novelraw Chapter 1040 - 1039 - Endless Sky
Chapter 1040 - 1039 - Endless Sky
Lind felt like he was knocked out too often since coming to the Ruin of his Master.
He slowly woke up but it was hard to orient himself aside from the sensation of standing on metal in midair. There was no sense of up, down, or any direction! Even back the way he came seemed to stretch forever!
He could not have come far but he used a common stone from his ring to confirm it could sail without interruption back the way he came. Further, it fell through whatever he was currently standing on!
He tested that a few more times but outside his own feet and hands, nothing was impeded in its motion!
He then threw something straight down and was shocked as it went right between his feet! Yet, he placed his hand on a hard surface he could not penetrate.
"Not just about Qi. Something else is reacting to my presence. A soul maybe…?" He mumbled out loud but even Haro could not help him.
Dao Heart indeed.
Laws could not be so picky no matter how complex or complete he made them but Dao clearly could do far more. Maybe it also needed the cultivator to grasp them to a certain extent too, yet he could only blindly head out.
There was no railing but he always stayed level. The lack of reference made it hard to be absolutely sure but his own personal sense of his limbs seemed to stay flat.
He was unsure how long he walked as time felt very distant to him. Was he actually aging in this place?
[Time may feel distant but I assure you it is passing, Master. What you are feeling is a lack of Laws resonating with your crystal. Daos far beyond you are rife in this place.] Haro confirmed it was him, not the location that was the issue with his senses.
What was he supposed to do then?
He tried his badge, aura, harmony, and even Laws but nothing reacted.
He could only blindly keep walking in the empty sky. The endless white and pale blue was all around him yet he could not even perceive what he was looking at.
[Master, I believe your senses are too weak to interpret what is here. Allow me.] The dark skinned spirit appeared momentarily before being unceremoniously shoved back into the ring!
"Are you all right?!" Lind did not feel panic from him but that had been powerful! Haro was far above him at full strength!
[I do not think I will do that again. I do know at least you are the only authorized being in the Dao Heart. I also briefly saw the complex. It is slightly out of phase while the heart is active.] Lind felt shock flood his mind.
Out of phase?!
"Can I access it?" Silence greeted his question which told him volumes.
[Even if you were a Divine Realm, Master, you would have to be able to shut down the Daos locking away the critical artifacts for the Inheritance. I felt that much before being shoved back into my ring.] Lind felt a cold sweat break out. How was he supposed to even try to do that or bypass it?!
An herb was one thing, he could just barely grasp it since he had a firm foundation and enlightenment at the time he tried.
He sighed as he took another step only to fall down! He had nothing to grab onto as air whistled in his ears!
He calmed down as the fall continued without any end in sight. The surroundings did not change but he kept falling.
"How does this work, Haro? Is this a realm inside the Inheritance?" He had nothing else to do but Haro stayed silent.
It took an uncomfortable amount of time before he got a response.
[I do not know. I was looking for a way in when I first materialized but did not examine the basic structure. Still, your experience may not be as endless falling as you imagine. It might be simply the same space with no surface to hold you in place. A small loop you keep moving through.] Lind found that latter idea more disturbing than the first.
A true endless realm would at least have a locus he might be able to grasp onto once he could sense it but a loop would isolate him without end!
He tried to transform but was shocked when his body remained unchanged! It was like he was only human once more!
He summoned a mirror but his reptilian emerald eyes stared back at him like always as his emerald hair whipped around his head.
He had tried everything but one final chance.
He plucked his badge from his chest and concentrated his aura into it.
[I am Lind Frey. Student of Younger Twin. I have been sent to resolve the issue of being a Ruin.] His authority as a True Lord felt not a ripple of resistance at all. It was the first time he truly appreciated
The badge shone with all his elements and harmony but also a profound aura he recognized. The authority of a True Lord.
The fall suddenly stopped as he slammed into a metal gangway. He felt several bones break but had to blink away the pain as his draconic healing took over until he could focus. He saw the complex at last but it thrummed with power that pressed down on him hard.
He could barely even stand up!
His body was 4 to 5 times heavier, at least, just standing still! Trying to move added on another factor of 10 it felt like to him! He slowly walked to the nearest steps down to the main floor and almost fell down them!
It was not gravity, just the sheer power! He imagined a Divine Realm letting their aura flow unchecked would feel much like that!
[Actually, Master, they would be worse. This is a general pressure. Focused pressure could turn your body to liquid paste.] Lind felt the peanut gallery observation was unnecessary.
Still, he could hear the creak of his newly healed bones. Blood began to slowly flow from his eyes, nose, and all his orifices.
His body was getting damaged just moving! He finally got to the main floor and his pace was slower than a snail!
None of his Laws could help him at all and even his harmony just shattered if he tried to cover himself in it. He did not know what level of power he was facing but it was highly instructive!
The leap from Immortal to Divine was a massive step even greater than all other realms combined!
His body could not withstand it at all! He filed it away for another day as he had to focus on moving inward. He could feel it at last. His badge was being called.
Sweat poured off his body like a river. His crimson robes were breaking down under the pressure as he finally heard his bones crack once more! The pain was increasing but he could not stop. He was so close!
The hallway did not seem that long but to him it may as well have been an impassable wall! He did not know when but the clank of metal suddenly stopped as the tinkling of crystal reached his ears.
He focused his eyes as best he could as they were nearly popped out of his skull! A shimmering chamber surrounded him but at the heart of it was a slot for his badge.
He held it up in his mangled hand. It finally shot outward and slammed into the panel!
He then let the darkness claim him. He had done what he could!
Time passed and the all too familiar feeling of waking up in the Ruin came to him but the warm wooden office was around him!
He sat up to see Older Twin going over ledgers of some kind as the woman read a scroll on an ornate couch he had not seen before.
"H-how–" His voice cracked when he tried to speak before another arm held water to him.
"Drink, my student. You did well." All 3 Divine Wills were looking at him as he drank down the large glass. He noticed his badge was on the table next to him but it felt different.
He carefully picked it up and confirmed all 18 elements had thickened by a great deal. What did it mean?
"You are officially a Law Maester, high grade. The youngest I know of in any realm." Younger Twin spoke but the other 2 nodded.
"What happened?" Silence greeted his question but it was the woman that answered.
"You almost died. If you had collapsed and let the pressure shatter your crystal, your soul would have followed the same fate. The badge imprinted your essence and my husband confirmed your identity. The security measures were reset. The Ruin has been stabilized and is preparing to leave." Lind panicked. He had to get out!
"You could come with us." Older Twin offered but he shook his head.
"I have things to do on the 2nd layer. I just wanted to end the war." Grim faces looked back at him. He did not understand why.
"From what we learned from you, the war will not end, just shift its focus. To you." Younger Twin spoke but Lind smirked at the words.
"I suspected that already but I now know what I have to find. I have to shatter the source of the bloodline arrays." All 3 Wills looked at him for a moment before the tremor shook the room.
"Sigh, time to go. Before that–" Younger Twin pulled a ring out of thin air and handed it to Lind. "You overcame some of the hardest trials at a level never believed possible. Here are your rewards and my thanks."
All 3 bowed low to him and he bowed back. The ring went into his own but before he could ask for anything else the world shifted. He wondered if he would be dropped back in the open plains when suddenly he was launched into the sky!