Li Yu was recovering at a good pace, his strong body working wonders to heal himself. After Zephyr fed him some additional sea herbs—rare, potent plants that grew only in the deepest, most spiritually rich trenches of the ocean—the healing effects of the first pill were amplified.

A warm, potent energy spread through him, mending his shattered meridians and soothing his battered soul. His body was healing very quickly, but the damage was also immense, so it would still take time. After a while later, Li Yu could finally move around a bit, pushing himself into a sitting position on the surface of the water. Li Yu also now took out pills of his own to take, trying to speed up the process.

With his mind clear and his voice returned, a conversation began. “Senior Zephyr,” Li Yu started, his voice still hoarse, “the creatures attacking the coast… we believe they’re being manipulated by an organization called the Beast Revolution Faction. They seek to overthrow human rule on the continents while waiting for their Beast God.”

Zephyr nodded in understanding. “The Beast Faction? Ah, yes. I have heard that name before. A long time ago, I had dealings with some of your world’s powerful figures. Through them, I gained a rough understanding of the lands. They spoke of such groups, and of the lands they inhabit. I have visited the Southern Jade Continent and the Savage Heartlands… my search took me everywhere for a time.”

Li Yu’s interest was piqued about the two continents he’s never seen, but he knew now was not the time to ask for stories. He looked at Lireal, then at her powerful great-grandfather. A thought that had been weighing on him since learning that they were family now came to the surface. “Senior Zephyr,” he began respectfully.

“Please, young man. Just Zephyr. Given the circumstances, I believe we can dispense with the formalities,” the old man said with a smile.

“Alright… Zephyr,” Li Yu continued. “About Lireal. She has a beast contract with me. Now that you’re here to protect her, it’s only right that I release her from it. I would not want your great-granddaughter bound to a human against her family’s wishes.”

Zephyr considered the offer, his gaze softening as he looked at Lireal. “That is… a surprisingly honorable offer, young man. My priority now is her happiness. If she wishes to be free to travel with me, then I would be grateful.”

Just as Li Yu was preparing to begin the process of undoing the seal, Lireal, instead of agreeing, spoke up. “Wait. Great-grandfather, I do not wish for the seal to be broken.”

“Oh?” Zephyr looked at her, a hint of confusion in his eyes. “Do you not wish to see the great kingdoms of the sea? To see what is left of our people?”

“I do,” she said, her voice firm. “But I also wish for you to understand my life here. And for that, I ask you to do something for me. I want you to enter into a contract with Li Yu.”

The request left both of them speechless. Zephyr was the first to recover, his gentle demeanor vanishing as he put on a show of mock outrage. “What?!” he exclaimed, his voice booming. “You want me, your long-lost great-grandfather, a Grand General of the Naga, to bind myself to this… this human who I just beat half to death? Are you just going to sell me off to your current master? I am your great-grandfather, you know!” he said, making a fuss.

Li Yu, equally bewildered, quickly added, “I… don’t think that’s a good idea. Senior… Zephyr is your great grandfather, it would be right…”

Lireal smiled patiently at them both. “There are things I must show you, great-grandfather. Secrets that have to be protected. The place I have been living. The seal is the only way to ensure they are protected. It is for the best. Please.”

The old man sighed dramatically, but his eyes twinkled with curiosity. “Fine,” he said, giving in with surprising speed. “We can do a mutual beast contract, where one can’t betray the other. And I suppose I would also have to listen to you if you asked,” he added with a grin, though for some reason he didn’t seem worried about being controlled at all.

They made the seal. Li Yu, who was barely well enough to perform the ritual, focused his will. Zephyr, a wide, confident grin on his face, did the same. As their soul imprints reached out to each other, Zephyr’s grin widened. He was confident that he was so much stronger than Li Yu that the seal wouldn’t be able to bind him correctly.

It would be there in spirit only, a formality with no real effect on him. That’s why what happened next flabbergasted him so much. When his soul imprint went into Li Yu’s soul, it was instantly devoured by his leviathan nascent soul. The grin was wiped clean off the man’s face. At the same time, Li Yu’s soul imprint went into his soul without any issues.

The old general was dumbfounded. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. The soul imprint he had sent into Li Yu’s soul was supposed to stay separate, a sovereign entity unaffected by Li Yu’s will. But Li Yu’s leviathan soul had consumed it, forcibly integrating it into his very being instead of destroying it like it had done with the Gate Keepers’ seal. The mutual contract had become a one-way street.

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“Nascent soul? Leviathan shaped?! What’s going on here?!” the man was utterly bewildered. His face went through a dozen emotions in a second: shock, disbelief, confusion, and finally, a sense of betrayal. He pointed a trembling finger at his great-granddaughter. “I’ve been cheated!! Sold off by my own great-granddaughter!” he roared like a child, but there was no real anger or worry in his voice, only shock.

Lireal didn’t know what happened, only that the seal was done and her great-grandfather was complaining. Li Yu wasn’t entirely sure what happened either; he didn’t know that the old man was going to cheat him, only for the man to be cheated himself by his own uncontrollable nascent soul. With the seal now in place, Lireal finally revealed her secret about the Koi Sanctuary.

Curious by what he was told, they both went inside the sanctuary, leaving Li Yu to float there still, continuing to heal himself. Inside the sanctuary, the two nagas were looking around. Zephyr was impressed. “Such a place exists? It is a great place to cultivate, it even has the effect of slightly purifying the bloodline.”

He did add, however, that while it was great, there were a few places he could take her that would accelerate her cultivation even faster such as one-time use natural treasures that had to be used in their specific locations or other hidden places that had to be visited to use.

Lireal said they should wait until Li Yu had healed a bit, and the two of them could leave after that to go see more of her world and get stronger. She wanted to see what her family home was like and what the open seas were.

Zephyr agreed. He didn’t care what he was doing now; he just wanted to spend time with her. They will look for their family together now, if they were out there. It was then that Zephyr noticed Khaos’s presence, his senses immediately locking onto the crab’s deep, ancient power. Khaos, in turn, noticed the man, and the two powerful beings stared at each other across the sanctuary.

Zephyr finally broke the silence. “What is a crab like yourself doing here?” Khaos responded with regal arrogance, “This king can do whatever he wants. He answers to no one, especially not an old naga like yourself.” Their auras began to flare, but just as it seemed they were about to fight, both backed off, a silent, mutual respect passing between them.

After a few hours, the two came out. Li Yu was still floating there, now able to move well enough but choosing to just rest and stare at the sky. Lireal approached him gently. "Master, we're going to leave now. Great-grandfather is going to show me the seas."

Zephyr, now looking at Li Yu with a complex expression of respect, annoyance, and curiosity, spoke up. "Yes. Young man, you've recovered a bit. You should come too, if you could. It would be a good experience for you."

Li Yu let out a sigh, the movement sending a dull ache through his mending ribs. "I appreciate the offer, Zephyr, but I can't at this time," he said. "I have responsibilities here. This beast wave won't solve itself, and my friends are still fighting."

He looked at the old naga, his curiosity getting the better of him. "But tell me... what is the deep sea truly like? I've always imagined it teeming with life with creatures everywhere."

Zephyr let out a short, barking laugh. "Teeming with life? Far from it. That's a land-dweller's fantasy. There are pockets full of life, yes. Sanctuaries where spiritual energy gathers, creating vibrant ecosystems. But those places are rare, and the beings that inhabit them are ancient and fiercely territorial."

He gestured to the vast, dark water around them. "Most of the deep sea is... nothing. A barren, empty, and crushingly dangerous void. And that's just the emptiness. The real danger is the chaos. Void rifts that can appear from nowhere and tear you apart, chaotic storms of pure energy that can scour the soul. A cultivator who isn't prepared would be ripped to shreds out there if they aren't careful."

Li Yu was quiet for a moment, processing this. He had formulated a plan in his mind to go out to the sea to get stronger long ago. He was waiting for himself to be stronger to do so for safety reasons. However, it looks like his plan wouldn’t have been as easy as he thought, it would be difficult to find those pockets of life. Who knows how long he’d have to travel and what if they were stronger than him, like this freak of an old man. He would still go out to explore eventually, perhaps once he was stronger.

Then he looked at Zephyr, a serious expression on his face. “There’s one more thing. A question that’s been bugging me this whole time. Just… how strong are you?”

Zephyr looked thoughtful. “That’s a difficult question, young man. It’s tough to gauge someone’s strength, especially as you get further along. It stops being a simple matter of who has more spiritual energy. Beyond a certain point, it’s not just your cultivation. Your soul becomes increasingly important, as does your understanding of the laws and Daos.”

He paused, then decided to give a more direct answer. “But I understand your question. If you take away everything else and only look at cultivation, I would be at what your human cultivators call the Divine Transformation realm. It is the stage after Soul Formation, where the soul and body truly fuse together, creating a divine vessel for the higher forms of qi. Most importantly one starts to be able to get real insights into the natural laws. If I had to guess my own level, I would say I am roughly at the 7th stage of it.”

Li Yu was stunned by the reveal. A whole realm beyond Soul Formation. Zephyr then added, “But, as I said, cultivation isn't everything. Someone at the 1st stage of Divine Transformation could totally outclass someone at the peak of Divine Transformation if their insights into the laws are high enough. Though that is rare, because as you advance further, insights into the laws become easier to comprehend.”

After that staggering revelation, Li Yu felt he was holding them back long enough. "Well, before you go," he said, "we should undo the seals. You two shouldn't be bound to me while you travel."

The old man shook his head firmly. "No. Keep it." Li Yu looked at him, confused. The old man smiled at him and said “It will give you peace of mind that your secrets are safe while we travel, from what she has told me of you, whether you have the seal or not will not make any difference.”

With that, Zephyr took Lireal away with him, both of them transforming into their beast forms as they sank into the deep and vanished. Li Yu, finally alone but still battered, summoned Tempest to take him back to the city to finish healing.