Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1034 - 1033 - Trial of Trees

Lind blinked at the scene in front of him. There had been no sensation of teleportation nor blinding light that time but he definitely shifted in space. Also, he might have gone backwards!

His aura was now severely restricted but not by a seal. The pressure of the forest around him was just that terrifying! Massive trees that towered beyond his sight surrounded him in the silent forest.

It was the lack of ingredients that made him suspect he was not back in the Garden Infinitum. The forest floor was dark with dead leaves but one leaf was bigger than his entire body!

The trunks easily could have been a hotel for humans too! That was how massive they were! He tried to identify them but nothing in his research or experiments ever came close to the size he saw around him.

The silence bothered him too. His draconic aura was as restricted as everything else. There should be the sounds of beasts but there was nothing. He could not even sense insects in his range.

He closed his eyes and used his mind to see if he could feel anything but he could barely stretch a meter beyond his body. What was so fiercely crushing all his efforts but causing him no harm?

"Divine Realms, eh?" He was about to move when his ring lit up.

[Do not move, Master. We are currently surrounded.] Lind was confused. Surrounded? By what?

He was blind in all the ways he was used to relying on so he tried something else. He sniffed at the air and all his hair stood on end!

His body invoked his scales all on its own!

What was that sense of danger he felt?! He tried to pierce the darkness above and around him but there was nothing there.

A thought then occurred to him.

"Junior greets Seniors." He cupped his hands and bowed low.

[Why is there an Immortal brat here?] A voice finally came to him but it sounded like a cranky old man!

Lind sighed as he was about to go into his seemingly repetitive story mode but then froze as he pondered if that was best here. Trees would not care about the things he did but there was something they would care about.

An elixir appeared in his hand. It flared like the sun even in the vial.

"My Master sent me to face this trial to protect his legacy. Here is the proof of who I am." He uncorked the elixir and the liquid shot into the sky. He had done nothing, it was clearly the trees around him.

A shifting and creaking finally occurred around him. It was not the first time dealing with sentient plants. He had even inadvertently created one!

The tree he created where the Starbreaker Empire branch had once stood was already at the Sliver Tier when he left.

[You are indeed a worthy student of the creator. What do you call this elixir?] A different voice spoke up, female by the tone but Lind knew they simply chose their gender as they wished.

"Flash of Life. I nurtured a tree on my layer to stabilize the 1st layer of the Celestial Fields. Later, it leapt forward in cultivation unlike any plant I have ever encountered." He relayed the rest of the story and stony silence followed.

New pressure fell on him to the point his knees nearly buckled.

"Did I say something wrong, seniors?" He was truly confused. What was wrong?

[You dare to claim to have created a Tree of Life?!] Lind felt clarity come through and quickly summoned a flower from that very tree. It had gifted it to him when he came to check on it.

Unexpectedly, the flower with 4 white petals and a golden pollen at its center flared with a powerful aura. Unlike his own, it faced no restrictions.

[Who dares to oppose my Father?!] A young, childlike voice came through that he had not heard in some time. He smiled softly as he patted the flower.

"They are our seniors. Do not be rude." The aura retracted a bit but the flower, still full of life despite centuries separate from its branch, nuzzled against him. Normally it was not so active but it seemed quite lively at the moment.

[A Vital Lily! It really is a Tree of Life!] Lind felt a slight shock go through him. He had created a Tree of Life? The tree he had nurtured was powerful but the descriptions of a Tree of Life all sounded like a far more massive tree than what grew there.

"Can a tree like that be immature? The one I nurtured is large but only in comparison to the people near it. Will it become larger?" A general sound of boughs moving reached his ears. The trees were talking among themselves.

The flower in his hand also seemed to be swaying. They were speaking the unique language of the plants he could not perceive.

Days passed, possibly weeks but Lind let it go.

[Master, you are either insanely lucky or should consider your karma spent at this point.] Haro spoke up in a rather tired voice. Lind could only agree. It would be impossible to say that passing another trial so easily in a Divine Inheritance as an Immortal was fair.

Still, it was both luck and his hard work in…wait, how old was he?

Lind had lost a lot of time here or there due to accidents and Inheritances. How was his life to be measured?

Strictly speaking, he was close to 10,000 years old if he counted time linearly but his personal time was far less.

It made him ponder on the Laws of Time in regards to his own life but honestly it was more about time flowing at different rates and whether it actually counted his real age or if it all added up if he skipped over intervals at moments like the spatial bridge incident.

[Progenitor Lind Frey, we offer apologies. You have suffered much to come this far and worked harder than most humans or beasts. Truly, we are humbled by you.] A new voice spoke up but it felt very powerful in his mind. It was clearly the leader of the forest.

"Not at all, senior. Who can believe without proof? Honestly, I did not understand my gift for which I am grateful. You have expanded my horizons." He was not lying. The flower in his hands seemed quite happy with itself. He wondered if it was still connected to its original body but he doubted it.

Still, it was a new thing to learn.

"Do you wish to join this forest, little one? They can teach you far better than I can." The flower wilted instantly.

[I want to stay with you, Father!] The forest also shifted once more but did not speak to him as he nodded at it.

"I simply offered an opportunity. Your cultivation will not advance in my ring, after all." He was well aware that the flower could become an entirely new tree if nurtured by the forest.

[We dare not besmirch the will of the Tree of Life!] The original old man voice spoke up. He was much more polite that time!

"Seniors, what trial must I face here?" Lind decided to move things along but a new plant conversation started. Strangely, the flower in his hand seemed to go still at his question.

[We are not qualified to test one such as you but we must. You will enter the Dream of Eternity. An Immortal is not qualified but it is the trial of this place.] The younger female voice spoke and Lind bowed.

"Please, test me." He was curious but the flower flared in his hand.

[Father! You do not need to be tested! You are great as you are!] He smiled and patted the small flower in his hand.

"I am trying to protect the Ruin of my Master. I will face what I need to." A feeling of approval flowed over him but then the world faded away.

He awoke in a barren world. It was dead. There was no life or any chance of life at all.

{Begin.}

He looked out at the dried and cracked earth as well as the empty sky. The world he was on had no chance of life but he only smiled.

"If that is all you need, you underestimate me." Emerald light flared gently across the barren landscape. Unlike anything else he had encountered, it drank up his harmonic Qi like a sponge.

He gave it all and the sky was the first to change. The clouds slowly formed before a drop in pressure was felt. The clouds darkened before rain began to fall in earnest.

The soil drank it in like a sponge. Both his Qi and the water vanished like he could not believe until a spark of green appeared.

He smiled as he put more harmonic Qi into it and the sprouting plant slowly spread until life took hold. The shift in the world was felt as Heaven and Earth changed the conditions of the world once life was born.

The Dream fell away and he was back in the forest.

The flower in his hand was shaking in what was clearly amusement.

[Father is best!] The trees creaked around him at that but no objection was given.

[What was that Qi you used?] The female voice asked and he let his harmony flare around him.

"It is my harmony, the core of my cultivation. I am a 6 elemental.] His words caused a stir but it quickly passed.

[Child, understand you just passed a trial many Divine Realm cultivators would struggle with. Your harmony is beyond us but it is terrifying in its potential. Do not underestimate your power in the future.] An ancient voice spoke to him before the world shifted once more.

It seemed he had passed but some questions flared in his mind. That was a Divine Realm trial?! They struggled with it?! Why?! He had no answer as he waited for the next step in his path.