novelraw Chapter 1564 - 1563 - Tedium but Success
Chapter 1564 - 1563 - Tedium but Success
Lind was bored out of his mind.
He had spent several decades on the island but there was nothing aside from plants and normal animals below the Crystal Tier. Haro had confirmed that was odd.
Islands did not form like they did in the worlds he knew. Volcanos did not erupt and build up landmass in the Wild Sea.
The massive beasts that called it home would destroy anything before it got to the surface. Some islands had been created that way or were the result of battles between cultivators.
Haro had become evasive about some questions he had about the layout of the Divine Lands. It was like he worried that Lind might grow forlorn to know about places he could not reach.
It had also been an unknown amount of time since Haro had been active last. He had no way of knowing if the landscape had changed from what he knew.
Haro acting like that was normal made Lind actually worry about weaker cultivators.
The 4th layer had been bad enough but an entire realm that was subject to the fallout between battles was not a good place to live!
Maybe the island was actually adrift but without a reference to compare it too, neither of them could tell. There was not even a storm in all that time!
Haro did give him one piece of hope. Ships would come to the Wild Sea either for trade with the native beasts or simply to try and harvest them if they could. He had finally gotten a chance to see a kraken emerge in his range of sight.
It was only a back fin but it easily surpassed any building he had ever seen! It was just a fin so how big was the beast?!
Aside from a few things like that, absolutely nothing happened to him. Instead, he spent those years just trying to condense the first Mystery of Life.
It was incredibly hard because Haro refused to guide him any further! He insisted it was his personal journey and he would not dare color it!
Sometimes he wanted to punch that spirit in the face!
"What do I know about Life that I even think of as a mystery? What does that even mean?!" Lind knew he was on his own but he kept asking aloud in the hopes it would do something for his mind.
He had made some discoveries over the decades. For instance, combining Dao had several possibilities. Lightning was usually the combination of fire and light Qi no matter the system, but the Dao of Lightning worked fine on its own.
Still, he could combine the Dao of Fire and the Dao of Light to make something else entirely. It was still a kind of lightning but far surpassed the power of the Dao of Lightning.
He also could not control it at all!
He had proof of the new energy but even after decades he had no grasp on it at all! All the previous realms seemed to flow into each other but the Divine Realm seemed far more personal compared to them.
It meant Haro was right to limit influencing him any further but it also meant he was groping in the dark!
"Life is hard!" He suddenly shouted but nothing happened. He did not think it was that easy but frustration made him do something.
Just what was he supposed to be doing?! The idyllic island was excellent for a bout of seclusion but his enemy was out there and he needed to get stronger! He was still only an ant to the Great Bastard!
After 50 years had passed, Lind finally just began to experiment rather than meditate. He swam out away from the island to perform his experiments as he had no wish to damage it.
It had been the right call as just combining Earth Dao and Darkness Dao alone had created a damned black hole!
He had killed the fuel to it but then he had to shut it down by force before it consumed the galactic ocean!
Haro did not stop him but likely because he had no other words or warnings to give. Lind spent his time trying more mundane avenues but even those were beyond his control!
Water and darkness made an ice mountain the size of an entire range! It sunk like a stone in the ocean as it was not actually water.
He quickly shattered it so it would not draw the ire of the natives.
Things kept on like that but he was no nearer an answer than before.
It was only in the third century that he had a very serious thought about what he thought Life was. For him, who had been reborn, Life had been a realization that it endured beyond anyone's expectation.
Despite all the hurdles, pain, and everything else, it continued to move forward no matter what. It was not always kind but it was indomitable.
He then remembered all the 6 elementals that had stumbled into the World Realm and died there. He remembered struggling just to survive and his mind became strange.
It was like he saw his whole life through a different lens. Rather than just focus on himself, he saw the entirety of the Moebius Sect as it grew and revealed the path forward.
Life was not just a path that kept moving forward. It was a struggle. It weighed you down but you could not yield to those weights. Lind lit up with emerald Qi as Haro smiled inside his ring.
His Daos moved as Life, Defiance, and more slowly flowed into his dantian. A strange energy coalesced and sweat broke out on his body as a thin white line filled in the bottom third of the largest outer layer.
"Life Defies Obstacles." Only 3 words but the world shifted for Lind as his whole existence changed at that moment. He was finally a true Apprentice Tier at that moment!
He also finally grasped what he was searching for!
"Over 300 years to only get a third of the Life layer. Not great progress." A mystery was a fundamental aspect he grasped about each layer. It was not about some secret truth or anything but the Daos he had incorporated into his existence were chosen for a reason.
He also had shaped those Daos based on his path. He may not grasp it all but he would apply it to his personal understanding of the layer.
"Congratulations, Master. Before you despair, you should know that 300 years is fairly fast. Especially considering your circumstances, you are doing very well!" The spirit appeared next to him but Lind stared at the man. Was he insane?
He knew what kind of time table they were on!
Haro seemed to read his mind and laugh.
"Master, it is normal for it to take a billion years to get 2 layers in the Apprentice Tier. The fact you have advanced in just under 300 years is excellent." Lind had a new thought appear in his head in his frustration.
Life was incredibly fragile. It could be wasted without realizing it until it was too late to change it. Life was earnest in that sense.
Energy flowed into him as a second line of white appeared in his outer layer!
"Life Vanishes with Neglect." Haro was now bug eyed as Lind grew in strength in less than a breath! Lind was shocked as well but he did not know what happened!
"I only caught part of it but both of the Mysteries you have grasped are profound to my knowledge. It is a good start, you should–" Lind felt his body grow warm and it shook as he nearly collapsed.
What happened to him?!
Haro caught him and seemed to understand.
"Learning too many Mysteries in quick fashion can be dangerous. Be careful in the future, Master." Lind nodded as he felt like his body was about to explode or shrivel at any moment!
He felt he had a handle on it though. It was a bit ephemeral, but Mysteries were about fusing things he understood with his Daos and creating a new form of energy.
He tried combining the Dao of Fire and Light once more. Unlike his previous attempt, he was able to control the lightning to an extent. It cracked thunder as it arced into the sky but it was not in danger of running out of control.
Lind was finally making progress but it felt so damned slow! He may have gotten ⅔ of the way to completing his Life layer yet he understood that swift progression could be dangerous to him as much as delaying.
His aura had changed once he had the Mystery energy too and he could finally detect the normal beasts on the island!
It seemed natives of the Divine Lands had some of that energy in them in some way and his previous Immortal aura could not detect a thing lacking that energy!
The boredom was getting to him but progress was felt. He also could fly again with ease but he was still too weak to escape to the nearest mainland.
He continued to meditate and experiment until Haro suddenly appeared and looked concerned.
"Master, a ship is coming."