiong unleashed a relentless barrage of Axe techniques layered with his two laws. He utilized the oppressive gravity radiating from the World Anchor Stele outside the arena to enhance his own Law of Gravity and add artificial weight to his swings but that didn’t seem to matter. He swung his weapon with calculated precision and sought out any opening in Li Yu's defenses but he found none. If anything it looked like Li Yu was toying around with him and not taking this seriously at all. As if to embarrass their sect and raise the reputation of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Li Yu remained anchored in the center of the plateau and became an unmoving wall as his control over his strength at this level increased. He moved his feet only when strictly necessary and let Star Abyss do most of the hard work. The dark staff became an impenetrable barrier that deflected, parried and absorbed every single attack thrown his way. Li Yu treated the fight like a delicate puzzle. Every time the heavy iron axe struck his staff, he analyzed the incoming attack, the force and the resulting law collision before adjusting the strength of his own muscles to find the sweet spot of restraint.

'His footwork is solid but his attacks are becoming more and more desperate as his Qi drains away,' Li Yu thought while blocking a low sweep that carried a burst of destructive earth energy. 'He relies heavily on layering the Law of Earth to try and crush my guard. I am beginning to get the hang of this and he is getting too tired to be used as a training partner.’'

Li Yu tested his theory during the next rapid exchange to see if Tuoba Xiong could offer him anything more. Tuoba Xiong leaped into the air and brought his axe down with a silent but furious exertion of force. The space around the descending blade turned incredibly heavy and sought to compress Li Yu into the floor.

Li Yu held Star Abyss horizontally and tilted the leading edge upward just before impact. The heavy iron blade struck the dark staff and the resulting attack forced the gravity law back onto the attacker. Li Yu stood firm and let his foundation handle the crushing pressure that radiated out. The law rebounded against his unyielding flesh and forced Tuoba Xiong to burn a significant amount of Qi just to recover his balance upon landing.

The veteran warrior gritted his teeth and launched into a sweeping cyclone attack. His chainmail clinked loudly as he spun like a top and delivered a dozen rapid strikes in quick succession. The earth intent gathered around the blade and formed a dense yellow aura while the gravity law attempted to rip the staff from Li Yu's grasp.

Li Yu met the cyclone with a calm demeanor and did not retreat a single step as he was curious what it could do. He twirled Star Abyss with his wrists and created a defensive perimeter of darkness. The staff met the axe at every turn and sent sparks flying across the suppression dome as the laws clashed over and over again.

Tuoba Xiong began to sweat profusely as the physical and spiritual toll of the fight caught up to him. His breath grew ragged and his chest heaved under the weight of his thick armor as he grew more and more tired but with no end in sight. He had been attacking this entire time and Li Yu had done nothing but defend this entire time. He was a seasoned killer who had fought in countless life or death struggles but he had never faced an opponent like this before.

Striking Li Yu felt like hitting a mountain made of solid star iron. No matter how much mastery he displayed over his two laws or how much Qi he poured into the blade, the dark staff remained unyielding and the man holding it did not even look winded.

What was worse of all was that Li Yu did not seem to react to any taunts and what confused him the most was the look on Li Yu’s face. It went from smiling brightly to slight confusion to deep thought to some other expression and then back to smiling again. It was like he was facing some madman that was deep within his own thoughts the entire battle.

The Axe expert realized his standard techniques and law applications were failing to produce any results. He stepped back and created some distance between them to catch his breath and regather his thoughts. Xiong had been pulled along into Li Yu’s rhythm and style for far too long. He gripped the haft of his weapon with both hands and channeled his remaining Karma Severing Qi into the heavy iron head. He prepared to use his strongest skill that fused his two laws into a single devastating point.

‘Sundered Earth Execution!’ Tuoba Xiong roared internally as a thick yellow aura erupted from his body and merged with the iron blade. He lunged forward and thrust the axe directly at Li Yu's chest instead of using a swinging motion. He unleashed a concentrated beam of earth intent with an intense gravitational crush. The beam traveled forward and sought to collapse the internal organs of the target under the extreme pressure of the two fused laws.

Li Yu watched the yellow beam approaching and felt a surge of satisfaction in his heart. He had finally calibrated his bodily strength to a comfortable level through the repeated clashes and knew this fight’s usefulness had ended. He knew exactly how much force he could exert without causing unwanted collateral damage to the canyon or the fragile opponent in front of him.

'Time to end this,' Li Yu decided while gripping Star Abyss firmly with his right hand.

He did not try to dodge the concentrated attack at all. He swung his dark staff in a precise horizontal arc and struck the destructive beam dead center. The physical power hidden within his foundation surged through his arms in a carefully controlled burst. He did not use any Qi or laws of his own as before.

He simply met the attack with pure and unadulterated physical strength and calculated power. The staff shattered the concentrated beam into a shower of harmless yellow sparks that faded into the lingering wind. The laws broke apart and dissolved against the superior integrity of Li Yu's swing.

Tuoba Xiong stumbled backwards as the backlash of his broken technique washed over his exhausted body. His Qi reserves were depleted from the relentless assault and his muscles screamed in agony. He looked up and saw Li Yu standing before him with a calm but strange expression.

Li Yu stepped into the veteran's guard and brought Star Abyss forward. He did not swing the heavy weapon with bone breaking force or malicious intent. He executed a gentle and precisely calibrated tap aimed at the side of Tuoba Xiong's head. The dark staff connected with a specific pressure point and bypassed the lingering defensive laws surrounding the armor.

The impact was soft but incredibly effective. Tuoba Xiong's eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went limp without another sound. The veteran expert collapsed onto the cracked stone floor and fell into a deep unconscious sleep. He was not bleeding and his bones were intact but he was thoroughly defeated by a man who had done nothing but defend for the entire match until just now.

The plateau fell silent as the dust settled around the fallen warrior. Li Yu rested Star Abyss on his shoulder and looked up at the Sundered Peak disciples standing on the outer ridge with a relaxed smile.

"That makes two," Li Yu spoke with a steady voice while pointing his staff at the glowing pile of resources sitting outside the dome. "I believe I will claim the first batch of those wagers now."

The junior disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect erupted into cheers once again and their voices echoed through the Canyon of Sleeping Echoes. They celebrated the victory and praised Li Yu for his flawless display of martial skill in defending. They truly believed they had just witnessed the pinnacle of defensive principles executed through a blunt weapon and their respect for the Holy Son deepened even further.

Lin Xue raised her fist in the air despite the pain in her ribs while Zhou Ming laughed out loud at the sight of the defeated enemy. The humiliation they had suffered earlier was being washed away by Li Yu's calculated dominance. A victory for the sect was all that mattered and they were happy to be a part of the winning side.

Elder Kuang Shan gripped the edge of the stone ridge so hard that his fingers cracked the solid rock. His scarred face twisted into a mask of fury as he watched two of his disciples drag the unconscious Tuoba Xiong out of the glowing ring. He realized his faction was rapidly losing control of the situation they had created and losing face at an even faster rate.

This Holy Son was too outstanding and was not part of their calculations. His people were supposed to crush the Heavenly Sword Sect and reclaim their pride from their last encounter with this sect but instead they were being used as mere stepping stones to elevate the Sword Sect's morale and prestige.

Ling Wuji gestured to a nearby elder and the man flew down to the plateau to collect the first portion of the wagers. The elder scooped up several chunks of glowing Dragon Vein Ore and a few blocks of Void Steel before returning to the high pavilion to hold them for Li Yu.

"Your fighter fought well," Ling Wuji called out to the furious axe elder with a polite tone that carried a sharp edge of mockery. "He demonstrated great endurance but wasn’t he a bit weak? I thought the path of the axe was to cleave, crush and destroy? It didn’t look that way to me. Do you wish to continue this exchange or are you ready to admit the flaws in your path?"

Kuang Shan ground his teeth together and his eyes darted toward the final person standing in his ranks. Walking away now meant surrendering a fortune in resources and leaving with a stained reputation for something they started. He needed a victory to salvage the honor of the Sundered Peak Sect.

"Do not celebrate just yet!" Kuang Shan snarled while pointing a thick finger at the arena. "We still have one more fight left on the table. Gongsun Bao, get down there and show this boy what true destruction looks like. Leave nothing but ashes behind!"