Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 518 - 517 - Punishment

Wild Heart Isle was known to be rambunctious and dangerous as the basic rule was survival of the fittest, but it was now strangely quiet.

It had been so for a few months by that point.

All the beasts from Star Tier Lords down to mere cubs at the Soul Realm had their instincts screaming at them to be still and quiet.

Only 1 being could cause such a universal pressure and she was currently staring down at a sweating human man who looked pained.

Her prismatic eyes were unforgiving as the human male was topless and sweating while holding 2 extremely heavy weights in each arm while balancing over spikes of the sharpest striated steel.

She was not alone and her anger only magnified the rest.  Ethry, Lysanna, Shoti, Qing, Cyntilla, Annabelle, MIra, Kora, Tal, Fey, and even Kexin were currently staring with eyes of death at their sect master.

Lind had come home but instead of a warm welcome he had been restrained and dragged to the Demon Heart where a pit had been dug and Forgers had created several artifacts.

The disciples had quickly left and his instincts finally told him he was in deep trouble.

It had been over a week and his body was straining more under the harsh looks of his loved ones more than anything else.

Teyla and Teylin were currently helping the administration of the sect and not a single Elder dared ask where the majority of the Star Tiers were.  In fact, it was as if it was a bomb waiting to be set off if anyone dared ask.

The only reason the twins did not get involved was due to MIra promising to cover for their issues as well.

"Do you know your crime?"  Fey finally spoke in the coldest tone he had ever heard since she had her heart demon.  Lind wilted a bit under her dangerous gaze.

"I said I would be back!  I even told you where I was going!"  It was true.  He had not simply left the moment he was recovered.  He had discussed his plans as well as what he intended.

"When, exactly, did you say you would be back?"  Cyntilla now spoke as she carefully swung her short swords expertly with what seemed like the intent to strike him.

Lind suddenly paled as he recalled his promise.  He had promised to be back in half a year.  It was the maximum it should have taken while keeping a low profile during his travels.

If someone ensnared him, they would know exactly at what point he got stuck.

"S-some things came up."  Lind was truly not lying.  He had some revelations and a few more things came up he did not plan for, but the next words made his heart freeze.

"And what were you supposed to do if that happened?"  Lysanna was smaller than most of his other wives in height but at that moment she seemed to loom over him.

Lind wished he could put down the weights but they were expertly made by the best Forgers of the sect to keep him in place.  If he let them go he would go falling into the spikes since his cultivation was sealed by Ethry.

"I-I was supposed to inform you all and wait for a decision of the group but I just took a detour!'  Again, true, but Lind knew he was in the wrong.  He had promised to not go off on his own yet aside from the agreed plan but he had back tracked to Yinande and later entered an Inheritance.

In the time it took him to get home, both Ryu and Callisto had finally emerged.  They were both Star Tiers as well!  They had been directly recruited by Hellfire Sect after confirming with Moebius Sect all was well.

Lind stood no chance it seemed as his wives learned what he had been up to before he had a chance to explain!

Damn Ryu!

Was he trying to get him killed by his own wives?!

Then his adopted daughters and the rest of his loved ones got in on it and now he was precariously balancing as best he could.

"So we ask again, do you know your crime?"  Qing spoke cooly and Lind frowned.  He was in the wrong and should be reprimanded sure, but all of his current issues?!  Why?!

He carefully looked at them and while more than a few were stern, it was Shoti's tears that finally clued him in.

"I put myself in danger.  I did not take any of you with me."  The tension of the last week lessened slightly but did not completely evaporate.  "I find it hard to kneel like this.  Please let me out."

His soft words finally seemed to be enough as the weights were easily moved by Kora and Tal.  They still looked at him sternly but Lind weakly hopped down.  He nearly collapsed which stunned them all.

All heads swiveled to Ethry but there was no mercy in her face.

"He is stronger than you think.  It is not weakness but lack of balance you see."  She was right but Lind carefully got down and put his head on the floor.

"I am deeply sorry for acting alone when I promised not to.  I let my worry about my friends and habit of moving around alone take over.  I will not do that again."  He was alone for nearly 2 centuries in the Barren Realm.

He had been the most powerful being there and his habits from that time were all too clear.  He could have been easily killed in the Inheritance or by an enemy Star Tier if they found him.

He was no longer the strongest and he had to remember that.

He finally felt his cultivation unseal and his body recovered quickly but he stayed on the floor.  He knew his punishment was not over.

"I would put you over my knee but you are no longer a child.  You need to be not only sincere but show your family you mean it, my son."  The disappointment in his mother's voice was far worse than anything he endured the last week.

He nodded from his position and felt a gentle pat before his mother left.  Kexin snorted before going back to her duties.

All that was left was family, his family.

"You were not even back a year and put yourself in danger alone.  You keep doing that.  Do we mean so little to you?"  Kora's words cut him deeply.  He knew they understood there were times a situation did not allow for such deep thoughts, but he could not argue that the way he acted was reckless.

A cultivator had to fight, that was a fact all of them accepted but there was a difference between willing to fight and fighting at the edge of life and death when there was no need to.

"When you were a Soul Realm, you were struggling to advance and we had our own issues as well, but you never cut us off.  When you fell into the Storm Relic, it was to save a life so we could accept that."  Annabelle was gentle but she looked so disappointed in him right then.

"You insisted on resolving Altair on your own but you called for help when you needed and you gathered all of us together before going back to face it.  It was wise, but then after the Inheritance battle, something changed."  Fey was the one who brought it up.

"Papa told me, you nearly died and got a dragon soul.  You planned to keep your family safe and find a way to progress and found us along the way."  Tal leaned down and pulled him up.  She was crying in pain as Kora stood next to her solemnly.

"Ever since you came back from Rakathi, you have insisted more and more on acting on your own.  The entire war with the Demon Empire you split our forces but went by yourself to fight.  You face Valkyrie alone as well."  Lind had been reprimanded by the senior dragon soul for that as well.

"You then pushed all of us to progress but when you came up here you avoided everyone and fought all alone while telling us to keep away.  Only when you wanted to make the sect again did we gather together to await your arrival."  Ethry now spoke but Lind was getting their point.

"You fought those monsters with Fey but even if she was not there, you would have fought them, wouldn't you?"  Cyntilla made it a question but he did not need to answer.

"So we ask one more time, do you know your crime?"  Shoti asked the question and Lind sighed before he looked at Tal and Kora.  They both shook their heads and he knew it was time.

"I have not told you what I am and have been trying to shoulder it all on top of the sect and the rest.  I keep trying to solve the problems on my own without considering the consequences."  Lind felt he had been forced a few times but the rest pointed out could have been handled better.

He could have asked for help, or he could have evacuated with the other innocents, or compromised in better ways, but he could not.  He could not because of what he was, what he had held back for nearly 3 and half centuries.

"Sigh, I am not just a dragon soul nor a progenitor."  Lind held up the ring on his hand he had gained so long ago.  The dragon spirit had said it waited for a potential successor for so long but neither Kora nor Tal understood what that spirit was.

Only after training him, did Lind begin to grasp what it was he could become.

"According to an Immortal Dragon Spirit, I am a candidate for becoming a Dragon Lord."  The moment Lind said the words there was a rumble of thunder but that was all.  He had been warned not to speak of it but it seemed there was a need to speak of it now.

All but Ethry were confused as she shook where she stood.  She suddenly ran forward and hugged him hard.  Her actions told more than any words could.  It was not a happy thing to be a Dragon Lord.

"What does that mean exactly?"  Lind shook his head and pointed upward.

"I can't repeat that title for one but anything else I was told hinges on trials I have yet to face.  Trials that can only be found in 1 place."  Lind then sighed before revealing the part they would not like.

"The Celestial Fields, in the Temple of Souls, the Temple of Truth, and the Temple of Scales."  Ethry's voice surprised him but her knowledge did not.  She was a Divine Dragon too so of course her race memory had the secrets.

Shock flooded them all but Ethry's next words hurt.

"Lind can have no help in the trials nor can he take us with him.  He must go alone."  His tribulations were terrifying enough but now they all understood he had been pushing himself when he could because he had to.

He did not mean to hurt them but he had no choice but to train nearly to death.  He had been trying to prepare them as much as himself for what was to come.

"I have already passed the trial for the Temple of Truth."  Ethry tensed but he smiled as he explained about the senior dragon soul from before.  The Temple of Truth had broken down to the point it became a Ruin.  Still, he had been found acceptable.

"I have no more to hide and I promise truly I will do better.  My future is not just for me, but to be with all of you."  He held Ethry close but looked at them all.  He had deserved his punishment but it was also enough to pull out his last secret.

They all gathered around him and the moment was much warmer than before.  Lind was about to relax when Shoti suddenly spoke.

"So when are you marrying Kora?"  The entire group froze as a smile spread wide on her face.  Lind suddenly felt a very different intensity from Ethry while Kora nearly vanished in a flash of platinum and darkness from the room.  Lind just looked at the ceiling and begged for one day of peace.