Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 635 - 634 - Nightmare Hall

The feeling of distortion faded as Shi and Lind appeared inside a dark hall of cracked stone.  There were profound arrays that once glowed but were now dim to even the naked eye.

Lind saw dust everywhere and looked at Shi but she seemed to find it normal.

"The teleportation array is far from the seat of power.  It would give time for us to kill any revolts.  It has happened in the past."  Shi spoke of things Lind had wondered but then he saw them.

There were bone fragments in the corners that only his draconic eyes could catch.  He then realized it was not dust all around them, but human remains.

They went down the corridor only to find signs of old battles.  It was not hidden at all and Lind realized it was a mental attack.  It needed no formations or illusions to make it work either.

The failed attempts to revolt against Xing littered the entire corridor.  She left the bodies to rot after ripping out their souls and cultivation no doubt.

They finally came to a larger room but Shi stopped just before the entrance and touched a cross shape on the left side of the doorway.  It glowed before a click was heard and a new door opened.

"The waiting room has no exit until she lets them in.  We have to go other ways."  Lind nodded as they slowly walked down a narrow and dimly lit hall.  It clearly was just large enough for a single person but unlike the main corridor, it was neat.

Lind's eyes became vertical slits which made it brighter but not much to his vision.  Shi walked confidently until they finally came to a dead end.  She knelt down and touched a barely discernible inscription that flared blue before the room shifted around them.

He felt the walls shift until the dead end opened up.  They moved forward but he began to notice a complete lack of defenses nor puppets even.  His question must have been clear on his face.

"Only blood bonds let someone in these areas.  If I was not touching those points nor leading us, we would never get out."  Lind nodded but kept his Qi ready as he focused on recovery.

He felt better as time passed but also wary.  Xing was not a fool despite her tantrums.  Timat had hid from her for a reason.

It seemed like days passed but he knew it was not even half of one before they finally came to a more luxurious hall.  It had gilded decorations and plush carpets, but it was disturbingly quiet.

They passed several rooms with leather couches and dark wooden chairs around glistening tables with what looked like tea sets or at least plates.  It was clear the Core Hall had been meant to show off Suzen's power to others of his choosing.

After that main hall, they turned to a set of stairs curling up.  He noted another set across from them but Shi ignored that one with a firm step.  Lind felt no danger but trusted her as they walked up for an oddly long amount of time.

Lind realized there was a much stronger perception array acting on him!  It was one that did not need the brand!

Yet, Shi stepped forward confidently until they suddenly came to a set of rooms.  Compared to the luxurious hall they left, the current one was narrow and depressing in feeling.  The walls were dark and bare of any decoration with only blank stone walls.

Lind was about to advance when Shi held up her arm. She put a finger to her lips before she carefully began to walk forward.  Lind noted her steps and simply chose to float and follow her.

He was glad he did as the instant he crossed the threshold into the hall, his instincts flared danger all around him!  Further, the once blank slabs of stone revealed twisted bodies held in different poses of pain.

Their faces were contorted in agony but that was not the worst part.  They were alive!  Their eyes moved with his movements but nothing else.  The pleading for release, death, or anything was palpable.

Lind noted the Fiend sigils all around them and recognized what was being done to them.  He had seen similar things in the Barren Realm but they were not so macabre.

It was a way to preserve 'resources' for later while still converting them to something useful.  Normally, the process was done fairly quickly.  It was absolutely painful but once primed, the weavings would freeze the Qi and target in place until the Fiend could return.

Again, it was usually used for a Fiend that would be returning after a trip so it was not done for too long and the subject was long dead by the time they returned.  The rooms Lind saw intentionally kept them alive!

They were slowly being converted as well which added to the pain of their contorted bodies.  He saw arms bent in the wrong directions with legs nearly ripped from their joints.  There was one woman nearly wrapped in on herself!

All of them, however, had their faces exposed to the hall.

Lind raged but made not a sound as they passed through that terrible hallway.  Shi finally led him to the other side and they left that place far behind them.

The new room looked luxurious once again and had far better lighting.

"Xing could be checking so I will be taking us through those places.  She…she always called them her larder but I never understood really what she meant back then."  Lind slowly nodded as Soulmancers did not need such a complicated arrangement.

Ripping a soul out was bad enough but preserving one was far more efficient than what they just passed by.

There were no windows but the rooms were always lit until they entered more of those 'larders.'  Lind kept count and had easily passed 3000 people kept like that!  It was enough to sustain a Fiend for a very long time but she simply left them as they were.

He realized Xing was actually keeping them in case things became very bad.  From what he had learned in the Barren Realm, once a Fiend starts the conversion process, it is unique to their Qi signature.

She was already at the peak of the Sun Tier, so it was likely enough to fuel her breakthrough to the Immortal Realm if the Law Binding came down.

What bothered him more was the absolute silence in the entire place.  He would almost prefer the horrific breeding camps from the Barren Realm or the slave pens in the former Dar Empire to the silence.

It was as if Xing was making it seem like nothing was happening there at all!

Lind noted they kept ascending every so often until the size of the floors began to shrink.  His ability to align his position told him something odd.

He knew the feeling of being at maximum height inside the Law Binding and they had just passed it!  He looked at the floor below and was confused.

There was no natural mountain or floating landmass at the top of the Law Binding nor was there a structure that reached that high, so where were they?

It was only when they crossed a small foyer that he felt the shift in the air.  Compressed space!  The whole Core Hall was in a special realm!  He realized it was both inside and outside the Law Binding, likely somewhere near the center from what Lanbao had taught him.

He then frowned.  It would not work without an exterior anchor and the nexus artifacts were nowhere near powerful enough for a special realm anchor.  Even Lanbao's lectures did not say anything about that.

He tried to sense anything else but a noise finally came to his ears.  Breathing!

He grabbed Shi's shoulder and pointed to the left.  She looked confused but nodded as they came to a set of stairs but Lind felt his head ache as they went both up and down at the same time!

He carefully brushed the entrance but rather than the stairs twisting in midair he expected, his eyes narrowed as a cool breeze came to him.  He then flexed his harmony slightly to completely disperse the Fiend illusion!

The stench of decay was strong but the profound feeling of Qi flowed over them before a flickering image tried to return.  Lind did not stop it as they both walked in to find the very thing he hoped to find.

A glowing ball that hurt to look at floated over an array that was actually worse to look at.  His eyes burned and he dared not use his talents.  Shi's eyes began to bleed so he covered them.

They were too weak or likely not compatible with the Law Core and its Law Array.

The breathing pulled him onward until a new horror greeted them.  A man embedded halfway into the top of the Law Array was looking out blankly from the stone floor.  The vile feeling of QI around his body left no mystery on how he was fused, but the exact method was strange.

Xing was a Sun Tier, Shi had confirmed it.  Even if her original body was an Immortal Realm, the Law Binding would restrict her until the present at the Sun Tier.  Timat was the same.  Despite being hidden, an Immortal Tribulation would be a death sentence in the Inner Garden.

So how did a Sun Tier do that to an Immortal?

Lind carefully checked out the man but Shi was still recovering her sight.  He kept an ear out for any footsteps but none of his aura could penetrate the man before him.  Even incapacitated, Immortal Suzen was a blank slate to Lind.

He was about to stand up when all the hairs on his body stood up at once!  He used his Qi to look around and saw nothing but all his dragon instincts were screaming at him.

Shi was still fine from what he could tell but something in the room had changed from one moment to the next!  He kept perfectly still until a faint scent entered his nose.  A sneer appeared as emerald light flared like a sun!

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"  Xing suddenly appeared with a dagger dropping to the ground!  She had hidden from him somehow but his draconic senses caught her at the last moment due to the poison on the blade!

Lind saw it burn the very stone and swept Shi into his arms before sprinting from the room.  His harmony flowed over them both and shattered 2 more Fiend traps!

Xing knew they were there the whole time and waited!  She likely did not expect them to come to Suzen but she had been nearby!  The damned Fiend had laid a trap!

"I broke the array!  Neither of you are leaving her alive!"  The vile voice flowed in his ears but Lind ignored it as his Heaven Eyes traced something else.  He sneered as she knew nothing about him except what she could see before.

He pushed his body hard and hoped no more perception traps lay in wait as he followed the traces of Fiend Qi to what he hoped would be a new ally in the fight.

Linghu!