Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1318 - 1317 - Maze of Existence

Aside from the name, there were no more clues nor even an introduction for Lind to know what was going on. He did notice one thing, however.

There was no dust but his Eyes and Touch confirmed there had been no disturbance to the background Qi in a very long time. Even if a cultivator was only passing through, they would leave disruptions in their wake.

The fact all he could feel was the maze told him no one had come to it yet. He would be the first.

His boots made almost no sound on the stone which was odd but as soon as he crossed the threshold, the light and sounds dimmed immensely. He felt like his senses were muted rather than the world.

He looked around and found the shadows were deeper than they should be with the open air exposed at the top. He brushed his fingers on the smooth surface and was surprised when he could barely feel it!

That was not all, he could barely make out the flow of blood and breath in his body! He had assumed no one had come before him but he was not leaving any impression at all either!

What was going on?

Lind had assumed it would be a test of some aspect of the Laws to figure out the maze but it seemed more essential than that. How were the Laws of Life, Rejuvenation, and Growth related to his current circumstances?

He was not feeling any danger but it was like he had stepped beyond life inside the maze.

He then simply looked to the left and right to the identical passages. There was no sign of any difference in them but a maze indicated there was a right way and a wrong way. He sighed and simply went right.

The twists and turns were all identical with no deadends. It was like the passage of time was equally distant to him. The light never changed no matter how long he walked. He never repeated a turn and never came to a room or other trial either.

He backtracked at one point and was stunned to find he recalled the route perfectly and it took him to the door but he could not leave! He ran into some kind of barrier but he did not feel anything there at all!

He tried several tests and could not find an answer. The dull sensation was not getting worse but it was becoming annoying. He was still corporeal as far as he could tell but it was like he was not on the same plane as the maze.

Yet, he was able to sense and manipulate Qi like normal. He could use his Arts, cultivate, or even just move the motes of Qi with his Touch. So what was going on with the maze?

What was the point of it? No trials, no tests, and no clues at all! He sat at the entrance and tried to cultivate before he finally noticed an oddity.

He had thought the maze had formations to prevent the people inside from not knowing the passage of time but instead he saw something stunning.

Time was not passing at all! The sunlight streamed down with motes of dust frozen inside the beams. He saw the blades of grass were not moving.

Time was stuck so what was he moving? He looked around the interior of the maze and realized it was not flowing there either.

"Time is not flowing and I feel suppressed. Am I actually suppressed or is the frozen time the reason I am unable to feel normal?" He looked up and saw the name of the maze once more.

He slowly felt a shocking revelation about it. It couldn't possibly be that, could it?

He tried to exercise the 3 Laws of the Inheritance and found none of them worked at all! Some Laws did, but not those!

"The passage of time is not working because I do not exist outside this moment!" It was literally a place where only a single moment existed. In that moment, all the Qi, Laws unaffected by being frozen, and other changes could be affected but that was all.

The entire maze was the trial! How was he supposed to overcome it?

Prove his existence? Force the Laws to work to move time forward? Neither felt right and far too simple.

Why have the maze if that was all there was to it?

A maze was to be conquered or solved but he had never once run into a deadend or obstacle.

His head snapped up at that as he looked at the frozen moment. He then got up and went back down the hall to the first intersection. He then sat down and studied the 2 passages for any inconsistencies.

He found nothing at first but very slowly he felt a slight shift in the Qi. It was not easy to discern but the flow of Qi in the first corridor was slightly different. It was like it had a difference but not in a way he was used to understanding.

It was not a Law. It was not a Dao either from what he could tell. It was something else.

He understood the spirit had been right, the Inheritance was testing him as it pushed him to grasp something far more fundamental.

His mind was being pushed not only to understand what he was sensing but to examine himself.

Life, Growth, and Rejuvenation were understood as concepts, Laws, and Even brushing on Daos, but strip away a fundamental part of reality, and what were they? What was anything a cultivator did?

They absorbed Qi in a regulated and intense fashion while pushing their bodies well past their limits. They faced tribulations with their improved bodies to violently cross major thresholds after reaching the limit of each plateau.

It was absurd on the face of it but it was the truth. Yet, Lind realized he had taken for granted something basic as he advanced.

Cultivators had to choose. They had to choose to take that step forward. He slowly stood up and let his intent to advance fill him. The corridor suddenly had a current of air as he moved from one moment to the next.

It was not just symbolic, it was his desire to advance. The scene changed and the golden stone was replaced by striated gray and black stone.

"So, I have to justify and understand existence. The most basic is the intent to cultivate. I wonder what this maze will hold for me." A grin crossed his face as he understood what awaited him.

The Maze of Existence was not a simple application of the Laws or Dao but challenging the very foundation of cultivation itself. Each corridor and intersection was not about mapping out the physical maze but exploring the foundation of existence itself!

He looked around the new corridor and saw that behind him now matched the currently changed stone. There was no way back now.

He noticed time was flowing once more but the feeling of not being totally there remained. He noticed his internal flow of Qi was now faint too. His dantian was fine but even his harmony was subdued.

He began to walk forward and examined the stone around him. The black and gray made intricate patterns but no sign of formations. He was not sure why the stone changed but the feeling of dampness also came to him.

He saw no signs of water but the feeling persisted. He also noticed the corridor was no longer a straight shot but a sinuous turning mess.

It took him an unknown amount of time to reach the next actual intersection. He had a headache just looking down the corridors but took a seat and examined it once more.

It was easier now that he knew what to look for but it felt different.

Before, it was fundamental to all cultivators but now it felt personal to him. He was to grasp why he existed? Wasn't that a bit much?!

He had to be wrong.

He concentrated on the sensations he was piecing together before he frowned. It was not personal to him, it was actually him! It was a draconic essence!

He realized his Qi was not faint because it was the focus but the actual existence of dragons.

It was also not about justifying existence but realizing where the more fantastical beasts came from. They were not just born in a vacuum or manifested like some aether beasts.

It was once more the intent of Laws and Daos coming together.

Lind began to understand the purpose of the maze even more. It was about the intent of things to just exist. Cultivation, beasts, and everything!

He smiled as he realized he was being too simple before. It was not just about the intent to cultivate or manifest the power of dragons. It was the very basic principle that would allow Laws and Dao to exist.

"So that is the point of this place. You get lost in the justifications and layers of just being. Let's see if I can make this a bit shorter." His harmony suddenly flared as his mind focused on something he remembered.

He had rebuilt his body in the spirit world. He had grasped secrets even with his swiss cheese for a memory of that time. He did, however, recall the truths about the 3 elemental systems and now the Inheritance had propelled him even farther.

His Dao was not one to be denied! Resistance built up but Lind sneered. The Inheritance was trying to force him to grasp the truths behind existence itself to make him see what becoming the Inheritor could give him access to.

It was not a lie but it was a restraint. It was a set of chains he did not want to carry.

Instead, he would show the Inheritance what he had grasped as his own core of his existence.

The harmonic flame finally blazed into full life and power. The sound of cracking was heard as the world shifted and a nauseating feeling washed over him.

His body tumbled down a hill until he splashed into some kind of vibrant water. Vitality flowed into him as he broke the surface and looked around.

He could see it! The walls, rules, and even the Dao faintly! The Maze of Existence was a giant thought engine made up of a massive weaving! It was far beyond anything he had ever seen!

His eyes hurt trying to analyze it but he knew enough. He saw the sigils repairing that he had broken. He looked around and wondered where he had come to as it was not a reward for passing or the next step.

He was outside the control of the Inheritance of Creation!