Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1697 - 1696 - Dao Traces

Lind found nothing but thralls and a frozen snapshot of the eastern United States. It was only as he moved around that he discovered it was odder than he originally believed.

He had seen the crater and other destruction from his leap into the sky, but none of that was present at all inside the fog. Even with time frozen, he should be seeing some destruction once it resumed.

Aside from the wear and tear from moisture, there was nothing. It did not match anything he understood.

Even with his new understanding of events, it only deepened the mystery. Why was the fog locking it away but not preventing the formation of thralls?

What really erased the memories of the other True Lords and the general populace?

How had the Bastard gotten Fiend Qi deep under the ocean to spread but not on the surface?

Even after he was looking for it, he could not find a connection from the Void of Heaven to the subterranean areas. It made no sense!

The contradictions were annoying him and he felt like something basic was slipping past him.

He finally lost his temper and slammed a fist into the hood of an SUV but was shocked when he did not even leave a dent! His eyes narrowed and he began to try to inflict damage on anything only to find he could do nothing!

Unlike in the former midwest, his strength was totally negated despite being partially released inside the fog!

"That is not possible." He was easily able to kill the thralls so why was he unable to affect anything else?

He tried to test a few of his old Arts but he met a new obstacle. It was true he could use World Realm draconic abilities but anything related to cultivation was sealed.

"Racial abilities are released but nothing else? Why would I–?!" Lind froze as he became enlightened.

How would he trap the Bastard? He may not understand the method but the theory behind it he did.

Lind closed his eyes and tried a new tack. Rather than trying to pick apart the fog, he tried to sense what he expected to find now that his new Mystery let him see perfectly well.

It took him some time to center his mind but then his Eyes glowed as he opened them and smiled.

"Well damn, I am a petty bastard." It was a simple concept but not one easy to implement. There was no such thing as a Dragon Dao or related racial abilities, but just about everything else had Dao.

As such, if he wanted to trap a supremely powerful being, he would cut off a layer of cultivation that was true for all living beings.

Dao was part of all things in regards to cultivation. If someone wanted to trap a Divine Realm for all eternity, the best way to do it was to cut them at the knees. The fog was filled with Dao traces but not normal ones.

The moment any Dao started to resonate, the traces would react to fracture it! Internally or externally, he should be able to use his will to condense a Dao he has grasped but the fog shattered it every time.

The mechanism eluded him but the result was devastating. While Mysteries were the critical factor of his dantian progression, the Mysteries themselves were not his power but Dao was!

He could have all the Mysteries condensed but without Daos, he had no vehicle to manifest that power!

He also had no idea what fueled the fog but so long as method and fuel were supplied, the fog was more effective than any prison that could be built!

"No wonder he had gone insane. Total isolation would include his thralls normally." There were Daos tied to the thrall connection and the perversion of the creatures he faced in the fog made more sense.

It was likely that whatever the realm was beyond the Divine Realm could still barely tap into some kind of power but not enough to break free nor truly use an Art.

Lind had to shut down his investigation as it conclusively proved the situation in the eastern USA was not the cause of the world dying.

He caused the situation, the progression notice proved that, but the dying was a byproduct, not the intent.

"Maybe the True Lords were not wrong about digging down as the other Fiend Qi is still there." Lind was about to leave when he paused.

He had tried hitting artificial things, but not natural objects. What would happen if he did?

He quickly found an open expanse of grass between highway lanes. It was not overgrown as it should be despite the signs wear and tear did occur.

No growth should have drawn his eye long ago but he hauled back on his right arm and slammed it into the ground.

He expected either no change or total devastation. What he had not expected was his skin to burst open and his arm's bones to shatter!

Pain seared through his body as he stumbled away from his strike zone.

"What the f–?!" He tried to curse but he was given no time as his instincts screamed at him to move.

The once docile plants had become razor blades growing to attack him!

Dao! It was Dao energy surging from the soil and plants! Lind was in too much pain to concentrate but he flew up quickly and estimated the power was not anywhere near strong enough to damage him in the attack after a quick scan.

It was not traces but fully empowered Dao coming at him!

What was going on?! Lind slowly healed and he reviewed exactly the sensation he had felt before his eyes narrowed. Emerald flames built up in his throat and seared outward into the world.

Yet, just as it was about to strike the soil, it was dispersed instantly! The street, however, simply sat there without a scorch mark where flames struck.

Inanimate had all damage negated but nature had a perfect counterforce?

Lind finally landed on the empty shoulder next to the highway lane and tried to pluck a blade of grass gently.

Unlike before, the blade easily came away but the root stayed intact. It came out as a whole.

Lind then realized he had made a fundamental error.

The Dao traces were part of the cage of the fog but he had not considered something fundamental required to trap a being able to manipulate reality at a whim.

"It is not just Dao disturbance but anything in the Divine Realm is reflected." Inanimate objects had no inherent Dao but living things did. When Lind hit a car or building, nothing happened because his force was dispersed but when he attacked living things, the inherent Dao was magnified to reflect perfectly back at him.

"It would drive someone mad. Unable to break any artifact and any living spirit would be able to shatter anything cast at it in the Divine Realm." The fog was terrifying!

Lind was unsure if the cost of such an attack would hurt Earth but he doubted it. It was likely derived from the target of the fog, the Bastard.

Lind sighed before heading out. There were no leads in the fog and only issues that related to his potential future battle.

As he flew, he contemplated his next steps. He could travel to another continent to see its situation but an instinct told him he was overlooking something.

He reviewed the lies and truths he had been told. He had confirmed the Shen and dragon had not entirely lied but they had not told the truth either. There was no way all the True Lords, vying to become a Divine Lord, would magically go to the same area.

The Shen and dragon made it seem like they had agreed to scout the foggy area but after that, things became twisted. The Bastard would not do that. He would at least not do it without making them work for him.

If that was true, the humans should be forced marched into the fog for the thralls to allow him to feed.

Yet, some had conquered the northern midwest while the others had been captured or fought with the humans.

Lind froze. The weapons! The technology! Where had they come from and how was Fiend Qi applied?!

He had overlooked the source!

Sgt Keel had lied to him. At least, she had not told him lies sold to her as the truth. It was not rich humans or powerful organizations hiding technology. Someone or something was using that popular theory as a cover!

Fiend Qi should not exist on Earth at all but it was clear it had been there for some time. Could a Fiend have been on Earth when he was still alive?

He recalled a lot of the horrifying event that seemed to defy common sense. Wars and violent mass deaths had been sharply rising. If a Fiend wanted to hide mass refining of life, it was a hell of a way to do it.

{Progress update: 58%}

BINGO! Lind narrowed his eyes as he sped up to the border. He knew what the True Lords were doing! They were being used to speed up the spread of the technology the Fiend had stored around the world!

Whether it was taking advantage of the disaster he caused or had been brought there due to–!

LInd stumbled out of the sky and slammed into the ground.

"A price to changing my fate. A price to shifting everything back to the beginning. A price for shattering the rules." Lind felt cold. It sounded too damned familiar. The Bastard had come to exist for a single reason.

He had not wanted to be consigned to Samsara because his ceiling of cultivation had been predetermined. Had Lind actually done the same thing? Had Earth paid the ultimate price by having a Fiend plague it of his own making?!