Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 546 - 545 - Heaven Alliance Orders

"My name is Owen.  I rose up in the Babylon Guild during the bitter battles against the Fiends but your actions gave us a respite we desperately needed."  Lind was surprised he had that much of an effect but then he recalled his professions.

"They are afraid I might have left some 'gifts' behind?"  The old man nodded as he savored the scent of the tea served.  Lind noted it was not one he was familiar with.  He also noted that while the 3 Moon Tiers and Owen drank right away, his instincts warned him to not drink deeply.

Ilyria was looking around in awe of the office as it was her first time outside and so much had happened.  She had a different kind of tea but she was only sipping at it slowly.

She smiled wide as it seemed good but he noticed she was still withdrawn.  Normally, a child would be asking many questions but she did not.

He patted her head which made her jump but then lean into his hand as she seemed to brighten a bit.

"I doubt you came personally to relay such info to me."  Owen again nodded but Lind felt the restrictions fall in place to isolate the room.  They were mid grade 6, the highest the realm would allow.

Any higher and the Qi would be drained too quickly from the Sky Stones used to fuel the formations.

"How much do you know about the realm up there?"  Owen started there but Lind smiled as he actually decided to go a bit farther.

"I know the Celestial Fields are desolate for some reason but the timeline is a bit lost on me.  I only know it has been for a very long time.  I also know that the Heaven Realm, despite its massive size, is being chewed up by the Fiends."  Lind sipped at the tea and nearly felt his dragon soul flare as extremely high quality Qi was in it!

If he was human, he would have been in serious trouble!

Owen digested the surprising level of knowledge Lind had.  He was about to speak when Lind looked up firmly.  Unlike the weak Sky Realm he expected, all 4 felt like a massive beast was in the room with them.

"I also am more than familiar with the Fiends conquering mortal realms to farm resources.  They attack the protections Heaven and Earth put in place so they can freely walk without making Voids of Heaven or other indirect means.  The beings I thought of as demonic fiends, for example, are just thralls."  Owen now had a clear picture of how much Lind knew.

His rather unique life thus far had given far more insight than a mortal realm native would usually have.

"Right on all counts.  I also understand you liberated a mortal realm.  I hope they can hold out."  Lind smirked at the implied futility.

"Since the Fiends think I am waiting there to kill them all on sight, it will be fine for now."  Owen could not deny that.  The attack had been that devastating but that was why he was there.

"What was that?  It looked a great deal like what you showed on Yinande, but far stronger."  Lind sipped carefully at the tea and let the Qi push his cultivation as far as it could.  He also felt like something he was looking for was in the tea, but pushed it back as he considered how much to tell Owen.

"What do you know about Special Realms?"  Owen was now stunned.  Only a few knew about such unusual versions of mortal realms.

"I have heard of them and the Babylon Guild has a record of a few but they are still considered Barren Realms due to the low density of Qi and generally far more difficult path to ascension."  Lind nodded but then conjured the image of 3 dragons.

Even as images, the 3 Immortal dragons made all but him flinch.

"I trust you will not let this leak but only my wives know the full story.  I did not just liberate a mortal realm, I restored its Guardians."  If anyone else said such a statement, they would be scoffed at and treated as insane, but the images were far too real.

They had to be drawn from real beasts!

"While simple names, they are Burn, Tide, and Spark.  There is also an Immortal Mountain that is their land of ascension.  It has a fully realized spirit named Lily."  If Owen was shocked before, he was robbed of speech now.

How was such a thing possible?!

"Have you fulfilled all your orders yet?"  Lind's question made the 3 Moon Tiers frown but Owen waved them off.

"How did you know?"  Lind then looked displeased as a memory surfaced.

"Valkyrie."  The name was known to them all but Ilyria.  Owen slowly nodded as he understood.

"She does leave an impression and her attitude is inline with many of the Heaven Alliance."  Owen confirmed Lind's guess and saw the man frown.

"They want to change the deal?"  Lind had sent up an unprecedented number of Star Tiers but that was only in comparison to his mortal realm.  He knew there were higher quality Mortal Realms that might consider close to 50 Star Tiers normal for a single power.

"Not exactly.  Your competition drew a lot of eyes.  Even peak Mortal Realms could not do what you did.  Since their Qi and Arts are generally better as well as higher ascension rates naturally, the only thing left is what you are."  Lind then understood.

It was about 6 elementals.

"What happened?"  Owen sighed as he tossed a jade slip to Lind.  He sunk his senses into it and his eyes narrowed.

"Why?"  His tone was cold and full of anger.  Emerald light flared around him and even the restrictions seemed to strain to contain him!

"You can guess part of it.  Since 6 elementals are nearly unbeatable in the same realm once trained up, there were powers that felt threatened or wanted to control them.  So they completely altered your teachings that were passed down."  Owen drank the last of his tea as he knew the rest but Lind spelled it out.

"They crippled them.  They enslaved whole generations to make them into tools!"  True emerald flames flared up and Owen was stunned to feel Heaven move!  He had forgotten Lind was not just a 6 elemental but a progenitor dragon as well!

"We took action against the Heaven Realm powers that encouraged the practice but many mortal realms turned out the same way without such suggestions.  Cultivators are not so generous as you well know!"  Lind took a breath and Ilyria hugged his arm to comfort him.  He smiled down at her.

"What do they want from me then?"  Lind saw nothing in the jade slip pertaining to him.

Owen looked at Ilyria but knew she would be by Lind's side regardless.  He sighed and simply poured out more tea.

"They want your word that you will not seek vengeance."  He started with that but the jade slip shattered in Lind's grasp.

"Denied, next?"  Owen felt a little irritation rise but then recalled the golden soul he had just seen.  It was not a selfish man in front of him.  The problem was that he was a moral man to a fault.

Spirits save them from moral men.

"They would like you to not interfere in the Mortal Realms if you ascend."  Emerald scales slightly appeared on his hands and face as Lind looked back at Owen.

"Not this side of Hell, next?"  The conversation was not going well but a new jade slip was put forth.  Lind quickly snatched it up and examined it before it shattered too.

"Won't you consider the compromise?"  The slip was actually from another member of the Alliance.  The Fire Blossom Sect was the supreme alchemy power of the Heaven Realm.  Lind's advancements had been a spirit sent miracle for them.

"You really expect me to become a permanent Elder of another sect?  You really think I don't know what would happen to me?!"  Lind had seen it often enough.  Younger Twin had even warned him of that very fate.

"They would simply force me to churn out elixir masters till the day I die!  Tell me I am wrong?"  Owen wanted to, he really did, but he could not lie.  He had sworn an Oath not to lie in negotiations.  There was some wiggle room depending on the setup but a direct question left him no room at all.

"So what will they do now?"  Lind reined himself in as the man was just the messenger.  The Babylon Guild was untouchable in the mortal realms but in the Heaven Realm, it was in a far more difficult position.

On the surface it was the same.  A power to mediate and regulate disputes to keep everything going smoothly but unlike in the mortal realms, there were ancient powers that could ignore any edict they liked.

It was similar to corporations on Earth.  They could be as amoral as they liked so long as they had the money or connections to let them do so.  Rules were only as strong as those enforcing them after all.

No one ever said rules were fair either.

"Some will do nothing and let others act.  As to the exact powers, I do not know.  The group you sent up was protected by not just the Wilds branch but the other beast powers like you a lot."  Lind narrowed his eyes at that.

"What did Ethry do?"  Owen however shook his head and pointed at Lind

"Not your wife, you.  You wiped out a massive force of Fiends as a dragon.  There are few dragons in the Heaven Realm and most of them are variants at best.  Still, the power of a true progenitor and dragon soul left a deep impression on them.  They, at least, will not betray you."  Lind felt conflicted as it was more about bloodline suppression than true loyalty.

He also suspected Owen did not understand aether beasts the way he did.

"So the Fire Blossom Sect, the Deep Stone Sect, and other production powers are after my head?"  Owen was surprised Lind knew of the powerful refining sect.  Still he shook his head.

"It is hardly that cut and dried but it would not be wrong to say they all have a deep interest in you.  The real problem is the more political sects.  You have won back a lot of favor with the Heavenly Maiden Sect but Valkyrie has not retracted her personal disowning of you."  Lind nodded but noted Owen did not include her as an enemy.

"It is moot if I cannot ascend.  There are still issues for me to work out but is there anything else?"  Owen seemed reluctant but then put one last jade slip on the table.  Lind sunk his senses into it but was surprised.

"What are the Elementals?"  Owen frowned before he could only shrug.

"Very little is known about them but they are not like aether children or any other cultivator.  They generally avoid us.  Before I came here, a messenger gave me that to give to you."  Lind wondered what they were but he could not answer their invitation without ascending.

They sat in silence for a time before Lind smiled.

"I take it business is done?"  The anxious and yearning looks on all 4 faces made him laugh as they nodded.  "Very well, I suppose I should start with the war?  It all started with a misunderstanding…"

Lind recalled everything he had seen and read.  Where the powerful and awe inspiring Moon Tiers and Sun Tier had once been was now a rapt audience.  Even Ilyria was fully focused as Lind began talking.

A good story, no matter its source, will always inspire and live on well past its creator.  Lind wondered how they would feel to know their story had come to another world entirely.  He continued to speak for many days but eventually he came to the end.

Lind had to focus on his next steps and fine a way forward for the 6 elementals once more.  He had to breakthrough to the Star Tier!