Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 565 - 564 - Comprehending the Moon

Lind had been confused on many things since his ascension but after rescuing the Gravis, Melody, and Keke.  He quickly examined the brands on his prisoners and new friends.

He noted a few differences but what he was most concerned with was any ability to trace them.  He was right to do so as he senses a thin thread of Qi rising up into the air.  Unless he was pushing his senses to the limit, he could not sense it all.

A quick weaving on the Two Rivers cave isolated the brands.

Gravis had to rest and recover.  Lind did not have the ability to help him get his arm back as he had to comprehend and delve into elixirs once more.  He had far too much to cover, frankly.

The most critical was his dantian.  Despite Old Wan helping him learn how to recover his Qi, he felt like he was at a firm bottleneck unlike anytime since the Soul Realm.

Back then, he was stumbling to keep the balance between his cores and foundation.  It had been a constant tug of war yet his talent of Innate Cultivator seemed to only be partially working.

He suspected he had short circuited it by skipping the Star Tier.  He did not comprehend his elements nor truly absorb the constellations he constructed so quickly.

He was currently studying the surface of his moon in awe.

The craters were divided into 6 separate areas but were also slowly connecting to each other.  Tiny ravines were forming between fire and light that sparked with lightning while other borders had similar things going on.

The large craters of fire were churning wells of magma found beneath the surface of the world while smaller craters were fires to smoking holes.  It was all his comprehension of fire yet it could be more.

He meditated as he observed each facet of his moon and the more he looked, the more he felt like he understood the possibilities of what he could do.  The elements were but one part of cultivation as his harmony was the moon itself.

It was the penultimate connection between all 6 and Lind began to truly understand what secondary versus primary elements were.

A primary element was self explanatory.  It was the element first condensed into the Soul Realm dantian and had the deepest comprehensions.  It was the elements they pushed through each realm until finally reaching the Star Tier.

At that point, the gaps in their star field had to be filled before being able to condense a moon.  It was where secondary elements came in.

Even those that did not use those elements before, knew about them and saw their effects in other cultivators.  The problem was the level of comprehension was much lower than the others.

They had to work to achieve balance and begin to connect all 6 elements.  They built up the constellations until the critical Qi amount was roughly equal before condensing the constellations into the moon shape.

Lind had sat with Old Wan and others to listen to them and had his notes from the many Star Tiers he had watched over the centuries.  Lind had made assumptions about his next step but thanks to Ilyria, he had made the leap he was missing.

The issue was 6 elementals had never made it so far in the cultivation path.  There was zero need to comprehend further elements and their connections since the entire journey to the peak of the Sky Realm already covered it.

It was like filling a bucket already brimming with water.  The Qi flowed over and condensed the moon instantly as the harmony was a better balance than any cultivator could ask for!

Lind slowly felt the elemental Qi flow and improved the quality of his harmony slowly as he studied the effects.  The patterns flared on the surface but the connections between them intensified.

It was the connections that were clearly important as he understood the 'moon' was more like a result of understanding the Dao of their lives and incorporating the elemental knowledge into it.

The need for all 6 elements was due to the need to progress.  Heaven Realms could no longer keep the imbalance of missing elements as he felt the world around him was far more integrated compared to the mortal realm.

It would be like the reverse of 6 elementals at the Soul Realm.  Back then the balance was delicate and difficult to progress but that was due to so much elemental Qi far above the control of a mortal being.

Heaven Realms could not progress their elements without the missing pieces due to the way the elements blended in the world around him now.  Fire was mixed with the other 5 to become more potent even in a place like the bog.

Without the missing elements, absorbing Qi would become supremely difficult.

"How does this system exist?  How do the other 2 systems work?"  Lind had many questions but had not expected any answer to his thoughts.

"There are legends that there were those born of Heaven and Earth that taught cultivation to our ancestors."  Lind glanced over and found Briel brewing tea in the corner.  He wondered why she was there but took the break.

"What legends?"  She paused as she tried to recall but then sighed.

"Camping out in the Hinterlands or being assigned to a remote post leaves little entertainment.  There was a minor noble that once told us the legends of cultivation."  Lind nodded as she poured out the tea for him but he then arched an eyebrow before she poured some for herself.

"Tell me."  Lind was curious.

"Well, they admitted themselves that it was only a story but supposedly at the dawn of creation there was only Heaven and Earth.  The Dao was born from the spirits that then birthed all life but they were only mortals."  Lind found it familiar to other origin stories with the key difference there being Heaven and Earth.

When one faced tribulation or the Wrath of Heaven and can feel its will, it is hard to argue a legend as nothing but myth.  He waved for her to continue.

"Supposedly, the mortals asked to understand the world and the spirits taught the ancestors how to cultivate.  The spirits, however, were unable to understand mortals' point of view.  It was then that Heaven and Earth birthed the Divine Beasts and the first Divine Realms."  Lind wondered about that but no one was still alive that he knew of to answer if that was true.

"When those that lived far above saw they could still die, they taught their legacy to the mortals and the first cultivators were born.  That was as much as he would tell us."  Lind nodded but found some of it to be true.

Heaven and Earth were real and he had seen things that found it hard to deny there were spirits.  The rest of it seemed like the old chicken and the egg question.  What came first?

People take for granted how life works but the beginning became murky as the farther back people went, the question became what came first to start the cycle of life all knew in the present.

Lind felt like something fell into place finally.

His moon was his harmony but his harmony was now the moon.  They were the same and instead of trying to force how it came to be, he should start with accepting the present he lived in.

The emerald moon grew in size as Qi flowed a bit better and he saw the bonds between each element grew stronger.

"Thank you, that actually helped."  Briel cocked her head to the side but he only smiled.

"How are you and the others doing?"  She frowned but made no complaint.  It was not all sunshine and rainbows but Lind was the most powerful being around so no one argued with him.

"What will you do with the ones defying you?"  He saw she looked nervous asking him that question but he smiled.

"I have no plans at the moment.  I can't send them home but they have not done anything worth killing them for.  Even Sheena confirmed they rarely kill anyone."  Briel looked guilty as even so, they took them back for the Soulmancers to pull their souls out.

Lind then glanced at her dantian.  The brand was floating inside it and he suddenly had an idea.

"Do you mind if I try something on your brand?"  Briel paled but then slowly nodded.  He frowned but it would not harm her.  He was just curious about something.

Heaven Realms currently were based on the old theories of elements so Lind wondered if the weaving was the same.

His body became lined up in emerald light but he simply gently let his harmony flow along the meridians in her body.  She seemed at slight discomfort but he finally reached the dantian and paused.

"Brace yourself."  She nodded as the harmony flowed over the brand.  Its traces flared up and his eyes narrowed.  The Soulmancer had been a 6th circle he fought with yet his strength was pathetic.

The traces were so weak despite how strong the sigils were.  Without traces, weavings just fell apart like paper.  The brand was very different.  It was profound.

Still, his moon stirred and the power increased until he saw what he expected.  The weaving theory was based on poor elemental knowledge.  His far deeper comprehension cracked the traces carefully.

The brand suddenly unraveled easily and vanished without any harm to her dantian!

Briel looked shocked as Qi flowed into her like a storm before a smile spread on her face!  He left her to cultivate as he comprehended what he saw.

Whatever made that brand was far more profound than the man he met.  Yet, he felt a trace of the soul power of that very Soulmancer inside it when he destroyed it.  How?

Lind went back to his contemplations as Briel freely cultivated for the first time in her life.  He had made progress but had a lot farther to go.