Aque Li’s Choice

The Aque Clan was located on the Western Coast of the Ghu Province - which was now the Heavenly Path Province. This was part of the reason that Yaan needed to seek out Aque Li.

He felt nostalgic and wanted to visit an old enemy-turned-comrade after so many years had flown by, but on a more pragmatic note, he also wanted to check something…

The Aque Clan existed not on the provincial mainland, but across a series of 19 islands. They did have a base of operations located directly on the mainland Western Coast, but this wasn't their headquarters, it was merely their point of contact between their clan and the outside world.

Yaan had decided to visit Aque Li to present him with a choice…he could either accept the rule of the new Heavenly Path Province and choose for his clan to remain under Yaan's protection, or Yaan could close off the border with the sea, leaving the Aque Clan out of his plans, and letting them fend for themselves. As Yaan stood above the 19 islands archipelago, he honestly wasn't sure which path Aque Li would take.

"19 islands, which all look extremely identical, but that island is clearly the core of the formation…" Yaan muttered to himself as he activated Reveal Truth.

He was doing this not because he wanted to bypass the formations - he could do that with ease, even without Reveal Truth. No, Yaan was trying to comprehend the dao of formations, a dao that, despite his strong understanding of formations, had alluded him for so long.

In the past, Yaan had been considered an expert in dismantling large scale formations, but this had nothing to do with is dao comprehension, it was thanks to his powerful Sea of Consciousness which allowed him to rapidly analyse each formation whenever he activated Reveal Truth.

Now, he had finally achieved dao comprehension into the dao of formations - meaning intuitive dao comprehension which had engrained itself into his Dao Soul.

Unknowingly, whenever the silver-haired Yaan gained some insight into dao, that very same dao comprehension was absorbed by Yaan's main body. However just looking at his slumbering form in the Spirit Palace made this impossible to tell. In fact, the dao comprehension didn't even seem to reach his main body's Dao Soul…and yet, all the same, it existed.

Thanks to Yaan's experience with the dao of formations, and his absurdly high talent in comprehending dao which now encompassed the dao of formations after he devoured the Fragment of Qi, Yaan was able to rapidly improve his comprehension over formations just by examining all of these various complex formations.

After a minute or so, his eyes returned to normal. He felt slightly tired, activating Reveal Truth at such a high intensity for so long, but again, thanks to his immense Qi refining talent, his body rapidly refined the surrounding Spiritual Energy, returning his physical and mental strength back to prime condition within just a few moments.

The archipelago below looked like an ordinary collection off islands. The closest were spaced just a few miles apart, with the furthest being 200 miles away from the Western Coast.

"A good formation." Yaan praised, nodding to himself. "By connecting 19 islands together, then using the mainland base as the formation 'core', they have disguised the true core of the formation…which lies directly beneath the furthest island from the coast, and exerts its influence of effect from one island to the next, forming a relay which allows the formation to reach such a massive scale. I wonder…was this the doing of the clan's ancestor? A formation like this has the intricacy of an immortal formation, but the power is far too lacking for an immortal formation…"

After pondering for a moment longer, Yaan concluded that the formation must have declined over time, losing much of its power compared to when it was built in the distant past. This would happen to almost every formation in this world; unless you yourself possessed eternal life, then it was impossible to create a formation which could hold its strength for eternity.

There were many bloodlines in this world, but for the most part, they were like the Zue Clan, separated from the origin of their bloodline and left to fend for themselves in this world, without really understanding their own bloodlines at all. The Zue Clan was a branch of the Divine Phoenix Clan, one of the overlords of the Four Divine Star System.

As for the Aque Clan, Yaan knew that it was a branch of the Sea God Clan, though he had no idea if any other traces of the Sea God Clan remained in this world aside from the branched Aque Clan.

Anyway, this wasn't really important. Yaan smiled, then after locating the strongest presence within the archipelago, he made his way to the most distant island, which hid the core of the Aque Clan's formation in the depths of the sea below the island.

Currently, Aque Li was showing a plain expression, but his heart was trembling in disbelief as his subordinates continued to rush in, updating him on the rapidly evolving situation in the Ghu Province…no…

The Heavenly Path Province.

"Clan Head, someone underwent their Nirvana Blessing in the Greenwood Mountain Range, and according to the reports, it was so large that even ten blessings combined couldn't compare!"

"Clan Head, we have now ascertained that the Heavenly phenomena came from the Heavenly Path Sect, but we still don't know the identity of the one who underwent their blessing…in all likelihood, it should be the Heavenly Path Sect Head; she has been at the Peak Origin Soul Realm for some time now after all…"

"C-Clan Head, we finally partially ascertained the identity of the one who underwent the shocking Heavenly Blessing! It wasn't the sect head, but an unknown young man with silver hair…nobody knows who he is, but our intel says that he was a member of the Heavenly Path Sect many hundreds of years ago…"

"Clan Head, Clan Head!"

When yet another subordinate charged in, sweating and with a pale face filled with fight, Aque Li's eyes twitched and he couldn't help but growl out slightly. These minute by minute updates were too tiresome; why not just wait for a bit until they actually knew what was going on?!

Under Aque Li's Origin Soul Realm pressure, the messenger trembled in fear, dropping to his knees and lowering his head. Realising that he had gotten too worked up, Aque Li sighed and rubbed his forehead as he retracted his aura whilst continuing to sit atop his throne. No matter what new intel these people brought him, it couldn't cause him to lose his cool.

That is, until this last report.

After taking a deep breath, the messenger slowly raised his head with a solemn expression and said:

"Clan Head, we have discovered the mysterious man's identity. His name is Yaan, and he seems to have ties to both the Heavenly Path Sect, and a relationship with the Zue Clan. But…that's not all, he…he actually…destroyed the Ghu Clan…"

Aque Li stared blankly at the messenger, who was still feeling so shocked that he was struggling to believe his own words. However, their intelligence was absolutely correct; the entire Ghu Province had been turned upside-down in a single day, by a lone unknown man.

Bang!

The armrests of Aque Li's blue throne shattered into water as he immediately got to his feet.

"Did you just say…Yaan?"

"Indeed he did. It's been a while, Aque Li, my friend."

Aque Li's heart skipped a beat. He quickly looked around, only to find that the messenger and his various elders and advisors were nowhere to be seen. All that remained, was himself, and a single, silver-haired, green-eyed young man.

When Yaan saw Aque Li's shock, he couldn't help but laugh. His reaction was quite amusing, but he was a peak powerhouse after all. After getting over his initial shock, he forcefully calmed his racing heart and stared at Yaan warily.

"You…you're really Yaan? You've…changed…"

"You haven't." Yaan smiled.

Aque Li was just as he remembered, maybe a couple of years older, but otherwise the same boisterous bearded middle-aged man who had once been his enemy, but ended up becoming his ally in the battle against the Ghu Clan back in the 3rd Trial Realm,

"It's been hundreds of years after all, some things have happened." Yaan went on, speaking in a completely relaxed manor. When he saw Aque Li's apprehension, Yaan chuckled and lightly shook his head. "In truth, this is not my original body, but a clone. However, this clone will be overseeing the new Heavenly Path Province from today onwards."

Aque Li just stared at Yaan with an uncertain expression, still not sure where this was going. He knew that Yaan was a ruthless demon, and although they had cooperated in the past…he didn't doubt that if the benefit was big enough, this person would turn against him.

The fact that he had so casually revealed that this body of his was a clone, filled Aque Li with even more apprehension and doubts. For one, creating clones was only possible for immortals, wasn't it? And secondly…why was was he revealing this unprompted…?

"Relax, Aque Li. I haven't hurt any of your people, I just removed them from this place so that we could chat in peace. I have no intention of interfering with your clan's business. I came here today, to offer you a choice. The Ghu Clan is no more; I killed them all. The Ghu Province is no more; it is now the Heavenly Path Province. So, Aque Li…will you join my Heavenly Path Province, or will you choose to leave the dominion of another, and take your chances with making your own way in this world?"

Yaan's ultimatum made Aque Li fall into deep thought…until Yaan spoke again.

"I revealed my secret - that this body is just a clone - as a sign of goodwill. However, you should know that I am by no means a 'good person'. In order for us to stand on equal footing, I will just inform you that I have already seen through the true nature of your Aque Clan's formation, and the fact that the true formation core is hidden dozens of miles below this very island. The fact that I could enter easily and without notice…should also tell you that I could dismantle this formation if I wished to do so."

Aque LI's expression became dark, so Yaan laughed and waved his hands to clear up the obvious misunderstanding.

"I'm not saying this to pressure, threaten or blackmail you, Aque Li. I am truly grateful for the help that you provided me back then after all. Just think of this as insurance, and as a means to deepen our relationship. We both know something about the other that we wouldn't want leaked to the outside world. In other words - do not betray me, Aque Li, or your clan will meet the same fate as the Ghu Clan."

Yaan paused, then decided to end his proposal on a lighter note.

"The Western Coast is thought of as the border to an endless sea, in the eyes of the ignorant masses, but few know the truth; the Ghu Province, the Jyu Province's the Bhal Province…these are just three of the 33 provinces located on 7th Sealing Island, one of hundreds of large islands found in the Demonic North, and one of the seven key territories of Seal Immortal. I will be able to rest at ease if the task of protecting the Western Coast is left to you and your Aque Clan, hence why I'm trying to convince you to stay. If you do stay, I will leave you with your full autonomy, and I will support you with treasures, techniques and knowledge beyond your wildest dreams. But if you leave…we will cut contact with one another, and that will be that. So, Aque Li, what choice will you make?"

For a good few minutes, Aque Li closed his eyes and fell silent. Yaan didn't mind it, starting at Aque Li without blinking until he finally opened his eyes, having come to a decision.

Before he even spoke, Yaan's corners of his mouth turned upwards into a smile. He recognised that look, because it was the very same expression worn by the Bloody Totem Tribe Leader whenever she agreed to go along with one of Yaan's seemingly insane plans.

"Yaan…it really has been far too long. When Zue Yin returned, I actually felt relieved to learn that you were alive, but she refused to explain what had happened to you. I appreciate your sincerity…and I appreciate your offer to support my clan even more! Compared to that damned Ghu Clan, your conditions are infinitely more favourable! Hahaha…accept! I accept your terms! I will not speak of the matter regarding your clone, and you will not reveal the truth behind my clan's ancient protection formation, which even allowed us to fend off the Ghu Clan four times during the past over 2,000 years…"

Yaan smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad that you chose the path towards prosperity. You will defend the Western Coast, but there's one thing I didn't mention… over the following few weeks, I will create a formation unlike any other…protecting and concealing the entire Heavenly Path Province from the rest of the world!"

Aque Li's eyes widened in absurdity.

"A formation on such a scale, which such a powerful effect…Yaan, is this really possible?

"It is not only possible…my success is all but guaranteed." Yaan responded without missing a beat.

It sounded too ridiculous to be true, but Aque Li knew that Yaan wouldn't waste his time by joking around like this. Because of this, he knew that Yaan's words came from his heart, and he had the confidence in himself to see this through to the end.

Yaan's smile became ever so slightly eery. As he thought about all those who would dare to stand between him and his homeland, the killing intent burned within his gaze like an inextinguishable fire!

"We will avoid this impending war, a war fought between those old immortal bastards using the countless lives of lesser cultivators as if we are merely their tools. And if that Seal Immortal shows himself and attempts to stand in my way…I will clear my path, just as I did with the Ghu Clan. For those who stand in my way; mortal, cultivator, or immortal, there is no difference. All that awaits them is failure and death."