novelraw Chapter 544 - 543 - Bridge of Souls
Chapter 544 - 543 - Bridge of Souls
"Uncle, how is this?" A young girl was moving a weaving through the air for her teacher to evaluate. It was peak grade 5 which if anyone knew she was only 35 years old, would be stunned to know she was at the 2nd Circle.
She had shoulder length dark hair and an inquisitive glint to her dark eyes but the man slightly covered in dust shook himself as he looked up. He had been lost in thought for a year it seemed but he smiled at her work.
"You have stabilized your traces but 3 of your sigils are thicker than the rest. Without the balance, you will be stuck in mortal grade." Ilyria smiled at first but then pouted at the last part.
"It is hard!" Lind smiled as she was actively like the 12 year old she looked like. Still, her mind was finally maturing enough to be on her own for a time.
The steady breath of the massive Divine Guardian was constantly with them but Lind finally looked like he had figured something out.
"Momma, Uncle Lind is being mean to me!" She shouted at the sleeping beast but there was no response. Still, she hugged the giant head which made Lind look at her sadly.
She had finally understood her mother was dying. It had been a very rough month when it got through.
Still, she had listened to him after a time and now she simply spoke about her day or had 'outbursts' like she just had as if her mother was awake.
He never told her what he was working on but she might grasp it as he built it.
"Ilyria, I am going to be working on a large weaving. Feel free to watch, but do not distract me as it will be complicated." She looked at him in vivid curiosity which made him smile.
Unlike Tal or any of the other beasts he had been involved with, Ilyria had an intense curiosity about the world. She had been training with him and reached the 3 tier of the Sky Realm when she had to break through the 1st Circle.
Compared to a human, however, she had blown past that restriction like it was not even there. Lind hardly had to teach her that part but the 2nd circle took some explaining.
Now, she was already nearing the peak of that too in record time.
He checked his ring had all he needed but compared to his other 2 professions, the weaving materials looked like a small mountain as they were hardly touched.
He had both hands glow as he began to create and connect sigils but he knew it would take days before he was done. He had the strength and power in his soul, but he hoped it all worked at last.
Ilyria sat and watched with rapt attention as her eyes glowed with wonder at his work. She loved watching Lind work. He made cultivation fun! Her face became serious as the complexity quickly went beyond her level yet she began to see glimmers of the next step in her weaving career.
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"Explain how you cannot find him." A man in a black cloak sat on a raised wooden chair as 3 people knelt in failure before him.
They were normally relaxed but for 15 years they had failed.
"Master, no one knows where he went but we can confirm he is not in the city nor his sect." A demoness spoke while the human and aether child nodded in confirmation.
"Are you telling me a Sky Realm was able to completely escape a Moon Tier's sense? I do not care how restricted you have been, this failure is deeply disappointing." All 3 flinched but the man simply sat with his chin in his hand.
He had assumed it would be a matter of days to find his target but now it was getting complicated.
He was about to give new orders when he felt a disturbance.
His eyes narrowed and looked to the east and down. Something was happening and if he could feel it, it was damned powerful.
Before he could ask, the aether child also looked that way to confirm he was not imagining what he sensed.
"What is in that direction?" Sasha jumped as her master was now looming over her.
"Um, a lot actually. There are many islands and it is too faint to locate it yet." He nodded as he agreed but he looked to Lea who quickly examined the direction both had looked.
"Three islands, but the nearest one we can dismiss. It is well traveled and this level of disturbance would require massive material–" She stopped speaking as both she and Hide looked at each other.
Lind Frey! They both could tell only 1 being had materials to attempt something all of them could feel.
Lea quickly went through what was known about Lind and a smile came to her face.
"I know where he is!" All of them looked at her as they made plans to move.
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Star Tiers began to sense something wrong but distant in the air. Their skin felt like it itched but they could not scratch it. What was going on?
No one could confirm where it was coming from but some felt like the effect was stronger near them compared to what others told them.
It took a week, but the lower islands became a focal point, yet none of them could pinpoint the source.
Before anyone could try to localize it, the Heavens began to rumble. The pressure was far beyond anything they had felt, yet it was not oppressive but invigorating.
It was as if the Heavens were celebrating something.
As suddenly as it all began, the feeling vanished! The Heavens struck down but no one was hurt as the Qi density increased massively. Those that had been stuck at bottlenecks suddenly could break through it!
All across the Floating Isles, the Star Tiers were having good fortune that made them smile.
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Lind lay on the floor of the cave in pure exhaustion. He was covered in sweat to the point his robes were soaked and his hair looked as if he had bathed but he was nowhere near water.
The cavern was about a third full of weaving constructs that glowed with terrifying power. As he had progressed, he was unable to restrain it without it breaking so he simply let it loose as it would do no harm to anyone.
"U-uncle Lind, are you ok?" He smiled and weakly waved at Ilyria.
"I will recover. I could use a hand, though." Gentle hands easily picked him up. Despite how small she was, her power was far above a human. She got him near the waterfall and he washed up while downing an elixir.
He patted her head as he looked at his work.
There were shapes in ribbons, t-beams, and finally a stretch of a path in mid-air made purely of sigils and traces.
He had let his mind shape things and now it was all coming together.
It was a bit literal but it worked.
"I need you to trust me, Ilyria." She looked up at him confused as if he said something stupid but it was important. "What I am about to do is dangerous but should work. I will be by your side but you may get a chance to speak with your momma."
Shock splayed across her face as tears formed. She suddenly realized that Uncle Lind had been working all that time on a way to let her talk to Momma! She had always been affectionate towards him but true love of family was born at that moment.
He truly became her Uncle.
"Do you–" Lind was about to confirm when he was nearly bowled over by her hug.
"YES! YES I TRUST UNCLE!" Her shout made him smile as he took her hand and walked over. The weaving was one step away from activating but it was the easiest thing to do once they were there.
The blood in Ilyria and Divine Guardian began to resonate and then Lind used his harmony to trigger the weaving.
The shapes moved and a literal bridge appeared. It was something of a happy accident but it worked as he felt his harmony blend between the mother and daughter.
The world became a foggy place before darkness closed in. A bit of fear suddenly assaulted him but he sent out a calm feeling as Ilyria was the source.
"She is Momma, call out to her." It was his last hope. He prayed it worked.
"M-momma! I am here Momma! Please tell me you are here!" Ilyria closed her eyes and held onto Lind's hand tightly but only silence answered. She felt tears threaten when warm hands suddenly cupped her face.
"You are so beautiful, my daughter." A powerful presence boomed into her soul but it was not danger she felt. It was recognition. It was her mother!
She snapped her eyes open to see an ancient woman smiling gently down at her. She looked so tired but happy.
"How is this possible? I was sleeping and sometimes heard your voice but now we are in front of each other again." Divine Guardian saw the hand held by Lind and looked to see emerald flames radiating from him.
He looked like a dragon of old. The ancient beasts that ruled all they could claim without rival.
Tears formed as she realized the man never gave up. He never stopped helping people.
"Time is limited, use it well." His voice came floating in the darkness but both mother and daughter bowed before hugging tightly.
Some words were not needed at first but slowly Ilyria began talking and Divine Guardian asked questions. Lind looked on as he used all his concentration to keep his harmony going. Unlike his elements, it had strength to spare.
It had worked! The Bridge of Souls worked! It had severe restrictions but it was only created to fulfill those very restrictions. He already saw ways to improve it and not use such simplistic shapes but he put it all aside as he saw the dazzling smile of Ilyria.
It was all worth it for that moment that mother and daughter reunited. He was sad that after that weaving ran down, he could not make it again. It took nearly all his catalysts to pull off a single low grade 6 weaving.
He then closed his eyes and focused on the connection for as long as he could. The bridge would break no matter what, he just had to buy as much time as possible for Ilyria to get to say goodbye to her mother.
Divine Guardian never looked so happy either as they both spoke to each other and refused to let go of each other.