Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1725 - 1724 - No Waiting

The energies caused a gorgeous cascade in a massive room in the Jade Palace of Stars. Wood, ore, crystals, and many other resources were piled high but were vanishing at a terrifying pace.

A single being stood at the heart of the storm covered in sweat with his bare chest exposed.

Lind was Forging and weaving at the same time as he completed his 100th Divine Skyship.

Unlike her personal vessel, the current fleet was restricted to cloud ceiling height but unlike any flying artifact, they generated their power via absorption of background energies to fuel it.

Thus, they could fly forever but that was not all they could do.

Channels fed into pivot based weapons he was now charging with emerald Qi.

There were essentially battery packs storing more of his harmonic Qi. It fed into offensive and defensive arrays as well as the directed cannon weapons.

Unlike the rest of the functions, those arrays would exhaust his harmonic Qi and then only have access to the cultivator or external power to pull on.

Still, for what he intended, they would be devastating.

As the vessel settled, he smiled as the ship floated right in front of him. With a casual swipe of his left arm, a spatial tear formed to a massive array of ships floating in some kind of strange dock.

It was a set of spheres acting like a safe place floating in an empty plains. He had come far to create a Haven to hold so many vessels.

As he looked around, he confirmed there was nowhere near enough to make another.

"Looks like that is all they could spare." Resources were not infinite but he was able to make do with low Dao Grade materials that were fairly easy to find in the Divine Lands.

Mystery Grade was flat out impossible in such quantities for obvious reasons. Still, he had gotten some for custom artifacts, weapons, or armor from his family and friends.

His professions were just ridiculous now that he thought about it. All the struggling to upgrade them and now he felt like it was as easy as breathing since his Origin Seeds settled in his dantian.

It only hammered home how much balance, tempering, and comprehension could come together to make an explosive leap in progress.

He was about to wrap up by cleansing himself when an amused laugh caught his attention.

Qing was standing in the doorway holding her sides as a bright red faced Karu stared in on him. He sighed as Shoti clearly had influenced her too much to be laughing like that.

Still, if they were there, he was at his deadline.

"So soon?" Both nodded as Qing wiped tears from her face. Even laughing, she was so beautiful to make hearts swoon. Karu took a breath and quickly calmed herself.

"Divine Lord Aristrossa has been training their people with us. She also confirmed the other races received our invitation. She said no Divine Lord aside from yourselves are in the Northern Continent." Lind frowned at that.

He said nothing but his frown was not missed by them. He cleansed his body and donned some gray robes. He recalled having far more ornate ones not long ago but he did not feel the need.

As he had grown in power, he recognized the need to dress up his position with robes to reveal it was arrogance and insecurity. He recalled how many enemies had always had gaudy halls, artifacts, or other outward ways to declare how powerful they were and seemed so small.

In comparison, Lord Skinwalker and other truly powerful figures stuck out in his mind for their casual use of strength. He could not actually recall what they chose to wear but their faces and power were forever burned into his mind.

Now, as he approached the halls of power where only a few tread, he saw no need for affirmation or acknowledgement. They would feel his power or they would suffer from the mistake of underestimating him.

The trio left the furnace hall and made their way to the official exit.

Unlike some special realms, the current one could be entered or left so long as the conditions were met. Lind fulfilled them after being recognized by Aristrossa as an ally.

The main hall led outside and he exuded his Divine Authority. The empty air twisted and opened into the Starlit Refuge.

Only a few decades passed but it had transformed. The once serene beaches still existed but had been confined by walled off areas.

Aristrossa had revealed a remarkable ability to construct solid material from ice that would not melt unless Divine Fire was used from any elemental system.

Inside those walled off areas were glass tiled areas made by such fire. Other Divine Realm cultivators had made that possible. Compared to the ice walls, the glass tiles were far more interesting to Lind.

They were not fragile at all nor lacking in grip for feet to use. The major use was what was currently going on.

Several figures were floating above their respective areas. The glass tiles were refracting their power around them and allowed them to externally examine their foundation and Arts safely.

It was a rather ingenious way to train as it gave twice to 3 times the result with half the effort. Lind wished he had come up with it but it was the mermaids that had originated the Art.

They created the glass tiles by condensing sand until it obtained the intent of reflection and refraction as the glass formed. Why an aquatic race had Divine Fire eluded him but it was easier to accept for the moment.

As Lind emerged, the various training came to a halt as Aristrossa appeared.

"Are you ready, Lind Frey?" She was one of the few not to have to use honorifics with him and he honestly had grown immune to them. He nodded as the special realm snapped shut.

He then waved his hand and his own haven opened to the shocking spheres with 100 ships docked!

Her jaw was left open before breaking into a smile!

"They are fully charged and work as the prototype I gave you to train on." She looked ecstatic before becoming serious.

"The other races that answered the call are waiting to meet you. Save the dragons, the rest accepted our proposal. The dragons want to meet you." Lind was not surprised. Still he narrowed his gaze as his aura stretched out.

He confirmed what he felt before and nodded at her.

The group led the various races joining them to fight to the exit of the refuge. While a Divine Cultivator could withstand the extreme cold usually, the fused races were fairly susceptible to extended exposure.

Lind and Karu worked in unison to make a comfortable bubble of heated air before they reached the surface and he summoned nearly 70 of the vessels he had created. The dark hulls shone with power as they floated gently in the air.

Unlike his own that had sails and a more sail boat design, the current ones were closer to speed boats if not for their massive size.

They could easily allow 100 to 200 people to crew them with room to spare for resources and spare parts. They had retractable covers on the top deck and he quickly opened them while activating the arrays to warm them up.

The pre-determined teams boarded and Aristrossa would be leading them south to start and then east after a certain point.

"Good luck, Divine Lord Aristrossa." Karu spoke up and the Shen bowed low. Lind was not going to wait for the best conditions. The Fiends were already restless. They had to strike before the Bastard returned viciously to the battlefield.

The people roared as the ships hummed to full life and began to fly away. They were not in an orderly fashion but they quickly stabilized to a faint arrangement to allow them to fly freely.

He watched them go before quickly crossing the Northern Continent to a new place.

It was a massive basin that once was a glorious lake paradise at the heart of the central lands. It was now thick ice like everywhere else but a shimmering dome confirmed it had been made into a base of operations temporarily.

A very wooly figure reared up as they approached but then cupped their paws and bowed as the group flew down to them.

"We welcome the Divine Lord!" A gruff voice spoke as the figure shivered and became a pale skinned robust man.

"I am glad you are all here. As Divine Lord Aristrossa promised, I have your ships." The remaining 30 vessels appeared which brought many figures seemingly appearing out of the smooth ice.

It was all an illusion but the myriad beast races that thrived in ice like the Fierce Ice Bear that greeted them assumed human forms before happily piling in. They would proceed south west to reclaim the Western Lament and meet up with forces in the Emerald Isle.

The whole point was to reduce the usefulness of the Northern Continent and connect teleportation arrays to the Emerald Isle in their case.

Aristrossa had done the majority of the leg work while he spent decades making the ships. His own vessel proved his ability and the chance to strike back at the Fiends after the recent reign of terror was highly desirable.

As the ships left to the sky, Lind had Karu and Qing return to their own vessel before he flew straight up and even farther north.

A single peak reaching into the clouds loomed.

The Lonely Ice Finger had once been a place of fire and rock only. Now, it was pure ice and wind. Massive figures flew in the killer winds but he slowed before his aura soared.

[Stop hiding, Fellow Daoist. You can hide from a Shen, but not from me.]

His words reached all the dragons and the air tore open to allow a massive figure to appear. Lind saw the four dark limbs slam into the ice as the black shell reflected the weakened sunlight. The flat snout was familiar but the uncoiling tail with a second head was from legends.

A Divine Lord Black Dragon Tortoise stood before him.