Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 1093: The Beginnings of Li Yu’s Legion

With the financial terms settled and a grand partnership established, Jin Bao waved a hand to dismiss the two powerful cultivators standing guard and the two wardens followed them out. The heavy gilded doors closed softly and left the opulent office to just Jin Bao, Jin Yubo and Li Yu.Li Yu leaned forward across the polished mahogany table and looked at the two merchants with a serious expression.

“Do you have any powerful aquatic beasts here for me to purchase?” Li Yu began to say. For one reason or another he felt that he could trust them with his plans so he continued to follow his gut. “My developing army will only consist of beasts with aquatic bloodlines and I need a strong foundation of troops to start my legion.”

Jin Bao and Jin Yubo exchanged a curious glance across the table at these words. First of all, the outrageousness of it all was quite silly. He had just asked them for a massive amount of resources and now he also wants to start his legion using their own wares? Secondly, they were not sure why the young cultivator was so specific on that biological detail but they nodded their heads in agreement.

"We have a vast collection of creatures from all over the Myriad Realms," Jin Bao assured him with a warm smile. "We operate across countless territories and our procurement teams gather unique beasts. Yubo will show you around our aquatic wares in this city while I check the ledgers to see what we have stored in other branch locations."

Jin Bao stood up from his carved wooden chair and smoothed the wrinkles from his golden robes. "Since your strength is in a way our strength for the future, we will do our best to make sure you are successful. I will secure a very capable person to train your new army. Take your time viewing the enclosures and pick what you need here."

Before Li Yu could say anything else or offer his gratitude, Jin Bao turned and walked out of the office to fulfill his end of the generous bargain.

Jin Yubo gestured toward the door and guided Li Yu out into the quiet corridors of the central headquarters. They walked for a while before stepping onto a specialized spatial array platform located near the back of the building. The array flashed with a silver light and transported them deep underground into a sprawling containment facility.

Jin Yubo gestured toward the door and guided Li Yu out into the quiet corridors of the central headquarters. They walked for a while before stepping onto a specialized spatial array platform located near the back of the building. The array flashed with a silver light and transported them deep underground into a sprawling subterranean pocket realm.

The environment changed the second they stepped off the platform as the air grew dense with rich spiritual energy and a faint scent of water drifted through the expansive space. Li Yu looked around and saw a network of grand martial pavilions, open training courtyards and reinforced stone arenas stretching far into the distance. Blue glowing runes illuminated the walkways and provided a calming atmosphere.

"We keep our premium aquatic stock here in this sector," Jin Yubo explained while leading the way down the glowing pathways. "Some of these assets are still in their original beast form while others prefer to take on humanoid or beast kin forms. We have all different kinds of aquatic creatures ready for battle or as mounts."

They walked past the first series of large training courtyards and Li Yu observed the soldiers dwelling inside.

"These are our Tribulation and Karma Severing tier fighters," Jin Yubo noted while pointing toward a group of fast moving figures darting across a stone arena. "Those are Obsidian Swordfish kin. They can be elite shock troops who naturally cultivate the Sword Dao. Their biology produces razor sharp living blades of dark bone on their arms and body. They are excellent for piercing enemy formations or flesh."

Li Yu watched the Swordfish cultivators practice their martial arts with incredible speed and agility. Their bone blades sliced through the air and left faint trails of a dark looking Qi in their wake and he could easily picture them breaking the front lines of an opposing army. He then looked up toward the open sky of the pocket realm and saw a writhing swarm of long serpentine creatures floating high above the ground.

"Those are Riptide Eels in their natural form," Jin Yubo continued with the tour as they walked further down the path. "They can link their bodies together using water laws to form living arrays of lightning. You can just imagine the usefulness of such a thing in a battle."

"A living lightning array is a useful tool on the battlefield," Li Yu commented while analyzing the sparks dancing across the eel scales. "They would work well in tandem with the Swordfish cultivators. The eels could paralyze the enemy and the sword troops could finish them off before they recover."

Jin Yubo nodded in agreement and led the group deeper into the facility toward the Origin Awakening martial pavilions. It became quickly clear to Li Yu that they were only going to show people that were at or higher in cultivation than himself. He was hoping to obtain beings that were at Domain King and up but the Golden Horizon Guild was once again sparing no expense for him. Li Yu saw heavily armored bipedal creatures in perfect synchronization across a sandy training yard.

"Those are Wall Crabs," the merchant provided the details while gesturing to the thick shells covering their bodies. "They can serve as heavy infantry because they can take a staggering amount of physical damage before their shells even begin to crack. They will hold a defensive line against overwhelming odds and give others time to strike."

Li Yu saw elegant creatures floating gracefully in an adjacent meditation courtyard. They possessed vibrant fins and moved with deceptive beauty above the stone floor.

"Those are Venom Spire Lionfish," Jin Yubo said with a hint of warning in his voice. "They specialize in arrays and use highly toxic Qi spines for ranged attacks and area control. And hovering near the ceiling of that darkened hall over there are Ghost Glass Squids. They are transparent deep sea predators that act as amazing stealth scouts. They wrap their tentacles around targets and inject neurotoxins while remaining practically invisible to divine sense for those not on guard."

The variety of the troops astounded Li Yu as he calculated the combat potential of combining stealth units with heavy armored infantry. They eventually reached the Sovereign realm containment zone where the more elite cultivators resided in their own private estates.

Jin Yubo stopped in front of a reinforced courtyard and smiled. "We have three distinct Sovereign realm fighters here today. That floating armored mollusk is a Storm Shell Nautilus. It acts as somewhat of a mobile fortress and it can fly through the air. It can shoot highly pressurized beams of concentrated water Qi that can pierce through even the toughest defense."

Li Yu nodded in appreciation before looking at the imposing humanoid figure standing in a separate meditation garden. The creature looked like a walking reef.

"That is Xol," Jin Yubo said. "Xol is a Blood Coral Behemoth. He is a deep sea vampiric coral that can take humanoid form. He can be an unbreakable wall that passively drains Qi and vitality from any enemy whose blood he can draw onto his jagged reef body. The bloodier the battle, the more he excels and can keep going."

A sudden booming sound echoed from the third estate. Li Yu turned his head and saw a striking beast woman practicing her martial arts against a reinforced stone pillar. She wore vibrant colors and was striking with her fists.

"That is Tiff," Jin Yubo explained while watching the woman strike the stone. "She is a Prismatic Mantis Shrimp kin and a deadly brawler, nearly unmatched within her realm when it comes to raw striking power. Her fists or claws as some would say move so fast they can tear open the void where she strikes. A single punch from her creates devastating cavitation shockwaves that can shatter enemy defenses into dust."

Li Yu was incredibly impressed by the elite roster he was shown, it would be an amazing starting point for his army. He could obtain them all at a single place and save himself a lot of time in hunting them down himself. Li Yu then asked about the price for the entire group since he wanted them all. Jin Yubo smiled brightly and told him that he was receiving them all for free as part of their new partnership.

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The generous offer was great and was what Li Yu had been expecting given the nature of the Golden Horizon up to this point. However, once told, he felt extremely burdened by such a heavy gift on top of everything else he was receiving. He understood enough and knew how much it cost to beasts at lower levels such as Law Integration so he could only estimate the ridiculous price a beast at the level they had looked at cost. The true value of these troops and receiving them without handing over a single thing suddenly started feeling a bit too heavy to shoulder.

'Now is not the time to be a fake righteous person,' Li Yu thought to himself while taking a steadying breath to calm his nerves. 'I need these fighters to build my legion and I will have to make it up to the Golden Horizon in the future. I will honor my end of the bargain when they call upon me in the future and pay back these debts many times over.'

With his mind steeled and some words of comfort to himself, Li Yu accepted the troops and Jin Yubo instructed the guild attendants to prepare the creatures for transfer. As the attendants worked, Jin Yubo led Li Yu to a secluded and heavily guarded pavilion at the back of the facility. This area held a single courtyard and clearly meant that their strongest aquatic beast was being kept there.

"This is our highest tier aquatic asset in the city," Jin Yubo said softly as they approached the thick iron gates. "A Creation Lord."

Li Yu looked inside and saw a towering reptilian brawler with dark mottled scales sitting in deep meditation. The creature radiated an aura of dominance that made the ambient energy around it tremble.

"His name is Kaldor," Jin Yubo introduced the beast. "He is a Tyrant Mosasaur. He commands the Dao of the Devouring. His jaws can bite chunks out of hostile techniques and defensive formations. He swallows enemy Qi attacks to fuel his own physical strength and unleashes devastating attacks of his own. He acts as an unstoppable force of nature."

Li Yu felt his heart race as he observed the Creation Lord. Having a fighter of this caliber would elevate his army to a terrifying level right from the start. He had Krag at Supreme Exalt but Krag had no offensive capabilities at all. The guild attendants arrived shortly after and gathered the vast array of aquatic beings behind them.

They had all either shrunk down in their beast forms or were in their humanoid forms as Li Yu had seen them. Li Yu then began the process to bind each one of them via a soul contract to be his follower which was easy since they were already bound to Golden Horizon and then ordered them to follow behind him for now.

Jin Bao returned to the underground facility a short time later and he was not alone. Jin Bao had gone to meet with the Golden Shell Phalanx once he figured out who Li Yu was and was able to speak to their leader for the first time in his life. He told the leader what Li Yu was trying to do and the leader sent along a single person for him to take back for now. Someone that wasn’t standing at the peak of their forces but strong enough and had the skills that Li Yu needed right now.

Jin Bao was walking alongside that very man right now, a towering warrior wearing dark golden armor that resembled an ancient turtle shell. This new warrior was a commander of the Golden Shell Phalanx but his armor was currently not from that legion, it was just armor from Golden Horizon to hide his identity further.

The man was also already aware of who Li Yu was from Li Canghai's rescue mission long ago. Li Yu did not recognize him because there were way too many people back then and his face was also covered in a helmet. The commander now stood tall and proud as he evaluated his new lord with reverent eyes.

"This is Commander Shan," Jin Bao introduced the warrior with a respectful nod. "He can serve as the leader of your army and he can train your troops to perfection. Commander Shan stands at the Heavenly Zenith level."

Li Yu was currently in the Karma Severing realm and on the edge of reaching Tribulation. The path from where Li Yu was to Shan was Tribulation, Origin Awakening, Sovereign, Creation Lord, Supreme Exalt, Celestial Venerable and finally reaching Heavenly Zenith. A full seven levels higher. This just showed the massive gap between the two but Shan couldn’t be happier that he was the one that was chosen to be able to help him directly first.

Li Yu on the other hand was extremely grateful and he could feel the terrifying power radiating from the man. He bowed his head slightly to acknowledge tramanous gift and thanked Jin Bao for his unbelievable support.

"I will put his skills to good use," Li Yu promised while looking at the armored giant. "He will be the leader of my forces and looks more than ready for such a job. One day I will make sure to repay this grace, thank you."

Li Yu initiated the soul binding process to officially link Shan to his service. He formed the intricate soul contract in the air using his Qi and Shan accepted the binding without a single moment of hesitation. As the contract sealed and their souls connected, Shan felt a sense of peace wash over his mind.

'I have finally come to where I belong,' Shan thought to himself after it was completed. He was now bound to his true lord and he felt like he was finally at home. His entire ancestral purpose was to help Li Yu and he was now directly working for his destined master. A warm smile broke across the commander's face as the spiritual connection settled into his core.

With his new army secured and his general appointed, Li Yu said his final goodbyes to Jin Bao and Jin Yubo. He shook their hands firmly and promised once again to remember their kindness. Li Yu then gathered his forces and took the spatial arrays back to the Zhan Clan headquarters before flying directly back to his home at the Five Star Lakes.

The group landed on the rocky shoreline near the dark wood pagoda as the afternoon sun cast a golden hue over the valley and Li Yu sent the wardens away. He then met with the beginning of his legion and the newly appointed Commander Shan. Li Yu now showed them where the army would reside and hopefully thrive. He channeled his energy and revealed the swirling portal leading into his Koi Sanctuary. The portal shimmered with a soft blue light as the rich scent of aquatic life drifted into the evening air.

"This is your new home and your new training ground," Li Yu said while gesturing toward the glowing rift.

The warriors stepped through the portal and found themselves standing on the edge of a sprawling landscape filled with pristine oceans, islands and towering lotus flowers. The vibrant greenery stretched across the horizon and the water sparkled with pure spiritual energy. The scale of the environment was enough to house a real army with plenty of room to spare.

Shan looked around and took a deep breath of the air as he analyzed the spatial boundaries with his Heavenly Zenith senses and was able to quickly determine that something was different about this place. Not only was Li Yu not at the right cultivation level to have an inner world, this was something else entirely.

"This is not a traditional inner world," Shan noted while looking at the dense life beneath the waters and the abundantly rich life force here. "It is something else entirely. I can feel the rich life essence flowing around as well as a rich Qi in the air. A regular inner world could never sustain this level of natural vitality at your level, even mine is not at this level."

"It is a unique sanctuary tied to my martial spirit," Li Yu explained while walking alongside the golden armored commander. "You will all live in this realm and establish a proper military city, eventually at least. I want everyone to be trained and ready for battle. I would do it myself but I believe that Jin Bao brought you to me because you are much better for such a job. They need to learn how to fight as a cohesive unit and of course hone their own individual strength."

"I will create the army you desire and establish a place for them to grow in here. We will also establish a place out in the physical world over time." Shan promised with fierce determination shining in his eyes. "This environment is like a holy ground for aquatic bloodlines to thrive when given the right external resources. If this place gets better with your own cultivation level, the possibilities will be amazing."

“It is definitely much better and bigger than when I first acquired this space. However, it does not increase with each cultivation level. There seems to be breakthrough moments that do increase its level though.” Li Yu said back to him.

“That is still a great thing, we will look forward to your progress, young master.” Shan replied with a nod.

"You are allowed to come and go as you need. You can take over this army and move them as you see fit to achieve the results I need." Li Yu told Shan. "We will discuss how you can get additional resources from the outside world to develop the army within this space, as well as build proper places for everyone to live."

The group then discussed taking on missions for the Zhan Clan to help keep resources flowing in as well as get experience fighting and working together. This would be in addition to the resources that will be provided by Golden Horizon, Li Yu didn’t want to just rely on them. Shan accepted the tasks and bowed deeply to his new lord. Shan then turned toward a large open area of land and began to plan the layout of the new military encampment in his mind.

"What shall we call this new force?" Shan asked while looking back over his armored shoulder. "An army requires a name to rally behind and more importantly to be feared."

Li Yu looked out over the sparkling waters of his Koi Sanctuary and thought about his journey to this point. He thought about the beginnings of his cultivation journey, the peace he wished to protect and the long path he still needed to walk.

"Let it be called The Eternal Koi," Li Yu stated firmly. "A legion where everyone will grow and evolve alongside me until we break through the final gates of the cosmos and soar into the skies."