Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The artificial twilight of Kyokai City faded into a bright and crisp morning. Li Yu stepped out of his pavilion and checked the dark purple soul-jade badge in his hand. The text remained unchanged from the previous evening. He was to report to the Pagoda of the Heavy Crown.

He walked through the waking city while native merchants set up their stalls. The scent of steamed buns and spiritual tea filled the air. He crossed the vermillion bridge and entered the Trial Grounds. He navigated the labyrinth of towering structures until he reached the designated quadrant.

The Pagoda of the Heavy Crown looked entirely different from the others. It was not tall or elegant. It was a squat and incredibly wide structure constructed of dull grey lead. It looked like a massive anvil resting on the polished white stone of the plaza. The air around the building felt thick and distorted as if gravity itself was struggling to operate correctly near the entrance.

Li Yu walked up the short steps and pushed open the heavy iron doors.

He stepped inside and the physical walls vanished. He did not find himself in an ash field or a starry void this time. He was standing at the bottom of a massive and endlessly wide staircase carved from dark stone. At the very top of the stairs hovered a brilliant crown forged from a condensed and liquid golden light.

"Welcome to the Pagoda of the Heavy Crown." The mechanical and disembodied voice echoed through the dark expanse. "A strong Dao Heart provides the direction but pure soul strength provides the engine. To restore this realm, one must be able to bear the crushing weight of shattered laws. Ascend the stairs. Claim the crown and become eternal."

Li Yu looked up at the towering staircase. He could see faint indentations on the lower steps where previous candidates had dragged themselves forward on their hands and knees. The trial was straightforward. It was a pure and unadulterated test of raw soul strength. There were no illusions to trick the mind and no complex arrays to unravel. It was simply a contest of how much weight can your soul handle.

He took a deep breath and stepped onto the first stair.

A wave of pressure descended from the golden crown. It bypassed his physical body entirely and struck directly at his ethereal foundation. It felt like a massive boulder had been dropped onto his soul. At least, that was what it was supposed to feel like.

Li Yu paused on the first step. He blinked in genuine confusion. He waited for his knees to buckle or for his vision to blur. He waited for the agonizing strain that Daiki and Sora had described when facing the artifact's physical trials.

Nothing happened.

Inside his Ocean of Qi where his souls resided, the pressure from the pagoda washed over his foundation. However, it did not hit a single and isolated soul. The crushing weight was instantly divided among his five Nascent Souls. The Human Soul remained seated in tranquil meditation. The Koi continued to swim lazily through the sky. Muddy chewed on a patch of spiritual grass. The Blue Whale drifted through the deep ocean while the Fisherman adjusted his straw hat and his fishing line. None of them seemed bothered at all.

Because his foundation was so incredibly dense and distributed, the weight of the Pagoda of the Heavy Crown felt like a gentle and pleasant breeze. It was actually somewhat refreshing. Li Yu took another step. The pressure increased. He still felt absolutely nothing.

‘This had happened before in another trial that Malos was with me. Others complained about how tough it was afterwards and I felt nothing. I guess when it comes to soul strength, I am not found lacking.’ Li Yu thought but then threw the thought to the back of his mind. He had made the same assumption with his poison immunity and had to suffer through pain when he saved the Moth Queen.

He took a third step and then a fourth. He began to walk up the massive stone staircase at a normal and casual pace. He did not need to channel his chaotic domain or grip his newly bound Star Crusher. He simply strolled up the steps with his hands clasped behind his back.

He reached the halfway point within minutes. The air rippled with visible distortion. Li Yu looked around the dark expanse and admired the architecture of the stairs while he continued his ascent.

"Candidate Li Yu."

The voice that spoke this time was not the mechanical proctor. It was Astramentis. The sacred artifact sounded completely baffled.

"Yes, Astramentis?" Li Yu replied calmly while taking another step.

"Are your sensory arrays functioning correctly?" The artifact asked. The layered voice carried a tone of absolute disbelief. "You are currently bearing soul crushing pressure. How are you just walking like that? No one has moved this quickly and unbothered. You have not slowed your pace and your ethereal fluctuations remain entirely flat. You are not even using Qi to help reinforce your souls."

"The stairs are quite comfortable," Li Yu answered honestly. "Is the pressure supposed to be higher?"

A long silence followed his question. The rings of the astrolabe were likely spinning furiously in the void as the artifact tried to calculate the impossibleness of Li Yu's foundation. Astramentis could not see the five independent Nascent Souls. It could only see a single, unified sun that simply refused to be compressed.

"Your soul defies all known logic," Astramentis finally stated. The voice held a mixture of awe and deep mechanical frustration. "Even ancient Paragon experts from the supreme clans are forced to crawl the final hundred steps of this pagoda. You are walking as if you are touring a garden."

"I don’t feel anything yet. Perhaps I will as I get higher." Li Yu smiled and continued his casual stroll.

He reached the top of the staircase without shedding a single drop of sweat. He stood before the hovering crown of condensed golden light. The pressure here was absolute. It was a suffocating weight designed to push the very limits of the soul's endurance. For Li Yu, it felt like wearing a slightly heavy winter coat.

He reached out and placed his hand on the golden crown.

The light shattered into a million glowing fragments that showered over him. The fragments absorbed directly into his skin and provided a large influx of pure and refined Soul Qi. His five Nascent Souls naturally drew in the energy. The trial was not just a test but a reward of resources for those who could reach the end.

"Trial complete." The mechanical voice returned to declare his victory. "Soul strength verified. Unexplainable."

The dark expanse dissolved and Li Yu found himself standing back in the dull grey foyer of the pagoda. The heavy iron doors opened to the bright morning light. He pulled out his dark purple badge. A new completion symbol etched itself into the smooth jade.

He walked out of the pagoda and let out a content sigh. The physical trials were incredibly easy compared to the mental exhaustion of the Unbroken Step.

Li Yu spent the next few hours wandering the central plazas of the Trial Grounds. He observed the other candidates engaged in their own struggles. He saw Jin Wu, the four-armed brute, emerging from a fiery pagoda with severe burns across his chest but a triumphant roar on his lips. He saw Princess Linnea elegantly commanding a group of allied candidates through a complex array formation for training.

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Around midday Li Yu left the central plazas and headed toward the outer rings. He expected Daiki and Sora would likely be there.

He found them near a large wooden pavilion situated on the border between the Trial Grounds and Kyokai City. Daiki was sprawled out on a massive stone bench and looked utterly defeated. Sora was sitting nearby while calmly polishing her wooden sword with a piece of rough cloth.

"You look terrible," Li Yu noted as he walked up to the giant demon.

Daiki groaned and cracked open one golden eye. "I spent the entire morning trapped in the Pagoda of the Shifting Maze. The walls kept rearranging themselves and the gravity inverted every ten minutes. I would rather fight my hydra fiancée bare handed."

"He lacks spatial awareness," Sora added helpfully without looking up from her sword. "He said he walked into the same mirrored trap four times."

"It was a very confusing mirror!" Daiki defended himself weakly before sitting up. He looked at Li Yu's pristine dark robes. "You look entirely too comfortable. Which pagoda did the artifact throw you into today?"

"The Pagoda of the Heavy Crown," Li Yu answered while taking a seat on a smaller stone stool.

Daiki was surprised. His jaw dropped slightly and his golden eyes widened. Even Sora stopped polishing her sword and looked at Li Yu with genuine surprise.

"The Heavy Crown?" Daiki repeated loudly. "Are you joking? That pagoda is a nightmare. It took me three weeks of crawling on my stomach to reach the top. I was told the pressure was lowered as well and that was the only reason I made it. It took pity on me. I think I have to go through it again at some point. I thought my skull was going to cave in. How are you walking right now?."

"I finished it in about ten minutes," Li Yu said honestly. "I suppose my soul is just naturally strong. I didn't really feel much pressure."

Daiki stared at the human for a long and silent moment. He then turned his head to look at Sora. "He is a monster. We befriended a monster of the soul, when we are all supposed to already be monsters and he is disguised in plain robes."

"He is a bit strange," Sora said gently. A faint and rare smile touched her lips. "It is a good thing for us. It means Jin Wu will eventually realize Li Yu is the true prize and stop bothering you."

Daiki laughed at the thought while rubbing his sore neck. The trio fell into an easy and comfortable conversation. They discussed the varying difficulties of the pagodas and the strange logic Astramentis used to assign them.

‘It would seem that some trials are taken multiple times and the difficulty increases or the test changes depending on what the artifact wants to test.’ Li Yu learned from discussing.

While they talked, Li Yu noticed a large gathering of native people near one of the minor wooden pagodas. Master Nornick was there and he was organizing a group of young ethereal adults. Elian was standing near the back and watching the older natives with wide eyes.

"What are they doing?" Li Yu asked and pointed toward the crowd.

"It is a communal testing ground," Sora explained as she sheathed her wooden sword. "The natives use the minor pagodas as training grounds but they also use them to harvest resources. When a native clears a lesser trial, the pagoda releases condensed soul drops. They gather those drops to help stabilize the spiritual veins beneath Kyokai City. It is a collective effort. I am told it's meant to strengthen the people but if they fail the artifact will of course release the supplies anyways. Everyone here wants to earn it though."

Li Yu stood up and walked toward the gathering. Daiki and Sora followed close behind. Master Nornick saw them approaching and offered a respectful bow. The surrounding natives parted respectfully to let the three candidates through.

"Honored candidates," Master Nornick greeted them warmly. "Have you finished your trials for the day?"

"Yes, we are resting." Li Yu said. He looked at the group of young adults preparing to enter the minor pagoda. "Are they going in together?"

"Yes," the old instructor nodded. "The Pagoda of the Whispering Wind allows group entries. It tests cooperative interactions such as soul shielding. It is incredibly difficult for our youths but the soul drops it yields are vital for the city's eastern sector."

A young native woman stepped forward from the group. She looked to be in her early twenties. She possessed striking blue eyes and faint glowing markings along her arms. She looked at the three candidates with a mixture of determination and guarded skepticism. She lacked the immediate reverence that Master Nornick displayed.

"We do not need the outsiders' pity today, Master Nornick," the young woman stated firmly. Her voice was sharp and proud. "We have practiced the formation for three weeks. We will clear the wind and secure the drops ourselves."

"This is Lyra," Master Nornick introduced her with an apologetic smile. "She is one of our brightest talents but she is quite headstrong."

"Headstrong is a requirement for survival," Daiki rumbled. He crossed his massive arms and looked down at the young woman. He did not take offense to her tone. "But pride does not block the wind. How tight is your formation?"

Lyra narrowed her eyes at the giant demon. "We form a classic turtle shell. The strongest soul stands at the front to break the gale while the others support from the rear."

"That is a mistake," Sora spoke up quietly. She stepped past Daiki and looked at Lyra. "The wind does not only strike from the front. It surrounds and it permeates. If you put all your strength at the vanguard, the rear will collapse when the wind shifts. You must form a rotating circle. Share the burden equally and rotate the vanguard every ten breaths."

Lyra hesitated. She looked at her peers and then back to the wolf woman. The advice made sense but she was clearly reluctant to accept tactical help from an outsider.

“You should keep an open mind. It is not a bad thing to listen and take guidance. Being too stubborn will trap you in a smaller box." Li Yu added gently. He stepped forward and looked the young woman in the eyes. "You are fighting for your home. This is not about pride or proving yourselves to us. It is about bringing those soul drops back to the city. Use every advantage you can get. A rotating circle will save your energy and keep your shield intact."

Lyra stared at the human. She searched his calm expression for arrogance or mockery but found only genuine support. The natives were used to some candidates who treated them like scenery or servants. The trio was different, at least right now. They offered respect and practical wisdom.

Lyra finally nodded and her rigid posture relaxed slightly. "A rotating circle," she confirmed. She turned to her group of native youths. "You heard them. We adjust the formation. Kel, you take the right flank. We rotate on my mark."

The group of natives quickly reorganized themselves. They formed a tight and interlocking circle. They took a collective breath and stepped into the glowing blue portal of the minor pagoda.

Li Yu, Daiki and Sora stood with Master Nornick and Elian. They watched the entrance of the pagoda in silence. The air grew tense as the minutes ticked by. This was a common occurrence in The Veil. The people of this realm were constantly throwing themselves into the crucible just to keep their world breathing.

Ten minutes passed. Then twenty.

Suddenly, the blue portal flared with a brilliant light. The group of native youths stumbled out of the pagoda. They were exhausted and covered in sweat. Several of them dropped to their knees while gasping for air. However, they were all smiling.

Lyra walked out last. She looked incredibly tired but she held a glowing glass vial in her hand. The vial was filled to the brim with radiant and liquid soul drops. The surrounding natives erupted into cheers. Elian jumped up and down with excitement.

Lyra walked over to Master Nornick and handed him the vial. She then turned and walked directly toward Li Yu, Daiki and Sora. She stopped a few feet away and offered a deep and formal bow. It was a gesture of respect.

"The wind shifted exactly as you predicted," Lyra said as she looked at Sora. She then looked at Daiki and Li Yu. "The rotating circle held the shield together. We would have failed without your guidance. Thank you."

"You executed the formation," Sora replied with a respectful nod. "The victory is yours."

Li Yu smiled as he watched the interaction. The candidates were here to test their souls and claim ancient heritage. But as he looked at the cheering natives and the glowing vial of soul drops, he saw the true value of this realm. It was a forge for the soul but it was fueled by communal struggle.

By helping the natives and sharing their knowledge, the trio was forging bonds that were stronger than any political alliance Jin Wu or Linnea could ever build here. They were becoming pillars of the community, albeit a tiny one currently. They were finding a home away from home.

The Trial Grounds were brutal and the cosmic scale was intimidating. But standing in the outer rings among laughing friends and resilient locals, Li Yu felt at peace. He was exactly where he needed to be.

‘I made the right choice in deciding to come here.’ Li Yu thought firmly to himself.