Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1324 - 1323 - Silver Dream Pavilion

A new power had been actively nurtured by the various powers of the Endless Peaks. The former tragic island of the Knife Edge Bazaar followed by the fall of the guilds left it as an unattractive place to most.

There was no strategic use nor were there resources.

Yet, Lind Frey had revealed that an all important Divine Inheritance was hidden away there. The keys were found in the recently active Inheritances of Death and Creation. Almost 2000 years had passed and many resources and benefits had been retrieved from both.

The Frey Clan had imposed a rule that the other powers found acceptable. Rather than a single power laying claim to the island, the powers would form a new neutral mercantile powerhouse.

Thus, the Silver Dream Pavilion was born. It was a complete mercantile power that had a central auction house, processing center, and the main stores were also run by them. Other powers could set up shops but many noted the Frey Clan did not.

Instead, they offered their products directly to the Silver Dream Pavilion. The leaders of the island were now a council of representatives but there were several restrictions.

None of them could be higher than a Crystal Tier. If a representative was going to breakthrough, they would have to step down.

The reason for this was twofold.

The council members could reap benefits of resources or rewards from meeting goals and maintaining order on the island. The various powers would score them based on reports and the council overall would rise or fall together.

Thus, cooperation was encouraged and attempts to sabotage them were discouraged harshly.

The other reason was to get volunteers to replace members on a regular basis that shared the goals of keeping things harmonious.

No single power could have more than one member nor could they have a subsidiary power join the council. That meant that the supreme powers had severely limited power and ability to influence thanks to that rule.

It also kept them busy with the various visitors to the island.

Lind was in his human form but layered with his former human appearance as well. He had come because he had hit a bottleneck in his attempts to awaken a spirit in his right arm.

He had learned a great deal and lost a decade doing his studies. Abby had shown stunning improvement after she made that first step. She enjoyed showing off how much more powerful she had become but that was not all.

Lind learned that the sigils could be changed! She grasped the Law of Lightning one day and it burned his skin as the sigils related to Laws grew! There was no sign of instability nor other issues.

Still, it was a relatively small change for a grade 8 artifact.

The other reason he had come back to the floating island was it was the best place to get a comparison from both Inheritances. Not all items were unique or extremely rare but they were far more common on the island in general.

The Silver Dream Pavilion had a simple silver cloud symbol over its official shops but he was heading to a different area. The clang of metal and the smell of herbs faded as he navigated the crowd.

It was strange seeing rival powers acting peacefully but the laws on the island were very harsh and all agreed upon by the powers of the Endless Peaks.

Everyone knew that acting out on the island was to suffer the consequences alone. It had been tested by foolish young men and women that thought they were exceptions.

Their executions and crippling punishments went unchallenged since arrays covered the public areas and the fools had acted openly. There was no recourse for them.

There was some fallout but the supreme powers did not allow any backlash from those incidents.

Lind turned away from the shopping district and found a gated entrance with a silver cloud over it. The guards were a Shard and Crystal Tier Immortal. The men were well armored and had barbed spears. The arrays he could see spoke of dangerous attack Arts the spears could invoke at a whim.

The 2 men looked at him sharply but Lind produced a token with the Frey Clan symbol on it. It flared with his aura and the official mark of the Silver Dream Pavilion.

They nodded and the gate opened.

Even the mighty Radiant Tier Immortals could not bypass the defenses ahead. The reason being it was the heart of the intelligence branch. The information gathering skills of the Silver Dream Pavilion had far outpaced the best projections but the main information were the secrets of the 2 Inheritances and some clues to the third.

He had come for something a bit less critical to others but likely very expensive.

A young woman in silver robes with her blonde hair tied back in a neat braid bowed to him.

"Lord Lind Frey, welcome to the Silver Shadow Hall." He smirked as they knew it was him despite his attempt to disguise himself. Not many would associate the dirty blonde hair and pale skin with him.

"Do you even know why I am here?" His original appearance was now revealed as his emerald hair shimmered in the soft light of the entrance. She shook her head but there was mirth in them.

"We do not know your thoughts, Lord Frey." He sighed.

"Take me to Evie, please." The woman bowed and he followed her. Of course Evie was there. She had happily volunteered to be an 'advisor' to the intelligence gathering force. She had to take some severe Oaths.

Still, no one could argue that she was not fair. The demoness thrived in her new environment.

The actual leaders of the hall were under similar restrictions at the leading council. Three of their members were directly connected to it but let their subordinates run it.

It gave a separation of the power but Evie kept them truly neutral as there was more profit in it!

The Frey Clan, however, did have some leeway with the hall unlike other powers. The leeway was that if any threat was coming for them, the information would immediately be sent out.

Some foolish rivals had still tried to sabotage the Clan when he went into seclusion but had found themselves effectively pantsed by the Silver Shadow Hall information network.

The plush and luxurious decorations made their steps silent as he appreciated the use of the ornaments. They were both distraction and information gathering artifacts. His defenses felt the brush of several subtle auras.

[Master, I will destroy them!] Abby suddenly spoke up but he brushed his left arm gently to soothe her.

[No need. It is not active but passive. They can see nothing.] That was rock solid truth. Even if the artifacts could examine him, piercing grade 8 and above items was impossible for them.

They came to a set of steps that went up a tower but he smirked as he did not recall seeing a tower from outside the gate. Evie had been busy, it seemed.

Finally, he came to a rather familiar ornate wooden door set in dark stone. He sighed as it swung inward silently before he entered to find a small fire burning in a hearth with a gilded grill in front of it.

The mantle held several items that drew his eye as their aura was familiar to him more than ever before. The guide had vanished but he knew she was likely in the shadows of the room now.

He saw a comfortable set of couches in front of the fire but no sign of a desk or other official position but he knew she was watching him.

He was about to pick up a slate marked with profound lines of marks on it. It almost made sense to him and his right arm became warm when a familiar giggle broke his trance.

He rolled his eyes as he knew she had waited.

"I thought we were past this." The voluptuous figure with curled horns and retracted wings was now sipping tea where no one had been before.

"It is so much fun but you ruin it by knowing where I was without revealing me. You are still a stick in the mud too much!" Her banter remained unchanged but she was far more mellow compared to before.

Her time in the Frey Clan had helped her immensely and she remained forever grateful. She and Kal would never be friends but rivals were acceptable to them both.

"So, what brings you back to my door?" He sat down as he noticed there was no tea cup for him. He glanced at her but she only smiled back.

He then pulled back the sleeve of his right arm and she narrowed her eyes at it before shock crossed her face.

"You merged with a Dao Grade artifact?!" He finally smiled wide as her surprise was genuine.

"It would be more accurate to say I have been given a trial by the Inheritance of Creation. I am trying to awaken a spirit. How much to look at the archives?" Her eyes narrowed at him.

"I want you to know I owe you a great deal but that is far more than just a favor." He nodded at her but then nearly coughed up blood at the next words. "We will take 50,000 Immortal Qi Stones, high grade."

The entirety of the Heavenly Maiden Sect could be bought without that amount of Qi stone!