Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 502 - 501 - Gate of Space

With the help of the 3 Immortal Dragons, Lind pushed his dragon soul far beyond his normal ability.  His soul manifestation was actually physical for the first time.  He also felt like the world was his plaything.

He had ravaged the Fiend forces with his Qi alone.  What took a massive explosion and pushing himself beyond any hope of survival was done easily with their help.

He had seen a surprising acquaintance on the battlefield as well.  Elder Tyr had become a Star Tier!  It had not been all that long ago she was in the mid range of Sky Realm.

After the enhancement faded, Lind was left weak and exhausted.  He had to be carried back to his quarters by Spark.  He then slept for a week straight but was still weak when he woke up.

The mountain spirit actually knew what was wrong with him.  Unlike his body, the soul took a much longer time to recover.  There was no damage but it would be similar to pushing the body to the very limit and expecting to be back to normal the next day.

It took rest and relaxation to recover a body, but the soul only took time.  It helped that he had a dragon soul so it would recover on its own without much help.  There were no such aids to speed it up so he had to take it easy.

Thankfully, his attack had the desired effect of scaring the crap out of the Fiends.  He could not tell but all 3 dragons and Lily agreed there was no longer any threat of invasion for the time being.

Thanks to their prisoner, they learned a great deal although Lind was not part of her interrogation.

She confirmed that Barren Realms sometimes were blessed by Heaven due to karmic restitution or some other cause.  It meant that the current mortal realm had something occur that received the blessing of Heaven to ascend.

It was entirely possible they believed Lind had accepted one of the roles as guardian.  Heaven would grant him Immortal Realm status if he had done so.

His effect was not fully understood by the Fiends yet they also thought him contained in a single Mortal Realm.  It would not be worth it to invade a single realm nor waste resources when they could be put to another one.

It was an unexpected benefit if they thought so but it meant when he did ascend to the Heaven Realm, the current mortal realm would be in danger once again.  While he recovered, he put some thought into what he could do to help with that.

As days turned into weeks then months, he began to infuse as many jade slips as the 3 dragons could create.

He also held lectures to teach the 25 people who would become the future teachers for the rest.  Lind's restrictions did not stop him from talking but he was cultivating every few days to repair his soul.

After 3 years, he finally saw all of them helping the newly awakening population as the Immortal dragons could also purify everyone but the mental level was just like before.  It was an entire continent of either very shallow cultivated villagers having to start over or fairly high quality cultivation with the mentality of a child.

Lind was happy to consult and focus on solutions but Kiran and Mika finally became Sky Realms, the first in a very long time for that mortal realm, and began to build a sect to help all they could.

It was only a sect of 27 people but Lind gave them a lot of help setting up arrays and how to plan out what would be needed in the future.  The resources of crystals, Qi stones, and so forth were useless to Fiends but they had strip mined them for their prey to improve.

It was actually a blessing as they had nurtured artificial fields and apparatus to encourage batches of such resources to be created as needed.  Lind had them spread some across the continent while Tide harvested some natural sources from the oceans.

It would take millions of years for the continent to recover but the dragons would safeguard those areas to let them grow.

After 7 more years, Lind could finally feel energized once more.  He was still weak in his soul so no weaving was possible, but he could at least study the most fervent target left.  The original invasion array was very similar to the one left behind in his realm.

The dragons could destroy it easily but Lind knew his own mortal realm had no such power to pull on and further, he had changed it such that it was no longer a threat.

As the years passed, he became a kind of sage as the area around the array was specially reinforced to replicate the higher altitude density of Qi.  The knowledge the dragons awoke in their race memoires was far more profound than anything he knew of but he understood they bent the rules for him out of gratitude.

In a mere 20 years, Lind had fully recovered from the day he drove the Fiends back.

"You are obsessing too much, Master Frey."  A very young girl was looking on while Lind was carefully noting down the sigils and runes of the teleportation array against a diagram he had on a scroll to the side.

"I don't recall asking for a vote on how I spend my days, Little Sara."  The slim girl stuck her tongue out at him but he smirked at that.  She had very fine features and would be a heart stopper in the future.

Her mother was Kiran while the father was one of the humans they saved from the massive 'farms' those decades ago.  Lind had smiled warmly as Kiran had been blushing about falling in love and then getting pregnant only 9 years ago.

The birth had been difficult but Lind was able to use his harmony once more to make elixirs.  It had been the only resource he had not burned through in his ring at that point.  Herbs were still low but more than enough for him.

Sara was born healthy and was the first child of the new world too.  Very few children were born at all as many people were not sure what to do but focus on their cultivation.  The next oldest generation was in their 20s so Sara had been quite alone.

Kiran was very busy but always made time for her daughter yet Lind was the one she latched on to.  He happily taught and guided her.  She was already a tier 1 Soul Realm with light, dark, fire, and water elements.

Normally such a combination would have issues but Lind was able to help her thrive and she was firmly on the path to become a powerful cultivator, likely more powerful than anyone currently alive in the future.

"You promised to teach me elixirs today."  Lind sighed but smiled as he tossed a slip to her.

"Start with that.  You already passed the test but first see if you can grasp the basics."  It was the other reason she stayed near him.  She was a true elixir master like him.  He had made instructions how to test for all professions but Sara was the only one he had found for the derivative professions thus far.

He saw her concentration and smiled wide.  She was a good student.

He went back to the array as he finally felt like he understood what it was.  Teleportation was essentially connecting 2 points in a mortal realm, but the arrays in what was the central district were different.

The majority were artificial ascension pools but the one in front of him was different.  It was not actually teleportation at all.  It was tearing through the void directly to a destination rather roughly.

"Space Gate?  No, Gate of Space.  I like that better."  Naming did not seem important but Lind felt like he was partially in enlightenment as he suddenly altered the sigils on the inner ring into a configuration that made sense.

He got tired quickly but it was still grade 5 weaving.  It was enough.

Lind suddenly held his breath as he realized what he had to do but if he was wrong, he was never leaving the current mortal realm until he became a Star Tier.  Considering the excessive resources he needed, that would take over 10,000 years.

He would be alive due to his current nature but a lot of his potential would be lost.

"I am not asking for any help but just a little luck would not be unappreciated."  He whispered as he carefully infused his Qi into the array.  The moment he did all the sigils lit up followed by the runes.

The pressure changed and then a crack formed in the air above the dias!  Elation flooded him but then he noticed the strain on the array.  It was going to shatter!

"Master?"  Sara was looking worried and Lind frowned deeply.  He had no time!

"Sara, I am going to do something very quickly here.  I need you to trust me."  Her little head nodded before he even explained.  He smiled down at her and patted her head.  "I succeeded but the array can't hold.  It is my only shot to go home, but I will keep my word to you."

He closed his eyes as his soul moved.  He resonated with her dantian and he could see a profound look pass over her face before enlightenment crossed it.  It was all her as he could not induce such a thing just on his own volition.

"I know you 3 can hear me.  Please come for Sara when she wakes up.  I have to go.  My love to all and thank you.  Thank you for everything."  Lind then carefully moved Sara without disturbing her state safely away from the dias.

An audible crack was heard so he had no more time.

Lind slammed more Qi into it which ripped open the air into a yawning chasm.  A shiver came back to him as he knew he still might die but he had to go.  He wanted to go home!

"Goodbye Lily!  Be safe and remember all I left for you!"  He shouted his last words in the mortal realm before diving into the tear.  He only just entered when the dias ripped itself apart and the tear snapped closed.

Shortly afterward, the 3 dragons appeared and were crying as they looked at the wreckage of the array.  Far away, Lily also wept but prayed to the great spirits to watch over Lind on his journey home.

She glanced at his final gift to them.

The ascension pools were now surrounded by complex rings that had sigils floating around them.  Lind had made them a long time ago in case he could not leave any other way but becoming a Star Tier.

It was a simple idea, but difficult to grasp for many.  It showed how far he had come in space comprehension with how cultivation ascension worked.

With all he left behind, the mortals could cultivate all the way up to Star Tier and then choose to ascend.  It would then launch them like a rocket across the Heaven Realm towards the only thing Lind could recognize.

His own ascension pools!

Lily smiled and hoped she might see him again one day.

End of Barren Realm Arc