Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 477 - 476 - Legend of Dragons

Sebas was screaming as he was dragged into the air through the cliff!  He had never realized what he was dealing with and regretted trying to gain more benefits for himself.

The being holding him looked nothing like a human at all anymore as vibrant emerald scales glistened in the sunlight.

The long snout looked at him as if it was going to bite him.

The villagers were drawn by the sounds but then Lind roared to the Heavens and clouds gathered.  He felt it then.

Heaven was rejoicing!

It was not just being a Divine Dragon that made it happy, but a true cultivator had come!

"What is that?"  People began to panic but then lightning enclosed the entire area.  It extended around the village proper to the clearing Lind had set up.  It was only for a short time but all understood they could not escape.

"You have one chance to live, Sebas.  Swear to Heaven and Earth to answer my questions truthfully or I will break all your limbs one at a time until you do."  The sigils blazed like the sun and Kiran with Mika were shocked to recognize it was Lind!

He was a beast?!

"YES!  I swear to Heaven and Earth to answer truthfully!"  Heaven rumbled in joy once more.  Lind knew no one made Oaths in that realm anymore.  Fiends ruled there.

"What are your plans for Kiran and others like her?" Sebas tried to not answer but his mouth moved on its own.

"They are marked for the tithe to my masters.  They will be refined as resources like all the others."  Confusion filled their faces and Lind knew the truth at last.

"Tell them about the Fiends, your masters."  Sebas shivered as a conflict arose but he was shocked as emerald light bathed his body.  All the restrictions were lifted!

"T-they take you to show you!  They killed my brother right in front of me with a simple flick of their hand!  He died without a scratch!"  Tears began to well as he could not stop his mouth from talking.  "I begged to live.  I begged to serve!  They sent me back to replace the old village head."

Lind floated down and saw some comprehension so he took over.

"The people with ash gray skin and impossibly good looks are monsters.  They need living cultivators to progress in strength and life.  They literally need you as resources."  Shock flooded the crowd but disbelief filled them.

Lind then pointed behind him.

"If you have doubts, then explain that!"  Many saw the cracked open cliff and the well made tunnel now exposed.  None of them understood it though.  He could see it.

"When was that made?"  Kiran suddenly asked a question and Lind turned to Sebas who seemed to plead to not ask that question.  Lind did.

"It was made by the masters long ago to communicate with the head of the village.  It used to be a larger village back then so it was important enough.  As we lost our quality, they simply took the best and left the rest to fend for themselves."  Many eyes narrowed but still held doubt in their hearts.

The rumble of Heaven scared them as the lightning finally faded.  Lind also had to let go of his transformation.  It was far more taxing on him at the current Qi density.

His human shape was covered in sweat but he looked at Sebas with disgust.

"World Realms can live up to 500 years.  Someone tell me, how old is the oldest person?"  Dawning realization crossed the villagers as they all looked at Sebas.  He was the oldest.

He was only 3 centuries old but the tithe took so many to serve the Great Ones that almost no one escaped it.

"What happened to my husband?!"  Kiran's mother suddenly spoke up and Sebas closed his eyes as he wished to close his ears.

"Answer her."  Sebas was bleeding as he tried to stop his voice but black clouds began to gather.  "You will die if you do not answer."

Sebas could feel it, the pressure was building!

"He found out!  He found out Kiran was going to be on the next tithe with the other Gold Tiers!  He was always too bright!  He knew she was in danger somehow!"  Lind doubted that but maybe it was simply that none ever returned that concerned him.

Rage crossed her face as well as many others.  The implications as clear as Sebas could not stop.

"I gave him to my mistress in the tunnel.  The jade stone needs life force and can take more if needed."  Sebas shivered to recall that day himself as he had seen it once before.

Lind finally released Sebas but then the old man felt his dantian shatter!

"NOOOOO!!!"  His already rail thin body withered greatly and it seemed he had difficulty standing.

"I know all of this is a great shock but we have no time.  In 3 days, the Fiends are coming for me.  His instructions were to kill Kiran and Mika to blame me.  You are all in danger."  Lind did not hide the truth, no matter how devastating it was.

Shouts began to rise but Lind had no time for it.  He closed his eyes and lightning came crashing down on him!

Rather than hurt him, his body instantly recovered!

The pressure stunned them all to silence as the lightning took on the shape of a giant sinuous dragon!

"You once told me that dragons were a legend, Kiran.  What is the legend?"  His voice boomed as Kiran jumped at the sudden focus all had on her.  She swallowed before speaking.

"Daddy used to tell us how before the Great Ones, there were 3 dragons that ruled the world.  They split up the air, the sea, and the land between them."  Many nodded at her words but she then smiled as she moved on.  "I loved the part where he said the dragons of the sea and land would teach the people to grow stronger by fighting and learning about the elements until they could be taken by the air dragon."

Lind felt his blood stir at her words.

He had stated the world was broken, but now he truly understood it.  The world was indeed broken.

It was made barren.

The Qi he felt was so odd due to the fact it supported a dragon before.  The restriction on flight was likely tied to a blessing or permission tied to the dragons.  When he became a dragon, the world acknowledged his right to fly.

"The ancient war between them was never understood but the Great Ones protected us and broke the cycle of battle."  Lind frowned as his bloodline boiled in anger.  It was a lie!

How much kindness or cruelty was up for debate, but the Great Ones were a lie!

"Sky Realms.  I am a Sky Realm, the next realm after World Realm.  It is the last of the mortal realms."  His words resonated with all of them.  Kiran and the other Gold Tiers seemed to grasp his knowledge but his next words shattered their dreams.  "None of you can reach it."

Lind then summoned all 6 elements which left all of the people in shock.

"I have no time to go into detail, but you should be able to feel it now.  You are being raised as livestock.  Quality is not important, only quantity."  Their elements in their dantians felt so weak compared to his.

Strength was not what they felt, but depth.  His elements seemed fully formed and solid while not even Kiran, a talented youth, could even summon a simple breeze with the air in her dantian.

"I have a plan to save as many as possible but it will not be able to save you all.  Take the boats and flee after I work on them.  There are places they do not care about.  I will draw them to me."  Lind then finally stopped all he was doing as his Qi was straining to escape since the lightning restored him above the limit of the surface.

Kiran and Mika were the first to walk up to him but then stared at the whimpering old man on the sand.

All the villagers' eyes filled with rage but Lind stopped them.

"Death is a release, he is not worth dirtying your hands."  He led them away but the chaos had yet to be processed by all of the villagers.  If there was more time, he would help them and guide them as best he could, but 3 days was too short.

He had a very long list of things to do and little time to pull it off.

After a short while, all that was left on the beach was the shattered stones of the cliff and a weak old man weeping to be forgiven.  His voice pleaded over and over that it was not his fault but no one stayed to listen as the waves gently lapped the coast.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

Many kilometers away, the female Fiend was looking at a jade tablet that had gone dim not long ago.

"Fool, you were useless to the end."  She had her men speed up their preparations as 3 days was now likely too long.  A true cultivator was in their world.  They had to find him and interrogate him as soon as possible.

She looked out from her balcony on the sunny day shining down on the camps of milling bodies.  Humans, demons, and aether children shuffled soulessly around as they were exercised by the training Fiends.

The corrals spread until the horizon but she frowned at the low quality of all she felt.  If a good meal had fallen into her lap, she would have it all to herself!  She smiled wide but if any cultivator saw it they would run to the horizon as it was the smile of a predator!

As soon as her forces were ready, they headed to the east for a quality meal!