novelraw Chapter 363 - 362 - Heavenly Rest
Chapter 363 - 362 - Heavenly Rest
Little had changed from the last time Lind had been at the broken citadel that housed the Divine Inheritance. He could feel that a lot of the Qi that oppressed him before was gone and there were fewer aether beasts as well.
"How goes the removal?" Lind asked the beast floating next to him that allowed him in.
"We will be done soon. The world is already rejecting Father's Ruin but it will still be a long time before your people will come here." Lind nodded but his eyes were a little unfocused. This place was where his dream to advance came true in unusual ways.
Until here, 6 elementals had struggled to reach the World Realm. Some had touched on Iron Tier but with completely ruined foundations or just crippled entirely by that time. He was the first to reach Gold Tier and then Diamond Tier without doing so.
He smiled at his memories of Dierdra and her roost of rocs with Kora and Tal running around doing their antics.
"You seem to have changed, junior." Lind slowly nodded before he closed his eyes and emerald flames lined his body. Very slowly, a faint image of a woman appeared next to him. Her once clear features were foggy and barely held their shape.
"Ah, let me help you." A pressure filled the air as senior dragon soul solidified completely.
"Thank you, senior." Lind bowed as he looked at the being that had been guiding him for a long time but she looked far older now. "I hoped you could hold on until we reached here, senior."
"I feel a bit better but my time is ending. You have been so quiet to get here and now I realize how far you have come, junior." She looked like she would weep but she could not. Lind softened for a bit but then he grew firm.
"I am forever indebted for your guidance but there is something you have withheld from me. The soul I met in the Divine Inheritance said I was a possible successor. What did he mean?" A troubled look crossed her features but she glanced at the towering aether beast nearby.
It blinked for a moment before bowing and setting up an isolation formation as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Lind wondered if he would ever be proficient in weaving to perform a similar act.
"My Inheritance was different from what you imagine others to be. Dragons do not make legacies to be passed down. We already have that with our bloodlines. Most aether beasts do not make Inheritances for the same reasons." Lind had wondered about that.
Many Inheritances and Ruins he had come across were about passing on a legacy or looking for a successor, but very few ever referenced aether beasts as their creators.
"Some do if they have human descendants that show promise in the future but those are quite rare." She looked up to the darkening sky as the sun set. The once boiling clouds made the sky obscured but the citadel ruin was quite somber at sunset.
Lind waited as he hoped to have some enlightenment.
"I cannot directly answer your question, but I can tell you that you are worthy. You have been marked as such by me. There are 2 more Inheritances you must face. They still exist, I can feel them. They are intact." Lind was surprised.
"Will they know yours collapsed?" She nodded but then smiled back at him.
"They know I survived to guide a candidate. They are waiting for you." She then pointed up at the stars coming out in the inky black sky. "The Celestial Fields are not dead despite what those horrible beings believe but it is gravely wounded."
Lind felt his heart freeze.
The Cannibalistic Inheritances existed because they claimed Immortals had nowhere to go anymore, but senior dragon soul contradicted it in part. She flatly stated there were survivors up there!
He knew not to push but it was as if a stone settled in his heart at her admissions. As if waiting for it, he quietly broke through to the high Diamond Tier. She smiled at him during that smooth process.
"I lived a long time knowing my fate. I was raised knowing I would end my days inside that Inheritance. It was a great honor and allowed me to have more freedom in my youth than others of my kind enjoyed." Lind was confused. Dragons were generally free to his knowledge but then a flash of how Ethry ended up in a jade casket came back to him.
"The cultivators hunted your kind?" She nodded with some anger.
"Most beasts are hunted but divine beasts derivatives were highly sought after. There are many uses for our bodies and the wish to join our bloodlines are just as strong." Lind slowly nodded but it seemed hard to reconcile.
He was an elixir master and Forger. He used materials from beasts himself so how could he decry the hunt for even dragons?
As if reading his mind she sent a soothing sensation to him.
"There is nothing wrong with losing in battle, but trapping our young was where we drew the line. With what happened between you and Lady Ethry, few of us could object but some still would." A smirk passed over her face but she did not explain why. "You will face discrimination but never doubt you are a progenitor of the dragon race. You will be great in the future."
Lind found himself a bit embarrassed at her words but a warmth filled his heart.
Sudden pain crossed her face and Lind knew time was running out.
"Come, there is something I want to ask them." They left the isolation barrier as Lind approached the floating aether beasts. The solemn atmosphere seemed appropriate overall.
"Seniors! My senior has reached the end of her life for her soul but this is a mortal realm. I was wondering if there was anything you could do for her?" Lind knew Delenn's situation was just as bad but she had a lot of life yet, but senior dragon soul was facing dispersal if she ended her life with him.
She was also an Immortal. Immortals could not safely stay in the mortal realm. The fact she was a soul gave her some leeway but only in her existence. Her death would be treated like an invasion from above. Her soul would be dispersed the moment the connection was broken between them.
"It is possible, but difficult. It would invite the spirits on us as much as her." Lind was confused. He had heard cultivators invoke the 'spirits of Heaven and Earth,' but it was the first time he was given any indication such beings existed.
"What do you mean?" The beasts moved their massive heads to look at each other, but no words were spoken. Lind wondered how they could talk like that but then he had an Immortal living in his soul the last few decades, he was not one to talk.
Lind looked at the soul floating next to him but she was silent on the matter.
"Junior Lind, would you be willing to stand with her?" Lind was not sure what they were asking but senior dragon soul finally spoke harshly.
"You have no right to ask him that! He is too weak to stand for me and you all know it!" The aether beasts did not deny her words but Lind felt like he was missing something.
"I truly do not understand the question, please explain." The beasts nodded as one of them began to shrink to a humanoid form.
"There are limits to what you can understand but suffice to say, the spirits exist. There is far more complexity behind it, but to avoid the wrath of Heaven and Earth, a living native must stand for the invader." Lind had a million questions instantly fill his head but since even Kora could not grasp certain things in her bloodline until a certain threshold of cultivation was passed, he could accept there being limits.
"And how would I even do this?" The beast smiled as it pointed at itself.
"The easiest way to invoke the spirits is to ask a Divine Cultivator for help. While there are other methods, their success rate is very low. They would also consume a massive amount of materials." Lind was curious about those methods but pushed it aside.
"Based on senior's reaction, there is a danger to this for me?" Lind knew there had to be but he saw a swift nod from the humanoid beast. He now understood why they changed shape. It was difficult to read the giant serpentine shape. It seemed they had anticipated a need for Lind to interpret their facial expressions.
"The spirits do not like to be bothered. Again, this is far beyond your understanding, but the spirits of Heaven and Earth are responsible for the creation of all worlds. As worlds die, they are constantly redirecting the energies that make up the cosmos by the rules of Heaven and Earth." Lind had to ponder why such beings existed.
Earth had religions but it was debatable which had any truth in them. The term leap of faith was often accurate to his mind, but senior dragon soul and these aether beasts spoke of the spirits as tangible beings.
"So, what exactly is the risk then?" Angry deities were not good but why would they care? Lind wanted clarity.
"The danger is that cultivation is allowed by Heaven and Earth but the spirits can stop your journey entirely if they decide to do so." Lind felt his heart stop for a moment. These spirits can just stop his cultivation if they were annoyed?!
"Lind Frey, do not risk your journey for me. I chose to follow you knowing the risk. I accept my end." Lind looked at senior dragon soul and recalled their journey together. It was the safe path to simply let her pass and disperse but he refused.
"Seniors, please let me stand for senior dragon soul." The beast showed a surprised look but then smiled as they bowed.
Lind expected arrays or something profound to appear but instead the sky suddenly parted like a curtain. The stars were once just sparkling in the sky but now a deeper darkness was revealed and Lind could not withstand even a glance!
What was that?! It was not empty like the void, but had sparkled with glimmering lights similar to stars for the instant he looked.
"It would be wise to keep your eyes closed for the moment, juniors. Neither of you can withstand the Divine Lands." Lind realized that some kind of connection had been made to a place he could not even survive!
Lind was about to ask how long they would have to wait when a pressure fell on them all. Even the aether beasts were made to kneel.
"A mortal realm is not a place you should be. Explain yourselves." A voice boomed in Lind's mind as he immediately coughed up blood before he collapsed. His bones cracked and his body felt like it was barely holding together.
A sudden feeling of anger filled his mind.
"You dare risk a mortal?!" The voice did not hurt him that time but Lind summoned several elixirs to quickly resolve his issues. Just as he took the elixirs, his entire body froze in place. He could not move a single inch!
"Low Heaven grade 5, impossible! How did this mortal reach that level?! You will tell us!" Lind felt no danger as the elixirs were quickly doing their work but he still could not move. Silence followed but then the pressure lessened.
"We understand. You are called Lind Frey, mortal?" Lind cupped his hands but then did not know where to bow so simply bowed to the sky above.
"Yes, uh, senior spirits. I am afraid I do not know the correct manners so forgive any–" Lind was suddenly interrupted as his mind was made wide open. It was as if his life was a book being read. Lind did not like it at all.
Emerald light flared and his skin turned to emerald scales with his eyes becoming vertical slits. The scan of his mind was halted forcibly and a stunned feeling spread in the air.
"I do not know how you view people, but it is polite to ask permission than just tear through a mind! My senior has reached the end of her life and I wish for her to not be dispersed. She fell with a Ruin much as these seniors have come with an Inheritance." His words were greeted with silence.
"You are a foolish child. You were warned what we could do yet dare show a temper to us?" Lind knew he should be respectful but a visceral reaction made his harmony flare as the shape of a sinuous dragon appeared around him.
"I have been cursed by talents to ruin my foundation due to being a 6 elemental. I have been forging a path with hints, clues, and guesses because no one felt it worthwhile to help us. I exposed horrific beings that abused the very cultivation power you allow. I have asked for nothing from you, not once. My senior has served with honor and guided me more than anyone else in cultivation ever has." Pressure built from Lind that was all his own.
His cultivation even advanced as he vented the 2 centuries of frustration he had faced. The Heavens then went through a change as golden light descended. Shock now appeared as the bodiless spirits realized something they had overlooked.
"Restitution of such a level! It has even been expended and rebuilt!" The deities of cultivation did not seem to expect what they saw, but they followed the rules. "You have earned the right, your request will be granted!"
Joy was felt and Lind lost the steam he had built up in his rage. He felt something profound wash over them. He looked to senior dragon soul to see her glowing with Qi!
His Eyes could not perceive what the Qi was but her once faint form solidified until she actually acquired the colors of life!
The golden glow around Lind dimmed to nothing but he did not mind.
"I have to go, Lind Frey, but thank you. I can return to the cycle thanks to you." Lind cupped his hands and bowed deeply. No further words were needed as senior dragon soul was pulled into the tear in the sky.
"The request was granted but your rudeness will be remembered, mortal. Do not test us again." The voice in his mind was cold now but Lind simply waited until all returned to normal. When he looked up, he realized not only was senior dragon soul gone, but so was the Divine Ruin!
The empty wastes were all that was around him and a howling wind. He was alone completely but he felt no restraint in his dantian. He looked up at the twinkling stars and simply thanked the spirits in his heart. He then turned and began to make his way back out of the wastes.