Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1675 - 1674 - Divine Guidance

The good news came with a serious caveat. Lind was now trapped for a time on the island as a storm barrier went up around it.

Apparently, according to the Divine Lord, a True Lord being gifted a land from Heaven and Earth was not a quick process despite the quick restoration.

Thankfully, it would only be a few decades at most so he did not have to worry about his overall deadline. The other major downside was more troublesome.

Every beast both old and new would treat him much like the Harmonic Dragons had before. The only difference being that eventually they would lose that fervent devotion as generations passed once he was no longer tied down to the island.

He absolutely would not be establishing a new beast empire or anything like that! He had no time for it!

The Divine Lord understood and the old man would be in charge of curbing the Ravenous Abyss Worm survivors to avoid the same fate as their elders.

Lind rejoined his companions and Arlen was weeping when he arrived. The natural array had been shattered by Heaven and Earth yet the range remained. It now had far more variety in height and snow covered several areas.

He also sensed the familiar aura of several strong avian races yet none came calling to the former area of the Divine Lord.

His aura still soaked into the entire ravine now exposed below the Broken Palaces.

Nothing would come near that area for a very long time.

Karu and Gaia were both fine but Yue was concerning. He had essentially confirmed she was suffering a heart demon. Given the traumatic sequence of events he had pieced together, it was far from surprising.

Still, he was the only one that could help her.

"You are well versed in treating heart demons, junior Lind." The Divine Lord Quicksilver Worm loomed over his shoulder which slightly put pressure on him.

Lind had a set of acupuncture needles as well as several artifacts feeding Laws and Daos into Yue's body. They were all about resonance to get an idea of what kind of and how deep the heart demon was.

She was still unconscious which was actually a good sign. It meant she was still in there.

Eventually, he got a picture but it was a tad vague. It seemed like she was in the stage of illusions to swallow her true self. Yet, there were factors that he was unsure on. Qing simply outclassed him in that area.

"I could help you." Lind looked over his left shoulder at the Divine Lord and saw they were serious.

"You can deal with heart demons so easily?" The older man smiled but his face was still smooth despite the salt and pepper hair showing he was much older than anyone he had met.

"In my contemporaries, not at all, but in juniors so far beneath me, it is not too difficult. I have helped beasts over my long life. Gaining sentience comes with such pitfalls we do not deal with in our much simpler lives as mortals." Lind could understand that but he summoned a jade slip and handed it to the Divine Lord.

"Look it over and see what you understand." The old man seemed to humor him before his face became shocked.

"These are wonderful! Who delved so deeply into all facets of heart demons for all races?!" A flare of pride rose in Lind's chest. Qing impressed even a Master Tier.

He resumed analyzing Yue before the Divine Lord came back to him. The old man now paced around the bed the girl lay on as he adjusted the artifacts in a shocking fashion! He was as skilled as Qing!

He just reviewed her materials but grasped more than Lind had!

The old man frowned before nodding and moving to the next station. He then became grim.

"Your mate is far more impressive than many healers I have ever heard of or learned from. She has focused on the complex issues of heart demons and found patterns. She has extrapolated on that and found ways to use those patterns against the various stages." Lind nodded as he knew that much but why did the Divine Lord grasp more than he did who had been with his wife for millennia?

As if reading his mind, the Divine Lord smiled at him.

"We all have different gifts. You are truly skilled in healing in ways that would leave many ashamed to claim the title but heart demons are an entirely different beast. They are not a direct correlation to the body so it is not so easy to pick them apart. You need an intimate understanding to truly help someone normally but your mate found a way to diagnose and learn about the heart demon themselves!" The Divine Lord was excited.

The man then began to explain what he was doing and guided Lind as both realized it would be far too dangerous for someone like the Divine Lord to attempt to help a Heaven Realm.

Lind had far more experience with Qing's methods. The Divine Lord helped fill in the gaps but Lind felt something as he worked. He began to see how the heart demon was almost like a primitive Mystery.

It was condensed from mental scars fueled by the foundation of a cultivator. The stronger the trauma, the stronger and faster the heart demons could form. The stronger a cultivator, the more they could resist or even disperse the start if they were aware of it.

It was only after a tipping point that the heart demon would begin to run rampant. After that was when external aid would be needed. That was the basics but the actual removal and healing process was where Lind needed help.

He simply did not know enough about Yue to help her as he could others.

The Divine Lord helped him to the point that he was able to use his aura to carefully breakdown the heart demon until Yue could finally awaken. She fluttered her eyes and looked around in confusion before her eyes went wide at Lind.

"S–s–senior Lind Frey! My lord!" Lind sighed but he noticed the Divine Lord suddenly became too straight faced. Lind also picked up a strong scent of amusement that made him want to punch the man.

"Yue, we have much to–" He was about to help her up when she turned beet red and you could almost see the steam coming off of her.

The Divine Lord suddenly found something interesting out the window as his shoulders were shaking.

Lind sighed and pulled the girl upright and took her outside. She needed to move around. She was still pale until she blushed to crimson.

She was far from free.

They walked outside and she dropped her jaw to see the majestic vistas of the mountains. The landscape was not like it was but she had not seen it back then.

"Are we–are we still inside the Inheritance?" Lind shook his head and recounted the journey. The Divine Lord perked up and then trembled as Lind revealed more information about the Twins' Inheritance and the final results of the trial.

Yue swallowed and looked overwhelmed but Lind then picked her up and flew into the air. She yelped but then began to laugh as they flew over the plains and forests.

She saw all of nature in its glory and he could tell it helped her fight back her heart demon in part.

"Yue, we have a difficult discussion ahead." Her small face turned to him and saw his grim visage. She looked worried but not unaware.

"Junior is a failure. I know I am. I was always so slow at cultivating compared to my elder brothers and sisters. Now, they are all gone." He could immediately feel the heart demon grow stronger.

It was odd to have such a clear sense of it compared to only using external clues and artifacts before to check it.

The Divine Lord seemed to have guided his senses to be more acute to such a personal thing.

"If you truly have no desire to live, I can kill you painlessly." He spoke calmly but her reaction seemed to snap her out of a stupor but she was in midair and dared not struggle as it was a fatal drop.

"L–lord Frey?! Why?!" Tears formed in her eyes but he was not able to be gentle at the moment.

"It is really a matter of how you want to die at the moment. You can be consumed by those heart demons you are so vigorously nurturing, I can kill you right here, or you can fight and strive to die after a long life." He was blunt and gave her no chance to deflect anymore.

Her face became completely devoid of color. Death was at the end of every path; only the length of journey changed.

Being consumed by a heart demon was supposedly worse than death as parts of her may remain to remember who she once was but no more than that. She would become a bane for all life driven only by the motivations that created the heart demon.

Fear nearly made things worse but she then looked up at the man that had saved her life in a new light. He was not belittling her, only giving her the truth.

A Divine Realm was an existence so far beyond her that she was always warned she was less than an ant to them but Lord Frey looked at her steadily as a living being!

A flash of her smiling father, mother, aunts, and all her family went by and she wept as a desperate wish burned the heart demon at the center of her dantian.

It would not conquer it, but it settled her choice.

"I want to live as your bride, Lord Frey!" She spoke before thinking and Lind nearly fell out of the sky! When was that a choice?!

Yue suddenly screamed and turned such a deep shade of red he expected fire Qi to explode from her skin!

Lind calmed his own heart and sighed in his mind. He could not deny her once she found her motivation but it would only lead to trouble later to lead her on. He would simply address it during her treatment.

What could go wrong?