Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Li Yu found the general standing guard near a grand archway. The elite commander wore cracked armor but he stood perfectly straight. It could be seen that this Empire was still in the process of recovering. Their main task was to keep their Queen safe and haven't even had the chance to repair their armor. The general turned and saw Li Yu. His pale mask shifted slightly.

"You survived." The general stated.

"I did." Li Yu replied. "I would like to see the Queen now."

The general nodded and turned down the hall. The general was stationed here to notify the Queen as soon as Li Yu came out. They had looked at his condition after the first week and it seemed like he would make it.

The general led Li Yu away from the recovery chamber and toward a more comfortable section of the royal sanctum. They arrived at a set of polished shadow wood doors. The general pushed them open and stepped aside.

Li Yu walked into a spacious room draped in dark iridescent silks. Soft glowing pearls provided a warm light. Queen Calyptra sat near a wide window. She was no longer a rigid statue locked in pain. She looked tired but her breathing was deep and her aura was calm.

This was the first time Li Yu actually saw her face. Her featureless pale mask rested on a small table beside her. She possessed striking sharp features and dark eyes that seemed to absorb the light around them.

"You are awake." She said to him. Her voice was smooth and carried a natural regal authority. " I owe you my life."

"I only did what was requested of me." Li Yu answered.

"You took a terrifying risk." The Queen countered. "You absorbed a lethal affliction and endured immense suffering because of it. Very few beings in this realm would ever make such a sacrifice for a stranger."

"I was doing a favor for Xerxis." Li Yu explained plainly. Li Yu wasn’t being modest or humble either. He never felt any sense of great heroism in his acts. Whether it was saving a life through his healing arts or defeating enemies in battle. That sense of heroism was never present.

Queen Calyptra paused. A brief and genuine smile touched her lips before vanishing back into her composed expression.

"Regardless of your reasons, you helped save the Eclipse Court." She stated. "I owe you a great debt. Anything you want is yours. If you wish to rule over cities I will grant them to you. If you want vast tracts of land they are yours. Ask and it will be done."

Li Yu shook his head. "I do not want political power or cities to manage. I prefer my freedom."

"Then what can I offer you?" She asked.

"I would like to look through your royal vault." Li Yu replied. "I only want a few items that will aid my personal cultivation."

The Queen nodded. She sent a mental command to the general waiting outside.

"The general will escort you." She said. "Take whatever you desire. The wealth of my empire is open to you."

Li Yu thanked her and left the room. The general led him deep beneath the palace. They descended several spiraling staircases until they reached a set of colossal iron doors protected by complex arrays. The general bypassed the seals and the heavy doors slowly groaned open.

Li Yu stepped into the royal vault. It was a vast and cavernous space filled with unimaginable wealth. There were rows of glowing weapons, racks of armor and pedestals displaying rare natural treasures.

He took his time walking through the aisles. He did not want weapons or armor. He had Star Crusher and his own physical toughness. Li Yu has been searching for a piece of armor but nothing has ever called out to him. He focused on items that would directly solve his current problems and enhance his recent insights.

He picked out exactly five items. Li Yu didn’t want to be overly greedy and only took items he needed.

The first item was a powerful array disk. It was forged from dark star iron and etched with supreme concealment runes. It was designed for stealth and hiding. It was much stronger than the array plates he purchased in the rogue settlement. With this disk he could cultivate peacefully anywhere in this realm in peace.

The second item was a manual. It contained a stealth technique for hiding presence, sound, movements and Qi. The Eclipse Court produced the greatest assassins in the realm. Their stealth techniques were peerless. Li Yu planned to study the manual and pull specific concepts from it to add to his own movement and hiding techniques.

The third and fourth items were natural treasures for body refinement. He selected a dark pulsing stone that radiated pure destruction. He then selected a crystalline vial filled with a glowing green sap that contained boundless life energy. During his grueling month fighting the poison he gained further insights into destruction and life. He knew these two treasures would be incredibly useful for him to push his physical foundation even further.

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The fifth item was a luxury. It was a small and intricately carved wooden block. The plaque beneath it described it as a luxurious portable pavilion. Li Yu never thought he needed such a thing before. But during his long period of cultivation when Venrik was waging war, he realized he was tired of suffering unnecessarily. While traveling, a camp fire was nice. But spending weeks on end sitting on the cold stone floor of a damp cave was absolute torture.

This portable pavilion could be taken out in the wild and expanded into a comfortable home. It came with its own sets of built-in arrays for gathering Qi and repelling pests. If he placed this pavilion inside a hidden cave he could cultivate in comfort.

Li Yu gathered the five items and walked back out of the vault. The general escorted him back to the Queen's chambers without questioning him on what he had taken but there was surprise that it wasn’t more. A little thought in his head was thinking perhaps Li Yu stole more and put them in his storage rings but that was impossible with the vault array up.

Queen Calyptra looked at the items in his hands. Her dark eyes narrowed slightly.

"Those items are not enough for what you have done." She stated. "You saved my life and the life of my Guardian Beast. You are insulting my gratitude by taking so little. Do you think I am too poor to afford more?"

"These are exactly what I wanted." Li Yu replied. "They serve my immediate needs perfectly."

There was an unspoken understanding in his actions. He did not take too much. Plundering a ruler's vault out of greed often bred quiet resentment even if a great deed was done. Taking only what was necessary built respect and forged a lasting relationship. He valued the goodwill of a Domain King far more than a pile of random weapons he would never use.

Before the Queen could argue further the heavy doors swung open. Emperor Xerxis walked into the room. He wore casual dark robes and looked entirely relaxed. He glanced at the five items Li Yu held and let out a booming laugh.

"You should be taking much more Young Master!" Xerxis laughed. "Do not be shy. The Queen is incredibly rich. You should empty at least half that vault."

Queen Calyptra glared at the Hive Emperor.

"Do not tell my guest how to plunder my empire you brute." She snapped. Her voice was sharp and filled with anger.

But Li Yu watched their interaction closely. The anger was entirely superficial. They did not seem like hated foes standing in the same room. There was no killing intent. There was no oppressive clash of Domain King auras. They sounded like old acquaintances bickering over a minor inconvenience.

‘Perhaps recent events have changed things between them.’ Li Yu thought.

Li Yu secured the five items in his spatial ring and looked at both rulers. He remembered the deal he struck in the dark cave.

"You promised me a story." Li Yu said directly to Xerxis. "I want to know the real story between the two of you."

Xerxis stopped laughing. The room grew quiet. Queen Calyptra looked away and stared out the large window. Even if she wanted to hide the truth, it was a deal struck between the two. It was also a deal to save her life so it would have been rude.

"It is a long story." Xerxis sighed. He walked over and sat down in a sturdy wooden chair. "But I will give you the short version that will explain things and settle your curiosity. We were indeed lovers before we built our empires. We were younger and we traveled this realm together."

Li Yu listened intently. The tavern rumors were actually true.

"We possessed supreme talent." Calyptra added quietly without turning away from the window. "But our rise threatened the established powers of that era. Through elaborate schemes and other events happening in the shadows, we were broken apart. Lies were planted. Betrayals were staged."

"They drove a wedge between us." Xerxis explained. His voice carried a deep and ancient regret. "We drifted due to those events. We went our separate ways and founded our own factions over time. Eventually establishing Empires of our own."

"By the time we both realized the truth behind the schemes… it was too late." Calyptra said. She finally turned to look at Li Yu. "We had become hated foes for far too long by then. Our empires were built. Our people had spilled blood for years and deep seeded hatred had grown into established ."

"So much time had passed that those old feelings from before were not enough to change things." Xerxis admitted. "In our own stubbornness, we never tried to correct the lies. Our empires hated each other and it was much easier to just let it be. We mostly did our own thing anyway."

"What about the kill on sight order?" Li Yu asked.

"That was real." The Queen answered. "However, since there was a strict kill on sight order from both empires, it meant our forces rarely if ever actually engaged. Battles rarely took place in the first place because troops were on high alert. If something is dangerous, you tend to avoid it. So that was what mostly happened, we avoided each other."

They had used a declaration of absolute war simply to hide from their own unresolved feelings. But in a way it helped to prevent additional fighting between their Empires. While everyone thought they were constantly fighting, that wasn’t the real case, at least not to the degree everyone thought. It was a tragic but also clever way to handle things.

"It stayed that way for centuries." Xerxis said. "Until the Moth Empire was on its last legs. Hearing she was dying changed things."

Her near death had brought those old feelings back like a tidal wave. They had both moved on with their lives but it did not mean they could sit back and watch the other die without helping. Xerxis had thrown away his pride and his armies to save the woman he once loved.

Li Yu absorbed the story in silence. ‘The heart was truly fickle.’ Was the ultimate conclusion he came to. Having not much experience himself with such things, Li Yu could only look forward to what his romantic life would be.

He was surprised by the complex emotional burdens of these ancient apex predators. They wielded the power to shatter the realm but they were paralyzed by pride, heartbreak and complex feelings.

He wondered if the two would try to get back together now that the truth was fully exposed. Or perhaps their lives had simply drifted too far apart as before. Xerxis himself had many wives and a colossal army of direct offspring. He was a father to millions. As far as Li Yu knew, the Queen did not have any family at all. She stood entirely alone in her dark palace.

Bridging that gap seemed impossible. But then again, Li Yu had just absorbed a Domain King poison and lived to tell the tale. The cosmos was full of impossible things.

"Thank you for the truth." Li Yu said gently. He offered a respectful bow to both rulers. "And thank you for the treasures."

"You earned them." The Queen replied. Her pale face softened slightly. She then invited Li Yu to a small banquet in his honor as another form of thanking him for his deeds.