Chương 35: The City of Sunken Treasures

Sunken Treasure City was a symphony of chaos and opportunity, a place that operated on its own ancient, unwritten rules. After securing their Sky-Swimmer Turtle at a stable run by the Beast Taming Guild—a neutral organization that catered to cultivators of all paths—Li Yu and his companions found lodging in a modest but clean inn in the outer districts. It was far from the opulent towers where the major factions resided.

It was a deliberate choice, a reflection of Li Yu's core philosophy: be the unseen fish in the deep, not the leaping carp that attracts the eagle's eye. Their room was a simple, large suite with four separate sleeping quarters and a common area. As they settled in, Hu Jian paced back and forth like a caged tiger, his boisterous energy barely contained.

"I've never seen anything like it," he said, his voice an excited rumble.

"Did you see that man walking the giant, three-headed lizard? And the woman whose hair was made of living water-snakes? This place is a den of monsters!"

"And we are now walking among them," Lin Tao said quietly, meticulously cleaning his sword.

"The auras in this city are no joke. I sensed at least three people in the market alone who could have killed me with a single glance. We must be careful."

"Lin Tao is right," Brother Kai affirmed, looking at Li Yu.

"Our priority is to keep a low profile until the auction begins. We should spend the next few days gathering information, learning the layout of the city and identifying the major players. We will not cause trouble and we will not attract it."

"That is the plan," Li Yu agreed. He was seated at the room's single window, looking out at the bustling street below.

"But information is not only found in teahouses. It is found where the city's heart beats the loudest." He turned to them with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Tomorrow, we will visit the Azure Pavilion district. It is the largest market for aquatic demonic beasts and materials in the city. I want to see what this city holds." His true purpose was, as always, twofold. He needed to understand the market for his master's objective but he also needed to find a new sustainable source of cultivation. The Azure Serpent Lake was a fine resource but it was finite. The beasts there were limited in number and rank.

Sunken Treasure City was a gateway to the wider world, a place where beasts of every rank and lineage were traded. It was, for him, a library of life force and he was eager to browse its shelves. The next morning, the four of them dressed in the simple unassuming robes of traveling cultivators made their way to the Azure Pavilion district. The district was a wonder of architecture and engineering. It was built on the lowest of the city's islands, with canals of crystal-clear seawater crisscrossing it like streets.

Elegant, multi-storied pavilions with roofs of blue and green tile stood on the banks, connected by bridges of white coral. The air was filled with the clean, salty scent of the sea, a refreshing change from the Fen's decay. Each pavilion was a massive shop, a trading house run by a powerful faction. They saw the banners of the Myriad Beast Sect, the Blackwater Demonic Clan and a dozen other powerful organizations. The canals were filled with a dazzling array of aquatic life.

Li Yu saw schools of shimmering, Rank 3 Spirit-Scale Angelfish, a massive, lazy Rank 4 Deepwater Turtle with a small garden growing on its back, and even a young, playful Sea-Drake being taken for a walk on a leash made of woven spiritual energy.

"The wealth on display here is staggering," Hu Jian whispered, his eyes wide.

"A single one of those angelfish is worth a year's salary for an inner sect disciple." As they wandered, Li Yu's spiritual sense was a silent, probing net, but it was doing more than just observing. With every step he took, the «Myriad Rivers Returning to the Sea Art» was active, a quiet, deep current beneath the surface of his consciousness. He was drawing in a minuscule, harmless thread of Qi from every single aquatic creature within his range. A single thread was nothing, unnoticeable to even the beast itself.

But in a district with thousands of demonic beasts, those threads combined into a steady, nourishing river that flowed directly into his dantian. He could feel his Qi Core, already at the Fourth Stage, slowly but surely consolidating, growing stronger with every breath he took in this vibrant, energy-rich environment. While his companions saw the sights, Li Yu was seeing and quietly feasting. He felt the boredom of the angelfish, the sleepy contentment of the turtle, and the playful energy of the sea-drake.

It was a symphony of consciousness that only he could hear and a banquet of power that only he could taste. It was this symphony that led him to the source of a jarring, discordant note. It came from the largest, most opulent pavilion in the district, a magnificent, seven-story structure with the emblem of a golden, roaring sea lion carved above its entrance. The building was named the Golden Sea Trading Guild, one of the city's oldest and most powerful.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. A large crowd was gathered near a massive, open-air tank at the front of the pavilion. Inside the tank, which was filled with swirling, turbulent water, was a creature of breathtaking beauty.

It was a Lunar-Glow Jellyfish, a Rank 5 Tyrant Beast, its bell a translucent, shimmering dome nearly twenty feet across, and its long, ethereal tentacles trailing for another fifty feet, each one glowing with a soft, silver light. But the creature was clearly in distress. It was swimming in frantic, erratic circles, its beautiful bell flickering with a sickly, greyish light. Its tentacles, which should have been graceful and flowing, were tangled and knotted.

A group of beast tamers, all wearing the golden robes of the guild, stood by the tank, their faces etched with frustration and worry. An old man, his hair and long beard as white as seafoam, stood at their head, his brow deeply furrowed. His aura was deep and vast; he was a powerful expert, likely at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"It's no use, Elder Quan," one of the beast tamers said, his voice heavy with defeat.

"We have tried everything. We've purified the water, adjusted the spiritual energy and fed it the highest-grade soul-nourishing plankton. It just grows more agitated. At this rate, it will exhaust itself to death within a week."

"The patriarch paid a king's ransom for this beast," Elder Quan grumbled.

"It is meant to be the centerpiece of our new Celestial Garden. If it dies… the patriarch's displeasure will be the least of our worries." Li Yu stood at the back of the crowd, his expression calm but his mind was a whirlwind. He didn't need to get close. His spiritual sense plunged into the tank and he was immediately met with a wave of pure overwhelming agony. It wasn't a feeling of sickness or injury but a physical discomfort, a feeling of being stretched to the breaking point from the inside out.

It was the feeling of a deep-sea creature brought to the surface, its body unable to cope with the lack of pressure. He listened deeper, his unique affinity allowing him to understand the creature on a fundamental level. The jellyfish was a creature of the abyssal depths, its entire biology adapted to an environment of the crushing immense water pressure. The guild, in their attempt to create a comfortable, low-stress environment had done the exact opposite. They had put it in a low-pressure tank.

To the jellyfish, it was the equivalent of a human being thrown into the vacuum of space. Its very body felt like it was about to tear itself apart. The solution was laughably simple, yet it was a subtlety that unless known would be hard to discern without being able to directly perceive the creature's physical torment. This was his chance. He thought that he could help this group of merchants and make a connection. He subtly made his way through the crowd until he was standing near the front.

He looked at the frantic beast with a look of childish wonder and then turned to the disciple standing next to him.

"Wow," he said, his voice filled with awe.

"It's so beautiful. But it looks like it's trying to swim deeper but it's already at the bottom. My father used to say that when he caught fish from the bottom of the deep lake, he had to place them in a pressure formation otherwise they'd get sick. He said they missed the weight of the water." The guard, a member of the Golden Sea Guild, gave him a dismissive sneer.

"What would a country bumpkin know? This is a Rank 5 Tyrant Beast, not some common carp. Go away, boy, before you get in the way." Li Yu's words, however, had been just loud enough to be overheard by the frustrated Elder Quan. The old man, at his wits' end and willing to try anything, turned his powerful gaze on Li Yu. His eyes, which had been filled with frustration, now held a flicker of curiosity.

"What did you say, boy?" he asked, his voice booming. Li Yu feigned a look of terror, as if he had just been caught speaking out of turn.

"N-nothing, Elder," he stammered.

"I was just… remembering my father's fish pond. I apologize for my foolish words."

"Missed the weight of the water…" Elder Quan murmured to himself, stroking his long, white beard. He looked at the frantic jellyfish, then at the formation array controlling the tank. They had always held captive beasts from the sea in low-stress, low-pressure environments. But all of their expert solutions had failed.

"You," he barked at one of his beast tamers.

"Activate the Abyssal Pressure Formation. Set it to a simulated depth of five thousand feet." The beast tamer looked at him, baffled.

"But Elder, the pressure will crush it! It's already in a weakened state!"

"Just do it!" Elder Quan roared. The beast tamer, not daring to argue, quickly activated the powerful formation. A deep, humming sound filled the air and the water in the tank seemed to grow heavy, its surface becoming as still as glass. An immense, invisible pressure was now being exerted on everything within the tank. The effect was immediate and miraculous. The Lunar-Glow Jellyfish, which had been thrashing in a state of frantic agitation, suddenly went still.

Its sickly, greyish light vanished, replaced by a soft, healthy, silver glow. Its tangled tentacles slowly unwound, beginning to drift gracefully in the now-heavy water. It let out a soft, psychic pulse of pure, unadulterated relief, a feeling that washed over everyone present. The entire crowd was silent but the guild's own beast tamers were excited. Elder Quan's face was one of relief.

He slowly turned his gaze from the now-peaceful jellyfish to the small, unassuming boy who had been trying to shrink back into the crowd. He strode forward, his immense presence parting the crowd like a ship. He stopped in front of Li Yu, his eyes, which had been filled with frustration, now blazing with a light of incredible excitement.

"Boy," he said, his voice low.

"That was not the wisdom of a fish farmer." He looked at Li Yu, his gaze seeming to see through him.

"Who are you?" Li Yu bowed his head. He had cast his line and he had hooked a true prize.

"This humble one is Li Yu, a disciple of the Green Mountain Sect's Beast Taming Hall."

"Green Mountain Sect…" Elder Quan murmured, a look of understanding on his face. He let out a great, booming laugh that startled everyone.

"It seems the old mountain has produced a truly interesting little boy." He clapped Li Yu on the shoulder, his grip surprisingly gentle.

"Come. You and I have much to discuss."