Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 860 - 859 - Dry Dock

The storm of chaos unleashed on the clan heads spread to the temple. It was almost overnight that one revelation after another spread like wildfire.

The former slum of the hybrids had been somehow transformed into a lovely section of the grounds with homes for each family and room to spare. It did not even take up more space as instead of the organic setup from before, it was now far more orderly.

The resources were basic, but comfortable.

The Scale Shelled Clan lost all of their hybrids as well. Several dragons left but only a handful.

The vast majority had little in common but 3 days after the storm had gone over the temple lands, a new phenomenon began.

A solid column of white light appeared for 4 whole days until it vanished. No one was allowed to go near it without permission but once it was over, many noticed the already sparse population had become even thinner.

One noticeable person missing was the gorgeous young woman of pale gold skin and boundless joy.

Hope was gone and none knew where but a few looked up and nodded. She had gone back to the side of her companion but where that was for sure, no one knew.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

In the vast stretch of sky far above the Temple of Souls land, a structure floated among rich Immortal Qi and Laws. It had a sprawling skeletal layout of 18 spheres interconnected to a main hub that shot up like a mountain.

The top was opened up with a platform open to the air. A shimmering bubble surrounded it all as sigils and Laws flowed in a wonderful dance to protect it all.

Esmerelda was standing to the side of the complex weaving laid into the center of the lowest floor of the main structure.

Her companions had chosen not to help the strange man that flew up to them 20 years ago. They had been curious as the structure was built but they held little hope for it.

The glow made her smile as a stunning young woman appeared with several other humans. She could also detect a few dragons.

"This way! Follow me, please" Esmerelda called to them and all felt her peak Shard Tier aura. Many bowed but the young woman with pale gold skin smiled wide before quickly running around her.

"So pretty!" Esmerelda smiled at her but more began to arrive in quick succession. She assigned quarters quickly as Lind had left clear instructions how to allocate who arrived.

Humans were unexpected but likely more survivors from the outer edges of the world. The dragons she could pick apart easily enough and their quarters were prepared by type.

It took days before Lind finally appeared and touched a bracelet on his left wrist. The glow of the weaving dimmed instantly.

"Lady Esmerelda, thank you for your assistance." He cupped his hands and bowed to her. She waved it off with a smile.

"You got more than planned but there is plenty of room. Also, the Seeds started glowing 2 days before the first batch arrived as planned. What does that mean?" Lind smiled but then closed his eyes.

She let him scan the structure before he nodded happily.

"It means they have begun the cycle of growth and rejuvenation. It will still take time before being self-sustaining, but it is a good start." Lind seemed excited but then he calmed down and looked around as a few dragons and humans had stuck around.

"Feel free to settle into your rooms. A lot of work is ahead and believe me, it will be a trying experience." The young woman tugged on his robes but all he did was pat her head. "If you have any questions, you can find me at the top floor above the storage areas."

They all bowed and went back into the halls leading to their rooms.

"Did they not come back?" Esmerelda nodded at his question but he sighed but accepted it. "Hope, come and see what I have done."

The young woman smiled and followed after him. Esmerelda followed as she was curious too.

"Big Brother, what is this place and how does it fly?" The innocence in her voice drew the old Elemental in but Lind laughed at her questions.

"It is called a dry dock essentially although I have added a few features unrelated to what I need. I figured if I was making people help me, they should get some benefits. I may have neglected to mention that to the clan heads though." He smiled as the young woman laughed next.

"And how are we in the sky?" Esmerelda was a bit curious about that as well as their location exceeded the limit of Sliver Tiers normally. Once a connection was made, it could be used to bypass it, but no landmasses survived the Cataclysm.

They had all fallen down and taken many with them.

"It is actually similar to how the Nautilus worked originally. I still had to modify it, but for a stationary object, I found a workaround that allowed for a fixed object to float on streams of Laws and Qi together. The power issues are the same, however. I can't power it passively, but floating effects I can do." It made no sense to her but Hope seemed to understand.

"You used the song to carry the weight?" Esmerelda nearly stumbled. That was exactly how an Elemental would talk!

"Not exactly. I fixed our location by anchoring to the surface and reversing gravity at first, then lightened the load with similar weavings throughout the dry dock. After that, I used a buffer shield to absorb and dissipate the flow of air and other forces up here. It also keeps the pressure and air stable inside of it." Immortals were not bothered by such issues but as the girl was a Heaven Realm, it was a prudent choice by Lind to protect the inhabitants.

They quickly reached the outer wall of the steel gray corridors. They were quite wide at nearly 5 meters across and 10 meters high. It was to allow dragons to move in their natural form a bit if they chose but only to a limit.

There were hatches set at intervals to exit the central tower to the tubes connecting to the spheres. Each doorway had elemental symbols to show what spheres could be reached directly from them but ultimately each tunnel connected to each other to further support the structure.

The bright sunshine blinded the woman but then she made sounds of awe and joy as she ran along the handrails on either side of the passage. Unlike the corridors, the tunnels were larger in size.

The paths were 10 meters across but the tunnels were 20 meters in diameter. It would allow for a much more comfortable size for the dragons.

Hope was allowed to look down at the clouds below and the bright blue sky above. There were thin areas in the clouds where a solid flow of Qi was visible to the naked eye.

It was the dome shape Qi made over the devastated area.

"It is amazing!" Hope shouted and it echoed back at them from the tunnels. Lind snapped his head up and laughed.

"I forgot to account for echoes. Oh well." He shrugged his shoulders as he began to lead them down the straight path. Several intersections came and went 3 times before they came to one of the spheres.

Compared to the central tower, the spheres were not very big, but the spheres were different from the rest of the structure.

Complex weavings covered each surface and the feeling of space was weird near them. The interface between the outer world and the spheres made it clear space had been heavily manipulated inside them.

Hope ran up and saw 3 wavy lines above a large hatch. Crystals glowed to the right with numbers and a display happily glowing at them.

Lind walked up and manipulated a few controls with his Qi to see how things were going.

"Space has stabilized at 50 kilometers capacity. Good and better than I expected, definitely." He smiled before hovering his hand over a panel tilted outward from the wall. It glowed for a moment before a hiss and crack was heard.

The moisture in the air jumped but the door pulled inward before rolling to the side and a vista was revealed inside it.

Water in all its forms existed inside Esmerelda's senses. She felt gigantic ice mountains floating on currents of air with oceans having storms rage over them. The Laws and Qi were at about the peak of the Heaven Realm but getting stronger.

Hope stood still as her eyes seemed to become unfocused before she shook her head and stepped inside. Lind sighed and followed her with Esmerelda not far behind.

She felt peace was over her.

A world of water was all around but that was not all. Islands were everywhere with herbs that thrived in such an environment. Time was the same inside and out so it had only been a decade since the spheres were created.

"How did you make all this, Big Brother?" Hope sounded strange but he did not react much to it.

"It is more about setting up a foundation and letting it build from there. Herbs, crystals, treasures, and a few more things to start it. In reality, all I did was build a sphere to contain it and invert the space." Lind spoke as if it was a simple thing but even Esmerelda had never heard of such a thing.

"It takes time and I do not have a grasp on the Laws of time to safely manipulate even on this relatively simple scale. In a century or so, it should be able to become Immortal level. The Qi and Laws pulled in resonate as it improves. If the sphere can withstand the strain, it will be a good place to cultivate." Lind spoke as he tested the water, ice, and other resources they could perceive.

"There were 18 spheres, right?" Hope still sounded strange but Lind finally sighed and turned to her.

"Yes but 6 of them are far behind the rest. I am doing what I can with them." Esmerelda had wondered about that but this was the first time she was inside one of the spheres. "Anyway, I see it is in good shape. Let's get settled."

He grabbed her hand and she turned stiffly to follow as if she was not really seeing the world. Esmerelda was unsure why he was not worried but after a moment she blinked and was back to her childlike state.

Many questions formed but she swallowed them as they left. The door made a solid thunk as it went back into place and sealed it shut.

The trio went back to the tower and she looked forward to what the next years would bring!