Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1511 - 1510 - Leads

"I tell you, it was like a tribulation level of power but it was Ruins! They were all in the sky and merged into one!" A middle aged man was at the center of a few people at the tavern. The newly minted Inheritance had caused a surge of people to come look at the swirling fog.

It towered into the sky and none dared enter as some fools had and they were never heard from again.

Those that had survived that day also recounted the wondrous transformation.

It was also unique. All powers, regardless of rank, had pooled their knowledge and there was not 1 record of a Ruin being restored to an Inheritance. There was not even a Relic regaining its Ruin either but at least that seemed feasible to many cultivators.

The former was just insane! The ancient powers like the Divine Sword Sect and Heavenly Maiden Sect confirmed Colonel Tor's assessment of the fog. It was a simple choice for cultivators to protect an Inheritance that needed time to recover.

Qi, Laws, and, in the current case, Daos had to recover after being used. Energy was not infinite and Divine Inheritances stuck in the Celestial Fields eventually would wear down unless an interval was allowed to pass for internal mechanism to restore the reserves.

It would still run out but it would take far longer.

As such, the fog was unforgiving of those trying to cut ahead. Death was the least of their worries as it was far more likely to harvest their cultivation entirely and leave them lost forever.

Some speculated that the fog was a special realm unto itself but none living knew if that was true or not. Some fog could be kind and simply turn people back but most did not. Long history of greed and multiple chances had proven a final end was the only way to discourage them.

On the outside edge of the tavern were many cloaked figures. It was unspoken but all knew they were spies for powers that had not been present but did not want confirmation of their interest yet.

It was quite a mundane game of information gathering save one group was not what they seemed. Their tanned skin and earthy features were all an illusion hiding the ash gray skin and pure white hair beneath.

The Fiends had come!

They would normally stay far away from any established Ruin as cultivators looked for them specifically and the Ruins themselves could out them.

An Inheritance, however, had to be especially geared against them and even then it only reacted if they tried to sneak inside.

The current Inheritance had many unknowns but they highly doubted it was restored as many claimed.

[A Divine Soul could have done this. It is possible to restore a Ruin by absorbing others but the scale of it is odd even by that standard.] A male voice reached his comrades who nodded as they drank or ate.

The food and drink were nothing to them but it allowed them to blend in.

[We are not here for the oddity but its cause. Lind Frey was here. His Clan also was here in numbers previously unheard of. Why? He called for them.] Another man spoke and agreement was reached to that as well.

They listened to the story but it was only slightly different from others they had spied on. The man tried to make it seem like he was a hero by hauling people to the ships but more likely he woke up on one as he was only a Sliver Tier.

His account was such that he could have pieced it together but others had more complete stories.

Colonel Tor, for instance, was praised highly by many for going back nearly too long to get as many as he could.

[We should go, there is nothing left for us here.] They were all about to leave when the middle aged man suddenly looked concerned.

"If not for True Lord Frey, I would not be here. He just appeared like he knew we were in danger. Strange that. The registers for Sovereign Tiers never showed him. Course they don't always say their real names, but there was no way he could be missed." The Fiends paused.

The tallest looked at their slender companion who nodded before revealing more of her beauty and pulling back her hood. She picked up a pint after giving the barmaid a couple of Heaven Stones.

She smiled and ran off while the woman sidled up to the man.

"Did you see the True Lord?" Her voice was just shy of sickeningly sweet but her face and now partially exposed figure kept all pacified.

Humans and demons were just fools!

"Uh–um–Y–yes! We were all called to meet as the Star Summit Sect and Pale Sun Empire wanted to investigate the death of their Grand Elders. That voice then hit us all and he was there instantly." The man was stumbling but regained his focus as she offered the pint to him.

He drank the ale happily and then seemed to remember something.

"My senior was one of the guards and they were checking for when he arrived but no one had a match. There were only a few Sovereign Tiers registered before the incident but even after the others came, they all registered." Her eyes glinted coldly for a moment but then she snuggled up to him.

"What was it like? Seeing him at that moment?" The man smiled wide and patted his heart.

"I felt like we were saved. He volunteered to go in and he did. I wonder where he is since he never left. He might be trapped in there but the streams of energy were his colors. Emerald everywhere right until the end." That detail had not been mentioned before.

Her smile widened but then the man seemed to get confused.

"Odd really, that it was his colors until the end. It was not like the legends of the Throne of Defiance. I think maybe he negotiated with the spirit and she helped him do that restoration." The Fiends agreed already on that point.

The impossible dragon had done far too much to dismiss anything at that point!

"Most interesting. Thank you, please find me later if fate wills it." She caressed his face and did not notice the discharge of Fiend soul energy. The risk was small but it was better to be safe.

She then swayed away as she pulled her hood back up and rejoined her companions.

They left the tavern and waited. The darkness was their companion as they blended in with the night.

As expected, a few more cloaked figures emerged and quickly looked around. The Fiends sneered as they separated into pairs.

[Let them wander into isolated areas and then kill them but do it normally. No tricks or absorption. Any that defy me will be destroyed.] The oldest man gave orders and they separated.

The various spies that vanished or were found killed disturbed many but no traces remained and nothing was taken.

The Fiends came to the wall of fog, or as close as was safe to do so. They all felt a flicker of danger from it as they recognized the most abominable harmonic Qi mixed in with the rest of it.

"That human was right, he did not make this. If he had–" The slim woman spoke and they nodded. Lind Frey always built in Fiend killing methods to his creations.

They had risked it while leaving one far enough away to report it but the situation changed things.

"He helped the spirit. If they were powerful enough to threaten the Celestial Fields, they are fully sentient. They would be grateful." The young male voice made them all turn to the refined man with a neat beard.

Even disguised as a human, he kept his beauty.

"Your thoughts, Yarendil?" The pretentious name was one he chose for himself. Still, his power backed up his arrogance even among their own kind.

"There are several precedents but the one that stands out to me is the Inheritance of Death. He helped that one enough that it made him and his Clan its guardian power. He is not trapped. He is either recovereing or left. He is disguised like us but that helps us." He pulled out a half sphere that had a floating disc in it.

It spun quickly for a few moments before a golden arrow pointed north.

His smile was handsome but so cold it would leave a corpse if anyone saw it.

"A human cultivator has left here only a day ago, going north. A Crystal Tier. The Soul Trace puts his origin as that bit of wall there." He pointed north of them but nothing distinguished it at the moment.

The artifact was fairly straightforward. Cultivators, especially Immortals, were astounding powerful beings but the 4th layer responded to them more than others. The Soul Trace detected minor alterations so if it was a Crystal Tier reading, why was the Soul Trace so strong?

"He doesn't know we can track him. So, he has not gained all our secrets." The older Fiend was pleased.

The group had no more need for words. They would chase after their prey!

Still, they would not be foolish. A direct confrontation was certain death. Lind Frey could wipe them out with ease. They had to correctly lay a trap wherever he was going.

They had brought powerful weapons and artifacts for that very reason.

They were close on his heels and they would kill him!