Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1658 - 1657 - Glimmer of Mysteries

The being before him was alive but they were missing half their body. To put it in terms a human would understand, their left side was still there but the right side was just gone. He saw a dantian safely tucked in some flesh of metal and stone.

They had 4 limbs left intact but they were not fixed hands and feet but amorphous crystals that shaped to their needs. The head, such as it was, had been spared just barely but still lost a good shave of it!

Unlike the people he treated for most of his life, there was no brain but an interlaced crystal and metal lattice suspended in a kind of liquid inside them. He saw it was not a delicate thing like a mortal's would be but extremely resilient.

The liquid was obviously a weak point but the skull had deflected whatever struck the rest of the body so it was clear that only the ligaments were the weak point to cause the damage he saw.

He noted a lack of bones, at least permanent ones. The same crystal limbs were laced inside in a different density as well. The being could clearly shift their internal defenses to an extent to protect vital areas.

The dantian surviving was not an accident.

Lind noticed several differences from the lower realm versions of the being in front of him. They clearly had fused Mystery energy into their crystals more than the stone or metal flesh.

The dantian was nearly identical in layout to his own but the Journeyman Layers were blocked to him let alone the Master Tiers.

The issues kept piling up but the worst still loomed over him. The entire injury, as well as deeply immersed in the remaining body, was alien energy. It was actively attacking the patient and he saw they were just barely holding it off with the basic aid he had already provided.

It was not Mystery energy exactly but he felt the traces of such in it. It was similar to what Younger Twin had done but far inferior from what he could tell.

What was it?! Lind felt his mind burn with frustration as it was clear he was too weak to truly grasp the complete details of either existence but it was clearly made by Mysteries combined with something else.

Master Tier Mysteries? Unlikely.

The patient was clearly in the Journeyman Tier. Lind could detect that much clearly but what layer he had no idea.

His guide was taking notes but Lind had long ignored it. He tried his best tool in his arsenal as emerald light flowed over the patient. The woman frowned but then became slack jawed as the patient suddenly improved.

The Art of Defiance was literally unbelievable in many regards but Lind finally saw what it was doing.

It seemed to resonate with living beings and anything that restricted or tried to bind them externally was seen as an enemy.

A sudden inspiration came to him! No wonder it killed Divine Realms!

They separated a part of their being and it was seen as a restriction but to restore them it could only be done in death!

A terrifying thought made him stop.

"Senior, do the Divine Realm patients have anchor shards or anything to start over if they die?" It was a surefire way to survive but had many downsides. Lost time due to being vulnerable and weak as they recovered over millions of years.

His guide shook herself before shaking her head.

"Many would have simply let go if they had. Due to the heavy resources needed, many Divine Realm beings simply invest in artifacts or formations. It takes clans and sects at least to create such cradles for Divine Realm beings in any number to be of use." Lind was enlightened but then frowned.

He had encountered quite a few Divine Realm cultivators with them so was her knowledge out of date? It was possible someone had innovated a way to lower the threshold or maybe there was a version that worked but was vulnerable to his Art.

Either way, with that reassurance, he began again.

His initial success stalled quickly. If it was just an injury, he knew his Art could aid healing, but the active energy was far superior to even his formidable harmony.

He also realized it wanted to infect him! It was not Fiend energy or it would have been felled by him long ago but his current tactic was inadequate.

He then did the next best thing and began to experiment carefully on with his harmony alone and his Mysteries. The newly refined layers stunned him when they touched the invading energy.

There was a violent reaction just from brushing against them and he had to use all his reserves to contain it! Both his guide and the patient were terrified. The latter due to the imminent feeling of True Death and the former because she knew what that energy was and it acted as if Lind Frey was a fatal enemy!

It should be a joke but it had happened. His quick work also was noted and then he nearly collapsed. A single brief test had drained him!

It had also taught him something critical. There was a sliver of a soul in that energy!

Divine Realm beings were fully integrated existences. A body was no longer just a shell but the entirety of everything that made a being what they were. Thus, the full benefits and power of cultivation manifested through them.

Lind had never considered he could infuse his Mysteries with his essence! He had condensed concepts and fused his harmony but there was still another step!

No wonder the damn things were called Mysteries! It was not just their elusive nature but there were more layers than a well crafted novel. He was truly lacking and underestimating his goal.

The issues the Bastard had made far more sense. Refining souls was just enough to raise the foundation but the process still had to be done and he could not cheat that process!

A shiver went down his spine at the many losses his alternate selves had faced made far more sense. There just was not enough time! The billions of years of cultivation were needed to dive into the full abilities of each tier!

The Twins' Inheritance was a truly Heaven sent chance to get practical experience and leads to deduce his own path. He also knew time had to be inverted or their odds were shot before he could even try but the ratio was important.

The Ruined Islands also tossed a wrench in it as time could also be a factor in that chaos.

He pushed such concerns aside as he had to approach the issue as a different matter as he still was not certain what he was dealing with. Mystery plus soul was not the totality of it.

If it was, his harmony and his long experience with souls would have easily revealed it to him.

He pondered about Divine Realm beings more. He knew Divine Memory was reality preserved but could be manifested as he had seen many times but he now knew some of the restrictions on it.

An already living being could not be manifested. Heaven and Earth would not allow it. It was likely also possible that areas that still existed had similar restrictions. He might be able to do something inside an Inheritance but outside of one, he might face a similar backlash.

Manifestation was still difficult for him but the ease of it terrified him. He thought he would have to reach the peak of the Journeyman Tier or the Master Tier to be able to do it but he nearly manifested the Cyntilla of the past!

He had felt no resistance until the last moment!

He focused on the energy and explored what he could. He used pure harmonic energy for it and was confused. The infection of his Art and the critical reaction from his Mysteries were understandable as they were trying to attack but it did not react at all to pure harmonic Qi.

Why?

A sudden smile spread on his face. Of course!

A storm of emerald Qi washed over the patient and information flowed into him. He was right! The curse of 6 elementals was not limited to the known races but everyone! A laugh bubbled up because that lapse in judgement left a massive loophole in the foundation of many Divine Realm cultivators preconceptions!

The invading energy was indeed laced with a soul but it was acting like an anchor to counter the victim's attempts. He had been wrong perhaps about the necessity but the important part was he sensed the Mystery traces were indeed superior to him and there were 3 present.

His emerald eyes narrowed as the layers peeled back and what was left was the unknown energy. It was unlike anything he had yet experienced but he frowned as there a flicker in the back of his mind.

It was almost like a feeling it was incomplete and if he could grasp the missing piece, it would all make sense.

Yet, he focused on his task and looked at what the energy was actually doing. It was not as simple as a sword or other weapon aura. It was almost like it was trying to rewrite reality–

Shock flowed through him as he snapped upright. It could not be!

Lind felt shaky as he realized what was happening. His new perspective seemed to loosen the bottleneck just a little on his own cultivation. He felt like he was seeing a glimmer of his first Heaven Mystery but he now understood what he was seeing.

"Reality. The energy is a new reality where the victim is dead!" His words made his guide look surprised but then she smiled as she input more notes in her artifact.

Clashes between Divine Realms took on a whole new level of terror but the cost of such an attack was clear. It had not killed the target so it was not as simple as succeeding.

Lind now looked at the small area of Divine Realm patients and realized it was not just attacks that could have that power. Poisoned and diseased figures lay looking up at him in hope as he realized what was being asked of him.

He had to fight a reality trying to impose its conditions on existence!