Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 172 - 171 - Dantian Suppresion

The camp at the entrance of the main Relic was not very large but even there, the divide was clear from how aether children approached their goals.  A large number of tents were used even though they were underground, but the members needed a break from the pressure of the profound Qi.  At least, that had been their thoughts.

On the side full of more smiles and generally pure academic pursuit, many were gathered in the largest tent used for meetings and storing what few artifacts were reclaimed for study.

All were listening to a human give a lecture on the elements and how they worked together.  At first, very few had come to him aside from the ones that knew him personally, but later the results spoke for themselves.

Before, when trying to make progress disassembling the traps, they could barely use any Qi.  Trying to grasp the Qi of the world as World Realms were supposed to, simply did not work.  All had thought it was the profound Qi pressuring them due to it being so much higher, but that was not the problem at all.

"An Immortal can use all 6 elements but their principles should still be based on the cultivation you knew.  Here, though, someone has created a place where all 6 must work together.  It was not the Immortal Qi pressuring you, but the Relic that forces cooperation."  Lind had said those words several times after weeks of study.

His first day had been mostly a question session.

The leader of the camp was a peak Diamond Tier but he was not the Sect Master, that was a Sky Realm in the highest palace back in the valley.  Jon was an academic at heart and from the more tolerant side of the Aether Sect.  The vengeful side wanted powerful artifacts or weapons but thus far there had been neither found.

Instead, they found pieces of training equipment for cultivation.  The most Lind studied, the more he felt like the point of this Relic was not what they hoped.  Further, he was the only cultivator that could freely use his Qi near the Relic.

They had been using formations to push back Qi or cooperating to fuel an artifact to allow others to work.  The blow back was common as the distortion traps pushed them back out once the formations collapsed.  Lind suspected a piece was missing that would help them qualify to progress in the Relic.

That was the problem with Relic and Ruins both.  They were only a piece of an Inheritance.  Some were self-contained and could be used as a trial or source of resources but many were a slog of brute forcing a way through a tiny step at a time.

There were Relics that were being used by several powers but no one actually knew what they were originally for.  They simply adapted what they could use.  This Relic was a rare one compared to any Lind had studied.

It actively suppressed dantians.

If you had not mastered all 6 elements, you could not move forward.  This was not meant for the mortal realm at all.  It was meant for Heaven Realm at lowest.  Lind's situation was rare and gave him an advantage.

After studying the ancient languages most Relics carried, it was discovered that as cultivation progressed, languages became unified between 3 options.  One was used by humans, obviously, another was used by demons, and the last was an archaic language no one knew where it came from.  Not in the records Lind had studied at least but after Cimmeria he had suspicions.

He pushed it back as the human language was the one used here.

He found they had been working harder but not smarter.  While Soul to Sky Realm could not wield 6 elements individually, aether children could work together cooperatively far better than any other race.

The 6 mono-elementals he had met in Cimmeria had taken his lecture and felt they had a breakthrough.  They connected to each other, the Gift of Aether as it was called, and instantly the distortion gave way before them.

They still had to work on the traps and they drained Qi far faster than before, but they had been able to make more forward progress in a few weeks than had been done in centuries.  They were not the only ones. Complimentary dantians were used and several groups began to make explosive progress compared to before.

Lind's lectures had grown and he always started at the beginning.  While he could only speak to Soul Realm elemental control, the relationship between elements seemed to reach them all at the World Realm.

Lind, himself, had not done anymore than study.  He felt it wise to simply study the formations as much as he could but even he was only able to scrape the surface of what he saw.  His ability to use his elements freely made him reach the conclusions he had so far.

The lectures had simply been a request from Sasha as she had been stuck on making progress in her comprehensions.  Even though he was a lower realm than her, clearly she had studied his theories and wondered if he could clarify them.

The results had surprised even him but he was upfront about his limits, yet the crowd kept growing.  He also heard the larger Sect had taken his lectures from second hand word of mouth from the camp.  Only one side of the sect, however.

The vengeful side was holding hard against even listening to him.  It made him sad but he could not force them.  Sasha had been trying to get Kelvin to come with her but the man just looked at him angrily every time they met.  Lind thought it was simply his point of view on humans in general but he had heard Kelvin had been more open minded at one time.

Lind had also saved a large number of aether children which made Sasha reaffirmed in her belief of tolerance but Kelvin hardened for some reason.

The lecture came to an end after many questions but he enjoyed it.  They answered his on the World Realm as best they could but none of them could help him with his greatest issues.  Namely his 6 element balance and his harmony.

Watching Fey breakthrough had been immensely helpful but only in the sense of how it should look if done well, but not enough to tell him how his should work.  The flash of Master Bord's repaired dantian fonts shifted unlike any Sand Tier he could perceive.

He wished he had been stronger back then to fully perceive the process with his Eyes or Touch but it was beyond him back then.

That moment, however, held him back from attempting a breakthrough himself.  He wanted to as he felt ready but a warning in the back of his mind warned him he was missing something and this Relic spoke to him that he was right.

This Relic was built on the concepts of 6 elements but they were not quite what he was used to seeing in his studies.  It was also vastly different from the Ruin where he found his staff.  He had compared the arrays of the staff Cain and Harold had detailed for him to what he saw in the Relic.  They were not the same.

His staff was clearly 6 people coming together to help 6 elementals, but this Relic was simply using all 6 elements to prove proficiency and control so far as he could tell.  Why someone would build such a thing, he did not know, but his instincts told him this was a clue to what he was looking for if he could grasp it.

He could not bring it into focus but he kept studying and weeks had passed, yet he still was not any closer.  He set aside his scrolls as he massaged his head between his fingers.

"I am not getting anywhere."  He mumbled out loud simply because he had no one to talk to about it but a voice answered him.

"Perhaps you should take a break, Lind."  He jumped and looked as the air shimmered before a woman appeared.  His face broke into a smile as he felt a more profound Qi flow from the gold and blue dantian he was so familiar with.

"You broke through!  That is wonderful!"  Lind hugged Annabelle close.  She had made it to the low Sand Tier and her foundation seemed very stable.  He also did not want to let her go after not seeing her for weeks.

"You promised to come back to the sect.  Instead I found you giving lectures and looking over scrolls and slips.  Care to explain?"  She tried to be stern with him but he noticed she sounded happy and held him tight too.

They parted and he was about to speak when the flap parted suddenly.

"Master Frey–"  Sasha froze as she saw Lind still had his arms in Annabelle's but she smiled wide as she blushed.  "Pardon me!"  Lind wondered at her reaction before he began to see ice crystals form that were definitely not illusions!

"She was supposed to get me when a certain party came back.  We were running an experiment!"  Lind nearly shouted but his words seemed to calm Annabelle down.  She took a breath and nodded but then pulled him back to her side as they sat down on the only thing available aside from the chair, his cot.

"Tell me everything."  Lind smiled and began speaking freely as he could tell her all about his worries and his discoveries in equal measure.  The smile on her face made him feel the weight lift off of his body as it had not done in weeks.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

"What do you mean he will be late?"  The team that came back from the Relic seemed disappointed not to share their success with Master Frey but Sasha had told them he would be a bit.

"Lady Annabelle came for him!"  Instantly all the female aether children smiled in understanding while some of the men grumbled but nodded.  Sasha glanced around as they decided to move on to their other reports and duties.

She saw a few of the other side of the sect mixed in but thought nothing of it.  She was just glad they had not left before the meeting began as it meant they might actually listen to Master Frey.

She focused on her own research and missed one of the vengeful side of the sect slip away.  They had a far different reaction when Sasha announced about Lady Annabelle but no one really thought there would be an issue with one of their own coming to the camp.

"Should we postpone for the day?"  One of the younger World Realms asked a question that made some blush, but a cough pulled their attention to the entrance.  Master Frey stood there in his crimson robes once more as a beautiful woman of gold and sapphire stood next to him.

Sasha had been in such a rush, she had missed that Annabelle had broken through to the World Realm!  She was a true prodigy!

"Let's hear the report and see what we learned from it."  Lind moved into the room but then Sasha froze as she turned to focus on him as a face appeared in the tent that had stopped coming since Master Frey arrived.  Kelvin was panting but he looked hard at the center of the room and Sasha felt a pit in her stomach.

She followed his gaze and saw it was locked on Annabelle.  His face twisted for a moment but she knew what he saw and she was now certain.  Annabelle had her arm hooked through Lind's as she stood next to him.  That loving gesture incensed him and she felt a massive issue was coming.

She prayed to the spirits for their mercy and focused on the most recent results of their exploration of the Relic.