Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 935: Are You Sure?

The cavern entrance was carved from white jade and a faint mist rolled out from the heavy stone doors. It carried the crisp scent of spiritual energy and the sharp, almost metallic tang of sword intent.Li Yu stood in front of the entrance alongside ten other young cultivators. They were some of the most elite talents of the Li Clan’s younger generation. Among them was Li Hua, the bright eyed sister of the Clan Heir. She offered Li Yu a quick and friendly smile, which he returned with a polite nod.

The other nine disciples were not as welcoming.

Typically, the Sword Cleansing Pool only granted access to ten individuals. This sacred event occurred only four times a year. Competition for these ten spots was brutal and it required years of accumulated merit points, flawless performances in clan tournaments and rigorous trials. They had bled and fought for the right to stand here today while he did not.

Li Yu, on the other hand, had simply been handed a slot by special permission.

He could feel the lingering jealousy and frustration in their side long glances. However, none of them spoke a word of protest. They were elite disciples, which meant they were highly intelligent. They knew exactly who his parents were now and who his grandfather was. No one was stupid enough to antagonize the grandson of the Worldkeeper over a training slot.

An ancient Li Clan elder wearing silver robes stepped out from the cavern.

"There will be eleven entering the Sword Cleansing Pool this cycle," the elder announced as his voice echoed over the quiet group. He raised a hand to preemptively silence any quiet murmurs. "However, let it be known that Elder Canghai has personally poured a staggering amount of resources from his own private vaults into the pool's formation arrays this morning."

The elder looked over the disciples. "The pool is now fifty percent richer in total Qi than a standard cycle. The extra slot Li Yu occupies will not diminish your harvest. In fact, his presence has directly enriched your opportunity today."

The resentment in the eyes of the nine disciples vanished nearly instantly. It was immediately replaced by a heavy envy instead. Now, they were simply jealous that Li Yu had a father willing to drop a fortune just to ensure his son's smooth entry without stepping on anyone's toes.

Standing on a high ridge ad overlooking the cavern entrance, Tielan crossed her arms and looked at her husband.

"If you wanted him to have that much Qi, why didn't you just give the resources directly to Li Yu?" Tielan asked curiously. "He could have absorbed them in a more quiet and better place. He also has the golden box from the Golden Horizon as well. He is not lacking in resources right now."

"The pools are special," Canghai explained softly as he watched their son interact politely with Li Hua and the others below. "The pressure and the atmospheric refinement do more for a cultivator's foundation than simply consuming raw Qi. But more importantly... I wanted him to appear around the clan more."

Canghai sighed softly as a hint of sorrow touched his eyes.

"He has missed his entire heritage by being hidden away." Canghai murmured. "He missed the childhood spars in the courtyards. He missed the academy lectures and the shared cultivation spaces. I wanted him to experience what the others within the clan experience. I want him to slowly feel like this place, these people, are actually his home."

Tielan’s expression softened as he understood what her husband was saying. She leaned her head against her husband's shoulder.

"I agree with your methods," Tielan said gently. "Our son missed out on an entire childhood of family. We need to make him feel like he is truly part of our clans, truly be part of a family. He needs roots and places he can truly call home."

Together, the two feared commanders began to quietly plot. They discussed what other traditional clan activities they could subtly involve Li Yu in over the coming months. They wanted him to participate in sect life, even if those activities didn't strictly benefit his raw combat power. It was more important now that Li Yu began to feel like he was home.

Down below, the heavy doors groaned open.

Li Yu and the ten disciples filed into the cavern. In the center of the room was a wide and perfectly circular pool filled with liquid that glowed with a pale and silver light. The air was so dense with Qi that it felt like walking through water. An ambient and sharp pressure pressed against their skin. This was the sword intent that had been polished by generations of Li ancestors.

The disciples moved quickly as they had already been told what to do. They took up evenly spaced positions on the meditation mats surrounding the pool. Li Yu claimed the final mat near the entrance.

As they closed their eyes and began to cultivate, the silver liquid in the pool began to swirl gently. Li Yu deliberately took it easy at first. He opened his meridians just a fraction as he wanted to carefully observe the absorption rates of the other ten disciples.

He could sense their Qi pathways lighting up beneath their skin. Not only were they drawing in the silver Qi but the sword intent of the pool was actively washing over their souls. It was polishing their internal foundations and sharpening their minds on the path of the sword.

Because Li Yu did not possess a traditional sword intent of his own, that specific aspect of the pool washed harmlessly over him. He felt the sharpness but it did not resonate with his core.

After gauging the average absorption rate of the group, Li Yu adjusted his own intake to match their pace. He did not want to aggressively siphon the ambient energy and ruin their chance. Li Yu had entered at the last minute and he was grateful that his father had made it fair. He didn't want to alienate these people when they were just starting to accept his presence.

However, his Devouring Abyssal Leviathan Physique had entirely different ideas.

Li Yu's physical body had already reached the Paragon realm. It was a terrifying threshold of physical density and raw power. Meanwhile, his actual Qi cultivation was lagging behind at the Law Integration stage. The moment the Leviathan Physique tasted the dense and perfectly refined Qi of the Sword Cleansing Pool, instinct took over.

His body demanded balance. Without Li Yu's conscious permission, his pores violently opened. A deafening roar echoed through the silent cavern. The silver liquid in the pool suddenly erupted.

It stopped swirling gently and spun into a massive and violent vortex. A terrifying pull generated directly from Li Yu's mat. It violently tore the ambient Qi away from the other ten disciples and didn’t allow a single drop to head their way. The Li Clan disciples snapped their eyes open at the sudden change and they were completely stunned.

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Li Yu hadn't even fully activated his cultivation arts yet. The passive absorption of his physical body was draining the room like a black hole. Then, the seal over his soul space reacted to the massive influx of pure energy. With a brilliant flash of opalescent light, his Koi Soul exploded forth from his chest.

The massive and ethereal form swam through the dense air above the pool. It opened its jaws and drew in literal rivers of silver Qi. The spiritual pressure in the room skyrocketed.

"A Beast Nascent Soul?!" Li Hua gasped. She stared up at the majestic and terrifying construct.

The other orthodox sword cultivators were completely paralyzed by the sight. In their refined lineage of sword paths and array formations, manifesting a Nascent Soul was already special. To have a Beast Nascent Soul was incredibly rare, at least none of them had heard a human having one. They were shocked to see the son of Canghai having such a Nascent Soul.

Before the situation could spiral into total chaos or someone got hurt by the violent Qi currents, the space inside the cavern warped. Canghai, Tielan appeared and then Zhan Tian appeared soon after, having sensed an issue.

"Evacuate the cavern," Canghai ordered the ten disciples immediately. His voice left no room for argument or hesitation. "Your opportunity has been disrupted. The Li Clan will repay you with a private and fully enriched pool session within a few days. Go. Now."

The ten disciples scrambled to their feet upon hearing the order. They bowed hastily before sprinting out the jade doors to escape the crushing pressure.

A moment later, the space warped again. Patriarch Li Muchen stepped into the cavern. His silver robes fluttered wildly from the violent Qi currents swirling around Li Yu. He took one look at the massive Koi hovering over the pool and nodded in confirmation.

"We will replenish the pool's reserves later," Muchen stated loudly over the rushing wind. He knew it was highly inefficient to burn resources in this way. The ratio of return was usually not worth forcing an early cycle. However, he recognized that Canghai and Zhan Tian were absolutely not going to let this breakthrough opportunity slip away from the boy.

Suddenly, a sharp and terrifying intent sliced through the cavern. Zhan, the Heaven Severing Ancestor, stepped out of the void. His metallic eyes locked onto the swirling vortex of Qi.

Patriarch Muchen flinched in genuine surprise. He had not expected the reclusive Ancestor of their clan to physically manifest at a junior's training session. Zhan rarely left his tranquil courtyard unless the clan was under direct attack.

Li Yu, realized the room was cleared of the other disciples and with elders to watch over him, took this opportunity for himself. He didn't hold back anymore and with a flick of his wrist, the golden spatial box Jin had gifted him materialized in the air.

The heavy golden lid blew off. A blinding wave of golden light illuminated the cavern. A literal mountain of top-tier spirit stones poured directly out of the box and cascaded into the silver pool. After them were other herbs and pills.

Li Yu's Koi soul and his Paragon body went into overdrive.

A second, deeper roar then vibrated through the bedrock of the cavern. The spectral projection of a colossal Whale Soul manifested behind Li Yu. Its massive maw opened to consume the crushing waves of Qi that the spirit stones and the pool were violently producing. It worked in tandem with. The cavern walls groaned under the volume of energy being processed.

Zhan Tian stared at the dual beast souls. He watched the swirling vortex and the terrifying, violent nature of his grandson's cultivation. The Worldkeeper slowly turned his head to look at his daughter.

"Tielan," Zhan Tian asked. His voice was filled with a heavy suspicion that has appeared for a second time. "Did you cheat on Canghai with an ancient sea monster?"

Patriarch Muchen, Canghai, and the Heaven Severing Ancestor all slowly turned their heads. They stared at Tielan with the exact same deeply suspicious question hanging heavily in their eyes.

Tielan's eyes narrowed dangerously. The dark Qi of her cultivation technique flared around her shoulders.

"If any of you ask me that ridiculous question one more time," Tielan threatened. Her voice dropped to a terrifyingly calm whisper. "I will beat all of you into the floor."

The Worldkeeper, the Li Clan Patriarch, the famed general and the Heaven Severing Ancestor all immediately looked away. They suddenly found the swirling silver water of the pool incredibly fascinating.

Within the vortex, the Qi was rushing into Li Yu's meridians. The massive influx of energy was elevating his cultivation from Law Integration toward the Domain King and Paragon thresholds to match his physical vessel.

But the pool was not just Qi. It was saturated with the ancient sword intent of the Li Clan. Because Li Yu had no sword intent of his own, the intent had nowhere to anchor itself. It swirled uselessly around his body and was actually starting to cause harm to him.

Suddenly, three distinct hums vibrated from Li Yu's Koi Sanctuary. Without him summoning them, three weapons shot out into the air above the pool. The tyrannical brilliance of Gilded Calamity. The dark green and surgical precision of Firmament's End. The pale, jagged and deathly aura of Pale Extinction.

The three swords hovered around Li Yu in a triangular formation. The Sword Cleansing Pool's ambient intent rushed into the three blades. The weapons glowed fiercely as they absorbed the ancient knowledge and sharpened their own spiritual edges.

Then, acting as conduits, the three swords forcefully injected that refined sword intent directly into Li Yu's soul. Li Yu gasped due to the phantom sensation of a million blades sliced through his consciousness. He wasn't developing a traditional sword intent but his inherent control over flying weapons, his telekinetic sharpness and his understanding of the blade's trajectory began sky rocketing.

Patriarch Muchen stared at the three hovering weapons and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"Why does he have two of the Ten Great Swords of our clan?!" Muchen demanded. He pointed a trembling finger at the golden and green blades. "Gilded Calamity was supposed to be with Canghai! Firmament's End was supposed to be with Ancestor Zhan!"

Canghai coughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I... gave it to him."

The Heaven Severing Ancestor crossed his arms and looked entirely unbothered by the Patriarch's panic. "I also gave it to him."

Muchen grabbed his own hair in absolute exasperation. "Are these things cabbages in the market?! I am the Patriarch and I only have one of the Great Swords! Now this brat has two of them! And what in the heavens is that third one?! Its aura is even stronger than the other two!"

"That is Pale Extinction," Zhan Tian announced proudly while he puffed out his massive chest. "I ripped it from the commanding general in the dark zone. It was my gift to my grandson upon my return."

Muchen and the Heaven Severing Ancestor stared at the bone sword. Their senses easily picked up on the impossibly evil and chaotic spirit locked within the sword.

"We can figure out the logistics of the clan swords later," Muchen said. His voice was laced with genuine dread. "But how is the boy controlling that bone sword? A spirit that malevolent and powerful takes decades of isolated seclusion to tame! When did he have the time to do that since your return?!"

Zhan Tian threw his head back and laughed loudly over the rushing Qi.

"My grandson is a freak of nature!" Zhan Tian boasted. "He instantly took control of that blade the moment I handed it to him! His soul is absolutely incredible!"

Muchen, Canghai, and the Heaven Severing Ancestor slowly turned their heads back to look at Tielan. The unspoken and deeply suspicious question regarding her cheating hung heavily in their eyes once again.

Without a single word, Tielan reached into her spatial ring. With a heavy and metallic thud, she drew a spiked war hammer and rested it aggressively upon her shoulder. The four masters instantly snapped their attention back to the swirling pool. They refused to make eye contact with her.

Two days quickly passed and in the center of the cavern, the vortex of Qi reached its absolute zenith. A lot of the spirit stones had already dissolved into Qi. The Koi and the Whale roared in unison before diving back into Li Yu's chest. The three supreme swords slammed back into their scabbards and vanished into his sanctuary.

A heavy shockwave of power blasted outward, cracking the jade walls of the cavern and blew the mist away completely.

Li Yu opened his eyes. The chaotic energy settled within him and his Qi cultivation had perfectly aligned with his physical body. The bottleneck was shattered and he had officially broken through two realms to the Paragon Realm.