Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1678 - 1677 - Another Century

Lind stood proudly on the massive deck of his new ship. Unlike previous ones that had mostly wood, the current one had ore mixed with crystals for the outer hull and a stone deck inlaid with weavings. There were no masts as it was simply impractical.

The mass was simply too great given it would be in midair and natural wind, even unnatural wind, could not budge it in any efficient fashion.

It took him a full century, mostly in refining the materials and upgrading the weavings to act as connective interfaces for the various systems. On top of that he had to stress test them and the Divine Lord accommodated him nicely for that.

Even the Divine Lord was shocked at the creation.

He had never seen such a thing that was not a complete flying artifact but a combination of many artifacts directed towards a goal. It was convoluted to be sure but the result was essential for their current events.

It became a moving fortress for an army that could fly in places no one else could reach! Lind had tested that with volunteers and suffered no issues.

Lind had firmly told the Divine Lord about the new restriction and he did not seem surprised. Queltz even told Lind it was likely that if they succeeded, the ship would be restricted like all other flying artifacts and cultivators.

The deck was a massive plane that extended for 400 meters and nearly 100 meters wide. There was a border along the edge with weavings to protect people on the deck if needed.

Both on the top deck and at selected locations down the outer hull, were crystalline weapons far more slender than cannons but they were tremendously powerful.

The very front and back both had 2 massive apertures covered that could reveal high powered versions of those cannons.

Lind had them gathering both various elements and his own harmonic Qi was being infused for the last decade into special elemental cores he created to specifically supply power for those cannons.

He was not being crazy with such standards at all as he had to keep cultivating and preparing to face the entrenched Fiend forces in the Eastern Continent.

His harmony was effective but the Great Bastard had faced him multiple times. If he did not have countermeasures in place by now, the Fiend was not trying.

Karu, Gaia, and Yue had made explosive progress. Karu had left him in the dust, reaching the Qi layer of the Journeyman Tier like it was nothing. She had become concerned about his lack of progress but his focus had been the ship after consolidating and refining his 2 Heaven layer Mysteries together.

Ever since he became a Journeyman Tier, it was like a great weight had dropped away. He did not know why but a feeling filled him that he would advance as needed soon enough.

His foundation was phenomenal and he was now a true Triple Mystery Maester! He had reached Mystery Grade in all his professions consistently!

Weaving and elixirs were generally near high grade quality while Forging had improved as he worked on the ship.

The Divine Lord had stared daggers at him as the 3 women at his side seemed to confound all known rules of cultivation. Karu and he were one thing, but Gaia and Yue were simply guided by him.

Lind could only shrug as it had always been that way. He blamed his restoration of the Celestial Fields layers as to why explosive growth occurred before but there was no such excuse now.

The same phenomenon followed him and he was the only common source. Further, when he was away from his family and new race, their speed dropped dramatically compared to when he was there.

If he had stayed in the Throne of Defiance, it was likely nearly half the dragons would be Divine Realm by now. It was clear that something about him thinned the bottlenecks but it was not universal.

He had to directly act.

He had not time to delve into it but now that the ship was done, it was time to leave.

The storm and connection to the Emerald Isle had long since ceased. The century had brought drastic changes but Divine Lord Queltz would be left in charge as much as he desired to be involved.

The Ravenous Abyss Worms had mostly gone dormant with only a handful of Heaven Realms active. The rest were not nearly as dangerous or large as the higher realms counterparts.

"Master, all supplies are on board and ready to go." Lind nodded but then considered something deeply before asking Gaia to get Yue for him. After a short time, the young woman came above and she was stunningly beautiful compared to before.

She had been a truly young girl when they first met but her cultivation and the passage of time had made her into a woman many men would sell nations over.

No lingering heart demons remained and she had become a proficient spear master in that time.

She had never known she had the talent until Lind tested her. Now, at the Life layer of the Apprentice Tier and partially into the Death Layer, she was stunningly powerful.

The spear glistened with a silver pole and midnight bladed tip. The counter weight was actually a crystal and metal alloy that could allow her to infuse Dao to be channeled along it or merge with her various Arts.

Battle Auras allowed Lind to instantly upgrade anyone that grasped a weapon intent.

Yue had been like a fish to water once she grasped her own intent.

"Yue, you know what I am about to do. I cannot hide any longer and things cannot remain passive. I am going to shift from hiding to confrontation. The Bastard will come for me and he will refine anyone close to me." Lind was blunt but Yue did not even flinch.

She twirled her spear with precision that would leave many Spearmasters in awe and she still had not yet gasped upgrading it to the Divine Realm!

"Where husband goes, I follow!" Lind flinched. She never compromised on her goals and nothing he said diverted her.

He sighed but then nodded.

"Very well, but Ethry and the others have the final say, do not forget that." She nodded solemnly. She then descended so Lind then turned to empty air behind him and smiled. "Senior, why hide now?"

The Divine Lord appeared but he was no longer a man but an old woman again. Why?

A smile spread on her wrinkled face before she shifted back to being a man.

"I have been traveling but my chosen face is too well known. So I have walked as the form the humans imposed on me long ago as none living know of it." Lind sighed but knew that assuming a human form was not rigid for some beasts.

Asexual beings like the worms could choose or shift as they desired.

It left him wondering what Maw Island had been like in its hey day. Had the Ravenous Abyss Worms wandered the human and demon cities shifting from man to woman to consume as they desired?

The Divine Lord only smiled but then became serious.

"If you are truly heading out, then there is one place you need to go before heading to the Eastern Continent." He then pointed northeast. "In the southern region of the Northern Continent, you will find an area called Orasha Swamp. There is a place that will call to you soon and you need to go."

The lack of details made Lind frown but he sighed and nodded.

He then smiled as he had one last shock for his senior.

"Heaven is the Origin was my first Mystery. Heaven is the Scale of All is my second, but finally I grasped the last one." The Divine Lord looked at him indulgently until Mystery energy began to gather.

"Heaven is the Fulcrum of Cultivation." Pearly colored energy appeared around Ling as his Heaven layer was completed and the previous 2 Mysteries quickly helped him refine the last.

His power shot skyward as his solid foundation was hardly bothered. Despite focusing on building the ship, he never stopped exploring the world. He also began to see a pattern in his Mysteries.

The Apprentice Tier were not just about his personal path but were related to each other. That made perfect sense to him at first but now his Heaven Layer was the same if only on the external world.

He had been making his Mysteries too hard! Yet, the Divine Lord looked pale as he condensed and refined his Heaven Layer so quickly.

"Lind–" He then froze as if he could not continue but Lind already knew.

"My alterations are why I am so fast but there has to be a price. Regardless, I will not stop. We are in a fight for our existence. The Bastard has to die, twice even, so until that happens, I will follow the path to the end." Divine Lord Queltz became misty eyed.

"I cannot speak about what comes after but in the Northern Continent, you may find answers to some questions you have. I wish you luck." Lind smiled before walking to the main hatch. The upper aft deck had no steering while but it did have a few chairs mounted to have someone command a battle if needed.

He descended into the bridge and found the 3 women already manning stations.

Karu was ready with the weapons as her seer skill had truly flourished now. Such methods would make attacks strike before the enemy even got started.

Gaia was in charge of supplies and medical status as her dryad bloodline gave her healing skills far superior to any alchemist or elixir master!

Yue was at one of the monitoring stations for what was going on outside while Lind took the con. He looked up at the sky and sneered.

"Time to route the bastards!" The ship thrummed to life but rather than ascend smoothly like a flying artifact, space distorted and it vanished from the island surface to the sky above the clouds!

It was time to start driving the Fiends back!