Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 837 - 836 - Divine Temple

The area of life was rather large but compared to even the crumbling, it was just a drop in the bucket. Even so, it was massive on par with Cimmeria and a bit larger.

The pure white square structure was where he had started but he could see with his Eyes that to the east was where the Sacred Paths opened up.

The flow of Qi was slowly moving that way but what he could not figure out was what protected the place from destruction.

He saw only a few other structures cut into the small mountains but it was mostly left wild with dragons everywhere but again, he got the feeling it was meant for far more than the numbers he was seeing.

"So even here, the Cataclysm still exacts its toll." Lind mumbled has Hope looked around in more awe now that he was clearly ok and not in danger.

"It was not the Cataclysm that reduced our numbers. It was Fiends and their human or demon allies that initiated a great hunt for all divine beasts. The greedy took the opportunity to join them even if not aligned as we became too thinly spread to stop all fronts." The acolyte spoke but Lind frowned.

"How long before the Cataclysm did that occur?" The acolyte paused on the cobblestone path. He was unsure why but they seemed irritated at his question.

"They have always hunted us." They turned but he grabbed their shoulder and his serious look seemed to convey something. "It increased roughly a thousand years before according to the record."

They shrugged off his hand but his eyes narrowed. A thousand years allowed a lot to happen if people were distracted.

Yet it begged another. Just what required such a long distraction in a massive place like the Celestial Fields?

He continued to walk up the street and saw vendors once more but now he kept an eye on the skies in case a dragon descended suddenly. Hope smiled and laughed as she pointed at the many things she did not recognize.

While he was surprised at a few, like vials of blood, the tooth and claw items made far more sense. Unlike humans, dragons could regrow both given time.

Scales showed up on rolls of cloth or leather as well but again, something dragons could restore given time.

He noted a few shops as well but a question began to form in his mind.

"Why are their human shops here but no humans or aether children?" The dragons, or any race, when transformed could form their robes of their hide. In the case of dragons it would be excess scales that thus could be controlled by their will.

It was simple designs as far as he had encountered but Ethry never desired to have anything but her scale forged robes. They were pieces of clothing but no one could mimic them yet here he saw a few shops with robes that were made of scales of various dragons.

The acolyte paused again but in true confusion.

"There have never been humans here. Aether children may take sanctuary but only until they can leave. No other beasts are welcome here." He glanced at Hope but they had no reaction. Still, it made him angry at how closed off they were.

Not because they were closed off, but likely why they had to be.

"My apologies, I simply have no reference for what I am seeing. I am from the Heaven Realm lands." The acolyte bowed and then paused once more.

"While humans are not welcome, we often interact with them and found merit in their ideas. Thus a market like this was born. It allows both trade and a place to sell treasures we have no use for to those that might." He nodded and they moved on.

Once more, a towering structure came into view at the heart of it all but now that he took a good look, Lind froze.

The moss covered dark stone had a taller central area with rounded channels coming down them until square areas stretched out in all 4 cardinal directions. He also saw something glowing at the top of each roof but his eyes could not bring it into focus.

"Divine Inheritance." He suddenly felt a blade at his neck. He had not even seen the acolyte move!

"Never say that again. Cease all delays and follow me." It was only at that moment he saw the partially transformed face of a woman under the hood. Her aura was still hidden but he would guess she was only a Star Tier.

Lind was about to speak when a feeling passed through him. A part of his memory he could not access well before came back.

"Lord Skinwalker could hide inside the Wrath of Heaven but this place was saved by whoever owns that one?" The name left his lips as he grasped something. A Divine Inheritance was not restricted by the rules of the realm they were in but he understood at last how the temple protected the area he stood in.

It was far beyond the power used to kill the Celestial Fields.

Shock crossed her face before a string of metal and crystal was held up to him. It glowed faintly in green and tan.

"You have inherited 2 Divine Inheritances?!" Now he was confused. Two? What was the second one?

He recalled all the Ruins, Relics, and special realms he had faced but none of them save Lord Skinwalker's were Divine level.

His confusion was clear but the acolyte tilted her head before bowing and walking away. It was clear she was told not to ask or say anymore by the grim look on her face.

They walked up and he saw how massive the stone temple was and began to see more intricate designs hidden under the moss.

He felt the age was impossible to gauge as it felt far more solid just as the entrance to Skinwalker's had been.

He then froze as a familiar sensation washed over his skin. Hope smiled warmly.

"The song is louder here!" She stopped and Lind could only shake his head as her cultivation progressed about halfway through the Moon Tier right then.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked around in great interest but Lind covered her face suddenly.

"That is enough, consolidate what you have before any further advancement." It was a real danger as she could still suffer deviation for going to fast and she had progressed too much from what he could see.

She pouted but nodded.

They came to a smooth path of only dirt but it was as solid as stone as they ascended to a wide set of dark stone steps. Unlike the main building, they were swept clean and had 2 massive dragon statues at either side as guardians.

One was a ryuu and the other was a western dragon with its wings kept close. They were easily 15 to 20 meters tall but both were coiled up as well so they could be much longer.

He also felt like their eyes moved as they approached but nothing happened until he put his first foot on the steps. Gravity increased slightly and he saw the acolyte ascend without pause but then Hope went past him as well.

Only he felt something.

A chagrined smile crossed his lips as he took the next step and gravity began to increase but also pressure on his sliver.

He almost wanted to laugh as neither were much of an impediment. He got about a quarter of the way up when he realized he suddenly no longer felt the acolyte nor Hope anymore.

The steps now also were shrouded in fog ahead and behind.

"Well, that is more of a twist." He sighed and continued to ascend the steps as pressure built on both the sliver and his body but he just breezed up until an impossible number of steps had passed and he was still in the fog.

By then, any human or normal beast would be crushed to paste or had their dantian destroyed. He began to wonder if he had misinterpreted the point of the test.

Still, he wanted to know. How much could he take?

It felt like days passed and finally he had to slow down. It had to be thousands of times normal gravity and the pressure on his sliver actually made it creak.

If he was to try to give a measurement to that pressure, it would be entire planets' worth in capacity. In other words, the gravity was far in excess of the aura which made him curious.

"The odds of reaching such an exact balance in attack seems unlikely. It is more likely I really am missing a factor here." The pressure was testing him but it was also likely a distraction or stressor to push him to find a solution before it exceeded his ability to progress.

He racked his brain for what would be tied to punishing his body and sliver at the same time but then he laughed.

He let his draconic aura flare like a sun until the pressure tried to fight back and it was trampled beneath his aura like it was nothing. He then took one step and the fog vanished to find himself at the top of the steps under a bright sunlit day.

Hope was looking confused as she seemed to not know what happened but the acolyte was staring at him with the scent of fear clearly coming off of her.

"Shall we go?" Lind was not winded at all but he carefully examined the steps yet could not perceive how that little trial had occurred. The acolyte seemed aware of what happened but Hope did not. He added it to the list of questions he was forming.

He hoped to finally get some answers soon as they entered the massive archway in the dark stone as they headed inside.