Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1718 - 1717 - Jade Palace of Stars

Lind emerged onto the beach as several satyrs were happily dancing around a bonfire. Lind saw a few mermaids relaxing by the tide pools as others ate something that smelled pretty good.

The party was going strong but he noticed Qing, Karu, and Aristrossa were missing. The last he suspected was enjoying the restoration of her home but the first 2 he had no idea.

He closed his eyes and gently spread his aura without bothering anyone. His new Mystery actually allowed him to blend in so well he could be right in front of someone and they would have no idea he was there!

It was a new feeling but he simply did not want to disturb them. Lower realms were always intimidated by higher realms. It was the way of the world unless they knew each other very well.

Eventually, he detected Qing. She was on the far side of the sparkling water. He flew across until he frowned.

He could not detect Aristrossa or Karu. The former might be also blending into her natural environment. A Shen would be right at home underwater.

Karu, however, he was mystified as to why he could no longer detect her. His ship was inside his range as well as most of the area around the Starlit Refuge.

He continued to Qing and smiled as he found her tending to some troubled children and adults. Heart demons were common to many cultivators and she could not resist helping those she found on the cusp or suffering from them.

He simply observed her work as her striking blonde hair stood out among the fused beings. Her white robe highlighted in gold lines made her seem like an angel to his eyes.

He wished that was all there was to their lives but it was not to be. He was about to leave when her shimmering eyes shifted between blue and green across the silver as they locked onto him.

He smiled and waved at her. She smiled back and simply nodded. He flew on as he tried to find his other 2 companions.

He kept scanning with his aura but neither showed up at all. He tried to figure out the trick as his range easily covered over a third of the Northern Continent so no one could escape his senses inside of a month let alone a few days.

Where could they hide from the aura of a Divine Lord?

Lind began to tweak his aura and his senses until he finally smiled. He had smelled Karu's scent.

He followed it but then the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. A terrifying level of power was barely detected before he felt like he was pinned down.

What was that?!

Lind did not feel helpless but there was no way that being was a simple Master Tier! He tried to locate them but no matter how finely he searched, nothing came back!

As soon as he felt the danger, it vanished and Karu seemed to pop back into existence. She had clearly been crying but as she saw him, she smiled. Lind felt unbalanced but asked nothing.

It was clear some opportunity had come to her for some reason and it was not his place to pry. She flew up to him and actually hugged him!

She had actively avoided his physical touch as he well knew. Gaia had even pointed it out but the fox woman had always simply said they had higher priorities.

Now, she nuzzled into his arms as if she had belonged there.

He was confused as her scent was all over the place. Sadness, joy, and most definitely similar to his wives in some respects!

He was about to ask her what was going on when a chill went down his spine. He slowly turned towards where he had just seen Qing helping patients. A golden head was looking right at him!

[You know I did not do this!] Despite how much more powerful he had become, he felt like an ant under her glare!

A cold sweat began to spread when her voice entered his mind.

[You are so gifted in so many ways, beloved, but in this one aspect you seem determined to remain deaf and blind. She has lived and died with you for lifetimes. Has it never occurred to you that you are being rather cold to her?] Lind felt a headache and shame at the same time.

Of course he knew! He had even directly discussed it with Karu to head off any misunderstandings in advance! He thought they had worked it out but something clearly had changed.

He was too far behind. What was he going to do?!

As his mind reeled, a gentle cough snapped him out of his dilemma. Aristrossa was blushing and looking on but he had not sensed her approach at all!

That was not all. The body of water had been quite empty before but now an entire palace loomed behind her!

What was going on?! There was too much happening at once!

Karu slowly pulled back but her puffy face told the story of her tears. Her smile, however, showed her heart was much lighter.

He took a breath and then tried to scan the structure. Despite seeing a massive gate of jade seemingly made of stars, he felt nothing! It was right in front of him but his aura gave nothing back.

It was the first time he had ever encountered a direct rebuttal of his abilities. His harmony usually acted like a full access key as few arrays or artifacts accounted for it.

Yet, his emerald Qi was just as useless as the rest!

As if sensing what he was doing, Aristrossa smiled at him.

"The Jade Palace of Stars is a legacy left by the being that saved this place. Only a Divine Lord can access it and only if they were born here." That was actually fine but why could it elude him no matter what he tried? It was something he wanted badly if he could get it.

Imagine the Fiend battle front with places no Fiend could find?!

Yet, his hopes were dashed in the next moment.

"The mechanism is unique to the original Divine Lord. I only know of 2 other Divine Lords that tried to take residence and they could not replicate it. In fact, one died trying to." Lind gave up at that moment.

He already had way too much on his plate with the Bastard and his original self. While he had gained a lot of confidence against the current Bastard, the original was a monster beyond anything he could conceive of for the moment.

Aristrossa collected all 3 of them and led them inside the entrance. The instant they crossed the threshold, the entire Starlit Refuge vanished!

Instead, the Jade Palace of Stars became revealed.

It was a sprawling complex that made a fortress out of a material unlike anything he had ever seen. He at first thought it was stone imbued with the affectation of starlight or displaying it but instead he felt like the night sky had been contained in each brick of the exterior!

It was like someone had taken a dream and made it real! Despite the improvement in all his professions, he did not grasp the method that made the palace!

The women smirked at his wonder at just looking at the walls and even the doors. They did not have hinges but slid aside smoothly.

The decorations inside were more normal with carpets, banners, artifacts, and other normal features of any fortress. The one thing absent, once more, was the actual palace.

Most cultivation structures would be inscribed with arrays or a weaving anchored to it. It could be defense, repair, or even offensive formations but regardless, it was always there.

He sensed nothing at all in the walls nor did he see the shimmer of either with his Eyes.

What he did see was a kind of force contained in the structure but he could not pick it apart.

It finally dawned on Lind what he was missing.

"They were a Master Tier and used their Mysteries to build this place?" Aristrossa nodded and began to explain what she knew.

The Divine Lord had felt the disturbance in the Divine Lands. He had then exerted his full power to carve out the refuge. Lind grasped that part but she then revealed what came after.

The residents, as the ice flowed over the land and had to flee to live in the refuge more and more, began to almost worship the Divine Lord. While True and Divine Lords were used to respect or obedience to their commands, worship was not something they ever desired.

They had more than lived long enough to know the danger of such paths combined with their actual power.

Thus, the Divine Lord did something few understood but many had witnessed clearly. It was a legend now.

The Divine Lord seemed to pull the night sky down into a special realm made solely by his power. The inky material sparkled with starlight solidified into the palace they now walked in.

Lind was confused how that helped the situation but then Aristrossa explained it was very simple.

Cultivators were practical creatures and while the fantastical palace creation was a clear show of force, the Divine Lord then left with simple orders.

They were to fend for themselves and he would no longer be involved. He was going to focus on cultivation alone.

The realm snapped shut and stayed that way until he faded. The realm opened and the energy of a dead Divine Realm spread. The death was impossible to hide and the generation that had been alive back then had long died as well.

Still, it affirmed the palace existed and caused others to be invigorated. The few pure beast races did have Divine Bloodlines so they wanted to see if they could get access to the palace.

Lind began to appreciate it.

By leaving a special realm with a clearly fantastical palace to prove its worth, would keep the hope alive for the trapped residents. Being stuck in the ice, no matter how comfortable, would wear on anyone.

A goal would motivate cultivators to keep striving and likely kept the relative peace too since only Divine Lords could get to it. He still wanted to know how it was made but that could come later.

For the moment, they were going to talk about the future and what the palace might have to help them for the future.