novelraw Chapter 347 - 346 - Soul Damage
Chapter 347 - 346 - Soul Damage
The world moved by in a blur of shapes. The wind roared in his ears but Lind felt only cold rage. He had come across many battlegrounds across the northern coasts.
Some were planned encounters like with the Divine Sword Sect disciples as they were straight north of where he started, but going east he saw several villages and cities besieged by World Realm demons.
He did not truly understand war until that moment. Each battle was happening at the same time or within a few days of each other. It all depended when each side encountered the other.
Some of the villages had been evacuated and simply razed to the ground, but animals were left behind since they could not take everything. Other villages were not so lucky. His perfect vision showed it all to him until he pushed his speed beyond his ability to see.
"..op…eas…to…" A weak voice suddenly appeared in his head and pain lanced from within his body. He nearly tumbled out of the sky but used air, darkness, and earth to slow his fall and bring it under control.
Lind still landed hard into a stretch of dense forest. His body reverted to human appearance as he only used his scales for flying or increasing his defense. As soon as they were gone, however, he found his body collapsing.
His Qi was running wild as his diamond harmony flared chaotically. What was happening to him?
"You went too far, junior. If I did not support you, you would have suffered worse than this pain." The very weak voice helped anchor Lind as he slowly got his Qi under control There was no damage to his meridians or dantian but his harmony was not calming down.
"Senior, what happened?" Lind was covered in sweat and his hands were still shaking despite getting his Qi under control. His body was clearly exhausted but it was fine only moments ago.
"You let your pride and rage combine to push you. You have a bad habit of shouldering what you should not. This is a war, cultivators warring each other is not new. The fact you knew mostly peace is a small miracle." Her tone while weak was now stern as Lind felt himself feeling shame.
He had let his success and power go to his head. Or rather, he had allowed his pride of success to go to his head. He had accomplished what no one else had and survived the wrath of the Heavens in Rakathi.
He had inherited the legacy of Skinwalker but it did not make him an all powerful being.
Suddenly, some of her words caught up to him.
"You were supporting me?" Lind had never been able to See senior dragon soul but the connection seemed to have become very fragile. He realized he had not had a true training session with her since he had been tackling the issues with Kexin and the Demon Hall.
The few discussions had been about dragons and what Dao they pursued, but she told him he was different. He had to find his own way in that as so much else.
"You can fly but not like you have been the last few weeks. Further, you push your soul far beyond its ability to pressure others. You are not a dragon yet. You can certainly dominate a handful, but whole armies were beyond you." Lind's mind suddenly realized what he had done without thought.
"Instinct, I relied on instinct." He wanted to hit his head but he still felt rubbery in his body. A sudden flare of pain made him confused as he could find nothing wrong. It vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"You need to learn control better than you have been doing. You are far stronger than you realize but you are not invulnerable. Your soul is strength beyond your Realm but it cannot endure forever." A cold sweat now filled Lind's body.
Soul damage. He had damaged his soul!
Without a pause he pulled out a glimmering elixir vial. It was a dark violet but even just looking at it was soothing. He downed it but made a bitter face as despite how resplendent it looked, the taste was very hard for the body.
The best he could determine was that it was not for the body as no tissues could absorb it. Nothing he tried could resolve the taste like other elixirs he had made. Still, taste often was rigid for pills or elixirs due to change in effect if taste was changed.
Still, compared to even the most bland or sour elixir, the Soul Soothing Elixir was repulsive to the body. It even felt weird going down his throat.
The aching pain wracking his body finally began to fade but he also felt the connection to senior dragon soul stabilize.
"Senior, did you hurt yourself to help me?" Lind suspected but an indifferent scoff was the response.
"If supporting a World Realm could hurt me, I would be a useless Immortal Soul of all souls!" Lind still noticed a strain in her voice and now that he was not in pain he could use his senses to truly feel out their connection.
It was not just his side that was damaged but hers as well. He could feel that it was not as stable as it once was despite the elixir repairing his soul.
"What has happened to you, senior?" Lind felt surprise followed by resignation.
"What was always going to happen. I was already near the end of my life for my soul. Nothing is forever and cultivation allowed me to live beyond my body's end. I am blessed to have been even able to see outside my last charge of guarding the Inheritance of my race." Lind felt sadness flare in his heart.
He had come to rely on senior dragon soul to help him grapple with his questions and her guidance with his changing body was immensely helpful in controlling his new skills. Flying alone was addictive to him but even roaring or using his flames was his first instinct in battle which had become an issue for a few years.
"H-how long?" Lind felt his throat catch at the words but a gentle feeling filled their bond. Senior dragon soul was one of the few that knew everything about him still but she was now dying. After she was gone, only Tal would be left but she would be leaving soon too based on her progress.
He had taken for granted his loved ones ability to relieve his stress and to not need any guard up around them. After senior dragon soul was gone, only he would remain.
"I do not have a specific time, it simply will happen one day. If I had to protect you from an attack to your soul, it would have to be an Immortal to harm me so do not worry. I am ready and I have greatly enjoyed our journey together." Lind's vision became misty.
People were dying, a war was raging, but in that dense forest Lind realized the damage to his soul was nothing compared to the pain he was feeling right then. A sudden flash of the Frey Clan came to him and understanding seemed to loosen his bottleneck.
"Ah, so that is part of what is holding you back. You need to let them go. We outlive those that can't follow but that does not reduce them. They molded you too and you will carry them so long as you live." The words resonated as Lind let the pain open his mind.
He had many roots in the mortal world that were not racing ahead of him but would die in the place they were born. The parents of Little Fey were gone, but her grandparents had progressed enough to extend their lives a few centuries.
They could not advance anymore and the parting had made her cry like a little girl once more but she still went.
There were those that chose to stay in the mortal realm as well as they shouldered responsibilities they would carry out until the end. The Old Man and Granny could have broken through, but they refused.
They were nearing the end of their lives and so many others. His soul had been damaged by his actions just then, but his cultivation had been chained down by the pain of letting go.
"It is not easy." Tears flowed as his body recovered. A gentle feeling from senior dragon soul almost made him recall being back in the Clan courtyard as his mother sang to him.
"Cultivation was never meant to be easy. You are making it harder than it has to be, but you are not blinded either. It will hurt, it always hurts at the beginning, but if you mean to progress then you must deal with it." Lind tilted his head back as the mockingly bright blue sky with chirping birds flitting between the leafy green branches was a nice day.
He had no time for his revelation but he did not bury it. He had to face it after the war.
"I will need a ship." His dark green eyes firmed up as a disc appeared in front of him. It was far slower than his dragon ability but the flying artifact was well within his ability to fly indefinitely at that point.
He took to the skies as he vanished to all senses and moved east once more. The only other plus was the deck blocked off the tragic sight of destroyed villages and cities. He could not save them all, but he had to still get to the heart of the problem.
"Empress Resha, I am coming for you." His eyes flickered between dark green orbs and slitted emerald but it caused no issue.
From within his soul, the senior dragon soul looked on as cracks riddled her body. Despite the clear damage, she endured.
"After the war, I will let go. He can't be distracted right now." She had chosen to fight with him. Her soul body seemed to glow as her own pain faded a bit. She had not lied exactly. It was not the strain of helping Lind that hurt her, but it did exacerbate the existing damage.
She was like a bag with a leak. Put pressure on the bag with liquid inside and it would escape the only place it could. Increase the pressure and it would start to widen the damage to accommodate the need to escape.
The 2 of them were silent but the northern coast was mired in flames and death. The southern regions had been protected so all the powers of Sarth could focus north. If nothing else, Lind Frey had saved that issue.
Still, he flew on into battle once more to break the offensive as much as he could. A mere Diamond Tier shouldered that mission but many would follow him because he had performed many miracles and people needed to believe a miracle would happen again.