Chương 1093: Chapter 1091: The Burden One Must Bear

Seven days passed since the peaceful boat ride down the winding river. Li Yu sat at his wooden desk inside the dark wood pagoda and stared at the four jade slips resting in front of him. He spent the last week studying the dual cultivation techniques and the intimate positioning diagrams recorded within those texts just in case he needed it. The glowing images and complex Qi circulation paths occupied his mind a bit too much recently.

He shook his head and packed the slips away into a wooden box before storing them deep inside his spatial ring once more. He decided he was diving far too deep into those manuals and needed a proper distraction to regain his martial focus. As he stood up to stretch his legs and figure out what to do with his morning, the ambient space near the pagoda entrance rippled with a familiar energy. The distortion settled and his father Li Canghai stepped through the spatial tear.

Li Yu smiled brightly and went to greet his father. He guided the older man to the small seating area near the open courtyard and began brewing a fresh pot of floral tea. The two men sat across from one another and spent a long time catching up on recent events.

"You look well rested," Li Canghai noted while accepting a steaming cup of tea.

"The natural energy of the Five Star Lakes suits your cultivation path it would seem. Tell me about your experiences during the recent training mission that took you away from here for so long." Li Yu took a sip of his own tea and began recounting the details of his journey through the Mosaic realm. He described the dense green forests, the roaming beasts they encountered, people met and also events that happened during his time there..

"I also brought back a few new followers to live on the estate," Li Yu explained while setting his cup down.

"You need a strong retinue as you advance in power," Li Canghai agreed with an approving nod.

"Did you find anyone else?"

"I brought back two sisters named Seline and Alys," Li Yu continued with a more serious tone.

"We saved them in the wild but they turned on us to protect their own secrets. Elysia bound their souls to my service as I was healing their souls and she was right in doing so. They are currently taking on tasks at the main headquarters to earn their own merit points." Li Canghai listened intently and did not judge the harsh outcome.

"The cultivation path is unforgiving and betrayal is a common occurrence in the wild and anywhere. You handled the situation properly and gave them a chance to live a productive life. It is the best outcome for such a thing as the only other fate was death. It would seem that you are building a solid foundation of followers." The conversation then shifted away from the training realm and Li Canghai let out a heavy sigh.

The relaxed posture of the swordmaster tightened slightly and a shadow of concern crossed his features.

"Things have gotten much more chaotic on the cosmic battlefield," Li Canghai told him while staring into his teacup.

"The fighting increased recently across several border territories and the various factions are clashing with a startling intensity. The clan intelligence networks do not understand what is behind this sudden surge in violence but it feels like a coordinated push. However, we cannot find the source." Li Yu felt a knot form in his stomach as he listened to the grim report.

He knew his family stood at the forefront of those cosmic wars and the escalating violence meant they were facing greater dangers every single day.

"We might have a bit less time moving forward to prepare for the shifting eras," Li Canghai warned softly.

"The cosmic winds are changing faster than we anticipated."

"You need to be careful out there," Li Yu urged his father with genuine concern in his voice.

"Do not worry about me or my progress here at the estate. I am safe within the clan borders. If you need to stay out there longer and do things for yourself or the troops, then you should stay and fight. I will handle my own matters here." Li Canghai smiled warmly at the maturity shining in his son's eyes.

"You have grown into a fine young man, trying to worry about your old man. I will be careful and your mother is holding the front lines with her usual unmatched ferocity." They spent the rest of the day together and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere of the valley. It was a nice break for Li Canghai who has had to deal with a lot in recent days. Being able to take a break from it all and enjoy time with his son made those experiences a bit more worth it.

They walked along the rocky shoreline of the lakes and talked about cultivation theories and the nature of the Dao. When the sun began to set over the mountain peaks, Li Canghai prepared to leave and return to the warfront. Before opening a spatial rift, the older man handed Li Yu a storage ring filled with high tier cultivation resources.

"Use these to help solidify your foundation," Li Canghai instructed while placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

"I can sense your energy is right on the boundary of the next major breakthrough. You must let the elders here know before you push towards the Tribulation realm. The Zhan Clan has a specialized place that helps cultivators as they are going through the heavenly lightning process. Do not attempt to face the tribulation clouds on your own in the wild. At the very least you should have someone watch over you so others cannot interfere."

"I will notify the elders when the time comes," Li Yu promised while securing the ring away.

"Thank you for the guidance and the resources, father. May you have a safe trip this time as well." Li Canghai offered one last proud smile before stepping into the spatial tear and vanishing from the valley. Li Yu stood alone near the water and watched the ripples fade across the surface. He returned to his pagoda and continued to cultivate once again with a renewed urgency burning in his chest. He wanted to get stronger and at a much faster pace.

He wanted to be able to at least help his parents out on those chaotic battlefields. Before he learned the truth of his heritage, there were countless unknown figures to hold up the sky and protect the realms. He did not know better back then. However, since he now knew his parents and his grandfather were part of those giants bearing the weight of the cosmos, he wanted to help share their heavy burden. Li Yu knew he was a long way from such a stage but the desire pushed him forward nonetheless.

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'I need to be patient though,' Li Yu noted to himself while sitting on his woven mat and circulating his Karma Severing Qi.

'Rush only makes waste and I could suffer a severe Qi deviation if I force myself too quickly. I want to be the strongest to end all the fighting once and for all, eventually. To achieve that grand goal, my foundation needs to be the strongest and rock solid.' He calmed his racing heart and guided the energy through his body with slow and deliberate breaths. As his mind settled into a meditative state, he began to think about the broader requirements of his future.

Personal strength was vital but it was rarely enough to win a cosmic war that spread across so many different places. He reconfirmed the thought that he needed his own troops and reliable fighters. Not only to have a similar standing to Lian but a force strong enough where he and it can make a difference out there. Li Yu wanted a dedicated legion just like Lian had, one where he could command it as he needed. He then thought about how he wanted to go about building such a force.

It was not the first time he's had such thoughts but haven't been able to put it into practice just yet. He did not want to rely on clan disciples who held divided loyalties to various branch families and internal political factions. He needed followers who answered only to him and where he could have complete control over what they did. Li Yu had been thinking about this for awhile but it kept coming back to his Koi Sanctuary, it was a great tool for this endeavor.

The inner world provided a vast and energy rich environment where an army could live and train in secret. However, the unique rules of the sanctuary dictated that it could only contain aquatic bloodline creatures. That strict limitation ruled out a lot of powerful races like the stone elementals, the storm eagles and the terrestrial beastkin. The benefit of using aquatic beasts would be clear and highly advantageous. His entire army could travel with him at all times, hidden away in that inner world.

He could summon them out at any given moment to overwhelm an enemy or establish a sudden defensive perimeter. Li Yu always had such thoughts regarding a personal beast legion but he faced a recurring problem in the past. His personal cultivation was often advancing so quickly that the aquatic beasts he captured simply would not be able to keep up with his rapid growth. They became obsolete in battle before they could truly mature.

Finding aquatic beasts stronger than his current level was very hard to obtain in the wild, at least before he found out about his true heritage. However, even if he managed to secure powerful creatures, he then had to supply them with vast amounts of resources to help them cultivate to become even stronger. Raising a single Domain King beast required a mountain of spirit stones and pills. Raising an army of them required wealth that he simply did not have.

His lakes here were meant to be a pass time that made a small amount of money once it got going. The funds from it could support weaker cultivators easily but not an army of experts that were trying to constantly get stronger. Li Yu did not have a merchant business or any trade routes to generate a steady income. He spent his time fighting and exploring while relying a lot on his parents and his grandfather's vast wealth to fund his journey.

He knew that the well of generosity was deep but it was not infinite and more importantly was not his own. He realized he had to solve two major issues before his dream of an army could become a reality. He needed a constant source of wealth to flow into his pockets and he needed a reliable method of obtaining strong beasts to make the army itself. The second issue of obtaining the beasts seemed much easier to solve on paper.

He could rely on the clan infrastructure and their affiliated vendors to secure strong aquatic creatures. Li Yu could also just have his grandfather or his parents help him capture powerful targets in the wild using their overwhelming strength. As he thought deeper about the logistics of acquiring these creatures, he faced another significant issue. A heavy moral dilemma settled over his mind. The powerful beasts who cultivated to the Karma Severing or Domain King levels were highly sentient beings.

They possessed deep intelligence, distinct personalities and they often had families and friends within their own territories. It did not quite feel right to go out into the wild and just capture these sentient beings to forcefully draft them into his army to do his bidding. Li Yu did not know what to do about the ethical weight of the situation. He could go buy beasts that were already captured by hunters or other organizations.

He could take them from their cruel captors and place them into his army where they would have a different life but wondered if that approach was even any better than going out and catching them himself. Buying slaves still fueled the horrific market and stripped the creatures of their free will in the end. It seemed okay if he randomly met such a situation in passing and brought them but he wanted an army. Should he rely on the chance of meeting such a thing?

A creature that was strong enough to be useful in his army and also have an aquatic bloodline? The odds of such a thing happening was not common. Should he just rely on luck and capture aggressive beasts as they cross his paths during his travels? That approach felt more morally clean but the chances of those random enemies being aquatic bloodline creatures and being strong enough for his needs made the chances incredibly slim in that situation as well.

Relying on luck would take thousands of years to build a proper force. He needed an army for his purposes and the cosmic clock was ticking faster every day. The border wars were escalating and his family was bleeding on the front lines. Li Yu opened his eyes and stared at the wooden floorboards of his pagoda. He decided that he would just have to go and capture the beasts.

It would be much cheaper than buying them from specialized vendors and most importantly he needed to be more firm with his actions moving forward. The cultivation world devoured the weak and hesitated leaders often watched their loved ones fall. He clenched his fists and accepted the dark reality of his path.

'I will bear this bad karma of forcefully raising an army and stripping sentient creatures of their freedom. That is the reality of this.' Li Yu thought. He then tried to tell himself that it was a necessary evil, that it was for the greater good of ending the cosmic wars. However, Li Yu quickly stopped himself from following that dangerous line of thought.

'No, that isn't right. I refuse to try and justify my actions for the greater good.' Li Yu thought as he had seen where that mindset leads others. Factions and empires committed unspeakable atrocities while hiding behind the shield of a righteous cause. They convinced themselves they were holy saviors while slaughtering innocents. Li Yu rejected that hypocritical comfort for one he thought was more correct.

'No, I am doing this for myself, my own goals and my own dreams! I want to protect my parents, I want to stand beside Lian and I want the power to live my life without fear. I am doing all of this out of a selfish desire and I will bear that bad karma myself!' Li Yu thought with a firm resolve. He would not pretend to be a saint while chaining beings to his will. He would at least be an honest tyrant and a fierce protector to his family.

With his moral conflict resolved into a cold and pragmatic acceptance, Li Yu stood up from his mat. He had a clear direction now and he needed to start working on the first issue. He needed to find a way to secure the massive amount of wealth required to feed the hungry mouths of a growing aquatic legion. Li Yu walked out onto the balcony of his pagoda and looked up at the stars while forming a plan to gather the resources he desperately needed.