Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 872: The Heaven Severing Blade

Li Yu stood alone among the swaying reeds of the sprawling wetlands and his mind was turning over the revelations of the past few days. The encounter with the tribute bearing octopuses had laid bare a glaring weakness in his current situation. Li Yu ultimately decided that his best course of action was to tame one of the beasts that roamed these lands. Having a local inhabitant as a mount or a guide would solve his navigation issues instantly. They could sense the unseen lines, steering him away from the territories of predators and unnecessary tribal wars.

He knew it was a harsh decision. Forcing a wild creature, no, a wild being into servitude was an unfair practice but this realm did not deal in fairness. The strong dictated the rules and the weak obeyed. If he had to fight one of the strong beasts into submission to avoid slaughtering hundreds or thousands of others in blind territorial disputes, he was willing to carry that burden. That was just how it goes in a world governed by the law of the jungle.

‘The end justifies the means, at least that’s what I tell myself. I am sure the beast I decide upon will not think the same but that is simply its bad fortune.’ Li Yu thought while he justified the reason to himself.

However, he needed to be smart about his selection. Taming a beast from a large clan or a vast pack would only invite more issues. If he captured a dragon guard, the Crimson Scale Clan would hunt him relentlessly. If he took a hyena, the pack would hold a grudge until they were wiped out.

He decided that it would be best to find a lone beast. He needed a creature that did not have a family, a group or a massive clan standing behind it. A solitary wanderer would be far less messy to deal with and it would not be missed by a larger hierarchy.

With his plan formed, Li Yu decided to let fate dictate the timing. He would keep traveling at his steady pace and the first beast he encountered that seemed decently strong and operated alone would become his target. He would just have to decide what to do with it after beating it up and forcing its submission.

He resumed his journey, leaving the deep water channels of the wetlands behind. For the next two days, the landscape shifted once again. The muddy islands and tall reeds were slowly replaced by a massive, ancient bamboo forest. The bamboo stalks here were incredibly thick, some rivaling the width of small houses and they stretched so high into the sky that their leafy canopies blocked out the harsh light of the dual suns.

Taking a break from his travels, he found and harvested a few younger poles to make fishing rods out of. The material was much stronger and more flexible than he had seen from other bamboo species.

The air within the bamboo forest was cool and carried a sharp, crisp scent. Li Yu walked silently over the carpet of fallen green leaves and let his senses extend to monitor the surrounding environment.

He did not need to wait long for fate to deliver an opportunity to his feet. A sudden, violent crash echoed through the quiet forest. The sound of splintering wood and heavy footsteps rapidly approached his position.

Li Yu stopped and was ready to summon his weapon. He peered through the thick green stalks as the shaking got closer but his spiritual sense already told him what was coming. Two large figures burst through the dense bamboo a few hundred yards ahead of him. They were a highly mismatched pair of beasts, both remaining in their natural forms.

The first was an aquatic beast. It resembled a massive snapping turtle but it possessed six muscular legs and a shell forged from what looked like dark, volcanic rock. It moved with surprising speed on the land, its heavy claws digging deep trenches into the soil.

Running right beside the turtle was a land beast. It was a giant primate with silver fur and a mane of vibrant, blazing red hair that flickered like actual fire. The primate was running on its knuckles, constantly glancing over its broad shoulder with terrified eyes.

Seeing the two of them crashing through the undergrowth, Li Yu relaxed his stance slightly. He wanted a single and solitary guide. He did not want to capture them both and dealing with a mismatched pair seemed like an unnecessary complication, twice the trouble for the same result. He decided he was going to avoid them entirely and let them pass.

He took a step back to blend into the shadows of the massive bamboo stalks for them to pass. However, the turtle and the primate suddenly changed their trajectory. They swerved violently, their path bringing them on a direct collision course with Li Yu. They were charging right at him all of a sudden.

Li Yu frowned and prepared to fight, thinking he was discovered. But as the distance closed, his senses picked up the subtle details of their auras. The heavy turtle and the fiery primate were not showing any hostility toward him. Their auras were erratic and flooded with panic. They were not charging at him; they were running away from something else. They were just blindly fleeing in his direction.

A sharp, ear piercing whistle split the air behind the fleeing beasts. It was the distinct sound of something slicing through the wind at terrifying speeds. Li Yu looked past the primate and the turtle. A green blur darted through the falling bamboo stalks.

It was a mantis.

The creature was humanoid in its general structure, standing roughly seven feet tall. Its body was encased in a sleek, emerald green carapace that gleamed like polished jade. It possessed a triangular head with large, multifaceted eyes that locked onto its prey with chilling focus. But its most defining feature was its arms. They did not end in hands or claws. Instead, the mantis possessed long, serrated scythe-like arms.

Li Yu narrowed his eyes as a wave of oppressive energy washed over the clearing. The aura radiating from the mantis was staggering. It was heavily saturated with an incredibly sharp and focused intent. It felt like standing near a powerful unsheathed blade.

This was no ordinary insectoid beast. This was a predator that had grown up in an environment overflowing with sword intent, allowing its very biology to evolve and absorb those martial concepts. Its scythes were not just hunting tools; they were natural swords.

Li Yu analyzed the creature's cultivation base. The mantis was in the Law Seed realm, one realm lower than himself. Despite the gap in cultivation, Li Yu felt the incredibly strong aura pressing against his skin. The sheer quality of the sword intent radiating from the mantis was astonishing.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The emerald predator closed the distance with terrifying speed. It ignored Li Yu like he wasn’t even there and its multifaceted eyes focused entirely on the fleeing pair.

The silver furred primate let out a desperate roar and spun around, swinging a massive fist coated in flames toward the pursuer. The mantis did not slow down at all. It simply shifted its weight and swung its right scythe arm.

A visible arc of white sword intent erupted from the biological blade. The strike cleaved through the primate's flames with ease, leaving a deep, bleeding gash across the giant ape's chest. The primate howled in pain and stumbled backward, crashing into the heavy bamboo.

The six legged turtle tried to take advantage of the opening. It launched itself forward, attempting to snap its powerful jaws around the mantis's slender waist.

The mantis pivoted gracefully. Its left scythe came down in a fluid, sweeping motion. The blade struck the volcanic rock shell of the aquatic beast. Sparks showered the forest floor as the sword intent carved a deep groove into the seemingly impenetrable armor. It sent the heavy turtle skidding across the dirt.

Li Yu watched the brief exchange with growing interest. The mantis was powerful, highly skilled and it seemed to be alone. It possessed a unique evolution and an intellect sharp enough to wield intent. It was the ideal candidate for a guide.

"You will do." Li Yu said softly to himself.

He stepped out from the shadows of the bamboo and he pulled out Star Crusher. He did not want to kill the creature, He first wanted to test the beast's martial prowess by relying solely on his own physical force and his staff techniques. Since coming out of the Temporal Dao Stone, he did not have many opportunities to truly test himself outside of a few trials.

The mantis, having injured the primate and the turtle, finally registered Li Yu's presence. Its triangular head snapped toward the human. The predator did not hesitate once again. It did not care about the human's lack of scales or fur. It only recognized another obstacle standing in its hunting ground.

The mantis vanished from its spot, leaving behind a small crater in the dirt. Li Yu reacted on instinct at the incoming attack. He brought the staff up, holding it horizontally across his chest just as the emerald blur materialized in front of him.

The right scythe came crashing down exactly where his staff was.

The impact was thunderous. The biological blade struck the staff with the ringing sound of high quality steel clashing against an anvil. The kinetic force of the blow was staggering for how effortlessly it came from the mantis.

Li Yu felt his boots sink into the packed dirt. The physical strength of the Law Seed mantis was immense but it was the sharpness of the blow that surprised him the most. Even though he blocked the physical scythe, the lingering sword intent bled through the clash, leaving a shallow but stinging scratch on Li Yu's cheek.

"Impressive." Li Yu murmured while wiping a drop of blood from his face. It was rare for him to face an opponent that was weaker than him cultivation wise but still so strong.

The mantis did not pause to admire its work but did pause slightly when Li Yu was able to block its blow, most likely from a bit of surprise. It unleashed a relentless flurry of attacks soon after. Its scythe-like arms blurred into a storm of green and silver. Every strike was precise, lacking any of the wild, uncoordinated aggression Li Yu had seen from the hyena pack. This beast fought like a seasoned swordsman who had spent centuries refining their art.

Li Yu found himself in a defensive stance against this thing. He twirled the heavy staff, parrying thrusts and deflecting sweeping horizontal cuts. The bamboo forest around them was subjected to a localized hurricane of destruction. Stray arcs of sword intent sliced through the massive bamboo stalks, sending heavy green logs crashing to the ground. The shockwaves from Li Yu's parries shattered the remaining stumps into splinters.

The primate and the turtle slowly recovered slightly. Realizing their pursuer was distracted by a stronger target, they scrambled to their feet and fled deeper into the woods instead of helping Li Yu out. This left the two combatants alone to contend with one another.

Li Yu slowly got accustomed to the mantis’s movements and began to push forward. He gathered strength in his legs and launched a sweeping strike with his staff, aiming for the mantis's sleek torso.

The mantis reacted with terrifying agility. It crossed its scythes in front of its body, catching the staff in an X-shaped block. The ground beneath the insectoid beast cracked under the force of the blow but it held its ground.

Li Yu narrowed his eyes as the mantis was seemingly matching his physical strength. He was a full realm ahead of this creature. Even using only his physical force, his strikes carried the weight of the Law Integration level. A normal Law Seed beast would have its bones shattered by that sweep, yet this mantis was meeting him blow for blow.

The beast's foundation was remarkably dense, tempered by whatever harsh environment it had evolved in. Its sword intent acted as both a weapon and a shield, reinforcing its biological armor and sharpening its strikes.

The mantis pushed back, sliding the serrated edges of its scythes down the length of the iron staff in an attempt to sever Li Yu's fingers.

Li Yu quickly released his grip with his leading hand, letting the staff spin freely before catching it near the base. He lunged forward, thrusting the blunt tip of the weapon toward the creature's triangular head.

The mantis leaned backward, the iron staff missing its eyes by a fraction of an inch. It used the momentum of its dodge to pivot on one foot and launched a devastating spinning slash with its right arm.

Li Yu brought the staff down vertically, planting it firmly into the ground to block the sweeping blade. The impact sent vibrations up his arms and the sword intent accompanying the slash gouged a deep trench into the forest floor, extending several yards past Li Yu's position.

They broke apart and stepped back to create a brief moment of distance.

The clearing was a mess of sliced bamboo and overturned earth. Li Yu stood with his staff resting on his shoulder, his breathing steady but his mind racing. The mantis stood a dozen paces away, its scythes raised in a flawless guard position and its multifaceted eyes watching his every muscle twitch.

It was a standstill.

Li Yu could hardly believe the result. He was engaged in a purely physical duel, restricting his destructive void attacks and laws but a standstill against a beast a full realm lower was virtually unheard of for him. The gap between Law Seed and Law Integration was an insurmountable chasm and his body was incredibly strong.

Yet, this emerald predator was bridging that massive gap with nothing but physical talent and an unyielding, heaven defying sword intent. It was a martial genius born into the body of this being.

The mantis let out a clicking hiss. The ambient Qi in the clearing rushed toward its scythe-like arms and the glowing arcs of white energy wrapping around its biological blades grew brighter and more intense. The creature was not intimidated by Li Yu's strength; it was getting excited. It had found a worthy opponent to test its edge against.

Li Yu tightened his grip on the staff and a smile touched his lips as well. He had set out to find a simple beast of burden to act as a guide but fate had delivered something far more valuable and interesting. He had found a diamond thriving in the wild.

He knew that continuing to hold back his cultivation would only result in an endless stalemate or worse, an unpredictable injury. Physical force alone was not going to break this creature. If he wanted to force this prideful swordsman into submission, he was going to have to show it the true gap in their realms.

The wind picked up and was rustling the remaining bamboo leaves. The mantis crouched low and was preparing for another explosive charge. Li Yu lowered his staff and prepared to end the battle.