Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1427 - 1426 - Flexibility of the 4th Layer

Lind was taking a break after crafting a particularly complex set of weavings and artifacts for the arena.

It was reaching a point that he could not recover as easily as he was now working on the protections and isolations of each special area. It was frankly a nightmare.

Peak Sovereign Tier power could be contained by another but not with ease or for any length of time.

Emotions would be running high so he had to make defenses that could withstand them for a very long time. He had several solutions but it drained him completely dry just to make progress.

Thankfully, he had a long time to build!

His wives had pulled him away for many actual breaks as well as dates and other activities. Annabelle and Lysanna had rekindled their relationship but they were different. Lysanna was a far more accomplished warrior rather than the administrator role she had preferred before.

She also kept in contact with the children and grandchildren far more than any of them despite leaving the Frey Clan. He enjoyed the stories she told him during their time together.

Neither he nor they had gone farther than talking and dating, however. He was going to do things right and see if they really could fall in love again.

Now, however, he was currently being amused by ephemeral Elementals happily floating around him. Aside from other Elementals, he was the only being that could understand their simpler thoughts.

The truly shocking thing was the fact they were demonic Elementals! He had never even known they existed!

They were unique to the 4th layer and very rare from what the current group told him. The Elemental envoy from the Convocation had been from a sect they had created far from many other powers.

Apparently the majority of Elementals lived in the cloud like collections that had no fixed place. Only flying aether beasts encountered them but had no interest in them at all. He was also curious how the solids could hide within them as their cores should not be able to do that.

The Sovereign Tier Elementals apparently had far more control than the lower tiers.

None of that mattered as his emerald hair was being moved by the weak Elementals. He smiled as his vertical slits narrowed to see what he could but they were just demonic Elementals compared to the ones he had known thus far.

He also looked at the far too slim woman in front of him and frowned.

"There is no difference in these little ones but you are saying all recorded Immortal Demonic Elementals turn out like you?" She looked at him with her own frown but he noticed the human-like counterparts were just about normal dimensions give or take the perfection of their forms.

Why would such drastic differences occur?

"When did you notice the increase?" The reason they had come was in hopes of finding out why there had been a sudden spike in demonic Elementals. Unlike the part everyone was familiar with, even the Elementals themselves had no answers about the demonic variation.

Lind also wondered why aether children were never demonic but mortal realms were usually tilted towards natural Qi.

Celestial Qi only existed in the Celestial Fields unless in a Ruin, Inheritance, or so forth. It was simply too profound for lower realms otherwise.

Yet they were at the very peak of it all. They stood at the precipice of leaving the Celestial Fields behind so maybe the changes happening revealed even more possibilities no one had explored before.

"It was a few thousand years ago it was confirmed but we have no way of knowing when it started for certain. The only thing we could confirm was it was before any of your 6 elementals ascended to the 4th layer." He saw why she would think that but he did not think it was that simple.

Overcoming a formation or manufactured item due to being built on the old elemental theories was one thing, but causing a shift to allow a whole separate race to suddenly appear.

That was more the purview of Heaven and Earth than anything they could do.

"I would like to try something, may I?" He switched back to the young ones and felt their agreement. His emerald flame appeared in his good hand.

He altered it quite a lot until his Eyes caught it.

A strong reaction from all of them but it was not demonic Qi that was doing it. It was Celestial Qi!

"Of course, the greater imbalance the Fiends have caused all this time is getting undone but this layer is more malleable than the others." His words were mumbled but all around him seemed to want to egg him on.

What made sense to him?

Lind looked around his Throne with his aura very carefully and found a good place to try out his theory.

"Follow me, please." They all took to the air as they crossed wondrous looking lakes, mountains, and forests of various elemental sets.

The Harmonic Dragons were happy to see their Ancestor, but felt his need to move without stopping.

It took a full day before they all felt a shift in the air that made them uncomfortable save Lind and the demonic Elementals.

They became far more invigorated, including Milaner. Her eyes lit up as she felt better than any could recall seeing her before.

"If you cannot continue, do not try to. Celestial Qi is the correct form of Fiend Qi. It is still inimical at the purity we are heading into for anyone but me and those compatible with it." His words drew their attention to the discomfort as all but he and the Elementals stopped.

There were dragons mostly in golden hues like the Celestials themselves.

He landed at a lake that was flowing up a cliff unlike what gravity should do normally. Celestial Qi caused strange effects but not all were opposite to physical law. It was more like the flow of water just could not be stopped by petty things like gravity.

The trees, ores, and all resources were truly strange to normal expectations but that was not his goal for the day. Instead he took his guests to the heart of the area and stopped.

A shimmering flame that seemed to not quite illuminate so much as it burned to just perceive it. Celestial Fire was the antithesis of natural fire. It did not consume like normal fire nor did it ignite the same, but the flame at the heart of the current area was more than that.

It was a harmonic flame! The Celestial Qi was far more limited in its harmonies as the rules of Celestial Qi still applied. Manipulation of basic forces, Laws, and probably Dao once it grew strong enough.

Even now, he saw several aspects of Laws being changed in the churning flames. It was strange to see such a thing but only those with Law Eyes could see it.

"Please try to cultivate here for a while. I will play with the little ones." He spoke gently and Milaner nodded in a daze as she assumed a lotus position and Qi flowed into her.

He observed her just to confirm nothing was going wrong but then focused on the small ones and guided them to cultivate.

Much like young human kids, they were easily distracted or asked many questions that he only partially grasped.

"I see, I was right." They truly were demonic Elementals but they needed Celestial Qi to actually properly cultivate. The Celestial Qi was far more pure in front of the flames so it was refining natural Qi into pure demonic Qi.

It also seemed to shift some of the Laws that the local Harmonic Dragons appreciated.

It was not even a few days when most of the small ones became more consistent in their phantom shapes. Their thoughts were also more coherent.

"Very good. You can play now." Cheers filled his mind as they scattered. He warned the dragons but they had no issue with the Elementals at all.

He returned to Milaner and her flesh was more filled out. She was still lithe overall but much more feminine compared to the near stick figure she literally had been before. Still, her joints were as flexible as ever.

She slowly opened her eyes and he saw her hair was now down to her shoulders and vibrant. Her eyes were shifting in a much more healthy pattern but tears fell down her cheeks.

"How?" He smiled and sat down across from her.

"This is still a theory but partially confirmed. When I was in the 1st layer, I met Celestials. They were very rare but it was nearly 40,000 years ago in real time, more for me. The point, though, is that Celestial Qi was sparsely in the background. It was returning." He relayed the truth about Fiends to her.

Shock crossed her face but then he picked up the sand that actually stayed in mid-air when he let it go. It would eventually settle but it proved his final point.

"Celestial Qi is best exemplified by the 4th layer. Sovereign Tiers impose their will to manifest the land we stand on. Unlike the lower 3 layers, this one is more flexible and Celestial Qi is able to enact more directly on the foundations of the world." The floating sand began to glow as he allowed her to see it interact with the Laws.

Her eyes suddenly shimmered as she entered enlightenment.

He moved away as he contemplated what he now understood. It was not just the emergence of the 6 elementals making changes. Old things were returning.

Celestials were on the rise so their Qi was also increasing once more. How were the other layers changing now that thousands of years had passed?

The 4th layer would be the most clear but he wondered if manifestation would occur now? Could that be why it did not happen before? The mortal realms had no need of Celestial Qi but now that it was back, what would happen to all the realms.

Lind began to compose projects for the Frey Clan as they had the most experience even beyond him. He may be mastering his elemental nodes but that was for his path. The path of the Celestials was far out of date for him.

He also assigned several notations of great importance to Fey as well. She should know that things could change quickly on their own lands compared to the rest of the 4th layer.

"We know so little and how much was lost?" He spoke the words but knew the answers could take millions of years to answer completely if at all. He left a jade slip for Milaner and returned to his work. Time waited for no one.