Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1089 - 1088 - Broken Village

Lind was studying some materials and references he had not had time to before back in Crescent City. Petryn had gotten him some copies of Law Grade texts and some materials for him to further his progress.

It was much more enjoyable than the last couple decades since he arrived at the 2nd layer. He had no responsibilities and no demands being heaped on him.

"Papa, what is this?" Jur asked him about an array but he could only speak to help her as he could not do formations to save his life. Still, Annabelle had long since surpassed the grade 6 arrays Jur was studying.

She was pushing her knowledge and it helped guide her cultivation at the same time. He felt like he had gone back in time to his days at the Moebius Sect and being more of a teacher than a powerful cultivator.

One duty he still happily took on was helping with the baby. It was a chore of joy and he taught Ranger all he knew as a father. He had not been able to directly raise all his children equally but he had made as much time as he could.

Thus, he had many pieces of sage advice, most of which came that even cultivators would become exhausted in the early years. Sky Realms had more stamina and ability to be clear headed without sleep for longer but babies were the ultimate foe of adults.

Something he had learned in the 1st layer was he could help the baby refine their body and actually get through the Body Refining Realm before they were 3 years old!

It would give a baby a far more resilient body and an excellent foundation for the next realms when they can advance. Beasts could actually be born in the Soul Realm under the right conditions too!

The little demoness had stolen all their hearts and even Oz could be found smiling at her while others worked on their cultivation.

Since their encounter with the battle at the crossroads, they had seen remarkably few travelers. The few that came usually ducked out at the fixed access points of the Law Binding to avoid their wagon for some reason.

"Master, there is something odd to the south of us." Ranger suddenly spoke up but it made Lind frown. He had not felt anything odd.

He closed his emerald eyes and expanded his aura. He felt Chu do the same. He only saw an expanse of wild forest but then frowned as he noticed an oddity.

"There are no beasts? Why?" Lan and Bori perked up and he smirked at their clear desire to scout for them. "Go with Ranger and see what you can find."

The trio headed out as Oz pulled the wagon as far over as he could. The road quality had degraded to compacted dirt but was plenty wide enough for 4 wagons. The traffic was nothing anyway so they were not blocking it either.

The nearest access point was a little bit away from them but the trio was very fast. The 2 brothers were white blurs as Ranger seemed to blend into the shadows. His daughter cooed in Nana's arms but all were prepared to fight or run.

A jade stone lit up not long after in Lind's hands.

[Master, there is a deserted village here but it is…odd.] Lind arched an eyebrow but looked back at Chu. Her shake of her dark head confirmed they both saw nothing there!

Oz surrendered the wagon reins to him and he led the wagon out of the Law Binding protecting the road. The wild forest did not have a good trail but he made it go until they were far from the sight of the road.

A few engraved moves later let the wagon vanish from all senses.

"Jur, Oz, and Nana will stay with the wagon and Katerina." He spoke the newly named baby. The 3 adults nodded as Lind and Chu moved swiftly into the forest. The stark silence felt wrong without even using their senses to look farther out.

The pair were like blurs but the plants were only World Realm at best so they did not have sentience.

They suddenly had the trees vanish around them without warning. The village was right in front of them but they could have sworn the forest had continued unbroken!

"Impressive formation, but how has it lasted so long?" Chu looked back and Lind used his Law Eyes to see something unexpected.

"It is a Law Grade formation. Which is even more odd considering." Both turned back to see the half dozen buildings spread out with the roofs caved in and almost no sign of any doors. There were no scents of rotting food nor corpses.

Both were exceptional at sensing any smell but the village was dead. There was nothing at all but the slowly collapsing structures.

The streets were dirt and the well at the center was dry if their noses were not lying to them.

Ranger was waiting for them but the 2 brothers were farther in.

"What is going on here?" Lind's question was only met with shrugs.

"I sensed the formations but I can't find the source powering them. Do you know where it is?" Ranger could not find it? That was odd.

Chu went to go help the brothers but Lind put his aura at maximum power. He found rather common materials as he expected but his eyes narrowed as he could follow the formations only to a point.

Underground was clear to him but above was not.

He looked up and saw only white clouds and blue sky as he should, yet after being unable to sense the village, he no longer trusted what he was sensing.

He engraved several sigils into the air and the weaving took shape like a blade. Rather than an attack, however, it was sliding along the formations without breaking them. It shimmered in response but vanished at least 50 meters up!

"Give me a moment." Lind gathered his stamina and launched upward in a burst of his draconic flight.

He worried he would run into a barrier but instead he felt a shift in space which shocked him. Teleportation with all other formations no longer worked but he had just felt like he shifted dimensions!

A platform was revealed that made his eyes narrow. He recognized the sensation at last and had an answer to what was going on .

"A Ruin. What kind of Relic is this?" The platform was bare but he finally found the source of the formations. At the heart of the circular white shape were refined elemental crystals.

He almost dismissed them after that but then froze as he recognized what they were.

"Grade 8! They are grade 8 crystals!" No wonder the formation still worked! Just like the Divine Ruin, a Relic powered by such crystals would shrug off both the Corruption and the bloodline array.

He moved closer but finally hit a barrier. It was far above his cultivation but he slowly understood it was weaker than anything he felt in the Divine Ruin.

"I don't suppose anyone is here?" He took a shot but there was no response. He found his senses faced no impediment so he examined the crystals to his heart's content. He could only scratch the surface as it was formations but the crystals themselves were good all on their own.

He felt each natural element far exceed anything he could come up with even with his harmony.

An idea suddenly occurred to him as emerald flames brushed the barrier. It reacted but no danger came into his senses.

He covered his arm in harmonic Qi and tried to pass through the barrier but it repelled him easily. The only chance was arrays lighting up he could not perceive before.

He wondered what they were doing but being a Relic it may not be able to respond the way its creator intended.

"I wish this could help find the Fiends at least." Lind gave up as he could only come back but a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. It had no face or legs but it was a dark cloak floating in front of him.

[Divine Beast. You fight the scourge?] A faint but discernible voice flowed through his mind. Lind nodded but also stated outright as well he opposed the Fiends. He then used his harmony to show off all 18 elements.

The figure seemed to be intensely interested in the Celestial Qi before turning back to him.

[Find the inverted mountain. They pulled back from the world but their vile Qi still thrives there. I cannot help more than this.] Lind felt frustration at first but then noticed how unstable the projection was.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" The figure faded away without saying anything but he noticed the crystals were far dimmer than before. He bowed low to it and then hopped off the edge of the disc.

He found his companions looking for him but Chu was the only one not panicked. He looked with new eyes at the village and understood what had happened.

The Relic protected them for a time but just as Ranger found it, someone else must have and killed them all long ago to try and claim the Relic for themselves.

He wondered what it used to be capable of but it was all abandoned. He took out a jade slip and marked the location on the map inside.

"We have a clue. We continue." The group left and returned to the empty road. Long after the group was gone the floating figure appeared in the middle of the village.

It looked around and a hand made only of bones caressed the broken frames of the houses.

[An avenger has come. May the spirits guide him beyond my failure.] The figure disappeared suddenly and cracking resounded in the air as the formations finally collapsed in the air to reveal the disc.

The wind whistled through the broken village and the history lost there was never to be known. The dead took all their secrets to the grave.