Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1654 - 1653 - Wandering Demon Battles of the Blood Sage

Lind had a long and annoying history with battle maniacs but there was one thing he could never fault them for. They were experts at understanding how to grow stronger under pressure.

They then wanted to boast exactly how they achieved their new level of power. The record in his hands from the Blood Sage was a compendium of that knowledge.

The demon Blood Sage was born with almost no advantage save his natural strength and resilience all demons had.

Yet, he fell in love with the spear and battle. He was far from a righteous figure. He cut swathes through caravans and villages without much distinction for most of his mortal life.

The details were remarkable and did not flatter the man at all. He was open and honest about his nature. Lind then saw the shift.

The young Blood Sage encountered a sect that clearly had influence from the Fiends. Slaughter and war were one thing but when the demon saw the shriveled forms of families in their last moments arranged in a macabre display, something broke in him.

Spear intent was born only at the peak of the World Realm to slaughter the entire sect.

His title of Blood Demon was carved that day as he walked out of a sect of thousands as the only living thing covered in crimson muck. His spear was broken.

Yet, his dark cobalt eyes were clear. Mindless slaughter was pointless. He had to grow stronger and erase the vile path from all worlds!

Lind smiled at the bold words that carried traces of intent still even as just a jade slip record.

The lifetime that followed was not as absurd as some might expect. Lind saw he did focus more on those dangerous and hypocritical powers but mostly, the demon became a skill expert.

Simple combat and tactical skill was not enough. Spears, warhammers, and various other brutal weapons became his focus until he came across some Ruins that brought opportunities.

Rather than pieces of trials or treasures, it was the powerful beasts and foes that drove the Blood Demon. He learned how to kill in all its forms as quickly as possible.

His single minded pursuit caused an unexpected change in the Sky Realm. He learned to sense blood!

It became part of nature to follow blood both to hunt and locate weaknesses in his foes. Blood goes everywhere but hidden injuries or weak centers of power could not be concealed from his aura.

It was then that a true Fiend encounter came via thralls. It was not a sect nor kingdom but a humble town. Normal on the surface but a vile cesspit of souls consumed and innocents lost forever.

Blood Demon could feel it much like Lind's harmony could. The man sensed the wrongness of their blood! He could only appreciate it but the slaughter there nearly killed him.

His wounds were not light but his exposure of the thralls and their actions made a righteous power offer him an opportunity. Blood Demon was getting old.

His vitality was on the decline and the injuries ensured he had reached the end of his journey.

Instead, he would be allowed to attempt a Soul Cleansing Pool. They were damned rare that even Lind only ever read about them. His Celestial Fields may have once had them but the Bastard's machinations severed all such treasures for the first and second layers.

The third and fourth layers were dominated by their nature so such things could not form. They were generally located in the transition points of mortal worlds or somewhere in the Heaven Realm lands.

Blood Demon was no fool and readily agreed.

No one could expect the result of such a generous action. Most simply hoped to restore him enough to continue as best any could, yet while his body had low potential to go on, no one had considered his soul had far higher potential.

A Soul Cleansing Pool operated on Laws to purify and refine a mortal soul to prepare them better to sense Qi, Laws, and likely Daos later in life. Yet, the combination of an already excellent soul with a Soul Cleansing Pool had rarely ever happened.

Lind now read about it.

It felt familiar, as if his tribulations with his harmony followed a similar path combined with his weaving skills as well.

Blood Demon caused a Heavenly Blessing to descend! His karmic restitution was massive!

It was now not just his soul but his entire existence was being elevated. His high quality soul acted as the trigger and all it needed was a compatible treasure to pull it. The righteous power benefitted too.

They had offered willingly and Heaven was fair.

Lind noticed a lack of detail in the record on how they benefited but he was finally getting to what he was hoping to find.

Blood Demon was reborn. He became a Star Tier directly and his physique was as pristine as it could be. No longer would he struggle to advance but the demon never changed his core self.

He was gifted a treasure spear from a grade 6 master and he simply went out but not everything had been improved.

His cultivation and comprehension may have advanced but he had no corresponding skills! Lind focused intently as rather than study and slowly adding to his abilities, Blood Demon pushed himself to his limits.

He once more struck out for battles across the Heaven Realm Lands. War was helpful but too chaotic if he was looking for a specific honing skillset.

He was always covered in blood but now, he began to truly grasp he could do more. He could command it!

Lind had never heard of such a thing yet the detail was too much to be boasting. Blood Demon also had not boasted once about his abilities. He seemed focused on just recording his path so it would never fade from history.

The millennium that followed his ascension, Lind read of many repetitive fighting and recovery cycles but beneath it all he began to grasp what the demon had discovered.

Rather than focus on forcing skills and Arts to rise up to his level, the demon pushed his limits constantly until he felt the path forward. It had a simple truth to it but Lind's thoughts scattered at the next part.

The Blood Demon gained a Law at the Moon Tier! Not a Law Trace or maybe Law Intent, a full Law! True Blood Law!

It was at the Battle of Shadow Gorge where he was fighting a sect of what amounted to necromancers.

They had been terrorizing a whole country for thousands of years but no one could find their hide out until Blood Demon came. He could sense a void of blood and followed it to the source!

The drained corpses were puppets now but to him, they were voids in his aura that should not be there. The battle was insane as dismembered beings kept coming until his head throbbed.

It was as if his entire existence shifted and he stopped the blood flow of the array masters. Blood Demon's skin took on a crimson hue with lavender. His hair, once steel gray, also became streaked with crimson.

It was so close to what a harmony did that Lind would not have been surprised to learn Blood Demon gained one!

The True Blood Law reforged the Blood Demon and his once wild attacks now became surgical. He severed the arrays and bodies with equal ease!

Lind became fascinated and ideas bloomed as the parallels to his own explosive growth were clear.

Blood Demon became the Blood Sage from that day forth. He never founded a sect but he did gain followers. He beat them constantly into the ground but they only grew in number.

He also began to acquire skills in ever growing numbers. Blood Sage felt something was there at the root of all skills. It was as if his Law was driving him to it and Lind finally came to the section he wanted.

The Divine Realm.

Blood Sage reached the peak only to find Fiends everywhere. Things were bad in the Northern Continent from what the record said. The fact he went out of his way to describe them was tacitly clear.

Blood Sage became reclusive for a long time as he faced the same problem once again. His skills were inferior by far to his cultivation!

Yet, his previous experience formed his next steps. He chose to fight the restrictions themselves!

Lind almost facepalmed or slammed his head down. He was unsure which to do as it had been actually going well until that point!

He sighed as he began again but his eyes slowly went wide as finally, the Blood Sage explained what he meant.

Techniques, skills, and even Arts could no longer simply be upgraded. They had to forged in blood and battle. At least, that was his take away from the process. His True Blood Law had transformed into Dao and finally something akin to a pseudo-Mystery!

Lind examined his harmony once more and confirmed it was firmly still in the Dao stage. It had always been ahead of his cultivation but now it was stuck.

At that moment, he understood. His foundation was solid save in one aspect. His harmony had to be transformed!

For the Blood Sage, the answer was battle but Lind was not like him. He had other ideas to try first!