Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1732 1731 - Licking Wounds

Qing had felt like they were making headway despite Lind's warnings. The wives and closest confidants all saw how the Fiend battle front was pushed back slowly but surely over centuries.

The Harmonic Dragons were very effective with their raw power but the 6 elemental cultivators that joined them over time brought finesse and skills to bear as well. Even without his help, it seemed like they would be able to whittle away at the Fiend armies.

Yet, Lind seemed almost desperate to get stronger. His speed was insane already and even they were considered geniuses by various powers despite simply benefitting from his lessons and guidance.

The support and knowledge unlocked a tsunami of advancement on all sides. It was just the 6 elementals and Harmonic Dragons' effectiveness drew the eye.

Still, their successes seemed so solid that Qing and others began to believe the Fiends could be defeated soon.

Now, she saw a broken Ethry and an entire continent was lost. The Northern Continent had been evacuated just in time. All the moves Lind made in the last century had just barely thwarted the Great One.

Lind was constantly moving around the bed Ethry lay on. He somehow triggered her shift to a human form and it was far worse than seeing it in a dragon.

All her bones were like mush and blood flowed from everywhere. The once fair features were bruised and swollen. Her aura was so chaotic that she expected it to regress any moment.

Yet, emerald light, elixirs, and all manner of healing artifacts were working. She had forgotten that Lind, at his core, was a healer. All his time as a leader of some form and warrior of late had pushed aside that was not his specialty.

He was a man that valued quality of life above all. He had said it so many times but only at moments like the current one did she see the truth of his basic phrase.

People are not things.

No one was nothing to him and he would go to any length to save them. It did not have to be illness or injuries but simply the weight of the world crushing them all could be made lighter.

All that effort and to find an enemy that was almost literally against everything he stood for nearly take the life of his wife, she could only imagine his desperation.

The loss of Cyntilla was still there. Lanbao and Delenn were also weights in his heart. She had helped him for so long with all those they had outlived or lost.

It was a wonder he had not had more issues like in the Endless Peaks.

"How did he stop the tribulation?" Karu's tiny voice made Qing look over at her and she saw a mix of past pain and newly affirmed awe. The short version was it had not been the first time one of the wives had attempted to take out the Great One.

Each time they had died fruitlessly. The Great One had been injured, but that was all. In fact, it was usually followed by the mass consumption of whatever continent it occurred on.

Lind had never been able to save them before, ever. She had engraved that pain from the previous timelines so it had survived where much of the others were lost.

A cry of pain drew both women back but it was just Ethry holding on as Lind worked. It was going to be a long session no matter what.

"I do not know much about Divine Lords but considering how Heaven and Earth treated a True Lord in the Celestial Fields, I can assume a Divine Lord has similar liberties under the right conditions." Karu instantly shook her head.

"Divine Lords are not above Heaven and Earth! Even Master Tiers cannot command tribulations!" Her voice rose but Qing quickly put 2 fingers on her lips.

She pulled the Divine 9 Tailed fox woman back to her quarters. She poured out tea and let her calm down.

She then relayed times when Lind exerted his Authority to pull of insane feats but as she spoke, Karu looked mystified.

"That is not right. True Lords exert their Authority by leveraging karma and vitality. It is why they are granted far more lifespan by Heaven and Earth." Karu began to pace in the cramped room. "True Lords are a restriction placed on Divine beasts. If left unchecked, they could cause an imbalance or vicious fallout in their battles."

Qing knew that was not wrong. True Lords were a deterrent against beasts that had the favor of Heaven and Earth. Yet, it was incomplete.

It was far more likely that a True Lord would protect from humans and demons than other beasts.

The fight for survival was natural while hunting to extinction was not. Qing believed True Lords were Heaven and Earth's way of preserving a balance against Immortals wiping out precious bloodlines for their own gain.

A being that could leverage directly the power of Heaven and Earth would prevent such events. The dragon hunt by the Fiends proved it was not infallible.

Still, Lind had done those things. She had seen other True Lords perform other miracles. Why was Karu so certain they could not do it?

"Do the Divine Lands treat True Lords like nothing?" Her question was waved off from Karu.

"The Divine Lands require True Lords to be more than just chosen by their respective race. They have to prove they are worthy to have Authority extend beyond it. Lower worlds are well known to me. I had nothing but time to study with the krakens." She took a breath and accurately described several lower realms similar to the Celestial Fields.

The True Lords in her stories, however, seemed small. Qing was confused. She had seen incredibly powerful beings exert their wills, no matter the price, and Lind was the strongest of them all.

Neither could make sense of it.

"I think we need to talk to Lind. He has been so focused on getting stronger–" Qing froze as the felt a powerful aura flare over the ship. They quickly followed it and were shocked as emerald and golden energy was blocking out the room Ethry was being worked on.

When it faded, Ethry was pale but whole. Lind was on his knees covered in sweat and shaking. Qing quickly ran up to him but she felt a pressure far beyond anything she had ever known before coming from him.

"S–S–Sorry." He barely got the word out. HIs aura was stable but Qing could tell he paid a price. Oddly, banishing the tribulation did nothing to him but healing Ethry was such a steep cost?

Qing then had her eyes shift from blue to green as she understood! The injuries came from tribulation lightning! Even Mystery Grade elixirs would not work well on them!

She gently caressed his cheek before helping him to a chair in the corner. Karu was using the artifacts to confirm Ethry was actually ok.

"That is what should have happened before. It makes no sense!" The pair were about to move on when a figure appeared.

The bald head and dark skin with tan robes was all too familiar to both. Qing noted his eyes had taken on an emerald tint.

"Lady Qing and Lady Karu, let me explain. Master is not normal nor is the Celestial Fields. The devastation from the Fiends' attempt to refine the realm made Heaven and Earth compensate heavily. Thus the True Lords were far more powerful than normal even at the relatively intact 4th layer." He looked fondly at Ethry as he then waved his hands over Lind.

The pair felt Lind become stable and regain some vitality. How was that possible?!

"Lind gambled that Ethry choosing to intentionally trapping the Bastard would grant him leeway in affirming his connection to her. He hoped his status as both a Divine Lord and a Divine Progenitor would allow him to take Ethry away as his mate." Karu shook her head and Haro held up his hand to stop her. "He was mistaken."

The spirit explained that Lind had learned he was different. He was already separating from Heaven and Earth at the Journeyman Tier. Yet, he was also defending the Divine Lands so the connection was still strong.

The 2 facts combined for Heaven and Earth to accept Ethry's act as an attack on the true enemy of them all. It spared her life but did not remove the damage.

Ethry still called the tribulation and would not be spared from that consequence. Lind then used his Divine Authority to purge the tribulation lightning from her body. It cost him a lot, even with the karmic restitution he possessed.

The price paid was steep. Haro was changed and could now imbue vitality to an extent to help Lind recover.

"What is going on, Haro? I recall Lind being a True Lord acknowledged before but he had nowhere near that kind of ability." Karu spoke up but Qing had an idea. Lind had told her how his harmony had changed.

"Dao of Defiance is higher than Fusion?" Haro looked at Qing but seemed to contemplate something before slowly nodding.

"There was no Dao of Defiance before. Master blazed the trail with the blessing of Heaven and Earth. Gaining a new Dao is not a small thing." Qing was confused but Karu looked floored.

"What do you–?!" They were all interrupted by a heavy presence pushing on them all.

{Lind Frey is our hope. Do not press for more. The enemy is trying to listen. Focus on survival.}

The chorus of voices was familiar to Qing and Haro but Karu looked stunned.

She smiled at the beast woman and Haro bowed before returning to his ring. It seemed they had to heal and regroup. The final war was coming and they had to prepare.