Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 168 - 167 - The Silver Peaks

It had been 3 months since the special dinner.  Cimmeria had slowly learned of Master Frey's intent to leave but by the time the powers moved, he had vanished.  The Heavenly Maiden Sect was censured but few could truly affect them.

The man in question had donned some pale green robes and dyed his hair silver to slip out while Annabelle had used her power of illusion that was now terrifying in its power to appear as a homely girl next to him.

The Zephyr Clan would have recognized the robe design but Lind only used it to leave the city the first full day.  After that, he changed back to his original appearance and gray robes.  Annabelle had also changed her appearance to a human with brown hair and amber eyes.

They looked like siblings but Lind praised her idea as it made it harder to find them.

They traveled through several villages and towns but stayed on foot until a month had passed.  Lind had observed several Sky Realms tearing across the skies but he had no way of knowing if they were looking for him.

He realized Sarth did not have many Sky Realms compared to Indelia.  It made him appreciate how lucrative the Stardust Emporium was.  They drew the eye of the greater powers despite being in the lower Mortal Realm.

In a medium city, Lind joined a caravan heading east as Annabelle guided them.  He was curious about the Aether Sect and she was still in the Soul Realm but close to the peak.  In the short year and a half she had been alive she had caught up to him!

As they traveled on the crude wagons pulled by horses larger than any animal he had seen with the name, some news was part of the chatter around them.

"Did you hear about Cimmeria?"

"You mean about the new Forger gone missing?  We already heard about that last week."

"No, not that, although I heard he was found near the Rakathi Wastes, but anyway, it was about one of those young masters!"

The crowd of people quieted at those words as the swarthy faced man smiled at the attention.  He did not waste the moment as he pulled his dark robes neatly around him.

"Apparently there was a scandal with one of the heirs of the Emporium council of merchants.  He challenged his sister to a duel and revealed he had dealings with the Demon Empire!"  The man waited for a response but a subdued crowd faced him.

"Don't they all have dealings with that spirit forsaken empire?"  An older woman with 2 children in tow spoke up.  Her hair had streaks of gray in it but Lind saw she was a tier 2 Soul Realm at least.

The swarthy man waved off her words and then looked around like he was afraid of being overheard.

"Apparently he was dealing with them to give them a voice on the council.  He was going to try and open up underground routes for resources to flow to them in exchange for cultivators back to their damned Blood Empire."  Using the demonic name was for effect but it did the trick.  Lind frowned as he suspected who it had to be but a younger man beat him to the question.

"Who would be so stupid as to believe any deal with that Demon Empire?!"  A few more nodded heads as the swarthy man smiled as if he had waited for just that question.

"It was Polare.  Sebastian Polare.  Apparently he tried to kill his sister in the duel but she had some kind of miraculous artifact weapon that destroyed his demonic tools."  Lind was both stunned and happy to hear Spark Grip could counter such an attack.  "Now, he has been crippled and will likely be executed for treason."

Lind would have been confused before he lived in Cimmeria but while the contest allowed the Demon Empire to participate, the Stardust Emporium stood firmly in neutrality between all powers.

If it was discovered that the Demon Empire was benefiting directly from the Emporium council, there would be severe repercussions for all involved.  The various rules in place restricted many of the activities known to be common in the empire while they came to Cimmeria.

Lind realized Delia likely had known and thus had taken the chance to get her best shot at help via his Forging methods.  He was saddened it had come to that as he did not perceive her to be heartless concerning her family.  A pragmatist would be the best description.

The rest of the journey took a few weeks but most of it was spent on gossip or talking about any rumors about Ruins or other treasures of cultivation.  There were some bandits but the guards were all near the peak of Iron Tier and seemed like old hands at repelling them.

Compared to some stories Lind had heard, this caravan was rather uneventful.  Annabelle never strayed far and resisted practicing her formations as for the moment they were  not advertising who they were.

Lind could not perfectly hide but so long as he did not use his telltale harmony, a 6 elemental at the peak of the Soul Realm was actually normal.  His appearance was not as well known as his distinctive robes were more eye-catching than the rest of him.

Finally, they left the range of Cimmeria's power.  The city was the largest one but the reach of the Stardust Emporium was massive on Indelia.  They entered Yrel, a small state to the east that was one of a few smaller powers that benefited from the flow of goods to and from Cimmeria.

They were not directly under the umbrella of the Emporium but it would not be wrong to say they lived under the power of it still.

It was here that they parted from the caravan and began to walk into the wilds between Yrel and the Silver Peaks.  Lind could not see them yet but it was said that once visible, they would sparkle under the sunlight with silver color.

He wondered what made that so and looked forward to finding out.

Their journey through the wilds was far more bumpy than the caravan.  Although there was regular hunting and other protective missions for sect disciples, the beasts that lived there were all still near the peak of the Soul Realm.

A few Sand Tiers were found but were herbivores that posed no harm.  Lind enjoyed seeing Annabelle smiling as she was allowed to pet what looked like a mix between a deer and a bear due to its massive size.

He had heard aether children enjoyed more trust from beasts than humans but it was his first time seeing it up close.  He could not entice the animals at all no matter what he tried, but it was fine.

He had collected several more beast cores from the more aggressive wolves and bears they did find, but grade 2 cores were more for quantity than quality for him at that point.

After a few more weeks, the morning finally came where there was a glimmering metallic glow in the east.  Lind smiled as he saw the peaks of mountains at the limit of his sight.  Annabelle was still sleeping but he basked in the moment of seeing the miraculous sight of the glimmering peaks.

"Still a bit of a trip."  Lind knew his vision was far stronger than a mortal's but all that meant was the horizon was just that much more to travel.

After that, the next week was spent seeing the peaks grow larger and looming as they finally left the wilds behind.  Lind noticed that the closer to the peaks they got, the weaker the beasts became.

He also began to see signs of cultivators as there were few herbs, ores, or other natural treasures that could crop up in the wilds of the world.  His Eyes noted the signs of damage done by techniques or Arts.  The quality, however, was not human.

"I think we are near the Aether Sect territory, Annabelle."  He saw her nod and dispel her disguise.  Her sapphire and gold hair looked lovely in the sunlight.  Lind found he had missed seeing her in her natural state and hugged her close.

Her face blushed but it only made her cuter.  He stopped teasing her and moved onwards until all his instincts screamed at him.

Lind had focused mostly on his elixirs and Forging in his time at Cimmeria, but what happened with the Gate made him always keep training with Shoti and other Maidens for battle.  He was no expert by their measurement but they rated him as excellent at sensing attacks.

Shoti's whip attacks had honed that particular skill to an extreme such that Lind often felt attacks or intent to attack before World Realms.

Now, at the edge of the Silver Peaks, he felt danger.  His Eyes scoured the ground and rising hillside but saw nothing.  His Touch went to work and finally felt a disturbance a few meters away.

"Lind?"  Annabelle was ready at his side, her own training had not risen to expert level but she was better than Lind as a conjurer.  He only looked to their right and then his staff extended at the same time a shield blazed from an artifact that changed from a triangle to 3 edges sticking out from a solid center.

The 6 elements blazed around them but before they could move the green hillside distorted as a gold and green aether child appeared.  A massive flash of light followed by tearing winds flowed at them but the shield held.

Lind smirked as the man focused on him but then the man stumbled as Annabelle suddenly appeared next to him with a spear.  She looked fierce as the blade was now against his neck.

"Wait, sister!  I just want to free you!"  Annabelle's gold and sapphire eyes narrowed at the fool and huffed as she made her emblem appear.  His eyes bulged as he recognized the Heavenly Maiden Sect emblem.  Only a suicidal fool would fake it.

A glimmer of white on Lind drew his eyes back and he nearly fell over.  The mark of a guest elder!

"I understand humans do not have the best record, but there is no color or flow of Qi between us.  You are able to sense that at least, yes?"  Lind looked hard at the aether child and he grimaced as he nodded.  Annabelle finally removed her spear blade from his neck and moved back to Lind.

"I apologize for my assumption.  What business do you have here?"  Annabelle frowned but Lind grabbed her hand to squeeze it.  The man frowned but then looked shocked as Annabelle blushed before turning away.

"We were invited.  I was invited by Sage and Annabelle was invited by one named Sasha."  Lind pulled out a triangular jade piece and Annabelle held up a dark jade slip that the aether child could tell had the Qi formation to open the path to the sect.

The man bowed instantly to the triangular jade piece.

"Master Frey!  I have heard about you and Lady Annabelle.  You are most welcome to the Aether Sect!"  The 180 degree turn in attitude floored them both but Lind then thought of something.

"How are those 6 doing?"  The aether child smiled as he looked up.

"They are doing well and have fully healed!  I will let them know you have arrived as well!"  Lind smiled and put away the jade piece.  Annabelle and he followed the man into a distortion and vanished from the countryside.