Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 234 - 233 - Chance at Inheritance

"So cute!"  Fey and Shi were swooning over Ethry.  Her tiny body slithered through the air making cute roaring sounds.  Lind felt a bit of panic but also amusement from the bond.  When he had returned with the baby dragon, all the women in his life had gushed at how cute she was.

At first, Ethry was frightened about the many strangers but Lind spent a few days with his wives and Fey to let her get used to them.  They were careful and positive with her and eventually it culminated in playing with their younger members in the Frey Clan.  Lind made sure to explain that Ethry was not a pet, but his companion.

The little dragon was a favorite of the children but he had to intervene a few times to stop them fighting over her.  Ethry also came to love the children.  Lind could only feel her emotions but he was glad she was having fun.

Lind had studied her as much as he could but her beast core was like nothing he had ever heard of.  Most beast cores were simple elements that transformed the regular animal to an aether beast that could cultivate.

They formed over the period of time beasts were in the Body Refining Realm or, in the case of manifestation, the core was the first solid piece to form before the flesh and bones followed.

Ethry's core, instead, was closer to a dantian in the way it regulated Qi.  It had cores that seemed similar to his when he was in the Soul Realm.  Normally the core itself would be made of the elements a beast cultivated.

It was part of why beasts had such drastic transformations when they entered the Soul Realm.  Ethry's prismatic scales were likely a result of her core but Lind found it fascinating.  She had all 6 elements but there was no sign of any harmony within her.

Why?

Why would Ethry be different from him and other 6 elementals?  She enjoyed his attention but he did not detain her too long either.  The other thing he was glad of, was that she was in the Soul Realm due to her appetite.  She consumed small mountains of meat like she breathed the air.

It was almost comical how much Lind had to procure for her but the changes in her were immediate.  She was only born a few weeks ago but was already closing in on tier 7 of the Soul Realm!  That kind of speed and stability should have been impossible without pills, elixirs, and a supremely powerful technique.

He could understand why her clan had the word divine in it if she was able to cultivate at such an insane speed and without issue.  Lind kept a careful eye but there were hardly any issues with her cultivation he could find.

What he did find issue with, to the amusement of his wives, was how invasive to his privacy Ethry was to his life.

"I said not to follow me into the bath!" Lind was not known for yelling but he currently stood with a towel around his waist while a tiny prismatic dragon was curled up.  Guilt flashed through his heart but Lind really did not like how Ethry explored the bath while he was in it!

"My love, she is simply attached to you.  You are her parent in a sense, or at least you are the most important person to her.  Of course she wants to be with you as much as possible."  Shoti seemed to take perverse pleasure at his discomfort while Cyntilla was shaking behind her.  They loved this!

"It is not bad to set boundaries but it will take time for her to understand, Lind.  Be patient."  Lind sighed at Qing's wisdom but he could not deny it at all.  Ethry was a baby and did not know any better but her curiosity in the bath led to a very uncomfortable feeling.

"I am sorry, Ethry, just no bath time with me, ok?  You can bathe with the others."  Lind felt a few cold stares at his back but he had to find a compromise and if his wives joined him in the bath, they would get nothing done all day.

The guilt slowly faded as he patted her head and smiled at her.  She began to almost purr which seemed odd to him.  Do dragons purr?  Lind sighed and went to get himself dried off before facing the day.

His honeymoon, so to speak, was coming to an end.  The 2 months were fairly short compared to the long lives of cultivators but far more than he had expected.  He had put off advancing his elixirs and Forging but he could no longer do so.

His cultivation was also needing attention as he was confident of reaching the peak of the Iron Tier but breaking through to Gold Tier would take some consideration.  Ethry's core had actually given him some ideas but he wanted to see her get to the World Realm to be sure.

Beasts cultivated very differently from what humans could, but Ethry was closer to humans than beasts.  Still, she benefited from the ease of beast cultivation by consumption of more powerful beasts.

Their elemental make up did not seem to make a difference which was of deep interest to Lind.  He thought he would have to balance her diet between elements but that did not seem to be the case at all.

"Have you decided where we are going?"  Annabelle was carving arrays into formation plates as she spoke.  Of them all, she had continued to progress as much as Little Fey did in alchemy.

"We will head back to Cimmeria eventually but in the short term, I will meet with Lady Su and Mythra at the Sapphire Auction House.  I don't want to burden the Heavenly Maiden Sect regulating my constant requests."  Lind had been hearing the few that had still bothered the Heavenly Maiden Sect to try and reach him.

Lady Su had also sent him a long list of requests but most of them were nuisances he could dismiss with his status as grade 4 elixir master.  Most of those simply wanted to form a connection to him more than have work for him.  Lind had no interest in most but he also needed a place he could call his own.

"Lind, has the Saint Kingdom sent you an invitation yet?"  Cynitlla spoke up and made him frown.  An invitation?  They had sent at least 15 of them!  The various powers inside the Saint Kingdom not counted separately, it still came to at least 10 from the overlord of that region.

His confusion was clear so she stood up and leaned into his ear to whisper what she meant.  At least he somewhat hoped that was what she was doing or at least getting a little intimate at the same time.

"There should be an invitation for a chance at getting an Inheritance."  Lind's eyes went wide as he pulled back from her in shock.  She nodded in affirmation that her words were not inaccurate.

A chance at an Inheritance?  Why had he never heard of that before?

"If sister Cyntilla is talking about the Saint Kingdom, then she likely refers to their unique tournament that is only done by invitation.  It is not so much a secret as pointless to bring up in a power like the Lotus Empire."  Qing spoke up and Cyntilla frowned a bit as if her fun was being stolen.  Lind smirked but then sat down.

"Exactly what qualifies as being able to be invited?"  Lind was known as an elixir master and Forger but his martial skills were a bit less well known.  His body had only recently been tempered to such an extreme by the Relic.  He had taken an attack but not shown any skills to back up his new body.

"There are some simple ones.  Obviously, the major powers always get slots to submit their best disciples.  The conditions are simple for those.  They have to be under 50 years old and in the Iron Tier at most."  Lind was surprised.  They put a cap on it but not a lower limit?

His confusion made Qing smirk but then looked to Cyntilla to take over.  The demoness sighed as she chose to sip at her tea first before continuing.

"Basically, most Inheritances have such a limit imposed on them.  Other conditions vary but generally, if you are in Gold Tier, there are no Inheritances for us at this level."  Lind nodded as he understood.

Gold Tier and Diamond Tier were a little unique and also solidified a path for their Dao that an Inheritance could be dangerously contradictory to.  Qi deviation could result in crippling harm at best and death at worst.

Lind was intrigued but pulled up the various scrolls and jade slips sent his way from the Saint Kingdom.  There was indeed an invitation unlike the others.  It also had some conditions attached he did not like at all.

"I have to enter as a representative of Darkmoor?"  Lind looked up as he did not like being tied down in such a way.  Shoti looked surprised but took the slip from him to examine it.  She looked to Cyntilla for some answers but she could only shrug.

"It may be an honest invitation and using his birthplace as a point of origin.  If her Majesty had no objection, the invitation would not have arrived."  Lind nodded slowly but there was nothing in his correspondence from Darkmoor.

There were many letters from Ryu to have a fight but Lind ignored those out of habit at that point.  There was nothing about him taking up a slot for that tournament.  Lind wanted confirmation as he truly wanted to take a chance at reaching an Inheritance.

The benefits he had gotten from the remnants in the form of Ruins or Relics made him wonder what a fully fleshed out Inheritance could give him.  Could he have gotten a mental tempering technique to go with the body tempering Relic, for instance?

"I will need to make a meeting with a Darkmoor representative to confirm this.  I want to enter the tournament."  Cyntilla and the others nodded but then he looked at Annabelle.  She was near the peak of the Iron Tier but not Gold Tier yet.  Would she not qualify?

"The Saint Kingdom does not allow aether children to participate."  Shoti spoke up before Lind could ask and he deeply frowned but was not surprised.  It was a 'righteous' power but also a human supremacist one in many ways.

"Where is this tournament held?"  Lind had spent some time in the Saint Kingdom but never heard of any special area despite working for the Marina Adventure Guild.  He had performed a level of service he should have heard something about it, but maybe there were restrictions on sharing with outsiders.

"At the heart of the Saint Kingdom, surrounded by a massive force of Gold Tiers, is a special arena made by a group effort.  Refiners and powers connected to the Saint Kingdom created a tournament that will give cultivators a chance to use an artifact to summon a bridge to reach an Inheritance."  Qing spoke about the item and Lind's curiosity was piqued as that kind of power seemed far beyond a Mortal Realm.

"It is said Sky Realms conveyed down the artifact to several mortal realms.  The Saint Kingdom was chosen to host it long ago and created the arena around it."  Lind then understood.  It was similar to the Relics and Ruins that he had been encountering.  It was a chance to improve the strength of the coming generations.

Lind was getting more and more interested in that chance for himself and hoped he could find the power to make himself continue to advance.