Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 610 - 609 - Forbidden Streets

When Lind had been learning of where he ascended, he had mostly been inundated by the lack of stars and sun cycle with all the other new information to process.  The names of the empires sank into his mind and were pushed aside as more issues kept cropping up.

Finally, as even his responsibilities as Emperor were delegated out in the last 50 years, he began to realize the disturbing feeling of one of the empires stemmed from the familiar name.

Orwellian was a term from Earth and the more he learned about that one empire the more he saw traces of Earth.  It had been quite awhile since anything so strong cropped up in his journey.

Yet, he noticed more oddities.  The few prisoners, whether they converted or not, always seemed to be very vague when talking about Orewllia Empire.  Given all the darkness around them already, it was likely that the subtle darkness slipped by.

It was only when he got his first true glimpse that he felt his heart turn cold.  Lili did not understand what those thin strands of Qi holding the landmasses in place were.

She thought they were only weavings but the closer Lind got, the more his harmony twitched and strained to unleash its power.  He had only felt it so strongly once before when confronted with Fiend artifacts for the first time.

He knew that there was a lot of Fiend Qi hiding beneath the surface but the true horror was the guards.

They moved like living beings but they were not!  They had souls, but there was no feeling of life from them!  No one seemed bothered aside from Lili either!  As he looked around he realized there was a perception formation or weaving working on the entire crowd.

The barrier at the entrance matched what Briel and others had told him to expect but the crowd shook his soul.

He had pointed out the mono-realm level but he had left off that all were between tier 4 to 6 of the Soul Realm.  None below and none above until they got to the tavern.

Once inside, Lind almost felt sick but buried it with long practice.  His time in the Barren Realm helped him regulate his harmony and his own reactions as he felt faint Fiend Qi all around him!

Once the food was given, he retreated back and let his harmony purify the food.  It was not a weaving, poisoning or anything else but exposure to a lot of Fiend Qi.

From what he knew, there was no natural source of Fiend Qi in mortal realms at all.  He also had never heard of one in the Heaven Realm, but one could be nurtured the same as he nurtured demonic Qi for his sect long ago.

The question he could not answer was why but there were Soulmancers in the land masses above so they cared little about what happened on the ground.  It was the perfect cover under normal circumstances but Xing was watching all 6 empires with a harsh eye.

She also needed constant flow of souls for the Law Binding so anything that threatened that would be crushed.

So what was going on in Orwellia Empire?

The night fell deeply and Lind was not sleeping as Lili cultivated next to him.  If Lind cultivated, it would give away what he was so he could only stay awake.  He let his eyes shift and looked at the creepily empty streets around them.

He had traveled across the 3 continents, the Floating Isles, and the Barren Realm so he knew that cultivators rarely stopped for any particular time of day.  While many cultivated for stretches of time, it was unique to the individuals or sects, but not cities.

Thus, when the middle of the night was not only dead silent, but a complete lack of life, it gave him a very bad feeling.

He touched an artifact disc at his belt and felt a cool sensation spread across him before he vanished from all senses.

He could still be found by a peak Sun Tier if they really tried but otherwise, Lind was essentially invisible.  It had a horrendous drain on his Qi but with 6 primary elements, he had Qi to spare.

He moved quickly and the very instant he was at the stall entrance, he felt a sense of danger.  He tried to find the source but he knew if he took a single step more, invisible or not, it would be his last.

He then cheated.

He floated up and the feeling of danger vanished.  It confirmed the very street itself was trapped.  Why?

Why would they make the streets a trap?

Lind flew out and then up.  As he rose, he realized there really was no one out anywhere in the city.  No guards, no thieves, and not even a mouse.

There was no life at all.

Lind flew out and found closed shops, warehouses near the tavern but after crossing a few mere streets, he came to a wall that cut off the majority of the city.

Once more, the feeling of danger returned, but it was faint.  He carefully examined it and his Eyes saw nothing.  He then used his Touch and finally felt the Qi was thicker above the wall but not like a formation or barrier.

He also felt like it was slightly foul.  He carefully strained a clump of Qi and found Fiend Qi faintly with it.

"So, there is something in the city or below it maybe?"  Lind was unsure.  He had never encountered free flowing Fiend Qi before.  A source like an artifact or Fiend might leave some behind but not on the level he was finding.

It was closer to a natural source like a fire fruit might leave traces of fire Qi in the air more than normal.

Yet, the scale of the Qi was monstrous.  Even the greatest natural treasure Lind could think of would still have limits.  To be so prevalent in the air, it had to be massive.

He did not cross the wall as he could not discern the threat to himself like with the road but ascending higher did not help either so it told him there was either an array set to go off for any disturbance or it was looking for something he did not account for when he made the disc.

Night was waning but he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye at last.

He saw the fine robes of one of the people from inline.  He was crawling along rooftops carefully and quietly.  Lind slowly flew over and observed.  He was fairly certain it was a man but he dared not scan them.

After hopping a few rooftops, the person came to residence.  It was one of the few Lind had seen on his side of the inner wall.  The lower courtyards were sealed but even he could tell there was no security on the top.

He found that odd but the one below saw no issue as they jumped far across.  Just by the physical feat of silence and great strength put the cultivator in the low to mid Sun Tier.

Anything less would not have enough control to pull it off.

Lind stayed back as he saw them examine one of the windows from the slanted roof.  The once bright tile was now bland gray at night.

The businesses all had flat roofs like he was used to but the resident had a much steeper and slanted roof.  It was clearly made well so he assumed it was a merchant or tradesmen that led a guild.

The person was nimbly doing something but Lind could only guess as he was reluctant to send his senses out and accidentally trigger something.

Finally, the window changed.  It had simply been dark but suddenly lit up revealing the person hanging down.

"NO!"  The scream of a man was the only confirmation Lind got when the street below lit up like the sun.  He held perfectly still and even stopped his breathing and heartbeat.  He could play dead for quite a while but what he saw made it very hard.

Sky Realms dressed all in black appeared and ensnared the man as if they had always been in the street.  The man struggled but he was somehow now sealed.  Lind had sensed nothing but when he looked into the window, all the hair on his neck stood on end!

An ash gray man was looking at the struggling form but instead of a cruel smile or perverse laugh, it was a deadened face that looked out!  The Fiend was just like the Soul Realms he had seen earlier in the day!

His heart felt cold as the Sky Realms quickly vanished back into the lit arrays of the street with the man kicking and screaming yet no further sound echoed out.

It seemed an eternity until the street became dark again.

Lind held perfectly still because the Fiend was still staring blankly out the lit window.  His disturbing eyes were so dull that Lind almost felt pity.  After what seemed a far too long a time, the window dimmed and it was as if nothing happened.

Lind realized only afterward he had felt no Fiend Qi at all.  There was no feeling of cultivation from the Fiend unlike the ones in black that appeared.

What was going on in this empire?

He stayed perfectly still until the light shifted to its equivalent of dawn and he saw people moving around.  Only then did he quickly fly back to the stables.

As he was going back, the feeling of danger rose once more so he pushed his speed until he almost crashed into Lili.  Only when he was back at the tavern did the feeling fade.

Lind did not dismiss his invisibility even as Lili was looking for him.  He waited and it was not long before a Sky Realm appeared.

The instant the man was on the street, it was if he parted the sea.  The Soul Realms, still dead eyed and far too silent, made a wide path around the man.  His lustrous dark hair framed a square jawed face and cold blue eyes.

It was the first person in the Owellia Empire that was not half alive to Lind's senses.  The man scanned the stables and saw Lili but seemed to dismiss her despite being a Sun Tier.

A deep frown crossed his features before he touched a few places on the street and seemed to vanish into thin air.  Lind noticed that Lili kept looking around but her eyes had noticed the man.

None of the people on the open porch currently drinking and eating so much as blinked at him.

"I am here.  We have a lot to plan."  Lind moved behind the wagon and only then appeared.  He felt no change but his instincts told him he had been spotted somehow at the end.

Lili and he began to plan out their day and cared for the horses.  The next night was going to be very dangerous.