Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 303 - 302 - Dao of Life

Lind let his senses really feel what was around him and while the cultivation of all the plants were mostly above him, a few were in his range.

They were alive.  Real life, not imitation or like the challenges he faced in the tournament.  Those conditions were too perfect and life forms he encountered left no blood when they died.

The jungle around them was most definitely alive.  It was real so far as he could determine.

"A Divine Inheritance is not like others.  Immortals are looking for someone to take on their legacy or surpass them with their efforts.  Heaven Realm experts usually simply wish for their teachings to live on."  Skinwalker began to expound upon Inheritances.  He seemed dismissive of Heaven Realm experts, but Immortals he seemed to sympathize with.

"So what am I here to do, senior?"  Lind was confused as he hoped to find a clue to move forward with his cultivation.  While the environment was inspiring, it did not help him in that endeavor.

Skinwalker smiled as he looked out over the jungle.

"Divine Realm cultivators look for those with a similar Dao.  We hope to benefit each other with new perspectives."  Lind was truly confused.  Dao was the path cultivators studied to cultivate at all.  Sometimes it was the whole basis of sects.  Why would any cultivator create an Inheritance simply to find like minded individuals?

His confusion must have been apparent but Skinwalker only seemed amused.

"Do you know what my Dao is?"  Lind nodded as he had discussed it with the aether beasts.

"The Dao of Life."  Skinwalker nodded but then seemed to wait.  Lind thought about what the beasts said and continued.  "You wish to understand all aspects of life completely.  You wish to comprehend the very living world in all its forms and interactions."

A smile spread on Skinwalker's face but he then shook his head.

"You are both right and wrong.  I follow the Dao of Life but I have only grasped one aspect of it.  The myriad forms is not a bad way to explain it.  If I actually follow the Dao of Life, however, is that enough?"  Lind was enlightened.  He had been told his Dao of Elements was strong but he also studied the Dao of Life in a way.

In his case, he was studying the various ways the elements composed life.  He wanted to understand how they interacted with each other to open the path for 6 elementals to cultivate.  Lind relayed his thoughts and they began a discussion.

Time slipped away as Lind felt like his mind had become a sponge.  He had only been trying to conform his knowledge into his own benefits but that was wrong.  If he truly wanted to master the Dao of Elements, he had to perceive all forms of each to truly grasp his Dao.

Skinwalker had gone far, but Lind now understood his earlier words.

"So you created an Inheritance to both find those on the same path and benefit each other in the Dao you follow?"  Skinwalker smiled warmly at Lind.

"You are partially correct.  I am something of an outlier.  Inheritances vary from one cultivator to another as I am sure you are aware."  Lind's face darkened as he knew that all too well.

False Ruins, Cannibal Inheritances, and dark versions did exist as well.  Both demonic and human Inheritances were rarely kind from the records Lind had read.  The trials could cripple and tear asunder a cultivator.  The survivors offered warnings, at least those of righteous powers.

"I have, very bad experience."  Lind relayed what he had experienced.  The False Ruin made Skinwalker grimace but the Cannibal Inheritances caused aura to nearly crush Lind.  Skinwalker quickly noticed but the jungle around them became pindrop silent.

It was not an effect of control but Lind's instincts could feel the fear in everything around him.  It really was alive.

"It would seem things have happened in your Celestial Fields that are quite…distasteful."  Lind caught a word but doubted he would get an answer if he asked.  What did Skinwalker mean by 'your?'

"So there is more to the Dao of Life but I suspect my time here is only beginning?"  Lind looked around at the vast stretch of jungle and saw Skinwalker nod sagely.

"This place is a part of me, the last part of me.  It is the essence of my Dao of Life and you will have to live it.  There is no trial nor test.  You must simply surpass the threshold of your current comprehension."  Lind did not understand.  It was that easy?

As if reading his mind, Skinwalker transformed his limbs into different forms of life.  A tree branch, a hoof, a furred paw, and a fierce claw.  They were perfect and there was no discomfort on Skinwalker's face.

Lind did not understand.  The skill to transform was clearly related to the Dao of Life but how could such disparate life exist at once?  How could Skinwalker pull it off so easily?

"I am on my own path, and you are on yours but can you honestly say you grasp your Dao to such an extent?"  Lind felt his stomach drop out.  He was only a World Realm, an Iron Tier at that.  If he had to reach the level of a Divine Realm without any reference, how long would he live here?

"I don't think I will be leaving here then."  Lind mumbled his thoughts before Skinwalker began laughing heartily.  The tears on his eyes showed he found the words truly funny.

"I am a Divine Realm cultivator.  If I expected you to reach my level, you would not have been allowed to enter.  A Dao Inheritance is not so complicated but not so simple either."  Skinwalker stood up as he resumed being completely human.

He moved and Lind felt something pick him up with his aura.  They moved through the sky and his soul felt free!  Lind's skin transformed into emerald scales as his eyes became slits.  Skinwalker watched the process with great interest.

Skinwalker tried to perceive it but like every other time, anything dealing with dragons was beyond him, but then Lind looked at him with a smile.

Emerald light flared and enclosed them both.  Skinwalker brought them to a ridge as his assumed a lotus position and Lind joined him.

The beasts of the jungle and the plants did nothing to interfere.  The aura of a dragon and Skinwalker's own kept them far away but the sounds of life resumed.

Days passed before either moved.

"Unexpected!  Truly unexpected!"  Skinwalker looked like a little boy as his body flared with profound Qi.  Lind noticed something odd about the elements around Skinwalker.  They were like his, but only 3 of them were at full strength.

It was not like when he observed Delenn or Younger Twin.  Their elements always seemed in balance but Skinwalkers darkness, earth, and fire were much lower in quality than the others.

His focus was caught instantly.

"Not all cultivators can balance their secondary elements to their primary, even at my realm."  Lind was surprised.  It meant there was more possible with adding elements than he had believed.  Of course, he was far from worrying about it.

"In any case, I will digest this truly precious experience you shared with me.  Thank you!  You must go out into the world!"  Skinwalker held out his hands and Lind looked out on the endless jungle.  It was massive and Lind could see something in the skies.

He at first thought they were birds but then he got a closer look and realized they were rocs, pengs, and other legendary creatures of not only Earth but the cultivation world.  He could only imagine what was on the ground or even under the ground.

"How will I know if I broaden my horizons?"  Lind asked the question but only silence answered him.  He looked back and Skinwalker was gone.

His senses had not even registered any movement or change but then he recalled he felt nothing when the aether beasts transformed.  It was not a technique or Art, it was a part of them.

Clearly they inherited it from their father as he had felt nothing once more.

He had more hope but he did not even know where to begin.  His Dao was very different even if it also fell under the umbrella of life.  Lind moved down into the jungle but he kept up a tenuous connection to his dragon soul.

Anything in that place was capable of killing him with a thought, let alone an intentional attack.

Lind moved for weeks and saw beasts the size of mountains move slowly on the horizon.  He also noticed that the plants were as vicious as any predator.  He found the change from his normal forest fascinating.

In his own realm, while plants could become Soul or World Realms, they simply became more powerful as a plant, not able to move.  He had heard some plants in the Sky Realm could move but only in a limited fashion.

Here, he was seeing trees and vines working together to lasso beasts to their death.  Insects were not small either but they were left alone by the plants.  The reliance of plants to spread by insects seemed to continue into whatever realm Lind was seeing.

He began to comprehend what Skinwalker was talking about.  As life became more profound the old patterns held but new ones began to emerge.  The plants attacked herbivores but only those that were a threat.

Beasts that lived in or around plants as part of their lifecycle were still welcomed and even protected the beasts from their predators if they came close.  It changed the paradigms and assumptions Lind had accepted the world to operate by.

If that was true of normal beast and plant relations, what about the elements he studied?  He wanted to break through to Gold Tier and maybe what held him back was that very bottleneck of assumptions standing in his way.

Lind was about to move on to the next ridge he could see when a feeble cry came from his right.  It was followed by a roar but his instincts could feel something stir.

"A bully, you are bullying someone."  Lind suddenly felt closer to his dragon soul than all the time senior dragon soul guided him.  He followed the new instinct and pushed his body to move faster through the roots and boughs to find his prey.