Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The absolute lowest level of the Violet Deep capital was a place few were ever permitted to see. Commander Vaneer led Li Yu and Malos past the military pens and down a spiraling tunnel of black pearl. The ambient light faded entirely and the crushing pressure of the ocean above felt immense even through the protective arrays.

They emerged into a colossal cavern that opened directly into the true abyssal trench. The cavern was easily the size of a small city.

"This is the sanctum of the Guardian Beasts." Vaneer explained while his voice echoed in the vast open space. "They are the oldest protectors of the capital. They have served beside Sovereign Morven since before he claimed his throne."

Two distinct presences dominated the cavern.

Floating near the ceiling was a massive spherical creature that resembled a pufferfish. Its body was covered in long crystalline spikes that glowed with a soft pulsing starlight. It drifted lazily through the water emitting an aura of ancient wisdom. A gentle melodic voice echoed directly inside their minds.

"Ah Vaneer. You have brought guests. And one of them carries the scent of the deep sea yet walks on two legs. Interesting. Welcome to our humble depths."

"That is the Shining Star Puffer." Vaneer whispered to Li Yu. "It is a master of gravity laws and possesses a highly developed mind. Communicating with it is incredibly easy for the caretakers."

Li Yu bowed respectfully to the floating giant. "It is an honor to meet you. I am Li Yu."

"You are quite interesting indeed." the Star Puffer transmitted with a tone of mild amusement. "News travels fast even to the dark waters. My stubborn brother over there could use someone with your unique talents."

Li Yu followed the Star Puffer's gaze to the far corner of the cavern.

Resting heavily on the ocean floor was a creature that looked like an absolute nightmare of evolution. It was a colossal mantis shrimp. Its body was encased in thick overlapping plates of iridescent armor and its two massive front claws were folded tightly against its chest. Those claws looked capable of shattering the fabric of reality itself.

But the beast was clearly unwell. Its normally vibrant armor was dull and flaking. It was curled inward and letting out weak clicking sounds that vibrated through the water.

"He is the Void Striker." Vaneer said with a heavy sigh. "He stubbornly passed up on learning speech or telepathy to devote every ounce of his foundation to raw physical power. He hits harder than almost anything in the realm. But he has been sick for a long time."

Li Yu stepped closer to the edge of the water barrier and was looking down at the suffering mantis. "How did this happen?"

"It happened many years ago during the early days of Sovereign Morven's courtship with Sovereign Ignis," Vaneer explained. "Morven took the Void Striker on an expedition to the deep volcanic ranges to retrieve a rare fire lotus for Ignis. It was a task she set to test his dedication. The mantis fought off a horde of magma worms to secure the flower but he absorbed a terrible poison, we think, during the battle. We have never been able to purge it."

"A true tragedy." Malos announced grimly while adjusting his robes. He then puffed out his chest. "But fear not! The Quiet Physician is here and his highly capable Shouting Assistant is ready to observe!"

Li Yu ignored Malos again and activated his Koi martial spirit. He extended his empathetic connection toward the suffering Void Striker.

The mental feedback was chaotic and overwhelming. Li Yu felt a searing burning sensation twisting through his meridians followed by the sharp grinding feeling of rusted metal tearing at his insides. The volcanic poison was not just fire. It was a vicious combination of chaotic fire and corrupted metal laws that had entrenched itself deep within the beast's water attributed body.

Li Yu pulled his hand back and took a deep breath.

"The poison is a dual attribute of fire and metal" Li Yu diagnosed calmly. "It is locked inside his core. Water cannot simply wash it away because the fire boils the water and the metal resists the pressure. His five elements are completely out of balance."

Vaneer looked hopeful. "Can you treat it?"

Li Yu shook his head. "The poison is too deeply fused with his life force. If I pull it out now I will pull his core out with it. He needs a powerful wood attributed treasure. Something incredibly dense. The wood will feed the chaotic fire until it burns itself out and the roots will naturally absorb the corrupted metal. Once the balance is restored his own water laws can flush the remnants away. That’s the theory anyways."

Vaneer immediately pulled out a communication talisman and sent a rapid message directly to the upper palace.

Less than five minutes later the water in the cavern violently displaced. Sovereign Morven materialized beside them looking frantic. He had abandoned his mountain of paperwork the moment he received Vaneer's message.

"A wood treasure?" Morven demanded while looking at Li Yu. "You are certain Brother Li Yu? Wouldn’t something like that harm it?"

"Mostly certain," Li Yu nodded.

Morven let out a booming laugh that shook the cavern. He reached into his spatial ring. "Then fate is truly on our side today. I looted the personal vault of Sovereign Terris just weeks ago. I have some of the greatest wood treasures on the continent."

Morven pulled out a massive glowing green root. It pulsed with the concentrated life force of the Ironwood Sovereign. It was a natural treasure that could easily start a war if revealed to the outside world. Not many would be brave enough to fight against Morven for it though.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Morven did not hesitate. He jumped into the water and swam down to the colossal mantis. He gently coaxed the beast to open its mandibles and shoved the glowing Ironwood root directly down its throat.

The reaction was rapid. The Void Striker stiffened and its dull armor suddenly flared with a bright emerald light. The chaotic burning heat radiating from its body exploded. Getting more and more intense. This made everyone, including Li Yu panic a bit. “Don’t worry, this is what should happen. It is up to fate if it can endure.” Li Yu spoke quickly but wasn’t as confident anymore.

But roughly an hour later it began to subside and was replaced by a stabilizing calm. The beast slowly uncurled its massive claws and let out a long content clicking sound that echoed with returning strength.

"It will take time for him to fully digest the treasure." Li Yu observed from the walkway. "But the rot is already beginning to be neutralized. He should recover completely in time."

Morven swam back up to the platform and stepped through the water barrier. The massive Demon Lord looked at the recovering mantis with affection.

"He has been with me since I was nothing but a wandering warrior in the shallow reefs." Morven said softly. He turned to Li Yu and bowed deeply. It was a shocking gesture of respect from a ruler. "Thank you Li Yu. You have saved one of my oldest friends."

"It was nothing at all, Sovereign," Li Yu replied and returned the bow. "I merely pointed out the missing piece. You provided the cure."

"Humility is a rare trait," Morven smiled broadly. "But I insist on rewarding you. If you seek martial understanding, I grant you unrestricted access to the Royal Archives. Read whatever you wish. Take whatever insights you need."

Li Yu's eyes lit up. "I accept with immense gratitude."

For the next two weeks Li Yu practically lived inside the Royal Archives. The library was a massive underwater dome filled with millions of floating waterproof jade slips and ancient coral tablets. It contained the accumulated knowledge of the Violet Deep spanning tens of thousands of years.

Li Yu did not look for specific named techniques to copy. He looked for foundational theories. He read endless jades on the manipulation of pressure. He studied the architectural blueprints of defensive arrays that utilized water tension to deflect kinetic force. He read philosophical musings by ancient tide callers on how to blend the stillness of a frozen lake with the destructive chaos of a tsunami.

He was vague about his exact gains when Malos asked but his understanding of the universe was undeniably deepening. He was quietly synthesizing these oceanic concepts with his own laws. His mind was becoming a vast interconnected web of martial theory.

He did not spend all his time in the library however. He needed breaks to digest the information.

During those breaks he and Malos explored the vibrant capital. The ancient Demon Lord proved to be an incredibly fun and indulgent tour guide. They ate at the finest establishments perched on the edge of the abyssal cliffs. They dined on glowing squid skewers, giant crab legs the size of trees and rare deep sea urchins that tasted of spiritual energy.

They wandered through the bioluminescent markets watching the tide callers perform beautiful displays of water manipulation for the crowds. Malos bought absurd souvenirs including a hat made entirely of living anemones which he proudly wore for an entire day until Li Yu politely asked him to take it off because it kept trying to sting people.

It was a peaceful and relaxing vacation. It was exactly what Li Yu needed to center his mind after the events of the war. But peace in this realm was always temporary.

On the evening of their fourteenth day in the capital Li Yu and Malos were enjoying a lavish dinner with Sovereign Morven in the upper palace. They were currently feasting on an octopus that was prepared in all kinds of different ways when a scout bursted into the dining hall.

The scout fell to one knee gasping for air. "Sovereign! It has returned!"

Morven froze with a massive chunk of meat halfway to his mouth. He slowly lowered his fork and closed his eyes. He let out a long agonizing groan that sounded like a dying whale. He rubbed his temples with his massive fingers.

"Not again!" Morven complained bitterly. "That damn thing simply will not leave my lands alone."

Li Yu raised an eyebrow and set his cup down. "An invading army? I thought the borders were secured."

"I wish it was an army." Morven sighed while leaning back. "An army I can crush. An army I can drown. No, this is much worse. It is a clam, no, THE clam."

Malos burst into a loud and booming laugh. "The clam is back? Oh Morven you have the worst luck with local wildlife. I always wondered where that thing went, looks like you were the unlucky chosen one."

Li Yu looked between the two Demon Lords completely confused. "A clam? A Sovereign is troubled by a clam?"

Morven shot Malos a dark glare before looking at Li Yu. "It is the Samsara Dream Clam. Or at least that’s the name everyone gave it. It is a massive deep sea bivalve roughly the size of a palace. It does not eat meat and it does not conquer territory. It feeds entirely on spiritual energy and emotions."

"That does not sound particularly dangerous," Li Yu noted.

"It is not dangerous." Morven corrected with intense frustration. "It is just incredibly annoying. Its shell is made of something that makes it absolutely impenetrable. At least to any attempt at trying to crack it. Even I cannot scratch the damn thing with my full power. When it floats over a territory it exhales a massive cloud of hallucinogenic dust. Anyone caught in the mist falls into a flawlessly constructed illusion of their deepest unresolved grief or their greatest unfulfilled longing. It is a curse for some and a blessing for others. It is also completely random."

Morven took a heavy drink of wine. "It roams aimlessly. It does not attack people on purpose. It just floats there and puts entire cities to sleep so it can snack on their sad or happy dreams. The victims wake up perfectly fine once it leaves but it completely disrupts trade and causes massive administrative headaches."

"So how do you get rid of it?" Li Yu asked. He was fascinated by the existence of such a bizarre creature.

"I go out there and I hit it." Morven grumbled standing up from his throne and grabbing his towering trident. "I hit it constantly. I blast it with acid and I smash it with my trident until the clam decides it is too loud or too annoying to take a nap in my territory. Then it slowly floats away. I don’t really know what makes it go away, no one does. It’s one of the great mysteries of our realm."

Morven looked at Li Yu and Malos. "I have to go act as an alarm clock for a giant mollusk. Do you wish to accompany me? You can see one of the great mysteries yourself."

"I would not miss this for the world," Malos laughed while standing up and wiping his mouth. "Watching the Lord of the Violet Deep yell at a clam is an unmissable event."

Li Yu nodded as well. He was curious to see a beast that possessed a defensive shell capable of ignoring a Sovereign's full power. It sounded like an impossible creature.

"I will come," Li Yu said. "I have never seen an impenetrable defense before."

"It is infuriating," Morven promised as they walked out of the dining hall and headed toward the spatial platforms. "It is the most stubborn and immovable object in the ocean. Let us go wake up my border town."

They stepped onto the glowing array and in a flash of blue light they left the capital behind. They were heading straight for the misty borders of the Violet Deep to confront the most annoying creature in the empire.