Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1311 - 1310 - 3 Laws

Lind found 2 more platforms but was as unhindered as before. It was only at the 2nd platform that he grasped each one was for a single Law. There were various individuals cultivating but just as covered in dust if not worse than the first platform.

The Law of Growth was the first one and the most common. The other 2 Laws were on each respective platform but he breezed past them. He was uncertain of the mechanism as he felt nothing but the aura around each cultivator gave him the clue.

Finally, he was moving up the stairs and felt some resistance. It was not Law but Dao. It was only a slight shift but he realized he was finally getting into the proper area of the Inheritance.

[You have passed the aspect, depth, and integration of Laws. Welcome, contender, you are currently the 74th entrant.] The spirit spoke again but no one appeared. It must have been a standard message, not a conscious one.

He looked around but was not sure what he was seeing. There was a corridor ahead of him but it was like he could not see much more than a few meters. He could feel it went longer but there was nothing else.

He sighed before stepping through the entrance. A familiar feeling washed over him. He recognized the power of the 3 Laws that governed the Inheritance increasing in strength. His vision cleared to reveal a stunning vista.

The feeling of it being more real than him was familiar. It was not a natural forest in front of him but something crafted. It was too neat and tidy with a clear set of paths entering the woods.

The grass was as high as his knee but his senses warned him of danger. It was not like the Inheritance of Death that apparently dropped people into battles, near death experiences, or more that left mental scars on some that had come out broken.

He felt like the path ahead was not as simple as it appeared. He let his senses spread carefully but he found no beasts or plants that would be an issue. Still, he trusted his instincts.

He took up a lotus position and let the environment wash over him without distraction. His draconic instincts were silent for a change but his instinct as a cultivator still felt disquiet in the grassland and forest.

It was only when he looked at the Laws that a smile spread on his face.

"Clever test." Lind saw that the Laws were not quite right. The balance was off. A normal forest would follow natural cycles and thus the Laws would be in harmony. The grasslands and forest ahead of him were not in harmony at all!

The Law of Life was nearly overpowering compared to Growth and Restoration. That was not an issue per se but Lind saw actual suppression by 1 Law over 2 which should only be possible if a plant or beast was invigorating it.

There was still no sign of such a source, so where was it coming from? The Inheritance itself. He was in a trial or test but no explanation was given.

He let his harmonic Qi flow around him. He tried to grasp the truth of what was going on but it was not as simple as trying to make things in balance. The Laws resisted any change he tried to make.

It was not about correcting it then but something else.

He studied the plants and how the Laws defined them before he realized something. They were trying to grow! They were trying to grow beyond the ability of the soil to sustain them!

He saw the trees snap off a branch at times as they regrow them slowly. He focused and finally realized why he was not feeling any plant above a mortal realm.

"I see. Cultivation is defiance of Heaven but Laws can restrict it if they are not in balance. Can't comprehend or absorb if things are being suppressed." It was a fascinating observation but quite obvious.

If the Laws were strong enough, no mortal could overcome them. Yet, that was not how Laws worked. Heaven and Earth did not alter Laws to impede any more than was naturally allowed.

Even the tribulations could not switch from a trial to punishment unless the cultivator had done something to trigger it. The unnatural state of the Laws showed Lind there was something there.

If he was not meant to fix the imbalance, then what was the point?

An Inheritance did not have random events, not even the false ones he once encountered. It was all meant to be of use to those that entered. Since there was no clue, Lind stood up and tried the direct approach.

He stepped off the stone platform and walked into the grass.

The instant he did so, his own Laws vanished! His body, once so light but powerful, became heavy and clumsy. He recognized his current state!

His hair, still trailing down to his back, was no longer emerald! He was human again! He also could not feel any Qi in him at all!

He looked over his body and slowly understood what had happened.

"So, if the Laws were balanced like this, I would thrive but could not cultivate. I see." He had a guess what was going on but since he could no longer extend his aura, he could only use his eyes and ears.

Oddly, his Talent was intact in regards to his eyes! He felt exhausted using it even a little but he saw a flow of Qi moving towards the trees. Oddly, he could only see the flow and not the elements making it up.

He walked forward and felt his body was far too unwieldy. He was too used to his old body and the mortal body was not in sync with his mental image of himself.

He sighed as he walked through the grass but there were still no beasts, insects, or anything reacting to him. It was odd. Plants and insects at least lived symbiotically with each other.

Beasts also played a role in the propagation of plants too. Yet, there were none. How did the plants thrive?

Lind froze at that thought as a smile crossed his face.

"I see. Is that what you are showing me?" He recalled the suppressed Laws of Growth and Restoration. They were suppressed but they still worked! The Law of Life meant things could exist but such an unnatural forest could only be there at all because the other 2 tried to reach a balance.

Lind turned and saw no sign of the stone platform but he doubted it would be as easy as he thought even with his cultivation base unsealed. He then pondered his own body and why his Talents still worked even if in a limited way.

"The soul. Law of Life cannot change my soul." Emerald Qi suddenly flared as Lind restored his cultivation with his dragon soul! Life was strictly about physical existence. The Law of Existence would have changed his soul outright but Life could not.

His aura swept outward but now he could see what he missed before. The plants were there, but the spark of existence was not! No wonder the other 2 Laws could not overcome Life.

"Three Laws are imbalanced not because of some strange imposed rule but because this forest has no soul. Easy." His Qi found resistance but he focused on a single blade of grass.

It flickered in the wind but he connected to it and Forged it. A spirit tool was born but that was all it needed. The instant a spirit took hold, the 3 Laws suddenly shifted!

Qi flooded into the forest and he finally saw what it was. Spirit Qi. It was isolated until he infused it into a single blade of grass. Once started, the process could not be stopped.

Beasts and insects began to manifest instantly at the Soul Realm. Lind felt like he had grasped something important that he had overlooked about Laws.

They weren't harmonious naturally. They needed more than life to exist but spirits to create the one thing that made life possible, a will!

His eyes glowed as his cultivation advanced slightly. He was nearly at the peak of the Radiant Tier but his foundation had been neglected due to his reborn body and various distractions.

His mental state needed a lot of work too due to his own foolishness and confrontation with the Great One.

It had all been barely addressed over the last millennium as he had to focus on his Clan and the annoying gnats that would not let him settle in peace. Becoming the leader of a great power was the dream of many but it was a trap to Lind.

His progress slowed to a crawl or invited vulnerabilities he did not always handle well. Heart demons were an ever present danger to all cultivators.

Now, he could finally focus and the comprehension he just had expanded. He had always treated the interaction between Laws like the elements.

Elements had a balance due to their nature and the 3 sets also proved his point between each other, but Laws were not able to stand alone. Laws were born not on their own but from the world they existed in!

"So does that mean barren Mortal Realms are because something is missing from them? Is that why artificial bridges can be introduced without destroying them?" He recalled the floating mountain and the 3 dragon guardians.

Despite being imposed, the mortal realm had not changed much. He was about to devote thought to it when a woman appeared in front of him. She had not manifested like the other creatures. She had on verdant robes and had a healthy tan from someone that worked under the sun happily.

[The riddle had been solved. The door is open for you to continue. Do you wish to attempt a legacy trial, improve your foundation, or follow the path of an Inheritor?]

Lind was shocked! Since when does an Inheritance just let you choose what to do next?!