Two days passed in the secure room of the inn at Grim Spire.

  Outside, the city churned with the noise of commerce and corruption. Inside, the silence was heavy enough to crush bone. Li Yu sat in the corner and was meditating. As much as he tried, his mind refused to settle.

  He kept one part of his consciousness focused on the room’s defensive arrays and another part focused inward from time to time. Every now and again he would watch the small island where Vespera was.

  Vespera had sat on the edge of that spiritual island for forty eight hours straight. She hadn't moved. She hadn't spoken to Nora. Nora tried to hover nearby with a tray of spirit fruits that went untouched. Vespera just stared at the endless water of his Ocean of Qi and was processing the end of her world.

  Then, she stood up. Li Yu felt the shift in his soul. He opened his eyes just as Vespera stepped out of the portal and materialized in the center of the inn room.

  She looked... different. The grief was still there. It was etched into the lines around her eyes but it had been packed down, compressed into a cold, brittle resolve. She had groomed herself, her armor polished and her hair tied back in a practical knot. The aura of the Charm Queen was gone and was replaced by the sharp edge of a soldier preparing for a suicide charge.

  "Li Yu," she said. Her voice was steady but it lacked its usual melodic lilt. "I am going."

  Li Yu stood up slowly. "Going where?"

  "To find the remnants," she said. "My mother has, had, loyal generals. Not everyone would have been caught. There are generals in many different places. There are secret caches in the western mountains. Safehouses. I need to go there. I need to reorganize whatever troops are left. I need to build something that can break that siege and free my mom."

  She looked at him and her eyes were burning with a desperate intensity. "I have four months. If I start now, maybe... just maybe..."

  "It’s suicide," Li Yu said bluntly. He said so to protect her. Vespera flinched but she didn't look away.

  "You know the numbers," Li Yu continued. His voice was calm but firm. "Three Demon Lords. Two Beast Kings. Vespera, do you understand what that means? We aren't talking about cultivators we can trick or outrun. We are talking about beings that sit at the apex of this world. Just one of them could erase this city with a thought. Five of them?"

  He stepped closer. "Even if we somehow double our strength, what can we do? What can a few scattered loyalists do against five titans? You would be throwing pebbles at a landslide. Eggs at rocks"

  "I have to try!" Vespera shouted at him as her composure cracked. "She is my mother, Li Yu! She is trapped in a coffin as it is counting down the seconds until they murder her! Do you expect me to sit here in your soul space and eat fruit while she dies?"

  "I expect you to be patient," Li Yu said. "Patience is a weapon. Rushing in now is just adding your corpse to the pile. Do you remember what you said to me about patience?"

  "Patience?" Vespera laughed. "Patience is for those who have time. I don't have time. I have a deadline."

  She turned toward the door and her hand reached for the latch. "I am not asking for your permission, Li Yu. I am telling you. You have done enough. I do not want you to come with me and risk yourself. But I cannot stay."

  Li Yu didn't move to block her physically but his words stopped her.

  "You will die before you even reach the first safehouse," Li Yu said. "The trackers are most likely everywhere."

  Vespera froze. She gripped the door handle, her knuckles white. She didn't turn around.

  "If it were your mother," she whispered. "If it were your parents trapped in that amber... back in your world... and you knew you were weak... and you knew it was impossible... would you sit and wait?"

  Li Yu went silent. He thought of his parents back in his own cultivation world. He remembered his father’s stern guidance and his mother’s gentle care. He imagined them trapped, surrounded by monsters and waiting for the end.

  "No," Li Yu admitted softly. "I wouldn't wait."

  Vespera turned her head slightly and was looking at him over her shoulder.

  "I would flip the entire world over," Li Yu said as his eyes darkened. "I would burn every realm, break every law and sell my soul to every devil in existence if it meant saving them!"

  He paused. "But I also know what they would want. They wouldn't want me to throw my life away in a fit of passion. They would want me to live. To survive. To get strong enough to avenge them. Rushing to my death... that is the last thing they would ever want."

  "Your mother surely feels the same," Li Yu said. "She sealed herself away to buy time. She sent your brothers away to save them. If you run back there and die, you are spitting on her sacrifice."

  Vespera’s shoulders shook. "That is logic, Li Yu. Cold, hard logic. But I am a daughter. And I cannot live with myself if I don't try."

  She opened the door. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

  "Wait," Li Yu said. Vespera paused.

  "Don't leave the city yet," Li Yu said. "Go to the information brokers. Find out exactly where the siege camp is. Find out the patrol routes. If you're going to die, at least die with a map in your hand."

  Vespera hesitated, then nodded. "That is... reasonable. I will return in a few hours."

  She slipped out the door. Li Yu was alone again. He was powerless yet again.

  He stood in the silence and was staring at the wood grain of the door. He understood her desperation. He respected it. But he also knew the reality of this world. Without power, desperation was just tragedy waiting to happen.

  ‘Three Demon Lords. Two Beast Kings.’

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  He paced the small room. He checked his inventory. He had the Hidden Village Amber but that was defensive. He had his staff, his skills and a cultivation base at the peak of Soul Formation. Against five beings of that magnitude? He was an ant. No, he couldn’t even be compared to an ant in front of them. He was but a speck of dust that they brushed off without even noticing.

  "There has to be a way," Li Yu muttered. "There is always a way."

  He ran through simulations in his mind. Assassination? Impossible against five. Diversion? They wouldn't leave the prize. Bribery? They were kings; they had everything. His mind circled the problem like a shark looking for blood but the wall was solid.

  ‘I can't do it,’ Li Yu realized with a heavy sinking feeling in his gut. ‘I simply am not strong enough. Not yet.’

  But he couldn't let Vespera march to her death. She had saved him. She had thrown herself in front of Balor for him. That debt was etched into his mind. If there was any way he could help her, he wanted to. He wouldn’t throw away his life for it though. His pacing stopped. He looked inward.

  There was one variable he hadn't thought to use. Li Yu took a deep breath. He sat down on the meditation mat and closed his eyes.

  "I hope he agrees," he whispered.

  The transition to the Koi Sanctuary was instantaneous.

  Li Yu stood on the edge of the Abyssal Ridge. The massive Crab was resting and his shell looked like a submerged island of stars. He was motionless and seemingly asleep. Li Yu walked to the edge of the ridge and knelt. He didn't bow casually this time. He lowered his head until his forehead touched the spiritual stone of his inner world. A full kowtow.

  He waited. Minutes ticked by. The silence stretched. It was heavy and testing. Finally, the water stirred. His eyes opened.

  “You are loud,” Khaos’s voice rumbled through the water and vibrated in Li Yu’s very soul. “Your thoughts are screaming. It disturbs my nap. What is it now?”

  Li Yu didn't lift his head. "I apologize, Senior."

  “You gave me a pearl recently.” Khaos noted. “Did you come to ask for it back?”

  "I did not come for the pearl," Li Yu said into the stone. "I came to ask for help."

  “Help,” Khaos repeated the word as if it were a foreign concept. “You have hands. You have the stick I gave you. You have a brain in that head. Help yourself.”

  "I can't," Li Yu admitted. "Not this time."

  Li Yu raised his head and was looking up at the colossal entity that lived her. "Vespera... the demoness who travels with me. Her mother is trapped. She is surrounded by five beings that are beyond my comprehension. Demon Lords. Beast Kings. Vespera is going to try to save her. She is going to die if she goes."

  “And?” Khaos asked. The crab shifted and a claw clicked against the rock. “Creatures die. It is the nature of things. Empires rise, empires fall. Mothers die, daughters mourn. Why is this my problem?”

  "Because I owe her," Li Yu said fiercely. "She saved my life when Balor attacked. I owe her a life debt and I want to help her if possible. If she walks to her death because I was too weak to help her... that debt remains unpaid.”

  Khaos stared at him. The eye blinked slowly.

  “You are a fool. As usual. Too friendly, too kind. Most importantly, too weak to act on both.” Khaos scoffed. “Little fish, do you have any idea how much debt you owe me? I have saved you more times than you can count.”

  "I know," Li Yu said while not backing down. "And I will pay that back, too. I will spend eternity paying it back if I have to. But right now... I am begging you. Just this once. Help me with this."

  Li Yu gritted his teeth.

  "Please, Senior. Help me save them. I will owe you another favor. A big one. Anything within my power at any time."

  Khaos looked at the small human kneeling on the ridge. The crab had seen many cultivators in his long years of existence. Most were arrogant. They demanded power as if it were their birthright. They treated their spirit guardians as tools or slaves.

  But this boy... who possessed a talent that could shake the heavens... was on his knees, begging not for power but for the life of a friend. Perhaps not even that of a friend, of someone who had stepped up and tried to save him. He was willing to lower himself. He was willing to be weak so that someone else could be safe.

  ‘Flexibility, humility and true kindness.’ Khaos thought. ‘The bamboo bends in the wind while the oak breaks. He has character. He understands the weight of a life debt. He understands that he isn’t above begging for help when truly needed.’

  Externally, however, Khaos let out a laugh.

  “Sentimental drivel,” Khaos sneered. “You think the world cares about your feelings? You think the heavens will part because you are sad? Strength is the only truth, Li Yu. Five Demon Lord-like beings? They are strong. You are weak. That is the only thing that matters here.”

  "I know," Li Yu said again. "That is why I am here. Because you are strong. I don’t know how strong you actually are but my instincts tell me that you can help."

  Khaos moved. He rose to his full height and was towering over Li Yu like a mountain of stars.

  “I am strong,” Khaos agreed. “But I am limited. I have not fully grown. Do you think I can just snap my claws and erase five beings of that magnitude?”

  Khaos leaned down with his giant face inches from Li Yu.

  “Actually... no. I cannot. I am not strong enough to face such enemies in my current state.”

  Li Yu’s heart sank. If even Khaos couldn't do it...

  ‘A lie,’ Khaos thought to himself. ‘I could erase this entire plane of existence if I wanted to. But if he knows that, he will never grow. He will become complacent. He must think I am powerful but not omnipotent. Fear is a good teacher.’

  "Then..." Li Yu’s shoulders slumped. "Then there is no hope. Thank you for listening to me. Sorry to waste your time Khaos."

  “I didn't say that,” Khaos interrupted. Li Yu looked up and a flicker of hope reignited.

  “I cannot do it personally,” Khaos rumbled. “It would be... taxing. And beneath my dignity to fight mere ants. However... I have another method for this.”

  "Another method?" Li Yu blinked.

  “I have a debt I can call in. It just so happens... that the favor can be called in here. Consider yourself lucky, brat. The Dao itself must be smiling upon you to have such a lucky occurrence." Khaos said vaguely.

  Li Yu stared at him. "A favor? From who? Lucky indeed…"

  “Don't ask questions you don’t need to know.” Khaos snapped. “Do you want the girl’s mother saved or not?”

  "Yes!" Li Yu said instantly. "Yes, please. I am sorry that you need to waste your favor for me… I will make it up to you one day. I promise."

  “Fine. I will call in this favor. But know this, Li Yu. This is a heavy price. You are spending a currency you do not have.”

  "I accept," Li Yu said without hesitation. He had already resolved to help Khaos out when he later needed it. Khaos studied him for a moment longer and then finally grunted.

  “Very well. Get up. Stop groveling. It’s embarrassing. I feel terrible just looking at you.”

  Li Yu scrambled to his feet. "What do I do? Do I need to prepare a ritual?"

  “No,” Khaos said. “Just travel.”

  The crab pointed his claw in what seemed like a random direction.

  “Take the girl. Leave this city. Go to the mountain range in that direction. It is isolated. Desolate. Wait there.”

  "Wait?" Li Yu asked. "For what?"

  “For the solution! What else have we been talking about? Are you stupid?” Khaos scolded. “Give it a few days. The solution will come to you and all will be solved.”

  "And the Demon Lords? The siege?" Li Yu barely managed to say. He was afraid Khaos would scold him again.

  “Consider them handled,” Khaos said as he closed his eyes. “Now go. I need to call in my favor. What a waste, wasting it on you.”

  Li Yu bowed deeply while gratitude flooded his chest. "Thank you, Khaos. Truly."

  “Go,” Khaos dismissed him. Li Yu vanished from the sanctuary.

  As soon as the boy was gone, the indifferent mask dropped from Khaos’s face. He let out a long and weary sigh.

  “The things I do for this kid,” Khaos grumbled and then smiled. “He’s not a bad kid though.”