Myriad Rivers to the Sea

A rush of air spilled out from the opening of the door. Li Yu braced himself and expected a wave of stagnant decay or the suffocating pressure of a dying expert. He expected the heavy scent of blood and ancient runes.

Instead, a warm and gentle breeze washed over his face. It carried the rich scent of damp earth and blooming flowers.

Li Yu blinked. He stepped through the massive threshold. Haelan and Jhyra followed closely behind him. The remaining thirty three council members and Torend filed in silently. As the last Eidolon leader crossed the boundary the great iron doors slowly ground shut behind them.

The cavernous darkness of the labyrinth vanished completely. Li Yu found himself standing beneath a bright and clear sky. It was not the pale twilight of the Omen Realm nor the artificial glow of Kyokai City. It was a radiant and warm blue sky dotted with soft white clouds.

He had stepped into an entirely separate spatial pocket. It was a miniature world tucked away from everything else.

Li Yu looked around and his breath caught slightly in his throat. The environment was aggressively peaceful. It was a stark and jarring contrast to the paranoid fortress they had just navigated.

A dirt path meandered through a lush and vibrant landscape. To his right lay a massive pond filled to the brim with crystal clear water. The surface rippled gently as fat and colorful fish swam lazily through the reeds. Aquatic insects darted across the lily pads. To his left were neatly tilled fields. Rows of vibrant vegetables and medicinal herbs grew in perfect symmetry. A sturdy wooden fence bordered the fields to keep imaginary pests at bay.

Tall trees with thick canopies surrounded the edges of the property. They acted as a natural wall to enclose the sanctuary. At the very end of the dirt path sat a small and rustic wooden house with a slanted roof.

Li Yu stopped walking. He stared at the fields and the house. It was uncanny. The layout and the atmosphere were similar to his small plot of land in Silkwood. The air even possessed that same quiet and restorative quality that made him want to sit down and brew a pot of tea.

He looked back at the Eidolon council members. The thirty five ancient experts stood rigidly on the dirt path. They looked entirely out of place in their shimmering silk robes and imposing armor. They were lords of a dark and spectral empire standing awkwardly in a farmer's vegetable patch.

"Is this an illusion?" Li Yu asked quietly.

"No," Haelan answered. His voice was hushed as if he were afraid to disturb the peace. "It is a physical construct. She built this space eras ago when she first anchored her soul to the core. She spends all her time here after she wasn’t able to take physical form around the realm anymore. I was told even before that, she spent a lot of time here."

Li Yu turned back to the small wooden house. The cognitive dissonance was staggering. The Ancestor of the Eidolon Court was a being of supreme paranoia from what he had been told of her. She had cursed her entire bloodline to ensure loyalty and she ruled a people that seemed just as ruthless as she was. He had pictured a terrifying monster wrapped in shadows or a withered and rotting crone clinging to life on a throne of bones.

He certainly did not expect a gardener who liked fat fish and quiet afternoons.

"Lead the way," Li Yu said. He tightened his grip on his inner Qi and remained cautious. A peaceful facade was often the most dangerous kind of trap in the cultivation world.

He walked down the dirt path. The crunch of gravel beneath his boots was the only sound in the quiet space. He approached the small wooden house. The front door was wide open to let the warm breeze circulate through the rooms.

Li Yu stepped over the threshold. The interior was just as simple and unadorned as the exterior. There were no grand tapestries or golden thrones. There was only a wooden table, a few chairs and a small hearth.

In the corner of the main room was a simple bed. A woman lay on top of the woven blankets.

Li Yu paused. He studied her carefully. She did not look like an ancient and withered god. She looked like a middle aged woman with incredibly rough but refined features. Her dark hair cascaded over the pillows in a messy halo. Her skin was terribly pale and carried a faint sickly grey undertone, most likely from the poison ravaging her foundation.

Despite the sickness, she possessed a quiet and undeniable beauty. She looked fragile but there was a residual density to her physical form that hinted at the terrifying power she once commanded.

Haelan and Jhyra stepped into the room behind Li Yu. They bowed their heads deeply. The rest of the council remained standing just outside the open door. They crowded the dirt path to peer inside.

The council members were incredibly tense. Li Yu could feel their anxiety radiating from them. They had briefed the Ancestor on his demands before they traveled to The Veil. They had told her about the life and death bindings, the contract with her once he got here, the demand for the Realm Essence and the use of their military forces.

She had been absolutely furious when she heard the terms and some of them even got a beating from her. The council members fully expected her to erupt in rage the moment she laid eyes on the arrogant youth who had humiliated her empire. They were bracing for a storm and were also looking forward to it. They wanted to see his youth get taken down a bit and suffer.

The soft sound of footsteps woke the woman on the bed.

Her eyelashes fluttered. She let out a weak and raspy breath. She slowly turned her head toward the doorway and her dark eyes struggled to focus in the light.

Li Yu stood perfectly still and wasn’t sure what to expect. He watched her expression shift as her vision cleared. The Ancestor looked at Li Yu. A profound grogginess clouded her rough features at first. Then a deep and heavy confusion settled over her face.

She blinked slowly as if she could not process the image standing in her living room. The confusion rapidly melted into a crushing sadness. Her eyes lost their focus and she looked as though she were witnessing a cruel and mocking illusion.

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But then she blinked again. She focused on the steady rise and fall of his chest. She sensed the dense and vibrant Qi radiating from his core.

The sadness evaporated. The confusion returned for a fraction of a second before it was entirely swept away by a sudden and explosive wave of joy. It was a radiant and unadulterated happiness that completely transformed her sickly face. The grey undertone of the poison seemed to vanish under the force of her smile.

She pushed herself up from the bed with a sudden burst of frantic energy. She ignored her weakness and stood on her own two feet. Li Yu tensed and took a half step back. He was completely thrown off by her reaction.

Haelan and Jhyra exchanged a bewildered glance. The thirty three council members outside the door shifted uncomfortably. They had expected screaming and fury. Perhaps some kind of light punishment that hurt him slightly or embarrassed him.

Instead the Ancestor took a step forward. Her dark eyes were locked entirely on Li Yu. She did not even look at the two supreme leaders standing right next to him. Her lips parted and she spoke her first words since he entered the room.

"Did any one of you actually tell me his name?"

Her voice was surprisingly melodic but it cracked slightly from disuse. The question hung in the quiet air of the wooden house. The silence that followed was incredibly awkward for everyone.

Haelan blinked rapidly. He looked at Jhyra. Jhyra looked at the council members outside. The ancient and wise leaders of the Eidolon Court frantically searched their memories. They recalled the panicked meetings and the desperate debates over the harsh terms. They remembered discussing the youth's age, his soul strength, compatibility and his stubbornness.

They slowly realized that in all of their frantic reports and desperate planning no one had ever actually mentioned his name. Haelan cleared his throat nervously. He stepped forward and bowed again. "Ancestor. We... we did not. We referred to him simply as the vessel or the candidate from The Veil."

Jhyra nodded in agreement. "We did not think his specific name was important to the logistics of the process."

The radiant joy on the Ancestor's face vanished instantly. It was replaced by a sudden and terrifying fury.

The air in the room grew incredibly heavy. The ambient Qi of the pocket dimension spiked violently. The gentle breeze died and the water in the pond outside began to bubble and hiss. Even in her poisoned and weakened state the weight of her soul pressure was staggering.

She turned her dark eyes onto Haelan and Jhyra. The two supreme leaders flinched and fell to their knees. The council members outside immediately dropped to the dirt path and pressed their foreheads against the ground.

"You did not think it was important?" The Ancestor sigh softly but it sounded like death to the council’s ears. Her voice vibrated with a dangerous and crackling energy. "You incompetent fools. You blind and arrogant idiots!"

She pointed a trembling finger at the kneeling leaders. "You bring him here and you speak of him as a mere vessel? You bargain with his life and you do not even possess the basic decency to speak his name to me? You have governed my empire for thousands of years and yet you still act like uncultured bandits."

Haelan trembled. What he wanted to say was that she never asked either but he was too scared to do so. "Ancestor please forgive us. We were focused on your survival."

"Silence," she snapped. The command echoed like a physical strike. "Get out. All of you. Leave this place immediately."

Jhyra looked up in panic. "But Ancestor the transfer process. We must oversee the integration to ensure the poison does not..."

"I said get out!" The Ancestor roared. Her features twisted in absolute rage. "If I see a single one of your faces in my sanctuary for another second I will burn your souls to ash myself. Leave us!"

The threat was absolute. The Eidolon leaders did not dare to argue. Haelan and Jhyra scrambled to their feet. They bowed hastily and backed out of the wooden house. The thirty three council members and Torend were already sprinting down the dirt path toward the iron doors. They moved with a desperate speed to escape her wrath and in their haste Li Yu there.

Within seconds the entire delegation had fled the pocket dimension. The massive iron doors ground shut and sealed with a heavy and final boom. Li Yu stood alone in the wooden house with the furious Ancestor.

He watched as she raised her hand. She swiped her fingers through the air and a complex array matrix flared to life across the ceiling. The entire pocket dimension hummed. She was sealing the space down completely. She was locking the doors and raising ultimate wards to ensure no divine sense or scrying art could pierce the sanctuary.

Li Yu felt his heart rate spike. His chaotic domain flared and coated his skin in a subtle layer of twisting energy. He reached into his inner world and placed his hand on the hilt of Star Crusher.

Was this a trap?

It had to be a trap. The Eidolon Court had lured him here. They had willingly surrendered their souls to lower his guard. They had brought him to an isolated and perfectly sealed space. Now the Ancestor had dismissed her own people so she could deal with him alone. The peaceful farm illusion and the sudden outburst were just theatrics to isolate him.

He braced himself for a devastating attack. He prepared to detonate the souls of the thirty five leaders the moment she made a hostile move and at least do some damage to this empire in his death.

The Ancestor finished sealing the space. She slowly lowered her hand. She did not summon ethereal flames. She did not unleash a soul crushing aura. The heavy and terrifying pressure she had directed at the council vanished completely.

She turned back to face Li Yu.

The fury on her face was gone. The radiant joy returned but it was now mixed with an overwhelming sorrow. Large tears welled up in her dark eyes and spilled over her pale cheeks. She let out a choked and trembling breath. She took a slow step toward him.

Li Yu tensed. He shifted his weight and prepared to summon his staff. "Stop right there."

She did not stop. She took another step. Her hands trembled at her sides. The tears flowed freely down her face and dripped onto the simple wooden floor. She looked at him as if he were a ghost that had suddenly materialized from a long forgotten dream.

"You..." she whispered. Her voice broke completely. "You actually came."

Li Yu frowned. His confusion warring with his paranoia. "I told your council I would come if they met my terms. Now stand back."

She ignored his warning entirely. She closed the distance between them with a sudden and desperate speed. Before Li Yu could draw his weapon or unleash his chaotic domain she threw her arms around him.

She crashed into his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She buried her face into his shoulder. She did not try to bite him or inject a poison. She simply held onto him with a desperate and crushing grip. She was sobbing openly now. Her slender frame shook with the force of her weeping.

Li Yu froze completely. His hands hovered awkwardly in the air. His mind raced to process the bizarre assault. An ancient and supreme being was currently sobbing into his robes and clinging to him like a lost child reuniting with their mother.

"I missed you," she cried softly. Her voice was muffled against his shoulder. "I missed you so much. I waited for so long."

Li Yu stood completely stiff. He looked down at the dark hair of the woman weeping against his chest. His planning and his readiness for a brutal fight evaporated into pure bewilderment.

He had no idea what was happening. He had never met this woman in his life. He had never even heard of the Eidolon Court until not long ago. Yet she was hugging him like a long lost lover and crying tears of pure relief.

"Excuse me," Li Yu managed to say. His voice was incredibly stiff. "I think there has been a massive misunderstanding."

The Ancestor only squeezed him tighter. She refused to let go as her tears soaked through the dark fabric of his robes. The peaceful sanctuary of the Omen Realm remained quiet as the young farmer stood trapped in the most confusing embrace of his entire life.