Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 937: The Li Clan Library

The courtyard was filled with the sounds of clashing energy. A week had passed since Li Yu achieved his breakthrough and he spent every single day since then soaking in the wisdom of his family. They did not hold back in their teachings and they poured their centuries of experience into his mind.Tielan stood in the center of the courtyard as she summoned her Ten Armed Demonic Asura. She demonstrated how to leverage strength against an opponent.

"You have a powerful body." Tielan instructed as she threw a massive punch that shattered the air. "You possess incredible strength but you do not fight like a natural brawler. However, do not just copy my form. Your physique is unique to you and you must use its advantages."

Canghai took over the lessons in the afternoons. He summoned his martial spirits He sent them flying through the air in beautiful and intersecting arcs to display the geometry of combat. Since Li Yu was trying to incorporate flying swords into his fighting style, this was extremely helpful to him.

"The blade must be an extension of your intent." Canghai said. "Your control relies on Qi control rather than a physical grip. My paths are orthodox while yours are not. Learn these trajectories but adapt them to fit your own flying swords and preferred fighting style."

Zhan Tian took the evenings. The Worldkeeper did not bother with forms or stances at all. He sat at the stone table and drank wine while talking about the Dao of destruction. He explained how to sense the weak points in the enemy and the surroundings.

"You are a Paragon now." Tian told him on the final night. "You are at the point where you must truly understand yourself. We can show you how we walk our paths but you cannot follow them rigidly. If you mimic me, you will only ever be a shadow of me and nothing greater. You must forge the Dao of Li Yu."

Li Yu absorbed every word his parents and grandfather taught him. He knew his grandfather was right. It never hurts to listen to the wisdom of others and take in the things that were useful. He could discard the rigid rules that did not fit his own style and thoughts. He needed to build his own path using their teachings as a guide.

The peaceful week eventually came to an end and the reality of the cosmos crept back into the serene estate. Messengers arrived with urgent reports from the front lines. The armies needed their commanders back for a longer period of time.

Tielan and Canghai stood at the edge of the courtyard in their full combat armor.

"We must return to our troops and our duty." Canghai sighed. "The skirmishes are escalating once again. We cannot stay away any longer."

"Take your time in the clan." Tielan smiled and hugged her son tightly. "Find your footing. We will return as soon as the battle lines stabilize once again."

Zhan Tian stood nearby with his hands resting on his hips.

"I have business to attend to as well." Tian grumbled. "Some fools are testing the spatial boundaries again. I need to remind them why I hold this title."

"Thank you for everything." Li Yu bowed deeply to them. "I will not waste the wisdom and knowledge you have given me. Take as long as you need and please be careful out there. One day, I will be able to share some of your burdens."

The three masters stepped into the void and vanished. The courtyard grew quiet and Li Yu was left alone in the vast Li Clan estate. He felt a sense of peace from getting to spend so much time with a family that he thought he would never see again. His resolve to become stronger so he could help them out had exploded over this time, together with his resolve for Lian’s sake.

Li Yu did not feel abandoned once again as his family had left, they had responsibilities and they knew that. They had their duty while he had his, become stronger. Haste makes waste however, he couldn’t rush things too much as that would only hinder himself in the long run.

He decided it was time to follow their advice. He left the courtyard and walked through the sprawling grounds toward the center of the estate. The Li Clan library was a massive pagoda that was located there.

It stretched high into the clouds while the architecture was elegant and imposing. It was carved entirely from dark wood and white jade. The air around the building hummed with thick defensive arrays and there were many guards.

Li Yu walked up the grand stone steps and there were two elders sitting by the entrance. They opened their eyes as he approached.

"Halt." One elder said. "Show your identification."

Li Yu reached into his robes and he pulled out a heavy jade token given to him by his father. It was an access token but it was special. It granted him full permission to wander the library. He could even access the very highest level where the restricted ancestral texts were kept.

The elders saw the token and their eyes widened slightly. They quickly bowed their heads and stepped aside.

"Enter freely." The elder said respectfully.

Li Yu walked through the grand doors and the interior of the library was staggering. Endless rows of towering shelves stretched out in every direction. The air smelled of old parchment and spiritual jade. Floating lights drifted through the aisles to illuminate the millions of recorded techniques. It was lear that the inside of this place was even bigger than the structure on the outside.

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There was clearly some dimensional manipulation at play here. He had access to the top floor but he did not head there yet. He wanted to build a broad understanding of the techniques within the Li Clan. He decided to explore around the lower and middle floors as he saw fit. He walked down the quiet aisles and began to browse.

He picked up a blue jade slip from a nearby shelf. He pressed it against his forehead to read the contents. A phantom projection appeared in his mind. It showed Patriarch Li Muchen swinging an elegant blade.

The technique was called Tidal Moon Sword Mantra. It utilized sword intent to mimic the pull of the ocean. It was beautiful and powerful. However, it felt too rigid and awkward for Li Yu to use effectively so he placed the slip back on the shelf.

He walked further down the aisle and picked up a dark grey slip. This was the Ephemeral Shadow Blade. The text stated it was contributed by Sect Master Shenying of the Phantom Blade Sect. The projection showed an assassin dissolving into pure darkness before delivering a lethal strike. It was a fantastic movement art but it did not align with his relatively straightforward combat style.

Li Yu spent hours reading through different slips. He found the Nine Heavens Severing Edge. It was a foundational sword path established by the Heaven Severing Ancestor. It was incredibly aggressive and focused entirely on overwhelming the opponent with slicing power. Li Yu admired the raw destruction but it didn’t quite suit him.

He moved to a section dedicated to Qi manipulation. He found the Jade Stream Rejuvenation Breath. It was a supreme healing technique contributed by Pavilion Master Su. It taught the user how to mend shattered meridians using ambient nature Qi. Li Yu committed the theory to memory. He figured it might be useful even though his Paragon body already healed at a terrifying rate.

Not all the techniques were from the family or their direct vassals. The library held spoils of war and traded knowledge as well. He found a slip called Astral Dragons Roar. It was a sonic blast technique acquired from a famous wandering cultivator named Lei Zhen centuries ago. He also found the Whispering Bamboo Steps. It was an advanced movement technique used by Li Clan intelligence gatherers to prioritize silence over speed.

He even found a violent manual called the Shattered Star Cleave. It was a single strike execution technique developed by a historical Li Clan prodigy who eventually fell in the dark zone.

Li Yu browsed through hundreds of concepts. He absorbed the vast knowledge they imparted even though he didn’t use a sword. There were principles and ideas he could draw upon. He saw the countless ways cultivators manipulated Qi and weapons. However, nothing truly called to him. They were all brilliant paths but they were not his own.

He eventually wandered into a quiet corner on the sixth floor. The shelves here were dedicated entirely to Qi weapon control. He noticed a pristine white jade slip resting on a pedestal. It pulsed with a faint and inviting light.

Li Yu picked it up and pressed it to his forehead and the information flooded into his mind. It was called the Celestial Star Sword Formation.

The technique was not a traditional sword technique. It relied entirely on vast Qi reserves, precise soul control and an overwhelming physical foundation to handle the recoil. It was a technique designed specifically for flying swords.

The swords would link together through complex Qi manipulation to form a crushing domain of blades. It resonated with what he had wanted to do with his flying swords. Li Yu felt his heart beat faster. This was exactly what he was looking for. He read through the requirements.

The formation was incredibly difficult to master. The very first tier required five flying swords to establish the base formation. The text explicitly stated that the swords needed to be immensely powerful to handle the continuous flow of Qi.

"To forge the Celestial Star." The text read. "The cultivator must use the top swords of the Li Clan. Weak blades will shatter under the pressure of the formation."

Li Yu frowned as he read that line. He completely misunderstood the warning.

When the text said top swords, it simply meant high quality weapons crafted by master smiths around the Li Clan territories. However, Li Yu had a very warped perspective on what a top sword actually was.

His current arsenal consisted of four blades. Gilded Calamity was one of the Ten Great Swords. Firmament's End was another of the Ten Great Swords. Pale Extinction was a bone sword ripped from a dark zone general. Whispering Frost was a masterpiece artifact gifted by Jin, which was the weakest of the four. These four were the swords he had grown accustomed to using.

He rarely used a sword before getting Gilded Calamity from his then hidden father so this was his standard for a ‘top’ sword. Li Yu assumed the text meant he needed swords at the exact same level as those four.

He rubbed his temples as a massive headache began to form. He looked at the requirements for the highest level of the formation. It required one hundred flying swords.

"One hundred." Li Yu muttered to himself in disbelief. "How am I supposed to find ninety six more swords? My grandfather had to kill what sounded like an extremely powerful general just to get one. My father gave away a clan treasure to give me another. Where am I going to find nearly a hundred supreme artifacts?"

It seemed like an impossible mountain to climb. However, the power of the formation was undeniable. He decided he would start small. Thankfully the first technique only required five swords.

"I am only short one sword for the first tier." Li Yu reasoned. "I have four. I just need to find one more sword like these." Completely not understanding how difficult that should actually be.

He took the jade slip from the pedestal and placed it into his Koi Sanctuary. As he took that jade slip, another one formed in its place. Li Yu was determined to practice the Celestial Star Sword Formation. He would just have to figure out the weapon logistics later.

He turned around to leave the section. He planned to head back down to the ground floor and return to his courtyard. As he took a step toward the stairs, a strange sensation washed over him.

It was a subtle and rhythmic pulse in the ambient Qi. It felt like a heartbeat echoing through the wooden floorboards. The resonance bypassed his physical senses and tugged directly at his soul.

Li Yu stopped walking as he turned his head and looked toward the center of the pagoda. He looked at the spiral staircase that led upward. The calling was not coming from the lower floors. It was drifting down from the very top floor. It was the restricted area where the oldest texts resided.

The pull was gentle but undeniably persistent. Li Yu gripped his father's access token in his pocket and he stared up into the dim lighting of the upper stairwell.