Chapter 843: The Host
It was the look of two generals about to commit their final reserves to a desperate battle.
"We cannot cure the poison," Jhyra admitted. Her cold voice was surprisingly honest. The manipulative tactics from earlier had failed and they knew Li Yu would not tolerate another lie.
"The toxin is eating her ethereal foundation. But she is only dying because her soul has weakened significantly before the poisoning happened and of course even more after she was poisoned. Her soul is stretched thin while bound to the realm."
"She needs a sanctuary," Haelan continued. "She needs to detach her soul from the realm core and enter a physical vessel. A new body. But she cannot enter just anyone. The vessel must possess an extraordinarily powerful soul foundation to handle the immense weight of her being. Furthermore, the host’s soul must resonate with her. Just as other people’s souls cannot randomly enter bodies at will, hers is even more specific in its needs. If the resonance is mismatched, her presence would instantly shatter the host's mind and kill them both."
Li Yu stared at them. The words hung in the air like a physical weight.
"You want me to be a host…?" Li Yu summarized. His voice was flat and devoid of emotion. "You want to bring me back to your empire so your ancient, poisoned Ancestor can possess my body and live inside my soul space."
"Not possess," Jhyra corrected quickly. "She would not take control of your physical actions. She simply needs to rest within you. By entering a compatible and vibrant soul space, her own soul can consolidate its remaining strength. Our hope is that the ambient vitality of a perfect host will allow her to fight off the poison. Or at least enter a state of deep hibernation to halt the decay."
Li Yu was stunned. The sheer audacity of the request was staggering. They wanted to turn him into a living vessel for their ancestor and the ease at which they explain it though it was such a simple thing.
Li Yu didn’t get immediately angry though because other thoughts appeared in his mind first. He leaned back in his chair and he looked down at the wooden table. A strange and paradoxical thought came to his mind. He already had several souls residing in his body.
The Fisherman, the Koi, the Whale, Muddy and his Human Soul. He had acquired them as he powered through his cultivation stages. He could not fully explain their presence but they were a part of him. Adding one more foreign soul to the Koi Sanctuary might not be impossible for his unique foundation.
But the Fisherman and the beasts were acquired through his own cultivation path. They appeared when he had reached certain levels in his cultivation. They were aligned with his Dao. This was an ancient being from a ruthless empire and was a foreign soul.
"She is a supreme entity," Li Yu reasoned out loud. He was voicing his immediate concerns. "Even if she is poisoned and weakened she is still a being that has lived for eras. What is to stop her from overpowering my consciousness? What is to stop her from deciding that she prefers to steer the ship herself and take over my life completely?"
He looked up at the Eidolon leaders. His eyes narrowed. "Your Ancestor manipulated her own bloodline to hold her entire race hostage. She built an empire on genetic extortion and who knows what other kind of cunning. Your people casually ordered the execution of a general just to make a point. Ruthlessness runs deep in your blood. Why should I trust that she would simply rest quietly in my soul?"
A long and drawn out silence filled the pavilion.
Old Du shifted uncomfortably on his stool. The ferryman had lived through eras of war and betrayal. He knew exactly what an ancient soul was capable of when backed into a corner. Khaos remained still but his starry eyes gleamed with a cold and calculating light. Both of the ancient beings were surprised by the raw honesty of the Eidolon request but they shared Li Yu’s intense skepticism.
"You speak of the poison as well," Li Yu continued. He was systematically dismantling their proposal. "You said the toxin is hideous and unknown. If she enters my body what happens to the poison? Does it spread? Does it infect my foundation? If I host her, do I sign my own death plague by inviting a lethal corruption into my core?"
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Haelan raised his pale hands in a placating gesture. "We have spent the last twenty years experimenting with fragments of the poison. We have tested it against countless mediums and lesser soul constructs. While we have found no true cure, the poison appears to be highly specific. It does not seem to spread or jump to surrounding ethereal structures."
"It does not seem to," Li Yu repeated. The skepticism in his voice was thick enough to cut. "You have tested it in isolation. But you have never tested it inside a living and breathing host because you have not found a compatible body until now. You cannot be certain that it won't spread once she integrates with my foundation."
Jhyra nodded slowly. The icy facade of the Eidolon ruler finally cracked. She revealed the agonizing uncertainty beneath. "You are right. We cannot be absolutely certain. Once she enters a living vessel the dynamics of the poison could change. It is a risk. But it is the only risk left that offers a chance of survival."
Li Yu crossed his arms. "How do you even know I am compatible? Your delegation showed up this morning claiming Torend had confirmed my suitability. But he barely looked at me. He didn't run any tests. How can you be so sure my soul resonates with an Ancestor you haven't seen in eras?"
Haelan reached into his shimmering grey robes. He withdrew a small and perfectly spherical orb of polished crystal. The moment the orb entered the open air of the pavilion the ambient Qi in the courtyard surged.
"Before her condition deteriorated completely, our Ancestor forged several of these resonance orbs," Haelan explained. He held the crystal in his open palm. "They contain a microscopic fragment of her ethereal soul. They were designed to react to compatible souls. The criteria was broad but it allowed us to narrow down the most likely contenders across the realms."
Haelan looked at Torend who was kneeling quietly in the corner. "When Torend met you yesterday, the orb in his possession reacted. He reported that it glowed brighter than any orb had ever glowed in our search. It was a blinding reaction."
Haelan held the orb out toward Li Yu.
Li Yu did not move but the crystal sphere reacted instantly to his proximity. Deep within the polished glass a brilliant and piercing white light ignited. It was not a soft glow. It became a miniature sun trapped in a crystal. The light was so intense that it cast stark and unnatural shadows against the grey isolation barrier. It illuminated the entire pavilion with a blinding radiance.
"As you can see," Jhyra whispered as she stared at the glowing orb with a mixture of awe and desperate hope. "It is not just a match. It is nearly perfect. You are the only vessel in the known cosmos capable of holding her."
Astramentis hovered above the table. The golden rings of the sacred artifact clicked softly. The layered voice of the astrolabe resonated in Li Yu’s mind. It carried a tone of deep and genuine apology.
"I am sorry, Li Yu," Astramentis communicated. "My function is to locate strong souls. I felt the immense density of your foundation and I brought the Eidolon Court to your doorstep. I had absolutely no idea it would lead to this. I did not know they were hunting for a host."
"It is not your fault," Li Yu replied mentally. He was not angry with the relic. Astramentis was simply fulfilling its ancient goal and did not know their true intent. But he was incredibly frustrated by the entire situation. He had spent his morning swinging a sword to clear his head and now he was being asked to carry the fate of an empire inside his own soul.
"If Torend had succeeded yesterday," Haelan said. His voice was quiet and devoid of any lingering arrogance.
"We would have brought you back to the Eidolon Court and we would have treated you like a king. You would have had access to the supreme treasuries of our empire. You would have wanted for nothing. Our hope was that by resting in a perfect physical vessel her strength would slowly return. She was only poisoned because she had weakened so severely over the eras."
Jhyra stepped back and lowered her hands. The intricate seals she had woven earlier dissolved. The shimmering grey isolation barrier above the courtyard shattered into harmless motes of light. The ambient sounds of Kyokai City flooded back into the pavilion.
"We have spoken our truth," Jhyra stated. She looked at Li Yu with a solemn and heavy gaze. "We have revealed our greatest weakness and our deepest shame. We have laid the fate of trillions at your feet."
Haelan stood up. He bowed deeply to Li Yu. It was not the shallow and polite bow of a diplomat. It was the desperate and absolute submission of a leader begging for the survival of his people.
"The decision is yours," Haelan said. "We will wait for your answer."
Without another word Haelan and Jhyra turned and walked out of the courtyard. They did not issue any further threats and they did not attempt another manipulation, besides trying to guilt him with the last bit of their words just now.
They had exhausted their leverage and their schemes. They had simply stated their desperation and left the heavy burden of choice resting entirely on Li Yu’s shoulders. Li Yu remained sitting in the quiet pavilion. He stared at the empty space where the Eidolon leaders had stood while the blinding light of the resonance orb burned in his memory.