Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 894 - 893 - The Other Side

The Temple of Fire had left a bad taste in Lind's mouth. While he had experienced prideful cultivators before, he realized he had been quite lucky that his status as an elixir master often shielded him from the worst of it.

He suspected that would still be the case with humans and demons but beasts had little care for it. Pill, elixirs, and other professions were not really pertinent save as life saving measures. Even then, it was usually only those races that favored their young to live that would use them.

Even in the Immortal realms, the aether beasts lived by the rules of survival of the fittest. If one died, then they died.

Still, he was not much better in his own response. His anger may have been justified but it was not a carte blanche permission to have his way. He saw the consequences of his actions due to how quickly he tried to resolve his needs and move on.

He had to improve and look farther ahead than the immediate conflict.

"It was not your fault, Uncle." A voice snapped him out of his reverie. Ilyria was looking at him in concern. "You were in the right. That being was–"

He held up his hand to stop her.

"Right or not, I truly did not consider the consequences. I even faced a trial on that very subject but I seem to have become quite self conceited. I assuaged my guilt by creating that bloodline treasure for them." She hugged him suddenly and he could only smile.

Neither were wrong and neither were entirely right either. The gray area would kill most people to truly pick it apart but he could do better, and he would.

Their voyage was spent talking about both their gains. Ilyria had made excellent progress in not only comprehending Laws of Fire but in overcoming her race's weakness.

She was still vulnerable but she could mitigate to a vast degree better than before.

It was impressive as a display of her potential.

They passed over more of the Endless Plains north as they headed for the very edge of the realm. They needed to get some landmarks to help them orient their course as Lind had no cheat of sensing dragons to guide them.

They had gone far beyond any explored area since the realm had been freed from the Realm Refiner.

Lind had only been able to reach the areas near where he first arrived at the ascension pools that had reconnected near the Alliance. Teleportation arrays were the only way to cover such a vast distance as his ship took years at its incredible speed to cross from near the center to the Temple of Fire.

Several more months passed and he began seriously considering where to hold his tribulation for the next tier. He would be the first 6 elemental by far to become a Shard Tier. His understanding had helped many 6 elementals progress but they were moving at a snail's pace compared to him.

Most cultivators were, but he only had Ethry even close to him with 6 primary elements. The more time passed, the more he saw the stark difference between her elements and 6 elementals.

She had 6 primary elements but he had begun to suspect that was related to his harmony nurturing her egg so long ago.

A dragon in the Celestial Fields could have all 6 elements at birth but all being primary was unheard of.

Ethry still hailed from her heritage and her parents' souls had gushed at not only her but their first grandchild.

Still, they were stunned to learn she had 6 primary elements that had him revisit many of his theories not only on her but himself.

It gave him a bit of wisdom to explore but not as much as other discoveries. It was only as he approached the Shard Tier that it shifted back to be helpful.

The key to his advancement, like so many other times, was tied to his harmony. He felt like a very thin bottleneck was holding him back.

The way most Immortals described it to him, the threshold to the Shard Tier would suddenly rush over him but few could figure out when it would come upon them. It was like the sliver was about to shatter open any moment yet it could take a hundred thousand years.

The half step status was far more powerful than the peak Sliver Tier but also could suddenly endanger an area if it cracked open in the midst of a city!

As he cultivated, he noted the demarcation from the wide open plains to the outer lands. A massive forest of varying ages finally came in range of the ship's detection arrays. It was a perfectly smooth line extending off to either side to the horizon.

"We have found the other side of the world." He smiled at Ilyria but she was cultivating deeply and heard nothing. He then flew around but it was fairly barren compared to what their maps had marked on them.

Much like the area he arrived in over 1050 years ago, the effects on the world were vastly disorganized. Some areas were vibrant and alive with a Sacred Path exit but others were so devastated as to only barely start to recover.

It took the better part of the day before a waterfall came into range. It was a rather large one but that was not the only thing that drew his eye. It was the first floating landmass he had seen since arriving in the Celestial Fields.

It was barely lifted from the surface but he could perceive through the ship artifacts the ore and crystal resources causing it to float. The water was amazingly pure and poured into a deep ravine that had ruins all around it.

He carefully reviewed the map before he became gloomy.

"Rejuvenation Falls, a center of healing and alchemy." He found it but not all of it. There had been a massive city. It was once a center for that side of the Celestial Fields for powerful grade 7 alchemists and cultivation Arts that excelled at healing.

They were not a supreme power but were protected by several. The Celestial Fields were too massive for a single power to rule like it did in the lower realms.

The Heaven Realm lands had a handful long ago but the war had broken the world essentially in half.

It had broken those monopolies and it was likely to never recover given the history of the Alliance. They had been forced to become very self-sufficient but there was a power he found amusing that could become such a power.

The Sanctuary Empire, his own creation, could very well rise to become the central authority of pills, elixirs, and other support items in the Heaven Realm lands.

Now, he looked at a similar power that might have risen in the current circumstances, but was now just dust and broken buildings. He lowered their height but no humans, demons, or any race lived there. A few beasts did live but the highest cultivation was a Sky Realm.

He locked the ship in place above the ravine and confirmed the power levels were fine before stepping out.

He flew down and most beasts scattered just from getting a whiff of his scent. He saw hawks, deer, and a few other quite normal beasts. It showed that the world must have been mostly barren in that area until the Qi was freed up.

Still he looked up at the floating mass and scanned it with his Eyes and Touch but nothing was obstructed. Nothing survived from over a million years ago.

He then dove down to the most complete structure. It was a very broad square building open to the sky but the walls and several smaller structures still glowed with weak formations.

The doors were barely intact but their defenses were still working. He studied them carefully to try and determine their function.

The rooms were not very big beyond them so they could be storage but the security was very high for that. It might be for very valuable resources but then why so many on one wall?

The dust was extremely thick in the open area but near the formations it was clear. He examined the dust and narrowed his eyes.

"Human remains." They had turned to dust long ago but settled. It meant they were mortals. Why had so many died there with no cultivators at all? A Heaven Realm or Immortal Realm would leave behind bones at least even after all that time passed.

Lower realm cultivators also might leave behind something but he could no longer tell if the dust was them or not.

He then looked sad as he realized what happened.

"Qi explosion. They were dense sources of Qi in a barren atmosphere and were ripped apart." He revised what he was looking at. They had literally blown apart but then why was the waterfall still floating?

The same principle should have applied.

He then focused on the flora right next to or below the waterfall floating landmass were much older and stronger compared to the areas around him. Luck was a fickle thing it seemed.

The city had lost all its Qi and Laws but the waterfall retained enough to endure. How fast had it been? It had to be too fast for any cultivator to react as none were within a thousand kilometers.

He returned to the strange rooms and saw the black stone door was only held together by the formation itself. If it was gone, it would have collapsed long ago.

He brushed his hand over it and was stunned that it just fell apart like gossamer webs! The door turned to dust and revealed a shocking object inside the room!

It was a sarcophagus but it hummed with powerful Qi emanations!

What was that?!