Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1360 - 1259 - Point of the Trials

Lind had wondered what was holding him back and he now understood it was his own harmony. It was the Dao of Defiance and it recognized the trap of its enemy Fate ahead of his next step.

If Lind had simply tried to improve his Laws to the point he would take the next step and accepted the tribulations without that critical understanding of his Dao, he would have been locked into a future before the Divine Realm!

He would have been forced to accept being a sacrifice to stop the Great One or walk away from it and be killed so the many seeds he planted could take his place.

He had thought he was wrong about being used and mostly that was correct. He was not being used by Heaven and Earth as a whole. Heaven and Earth encompassed all of existence but that singular aspect that troubled cultivators all over was against disruptions.

Fate was the culmination of events flowing forward to some conclusion only Heaven and Earth might one day see. Lind had suspected the various rules and similarity in cultivation showed a plan in hints and rumors so far as cultivators were concerned.

Divine beasts were celebrated by Heaven and Earth while most other races had to face harsh tribulations to overcome the major changes in their foundations.

The celebration was only allowed under Fate's decry. Lind had never enjoyed such a thing in his tribulations. He had felt the joy of Heaven and Earth, but his tribulations were brutal.

Fate had been punishing him for not complying. He had not understood why that was until he finally realized what his harmony was.

"For a 6 elemental to become a Sovereign Tier, we must defy fate or be forever bound by it. Our path will unfold beyond our control." His future selves couldn't warn him and the creators of the 3 Inheritances must have some kind of issue with how events were going.

The Divine Realms were able to touch on the areas between lift and death so understanding the machinations of fate was not beyond them either.

Just what grand plan did fate have that the Divine Realm cultivators were desperately trying to avoid it? His own death aside, what else was being asked?

He had no answers but he now had a pointed question.

"I know you are listening, senior. Can fate see us here or do I have to make a choice to get my answer?" He spoke into the darkness. Only silence greeted him but then the streams slowed until they froze in place.

Rather than a door or any other fixture appearing, Lind felt a pull and turned into the darkness. His harmony flared and he found he could make a strange tear. It was not in space or time.

It was like he had parted a veil he never knew was draped over him until he felt it. He took a step and a gray stone room appeared around him.

A hooded figure was sitting weakly but he recognized them from their pale hands. He also no longer felt like he was in a more realistic world. It was strange. It almost felt like somewhere he had not been in a very long time.

"Are we on Earth?" A huff of laughter came from the figure.

"That is but one of many worlds outside of the normal cultivation realms. It is still part of existence but you can think of them as necessary due to what you just realized." Lind narrowed his eyes as his emerald glow came from them.

"I changed fate even as a mortal. I was told that was part of why I was given a chance with my memories intact. That was a lie because they were forced to tell me that?" Lind looked at the figure as they steepled their fingers and nodded at him.

"Very good. I knew you were compatible but you are more. You are what we have been hoping for. I cannot tell you everything but in regards to you, yes, you are being punished." Lind cracked his knuckles.

"Why?" Why would a continued existence be punishment?

"To make a very long story short, the Great One is a transcendental threat. He somehow bypassed the rules and broke the balance. The Fiends as a race are like a virus that is converting all of existence and the very rules of Heaven and Earth prevent it from taking direct action." The Divine Soul sounded exhausted as they spoke.

Lind could only stand there but he understood what was spoken of. He had felt them enough and reverted their Qi as well to know just how horrifying the Fiends were.

"So what? I am an over correction? I volunteered myself as a sacrifice when I thumbed my nose at the grand plan fate had for all the lives I touched?!" He felt anger burn in his heart. His meridians were straining to contain his Qi.

He wanted to lash out but the figure in front of him was not the source. He was just a victim.

"How strong do you think a Divine Realm cultivator is?" The question defused his anger but he shook his head.

"I have only ever been barely able to feel more than just domination when confronted with you all." A short laugh came from the Divine Soul.

"You may have encountered echoes or some kind of remnants in an Inheritance, but they are not the real thing at all. Even I, despite being a true soul shard, am nothing more than an imprint left behind to facilitate the trials." The Divine Soul stood up and sighed as they put their hand against the stone wall.

"When you face the tribulations to become a Divine Realm, you feel it at long last. The chains we all are constrained by. They are invisible and while some think of them as insidious, they do serve a purpose. Without them, the Celestial Fields would have long been turned into a resource hub for the Divine Realm. No cultivators like you have met would be allowed to exist." A coldness filled him.

The mortal realms would not even be addressed but Lind understood what they were saying.

"Do you mean that fate is the final restraint? Heaven and Earth can't stop you?" A heavy aura washed over Lind and he stumbled.

"No power you could dream of could even slow me down if I was allowed to act at my full power. There are reasons Divine Realms would love to turn the Celestial Fields into an experimental field. I can't reveal them to you due to the same restrictions but there was always a plan. Life existed to achieve milestones and allow the lower worlds to remain part of that plan uninterrupted." Lind felt a lot of his anger fade away.

It was understandable to be angry at Fate for trying to use him as a sacrifice but he had misunderstood the context. Fate was part of the system that kept the most powerful cultivators away from the worlds that could never defy them.

"The Great One broke it too, didn't he?" A solemn nod came from the Divine Soul.

"It took far too long for us to understand that. Even if he cannot evade it, he could manipulate the threshold for stopping him. Previously, a Master Tier was the only one that could do such a thing and never to this extent." The violation the Great One had done on existence was to abuse the rules to achieve his goal.

Lind felt something click into place and his aura shifted.

He felt like a weight fell away and clarity came to him with anger.

"He tried to make me a puppet! He tried to force me on a path he could control!" Realization hit him as he understood the subtle control that had been applied to him as time passed.

The tribulations were real but they gave a chance for the chains of fate to affect him. As a mortal and even to the Sky Realm, he meant nothing to the Great One. The 6 elementals were never a threat and thus Lind's success was never considered one until he crossed the true threshold towards Immortality.

His eyes blazed as he understood his contrarian decisions that came back to haunt him were not solely his. He could not blame the Great One entirely as he had to have the seed to sprout the influence from.

In other words, his decision to isolate from his family was not entirely his own! His autonomy was partially stripped from him to weaken him! He could not evade responsibility as he could have resisted!

His Mother's success in knocking sense into him before he lost his original body proved that! He was such a fool!

He stumbled and fell as the Divine Soul loomed over him.

"You are free. You are ready for the final step to the final Tier of the Immortal Realm but to become a Divine, you will be on your own. This was the point of the Inheritances. You are beyond his power now." Lind looked up and he just did not care at that moment.

"He will take my family away then. He can affect them too! He affected me and now all my bonds are riddled with attack points! He has targeted my children and succeeded in killing them! He–" Lind was slammed into the stone wall by a force he could not resist at all.

The entire room cracked and golden energy flared until they healed back up.

"Stop being a child! I am aware you are in shock but do not wallow in it! Your family?! We have all watched our family and friends die! I have watched not just my current lifetime's family be turned into food for the Fiends but all my lifetimes! Can you fathom that?! Trillions of lives have been made into their food and you dare whinge on about just yours?!" Lind was shocked out of his self pity by the words.

The pain in them resonated and he calmed down. The storm of revelation had broken his ability to adapt for a moment.

"I apologize, senior. It was like waking from a nightmare I could not shake and now I am calmed down." He was speaking the truth but the Divine Soul held him for a time until they too calmed down.

"Sigh, you have passed. You are ready but I have no idea what your tribulation will be like. It will be horrific to be sure but by how much I have no comparison. In a very real sense, you are a pioneer into unknown fields." Lind was now the one to laugh. The Divine Soul glared until they understood. "I suppose that is nothing new for you."

Lind bowed and then asked the question he still had.

"Can I win?" The Divine Soul was silent for a long time before shrugging their shoulders.

"I do not know. I only know you are not constrained by that bastard like us. We can never meet the requirements to win but you can. Do what you can for others but know that you are the only one I know of that might survive what you will face next." He nodded as he understood he was a fluke that was unlikely to be repeated anytime soon.

He turned and once more tore through the veil of the Inheritance. He then stepped through and found himself back on the island.

There was no grand fanfare and none realized he had exited. He looked up at the sky and felt Heaven and Earth looking at him closely. He smiled and vanished. He had some things to resolve before taking the step to the Sovereign Tier.