novelraw Chapter 1570 - 1569 - 1 v 2
Chapter 1570 - 1569 - 1 v 2
The sun blazed into life on the horizon and Lind could now see what had happened in the night. The previously hidden base from the Unbending Fate Faction was smoking as well as clearly bloody.
He could smell faint burnt flesh in the air but as for how many were dead, he would have to wait.
Eventually, he saw the old woman in stained white robes cleaning up and no other person helping her do it. It seemed the cultists had wiped out her Immortal Realm team members.
The cultists seemed to have lost at least 1 or 2 more as well but the old man was not visible from his vantage point.
"Why would he go so far?" They were not allies but faced with a mutual enemy, it seemed extreme to exterminate almost all of the other side.
[Neither of them know what you are exactly. They have no reference for your harmonic Qi or Art. Still, the faction is notorious for flipping on even long term allies if their ultimate goal could be reached.] Lind sighed but could not argue.
If such idiots refused to be practical, they only had themselves to blame that even Fiend allies refused to trust them enough to use them.
"I am willing to bet the Great Bastard aids them too to further foment unrest and opportunities." Haro affirmed it in his head and it only made Lind angrier.
He carefully scanned the island and finally found the old man. He was just barely hidden from his senses but he was up in one of the more robust trees.
It had a thicker trunk and its branches were strong enough to hold his weight. The fronds of the shoreline trees were not present in the interior as much.
He was not sure what the old man was doing though. He was not exactly watching the remaining Journeyman Tier from the faction nor was he guarding his own camp. If she attacked at that moment, it was unlikely he could stop her from responding in kind to his attack.
Lind kept his own profile obscured but he could not chance another rush on the red stone. He was about to pull back when his emerald eyes narrowed dangerously.
Vile Qi was slowly approaching the cavern!
He did nothing but observe it until he saw something shocking. The faint traces could not enter the cavern! Why?! It was not his presence but his Eyes revealed something he had missed.
The red stone was drawing more power from somewhere deep below the surface. It was repelling the probe but both sides were increasing their force. Lind wondered if he could help it along.
He slowly made his way to the red stone and then gently placed his hand on it. Instantly, his body felt like all the life and energy inside him was exploding forth!
He quickly put his other hand on the stone and created a circuit to let it pass through him. What was the damned stone?! His Eyes and Touch had never shown him such a massive source of power was inside it!
He focused as he slowly let his emerald flames mix in. The previous struggle began to shift in the stone's favor. The vile Qi dramatically increased but Lind sneered.
It was not going to be that easy!
He got the hang of what the stone was doing if not why and was able to direct his harmony to help it before increasing the potency. The mountain veins were normally blue but turned emerald under his Eyes.
He also saw there was a connection running down into the heart of the island but he could not detect where it went. What was down there?
He dismissed the stray thought and focused as the battle could no longer be hidden.
"THERE YOU ARE, BASTARD!" The old woman's voice suddenly boomed across the island. The assault on the cavern stopped but Lind was not done. He let the power flow outward and could see the battle between the 2.
The very air distorted with simple fist strikes yet they took enough care not to damage their prize. He could use that!
It was as if the stone gave him permission and he did not waste the chance. It had power far beyond his ability but he could only guide it. The mountain actually glowed and the old woman struck while the cultist tried to warn her, yet he misunderstood what was happening.
A familiar flow of Qi was transformed via the island and dark clouds gathered from nowhere. Even the surface of the Void Ocean revealed several pairs of large eyes that shimmered like lights on the sparkling waters.
Neither Journeyman Tier noticed until it was too late as emerald lightning flared before slamming into the old man. Alone, Lind could not even put a scratch on him, but with the magnification of the island, both of them could attack!
Combined with his natural edge, the old woman looked shocked as the old man tried to scream before he was dispersed. Lind saw him fade before he had to let go and collapsed.
He was weak but he dared not let exhaustion claim him. He downed every elixir remaining in his ring. The effect was not what he was used to but it was enough to stave off blacking out.
He then heard more screams but they sounded odd. He dragged himself to the opening and saw the old woman tossing the remaining cultists out like bait to the Void Ocean!
The Wild Sea churned as not only white tentacles but a massive dark gray neck with a head like giant boulder at the end of it snapped open an impossibly wide mouth before snapping shut on the flying bodies.
He then saw her try to fly away on her artifact but a familiar aura flared from the beach and snapped it apart like a morbid kind of pinata. There were 2 Immortals injured but alive inside it as the old woman screamed in defiance.
It seemed she had panicked and tried to use the cultists as a distraction but far more beasts had risen up to make it feasible.
She had still tried regardless but now they were all dead.
The 2 invasions had ended as abruptly as they started but Lind knew it was not the end. He also saw the cultists ship was still there! He wanted to investigate but he chose to recover properly first.
As he meditated, he observed with his Eyes for any changes but the mountain and the island had gone back to normal.
He had no idea how long the next invasion would take but having experienced the sensation of immense power, he now had an inkling of what they were coming for.
⬧⬧⬧⬧
A fortress was hidden behind various wards, natural features, and finally a powerful fog that confounded any uninvited guests or enemies. It was dark stone not only making up the fortress but the rocky terrain around it.
The sprawling complex was but the tip of an iceberg as behind the metal gates and turrets was an underground city! It was thousands of square kilometers if laid out but kept itself fairly compact by going deeper.
Rich ores, crystals and even a steady supply of Divine Stones were extracted from the deepest recesses. The surface area had carved out a hanger that had space expanded inside and cylindrical vessels as dark as the stone floated inside in compact states.
At the heart of the fortress was a room where several elder Wild Demons and others met to plan out their next excursion into enemy territory or harvesting missions.
A woman with pure silver hair trailed down her back as her dark robes seemed to suck in all the light of the room she was in. Her eyes were 2 colors, red and blue. It was said it was the result of a technique but it was a minor thing compared to her features.
Despite clear signs she was elderly, her face was as young as any maiden freshly entering maturity! Her body was beyond healthy and very few could recall exactly how long she had been alive.
Many there had replaced elders that died or retired to seclusion as their lifespan began to come to an end. Divine Realm cultivators did not die in the usual sense. If they could not advance, their existence would start to fade as their emotions would long have ceased and any desire to live.
The great secret was that there was no such thing as eternal life. Eventually, after so many billion years, the desire to endure fades.
She was negotiating the next joint assault on the enemy of their masters when a heavily out of breath youth burst into the room.
His sweaty features and miniscule presence affirmed he was merely an Immortal but none reproached him for his abrupt entrance.
"Soul Master, what has happened?" Her voice was entrancing silk to all who heard it. She was not well known outside the fortress but the cultists never dared give her one either. They would never know how they died!
"The–the Wild Sea expedition was wiped out!" No one around the table seemed surprised but she frowned. She knew the Immortal would not rush if that was all. "The–the imprints were wiped!"
That made several people shoot to their feet in shock. Killing an Immortal was as easy as shattering their soul. No soul meant no Immortal, but the body would be left behind. A Divine Realm, however, was much harder to kill.
Even if someone had the power to damage them, wiping them from existence was far more arduous. A Divine Realm could preserve their essence on an appropriate medium and reconstitute themselves from that alone!
It would take time, but time was the one commodity Divine Realm cultivators had! Still, it also would lose them progress and may lead to deviation if it happened too often so it was not desirable.
If someone was able to kill a Divine Realm and destroy their imprint, it was something they had to investigate and kill as swiftly as possible!
"Send the Hunters, 3 of them." Her words were quick and shocked the remaining members of her meeting even more. No argument was given, her words were absolute.
It would take time but the rest of the issues could be delayed. Their rivals would know something happened but that was not their concern at the moment. All that mattered was a new threat had been found and needed to be wiped from existence!