Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1064 - 1063 - Preparing Offenses

[He really does look like his sister with that pale blue hair and silver eyes, Teegan. I am happy for you, truly. I approve with all my authority too!] Lind noticed Teegan blush slightly but perhaps only Petryn could notice it as well if he was not so distracted.

The little show he had put on had been to draw in the annoying pests always in the city. They thought he would be distracted and too busy to notice them. They also still did understand he suffered no effects of the Corruption like others.

Even his enemies had become complacent about the reduced abilities of cultivators in the current world.

Storm Art: Lightning Fury was more than enough at that point to send them running in terror after getting precious intelligence. His meeting was both serious and spy craft in one.

He needed the masterminds behind the array panicking. If they thought Lind could bring the Fionan Empire against them, they would act to stop him at all cost.

Ranger had continued his investigations until he was satisfied no more local eyes for the array could be found. It was a depressingly high number but arrays were not so resilient to withstand critical losses.

Take out enough of them and the whole thing would collapse on its own. The strain would be too much for the rest of the eyes.

Getting to those critical points, however, was proving to be far harder than he liked. Ranger could not confirm but there were living guards in the areas they needed to get to.

Most were underground as expected but even for ones that were not, they were disguised in places that would take months to search to find the hidden eye in a forest or maze of caverns.

His enemies were clever but still restricted by the nature of the bloodline array. They knew it as well and had planned to the best of their ability.

It would be a bloodbath with his current forces to get through.

Thus, making them react to a possible worst case scenario was the next best thing. After all, he had only denied soldiers. Formation or array experts would be a true danger. Especially since they knew he could negate the effects of the bloodline array inside his wards!

He took the envoys to the most completed tower. It had a large meeting room and enough space to allow them to stay in relative comfort. Putting them in the same buildings as the refugees was a bad idea all around.

It was not like much furniture had survived and he had far better things to do than make any, but the rooms themselves were far better in quality.

The meeting then proceeded to cover what he had discovered over 14 years ago about a massive bloodline array. The sheer scale shocked them all.

The fact the Corruption was working in concert with it made it all the worse for them.

"How do you know these things for certain, Maester Cord?" Petryn looked like a ghost at that point but he was doing well.

Lind turned to Katara who took over as he produced his token.

He had chosen to reveal the information for 2 reasons. The first being it gave him legitimacy for his reasoning but also because Petryn deserved to know where his sister had been.

He did not know why Delenn was still hiding from her family but he had dark suspicions. The only thing that would hold her back was revenge unfulfilled. He could only make vague guesses after that but perhaps she had recalled something after finally killing the man that banished her to a mortal realm.

He noticed all were staring at him and realized he had been asked a question.

"Apologies, I was thinking on something too deeply. What did I miss?" Teegan smirked but that was all. Katara laughed out right but it was Petryn that answered seriously.

"I asked you what your intentions are after settling things in Crescent City?" Lind really saw the resemblance at that moment. Delenn was very bright too and her brother was no slouch.

He understood the danger of bringing soldiers inside a bloodline array that was currently geared to war. It would only add to the body count.

"My current intentions in order of priority are to break the array fatally if I can, get competent help for the refugees, and finally head west to find the blasted structure that is causing the Corruption to destroy it!" He was sick of it. He had watched far too many die needlessly.

He kept revealing more and more crimes as well to the point he suspected more was happening that no one knew about like the beast kin village. Until the sect war forced powers to spread out, they had been living peacefully while siphoning a bloodline from a high beast!

"I can understand that, but surely you are not planning to die?" Lind was surprised. The Prince was looking beyond the current enemy. Still, he could not approve of that.

"I prefer not to tempt fate any more than I already do. Death is one outcome I have faced far more than I like to think about, but let's not invite it over for tea." He smiled at Petryn but all seemed confused. He had not given all the details of his path to the 2nd layer, they did not have that kind of time!

"Very well. What can we do to help then?" Lind smirked at his next answer.

"Honestly, go home. Convincing your Imperial Father to stay off my back for a while yet would be the most help I could ask for. Will he listen to such a request?" The grimace on Petryn's face told the answer to his question.

No matter how beneficial Lind's actions were, the Emperor would not take kindly to an independent force acting within his borders.

They were walking a fine line by the legitimacy of the Heavenly Maiden Sect's war towers. The Emperor could still repeal his permission for those as well.

"My Mother may be able to help but we will need to give a more concrete reason than the bloodline array. We have ways to deal with a city wide–" Lind's aura flared.

"City wide?! You think it is city wide?! It covers the totality of all directions so far as can be determined for 100,000 square kilometers at least! Further, it was able to cover a Divine Ruin! Do you know the kind of power needed to do that?!" His rage made him go off but he quickly brought it under control as Pretryn finally grasped how grave the situation was.

"But how?! We would never allow such vile things–" A cackling laugh made all look to the side to see the old man Oz sipping at tea. Lind did not recall inviting him to the meeting nor feeling him arrive.

A World Realm being able to sneak up to him was not easy! The rest were just as shocked.

"Oz?" Lind wanted to know what he found so funny as well as why he was there.

"Oh, it just never ceases to amuse me when upstart supreme idiots think they are infallible. Do you know the number of assassinations I have pulled off in your capital, princling?" He sipped calmly as his white beard and balding head leant a kind of authority to him as he spoke. "There are any number of ways to slip anything anywhere if you have the patience and caution to do it."

Lind narrowed his eyes at the truth of that statement.

"Fiends do not mind short term losses if the overall plan works. The Corruption should be proof enough of that. How many battles did they actively engage in without anyone getting a word of it?" The room became pin drop silent.

Oz also became grim.

"Sigh, it is not a pleasant thought but one I have had to come to accept. Fiends understand how our minds work. Cultivators work to increase their power and the powers they associate with. Thus, they know to keep us busy by sacrificing agents, plots, and any manner of thing for their ultimate goal: Our defeat." Lind withheld the truth.

It would scare them too much and he could not prove it either. The Great One wanted to refine the entire Celestial Fields into a potent cultivation resource.

Just grasping the current threat was enough.

"Then why are you wasting time rescuing people here?" Lind narrowed his eyes at Petryn. Still green, it seemed. Far too green.

"As someone who understands Fiends, people are the most painful way to hurt them. They need people to refine into resources or use for their formations from what I understand up here. Thus, I am killing 2 birds with 1 stone. I am saving people and depriving the Fiends at the same time." He felt Petryn flinch in understanding but that was fine.

"Young man, I am close enough to death to say this, but if you think he just sits here trying to save the lost souls, you really need a better imagination. I have worked with some crazy busy people before but Maester Cord puts them all to shame! Hiccup!" Lind narrowed his eyes as the smell of booze came from that tea cup in his hands!

"Ah yes, Master, we are ready anytime." His words made a smile spread on his face. They were ahead of schedule!

"Ready? Ready for what?" Teegan was the one to ask but Lind noted that Petryn seemed to grasp it already. His education was showing through.

"I have not been idle since I rescued these refugees. I have been putting on a play so to speak. It includes our conversation outside. I meant everything I said but your arrival was most helpful. Our enemies will now grow desperate due to your arrival." Lind smiled wide as Petryn looked at him coldly.

No one liked to be used. Yet, Lind did not care.

"I am fighting something that has brought the 2nd layer to its knees for over a million years, Prince Petryn. If you have a surefire method that will not sacrifice billions of lives, I am all ears." His tone was cold and Petryn softened as he could only shake his head.

It had been missed by them all so he had no right to complain about Lind's methods.

"Katara, get the preparations rolling. We are going to break the array!" She smiled at him as she got up a bit slowly before heading out.

As soon as his enemy came calling, it would be time for a true war!