Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 740 - 739 - All Cards on the Table

Lind had felt a great deal of pain and suffering in his journey.  Death had most certainly come calling more than once, but he had been saved at the last moment several times.  At the time he was grateful, but now he was just tired of it.

He was tired of relying on higher powers taking pity on him to let him live instead of relying on his own strength.  It was a wakeup call of how much work he had to put into his cultivation.

He had become too reliant on his draconic strength and such mercy from higher powers.

[You could have done more and not been judged harshly for it.]  Balgorn's voice was the first thing he heard upon waking up around a campfire next to a simple wooden house.  It was not the best construction as even he could tell the logs were not exactly stable.

"I would have been indulging my anger, not justice.  I refuse to abuse my right to vengeance just because I would feel better.  How long was I out?"  Lind's body was sore all over but everything else seemed ok.

He noticed his sun had swelled to fill up his dantian but that was not all.  Many Laws were now fully fleshed out and encircling his sun like the others.  He would normally be happy but he was not the one that did it!

He would have to carefully study and comprehend for years to make sure he grasped it all on his own.  He refused to take the shortcut given to him.

[It has only been a week but you should know, Melar died.]  Lind's head shot up at that.  His clear confusion was then replaced with rage at his next words.  [Ulta forced him to stay inside the barrier you created and watched him die.  He suddenly grew stronger as we all feared outside the temples and was ripped apart trying to ascend.]

Lind tried to get up but his body fought back and his own dantian barely responded.  He was still desperately low on Qi.

[Rest, Progenitor, Soltara is already after her.  Any sentiment left behind for Ulta is now gone.  Further, your threats are now taken seriously.  On that aspect, what has happened to me?]  Balgorn held up his hands but Lind knew what he asked.

"I am not entirely sure how to explain it.  In that moment, I felt the desire to free you and Soltara from the dangers you faced and Celestial Qi answered my call.  I was half awake and angry but it was Heaven that guided the Qi I called for."  It was all true.  He simply conveyed his wish and Heaven answered surprisingly quickly.

He suspected the Divine Karma being invoked was the cause.  Essentially, he was given leeway he normally did not enjoy at that moment.

The result did confirm something for him as his Eyes saw the changes in Balgorn.

His vitality was improved but it was a side effect.  The normal constraints of Heaven and Earth seemed to be lifted from him as his Qi happily grew in power and no sign of being strained to stop it.

Celestial Qi could manipulate the bedrock of reality!  No wonder making Arts did not work.  They mimicked nature or made it into attacks and defenses, but Celestial Qi could actually grasp and change the world!

What kind of crazy power is that?!

What could have possibly corrupted an entire race of such powerful beings?  How could they not stop it?

For every step forward, Lind found a dozen more questions that needed answers.

He had to push it back as there were no answers in the Heaven Realm.  The desire to grow strong and ascend rose in him but he had to focus on the present.

"You are both free to live but I cannot stop you from being forced to ascend.  All I could do was grant you the choice to hold back until you are done."  Balgorn nodded and went back to attempting to construct the cabin but it shortly collapsed.

It was only then that Lind noticed there was a rather large area cleared out that just happened to correspond to the extent of the debris.

[This is not as easy as working with Laws.]  Lind actually felt a pinch of pain as laughter rocked his body.  Balgorn looked hurt but then tried once more.

Lind then carefully used his Touch to guide the Qi similar to his 6 elemental Art.  The logs flowed in a much better cohesion but they were not cut properly.  It was like stacking a sphere on top of another.  They just wanted to roll off!

"Ha, ha!  You have to prepare them to interconnect.  No amount of Qi makes that happen on its own!"  Lind then spoke about construction and how his Art worked.

He recovered over the next few days until Soltara returned.

She seemed gloomy but smiled when she saw Lind awake.

[I am glad to see you well!  I was concerned.]  She looked vastly different from before.  Lind used his Eyes and was confused.  Balgorn was well polished and under no strain to advance but Soltara was not solidly in the Shard Tier.

He was not too clear on how far but compared to Valkyrie, she felt a lot more powerful.

"What exactly happened?"  Lind was a little foggy due to his condition at the time but he also was simply too far behind Immortals.  He was grasping Laws but only in relation to what he could understand.

Laws were pursued throughout the Immortal Realm.

He was only starting but he had done things in that moment of anger that was far beyond a Heaven Realm.  That Divine Karma had opened a doorway through which Lind comprehended several powerful things.

He just did not understand them yet.

[Hmmm, I think it is safe to speak more openly with you, Lind Frey.]  She quickly isolated them in a way Lind found fascinating.  It was not a Law Array but it was still a use of Laws to keep them safely away from prying ears and eyes.

It was like she created a pseudo Law binding.

[From what we can tell, your cultivation has been taken to the peak of the Heaven Realm but you still have many Laws to comprehend.  Compared to us, you have a much harder road ahead, also…]  She glanced at Balgorn who sighed.

[Progenitor, unlike the others here, my song is more complete.  I know of Divine Karma.  It is not like restitution that is rewarded for acts that heal or help the world or retribution that punish violators of Heaven and Earth.  It is more like compensation for extreme situations.]  Balgorn created a group of spheres.

One was made of mortal Qi, another made of Heaven Qi, Immortal Qi, and then one that was far more vast than the others but simply had a sigil floating in the middle of it.  It was 'Divine.'

[The rules of each realm vary but generally Body Refining to Sky Realm are left to their own paths.  The song is too weak to affect them, yet if a Heaven Realm tried to interfere, they would be punished on the scale only for it.]  Lind grasped it quickly.  He had experienced it after all.

The Immortal human had been shredded by karmic retribution for his vile use of his Inheritance to extend his life.  Killing was not something Heaven and Earth would interfere with but using life to extend beyond the limits of a realm was punished heavily.

Still, he had only been a World Realm.  Why did that not trigger that special karma?

[Immortal Realms, despite their immense power, are still well within the song.  The next stage, however, is not.]  Lind's eyes narrowed as the larger sphere was made to overlap the smaller ones.

The mortal Qi was shattered into nothing while the Heaven and Immortal spheres were disturbed but withstood it.  The Heaven Qi had damage still and now silver light encircled it.

[Divine Realms cannot touch lower realms easily.  A Legacy Path is safest but any direct contact will strain existence.  If a cultivator native acts to stop them or maintain balance, Heaven and Earth offer protection for a time.]  Lind realized what happened.

His bond to Lanbao.  It was not a simple unification like marriage.  That too was likely enough but the scale was different.  Lanbao had been directly connected to him by blood and soul due to being made part of his family.

"So why did it only react when she touched my dantian?"  It was clear his life was in danger yet there had been no reaction but Balgorn shrugged.

[Heaven and Earth are fair.  Until your dream was endangered, there was no reason to act.]  He felt a vein pulse on his head.  So, basically, Divine Karma was tied to his existence.  So long as his life endured, he could recover, or at least it was not affected by that compensation.

"Heart demons?"  He had suffered from one but Soltara was the one that answered.

[Despite the threat, heart demons are part of all life as well.  It is you, if not the true you.]  He felt his mind sink into the revelations but then a part stuck out to him.

"So why was I propelled ahead?  Why not simply defend me?"  Balgorn felt grave all of a sudden.

[Ulta did not learn or heed the warning.  She tried to break a dream which, for us, is anathema.  It is like being a Fiend.]  Lind now realized the truth.

Fiends consumed souls to cultivate and survive.  Natural Qi was converted to Fiend Qi but Elementals did not have souls in the sense of what Fiends needed.  Qi yes, but not souls.  The Soul Core was where they resided and it was useless to Fiends.

To normal cultivators, however, they could be treated as treasures in the world.  In reverse, Elementals could take the dantian directly for their own use!

It was what that Ulta was trying to do!

No wonder that Divine Karma triggered.

[What will you do now, Progenitor?]  Balgorn asked but Lind looked at his floating display before he became cold in front of them.

"I swore to kill the being that took Lanbao from me.  I swore to be Emperor of the Sanctuary Empire until a suitable replacement can be found.  I swore to continue my journey.  I have learned much and it is time to focus on the next step.  I will become an Immortal."  A rumble above made it clear how seriously Lind took his words.

[In that case, be warned.  Blessings come with a counter balance.  Your tribulation will be far worse when you become an Immortal.]  Lind almost laughed.

He already had a harder tribulation ahead due to being a progenitor divine dragon and his 6 elemental path!  What was one more?  He took it seriously but obviously nothing in life was free.

"I will not stop.  I will never yield my path to fear."  Lind bowed and then stood up.  It was time to go home.