Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 354 - 353 - Phoenix vs Dragon

Lind had barely recovered when he set out again.  Tal had still been out but the Maidens promised to take care of her.  Tessa had stared daggers at him but said nothing.  Despite being a Sky Realm, Lind was above her in the Moebius Sect.

Still, he bowed to her and thanked her for all her hard work which caught the demoness off guard.  He appreciated her efforts as it had saved all of their lives.  His fight with Cymera would have been bloody if he was lucky.

Where he was going, Tal would be in as much danger if not more, but Lind could not stop.  He then hopped the first ship heading north.  The defeats on other fronts had thinned the Demon Empire forces, but further, none dared stop the Heavenly Maiden Sect.

The ship seemed to sail across the water as if it was made of silk and no issues cropped up.  Not a single trip was ever so smooth in his life which made Lind's instincts flare a bit.  Generally, when things were going his way, something nasty was coming.

His disc artifact was ready to go and he hopped on quickly as he flew across the skies.  The Dread Desert was strangely silent the same as the boat trip.  It only made Lind even more on the defensive but he wanted to know why every beast suddenly found other things to do.

The disc hid him from most senses but beasts could sometimes pierce it if they had special sensing skills.  He had experienced it before with Kora for instance, she always seemed able to pierce the shields of the disc no matter who was in control.

Now, however, not a single beast was in the sky or on the ground in his senses.  The only thing he did not understand was the cause but something had scared everything away.

"There is a divine beast in the world, a power beyond the mortal realm!"  Senior dragon soul suddenly spoke up.  Lind was confused.  He had dragon instincts, why was he not sensing anything?

A short laugh filled his head.

"You are also a divine beast after a fashion.  It also gives me a clue on what level the beast has to be.  Still powerful, but not pure.  They are somewhere in the world and not restricting their aura.  It is terrifying to normal beasts."  Lind knew that was true.

If he let his aura out, the beasts near the Moebius Sect scattered.  He had learned to contain it but his reach was only local.  It could not affect the entire realm!

"The Demon's Teeth are ahead, we will get there shortly."  The disc had only become more powerful as Lind could control more of its functions, which included a massive upgrade to its speed.

Covering a continent was not difficult but the seas were still too dangerous with the Sky Realms that lurked everywhere.

Lind was almost over the severely tall mountain range when he felt the world tremble.  It was not as simple as a shockwave.  It felt like the very fabric of the world strained to contain something.

The result was a ripple of that fabric that brought about a level of destruction Lind could not achieve without exhausting every ounce of his Qi entirely.  Even then, he could only level a mountain range at such a level.

This ripple was almost an afterthought of the being behind it.

It was irresponsible and Lind felt his blood boil as his eyes narrowed at the source.  The very sky had been torn asunder by a woman floating in the sky.  As soon as he saw her, a name popped into his skull.

"Phoenix."  Senior dragon soul agreed with him.  They both instinctively recognized a fellow divine beast.  Lind knew no such race existed in the lower mortal world.  Much like Ethry was a near impossibility, higher realm aether beasts were not able to live in this realm.

Rakathi was an exception but even in the 20 years since the storm ended, many of those beasts had ascended or begun to die off far too quickly to be explained aside from the inimical environment.

Skinwalker had made adjustments for Kora and Tal to survive and it was clear they had been needed.  Kora might have been able to push her cultivation, yet even then the Floating Isles would be a difficult place to live without adapting.

There were some diluted bloodlines in the Floating Isles but Lind only had surface level knowledge on the matter.

This being had to be one of them as his bloodline was close to the Sky Realm enough to identify it in her.  His Eyes had trouble perceiving her dantian but the Qi around her was far above the limit of the lower mortal realm.

"How is she not dying?"  It was a hard rule that anyone above Tier 1 Sky Realm could not return to the lower world.  They would be ripped apart by the difference in Qi inside their body compared to the outside.

A tier 2 could recover, but above that would be crippling from what Lind knew.  A Ruin was the only exception due to their nature, but like Delenn, they would be trapped there until the end of their lives.

So how was a being clearly well above that in front of him with no sign of damage?

"She is able to endure longer, but she will suffer the same fate if she does not leave soon.  A divine beast is beloved of Heaven and Earth so their power is able to withstand more.  She has to have a fairly pure bloodline to assume a human shape in only the Sky Realm."  Lind moved closer and felt a change in the air.

Golden lightning was gathering and he acted instinctively.  He used earth and darkness to ground the very air around the woman.  Without the free ions, the lightning dispersed once it left her hand as if it never existed.

Lind found it odd it did not strain him to do so.  Clearly, she could not exert her full strength or she likely could overcome his little trick.  She was confused as she looked around but tried again, yet Lind took no extra action as the lightning dispersed once more.

It was only when he truly took her in that he realized who was in front of him.

"The Sect Master of the Heavenly Maiden Sect!"  He had expected a response but the actual head of the sect was impossible.  She was supposed to be in the Heaven Realm!  Her successor in the Floating Isles was a well respected woman, but would never advance.

"A phoenix has a unique trait.  They can return to an earlier phase of their life for a price, clearly she paid it."  Lind was stunned.  What could be worth coming out for what should be seen as a lowly battle of ants?

He had no time to consider as he knew she would directly attack the Empire that was already nearly crumbled just by her arrival.  She wanted to wipe it from the world.

"I will talk with her, it will not be an issue."  Lind nodded at senior dragon soul's words before revealing himself and confronting a legend.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

Lind was shocked as Valkyrie was subdued despite senior dragon soul not having her body to call on.  An Immortal Soul was still impressive.  A Golden Plume Phoenix had to be a variant bloodline but still divine as had been explained to him.

"You cannot be here!"  The denial from the woman made Lind realize he no longer existed.  He simply hovered as he was the anchor for senior dragon soul.  A snort of laughter made the already cracked masonry shatter further.

Lind sent a warning but got no response.

"Are you blind?  I am a soul body, I have no Qi to threaten nor be damaged by my presence.  It would seem your race memories are inadequate to your station.  Your petulant actions reveal your immaturity."  Lind felt cold sweat break out on his back.

It was one thing to negotiate, but to treat a powerful being like a small child having a tantrum?!  Even he, in his greatest rage, never did that.

"You think a mere dragon soul can–"  Before Valkyrie could reassert herself, she was suddenly flung to the ground!  Lind had been watching the whole time but did sense a single thing!

Immortal Qi!  It had to be Immortal spirit Qi!  It was far beyond anything he could perceive and clearly Valkyrie could not resist.

"You are certainly a phoenix.  You are letting the fire of your soul burn too brightly.  You are also running out of time.  Unlike me, you have a severe limit here unless you are willing to weaken yourself further?"  The sneering face of senior dragon soul loomed over the now flattened Valkyrie.

Despite crashing through a few buildings, there was not a scratch on her.

Rage was clear on her face but she took a breath before rising back into the sky.

"I have no time to deal with you, senior.  I am here to accomplish the destruction of this vile power once and for all.  The conditions have been met."  Lind was about to burst but then froze.  Conditions?  What conditions?  Senior dragon soul shared his curiosity.

"Explain quickly then, why a senior Maiden such as yourself would bully children."  The mocking tone made Valkyrie look red with rage but she had a stark example of her powerlessness in front of her.

"The demons were given the conditions for the continued existence and the consequences if they broke it.  They are to be annihilated."  That sounded a great deal like the kind of treaty some would make, but Lind was mystified.  An entire power, all souls inside it, was just offered up like that?  He did not think so.

"You are abusing your privilege, junior.  The royal family, the nobles, and their subordinate clans certainly have their lives forfeit in that case, but you can't tell me the entire population was spelled out in such a treaty?  No sane ruler would do so."  Valkyrie finally smiled as a jade slip appeared.

She tossed it to Lind who caught it and sunk his senses into it.

[I am dead.  If all has gone according to plan, my son Yor has ascended to my throne.  He will not be an issue for you, but we both know the foolishness of youth.  There will come a time that some descendent will enact the plans I have sent you.  If they do so, the lives of the Blood Empire are forfeit.]

The handwriting was familiar as he had seen it before.  It was the same as the slip he had been given when Kexin was sent to Moebius Sect.

Emerald flames bloomed as the slip was melted into slag.  Surprise blossomed on Valkyrie's face as that was not so easy to do but she had seen it.  Jade slips for information were, by design, very resilient unless set with self destruct triggers.  That one had none.

"All of them are not his to give!  The fools that wage war must accept the consequences but I will be damned if I let you kill them all!"  Both women turned to see the silhouette of a sinuous dragon take shape over him.

Valkyrie felt her blood recoil in fear.  A junior, made her feel fear?!

"You would be wise to not agitate him further, junior.  I am not with him simply out of kindness but to guide a new progenitor divine dragon."  Shock flooded Valkyrie's body.  A progenitor?!

It had been epochs since a new progenitor had been born anywhere, but a divine bloodline progenitor?!  She could not recall that ever occurring.  As if it was a mirage, the emerald shape vanished as Lind opened his dark green eyes.

"I cannot stop you from killing the command level personnel, but I want Resha.  I also will take all of the residents here under my sect for processing.  They have to answer to us for all the deaths as well.  Karma must be severed or it will have nowhere to go for many of us."  Valkyrie was about to sneer at his arrogance when she felt it.

The world offered a golden halo to Lind Frey.  It was flickering but the message was clear.  If she ignored his words, karma would follow her and at her cultivation realm, that was not an easy thing to ignore.

"I will not bow to a junior, no matter his backing!  You are asking above your station!"  Her pride would not allow her to capitulate but then the ground came rushing up at her once more!  That damned Immortal Soul!

"Perhaps you think I am air?!  Obey, or you will get nothing as you will have to leave this place to recover your cultivation to not risk losing it forever."  The Immortal Soul knew Valkyrie was on a tight timetable.  Back into a corner she could not win from, she was forced to swallow the bitter pill.  There would be a price, however.

"Very well."  She snapped her finger and throughout the Demon Empire, wails of pain rose and then were cut short.  Lind narrowed his eyes as it all came from the quarter in the best condition.  She could have killed only the elites at any time!

That damned Emperor had given her a way!

"I must leave to enter seclusion but know this, Lind Frey.  You are no longer welcome at the Heavenly Maiden Sects.  So long as I live, you are denied succor and aid.  Your wives are to be removed from the sect as well.  Your entire family is banned from our services."  She sneered up at him but Lind looked back at her and laughed.

"That is, of course, your choice.  If you do not want to benefit from my elixir mastery, Forging, and other training, then that is fine.  From this day forth, the Moebius Sect and Heavenly Maiden Sect are true rivals, but unlike you, I will still give aid to those Maidens that ask or need it.  I will not hold juniors accountable for their Sect Master."  His words grated but an artifact in her storage ring began to react.

She was out of time.

She could only stare at the impudent man as she faded from the world and returned to the Heaven Realm.