Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 106 - 105 - Unexpected Benefits

The spray of salt water was refreshing to Lind as the wind blew his dark lochs back.  He stood at the railing as the blue waters trailed beneath the large boat he was on.  Formations glowed to repel World Realm beasts on the sides to his Eyes and the crew were singing a song to pass the time.

It had only been a week since he woke up but things had moved quickly after that.  He had missed the secret realm but Nadia had insisted he did not need to worry about that.  She had then had a few maids come in to measure him, an embarrassing situation given he had only underwear on at the time.

His ring had some Frey Clan robes left but nothing he could safely wear.  She also procured a more powerful hair dye that would not be revealed by a detailed scan from a Gold Tier World Realm.  He was grateful the Marina Adventurers Guild protected his identity.  He was also glad he had not lost everything thanks to his ring.

The grade 3 badge had no doubt survived because it was made by an Immortal or maybe the karma between Lind and Younger Twin was recognized by the restitution as a good thing as well.  Lind traced his right cheek as he still felt the mark there.

He wondered what was going on with Cyntilla, but he was in no place to help her at the moment.

It would take a month to cross safely, 2 months if they were unlucky, but Lind was glad of the time.  He needed to fully acclimate to his new condition.

Once it was safe to use his Eyes, he examined his body and was left stunned.  His meridians had been changed by Immortal Artificer, no doubt in preparation for more profound Qi or something else, but now they were completely different and so was his body.

He had been tempering his body with training and low to mid grade tempering baths of the Soul Realm.  He did not know where all the damn impurities hid, but the baths always seemed to find more.  Yet, his current body was stunning.

His muscles were far stronger while retaining his lithe shape.  His abs were more defined without being too crazy as well.  His heart and other organs were brimming with strength like nothing he had ever seen before in anyone.  If he did not know better, Lind would have sworn he broke through to the World Realm, but he was still solidly in the 8th tier of Soul Realm.

He had stopped, somehow, at high tier 8 of Soul Realm.  His cores, on the other hand, had made it to the border of low to mid tier 9.  All the elemental Qi, and he barely tempered them!  Of course, he had been tossing it out as fast as he could but he had hoped to at least be tempered to high tier 9.  His emerald flame nearly filled his dantian now and the flow of elements felt effortless compared to before.

Lind was sure he could cast tier 7 arts without too much worry, but he still had some issues with backlash if he followed the original instructions too closely.  It was dangerous as the higher tier arts could really hurt him if they hit back too hard.

His dantain and meridians were the truly shocking change.  To his Eyes, they seemed to glow with emerald light and were resilient beyond any capacity he believed possible in the Soul Realm.  The only real danger of backlash would be to his actual cultivation foundation and not to his cultivation organs.

His mind had also had a vast improvement that was hard to quantify.  His memories of Earth were near crystal clear save the ones he now was sure were lost.  It was kind of humiliating to remember when he was caught as a toddler running outside naked in front of the mailman but not remember his own damned name!

Still, he also tested his Eyes and Touch but they had only improved within the Sky Realm quality.  Lind could now see World Realm dantians with ease if they were in the Sand tier.  It was fascinating to see as well.

Above each font was a kind of granular mound being shaped but he distinctly recalled Bord's fonts turning inward.  Was there something more about being a 6 elemental he would need to figure out before breaking through?  Even so, it was nice to finally confirm World Realm cultivators elements as their level of control could sometimes hide an element they did not have full mastery over.

It was also stunning to him how the fonts can differ in quality as apparently some multi-element World Realm cultivators did them one at a time.  He had never heard of that but he had also never seen someone truly breakthrough to the World Realm from the Soul Realm in the first place.

Lind contented himself with the new discoveries as he adjusted his training.  Tempering his elements was now extremely difficult and despite Nadia and the Guild Leader knowing who he was, Taren Cord had no profession to practice, thus Lind did his hand to hand combat drills.

The basic Frey Clan techniques were mostly to help temper a body and barely assisted his elemental Qi, but Shoti and Qing had taught him more profound techniques.  They were not the same as the Maidens but Lind could feel his elements flow like a river now.

His emerald flame also course through his body and he felt refreshed as he moved.  Sweat began to form but he stayed aware of his surroundings.  Most of the crew simply were used to his actions at that point but a few of the passengers sneered at his lack of a weapon.  Most cultivators relied on the enhancements a weapon would give them.

Lind did not mind and simply went through the stances and moved his Qi freely.  His ability as an innate cultivator was still a bane of his existence but now that he was in the latter stages of the Soul Realm, it was easier to resist due to the amount of Qi needed.

Lind was pleased with how easy his elements reinforced his body or increased his base abilities.  He could bring his power to the peak of tier 9 of the Soul Realm easily as long as his Qi held out.

"E-excuse me.  May I join you?"  A shy little girl had come up behind him.  Lind smiled and beckoned her to come forward.  She smiled wide as her red and blue dress lay loosely on her.  Her brown hair was pulled back into 2 pigtails in an adorable way.  Her pale amber eyes were full of joy as Lind observed her actions.

She had been watching him the last week or so but this was the first time she joined him.  He watched her moves and frowned.  She was misaligning her Qi for the Body Refining Realm.

"Hold on, young miss.  Watch me closely."  She paused and Lind went through the basic stances.  He repeated it as she stared at him.  Lind then smiled and pointed at her.  She nodded enthusiastically.

Over the next few hours, Lind carefully guided her and even used his own Qi to help guide the flow around her.  He knew the techniques naturally pulled in Qi, but Lind always thought that was inefficient and a little unfair.

In a short amount of time, she broke through twice!  Lind made her stop after that and digest what had happened.  Unlike the Soul Realm, Body Refining did not purify the body, it more or less prepared the body to comprehend and create the dantian.

"Big brother is amazing!"  The little girl was no longer shy, but Lind smiled down at her.  He was about to say something when he felt something.  He looked out at the waters in concern before finding the nearest crewman.

"I think there is an aether beast manifesting.  It is off the starboard side within the formation range."  It was something that was rare on land but in the waters of the world, it could happen anywhere and anytime.  The crewman knew Lind was from the Sub-Guild Leader so he quickly went to the captain's cabin.

"Go back to your family and I will see you tomorrow, ok?"  Lind gently patted her head as she nodded and ran off.  Qi began to gather to his Eyes.  It included water of course, but Lind was surprised to see darkness and fire.  What kind of beast in the oceans would have fire?

"Be ready!  Manifestation to starboard side!  All crew be ready with defensive artifacts!"  The captain's voice called out and all the crew moved.  Lind made Qi flow to increase his reflexes and reinforce his body.

Some of the other passengers joined him but most headed below.  They would protect the weaker members among them.  The little girl was looking in worry at Lind but he smiled and waved as an older man escorted her below.

A small vortex began to form that was visible to all.  Formations came to life across the deck and the boat was fortified.  Lind was using his Eyes to watch and was amazed.

A skeleton began to form around a core.  Flesh and blood flowed in the water as scales began to cover it into a shape Lind recognized.

"It is a fire salamander!"  Lind's voice made all turn to him but the confirmation quickly came.  Fire blew like a spout of water as the reptile surfaced.  That was how it had fire, it was of the land and the ocean.  The scales became black as night so the darkness became its outer shell.

Attacks blazed from the deck as everyone coordinated but Lind was stunned as the cultivation of the beast kept rising.  It started in the tier 1 of Soul Real but easily surpassed the 8th tier as the flow of Qi finally slowed down.

It was a peak Soul Realm manifestation!

"Increase the defenses now!"  The captain roared as the World Realms pushed more Qi into the defenses.  If it was a human, there would be no worry, but it was an aether beast and it had fire as its primary attack.  The boats were protected against water and storms more than fire.

A peak Soul Realm beast would be equivalent to a Sand Tier in pure strength.  Lind flowed all of his elements into the formations and adjusted the balance.  The strength of the formations increased by half their maximum power.

Fire blasted the defenses and the Qi stones were drained like mad.  The World Realms put up the artifacts to support but they also were burning Qi.  This was not an advantageous battle for them as the salamander was of both land and sea.  It was not impaired at all!

Lind knew the World Realms just needed a chance and he had been itching to try something.

"Fortify against lightning!"  Lind called it out and the captain looked at him but relayed the order.  The alignment changed and Lind smiled.

The air around him became dry, it became the perfect conditions as Lind built up a charge within himself.  The people stared as Lind reached out and touched the water.  The mild power exploded and Lind guided it with his touch.

The salamander wailed in pain as lightning roasted it.  The reptilian eye stared balefully at the boat but it could not withstand its weakness.  It roared and moved outside the dome of protection.  Lind smiled as the waves settled and the crow's nest confirmed the salamander had moved off.

Several people stared at Lind but the crew all bowed to him despite being in the lower realm.  Lind bowed in return and made to return to his cabin.

"Hold it, come to my cabin first boy!"  Lind sighed as he moved to follow the captain and noticed that the 2nd took over but also stared at him.  Perhaps he had been too forceful in giving orders but Lind had simply been protecting the boat he was on.

He hoped nothing annoying was about to happen.