Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Li Yu opened his eyes and stared at the familiar ceiling of his elegant dark wood pagoda. The polished wooden beams and intricate carvings offered a comforting sight after spending so much time in the darkness of the void. He sat up slowly and let the soft silk blankets fall to his waist while taking a deep breath of the fresh air filtering through his open window. The oppressive pressure of ancient terrors and the metallic stench of blood had faded into a distant memory. He knew exactly where he was as he had seen this sight many times before. He was back home in his private estate and the war was over.

Li Yu walked over to the open window and looked out across the beautiful landscape before him. Wherever he went and regardless of the wonder sights he saw, the scene before him always brought him immense comfort. The saying that ‘there was no place like home’ could not be more true and there was nothing like being in a place that brought warmth and comfort.

A soft knock echoed from the wooden door before it opened to reveal Alden. The head butler of the pagoda offered a warm and respectful bow upon seeing the young lord awake.

"Good morning, Li Yu." Alden said with a polite and even tone. "You have been asleep for a full week since you were returned here. Nadia has prepared a nourishing spiritual broth for your recovery in the kitchens."

"Thank you, Alden," Li Yu replied while stretching his arms and feeling a robust energy humming through his meridians. "Is my grandfather here?”

"Your grandfather is currently at his private fishing cabin on the opposite side of the lakes." Alden answered promptly.

Li Yu decided to visit his grandfather first to get an update on the war's aftermath. He dressed in comfortable robes and stepped out of the pagoda. He took to the sky and flew over the fast moving currents of his estate lake while enjoying the tranquil scenery of his home. The wind rushed past his face and carried the scent of blooming lotus flowers growing near the shallow banks. He crossed the expanse of water and landed softly on the wooden deck of the fishing cabin.

Zhan Tian sat in a sturdy wooden chair and held a simple bamboo fishing pole over the water. If someone were to look at him now they wouldn’t have known that he just led a short campaign that purged the Myriad Realms of millions of enemies. The Worldkeeper wore loose gray robes instead of his heavy armor and his aura felt tranquil like a still pond at twilight. He was fishing to relax his mind and it brought him enjoyment. He knew when to get to work and also when it was time to relax. Zhan Tian noticed his grandson landing on the deck and a warm smile graced his scarred face.

"You are finally awake," Zhan Tian said while setting his fishing pole aside and gesturing to a nearby stone table. "Come sit and drink some tea with your grandfather. You’ve worked hard for us and for that I thank you."

Li Yu smiled and took a seat at the table while accepting the warm cup Zhan Tian poured for him. He drank the soothing liquid in one long gulp and felt a comforting heat spread through his chest and settle into his stomach. It wasn’t any kind of special tea that aided in recovery but it was a tea that tasted good and refreshing.

"Seven days," Li Yu repeated the number and let out a long breath of relief. "Did the army finish the cleanup without any further issues?"

"The bases have been wiped out and the spoils of war have been collected without a single issue." Zhan Tian answered while pouring another cup for himself. "We were able to locate and find three other fortresses and those were destroyed as well. Our forces scoured the remaining organic debris and gathered every resource they could find. I didn’t want my troops to leave empty handed after all. We returned a few days ago and our intelligence teams concluded their investigations into the enemy. The information we gathered painted a grim picture of what that branch of the Hollow Husk was doing."

Li Yu set his cup down and waited for the rest of the report. He knew the Hollow Husk creatures were dangerous but he wanted to understand the true scale of their threat.

"They destroyed twelve other empires of varying strengths and various other realms before they ever targeted Frostmoon," Zhan Tian explained with a serious tone that carried a hint of lingering anger and the sadness of the needlessly loss of life. "Our scouts found only dead realms stripped of life and natural resources. Given their staggering numbers we believe these invasions happened nearly all at the same time or very close to one another. They had the troops to fight on multiple fronts and consume realms systematically without any warning."

Li Yu frowned and stared at his reflection in the tea. 'They were a plague spreading in multiple directions at once and feeding on the weak.'

Then Li Yu’s thoughts moved to his original home realm where some of his friends were. He got information that the realm was moved using a fail safe that was left behind the inheritance of a Human Emperor and was done so because a threat was coming to the realm. ‘Could it be the Hollow Husk that was the threat? It fits that they were destroying or consuming realms. Or could be another threat? Either possibility could be true. If the Hollow Husk were able to go so long without detection, other forces could do the same.’

"Princess Yuehan was not the only victim in this tragedy," Zhan Tian continued while looking out over the rippling water of the lake. "Countless lives were lost across those realms before we even knew the threat existed outside our borders. But her tragedy led directly to the end of that horde and in a way was a blessing for others. Because they attacked someone that was a Heavenly Sword Sect’s ally, we tracked them down and severed their root. We avenged those fallen empires and gave their people peace even if they will never know who held the blade."

"It is a harsh reality to accept," Li Yu said and leaned back in his chair. "If we had not found out for another year to strike they might have doubled or tripled their numbers and targeted stronger realms."

"That is the nature of life." Zhan Tian nodded in solemn agreement. "There are always predators lurking in the dark trying to grow stronger and we must remain vigilant. You played a crucial role in securing our victory and you should rest up. I have been waiting for you to wake up to make sure you are okay but I must get back to my other duties. Take care of yourself and remember to rest up."

Zhan Tian scanned his grandson to make sure he didn’t have any glaring problems and when he didn’t notice anything off, finally nodded his head. He tore a rift and left Li Yu to gather his thoughts.

Li Yu returned back to his pagoda and after laying around staring at the ceiling for a while decided to check his internal state after hearing the news regarding the end of the campaign.

He looked at his soul space first and noted his five Nascent Souls were resting peacefully within his mind. The Human Soul was back on the island with Elysia and Li Yu sent the soul a word of thanks to which it nodded in response. It felt a bit weird that he was technically thanking himself but Li Yu viewed his Human Soul as nearly a separate entity to himself.

Li Yu noted that his Yin Yang vortex had doubled in size after consuming a quarter of the devastating implosion during the final clash. It spun with a smooth and endless rhythm while laws danced across its expanding surface. It was back in its original place, above his Ocean of Qi and at the center of it if one were viewing from the top.

The other soul entities radiated a healthy glow as well. The Ethereal Whale, the Koi and Muddy all felt more robust and stable than before. The vast amount of soul power they absorbed from the blast had nourished them deeply and expanded their individual foundations. The Fisherman Soul was unchanged and didn’t seem to have been affected by the influx of power at all.

He shifted his focus lower to his Ocean of Qi and marveled at the volume of energy contained within now. His Ocean of Qi had also grown significantly and whatever Qi was absorbed from the giant creature was slowly mixing in with his opalescent Ocean of Qi. The ancient energy no longer felt volatile or destructive like it did on the battlefield.

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The Koi martial spirit had purified the foreign intent and the Yin Yang vortex continued its relentless spinning. The rest was being refined and used by his Heavenly Leviathan Physique. It was just a matter of time before the power fully integrated into his cultivation and became his to command freely. It also seemed that the lightning he had obtained from his tribulation was aiding in breaking down this energy and converting some of it to empower the lightning dancing within his Ocean of Qi as well.

Satisfied with his physical and spiritual growth, Li Yu directed his attention to his Inner World where he knew things had changed. His personal realm was one of the measures of his martial path and he needed to see the permanent changes caused by the sudden influx of foreign laws he had redirected to save his own life.

It was an important weapon that could be used and also a defensive tool. All battles above Creation Lord used their inner world to help empower their attacks or to take on attacks from other cultivators. A weak inner world was nearly a death sentence when fighting against a stronger one.

He manifested his consciousness above the serene landscape of his inner world. The beautiful forest of laws grew at the core of the realm and pulsed with his deep understanding of the Dao. It wasn’t just one or a few laws, it was an entire forest of them. All those paths led to the Dao and having a forest of them pushed him closer towards it. The boundaries of his world had expanded greatly and provided vast new expanses of untouched land for life and other uses.

He turned his gaze toward the far edges of his foundation where his world had formed a natural barrier during the battle. The Qi and foreign laws had pooled into a deep basin and manifested as a dark sprawling ocean. The waters were a shifting purple hue and harsh waves crashed against a jagged and newly formed cliff. While it was sectioned off, it still connected directly and was a part of his inner world.

Li Yu flew over the area and hovered above the dark ocean. He wanted to investigate the bizarre reality warping rules that were sealed within the water and understand how they might affect his future path. He sent his divine sense forward and expected his awareness to pierce the depths of the purple sea to map the ocean floor. His divine sense hit an invisible wall and bounced off the surface of the water with a dull thud in his mind.

Li Yu frowned and tried to enter it himself but he could not pass the boundary of the surface of the water. He pushed against the invisible barrier with his spiritual projection but it remained firm and unyielding much to his surprise. This was very strange because he was the master of this inner world. He was supposed to be all knowing and all seeing within his own foundational domain like a god watching the world. Every blade of grass and every drop of water was meant to bend to his will and answer his call. Yet this isolated section rejected his authority and locked him out of his own foundation in a way he did not understand.

'I cannot see what is there,' Li Yu thought while floating above the crashing waves and listening to the unnatural roar of the dark surf. 'I will have to slowly figure it out and ask my family for advice on dealing with this. I wish I had known this before so I could have asked grandfather about it. I can only hope that this is not a negative for me in the long run but it doesn’t feel like it is.'

He withdrew his consciousness from the Inner World and decided to peer into his Koi Sanctuary next. He wanted to inspect the corpse of the colossal squid and see what he could do with it. While it seemed a bit sick, he was also really curious on what the squid would taste like and his culinary mind was already rapidly spinning. While it wasn’t the case all the time, oftentimes the higher the cultivation of the beast, the tastier the meat would be. The Qi, heavenly essence and other factors of a creature as they advanced on the cultivation path made their meat taste increasingly better.

The same was true for humans and this fact has been confirmed by many creatures who eat humans after defeating them. While Li Yu would never eat humans, this fact was usually true for all life forms with many exceptions of course. Some beasts were known to taste better than others regardless of their cultivation. The opposite was also true, some beasts tasted horrible no matter what cultivation they were at.

Li Yu’s awareness manifested inside the boundless waters of the sanctuary. He bypassed the vibrant oceans and lakes where his regular aquatic beasts swam and focused on the isolated area he had designated for the alien captives.

As he appeared, to his shock and horror, the colossal squid was not dead. However, on careful inspection Li Yu realized that he could feel a connection with the creature. The creature was already soul bound to him.

The towering horror rested at the bottom of the separated ocean and its giant body slowly drew in the dense spiritual energy and vitality to mend its grievous wounds. It was alive but barely recovering from the severe injuries it sustained during the battle against the Worldkeeper and his army. The execution strike from Zhan Tian had severed a large portion of its rear body, nearly cut its head off and its thick hide was marred by lightning scars and deep burns. It would take a very long time before the creature healed enough to be useful in any capacity. It was alive but could be barely considered alive right now.

Li Yu quickly analyzed the situation and realized how this miraculous survival was possible. The soul implosion the creature initiated had destroyed most of its own soul to fuel the devastating blast. That suicidal attack left the ancient horror incredibly weak mentally and its consciousness was reduced to a fragile flickering ember. In that weakened state, the Koi martial spirit successfully bound the ancient horror to Li Yu's soul the moment it was sucked into the sanctuary. It would seem that the Koi martial spirit had other plans for the creature.

'I actually bound it,' Li Yu thought with a rising sense of awe as he felt the faint but undeniable soul link connecting him to the giant beast resting in the sand. 'I now possess a terrifying monster that forced my grandfather and his army to fight it at once. Once it finally recovers and regains its vitality, it will become a great weapon for me in future conflicts. It can be the central attacking force of my Eternal Koi army. However, in its current state, I have no idea how long it will take to fully recover. It could be a few years or more.'

Li Yu wasn’t wrong with his assessment of the recovery. While the body might be able to heal a bit faster, its soul was heavily damaged and was truly on death’s door. It would take years for the body to heal and maybe tens of years for the soul to recover enough to return it back to the condition it was in when it fought against Zhan Tian’s army.

‘I could possibly use it as a mindless battering ram or as some brute, relying on its physical body strength. But even then, one needs a strong enough soul to move and use a strong body. The soul might not have enough strength to really utilize the body. Perhaps I can summon it in emergencies and let the reality wrapping laws around it be used in some way…’ Li Yu thought but the initial excitement of obtaining such a creature had quickly died away as he realized the reality of things.

He looked closer through the clear water and noticed a flurry of organized activity surrounding the resting giant. The Hollow Husk survivors he had captured during the fortress raids were actually taking care of the creature. He noticed that the squid people had further sectioned off an area within this Koi Sanctuary for themselves. It was to prevent any stray aquatic creatures from being able to get to this resting squid.

They used their tentacles to clean the deep lacerations and applied a strange organic paste they secreted to soothe the severe burns covering the beast. It would seem the squid creatures worshipped this big one like a god. They treated it with a reverence that transcended their instincts and bordered on religious devotion from the way he saw them take care of the creature. It was not through fear as the large squid was completely powerless.

Li Yu decided to test the waters and slowly descended toward the ocean floor to make his presence known. His spiritual projection radiated the authority of the sanctuary master and his approach did not go unnoticed by the vigilant guards they had set up. The squid people stopped their tasks and turned their bulbous black eyes toward his descending form.

As Li Yu approached the area, the colossal squid sensed its new master through instincts and very slowly opened its one remaining functional eye. The giant pupil focused on Li Yu and a deep rumble vibrated through the spiritual waters stirring the sand around its bulk. The creature lacked the physical strength to move its enormous tentacles and its reality warping laws were dormant but it exerted just enough effort to acknowledge the soul bond between them. The large squid was signalling its submission to Li Yu and he could feel that through their soul connection as well as the Koi martial spirit’s connection.

The moment the giant beast acknowledged him with that rumble, a ripple of shock passed through the captured population. The entire captured population which numbered over twenty thousand now, around fifteen thousand had been captured in the last battle, all bowed towards Li Yu. This was not from Li Yu's dominant soul seal or from his orders but because they were following the actions of their supposed god. It could not bow so they were bowing instead. The entire population lowered themselves and bowed their heads like people greeting a king.

The sight of an army of warriors offering their willing submission filled Li Yu with a sense of wonder. He could feel it through their connection to him, even if he didn’t have a soul seal with each of them now, they would still listen to his commands. His connection with this large squid had systematically made him their leader as well, like a sort of prophet that is connected to their god.

Li Yu smiled warmly and left the squid creatures to their diligent work while feeling confident that his new power was secure and growing stronger by the day. This was a great addition to his Eternal Koi Legion and he was turning those that were his enemies into those that would fight his enemies on his behalf.