Chương 740: Chapter 739: The Gathering of Empires

Li Yu settled back into his luxurious quarters and had just finished a cup of glowing nectar tea when a heavy rhythmic knock echoed from his chamber doors. The heavy stone slabs swung open and Emperor Xerxis strode into the room. The Domain King wore his majestic dark royal armor but his imposing aura was completely suppressed out of respect for his young guest.

"Young master." Xerxis greeted him and offered a deep bow.

"I hope your tour of some of my realm was satisfactory."

"It was completely breathtaking, Emperor." Li Yu replied honestly and gestured for the ruler to take a seat.

"I learned a great deal about the incredible diversity and strength of your people." Xerxis beamed with pride and his mandibles clicked happily. He sat down in a bone carved chair.

"I am very glad to hear that." Xerxis said.

"Because an even greater spectacle is about to begin. I came to personally invite you to an event that happens twice a year. A massive tournament is coming up in exactly one week." Li Yu leaned forward and his interest was immediately peaked. Tournaments were the best places to observe the true combat prowess and the hidden depths of a new realm.

"It is a grand tournament hosted by The Aether Swarm." Xerxis explained as he was leaning his heavy elbows on his knees.

"The Aether Swarm hosts it in their central territory. It is actually three separate tournaments that are woven into one massive event. It is one of the martial spectacle in this world." Li Yu poured the Emperor a cup of nectar tea.

"How exactly is it structured?"

"The first tournament is strictly for the five great empires to compete in as a team event." Xerxis detailed. His voice filled with competitive fire.

"Each empire fields a team of exactly five fighters. The winner claims bragging rights as well as a massive reward that are pooled together from the treasuries of all five empires. It is a tournament completely dedicated to earning face, fame and global recognition."

"And the second?" Li Yu asked.

"The second tournament is also exclusively for the five great empires but it is a single combat format." Xerxis continued.

"It is divided strictly by cultivation realms. Each empire sends one fighter from the Divine Transformation realm, one from the Soul Transformation realm, one Half King, one King and one Law Seed. This is exactly the same composition used for the team fights. There is another pooled prize for this but the recognition and personal fame earned here are vastly more important. This singles event happens second."

"That leaves the third tournament." Li Yu noted.

"The final tournament is for everyone else." Xerxis waved his hand dismissively.

"It is for wandering cultivators, rogue beasts and those who are not officially a part of the five great empires. They compete to show off their personal might and hopefully get recruited into one of the major factions at a higher rank. It serves as a recruitment drive to close out the festival. There are also prizes for the winner here too." Li Yu nodded slowly. Watching the greatest prodigies of five different alien empires clash in an organized arena sounded like a great way to spend his time.

It would allow him to see how others fought and further increase his insights.

"I am definitely curious," Li Yu smiled.

"I would love to attend." Xerxis was thrilled. Having the young master travel with his delegation would surely earn him massive face among the other rulers. If they didn't realize how great Li Yu was, then their vision was too weak and he would have even less to worry about them. Later that afternoon Li Yu went to check on Garrick to see if the Great Sage wanted to attend the massive event. He found Garrick lounging on the observation deck of their designated warship.

The giant brawler was still surrounded by his favorite attendants. Several women possessing beautiful subtle beetle features were actively feeding him. Garrick looked up as Li Yu approached and was entirely unapologetic about his indulgence.

"Xerxis is taking us to a massive tournament hosted by the Aether Swarm," Li Yu informed him.

"Are you coming to watch?" Garrick let out a booming laugh that shook the wooden deck. He gently patted the head of the woman resting on his metallic shoulder.

"I will follow you in tow kid." Garrick agreed and was completely relaxed.

"But I am going to be mostly busy with these lovely ladies. I will most likely just stay aboard the ship during the actual matches. I am vastly more interested in this right here than watching a bunch of bugs hit each other in an arena." Li Yu could only shake his head at him. The man was a powerhouse acting like a completely spoiled noble. Garrick reached into his robes and pulled out a small and intricately carved bone token. He tossed it casually to Li Yu.

"Keep that on you." Garrick instructed as his voice dropped its playful tone for just a single serious second.

"Crush it if you are in any real trouble and I will come immediately. Otherwise just enjoy the fights." Li Yu caught the token and tucked it away, amused by the giant brawler's priorities. The week passed by in a flash of preparation. The entire capital buzzed with anticipation as the Hive Empire mobilized its greatest fighters, or the fighters it was willing to show and packed its treasures for the prize pool.

Emperor Xerxis personally commanded the massive royal fleet as they departed for the Aether Swarm territory. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! The day of the tournament finally arrived. The Aether Swarm territory was vastly different from the hives of Xerxis's empire. The air here was thin and whipped with violent high speed winds. The grand arena was breathtaking.

It was completely suspended in the sky and built upon hundreds of floating crystalline platforms that were anchored together by thick glowing chains of spiritual energy. The stands were packed with millions of spectators from across the entire realm. The noise was absolutely deafening as it was a chaotic mixture of roaring cheers and the endless buzzing of wings. It was the only two times during the year that the Hive Empire and the Eclipse Court did not kill each other on sight.

This was a tournament for face, not killing. That could come any other time. Li Yu sat in a luxury viewing box that was situated at the very pinnacle of the arena and directly beside Emperor Xerxis. Down on the massive central fighting platform, the announcer was a sleek fly demon with vibrating transparent wings. He called out the official delegations. The twenty five fighters representing the elite generation of the five great empires marched out into the open to be presented to the roaring crowd.

Li Yu leaned forward and was eager to observe their foundations, techniques and fighting styles. There were exactly five fighters from each kingdom spanning from Divine Transformation up to the Law Seed realm. The delegation from the Eclipse Court stepped out first. The five moth warriors were incredibly eerie to look at. They were for the most part tall, slender and draped in dark cloaks that seemed to absorb the light around them.

As they walked, a fine and shimmering toxic dust drifted off their shoulders and wings. Their faces were hidden behind pale, featureless masks projecting an aura of lethal mystery. Next came the Aegis Legion. The five ant warriors were literal walking tanks. They wore massive suits of naturally grown red and black organic armor that looked thick enough to withstand a meteor strike. They carried colossal weapons, giant hammers or clubs and massive tower shields but were unbothered by the immense weight.

They moved together in a rigid line, looking less like individual fighters and more like a single unbreakable iron wall. The crowd erupted into a deafening cheer as the host empire the Aether Swarm sent their five fighters forward. The fly demons were incredibly sleek, possessing aerodynamic bodies covered in complex spiritual talismans. Their compound eyes darted around and was taking in every single detail of the arena.

Their transparent wings vibrated at such an impossible frequency that they seemed to blur in and out of reality. Emperor Xerxis puffed out his chest proudly as the Hive Empire delegation marched out. The five warriors were a terrifying mix of heavy assault and brutal precision. There was a massive bumblebee tank wielding a giant spiked club, a sleek wasp assassin carrying dual poisoned daggers and a heavy hornet brawler with jagged bone spikes protruding from his knuckles.

But Li Yu's eyes were drawn to the remaining two fighters on the Hive team. They were a young man and a young woman who looked remarkably more human than the others, possessing only subtle bee traits like dark gold irises and thin translucent wings.

"Those two are actually a son and a daughter of mine." Xerxis noted casually pointing down at the young man and woman. Li Yu looked at the Emperor expecting to see a swell of parental pride. Instead Xerxis looked completely indifferent. He spoke about them as if they were just standard issue weapons pulled from an armory.

"They showed good promise in the training camps so they earned a spot on the roster." Xerxis explained, his voice entirely devoid of any warmth.

"If they perform well they will earn glory. If they die they die. They are just soldiers of the empire." Li Yu remembered his tour of the massive birthing chambers. Xerxis was the literal father of millions. When you possessed an endless factory of offspring the value of an individual child completely vanished. To the Domain King, they were not true sons or daughters; they were simply biological assets meant to serve the throne. Finally the announcer called for the fifth and final delegation.

The fighters from the Hollow Dominion stepped onto the central platform. The first three fighters were exactly what Li Yu expected based on what he had seen in the Amber Canals. They were pale completely blind termite beings moving in perfect silent unison directed entirely by their unseen hivemind. But as the final two fighters of the termite delegation stepped out from the shadows Li Yu was genuinely surprised. They were not termites. They were pale, vaguely humanoid figures with smooth featureless ovoid heads.

Instead of normal eyes their faces were dotted with chaotic clusters of black unblinking eyes. They possessed skittering insectoid lower limbs and arms that ended in massive jagged scythe like claws. A thick purple energy passively tore at the ambient Qi around their bodies. They were Xylarri and Li Yu had met their kind before. Li Yu stared down at the two creatures and his mind flashed back to the desperate brutal war he had fought alongside Jian Xuan and Theron. He remembered the relentless consuming swarm.

He had killed one of their leaders. A sworn sister. And by accepting the soul core trophy he had been officially marked for death. They had sworn an ancient blood feud to hunt him but he had never run into their kind again until now. Li Yu watched them stand calmly on the tournament stage alongside the other empires. The rest of the arena did not panic or scream. To the millions of spectators, these two Xylarri were not some apocalyptic world ending threat.

They were simply another alien species that happened to be allied with the Termite Empire for this tournament. It was clear that in the grand vastness of the cosmos, the Xylarri were just another faction operating for their own reasons and goals. But to Li Yu, they were the specific faction that had a massive personal grudge against him. Because of their terrifying hivemind connection, information was shared instantly across their entire species.

They did not need to be the exact same individuals who fought in that war to know exactly who he was. Sure enough, down on the platform, one of the Xylarri fighters slowly turned its smooth ovoid head. The clusters of black unblinking eyes scanned the massive arena crowds. The creature's head stopped moving, completely locking its gaze directly onto the supreme luxury viewing box at the pinnacle of the arena. It stared completely unblinking and directly at Li Yu. Li Yu did not look away.

He forced his breathing to steady and his expression shifted into a cold predatory smile. He was not afraid. He had a terrifying advantage against these specific creatures. His Koi Soul could actively devour their corrupting purple energy and turn it into raw cultivation power. If they were here for other reasons but decided to use this tournament to uphold their blood feud they were going to learn that it was a mistake. As the crowd continued to roar, the final group of participants filed into the arena.

There were exactly twenty five independent fighters representing the non empire tournament. They stood off to the side, a mixed chaotic bag of wandering cultivators, rogue beasts and hidden masters hoping to be recruited or win the reward for their own reasons. The stage was completely set. The fighters were gathered. The tournament was officially about to begin and Li Yu was ready for whatever came his way.

He had a feeling that things wouldn't be so simple but he was a much more experienced person than he was when he first ran into the Xylarri.