The Azure Serpent Lake was a world unto itself. It was a self-contained ecosystem of immense power and quiet danger. For Li Yu, it was the paradise he had only dreamed of. The two inner disciples who guarded the entrance, once disdainful, now nodded with respect whenever he passed. They had witnessed the wyrm's healing. Undeniable results were the only currency that mattered in the sect.
Brother Kai was now much more friendly and willing to teach Li Yu what he knew. They shared experiences with one another and started working together. The man's skepticism had been burned away by what he had witnessed. He now ran the facility with a renewed vigor.
He treated Li Yu's words with more weight and carried out his instructions without complaints. This arrangement was perfect for Li Yu, allowing him to wield authority without having to constantly interact with others, thus preserving his low-key persona. Li Yu left a lot of the administrative tasks to Brother Kai.
Li Yu established a meticulous routine. It was a carefully constructed play for an audience of one—his master—and any other powerful figures who might be watching. His days were spent in the role of the diligent Junior Steward.
He would walk the perimeter of the vast lake. He would stand for hours on the observation platforms seemingly lost in thought as he watched the powerful beasts swim in the deep dark water.
To the outside world he was studying, learning and building his affinity. In reality, he was cultivating every chance he got. His spiritual sense was a silent and invisible net. It would sweep through the waters cataloging every creature.
He felt the grumpy territoriality of the Rank 3 Deepwater Turtles, the cold predatory focus of the Silver-Scale Sharks, and the lazy ancient consciousness of the Black-Vein River Wyrm. He diagnosed minor ailments before they could manifest, focusing his best on preventative care. That would allow them the least amount of work rather than having to treat an actual illness which would weaken the beast. His solutions were usually correct thanks to his Koi.
A significant portion of his day was also dedicated to the open practice of the «Azure Water Scripture». He would sit in the main courtyard of the pagoda and slowly and deliberately circulate a tiny thread of Qi through his body. He made his progress painstakingly slow, appearing as a complete novice with a decent but not heaven-defying talent.
He allowed himself to "break through" to the First Stage of Body Tempering after a month, a speed that was impressive for a new cultivator but not so outrageous as to arouse suspicion. It was a good alibi for the strength he would eventually have to reveal.
But his nights… his nights were when the true work was done.
In the highest and most secluded chamber of his pagoda. Inside a room fortified with formations that prevented any spiritual energy from leaking out, Li Yu would enter his true cultivation state. The chamber had a large, open balcony that overlooked the northern end of the lake, the domain of the Black-Vein River Wyrm.
He would sit and activate the «Myriad Rivers Returning to the Sea Art». He would reach out with his will on the titanic source before him.
The Qi of a Rank 4 Fierce Beast was on a completely different level. The energy was ancient and tinged with the faint domineering aura of a draconic bloodline. It was a wild, almost violent force that would have torn a cultivator's meridians to shreds if they had no body refining.
But Li Yu's cultivation art was born for this. The crimson Koi in his dantian would spin like a divine whirlpool, its devouring power meeting the wyrm's ferocious Qi head-on. The technique would grind down the draconic aura, strip away the bestial impurities and refine the torrent into a stream of unbelievably pure potent energy.
His cultivation base, which had been a deep lake, was now becoming a vast sea. The progress was explosive. After just one month of absorbing the Qi around the lake and the wyrm's Qi, he had broken through two stages in quick succession, reaching the peak of the Ninth Stage of the Body Tempering Realm.
He was now just a single step away from the Tenth Stage, the Great Perfection of Body Tempering. Beyond that was to him, the once legendary Qi Condensation Realm. A journey that took most geniuses much longer he had accomplished in less than two years.
The «Abyssal Leviathan Physique» reveled in the high-quality energy. The life essence drawn from the wyrm was incredibly nourishing. He could feel his bones taking on a lustrous, jade-like sheen, and his blood began to flow with a faint silvery light. His physical strength was now monstrous, completely belying his small frame.
His Koi spirit was also undergoing a profound transformation. The golden thread along its spine was now a brilliant, solid line and a second, fainter golden thread had begun to trace the outline of its gills. It seemed more solid, more real and he could feel a burgeoning intelligence within it. A consciousness that was slowly awakening from a long slumber.
While his cultivation soared to high heights, he did not neglect the other arts his master had given him. He spent a portion of each night studying the «Spirit-Link Contract». He knew he needed a formal companion. Not just for the added power but as another layer to his disguise. A powerful contracted beast would help explain his own future combat prowess. He currently had no real combat experience with only his cultivation high.
He sent a request through Brother Kai and within a day the Crimson-Gill Marsh-Drake was transferred from the main Hall's pens. It was brought to a large private enclosure at the Azure Serpent Lake. The Rank 3 Spirit Beast, which had been sullen and aggressive towards its handlers during the move became docile and almost joyful the moment it entered Li Yu's domain.
Later that night, Li Yu began the contracting process. He sat before the drake, not as a tamer but as an equal. He manifested his blood-red Koi, its higher-order bloodline immediately commanding the drake's absolute respect. Following the intricate steps of the technique, he carefully extended a thread of his own spiritual energy. He did not force it. He offered it. The drake, feeling the familiar noble aura of the Koi, accepted the thread without hesitation. It was allowing it to merge with its own soul.
The bond snapped into place with an unnatural ease. A connection formed between them. Li Yu could feel the drake's pride more clearly now. He could roughly see through its eyes, smell through its senses and feel the powerful muscles coiled in its reptilian body. He had a companion.
The next two months passed in this state of peaceful and rapid growth. His "official" cultivation had reached the Third Stage of Body Tempering. A speed that had Brother Kai and the guards were impressed with "Junior Steward's genius."
His real cultivation had reached a bottleneck. He was at the absolute peak of the Ninth Stage but the barrier to the Tenth Stage, the Great Perfection, was as tough as a celestial wall. The wyrm's Qi no longer seemed enough. He felt it instinctive in his body, he needed an opportunity, a catalyst.
That catalyst arrived in the form of a problem. Brother Kai approached him one morning, his face etched with worry. "Junior Steward, it's the Lunar-Tide Clams. They are dying."
Li Yu followed him to a special, climate-controlled grotto at the southern end of the lake. Inside, a dozen enormous clams, each the size of a large table. They were laying in a shallow pool of saltwater. Their shells, which were supposed to shimmer with a pearlescent, moon-like glow, were dull and grey.
These were Rank 3 Lunar-Tide Clams, highly valuable beasts whose pearls could be ground into a powder that calmed the mind and helped cultivators resist mental demons during breakthroughs.
Li Yu extended his spiritual sense. He could connect with them but it was a strange alien sensation. Unlike the vibrant, active consciousness of other beasts, their minds were slow, cold, and passive, like the surface of a frozen lake.
He could clearly feel their life force fading. It was a slow and inexorable dimming but the reason was not apparent. There was no pain, no sickness and no emotional distress he could identify. There was only a quiet, creeping emptiness.
"We've tried everything," Brother Kai said, his voice heavy with frustration. "We've adjusted the water's salinity, changed their diet, even brought in moonlight-gathering formations. Nothing works. They just continue to weaken."
Li Yu stood for a long time, his brow furrowed in genuine concentration. His affinity told him what was happening—they were dying. But it couldn't tell him why. Their unique, Yin-based nature was a puzzle his experience with Yang-based lifeforms couldn't solve. His intuition was hitting a wall.
He realized that while his gift was powerful, it was not omniscient. True mastery requires not just innate talent, but profound knowledge.
"My affinity skills are not enough," Li Yu said, his voice firm and honest, "I can feel their life fading but the cause is a mystery to me. Their nature is too unique. I need to consult the library's archives."
Li Yu spent the next three days in the sect's main library, his silver token granting him access. He ignored the cultivation arts and combat techniques. He headed straight for the dusty and forgotten archives on demonic beast biology. He read ancient obscure texts, searching for any information on creatures with extreme Yin attributes.
Finally, he found it, in a tattered scroll titled «The Balance of Sun and Moon». The scroll confirmed what his senses had felt: the clams were creatures of pure Yin. But it also revealed the crucial piece of information his intuition had missed. The Lunar-Tide Clams didn't just absorb moonlight. They existed in a delicate balance.
They needed to absorb the cold pure Yin energy of the moon but they also needed a source of gentle, pure Yang energy to act as an anchor for their life force. In their natural deep-sea trench habitat, this Yang energy was provided by a type of volcanic, heat-emitting coral. The sect, in trying to create a perfect Yin environment, had inadvertently starved them of their life's anchor.
The solution was simple: they needed a source of gentle, pure Yang energy.
A slow smile spread across Li Yu's face. He knew of a perfect source. His own spirit.
This was his opportunity. The catalyst he needed for his breakthrough. The clams were dying because they lacked Yang. He was at a bottleneck because his Yang-filled body needed a final, powerful tempering from an opposing force. He would use the clams' desperate need to solve his own problem. He would not just save them. He would use them to reach Great Perfection.