Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 500 - 499 - Divine Intervention

Lind felt his blood boil before darkness closed in.  He wondered how it would feel to die boiled alive and it was not that bad.  At least he thought he had died until he realized he was still thinking.

Slowly, the feeling of pins and needles began to return before he realized he was regenerating.  He was alive!  How?!

He took an explosion in the face, summoned Heavenly Wrath right on his body, and finally was going to crash into the ocean.  Even barring a small miracle, there was no power in the mortal realm that could save him.

He did not feel like those times when karmic restitution had saved him either.  He was always wiped out and usually fully restored when he awoke.  He had no idea but then a faded figure slowly came into focus as his eyes were repaired.

He saw only blackness but it did not feel like the void.  There was Qi all around him.  The figure was also familiar.

It was the slender dark skinned man!  He was more real than anyone he had ever seen before but he was looking amused at Lind right then.

"I have had many masters since I was created, but you have been the first to shock me while below the Heaven Realm."  The deep voice assured Lind he was alive but he saw his body was in a very poor state.

His glance did not go unnoticed.

"It was a near thing.  If your dantian had shattered, heart burst, or mind melted, then nothing could be done, but you held on.  You were determined to take your enemy with you.  Thankfully, you met the criteria for a life saving grace from me."  Lind felt his right hand float up as the dark ring was completely intact on his finger.

Where the rest of him was burned, bleeding, or missing, his right hand was entirely intact!

"D-divine?"  The slender man nodded and smiled.

"Best not to talk too much but you will recover.  Once you are safely stable I will send you back out into the world.  This space is a little special in 2 ways."  The man waved to the blackness but Lind felt one thing.

The Qi was far richer and nourished his injured body far better than any mortal realm could.

"I will skip the Qi as you have a firm grasp of that sense.  The other is it is a last resort for the bearer of that ring.  There are conditions of course."  Lind had nowhere to go but could not help when he laughed.

It hurt but he could not stop.  The dragon spirit smiled and let Lind get it out of him.

"You unlocked the first layer back then is of course one of the conditions.  Not easy to do, you would agree.  The next condition is obviously being in certain mortal danger.  You were going to die without question."  There was no judgment in the pale eyes but Lind felt a little pressure.

"The hardest condition is tied to why you are dying.  A fight is not enough nor is being betrayed nor surrounded.  In other words, if you faced a cultivator and they killed you, the ring would not react."  Lind absorbed that but could guess what the spirit was getting at.

"The Heavenly Wrath?"  The spirit nodded.

"You are invoking the true will of Heaven to punish its enemies or correction of a terrible sin.  Heaven itself will judge, hence you nearly died."  Lind thought about that but then understood.

He assumed his death and never entertained asking to be saved.  As if reading his mind the spirit nodded again.  An honest sacrifice to achieve Heaven's Will.

"The final condition is unique to me."  The spirit finally looked solemn as he leaned over the prone Lind.  The pale eyes were now profound but Lind felt judgment that time.

"I am an artifact for a certain individual and while you have a lot of desirable characteristics, you are far from what I need you to be.  Still, you acted as a progenitor should and shouldered the responsibility of your future self."  LInd was confused.  What did that mean?

His confusion was ignored.

"The last condition is my acknowledgement that you are my new master.  You will not understand what that means yet but the restrictions have been lifted.  You will not be able to use even 1 tenth of what I can truly do but you will no doubt be happy to see what is inside."  Lind contemplated for a bit but then shook his head.

"Put them back."  The spirit stared at him.

"Put what back?"  Lind sighed before he slowly sat up as most of his body was reconstructed.

"The restrictions.  Put them back in place.  I am grateful and happy to have your acknowledgement but if what I learned in the Divine Inheritance is what I think it is, I am not ready."  Lind knew his limits very well.  He also knew his weakness.

Access to anything above his realm would become both crutch and his sole purpose to unravel.  He was tempted and happy to be recognized, but he was not ready.  His actions were reckless and he had been harshly reminded of how weak he was.

He had been backed into a corner where only a full roll of the dice was needed.  He had to die to pull it off.

The spirit suddenly began to shake before looking behind him.

"You chose well."  He suddenly vanished as the darkness was torn aside for a very familiar pair of women appeared.

Two slim but well proportioned women with a tight white dress on each cinched at the waist with one blond and one brunette looked at him with smiles.  Both had blue eyes but the blonde had an even deeper tan than he remembered while the brunette was paler.

"Seniors."  Lind bowed as well as he could but they waved him off.

"You have come farther than we ever expected after we heard what elements you ended up with."  He was unsure how he was supposed to feel but slowly he connected the dots as he realized something.

"You saved me?"  They did not respond but Lind glanced at his ring.  "You triggered my ring to save me?"

They both nodded at that point.

"We have some sway with ********."  Lind only hear part of it the same as the first time he met them.

"So I am not ready for that information?"  They both nodded again but then helped him stand up as a table and 3 chairs were summoned.

"Drink and eat.  You will need to."  He nodded as meat and tea appeared.  He savored the rich Qi in both as his body quickly healed faster!

"Am I allowed to know if you are Divine Realm or not?"  They did not act surprised but giggled at him.

"We are indeed Divine Realm cultivators but more than that would not make any sense to you yet."  He accepted that as Skinwalker had been the same.  The blonde's words were fine in that sense.

"Why did you save me?"  He knew they leaned on his ring to do it but they chose to act, so why?

The silence stretched for a bit before the brunette spoke.

"It is hard to explain but the war you just fought is but one front of a multi-realm war.  You chose to make the ultimate sacrifice and Heaven whispered to us what you were doing."  Lind was stunned

"Y-you can hear Heaven?"  He had felt pressure, anger, and maybe happiness over his life but that was all.  Impressions and some guesses, never a direct connection.

"It is more like we can see more at our level.  You may not know but invoking Heavenly Wrath reaches all the way up to the Divine Lands.  As we helped you be reborn, we felt it."  The blonde spoke and Lind suddenly realized she was far more respectful to him.

"Am I able to hear your names now or whatever it was I could not hear before?"  They both frowned before the brunette closed her eyes for a time.  Lind was still healing but he could finally see his feet reforming so he knew time was running out.

"We are from Lotus Soul Sect."  Lind felt his head throb for some reason but he recovered quickly.  There was an intent behind those words he could not quite absorb.

"I am *s**n**"  The blond tried to say something that made Lind cough up blood.  The brunette smacked the back of her head.

"He can't bear our names!"  Lind slowly recovered but wondered why their names were more profound than the name of their sect.

"Sorry!  Are you ok?"  Lind was stunned when he felt gentle hands rove over his body.  The remaining pain vanished as if it never existed!  She just touched him and he was healed!

"W-what are you doing to him?!"  The brunette seemed flustered but Lind found no issue as nothing inappropriate was done.  The blonde also looked confused before a smile crossed her face.

A flash of Shoti suddenly went through his mind but a tug on his right hand saved him.

"We are out of time but know we are very happy about you!  Thank you for all you have done!"  Lind truly felt their gratitude as he felt dizzy before he vanished from the dark space.

"He could withstand the name of the sect."  Both women were solemn about that.  Normally a Sky Realm should not be able to do that but it was relatively safe at his realm as well to try.

"Just what kind of soul did we guide to a new life?"  The brunette turned to her friend as she spoke but neither was sure.  The changes the man had made already improved the future but a massive obstacle was in the way.

If he could overcome it, hope would truly return to even Divine Realm cultivators.