He announced the news of the "Deepwater Menagerie" to his three friends. Their initial shock quickly gave way to a roaring, boisterous celebration.
"A whole valley!" Hu Jian bellowed, his voice echoing in the pagoda. "They're giving us an entire valley! We're going to be the kings of the sect's beast division!"
"It is a great responsibility," Brother Kai said, his voice laced with a deep, profound pride. "And a testament to the sect's faith in you, Junior Steward."
"I need to understand my own foundation before I can build one for the sect," Li Yu replied, his calm voice cutting through their excitement. "I will be in seclusion for a few days. Please, guard the valley."
He retreated to his cultivation chamber, the silence a welcome friend. He needed to explore the changes in his body, the gifts and mysteries of his unique breakthrough. He sat in the center of the room and began to circulate the new, higher-grade energy of his Foundation Establishment Realm. The sphere in his dantian, a perfect fusion of abyss-black void and a vibrant, emerald-green star of life, pulsed gently, a silent, powerful heart.
He first focused on the gift of the ancient being: the Qi of Life. He drew a small, spiritual-grade dagger from his storage ring and, with a steady hand, made a shallow cut on his forearm. In the past, a wound like this, infused with a cultivator's Qi, would have taken at least a day to fully close. Now, as he watched, the emerald-green life energy within his own blood immediately went to work. The wound stitched itself together at a visible rate, the skin knitting back together without a scar. In less than ten minutes, it was as if the cut had never been there. His body's natural recovery speed had become monstrous.
Next, he tested his digestion. He consumed a tough, difficult-to-digest piece of dried Rank 3 beast meat. The 'Abyssal Vortex' of his physique, now supercharged by his new foundation, roared to life. The meat was broken down and its spiritual energy absorbed in a matter of minutes, a process that would have taken a normal cultivator hours. His body had become a supremely efficient engine, wasting nothing.
Finally, he explored the most profound new ability. He walked to a small, private pond in his courtyard where he kept a few Azure-Jade Carp. One of them had recently scraped its side on a sharp rock, a minor but annoying injury. Li Yu stood at the edge of the pond, ten feet away from the fish. He focused his will, drawing upon the emerald-green star in his foundation. A faint, almost invisible green light enveloped his hand. He extended his palm towards the fish.
He did not release a wave of Qi. He simply… willed it. A gentle, nourishing stream of pure life energy flowed from him, passed through the air, and enveloped the injured carp. The fish, which had been swimming sluggishly, immediately became energetic. The raw, pink scrape on its side visibly began to heal, the scales slowly regrowing over the wound.
Li Yu's eyes widened. This was a heaven-defying ability. He could heal his beasts from a distance, without touching them. In the chaos of a battle, it would be an invaluable tool. For the delicate process of beast taming and nurturing, it was a divine gift.
He then turned his attention to the other side of his foundation: the void. He could feel its influence in the abyssal-black nature of his True Qi. The energy was incredibly heavy, dense, and carried a subtle, all-consuming quality. While the life energy was for nurturing, this was for destruction. He knew, instinctively, that any attack infused with this void-aspected Qi would be a hundred times more destructive than a normal attack, capable of corroding and annihilating an opponent's own spiritual energy.
After three days of this quiet, internal exploration, he emerged from his chamber, his understanding of his own power solidified. He was a being of two extremes: a healer and a destroyer, a king of life and a sovereign of the void.
His first act as the new head of the Deepwater Menagerie was not to requisition land or demand resources. He took the Silver-Winged Flying Swordfish and made a solitary journey back down the mountain, to a place he had not seen in years: the outer sect Aquatic Pens.
The place was just as he remembered it: a collection of crude huts and muddy lakes, a world away from the elegance and power of the inner sect. He found Uncle Wei mending a net on the same dock where he had once been a boy dreaming of a better life. The old man, thanks to the Longevity Pill, looked healthier and more vibrant than Li Yu had ever seen him, but he was still just a simple laborer, mending his nets.
"Uncle Wei," Li Yu said, his voice soft.
The old man looked up, and his wrinkled face broke into a wide, joyful smile. "Brat! You've come back to see this old man!" He looked Li Yu up and down, his eyes filled with a pride that was as deep as any ocean. "I heard what you did in the Blackwood Forest. A true hero of the sect, you are."
"I only survived because of the lessons I learned here, Uncle Wei," Li Yu said, sitting down on the dock beside him. "You taught me to be cautious, to observe. That is a greater treasure than any spirit art."
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the Green-Scaled Carp swim lazily in the pond.
"I am leaving the Azure Serpent Lake," Li Yu said finally.
Uncle Wei's face fell. "Leaving? Where are you going?"
"The sect has granted me a new responsibility," Li Yu explained. "They have given me the entire Southern River Valley. I am to build a new, grander home for the sect's aquatic beasts. A 'Deepwater Menagerie'." He looked at the old man, his expression sincere. "It is a massive project. I will need men to help me, men with real, practical knowledge of raising fish, not just the fancy theories of the inner sect disciples. I need men who understand the water, who know the difference between a happy carp and a sick one just by the way it swims."
He paused, his gaze steady. "I need you, Uncle Wei. I want you to be the head caretaker of the new menagerie. You will have your own courtyard, your own staff. You will answer only to me. I am not offering you a job as a laborer. I am asking for your help as an expert."
The old man stared at him, his mouth opening and closing, his eyes filling with tears. He had spent his entire life as a menial worker, looked down upon by every disciple. To be called an expert, to be offered a position of such respect… it was more than he had ever dreamed of.
"Junior… Young Master…" he stammered, his voice choked with emotion. "I am just an old, untalented man. I am not worthy of such a position."
"You are my first friend in this sect," Li Yu said, his voice gentle but firm. "You are the most experienced fish breeder I know. And you are the only one I trust to lay the foundation of my new home. If you will not help me, then I do not know who else to ask."
The old man looked at the determined, sincere face of the boy he had once offered a meat bun to, and a great, shuddering sob escaped his lips. He wiped his eyes with his calloused hand and stood up, his back straighter than it had been in years.
"This old man… accepts," he said, his voice filled with a new, profound sense of purpose.
Li Yu smiled. He had laid the first, and most important, stone of his new kingdom. He had not chosen a powerful cultivator or a brilliant strategist. He had chosen a kind, old man with a good heart and a lifetime of simple, honest wisdom. It was a choice that would define the very soul of the home he was about to build.