Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1327 - 1326 - Lost Realm

Lind awoke slowly as his body ached all over. His sinuous body scraped on some stone but he felt some trees snap like twigs before he blinked his eyes open. He was blinded by a far too bright flash of light.

It was not just the sun!

He conjured a shade over his vision and saw 3 suns!

He was in a small range of mountains like the lower realms. There were no Endless Peaks and no feeling of Laws nor Qi like he was used to. It was not barren, it was quite rich actually.

The land was strange, however. It looked normal but all his senses felt like it was made up of a different kind of matter.

He carefully carved a scratch into the stone of the small mountain but was stunned when it healed right in front of his eyes.

[Haro?] Silence answered. [Abby?]

Neither spirit answered. He attempted to use his ring and found no issue, but the spirits were totally silent. He had a few more spirit tools he had not bonded but they were brand new and not fully formed.

He did not dare to bring them out but he checked them in his ring. They seemed fine but again, dormant.

He looked across the horizon for any signs of civilization, trials, or anything but it was natural.

What was going on?

He floated up and noticed his cultivation flight was sealed but not his draconic flight. He quickly shot into the sky and slammed into a barrier. It was about 50 kilometers above the surface but it was enough room for him to move around.

He looked around and noted the land was flat, not curved, so it was not a world. He pushed his speed to the maximum but the blur of land and sky was all he noted until he stopped.

The massive forest was quite normal but there were no beasts, people, or even insects. What was going on?

He thought it might still be an Inheritance but there was no trial, no spirits even at all.

[Can anyone hear me?] He tried to call out as he had no other lead but there was no answer. He was about to try and simply start exploring when he felt a disturbance far to the east. The suns were his point of relative direction and he quickly flew towards them.

The world blurred even more than before. The wind whistled until he slowed down.

His instincts were telling him he was being watched. He swept as far as he could but found nothing. Not even a ripple in the elements or Laws.

[I am called Lind Frey. I would like to know why you brought me here.] He kept his tone civil but did not sugarcoat his irritation. He wanted to know what was going on. If the other True Lord wanted to fight, where were they?

Why was someone so aggressive now hiding from him? What was going on?

A trap? A diversion? Some other goal than combat?

He was about to roar when a flash of azure caught his eye. Normally, such a color would pass him by without comment but that particular shade froze his heart. He nearly tumbled out of the sky.

He shot towards where he saw it. It couldn't be, it just couldn't!

He saw the flash again in the sea of green trees and dove down into them to find a lake shimmering like gold with the 3 suns. He quickly looked around but did not find what he was looking for. Was he hallucinating? Was he being tricked?

He had to be. He just had–

"My Lord, the water is quite nice, please join me." A voice he had not heard in close to 10,000 years shook him as he quickly glanced down into the water to see a familiar woman looking back at him.

Her azure hair was slicked back as her reptilian azure eyes looked at him warmly.

Her tempting figure was just as he remembered and her aura was at the peak of the Shard Tier.

Her pale skin was just as he remembered but the person in front of him was impossible. She was dead.

[I will give you one chance. Tell me the truth or I will unleash my wrath here and now.] His cold tone made her face scrunch up in confusion but then she became solemn as she quickly left the water and knelt on her knee.

"Command me, my Lord." Anger rose in him as the inflection and actions so closely matched the woman he knew but it could not be her.

[I watched Lanbao die for me. She sacrificed herself to save my life from the Great Bastard. Do not tread on her memory or I will happily burn my dantian to destroy this place.] His fury was clear but the woman in front of him looked confused before a new voice interrupted them.

"A bit rude to yell at a naked woman, boy. I thought you were more polite than me? Has that witch rubbed off on you?" An irreverent voice spoke from the tree line and a man with dark hair and playful eyes sauntered out.

The plain sword at his hip and simple battle robes only irritated Lind more. His rage was building when a voice he never wanted to hear again spoke up.

"An ungrateful bastard yourself should be more lenient about others. Or has my son broken his own rules?" A robust man stepped forth with blonde hair and tanned skin with fine robes lounging on a stump with wine.

The charming smile and youthful figure was a far cry from the crippled old man he had once met.

[Since you refuse to comply, only death awaits us.] His dantian flared with power as he let the Qi run wild. The half-step Dao elemental cores made space bend around him which made the 3 figures flinch with alarm.

The power built up and he did not stop it. The point of no return was approaching when the world shifted. The 3 figures vanished and a simple stone table and chairs appeared at the edge of the lake.

Lind brought his dantian under control but he was sweating profusely and his body burned as it repaired itself. The opponent had taken things to the limit but he transformed once his body was under control again.

He collapsed bonelessly into one of the chairs and waited.

He felt no one approach but a figure suddenly filled the chair across from him. Their gender, features, and any identifiable aura was all hidden. It was, essentially, a blur across from him.

[You are strange. Many would kill to see loved ones long dead. Even old enemies brought back to gloat at your success would be welcome, yes? Yet, you were willing to die to draw me out, why?] The voice was impossible to place.

Lind narrowed his Eyes as he stripped away the illusion.

He was surprised that his guess was wrong.

It was not an Elemental at all, but a beast on par with him. Further, he could feel a familiar level of power from them.

"What kind of Divine Phoenix are you?" His question made the figure shoot up but then they hung their head before dismissing the defenses they put up. A youthful man was revealed with midnight black robes covering him.

His hair and eyes matched but his skin was shimmering. It was not flesh but flames.

"I am surprised. You did not strike me as an illusion master." Lind smiled as he shrugged back.

"My ex-wife was granted the title of Goddess of Illusions by the Sovereign Tiers. While we no longer speak, I learned a great deal from her." His words brought a smile to the youth.

"I am surprised a dragon would let a mate leave him. You are not known to be so forgiving." Lind grimaced at those words.

"I was the one at fault." The youth arched an eyebrow before shrugging.

"Unimportant. I am True Lord Divine Void. You gave me your mortal name, what is your Dao title?" Lind frowned as that seemed unimportant but he did not want to offend.

"I am True Lord Lind Frey. The only Dao title known is the Emerald Immortal." The youth frowned but then slowly nodded as if something was revealed to him. Lind could still not tell what realm the youth was in but he had an answer to one of his questions already.

"How many rebirths have you been through?" Divine Void narrowed his bottomless eyes at him before sighing.

"The fact you know that means you somehow laid claim to one of my people?" Lind rolled his eyes before shaking his head.

"I am allowed to have friends, you know." The tension faded before the phoenix bowed to him.

"I have been Perfectly Reborn close to 100 times since I retreated to this realm of mine." Feng had only done a handful and she barely made it but this youth had done it over 100 times?!

"Why?" It made no sense. The timescale put it over a billion years ago. Why did the Divine Void hide away like that?

The youth side as he scratched the side of his face.

"I suppose that means you are a new True Lord. I did not want to deal with the games or politics. I did not want to be drawn into conflicts. Mostly, I reached a bottleneck in my cultivation that I could not answer." Lind looked confused but the youth's next words made his blood run cold. "I despise what the others have done and I lost a duel. I could not accept my loss of face. So, I retreated to try and perfect my foundation."

Petty. The phoenix was petty!

"Why show me the dead?" The Divine Void looked at him as if he was slow.

"How better to evaluate someone than how they react to those critical to them. Your heart is too open, junior. You need to let go of the lesser beings to be above all others as you are meant to be." Lind narrowed his gaze as a chill filled him.

Given the context of the conversation, a fear reared its head.

"Why am I here?" The youth smiled as a tea set was summoned.

"Why else? You are young and I need to affirm my place in the hierarchy. I do not know why no True Lord or my fellow phoenixes have not come in so long, but it is time for my return and you are perfect. Will you die for me?" It was then that Lind noticed a detail he had missed.

The dark eyes were crazed. The phoenix was insane!