novelraw Chapter 555 - 554 - Landscaping
Chapter 555 - 554 - Landscaping
Lind smashed into the ground once more, making yet another crater. His lower robes were completely shredded but still barely covered him.
He looked around, chagrined at his carnage but still a bit happier. It was a smaller crater!
"A few more attempts like that and I will at least be able to land properly." Lind spoke to himself but reviewed his current experience.
The man, Reeves, had become terrified of him even more once he saw the weaving. He had practically been rabid to get away from him. The 2 soldiers had been respectful but asked few questions despite the odd ones Lind did ask.
He had also noted a surprise flicker over their faces when he comforted the boy. They also seemed worried something was going to happen when he hugged the boy as well but what?
"Too many questions and even more forming. I need to get myself under control first." Lind started with the basics. He already had a ready made clear area so he decided to level it out a bit.
As expected, a sweep of his arm caused the dirt to go flying like a bomb had gone off! He sighed as he began trying to simply try and fill in the hole he had made. It took a long time since the sky brightened back up to 'day' again.
He really wanted to know how that cycle worked and why but he left it alone for the moment as he looked at what had once been a crater. There were now saplings and other plants placed in the tilled earth.
Lind's arms were a bit sore as he was curbing his power by force. His muscles wanted to unleash full power, or at least more power than he was willing to put out.
He then carefully picked up twigs and branches without crushing them to powder before he started on his next task, walking.
He seemed able to do it fine before but that was in the crystal desert and it had been a strange place.
The dirt, branches, and even stones shattered the moment he placed his foot down! He felt like there was no resistance at all!
He tried using his Heaven Touch and finally found a way to gauge what he was doing. The Qi would be coated around his foot at the same density as it was in the objects around him. He finally saw how little strength it took from him to smash through everything!
It took him nearly 2 of the 'days' to walk normally and another 3 after that to run. Flying was a lost cause. He was able to land without smashing into the ground but his speed was at maximum no matter what he did.
Why? It had been so effortless before, so why was it so hard now?
The clearing had gotten larger and Lind's replanting was improving as time went on. The peanut gallery never spoke but he could feel its amusement to pity at times.
He missed not feeling anything from the ring!
Now that he had his body mostly under control, he tried to reach out to Ethry carefully. He worried he would overload the connection like everything else, but he was shocked to find he could not feel her at all!
Why hadn't he noticed?!
Lind berated himself but then realized the connection was still there but it was somehow blocked. By what or why, he had no idea.
He did not even know such a thing was possible save by Heaven and Earth.
"If this area is cut off from the rest of the Heaven Realm, then maybe that is why they don't know anything about the Fiends?" Lind pondered out loud at a possible answer to one of his questions.
Still, that presented more problems for him.
He finally made his way back to where the wreckage had been. It was all gone.
The road was clear and most of the blood stains were simply long gone. He had yet to see rain or any weather patterns but likely beasts or simply the plants took care of that part. He did see a grave marker with a formation on it.
He realized suddenly he understood all the spoken and written language around him. Before he had to study the dialects and a lot of variations to communicate across the mortal realm, but now he just understood it all!
When he focused, he could see the original writing but he wondered how his translation ability worked. Was it the intent in the voices he picked out or something else?
Regardless, he moved on as he needed to find one of the Moon Tier beasts the guards had mentioned. He now had his body under control, but a battle would be immensely helpful. There was just one problem.
All the beasts ran from him!
He thought he had seen a Star Tier beast but it had disappeared so quickly it might have been his imagination. His aura as a progenitor dragon was always on! The 2 earth drakes had been too angry and worried to notice at first but now Lind knew he was exuding his dragon aura constantly.
It was not like before where he suppressed bloodlines alone either. He was at the Moon Tier and a Divine Dragon. The 2 facts combined into a terrifying aura no sane beast would dare bother!
If any of the soldiers on patrol knew how easily Lind was walking through the Hinterlands without bother, they would cough up blood!
The Hinterlands was a wild place of powerful beasts that simply refused to be tamed. It also had few treasures aside from the occasional herb so the surrounding powers let it be. It did function as a relatively safe border as well.
A few roads were paved to allow for trade and travel but otherwise, it was simply the domain of beasts alone!
Lind was entering a new area where the ground became spongy and the once towering trees shrank to stunted size. A bog.
Still, he only used it to try and train his Qi control but he caused a sinkhole to appear when he tried to control earth and water Qi!
He REALLY needed a Moon Tier beast.
A soft lilting of laughter echoed through the bog before a faint shimmering pattern emerged. Lind swallowed as he had seen such a pattern before only back then it was a friend.
"A great dragon lord has come to my home. I wonder, what business do you have here?" There was no fear in the female voice but Lind noticed it came from all around him. The moss and mushroom covered trees all had thin strands of spider web on them!
It was the vibration of the web relaying the voice so he could not pinpoint the beast.
That was bad.
The only spider he knew in the cultivation world that could use webbing like that was also venomous. It was a predator that loved to trap its prey by confusing their senses. It was a variation of the Jorogumo.
Likely it had come about by mating with other spider races but Lind equated it to a mix between the trapdoor spider and the tarantula. The thick hair legs combined with sneak attacks reeked of danger.
"I seek a worthy foe to test my strength. It is a bit out of control." Lind did not let his wariness show but it seemed like she could read his mind. Crap, she COULD read his mind!
"You are a strange one. I can tell you are a little Moon Tier but you only just ascended from the Sky Realm. Your elemental Qi is strong too. I like strong men." There was no kindness or teasing in the voice. The predator was merely waiting to strike and he could feel it.
"I have a friend who is a spider. She was very kind and open minded. Perhaps you could reconsider what you are about to do." Lind suddenly realized what he was facing. It was not a Moon Tier, but a Sun Tier!
All his instincts were screaming at him to go full throttle but that was a mistake. That is what a spider like that wanted him to do. The webbing was not only relaying the voice but a trigger for a trap!
"Your mind is so full of ideas, new ideas. I thank you for the help in my cultivation. You will be a good source of food for our children." She was not joking with him. She meant it! She would forcibly mate with him and then use his corpse to lay her eggs!
"Sorry, happily married and already have great kids." Lind no longer tried to keep his cool as he attuned all his senses to the world around him. He was looking for any clue but a deep laugh shook the trees around him.
"Oh little dragon, you are loyal. I love loyal men but you are not too bright. You think you are surrounded by trees." That was when the 8 giant legs snapped loose of their moss and mushroom growths to reveal the hair legs beneath.
Beasts get bigger in higher realms!
He had forgotten that fact!
With no time to dodge, Lind let loose entirely. He transformed into his 7 meter dragon form and lashed out with his harmonic flames. The spider screamed in pain but did not give him a way out. Lind sneered as he unleashed his dragon breath.
He had intentionally never once tried to use it and even then he pointed straight up. The flame was as hot as the sun and melted the tips off the closed legs. Lind shot up like a bullet but spider webbing ensnared him in the treetops.
He could only struggle as a massive spider rose from the bog. Her 8 large dark eyes stared at him in true anger.
"That was not necessary! Simply be happy to be my new mate and food for our children!" Lind did not stop and let go of his last restraint. Unlike his physical body, his dragon soul was not true flesh and blood.
It was, however, far larger than ever before. If the spider was as big as a battle carrier, Lind was now the size of a whole fleet! He towered above the spider that now wailed at his power!
"No fair! You are as strong as me!" She tried to escape but Lind was in no mood for reason as he unleashed his full power in one flame breath. Not only flames but emerald lightning coursed over it to add to its destructive power.
He saw her fur burned off as the lightning seared her nerves.
She could not even scream as 2 of her legs blew up in a gooey mess of blood and poison that boiled over. Lind was still attacking but then felt light headed as he transformed back into his human form.
The webbing had been burnt away so he dropped into the murky water directly.
He looked on as the spider turned into a burnt husk.
"Not as informative as hoped." Lind passed out and could only hope he would not be bothered until he awoke again.