novelraw Chapter 817 - 816 - Shadowflame Honor
Chapter 817 - 816 - Shadowflame Honor
The world was dying. No one doubted it. By some mercy of Heaven, a swath of the world survived the extinction of the old. At first, as centuries progressed, some hoped they could recover, but the world remained dead beyond a wall of Qi.
Eventually, the edge of the world slowly closed in and it became clear. They had lived, but were still going to die.
The xiezhi were but simple branches of the various clans that had found a place to call home far from the center of the realm. Far too many issues in the central powers and far too much hunting of aether beasts for many to survive.
They also had some relationships with the local powers that carved out a home until the Cataclysm came.
It was only after those cultivating tried to advance that the more critical issue was found out.
Laws were gone or fading fast. Once they were no longer available, most Immortals began to die quickly or could not advance.
Foundations that were once so easy to establish, became pale imitations of the past. Aether beasts were barely manifesting anymore and could only cultivate by consumption.
"Do we believe those foolish idiots that barely escaped from here so easily?" A Star Tier spoke up. He still had his horn coming out of his forehead with wisps of blue flame occasionally encircling it.
His large frame was covered in dark fur or robes that looked like fur. Despite how powerful he looked, his foundation was not stable.
They all suffered from it as they progressed so that not only did it get harder but the stability got worse the farther along they went.
Now, something had changed.
The vile humans remained but the Fiends had been wiped from the world.
"You felt it as much as I did. A dragon is fierce and prideful, but they are honorable beings. If one has asked for us, we will at least speak with them." An old man, hunched over to the point of needing a walking stick was escorted by several young demons around him.
They were children deemed useless but some clans had an agreement to give up those children to the Shadowflame Clan.
"Yes, Honor Master." The group respectfully did not go faster than the old man. They could easily go faster but he could not.
They came upon the main exit for their current lands and found a stunning scene.
The once infirm humans happily trapping and consuming them to try and fix their flawed cultivation or maybe just extend their lives, were all gone.
A wolf from the Goddess' forest to the south, a demon, and a strange man were looking in their direction. The wind brought the scent to their noses but their senses confirmed no other human was alive.
The traps were all gone and fear was in their blood.
The man with emerald hair and eyes was not human but all the bluster and pride they once held fled from them.
The old man looked excited as the demon children had to stop him from going too fast. He no longer had the strength to move fast. The stick glanced off a stone but before anyone else could move, the man was there catching their Honor Master gently.
"There is no need to rush, I am pleased to meet you as well. Please, allow me." An emerald light suddenly surrounded the old man and a look of relief passed over his wrinkled visage.
His faded robes actually seemed to regain their luster and tears formed in many eyes as other, younger beasts brayed in joy as the old man was able to stand fully erect without the aid of the walking stick!
"Come, join me." The man waved his hands and the earth rumbled to create chairs and a table. While many had seen masters of earth create structures before, these were pristine and seemed as they had been crafted!
"Great Lord! You do not judge us for being demonic?" Many of the xiezhi prepared for a reaction but shock flooded them as demonic Qi danced around the man with natural Qi! He could use both?! How?!
"It is just Qi, a part of the world. It has effects like all the others. You could say I became a student of all the Qi in the world." The smile in the tanned face stood out. A tea set was summoned but then many cups appeared.
"I don't have a cup from this set for everyone, but I have quite a few." He turned back. "Gel, please help me."
The demoness bowed and began to carry trays to the group. There were only 20 of them with 7 demons of their own. None were excluded and the tea smelled wonderful.
The Sky Realm and blow xiezhi were given dishes they could lap up from as well as the tea seemed to appeal to them as well!
"Lord Dragon–" He held up his hand and smiled.
"I am called Lind Frey. While I am an Immortal Dragon, I am no lord here. I have no territory of my own. I am a wanderer." The man that wore such simple gray robes gave off a far more powerful aura than a simple wanderer.
His Immortal power was undeniable and the Laws were thick around him and not fading at all!
The old man could just make them out with his peak Sun Tier ability.
"I thank you for your great service to us, Lord Frey." Lind sighed but did not choose to die on that particular hill.
"I acted for my own reasons but I was also coming to speak with your clan." All of them tensed a bit at that. What could an Immortal dragon want with them?
The Honor Master turned to the demoness but he looked confused as he stroked his wispy beard.
"Would it be due to this odd demoness with you? She feels like she has the Pledge Blood within her but she is not corrupted as I would expect." Lind nodded and explained a great deal.
The fact he was an ascender was hard to believe but the Honor Master knew it was true. Nothing else could explain such a perfect foundation but such a lack of the pride their race memory told them to expect from dragons.
Still, the demoness next to him was an anomaly hard to argue with. She was a full grown adult in the Sky Realm, not the Nightfall Realm.
Such a demon no longer existed since the Cataclysm.
"It does. Her physique is being sealed by your blood and something I have never seen before. Is it related to you calling it Pledge Blood?" The Heaven Realm beasts became uncomfortable but the Honor Master nodded without pause.
"Little Vi, please come here." A tiny demon girl came forward. She bowed low but then the Honor Master patted her dark green hair as a crimson glow appeared.
Surprise showed on Lind's face as demons did not have red blood. The xiezhi had demonic Qi but not the same blood.
The crimson blood seemed to condense around the girl until sigils began to appear in them!
"It is a delicate process but only requires 3 things. One is, of course, 2 demons of the same family. The second part is a child like Little Vi here that we have engraved the Pledge into. It is a weaving that slowly transforms the blood to accept our own. The final thing is for our clan to have an obligation to another to be worthy of our pledge." Lind seemed to become grave as he clearly saw all the other 3 Heaven Realms were looking disconcerted by such a closely guarded secret being spoken in the open.
"Gel, does your family have a legend you did not tell me about?" She shook her head but the old man laughed.
"They would not tell anyone but the head or next head of the family. It is not something they are any longer proud of but still accept our help to save their gifted children." Lind nodded. "Over a billion years ago, there was a great hunt for our race. I do not just mean our demonic variety, but all xiezhi."
Lind narrowed his eyes.
"Was this tied to a dragon hunt?" The old man nodded.
"There are always humans who believe they can take our special gifts or simply want to wipe us out as we inconvenience their ambitions. My race has always been sought out as the final justice of the cultivation world." Lind nodded at that as well.
"In our most desperate moment, several demon clans banded together to save us. Back then, they were brutal but honorable warriors. We swore the pledge to always be there if needed to give justice without any question." The old man sat back in the chair.
Many of them looked solemn or bowed at the mention of that ancient pledge.
"Even if that clan falls, you keep the Pledge?" It was a normal question and the Honor Master nodded.
"So long as their requests did not violate justice, we would not dissolve the pledge. They honestly learned to use the blood to protect their babies from execution. To save a true innocent life is honorable. What they do with that life is their decision alone." All nodded at the words.
"Can it be undone?" Shock flowed through the crowd but the Honor Master held up his hand to stop them from shouting.
"You would have us break the pledge?" Lind shook his head.
"I would ask you to restore a choice to one who has had to hide who they are. Further, I suspect I will come across others that have had to make hard choices to survive in this crumbling world. They should be able to find a way back to their true selves." An emerald flame appeared in the air as 6 natural elements danced around it.
Primary elements! They were all primary elements in strength!
"I am a 6 elemental afterall. I know what it is like to have to scrape a path for yourself." The xiezhi knew of 6 elementals only by their race memory but all of them knew few in any made it to the Gold tier in mortal realms and no farther.
Yet now, one sat in front of them as an Immortal!
"Dragon soul?" Lind nodded at the Honor Master's question.
All the xiezhi instantly bowed low. A dragon soul was a human that was recognized by both Heaven and the ancestors of the dragons! It was one of the near impossible chances a human could grasp to change their path entirely without suffering deviation!
"We shall help you, Honored Progenitor." Lind smiled and they began to talk.