The spiritual roar of Li Yu's nascent soul had not just shaken the Blasted Lands; it had fractured the very foundation of the Ashen Maw. The obsidian island, once the unbreachable lair of the Molten Heart Colossus, was now split in two, a great, dark fissure revealing the secrets hidden in its stony heart.
Kui, Xylia, and Fengliu stood at the edge of the newly formed chasm, peering down into the darkness. The opening was not a natural cave, but a smooth, perfectly carved tunnel, its walls polished to a mirror-like sheen, clearly the work of an expert hand. It descended deep into the unknown roots of the volcanic island, and from its depths, a faint, ancient, and incredibly powerful aura pulsed, an energy entirely different from the fiery malevolence of the Colossus.
"What is this?" Xylia's rough voice rumbled, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "The Colossus was a mindless beast. It could not have built such a thing."
"Indeed," Kui agreed, his cheerful expression replaced by one of shrewd calculation. His merchant's senses were screaming at him. A hidden tunnel, sealed beneath a Peak Core Formation beast's lair for who knows how long… such things were never empty. "This smells of ancient secrets and, more importantly, ancient treasures!"
Fengliu, the Sky-Watcher, was more pragmatic. His eyes, the color of a clear sky, scanned the tunnel's entrance. "This is a prison," he stated, his voice a low, resonant baritone. "The ambient energy is that of a suppression array. The Colossus was not a resident of this island; it was a guard, placed here to prevent anyone from discovering this entrance."
Li Yu walked to the edge, his gaze calm and analytical. He could feel the faint, yet complex, web of runes that lined the tunnel, a formation designed to contain and suppress. He looked at his three powerful retainers. The hunt for Fengliu's revenge was over, but an entirely new, unexpected adventure had just presented itself.
"It seems our work here is not yet finished," Li Yu said, a faint, curious smile on his lips. "Let us see what secrets this mountain is hiding."
He leaped down into the tunnel without hesitation. The opening was a smooth, polished tube of black obsidian, clearly not a natural formation and far too narrow for their colossal true forms.
"A tight fit," Kui's cheerful voice noted as his colossal Behemoth Turtle-Snake form shimmered and condensed, resolving into the familiar, portly merchant. Xylia, with a grunt, did the same, her massive Glacial Matriarch form collapsing into the tall, powerfully built woman with snow-white hair.
Fengliu was the last to transform. He lingered for a moment at the edge, a magnificent, iridescent sovereign of the sky. Then, with a sigh like the wind through a lonely peak, his colossal form dissolved into a swirling vortex of sea-green and sky-blue light. From the vortex, a man emerged, landing on the ground with a weightless grace that seemed to defy gravity.
He was tall and slender, with a proud, almost hawk-like nobility to his features. His hair was long, the color of a dawn cloud, a soft white shot through with shimmering, iridescent strands that shifted from blue to green with the faint light. His eyes were the same clear, piercing sky-blue as his Roc form, holding an ancient, sorrowful wisdom. He wore simple, flowing robes of pale blue and silver that seemed to stir with a wind of their own. He was the very picture of an exiled sky-prince, a being of ethereal, untouchable grace.
With their forms now suited for the narrow passage, the three sovereigns followed Li Yu. The tunnel was long and spiraled downwards, the polished black walls cool to the touch. The air, which had been thick with the smell of ash and brimstone, now grew cool and damp, carrying the faint, briny scent of a deep ocean.
After a long descent, the tunnel opened into a cavern so vast it felt like a separate, subterranean world. The chamber was a perfect, massive sphere, its walls crafted from the same polished, black obsidian. There was no water here, but the entire cavern was filled with a gentle, ambient blue light that seemed to emanate from the very stone itself. And in the exact center of this immense sphere, the source of the powerful, suppressed aura was revealed.
Floating in the very heart of the chamber was a colossal, multifaceted crystal, easily thirty meters in diameter. And trapped within the crystal, held in a state of suspended animation, was a creature of breathtaking, otherworldly beauty.
It was an octopus. Its body was immense, its great, intelligent-looking head the size of a small house. Its skin was not a simple color, but a living, shifting tapestry of iridescent light, flowing through patterns of deep indigo, vibrant violet, and shimmering silver, like a captured aurora borealis.
Eight massive tentacles, each one a hundred meters long, were coiled gracefully within the crystal prison, their surfaces covered in suckers that looked like disks of polished silver. This was a Chimeric Kaleido-Kraken, a legendary sovereign of the deep sea.
Its eyes, two vast, luminous orbs of liquid silver, were open, and they fixed on the newcomers with a gaze that held not madness or fear, but an ancient, weary intelligence that had been trapped in solitude for a long, long time.
Etched around the crystal was a massive, incredibly complex suppression array. Chains of golden, runic light flowed from the array, piercing the crystal and wrapping around the kraken's form, binding its immense power.
"By the ancestors…" Kui breathed, his voice a reverent whisper. "A sovereign beast… an 8th-stage Core Formation expert, by the feel of it. Trapped. Imprisoned."
The kraken's silver eyes focused on them, a slow, cautious thought projecting into their minds. It was a female voice, ancient, melodic, and full of a profound, soul-deep weariness. "More visitors? Or are you my jailor, returned to gloat at my cage?"
"We are not your jailors," Li Yu said, his voice calm and respectful. "We just… dealt with the guard outside. The Molten Heart Colossus. It will not be bothering anyone again."
A flicker of genuine surprise passed through the kraken's ancient eyes. "You… you killed that mindless brute? It has been my silent, hateful neighbor for two long years. I have felt its stupid, fiery rage every single day." A new, more intense scrutiny entered her gaze. "Who are you, to command such power?"
"My name is Li Yu," he replied simply. "We stumbled upon this place by chance. Tell us, how did a sovereign of the deep sea come to be a prisoner in the heart of a volcano?"
A wave of ancient, sorrowful memory flowed from the great beast. "Two years ago," her mental voice was a low, sad hum, "I was exploring an ancient, pre-human ruin that had surfaced from the sea floor after a great tremor. I took my finest guards, a legion of my own kin. We were deep within the ruin when we were ambushed."
Her thoughts became a chaotic blur of battle. "I do not know who they were. Their power was strange, a mixture of corrosive curses and overwhelming physical force. My guards… they fought bravely to protect me, but they were overwhelmed. I was struck by a powerful sealing technique, and my consciousness faded. When I awoke… I was here. Trapped in this crystal, bound by this array."
"And your jailor?" Li Yu asked.
"I have seen him only once," she replied, a note of cold fury in her thoughts. "Shortly after I awoke. He was a human, cloaked in shadows, his face and aura completely concealed. He looked at me, not as a living creature, but as a… a tool. A resource."
Her silver eyes narrowed in remembered rage. "He told me only that I had a 'grand purpose' to fulfill, that my power would be a fine bargaining chip in a game to come. And then he left. I have been here, in this silent, lonely prison, ever since."
As the kraken finished her tale, Fengliu, who had been listening with a grim, silent intensity, clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. His own face was a mask of cold, empathetic fury. A mysterious, cloaked human, using a powerful sovereign beast as a pawn in some grander scheme… the parallels to his own tragedy were too strong to ignore.
Li Yu looked at the magnificent, imprisoned sovereign, and a simple, straightforward decision was made in his heart. There was no calculation of profit, no strategic consideration. There was only the simple, undeniable fact that leaving such a creature to rot in a cage was a profound and unacceptable wrong.
"We will free you," Li Yu stated, his voice a calm, simple promise.
The kraken's great, silver eyes widened, a wave of profound, incredulous shock washing from her. "You would… free me? Why? You do not even know my name. You ask for no payment? No oath?"
"To leave you here would be an injustice," Li Yu replied. "Also, we already killed the jailer, freeing the prisoner will bring no further consequences."
"Wise Host," Kui's practical voice cut in. "A noble sentiment! However, this formation… it is an ancient, master-grade suppression array. It is designed to absorb and deflect raw spiritual energy. Brute force will likely not be enough."
Li Yu walked forward, his eyes scanning the glowing, golden runes. "Perhaps." He raised his hand, and his heavy, black staff of Condensed Sea Iron Ore appeared. "But it is always best to be certain." He wanted to test his power, safely though, and this was the perfect opportunity.
He took a deep breath, and his true power was unleashed. His aura flared to life, an abyss-black ocean of impossibly heavy, condensed energy. He poured a significant amount of it into his staff and unleashed a powerful, direct strike at the central crystal.
BOOM!
A deep, resonant impact echoed through the cavern. The crystal prison shuddered violently, and the golden runes flared, but the array held. Li Yu struck again. BOOM! A small, hairline crack appeared on the crystal's surface. He struck a third time. BOOM! The crack widened, but the array was already repairing it, the golden runes glowing brighter.
"It is weakening," Li Yu noted, a thin, excited smile on his face. "But it would take me an hour of constant assault to break it this way. Too slow."
He looked at the crystal, then at the magnificent creature trapped within. It was time for another experiment. He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the abyss-black ocean of his core. He reached out to his nascent soul, not with a command, but with a focused, unified intent.
'Power. We need more power. Let us become one.'
The crimson-gold leviathan responded. It surged upwards, and for the second time, it emerged from his physical body, coiling around him, its form of pure light and shadow merging with his physical body.
Kui, Xylia, and Fengliu watched in absolute, stunned silence. Li Yu's form began to glow with a brilliant, crimson-gold light. His simple robes seemed to transform, taking on an ethereal, flowing quality. His eyes, when he opened them, were glowing, crimson-gold orbs that seemed like they could see through all things.
His aura, which was already immense, now exploded outwards, a torrent of power so vast and profound it dwarfed his previous state several times over. This was the true, unrestrained power of his soul and body, unified.
"Incredible…" Fengliu whispered, his voice full of a reverence that bordered on religious fear.
Li Yu, now a being of divine, golden light, raised his staff again. It too seemed to be transformed, now wreathed in the same crimson-gold energy. He did not use a complex technique. He simply swung.
The blow was not accompanied by a boom, but by a sound like a great, heavenly bell that resonated deep in their souls. The staff struck the crystal prison.
And the ancient, master-grade suppression array, a work of genius that had held an 8th-stage Core Formation sovereign for two years, simply… shattered.
The great crystal exploded into a billion glittering shards of light. The golden, runic chains dissolved into nothingness.
The Chimeric Kaleido-Kraken was free.
Her colossal, iridescent form drifted in the center of the cavern, her eight massive tentacles uncoiling with a slow, graceful power. She flexed her limbs, feeling her own, immense power returning to her for the first time in two years.
Li Yu, his form returning to normal, the divine, crimson-gold light receding back into his body, watched her, his expression calm and welcoming. But internally, a thrill of pure, boyish excitement was coursing through him. 'It worked! The power… it's unimaginable! I have to find a name for this… Soul Fusion? A technique that can amplify my power ! This is incredible!'
The great kraken turned her luminous, silver eyes upon him. She did not immediately offer thanks. Instead, she acted. From her forehead, a single, perfect, shimmering drop of pure, silver soul-essence emerged. It floated through the chamber, past the stunned Kui, Xylia, and Fengliu, and came to a stop directly before Li Yu. It was a willing, voluntary offering. A master-servant contract.
"Wise Host, wait!" Kui said, his eyes wide. To bind such an unknown, powerful creature so quickly was a risk!
But Li Yu simply looked at the drop of soul-essence, then at the profound, unwavering sincerity in the great beast's silver eyes. He reached out and let the drop touch his finger, where it was instantly absorbed, forging an unbreakable, eternal bond.
The moment the bond was formed, her voice, clear and full of a quiet, unshakeable honor, echoed in their minds.
"My name is Cyra," she said. "And my life is now yours. It is the law of my family. A life debt must be paid with a life of service. You have freed me from my prison, and so, you have become my purpose."
Li Yu looked at his new retainer and a genuine smile touched his lips. "I accept your oath, Cyra. But know this. In my service, you are not a slave. You have your own goals, your own ideals. As long as they do not conflict with my own, you are free to pursue them just like everyone else here. I will of course ask you to do things but I will consider your thoughts as well. We are not master and slave; we are partners on the same path."
A wave of profound, grateful relief washed over him from the great kraken. Her silver eyes seemed to shine even brighter.
"Then," her voice was a soft, melodic hum, "it is an honor to walk this path with you… Master."