The explosion within Li Yu was entirely silent to the outside world, yet it carried the conceptual weight of a dying star.

  Within the microscopic point near his heart, a brand new reality was tearing itself out of the void. It was an independent inner world. It was completely separate from the Koi Sanctuary that had been forged and maintained by his martial spirit. This new space belonged entirely to his physical existence, a literal universe attempting to seed itself within his flesh.

  Li Yu’s consciousness observed the newly born space with absolute fascination. It wasn't large. In fact, it was quite small. A square plot of raw, elemental earth and empty sky measuring exactly one hundred by one hundred by one hundred meters. The soil was rich but barren. It was holding the latent potential of creation but entirely devoid of life. There was no grass, no water and no wind. Just a quiet and empty canvas.

  Instantly, this new inner world began to thirst.

  It acted like a vacuum and was drawing in the terrifying volume of Qi that was still flooding into Li Yu’s body from the outside world. The remaining energy of the apex Demon Lords, the Beast Kings and the myriad of supreme treasures the Veiled Lotus had dumped outside were continuously stripped down and pulled into this 100x100x100 meter plot.

  But it wasn't just pulling from the outside. A mystical bridge formed between this new inner world and his Koi Sanctuary. The immense lifeforce generated by the colossal jade lotus and the Koi Sanctuary itself began to flow across the bridge. It was saturating the barren soil of the new world with vitality.

  Li Yu watched this with a mix of awe and mild confusion. He didn't have the vast inheritance of a top tier sect in the Great World. He didn't have access to the ancient scrolls detailing the absolute peaks of cultivation. Because of this ignorance, Li Yu completely failed to understand the universe-breaking significance of what was happening to him.

  To form a true Inner World was the hallmark of figures who had surpassed the Divine Transformation realm by several entire major stages. For a newly minted Divine Transformation cultivator to possess one was a paradox that the heavens themselves would normally try to erase. Yet, it happened here on this unassuming realm.

  'I can't pull any strength from it,' Li Yu thought to himself as he was testing the connection. The space felt locked, like a massive engine that was still being assembled. He couldn't draw Qi out of it to fight. He couldn't use it to enhance his physical blows. 'But... it feels incredibly important. Like it’s a cornerstone for the future. I'll just let it feed for now.'

  Outside the newly formed inner world and back in the physical realm of the opaque grey dome, Gongsun Lian and her ten generals were already reeling from the aura of creation that had briefly leaked from Li Yu’s body.

  But the universe was not done testing their sanity. The crimson gold Koi and the massive blue Whale were still floating behind Li Yu. Their ethereal forms were still glowing with ancient power. Suddenly, the space above Li Yu’s head rippled once more.

  A third projection materialized. It was a humanoid figure. An old man wearing a simple grass hat and a modest robe. He was holding a fishing pole. Lian’s breath hitched. General Hua’s eyes widened behind her visor.

  'A third Nascent Soul!' General Sha screamed to the others, his veteran composure shattering into a million pieces. 'Three! And this one... it is human-shaped!'

  'Finally, a human form,' General Po thought as a wave of relief washed over him. 'The beast souls are terrifying but a humanoid soul represents a true and focused grasp of the Dao.'

  However, as the Fisherman fully materialized, the relief of the Veiled Lotus generals instantly transformed into terror. The presence radiating from this modest and smiling old man eclipsed the golden Koi and the Whale combined. It felt as though the Fisherman was not just a part of the world but a being that could hook the heavens themselves and reel them in.

  The Fisherman looked down at Li Yu with a bright and affectionate smile. He didn't seem to care about the mountain of dissolving treasures or the eleven god-like beings standing guard. He just looked pleased. Then the air beside the Fisherman shimmered.

  A fourth projection tore its way into the physical world.

  It was a sturdy Water Buffalo. Its dark coat gleamed with spiritual light and its large soulful eyes blinked slowly. It let out a deep resonant moo that vibrated through the dome and carried an ancient feeling passing through time.

  General Hua literally stumbled backward. Her silver accented armor clanking loudly against the stone. 'A fourth?! A fourth Nascent Soul?! And it’s a beast again?! What is happening?! How has his soul space not exploded into a shower of blood?! This is impossible! The heavens shouldn't allow this to exist!'

  Lian stared at the four souls hovering behind her Young Master. The Koi, the Whale, the smiling Fisherman and the sturdy Water Buffalo. Her mind, tempered by centuries of slaughter, leadership and absolute command over the Veiled Lotus simply stopped working. She had no frame of reference for this. No ancient text, no legend, no myth she had ever read had mentioned a cultivator with four Nascent Souls.

  The Fisherman, entirely oblivious to the mental breakdowns of the eleven watching him, turned to the Water Buffalo. His bright smile widened. He reached out and affectionately patted the massive beast on its broad head. The buffalo leaned into the touch and let out another contented sound.

  With a surprising agility for an old man, the Fisherman climbed onto the back of the Water Buffalo. He adjusted his grass hat, held his fishing pole over his shoulder and gave a gentle kick to the buffalo's sides.

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  In a flash of warm and comforting light, the Fisherman and the Water Buffalo dissolved into motes of spiritual energy, diving back into the crown of Li Yu’s head. The Koi and the Whale followed suit a moment later, vanishing back into his soul space.

  Above the dissolving pile of treasures, Khaos watched the entire display with his arms crossed. A faint and satisfied smirk played on his lips. Without saying another word he returned to the Koi Sanctuary. His job here was done.

  On the boulder, Li Yu took a long, deep breath. The mountain of demonic cores, herbs and the smuggled treasures of the Veiled Lotus had all been reduced to a thick layer of fine grey ash. He had devoured everything. His breakthrough to the Divine Transformation realm was now fully complete.

  Li Yu slowly opened his eyes. The world looked different. It wasn't just sharper or clearer; it was fundamentally altered. He could see the vibrant and weaving threads of laws intersecting in the air around him. Before, during the Soul Formation realm, he had to actively reach out and try to grasp the laws of the universe and fight to bend them to his will.

  Now? The laws felt like eager companions. They swirled around his newly forged Leviathan Physique. They were naturally clinging to his flesh and bones as if welcoming him home. His physical strength had increased by a terrifying and exponential magnitude. He closed his fist and the sheer density of his muscles caused the air inside his palm to detonate with a sharp pop.

  And his Qi... It felt absolutely boundless.

  'I will have to explore this connection to the laws later,' Li Yu thought while standing up from the boulder. 'For now, I have debts to acknowledge.'

  He dusted off his robes and stepped down from the stone. He walked across the bed of grey ash. The opaque grey dome was still active and sealing them away from the desolate Demon Realm outside where Vespera and the Night Queen were waiting.

  Li Yu stopped a few paces away from Gongsun Lian and the ten generals. They were standing perfectly still but a keen observer might have noticed that their breathing was slightly uneven from the sheer shock they had just endured.

  "It is done," Li Yu said with a smile to them. These people had truly helped him accomplish two massive tasks. He looked at the eleven warriors and his eyes were filled with genuine gratitude.

  "I know you came here today simply to repay a favor to Khaos," Li Yu began in earnest. "But the fact remains that you saved Vespera's mother from an impossible situation. Something I could never hope to do anytime soon. You eliminated threats that would have haunted us. And you stood guard for me. Providing an unimaginable wealth of resources and allowing me to secure a solid foundation in the next realm."

  Li Yu took a step back, brought his hands together and bowed deeply. It was not a casual nod but a bow of absolute respect and gratitude from a junior to his seniors.

  Panic. Absolute panic struck the eleven members of the Veiled Lotus.

  ‘The Young Master is bowing to us!’ General Po's mind screamed.

  Every instinct ingrained in them demanded that they bow lower. That was the respect and courtesy given to the Young Master. They couldn't accept a bow from the one they were sworn to serve.

  Lian immediately bent her knees and prepared to drop to the stone to bow even deeper than Li Yu. The ten generals moved in perfect synchronization as they lunged downward to prostrate themselves.

  But right as their knees were about to hit the dirt, Khaos’s strict, echoing warning blasted through their memories: Do not grovel. Do not call him Young Master out loud. Be professional. Do not overwhelm him!

  Lian’s eyes widened in horror. Using her terrifying cultivation base, Lian violently arrested her own downward momentum. She stopped herself mid-drop, her thighs burning from the sudden halt. The ten generals, seeing their leader abort the bow, frantically tried to do the same.

  The result was an incredibly bizarre and utterly awkward physical display.

  Eleven cultivators, beings who had just butchered a third of the Demon Realm's apex powers without breaking a sweat, were now stuck in a weird, jerking half-squat. They bobbed back and forth, going down an inch, coming up two inches, trying to bow lower than Li Yu while simultaneously trying to look normal.

  General Po looked like he was trying to dodge an invisible low hanging branch. General Hua’s arms were flailing slightly as she fought her own center of gravity. Lian was frozen in a stiff bent over posture that looked entirely unnatural for a woman with her grace.

  Li Yu straightened up from his bow and was blinking in confusion at the strange, wave-like bobbing motion of the eleven powerhouses.

  "Are... are you all alright?" Li Yu asked. "Is there a backlash from the array?"

  "We are perfectly fine!" Lian blurted out, her voice an octave higher than usual. She forcefully straightened her back and cleared her throat to regain her composure. The ten generals hastily mirrored her. They all stood at rigid attention but their faces were burning with embarrassment behind their visors. "We... we were merely stretching."

  "Right," Li Yu said slowly. He was not entirely buying it but deciding not to question the eccentricities of supreme experts. Perhaps that was just their custom as well. He looked at Lian and his expression turned serious once more.

  "Regardless of your arrangement with Khaos," Li Yu said. His voice was firm and unwavering, "I owe all eleven of you a personal debt. I know that right now, compared to you, I am nothing but an ant."

  Lian and the generals flinched internally at the word 'ant' but they remained silent.

  "But I promise you this," Li Yu continued as his eyes met Lian's and then moved to each of the generals in turn. "One day, I will become strong. And when that day comes, if any of you, or your families, ever need my help... I will go through anything, break any law and fight any enemy to aid you. You have my word."

  The silence inside the dome grew heavy but this time it wasn't with awkwardness or shock. It was thick with overwhelming emotion. Behind their visors, several of the generals felt their eyes grow hot.

  Lian had feared that the descendant of their benefactor might share some of the arrogance that came naturally to powerful cultivating families. She had feared he might view them as tools, demanding their service as his divine right.

  But standing before them was a young man who had just achieved a heaven defying breakthrough and possessing four Nascent Souls. Yet, he remained humble. He didn't demand. He thanked them. He promised to protect them in the future when he was able to.

  'Perhaps,' Lian thought as a warmth blossoming in her chest, 'His mother and father and then Lord VoidClaw keeping him away from the main family was the greatest blessing of all. He has grown up outside what could be rot. He is a kind soul.'

  Lian allowed a genuine and breathtakingly beautiful smile to grace her lips. It was a smile completely devoid of her usual cold professionalism.

  "We are touched by your words, Li Yu," Lian said softly. Her voice carried a sincere gratitude. She gave a proper and measured nod of respect.

  The ten generals behind her slammed their fists against their chest plates in unison, a powerful salute that needed no words to convey its depth.

  "We will look forward to that day," Lian said, her dark eyes shining. "But for now, we must leave. And you return to your own affairs."