Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 724 - 723 - Pointless Meetings

Lind was back in full health and wished heartily he was not.  Training students with a few lectures on the Dao he had learned or training for his own strength was much preferable to what was currently happening.

He was currently having a meeting that could have been an email.  As a Sect Master, he had been through a few meetings like that but it was usually only a part of a much more productive whole.

Imperial meetings, in stark contrast, seemed to mostly be about whining.

Not enough herbs were available for the alchemists and elixir masters or Qi stone reserves were doing better than projected.  Mostly it was updates he already knew!

It was also information all at the table knew as well!

So why were they having the bloody meeting?!

If, perhaps they wanted to negotiate some changes or adjustments, then at least the meeting would make sense but it was not about that at all!

"...that is why we must ensure the distribution points don't get backed up."  A slim man wrapped a report with the bare minimum expectation Lind had already set for the trade routes himself!

He deserved some kind award for keeping his face straight for the last half a day spent in the godforsaken room with the ministers!  He pined for the good old days of the Law Binding!

While some were from there, many of those councils stayed back to keep things running smoothly for the residents that stayed behind.

He dearly missed them as those meetings had a purpose even if they spent some time reviewing shared info.

"Anyone have anything else to contribute?"  Lind asked with the dearest hope no one did.  Sadly, the spirits or Heaven were not being merciful that day.

"While the current meeting is done, I believe we need to have a meeting about the next batch of children coming to learn…"  Was there not some disaster in the offing needing his attention?  Perhaps a bolt of lightning could strike him?

Lind's days had become a tedium worse than any torture!

⬧⬧⬧⬧

"You are sure he is himself again?"  A demoness looked in on the meeting via a jade stone artifact.  It was a black metal mounting the stone so a person could hold it easily in their hands.  The other end was a decoration built into the very murals in that room.

"More than that, I know he is still grappling with the loss.  The heart demon is definitely gone but the pain that could replant it remains.  Ethry says it would be like losing a limb permanently in a way and it was just too sudden."  Qing looked at the concerned face of Cyntilla.

While the ministers could not see it, both women read his face like a book.  The frustration of sitting in a useless meeting to even the flicker of an eye above looking for a reprieve from the spirits themselves.  They read it all.

"His Qi is flowing properly and his personality has stabilized.  Rather than the brief fits we had before, he is consistent.  By any measure I have, he is on the mend, but still in danger."  Qing did not sugarcoat it.

Cyntilla sighed as it was not her area.  She could not fight the heart demon for him either.

"I think the children help."  A third voice spoke up as Annabelle came into the room.  It was a small room already since it was not meant for casual visitors, but they were comfortable enough.  Her gold and sapphire eyes glanced at Lind and looked sad.

"Could we not have found something more enjoyable for him on his first day back?"  The other 2 women grinned but Qing shook her head.

"This is a good test actually.  Battle and fun are easy to mask any relapse but enduring tedium can make a slip up much easier to catch.  Still, everything seems fine."  Qing was never looking away from the jade stone.

Cyntilla and Annabelle both glanced at each other and shivered.  They would rather face a 1000 Fiends than sit through such meetings.  They had, of course, but that was when they were working as a team to run the Moebius Sect.

They didn't foist such things off on Lind on purpose, not at all!

"Hee,hee." Qing's giggle drew their eyes back to the stone and found Lind now lying across the empty table exhausted.  They did not need to be in the room to know what he was thinking.

By all the spirits above, it was over!

"We should let him be with Lysanna tonight.  He likes to dote on us when we are pregnant."  Annabelle's suggestion was met with nods all around with wide smiles.  When pretty much all of them had been pregnant, Lind had been giddy like a little boy.

Qing knew it should have been a warning sign when he shifted to being so cold not long after the kids were born but there was just too much going on.  She would not make that mistake again.

It irked her that the 2 assistants had noticed the difference in him before she did.

They were about to move on when all 3 of their bracelets lit up.  They observed the message and frowned.

They looked to the jade stone and saw Lind was getting the same message.  He then seemed to vanish.

They quickly moved and found him in the throne room.  It was the largest room to receive visitors but Lind was already in the rather simple chair.

It was a high backed white marble chair with simple cushions built into it.  It was not that remarkable alone but when Lind sat in it, they had to admit it looked imposing.

He smiled at them as they arrived followed by Shoti, Ethry, and Kora.  Lysanna was not allowed to rush around at the moment as she was late enough in her pregnancy to need to take it easy.

Cultivators paid a price creating a child.  Men lost a chunk of yang Qi from their foundation while the woman lost some of her foundation's level with each child.

Lysanna had originally been not far behind Fey but now she was a good decade from being ready to ascend to Immortality.  Lind had some ideas about speeding that up but while pregnant there was nothing he could do.

The only exception to that rule was Ethry and Kora.  Something about the Divine bloodlines protected them yet they did have a lethargy that took a long time to overcome.

"What did the guards mean by 'something' has arrived?"  Kora asked but everyone shrugged as they assumed their places in the hall.  Annabelle controlled the formations as none of them could match her skill at all.  Kora and Ethry simply sat on either side of Lind right next to him.

Their chairs were based on their own colors.  Kora's was fairly simple with a combination of quartz crystals and stone to make a golden color with traces of black in it, but Ethry's was a lot more difficult.  Elemental crystals would be the best choice but such a chair would be insane even for an empress like her!

Lind instead went for some kind of trick of light that let it shift color but never revealed how he did that.  He did not want it mimicked easily after all.

Cyntilla and Shoti actually seemed to melt into the background.  Both of them were powerful warriors but their strength was in the initial strike.  Thus being out of sight in an iffy situation was the best use of their skills.

Qing stood behind the thrones but out had several artifacts handy in case of any injuries or more subtle attacks were attempted.  Lysanna would usually be with her getting reports on any being that came to have an audience but she was unavailable.

Lind would take the messages directly.

Several Emerald Souls finally appeared as their charges were just too damned fast inside the palace.

The far doors opened onto the plush red carpet that led up to the steps before the thrones as a disturbance began to enter the room.

There was no other word they could come up for it.  Cyntilla could not lock on to anything to attack and a glance at Shoti showed the same concern.  They saw their sisters were tensing up but their husband surprised them.

"Welcome to my empire, my friends!  Who do I have the honor of addressing?"  As they looked on, the distortions in the air began to take a familiar shape of a humanoid.  It did not stay still but they could see there were 3 of them.

Cyntilla still could not lock on to them even with the shape being so clear to her eyes.

[Progenitor, our missing song has rejoined us and we know of your contribution.  We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.]

A voice entered all their minds but like the bodies, it was hard to grasp it.  If she did not concentrate it would simply become unintelligible.  Cyntilla also arched her eyebrow as she wanted to know what hearts these beings were talking about?

"I am so glad!  The Desolate Song was such a somber place but also a place of rest.  Is it still of use to you?"  The name finally clued them all in.  Elementals!  They were 3 Elementals!

The moment they knew that, their guard dropped significantly.  They were made of Qi and if any being alive did not need to fear them, it was Lind.

[Unsafe, but thanks to you, none are lost.  We are here at request.]

All of them sat up but the next sentence left them confused except for Lind.

[Solid Realm wishes to meet you.  Please come with us, Progenitor.]

Solid Realm, what was a Solid Realm?