Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1539 - 1538 - Awakened

Over 60 years had passed since Lind arrived at the Throne of Living Flame. In that time, he had essentially been unconscious but his eyes slowly opened and he saw an unfamiliar ceiling of azure, violet, and golden stone.

He was on a stone bed as well but he was not uncomfortable. If anything, he felt soothed as he lay there. He carefully checked his condition but he found limits.

His nodes were dead to him still but his harmony was in peak condition and his body was in excellent shape. He had a rough idea of the passage of time but he knew rushing would not help him at all.

He slowly sat up and tested his body carefully before confirming he was fine.

A curtain was swung aside as an ethereal woman with golden hair lined in crimson entered looking at a stone tablet. She reminded him of his mother and then the very woman came in behind her!

Mira looked tired but her dark green eyes locked on him and a smile broke out.

"Good Afternoon my lazy son!" Her eyes shimmered with tears as the woman next to her froze. Mira rushed to hug him and he hugged her back.

"Sorry, Mom, but I had no choice but to push myself." She nodded and then the other woman began to examine him with her. He let them do it but he knew what they would find.

He was physically fine but he could no longer cultivate. He was not crippled, simply the most essential part of him was beyond his control!

He thought he could command Dao but he had been naive. A Dao Weapon was impressive but his harmony was a cheat. It bridged the gap to let him tap into it when otherwise he could not even move even a sliver of that power!

It was a necessary humbling but he also felt the urgency. He was running out of time!

"The True Lord wants to see you since you are awake. I see no iss–" The crimson blonde woman was about to send him out when a chop to her neck made him flinch.

"He just woke up. Let us see if he stays awake first!" Mira's reproach to the Sovereign Tier was taken in stride. Mira was a gifted healer at the Radiant Tier. Further, she knew him better than most but he knew, too, he could not allow things to wait.

"If he is willing, perhaps my Mother will let him come to me? Of course, this is purely as a recommendation of my healers." His Mother smiled wide and her aura made the other woman shiver despite being more powerful.

Mothers were terrifying.

An unknown amount of time passed when Lind felt a familiar aura approach. Actually, he felt 3!

The curtain parted and he saw his fellow True Lords.

Van of the Rocs, Kaltara of the Black Shelled Tortoise, and Helsgath of the Phoenix.

He recognized them all but it was only at that moment that he realized there was a difference between them aside from age.

He recognized that none of them would become a Divine Realm.

It was a strange feeling but he could just tell. The former 2 seemed to know what he saw but Helsgath was ignorant.

They were all peak Sovereign Tiers. They should have been all candidates to become Divine Realms but for some reason, they did not.

Lind wished he knew why but that was not the most pressing thing.

"What happened? I know I got the thralls, but has he attacked since then?" The 3 looked at him with strange faces. They seemed unsure but Helsgath was the first to speak. His wine red eyes looked amused.

"You really can't use your aura, can you? We helped towards the end but you did not just thwart his thralls. You saved us all a lot of headaches for at least another 2,000 years." He was confused until they literally tore a hole in space!

Lind saw the star filled sky and then went wide eyed as an emerald sheen appeared to his Eyes!

What was that?!

"Near as we can figure, you routed those annoying pricks!" Kaltara was way too blunt as always but Van sighed as he took up the explanation.

"We have figured out you erected some kind of filter that prevents further Fiend interference in the Celestial Fields. I am unsure on how it works, but since it appeared, no one could descend at all." Lind was not aware he had done that at all!

Still, it gave the 4th layer and the Celestial Fields in general a breather. The only Fiends they had to deal with were the homegrown versions and their thralls.

On that front, things were at a fairly even keel. Lind was glad of that but the infighting of various powers did not lessen due to that.

"Does it block communication?" All 3 shook their heads.

"That is about the only thing that does work. Believe me, even the factions on your side are frustrated but at least 2 ascensions happened while you were asleep without issue." Van answered again but the last part drew his attention.

Divine ascension was rare to the point that only a handful would pull it off in 10.000 years but 2 more had done so on top of Fey in the last 60 years?!

That was insane!

"Your tournament unleashed a wave! There are at least 3 more that are close to ascending too!" Kaltara's stout frame shook as she laughed in deep amusement.

The other 2 sighed but Lind felt an irrational laughter building up in him. He had intended for his tournament to bring the various powers at least into peaceful coexistence but if it really helped Sovereign Tiers ascend, it would only make the Throne of Defiance even more precious to them.

If the tournament he created could help push Sovereign Tiers that far, he doubted any further troubles for his Throne.

"Mother, and miss, could you leave us alone please?" He wanted to know more about his sensation and they gave him face by leaving. His Mother stared hard at him and he swore mentally to stay in bed!

Helsgath did something that isolated them but Lind noticed it was more a direct command to the Throne than a formation or weaving.

He was curious but pushed it aside for the next topic.

"Why do I sense none of you can become a Divine Realm?" His question caught 1 of them off guard but the other 2 actually looked as if they expected it.

"Being a True Lord is a double edged sword. We enjoy vast power in the Immortal Realm but the bar for our ascension is also equally high. Just as you sense we cannot advance beyond the peak of the Sovereign Tier, we can tell you can go beyond." Lind thought he had set up his own failure but instead he now realized his very existence was already set at a very high bar.

"Even as I am?" The 3 shrugged but then smiled.

"Compared to our own issues, you are much closer and what needs to be resolved is not difficult to identify. In a sense, you are simply missing a method which is far easier than not knowing how to advance some facet at all." Helsgath spoke up and the other 2 nodded.

Lind instantly understood. His soul and his foundation were the only things holding him back from his tribulation. He knew what he had to fix whereas many cultivators hit their bottleneck but did not know the exact cause!

By over refining so many aspects of his cultivation, he had made it easy to narrow down his next steps!

Still, it did not change the fact that without his elemental nodes working for him, cultivating itself was cut off from him. His head snapped up at that suddenly.

He looked at his hands as he flexed them and felt the power of his body and foundation were at the peak of his ability. How?

"Took him long enough!" Kaltara snorted as he looked up at them. Helsgath suddenly lit up in azure flames much like his hair. Yet, Lind felt Dao flow in the room! The Throne was reacting to him!

He was amazed as various flames flowed into Helsgath and made him stronger! Yet, the phoenix quickly stopped as he looked unwell.

"Honestly, how did you take in so much?" The question from him caught Lind off guard. Take in so much? Him?

He looked around but with his nodes unresponsive his Talents were limited. Still, he used his harmony and was shocked at what happened next.

Many people thought all flames were the same, but they were not. Simple fire to a dragon's breath had almost nothing in common. The same went for phoenix fire and dragon fire. They were both powerful but followed different paths.

Phoenix flames were the flame of rebirth while dragons generally only brought destruction.

Thus, while Lind might grasp the Dao, his dragon existence would be denied using their flames. Yet, he saw exactly the opposite happening! He saw the flow of the Throne actually answer his harmony happily and flow into him.

His nodes were already full but his foundation advanced ever so slightly!

He could cultivate!