Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1684 - 1683 - Ring Function

Haro awoke in a familiar room. He had been there several times before but he noticed a rack with at least a dozen black rings in it.

That was unusual. He looked around and saw an equal number of men and women but they were all spirits.

Why were so many True Lords at the arena?

It was unusual but then again, he was aware that Heaven and Earth must feel the threat of the Great One.

True Lords were rare in the lower worlds but in the Divine Lands they were quite different. It was entirely possible to have 3 to 4 True Lords of the same race alive at the same time but usually only if their Authority was limited.

Lind, such as he was, could be the only dragon True Lord at his Authority level. It was just how difficult it showed the process to have Heaven and Earth acknowledge even True Lords who were closer to the source than any other living being.

Haro had long known his Master's path would be short to such a level. The only question had been if another acknowledged True Lord of Dragons had existed on that level. If so, there would have been a battle to the death or some other extreme steps taken.

All that said, Haro's eyes went wide as he saw no less than 3 black rings beside him that had dragon emblems on them!

They were not weak dragons either!

"Brother Haro, it has been some time." A voice snapped him out of his observations of the rack. He turned to find a very pale skinned woman with black voids where her eyes should be and just as black lips.

Her teeth had fangs as well but despite her scary visage, Haro smiled wide.

"Exera! You are here too?!" The pair hugged warmly. She nodded before pointing and he saw the violet shape on her ring. It had 4 limbs and a tail but the sharp aura could not be missed.

Haro was shocked. He had thought they were extinct!

"A Divine Void Wolf?!" She nodded while smiling widely.

"She was a normal mongrel long ago but an Inheritance purified her bloodline. Then she stumbled into a strange special realm. It was like it had been waiting for someone like her to resurrect the lost race. I was called." Haro was happy for her.

The rings, technically, could work for any True Lord, but the very first race imprinted on them was special. Exera's had been The Divine Void Wolves. A very rare breed of wolf that could safely cross in the void between realms.

Even the Void Ocean was their playground and one of the very few races the krakens and leviathans did not bother if they encountered them. Their ability, however, was able to be extracted from their bloodline and soul.

Thus, humans driven by greed had hunted them to near extinction before other beasts killed them in an attempt to possibly incorporate the bloodline through absorption.

While many wolf clans found that disgusting, some had been too tempted to not try.

The fact that one had been able to return reminded him of Lind's own discoveries of ancient beasts bloodlines showing up far too often in descendents. He frowned at the implication it was not limited to just Lind's strange abilities to draw them out.

If Heaven and Earth were pulling out all the stops, the number of rings made far more sense. Seeing his change in demeanor, Exera hugged him again.

"The others arrived only a few decades ago. The trial this time is very difficult it seems. None have passed but none have yet to fail." Haro snapped his head around.

Decades?! Such a short time?!

He looked back at the dozen black rings and frowned. There was no way that many could be qualified and come to the arena. Not unless–!

He turned back and she seemed confused.

"Were you not called?" He shook his head but then stopped.

"My Master was told by the Divine Lord on the former Maw Island." Understanding came over her.

"Then there was no need. Yet, we are all agreed, it is not good that nearly a dozen candidates have appeared. If it were 3 or even 4, that would be unusual, but a dozen indicate very dark tidings." Haro nodded.

The purpose of the rings were not explicit. They did denote a True Lord but they had been created primarily due to the savage fallout between True Lord battles in the Divine Lands. Authority clashes were even more terrifying than Master Tiers fighting.

The rings acted as guardians and chains. If a True Lord abused their Authority or attempted to directly entangle another True Lord's will to cause backlash on their opponent, the rings' hidden functions would activate and immediate judgment could be called.

Lind had worked out a lot of Haro's functions but not that one. Rather, Lind was far more harsh on himself than Haro or even Heaven and Earth could hope to be. The level of power he wielded even without Authority was terrifying.

If another being had grasped his power, a very dark chapter could have been opened up rather than the current state of affairs.

"Has the Creator come?" Haro asked it but always assumed the normal answer of no, yet Exera went wide eyed. He became shocked but before either could speak they were swept to an open balcony looking down on the shifting sands of the arena.

The empty seats surrounding were pristine dark metal with pavilions and other open balconies where VIP suites would be. Haro always wondered what Older Twin was thinking when making areas never meant to be used but now he stood in one!

A very frail looking woman sat calmly sipping at a steaming cup of tea in a golden cup. Her presence seemed both more weighty and yet barely there to his senses. With a flick of her finger, the entire arena could be destroyed but he knew she would never do that.

"You are late, Child." Haro felt a tremor as he took a knee and bowed. It had been so long since he had felt the Creator's presence. Many believed her to be long dead and they were not entirely wrong.

She could no longer be active in the world but she endured. She had made an Oath and now the end times had come. Either she would succeed or die with all of them.

"I have been lost for a time and now my Master has–" Haro felt his voice suddenly cease as his memories were reviewed. That was the last function of the rings.

They recorded everything about their Masters. Only 1 being could look them over and she had put so many restrictions and Oaths on herself that the information could never be abused.

Anyone that even tried to get such information from a ring or cultivator would never know how they died!

A rare pause came when the scenes of Lind's ascension to the Radiant Tier came through. Haro's Creator suddenly appeared in front of him but he dared not look up.

"Explain." Haro had not come prepared. Only their Creator could invoke the recordings so he had not really needed to think on it but he could only shrug.

"There were some external sabotage attempts but it seems Heaven and Earth knew the truth. I have no other certain explanation." The issue was unique to Lind. He had discarded his life and Haro chose to act as his guardian. That was fine, it was what he was for.

What mystified his Creator was 2 things. One was how Haro was alive at all and the other was why the ring did not return to the Cradle to await a new True Lord.

Lind had lost his qualifications. He had no Authority and disdained it at the time. For far less, other True Lords had fallen, yet Lind and Haro were still together.

Haro knew the rest of his memories were fragmented of that time but the fact he was there meant something had happened.

While Haro knew of it after the fact, he had not lived it so the only moment next was when Lind re-acquired his status as a True Lord.

The memories resumed but his Creator did not move. She was now looming over him and it seemed the more she saw, the more shocked she became.

"Impossible. Simply impos–!" The memories finally came to Karu's revelations but something unexpected happened.

A violent explosion of emerald energy appeared but it was not the kind Haro knew of. It was different! He had no idea what it was but the area around him suddenly felt very weak.

[Stop, or all our hopes will die, Senior.] The voice was slightly off but it was Lind's! Haro had never heard that tempo or tone before and he quickly realized what was happening. Karu's nature was recorded in his ring!

If his Creator tried to see all that could be seen with her vastly superior abilities and the ring's capabilities, it could poke into places that no longer existed! Worse, it could unravel all that was!

Time was that dangerous!

The images stopped instantly and the instability settled down. Haro had only one theory to explain the warning.

Lind had been a True Lord before and Haro was his guardian, Karu confirmed that, but the changes in time did not affect him in the slightest. His Master was still Lind so they had not delved into it but the rings were peak Mystery Grade items!

They touched on a threshold that was nearly outside the Dao of Time! It was entirely possible Haro had been upgraded or changed in those other timelines and Lind may have found a way to put failsafes inside it!

Why did he not know?!

"It seems I will need to meet this boy. He is unlikely to succeed afterall. The trial this time is one of the barren planets just barely able to spawn life." Haro was shocked. That was one of the harshest tests but given the number of True Lords it made sense.

The coliseum existed for one sole purpose. It was to test True Lords if they could become Divine Lords. It was never easy and the success rate was abysmal. The fact so many candidates were here meant the Fiends had consumed or killed many Divine Lords as well.

That was not good.

"Do you know anything about which world was chosen, Creator?" The woman paused as she walked slowly back to her seat. Her aura increased before she seemed to find what she wanted.

"A truly sad world. It almost died out before some kind of external intervention may happen." The odd phrasing was not unusual. The Coliseum was made by a being none could match. It was not impossible at all to delve into alternative time of barren planets.

"Simple name too. It is just called Earth." Haro froze. His Master had mentioned it many times so how could his Creator have not seen it in his memories? He then realized what happened. While his Creator could learn about the trial, anything else would be restricted.

That included his memory!

A smile broke out on his face as he stood up. Fail? If his Master failed after going home, was he even trying?