The journey back to the Green Mountain Sect was a long, silent flight through a sky of brilliant, unending blue. Tempest, the Skyshroud Leviathan, moved with a smooth, effortless grace, its massive form a silent, silver cloud against the sun. On the platform on its back, a profound quiet had fallen between the two passengers.
Chen Fan sat, his back ramrod straight, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon. He was a changed young man. The timid, anxious outer sect disciple who had begged for help just a few days ago was gone. In his place was a youth whose eyes held a new, heavy weight—the weight of having witnessed a power that defied comprehension and a kindness that defied expectation. He kept stealing glances at the calm, unassuming figure who stood at the front, a young man who looked his own age, yet who wielded the power of a god.
Li Yu's attention was not on the scenery, nor on the awe-struck boy behind him. It was focused on the small, ancient wooden box resting in his hands. He could feel the faint, rhythmic pulse of the life force within it, a beat that was as slow, deep, and ancient as the tides themselves.
He placed his thumb on the lock and channeled a single, fine thread of his unique True Qi into it. The Qi of the Universal Sea, a fusion of water, life, and the void. There was a soft, ancient click. The box, which had been sealed for centuries, opened.
Inside, nestled on a bed of faded, rotting silk, was not a map. It was a single, fist-sized, and perfectly preserved heart. It was a deep, draconic blue, and it pulsed with a faint, but incredibly powerful, and deeply familiar, life force.
It was the heart of a Deep-Sea Naga.
Chen Fan gasped, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and confusion. He did not know what it was, but he could feel the immense, ancient power radiating from it.
Li Yu simply looked at it, his mind a quiet, racing river. This was not just a treasure. It was a legacy. A piece of an ancient, powerful being, preserved through the ages. The life force within it was so pure, so potent, and so perfectly in tune with his own Naga companion that it was like a missing piece of her very soul. He knew, with absolute certainty, that this was a heaven-grade treasure, an item whose value could not be measured in spirit stones.
He closed the box, a new, profound sense of purpose settling over him. He had come to this town to perform a simple act of kindness. He had been repaid with a treasure that was, for him, more valuable than a mountain of spirit stones. But his dao was one of balance. To accept such a world-shaking treasure from a poor family in exchange for a simple healing was an imbalance he could not allow.
"Sir Li," Chen Fan's voice was a quiet, hesitant whisper. "What… what is that?"
"It is a key," Li Yu replied, his voice calm. "A key to unlocking a potential that has been sleeping for a long time." He looked at the young man, his gaze soft. "Your family has guarded a great treasure, Chen Fan, without even knowing it. Your sincerity has been rewarded."
He did not elaborate. He spent the rest of the journey in a state of quiet contemplation, formulating a new plan. When they finally arrived back at the misty, hidden entrance to the Deepwater Menagerie, he landed Tempest in a secluded clearing.
Before Chen Fan could depart, Li Yu stopped him. "Wait a moment." He produced a simple, unadorned storage ring from his own. "Your family's kindness cannot go unrewarded. To accept your gift without returning the favor would go against my principles."
He handed the ring to the stunned boy. "Inside this ring are spirit stones. It is not a payment. It is a gift, from one family to another."
The number so large his mind could barely comprehend it. It was a fortune that could buy his family a new house, a new fleet of boats, a life of leisure. "Sir Li, I cannot! This is too much!"
"It is not enough," Li Yu said, his voice firm but gentle. "But it is a start. I also have a business proposal for your father. My Deepwater Menagerie is now producing a massive surplus of Azure-Jade Carp and Moon-Fin Trout.
I need a reliable, trustworthy merchant to transport and sell these goods in the towns and cities along the Azure Serpent River. Your family has the boats, the experience, and the honesty I require. I would like to hire him as our first official transport merchant. He will be given a generous commission on every sale. It is a job he and your family can continue for as long as you wish."
Chen Fan stood, frozen, tears welling up in his eyes. This was not just a gift of money; it was a gift of purpose, of a new, prosperous future that was built on their own hard work and skill. It was a gesture of profound respect. He fell to his knees, his forehead touching the ground. "Sir Li… my family… we will never forget this."
"Go," Li Yu said gently. "Your family is waiting."
He watched as the young man, his future now bright and his family secure, ran towards the main settlement. He had not just earned a loyal follower; he had forged a bond of true, mutual respect.
Li Yu did not return to his pagoda. He went directly to his private, hidden grotto, the one behind the largest waterfall. He sealed the entrance with a powerful formation and stood at the edge of the deep, clear pool within. He took a deep breath. It was time.
He sank his consciousness into his Koi's Sanctuary. He found Lirael, his beautiful, midnight-blue Naga, swimming in the misty depths, her golden eyes filled with a calm, ancient intelligence. She had grown to over twenty feet in length, her Rank 5 aura stable and powerful. But he knew, with his profound connection to her, that her growth had been slow, her bloodline missing a crucial, fundamental piece of its own legacy.
"Lirael," his mental voice was a gentle call. "I have found something for you. A piece of your own past."
He opened the portal to his sanctuary, and with a thought, he brought the ancient, wooden box into the misty, crimson-gold world. He opened it, and the deep, draconic blue heart floated out, its rhythmic, powerful pulse a silent, ancient song.
The moment Lirael saw it, she froze. A wave of pure, unadulterated, and soul-shaking recognition washed over her. She did not see a treasure. She saw… a memory. A piece of her own, forgotten ancestry. The pure, undiluted bloodline of the ancient Naga race, a power that was rightfully hers.
She let out a silent, psychic cry, a sound of profound, sorrowful longing, and swam towards the heart, her movements a dance of desperate, reverent grace.
"Consume it," Li Yu commanded gently. "It is your legacy. It is your future."
Lirael did not hesitate. She opened her mouth, and with a gentle, reverent motion, she swallowed the ancient, pulsing heart.
The effect was instantaneous and cataclysmic.
A brilliant, deep-azure light exploded from her body, a supernova of pure, draconic, and oceanic power that threatened to tear the very fabric of the sanctuary apart. The water of the misty lake boiled, and the crimson-gold mist itself was pushed back by the sheer force of the energy being released.
Li Yu felt the strain on his own soul, and he immediately focused his will, his own Core Formation power a stabilizing anchor that reinforced the walls of his inner world.
Lirael threw her head back and let out a silent, psychic roar of pure, unadulterated agony and ecstasy. The ancient, pure life force of the Naga's Heart was a raging, uncontrolled river that was flooding her meridians, tearing her body apart and reforging it anew. Her midnight-blue scales began to crack and fall away, revealing a new, deeper, and more profound color beneath. The silver horn on her brow began to elongate, to sharpen, its color shifting from a simple silver to a deep, abyssal black that seemed to drink the light.
"Wise Host!" Kui's boisterous, terrified voice echoed from the depths. "The little serpent is exploding! Should this old turtle… sit on her?"
"Stay back," Li Yu commanded, his focus absolute.
He could feel Lirael's will, her very consciousness, threatening to be overwhelmed by the sheer, violent power of her own awakening bloodline. He knew he had to intervene.
He reached into his own foundation, into the brilliant, emerald-green star of life at its heart. He sent a gentle, but incredibly potent, stream of his own life energy into the raging storm of blue light. It was not a force to suppress, but a gentle, guiding hand. At the same time, he channeled a wisp of his void-aspected Qi, a silent, absolute law that began to bring order to the chaos.
His own, unique dao, a perfect fusion of life and void, became the crucible in which Lirael was being reborn.
The process lasted for an entire day and night. When the brilliant, chaotic light finally began to recede, coalescing around the Naga's form, a new creature floated in the center of the misty lake.
She was larger, now over thirty feet long, her body a perfect, streamlined weapon of the deep. Her scales were no longer a simple blue, but a deep, majestic azure, the color of the ocean at midnight, so dark they were almost black. But upon each scale was a single, tiny, shimmering point of silver light, like a star in a midnight sky. Her wings were larger, more elegant, and her horn was now a single, three-foot-long, razor-sharp spike of pure, black void-iron. Her golden eyes burned with a new, terrifying power.
She had broken through. She was no longer a Rank 5 Tyrant Beast. She had crossed the chasm. She was now a true, unshakeable Rank 6 Hegemon Beast.
She turned her head and looked at Li Yu's spiritual avatar, and for the first time, she did not just show loyalty. She lowered her head in a gesture of absolute, profound, and soul-deep reverence. He was not just her master. He was the one who had given her back her own, true, and ancient legacy.
A new, clear, and melodic voice, like the chiming of ancient, crystal bells in the deep sea, echoed in Li Yu's mind for the first time. "Thank you… Master. I… remember now."
Li Yu stared, his mind reeling. She could speak.