The rest of the journey back to the Green Mountain Sect was peaceful. The Sky-Swimmer Turtle paddled through the air at a slow steady pace providing a tranquil ride. The confrontation with Jin Ao seemed to have been the final desperate act of their enemies.
A comfortable silence settled over Li Yu's small group. They were no longer just a team; they were comrades who had just gone on an adventure together and come back victorious. The mood was cheerful and relaxed and discussions were about all the things they saw and heard during their trip.
In a dark, opulent chamber at the peak of the Heavenly Jin mountain, the atmosphere was not so cheerful. Jin Ao knelt on the cold stone floor, his body trembling, not daring to look up at the man who sat on a high-backed chair before him. It was not an exaggeration to say that the chair looked like a throne and was even placed on a higher level than those that would be standing before him.
Elder Jin was not raging. He was not shouting. He was perfectly, terrifyingly still. He hadn't said a word after what was reported to him, seeming to be deep in thought. His expression was currently unreadable, which only made Jin Ao feel even more nervous.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones," he said, his voice a low, soft, menacing whisper. "You went to Sunken Treasure City to represent our faction, to secure a valuable treasure. Instead, you were goaded into a bidding war. You spent a fortune, a sum that will cripple our operations for the next three years."
"Master, I…" Jin Ao stammered, a cold sweat beading on his forehead. "I lost my head in the moment.. I was just doing what I could to secure the pearl as you had instructed."
"Silence," Elder Jin's voice was flat, but it sharply cut through Jin Ao's excuses. "You were given a simple task: acquire the pearl. Instead, you allowed yourself to get taken advantage of, paying a sky high amount for a treasure not even worth close to that much. You have not just failed me, Jin Ao. You have become a joke. And by extension, you have made me a joke."
He stood up and walked down from his throne, his movements slow and deliberate. He stopped in front of his kneeling disciple and looked down at him, his eyes devoid of any emotion. "The Heart of the Deep Sea will be a useful tool for your cultivation. But the price you paid for it was your future."
"You will be confined to the mountain for the next ten years. You will not take a single step outside the sect. You will cultivate and you will reflect on the price of your failure. You will then spend the next 10 years after that to acquire what you have wasted, and with interest!"
"Master, no!" Jin Ao cried, his face a mask of pure terror. Ten years of confinement was a terrible fate for a proud ambitious genius like him.
"You are fortunate I do not cripple you myself," Elder Jin said, his voice turning cold. He turned his back on his disciple. "Now, get out of my sight."
Jin Ao was dragged away by two silent black-robed enforcers, his pleas for mercy echoing in the dark and empty hall. Elder Jin walked to a large window and looked out at the distant, cloud-wreathed peak where Ning Yue resided.
"Ning Yue," he whispered to himself, a cold, dangerous light in his eyes. "You have found yourself a very interesting subordinate. While I am surrounded by useless fools." He thought nothing of it though, his disciples were just a cover for his real goals. He didn't care about them at all, they were his pawns to be used however he liked.
When Li Yu and his companions finally returned to the Green Mountain Sect it was a quiet affair. They quietly headed back to their own places to rest and recover from the long trip outside.
Li Yu was immediately summoned to his master's pagoda. He walked the familiar path up Azure Cloud Peak, his heart calm. He entered the fifth-floor study to find Elder Ning waiting for him.
"You have returned," she said, her voice filled with a warmth he had never heard before.
"This disciple was fortunate to complete the mission," Li Yu said, kneeling and presenting the jade box containing the Heart of the Deep Sea.
Elder Ning did not take it. "I am not talking about the pearl," she said, her smile widening. "I am talking about the two hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones you cost my dear rival, Elder Jin." It would seem that somehow word of Jin Ao's disaster purchase of the pearl had already arrived here. There must be agents kept in Sunken Treasure City that have long since passed the word back Li Yu thought.
"The entire sect is laughing at him. He has become a recluse on his own mountain, too ashamed to even attend the elder's council. I am guessing you had something to do with the sky high price that he paid. You have done significant damage to his faction with a single well crafted plan."
Li Yu went on to explain everything that happened, the connections that he made at the city that led him to acquiring the treasure before the auction even began.
She finally took the pearl and examined it, a pleased look in her eyes. "And you secured the objective with fifteen thousand stones to spare. You have exceeded all of my expectations, Li Yu."
"I only followed Master's instructions," he said humbly.
"You did more than that," she corrected. She looked at him, her expression turning serious. "Now, as for your reward. The ten thousand contribution points and the Earth-grade manual from your previous mission are already yours. For this victory, I will add to it."
She tossed him a small, heavy pouch. "This contains one hundred mid-grade spirit stones. They are a hundred times more potent than the low-grade stones you are used to. Use them to solidify your new foundation."
Li Yu's eyes widened. A hundred mid-grade stones was the equivalent of ten thousand low-grade stones. His master's generosity was staggering. It would seem that she was going to invest in him.
"And this," she said, placing a simple, unadorned wooden box on the table. "This is your true reward."
Li Yu opened the box. Inside, nestled on a bed of soft white silk was a single, withered, black-colored lotus root. It looked dead but Li Yu could feel a faint, incredibly deep and ancient life force within it and it looked quite familiar.
"What is it, Master?" he asked.
"That," she said, a strange, excited light in her eyes, "is the root of the Serpent's Breath Lotus you retrieved from the Whispering Fen. The flower is for the alchemists. The root is for the beast tamers. It is a treasure that can cause a water-attributed demonic beast with a trace of a draconic bloodline to undergo a profound evolution."
She looked at him, her meaning clear. "Your Marsh-Drake, Crimson, is a descendant of a Flood Dragon. If it consumes this root, it has a chance to awaken its dormant bloodline. It could evolve from a Rank 3 Spirit Beast into a true, Rank 4 Fierce Beast."
Li Yu stared at the withered root, his heart pounding. The opportunity was immense. Crimson was his first companion. To have it advance to the next realm would increase his own strength greatly.
"Thank you, Master!" he said, his voice filled with a deep, genuine gratitude.
"Do not thank me yet," she said. "The process is dangerous. The draconic energy is violent. There is a chance the evolution will fail and Crimson could be crippled or even die. The choice of whether to take the risk is yours."
Li Yu bowed deeply. "This disciple understands."
He left the pagoda, his mind filled with the weight of his master's gifts and the gravity of the choice before him. He returned to his own quiet valley, a place that now truly felt like home. He looked at the new, powerful formations, smiling faces of his three comrades and at the vast, deep lake that was his kingdom.