Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1180 - 1179 - No Medicine for Regret

Lind found a veritable mountain of corpses as he got closer to the mountain. Bones, fossils, and even a few fresher rotting bodies were everywhere inside his aura. He frowned deeply as not a single sign of teeth marks was on any of them.

Not one.

"That is beyond killing for sport, what do they eat?" Dragons could eat things other than meat, especially after they could transform into a humanoid shape, but there were no farms anywhere in range either.

Dragons might eat fruit or vegetables but not moss and insects! Their pride would never allow them to.

Were they all Fiend puppets now?

He could not actively scan as it would give him away but his own physical senses told him the ones in sight were indeed contaminated but only slightly. It was like they were getting fed something with Fiend Qi in it.

A dark thought nearly made his blood boil and soul recoil! Surely not! Surely they would not have sunk so low?!

He crept towards the mountain but stopped when he felt a spike in vile Qi. He tried to find the source but it came to him!

A massive dragon that blotted out the sky emerged from near the top of the mountain. There was no way it lived there but it likely had a burrow deep underground.

Lind could finally see the shattered scales and deeply blood stained layers on all of him.

Blood Talon was a peak Crystal Tier but Lind frowned as he examined him.

"Dragon aura is nearly half what it should be. By the spirits, how much Fiend Qi is inside him?" He barely spoke as the beast cracked open one of his limbs. A frenzy of flapping wings and roars filled the skies as the smaller dragons came running.

Lind was disgusted as they gorged themselves on his blood! They had sunk that low!

He was about to move off when a scream reached his ears.

"NO! I don't want this! Let me go!" A young male dragon, a World Realm at best, was being dragged toward the blood. It was clear as day he wanted nothing to do with the ceremony but his elders were not letting him go.

Indeed, the feeling of Fiend Qi was far less in the boy. Lind wanted to act but even his most optimistic estimates left him cold. He was vastly outnumbered. Further, the Fiend Qi worried him.

He suspected he could purify it but it would leave him vulnerable to attack. Conversely, if he tried to restrain or attack Blood Talon, the other Immortal dragons would have a field day with his body wide open.

It was one thing to attack mindless beasts frenzied by a beast tide event or other races that were weaker to his own, but he would be facing a being on par with him and far older than him this time.

Lastly, his instincts honed by waging war against the Fiends warned him of a trap. He could not grasp the shape of it but he had fallen into too many desperate battles with them to neglect their schemes now.

He could only look on as the boy was forced to drink. To his credit, he spit out more than half but his elders did not seem to care. The boy was finally tossed aside when his vitality stabilized.

Lind turned to leave finally but then froze one last time. Blood Talon was scanning the area closely. If he had just tried to move any further, he would have been found! He could feel it!

[Our enemy is here. Find him.] Lind felt the words as they spread across the whole area of his aura. He held perfectly still as the dragons scattered in all directions save the barren nearby.

He did not dare move or even breathe heavily as while he could easily fool cultivation senses, a dragon's physical senses were much harder! Sweat, blood, heartbeat, or any indication could be grasped and used to find him.

Thankfully, he controlled most of it but he could not stand there forever!

"Blech! Vile stuff!" A voice nearly made him jump out of his skin as the young dragon was nearby! A small valley hid the dragon from the mountain as he threw up as much of the blood as he could.

"You need to stop fighting it, Amares. We can't escape them." Did these dragons have a secret sneaking skill?! Yet another dragon seemed to get near without his noticing! That one was older and female but she too had far less Fiend Qi than the others.

"We are the only 2 left and I noticed you did not resist too much today." The accusation in Amares' voice was clear but she only shook her head.

"I am only a Sky Realm. I will die as one if I can but the others never let us if they catch us, not after the last time." Lind felt his soul stir in pride. Choosing death over the half existence they had was far better!

"I was so close!" Amares lamented his failure on some front but Lind finally had to absorb Qi or breathe. They were too close!

He glanced at the mountain and Blood Talon was diving back into it. The lazy bastard was awaiting good news!

Lind sneered as he summoned a weaving plate instantly. The 2 dragons barely swung their heads around when the world was cut off from them!

Two gigantic orbs of emerald flame appeared right over their hearts.

"Make a sound or use Qi, you die." Lind appeared next to them and instinctively they flinched. The desire to kneel was ingrained into them!

"T–T–True Lord!" The boy, Amares, almost seemed to weep but he did not move. The female, on the other hand, shivered in fear. Lind noticed but did nothing.

"Do you want to be free?" Time was not on his side but he had to be quick. The boy's eyes lit up but the woman sneered.

"Free? There is no free! You only want to enslave us instead to escape! You will use us!" Lind could see why she thought that but he let his aura wash over her. The change was instant.

"Forgive me, Divine One!" Amares looked shocked at her words but his own senses confirmed it.

"Can you really free us?" Lind nodded but looked at the mountain.

"I need a way in there that no one can see. Is it possible?" Surprise bloomed on both their faces. They nodded.

"It is easy to get in, but the Lord's chambers only have 3 ways in that are heavily protected." The woman answered as her wings flapped slightly. The flame neared her scales and easily melted them.

"Do that again, and you die." She looked regretful but blinked slowly. Amares also gulped. He felt the dagger over his life easily.

"There is another way!" He suddenly spoke and glanced down at his limbs. Lind waved for him to proceed. Amares pointed away from the mountain. "The wyverns made a secret exist a long time ago. While it is collapsed in places, we can easily slither through. Your wings will be damaged though."

Lind smiled widely. He used his aura to carefully examine the area and confirmed his words. Before the 2 could wonder what he was doing, all 3 vanished as the plate ran out of Qi.

The dragons all felt something but despite fiercely scanning, they found nothing!

The trio appeared just inside a cavern large enough to hold them. A tunnel with a small mound of loose stone was at the back just as described. Further, Lind felt he was no longer under the careful watch of Blood Talon!

"Arrogance will get you killed. You 2 will stay here. Take these." He summoned 2 elixirs that glowed with emerald light. "This will hurt but it will purge the Fiend Qi from your bodies and restore your foundations. I cannot lift the banishment until Blood Talon is dead."

Both slowly nodded and Amares did not even wait. The elixir caused searing pain but thanks to his actively rejecting the ceremony over the million years he had been forced to live, it was relatively quick.

Putrid impurities flooded from his body but his shattered scales remained as Lind had said. Still, pure natural Qi now flowed once more in his meridians! His fonts were pure again! A relaxed smile crossed his face as he bowed low to Lind.

The woman only confirmed what happened and downed her own elixir. She was in far worse shape being farther along and resisted less but still, she endured. Unlike Amares, however, she passed out as all her stamina was sapped away.

Lind burned the impurities so they would not attract the others.

"Stay here and erect whatever you safely can. You will know when I begin." Amares bowed once more as Lind flew into the opening. It was more than large enough for a human.

Blood Talon had made a major miscalculation. He assumed a Dragon True Lord would come directly but Lind had been human before. He cared little for how he could get an advantage as he had mastered his instincts long ago.

Victory was what mattered, not pride. Blood Talon would deeply regret his assumptions but there was no medicine for that. Only death would find him now. Lind also made sure to engrave the tunnel as he went. He was taking no chances if the pair were discovered.

He would have one shot if he was lucky and if he screwed up, he would be the one made to swallow regret instead!