novelraw Chapter 1660 - 1659 - Foolish Choices
Chapter 1660 - 1659 - Foolish Choices
Lind confirmed his findings 5 times before he was forced to accept what his scans were telling him. The disease was a virus and it was a cultivator. It was at the Divine Realm!
How was such a thing even possible?! While micro-organisms were very much alive, cultivation required them to have compatible hosts to advance like beasts or plants.
Usually, if there was true symbiosis, that was possible but only as a part of the greater whole. In other words, on their own, they had no path forward but a virus?!
There was no way it could cultivate on its own. They consumed hosts on infection and without treatment, could kill them. Even if they did not, a disease ravaged host would prevent any hope of exposure to a steady stream of Qi to cause advancement before its own lifespan long gave out.
Lind had actually been curious and while some illnesses could pervade up to the Sky Realm, after that, the physical condition as well as the density of Qi prevented such things from infecting cultivators.
Part of the reason lower realms ascended to the Floating Isles was to escape the threat of a disease no alchemist or elixir master could cure, or worse a cure existed but they could never afford it!
Lind had still made elixirs to help the weakened and those with other vulnerabilities in the Floating Isles at the time as it was still possible given the right conditions.
It had been so long since they were an issue that he had almost forgotten but now it seemed he had overlooked some possibility!
"Senior, this cannot be naturally occurring, right?" Lind turned the dark azure haired woman beside him and she looked grim as she nodded.
"On its own, disease cannot cultivate. Its very nature hinders the flow of Qi in the body but does not allow it to benefit. Normally, that is." He nodded along and realized the inevitable conclusion.
"Someone nurtured and experimented to see what could be done? For a weapon or curiosity?" Lind could see the potential as an attack but only if a cure existed alongside it. Yet, while Heaven and Earth were fair, it did not mean any plans by a cultivator would work out neatly.
The virus was there so a cure could exist, it did not mean any planned cure they had on hand would be it though.
As if confirming his thoughts, his guide produced a rather old and worn jade slip. Unlike the previous ones, it was much older and likely the original document. Why? He carefully scanned it and saw why.
The man was a research maniac with a paranoia streak! He had hidden a trigger that if anyone other than himself copied it, the entire jade slip would self-destruct! Piled on that was a marker that would slowly erode anything Lind took in from it without some kind of authorization.
What he read was almost like the rantings of a certain mad scientist raising the dead! The man had a theory that cultivation did not require a conscious intent but could be induced in the right conditions.
He also clearly was a reincarnator with intact memories! The man spoke about atoms, microbiology, and other concepts that cultivators did not know about at all.
Sadly, that knowledge was deep and clearly his obsession. Lind felt a vein throb on his forehead as it became clear the man had never entertained what it was he would be unleashing if he succeeded!
He also saw clear signs of conspiracy theory thinking! The main thrust of research was littered with notes and annotations of shadowy organizations that sounded more like old earth terms than anything.
How could someone with such a mind become a Divine Realm cultivator? Was Heaven and Earth unable to overcome the delusions?
If not for the clear signs of the genius level formations that stopped Lind from simply memorizing the jade slip or all would be lost.
Even as he extracted himself, Lind felt it difficult to hold onto everything but his emerald eyes had a thought flicker through them.
[They are always watching us through our computers and phones.] He took a chance but the response was shocking!
A laugh filled the room before Lind felt his head explode with knowledge! He could not stop it and it was far more than just the virus research and the rambling notes. He got a metric ton of useless knowledge at first but then his mind latched onto something.
Fiends! The man had learned about the Fiends pulling strings from the shadows long before he was even a World Realm!
Lind focused on it and his eyes slowly went wide before a smile stretched across his face!
The man was a fool and he could only accept the wider world within the confines of his paranoia but in that state, the man had a thought and followed it to an extreme end.
He now looked at the patients in a new light.
"Healer Frey?" The reaction had been felt by all but he only smiled before pain assaulted him. A presence was trying to assert itself in his mind!
[You are from my world! They are still pulling the strings all the way from Earth!] A male voice boomed in his mind but Lind had no time to bother with it as he had forgotten the man was a fool!
What would a conspiracy nut do that no sane Immortal or Divine would attempt to do? He sealed a piece of himself in a jade slip laced with traps to erase it!
How insane was he?!
Lind felt his 3 Mystery layers flare and the roar of a dragon came from him as emerald light came from him like a sun!
Inside his mind, he saw a rather non-descript man looking happy as if he was ready to unpack and settle in his new home when he froze. His pale skin and large brown eyes looked up at the massive emerald dragon looking down at him.
[A beast?] His voice was honestly confused as some of Lind's memories clearly were seen by the man.
[Senior, I have much to do so I can preserve your essence but you must leave. I will not allow you to threaten all that is to continue your war through my body.] Lind could feel the man was stronger than him normally but he had already cut off his body from any further invasion.
A 6 elemental body was alien to the man as much as anyone who did not know about harmonies and their effects let alone a human turned into a dragon with a rebuilt body.
The slim man tilted his head before a rather disturbed smile spread across his face.
[You all cannot stop me! I will pull you all into the–] Lind's aura flared and Authority slammed into the figure.
[BEGONE!] Horror spread on the man's face as his mental body began to disintegrate and he could not seem to stop it.
[Wait! Stop it! I was so close! I had found the source of all the shadow governments and was ready to expose them! I would be the hero to all! I–] The man was pleading but Lind knew how much was delusion and how much was mistaken truth.
The Fiends were only agents in his mind of a more powerful organization that hid behind them. In other words, the man believed the Fiends were just a front!
Lind's Authority was normally not that effective on higher realm beings unless it was simple commands and they were beasts but inside his own existence? He was God.
Heaven and Earth were fair but a True Lord's existence was their own and an invader would always be an invader.
He had even given the man a chance so his Authority was even more effective with that fact piled onto it.
The figure fought but his Authority wiped it out.
Lind collapsed in the physical world in a cold sweat and nearly exhausted. He had felt so empowered inside his mental space but the reality was it took a lot to protect himself while his Authority went to work.
He did notice not an iota of vitality was taken from him that time. Had the conspiracy-addled man broken some rule of Heaven and Earth? Preserving a sliver was allowed but was there something else?
Lind glanced at the worried patients and his guide before understanding came to him.
"You made such a foolish choice and now karma finally caught up." Viruses were not meant to cultivate but the man had made it possible. Now they existed and clearly no easy cure came with them.
An imbalance that would incur karmic retribution until a cure could be made and replicated to balance the scales would fall on the originator.
Lind downed a few elixirs before explaining what just happened.
The woman of the void paled and even the patients shivered to know what had almost happened. The ancient jade slip was so much powder now.
A fool to the end and no chance of coming back but Lind warned that if any other items remained of that Divine Realm cultivator, it would be better to destroy them.