The journey back to the Green Mountain Sect was a long, solitary flight through a silent, empty sky. The Silver-Winged Flying Swordfish, a creature of grace and speed, carried Li Yu away from the blood-soaked clearing, but it could not carry him away from the weight of his own secrets. He stood on the platform, the wind whipping through his hair, his mind a calm, deep pool, but beneath the surface, powerful currents were churning.
He had unleashed Khaos. He had tasted the absolute, terrifying power of a realm far beyond his own. The encounter had not made him arrogant; it had humbled him. It had shown him, with brutal clarity, the vast difference between a big fish in a pond and a true leviathan of the deep. His Ninth Stage Qi Condensation foundation, a source of immense pride and secret strength, had been nothing more than a paper shield before the might of a Foundation Establishment expert. He had survived not through his own power, but through a borrowed calamity. That was a truth he could not afford to ignore.
When he finally saw the familiar, cloud-wreathed peaks of his sect on the horizon, a sense of relief washed over him. He guided the Swordfish directly to the Azure Serpent Lake, bypassing the main sect gates. The moment he passed through the valley's concealment formation, he was greeted by the anxious, relieved faces of his three friends.
"Junior Steward!" Brother Kai exclaimed, his usual composure gone. "You've returned! We heard… we heard there was trouble on your return journey." News, it seemed, traveled fast in the cultivation world, even from a distant sect like the Jade Spring Sword Sect.
"There was," Li Yu said simply, his feet touching the solid ground of his own territory. "But the trouble has been dealt with."
He did not elaborate on the details of the battle. Instead, he spent the next few hours in the main pagoda with his friends, discussing the lake's operations, the growth of the Azure-Jade Carp, and the progress of their own cultivation. He answered their questions about his journey with vague, simple replies, his mind clearly elsewhere.
Later that day, he made his way to his master's pagoda. He found Elder Ning in her study, meticulously pruning a bonsai tree that seemed to contain the spiritual essence of an entire mountain.
"You have returned," she said, not looking up from her work.
"This disciple encountered an ambush by the Blackwood Syndicate," Li Yu reported, kneeling respectfully. "They were targeting a group of disciples from the Jade Spring Sword Sect. I was unfortunately spotted and forced to intervene."
He recounted the story he had prepared, the tale of the mysterious, passing expert who had annihilated the Foundation Establishment cultivator and his followers. He presented the storage rings he had collected as proof of the battle's intensity.
Elder Ning listened in silence, her shears making soft, precise snips. When she was finished, she finally turned to look at him, her eyes sharp and probing. "A mysterious expert," she said, her voice flat. "How very convenient. It seems you are a magnet for such fortunate encounters, Li Yu."
She knew he was lying. He knew she knew. But the lie was a necessary fiction, a veil of plausibility that protected them both. There was some mutual understanding there, like from a mother to her child.
"The Jade Spring Sword Sect's First Elder has already sent me a formal message of gratitude," she continued, changing the subject. "He speaks very highly of you. You have forged a valuable alliance for our faction. For that, you have done well." She tossed a small, heavy pouch onto the table. "Five hundred mid-grade spirit stones. A reward for your troubles. Now go. You look weary. Consolidate your foundation. The path to the Foundation Establishment Realm is the most difficult step in a cultivator's journey."
"Thank you, Master," Li Yu said, bowing deeply. He accepted the pouch and was dismissed.
He returned to his own pagoda, the weight of the world on his shoulders. He had successfully navigated the political fallout, but the core of his problem remained. He was a king in the Qi Condensation Realm, but a helpless infant before the realm above.
That night, he did not cultivate. He did not practice his arts. He sank his consciousness deep into the Koi's Sanctuary. The small, private lake was a haven of tranquility. His schools of minnows and carp swam peacefully, and Crimson, his powerful Flood Dragon, rested in the misty depths, its Rank 4 aura a comforting presence.
His focus, however, was on the Deep-Sea Naga egg. For three years, it had been absorbing the pure, vital energy of the sanctuary. Now, its time had come. The steady, rhythmic glow of its shell was a silent announcement.
He watched, a silent, solitary observer in his own soul, as the first crack appeared. It spread, not with a violent shattering, but with a gentle, crystalline chiming. The shell did not break apart; it dissolved into a fine, shimmering blue dust that was instantly absorbed by the crimson-gold mist.
Floating in the center of where the egg had been was a new creature. It was a serpent, about ten feet long, its body slender and graceful. Its scales were the color of the deepest midnight ocean, each one shimmering with a faint, starlight-like luster that seemed to absorb and refract the crimson-gold mist of the sanctuary. A pair of elegant, fin-like wings, more for navigating deep-sea currents than for flight, sprouted from its back, and a single, sharp horn of pure, polished silver grew from its brow. Its eyes were open, and they were pools of molten gold, filled with a profound, ancient intelligence that belied its newborn status.
It was a Deep-Sea Naga. And the moment it was born, its aura flared, a powerful, unrestrained wave of energy that shook the very foundations of the sanctuary. It was a Rank 5 Tyrant Beast.
The Naga looked around the misty, crimson-gold space, its gaze curious but calm. It then looked directly at the source of the sanctuary, the great, blood-red Koi spirit that was Li Yu's soul. It did not feel fear or aggression. It felt a deep, instinctual bond, a feeling of kinship, of returning home. It had been nourished by this spirit's energy for three years. It was, in a way, its child.
The Naga let out a silent, psychic cry of greeting and swam gracefully towards the Koi, coiling around it in a gesture of familiar, trusting affection.
Li Yu reached out to it with his spiritual sense, a gentle query. You have a name?
The response was not a word, but a feeling, a series of complex, melodic notes that resonated in his soul. The closest translation into human language was Lirael. It was a name that spoke of moonlight on water, of the silent, crushing pressure of the abyss, and of a lonely, ancient nobility.
Lirael, Li Yu acknowledged, a sense of satisfaction filling him. Crimson was his shield, his brawler. Khaos was his ultimate, world-ending calamity. But Lirael… she was different. Her aura was not one of brute force, but of silent, deadly grace. She was an assassin, a shadow born of the deep. She was a perfect complement to his «Abyssal Dragon's Shadow».
The birth of this new, powerful companion solidified a resolve that had been forming in his mind since the battle in the forest. He had new allies, new power. But he was still relying on external forces, on beasts and mysterious experts. His own strength had been found wanting at the most critical moment.
He turned his attention to the other corner of the sanctuary, where a miniature, obsidian-black crab rested on a ledge, its aura a silent, sleeping void.
Khaos, he projected, his will a firm, unshakeable pillar. I need your help.
The ancient, arrogant consciousness stirred. The noisy serpent has finally hatched. What is it you require, little host?
I need to understand the power of the Foundation Establishment Realm, Li Yu stated, his voice calm and direct. I was helpless against that old man. I cannot allow that to happen again. I want you to train me.
There was a long, silent pause. Khaos's mental voice echoed back, laced with a deep, profound amusement. You wish for me to… train you? A being of my stature, a Sovereign of the Void, to act as a sparring partner for a mortal? The idea is… absurd.
Our fates are linked, Li Yu countered, using the creature's own words against it. My death would inconvenience your growth. A stronger host is a safer vessel for you. I do not ask you to fight my battles for me. I ask you to forge me into a weapon that can fight them myself.
He could feel Khaos considering his logic.
You wish to temper yourself against my power? Khaos asked, a new, interested glint in its mental voice. Even a wisp of my true strength would annihilate your soul.
Suppress your power, Li Yu commanded. Suppress it to the level of a First Stage Foundation Establishment expert. Let me feel its pressure. Let me understand its nature. Let me learn to fight it.
Another long silence. Then, a feeling of deep, ancient, and utterly terrifying amusement washed over him. Very well, little host. Your ambition is amusing. I am bored. This game might provide some entertainment during my long, slow growth.
The miniature crab on the ledge slowly rose, its cold, dead eyes fixing on Li Yu's spiritual avatar. When you are ready to begin your lesson in true despair, you need only ask.
Li Yu withdrew his consciousness from the sanctuary, his heart pounding with a mixture of terror and exhilaration. He had survived the sect. He had survived the Fen. He had survived the city. Now, he was about to face the most dangerous opponent of all: the monster he kept in his own soul. It was time to truly begin his training.