Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1212 - 1211 - Good Chance

Dark halls extended for kilometers with no windows, intersections, or even curves, but despite no doors, a figure suddenly appeared walking down the metal gangplank.

He had impossibly beautiful features and finely combed back white hair from his ash gray skin. His disturbing eyes looked contemplative as he reviewed the latest reports.

No one met him in the corridor but his fine dark satin robes never seemed to touch the surface of the floor despite covering his feet. The sharp sound of boot steps revealed his footwear easily, yet he suddenly frowned as confirmation came in to them.

The Great One had reached out to warn them of a thorn in their plans but he felt like that was a vast understatement. The soulless tools they had created were working perfectly.

They had nearly conquered the entire 3rd layer as planned to keep the Sovereign Tiers isolated until the plan succeeded. It was only supposed to be a few centuries but it turned into over a million years.

There had been no update in all that time until a few thousand years ago when the connection to the Realm Refiner went dark.

Only a few centuries ago, the Sifter also went dark.

That was when the Great One warned them who was causing their issues. A single dragon. A rather unique dragon with emerald scales and strange flames that could stop soulless stone dead.

Their once invincible horde was able to be killed! He also seemed insanely powerful for a fresh Radiant Tier. The soulless could take out peak Radiant Tiers like they were children if they breached the defenses.

It had been actually enjoyable to see them clinging to life at the very edge of existence but once that damnable dragon came, things changed. The soulless were effective but limited. They were pure tools.

As such, they had to be controlled and the arrays guiding them had limitations due to the distance but the Fiends had pulled back to prevent being found out. The spiritual arrays were untraceable unless one of their own was tortured for information.

Besides, making that many soulless required some special ingredients to fuel the spiritual arrays. He smiled at the memory of many Heaven Realm and below Fiends suddenly finding themselves on the chopping block.

He kept walking until he seemed to decide to turn left and vanished from the hallway. He was now in a large oval room of golden stone but a woman was going over some jade slips when he came in.

He was a peak Radiant Tier but she was only a Sliver Tier. She had only just barely advanced before the culling.

She had her white hair cut short and her robes were also simple. She was his slave after all.

She looked up and bowed low to him.

"Sir, there has been a terrifying change at the Whisper Peaks." The Fiend narrowed his eyes. What had gone wrong now?

He took the pure black slip and sunk his aura into it. His handsome features frowned deeply at first but then a smile slowly spread.

"So, our little power sources are free? How is the facility?" He looked up and saw her look nervous. So, it was not good. "The horde?"

She smiled and quickly reported they were removed before the wraiths went hunting.

"What would you like them to do?" He considered that for a moment and then smiled.

"This is an opportunity. That emerald bastard is stuck there and hopefully fodder for our little test subjects. There is no one on this layer that can fight them. Flee, yes, but not fight." He was happy. The greatest annoyance could be consumed by their oldest tools!

"What if he survives?" He looked at her harshly at that moment. Still, he could not deny her words. Every attempt to trap or kill the damned dragon had failed.

Now, an opportunity had fallen in their laps.

"Are the artifacts still working?" She nodded and he had an idea cross his mind. "Turn them off."

Surprise passed over her face until a shiver passed through her body.

"They would come for us, wouldn't they?" He smiled at her worry but had already considered it.

"I want those things wreaking havoc. They will happily go after tastier meals before us." She slowly nodded but after turning to a slate on the wall, she paused. Her fear amused him.

"We are safe here. No one can find us." She slowly swallowed and put her hand on the slate.

Dark sigils flared briefly and he turned to leave when her scream turned him around. He turned back to find her body lined in pure white. Her body withered right in front of him until she turned to ash!

What had just–

{You dare to interfere in my plans?} The Fiend shivered in terror as a presence suddenly imposed itself on him.

The Great One!

"Lord, the thorn in our side is trapped in the–" Pain lanced over his body as he was slammed into the ground.

{YOU DARE TO THINK I DON'T KNOW YOUR PLANS?!} The Fiend heard his bones crack but he was not killed outright. What had he done wrong?

"Surely conquering the 3rd laye–" His ribs shattered as the floor cracked.

{The Refiner and Sifter are gone. Your facility is nothing!} The Fiend had tears coming from his eyes as the pain wracked his body.

He just wanted to end the stalemate after a million years. Was that so wrong?

{The wraiths are not tools to be used! If you unleash them, Heaven and Earth will act!} The blood drained from his face. He had not considered that!

The wraiths were not supposed to be on the 3rd layer. They were contained for the moment but ingenious artifacts yet he had not considered why the Great One never unleashed them.

He had only seen a good chance to eliminate all their problems without considering the consequences.

"I am sorry, my Lord." His apology did not seem enough but eventually the pressure lessened.

{You will not interfere for now. The wraiths are mine. Do not dare to cross my bottom line again.} The Fiend tried to nod but his neck was not responding!

The pressure vanished and he was able to slowly stand up.

The feeling was gone but his slave was dead, worse than dead, she was consumed. He would have to get a new one but the voice returned to his mind.

{There is another artifact. It seals the original wraith. It is a good chance to unleash that one. No one can stop it aside from my own creations. Do not do more than that.} The slate changed and he saw a strange sigil glowing on it that had not been there before.

He did not dare to ask questions as he simply infused his Qi and the slate responded. He felt a shift as something broke far away from them.

He almost pitied the Emerald Immortal. He was about to die and an unbeatable enemy would kill everyone in the Whisper Peaks.

"Time to go get a new slave." He left the golden stone room and never looked back at the pile of dust that was his former slave. He could not even recall her name.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

Deep in the heart of the Whisper Peaks, far from the remaining tower made by the demons, space split open and cracked as a sickening drain on all the Qi happened instantly.

{Freedom. After so much time. Some of the new ones died but how? You chained me here but I will become free, coward.} A massive distortion of air emerged from the opening until it snapped closed.

It extended its senses but found only a remote source of food. It did not rush off as it contemplated its situation.

{Using me to kill someone? I dislike you even more than the day you tricked me. Let me see what you fear so much.} It tried to move directly there but the winds burned it. It had forgotten the trap that ensnared it in the damn peaks!

It was forced to follow the flow and saw it would take days to reach its target. It sneered at the idiocy of the fool that harnessed it so long ago. It wanted revenge but it did not know where its captor had gone.

It flowed on the winds and felt a dozen of its descendants die. It was surprised. The 3rd layer should not have any Dao users. How were its kin being defeated so swiftly?

Occasionally, 1 or 2 dying, would be expected, but not a dozen in less than half a day!

It finally rounded a corner as an artificial structure shimmering with Qi it recognized. Celestials? Why were they helping demons and humans? They normally avoided such a situation.

Had things become that desperate?

It observed the barrier and felt shaken. It was not a Celestial formation! It was like a crude child had used the Qi to make a barrier. What was going on?

It saw another 4 die from the strange artifacts. It did not understand the principle exactly but it slowly grasped that the beams were the true threat while the weapons ripped them apart faster.

He narrowed his eyes as he saw a man with emerald hair inspecting the tower. The aura of a beast was clear but it was not a Celestial beast. So why was Celestial Qi coming off of him?

It observed a few more days until it ordered the survivors to stop attacking. They would only die unless they waited for all of them to arrive. The piecemeal attacks were useless but it was now curious.

The wraith sent a call out and waited. It wanted all its children to be together before it acted. It was finally free and it was hungry but it was not a fool. Danger lay ahead and it needed decoys.

Still, it looked at the emerald Immortal and knew it was the enemy of its captor. Still, it would not save the beast. In the end, it would grow strong and it would get its revenge!