Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 1009: The Broken Gate

The sky over the southern expanse burned with a sickly orange hue. The spatial seals surrounding the Sunfire Sovereign legacy were finally thinning and the heat radiating from the rift melted the sand into glass. The experts monitoring the distortion announced that the true entrance would fully open in exactly two days.The rocky plateau overlooking the dunes transformed into a sprawling encampment. Forces from across the cosmos continued to arrive by the hour to stake their claim. Grand floating fortresses belonging to the Blazing Edge Empire cast long shadows over the tents of minor sects and wandering cultivators. The air was thick with the smell of metal and the tension of imminent conflict.

Zhan Tian stood near the edge of the plateau with his heavy glaive resting casually over his broad shoulder. He watched the new arrivals descend from the sky and analyzed their heraldry. Li Yu stood beside him and observed the diverse sea of cultivators preparing for the trial.

"The gathering is larger than I expected," Li Yu noted while watching a group of sword cultivators carve a perimeter out of the sandstone.

"A legacy like this attracts everyone," Zhan Tian replied with a low rumble. "Even those who do not practice fire arts want the wealth hidden inside. Look to the east."

Li Yu turned his gaze and saw a massive floating fortress arrive. The vessel was painted a deep crimson and bristled with heavy array cannons. Several jagged green spirit ships trailed closely behind it.

"The Fiend Sovereign Armada and the Nebula Scythe Vanguard," Zhan Tian sneered while his grip on the glaive tightened. "And it appears the Star Eater Brood has sent a swarm of their younglings as well."

Li Yu remembered their forces from the blockade that tried to stop him from saving his father. Those were the exact factions responsible for trapping Li Canghai and orchestrating the brutal ambush that led to him almost dying in the Temporal Dao Stone as well.

Zhan Tian stepped forward and his oppressive aura flared to life. The heavy pressure flattened the nearby tents and forced the surrounding cultivators to drop to one knee just to endure it. He did not care about the politics of the gathering. He remembered the suffering his son in law and daughter had endured. The loneliness and suffering his grandson endured because of those specific organizations.

"I am going to make an announcement," Zhan Tian stated with a voice that echoed like rolling thunder across the entire plateau.

The chatter of tens of thousands of cultivators died instantly. Every eye turned toward the Worldkeeper as his aura was impossible to miss right now.

"The Fiend Sovereign Armada and the Star Eater Brood will not be entering this trial ground," Zhan Tian declared while pointing his glaive toward their newly established encampment. "If a single person from either of those forces takes one step toward the entrance, I will kill them. I do not care if you are an elder or a junior disciple. You will all be turned to ash."

A heavy and terrified silence fell over the dunes. The audacity of a single man declaring an absolute ban on two major forces was staggering.

A tall commander wearing crimson armor stepped out from the Fiend Sovereign ranks. He glared at the Worldkeeper and drew his weapon. "You have no right to ban us Zhan Tian! This is a public legacy left by someone not from your forces. You are bullying the younger generation with your overwhelming cultivation base!"

"Yes, I am," Zhan Tian laughed loudly. His deep voice shook the loose rocks from the plateau. "I am absolutely bullying you. What exactly is wrong with that? Your factions tried to trap my family in a temporal tomb. Did you truly think I would just let you harvest resources in front of me?"

The crimson commander ground his teeth together. "We are not alone here! Our allies are present. The enemies of the Zhan Clan are present. If you attack us without provocation, you will spark a massive war right outside the gates! They will not let you dictate the rules of the Myriad Realms."

Zhan Tian chuckled and looked out across the vast sea of assembled forces. He spotted the pristine white ships of the Holy Virtue Alliance hovering near the edge of the canyon. He saw the cold stare from other forces and saw the ambitious eyes of the minor sects.

"Look around you," Zhan Tian challenged the commander. "Do you really think any of these factions will fall out with me over your miserable lives? They want the legacy for themselves. If I slaughter you, it just means less competition for them. No one here is going to raise a blade against me to defend the Fiend Sovereign Armada."

The commander looked around the plateau and realized the truth of the statement. The Holy Virtue Alliance remained completely silent inside their golden ships. The other apex factions looked away and pretended not to hear the exchange. No one wanted to fight a Worldkeeper over a grudge that did not involve them.

"You are a madman," the commander spat as he flared his own Qi. He was a proud warrior and his pride would not let him retreat without testing the waters. He surged forward and launched a devastating spear thrust toward Zhan Tian to probe his defenses.

The Worldkeeper swung his glaive in a lazy horizontal arc. The silver blade cleaved through the commander's spear, his premium defensive armor and his torso in a single fluid motion. The upper half of the commander's body slid off the lower half and hit the glass sand with a sickening thud. The sheer force of the swing continued forward and carved a massive trench through the Fiend Sovereign encampment.

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Zhan Tian stepped over the bleeding corpse and casually bent down to pluck the storage ring from the severed hand. He tossed the ring through the air toward Li Yu.

"Here boy," Zhan Tian smiled warmly. "A little pocket change for your travel expenses."

Li Yu caught the ring and checked the contents. It was filled with high grade spirit stones and rare healing pills. He beamed with genuine worship at his grandfather and secured the ring inside his Koi Sanctuary. It was that look of worship that was exactly the reaction Zhan Tian wanted to see. The other cultivators watched the exchange with deep jealousy but they kept their mouths firmly shut.

The remaining members of the Fiend Sovereign Armada and the Star Eater Brood realized the situation was hopeless. They packed their belongings in a chaotic rush and fled the plateau before the Worldkeeper decided to swing his glaive a second time.

The two days leading up to the opening passed in a blur of anticipation. More forces continued to pour into the region. Li Yu estimated there were tens of thousands of people gathered on the glowing sands.

He spotted a familiar banner approaching from the north on the final morning. Li Mei led a pristine delegation of Li Clan disciples down the rocky slope. She walked with her usual grace while her siblings flanked her sides. She ignored Li Yu completely and set up her command tent near the front of the gathering crowd.

The ground suddenly trembled violently and the sickly orange hue in the sky condensed into a swirling vortex of flame. The spatial seals shattered with a sound like breaking glass and revealed a massive set of obsidian gates burning with eternal fire.

The Sunfire Sovereign legacy was finally open.

A cheer erupted from the assembled cultivators. Several minor sects and impatient loose cultivators surged forward to claim the first entry. They rushed toward the burning gates with greed shining in their eyes. However, a violent and repelling force erupted from the obsidian pillars the moment they crossed the threshold. The eager cultivators were violently thrown backward through the air and crashed into the sand with shattered bones and scorched flesh.

A booming voice echoed from the depths of the open rift. "This realm is a crucible for the young and the fated. Those who have stepped beyond the Supreme Exalt level are barred from entry. The weight of your souls and power will shatter the delicate balance of my trial grounds."

The sudden revelation caused a ripple of panic among the top factions. It wasn’t too surprising as this was a relatively common rule but there was still disappointment. The senior elders and the grand commanders realized they could not enter the realm to protect their disciples or claim the main inheritance themselves. They had to rely entirely on the younger generation to secure the wealth.

Zhan Tian stood near the front of the crowd and frowned deeply at the burning gates. He turned to look at Li Yu and then back at the restricted entrance.

"I do not think so," Zhan Tian grumbled loudly.

He stepped forward and gripped his glaive with both hands. The Worldkeeper channeled a terrifying amount of physical power into his arms as the air around him distorted and warped the very fabric of reality.

"Grandfather, what are you doing?" Li Yu asked in shock.

"I want to be able to go inside." Zhan Tian declared as he swung his weapon with shattering force.

The glaive struck the invisible barrier restricting the entrance and the impact created a shockwave that flattened the front lines of the gathered crowd and kicked up a massive sandstorm. The ancient laws governing the restriction groaned under the immense pressure before shattering like brittle glass. Zhan Tian forcefully carved a massive hole through the protective seal through physical brutality.

The moment the barrier broke, a blinding light erupted from the obsidian gates. The light condensed into the towering projection of an ancient man wearing robes woven from pure fire. It was the residual will of the legacy creator.

"Who dares break the laws of my domain?" The projection demanded with a voice that radiated supreme authority. He looked down and locked eyes with the Worldkeeper. "You are far beyond the permitted level! Your presence will destabilize the entire realm and allow the powerful to ransack the treasures meant for the deserving youth!"

Zhan Tian leaned on his glaive and offered a dismissive shrug. "That is your misfortune, old ghost. But I want to enter this realm with my grandson and have some fun in there. I have never been able to go through a legacy trail with my grandson before and I plan to enjoy the scenery with him."

The projection of the ancient creator stared at the towering brute in flabbergasted silence. He had spent his final days carefully designing a crucible to test the mettle of the cosmos and pass on his ultimate inheritance. Now this terrifying muscle bound monster was treating his life work like a casual picnic park for his grandson.

"You are treating my legacy as a plaything!" The creator scolded with visible outrage. "If I allow you inside, the young will have nothing left to fight for."

“Now let us through before I decide to break the gates as well." Zhan Tian countered and seemingly ignored what the projection had said altogether.

The creator looked at the shattered restriction and then at the stubborn Worldkeeper. He realized he did not have the residual power left to force the man out of the domain. He let out a long and heavy sigh of defeat.

"Fine," the projection conceded while rubbing his glowing temples. "But if you are forcing your way inside, I am changing the rules of the realm to protect the integrity of my work. The resources hidden outside the main trial will no longer be distributed on a first come first serve basis."

The creator raised his hands and a wave of new laws washed over the burning rift.

"The wealth of this realm is now tied to fate," the creator announced to the tens of thousands of cultivators listening in stunned silence. "You cannot simply take a treasure by being the fastest or the strongest. The herbs and the artifacts will only reveal themselves to those who show true skill on the path of fire and those who possess the proper destiny. Brute force will yield you nothing but ash."

Zhan Tian laughed and patted Li Yu on the shoulder. "That is perfectly fine with me. As long as we can get inside and stretch our legs, the rules do not matter. Come Li Yu. Let us see what this old ghost left behind for us to find."