The desolate western mountain range of the Demon Realm was not a place of comfort. The peaks were jagged, black stone tore at the sky and the valleys were choked with dry, cracked earth. Yet, tucked away within a deep ravine, a small, crystal clear creek stubbornly cut its way through the rock.

  Li Yu sat on a relatively flat boulder beside this creek. He was holding a fishing rod crafted from a sturdy spirit bamboo shoot. Something that he had made long ago to compete against this Fisherman Soul with. This time he was fishing alone and he watched the water with placid concentration. He was completely ignoring the harsh winds howling above the ravine.

  A few yards away, Vespera was doing everything in her power to wear a trench into the solid stone. She paced back and forth in the same area since she arrived here. Not stopping for even a single moment. Every few seconds she would glance at the sky and then glare at Li Yu's relaxed posture.

  "You are fishing," Vespera stated. Her voice was flat and hovering dangerously close to hysteria. "My mother is in trouble and surrounded by tens of thousands of elite demonic soldiers and three Demon Lords... and you are fishing."

  Li Yu didn't look away from the water. "There's a specific type of trout in these creeks. I can sense it with my spiritual sense but they have not been taking my bait. It is frustrating and annoying. I am fishing so I can give some to those that are helping us."

  "Li Yu!" Vespera finally snapped and stopped in her tracks. "It's been hours! You said your contact was reliable but how can anyone—"

  "Shh," Li Yu said softly while raising a finger. He reeled in his line but caught nothing. He finally set the bamboo pole down. He stood up and dusted off his robes. "They are here." He had only known because Khaos just told him.

  Vespera froze. She strained her senses and pushed her demonic Qi to its absolute limit but she felt nothing. The air was empty. The sky was clear. But then the world tore open. There was no warning.

  Eleven meteors of crimson and black light punched through the clouds and were descending towards them. They didn't crash down. They didn't kick up a massive cloud of dust to announce their arrival.

  One moment they were falling from the heavens; the next, eleven figures were standing flawlessly on the rocky bank of the creek. Vespera stumbled backward from the surprise. Her breath caught in her throat.

  The pressure radiating from these eleven people was carefully restrained, yet it was still so dense that the very air seemed to physically shrink away from them. They were clad in immaculate black armor. Vespera would have been even more terrified if she knew they were from actual black dragon scales.

  At the forefront stood a woman with a deep crimson cloak settling perfectly over her shoulders. Gongsun Lian locked eyes with Li Yu immediately after landing.

  Every fiber of her being screamed at her to drop to her knees and greet him properly. The ten generals behind her felt the exact same overwhelming urge. Their muscles twitched. Kneel and greet the Young Master.

  But Khaos’s voice echoed in their memories: Do not overwhelm him. Be professional.

  It took an agonizing amount of willpower but Lian forced herself to remain standing. She gave a stiff and slightly awkward bow. Bending respectfully at the waist but stopping far short of what she wanted. The ten generals behind her mirrored the motion. It was only the massive General Po that almost went too far and had to subtly catch himself.

  "You are Li Yu," Lian said to him. Her voice was smooth and controlled. It was carefully masking the burning desire in her chest.

  "I am," Li Yu replied as his eyes swept over the group. He was outwardly trying to be calm but internally, his mind was racing. He couldn't read their cultivation bases. It was like staring into eleven bottomless pits. Khaos hadn't just called in a favor; he had summoned gods. "And you are the ones Khaos sent?"

  "We are here to fulfill a debt owed to Khaos," Lian stated. Making sure to use the name Li Yu was familiar with to maintain the facade. "The task he requested has been completed."

  She stepped aside and gestured slightly. General Po stepped forward. He reached over his massive shoulder and gently lowered a figure to the ground. Vespera let out a strangled gasp.

  "Mother!"

  She rushed forward and fell to her knees beside the silver haired woman lying on the stone. The Night Queen was pale and her breathing shallow. Being in the amber had weakened her greatly. Lian casually flicked a finger. A warm pulse of life laws shot from her fingertip and sank into the Night Queen’s chest.

  With a sharp inhale the Night Queen’s eyes snapped open. She bolted upright and her hands immediately raised to cast a defensive spell. However, her chaotic energy fizzled out as Vespera tackled her into a desperate and tearful embrace.

  "Vespera? You... you're alive?" The Night Queen murmured. Her sharp eyes then darted around the ravine. It was taking in the desolate surroundings, the young human man standing nearby and the terrifying squad of armored warriors observing them. "The amber... the siege… I was freed and then… here."

  As the mother and daughter reunited and were holding onto each other, the eleven members of the Veiled Lotus completely ignored them. They weren’t even worth any more attention. Their eyes, hidden or otherwise, were entirely locked onto Li Yu.

  This was the first time they were seeing the one they had sworn their lives to in the flesh. Behind their disciplined visors and calm expressions, a flurry of intense internal judgments was taking place.

  'So this is him,' Lian thought as her dark eyes traced the lines of his face and the flow of his Qi. 'He is currently an ant. A single stray breath from me could shatter his soul. But his foundation... heavens, it is flawless. To reach the absolute peak of Soul Formation at around twenty years old practically by himself? He is a monster waiting to wake up. I created the Veiled Lotus for this exact potential. I wish I could truly speak with him, guide him... but Khaos’s orders are absolute. I must be patient.'

  Behind her, the towering General Po crossed his massive arms. 'He looks scrawny,' Po grunted internally. 'Average height, average face. If you put him in a crowd, he wouldn't stand out. And he was fishing? We just butchered a third of the realm's apex powers and he's playing with a stick in a creek. But... look at his eyes. There is depth there. He definitely has the potential to lead us. I like him. He just needs to eat more beast meat.'

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  To Po's left was General Hua. A lethal woman whose armor was accented with silver. She too was observing Li Yu with analytical precision. 'He seems too carefree. Too laid back. Is this the man who will lead us? He lacks a tyrant's edge. But then again... water takes the shape of its container until it becomes a tsunami. His Qi pool is impossibly deep for his realm. A sleeping leviathan.'

  General Sha, a veteran covered in battle scars beneath his armor, felt a sense of awe. 'He is so weak right now, yet I can’t see through his soul. It seems undeniable. He is a prodigy. The bloodline runs true.'

  Not a single one of the generals felt disrespect towards him. Some questioned his current demeanor, others his physical build but they all universally recognized the terrifying potential housed within. He was their Young Master. They would serve him whether he was a tyrant or a fisherman. If he wanted to fish alone in peace, they would make sure that he could do so.

  Li Yu, oblivious to the intense evaluations occurring in front of him, stepped forward and cupped his fists in a respectful greeting.

  "I don't know your names," Li Yu said sincerely, "but I owe you a great debt. Saving her from the Demon Lord Malakor... that could not have been easy. I thank you for taking care of him and bringing her back here to her daughter."

  Lian blinked, her expression remaining stoic, though a hint of amusement danced in her dark eyes. "Taking care of Malakor was not difficult, Li Yu. And we did not just take care of him."

  Li Yu lowered his hands and a frown creased his forehead. "What do you mean?"

  "News will spread across this realm within the hour regardless, so you may as well know," Lian said smoothly. "We eliminated Lord Malakor. We also eliminated the Spider Queen, the Rotting Bone Lord, the Gale Ape, and the Sky Rending Condor. All five of those that schemed against her."

  The ravine plunged into a silence so absolute it was deafening. Vespera and the Night Queen froze. The Night Queen slowly turned her head. She was staring at Lian with wide and disbelieving eyes.

  "You... you killed all five?" the Night Queen whispered as her voice trembled. "In one afternoon? That... that is nearly a third of the power houses of this entire world!"

  "They were in the way," General Po rumbled dismissively.

  "We did not want them coming after the Night Queen again," Lian explained to Li Yu. Her eyes keep focused entirely on him. "Leaving loose ends is sloppy. Since she is now with you, we ensured that the immediate geopolitical threats to her existence in this realm were permanently removed."

  Li Yu was genuinely stunned. He had expected a surgical strike, an assassination or a distraction to grab the amber. He had not expected Khaos’s "favor" to systematically decapitate one third of the Demon Realm's top powers in the span of a few hours.

  "Since she is now with me?" Li Yu repeated as he caught the odd phrasing. "She's free. She can go rebuild—"

  "No," Lian interrupted.

  Before Li Yu or the Night Queen could react, Lian raised her hand. Her fingers moved in a blur. They weaved a complex and terrifying soul seal in the air. The seal glowed with a dark and restrictive light. With a flick of her wrist, she shot the seal directly into the Night Queen’s chest.

  The Night Queen gasped as the seal branded itself onto her very soul. It sank deep into her cultivation foundation. She felt an unbreakable tether form, linking her life, her loyalty and her actions directly to the young human standing near the creek.

  Vespera jumped to her feet and her eyes flashed with anger. "What did you just do to her?!"

  "I bound her," Lian said coldly and still not even looking at Vespera. "The price of her freedom. We destroyed five empires today to secure her release. I will not have her use that freedom to become a liability, a loose cannon or a future enemy. She is now bound to you, Li Yu. She will obey your orders absolutely. If you die, she dies. If you command her to kneel, she kneels."

  Li Yu was taken aback by the sudden development. "I didn't ask for a slave."

  "You asked for a problem to be solved," Lian countered with her tone leaving no room for argument. "This ensures the problem remains solved. You may treat her however you wish. You can have her leave and go do her own thing. But her power is now yours to command whenever you wish."

  The Night Queen sat on the stone and touched her chest where the seal had vanished. She was a ruler, a proud Demon Lord in her own right and she had just been reduced to a subordinate. Yet, as she looked at the eleven figures radiating god-like power and then at the young man they had done all this for, her panic surprisingly began to recede.

  'They killed Malakor and the others in an afternoon,' the Night Queen rationalized. Her pragmatic demon nature was taking over. 'These beings are beyond this world. And they did it all for him. If this boy commands such monsters, being bound to him isn't a death sentence. It’s an elevation. I have just been forced under an umbrella that not even the heavens here could pierce.'

  She looked up at Li Yu and slowly, deliberately, bowed her head. "I understand. I accept the terms of my rescue. It is only fair that I do since you saved my life."

  Vespera looked between her mother and Li Yu. She was utterly bewildered by how quickly the reality of their universe had just been rewritten. Lian nodded at the Night Queen’s words. She was satisfied that the loose end was tied. She took a step closer to Li Yu.

  "Now that the trivial matters are concluded," Lian said to Li Yu. Her voice took on a much more serious tone. "It is time for the final part of Khaos's request. The more important part."

  "There's more?" Li Yu asked. Unsure of what other surprises there could be.

  "We are here to lay the foundation for your ascension," Lian stated as her eyes locked onto him with an intensity that made Li Yu feel as though his soul was being read. "You have reached the absolute limit of your current vessel. It is time for you to step into the Divine Transformation realm."

  Li Yu’s breath hitched. He had been stockpiling resources, preparing his mind and body for months for this step. He knew he was close but the suddenness of the declaration caught him off guard. "Here? Now? I don’t have all the items I want for it."

  "We have what you need, do not worry about that. Since we are already here," Lian continued, "we will protect your breakthrough. This is the culmination of the favor to Khaos. We will ensure that not a single distraction and not a single enemy interferes with your process."

  She didn't wait for his agreement. Lian turned to her generals and gave a single sharp nod. The ten warriors blurred into motion. They didn't just take up defensive positions; they claimed the very fabric of the world around them. Four generals shot to the cardinal directions of the ravine and plunged heavily inscribed array flags into the stone. Six others formed a wide perimeter.

  In an instant, a massive dome of opaque, shimmering grey energy enclosed the entire area.

  Outside the dome, Vespera and the Night Queen were abruptly cut off. They found themselves standing on the rocky bank of the creek and staring at a solid wall of grey light. They couldn't see inside, couldn't hear a sound and couldn't sense a single drop of Qi from within.

  Inside the dome, Li Yu was completely isolated with the eleven powerhouses. The space within the array was severed from the outside world, creating a perfect and unbreachable sanctuary.

  Lian stepped back and gave Li Yu space. She remained close enough to intervene if anything went wrong. She stood with her hands clasped behind her back.

  "The area is secured," Lian announced as her voice echoed in the artificial silence of the barrier. "Nothing in this realm or the next can reach you now. Begin your breakthrough, Li Yu."

  Li Yu looked at the opaque walls of the dome and realized that Vespera and her mother were sealed outside. He looked back at Gongsun Lian and the ten imposing generals standing guard around him. He didn't know who these people truly were but he knew an unparalleled opportunity when he saw one.

  Li Yu walked to the center of the clearing, took a deep breath and sat down crosslegged on the stone. He closed his eyes and prepared to break through this important step.