Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 383 - 382 - The Trial Cave

"Great master, I sincerely apologize for my rudeness earlier."  Lind had seen many reactions to his badges.  Respect was not uncommon but some powers had less respect if there was no association behind the individual.

It ranged then from true honor to barely concealed arrogance in Lind's experience.  There were also those that wanted to snatch up a good production master for themselves.  It was a real fear he had lived with until he became a Forger.

Once he had 2 professions, one of which directly tied to fiercely independent refiners, he was relatively safe from being snatched up.  When he returned from his travels and had become a low Heaven grade 5 master, he had heard hardly a peep from anyone.

Starfire House had honored his requests but it was not like they suddenly kowtowed to him.  His loss of connection to the Heavenly Maiden Sect had also made him believe it was far more common to have someone of his abilities.

He had forgotten, however, that Valkyrie was from the actual Heaven Realm where a low Heaven grade 5 production master may indeed not be much.  The Floating Isles, however, was the domain of the Sky Realm.

A grade have, especially a Heaven grade 5, would be not only a highly desired production master, but they could dictate terms due to the presence of organizations that backed them.

Lind had not heard of their names exactly but it was not difficult to guess that they were alchemy, refining, and formations.  He could also tell from Mara's reaction that they were harsh to those that crossed them.

"Lady Mara, you are the elder of your village and I am a visitor.  I have not come from the interior islands but the lower world.  No one has any idea I am here so you are just fine."  Mara slowly looked up and saw the gentle smile of Lind.

She nodded but her tone was far more respectful.

"This is one of the few Ruins left in the Elysium Plains.  Sometimes an itinerant cultivator that learned of it will come and see if they can trigger the final trial as all the other rooms are exhausted.  There must be something as the distortion endures."  Lind slowly nodded as he knew that much.

Once a Ruin's secrets or treasures were completely plumbed, it was not uncommon for the distortion to peacefully disperse and whatever was inside to become incorporated to the rest of the world.  It was the best result for a Ruin to come to an end.

It meant, though, that so long as the distortion remained, no matter how empty the interior, something critical still existed.

"Does the Ruin have a name?"  Lind did not get his hopes up but Mara was quick to answer.

"Simply the Trial Cave.  There is no vast difference between the interior and exterior save for a large cave system at the center.  I have been inside myself and found only debris and empty rooms."  Mara had hoped to find a way to advance but all that was dust now.

Lind nodded and considered something before summoning a vial.  It glittered in the sunlight and had 3 colors swirling in it.  Lind had only recently attempted it on his journey to the Isles as he had nothing else to do.

It was the main advantage of the air ship he created, it did not need Qi from him to fly, but the air itself.  He could focus on his cultivation instead and just keep an eye on his course.  It would need a lot of experimenting to perfect but as a prototype, it proved the concept.

The elixir in his hands was his specialty.  Tempering Elixirs.  Mara had 3 elements.  Earth, light, and air.  The elixir in his hand should boost her to the next tier easily.

"Take this, it will help you.  Also, take these."  Lind gave her a wide variety of his lower grade elixirs from mortal to Heaven grade.  "You understand why I am doing this?"

He looked at her firmly before she slowly nodded.

"I never heard of you."  Lind smiled wide before moving towards the Ruin.  He vanished before their eyes before Wei pulled on Mara's robes.

"Who was that man?"  Mara paused for a moment before she chose her answer.

"A mirage, it was just a mirage.  I will take care of the boar but you will hold these carefully.  They are very important to the village."  She swiftly stored away the boar into a bracelet as well as a few of the more dangerous vials to be seen, then made her way back to the village.

It was only on the way back that something occurred to her.

The entire walk, not a single beast came near to them.  Normally, even with her aura, a few would sneak looks at her or might come near like the boar had if their numbers were enough, but not a single beast even showed its head the entire walk to the Ruin.

She turned back as she recalled how the boar died and wondered if it was not an Art the great master had used but something far more terrifying.  He had a bloodline that made all aether beasts fear him.  Who was that man?

She shook her head and focused on her job.  She also swore to have a long talk with the villagers.  They must all swear to have never seen the stranger.  Their lives might depend on it!

⬧⬧⬧⬧

Lind was actually stunned.  He had heard Mara's words but there was truly no difference in the landscape from the outside to the inside of the distortion.  Golden grass blew in the wind and the quality of Qi seemed identical to the outside of the barrier.

Normally, quality or kind of Qi could vary wildly inside a Ruin.  He had experienced deserts in a forest, floating fortresses of machines, and even the anti-Qi Ruin.  All of it was wondrous to behold and left a deep impression, but the subtle nature of the current Ruin impressed him more.

It meant that the Ruin that fell was planned obsolescence.  The creator knew that their Inheritance would collapse and they took it into account!  Those were very rare.

It left a good impression as he moved to the center to find a large cave entrance looming right in the center as Mara described.  It descended into the ground but unlike the rest of the Ruin, the Qi felt much higher in quality.

His badge was practically dancing in his palms as he slowly descended the smooth steps down.  The interior was once well lit but the very torches had been pried loose and only a few embedded light sources remained.

There were signs of the walls being pried at with deep scars in the once smooth walls and stone debris everywhere.  Discarded tools, bones, and even some skeletons were left behind.

Lind saw the long history of pillaging, betrayal, and just existence of the cave.  He spent days going down various twists and turns but the medal never indicated a direction, it simply thrummed with power.

"Younger Twin, what is this place to you?"  After nearly a month down in the cave, Lind finally asked a question and it felt odd to speak after so long in silence.  There was no reaction so Lind continued.

Here or there he saw profound inscribed arrays into the walls but they were damaged at certain points and he wondered what the formations once did.  He suspected the nodes had high quality flags or materials that people took to recoup something for their trouble.

It made him sad but the worn edges made it clear it was all from long ago.

Finally, after nearly 3 months in the deep caverns, he entered a massive chamber.  The doors had been forced open but inside were several skeletons that were clearly murdered.  The missing limbs were found in different locations from the rest of the skeletons.

He also found signs of both true exploration of the walls as well as angry venting from violent weapon intent.  A few even still radiated the faint trace of spear and sword to his senses.  There were no storage treasures, but he had not expected to find any.

What he found odd was that while other rooms and tunnels had clear signs of something once being there and removed, the large cavern was empty.  There was no sign of there ever being chests, or other items laid out or signs of battle over them.

The light in the room was also not coming from any sconce or overhead source that he could perceive which made Lind wary.  It was clear the final trial was in that room but trials coincided with danger.

Still, he saw no signs of the broken door healing and there was nothing visible to his Eyes.  He tried manipulating the Qi but it only revealed that he could not reach beyond the stone borders of the massive room.

He moved forward carefully but found nothing.

It was a giant room at the end of the cavern system, yet nothing was there.  Could it have been reclaimed before it became a Ruin?  It was possible.

Lind explored the room with his badge shaking the whole time, yet nothing revealed itself.  He was getting frustrated now, but then an idea occurred to him.

"You tested me before, are you testing me now?"  He moved to the very center of the room and cleared some skeletons and debris from there.  He respectfully laid out each set and bowed to them.

He then summoned his low Heaven grade 5 elixir pot.  It glowed with Qi as it was finally in an environment that did not put a strain on it.  Lind infused the sigils as heat began to warm the dark metal and the room became full of light.

The Qi danced as Lind carefully laid out several grade 5 herbs and Sky Stones.  He pulled out 2 aether beast cores that swirled with profound elements.  One sparked with lightning due to the fire and light while the other looked cloudy with the water and fire.

Lind carefully calmed his mind and then began the process.

He would show Younger Twin how far he had come!