Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Li Yu pulled himself up from the dirt. The physical toll of fighting four major realms above his own foundation was staggering. He walked over to the pinned spider assassin and yanked Star Crusher from its crushed carapace. The dark blood stained the weapon but it seemed to drink the fluid eagerly before vanishing back into his inner world.

He stood swaying on his feet. The Myriad Rivers Returning to the Sea Art spun wildly to restore the volume of Qi he had just burned. He did not loot the bodies. The assassins wore unmarked gear and carrying their spatial rings might just bring more trackers directly to his location. He didn’t think assassins would be carrying much anyways. He needed to leave the river valley right now.

He dragged his exhausted body through the thick brush for a long time before settling down. He found a hollowed out space beneath the roots of a tree. He crawled inside and sealed the entrance with a few array disks. It was dark and damp but it offered concealment. He sat cross legged in the dirt and began cycling his Qi to heal his strained meridians.

Hours bled into the night. Li Yu felt his internal pathways cool and stabilize. The chaotic energy of the sphere in his inner world in addition to the pills he took fed his rapid recovery. They were acting as a supreme battery for his depleted reserves.

Then a subtle ripple in the ambient space alerted him. Someone was hovering right outside his root cave.

"Human." A familiar raspy voice called out softly into the quiet night. "It is Moros."

‘My array disks from before are clearly no good anymore. I must find replacements for better stealth.’ Li Yu thought to himself, noticing the problem of his older equipment.

Li Yu groaned and stepped out into the dim starlight of the forest. Moros stood there wearing his dark cloak and his pale featureless mask. The Law Seed expert looked at Li Yu and noted the dried blood and the pale exhaustion on the boy's face.

"I felt the shockwaves of a battle near the river." Moros said while keeping a respectful distance. "The air over there smells of rust and ash. Were you the one attacked?"

"I was." Li Yu answered while leaning his shoulder against the massive tree trunk. "Twelve assassins ambushed me while I was fishing. Four of them were in the Soul Transformation realm. They did not say a single word. They just used their techniques and acid trying to kill me on the spot."

Moros stiffened beneath his heavy robes. He was not scared or surprised that Li Yu defeated those attackers. He was scared because if Li Yu blamed him for bringing trouble his way, he would be in serious trouble.

"I killed them all." Li Yu stated his voice was flat and tired.

"You must be careful." Moros warned but quickly tried to add information so Li Yu didn’t have the chance to blame him. "We encountered a similar group when we were ambushed. They are a recent faction that has been trying to upend the current power structure of the realm. The fall of the Hollow Dominion created a massive vacuum in the underground networks and the neutral zones. This new alliance is stepping into that void."

Li Yu crossed his arms. "Who are they?"

"We do not know their true leader yet." Moros explained and was sounding like a subordinate giving a field report to a commanding officer. "But most of their forces are comprised of centipedes, spiders and scorpions. They do not fight for honor or face it would seem. They fight for pure disruption. They are ruthless and highly organized."

"So I noticed." Li Yu muttered.

"They are targeting specific shipments and high value individuals to build their wealth and reputation." Moros continued. "They likely saw you alone near the river and assumed you were an easy target or a rogue courier holding vast wealth. I came back to find you and warn you once we had more information."

"I appreciate the warning Moros." Li Yu nodded accepting the information.

"May your path be clear." Moros bowed deeply, his pale mask dipping low before he vanished seamlessly into the night sky. Li Yu stepped back into his hidden location and went back to recovering.

He sat back down in the dark and wondered exactly what he had gotten himself into. After his major breakthrough to the fourth level of Divine Transformation there had been zero peace for him. He had faced desperate blackmailers, elite hit squads and now a nameless rogue army aiming to disrupt the realm.

He rubbed his aching temples. He wondered for a brief fleeting moment if he should have accepted that royal squad from Emperor Xerxis. A battalion of elite commanders would have easily swatted these annoyances away. He could have just sat on a comfortable floating palanquin and watched the royal guards slaughter the assassins without lifting a single finger.

He shook his head and quickly dismissed the thought.

While the neutral zones have been highly dangerous, he enjoyed this form of travel much more. The freedom to wander, test his own limits and gain genuine life and death combat experience was vital for his path forward. While he did not want to fight, Li Yu understood that only by having power and strength could he truly get the peace he wanted.

Relying on an insectoid guard detail would only make his instincts soft and his foundation complacent. A pampered young master would never survive the true predators waiting in the dark.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Li Yu swore a silent but heavy vow of vengeance against this new rogue group. They had attacked him without a single word of parley. They did not demand his wealth or give him a chance to discuss terms. He was an innocent bystander fishing by a quiet stream and they tried to melt his flesh with acid.

It offended him and he was insulted that they thought he was a target they should fight against. He was innocent in all of this. If he crossed paths with this spider and centipede faction again, he would not hold back in his actions. He would crush their foundations and turn their bodies to ash.

He pondered what was truly going on in the broader realm. The termite empire had fallen and their territory was being devoured by the victors. Now a new faction was rising in the shadows and utilizing the chaos to build their own power base. Things were shifting rapidly across the realm.

He decided he would have to wait and see how things turned out. He was too weak to influence the grand politics of Domain Kings. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, recovering his depleted strength for the journey ahead.

The next two days of travel were quiet. Li Yu left the lush river valleys and entered the harsh arid environment that marked the true borders of the Ant Empire. He stood on a high rocky ridge and looked out over a sprawling fortress city.

This was the Aegis Bastion. It was the strongest border city of the Ant Empire and the scale of the structure was staggering. There were no elegant crystal spires floating platforms or luxurious silk banners. The Aegis Bastion was a literal war camp scaled up to the size of a metropolis.

It was built directly into a canyon wall. Towering ramparts forged from dark hardened earth and thick organic resin surrounded the city. The walls were high and lined with mounted weapons. Defensive arrays pulsed with a heavy crimson light across the stone.

Heavily armored ant soldiers marched in perfect unison across the wide paved streets. The discipline was rigid and absolute. There were no rogue factions fighting in the dark alleys and no chaotic slave markets operating out in the open like in Dirty Hollow. Everything within these walls operated with military efficiency.

Li Yu walked down the ridge and approached the massive iron gates. He paid the entrance fee using a few refined mineral ingots he had looted from the treacherous guard a few days prior. The towering ant defenders at the gate scrutinized his human features with their compound eyes but they let him pass without issue.

He wandered through the orderly streets and was taking in the unique culture.

The city was a grid. Everything served a specific military purpose. The sprawling markets sold weapons, heavy organic armor and condensed rations. There was no music playing and no frivolous entertainment. The citizens moved with purpose, their crimson chitin polished to a mirror shine.

Li Yu found a large sturdy tavern built from dark stone and heavy timber. It served as a mess hall for off duty officers and wealthy merchants passing through the border.

He went inside and ordered a plate of roasted tunnel worm meat and a side of fermented fungal mash. It was Qi dense food meant to sustain soldiers during long sieges. He sat at a corner table and took a bite. The meat was tough and heavily spiced with underground salts but it was filling and rich in Qi.

He was halfway through his meal when the rigid atmosphere of the city abruptly shattered.

A deafening alarm horn echoed across the Aegis Bastion. The sound was a deep guttural blast carved from a beast bone. It was so loud it rattled the stone cups on the tavern tables and vibrated deep in Li Yu's chest.

The deep resonant blast was followed immediately by the heavy synchronized stomping of tens of thousands of armored boots.

Li Yu looked out the small tavern window. The streets were descending into organized military chaos. Squads of elite ant enforcers rushed past and were locking down every single intersection with heavy tower shields and glowing spears.

The massive iron gates of the city slammed shut with a thunderous boom that echoed for miles across the arid plains. The crimson defensive arrays on the outer walls flared to maximum intensity. A thick dome of solid red light projected upward and sealed the airspace over the city completely.

Patrons in the tavern began to murmur nervously while standing up from their tables. Li Yu listened closely to the rapid clicks and hushed frantic whispers spreading around him. After awhile some information was spreading around.

"The central vault was breached." A heavy set beetle merchant whispered to his companion at the next table his mandibles trembling. "They say a secret treasure was stolen right out from under the sector commander's nose."

"A secret treasure?" The companion gasped, gripping his ale cup tight. "But that vault is guarded by experts. It is a fortress within a fortress. The item was meant to be transported to the royal capital in just a few days."

"Whoever took it must still be inside the city." The beetle merchant said as he was shaking his head in dread. "The lockdown happened too fast. The arrays were triggered the second the breach was discovered. No one is getting out now. The guards are going to tear this place apart looking for it."

Li Yu chewed his roasted meat thoughtfully watching the crimson light of the dome reflect off the stone streets outside. He had experienced something like this before but at that time someone had died. His luck was truly terrible recently.

He was currently trapped inside a military fortress during a high level lockdown. The enraged guards were about to begin tearing the city apart block by block looking for daring thieves and a highly coveted stolen treasure. It was a recipe for collateral damage and bloody interrogations.

He took a slow sip of his clear spring water.

The situation should not affect him much, he thought. He was not the thief and he had no hidden agenda in the Aegis Bastion. He was innocent of this specific crime. He was also not in a hurry to reach the capital or anywhere else in the realm. His goal was simply to travel and experience the world.

He watched a squad of heavily armored guards burst through the front doors of the tavern to begin their aggressive inspections. The soldiers barked orders demanding information and searching spatial rings.

Li Yu was unbothered. He waved the nervous tavern keeper over to his corner table. He reached into his robes and tossed a handful of high grade spirit stones onto the wooden surface.

"I will take your best room." Li Yu said his voice calm over the shouting guards. "And keep the roasted meat coming. It seems I will be staying here for a while."

The tavern keeper eagerly scooped up the wealth and handed Li Yu an iron key with a room number etched into the metal.

Li Yu finished his meal and headed upstairs to his private room. On his way up, a guard grabbed him and told him to wait in his room for them. Li Yu agreed and was content to sit out the massive lockdown, cultivate in peace and let the Ant Empire handle its own internal messes. He had dealt with enough rogue factions and stolen treasures for one week.