Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 728 - 727 - Hidden Village

Lind stood still as he looked around the area.  The size the place was hard for him to grasp as his senses became muddled the farther he tried to perceive.  It was not a formation or any kind of defense, it was information overload.

The entire area was full of a storm of Qi that was alive!  He had met several Elementals in the Desolate Song but that was like a puddle compared to an ocean he currently felt.

"All alive, all over the place."  He had wondered if Qi was simply tied to Elementals after he first saw them but now he grasped that was not the case.

The Qi was energy in the world but Elementals were some kind of life force that joined with it.  It made him wonder about many things but he simply did not have enough information to understand.

He did not move still as he was unsure where he was supposed to go.  The structures around him were very similar but the fact they might be some kind of care for the deceased made him curious what to do.

He was also leery of cultivating with so many Elementals around him as he might accidentally refine them.

As his Eyes adjusted he began to see something fascinating.

Cohesive clouds of elements zipped around in the air at extreme speeds but some were very faint while others were larger and far more dense.

As he got used to it, he began to find out the individual realms.

Barely coherent clouds that would have fit in his hand were Soul Realms.  After that they increased in size and density very quickly.

The Sky Realms were the ones that first reached the size of a humanoid but the density was far lower than the envoys that came to the palace.

Most of a day passed when Lind finally felt something change.  He understood why the seniors in the forest called them the whispering ones.

Many voices tried to enter his mind but they were not in any way he could understand completely.  There were emotions of curiosity, worry, and some fear.  He gently let out his harmonic Qi as he had before in the Desolate Song.

The result was intense curiosity and joy!  He was curious about that last emotion but simply let them enjoy themselves.

Time moved on but he was no longer sure when he would be told where to go as he was likely invited by ones he had yet to see.  He did not even see Heaven Realms now that he thought of it.

The streams of Qi became visible around him and Lind realized they felt similar to his children.  He smiled and watched them dance around him until they suddenly scattered.

He looked up and saw a familiar shape forming in the sky.

[Welcome Progenitor.  Thank you for playing with the newly formed.]

Lind smiled and bowed to the envoy.  He flew up and followed the envoy as he noticed the Heaven Realms were much higher up in the sky as he cleared the treetops.  He then saw that there were several such temples built of the crystals but he re-evaluated his initial assumption.

It was similar to the floating crystals he had seen before but there was far greater power in them.  Also, he noticed it was a single construct compared to putting pieces together.

They were grown.

Comparing it to the slip he had been given, the structures were far more stable yet the felt odd to him.  He restrained himself from trying to reach out his senses as he was not sure if it would be rude or not.

He did feel the distinct impression of other senses watching over him but no one emerged from any of the temples.  Eventually, the envoy led him to a decently sized hill that had a very old temple on it.

It was clearly cracked and in need of repair but it still stood.  Why was it in such disrepair?

The envoy stopped outside the massive entrance and some kind of communication when on until Lind was surprised that a normal voice came out to him.

"Welcome to my home, Lind Frey.  Please enter."  He bowed to the envoy and to the vast stretch of the village.  He then landed in front of the entrance and froze.

A very familiar feeling was in front of him.  He had been in one for nearly 1500 years and now a very different one was in front of him.

It was a Law Binding.

It was far less powerful but as he understood what he was seeing he suddenly knew what he was seeing.

"Law Arrays, the buildings are Law Arrays."  It was nowhere near the kind he was used to but he still recognized it.

"Correct.  It is of no harm to you, it is for me alone."  Lind was curious as he stepped through the doorway and felt a tingling on his skin.  The moment he was inside, he felt like something constrained him a bit but not in any way threatening.

He found a rather cozy home inside.  It had a simply table with pillows arranged around it with what seemed to be a tea set steaming on it.  He also found a simple area set aside for cultivating.

It was a rather austere setup but not uncomfortable.  Still, there was one oddity he was stunned to find.

It was a woman in fine robes on one of the pillows.  She was taller than most people but his senses were the most intriguing thing at the moment.

She was both there and not there from what he felt.  She existed but as a physical being, he did not pick up a scent, no breath, and not even a sign she was breathing.  Yet, there was warmth, bright eyes looking at him, and a smile like he saw from many people.

Her skin was not like Ethry's but seemed to flow like a living stream of Qi made into skin.  Her eyes, however, were a deep orange that slowly shifted to red as he looked on.

She was very beautiful.  She was also very powerful.

She was an Immortal Realm but Lind had difficulty placing her in Sliver or Shard Tier.  He did not understand as it seemed like she flickered between the 2.

"Welcome to my home, Lind Frey.  I am honored to meet you.  I am called Soltara."  He bowed and sat across from her as she served the tea.  He was about to drink it when he realized the cup and even the tea was crystalline in origin.

It was actually very interesting and as he sipped at it, his meridians thundered with Qi as his dantian felt flush with the natural elements.

It was very good tea!

"As you may have realized, we create everything for ourselves by manifestation.  It has limits, obviously, but we are able to produce anything we can imagine inside those limits."  Lind had many questions but he tried running his Qi through the cup.

It easily withstood it unlike the slip from before.

He could not pick apart why that was but it withstood it nonetheless.

He saw her smile at his test as he set it down.  He smirked as he was not sure why he was invited.

"Am I allowed to ask some questions?"  She nodded as he held up his hand to the structure around them.  "You made all of this?"

She shook her head.

"They are crafted when one of us is close to solidifying.  It is necessary for us.  I would not live in the outside world."  Lind was confused.  What did she mean by that?

"What–"  He was about to ask for clarity when an aura slammed him to the ground like a hammer.

[INSOLENCE!]

The crack of his bones told him it was a seriously powerful Immortal Realm but just as he was about to black out, the pressure lifted.

"I do not recall asking for an opinion of others.  He is my guest and I allowed his questions.  Do not interfere again.'  Soltara's voice was cold but Lind was busy recovering from nearly being crushed.

He sat up but the aura was still hanging over them.  It seemed the Law Binding did not stop others from reaching into the home.

He could tell she was speaking to someone but the voice was isolated from him.  Lind carefully cultivated some Qi but then his eyes snapped open as he realized something critical.

The structure was tied to her!

The entire temple was a part of Soltara!

He finally sat up and she bowed low to him.

"I deeply apologize.  Some of my juniors are a bit overprotective of me."  Lind waved it off but now he was unsure how to proceed.  It seemed she already knew his next question.

"As you no doubt felt when you cultivated, the temple and I are one.  Its condition reflects mine.  I wanted to meet you before I died."  Lind felt stunned as he was unsure where to go from there.

"I am sorry, senior.  Is there something I can do to help?"  She smiled at his offer but waved it off.

"It is too late for me, but I am hoping you can help the others.  You see, we are all dying."  Lind froze and looked at the serious face of Soltara.

Just what was he supposed to do?