On the third day, he found the Town Elder. It was an old woman whose hands were like gnarled oak roots from decades of climbing. She sat on a rocking chair strapped to the edge of the cliff and was watching the sunset.

  "Elder," Li Yu asked while approaching her respectfully. "The cheese is excellent and your town is wonderful. But I looked at the map and I saw an internal water caverns inside some of the spires. Is there access?"

  The Elder looked at him with sharp but milky eyes. "The Sunless Cisterns? Yes. They are at the very bottom of the roots. We use them for emergency water but we rarely go down. It is too cold. And the creatures there... they can be strange."

  "Strange how?" Li Yu asked.

  "They glow," she said softly. "And they eat rock. They are chewing through the mountain itself."

  Li Yu’s interest was piqued. "I would like to see them if possible. I am a collector of rare species."

  She studied him for a moment. "You saved young Ai Long on the wire. We owe you a debt. You are welcome to go. But take a torch. The dark down there is hungry."

  Li Yu began the long descent. It involved a few hours of rappelling down into the dark crevices between the mountains. He could have sped it up with his abilities but chose to do it like how the locals would. The sunlight faded and was replaced by the blue glow of phosphorescent moss that clung to the damp walls.

  At the bottom, deep inside a cavern that connected the roots of three spires, lay a lake.

  It was pitch black and didn’t even look like water but Li Yu could sense the life within. There must have been some kind of black substance that was leeching into the water here but it didn’t seem harmful.

  Swimming near the rocky banks were fish that looked like chunks of animated slate. They had thick stony scales and jaws that snapped with the sound of grinding gravel.

  "Rock-Maw Bass… or at least something that looks similar to them," Li Yu identified out loud and his voice echoed in the cavern. "And there... look at that."

  Further out, schools of tiny translucent creatures darted around. They emitted a soft bio-luminescent pulse. As they swam, they didn't turn when they hit a rock pillar; they simply phased through it.

  "Ghost-Glass Tetras," Li Yu breathed. "Rare fish that can phase through solid matter for a short amount of time to escape predators. Incredible."

  Li Yu sat by the water. He extended his aura.

  'Come,' he projected his will into the deep.

  He opened the portal to his Koi Sanctuary. The fish sensed the rich and thick Qi from within. It was almost irresistible to them. They swam toward him in droves.

  He collected about fifty Rock-Maw Bass. He collected roughly two hundred Ghost-Glass Tetras all of different colors and sizes. He even found a solitary Deep-Lung Salamander hiding in the mud, a creature that breathed water but could exhale freezing mist.

  As the last fish entered his sanctuary, Li Yu felt it. A vibration. Not from Tekton but from his Koi Soul and Koi Sanctuary.

  'It’s finally doing something. Something within my soul or within me kept telling me to collect unique aquatic species. It’s been a long time and I’ve collected so many. Finally! Something is reacting within.' Li Yu thought.

  He sat down on the cold stone floor of the cavern.

  'Guard me, Tekton.' He said to Tekton.

  'Affirmative.' The centipede uncoiled from his wrist and expanded instantly into a large form. He circled Li Yu, his metallic legs digging into the rock while his mandibles were clicking, a warning to the darkness.

  Li Yu closed his eyes and dove into his Koi Sanctuary. Today, it was a tempest.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  The thousands of aquatic species he had collected from the humble carps of the Green Mountain Sect to powerful aquatic creatures that he had collected till now were all gathering towards a location. Even Khaos appeared on an island and was watching what was happening.

  The Myriad Rivers Returning to the Sea Art began to circulate on its own, faster than ever before.

  From the depths of the spiritual ocean, the essence of all these different lifeforms began to merge. They themselves did not merge together but their strains of something was coming out from each creature and merging together. The toughness of the rock-fish, the intangible nature of the glass-fish, the speed of the gliders, the regenerative power of the clams... it all coalesced.

  A massive shadow formed beneath the surface. Then it breached.

  ROAR.

  A colossal Whale erupted from the ocean of Qi.

  It was magnificent. Its body was composed of starlight and deep-sea currents.

  The Whale let out a song. It was a low resonant thrum that vibrated through Li Yu’s entire being. It wasn't a sound of destruction; it was a sound of Life.

  The Whale swam through the sky of his Koi Sanctuary and then headed straight for the core of his cultivation foundation—the Ocean of Qi itself.

  SPLASH.

  The Whale didn't crash; it merged. It dissolved into the ocean but in doing so, it changed the fundamental nature of the water.

  The Qi Ocean expanded as if an explosion had gone off. It was growing wider and even deeper. The liquid energy transformed. The opalescent color grew darker, deeper and even more dense. Every drop now contained the potential for adaptation.

  Li Yu felt his connection to various elemental laws deepen instantly. Then the whale itself separated from the Ocean of Qi and reformed just at the surface. The Koi Soul did not come to greet it but the Fisherman Soul reacted.

  It shifted instantly to the top of the whale and was petting it gently. Li Yu could see the Fisherman Soul’s face, it was gentle and caring. As if he was greeting an old friend he hadn’t seen in years. There seemed to be a deep bond between them.

  Then Li Yu felt it within his body. He formed a connection to the whale himself and to his shock and surprise it was the same feeling he got with his Koi Soul and Fisherman Soul.

  ‘A third soul? A whale? What is going on… This doesn’t make any sense at all…’ Li Yu thought in a daze. He then shifted himself and appeared next to the Fisherman Soul. It turned to look at him and gave him the widest smile he had ever seen from it. It then patted Li Yu’s spectral form on the shoulder.

  The Fisherman then teleported back to his island and the whale reacted. The whale dove down into his Ocean of Qi and Li Yu couldn’t sense where it went. He couldn't tell where it was or what it was doing. However, his connection to it remained. Li Yu knew it existed and that was pretty much it.

  “Can anyone tell me what is going on? Anyone?” Li Yu called out to the Fisherman and Koi Souls but they didn’t answer him. He checked to see if he had a third mind but he didn’t. Much to his disappointment. He was at least hoping for some additional benefits to this mystery. Li Yu, however, recovered quickly this time since there seemed to be something strange with his souls. He wouldn't get his answers here.

  Li Yu opened his eyes in the dark cavern.

  The air around him hummed. He looked at his hand and he felt stronger. His foundation had gotten even deeper. After checking his body Li Yu realized that his physique had finally broken through.

  He was now at rank 10 of his Abyssal Leviathan Physique. The Myriad Leviathan body. It was a body that adapted and was forever evolving. If he was injured heavily with an ice attack, his body would further develop to resist ice next time. If he was in a cold environment, his body would slowly adapt to it and he would no longer feel that cold.

  'Adaptability,' Li Yu whispered as information was flooding his mind of what the Myriad Leviathan body could do.

  ‘Looks like it is following along the lines of his Koi Qi, where he was getting attributes from the various Qi of different creatures in his Koi Sanctuary. But doesn’t this mean that I have to suffer for vast improvements? That sounds terrible… I guess it’s better than nothing though, if it improves, great, if not then that’s fine too…’ He thought further but could only shake his head.

  ‘Let it be a passive and natural thing that happens then. Not something I pursue myself.’ He concluded.

  Tekton lowered his massive head and was looking at Li Yu after he opened his eyes. 'Li Yu? You feel... heavier. Denser. Did you eat something while you were meditating?'

  'I ate the concept of diversity,' Li Yu stood up and took out Star-Crusher. The heavy black staff felt lighter in his hands. Lighter than ever before. It felt just like a bamboo staff that he carries around as a mortal.

  'That sounds indigestible,' Tekton commented, not fully understanding what Li Yu meant. He began shrinking back down to bracelet size.

  'It means we are done here,' Li Yu smiled. 'The Sanctuary has reached a new stage. This is a wonderful day. I think it is time we head back toward the lowlands.'

  He looked back at the dark lake one last time, bowing respectfully to the water that had provided a piece of his puzzle. Something within him was still telling him to collect more, this was not the end.

  'Let's go, Tekton. The world is big and I think I just got a little bigger.'

  Li Yu began the long climb back up the ropes, his step light, ready for whatever the vast continent had to throw at him next. He adjusted his pack, making sure the block of stinky cheese was secure. The "Quiet Physician" had work to do and sights to see.