Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1303 - 1302 - Retribution

Lind slowly awoke and found Shoti, Cyntilla, and Ethry all entertaining Abby. She was speaking animatedly with them and it brought a smile to his face. He felt a cool hand brush his emerald hair back and Qing smiled down at him.

"Foolish man, you were reckless again. However, I cannot totally blame you." Her blonde hair was like liquid gold in the candle light. He recognized his quarters and wondered how long he had been unconscious.

As if reading his mind, she carefully knelt near him so as not to interrupt the group lounging on the couches near the hearth.

"You have been unconscious for 3 days. Fey and her best students have gone out under some leads from Shoti to track down the source of that artifact. We actually confirmed it was not imported from anywhere. The teleportation arrays between layers are actually built to detect such items for obvious reasons." Lind felt shocked but then it made sense.

Grade 8 artifacts were essentially invincible in the Celestial Fields. As such, even Sovereign Tiers would keep a harsh look out for those items.

His eyes narrowed as he recalled the Inheritance spirit revealing there were 2 more possible Divine Inheritances in the 3rd layer!

It did not mean they were dormant! It simply meant they were there!

The odds of a death aligned Inheritance being in the same layer as one for creation seemed damned near impossible. Further, the odds of someone being able to smuggle such an artifact from that Inheritance into one that was contrary to any realm of just unlucky chance.

"What have we learned?" He whispered but he noticed the group paused. Abby smiled so wide he thought her face would split before she flew across the room to hug him tight. Her strength was not inferior to his!

"Master! Thank you so much!" He wanted to pat her head but his arms were locked tight against him. His wives in the room smirked at him.

"All right, you need to rest now. Go and finish your own recovery." Abby nodded and she vanished before the streak of light was swallowed by the dark cylinder laying next to his bed. He examined the arrays and was glad to see they were essentially repaired.

The markings were growing back to their peak strength. Divine artifacts were amazing.

"Kora may have found something." Shoti suddenly spoke up. The group turned to her as she produced a golden jade stone that shimmered before her massive roc form appeared.

[I am glad you are better, Lind. I wish we could catch up but I have found the source of our problem. A special realm is hiding a Divine Inheritance it seems. It is far to the west but it is near the Broken Silver Cliffs. Make a guess who has their main headquarters there.] The room became grim.

Lind felt his anger rise.

"Silver Crow Sect." He said it and all looked to see a familiar visage on him. Cyntilla and Shoti smirked while Ethry's eyes shimmered. Qing sighed but also nodded in acceptance.

The Frey Clan was going to war.

"Kora, which of their backers actually controls that realm?" Lind knew of 3 supreme powers behind the sect but her answer surprised him.

[It is not one of the 3 sects but the guilds. The guilds own the special realm by some ancient treaty. Even though the Silver Crow Sect administers entrance and exit from it now, in the past a different sect did it.]

Understanding crossed his mind. Of course!

The guilds were the true threat! The weavers were only 1 old power threatened by the rise of his Clan and allies. They all had to adapt but it was expensive, time consuming, and ultimately, too hard.

Cultivators were pragmatic in many ways. The path of least resistance was sought out due to having to struggle so hard to advance. If other powers had superior products, they became the new source of elixirs, pills, and so forth.

The profits would become more difficult to maintain and make enemies even when he tried to help them shift over.

"Which ones?" Kora flapped her wings as her sharp beak cawed before she looked back at them.

[Royal Pill Pavilion, Mystic Array Emporium, and Weaver Alliance.]

The last one was expected but the former 2 were more surprising. It also left him frustrated. If they had access to such an Inheritance, why were they not better at making their products?

Unlike Immortals that were stuck in their ways, Divine Realm cultivators had access to the Dao. It would be as close to his own theories by default, surely!

"Actually, the special realm is kind of a Ruin. It was once a trial ground but it had been used up long ago and turned into a place to mine ores and raise herbs. It has a massive stretch of land inside it. The Inheritance was never recorded before." Shoti spoke up and he slowly grasped what was happening.

"The Inheritance of Death opened and now we have a grade 8 creation artifact. That cannot be a coincidence. The spirit told me there were at least 2 other similar places like it in this layer. If I am right, it is actually a production related Inheritance." The group looked at him as he sat up on his bed.

He created a sigil that easily gave off the air of death, oblivion, and nihility. They were stunned at the ease of his action but after studying the cylinder for centuries and comprehending the area outside the Inheritance, he would have to be a very slow learner not to have incorporated those Laws into his foundation.

The sigil was twisted but stable as he then conjured a sigil that was far more complex but familiar to them all. It was full of the sensations when they observed Lind create elixirs, Forge, or weave. It was like the Laws were flowing to suggest form, purpose, or support.

It was much larger than the first but it was only floating away from the first. He forced it to stay in place as a third was created.

It gave off a strange feeling. It was like it was barely possible to grasp yet all of them felt like it was fundamental that they do understand it!

The sigil was far from solid and it hurt to try and make out its shape. It was like it was flexible yet rigid. It was strong yet fragile. It existed but could slip beneath notice.

"A soul?" Lind smiled up at Qing. She was most likely next to him to grasp the concept.

"Cultivators, in a very basic sense, rise up with the support of creation. They need pills, elixirs, formations, etc. They defy death but they can never survive without killing. How many enemies lay in the past of each Immortal?" Lind's words were easy to understand until he pointed at the last ephemeral sigil.

"The soul, however, remains a weakness. We can easily overcome the death of the body, and rise up with the help of support, but the soul can still be destroyed. Thus, the final Inheritance should be the real treasure the other 2 unlock." The attack had not come until a potential Inheritor came along.

"What makes you say that?" Cyntilla did not doubt him but it made no sense. How could 2 vastly opposing Inheritances unlock a third?

"Remember that the Divine Realm is at war like we are. The scale we cannot conceive but they have been interfering. My rebirth and others are but one aspect. The 3 facilities the Great One made are the same. Why wouldn't others do the same?" In that light, some things made sense but it still seemed a leap.

"Why do you think they are related? If that third one is for the soul as you say, why would the 3 not be just a coincidence?" Lind smiled at Ethry. She was excited but she wanted to be sure before they acted.

"That is easy, Ethry. The odds of such opposing Inheritances not only being on this layer but emerging at the same time are so small it is not worth considering. Ruins in mortal realms have some issues like that but they are patchworks. There is no balance in them at all." They all knew that well.

Ruins were the remains of Inheritances that settled until they finally collapsed into Relics or just new areas added to the land they occupied.

The diverse environments across many continents were mainly due to those Ruins.

"I am guessing that 3, or possibly more, Divine Realm cultivators conspired to send their Inheritances here to awaken at roughly the same time. I think they knew about the Great One's plans and hoped they could be overcome." It was pure theory but Lind had no other guess.

He was about to go on when a new voice spoke up.

[You think too much, Little Dragon.] All heads swiveled around the room but there was no undead that time. [Stop looking. I left a little piece in the cipher key to help it repair itself. I have been listening.]

"Senior, where am I wrong?" Lind was curious but silence was the only answer before a sigh came into their minds.

[I seem to be allowed to answer. Likely because those idiots violated the rules. Regardless, you are partially right. There is indeed an Inheritance for the soul but it is not some grand plan. It is simple retribution.]

Lind's eyes narrowed as he did not like where it was going.

[Basically, those bastards killed my creator's entire family and friends. Others suffered as well and decided to forge living weapons if they fell. The condition for our activation was the same. The death of the 3 allies.]

"You mean to turn people into mindless slaves?" Qing had strong distaste but Lind found that hard to accept. Heaven and Earth would not allow it once the person emerged. The punishment would be severe.

[Ha! You are too limited. Immortals that can advance beyond the Radiant Tier are very few. Why do you think we are here? All those legacies are not just for finding an Inheritor but spreading weapons to as many as possible. New sects, kingdoms, and empires will rise that will push cultivation forward for millions!]

It was not a bad plan. It still left one question.

"Why place them in a world that was set to die?" Lind had suspected for a while but now he was certain. There was more than one Celestial Fields!

[I do not know everything, boy. I can only tell you this: My creator knew this world would not fall. If I had arisen during the time of those mindless puppets flying around, the battle would have shifted dramatically in your favor.]

They accepted his words and could feel him pull back. Lind realized there would be more repercussions and turned to Kora's image.

"Keep an eye on them. I will recover to my peak then come. I suspect I have things to do and any who wish to join me can do so." His voice was now harsh and all of them mirrored his intensity.

Abby was a dear member of their Clan now. Someone had threatened their Clan member. They would pay. They would all pay.