Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1168 - 1167 - Trial of Existence

Lind blinked slowly as he found himself in a gray space. It was not like when he died the first time nor was it like when he met the spirits.

It was like something just outside of existence but not a special realm.

Shouldn't he be dead? He had defied accepting it, but that would not stop death from coming for him.

He looked around the space yet nothing revealed itself. Was he dead or was he simply just barely alive? He tried to conjure Qi but nothing answered his call.

"You really are a stubborn child. You already came so far but had to grasp more? What are you, an idiot?" A voice suddenly called out but no one appeared. Lind tried to find them at first but then gave up.

He had deeper concerns. He needed to understand what he had to do to rebuild his body from scratch.

He sighed but before he could even try to begin to figure out his needs a ball of flame appeared before him. It was white but it felt odd to him.

It was almost like the flame existed and did not exist at the same time.

"Stubborn indeed! You need to be more flexible but I suppose in your case such advice is useless. You opened the door we wanted for so long but now you are the enemy of the greatest idiot we ever knew." The flame flickered in time with the words to reveal what it was.

"A spirit of Heaven and Earth should not be so cheeky!" He smirked, despite the lack of his body.

The flame grew but laughter suffused the space.

"Indeed but here we are! You have chosen a path never crossed before! Did you expect us to be lenient just because you oppose that fool?" Lind found the voice grating but could not deny the assertion.

"So why did I fail?" If the spirit was talking to him, maybe it could enlighten him on what he could do to speed up his new body.

"Fail? You did not fail. If anything, you surprised us at how well you endured!" Lind felt only confusion followed by anger.

"My body was destroyed! Nothing I did even slowed that lightning down! I was only able to heal for the final rounds with my Qi alone! My body was almost dead! I was then just a soul at the end!" His tirade did not stop until his voice seemed to echo all around him and repeated his frustration.

The flame flickered in laughter for a bit but then a serious pressure spread.

"DId you really think a body cultivator was so simple? Their techniques are punishing in the extreme but they also spread it out! You were trying to circumvent what should have been happening since the Heaven Realm at least all at once!" Lind froze mentally as he absorbed the words.

He knew he had not included his body and simply let his draconic instinct guide the tribulations for his body at the time.

Admittedly, if he had stuck to natural Qi, that would have been perfect. It was how he was born and reborn when he became a dragon soul.

Body cultivators truly did not do what he had attempted. It was not impossible that someone started out as a pure Qi cultivator and shifted to the body but the decision generally came in the World Realm at the latest. Iron Tier was ideal from what he learned from most of them.

While it was done later by a few, they generally had a physique or some other advantage that would allow it. What Lind had been doing was dangerous but the incompatibility should have given him a similar advantage.

His body was the final restraint from the path he had chosen. It had to be changed yet he had severely underestimated the step he was taking!

He had not been simply modifying his body to face an Immortal Tribulation, he was modifying the very foundation of his physical existence all the way back to the beginning!

He had not just invoked an Immortal Tribulation, he had invoked all the tribulations his body should have gone through from the Gold Tier onward!

No wonder a Dao Tribulation had been invoked! What else could he have expected?!

"So I was wrong from the start?" The flame bounced up and down in acknowledgement.

"It is totally wrong! You would have possibly figured it out with your testing but your body's recent changes combined with defending itself from the Radiant Tier put you over the edge unexpectedly. The rules cannot be bent so you faced that tribulation with no chance of survival." Lind was even more confused. Shouldn't he be dead then?

The spirit had clearly said he did not fail but then also that he faced a fatal tribulation. Which was it?

"You have been very fortunate over your life, karmic restitution is a difficult thing to rely on but not this time. This time you have triggered something unique to progenitors. You are carving out a path of a new race and decided to take that literally with your dantian." The flame floated close and Lind felt a tremor in his existence.

All of him was laid bare without any ability to hide anything.

His life flashed before his eyes but it was not a simple review of his memories right before the end. He felt like each decision was being weighed and measured.

He saw how his reckless actions often put him in positions he should have died 9 times out of 10. Even in the earliest fight against the Drakmor Heir, he invoked literal lightning from the Heavens rather than use his own.

That lightning could have killed them both!

The heart demons he let form in his isolation of the Lotus Academy even though he had studied up on them. The life and death to the mundane of it all were being ripped from his being.

Pain far greater than anything he had ever experienced was occurring right then. He understood what the spirit had been saying.

A trial. He had triggered a trial due to being a progenitor! He had technically faced such a trial when he was reborn with a dragon soul but now he was consciously deciding to finalize his path.

The records on progenitors were spotty as they were damned few after the early epochs and likely only legends remained for some as well. Lind had gathered all he could but he knew a few had described a moment when they nearly died in a tribulation but vaguely recalled feeling like their very life was weighed at the end.

Some progenitors had died of course, but no one could claim they failed such a trial.

Lind felt like his final connections to life were weakening but he focused on his loved ones. If he died, the Great One would definitely wipe them out as sustenance for his ascension. It was petty but the being had already proved it could be that vindictive.

The gray space was fading despite his efforts as his life finally reached Immortality. It was not his proudest moments that seemed to draw the spirit's attention.

He had once again ignored the signs of a forming heart demon but also simply became arrogant as he had made it clear he was on top of his Empire.

It was getting harder to pay attention after that as Lind felt very thin. He was literally fading away!

Darkness closed in until even his sense of self was gone.

The darkness became eternal without any beginning or end. It just was.

The spirit looked on in disappointment. They had high hopes and while some long held issues had been resolved by the man, ultimately he wanted too much. It was an interesting idea to revive and incorporate all 18 elements but only a unique existence like him could pull it off.

Such a combination would never come again. A dark feeling surrounded the spirit as the likely outcome was going to come to pass.

It was about to leave when something made it stop. The darkness seemed endless but now there was a difference.

A flickering spark just barely held on! Emerald flames burned slowly but steadily. Hope bloomed before something shifted.

All 18 elements surged into the darkness and brought life! It was not just that but Laws, Daos, and even a touch of the Mysteries appeared! The spirit was shocked as that should have been flat out impossible!

Dao was essential for the Sovereign Tier to advance but the Mysteries were beyond Immortals period!

Yet, it looked on as a shape began to be built. It was not the expected shape of a dragon but a man! Had he shed his draconic existence? That would be sad but acceptable if it worked!

The spirit did not even have time to ponder the consequences before a dragon soul burst into existence but it was vastly different from before! It was still basically emerald but now the 3 horns had all been changed! They were fully integrated structures with all 18 elements in all 3!

The 4 limbs had become larger and stronger. The main was no longer pure emerald but of all 18 elements! A pure elemental attack or an ability to blend a physical existence of it to create Arts with a thought!

The spirit felt a pressure shatter the darkness as the roar of a dragon newly born shook all of existence!

Joy filled it as the man vanished from the special space.

[We are not dead yet. We are not without hope yet!] It had those final thoughts before the trial space was dispersed.