Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1453 - 1452 - Time is not a Constant

Romana was covered in sweat but it was a pleasant experience rather than exertion. A sweat house had been provided at one of the taverns exclusively held by the Heavenly Maiden Sect.

After a few years since the tournament started, she had felt she nearly slipped into Radiant Tier before coming back to Shard Tier.

Lind had warned her that as an Immortal, her particular existence could become fluid as Immortals were defined by their soul. Normally, she lived to the very brink of her lifespan before progressing, but she had not always gone forward!

It was a secret she kept from many but Lind and his family knew. Still, she generally progressed normally until her most recent life.

It had been nasty business in the Endless Peaks. The Inheritances had nearly destroyed her in her attempts.

Despite her ability to seemingly reincarnate, she was not doing that. Samsara was not part of her path despite similarities. Lind had tried explaining it once but he got a bit confused as he mentioned a superior expert named George that was beyond their reach.

He seemed like a wiseman of unparalleled depths but Lind had been very elusive on where he knew the expert from!

Still, Romana had adapted for the most part. She had learned the trick of guiding her tribulations but if things went wrong, she would regress. Strangely, her vitality reset as well which mystified everyone, even Lind!

She came to the tournament for several reasons but chief among them was to experience the Thrones and the 4th layer. It was the span between the normal Celestial Fields and the next major realm.

Divine Realm.

She had no illusions that she could reach that lofty realm, but she wanted to stabilize her existence. Despite her vitality being plentiful, her soul was not in that great of shape.

She sighed in relief before she finally got up to leave. She had watched the stunning championship of the weaving portion of Heaven Realm and it was just mind blowing what those children could do.

Despite being slower due to their mixed bloodlines and 6 elemental dantians, they were just monsters. She had met many weavers since Lind had nurtured the various powers in their mortal realm.

Many had achieved things never dreamt of by any formation master or inscription expert. Yet, what she saw from those Heaven Realms put it all to shame.

She donned her pure white robes emblazoned with the golden symbol of her sect. She frowned as she recalled how the supposed main branch was up in the 4th layer.

In the lower layers, even in the Endless Peaks, it felt warmer. She called out to her Sisters and they had a bond she was happy to share with them, yet up in the 4th layer, it was cold.

There was a disdain for emotional attachments she did not understand. The broken chain caused by the Fiends meant the lower realm branches had to make do on their own.

Valkyrie was a strict and unforgiving sect master, but she at least was fierce in protecting her sect members from all threats. The old crone she had met on her arrival in the 4th layer was uncaring save for anything related to power.

Romana's unique existence left things murky but something they wanted to understand. The ability to revert to a younger body and regain vitality without losing memories was desperately sought by aging Immortals.

Their bodies wore out as they could not be sustained forever. Unlike the soul, an Immortal body still was flesh and blood that had needs. It had limits that sacrificed resources to recover from when broken.

Romana recalled when she lost her arm the first time she was a Sliver Tier but then the tribulation had let her regain it without any sign of an issue. She tried to explain that while she was still 'Romana' so far as memories went, her personality shifted with the body as well.

It would not be wrong to say she was a different person with the memories of past lives but the Dao of Samsara was seemingly avoiding her entirely.

She wished they could understand that but they simply thought they knew better.

Romana emerged into the busy hallway. It was not a street as it had a roof with crystal light artifacts acting as an artificial sky. It was but one of many outer layers of the arena for the audience and contestants to relax or change scenery.

She saw many projections showing battles, contests, and even just the results from the Heaven Realm Championships.

"Darn, I miss–" She was looking at Ava humbly accepting the golden medallion that marked the champion of the battle contest when her vision doubled.

Her hair shifted briefly to vibrant pink as her eyes shifted between blue, scarlet, and even bright yellow!

Her aura was the more disturbing! She went from her Shard Tier straight to Radiant, back to Heaven Realm, and briefly touched on Sovereign Tier! Any cultivator nearby should have been alarmed but it was if no one sensed a thing.

Eventually, she settled back to her voluptuous form but she looked pale and exhausted. It had been only in tribulations she had faced such issues, but now they were occurring randomly ever since she arrived at the Throne!

Her Arts had been fine in the most recent fights but it seemed like she was unraveling!

"What is happening to me?" She only spoke aloud in a whisper but a familiar presence arrived to embrace her. "Are you trying to get your wives to kill me?"

Her small smirk was not reflected in the emerald eyes staring down at her.

"You should have told me you were coming. I could have warned you." Surprise flashed over her face as he lifted her up and they vanished from the spot. If anyone saw the True Lord swoop up a human Maiden, none made a comment on it.

Lind's familiar style appeared around them as she was laid down on a leather couch. It was quite comfortable. The man had a way with relaxing furniture! An enemy would be wary of attack or even of mental assaults, but not relaxation by couch or chair!

Romana felt better suddenly as he poured an elixir shimmering with golden light down her throat.

"The Throne of Defiance keeps fate out. You, who are so closely tied to fate, will not last long without some help." Romana once more stared at him. Tied to fate?

Since when?! She had been a mediocre Heavenly Maiden Sky Realm long ago but after meeting him, she learned the truth of her existence. Her physique was dormant and very damned difficult to awaken.

There was almost nothing on it in any records so she had been forced to learn as she went. Lind had helped a bit but there were limits.

Now, he was telling her she was tied to fate?

"How long since you regressed?" She frowned at him before swatting his forehead with air. He smirked but then became serious. "How long?"

"Something like 2 to 5 thousand years ago I failed to advance and went all the way back to being a Sliver Tier. I have worked my way back up but I almost felt like I could step back to my peak there." She had nearly grasped Sovereign Tier once more. She had been at it briefly but had fallen back preparing for the tournament.

He nodded before pulling out a tablet artifact and several floating spheres to examine her. He was the closest thing to an expert on her situation so she waited until a smile crossed over his face.

"I see. Your dantian is stable but it seems like your soul is far more advanced. You have the body of a Shard Tier but the soul of a Sovereign Tier." Romana tried to sit up but he held her down with ease.

"The problem is my Throne is trying to repair the discrepancy. Without fate to tie you down, you are flowing between time streams of your life." Romana looked at him as if he was mad. Time travel? How?

He seemed to consider things for a moment. He then summoned a simple string. Why he had a loose string she had no idea but he seemed to become very sad as he looked at it.

"I will screw this up but imagine this string is your life. Your ability is to do this across all your potential lives." The string was crumpled up so it was all compressed before straightened out into new directions. "Each time you change, you walk a new path yet the same. You are still you but in a new perspective. Not rebirth but not just continuation."

She nodded as that much she knew.

He then compressed several strings together but one was thicker than the others.

"This is your original path before you regressed. In my Throne, your original progress is reasserting itself as fate and time have no fixed constant here. You are in flux and trying to find balance. Romana, you are going to either return to your peak or leap ahead to a new peak. I have no way of knowing before it happens." Her eyes went round.

"How could I survive so many tribulations?" Lind smiled wider.

"You forget. You have already faced them. Inside this Throne, you will simply be returning to what you should be. Your life already touched on the peak, it will simply return to it." She did not understand but she saw the mess of strings in his hands. It was difficult to tell where one ended and another began but a spark reached her.

Her body shimmered and her aura shot up briefly but then settled back. He sighed but nodded at her.

"Rest and recover. You have another bout soon but do not be surprised if you break through right then. I cannot stop it." She nodded but words he said came floating back to her. They felt important to her.

Time is not a constant.