Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Sovereign Morven walked up the wide open path with supreme confidence. The massive crowd of cultivators and merchants remained completely silent and pressed themselves back to give the Lord of the Violet Deep plenty of room. Li Yu and Malos walked right behind him while the three elite generals brought up the rear.

They reached the front of the towering dark mountain. Sovereign Ignis was still standing there and was looking incredibly annoyed. One of her generals stood respectfully a few paces back and was still carrying Asha on his shoulders. The young girl waved happily when she saw Li Yu approach.

"I see you decided to join the spectacle Morven." Ignis said while crossing her arms over her molten armor. "I tried to melt this rock but it absorbed my flames completely. It is incredibly stubborn."

"You always lack patience my love." Morven replied with a booming chuckle. He stepped up to the massive stone monolith. "Watch and learn how a true Sovereign handles a stubborn rock, I have expe-." Morven nearly said the words that would have probably ended his life but he was able to cut himself off just in time.

Morven placed his massive hand flat against the dark stone. He channeled a surge of Qi directly into the mountain. He expected the stone to crack or at least vibrate under the immense pressure.

Nothing happened. The mountain remained completely still and the golden letters at the top did not even flicker. Morven frowned and pulled his hand back. Thanks to his experiences with the Clam, he wasn’t too disheartened. He cleared his throat loudly. "Well it seems this rock is particularly dense today."

Malos laughed and stepped forward. He placed his pale hand on the stone and sent a pulse of spatial energy into the structure. He tried to warp the stone itself and simply displace the mountain into the void. The mountain completely rejected his spatial manipulation. The energy splashed harmlessly against the invisible barrier.

"Fascinating," Malos muttered with a bright smile. "It completely ignores the laws of space. Whoever forged this mountain possesses a terrifying level of authority."

The three elite generals stepped up and tried their luck one by one. They pushed against the stone and channeled their Qi but the results were exactly the same. The mountain completely ignored them.

Garrick, laughed loudly from his crushed position at the bottom of the rock.

"A whole group of weaklings!" Garrick mocked while shaking his head. "You all dress very nicely but you hit like starving fish! Hurry up and move out of the way so the real chosen one can step forward!"

Li Yu rolled his shoulders and walked up to the mountain. He did not really expect anything to happen. Three Demon Lords and a group of elite generals had completely failed to trigger a reaction. He figured he would just touch the rock and then they could all go home.

He placed his right palm flat against the dark surface of the stone. The stone felt incredibly warm to the touch. It did not feel like dead rock. It felt like it was actively pulsing with a subtle energy.

The moment his skin made contact the entire mountain trembled violently.

The sudden vibration shook the ground and sent a shockwave across the sprawling plains. The crowd gasped and stepped back in unison. Morven and Ignis widened their eyes in shock. The impenetrable monolith that had ignored sovereign attacks was actively reacting.

The glowing golden letters at the very peak of the mountain suddenly flared with a blinding light. A voice rang out from the stone. It echoed across the plains and rolled over the massive crowd like a physical wave of authority. It was a woman speaking the words carved into the rock.

"A mothers love is a blessing for one but a curse for one's enemies."

The voice was majestic. It was unimaginably powerful and incredibly fierce. It carried a foundational weight that made the surrounding Demon Lords feel a sudden sharp pressure in their chests.

Li Yu froze completely. His hand remained pressed against the trembling stone but his mind entirely stopped working. He somewhat recognized that voice.

It sounded exactly like his mother. He had even heard her say these exact words. The memories were vague because he was so young but hearing the voice brought them back to him. The cadence and the subtle warmth hidden beneath the fierce authority were absolutely identical to the woman who had raised him.

Several tears escaped his eye and streamed down his cheek. The pure familiarity of the sound unlocked a deep vault of warm childhood memories he thought he had forgotten. He remembered the smell of their small house and the sound of her humming while she cooked.

But he never, even in his wildest dreams, would associate the two voices as being the same person. They were simply too different in terms of power and his mom had already died long ago. It is simply a sad coincidence, or perhaps joyous coincidence, that they sounded similar.

The dark stone began to shrink.

It did not crumble or break apart. It rapidly compressed itself folding inward at an incredible speed. The towering monolith shrank from the size of a massive peak down to the size of a boulder and then down to the size of a pebble.

The tiny compressed mountain turned into a beam of dark light and shot directly into Li Yu's chest.

Li Yu gasped and stumbled backward. He immediately looked inward and checked his inner world. The tiny mountain had entered his actual inner world. In there, it grew slightly larger again and was now sitting underneath the sphere of Qi and essence that he had been drawing from to cultivate.

Back in the physical world, the disappearance of the mountain left a massive empty space in the ground. The biggest change was that Garrick was finally free.

Garric stood up and stretched his massive limbs. He was easily ten feet tall with a terrifying amount of sheer physical bulk. His dark skin had a metallic sheen that reflected the morning sun. He cracked his neck and let out a booming roar of triumph.

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"Finally!" Garrick shouted to the heavens. "The Great Sage is free!"

He bent his knees and was preparing to launch himself into the sky. To escape into the void. He had absolutely no intention of sticking around to serve whoever had just touched the rock.

Before his feet could even leave the dirt a brilliant golden seal erupted from the spot where the mountain had just vanished. The seal shot forward with impossible speed and slammed directly into Garrick's broad chest. Another beam of light shot towards Li Yu.

The golden runes burned into Garrick’s metallic skin. The laws of the contract flooded his mind in a fraction of a second. He was bound to Li Yu. He was now an ever loyal servant. And the most terrifying condition of all was violently etched into his soul. If Li Yu died, then Garrick would instantly die alongside him.

Garrick froze in place. The triumphant grin on his face completely melted away into an expression of absolute horror. He was a powerful beast capable of ruling realms and now he was now entirely dependent on the survival of a fragile human boy.

He looked up at the sky and roared in furious frustration.

"Why are you so damn fierce!" Garrick screamed at the clouds. "What did I ever do to deserve this kind of punishment!"

Inwardly though, he knew exactly what he did. He had relentlessly hit on a terrifyingly and powerful woman after she explicitly told him she was married. He had pushed his luck and he had paid the ultimate price. The mountain was bad enough but this permanent soul binding was a complete nightmare.

Garrick sighed heavily. His massive shoulders slumped as his legendary pride took a massive beating. He tried his best to resign himself to his cruel fate but it would take time. He turned around and walked over to Li Yu. He looked down at the young man who was currently brushing dirt off his robes.

"Well kid." Garrick grumbled while crossing his massive arms. "It seems we are stuck together. Do you want to be the ruler of this world? I can probably conquer most of these places for you by next week."

Li Yu looked up at the towering man and shook his head.

"No, I do not want to rule the world," Li Yu answered honestly. He then looked Garrick up and down with a highly skeptical expression. "And do you even have the ability to do that? You were just trapped under a rock by who knows who."

Garrick gasped loudly. His metallic skin flushed with anger. The sheer disrespect from his new master was unacceptable. His pride demanded immediate vindication.

"Do I have the ability?" Garrick repeated his voice rising in volume. "I am the Great Sage with No Equal! My physical toughness is absolute! I will prove my worth to you right now kid. Hit me with your strongest attack! Do your absolute worst and watch me brush it off like a gentle breeze!"

Li Yu looked around at the thousands of people watching them. He saw Sovereign Morven, Sovereign Ignis and Demon Lord Malos standing just a few feet away.

"I do not want to reveal my strongest attack out here in front of everyone," Li Yu said calmly.

"Fine!" Garrick growled.

Garrick waved his hand. The space around them violently warped and twisted. Garrick literally tore a hole and pulled Li Yu inside creating a temporary pocket realm, completely isolated from the outside world.

Li Yu looked around in genuine surprise. They were standing on a flat plain of smooth black glass beneath a swirling gray sky. Creating a stable temporary realm required an immense understanding. They weren’t in a layer of the void, like what Li Yu could do. Garrick had created this realm himself, it is his. Li Yu realized that Garrick must be at least around the Demon Lord level to perform such a feat so effortlessly.

"There." Garrick declared while pounding his fists against his metallic chest. The sound echoed like massive iron bells. "No one can see us now. Hit me with your strongest ability kid! Show me what you have!"

Li Yu sighed and rolled his shoulders. "Okay. But you should know that my strongest attack does not always come out. It sometimes has a mind of its own so I never really count on it working perfectly."

"What are you talking about?" Garrick demanded impatiently. He spread his arms wide exposing his chest entirely. "Stop talking nonsense and just attack me! I am losing my patience!"

"Do not say I did not warn you." Li Yu muttered.

Li Yu closed his eyes and reached deep into his inner world. He sent a pulse of intent toward the island floating above his Ocean of Qi. He asked for assistance. To his immense surprise the entity actually answered the call immediately.

The space directly in front of Li Yu began to ripple. The air in the temporary realm grew incredibly heavy. A figure slowly materialized on the black glass. It was an old man wearing a simple woven straw hat and ragged clothes. He held a weathered fishing rod lazily in his hands.

The Fisherman had arrived.

The moment the Fisherman fully manifested, the foundational pressure of his soul flooded the temporary realm. It was not a physical weight. It was an ancient, terrifying spiritual density that seemed endless.

Garrick stood completely frozen.

The Garrick possessed an impenetrable physical carapace. But his soul was not made of invincible metal.

When Garrick sensed the Fisherman, his spiritual instincts completely shattered. His soul screamed in terror. He felt like a tiny insignificant insect staring up at a collapsing galaxy. He knew with certainty that the old man with the fishing rod could completely erase his existence with a casual flick of his wrist.

All of Garrick's pride, all of his arrogant boasting and all of his physical confidence instantly evaporated into nothingness.

"Stop!" Garrick yelled, his voice cracking with panic. He fell to his knees on the black glass and covered his head with his massive arms. "Stop! Do not attack! I beg for mercy! I yield!"

Li Yu crossed his arms and looked at the cowering beast in complete disbelief.

He had not even launched an attack yet. The Fisherman was just standing there looking bored. And this so-called Great Sage with No Equal was literally begging for his life on the floor.

'This guy is definitely a scammer…' Li Yu thought to himself with a heavy sigh. 'He talks a grand game but he drops to his knees the second a fight breaks out. What a massive disappointment.'

Garrick was sweating profusely. His pride was entirely destroyed. He could not even show off his toughness now because he was too terrified to stand up. He peeked through his arms and stared at Li Yu in shock. He was completely taken aback and wondered why in the world this seemingly normal human boy possessed a soul that was so freakishly terrifying.

The Fisherman let out a soft huff, adjusted his straw hat and vanished back into Li Yu's foundation.

With the terrifying presence gone Garrick slowly lowered his arms. He was breathing heavily and his metallic skin was pale. He hastily waved his hand and shattered the temporary realm, returning them both to the physical world on the grassy plains.

They materialized right back in front of the massive crowd.

Sovereign Morven and Sovereign Ignis immediately stepped forward. They had sensed the spatial fluctuation and were incredibly curious about the beast.

"Well?" Ignis asked while looking at the sweating Garrick. "Is he really that strong Li Yu?"

Li Yu shrugged his shoulders casually.

"He is not," Li Yu answered honestly. "He was not even willing to take a single attack from me. I think he is just a scammer who talks too much."

Garrick heard the words and his face turned bright red with embarrassment and fury. He opened his mouth to shout a furious denial to protect his shattered reputation but the lingering memory of the Fisherman kept his mouth firmly shut. He just crossed his massive arms and glared at the dirt much to the disappointment of everyone around.