Chương 434: Exploring the Rivers

The Koi Soul flashed and was sending a pulse of warm vitality through Li Yu's spectral form. It was easing the burden and repairing the micro-fractures in his soul that appeared instantly. The Fisherman stepped forward with him and its presence was acting like a shield, splitting the pressure. Li Yu took another step forward and he could feel that his understanding in the Void laws increased.

'It seems like this 'River' is like some physical manifestation of my understanding of the void laws. My step forward was not a physical step but a step of understanding towards the law.' Li Yu thought to himself. The pressure doubled from before. The river seemed to roar but there was no sound. The Distortion ahead of him rippled, seemingly mocking his distance and pace.

"It's heavy," Li Yu gasped.

"Of course it is," Khaos said.

"You are going upstream against the Void itself. Only a bit of progress can be made at a time. As your understanding increases, the pressure decreases and your soul strengths against the law. Enlightenment helps you leap. Hard work helps you wade. Now, look at the water beneath your feet. Understand the flow." Li Yu looked down. He saw how the "water" moved. It didn't flow in simply a straight line. It folded, skipped and compressed.

"Space isn't simply distance," Li Yu realized as he was watching the current.

"It's is so much more."

'My understanding of the void seems easier here and the place itself gives inspiration to the void!' Li Yu finally understood some of the wonders here. He tried to take a third step. CRACK. His spectral form began to fracture. The pressure was too immense for him to take. He wasn't ready to go further. His understanding was not deep enough to withstand the current. Li Yu saw the Fisherman next to him completely fine and was actually shaking his head while looking at him.

He didn't say anything but his face said it all.

"Is this all you can do? Pathetic." Li Yu wasn't sure how he knew thats what the Fisherman meant, but he was sure that's what it was thinking. It made him furious but also resigned. Li Yu then saw his Koi Soul above him and it too was completely fine. It was still giving off a golden glow that was helping him.

"Enough," Khaos commanded next to him.

"Pull back." Li Yu let go. SNAP. He was back on the stone pillar. He gasped and his body drenched in cold sweat. His nose was bleeding slightly as well. The physical toll on his body was immense and was reflecting the strain his soul had taken. Li Yu realized that even though he was in that space, he was also aware of everything that was happening around him the entire time.

"That..." Li Yu panted, wiping the blood away.

"That was intense."

"You took two steps," Khaos said, the mini-crab looking unimpressed but didn't seem surprised by it either.

"Most dissolve on the shore without being able to take a single step. Now, apply what you learned." Li Yu stood up and he looked at the gap between the pillars. He didn't see air anymore. He saw the faint, shimmering memory of that dark river and he saw the fold. He stepped. Slip. He didn't tear through the air and he didn't use force. He simply folded the distance and appeared on the next pillar instantly. It was similar to his Void Step technique but it was infinitely more efficient and quicker.

The strain on his qi and body was smaller and he felt like he could now travel even further.

"Smooth," Li Yu smiled.

"Next," Khaos ordered.

"The Law of Life. You have the Koi as your martial spirit. From what I can tell, this should be easier." Li Yu found a small twisted pine tree growing from the rock. He sat before it to use it as his visualization of life. He focused again. The headache came then the shift. He was in a different river and Khaos was no where to be seen here. This one was vibrant and glowing emerald green. It smelled of rain and soil. The current was warm and pulsating like a heartbeat. The Spirit of Life floated ahead.

It looked like a seed made of pure light with constantly sprouting vines that withered and bloomed in seconds. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Li Yu walked forward. The pressure here wasn't crushing; it was overwhelming. It was like being drowned in too much sensation. He felt every blade of grass for miles. He felt the moss growing. It threatened to wash away his individuality, to make him just another drop in the ocean of life.

His mind was being overwhelmed. The Fisherman acted and stepped in front of him and that acted to anchor him and drown out the other sensations. The Koi Soul however, swam happily in this river. It was absorbing the energy from here and feeding it back to Li Yu. The combined effect of the two allowed him to take three steps, then a fourth and finally a fifth step. He looked around him and he watched the flow of this river. He saw how life didn't just grow; it circulated. It took from the old to feed the new.

It was a cycle and not a straight line. He was then pulled back to reality. He was able to spend a much longer time within the River of Life.

'It seems like that there is a time limit for staying as well, probably tied to understanding and how strong my body and soul are. I didn't break due to taking too many steps but after a certain amount of time there my soul began to fracture and dissolve away.' Li Yu concluded. He asked Khaos and Khaos confirmed that was indeed the case. Li Yu touched the pine tree with his hands. He didn't pour Qi into it. He simply adjusted its circulation, aligning it with the flow that could now better sense in this area.

The tree shivered. A dead branch fell off and a fresh green cone sprouted in its place almost instantly.

"Understanding over force," Li Yu noted.

"Now another law you should have touched upon," Khaos said.

"The Law of Destruction. Be careful with this one. It is not kind." Li Yu found a broken boulder that was split into two and he focused on destruction. The shift was violent. He was standing on a river of magma and jagged obsidian. The sky was red and the air tasted of ash. Khaos was next to him this time. The Spirit of Destruction stood ahead. It was a crumbling statue, constantly breaking apart and reforming.

It almost seemed like its rage was the only thing holding it together and it was radiating an aura of pure entropy. Li Yu took a step. It felt like being cut by a thousand razors. The Law of Destruction wanted to break him down into his component. The Golden Koi shrieked silently with its light dimming from the very first step. It was clear that it was not at home here like before. The Fisherman frowned and his rod was glowing to push back the red tide. It was effective but Li Yu already seemed to be at his limit.

Li Yu could only take one step. Just one. But in that one step he saw the truth. Destruction wasn't about power. It was about finding the end that already existed in all things. Everything was waiting to break; you just had to give it permission. He snapped back to the pillar. His entire body was shaking and the pain from those cuts still felt like they were there and real. He looked at one half of the boulder. He saw the "end" inside it. A tiny red fracture point in the Law holding the stone together.

He tapped it with his finger and directed his qi to that exact point. Crumble. The boulder half didn't crack; it disintegrated into dust.

"Terrifying," Li Yu whispered.

"That is the power of a Law," Khaos said, the mini-crab clacking its claws.

"You are barely wading in the shallows. Imagine if you could walk further down that river. You could tap a mountain and turn it to sand. You could tap a star and extinguish it."

"But remember," Khaos warned.

"Do not let one river drown out the others. If you focus only on Destruction, you will become a monster. If you focus only on Life, you will become soft. Having many rivers is good but if you are shallow in them all it is completely useless." Li Yu sat down and was exhausted but exhilarated.

"There are so many," Li Yu said while looking at the sky.

"Fire, Water, Time... Cooking, Fishing."

"Yes," Khaos said.

"A true immortal understands many of them that suit them. But for now, focus on your affinities. By reaching further on ones you are great at, going down ones you aren't will be easier. You have taken your first steps." Li Yu spent the next two weeks in the Pillars of Eternity. He didn't travel far. He spent his time shifting his consciousness, visiting the Rivers simply to check them out. He tried the Law of Earth, seeing a river of slow-moving mud and heavy stones.

He couldn't go far but he learned to make his body heavy. Sinking his stance so immovably that even a gale-force wind couldn't flutter his robe. He tried the Law of Wind, seeing a river of rushing invisible currents. He learned to glide between the pillars, riding the wind like a leaf. He realized that what Khaos said was true. Understanding the Law of Earth helped him understand the Law of Destruction, as he knew how the stone was built before he learned how to break it.

Understanding the Law of Wind helped him understand the Void, seeing how currents moved through empty space. By the time he reached the edge of the karst region, Li Yu felt different. He looked at the world and he saw the complexity of it. He saw the weave. He stood at the edge of the cliff and was looking down at the Jungle below.

"I used to just see trees," Li Yu said to himself.

"Now... I see the water pumping in the roots. I see the sunlight being converted to energy. I see the decay feeding the soil. It's a massive complex engine."

"It is the Dao," Khaos corrected from within the Koi Sanctuary.

"Or a piece of it."

"Khaos," Li Yu asked.

"How far down the River of Void have you gone?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Khaos said quietly and nothing more. Li Yu smiled at the non-answer and didn't think anything of it. Only gratefulness that Khaos taught him now to take this next step. He adjusted his bamboo hat and was prepared to continue onwards.

"One step at a time," he whispered. He stepped off the cliff and it was like the wind welcomed him down. He didn't use qi or any techniques but the winds wrapped themselves around him and took him down below at a nice comfortable pace.