Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Li Yu stood in the courtyard of the Lumin citadel while the eternal storm raged overhead. Skarn had gathered fifty of his finest elites for the direct assault on the Venin headquarters. The warriors wore bright silver armor that reflected the ambient lightning and they gripped long spears forged from conductive metals.

The insectoid leader stood at the front of the formation and addressed his soldiers with clicking mandibles. He spoke of reclaiming their peace and ending the chaotic reign of the rebels who sought to drag their continent into endless war. The soldiers banged their spears against the stone tiles in unison and the sound echoed like a second layer of thunder across the plateau.

Li Yu watched the display with a calm expression but was impressed by his speech. He appreciated the disciplined nature of the Lumin forces as it reminded him of his own troops back home. They were not fighting for mindless greed but rather for survival and stability in a harsh world. He walked up to the front and stood beside Skarn while the heavy gates groaned open. They took to the sky as one cohesive unit and flew low to avoid the worst of the jagged purple lightning flashing across the dark clouds.

The journey to the jagged mountain range was a silent and tense flight. Heavy rain washed over Li Yu as he maintained a simple Qi barrier to keep his robes dry. He kept his divine sense spread outward to ensure no rogue patrols spotted them before they reached their destination. The Venin headquarters was built into the hollowed out peak of a tall stone mountain and it looked like an impregnable fortress. A glowing purple dome of energy covered the main entrance and pulsed with a toxic light that repelled the falling rain. The air around the stronghold smelled strongly of sulfur and rotting vegetation.

Skarn signaled for his troops to halt and they hovered in the stormy sky just outside the range of the defensive arrays. The insectoid leader reached into his thick robes and pulled out the smooth jade orb he had promised to use. The disruptive treasure glowed with a soft white light that seemed to push back the gloom of the dark clouds. Skarn poured his Law Seed Qi into the orb and reeled his arm back. He threw the treasure directly at the thick purple barrier with all of his physical strength.

The jade orb struck the energy dome and shattered into a thousand glowing fragments. The disruptive power surged outward like a tidal wave and latched onto the complex array networks hidden in the stone. The glowing purple runes peeled away from the air and crumbled into useless dust as their energy was forcefully unraveled. The grand defensive barrier groaned under the sudden strain before it popped like a fragile bubble and left the fortress fully exposed.

Skarn drew a long jagged sword from his waist and pointed it at the open gates. He let out a loud clicking roar and ordered the vanguard to charge forward.

“Kill them all! There is no need for any survivors!” Skarn yelled.

The Lumin warriors dove toward the mountain peak and clashed with the Venin guards stationed at the entrance. The chaotic rebels rushed out from the tunnels and fought in their unnatural berserk state and swung their poisoned blades without any regard for their own safety or defensive footing. The battlefield instantly became a chaotic mess of flashing weapons and erupting elemental arts. Toxic wind blades collided with silver spears while stray bolts of lightning scorched the rocky ground and shattered the nearby statues.

Li Yu landed near the front gates and walked calmly through the brutal melee. He did not unleash his destructive laws or summon his Abyssal Javelins to kill everyone right from the start. His specific role in this joint operation was to take on the unknown top fighters that had been tipping the odds in favor of the rebels. Skarn had his own scores to settle and the Lumin warriors needed to prove their own mettle in this civil war without relying entirely on an outsider to win their battles.

A crazed Venin grunt charged at Li Yu with a raised battle axe but Li Yu simply sidestepped the strike. He pressed his palm against the attacker's chest and released a soft burst of force. The grunt flew backward and crashed into a stone pillar before sliding down dead as Li Yu collected his body for Heiyuan.

Li Yu continued his stroll through the blood soaked courtyard and swatted away any rebels foolish enough to cross his path. He used his bare hands to deflect deadly weapons and pushed enemies aside with gentle sweeps of his dense Qi. He was far too strong for these average soldiers and killing them offered no real benefit to his current goals anymore.

His eyes scanned the chaotic battlefield until he spotted his primary targets near the western wall. Three figures wearing dark cloaks finally appeared. They did not fight like the berserk Moth warriors. One wielded a heavy spiked war hammer while another spun a chained scythe through the air. The third fighter darted through the shadows with a pair of jagged daggers.

Li Yu noted their auras hovered at the peak of the King realm but their combat prowess was much higher than their cultivation suggested. They were the unknown variables that Skarn had warned him about and they were currently about to slaughter the best men the Lumin faction had to offer.

Li Yu vanished from his spot and reappeared directly in front of the three cloaked fighters. He blocked their path and stood with his hands resting casually to his side. The sudden appearance of a human projecting a Law Seed aura made the three fighters pause and turn their attention toward the new threat.

"Your fight is with me now," Li Yu stated with a cold and even tone.

The brute holding the heavy war hammer sneered and stepped forward. He gathered a thick layer of earth Qi around his arms and swung the grand weapon in a wide arc aimed directly at Li Yu's head. The hammer ripped through the air with a deafening whistle and carried enough force to kill most of the people present.

Li Yu did not draw a weapon or gather a defensive shield to block the blow. He raised his bare left hand and caught the spiked head of the hammer in his open palm. The kinetic impact created a shockwave that blew the rain away from their immediate vicinity but Li Yu did not move a single inch. His feet remained firmly planted on the stone tiles and his calm expression never changed.

The brute widened his eyes in horror as he tried to pull his weapon back. Li Yu tightened his grip and crushed the heavy metal into twisted scrap with just his fingers. He pulled the brute forward using the ruined hammer and delivered a simple punch to the center of the man's chest. The physical blow shattered the fighter's ribcage and pulverized his internal organs in an instant. The brute collapsed to the ground dead before he even realized what had happened. His body was also quickly collected into the Koi Sanctuary.

The remaining two fighters exchanged a panicked glance and realized they had provoked a monster masquerading as a human. The scythe wielder whipped his chain forward in a desperate attempt to entangle Li Yu while the dagger user vanished into the shadows to strike from a blind spot. Even though they saw how outclassed they were, they attacked anyways, similar to the forces that had attacked Li Yu on his way to the Lumin headquarters.

‘What is going on with these people? Is everyone just trained to not fear death? It makes no sense at all. Something else must be going on here but I haven’t figured out what it is just yet.’ Li Yu thought in the middle of combat.

Li Yu allowed the heavy chain to wrap around his right forearm as he gripped the metal links and yanked it with a sharp burst of physical strength. The scythe wielder was ripped off his feet and flew through the air directly toward Li Yu. As the man flew closer, Li Yu raised his knee and drove it into the fighter's face. The sickening crunch of breaking bone echoed over the thunder and the second unknown fighter dropped to the ground, lifeless.

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The third fighter emerged from the shadows directly behind Li Yu and thrust his jagged daggers toward the back of his neck. Li Yu did not turn around to face the assassin. He merely shifted his weight and delivered a devastating backhand strike without looking. The back of his hand collided with the assassin's skull and the impact sent the cloaked figure spinning across the courtyard. The assassin crashed into a stone wall and slumped down with a broken neck and a caved in face.

Li Yu brushed the rainwater off his sleeves and let out a soft sigh. The three fighters were skilled for their level but they were nothing more than fragile insects compared to his overwhelming physical strength now. He had solved the unknown variable with his bare hands in a matter of seconds and secured the area for the Lumin forces.

With his primary task complete Li Yu turned his attention toward the center of the courtyard to observe the main event. Skarn was engaged in a brutal duel against the leader of the Venin faction. The rebel leader was a tall Moth warrior named Zarak who possessed dark purple chitin plates and a wicked double bladed halberd. Both leaders radiated intense Law Seed auras and their clash created violent sparks of lightning that scorched the surrounding stone tiles.

This was a battle between true experts of the laws and neither held back their strength. Zarak let out a furious roar and summoned his Law Seed from his dantian. A glowing sphere of sickly purple energy materialized behind his back and began to distort the natural laws of the environment. The rainwater falling near Zarak turned into corrosive acid and the wind transformed into a toxic gale that melted the stone beneath his feet. This was the Law of Toxic Decay and it fueled his aggressive strikes with deadly poison.

Skarn refused to be outdone and summoned his own Law Seed. A radiant sphere of pure silver lightning appeared over his shoulders and pushed back the toxic clouds. Skarn commanded the Law of Storm and his presence resonated with the eternal thunderstorm raging in the sky above them.

The two leaders shot upward into the sky and clashed over the courtyard. Zarak swung his double bladed halberd and unleashed a wave of corrosive purple Qi shaped like a giant venomous moth. The phantom beast shrieked and dove toward Skarn with its toxic wings spread wide.

Skarn raised his jagged sword and channeled the raw lightning from the clouds directly into his blade. He slashed downward and released a crescent wave of silver thunder that collided with the venomous phantom. The sky erupted in a blinding flash of purple and silver light. The resulting shockwave flattened several stone towers along the fortress walls and sent both Lumin and Venin soldiers tumbling across the ground.

Li Yu watched the exchange while standing near the ruined gates. He analyzed their grasp of the laws and found their techniques to be good for cultivators at their level. They lacked the refined technical channeling of Qi through their bodies but they made up for it with primal savagery.

Zarak pushed through the dispersing shockwave and closed the distance with incredible speed. He thrust his halberd forward in a flurry of rapid but heavy strikes that aimed for Skarn's vital points. Each strike carried a concentrated dose of decay law meant to wither the opponent's vitality.

Skarn fell back on the defensive and used his four silver wings to maneuver through the air with unmatched agility. He deflected the heavy halberd strikes with his sword and generated a swirling shield of wind to block the toxic splashes. The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out like a rapid series of thunderclaps.

Zarak grew frustrated by the sturdy defense and resorted to a dirty trick. He opened his mandibles and spat a dense cluster of poisoned needles hidden within a burst of dark wind. The needles flew toward Skarn's unarmored face at a blinding speed.

Skarn narrowed his golden compound eyes and reacted instantly. He did not try to dodge the hidden attack though. Instead, he pushed his Law Seed to its absolute limit and transformed his sword into a pillar of lightning. He unleashed a devastating technique that he had been saving for this exact moment.

'Astral Thunder Judgment!' Skarn roared in his mind.

He swung the pillar of lightning in a sweeping arc that vaporized the poisoned needles instantly. The grand attack did not stop there as it continued forward and crashed heavily against Zarak's defenses. The rebel leader tried to block the strike with his halberd but the silver lightning shattered the purple decay laws as the lightning purified it. The double bladed weapon snapped in half and the lightning struck Zarak squarely in the chest.

Zarak screamed as his dark purple chitin plates cracked and burned under the intense heat. The Law of Storm ravaged his internal meridians and sent him plummeting from the sky in an instant. The Venin leader crashed into the center of the courtyard and created a deep crater in the stone tiles.

Skarn slowly descended from the sky and landed near the edge of the crater. He kept his glowing sword pointed at his defeated enemy while his chest heaved from the immense energy expenditure. He had finally beaten his mortal enemy after all this time and the feeling was incredible. The elite Lumin guards rallied around their victorious leader and tightened their encirclement around the fallen rebel.

Zarak coughed up a mouthful of thick blue blood and struggled to prop himself up on his elbows. His armor was ruined and his Law Seed had retreated back into his dantian to avoid further damage to it. He couldn’t find his three elite mercenaries anywhere and witnessed his berserk soldiers falling to the disciplined Lumin forces. The Venin faction had lost the battle and their stronghold was falling apart piece by piece.

However, Zarak did not look afraid or desperate as he kneeled in the rain. What should have been a face of despair or utter madness of having been defeated was nowhere to be seen. Instead the rebel leader threw his head back and let out a harsh clicking laugh that echoed over the sounds of dying men.

"You fools!" Zarak spat while looking up at Skarn with a bloodied grin. "Do you truly think breaking our outer shield and killing a few hired blades means you have won this war? We saw the truth of this world and we found a power that makes you look like a joke."

Skarn narrowed his golden eyes and tightened his grip on his sword. "Your time of causing suffering ends today Zarak! There is nowhere left for you to run and no one left to save you from justice."

Zarak grinned and his purple mandibles clicked with vicious glee. "I do not need to run, Skarn. I just needed to buy enough time for our true backer to finish his meditation inside the mountain."

The rebel leader turned toward the grand entrance of the main fortress hall and fell to his knees in a deep bow. He raised his voice and yelled over the roaring thunder. "Lord Vaxx! The traitors have breached our walls! Please grant us your divine strength and eradicate these weaklings!"

A sudden wave of oppressive heat washed over the cold courtyard. The rain sizzled and turned into steam before it could even touch the ground near the doors. Heavy footsteps echoed from the dark hallway and the sound caused the very stone beneath their feet to tremble.

A tall figure stepped out from the shadows and the ambient lightning illuminated his terrifying features. The newcomer was a Dragon Kin named Vaxx. He possessed thick crimson scales covering his muscular body and a pair of curved dark horns rising from his brow. A long heavy tail swept behind him and scraped against the stone tiles. Slit yellow eyes stared out at the battlefield with cold arrogant indifference.

Vaxx radiated a stable Law Seed aura just like Skarn and Zarak. However the quality of his Qi felt entirely different from the insectoid leaders. The energy drifting from the Dragon Kin carried the ancient and supreme authority of the true rulers of this realm that have lived a life with only the best resources consumed. It was a dense suffocating pressure that bypassed physical defenses and struck directly at the soul of the moth people.

The moment Vaxx revealed himself, the active battlefield ground to a sudden halt. The disciplined Lumin warriors froze in place and their weapons trembled in their hands. Their four wings drooped toward the ground as an innate bloodline suppression washed over them. The terror of seeing a descendant of dragon blood standing before them broke their fighting spirit in an instant even though he wasn’t vastly superior to their leader in strength. They had grown up hearing horrific tales of the central continent and they knew the dragons were invincible tyrants who eradicated entire families on a mere whim.

Such was the true strength and backing of the dragons. Vaxx was only at the same cultivation level as their own leader but the mere presence of his crimson scales was enough to make the brave Lumin elites drop their spears in despair. Their fighting spirit was completely snuffed out as if they were witnessing a god descend from the heavens.

Skarn took a shaky step backward as his golden eyes stared at the terrifying creature. The insectoid leader realized the Venin faction had not just grown stronger on their own merits. They had sold their souls to the Dragon Core and brought the nightmare of the central continent directly to their doorstep.

Li Yu stood near the ruined gates and narrowed his eyes at the new arrival. The chaotic rebel leader had played his final card and the situation had instantly shifted. The true test of this alliance had finally begun and Li Yu watched closely to see how Skarn would react to the overwhelming presence of the dragon kin.