Chương 778: Chapter 777: Reflections in the Tea

The routine of Silkwood settled into a rigorous and deeply fulfilling rhythm. In the early mornings, the clearing near the pale silver forest became a localized battlefield. Commander Tara and Commander Hollis proved to be ruthless instructors. They kept their promises and suppressed their cultivation bases down to the top level of Divine Transformation. This ensured the spars remained a test of pure skill and foundational density rather than just overpowering from pure cultivation bases.

Tara was a tempest of motion. She utilized no heavy weapons, relying entirely on her fists and her blinding speed. She forced Li Yu to push his Lightning laws to their absolute limits just to track her movements. Whenever he managed to block her strikes, he felt the heavy impact rattle his bones. Hollis was the opposite. He rarely moved from his initial stance. He fought using complex, overlapping arrays and subtle shifts in the Qi.

He created traps out of thin air, forcing Li Yu to read the environment and anticipate danger before it physically manifested. Li Yu learned to seamlessly transition between explosive evasive maneuvers and calm, analytical defense. By midday, the violent energy of the spar was replaced by the quiet discipline of the soil. Under Hollis's guidance, Li Yu had completely reorganized his main field.

The Ironstalk Wheat was relocated to the bottom of the slope, preventing its heavy metal runoff from stunting the root vegetables. The Frostbite Mint and the Starfire Peppers were separated by a wide buffer of neutral Azure Cloud Cabbage, allowing both herbs to thrive without their root systems fighting for dominance. The ten acre plot was no longer just a collection of seeds that were somewhat planted randomly. It was a balanced and living ecosystem.

With his daily routine established and his internal energy circulation smoothed out, Li Yu decided he was finally ready to process the treasures he had selected from the royal vault. He climbed to the second floor of his log tower and sealed the wooden shutters. He sat cross legged on the floor and retrieved the two items from his spatial ring. In his left hand, he held the Dark Pulsing Stone. It radiated a corrosive aura of pure destruction. In his right hand, he held the crystalline vial of Glowing Green Sap.

It hummed with vibrant life energy. Destruction cleared the path; life built the new foundation. He did not hesitate. He placed the Dark Pulsing Stone on his lap. He immediately uncorked the vial and drank the Glowing Green Sap. The reaction was instantaneous and incredibly violent. The stone dissolved as his Koi martial spirit drew in the energy from within it, releasing a shockwave of destructive energy that tore through his meridians.

It felt like thousands of tiny, jagged blades scraping against the inside of his flesh. But before the destruction could cause permanent harm, the green sap surged forward. The life energy flooded the torn pathways, knitting the microscopic tears back together with rapid precision. Li Yu clamped his jaw shut and focused his mind. He activated his Devouring Abyssal Leviathan Physique. His body became the crucible. The physique seized the two opposing energies and forced them to merge.

He did not guide the cycle deliberately. From his earlier experience, he allowed the destruction to break down the weakest portions of his bones, muscles, and organs and then the life energy naturally rebuild those exact spots with much greater density. The process lasted for three full days. When Li Yu finally opened his eyes, a thin layer of dark and foul smelling impurities coated his skin. The destruction had successfully purged his weaknesses even further from his physical vessel. He stood up and stretched.

His joints cracked like thunder echoing in a canyon. He threw a simple punch into the empty air. The kinetic force of the strike created a sharp boom that rattled the log walls of his tower. He had not broken through to the sixth level of Divine Transformation. His overall Qi capacity remained the same. But his physical body had grown stronger. His muscles felt like coiled steel wire and his bones possessed greater density. He felt a deep satisfaction. He was making excellent and undeniable progress.

He walked down to the river to wash the impurities from his skin and changed into a clean set of dark robes. Evening settled over Silkwood. The three suns dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of deep purple and gold. Li Yu walked into his courtyard and sat down in one of his newly carved chairs. He boiled water over a small fire and prepared a pot of delicate floral tea. He poured a cup and leaned back.

He was listening to the quiet chirping of the birds settling in the silver trees and the soft splash of the fish in his pond. The space across the table suddenly distorted. The ambient Qi folded inward, creating a brief and silent ripple in reality. Khaos stepped out of the void. The ancient warrior wore his usual dark robes but his demeanor was noticeably different. The heavy, suffocating cosmic weight that usually surrounded him felt significantly lighter. The cold edge in his dark eyes had softened.

Li Yu reached across the table and flipped a second clay cup upright.

"Welcome," Li Yu greeted him while pouring a stream of hot tea into the second cup. Khaos sat down in the wooden chair. He reached into his robes and placed a token on the table. It was the token Patriarch Karkin had given Li Yu back in the Void Shell Citadel.

"I am returning this," Khaos said, his deep voice carrying a quiet and resonant warmth.

"It was very helpful for me. More than you could possibly know. Thank you for bringing it to me."

"I am glad," Li Yu replied with a smile. He took the token and slid the token back into his spatial ring. He did not pry. He had his theories about Khaos's true identity and his connection to the Patriarch but some secrets were not meant to be spoken aloud until the person was already. Of course, Li Yu was wrong in thinking that Khaos was a branch family member.. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Khaos picked up the cup of tea and took a slow sip.

He set the cup down and looked around the courtyard, his eyes scanning the sturdy fence, the thriving fields and the quiet pond.

"You have built a peaceful life here," Khaos noted while leaning back in his chair.

"It is a good place to digest the things I have learned," Li Yu answered. Khaos rarely engaged in casual conversation. The ancient warrior usually spent his time meditating deep within the Koi Sanctuary, acting only when absolute necessity demanded it. Sitting across a table and drinking tea was a departure from his usual isolated nature.

"Let me ask you a question, Li Yu," Khaos began, his dark eyes locking onto the young wanderer.

"You have traveled across realms. You have seen empires rise and fall. If a great responsibility and a heavy burden were placed on you all of a sudden, what would you do? Would you accept the mantle of leadership?" Li Yu paused in surprise by the sudden question. He turned the warm clay cup in his hands. The question felt heavy, laden with unspoken implications.

"It would depend entirely on what the burden was," Li Yu answered honestly after giving it some thought.

"Having seen the Sovereigns in the demonic realm and the Domain Kings here, I do not feel I would make a very good leader. I lack the desire for total control and the patience for endless political management. At least, I do not possess it right now."

"You would reject it?" Khaos probed.

"I could see myself leading." Li Yu clarified.

"But only if I had someone else taking care of all the grand details, the logistics and the daily management. I am not a king and I don't think I'd make a good one. At least not as I am now." Khaos nodded slowly and was digesting the answer. He didn't say or ask anymore about it.

"And if danger came?" Khaos asked after a while.

"A true, world ending danger. Would you stand and fight off the trouble or would you simply fold space and hide away until the storm passed?"

"That also depends," Li Yu replied but quicker this time. He didn't need to put in much thought.

"If the danger threatened something I actively cared about, a person, a town like this or a foundation I built, I would fight until my dying breath to protect it. But if it was a grand cosmic war that had absolutely nothing to do with me? Two ancient factions fighting over an artifact? I would most likely walk away. I do not throw my life away for conflicts that are not mine."

"Survival over the common good or some would say hollow glory," Khaos murmured as a faint smirk touched his lips.

"A rare trait among the so-called righteous cultivators." Khaos poured himself another cup of tea. He looked out at the dark soil of the plowed fields.

"What happens when you outlive the people you care about?" Khaos asked, his voice dropping an octave.

"Your cultivation will eventually pull you out of the natural cycle. You will watch generations turn to dust while you remain untouched. Do you cut ties early to spare yourself the pain of loss?" Li Yu looked at the old veteran sitting across from him. He realized Khaos was not just making conversation. He was actively probing Li Yu's mind, searching for the core philosophies that drove him. For what reasons Li Yu didn't know but he would answer him honestly.

"No," Li Yu answered and his voice was firm.

"Pain is a natural part of the cycle. I learned that from this soil. You do not stop planting seeds just because they failed to sprout. You try again. You don't stop planting seeds because winter inevitably comes and kills the harvest. You plant them, you enjoy the growth and when they wither, you turn them back into the earth and start again. Cutting ties early just leaves you with an empty and barren field." Khaos stared at Li Yu for a long moment. Something flashed in his dark eyes.

"Interesting." Khaos noted quietly. The ancient warrior shifted his posture and was now leaning slightly forward.

"How do you feel about marriage?" Khaos asked, abruptly shifting the topic to something deeply personal. Li Yu blinked and was completely caught off guard by the sudden pivot. He thought back to the conversation he had at the childbirth celebration not long ago.

"I am looking forward to it," Li Yu said while offering a small smile.

"Finding someone I truly love and building a life with them. It has not happened yet but it is something I look forward to when the timing and the person are finally right."

"And what if it was forced upon you?" Khaos countered as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"What if an arrangement was made for your future, tying you to a powerful faction for the sake of survival or duty?" Li Yu let out a soft chuckle. The scenario was common in the cultivation world, where young talents were traded like currency to forge alliances. He had not only heard about it now, he had seen it many times with different people.

"I actually ran into someone who was in that exact situation," Li Yu said, his mind drifting back to the realm he had visited before this one.

"A brilliant young prodigy named Muten. His clan was trying to force him into an arranged marriage." Khaos was surprised. His hand that was tapping the table slightly went perfectly still but it was unnoticed by Li Yu.

"Muten resisted it," Li Yu continued, entirely oblivious that he was talking about the person across from him.

"He told me he would simply get strong enough to break the arrangement. He believed that if he possessed absolute strength, he would not need to rely on political marriages to secure his future. He would forge his own fate and be with the person he wanted to be with." Li Yu took a sip of his tea.

"I agree with him. If someone tried to force a marriage on me, I would simply walk the same path. I would get strong enough to shatter the arrangement. But that won't happen with me, Muten had a clan and family. I have no family left in this world for that situation to occur." A wave of sadness washed over Li Yu as he finished his sentence. A heavy silence fell over the courtyard. Li Yu looked at Khaos and was wondering if he had said something offensive. Suddenly, Khaos threw his head back and laughed.

It was not a dark, rumbling chuckle. It was a loud, booming and genuine laugh that echoed across the quiet estate. Khaos laughed until his shoulders shook, the sheer irony of the situation hitting him with the force of a physical blow. He was sitting across from a young man who was quoting his own rebellious, youthful words back to him. Muten's arrogant defiance, spoken so long ago that even he himself almost forgot them, was now serving as a guiding philosophy for Li Yu when it came to those matters.

"That boy Muten sounds like a very smart kid," Khaos said as he finally caught his breath. He had a bright smile remaining on his face.

"He was," Li Yu agreed, smiling in return. It was rare to see Khaos like this so he was glad that the story had amused him.

"He had a good head on his shoulders. But between just you and me. I don't think Muten is his real name, it seemed like a fake to me. I gave him some better ones to use though. Hopefully he listened to my advice." Khaos was momentarily frozen again before shaking his head and picking up his clay cup. He drained the rest of the floral tea. He stood up from the wooden chair soon after.

"Keep farming your fields, Li Yu," Khaos said while looking down at him.

"Keep digesting the laws of life and destruction. The cosmos is vast and the storms are gathering. But if you keep believing in yourself and walk your own path you will be exactly where you need to be when the time comes." Without another word, Khaos dissolved into the twisting purple energy. He faded back into the depths of the Koi Sanctuary. Li Yu sat alone in the quiet courtyard. He looked at the empty cup across the table. He was pondering the strange and veiled questions asked. At the sudden burst of laughter.

He did not have all the answers but as he looked up at the bright stars hanging over Silkwood, he felt content with his current path.