Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1214 - 1213 - Taboo

"Divine Realm?!" The demonic commander fell loosely into his chair. The room they were in had a massive oval table of stone. There were several demon leaders and an aether child of earth and light Qi.

Lind stood calmly as he relayed their new situation. The small fox girl had sworn an Oath that she too had felt the Divine Realm as identified by her race memory.

"How can we fight such a thing? It can simply sweep us aside like ants!" One of the demons panicked but Lind let them sort out their emotions. He was busy testing some rudimentary experiments on fusing elements to his soul.

Sadly, his harmony made it easy.

Still, he found some things that made him frown. Fusing his own soul was easy and allowed him to see new ways to use his elements in the future, but to do it to others would cross a line he had sworn not to do.

He still had to talk to the fox girl to be sure but he suspected the method she brought up was the limit of what they could do.

He tuned back in to find the conversation had devolved to a fist fight. The tension had been building for some time but now he sighed as it was clear the demons really needed to vent more than even he had believed.

He let his draconic aura flood the room which brought everything to a halt. His emerald eyes locked everyone in place as he held up his hands briefly to let his emerald flames wash over the room.

All were amazed as the raging emotions seemed to be soothed. It was only then they realized it was an Art!

Lind had Qing contribute to the Art but she was the one that could use it far better than he. The Solace Flame Art was literally able to give mental calm to anxious hearts and minds.

Qing had used similar Arts but his harmony took it to the next level. After Wyndam adapted it, Lind worked with her to improve it. He rarely used it as it was a bit flashy with his harmonic flames.

"The situation will not change no matter how many hits you exchange. Tell them what you told me." The little fox girl wilted but she quietly relayed the method her race memory shared.

Grim looks appeared in the room but Lind knew it was going to get worse.

"Are there any weavers in the tower?" The aether child actually raised his hand. Lind looked at him carefully and could see he was only a 6th Circle weaver. Still, it was enough.

"Come with me." He then swept from the room which made the demons balk but no one could argue as the little fox girl followed the pair out. Silence was heavy between them until they came to the forge.

Lind activated his personal barriers. The aether child looked surprised at the glowing walls of Qi.

"You are also a Law Grade weaver?!" His tan and gold eyes made Lind smirk briefly.

"You understand what she explained about poisoning the wraiths?" The aether child slowly nodded. "Your thoughts?"

The little fox girl looked confused but she would soon understand.

"Lord Emerald Immortal, I only barely became a 6th Circle weaver. I do not have many sigils either at that grade. Yet, the darker side of our profession is all too easy. I take it that fusing elements to a soul requires us to break the taboo?" Lind nodded at him.

"Observe." Shock flashed over the ather child's face until he almost fell as Lind demonstrated his harmony and pieces of spiritual Qi with elements becoming one.

"H–h–how did you do that without any price?!" Lind confirmed what he already knew. The Soulmancers from the Heaven Realm Lands had been emaciated for doing a half-hearted attempt to mimic Fiends but now he knew it was also a side effect of altering souls like that at all.

"My soul is a little unique. It is already fused to an aspect of my cultivation and I found elements easily join it without making any change." The man nodded slowly but so many questions clearly shone in his eyes.

Lind demonstrated what he had learned and that it was still taboo. If he performed the same action on anyone else, his soul would become corrupted. It left him with many problems in regards to the direct approach.

"So what can we do, Lord Emerald Immortal?" The aether child was a Shard Tier, so a fairly powerful Immortal, but his question was spot on.

"If we cannot manipulate souls directly, we need to make weapons that can use that power and trap the bastard." The aether child and fox girl looked at him like he was mad but did they really have the option to be picky?

Lind showed some of his spirit weapons and started working with the aether child to see if they could fuse elements into them. They were his creations so they did accept new elements fairly easily but the artifacts or tools broke instantly.

A taboo was a taboo no matter what they tried. They did not become corrupted working on the spirits but it was clear there was no need to.

Lind observed the aether child's technique and found it lacking on many levels but a few pieces were inspiring. The application of traces to bridge a complex weaving rather than stack sigils was quite useful.

It allowed for some more rigid structures that his lacked at times.

Lind made simple grade 1 - 6 items to see if he could replicate the effect the fox girl said they needed.

In the end, he had smoking piles of trash that showed Heaven and Earth would not bend on that particular taboo.

Living beings could withstand the changes but only just. Inanimate objects, even with a spirit, simply broke.

"Is there no other way? Nothing in any of your race memory to stop these things?" She shook her head as her ears wilted. It was not her fault but the frustration was impossible to hide from his voice.

His idea was dead.

Running away was not happening either. He could feel the pressure building outside.

Lind was being backed into a corner. He knew, for a fact, there WAS a power he once had that could work. It was no longer with him and he refused to be forced back into it. Besides, he had no idea how to get it back anyway.

"We are going to die here?" Her small voice broke his ruminations. He wanted to say no and that there was a way but truly, they were screwed.

The aether child looked crestfallen and simply left. Their hope had fallen to ash in their hearts and there was nothing anyone could do to bring it back.

Lind picked her up and comforted her. He was pursuing strength but it seemed the road had come to an end. He almost laughed at the irony. All that time wasted lifting people up and teaching them had led him to heights of power many dreamed of but fell short.

Now, he had abandoned it and met the same fate as them.

Heaven and Earth were fair. Reward and punishment in equal measure it seemed.

Her even breathing told him she was asleep so he tucked her onto a simple hammock strung up in a corner. Beds were a luxury in the tower.

He then slowly went up through the tower and saw what he expected. The news had spread and hope was dead. People were seeking solace, trying to leave something behind to explain what happened, or just staring into space.

He could see some were trying to tear through space to escape but it was now locked down. The desperation did not escalate into fighting because there was no point. Death was coming and it was just how you wanted to face it.

Lind felt calm. All his rushing and planning came to nothing in the end. He was going to die and the Great One would likely continue with his plans for the Celestial Fields in the future.

The soulless would effectively seal off the 4th layer forever.

All it would take was 1 Radiant Tier ascending and the lower realms were doomed too.

He finally came to the top of the tower and found the demon commander there.

"I heard your idea won't work." Lind shrugged.

"We could break the taboo but that means sacrificing everyone for nothing. The Divine Realm can simply not consume us and leave. It is only here for a snack like any predator." The 2 stared out at the shimmering barrier as the winds howled.

Lind let his senses follow the wind and just enjoyed it. He felt the profound Laws making up the drafts and slowly grasped the new flows that had–

His eyes suddenly narrowed. The wraiths had been sealed away but when they came back the drifts changed! Why did they change?! Why couldn't the wraiths leave?!

His eyes lit up emerald and his vision found nothing nearby but he then let his Touch follow his aura along the drafts to the very edge of the Whisper Peaks he could reach.

It was just barely there. Something at the very limit and barely detectable with his Touch and aura combined.

An artifact! It was only grade 7!

He analyzed it swiftly and shock filled him! An idiot! He was a grade A supreme idiot!

"OF COURSE!" He leapt down and raced back down through the tower. There was a chance! A slim but very real chance that did not need the taboo at all! Life filled him and his aura seemed to enliven all he passed.

Word quickly spread as the sound of metal on metal came from the forge.

The Emerald Immortal had not given up!