Chương 691: Chapter 690: The Gathering of Tides and Friends

The Eternal Crucible loomed ahead and was framed by a sky that was currently a swirling mix of volcanic ash and deep sea storm clouds. The impending union of Sovereign Ignis and Sovereign Morven had physically altered the atmosphere above the capital by their presence. It created a breathtaking and localized weather system where warm crimson light reflected off blue rainclouds. A short distance from the gates, the caravan came to a halt to finalize their distributions.

Vane and the workers began organizing the crates for the local guild liaisons while Li Yu, Malos and Lana stepped away to meet a lone figure waiting by a withered tree. Tuwark had arrived exactly on schedule. The broad shouldered blacksmith wore a simple traveling cloak over his tunic. He had a large bundle slung across his back like his father did. He greeted them with an earnest smile but before they approached the heavily guarded gates, Malos held up a hand.

"Before we enter the city," Malos said with his tone shifting from cheerful father to cautious Sovereign.

"We must address the matter of your identities. The capital is currently swarming with dignitaries, rival sect masters and spies from every corner of the realm. If anyone discovers that I have living children, the strings of fate I severed to protect you will have been cut for nothing." Lana nodded in agreement. She pulled a silver hairpin from her spatial ring.

"I anticipated as much. I brought a pair of high tier illusion artifacts I acquired from a southern trade route." She handed one to Tuwark. It was a bronze bracer and she slid the hairpin into her own dark hair. Instantly, the amber of her eyes dulled to a common, muddy brown. Her distinct facial features subtly shifted and rendered her completely unremarkable. Tuwark fastened the bracer and his towering, broad shouldered frame seemed to visually shrink.

His solid Soul Formation aura dampened into the background noise of a standard Foundation Establishment cultivator. Malos then also used his own techniques to further their disguise. No one was looking for them so as long as they didn't stand out too much, there wouldn't be any problems. Malos was always traveling with Li Yu so a few more random people shouldn't draw much attention if any.

"Perfect," Malos beamed while looking over their finished disguises.

"You are completely unrecognizable. As for your cover story..." He turned to Li Yu with a mischievous grin.

"You are Li Yu's friends. You are wandering cultivators he met on his travels and he has graciously invited you to the wedding as his personal guests. And I tolerate you, haha." Li Yu sighed while adjusting the strap of his pack.

"Of course. When in doubt, make the strange human the center of attention. I suppose having two random friends is less suspicious than a Demon Lord suddenly acquiring a family."

"Exactly!" Malos cheered.

"Now, let us partake in the festivities!" The group passed through the heavily warded gates without issue. The Eternal Crucible was entirely transformed. The militaristic streets were draped in miles of interwoven crimson and oceanic blue silk. The air was filled with the sounds of unfamiliar, aquatic instruments blending with the heavy, rhythmic war drums of the fire capital. As they walked through the grand courtyard toward the guest pavilions, a booming voice shattered the ambient noise.

"Brother Li Yu!" A massive figure draped in iridescent sea silk strode through the courtyard. Sovereign Morven, the Lord of the Violet Deep, pushed past a group of startled generals. His pale blue face split into a massive smile. He threw his arms wide and caught Li Yu in a bone jarring embrace. He had completely ignored the massive disparity in their public statuses.

"Sovereign Morven," Li Yu wheezed slightly as the towering Demon Lord set him back down.

"None of that 'Sovereign' nonsense in public, my friend!" Morven laughed loudly while turning to ensure the surrounding courtiers and disciples heard every word.

"We are sworn brothers of the tide! Ever since we bonded over our mutual mastery of the water arts during the medical trials, I have considered you family!" It was a political maneuver. By openly claiming Li Yu as a sworn brother based on their shared elemental affinity and personal camaraderie, Morven provided a cover story for their closeness. It explained why the Lord of the Violet Deep favored a human wanderer and it kept the secret of the Soul Curse extraction buried.

It gave Li Yu an immense amount of "face" in the capital as well. Making him practically untouchable to the petty plotting of the lesser nobles. Morven then turned his pale eyes toward the disguised Lana and Tuwark.

"And who are these companions?"

"Friends from the road," Li Yu answered and smoothly stepped effortlessly into the lie.

"They traveled with me in the past and I invited them to witness the grandest event of the land."

"Any friend of my brother is a welcomed guest of the Violet Deep!" Morven declared while clapping Tuwark on the shoulder hard enough to make the disguised blacksmith wince slightly. Morven leaned in close to Li Yu with his voice dropping to a loud whisper.

"Settle them into your pavilion. Then, come find me in the eastern training grounds. The wedding is still a few days away and I have promised to share some insights with my sworn brother." An hour later, Li Yu stood in the center of a heavily reinforced ironstone training chamber that Morven had temporarily converted. The air was impossibly heavy and thick with moisture. A crushing pressure that mimicked the ocean floor was also present.

Morven stood opposite him with his sleeves rolled up, revealing pale blue scales.

"Your foundation is spectacular, Li Yu," Morven praised after having a chance to actually analyze him closely before teaching. Since Morven was soul bound to Li Yu, Li Yu was able to reveal more of himself to him.

"To reach the second level of Divine Transformation with such density is rare. Especially at your age… It is almost unthinkable. You might be the greatest genius I have ever seen. But you must remember a crucial truth: our paths are fundamentally different." Morven raised a hand and the moisture in the air gathered into a swirling vortex over his palm.

"My water is the crushing depth and the acidic tide. It destroys through pressure and corrosion. Do not try to copy my path. Take my understanding of the laws, dissect it and use it to feed your own."

"I understand," Li Yu nodded. His path didn't match Morven's. No path ever did match, everyone had their own understanding and strength. There were countless paths even among those that walked a similar road.

"Good," Morven smiled.

"Water is not just the cradle of life; it is the ultimate solvent. It breaks down stone, it rusts metal and it rots flesh. To truly master the water laws, in my opinion, you must understand its corrosive nature. Allow me to demonstrate the basics of my toxic arts." Morven's Qi shifted. The pristine blue vortex of water above his hand suddenly darkened and turned to a sickly, glowing violet. The very air around the water began to sizzle and hiss as the extreme toxicity ate away at the ambient Qi in the room.

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"This is a single drop of what I call Abyssal Toxicity," Morven explained as his voice took on a clinical and serious tone.

"It can melt things into sludge in moments. I am going to form a localized shield around your arm and place a tiny fraction of this toxin against your skin. This is so you can feel the mechanism of its decay."

"Proceed," Li Yu agreed and held out his right arm. Morven carefully isolated a fraction of a drop of the violet liquid. With absolute precision, he guided the toxin through the air and let it rest against the back of Li Yu's hand. Morven immediately readied his own Qi, prepared to neutralize the toxin the exact moment Li Yu felt the pain. A second passed. Then two. Li Yu looked down at his hand. The violet liquid sat perfectly still against his skin. It wasn't hissing. It wasn't burning.

It felt like a drop of cool rain. Morven frowned while leaning closer. There should have been an effect already and he was worried that leaving it there for too long would harm Li Yu.

"Do you feel the poison setting in? The burning in your meridians?"

"I don't feel anything," Li Yu admitted honestly. To test it, they dropped the localized Qi shield around his arm and was exposing his bare skin completely to the toxin. The droplet of violet liquid simply absorbed into his pores. Inside his body, the Devouring Abyssal Leviathan Physique reacted instantly. It didn't fight the toxin; it simply ate it. The nature of his foundation treated the Sovereign level poison as just another form of raw, albeit chaotic energy.

It broke the toxicity down into base spiritual components and seamlessly integrated it into his Ocean of Qi. Morven's pale eyes widened to comical proportions as he realized what was going on. He took a step back and was staring at Li Yu's perfectly unblemished hand.

"By the tides..." Morven breathed. Shock broke through his imposing exterior.

"My Abyssal Toxicity just... vanished. You didn't even use a technique to purge it. Your body just neutralized it on its own." Li Yu looked at his hand and a realization settled over him. Throughout his travels, he had never been affected by miasma, venomous beasts or tainted spiritual herbs. He had always attributed it to physique and cultivation techniques. But surviving a direct exposure to a Demon Lord's toxic art confirmed a staggering truth. He was really immune to poison.

His physique didn't just resist it; it devoured it.

"It seems my constitution is uniquely suited to handling poisons," Li Yu said as he was processing this information. There had always been sighs throughout his adventure but this really proved it to himself.

"Uniquely suited?" Morven barked a laugh and was shaking his head in disbelief.

"Brother Li Yu, you could drink the venom from my most poisonous beast like it was fine wine! This is incredible! If you have no fear of the rot, then you can push the density of your water arts infinitely further than a normal cultivator! You can weave poison into all of your techniques without worrying about any backlash." For the rest of the afternoon, Morven guided Li Yu through the complex laws of water manipulation.

With the fear of internal backlash removed, Li Yu was able to experiment with using some of Morven's toxic techniques. He was absorbing Morven's insights to refine his Abyssal Javelin and his Sentry Art. He was deeply grateful to Morven. The Sovereign's guidance was pushing his combat potential to entirely new heights. While Li Yu was training, the disguised Lana and Tuwark had successfully navigated the bustling palace grounds to reunite with their father.

Since others knew that Li Yu was off training, it made sense that the three would stick together. They were currently standing in a beautiful courtyard lined with blooming Sun Lotus flowers when a familiar, bright voice called out.

"Li Yu! Lord Malos!" Asha practically skipped into the courtyard. The young princess of the Aegis of Flame was a completely different person from the dying girl Li Yu had met a month ago. She flushed with good health and boundless energy. She stopped upon noticing that Li Yu wasn't there but seeing two strangers standing next to Malos.

"Oh, apologies," Asha smiled politely but her gaze lingering on Lana and Tuwark.

"Princess Asha," Malos bowed cheerfully.

"Li Yu is currently occupied with Sovereign Morven. Allow me to introduce his friends, Lana and Tuwark. They are visiting from the outer rings." Asha's eyes lit up.

"Friends from the outside? It is wonderful to meet you. I am Asha."

"An honor, Princess," Tuwark rumbled politely while offering a respectful bow. He was taken back a bit by her beauty. His heart began to flutter without him realizing it. Lana offered a bow as well and perfectly played the role of a humble merchant.

"Please, no formalities," Asha insisted as she was waving her hands dismissively.

"The palace is entirely too stuffy right now with all the wedding preparations. Actually, since you are new to the capital, would you like a tour? Mother finally lifted my confinement orders. I have spent the last month exploring the city and I know all the best spots!" Malos smiled.

"We would be delighted, Princess. Lead the way." For the next few hours, Asha played the role of the enthusiastic tour guide. Having been trapped in a single room for her entire life, her perspective on the city was entirely unique. She didn't take them to the grand monuments or the imposing military foundries. She took them to the small, hidden corners of the capital she had discovered during her own adventures. A quiet terrace where the magma streams formed a beautiful and glowing waterfall.

To a small but bustling bakery tucked into an alleyway that sold sweet pastries. Eventually, Li Yu caught up with them, having finished his training with Morven. He found the group sitting around a large stone table in a secluded courtyard eatery and everyone was enjoying plates of spiced skewers and flatbread. Li Yu took a seat next to Malos and seamlessly blending into the group.

"And then what happened?" Asha asked while leaning forward over the table. Her eyes were wide with rapt attention. She was looking at Lana.

"Well," Lana smiled.

"The guild master tried to tell me that the beast cores were degraded because they had been harvested during the wet season. But I knew the structural integrity of a Gale Hawk core doesn't degrade from moisture, only from prolonged exposure to earth Qi. So, I called his bluff. I told him I would walk across the street and sell my entire inventory to his biggest rival."

"Did he yield?" Asha gasped.

"He folded instantly," Lana laughed.

"I walked out of there with a bit more profit and a written guarantee for next season's supply." Asha clapped her hands together in sheer delight.

"That is brilliant! You fought a battle without drawing a single sword!"

"Commerce is the sharpest blade in the realm, Princess," Malos chimed in proudly. Though both Lana and Tuwark were very careful to only refer to him as "Old Malos" to keep up their cover.

"And what about you, Tuwark?" Asha asked while turning to the disguised blacksmith.

"Li Yu told me stories of grand cities but what is it like to actually work the forge?" Tuwark's face lit up. He spoke with the earnest and passionate depth of a true artisan. He didn't speak of crafting weapons for war or slaughter. He spoke of the heat of the furnace, the rhythm of the hammer and the satisfaction of taking a raw, ugly piece of earth and shaping it into something beautiful and enduring. Asha listened to them with an unquenchable thirst. She was utterly captivated by their stories.

She heard tales of haggling, of long nights on the road, of the satisfaction of hard work and the simple beauty of the outside world. As the sun set, casting dramatic shadows across the dark ironstone courtyard, Li Yu signaled for the servers to clear the plates. Malos reached into his robes with a mischievous glint in his eye and produced a beautifully painted deck of thick, parchment cards.

"Enough talk of labor and commerce!" Malos declared while shuffling the deck with unnatural, blurring speed.

"It is time for a true test of skill and deception. Who among you is brave enough to face me in a game of Emperors and Thieves?"

"I warn you, Princess," Lana chuckled while accepting her hand of cards.

"Old Malos is notorious for hiding extra Emperors in his sleeves."

"I am a pillar of integrity!" Malos gasped in mock offense but continued dealing the cards around the table. Li Yu picked up his hand and was organizing his cards. He then took a sip of tea. He watched Asha, who was currently laughing hysterically as Tuwark completely fumbled the rules of the game on his first turn. He watched Lana gently correct her brother. Li Yu watched Malos, who was radiating monumental happiness surrounded by his children.

The air was filled with the sounds of shuffling cards, friendly arguments over the rules and the clinking of teacups. It was a picture of untroubled peace. And as Li Yu played his first card, he allowed himself to fully enjoy the warmth of the moment. He was completely unaware of the apocalyptic storm that was currently gathering just beyond the horizon.