novelraw Chapter 381 - 380 - Elysium Plains
Chapter 381 - 380 - Elysium Plains
The vibrant blue sky was reflected in the surface of the shifting oceans below. It was hard to determine where one ended and the other began but the fluffy white clouds gave an anchor to separate them.
Powerful aether beasts did battle constantly in the depths of the water but a few leapt from the water into the air to escape death and float for a time before returning. Salamanders, whales, and other beasts fought for supremacy but none could claim it forever.
The Sky Realms, however, moved unchallenged towards the Shadowy Shoals. It was the lowest area that led to the Floating Isles. The aether beasts would instinctively move there and try to fly to the floating land masses above.
Some followed instincts to reach territories of the beasts, but a few thought they could challenge the tiny humanoids living above. Battles were constant and many sects or kingdoms assigned missions to stop such invasions.
The reason for the ascension pool was for that very reason. It allowed a safe passage to the Floating Isles for humans, demons, and aether children. It also allowed the powers that ruled much of the Isles to regulate who freely entered.
It was, technically, possible for a Sky Realm to fly to the Isles but the survival rate was rather low by any route but the ascension pool.
Many tried to use artifacts to fly but the Qi consumption for an artifact became rather inefficient in the higher Qi environment at the height of the Floating Isles and flying too low lead to the aether beasts constantly attacking.
Solutions had been attempted but all had failed.
Refining and formations always ran into the same issue of struggling to work in that environment as well. The lower world could not impede low grade 5 formations and items, but the higher elevations made such things struggle without constant input from a cultivator.
No one could infuse their Qi forever into an artifact to fly nor a formation to function for the distance to the Floating Isles, so the ascension pools were created. It worked as a powerful teleportation array but was also restricted to peak tier 1 Sky Realm unless special dispensation was given to use it.
It was located in Indelia as it was the closest continent to the Floating Isles.
With all of those facts, many powers, both good, neutral, and wicked, laid out members to camp out the city of Port to keep an eye out for notable cultivators. Some simply wanted to know who had arrived, but at times assassinations or battles could occur.
Lind Frey had drawn the eyes of all but he never seemed to arrive. The last location he was known to be was at the funeral of a member of his Clan. Some praised him for sending off an ancestor while others derided him for being concerned about an ant.
In any case, after that public event, he seemed to vanish completely. No one saw him in the 3 continents and neither was he seen to be arriving at the ascension pool maintained in Cimmeria.
Information brokers were draining their savings trying to find him, but to no avail.
In the dual blue horizon of ocean and sky, a very tiny shape moved across the world. It looked like a ship on the bottom but it was fully enclosed. It had several crystals embedded into the sides, top, and bottom with leather sails on all sides extended outward.
It looked only big enough for 1 person and defied all accepted limits as it flew at the elevation of the Floating Isles. It was far beyond any aether beast and the few that were natural fliers avoided the side the ship was on.
The creak of wood came as wind strained the structure but Qi glowed as it protected the ship with sigils glowing on the hull. It made its way forward to one of the lower islands slowly appearing on the horizon.
Golden grass swayed in the harsh winds of the coast but the ship made its way forward slowly until it finally broke the boundary of the island and came crashing down onto the plains there.
The halcyon visage was broken as the ship impacted into the island but it hardly made a dent as it bounced off the dirt. It was as if the ship was a toy the island was hardly bothered to acknowledge.
The wooden ship cracked and the crystals ceased glowing as it fell apart. A man was sent flying out of it and he landed on his backside in the golden grass with the wind knocked out of him.
He was not injured but he lay in the flowing grass plains for a bit as he contemplated where he went wrong.
"I think the weavings were inadequate for the Floating Isles or I did not truly understand the difference between the elevation quality and the island quality." Lind slowly sat up and looked at the wreck of his ship.
It was not exactly an artifact, nor was it Forged. Lind had been inspired by the Darkmoor Kingdom Sky Realm arena. He had studied their formations and tried to adapt his primitive weaving ability to allow a constructed ship to fly to the Floating Isles.
He had succeeded as the ship drew from the air to power itself while Lind guided it. It actually responded like a ship in the water would. He had a long way to go, but it was something he filed to the back of his head as he took in his surroundings.
He had simply set out to the east from the southern tip of Sarth where no one ruled. It was a barren land no one wanted and was ideal for his needs. He had experimented months after Granny passed away.
It still hurt but the smile on her face at the end made it easier for Lind to move on.
All his connections were severed, or at least he could let go enough to move forward, and he then had the idea of the sky ship. Every video game set in a fantasy world had some version of a sky ship.
While flying artifacts could supplant that idea, they had severe limitations. If Lind could get a mid grade 5 one, flying to the Floating Isles would be a breeze but bringing such an artifact to the lower world would damage it.
Just like a tier 2 Sky Realm, mid grade 5 items would violently lose Qi in the lower world. Lind compensated for his Heaven grade items as Dierdra taught him, but they still degraded far faster than they would in the actual Heaven Realm or above.
Lind examined the golden grass and was surprised it was not an herb but literally grass. The golden color came from a shift from using just the light from the sun to using light Qi to live. The color came from the Qi.
"I wonder what this is called?" Lind stored the wreckage away for study later and moved inland. Despite being an island, Lind could not see the other side at all from his current landing. The Floating Isles made it sound like a few small islands but some of those islands were as large as half of 1 of the 3 continents.
There were true islands but more than half were that massive.
Some were even artificial from what he had heard.
Lind observed aether beasts living in the dirt but they avoided him as his draconic aura was enough to protect him. He was going through the information as he saw moles with scales in his senses and insects the size of his forearm flying around.
They were at the World Realm but their power seemed a tier above what he determined them to be! An Iron Tier in the Floating Isles would crush an Iron Tier in the lower world. Lind finally came to a dirt road but the dirt was very pale.
He examined it with his Eyes and felt pain for the first time in a very long time. His rating was supposed to be at the Heaven Realm for his Eyes but now that he was in the Floating Isles, he clearly had to train them to filter once more.
He got too much at once and his Heaven Touch had the same issue.
It was like his talent was trying to move a landslide of mud. The Qi was far heavier and the quantity felt immense. It was impossible at the moment but he narrowed his vision until he could isolate each of the 6 Qi.
"The Elysium Plains, good." Lind had aimed for one of the fringe islands and had gotten one he desired. It was a relatively ignored island but just like the lower world, Ruins could fall to the Floating Isles in greater frequency compared to the lower world.
The dirt road was tarcan soil. It was infused with grade 5 level of earth Qi, but it was mainly used to connect simple villages. It was like a countryside road that was not on a map but the locals had made it to solve their own needs.
Lind tried to find any village in range but there was just nothing! His senses were severely restricted like his talents! He had to start over with his training it seemed.
Lind randomly chose a direction and began walking to see what he could find. His robes were now a simple gray but the quality was low grade 5 to at least protect him as he moved in the Floating Isles.
It took weeks before a simple village came into view. There had not been a single branch road at all so he wondered if he had chosen wrongly before, yet now that he saw a destination, it gave him hope.
Unlike his expectations, there were humans and aether children living together from what he could see. He did not pry too much as it was considered rude in the lower world but the quality of clothes was clear to see.
Simple cloth in the Isles would be a family heirloom as it could protect from World Realm beasts easily. Still, the dirty children and adults told him it was a fairly poor village. The road simply led into the village with no guards of any kind to stop him.
Lind slowly walked forward but few glanced at him as he made his way deeper into the huts and grass roofed structures. It was clear the village was built of local materials but the sheer number of Gold and Diamond Tiers put most lower world powers to shame.
It was only when Lind finally saw an old woman with a staff waiting for him that he realized word of mouth moved at a terrifying rate. The woman was mid Tier 1 of the Sky Realm but he realized she was the only 1 in the village.
It was at that moment that Lind truly comprehended he was back to being nothing in the Floating Isles. A Sky Realm was an unchallenged ruler in the lower world but a tier 1 here was barely qualified to lead a poor village!
"What do you want here, rogue?" The ancient voice was powerful as Lind bowed in respect before considering how he should answer.