Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 890: Descent and the Giant Turtle

The boundary between the coastal plains and the oceanic territory of the Tide Shark was a violent war zone of crashing water and jagged stone. The sheer black cliffs dropped straight down into the churning blue abyss and were battered relentlessly by waves that could shatter standard iron.Li Yu stood at the edge of the precipice and looked down into the dark water. The salty wind whipped his hair around his face. Behind him, Zhan, Ouros and Talia waited in silence.

"We are going under." Li Yu announced as his voice cut through the roar of the surf.

He channeled his Qi and a dense, shimmering layer of transparent energy rapidly expanded around him. It formed a skin tight barrier that functioned as an environmental shield.

Zhan, Ouros and Talia followed his lead. They each summoned their own elemental auras, condensing them into tight bubbles of energy that clung to their forms. This was a standard technique for cultivators and powerful beasts when entering aquatic zones.

The Qi layer equalized the crushing pressure of the deep, filtered oxygen from the surrounding water and minimized the natural drag, allowing them to move and fight almost exactly as they would on land.

Li Yu stepped off the edge of the black cliff and he plummeted toward the violent surf below. He broke the surface of the water with a massive splash and was instantly swallowed by the deep blue expanse. The immediate silence was jarring and the deafening roar of the crashing waves above was replaced by the low, heavy hum of the ocean deep.

Li Yu stabilized his descent and was floating suspended in the dark water. The ambient water Qi here was incredibly thick, carrying a primal and ancient weight. He flexed his arms and legs and was finding that his movements were unimpeded by the aquatic environment. Three subsequent splashes announced the arrival of his team.

'The environment is hostile but manageable.' Li Yu thought while scanning the dark blue depths. 'And the Qi here is rich.'

Deep within his soul space his Koi Spirit stirred with unprecedented vigor. The ethereal fish swam in tight circles above his mental ocean with its scales flaring with bright light. Li Yu smiled faintly, this was the major reason he had chosen the aquatic zones for his next destination. His martial spirit’s ability to drain aquatic beast Qi would allow him to fight much better here.

He gestured for the team to follow and began swimming deeper. He was heading toward the sprawling underwater archipelago. As they traveled through the outer shallows and navigated the submerged canyons of the islands, Li Yu kept his spiritual sense wide open. He was on a hunting expedition for his Koi Sanctuary as much as he was looking for a fight.

It did not take long to find life here.

A school of Iron Fin Barracudas darted through a cluster of glowing coral. They were weak beasts but their metallic fins and aggressive schooling behavior made them a fascinating addition.

Li Yu made sure to select two of the healthiest specimens, ensuring he grabbed a male and a female. With a wave of his hand he opened a rift to the Koi Sanctuary and tossed the breeding pair directly into the oceans of his Koi Sanctuary. He took half of the remaining school and let the rest go.

Over the next several hours the process repeated itself over and over.

He captured a pair of bioluminescent Deep Sea Mantas that glided through the shadows like glowing ghosts. He subdued a cluster of heavily armored Trench Crabs hiding in the mud, tossing them into his sanctuary to populate the rocky shorelines. His collection was growing rapidly here. It was diversifying the ecosystem of his Koi martial spirit at the fastest rate of his life.

However, as the day wore on, a sense of mild disappointment began to settle over Li Yu. The other three were curious why he was collecting all these weaker beasts but after an explanation they didn’t quite understand it. How could doing such things possibly make him stronger? It seemed like he was fulfilling a hobby.

"The beasts here are quite weak." Li Yu noted after several days. "I am finding breeding pairs for my sanctuary but there is nothing around that poses a threat. Where are the stronger beasts?"

Ouros was swimming a few yards to Li Yu's right and he offered an answer.

"The lands that rulers claim are not packed full of life. You must have seen it as well at Elder Mu’s and Gorr’s territory." Ouros explained. "Some rulers like having their lands be full of life while others like to rule over everything alone. The strong beasts that are around are spread very far apart to avoid encroaching on each other's hunting grounds."

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Li Yu nodded in understanding since the explanation made sense. "And Gart? Does he have a standing army?"

Ouros shook his head. The bounty hunter knew more about the regional targets than the rest of them.

"Gart is mostly solitary from what I have heard." Ouros said while keeping his small eyes scanning the dark water. "The rumors are he does not have many followers. He does not trust others and prefers to be on his own. He is also quite a paranoid glutton. If a beast in his territory grows strong enough to be useful, Gart usually prefers to just eat them to increase his own strength rather than enlist them. It is said he only values and trusts his own strength. A smart choice if you ask me."

Li Yu processed the information and it was both a blessing and a curse.

'Gart is too strong for us to face head on right now.' Li Yu thought while analyzing his current combat power. Even with Zhan's breakthrough to the Domain King realm, a direct assault on a Tribulation expert in his home territory was a foolish choice given their own strength. The goal was never to attack him alone.

'But if he has no standing army, he is isolated. My plan remains the same. I need to gather a force of displaced aquatic beasts or capture enough rogue fighters to build an army that can overwhelm him. As we fight I can drain his Qi and eventually we can win.'

They continued their journey through the submerged archipelago, diving deeper into the crushing pressure of a wide trench. Suddenly, Talia stopped swimming.

The Nether Rift Viper raised a pale hand, signaling for the group to halt. Her amethyst eyes glowed with an intense light as she stared into the dark abyss ahead. She was highly attuned to the subtle shifts and folds in the physical world.

"Something is coming." Talia warned.

Li Yu trusted her instincts. "Hide us."

Talia reached her hands out while grasping the invisible fabric of the surrounding space. She channeled her Paragon realm Void Qi and violently folded the area around the four of them, pulling the team directly into the first layer of the void.

The transition was instantaneous and the deep blue water and the vibrant glowing coral vanished. They were replaced by a dark and monochrome landscape. The crushing pressure of the ocean disappeared and was replaced by the cold and stagnant silence of the void.

They hovered in the dark, waiting. A few moments later, a large shadow breached the edge of their vision in the physical world.

It was a turtle. But calling it a turtle felt like an understatement. The beast was the size of a small island, its dark green shell covered in ancient barnacles and thick layers of hardened sea moss. It swam with slow, majestic strokes of its massive flippers. The aura radiating from the ancient creature placed it firmly at the peak of the King realm.

But the turtle was not just a wild beast roaming the trench.

Strapped securely to the center of its massive shell was a large and rectangular structure forged from dark metal. Thick iron chains wrapped around the turtle's neck and under its belly, serving as a heavy harness that bound the structure to the beast.

"A transport." Zhan noted.

"It is carrying something." Li Yu agreed, his eyes narrowing as he studied the metal carriage. "Given the thick chains and the size of the structure, it is probably carrying high value cargo or people. A beast of burden for a powerful faction."

Talia let out a strained, hissing breath. Her pale face was tense and sweat formed on her brow despite the cold environment of the spatial pocket. Even with her level of strength, to keep four people within this layer of the void was straining.

"We need to follow it." Li Yu decided quickly. "A transport moving through the deep trenches of Gart's territory will lead us to a settlement, a stronghold or an enemy of the shark. It is exactly the kind of thread we need to pull."

"I cannot follow it from here." Talia groaned out loud, her voice shaking slightly with exertion.

Li Yu looked at her. "You are a void viper, you can’t maintain this?"

" I am currently dragging a fool, an iron bear and a mantis through the spatial fabric of an ocean trench." Talia retorted with heavy frustration. "The spatial laws in this aquatic zone are dense. The resistance is massive. Holding four powerful entities in the first layer of the void while sitting still is draining enough. Trying to move us forward to keep pace with that giant turtle will dry my body out in minutes."

Li Yu frowned but he understood. He knew his own limits here as well, he couldn’t keep there here in this layer for long either.

'She is right.' Li Yu thought while accepting the limitation. 'The void is an ambush tool for a group this large, not a travel method.'

The giant turtle swam slowly past their position.

"We will leave the void." Li Yu commanded softly. "We have to stay up and tail it in the physical realm."

Talia let out a sigh of relief. She released her grip on the spatial laws, allowing the folded dimension to snap back into place. The cold silence of the void vanished, instantly replaced by the heavy hum of the ocean and the weight of the deep water. The dark blue landscape rushed back into their vision.

As they materialized in the physical realm, they blended immediately into the deep shadows of the rocky trench wall. The giant turtle was already a hundred yards ahead of them and moving steadily through the gloom.

"Keep your auras tight." Li Yu instructed his team with his eyes locked on the receding shadow of the massive beast. "Do not engage any wild life and do not make a sound. We wait for it to pass the next ridge and then we secretly follow it to its destination."

The group nodded in unison. They fell into a loose and silent formation behind their leader. Talia used a stealth technique to limit detection and Li Yu used his understanding in the Laws of Life to mask their presence further.

As the giant turtle vanished around a sharp bend in the underwater canyon, Li Yu began the pursuit deep into the hostile territory of the Tide Shark.