Chương 56: The Stygian Shell

A year passed in the tranquil, misty confines of the Azure Serpent Lake. To the outside world, Li Yu, now fifteen, was a model disciple. His official cultivation had progressed steadily and he had publicly broken through to the Sixth Stage of Qi Condensation, a feat that cemented his status as a top-tier. He continued his bimonthly trips to Sunken Treasure City, his reputation as the benevolent but eccentric "Quiet Physician" growing with each visit. He was a respected, if reclusive, figure.

His web of favors and connections was growing deeper and more complex. All the while maintaining his preferred low-key existence. Most of his favors and connections ended up getting him food or home cooked meals but it was something he enjoyed nonetheless. But within the hidden world of his Koi's Sanctuary, a revolution was taking place. The year of relentless, painstaking training had transformed his chaotic menagerie into a disciplined, lethal army.

He was no longer a clumsy commander struggling to be heard over the roar of his own beasts. A single, silent thought was all it took for Aegis and Bastion to form a perfect, unbreachable shield wall. Another thought would send Fury and Rage into a devastating pincer attack, their venomous assaults perfectly timed.

Mirage, the Phantasmal Octopus, had become a master of battlefield control, its illusions weaving a web of confusion that his other beasts exploited with predatory grace, all of it guided by the flawless, three-dimensional map provided by the Swarm. He also found fulfillment in raising his army, watching them grow and learn. He started to wonder why he cultivated. Initially, it was a means out of his poor and orphaned life.

He wanted to grow stronger, be able to defend himself and make something of himself for his parents. To one day be able say "I'm doing well, please don't worry about me" As he grew older he found that, while that is a direction, it can't be the only reason. He started finding it here, he enjoyed being a beast tamer. He was kind of already living that life, taking care of the beasts under his watch at the sect and raising his own army.

With that newfound motivation, he proceeded further, seeing where it would all take him. He continued training with Khaos; he could now survive for a full ten minutes under the suppressed pressure of a First Stage Foundation Establishment expert, or what Khaos considered first stage. He was still not a warrior but he was no longer helpless to such pressure. He had learned to endure, to anticipate to survive. He continued his sparring matches throughout the sect.

The constant battles, even if they weren't with life and death on the line allowed him to hone his skills and instincts. He was getting better at reading the battle, seeing what his opponents was going to do next. His foundation at the peak of the Ninth Stage of Qi Condensation had become so pure, so incredibly dense, that he felt he could attempt his breakthrough to the next realm at any time. Khaos told him to keep refining his energy, that there was more to be done before advancing.

It was during one of these training sessions that the next great change occurred. He was in the sanctuary, his spiritual avatar a blur as he practiced his staff forms against a phantom opponent created by Mirage's illusions. Suddenly, the entire sanctuary grew cold. The crimson-gold mist, the very essence of his Koi spirit's vitality, stopped swirling. It was drawn, as if by an invisible tide, towards the small, obsidian ledge where Khaos rested.

The thriving schools of fish in the lake froze in place, a deep, primal fear gripping them. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Li Yu stopped his training, his gaze fixed on the miniature, fist-sized crab. A profound, ancient, and terrifying aura began to radiate from Khaos's small form. It was an aura that spoke of the birth of stars and the death of worlds.

"It is time", Khaos's ancient voice echoed, not just in Li Yu's mind, but through the very fabric of the sanctuary.

"The accumulation is complete. The next stage begins." The miniature obsidian shell on Khaos began to crack. Not like a normal shell, but like fracturing space. Tiny, black fissures spread across its surface, and from them, not light, but a deeper, more absolute darkness began to leak out. The crimson-gold mist that was drawn to it was not consumed; it was annihilated, its pure vitality converted into a higher, more primordial form of energy. A wave of profound, world-shaking power erupted from Khaos.

It was a pressure so immense it caused the very space of the sanctuary to warp and groan. Li Yu was thrown back, his spiritual avatar flickering, the connection to his own soul-bound world threatening to snap. He felt Khaos break through a fundamental barrier of existence. It was no longer a Rank 9 Sovereign Beast. It had taken the next, terrifying step. It was now a Rank 10 Abyssal Beast, a creature whose power was equivalent to the Core Formation Realm.

The aura was so profound, so far beyond anything he had ever felt. Li Yu could only guess it was likely in the early stages of that legendary realm but even that felt like an ant trying to measure a mountain. As Khaos's power surged, a single pure black thread of void energy, a feedback from the successful evolution, flowed from the crab and into the blood-red Koi spirit that was their link. The Koi shuddered and the energy was instantly transmitted into Li Yu himself.

A fire of pure annihilation ignited in his veins. The pain was absolute. He could feel his own True Qi being… consumed. But it was not being destroyed. It was being reforged. The faint black all-consuming quality he had noticed before was now becoming a fundamental aspect of his own power. His Qi was no longer just water-attribute; it was now tinged with the destructive nature of the void. At the same time, his body, which had been on the verge of a breakthrough for months, was pushed over the edge.

The refined energy flooded his heart, supercharging his already perfected 'Tidal Blood'. The Fourth Level of his «Abyssal Leviathan Physique» was instantly pushed to its absolute peak. Then, a new, more profound transformation began. He had finally reached the Fifth Level: 'Abyssal Vortex.' His entire circulatory system, from his heart to his smallest capillaries, began to restructure, forming a passive, self-sustaining spiritual vortex within his very flesh.

His body could now naturally draw in and refine ambient energy on its own and the power stored in his Tidal Blood became a swirling, explosive reservoir of strength, independent of his dantian. Back in the sanctuary, the fractured shell on Khaos fell away and disappeared. A new form was revealed. It was still a fist-sized crab, but its shell was no longer a simple obsidian. It was now the color of a starless, midnight sky and within its depths, tiny, faint lights, like distant galaxies, swirled and moved.

It was a living piece of the void.

'My growth is your strength,' Khaos projected, its voice deeper.

'I grant you a piece of my old shell, a sliver of my former power. Consider it a gift.' As it spoke, a thin, almost invisible layer of translucent, black, crystalline armor formed around Li Yu's spiritual avatar. It fit him like a second skin, weightless and unobtrusive.

'This is the Stygian Shell,' Khaos explained.

'It is a manifestation of my own defensive nature, born from our bond. It can be called upon in the mortal world. It requires no Qi to sustain. It will absorb and nullify the energy of any attack below the high stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm. It is your ultimate defense. Now, do not bother me. I must consolidate my new foundation.' The immense, world-shaking aura receded and Khaos once again became a quiet, dormant-looking crab, resting on its ledge as if nothing had happened.

Li Yu stood, his spiritual avatar now clad in an invisible defense. He withdrew his consciousness, his physical body slumping in his cultivation chamber, his mind reeling from the staggering implications of what had just happened. He now possessed a defense that could render him immune to one attack from almost any enemy he was likely to face. His own body and Qi had undergone a profound qualitative evolution. He was closer than ever to his own breakthrough.

He looked down at his own hands, slowly clenching them into fists. He could feel the new, terrifying power flowing through his blood.