novelraw Chapter 659 - 658 - Imperial Headaches
Chapter 659 - 658 - Imperial Headaches
It had been only 20 years since the mortal realm opened up to the Two Rivers Alliance. Lind had known things would accelerate as things changed but it had gone far worse than he projected.
Civil wars, random uprisings, and general chaos seemed to spread like wildfire across the floating land mass and the lower continents.
The stranglehold the Fiends had imposed had been maintained for too long. The suppressed people now knew the backing was gone from their oppressors. Lind had warned those powers they should quickly shift but it was too ingrained.
Galatia had seen the danger but Eldrin and Palor did not. They were among the first to die.
Blood flowed like rivers and it was tragic, but Lind could do nothing to stop it. He was willing to offer aid but the limit he could send was Moon Tiers. While it seemed like that would work, it would only help in the floating continent.
The lower world only allowed Sky Realms at tier 3 and below.
Their numbers were massive. He would have to invest massive numbers to do it but asking his people to die for a vague notion of conquering or being peacemakers did not sit well with him.
He did send squads to protect minor powers that were not involved at all in any of it. His actions had immediate backlash from both sides.
Now, he sat in a meeting with various envoys of old and new powers.
The Wards and 3 supreme, as they now went by, sects were displeased at being drawn into conflicts they did not need, but the other powers wanted more from him.
As he had thought many times, why would anyone be Emperor?
"Your majesty, the situation in the mortal realm is deteriorating faster than we can keep up with. Even as we sit here, it is unclear what the final result will be." A man spoke from a recently established mercantile power.
It was called the Silver Eagles. They had secured the trade rights for the flow of goods from the mortal realm to quickly rise up in the ranks. Their connections were not bad but now their profits were threatened.
They were not alone in that issue.
In the very short 2 decades, many lines of goods and personnel had been set up that were now suffering. Some could ascend but the majority could not.
"I have moved what forces I could to make relatively safe zones. Thus far the battles have not crossed our lines. Unless they do, I am not going to act against either side." Lind spoke about his current status but it was the third time he had brought it up in just that meeting, never mind the others before it!
It was like they all suffered from short term memory loss when a new day began. Lind actually yearned for a battle after the 3rd meeting he was now on his 10th!
He wanted to stop the bloodshed but he was not going to annex a mortal realm. There were very good reasons not to do so. The Heaven Realm was a very different place and Lind would not be staying.
If he set up the Two Rivers Alliance to rule the current mortal realm, future rulers could follow his example. Nevermind that it had no real use for Heaven Realms to rule it. It would simply be acting like a tyrant that wanted their will imposed on those that could not resist.
Corruption would be rampant as it would be impossible to investigate without enough manpower to maintain the integrity of his rule. He could not avoid corruption where he had direct control so remotely ruling a mortal realm would be far worse.
Besides, he actually agreed with the Heavenly Maiden Sect and the others of the massive Alliance fighting the Fiends. Heaven and Earth were fair. The investment would not be worth it in the long run and the needs to keep control would never stop.
It would only foster more unrest as those that were born in that realm would want to run their own affairs. Explaining that to greedy and well intentioned idiots was not getting through.
The forces Lind had already sent were simply keeping massive swaths of refugees safe while lessening the tragedy. Immigrants were vetted to make sure spies and other forces were not trying to flee the battles they lost.
He was not a saint. If they started the fight, they had to face the end of it. He would take pity on actual children but that was the limit. Further, they had to swear Oaths foregoing their former ties.
Stunningly, many would not let their children do that and face battle instead. Lind shook his head at their greed. They would die in the present with the plan to let their children rise up in the future.
"It is too much! There is nothing important down there. Let them sort it out themselves!" Unsurprisingly, the leader of the Forge of Stars had no interest in being merciful. He had become very cold to Lind and his allies.
Taiya looked like he had aged centuries since Lind last saw him. The fallout from his brother Jin led to harsh years and loss of promising talents. Further, the confirmed victims' families had wanted compensation.
They were still holding on but it had only recently begun to turn around. He had nothing to spare for ants fighting over scraps.
"While I normally would not agree to ignoring those in need, we are heavily invested to help save lives. How much more can we be expected to give?" A woman with gold and orange robes spoke up.
She was the Vice-Sect Master of the Secret Flame Sect. They had not been happy with the rivals showing up but she seemed sincere in her concerns. Their resources were not limitless.
While there were only a few Star Tiers in the mortal realm, they could cause real damage to their forces that would chew up pills, elixirs, and other products that Lind already bought in bulk.
While in the short term that was fine, but the long term would strain their experts to keep up. Making things for volume took time and herbs did not magically appear at the snap of a finger!
"I am aware and it is why I have not expanded our efforts. Lanbao." Lind turned to his Immortal Realm that made many nervous but she simply smiled as she used a jade stone to display the various statistics Lind had asked for.
The meeting then unfolded like all the others. Grumbling, grandstanding, and Lind contemplating how big of a hole he should make in the ceiling to escape.
The various members finally left with nothing done and Lind decided he had enough.
"No more wasting of our time. People are dying and all they care about are the damned resources!" Lind vented a bit to Lanbao and Shi but then saw Lian approach.
The young woman had flourished after the war and happily kept serving Lind in his fleet of ships. A fleet he had moved recently.
"Master! It works!" Lind breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good, get the Nautilus moving and do what you can." Lanbao and Shi stared daggers at him as neither knew what was going on right then.
Lian bowed and swept away but Lind moved back to the Core Room to find Linghu looking exhausted.
"How bad?" Lind's question made the man wave for a moment before an elixir appeared in his hand. Lind could only make them once a month but his grade 7 elixirs had very limited customers.
"It was an interesting idea but it does strain my control. Heaven and Earth created the ascension pools when the mortal realms are born. Modifying them to let the Nautilus through was difficult, but not impossible. I can only do 2 ships at a time and wait a few weeks before bringing them back." Shock flooded the 2 women following Lind.
"D-did brother just say he manipulated an ascension pool?!" Shi was right to be shocked. Even Lanbao was staring at the 2 men as if they were insane.
Ascension pools inside a mortal realm were often only created when the realm was born and the higher density Qi forcefully flowed up to a point that resonated with Heaven and Earth. It was silvery in color but not much more than a teleportation connection.
Moving from the mortal realm to the Heaven Realm was entirely different. The connection was the birth of the mortal realm when Heaven and Earth forced its way out of a weakness in the Heaven Realm.
The void was then flooded with Qi but the will of Heaven and Earth formed a shell that then slowly became a mortal realm. How dense and how much Qi could settle dictated what kind of realm it would be.
Those ascension pools were prismatic and profound. They were also generally only big enough for say a group of 10 or so to go through using the pull of the Heaven Realm to guide them.
Many had tried to manipulate the size of the pools only to be killed by it. A Law Binding was not a bad idea but it was not part of the original Laws. Still, it was something no one had tried, yet Lanbao was staring at Lind.
The only Law she did not understand was the one tied to his harmony. What exactly was that Law that allowed such an act?!
"So you have made it so the ships can fly through it but what good does that do? Wouldn't they shatter once in the lower density Qi?" Lanbao asked the obvious question but both Linghu and Lind smiled.
"If they were an artifact, then yes, but they are not. My ships use Qi to fly and work. In a sense they can adapt to wherever they go but a certain level of Qi is needed to completely recover, also you skipped the more interesting question." Lind then pointed to the display hovering over the Law Core and both women saw something shocking.
The 2 ships flying through had Sun Tiers on them!
What in the world would–?!
The ships passed through without issue and not even a rumble from Heaven?!
"The Nautilus isolates the interior as they were designed to fight Fiends. In a way, they take with them the realm they were exposed to. So long as the Sun Tiers stay inside, there is no issue. It is limited, obviously, but enough time exists for us to resolve one issue." Lind then turned to point at a third vessel parked in a strange harbor.
It was unloading what looked like mortals in torn robes and looking forlorn but the children were excited as Star and Moon Tier guards led them to a massive complex they had never seen before.
"There is a way around the density issue lower realms suffer from. The ascension pools were unable to adapt or give time, but we can." Lanbao and She felt shock flood them once more.
They were looking at weaker cultivators arriving in the Heaven Realm safely and Lind had made a place for them to adapt slowly over time! The refugees and powers being protected could be moved!
They swiveled their heads to Lind and he shrugged.
"You both had more than enough on your plate. If it did not work, nothing would change but now we need to make preparations. Let's get to work." For a man that despised being an Emperor, he proved over and over to be a really good one.