novelraw Chapter 889 - 888 - Temple of Fire
Chapter 889 - 888 - Temple of Fire
The trip north was a bit bland as the Endless Plains were appropriately named. The Temple of Souls had no direct connection at all as it was always about the journey for True Lord. Now, with all the wide open and empty land, it was merely a measure of months.
The new ship did not have the speed of the Wings of Freedom, but it was faster than the Nautilus Class. He had not yet named it as it was its true maiden voyage and he was putting it through the ringer.
He tested ascension, diving, turning quickly, and even deploying sails for the only forward momentum.
That last one was due to how the power worked. Unlike the Nautilus, it did not strictly absorb all it needed from outside but had a cultivator moderate it.
Lind had found a way to use his harmony to energize the core to initiate the power flow. Rather than use multiple harmony crystals, he simply used 1 and his own harmony.
The 2 interacted to process Qi and Laws to power the ship. He then had to periodically adjust the flows manually so it was closer to an artifact than a stand alone vessel like the other 2.
Aside from that, however, the rest of the functions closely resembled a ship at sea. Currents of Qi carried them along as much as the wind.
The rest of the functions were limited compared to either predecessor but it flew and worked.
The ship creaked as a ship at sea would but was otherwise silent. He and Ilyria spoke about all the leads they had on her mother.
To be frank, it was damned little. The area to the far north east would not be far once they left the Temple of Fire.
It was a strange area as apparently it was made of crystalline metals and stone that looked almost like ice with pits locked inside.
The few records spoke of something possibly being out there but was never confirmed. The only thing they both confirmed was that there had been a sighting of a massive black shelled tortoise that had been sighted many times over several million years.
Whether that was her mother or not was a matter up for debate as there could be more of their race alive there. Even after 1000 years, no one had made their way out that far yet.
Another function of his vessel was a jade slip inscription for mapping. He would create a high capacity jade slip and insert it into a slot on a panel that would then automatically record the topography below them.
So far as the Endless Plains, much of it was just empty grasslands that had some signs of forests forming.
It would take much longer for the more powerful environment to allow them to flourish. He was curious why aether beasts and children had not appeared more but they had only come to be near population centers of the races.
It made it clear that the process was heavily influenced by living beings that impacted the environment.
Thus, they were just left to their own devices to cultivate or have small discussions over the simple meals packed away on the ship.
At one point, Elementals had come flying down from above to look them over but they never exceeded the World Realm. They were a curiosity to the young Elementals.
Lind could communicate with them a little but their capacity was limited.
Eventually, they finally came across some dense forests that had somehow survived. A few days of investigations revealed the Ruins of a former Divine Inheritance. They had protected much smaller areas due to this but they had survived.
Most of the beasts were only at the Star Tier at best but there were some he had never seen before.
One looked like a mix between rodents and worms with how it easily dug through the earth and ran on the surface.
Another had vulture features but scales instead of feathers!
They feared him but he was able to communicate and even gave them some pointers. Their food sources were very precarious so he also showed them where to go if they needed to trade.
It was only after 7 months moving directly north that the surface went through a massive change.
A giant cut in the earth revealed a vibrant valley of water, jungle trees, and mostly reptilian forms of life. It was also heavily poisonous!
Several Sacred Paths exits were apparent but nothing else they could find. The reptiles essentially worshiped him like a God.
Dragons were basically the supreme existence to them.
They were thrilled by all the news they brought and quickly made plans to make a pilgrimage to the temples.
After that it was a full year before large shapes appeared in the skies with them. They were birds at first but then massive sinuous shapes with dark scales dominated everything.
They had no wings but their size was massive. They were easily bigger than Lind at his current maximum size so he knew they were Immortal dragons! The powerful auras swept their vessel several times but none stopped them as they progressed past them.
He knew they likely informed the temple of his coming but the lack of reaction was odd. Any dragon he had met since becoming a True Lord, even if they only thought him a candidate, made a point of speaking or acknowledging him.
These dragons, however, ignored him.
He did not try to investigate as he wanted to get to wherever they were coming from.
It took another 3 months before the surface changed to something very familiar.
A vast stretch of land suddenly became an ancient forest and a mountain rose up at its center! It towered into the sky but he could see structures carved into it.
The feeling of being near a Divine Inheritance just barely registered as well.
"The Temple of Fire, led by the Ash Monks." Ilyria spoke up as she joined him in the control room.
The Temple of Souls was led by the High Priestess but the Temple of Fire was led by 5 Ash Monks. They were not named randomly either as each dragon was an ancestor of their clans. Each clan was supposedly extremely powerful flame users of unique flames.
The ash part of the name came from the obvious result of flames.
The 5 monks were not well known to him as the records at the Temple of Souls had strangely vague references to them past that little he knew.
He saw the entire mountain made up the temple but then he saw the clouds part and realized it was not a mountain at all.
"A volcano. That seems like an important detail they could have mentioned." The ship began to vibrate as he felt resistance to their progress. It was odd as he had already chosen to land outside the visible perimeter but something was pushing them away.
He infused more of his harmony to see if there was an issue but he found everything operating perfectly.
He then stretched his senses and found several auras projecting a solid push of air, light, and water to make the very sky ahead of them more solid. He sneered as while it would be effective against any other cultivator, it had no such issue against him.
Rather than trying to control the Qi ahead, he focused on the natural flow of air streams and began to enhance them with his Storm Arts.
In very little time the solidified obstruction could not hold together as the stronger air currents overpowered the artificial construct like it was paper.
They began to move forward swiftly until they reached the outer wall of the temple. He found an open clearing and set down.
It then became clear the residents of the temple were displeased at his defiance but he did not care. Petty shows of power were wastes of time.
The pair disembarked and found ancient trees towering not far from the wall they landed by.
"They are aware." Ilyria noted that there was a gentle presence coming from them. Lind bowed low and she followed suit.
"Junior greets seniors." His voice came out as a mixture of growls and heavy breaths that would make no sense to anyone else, not even other beasts, but the trees swayed in happiness.
Ilyria was stunned as she had never heard of Lind speaking to plants!
[True Lord, your work to restore the Celestial Realm is beyond our ability to repay.] A voice that had more impressions and emotions came to them both but they grasped the gist.
Before they could continue the conversation, a shadow covered the air above them as a dragon looked down in anger at them.
[Intruders! How dare you desecrate our Temple?!] A male voice boomed but before Ilyria could react, a massive emerald light flared as an ephemeral claw formed and grasped the dragon by the neck.
He was then slammed into the ground but without damaging the wall or any plant!
"I do not recall a Heaven Realm being allowed to disrespect an Immortal let alone the Shard Tier seniors around us. Apologize while I am in a merciful mood." Lind spoke calmly as if he had not just openly attacked the massive dragon!
Ilyria saw he had dark brown scales that shimmered in the sunlight but his tan eyes bulged in anger yet surprise as he could not break free! She then confirmed he was only a Star Tier!
How could a Heaven Realm feel as powerful as an Immortal to her?!
Once more, the sky went dark as 3 more dragons appeared. They were gold, black, and violet but all were massive and powerful Heaven Realms that seemed ready to attack.
Before a word was said, however, 3 more emerald limbs slammed them into the ground with ease. Despite being in human form, Lind now easily held the powerful dragons like they were toddlers!
[I am Lind Frey, True Lord of the Dragons. Someone in charge get over here before I lose my patience.] Lind sent out a message before bowing low to the trees in apology who seemed to accept it.
The 4 dragons' eyes bulged in shock at his words before angrily roaring at him only to be stunned that no flames came! They could not move their Qi!
"You should all relax and calm down until an adult arrives. I am here for the final part of the Inheritance I have to face." He then calmly sat down as he maintained his arms and Ilyria stood next to him as they waited for an authority to arrive.
Their introduction to the Temple of Flames was not exactly going as planned.