novelraw Chapter 304 - 303 - New Life
Chapter 304 - 303 - New Life
The jungle felt fear. A primal fear rippled as the aura of the apex predator moved through it. If anything used its senses to confirm the cultivation of the source, it would seem like an ant, but it was ingrained too deeply to respect and fear that particular aura.
It was 1 of 4 that all of Heaven and Earth knew to stay out of the way.
Lind hardly noticed his effect as he leapt over large roots, or pits created by a beast digging out a lair. Nothing got in his way as he finally came across a small valley.
The smell of blood filled the air as limbs and corpses were strewn everywhere. It was not hunting or survival, but carnage. It was completely just bullying by the powerful to the weak. Lind looked at the crimson mess to try and identify the species but he was unsure.
The muscled limbs were thick with large bulges on the outside of the skin he could not readily identify. It had a rough texture but the elements were absent to his Eyes. He scanned the area and found 2 life forces left.
His slitted eyes narrowed as a gangly black beast loomed over a wounded balled up shape. Blood was present but not enough to kill the smaller form. Lind tried to identify the larger beast by it did not resemble anything aside from a starved ape a bit.
The 4 limbs were rail thin but the power in them was clear. Each limb ended in 4 toed claws that cut wood with ease. It was easily 10 meters tall on all fours so it could tower over any of the smaller beasts Lind had seen so far.
Its head was not like most animals, rather than a snout, it was flat full of razor teeth. The eyes were pale orbs compared to the oily black skin. Lind could feel pressure from it even at the distance he was at.
It was nothing like Skinwalker or his children, but it was still stronger than Delenn, the strongest being he personally knew.
"An Immortal Realm?" Lind's voice was gravelly but he did not notice.
He let loose his aura and both beasts froze. The small one tightened up more in fear while the gangly beast turned in indifference to Lind. It looked down at him but did not bare its fangs right away.
It was able to nearly twist its flat faced head nearly 180 degrees but it turned and held out one of its claws. Indignance rose in Lind's heart but he controlled it. He focused it and narrowed his focus on the large beast.
It made a change.
The beast growled but did not advance. It clearly saw Lind as an ant but its instincts disagreed. They were screaming that the being in front of it was of a higher order. The conflict was strong until Lind tried something new.
"ROOOOAAAARRRR!" His throat became sore but emerald flames came from his mouth. It was all a trick of his harmony but it worked. The large beast flinched and then fled. It was a bully and a bully was a coward at heart.
They had to control the weak to feel strong.
Lind's transformation came undone as that little act drained all his Qi to pull off. He was sweating but the dulling of his senses was a bit of a blessing with all the torn up corpses around him. He now took a closer look at the shredded pieces.
He could not be sure but at least a dozen beasts would be his best guess on the dead. The size compared to the survivor made it a baby.
He slowly moved over and the curled up ball shivered as it seemed to be crying. Lind could see it was in the Soul Realm but felt far more profound than any Soul Realm he had ever encountered.
"The higher realms produce higher quality cultivators, interesting." Lind had wondered if living at higher quality Qi areas would have effects on cultivators when they were born. By his comprehension the various effects made reaching the Soul Realm not only easier but also it extended their lives in general.
Qi in the mortal realm was so much a variable without arrays to concentrate it or natural fonts of it to build a sect around. He had heard the Floating Isles were much higher in Qi naturally, which made the islands float on their own.
Following that logic, the Heaven Realm and Celestial Fields would have a vast increase in quality and quantity as well. Lind had been so narrow minded about his understanding of the path he was walking after only under a month in this wonderful place.
Lind slowly stepped forward but the beast only pulled further away from him in fear. He was unsure what to do but he could see blood was flowing from beneath it so it had serious injuries.
"I mean no harm. Here, this will help you." Lind summoned a peak grade 2 recovery elixir and popped the cork. The vial smell wafted out and the beast stopped whimpering. It slowly unfurled as Lind moved back and let it reveal itself.
It looked like a mix of an armadillo and a bear but the head was closer to a wolf. It had a golden set of eyes that were watering as it limped to the vial and licked the crimson liquid. It quickly stopped whimpering and began to lap up the elixir in joy.
"A stone dral." Lind did not recognize it right away because this version was bigger and had more hard armor on them. The baby in front of him would easily be able to look him in the eye once it stood up.
The flow of Qi began to make the wounds glow and Lind frowned at the long gashes as they slowly closed up. That gangly beast had truly bullied the weak and enjoyed it. There was no sign of any consumption, only fine slices or ripped apart limbs.
Lind began to slowly gather them up as the living baby watched on. At first, it did not react much, but when he reached for the carcass nearest to the beast. It whimpered but in a different way.
He paused and beckoned with his hands.
"Come, come say goodbye." Lind kept his voice gentle as the stone dral walked over carefully before it nuzzled what was left of the remains. Its sounds of tragedy echoed out but nothing came to bother them. The remnants of Lind's aura kept them at bay.
Lind then carefully gathered all the remains. He noticed the complete lack of cores. So the beast had taken something from them. It made him angry but it was the way of the cultivation world.
He kept the baby away from the now fully built pile.
"May you all enter samsara and find a new life free of pain." Lind conjured the external Qi of the world with his own to create a massive funeral pyre. It took a lot of Qi due to the highly profound level of their cultivation.
The fire took a life of its own as the meat was incinerated beyond any use. The baby was at Lind's eye height but it gently nudged him as it whimpered. He let it cry. He could not do much else as he was already at his limit.
He summoned an elixir to invigorate his Qi recovery but the beast tried to lick in too.
Lind summoned a couple more peak grade 2 elixirs and let it enjoy them. It wagged its hind end a bit in joy as Qi flowed swiftly into its dantian. He observed this particular stone dral had earth and light Qi.
He had wondered if higher realms had Soul Realms become 6 elements but now he saw it was the same as the mortal realm. Soul Realm still consolidated cores of only select elements.
The stone dral seemed terrified to go far from Lind so he let it follow him out of the valley. The few beasts that came later smelled meat but did not go anywhere near the pyre. The flames of Lind carried the scent and aura of a dragon.
Even after he was gone, no one dared poke into it.
Lind had avoided burning any plants as the battle had gutted the area effectively to be used for the pyre. The plants suddenly moved as if they had waited for the heat to fade as vines and roots carefully encircled the burnt pyre.
The beasts looked on in fear and awe as most of the plants were at the Sky Realm at the lowest.
The pyre was swallowed into the jungle as if the tragedy never occurred but a feeling of serenity existed rather than horror.
Lind gained a new companion in his journey. The stone dral had been down the first few days but after a month it began to romp around in joy as he put it through some paces.
He would push its physical limits while helping it cultivate. Stone drals were herbivores so he had to protect it as it was a battle to snag food. Vines fought back and some of the ferns were stunningly fierce despite being smaller.
Lind was learning so many things about how Qi at higher levels changed aether beasts. Simple wolves, bears, and other life gained elements and abilities in the mortal realm, but stone dral aether beasts were an amalgam of other beasts brought together.
Did the Qi mutate beasts as the realm improved or did the higher quality Qi of each realm offer environments for new life to be born? Skinwalker's words came floating back as Lind began to understand.
He had so much to learn!
"I think I will call you Tal. Do you like that?" It was not the most inventive name but he wanted to keep it simple. The intelligence of the stone dral was much higher than other Soul Realm aether beasts.
The young beast perked up its head and jumped up and down happily. Lind was then slobbered on a bit but he only laughed.
Tal, as they were now named, was much happier since the tragedy. Lind was about to decide where to go next when the sky exploded with Qi.
The sky was sunny and clear yet lightning, violent wind, and the screech of anger filled it. Lind looked up to see what looked like rocs and vermillion birds fighting each other. He also saw glimpses of massive birds of blues and greens mixed in on both sides to show different bloodlines.
Blood was flying and Lind had to move fast. The auras all around him were far beyond his ability to handle. It meant the blood falling was dangerous to them both! That much concentrated refind Qi would be lethal if it splashed them.
Lind's skin flashed emerald as he needed the enhanced instincts of his dragon soul to guide him while Tal easily followed him despite only being a tier 8 Soul Realm.
Feathers, wings, and bodies began to fall as the battle caused shockwaves to nearly blow them over. A tree was uprooted but it revealed a cave!
Lind dove into it with Tal right behind as a roc with blood soaked golden feathers slammed into the earth. They did not stop and went deeper as solid stone was revealed to his enhanced eyesight.
Lind would have reinforced it but the earth Qi was much stronger than his own.
Even with the solid walls, the ground shook as the beasts battled far above. Tal snuggled up to Lind as he could only weave a shield of his own creation. Wyndam had made several defensive Arts but Lind found his original shield better for himself.
Weak as it would be to those monsters in the sky, it allowed him to mitigate any elemental fallout. They hugged each other and likely had the same thought.
Let it end soon!