Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The heavy atmosphere of conquest that had choked the Aegis Bastion slowly dissipated over the next few days. The horrific bloodstains on the paving stones were scrubbed clean and the shattered organic ramparts were patched with fresh dark stones and resin.

The massive iron gates of the border city groaned open and welcomed the backlog of frustrated merchants and weary travelers. Everything was more or less back to normal. The vendors returned to their stalls, the taverns served their bitter ale and the caravans loaded up their cargo.

Li Yu walked toward the northern gate and was ready to leave the Bastion behind.

As he passed through the archway, he noticed something strange. The mandatory exit fee which had been reduced. Li Yu handed over the ingots and stepped out onto the arid plains. He was not sure if the price reduction was a conscientious choice by the usurper to win the favor of the people or simply an administrative oversight during the chaotic transition of power. Either way it proved his point. The grand political upheavals of Domain Kings rarely crushed the daily routine of the common realm.

He began his journey deeper into the heart of the Ant Empire. His travels were aimless. He did not have a specific destination or a grand quest in mind right now. After two days of steady travel across the arid plains the landscape began to shift. The dry earth gave way to rolling hills covered in a strange thick grass that possessed the texture and color of rusted iron.

Nestled between two of these large rust colored hills was a sprawling agricultural town called Redleaf.

Li Yu walked down the dirt path and entered the settlement. Redleaf was vastly different from the brutal military architecture of the Aegis Bastion. The structures here were built low to the ground. They resembled massive natural mounds constructed from chewed wood pulp and hardened soil.

The primary industry of the town was immediately apparent. Surrounding the mounds were vast open air pens filled with thousands of giant docile aphids. The heavy set beetle farmers and worker ants tended to the livestock. They were harvesting the sweet and nutritious honeydew the aphids naturally produced.

The air smelled intensely sweet like fermenting fruit and warm earth.

Li Yu wandered through the bustling market plaza. The vendors here did not sell weapons or armor. They sold massive barrels of raw honeydew, crystallized sugar rocks and various pastries baked from ground spore flour.

He purchased a small bag of the crystallized sugar rocks and popped one into his mouth. It was incredibly sweet but it was providing an instant rush of clean Qi.

He sat on a wooden bench near the central aphid pens and listened to the local chatter. Even out here in the quiet agricultural hills, the recent coup was the only topic of conversation.

"I heard the new King ate the old Queen." A plump beetle farmer whispered to his neighbor while tossing handfuls of rusted grass into an aphid pen. "They say he swallowed her whole to absorb her foundation. That is why the earth was shaking so violently for a whole week."

"Do not be stupid." The neighbor, an older worker ant, replied while rolling his eyes. "He did not eat her. My cousin told me what really happened. He said King Venrik chained her to a massive rock and dragged her down into the deepest abyss of the neutral zones. She is imprisoned at the center of the world."

"Well, whatever he did, the exit fees at the border are cheaper now." The beetle farmer shrugged. "If he lowers the tax on our honeydew shipments, I do not care if he ate her or not."

Li Yu chewed his sugar rock and smiled faintly. The rumors were already mutating into wild myths. In a few hundred years the true story of the calculated trap and the earth array would be completely lost, replaced by terrifying legends of a giant spider swallowing the sun.

‘I wonder how the rumors about me, if they are even still going, are doing back at home. Am I now holding a spear and charging at my enemies on a giant dragon? There are more statues?’ Li Yu thought to himself with a big smile on his face.

He finished his bag of sweets and continued his walk through Redleaf. He found a unique vendor at the edge of the market selling rare beasts caught from the deep underground aquifers that ran beneath the rust colored hills.

Li Yu stopped at the stall and his interest peaked. Displayed in large thick glass tanks were several strange aquatic creatures.

"What are these?" Li Yu asked, pointing to a tank filled with swirling silver water.

Inside the tank swam a school of tiny translucent fish. They possessed no visible internal organs. Instead, their bodies were filled with a glowing crystalline substance that pulsed with a gentle rhythmic light.

"Ah, those are Ironvein Tetras, human." The vendor, a multi armed centipede replied proudly. "They feed entirely on the ambient metal Qi in the water. They are useless for combat but their glowing bodies are prized by wealthy nobles as living decorations for their private meditation ponds."

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Li Yu reached out with his senses. The tiny fish did not possess high level cultivation but their unique biology fascinated him. He had plenty of space in his Koi Sanctuary.

"I will take the entire tank." Li Yu decided. He looked at the price of each and quickly handed over the amount onto the vendor's counter.

The centipede’s eyes widened at the casual display of wealth. He eagerly packed the Ironvein Tetras into a specialized spatial water pouch and handed them over.

Li Yu stepped into a quiet alleyway away from prying eyes. He sent his consciousness into his inner world and opened the spatial pouch. He guided the school of translucent glowing fish directly into the ocean of his Koi Soul.

The Ironvein Tetras immediately adapted to their new environment. They swam happily through the shifting colors of the spiritual water, their crystalline bodies pulsing with a much brighter and more vibrant light now that they were saturated in Qi.

Li Yu watched them for a moment and was feeling a sense of calm satisfaction. It had been awhile since he was able to add more to his collection. He always checked in each town or city he visited but it had been awhile since he encountered something he could keep.

He left the alley and exited Redleaf continuing his journey northward. He traveled for another four days, leaving the rust colored hills behind and entering a region dominated by towering jagged canyons. The stone walls of the canyons were a deep bruised purple and the air was thick with a perpetual and creeping mist.

He arrived at his next destination, a vertical town carved directly into the sheer purple cliffs. This was the town of Echo Ridge.

Echo Ridge was a massive series of interconnected hanging bridges, wooden platforms and deep cave dwellings suspended thousands of feet in the air above a roaring river. He had seen towns like this before in other realms. It was surprising to see that each place came up with similar solutions to the same problems.

The inhabitants were primarily agile mantis kin and rogue jumping spiders who navigated the vertical drops with effortless grace. Li Yu climbed the winding staircase carved into the cliff face and stepped onto the lowest wooden platform of the town.

The atmosphere here was tense and secretive. The creeping mist muffled all sounds, making the entire town feel isolated and paranoid. The vendors operated out of deep recessed caves. They were selling rare medicinal fungi harvested from the damp cliff walls and specialized climbing gear woven from spider silk.

Li Yu navigated the hanging bridges and was heading toward the upper levels of the town where the main plaza was located. He found a small open air tea house precariously bolted to the side of the purple cliff. He ordered a pot of the local specialty, a steaming brew made from steeped mist flowers that tasted faintly of mineral water and bitter rain.

He sat at a small table overlooking the massive drop and listened to the whispered conversations of the mantis kin sitting nearby.

The rumors in Echo Ridge were vastly different from the simple agricultural myths of Redleaf. The isolated vertical town bred a much darker, more paranoid strain of gossip.

"It was not a rebellion." A slender mantis hissed leaning close to her companion. "The entire coup was orchestrated by the Hive Empire. King Venrik is just a puppet. Emperor Xerxis funded the rogue army and supplied that special rock to trap the Queen."

"Why would Xerxis do that?" Her companion asked. "The Hive Empire already controls so much of the realm."

"Because he wants more!" The first mantis replied. "The Ant Queen was the only ruler strong enough to hold the line against his swarms. By putting his puppet Venrik on the throne, Xerxis effectively controls the Aegis Legion without ever declaring formal war. We are all subjects of the Hive now."

"I heard a different story from the deep caves." A rogue jumping spider chimed in from the next table over. "They say Venrik did not orchestrate the trap at all. They say the special rock is actually a sentient entity. It corrupted his mind and forced him to capture his sister. The rock is the true ruler of the empire now and is feeding on her Domain King blood."

Li Yu took a slow sip of his mist flower tea.

The paranoia of Echo Ridge was fascinating. The locals were trying to assign the blame to unseen conspiracies or sentient cosmic horrors. The truth was vastly simpler but the simple truth rarely satisfied the terrified masses. Venrik was just a brilliant patient schemer with a massive grudge. He did not need Emperor Xerxis or a sentient rock to execute his coup. He just needed time and opportunity.

Li Yu finished his tea and stood up. He walked across the main plaza and found another exotic beast vendor operating out of a damp cave.

The vendor was a hunched over beetle and he was selling creatures harvested from the roaring river at the bottom of the purple canyon. Li Yu spotted a reinforced stone basin filled with dark churning water. Inside the basin rested several strange creatures that looked like massive flat stones.

"What are those?" Li Yu asked, peering into the dark water.

"Those are Riverhide Snappers." The beetle vendor grunted. "They are aquatic ambush predators. They possess incredibly dense flat shells that perfectly mimic the smooth river stones. They lie in wait at the bottom of the rapids and snap their jaws shut on anything that swims past. They have a very nasty bite."

Li Yu observed the creatures. They were only at the Foundation Establishment level but their natural camouflage and their dense defensive shells were highly impressive. They were a perfect addition to his ecosystem.

"I will take four of them." Li Yu said while pulling out another handful of high grade spirit stones to pay.

The beetle vendor gladly accepted the payment and carefully transferred the four Riverhide Snappers into a heavy duty water bag using a pair of long iron tongs to avoid their snapping jaws.

Li Yu walked out onto one of the highest hanging bridges in Echo Ridge. The mist swirled heavily around him and was obscuring the town and the sheer drop below.

He opened the spatial bag and transferred the four aquatic predators into his Koi Sanctuary. The Riverhide Snappers settled instantly onto the ocean floor, their flat dense shells blending perfectly with the shifting colors of the domain. They lay perfectly still and were waiting patiently for prey that would never come.

Li Yu smiled, his mind completely detached from the paranoid rumors and the grand political schemes of the Domain Kings. He turned and continued his walk across the swaying bridge and quickly disappeared into the thick purple mist.