Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1708 - 1707 - Heart of Mysteries

Lind could not get his mind to work. He was certain he had failed entirely considering all he had learned and done. After all, despite discovering the truth, he had essentially broken the trial at the end!

He wanted to ask questions but pain seared his existence as a storm of power began to flood him. On top of that, a tribulation appeared!

He expected a horrific ordeal but instead, the lightning built up and ensnared him! The flow of power actually increased and his vitality soared once more!

The lethargy that had begun to plague him vanished as if it never existed! In fact, he could no longer sense an end to his life!

Before, despite being a True Lord and Divine Realm cultivator, there was a vague sense of there being an end. It had no number but it was there.

Only when he exerted his will in the trial did he finally feel that end looming. Divine Realm cultivators were worn down over time. Depending on the quality of cultivation, will, soul, and so forth, that lethargy could be pushed off or discarded in time, but it would always be there.

Eventually, the desire to live would just vanish. Hence, they would choose to fade.

Pain increased as Lind realized his body was being pushed beyond! He had thought his rebuilt body was nearly perfect but it seemed that was simply the limit of a True Lord!

A Divine Lord could not endure for so long with such a body! His soul was part of it now so it too had to change but that was when something odd happened.

The storm seemed to pause. The flow of power had reached the heart of his dantian and his harmony had flared like a thousand suns! Before, it was just overwhelming power but now he felt a dramatic shift.

His emerald eyes lit up and a roar left his throat. The power now was consumed by him! His harmony refined it as fast as it entered and his body, dantian, meridians, and soul were all dramatically improved far beyond!

His weaving, Forging, and elixir mastery exploded in his mind like he had simply been waiting for that moment. All his questions and doubts flowed away like so much ash in the wind.

He only realized then it was not simply vitality and power, but Heaven and Earth being swallowed up by him!

Crisis filled his heart at that moment but as if some pre-arranged agreement was reached, the flow slowed and then stopped.

Lind dropped to all fours covered in sweat. His was stark naked but his once deeply tanned skin now was a deep creamy jade with a tinge of emerald. Under the right light, he might look like a living statue.

His towering body had been returned to more human dimensions but the power inside his body had exploded!

His wild emerald hair still flowed from his scalp but his reptilian eyes were now totally human. A shimmer of scales flashed before he finally felt stable enough to stand. He looked at his right hand and noticed a new change as well.

His black ring always had a sinuous dragon similar to his body but not identical. Now, the ring was emerald with a perfect black cut out of his dragon form on it!

It had 3 horns on the head twisted to show them off and his mane draped over the long body. His limbs were there as well!

The detail was insane!

"What–?" As if to mock his attempt to ask a question, a bell pealed out and snapped his head up to see a partial tower before him in violet, black and silver space.

He glanced around and found a strange surface of emerald generated under his feet but the tower floated in nothing. Its foundation was solid but no ground was there!

It was a conical tower as it got narrower as it moved up but it was weird. There were 9 doors.

Each floor had a door lined up the front. The base floor was white gold, the next the deepest black, and the one on top of that a familiar silver color. It did not take him long to grasp what he was seeing.

It was the same colors as his dantian!

The Heart of Mysteries was a tower? Of course that was not entirely sure.

The next 3 floors were strange. The pearl white of Heaven was not as rigid as all 3 floors beneath it. The dark tan of Earth was the same and even more spread out with tendrils spreading out into the empty space.

The layer above that was of so many colors it made his head hurt to look at but they were familiar. All 18 elements!

The last 3 doors drew his eye in excitement but then he frowned. There were 3 doors but they were sealed completely and there were no walls at all around them! They just floated freely in line with the other 6!

Even if he was too weak, how could there be nothing? What was this place?!

[Long ago, the candidates for the Divine Lord would fight to the death to reach this place. The devastation and destruction cannot be understated, but then a dragon and a roc Divine Lord refused to let it go on. That is why they contracted me.]

A very faint Older Twin appeared but unlike the young man he was used to, the current one was old with white hair on each of his temples. He also had a scar going down his right cheek.

He had seen similar injuries in the vision shown long ago but those had been healed. How was he injured now?

The crow's feet showed as he smirked but did not even attempt to explain his appearance.

[The coliseum is essentially a middleman and the trial varies once the requisite call is sent out. The Heart of Mysteries is its power source.]

Lind looked back at the tower but then a question occurred to him. If the tower was the source–?

[The trial can now endow multiple Divine Lords but the reward is uneven. Think of it as cultivation. The artifact allows several to pass if they meet certain requirements but what those are and what trial they face, are solely determined by the Heart of Mysteries.]

So the bare minimum likely granted more vitality and some Authority but that was it. The more qualifications met, the greater the Authority and vitality. Also refinement of a beast body was hard the further along they were.

A more refined body would allow more power and less strain with Authority as well.

Lind then realized the tower was the true treasure of any budding Divine Lord. No matter their realm, Mysteries were a struggle.

His own had been a hassle to him but that was due to his time constraint. Even he knew he was blowing through Mysteries way too fast. His unique conditions explained a lot of it as his foundation and alternate selves likely laid out the road he was on.

"What am I supposed to do here? I notice the Qi Layer is not sealed." That part was interesting but the faint figure shrugged.

[I am only here because my brother is your Master. I have no idea but I can say no door is a waste. Good luck. Do not worry about the passage of time. You are not exactly inside of the flow of time.]

Lind narrowed his eyes but the figure vanished completely and he was left alone with the strange tower.

"Haro?" He spoke the name aloud and the familiar bald headed dark skinned man appeared but his robes were entirely different! They were emblazoned with an emerald dragon on a black background!

It was a very detailed version of him again! The current one was clearly his dragon body in perfect detail and color. Haro was smiling ear to ear at him.

"Congratulations on your ascension, Master! Thank you as well." Lind tilted his head in confusion. Haro smirked and pointed at the ring. "A Divine Lord has no need for a Guardian but you instinctively wanted me back. I have been promoted! I am free as a normal Divine Spirit now!" Lind smiled wide.

"I suppose that means you have nothing on that?" He pointed at the tower but Haro smiled even wider.

"My Creator made us at the same time as the coliseum. We are from different people but for the same purpose. The brutal methods of fights to the death were too devastating to be considered worthwhile. My final wisdom granted is for this place." Haro then began to explain.

The tower was as Lind suspected. Each door was related to the layer of Mystery in his dantian. The Master Tier was sealed and Haro could not relay anything about it. He said there was no point to it which made no sense to him but he moved on as the other 6 were open to him.

The ones he mastered were a given but still worthwhile. Apparently, like his body, a Divine Lord could push their Mysteries beyond the limits of Heaven and Earth. The tower was a place to speed up the process with the most stability.

The reason the Qi layer was open despite no Mysteries condensed was because as a Journeyman Tier, he was very likely to finish his Earth layer right there! How?! Why?!

Lind had struggled and traveled almost the breadth of the entire Divine Lands for any inspiration or knowledge to help condense his Mysteries but Divine Lords got it handed to them on a silver platter?!

Why had no one told him this?!

Haro laughed but then became serious.

"Master, you may not know this but most of your Mysteries are Origin Mysteries. It is normal to have 1, maybe 2 in any cultivator but to have almost all? Never. I think you need this place if you are to reach the Master Tier in the time you have left. There is a limit to this place once you begin but start at the bottom and work your way up." Haro's words made him have so many questions but the ring spirit disappeared.

It meant he could not answer them.

Lind sighed and looked up at the tower.

"I am tired of the run around. Time for some answers." He stepped forward and opened the Door of Life.