Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 896: The River of Time and the Return

"You are very young but you possess a terrifying amount of potential." Mire said as his deep voice vibrated through the calm water near the black stone marker. "You have the strength to crush your enemies but survival is more important than anything else in the wilds. You do not need to rush into endless wars to prove your dominance because you really just need time to grow."Thalassa offered a slow nod of agreement "The ancient tree is gone and your path is clear. Do not let the ghosts of your past dictate your future. Take the time you need to solidify your foundation and the cosmos will eventually bow to your pacing."

Li Yu listened to their advice and offered a respectful bow to the two rulers. He thanked them for their wisdom and their assistance in bringing down the Tide Shark.

The informal council ended with nothing changing in the grand political landscape besides the immediate division of Gart's former territory. Mire and Thalassa quickly agreed to split the sprawling oceanic trenches and the hunting grounds between their two factions. They drew new borders on the spot and claimed a third of the rich resources that the gluttonous predator had hoarded for centuries.

Gart stood quietly behind Li Yu while the negotiations took place but his dark eyes burned with a furious light. The shark clenched his clawed hands into tight fists as he listened to his rivals carve up his hard fought lands without him being able to say a single word in protest.

He was forced to watch his legacy be divided like scraps of meat among scavengers. He let out a low and grating growl of frustration but Li Yu ignored the outburst and signaled for his team to depart.

Later that night the team set up camp on a jagged and rocky island that broke the surface of the dark ocean. The salty wind whipped across the barren stone while a small fire crackled in the center of their formation.

Li Yu sat near the flames and looked at his companions. Zhan was polishing his scythe arms and Ouros was resting against a boulder while Talia stared quietly out into the turbulent waters in thought. They had formed an incredibly deadly unit over the short time.

A sudden and violent tremor shook the island.

It was not an earthquake or a surging tide. The tremor originated around Li Yu. The heavy and invisible pressure that had been building up inside his chest finally reached a critical mass. The rejection force exploded within him and sent a shockwave of energy tearing through his meridians.

Li Yu gasped and fell to his knees while clutching his chest. The ambient Qi in the air around the island suddenly warped and twisted as the fabric of reality tore open. A jagged spatial rift manifested directly above the campfire and glowed with a terrifying light. The sound of shattering glass echoed across the dark ocean as a massive wave of suction blasted out of the anomaly and locked onto Li Yu.

The team jumped to their feet in alarm. Zhan drew his weapons and Talia summoned her void energy but they were immediately pushed back by the cosmic density of the rift. It was an anomaly that operated on laws far beyond their current cultivation realms.

Li Yu felt his boots lift off the rocky ground as the rift began to suck him up into the swirling vortex. He looked down at the fierce warriors who had fought by his side and realized this was the abrupt end of their shared journey.

"Do not fight it!" Li Yu shouted over the deafening roar of the tearing space. "You are free to do as you want now! I release you from any lingering obligations to follow me!"

Zhan stepped forward and planted his bladed legs into the stone to resist the wind. "Where are you going?"

"I do not know." Li Yu yelled back as the suction pulled him higher into the air. "I do not know when or if I will see you again in this lifetime. Perhaps once I am stronger and can move freely between the realms we will cross paths! Thank you for your help and your strength!"

Ouros didn’t say anything while Talia lowered her head in a silent farewell. Zhan raised his scythe arm and slammed it against his metallic chest in a final warrior's salute to honor the fierce leader who had changed his fate.

Li Yu smiled at his team one last time before he turned his attention to the furious Tide Shark standing near the edge of the camp. Gart was glaring at the purple rift with a mixture of confusion and hope as he assumed the anomaly might destroy his master and free him from the soul seal.

"You are coming with me." Li Yu commanded sharply.

He opened a spatial tear to his Koi Sanctuary and directed the suction force to grab the humanoid shark. Gart roared in protest and tried to dig his claws into the stone but the command of the soul seal was absolute. The Tide Shark was ripped from the island and dragged violently into the pristine oceans of the Koi sanctuary just a second before Li Yu was swallowed by the purple light.

The moment Li Yu crossed the threshold of the temporal anomaly his foundation reacted to the lethal threat of the swirling tunnel. The Koi Soul flared into life within his mind and expanded a brilliant bubble of protective energy around his physical body. The bubble absorbed the crushing pressure of the temporal stream and shielded his flesh from being ground into dust by the chaotic timeline.

Li Yu tumbled through the tunnel of swirling colors for what felt like an eternity. He braced himself for a brutal impact in an unknown realm but the violent journey ended as abruptly as it had begun.

He was spat out of the temporal rift with immense force and crashed heavily onto a smooth stone floor. The purple wound in the universe snapped shut behind him and erased its own tracks in an instant.

Li Yu groaned and pushed himself up from the cold ground. The protective bubble of the Koi Spirit faded back into his chest as he stabilized his breathing. He brushed the dust from his robes and looked around to assess his new surroundings while expecting to find another dense jungle or a hostile oceanic trench.

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He froze in place as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting.

He was sitting in the center of a circular stone chamber. The walls were smooth and polished and the air was freezing cold. It was the exact same hidden cavern at the base of the shattered mountain range where the broken token had originally activated.

Li Yu blinked in confusion and looked toward the entrance of the chamber.

Fenric the massive Core Warden was standing a few feet away with his heavy armored fist pulled back for a devastating punch. Oram stood right beside him with a look of absolute horror plastered across his elegant face.

To Li Yu’s surprise there were an additional five protectors that were scattered around the cavern with their weapons drawn and their void manipulation techniques pushed to the absolute limit. Solstice was literally sweating blood from the strain of his spatial arts.

The seven terrifying Eidolon experts were frozen in place as they stared at Li Yu with wide and disbelieving eyes. They looked like they were in the middle of a frantic and desperate rescue operation.

Fenric slowly lowered his fist and his jaw dropped open. "Grand Envoy?"

"Why are you all attacking the empty air?" Li Yu asked while dusting off his sleeves. He looked at the frantic expressions on their faces and felt a deep sense of bewilderment. "I was gone for months. Did you just stay in this cave the entire time fighting ghosts?"

Oram rushed forward and grabbed Li Yu by the shoulders to ensure he was a physical reality and not an illusion. The elegant warden let out a shuddering breath of relief as he felt the solid weight of the young man.

"Months?" Oram repeated while his voice trembled slightly. "Grand Envoy you were sucked into that spatial rift exactly five minutes ago. We have been trying to tear the space back open ever since it closed."

Li Yu stared at the warden while his mind struggled to process the information. He thought about the brutal survival in the dense jungles and the battles he had fought alongside Zhan and Talia. He thought about his fierce battles against Elder Mu and Gart the Tide Shark.

"Five minutes?" Li Yu echoed as a cold shock washed over him. "That is impossible. I traveled across a realm and fought across it. You are saying only 5 minutes have passed?"

He looked down at the stone floor and spotted the dark smooth stone that had caused the entire ordeal. The broken token was resting exactly where it had fallen after he was sucked away. As Li Yu watched, the ancient stone suddenly cracked and crumbled into a pile of fine grey dust.

The five shadow protectors lowered their weapons and gathered around the center of the chamber. Autumn dropped to her knees and let out a long sigh of relief because they had believed the Ancestor's host was lost forever.

"We do not truly understand the mechanics of what just happened." Fenric admitted while rubbing his armored chin. "But there are legends of rare realms scattered across the cosmos where the flow of time is drastically altered. They are usually lower level realms sealed away by ancient and supreme beings or just naturally made. Time within those borders moves at an accelerated rate compared to the standard universe."

"That would explain the discrepancy." Oram agreed as he regained his composure. "If you fell into a time dilated realm, you could experience months of subjective time while only a few minutes passed in our reality. It is nearly impossible to find or enter such realms without a specific anchor like that token."

Li Yu rubbed his temples in thought and confusion. He then roughly recounted his experience there as well as what he felt moments before heading back here. The two wardens explained who the five other people were so Li Yu understood as well.

"What Fenric said could also explain the rejection force." Oram continued while analyzing the situation. "A foreign entity entering a closed temporal realm creates a massive strain on the local laws. The realm allowed you to stay for a while but eventually the realm forcefully expelled you to maintain its own stability."

Li Yu nodded slowly as the pieces fell into place. It didn’t make complete sense but it was the best explanation he had heard.

"We are just happy you are back and unharmed." Fenric said while offering a wide and genuine smile. "We thought we had failed our mission before it even truly began."

"I am fine." Li Yu reassured them. "But I have experienced a very long and exhausting journey. I need to rest."

"Of course." Oram said while gesturing toward the tunnel exit. "We will return to Gilded Fate City immediately. The Cloud Ascendant Inn remains secured for your use and you can recover in peace."

Li Yu followed the wardens and the shadow protectors out of the cold cavern and back into the desolate wasteland of the ruined mountain range. He looked up at the familiar sky of the Omen Realm and took a deep breath of the thin air.

The chaotic brutality of the Ferine Realm was currently behind him but the lessons he had learned and the strength he had gained were permanently etched into his soul. They took to the sky and blurred into streaks of light as they headed back toward the opulent gambling city.

Far away from the Omen Realm and the hidden machinations of the Eidolon Empire, a profound silence rested over a tranquil courtyard.

The courtyard was located near the peak of a majestic mountain surrounded by a sea of endless white clouds. The architecture was simple but elegant and featured dark wooden pavilions and manicured gardens of spiritual bamboo.

A middle aged man sat alone at a low wooden table in the center of the courtyard. He wore simple grey robes and his dark hair was tied back in a neat knot. He looked entirely human but his multifaceted dark eyes held a faint metallic sheen that hinted at a wild and ancient origin.

He poured a cup of steaming green tea and lifted it to his lips.

Despite his calm demeanor and his relaxed posture, the space around him was terrifying. An unfathomable and supreme sword intent radiated from his very pores and warped the fabric of reality within the courtyard.

The ambient air was sliced into microscopic ribbons of pressure and the falling bamboo leaves disintegrated into dust before they could even touch the ground. He was a being who was at the apex of sword intent and his mere existence was a sharp blade held against the throat of the cosmos.

His name was Zhan and he had survived the passage of eras to reach this point.

Zhan took a slow sip of his tea and enjoyed the quiet morning. He had spent thousands of years fighting wars and building his legacy within the Li Family. He had listened to the sword spirit and honored his vow. He currently claims the title of the Heaven Severing Ancestor.

Suddenly, the tea in his cup rippled.

Zhan froze and his metallic eyes widened by a fraction of an inch. A subtle but unmistakable ripple pulsed through the cosmic laws and brushed against his supreme senses. It was a familiar aura that had been absent from the universe for countless ages. It was the distinct and resonant energy of the human who was with him long ago.

Zhan slowly lowered his teacup and placed it gently on the wooden table. The terrifying sword intent surrounding him flared with a sudden and intense brightness that pushed the sea of clouds away from the mountain peak. A rare and genuine smile broke across his stoic face.

"Li Yu?" Zhan stated into the quiet courtyard as he looked up at the vast cosmic sky. "After all these countless years, is it finally time?"