Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The courtyard was consumed by a heavy and suffocating silence. Li Yu stood by the wooden table and waited. He had laid out his absolute terms. He had demanded the highest level of security and leverage possible. He was fully prepared to walk away if they refused.

Old Du looked at the glowing miniature form of Astramentis once again. The two native entities of The Veil communicated silently for a brief moment. They understood the magnitude of what Li Yu was asking of them. A soul oath binding the entire leadership of a realm was not a trivial matter. It was a cosmic promise tied directly to their foundational Dao.

Old Du stepped forward and broke the silence.

"We vow it so," Old Du stated. His voice carried a solemn and unshakable weight. "I will gather the rest of our leadership. We will all come under the soul oath. Should we break our word when you call upon us in your time of need, we will die. The Dao will see to it."

Astramentis pulsed in the air. The layered voice of the sacred artifact echoed clearly in Li Yu’s mind.

"The vow is accepted," Astramentis communicated. "It needs formal confirmation from the rest of the leadership but that is a mere formality. They know the value of the Realm Essence. We will also elevate your status to the absolute top of our people. You will sit just below the leadership council of The Veil. You will be an honored pillar of The Veil from now on."

Li Yu listened to the declarations. He did not try to be humble. He did not bow or attempt to wave away the grand honors being bestowed upon him. He knew the brutal reality of the cultivation world. Humility was often mistaken for weakness and this was actually a business deal. He needed that elevated status to ensure his own safety and to solidify his backing in the future.

"I accept," Li Yu said simply. "That matter is settled."

With the agreement of The Veil finalized, Li Yu shifted his attention back to Haelan and Jhyra. The two Eidolon leaders looked pale and drawn. Their shimmering grey silk robes seemed to have lost some of their ethereal luster. They had been given a few moments to process the staggering demands Li Yu had placed on their empire. They did not look pleased.

Haelan took a slow and deep breath. He tried to project an aura of regal authority despite the desperate circumstances.

"The first condition is impossible," Haelan stated. His voice was rigid and unyielding. "You ask for a life and death bond over every single member of our ruling council. We cannot allow that to happen."

"It is my primary condition," Li Yu replied evenly. He did not raise his voice or show any signs of frustration. He stood perfectly still.

"It means we would be at your whims," Jhyra added. Her voice was strained and carried a frantic edge. "We would live at your absolute mercy every single second of our existence. You would hold the power of life and death over the entire ruling body of our empire. One wrong word or one perceived slight could result in our execution. We could never do that."

Li Yu looked at them with cold indifference. He studied their panicked expressions.

"You will die if you do not agree anyways," Li Yu countered. He delivered the truth with the blunt force of a hammer. "Your Ancestor is fading. The poison is eating her soul. If she dies, your entire race falls dead on the spot. Isn't living better? Even if there is a new sword hanging over your heads, it is a sword that allows your people to breathe and continue existing."

Haelan shook his head violently. His pride warred fiercely with his desperation. He was a supreme ruler of a vast empire. Submitting to a youthful human was a devastating blow to his pride and the people of his people.

"We would rather die than live as slaves," Haelan declared proudly. "A life without sovereignty is no life at all. We will not hand the leash of our entire race to a stranger who could destroy us on a whim."

"I already told you I do not want slaves," Li Yu corrected him. "I have no interest in ruling your empire. I do not care about your politics, your territories or your daily lives. You would just have to trust me. You would have to trust that I would not use the bond to control you or treat you like puppets."

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Jhyra let out a harsh and bitter laugh. The sound echoed sharply across the quiet courtyard.

"Trust you?" Jhyra asked incredulously. Her translucent skin seemed to shimmer with defiance. "How can we possibly trust you with such absolute power? You are an outsider. You hold no loyalty to our culture or our history. We do not know your character. You could extinguish our council in a fit of anger."

Li Yu smiled faintly. It was a sharp and calculating expression.

"Exactly," Li Yu said.

He let the word hang in the air. He watched the realization slowly dawn on their pale faces. He let the silence stretch until the weight of his logic became unbearable.

"Trust is not so easily earned is it?" Li Yu asked.

The two Eidolon leaders were at a loss for words. The hypocrisy of their argument choked them. They had started this relationship with lies and deceit. They had brought a weapon into a sacred sanctuary. They had ordered their warriors to draw blades. They had attempted to kidnap him to force his compliance. They had proven themselves to be completely untrustworthy predators.

Now they were standing in his courtyard and demanding trust from the very person they had tried to victimize. They were asking him to walk into their empire on blind faith while refusing to offer any tangible guarantees of their own. They had absolutely no ground to stand on.

Haelan swallowed hard. His throat bobbed as he struggled to find a counterargument. He realized he could not win a debate on morality or trust. He decided to move on for now and tackle the next demand.

"The second condition cannot be allowed either," Haelan stated. He tried to regain some semblance of diplomatic authority. "Binding our Ancestor to a contract is unthinkable. How can our god be placed under a soul contract with a mortal? It is blasphemy."

"That is up to me and your Ancestor," Li Yu said simply.

"It is a massive insult," Jhyra argued. Her translucent hands curled into tight fists. "She is the mother of our race. We will not allow you to disrespect her with a restrictive contract."

"I am not forcing her to do anything," Li Yu replied. He remained entirely unbothered by their religious outrage. "She is an ancient and supreme being. We will discuss the terms of her stay when I arrive in your realm. It will be up to her if she accepts what I have to say or not."

Li Yu crossed his arms and looked at the two leaders. "I am providing the sanctuary. She is the guest. We will negotiate the fees and the rules. If she refuses my terms, then she refuses and the deal falls apart. But that conversation happens between the two of us. You do not have the authority to speak for her soul or dictate what she is willing to do to survive."

Haelan and Jhyra were silenced once again. Li Yu was completely bypassing their authority as council members. He correctly recognized that the Ancestor was the true power in their empire. He would negotiate with the god directly. If the Ancestor agreed to the contract to save her own life, the council could not complain or intervene.

"The other conditions are clear," Haelan admitted reluctantly. He rubbed his temples in frustration. "The delivery of the Realm Essence will be prepared. We have no issues handing it over to The Veil once our Ancestor is secure. The three calls to arms are more than reasonable given the stakes. We have no objections to those terms."

Haelan straightened his posture and took a step forward. He prepared to launch into another impassioned argument.

"But we must return to the first condition," Haelan insisted. "The council will absolutely not accept a life and death bond. It goes against everything we stand for. We must find another way to guarantee your safety. We can offer hostages. We can offer supreme defensive artifacts."

"I am going to stop you right there," Li Yu cut him off sharply.

Li Yu stood up straight. He dropped the conversational tone entirely. He looked at the two desperate leaders and he did not feel a single ounce of pity. They had not given him a good impression from the very beginning. They were ruthless, arrogant and entirely self serving. They only understood power and leverage. He was not going to negotiate with people who only respected force.

"It is up to you," Li Yu said. His voice was final and uncompromising. "I am not here to force you into anything. I did not ask for this burden and I do not need your rewards. Those are my terms in their entirety. You can accept them or you can take Torend back and leave."

Jhyra stared at him. Her amethyst eyes were wide. She was searching his face for any sign of a bluff or a hidden weakness. She was looking for a crack in his resolve that she could exploit. She found none. The young boy was completely willing to walk away and let their empire burn to ash.

Li Yu turned around. He walked past the wooden table and headed toward the sliding doors of his pavilion. He moved with a relaxed and casual stride.

"I did not know that your people existed before this morning," Li Yu said over his shoulder. His tone was blunt and completely devoid of empathy. "I have no ties to your realm. I have no emotional investment in your survival. I will not miss you when you are gone."

He reached the wooden porch. He slid the paper screen open and stepped inside the quiet pavilion. He slid the doors shut behind him with a soft click.

He left the Eidolon leaders standing in the courtyard. They were completely alone with their impending doom. The weight of their choices pressed down on them. They could either surrender their sovereignty to a human youth or they could return home and watch their entire race perish. Li Yu had drawn his line in the sand and he left them to make their choice.