The grand gates of Coralspire Harbor, wrought from polished whalebone and inlaid with shimmering mother-of-pearl, stood open to receive them. But there was no ceremony in their welcome. The usual bustle of a prosperous port city was gone, replaced by a strained, hushed atmosphere. The streets were far from empty, but people moved with a nervous haste, their faces etched with a worry that had clearly become a part of their daily lives. Guards patrolled the white stone walls in greater numbers than necessary, their eyes constantly scanning the placid harbor waters as if expecting a monster to erupt from the depths at any moment.
Waiting for them just inside the gate was a delegation led by a man who looked like he carried the weight of the entire ocean on his shoulders. He was of middle age, with a handsome, dignified face, but his brow was deeply furrowed, and his hair was streaked with a premature grey that spoke of sleepless nights and unrelenting stress. His robes, though of fine make, were slightly disheveled. This was Branch Master Jing, and the deep, weary power of a 4th-level Core Formation expert rolled off him in waves of tired anxiety.
"Quan, my old friend," Jing said, his voice a low, strained rumble as he clasped Elder Quan's forearm. "You made it. We heard there was… trouble on the road."
"Jing," Elder Quan replied, his expression full of sympathy for his friend. "We did. The Black Reef Syndicate. It seems someone didn't want us to arrive."
Branch Master Jing's eyes narrowed, a flicker of cold fury briefly burning through his exhaustion. "The Azure Shell Chamber… It has to be them. They have been trying to undermine our position for years, and this… this crisis with the Behemoth is the perfect opportunity for them to strike." He shook his head, the weariness returning. "But that is a problem for later. Thank you for coming. You honor us in our time of need."
His gaze then fell upon Li Yu, a polite but skeptical curiosity in his eyes. He saw a young, handsome cultivator with a calm demeanor, whose power was respectable for his age, but hardly the solution to a problem that had stymied experts from across the region.
"And this is your specialist?" Jing asked, his tone not unkind, but tinged with the disappointment of a man who had seen too many false hopes.
"This is my dear friend and our Pavilion's esteemed Guest Elder, Li Yu," Quan said, placing a firm, reassuring hand on Jing's shoulder. "Do not be deceived by his youth, Jing. Think of all the times our own beasts in Sunken Treasure City have fallen ill with mysterious ailments that even our best beastmasters couldn't diagnose. How many times has this young man identified the problem with a single glance when all others were baffled? His understanding of aquatic life is unlike anything I have ever seen. If anyone can understand what is happening to the Behemoth, it is he."
Jing's eyes widened slightly, a flicker of genuine hope cutting through his skepticism. He had heard the reports from Quan over the years, stories of a brilliant young Guest Elder with an almost supernatural affinity for aquatic beasts, but had dismissed them as the fond exaggerations of an old friend. To see the young man here, presented as the solution to his greatest crisis, was another matter entirely.
"Guest Elder Li," Jing said, offering a formal, respectful bow. "Forgive my rudeness. We are not ourselves these days. Any friend of Elder Quan's is a friend of Coralspire Harbor. Please, come. The tremors are growing more frequent. I will take you to the grotto."
He led them through the tense city streets, the rhythmic, ground-shaking BOOM from below growing louder and more violent with every step. Their destination was the grandest building in the city, the Coralspire branch of the Jade Sea Pavilion, a magnificent structure of flowing white stone built directly into the base of the city's largest coral spire.
But they did not enter the opulent main hall. Instead, Jing led them around the back, to a heavily guarded, circular structure of solid, black stone that seemed to descend deep into the bedrock. The air here was crackling with power, and the stone itself was covered in a dense, shimmering web of ancient runes that pulsed with a steady, containing light. Three elderly array masters sat in a triangular formation around the structure, their faces pale and beaded with sweat as they constantly channeled their own spiritual energy into the seal, reinforcing it against the incredible pressure from within.
With every shuddering impact from below, the runes would flare violently, and the three masters would flinch as if struck.
"This is the entrance to the Tidal Lock Grotto," Jing said, his voice barely a whisper over the deep, groaning tremors. "The seals were laid down by my ancestors, powered by the earth-veins beneath the harbor. For centuries, they have been more than enough. Now… the masters say they are developing micro-fractures. We are holding them together with sheer will, but it is not a permanent solution."
Li Yu stepped forward, his expression serene. He placed a hand on the cold, vibrating stone of the seal. He closed his eyes, not forcing his spiritual sense through, but rather projecting a feeling. Through the unique power of his Koi Martial Spirit, he sent a gentle, calming wave of pure, life-affirming aquatic energy through the stone—a silent question, an offer of peace.
The moment his unique energy touched the seals, the chaotic storm of rage from within paused for a fraction of a second. A flicker of confused, desperate attention turned towards his location. Li Yu was a beacon of pure, soothing water energy in a world that had become nothing but pain.
Sensing he had its attention, Li Yu deepened the connection. He didn't see with his own senses; he felt what the Behemoth felt. A raw, unfiltered stream of agony flooded his mind. He experienced a constant, maddening torment, a feeling like a thousand tiny, sharp needles pricking every inch of its spiritual channels. The beast was projecting its suffering to the first friendly presence it had felt in months.
"The beast is not mad," Li Yu said aloud, opening his eyes, his voice filled with a newfound sympathy. "It is being tormented. There is a foreign energy inside it, a spiritual poison, agitating it and causing it pain."
Jing's face went pale with a mixture of horror and vindication. "Poison? How? Who… who would do this?" he stammered.
"Think, Jing," Elder Quan said, his voice low and serious. "Who is your greatest rival? Who benefits most from Coralspire Harbor being crippled?"
A dark, horrifying realization dawned on Jing's face. "The Azure Shell Chamber," he whispered, his voice trembling with a newfound fury. "Their Grand Elder… he is infamous for his experiments in creating parasitic spirit weapons and curses. We never imagined he would apply his research to a living creature. That coward… attacking a helpless beast instead of facing us directly!"
The ambush on the road, the beast's madness—it was all a coordinated plan. While the two elders processed this horrifying revelation, Li Yu once again closed his eyes, deepening his connection with the suffering creature. He projected a feeling of understanding, and then a simple question: 'Is this the only pain?'
The Behemoth's response was a fresh wave of agony, but this time it was different. It was deeper, a feeling of profound violation and a slow, draining weakness. It guided Li Yu's attention away from the widespread irritation of the poison and focused it on a single, horrifying point: its own spiritual core. It was showing him the source of its deepest despair, a feeling of being preyed upon from within.
Li Yu's eyes snapped open, his expression grim. He now understood. "Branch Master Jing, the situation is worse than we thought. The spiritual poison from the Azure Shell Chamber is real. But it is not the only problem."
"What do you mean?" Jing asked, his heart sinking.
"The Behemoth also has a parasite," Li Yu stated gravely. "A living creature latched directly to its spiritual core. The beast showed it to me. It has been there for some time, slowly draining its life force. The Azure Shell Chamber didn't cause this part of its suffering, but their curse has agitated the beast to a point where the combined agony is driving it into a destructive frenzy."
The two elders stared, speechless. It was a nightmare scenario. Not one, but two separate, lethal problems. Li Yu quickly confirmed the nature of the curse with Caihong, whose treasure-sensing ability identified the spiritual poison as a "bad shiny," a cursed object, but she could feel nothing of the living parasite.
"I believe I can help," Li Yu said, his voice pulling them from their horrified thoughts. "But both the parasite and the source of the curse are intertwined with the Behemh's spiritual core. I cannot remove them from here. I need to get inside."
"Inside?" Jing choked out, his voice trembling. "Guest Elder Li, that is suicide! The moment you pass those seals, its rage will be directed entirely at you! It will tear you to shreds before you could even get close!"
"The beast is in pain from two different sources," Li Yu said, his voice fixed on the vibrating seal. "It lashes out because it doesn't understand. It just responded to me. It knows I am not a threat. If I can get to it, I believe I can convince it to let me help remove the sources of its agony. It is a risk, but it is the only way."
He looked at the two older men, his calm demeanor a steadying anchor in their storm of worry. He could feel the sheer, immense power of the Behemoth. To touch its energy directly, to commune with it, would be an unimaginable benefit to his own path.
"Trust me," he said, his voice leaving no room for argument.
Branch Master Jing looked at the trembling seal, then at the desperate faces of his array masters, then at the calm, confident eyes of the young man before him. For the first time in months, a flicker of genuine hope ignited in his heart. It was a desperate, insane gamble. But it was the only one they had left.
"Very well," Jing said, his voice hoarse. "The masters will open a path for you. May the spirits of the sea protect you, Guest Elder Li."