Chương 725: Chapter 724: A New Path

The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a blade. Li Yu looked at the expressions on the faces of the most powerful beings in the realm. He let out an exhausted sigh and offered a small reassuring smile.

"You can all relax now." Li Yu said, his voice sounding incredibly normal in the quiet valley.

"The Emperor is gone. The war is over." No one moved. Sovereign Zylith took a very small and hesitant step backward. Sovereign Rathor clutched his stump and looked at Li Yu as if the boy might suddenly snap his fingers and take another arm, like what Xerxis was afraid of. Only Sovereign Malos dared to step forward. Malos looked incredibly tired but his dark eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Li Yu." Malos was still his cheerful self.

"You just made a being that was going to take over this world drop to his knees in the dirt and beg for his life. He offered you the wealth of his empire and fled in terror. What exactly just happened?" Li Yu rubbed the back of his neck and was feeling a bit embarrassed by the overwhelming reverence he was getting from everyone else. He knew he had to explain the situation quickly before they started treating him like a tyrant.

"It was all a massive misunderstanding," Li Yu explained. He kept his tone light and conversational.

"I am not a hidden powerful being and I do not have a supreme clan backing me. That Emperor was completely terrified of a ghost." The Demon Lords exchanged highly skeptical glances.

"A misunderstanding?" Ignis asked while raising a single eyebrow. Her molten armor flared slightly.

"He gave you all that treasure and apologized for taking his own arm. How is that a misunderstanding?"

"Sometime ago in my home realm, I encountered that exact same being." Li Yu told them. he decided to stick to the truth as much as possible.

"I was in a frozen land and that Emperor tried to crush me with a massive projected hand. I barely managed to escape with my life by forcing my way through the layers of the void. I barely made it out of that encounter alive. I never saw that hand again." Li Yu gestured to the empty space where the rift used to be.

"When I woke up the hand was gone" Li Yu continued.

"I have absolutely no idea what happened after I lost consciousness. Maybe he encountered a terrifying local anomaly in the void. Maybe he angered a powerful hermit living in that frozen domain. Whatever happened, he clearly lost his arm during the process and he firmly believes that I am the one responsible for it." Li Yu smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"When he saw me standing here today, his own paranoia completely took over." Li Yu finished his explanation.

"It would seem he thought I was a touring noble that was actively playing weak to bait him into a trap. I simply leaned into his delusion. I acted arrogant and angry to force him to leave this realm alone. It was a gamble but it was a great opportunity to get him to retreat." The valley remained entirely quiet for a long moment as the leadership processed the story. They looked at Li Yu and then looked at each other. They did not buy the story for a single second. Sovereign Zylith narrowed her eyes.

She thought about the sheer impossibility of a young human casually surviving an attack from an emperor and then miraculously escaping through the deep layers of the void. She thought about the invisible force that casually ripped off a titan arm.

'He is lying to protect his identity,' Zylith thought to herself. She was entirely convinced of her own logic.

'He is a supreme noble undergoing a trial. He cannot reveal his true heritage to us or his trial will be ruined. That local anomaly he mentioned was obviously his Dao protector stepping in to save him.' Sovereign Rathor reached the exact same conclusion. The paranoid Blood Demon Lord immediately dropped to one knee and was bowing his head deeply toward Li Yu.

"We are eternally grateful for your profound kindness, young master," Rathor declared. His voice was filled with extreme respect.

"Whatever the true circumstances may be, you saved our lives and our realm today. We will not pry any further into your private affairs." Zylith immediately followed suit, bowing deeply to the human she had once despised. Aquila the Falcon King and Seraphis the Snake King also bowed their heads in reverence. They were certain that Li Yu possessed terrifying backing. They resolved right then and there to treat him with the utmost respect and to never question his origins. Morven, Ignis and Malos smiled.

The three of them knew Li Yu a bit better than the others. They were happy to accept the result, regardless of the actual truth behind the missing arm.

"The armies need to withdraw." Morven announced and broke the lingering tension. He leaned heavily on his trident with his chest heaving with exhaustion.

"We need to go back and lick our wounds. This war has cost us dearly." The command was given. The massive Demonic Alliance slowly began to pull back from the scorched earth. The Beast Kings led their hordes back toward the wild forests while the Demon Lords directed their battered fleets toward their respective territories. The ruined human domain was left behind as a massive silent memorial to the billions of lives lost to betrayal. The Demon Lords didn't want this land.

It wasn't valuable and was why the humans had it to begin with. They would let warlords and other fractions carve it up over the coming months and years. Li Yu walked over to Garrick. The Great Sage was holding the unconscious body of Sovereign Thorne over his broad shoulder. Garrick knew more than anyone here so he already knew that Xerxis was actually quite right. Even admiring the man's wisdom even if Li Yu didn't know any better..

"Let us go back to the Capital." Li Yu instructed softly.

"The Sovereign needs a proper bed to recover." Garrick nodded and launched himself into the sky. He was carrying the old man gently and flying smoothly. A full week passed since the closure of the dimensional rift. The Eternal Crucible slowly returned to a state of chaotic normalcy. The magma rivers flowed brightly and the bustling markets reopened as the demonic citizens celebrated their survival.

The upper palace was a flurry of activity as Sovereign Ignis and Sovereign Morven coordinated and distributed resources to the wounded armies. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Li Yu spent the week residing in the luxurious guest estate. He took the time to carefully organize his newly acquired wealth. He opened the silver storage ring first.

It was packed to the brim with aged herbs, exotic glowing ores and massive crystal vials filled with different types of Qi but extremely pure and concentrated. He then opened the dark metal ring that Xerxis had surrendered at the very end. The contents were absolutely staggering. It contained the supreme natural treasures from the core of the Hive Empire, including massive blocks of indestructible dark chitin and pools of a golden royal jelly that radiated immense life force.

Li Yu filed some of the items that looked useful in his mind and deposited the items in his Koi Sanctuary to be used at later dates. He also spent his time checking on Sovereign Thorne from time to time. They had placed the old man in a quiet comfortable room within the guest estate. The finest demonic physicians had tended to his physical wounds. His shattered ribs were mended and the corrosive acid burns on his arm were treated with soothing spiritual salves.

On the morning of the eighth day Thorne finally woke up. Li Yu was sitting in a wooden chair near the window and was reading a scroll when he heard the old man stir. He set the scroll down and walked over to the bed, pouring a warm cup of herbal tea from a ceramic pot. Thorne slowly opened his eyes. The manic energy that had consumed him during the battle was gone. His eyes were clear but they still carried a deep and heavy sorrow that seemed to weigh down his very soul.

He looked around the luxurious room and was taking in the warm magma light filtering through the window.

"You are in the Eternal Crucible." Li Yu said softly as he was handing the warm cup to the old man.

"The war is over. You are safe." Thorne sat up slowly and winced slightly as his newly healed muscles stretched. It was a strange scene for Li Yu because this was the same man he saw take blow after blow without flinching. Thorne took the cup of tea with trembling hands and took a long slow sip.

"I remember," Thorne whispered but his voice was rough and dry.

"I remember the battle. I remember everything. I remember killing Lucien." Thorne looked down at his scarred hands and a single tear escaped his eye.

"He was once my greatest pride," Thorne confessed to the room as his voice was breaking.

"I raised him from a child. I taught him everything I knew. I wanted him to lead our people into a bright safe future. And he destroyed it all. He destroyed everything." Li Yu sat back down in his chair and listened quietly. He was allowing the old man to share his thoughts and empty his chest. There were no words that could possibly comfort the loss of an entire domain and billions of people. After a few minutes of heavy silence Thorne looked up at Li Yu.

"I also remember the Emperor," Thorne said as he was wiping his eyes.

"I remember him dropping to his knees and offering you treasures. I remember you shouting at him about a girl. What exactly happened, Li Yu? Why did the Hive Empire retreat?" Li Yu smiled gently and explained the entire situation to the old Sovereign. He told Thorne about the massive misunderstanding. He explained how the Emperor was terrified and believed Li Yu was a supreme touring noble.

"I was completely powerless against him," Li Yu admitted honestly.

"If he had decided to attack we would all be dead right now. I just had to lie and push the bluff as far as I possibly could to get him to close that rift." Li Yu let out a small chuckle.

"I had to act incredibly angry to force him away so I made up the story about wanting to take a local girl back as a maid. It was the first petty excuse I could think of. It terrified him so much he gave me a second storage ring just to apologize." Thorne stared at Li Yu in amazement. He processed the absurdity of the story. The entire realm was saved from an apocalyptic invasion not by supreme martial power but by the quick thinking of a young man and by the confusion of circumstances that Xerxis went through.

A tired smile broke across Thorne's weathered face. He let out a weak raspy laugh that slowly turned into a deep genuine chuckle before quickly fading once again. The room grew quiet once more. The heavy burden of the past week settled over them. Li Yu looked at the old man and asked the question that had been on his mind.

"What will you do now, Sovereign Thorne?" Li Yu asked gently.

"Your wounds are healing but the human domain is gone. Will you stay here? Ignis and Morven would gladly offer you a permanent sanctuary. I am sure they would let you live out your days peacefully and not be found wanting." Thorne looked out the window and was staring at the glowing magma rivers in the distance. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I have no idea what I will do now," Thorne answered honestly. He set the empty teacup down on the wooden nightstand. He looked at his hands and thought about his incredibly long and violent life.

"I have been pursuing and building my dream for thousands of years." Thorne reflected. His voice was filled with a quiet peaceful resignation.

"I fought tooth and nail for every single inch of dirt. I bled for my people. I fought for others my entire life. Constantly carrying the weight of humanity on my shoulders. I was always one of the Pillars of Humanity." He looked back at Li Yu and his eyes were clear.

"But that burden is entirely gone now." Thorne said softly.

"The domain is ashes and my people have returned to the void. There is nothing left for me to protect and no one left for me to lead. I am incredibly tired, Li Yu. But also incredibly free now." Thorne swung his legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up. He walked over to the window and bathed in the warm red light.

"I think I will most likely go live out the rest of my days completely alone." Thorne decided with a small smile touching his lips.

"I will travel. I will see the mountains and the oceans without worrying about border disputes or demonic invasions. I will take the time now to simply do whatever my heart fancies. For the first time in my life, I will just be an old man." Li Yu felt a sense of respect for the broken Sovereign. Li Yu stood up and offered a warm smile.

"I think that sounds like a wonderful plan, Thorne. I wish you the absolute best of luck on your travels. May you find the peace you truly deserve." Thorne turned away from the window and reached into his torn robes. He pulled out three glowing jade tokens. The tokens pulsed with a deep mixture of dense dark shadows and sharp metal. He walked over and pressed the jade tokens firmly into Li Yu's hand.

"These are the foundational techniques of my life," Thorne explained. His voice was now filled with pride.

"They contain my understanding of Shadow and Metal laws. They are the techniques I have perfected to the very best of my abilities over thousands of years of constant warfare." Thorne patted Li Yu on the shoulder.

"I no longer have disciples left to pass my legacy onto." Thorne said softly but there was a heaviness to his voice that was indescribable..

"I hope you can use them, Li Yu. Make them shine in your own way. Even if it is just incorporating the core concepts into your own style and techniques. Do not let my life's work fade into the ash." Li Yu gripped the jade tokens tightly and was feeling the immense weight of the old man's legacy. He stepped back and offered a deep and respectful bow to the man. Li Yu was bent at the waist to honor the retired Sovereign.

"I will study them well," Li Yu promised sincerely.

"Thank you." Thorne smiled one last time. He did not say goodbye. The old man simply took a step backward and melted seamlessly into the dark shadow cast by the wooden chair. There was no spatial distortion and no sound. Sovereign Thorne simply slipped away into the darkness, leaving the burdens of the world completely behind him. Li Yu stood alone in the quiet room and was looking at the empty shadows. The war was over and the realm could finally breathe.

Li Yu tucked the jade tokens safely into his robes and was ready to continue his own endless journey.