Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1344 - 1343 - Foundation Trial

A shift in the air around Lind brought him out of his cultivation. He looked around and the world was the same as before but now a feeling came over him. He closed his eyes and his harmony projected once more.

The moment the emerald Qi emerged the voice spoke once again.

{Soul projection confirmed. Quality of soul rated as Divine. Foundation Trial is prepared. Do you wish to begin?}

He tried to move around again but he was still stuck to the area he arrived at. It seemed he had to initiate the trial as requested.

He was curious how distant and artificial it seemed. He suspected a touch of previous lives but given the point of the Inheritance, that only made sense.

[I am ready.] The instant the words were spoken, the land around him changed. It was no longer plants but massive pillars inside a stone temple. The aura changed drastically as well.

He collapsed to the stone floor and felt like he was in his body once more but it was unlike anything before! He had no heartbeat, no breath, and no sensation of a body at all. It was more like he purely conceived the world through his mind alone.

He examined his body and noticed he seemed to be a mortal! His skin was not bad but he had no mirror to examine himself. He could see his hair was a mixture of emerald and blonde.

"What is going on?" He did not see anyone to answer him but he looked around the room and saw 3 doors.

A sigil was on each one. He examined them and felt pain across his body. He took a breath and focused on one at a time.

The left door was blue and conveyed the concept of "Qi" while the door to the right was something close to "Law" but it was not quite that. It might be better to say it was like "Laws of the Beginning" yet he had no idea what that meant.

The door in the middle was the most complex. It was a mixture of "Cultivation" and "Revelation."

"Is there an order or do I choose what will become my Foundation?" It was not clear to him and nothing gave him a clue. He approached the left door. It had no other arrays aside from the sigil.

He pushed his hand against it. Pressure filled him but surprisingly, his Qi felt stronger. He examined the flow as it washed over his soul and understood.

"The Foundation analyzes and finds my weaknesses." Time passed and the door lit up gold. It then vanished.

He felt like his soul was a bit lighter and stronger but only a bit. Clearly having half-step Dao elements put his Qi far above the level the Inheritance felt the need to interfere with.

He ignored the middle door and approached the far right one. Once again, his soul was awash in Laws. It was a strange feeling as he recognized quite a few but pain finally hit him as other Laws invaded him.

"Laws of the elements, and basic concepts are fine but something is wrong." He began to understand what he had to do. He infused his Laws to see what he had to do.

The vast majority of his Laws are far beyond the basic concept level and well into intent. Yet, he felt like it was not even close to enough. He had grasped his Laws and applied them to his understanding of his path of cultivation but that meant he had not actually focused on the Laws themselves.

It was not a mistake, exactly, but he now saw the flaw in his approach. Gravity was not a bad example. He had comprehended Law of Attraction, Repulsion, and so forth but only as they applied to his desire to use them in his techniques and Arts.

Storm Arts did not need more than bringing together the aspects necessary and so his Laws to improve it were limited by that approach. He did not delve into the depths of them beyond how to improve his cultivation path forward.

He sighed as his soul was pained as the doorway pushed him far beyond his comfort zone. He had to quickly adjust the flow of Laws or he would begin to collapse!

Time became immaterial but Lind suspected it was not infinite. He focused and used the few Laws that passed to give him a comparison. Once he understood the process better he sped it up.

His soul suddenly changed as it became far more profound and powerful. A small shockwave swept outward and brought him out of his contemplation.

He opened his eyes and found the door was gone as well.

He had already passed ⅔ of the Foundation Trial so easily? A feeling of dread filled him as he looked at the last door.

"There is no way I am getting out of this that easily, is it?" He looked around but nothing was revealed beyond what he had seen.

He was willing to bet his extensive needs as a 6 elemental had made the 2 doors easier for him than others would have it. The harsh bar he had to pass for his own cultivation had benefited him but even he had grasped that it was far from perfect.

He had focused so much on stability and balance that he had neglected exploration. It seemed the Foundation Trial tested his parameters but the final door felt different to him.

He felt like he had been taught the basics and now it was time to start the true trial.

He took a moment to confirm his soul was stable. He then approached the door. Nothing new was revealed after the last 2 doors but he did feel it was different. It would not be a simple examination and polish like the first 2.

He then brushed his fingers against it and pain was immediate even as he snapped his hand away. He collapsed as he lay on the stone floor.

Just a brush and he was incapacitated?!

{The Trial will now begin.} The voice finally spoke but instead of further explanation, the door opened!

He was about to try and get up when he heard footsteps. He looked up as a group of men and women walked in. He wondered if he had to fight them or compete against them but then felt shocked.

He recognized them! He instinctively recognized all of them!

He also felt like he was shaken to his core as he began to understand who they were. The silence felt heavy before an older woman smiled at him as she helped him back up.

"It is not what you expected, is it? You have been reincarnated and fused those 2 lives completely but that is not all you have been." Lind recalled being told his previous life was all there was to him but he had clearly misunderstood.

Souls did not exist in a vacuum but he slowly looked around solemnly as he grasped it.

"You all died and your souls dispersed. Parts of you all preceded me until you became a part of James and then me?" Many heads nodded but a few sneered at him. They were not a harmonious group it seemed but none confronted him.

What was the trial then? Did he have to incorporate them into himself? It seemed unlikely but a few were far more powerful than him right then. Were they cultivators?

"We are not here to battle you. This trial is about all of you and you must grasp what is the bedrock of your soul. Only after you grasp it, can you move forward to the Divine Realm." He nodded but it did not enlighten him.

What was he supposed to do?

He looked at the door and then saw a corridor leading somewhere. He felt a pull to go into it but the woman holding him shook her head.

"You need to understand us first. Before going to the next step, you have to see yourself in us. You have to understand the hidden facets of your soul to build your foundation. It is not something many get to do as completely as you do now." He looked around the room and began to grasp what was being asked of him.

"It is not a fight but a deep meditation and resonance?" She smiled at him and nodded.

"It is not that easy, boy. You can get lost in the past too. Can you hold onto yourself when confronted with the source? It is as much about improving as not losing yourself to the superior parts of yourself from before you existed." A robust man spoke up but his eyes were clear.

There was no deceit but a warning. Lind could burn his entire life at the step before him. He could not let that happen!

"I will not lose myself. I will ascend and face the Great One too!" Some of the people nodded but others looked at him in disappointment. The latter included the robust man and the woman.

He sighed but knew he had to prove himself in the next few moments. He had to devise a way to progress his soul while not losing himself in the process.

Nothing was ever simple!