Li Yu didn't have time to think for long. A wave of force slammed into his consciousness from another location.

‘The breakthrough to Soul Formation was not just affecting and changing things with my soul. My Koi as well?’ Li Yu thought to himself as he felt the all too familiar aura.

With his ascension to the Soul Formation realm his Koi martial spirit also seemed to be going through an evolution. The change drew his attention, pulling his consciousness away from his soul.

In the next instant his conscience was inside his Koi Sanctuary.

The first thing he noticed was the space. It was vast. It now seemed like a boundless realm stretching as far as he could see. The sky seemed higher and the energy density increased another notch. He probed outward and couldn’t reach the ends of this place. It looked a little empty now with how much it had grown.

He could see a few of the aquatic beasts cowering towards the ground and not daring to move. It was clear the changes here had worried them. Seeing how little beasts were actually around him right now Li Yu thought they either moved themselves or more likely they were moved by the Sanctuary itself when it expanded.

He momentarily had forgotten why he had come here as he was pondering about these changes. As if sensing that it had been forgotten, another wave of pressure rolled out and drew his attention back to why he came here. The main focus was the Koi.

His Koi martial spirit was undergoing a transformation. Its body was a deep crimson red, a color so vibrant it was almost blood-like. This color was not flat; countless shimmering gold specks glittered across every single scale. It was catching an inner light that seemed to glow from within the creature's core, casting a warm majestic luminescence.

Its form was now massive, covering the sky. The Koi now had bird-like wings. They were feathered in the same crimson and gold and unfurled from its back. They were beating slowly to keep itself afloat at the top of the Sanctuary.

Its body had elongated into a serpentine and leviathan-like form. It was vast and majestic looking. Its body now endlessly twisted, turned and coiled throughout the sky, seeming to disappear into the distant misty edges of the expanded realm.

It retained its distinct individual fish scales, each one a perfect crimson-and-gold gem. Along its incredibly long, coiling body, multiple leviathan-like fins were visible. At least six prominent ones, rippling with graceful power, each fin also a deep crimson edged in shimmering gold.

Its head, however, remained unmistakably that of a Koi fish. It still possessed those characteristic gentle features. The wide placid eyes but its mouth was now larger and seemed more powerful.

From its head, two golden dragon-like horns now curved back and two exceptionally long and elegant whiskers trailed from its snout. They coiled and intertwined with the contours of its magnificent transformed body.

“What are you now… a Dragon-Koi? A Winged Leviathan? Not a Pengkun… Maybe a mix of all of those together? Well, whatever the case, you sure look like a divine beast now.” Li Yu spoke to himself as he marveled at the sight.

As Li Yu's consciousness hovered for a while, awestruck by the sight. Then he felt something new. A series of subtle, mental connections like fine golden threads were now stretching out from his mind, from the newly evolved sanctuary. They led... far, far away. Back to his home continent.

“What is this?"

The voice echoed directly in his mind. It was sharp, clear and familiar. It was Kui!

Li Yu felt a jolt of shock upon hearing the voice. "Kui? Can you... hear me?" he thought, directing his intent along the thread.

"Wise Host!" Kui's cheerful voice returned, filled with surprise and delight. "Your presence! This voice.. inside my mind! Clear as if you were standing beside me! What is going on? What have you done?"

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"It would seem," Li Yu projected, his mind reeling from the implications, "that this is a new ability from my breakthrough. I can communicate and stay in touch with you now.".

"Amazing, wise host! You are always full of surprises!" Kui's mental voice was joyous. Then a new wave of surprise rolled through. "And... energy! Wise host, I feel it! The energy of the sanctuary... it's flowing through our bond somehow! My reserves were long gone from my own training, but I... I am being replenished! This is... this is incredible! Now we don't even need to come back to you every now and again to restock".

"Big Brother Kui is right!" another voice boomed—Fat Pig. "We can operate forever without needing to return to top up for cultivation!"

A rough female grunt followed. Xylia. "Good. Less wasted travel. We can focus on the hunt".

"Master," Fengliu's voice cut in. “The invasion has drastically changed our plans but it has presented a new opportunity as well. Things are in turmoil so it will be easier for me to set up a spy network on this continent."

"This energy..." Cyra's calm, ethereal voice followed, "It feels even stronger than before. I hope you are doing well, young master."

Shara's voice was hesitant and small. She had barely gotten to know Li Yu before he left for his adventures. She was now running the inn that he had promised her. "Good Luck, Young Master." Was what she could muster.

Li Yu smiled, feeling the chorus of his followers in his mind. "This is great," he projected to all of them, "but I am currently in the middle of my breakthrough. In a less-than-safe location. I need to focus here. I will chat with you all when I get a chance. Be careful in everything you do. There has been a lot of issues here and our own home could face similar things.”

A chorus of "Understood, Wise Host!" and "Be safe!" echoed in his mind and he gently muted the connections, the golden threads receding to a subtle background hum.

Then Li Yu thought of Lirael and Zephyr and tried to find their thread but couldn’t. He didn’t believe they would be dead, not with a powerhouse like Zephyr there. There must be some other issue. He wasn’t worried though, he believed there would be few things that Zephyr wouldn’t be able to handle. Perhaps they were in a special place.

He turned his consciousness back to the magnificent, crimson-and-gold Koi spirit in front of him. It swam through the air and coiled around him. Its massive ancient eyes regarding him with a familiar and kind expression. He reached out his spiritual hand and petted its massive scaled snout.

His koi martial spirit had evolved. It was beautiful, powerful and its new abilities were wonderful. Seeing that there were no other immediate changes, he pulled his consciousness back, leaving the sanctuary and returned to his Ocean of Qi.

He needed to face the great mystery.

He returned to the scene as he had left it but now his mind had a bit more time to relax and process everything going on.

There was now an island made of pure white-purple energy on top of his Ocean of Qi. Sitting on that island, cross-legged and serene, was his new Nascent Soul. The perfect miniature version of himself. It was still holding its star-dusted fishing pole and the ethereal line was dipped into the "water" below. It was ‘fishing’ but for what, Li Yu had no idea.

And swimming in that ocean, as it has always done, was the Leviathan Soul. However, it now looked different from what he had always known.

It had also transformed. It now looked like the new form of his evolved Koi martial spirit but much smaller. It was now very long, matching the koi spirit but it was still roughly the same size everywhere else. Like a miniature version of the new Koi form.

It swam in lazy, powerful coils around the island. It looked like a majestic divine beast guarding the fisherman. Or a divine beast that was circling its prey, ready to strike at any time.

Li Yu stared at the new form and finally the pieces finally clicked into place.

'Is this... is this the Nascent Soul... of my martial spirit? Can martial spirits have a soul? It matches perfectly… it must be…’

‘It had to be. The Koi was his martial spirit. The previous Leviathan Soul was its soul. But then why didn’t it look like it before. It was close in shape I suppose.’

'But... how?' his mind raced. 'How can my martial spirit have a Nascent Soul? And why... why did it come first? I've been using it as my soul this whole time! And... I can still control it. It still feels like... me. It's a part of me, just as much as the new one. Is it because my martial spirit is also a part of me?'

He didn't know. He had no answers and it didn’t seem like he would get any at the moment. He had stepped into the Soul Formation realm only to discover that his own foundation, his very being, was very odd indeed. One question was answered but several more questions took its place.

Li Yu had no choice but to ask the top leaders about this when he could. He needed to know if anyone, in all the long recorded histories of all their realms, had ever been known to have two Nascent Souls.