Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1058 - 1057 - War Council

Lind did not waste time as Katara settled the formations of the war tower. Although broken down to only 3 floors, it still retained the latent potential the Heavenly Maiden Sect imbued it with.

Combined with his own weavings, they settled the cornerstone of their new base. Lind then focused on training and solidifying the foundations of their newer members.

Oz was fairly far along in life but he still had a few good decades left in him. Lind's elixirs helped both demon and man recuperate nicely.

He then focused on Ranger's Art. It was fascinating. Rather than simply relying on his own Qi, the Art used the natural shadow Qi that was found in the world.

Ranger did not understand that part of it. He had instead filled in the gaps with the easier to grasp mapping visualization. Lind taught him to look beyond his own personal Qi flowing outward and realized he was using the external shadow Qi itself.

It took months but eventually Ranger grasped it. Lind could not replicate what he did for some reason but it would take years to figure out that he did not need to spare at the moment.

Oz was a treasure trove of grade 7 poison despite only being a World Realm. He also had a deep understanding of World Realm poison Arts that would shame most demons with the Qi they had.

It opened his mind to exploring how much he took for granted having all the elements he did. He was used to brute forcing his way many times but his Storm Arts were possibly restricted in ways he had not considered before.

That took less than a month to grasp that he was indeed limiting his Arts. It was not his fault since 6 elemental Arts were not exactly an ancient method with many experts picking them apart over billions of years like others.

He did not want to test them but he was able to feel that incorporating external Qi and Laws dramatically increased their power and range.

He made 4 jade slips worth of notes in that month alone! It also expanded to the elemental theories he had not added to in thousands of years beyond each new realm he reached.

Laws were more complicated as comprehension and level of stability could make for drastic shifts in power as well. It opened his eyes to a whole new vista of study!

Lind had to set aside all his research after War Maiden Katara came to him with confirmation that the war tower was reconnected to its formations. He erected weavings when he could to make up for the missing pieces of the tower but it was stunning how much just the base of the tower held the ability to be a fortress if needed.

It showed grave experiences the Heavenly Maiden Sect had survived over their existence as he never considered such redundancy in his own Frey Clan structures.

Now, with Jur curled up on his lap napping, they were having a war council.

A table made of pristine white granite was refined into a useful tool for sending or receiving messages before the Corruption spread in the world. Lind had meddled with it a bit but only to repair it.

Its base functions were fine for his purposes.

Ranger and Oz now had simple gray robes on. They had been recovered from a few storage treasures left in the wreckage of the city. Their low quality had been easy to upgrade but even then, they were no better than grade 5.

Lind could not force things to Heaven grade 5 without proper materials. Or in the case of the robes, he needed some basic linens or raw materials that were just lacking!

He had ores, elemental crystals, herbs, and even leathers from some beasts he killed but nothing in simple cloth. His own clothing had been amalgamated from his shredded robes and leather armor they could piece together.

Katara said he looked like a Priest of Blood from a sect far to the south east with his crimson leggings and leather armor on his upper body.

He resumed using his name of Taren Cord but Katara was the only one that knew his true name. Chu never mentioned it but she knew he was lying at least yet saw no issue hiding it from the world as he wished.

She had directly informed him that he would be 'Husband' until he chose otherwise.

Nana was not the weakest of their group by cultivation realm as she was peak Sky Realm but her foundation had other issues. She had no benefit like the others with real experience in battle nor did she have a full grasp of her capabilities.

Their journey had not really pushed her and so she had only training with her current state.

Oz, while the lowest realm of the adults, had a lot of experience to fight much higher realm cultivators. He did complain about the lack of tools but Lind would not help with that until more trust was built up.

Ranger had skills they desperately needed but also his Art opened new options for Lind himself. His Storm Art: Wailing Wind could now be modified into a detection Art!

Priestess Chu and War Maiden Katara were both very strong Immortals on paper but Lind knew both had glaring weaknesses.

Chu was better at stealthy attacks and explosive battle, but she still relied too much on her instincts. They were useful but he had been burned by his own enough to know a balance had to be struck between instinct and tactics.

War Maiden Katara was technically the most powerful in both realm and experience but she had a fatal weakness in her vitality. If she used her full power, she would die after 1 or 2 attacks!

All of that meant that Lind was the actual powerhouse of their current forces. He was also the one that had the most experience in their current situation. They were surrounded by vast stretches of nothing with enemies all around.

A powerful foe was conspiring against them and they had to carve out a place of safety and eventual counter attack.

"I will not waste time reviewing with you all our situation. Ranger has already found a critical piece of information for us but we need to confirm the layout of our targets before attacking. There is no way our enemies left them easy to find and destroy." He referred to the eyes of the bloodline array.

The Shadow Dance Art could touch everywhere shadows existed and if the eyes of the array were found within them, then there was light in the same space casting those shadows. Given that Ranger found them both at night and during the day told Lind they were likely underground or inside a complex of some kind.

The group nodded but then he turned to Ranger.

"I want you to find both survivors and any forces wandering the wreckage. The Fionan Empire will come to reclaim the city but the Heavenly Maiden Sect has a perfect claim to their war towers. We will start with those foundations and begin to build up a sanctuary here." Lind felt a sense of deja vu at that moment.

How many times did it make that he had built such places?

"Lord Cord, while enemies will likely be scouting around, are we going to engage with just the forces here?" Ranger asked a very pertinent question. Chu perked up but he dashed her hopes immediately.

"We are vulnerable. We have no backing at the moment aside from War Maiden Katara. She needs more Sisters to make the war towers viable but further, we do not want to draw eyes here yet. For now we mark where and how long people come through. If we see an opportunity, we will strike." Chu deflated but Oz nodded in approval.

"There are 3 things to confirm in the other towers. We need to know if the formations are salvageable, we need to know if there are any Sisters left for dead inside, and we need to know if there are signs of anyone laying traps." Katara finally spoke up but he could see confusion on the other faces.

"If dead Heavenly Maidens are left where they are, assume a trap was left behind to defend their resources for the sect. If someone got inside, there may be detection arrays waiting to go off to warn whoever was able to bypass security in each tower." The large formations were broken but Katara had to use her emblem to allow them to safely claim rooms in the tower.

Ranger's Art would not detect any of that but he would find the bodies.

"Our immediate goals are to secure our location and have the ability to absorb more as time passes. I have no hope of finding ready made allies out there but the war has become a bloodbath. We need to allow people to escape it." Millions had died already but there were strong chances of survivors barely living in the crevices of the destruction all around them.

Lind had been careful not to use his aura too often as Arts like Ranger's could detect it. He was also no longer one among many. The isolation would make it far easier to find them.

All heads nodded.

"Oz, you will be moving with Nana and Chu to gather resources. I have marked a few places on the map but will need experienced eyes to confirm if we can safely reclaim what is there. You know what I am talking about?" The old man nodded as he stroked his now neatly trimmed white beard. His thinning hair was thicker now too but only enough to fall down his back while still being partially bald on top.

"You all have your assignments. Go and be careful. The goal is come back safely no matter what. Use the jade slips I gave you to imprint all you see." The group nodded and moved out immediately.

Katara looked at him and was smiling.

"What?" He asked her but she shrugged.

"Anyone that did not know you would think you were a king. You are used to giving orders and organizing small forces. I would love to hear some stories." He sighed but shook his head.

"If you promise not to die until the array is broken, we can talk." Her eyes lit up like a child getting candy as she nodded so hard he thought he heard bones crack!

Picking up Jur, he got to work on his own preparations. Depending on what they all found would dictate their next steps. He wanted to be as prepared as he could be. It was going to be a long war.