Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 509 - 508 - Laying a Foundation

Estelle looked deeply at the dark green eyes of Lind Frey.  She recalled the kind young man that simply wanted to protect himself by making contracts with his potent elixir creations.

He had been isolated and frankly mistreated by circumstances beyond his control but he had not simply given up.

He had fought to carve out a place for himself and later to get back what he had been forced to give up.  Many cultivators fought and killed like maniacs to prove themselves but Lind had taken the path of scholar first.

The average cultivator had underestimated him due to his 6 elements and focus on studying any and all theories behind the elements themselves rather than Arts or techniques found in Ruins and Clans.

His elixirs made the risk worth it, but even she had no idea how far he would come.

He now stood in front of her at tier 8 of the Sky Realm, a powerhouse by any measure of the Floating Isles.  A man that sought to give all 6 elementals hope and gifted the cultivation world with a better understanding of the elements and Qi in general was now asking her to do something very different from the past.

"Some would say the Moebius Sect is already such a power, Lind."  Mythra spoke up at last but her face was serious compared to her usual playfulness.  Lind looked at her crimson and green eyes and smiled.

"Moebius Sect in the lower world had to change due to the war with the Demon Empire but it is still closer to an academy than a hegemony.  The unusual circumstances give it more power but it has no desire to conquer."  Lind sipped at the tea he was given by Su and found it quite fragrant and pleasant to his senses.

"I agree with that.  In the centuries since you handed it off to her, the demoness Angelica only strengthened her borders and defended her lands from threats.  She never instigated wars nor stopped training elixir masters, Forgers, and all the professions."  Estelle had profited nicely from its work in fact.

Cimmeria was closely tied to Moebius Sect to the point many believed Sarth was going to be taken over, yet it never happened.

The recently created countries in Rakathi had heavy support from Moebius Sect as well so that they grew quickly.

"The sect up here was more offensive due to expanding our roster to include aether beasts.  Wild Heart Isle is not a place of scholarly work but constant striving to improve.  Even so, it was about cooperation and showing that all aspects of Heaven and Earth can come together."  Lind's words were an understatement.

There were sects that worked together with beasts but usually it was to dominate or temporary arrangements only.

Moebius Sect was the first sect to truly incorporate all powers into one.  The result was stunning.  Not only did the beasts improve rapidly, but the cultivators did as well!  The sheer number of Star Tiers alone spoke to that!

A single sect now had more Star Tiers in it than most of the Floating Isles as a whole!  Further, the lords of Wild Heart Isle were loyal to the sect as a friend.  Challenges were normal on that island and the sect did not shy away from them!

The combat strength of both sects were born of necessity and practicality but were not the focus of them.  Lind's point was clear.

He wanted to make something different.

"Why the change and why not join the myriad powers of the Alliance?  I have it on good authority that they want you badly after your little demonstration."  Lind nodded at Estelle's words while both Mythra and Su looked at him in wonder.

It had become a legend and actually gave the Alliance breathing room for the last few years.  The emerald dragon had actually struck fear into the Fiends for the first time in living memory.

While they knew it was a massive attack that could not be repeated easily, the fact it happened once was enough to keep them leery of advancing until they understood its limits or triggers.

There was also the fact that the Fiends seemed to believe Lind was stuck in another mortal realm.

Estelle did not know why they thought that but knowing they were in for a nasty surprise made her almost wish she could be there to see it.

"My goals are not aligned with the Alliance.  They do fight the Fiends but I have already experienced some of their agendas.  Given the chance, they will put their own interests above the rest."  Estelle could not deny that.

The Floating Isles were not as bad but while many powers morally aligned, their personal interests were always at the forefront of their actions.  In that respect, Moebius Sect was odd.

The only equivalent was perhaps the Babylon Guild but even they only acted to keep the peace so more soldiers could one day ascend to fight the war.  It helped save lives but ultimately it was the goal of the guild to increase their connections in the Alliance.

Estelle wondered if Lind understood that he was not the first to dream of making such a power and would be mired in politics after a few centuries.  She had seen and heard of several such powers even over her lifetime.

Altruistic to militarisitic, they all ended the same, trapped by the limits of the more well established powers in order to make any progress.

It was not so simple to be an independent power.  Lind's success in the Floating Isles was in large part due to the nature of the isles themselves.  It was a bunch of isolated and easy to secure landmasses.

The isolation of Wild Heart Isle was already in place so it made the current existence of Moebius Sect possible.

There was no such place in the Heaven Realm.

It was closer to an endless stretch of land broken up by various enclaves of Qi and beast holds that were distributed far and wide.  There were large masses of water but no oceans to separate anything.

These areas were further carved up by the various races and their powers.

"What you are asking is very difficult to do, and I have no pull up there."  Estelle did not hide her limits but Lind only smiled.

"I am aware that I am reaching for something difficult, but what I need from Starfire House is much easier to deliver.  I need to lay a foundation for the future."  He then dropped a few jade slips.

The 3 women examined them and slowly found shock flooding their systems.  They looked up at Lind as if he was either insane or something far above the tier 8 Sky Realm he was supposed to be.

"While you have considerable resources to pay for some of this, even I would be ousted as the leader of Starfire House if I gave more than what you held at this moment."  Estelle was solemn but then Lind summoned a jade casket he pushed towards her.

She carefully examined if before shock flooded her!

Grade 7 crystals!  They were peak grade 7 elemental crystals, how did Lind have them?!

She stared at him but he offered no explanation.  His journeys had several possibilities but it did not matter.  With such crystals she could buy several other merchant groups and they would be happy about it!

"You are serious about all of this?"  She knew if she agreed to help him, the Starfire House could rise or it could be burned to the ground depending on how things unfolded.  Her family had helped to build up Cimmeria and create the Starfire House to the power it was now.

She had the least potential as a cultivator but had a business mind like no other.  Her instincts were not infallible but they were tingling right then.  She felt that she was at a crossroads of more than her own power's future.

The boy in front of her had blazed a trail through cultivation that all thought was impossible and turned over every convention as if flipping over his hand.  He had broken open the dark secrets of the Fiends and given hope that was desperately needed to so many.

Estelle suddenly realized that the boy had been building a foundation for a long time but had not truly focused on it.  He now had decided to focus on a goal with all he had accumulated over the centuries of his life.

A shiver ran down her spine as a smile spread across her face.

"You do know the kinds of spirits cursed attention this will bring to us both?"  Estelle was laughing as she asked while Lind only nodded back.

His goal was going to rile feathers and irritate many that had made plans to take him in.  They were also looking forward to the 6 elementals if Lind could reach the Star Tier for them.

"All right, let's start getting the materials together and plan–"  Estelle was about to give out orders when LInd put out one more jade slip.  That one he gave to Estelle only.

She sunk her senses into it and shot to her feet as she stared at him.

"Are you insane?!  It will start a war!"  Lind did not seem surprised at her reaction while the other 2 women looked confused.

"I am aware it will cause battle but I am no longer going to tolerate the Fiends having allies.  That artifact will strip away their best weapon of hiding from all of us."  Lind had decided to create more of the pillars that could find Fiend Qi wherever it hid.

Ripping away those masks would cause battles to break out across the Heaven Realm.  The Moebius Sect would be made a target for the Fiends and those powers aligned will wage war on him.

While many suspected agents and forces existed inside their own, they had never been able to perfectly find them before.  The rot could run deeper than anyone knew so the initial relief of removing traitors would be replaced by rage at Lind for forcing the issue.

He was laying a foundation for battle alright, a battle on all sides.