Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The dark and endless swamp of The Sunken Mires stretched out beneath a ceiling of thick gray clouds. Li Yu hovered just above the tree line and observed the desolate landscape stretching out before him. He had spent enough time hiding his strength among the mortals and low level cultivators on the previous continents. He was in a rush to find a way back to his own family so he wasn’t going to just wander around.

He decided that displaying power was the fastest way to get answers in a world ruled by strength, as it usually was. He released his suppressed aura and allowed his cultivation base to flare outward at the Law Seed realm. This was a full four major realms higher than the peak Divine Transformation experts that supposedly ruled the human lands he had just left behind.

The pressure of a Law Seed aura crashed down upon the swamp and caused the dark waters below to churn violently. Ancient trees groaned under the invisible weight and wild beasts hiding deep within the mud scattered in terror as the suffocating energy rolled across the landscape. The air itself seemed to vibrate with a low hum as the natural laws of the area bowed to his projected authority.

The dark serpent wrapped around his waist stiffened immediately at this revealing of strength. Heiyuan had only known Li Yu to display the meager aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator during their travels during this time. The sudden eruption of Law Seed pressure left the ambitious creature stunned and highly alert.

'Is this your true strength?' Heiyuan asked through their mental link while flicking its forked tongue rapidly. The serpent felt a mixture of awe and predatory excitement at the terrifying power radiating from its companion. This was exactly what he had hoped to see and experience when embarking on this journey with Li Yu.

Li Yu chuckled softly and patted the smooth dark scales resting near his shoulder. "Not even close, Yuan. This is just enough to make sure people listen to me without trying to test my bottom line." Li Yu had moved towards calling Heiyuan just Yuan for short and the creature seemed to like it better as well.

Heiyuan processed that information and projected a wave of intense satisfaction. The snake realized it had chosen to follow a truly terrifying entity and the prospect of growing alongside such power fueled its own ambitions. Having a taller tree to shelter under was always better than sitting next to a sapling.

Li Yu took a deep breath and infused his voice with his robust Qi. "I want the person in charge of this area to come greet me, now!"

His voice echoed like rolling thunder across the murky landscape and sent ripples cascading across the endless pools of water. The sound carried for miles and carried the distinct weight of a superior expert demanding immediate obedience to all that was around.

He floated there patiently while watching the ripples fade into the mud. Soon a group of figures emerged from the dark depths of the swamp. They were led by an older beast kin possessing the thick green skin and wide jaw of a swamp toad. The leader radiated the energy of a Core Formation expert while his dozen followers were at the Foundation Establishment stage and holding tridents as weapons.

The toad beast trembled uncontrollably as he felt the crushing pressure radiating from the man floating in the sky. He dropped to his knees in the shallow mud and bowed his head low while his followers mirrored his fearful actions. To the toads that appeared, it was like they were greeting a god, they never felt such power in their entire lives.

"Greetings, senior," the toad leader croaked with a shaking voice. "I am Gorm and I oversee the local mud gathering village just a few miles from here. Please have mercy on our small settlement that has never harmed anyone. We have very little that would interest such an expert as yourself as well. What does a grand expert like yourself require from this humble place?"

Li Yu slowly descended until his boots rested gently on the surface of the murky water without sinking. He maintained the Law Seed pressure but reeled it back just enough so the beasts could breathe without feeling like their chests were collapsing.

"I am new to this continent and I do not have time to wander blindly around," Li Yu stated firmly. "I want information regarding the power structure of this land and I need detailed maps of the area. Take me to your town so we can speak properly."

Gorm nodded frantically and gestured for his men to lead the way through the winding waterways. "Of course, senior. Right this way. We will provide whatever you need and answer any questions you have."

They traveled through the dense thickets and towering reeds until they reached a settlement built on a wide patch of semi solid ground. The architecture was primitive and consisted of dome shaped huts constructed from woven swamp grass and hardened mud. It was similar to the towns on the human continents in terms of poverty and structure but the population was distinctly different. There was not a single human in sight here. The residents were various beast kin bearing the traits of frogs, turtles and sleek river rodents.

The villagers peeked out from their woven huts with wide eyes filled with fear. They could all feel the oppressive aura rolling off the stranger walking alongside their leader and knew that their leader had gone out to meet the command of that voice earlier. Mothers pulled their children inside and closed their wooden shutters while the local hunters lowered their spears in submission.

Gorm led Li Yu to the largest hut in the center of the village and invited him to sit on a woven reed mat. The toad elder ordered his people to bring fresh water and some roasted swamp fish for their esteemed guest before dismissing the guards to give them privacy. Li Yu accepted the hospitality but got straight to the point of his visit. While he was commanding, he was still polite and did not take any hostile actions.

"Tell me about the rulers of this continent," Li Yu commanded while taking a sip of the clean water from a clay cup. "I have heard the Soul Reaping Axolotls control these lands. How do they operate and what should I expect if I travel to their capital?"

Gorm let out a weary sigh and his bulbous eyes drooped with a heavy sadness. "They control everything here, senior. The Axolotls are harsh and terrible masters who view the rest of us as nothing more than livestock. They demand heavy tribute each year from every single town, city and hidden outpost across the continent. For us, we must harvest rare mud lotuses and hunt dangerous deep swamp beasts to pay their taxes. If a village fails to meet the quota, the rulers will drag the residents into the deep mires to feed their young."

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A young beast boy possessing a sturdy turtle shell resting on his back stepped out from a back room carrying a wooden platter of roasted fish. He placed the food on the mat and looked at Li Yu with a mixture of fear and fragile hope shining in his eyes.

"Are you here to destroy them?" The kid asked with a cautious voice and it became clear to Li Yu that this boy’s hatred for the Axolotls overrode his fear of Li Yu. "Are you going to take over and be our new ruler?"

Gorm quickly pulled the boy back and scolded him for speaking out of turn to a powerful expert but Li Yu simply waved his hand to dismiss the offense as there were none. He looked at the hopeful child and felt a pang of sympathy for these people but he needed to be honest about his intentions.

"That was never my goal originally," Li Yu answered with a calm and even tone. "I am just a traveler passing through these lands to find a way back home to my own family. If I were to take over, I would soon need to leave and things would simply return as they once did under a new ruler. I am sorry I cannot help you."

Li Yu turned his attention back to Gorm while picking up a piece of the flaky white fish. "If the conditions are so terrible here under the Axolotls, then why do you not pack up and leave? The human continents are poor but they do not have such tyrannical rulers culling the population for missing a tax payment. It isn’t that great over there either but it sounds better than here."

The toad elder shook his head slowly and sat down on the opposite side of the mat. "It is not that simple, senior. The other continents are not much better for people like us. The humans are terrified of harboring refugees that came from the beast lands because they fear the Axolotls will send death squads across the ocean in retaliation. They will turn us away or kill us at the shores to avoid bringing trouble to their own towns. The dragons in the center of the world do not care for anyone other than themselves so we cannot seek sanctuary there either. We are trapped in this mud and these conditions."

Things seemed incredibly tough for these people and the systemic oppression was deeply rooted in the politics of this realm. Li Yu understood their despair as he had seen similar struggles during his travels with the Zhan Clan. However, he knew he was no savior and trying to rewrite everything within a foreign realm was a task he was not ready to take on.

He was dealing with his own problems and his primary focus was escaping this realm to return towards his path of cultivation. If he stayed in this realm for too long, he would eventually run out of cultivation resources and thus slow down his own path towards a higher realm. He was trying to leave this realm but he still did not realize he was currently trapped in the distant past so fixing the geopolitical landscape of Continent Two or The Sunken Mires was a burden he could not shoulder anyways.

"I need to know what kind of power I am dealing with if I travel to their capital," Li Yu said while shifting the topic back to his own goals to avoid giving the villagers any false hope. "Do you know how strong the strongest experts among the Soul Reaping Axolotls are?"

Gorm rubbed his chin and thought carefully before answering. "I can only offer you rumors, senior. The true strength of the royal family is kept a strict secret to maintain fear among the populace or at least that’s how I see it. On the surface, it is believed that their ruler is at the King realm but I have only heard whispers of that power. I do not know for sure since no one who challenges them ever lives to tell the tale."

The elder looked at Li Yu and felt the crushing pressure of the aura radiating from his body. He knew the stranger was much stronger than himself but Gorm had no basis to determine just how strong Li Yu truly was. The elder had spent his entire life in the mud and lacked the experience of meeting high level experts to accurately judge the difference between a Law Seed cultivator and a King. To a Core Formation expert, both realms were simply untouchable gods that could erase his village with a single thought.

"A King realm expert," Li Yu mused to himself while nodding slowly. That level of power was well within his expectations and posed zero threat to his Creation Lord foundation. It gave him the confidence to proceed directly to the capital without worrying about engaging in stealth or complicated schemes.

"I appreciate the information, Gorm," Li Yu said. "Do you have a map of the continent showing a route to their capital city?"

Gorm hurried to a wooden chest in the corner of the room and pulled out a rolled piece of dried beast skin. He handed it to Li Yu with shaking hands while keeping his head bowed in respect. "This shows the major waterways and the direct path to the central swamps where the royal family resides. The capital is heavily guarded but someone with your strength should have no trouble reaching the gates."

Li Yu took the map and inspected the crude drawings to memorize the route. He was satisfied with the results of his forceful approach since it had saved him time of gathering rumors in quiet taverns. He reached into his spatial ring and retrieved a bag of grade spirit stones and placed the glowing gems on the woven mat in front of the elder.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Li Yu said with a polite smile. "These stones should help your village meet its tribute quotas for the next few years so you will not have to risk the deep swamps."

Gorm stared at the spirit stones with wide eyes and tears welled up in his bulbous eyes as he realized the value of the gift. The wealth sitting on the mat was more than his village could earn in a year of labor. "Thank you, senior! You are far too generous to us humble mud dwellers. We will never forget your kindness."

‘Gorm himself wasn’t considered weak but the situation he was in made him feel so small and tiny, referring to himself as a humble mud dweller. That just goes to show that it’s not really your strength that matters but your strength compared to others. A Core Formation expert would have been an elite elder or sect leader at my first sect…’ Li Yu thought to himself and then memories of the Green Mountain Sect returned to him. He still needed to avenge it once he found his original realm but those matters would have to be set aside for now.

Li Yu decided to stick around the village for a bit longer to eat the roasted fish they had prepared for him. He took a bite of the food and found it seasoned with interesting local herbs that provided a sharp and spicy flavor. He wanted to enjoy a quiet meal before continuing his journey but the atmosphere in the village made relaxation impossible.

Everyone was incredibly cautious of him and kept their distance. The villagers had only heard that he was powerful enough that their strongest person treated him with utter reverence and fear. The mothers stayed locked in their huts and the local hunters refused to look in his direction. The silence outside the hut was deafening as no one dared to speak loud enough for the powerful stranger to hear.

He could feel the paranoia radiating from every corner of the settlement with his presence here. The power he had displayed to speed up his journey had created an invisible wall between him and the locals that normally wouldn’t be there. The fact that he was also human did not help things as they were not used to having humans around. They did not see him as a generous traveler but as a terrifying force of nature that could destroy their homes or themselves on a whim.

Feeling the suffocating fear and paranoia surrounding him, Li Yu realized he could not enjoy the meal in peace. The heavy silence was a stark reminder of the isolation that could come with supreme strength. He set the wooden plate down on the mat and stood up while wiping his hands clean. He offered a final nod to Gorm before stepping out of the hut into the humid air.

Heiyuan coiled securely around his waist and sent a wave of readiness across their mental bond. Li Yu took to the sky without another word and left the quiet mud village behind. He flew south with the map in hand and his aura blazing like a beacon as he prepared to see what the capital of The Sunken Mires had waiting for him.