Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 839 - 838 - Lord of Souls

Lind slowly came to and was about to demand a reason for being knocked out when his senses told him there had been a change. The density of Qi had skyrocketed and he also felt the Laws were on a level beyond anything he had ever sensed before.

He quickly compared it and confirmed only 1 place in his life matched the Qi density.

"So, I am in the actual Inheritance." He still wanted to know why he had to be knocked out first but then he noticed the physical world around him.

It was not exactly physical. He was in a pale gray space that had no discernable direction or anywhere to go.

He also had no body!

"So, not knocked out. She literally knocked the soul out of my body." He heard his voice which was also damned odd. He had a lot of questions but pushed it aside as he tried to understand what was going on.

He was only his soul but alive. Death would have broken the connection to his sliver but he could still feel it faintly if he focused.

It was an odd sensation. He could speak but it might be his mind simply projecting the notion of a voice.

He could not move nor could he manifest his ephemeral body like he had with his harmony before only to realize his harmony was not there!

He had thought his soul and harmony were one, but it seemed there was a limit or some other rule he was unaware of.

He was unsure how much time had passed nor if time even was passing. What was the point of the Inheritance?

He then tried to use his weaving ability and finally had a result. Sigils began to appear and complex weavings were actually much easier to accomplish. It was as if some restriction had been lifted he did not understand.

[So, a weaver. Interesting. You had remarkable control and calmness for being separated from your body. You also carry the mark of approval from the first trial master so you are in the right place. You also seem to have a ring already. Odd that as you would normally get it after passing the last trial.]

A voice boomed in the space but Lind stayed calm. He manipulated the weavings and finally found something. There was a small node with an intricate formation that made him ache just to look at it.

[Also impressive. You have been taught well and seem to have experienced death several times. You are an interesting candidate.]

The gray space finally changed entirely to a corridor of pulsing crystal. It resonated with his soul and he felt his harmony better than before but it still would not answer his call.

He could, at least, finally move forward but he was a bit tired of having no shape. He did not realize the effort souls put into manifesting themselves as he had witnessed thus far.

Lind concentrated but it was like he was denied the ability to manifest. Irritation finally surfaced and the walls shifted from a white pulsing color to one he was familiar with.

Emerald light began to fill the space around him but the feeling of resistance increased. If he had them, his eyes would be full of rage.

[You cannot defy me here, child. You are strange but my rules are absolute here.] Lind sneered at those words.

It may be a Divine Inheritance but so long as the connection was there, nothing would deny him access to what was his!

He had suffered and fought every inch to gather his cultivation. No one he had encountered from the simplest mortal to the few Divine Realm cultivators knew what to do with him.

Dierdra had no idea how to help him but she often told him his power surprised her for his realm.

The emerald light could not spread far but he did not need it to. He was not trying to wrest control from the owner, he just wanted his damned body!

A flame of emerald suddenly filled the corridor as something shifted. The sigils floating around it flew into it as if waiting and it grew brighter. His soul blazed like a light and a shape finally appeared but it was not a dragon.

It was a human.

Unlike other living souls, it was not shades of white and blue but emerald. The corridor returned to normal, but now an ephemeral Lind Frey stood in it.

He was amazed at how natural it felt to move the body. It was not quite the same in sensation but it was as responsive as flesh and blood.

He felt like he was having to concentrate to keep it solid but otherwise it was not so bad.

"I was right, my harmony and soul are one. Separating them did not work." A whole expanse of ideas came to him at that revelation but he was interrupted by the shaking of the corridor.

He ran and was amazed at his speed. It was like his body had been holding him back all that time and now he was free! The corridor blurred and he saw a portal but it was flickering. He barely jumped through before the corridor collapsed behind him.

[Interesting. Your soul is new to me. That is not an easy thing for me to admit to, but that corridor was to test your soul. Obviously, you passed.]

Lind was growing a bit irritated but now he felt the similarity to the temple tests to what he had just gone through. It was too simple.

"Senior, I have experienced a Divine Inheritance before, but this seems far too simple." He found he could still speak which differed from other souls he had encountered. They always used telepathy in all cases but he wanted to experiment.

Why could he speak?

[You have yet to actually touch a trial. This part of the Tribunal starts with a bit of evaluation and education due to its nature I am sure you grasp by now.]

Lind could only nod as he saw his body blur. If he had to do the trial in his soul body alone, it made sense to carefully measure a trial taker before risking their existence.

"Am I to understand I have met the requirements?" Rather than an answer, he felt his soul strain as pressure was put on it. Emerald light flared and the pressure shattered.

[Now, you are ready, but first, come join me.] A set of stairs appeared and led to a door. It was the same strange pulsing crystal like before.

He carefully examined it but nothing could be perceived at his current realm.

He looked up and found the door was just more of the same but it looked very familiar in design. It was the same as the old dragon's he found in the temple. There was no suspense as the door swung inward at his arrival.

There was a warm fire in a hearth with a low table and cushions around it. A young man was sipping at tea with glimmering hair.

It was a mix of white, blue, and even violet that was loose down his back. His robes covered his broad frame but his skin was nearly translucent.

The colors matched the crystal pulsing all around them.

"Ah, you have set some records. I am the Lord of Souls. I am a nether dragon." A flash of a dragon that had shimmering scales of white, violet, and blue went through Lind's mind. They were massive but topped out at 5 kilometers and had small wings with snake-like bodies.

They were damned rare too from the few materials Lind had accessed but that was due to the fact that they had to nearly die inside their eggs to even exist.

The fact a Divine Realm one sat in front of him was a massive miracle in a way.

"Please, sit. We have a few formalities to cover before you begin." Lind stepped over the threshold and suddenly sat on the floor in front of him.

There was no sense of crossing the room, he just took a step and was there.

"Senior, you called this part of a Tribunal but what is being judged?" A smile crossed the Lord of Souls face but unlike anyone else, Lind actually got answers.

"Do you know about titles for cultivators?" Lind nodded as they were glorified nicknames for the most part. Fey, for instance, was called the Goddess of Life and Death. Her skills did lean into it literally but the title itself was given after the fact.

"Some are just appellations given to worthy or nefarious individuals but like many things, some titles hold a power all their own." The man set the cup down and Lind realized he had not tried to touch the cup in front of him.

He tried to and his hand went right through it. He had to concentrate before he could finally touch the cup but could not lift it.

He looked up to find the Lord of Souls looking at him patiently.

"It takes practice and time to fully control your soul like that. Also, did you not hear what I said?" Lind narrowed his eyes and realized it had slipped off his mind so easily! "Your brain is not here and the soul retains the ability to recall but thinking can be lost if not carefully nurtured. Something to note for the future."

Lind meditated for a time and his thoughts realigned to a more stable pattern.

"Thank you senior, now what titles have power on their own?" A nod came from the Lord of Souls and he then sighed as he seemed to have to consider what to say.

"To put it bluntly, Heaven and Earth recognize certain ranks. If that rank is formally acknowledged or claimed, the Laws of all reality will recognize them. It will give them a level of authority at times depending on which they are. I cannot give many examples as there are risks to using those words even in the current state of the world." The Lord of Souls then summoned a jade slip that projected 2 words separately.

True Lord.

Lind was about to ask when a finger was held up to stop him.

"That is as far as I can reveal to you, but know that what you are about to face can kill you. The first part is recognition of a candidate which you more than passed it seems. Now you must face my part. Take it seriously as there are no second chances." Lind nodded solemnly but before he could say another word, the room vanished and he was back in the gray space he started in.

He was still in his soul body but unlike before, he could feel power building and wondered what was about to happen. He mediated and focused his mind while maintaining his body. Whatever came, he would overcome it. He had no choice.