The Eight Ancient Clans of Water. They have thrived through the first age of man, the birth of the first Spirit Immortal. They had witnessed the rise and fall of multiple dynasties, some of them were so powerful that Rank 40 Spirit Spectres could only become foot soldiers in their land. So why is it that even after thousands of years, those empires fell and yet, the Eight Clans of Water thrived?
Was it their isolationist policies? Or was it because of how superior they were at naval combat? No, those explanations only scratched the surface. The real reason why the Eight Ancient Clans of Water could thrive as long as they did, was because of their Guardians.
Oceanic Spirit Beasts were completely unlike land ones. The ocean was vast, and there weren't many places for them to settle down in. While some Spirit Beasts evolved so that they could migrate anywhere they wanted, for them to truly grow into powerhouses that could leave prime descendants, they needed an anchor place.
That's what the Lantis Archipelago was for.
Tier 9 Spirit Beasts found refuge on the famous Lantis Republic's islands, each one holding on to one of the eight islands. It was their breeding ground and their home. No matter what happens among the humans, the Tier 9 Spirit Beasts would fight till their dying breath to protect their home. So for mutual protection, the Eight Clans of Water all made pacts with their respective Guardian Spirit Beasts. For the Zhangyu Clan, they formed an alliance with the Kraken, a colossal octopus that easily reaches Tier 9 once matured. The Heigui Clan took care of the original Xuanwu's descendants. The Meijing Clan is protected by an Ancient Killer Whale pod… The list continues on…
Celestial Island, being the biggest isle in the entire archipelago, naturally had a Guardian of their own. An ancient bloodline that was as old as the Lady of Water herself. The Lantis Archipelago had experienced hundreds, no thousands, of invasion over the years. Cultivators from the Terre Continent would love to claim the Celestial River for themselves, harnessing the power of the Empyrean Wonder. Yet, no matter what they do, they will never enter the Celestial River. Why?
Because of the Azure Dragons protecting it.
"Mmmmmm..." The enormous Dragon, who was at least thirty metres long, glanced down at its visitors. Its eyes flashed in between their hands, checking each and every one of their Spirits and bloodline. The process took a while but eventually, the intense pressure that it emitted soon dissipated into nothingness and everyone present relaxed their shoulders.
It opened its mouth, and its lower jaw moved up and down. "Is it time for the baptism already?" The Azure Dragon said lazily. Every year, a new batch of youngsters would arrive ready to baptise their Spirit right under the Celestial River. The Azure Dragon yawned, thinking that it was that time of year again.
"No, honoured one." Longyu Tian was the first to reply, taking one step closer to the Tier 9 Spirit Beast. She may have a higher cultivation realm, but the Azure Dragon in front of her was at least ten times her age. Not only that, it was the leader of its entire race. It would do her well to keep the Azure Dragon happy. "We have a descendant that's about to attempt the Trial of the Celestial Dragon."
"Mmmm? Trial?" The Azure Dragon's heavy eyelids snapped wide open. It was rare for someone to attempt the Trial. Its massive head swooshed, creating a descending air current, strong enough to temper with the youth's legs. Still, Shin tried to stand. Moving up from his kneeling position, the youth came face-to-face with the colossal creature.
The Azure Dragon's nostrils were almost as big as Shin's head, and its long vertical pupil stared straight at the man, bringing his entire soul to heel. Just like the azure scales that it had, the Dragon's eye colour was as blue as the ocean and as beautiful as the afternoon sky. Shin felt mesmerised just by staring into those liquid crystals that were bigger than a watermelon.
"You… Your aura… It seems familiar… It feels like my own, and yet… It's not..." The Azure Dragon stated.
Longyu Tian tapped on Shin's wrist before replying. "Honoured one… The nail that you'd given up four years ago has been assimilated into this boy." She tapped on Shin's wrist again, gesturing for him to show the Shard.
Shin furiously nodded and obliged immediately. The siren's wail that everyone was accustomed to by now echoed within the water basin. The Shard that destroyed all who stood in its path reappeared in the world, sending shivers down Bingying's spine. She had been at the receiving end of that attack, after all…
The Azure Dragon raised its chin, seemingly amused by the cute little Shard. "Fascinating... To think that my nail could be used in this manner..." The Dragon raised its left hand, displaying the four scaly fingers that it had. Three sharp claws that seemed capable of tearing through flesh and breaking bones were at the end of the upper three fingers. However, the Azure Dragon's thumb was void of any claw, just a blunt end.
Four years ago, when Longyu Tian came over to request the Azure Dragon for its nail, it didn't think anything of it. It was just like how humans felt when cutting their own hair. That useless waste was only going to be thrown into the ocean anyway. So seeing how Shin transformed its discarded claw into the Shard really took the Azure Dragon aback.
"Boy! What's your name!"
"S-Shin! Honoured one!" The booming voice shook the youth to his core, and Shin immediately stood up straight to declare his name. Then, Shin remembered one vital thing, "I-I never had the chance to personally thank you for giving up your claw! Please, accept this junior's bow!"
Shin lowered his head twice. There was genuine gratitude in his gestures. How many times has he been saved by the Shard of the Azure Dragon? How much stronger has he become due to the Shard of the Azure Dragon? Shin knew that he owed a lot to the Tier 9 Spirit Beast that he'd never met and fortunately, he finally got a chance to personally thank it.
"Mmmmm… There's no need to thank me..." The Azure Dragon laughed. "All I did was clip my nails a bit. It'll grow back in a dozen years or two. You worked hard to assimilate it and use it in such a meaningful way. It's your achievement, not mine." The more the Azure Dragon looked at Shin, the more satisfied it got. Not only did he bear the Mark of the Celestial Dragon, but Shin also had the guts to assimilate with a Tier 9 Spirit Beast's body part.
"Thank you!" Shin hurriedly responded.
"Mmmm… So I'm assuming that you're the one that's taking the Trial?" A rhetorical question of course, but it still threw Shin off guard.
"Y-yes!"
"Okay..." The Azure Dragon stared straight at the adorable little cerulean Koi in Shin's hands. While the other Spirits were all wearing solemn expressions, only that playful Spirit remained restless. It wanted to rush into the pool and leap into the Celestial River as soon as it possibly could. The Sovereign Koi wasn't even afraid of the fearsome Azure Dragon that stared right at it.
"Mmmmm? A curious little critter..." Its interest piqued, the Azure Dragon flew further down until its eye covered the entirety of Shin's right hand. Its draconic eyes blinked twice as it carefully examined the Sovereign Koi.
Once again, instead of being afraid, the Sovereign Koi snapped and wiggled its body forward with its fins flailing about like a boxer. It was irritated that the Azure Dragon had blocked its view of the Celestial River.
"HA HA HA!!! What's this?!" The Dragon bellowed out in laughter, raising the tension in the Celestial River. It has been a long time since anything had treated the Dragon as a pest.
"A-Ah, I'm sorry!" Shin really didn't mean to disrespect the Azure Dragon, it was just that he didn't have any control over the Sovereign Koi. It did whatever it wanted, whenever it felt like. Something unique only to Shin's Spirit.
"Mmmmm… I'm not offended..." The Azure Dragon stopped its laughter and gazed right at the puffy cheeks of the adorable little Koi. "I quite like this one… No, I like you..." The Guardian corrected itself. "I'm interested to see what you would do..."
The Azure Dragon flew to the side, giving way for Shin to finally begin his Trial. "Before we begin, place your Spirit into the pool in front of you." The Guardian commanded.
Shin turned around, only to see Longyu Tian, Longyu Dao and Meijing Bingying furiously nodding their heads. Bingying even had her thumbs up, acting as the youth's personal cheerleader. After the Azure Dragon had given its approval, every single one of the Lantis Republic members moved far back, giving Shin room to act on his Trial.
"How many metres do you think he'll get?" Jingyu Han, the Saint of the Oceans, asked his fellow Spirit Saints.
"A hundred?" Shenshe Zemin replied, her eyes moving to the engraved leaderboard at the side of the cavern. The Celestial River was eight-hundred and eighty-eight metres long precisely. Many have attempted to cross the threshold to inherit the Lady of Water's legacy; unfortunately, no one has ever succeeded. Just one glance at the leaderboard and one would see the failures throughout the entire Eight Ancient Clans of Water history.
Meijing Bingying and Jingyu Taiyi's names were also engraved on the stone. Bingying reached a hundred and sixty-seven metres while Taiyi only managed a hundred and fifty-five. Among those living today only Longyu Tian managed to reach five-hundred and fifty-nine metres. However, the Lantis Republic sure had over five hundred thousand years of history. Longyu Tian was by no means the top person on the leaderboard, she wasn't even in the top hundred. The top ranker managed to reach eight-hundred and twenty-one metres in an age long forgotten. A staggering number.
However, no matter how high one climbed, they never managed to break through into the final threshold. They always fell short. Thus, it wasn't that odd for the Spirit Saints to think the same of Shin.
"A hundred? I think that's a little low, don't you think?" Heigui Zhengkang coughed. He didn't share the same animosity that Shenshe Zemin had towards Longyu Tian, so his view was a little more objective. "It should be three or four hundred… I doubt he can break Tian's record."
"Three hundred sounds about right," Jingyu Han agreed. "Maybe he can push four hundred? His Spirit does seem to be quite peculiar."
"So what? He won't be clearing the Celestial River anyway." Shenshe Zemin sneered. "The most likely outcome is that he inherits Tian's Time-Element as well. God, that would be annoying. Imagine having two Saint of Times..."
"Haha, that really would be quite devastating!" Jingyu Han cried.
Moving a few metres to the right, Jingyu Shenxian and Longyu Dao were having a similar conversation. However, they skipped right past the record that Shin could set and were primarily discussing what enhancements he would get.
"Do you think he's Sovereign Koi could evolve into Saint Tian's Golden one?" The Chancellor asked.
"It's highly likely..." Longyu Dao couldn't hold back his smile. "Shin is a distant relative of Saint Tian, the blood connection is there. Also, she had told me to prepare some Time-Elemental crystals for his eventual training. I suspect that there's a connection there."
Jingyu Shenxian stroked her hairless chin and replied. "Hmmm, if that's really true, then I would have to congratulate you a little early. Two Golden Sovereign Kois… That's a dream come true, no?"
"Haha, it's still too early to say..." The man laughed it off, but deep down, he already knew that Shin was going to succeed. Even if he didn't get the Golden Sovereign Koi, Shin the miracle worker would come up with something special, the Longyu Clan Master knew it from his gut.
Shin's Sovereign Koi swam around in the pool absorbing all sorts of Celestial elements from the Empyrean Wonder. It radiated with immense magnificence, and its spiritual energies began to spike. However, the Sovereign Koi still wasn't satisfied. It swam all the way to the foot of the river and took its position like a marathon runner ready to begin its race. If not for Shin commanding it not to proceed, he was sure that his Spirit would have leapt all the way up by now.
Seeing this, the Azure Dragon smiled, displaying its disgustingly sharp teeth. "There's no need to hold it back, child. You can take all the time in the world. The Trial begins whenever you take the first leap."
Shin walked right next to his Spirit and looked up high into the mountains. Clouds continued to block his vision of the apex so Shin couldn't plan his advance. It was something that he wasn't used to, not knowing everything. Still, he had to take the leap of faith.
"Hah… Ready, little one?" Shin looked at the adorable little cerulean Koi that had accompanied him throughout the years. People change, people died… However, that Koi remained firmly by his side, never leaving for the slightest second.
"..." Obviously, the Spirit couldn't reply to him. However, it still waved its two fins in complete happiness.
"Alright then..." Shin took one final deep breath in and sat straight down on the surface of the basin. His Spectre Soul trembled as mana seeped out from each one of his pores.
"Let's do this..."
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