Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 296 - 295 - Forged?

Lind felt much like he had a hangover when the senior dragon soul awoke him, but unlike that time, cultivation did not clear his head.  Food and some chatter did help but no one that saw his room said a word about it.

Even Katie and Beth simply went about managing their day but the way they looked at him was slightly different.  He was not sure what to call it but the fact they kept interacting with him normally and the customers were cowed by them, left a good impression.

Once the formality of some relaxation was done, Lind returned to his room to really examine what he had made and what happened.

He had not noticed until he entered the hallway, but the wooden boards in his room had been changed.  They still were Heavenly Wood, but the quality of it had been transformed.  Where once the room connected to the rest of the building, it now closed itself off but why?

"I am afraid to ask, senior, but have you ever heard of Heavenly Wood be Forged?"  Lind felt it highly unlikely given its properties and his own troubles before.  The senior dragon soul did not disappoint.

"I am not familiar with Forging in general but I can safely say that if anyone could refine it or Forge it would be a legend of legends in all realms."  He nodded.  It did not mean it was never done, it only meant it was not common knowledge.  The wood seemed normal at first glance but it was glossier than the rest of the building.

He vaguely recalled the emerald light suffusing each board and summoned his harmony.  Instantly, he felt an odd sensation of connecting to the room.  It was similar to when he grasped essence.

He felt each channel sing with his Qi all blended into his harmony.  The newly healed door began to warp but rather than filling the door, it seemed to restore to its original state.  It perfectly straightened until the wear and tear of who knew how many years was gone.

"You have officially gone beyond anything I have encountered in my millions of years of cultivation.  I do not think anyone, anywhere, has been able to do more than carve Heavenly Wood and even that only lasts as long as a normal piece of wood."  Lind smirked that the higher realms probably had wood that was incredibly resilient for billions of years compared to the mortal realm of only a few centuries.

Lind studied the wood but he could not perceive anything more than what he had.  It was different but any attempt to delve deeper just flowed off like before.  Only his Eyes could see more but that was superficial.

He then summoned out the 6 rods he had created.  They were a composition but he was inclined to think of them as more Forged than anything.  He did feel a similarity to the Heavenly Wood though as he realized his Touch could not fully perceive everything of his own creation!

"I still have some ability, allow me."  A powerful aura flared for a moment before it retracted.  Lind was alarmed to feel a severe weakening of the senior dragon soul but she quickly recovered.

"Are you all right, senior?"  Lind's concern seemed to touch her but she brushed it off.

"It is of little importance.  You have created a self sustaining isolation shield.  What I find interesting is you can increase the distance and it just takes longer to reach the strength needed to cover the new area."  Lind was mystified.  Isolation shield, why would he make something so debilitating to the locals?"

"How does it work?"  There was a long pause before Lind wondered if she would answer him.

"I would set it up on a small structure they loan to you.  Before expanding it, you will need to fine tune the distance ratio and how long it can sustain itself."  Lind nodded at the common sense suggestion but he noted it was a fancy way of saying:  I don't know.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

Far to the west of the village was a large ravine deep into the ground, but rather than darkness, light emanated from it.  Life was vibrant and starkly vociferous compared to the blasted lands all round it.

Oddly, the lightning never entered the ravine but 11 men were slack jawed in a small inn near a wonder of a crystal quarry.  They had a sample of the wood in front of them and for the first moment since they set on their path of vengeance, they contemplated abandoning it.

"Stilson, it really is Heavenly Wood!"  They were in a building made of the stuff and a massive forest was around them.  Further, based on the information they obtained, there were other oases in Rakathi Wastes that held more!

"How is that possible?"  The broad man was in true awe.  The material in front of him was legendary in the Heaven Realm.  Moreover, only the top elites of the super sects or supreme powers even had a chance to see it!

"It matters little, we are rich!  Also, we can be admitted to super sects!"  The corpulent man, Avery, was drooling at the fantasies in his mind but a cold voice shook them all back.

"Fools, the punishment lightning has turned this corner of a mortal realm into the perfect environment.  If we take it from this place, it will quickly deteriorate.  Only a Heaven grade storage ring could take it away safely."  Their hopes were doused by the master of darkness, Sid, from his corner.

He was as shocked as them to see the Heavenly Wood, but he was pragmatic.  Stilson shook himself and then laid out several scenarios but without controlling the resource personally, they were damned.

Leaking the location to the Alliance forces would maybe get them off of wanted lists, but that was the best scenario.  More likely, they would be captured, forced to reveal the location for certain and left for dead in those blasted lands.

Their characters were as untrustworthy as could be in socially upright circles but it did not mean that black hearts did not still thrive in those halls of power.

Ruthless men did not equate to evil in many eyes.

They swiftly stored some of the samples as the locals only valued it for its protection.  Even the 11 men could appreciate that.  Their hunt had been fruitless thus far which was frustrating.

"If we do not find a lead from this place, we will have to head north or south to see if he took those routes."  Salvation was the final major stop before a plethora of villages in what the locals called the wilds.

Stilson's words made them all nod as they moved in several directions.  The structures in Salvation were not sprawled out too far from the quarry.  They had been curious about the Qi rich crystals but they had no use for them.

Elemental crystals would be of great interest since the quality of Heavenly Wood would indicate a high quality of such crystals but there were none.  Likely the lightning, despite not reaching into the ravine, still affected the flow of a single element.

After a few days, they met back at the inn but were all frowning.

"Anything?"  All shook their heads at Stilson.  Not even a whisper of Lind Frey.  They had not even heard of the only alias they knew of from doing deep research which further frustrated them.

They had noticed the strange cultivators around them, but the number of 6 elementals was stunning to all.  The few that had comrades from the lower realms confirmed 6 elementals were very rare.

Why would they be so common in one place?  The Moebius Sect improved their odds but even their population was only 25 to 30% 6 elementals.

It would increase as time went on, but even so, few believed it would exceed 70% unless Lind Frey could break through to the Gold Tier or beyond.  The rate of attrition for cultivation risks and battle would mitigate the numbers ever rising beyond that.

Compared to that, the Rakathi Wastes seemed something close to 80% 6 elementals in their limited population.  The unique environment made the 11 men frustrated because their original plan to find a 6 elemental cultivator was useless in such conditions.

"There was nothing.  If Lind Frey came here, there would be a party non-stop from what we could gather."  It was the same story everywhere in Rakathi.  Once away from the border, it was hard to not find someone that worshiped Lind Frey like a God.

Avery's words seemed to match the others' save one.

The meticulous man was seemingly interested in his nails as he smiled.  All the other men felt a shiver in their spines.  That man only smiled when death was in the offing.

"Cyril?"  Stilson was one of the few that could stand up to the man, but the smile made Stilson sweat badly.

"A few days ago, a man came from the wilds with a rather strange story, but a detail stuck out to me."  Cyril relayed the strange reaction from the Heavenly punishment clouds in the wilds but Stilson did not understand the importance to their hunt.

Any other time, they would have been curious but they were on a mission.

"It is interesting but how does it matter to us?"  Sid was calm for the most part but the smile only widened on Cyril's face.

"On more than one occasion, Lind Frey invoked tribulations for his creations.  In fact, he exceeded his limits on those occasions.  Do you know anyone else that could possibly do the opposite in such an adverse place?"  All the other men paused.

It was true.

There were verified records of Lind Frey having a strange pattern.  He seemed able to push far beyond what his cultivation should allow for making elixirs or other items.  It still seemed a stretch until Cyril dropped one more line.

"A few days ago here, the crystal quarry had a strange occurrence.  The heart of the quarry, where the head man lives, glowed emerald."  All of the men gained a gleam in their eyes.  Their prey had made a move.

Since he was not in Salvation, that left the village.  Lind Frey's trail was finally found!