Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 909 - 908 - Time and Tribulation

Lind piloted the ship across the skies over the Endless Plains. It had been a few weeks since Feng had joined them but she was withdrawn. He had Ilyria try to talk to her but there was no luck there.

The spear, he now knew as Starlight, had regressed quite a bit due to its time in the phoenix prison.

Spirit tools needed to be nurtured but if left without an honor they can endure for quite a long time on their own. However, if their owner actually goes mad, they can sacrifice their own strength trying to save the owner.

Starlight had lost a lot trying to help Feng.

Thankfully, Lind had spent the last 1000 years mastering spirit tools and weapons for his family. He had not met the same standard as Protean that he had created first yet he had learned a great deal.

The damage to the spirit was clear to him and he used his Laws and Qi to repair what he could. The power of the spear was already frightening but with the spirit repaired he truly appreciated how much difference that made.

He gained some insights but would need his full facility to practice.

The clouds were white and large as they flew through them when Feng came onto the command deck. She looked pale and thin but there was more life in her color shifting eyes.

"This artifact is amazing craftsmanship." She ran a hand on one of the wooden beams above her head. He smiled and nodded before tossing Starlight to her.

She caught it and then froze in shock.

"You repaired it?!" He shook his head.

"I would not dare to claim I repaired it. I healed the spirit as best I could without causing any issues. As for my ship, it is not a single artifact but many built for a purpose." He then demonstrated how there were gathering artifacts and others that allowed the ship to operate independently from his input once commands were entered.

She enjoyed learning and asked many questions until a mountain came into view showing the landscape below.

She was shocked to see the flat lands for as far as the displays could show her.

"It really was all destroyed. The shining islands of Mirrodin. The kingdoms of the 7 king alliance and all the rest. All gone." He let her absorb the images quietly as Ilyria now came up to join them.

The pair watched over the phoenix as she took it all in.

"Tell me everything." Lind began with all he knew and the long million year war in the Heaven Realm lands.

He talked about the various discoveries he had upon arrival and the Realm Refiner. The last 1000 years too covered a lot of things.

She sat there and held onto Starlight tightly. Tears fell but she did not run away.

"My world is gone. All I knew is gone. Those bastards!" The spear seemed to cry out but restrained its aura from damaging the ship.

"If it would help, I have some questions about what happened when I took you from the phoenix prison." Feng slowly nodded and took a deep breath to clear her heart.

She then looked at Starlight before smiling a bit and caressing it. The spirit was growing stronger again and hopefully it could speak again one day.

"The phoenix prison does 3 things. It creates a timeless space to isolate a phoenix from using their Laws innately. Without Time, a phoenix can lose half their strength." Lind nearly balked at that since their fight nearly destroyed him without much effort.

"The isolation ward extracts the time and creates a layer beneath the selected area's present. The paradox is then set up to an accelerated state of the interior to keep the pressure from breaking out of the ward." It partially explained what Lind experienced but then he nearly shot up at her next words.

"Once a phoenix is reborn, the tower should trigger the merging of the created space back into the normal world. It should be as easy as that or they can be retrieved just after the reincarnation cycle is triggered." He felt something was wrong. What happened that the prison got stuck in a cycle?

She seemed to read his mind.

"It is clear something went wrong. Based on all you have told me, I think whoever tried to save me was in a hurry. They set up the paradox incorrectly to keep repeating not only outside but inside. I kept being contaminated but progressed in my cultivation as well since I was not able to hurt anyone." That seemed likely but then he grasped what he saw.

Very briefly, when the cycle started over, the reset would wipe away all that was inside the forest that did not belong. It destroyed any cultivator caught in it!

It was almost a billion years of innocent people dying without anyone knowing why!

"And the tribulations?" Feng nodded at Ilyria's question.

"That was normal. Since a full life cycle could pass to cure us, the ward scans the prisoner to ensure they are cured, then allows the tribulations to proceed how they should have from the past until the ward is dispersed." Lind had to think on it as he reviewed what he grasped back then.

It was not that Feng was in 2 places at once, it was her history catching up with the present!

The sheer power unleashed on that spot would leave it devastated but it would recover. The Alliance might abandon the area out of fear but maybe not if they found something worth keeping.

"What will happen to that place?" Feng frowned as she shook her head.

"I do not know as it has never been tested for such a strange situation. I can tell I am safe but that tribulation will continue until it catches up to my present. I may still face the Shard Tier tribulation but I will get a warning. It has been well documented in case it ever happened to us." He would love to know more about it but he was reviewing the markers on the map they still had to go to.

Feng was looking over it and frowned.

"What are you doing? What are those marks for?" He explained the purpose of their journey in part was to map the part of the world that survived.

The Endless Plains had been fairly well explored for the pockets that survived but very little had been found.

A few actual ruins remained in a few but nothing precious had been found.

The Sacred Paths had hidden some small communities but they were a far cry from their original high end powers.

Feng examined the map and pointed to the markers.

"If you want to get there, I can help." He was curious but let her take the pilot seat. She followed his instructions about how the controls worked.

She then closed her eyes and Lind was stunned as the world changed outside the major viewport.

The clouds raced with the sun until it all slowed down. He examined the scans and was stunned to see a complete mapping from their starting point to the next marker!

"How?" She looked tired but smiled.

"My speciality was manipulating relative time. I can speed it up or slow it down. We personally were unchanged but the world outside would have only seen a blur at best. We crossed the distance nearly instantaneously." He found that interesting and would love to study it more!

Ilyria smirked and he knew he was caught geeking out but he did not care!

"It takes a great deal out of me but as you can see, the ship was unaffected and acted as if we traversed it normally." He nodded and began to scan the area.

"With you on board, we will finish the mapping project well ahead of schedule. Thank you!" He would get to go home much sooner!

Feng smiled and pointed at Starlight.

"You cared for my partner. It was the least I could do." He bowed but she went to the corner to start cultivating to recover and stabilize her foundation.

Lind and Ilyria examined the ruins they found but like many areas it was barren. They noted some points of interest for people to examine later but that was all for the current area.

They moved on but did not rush as the shifting maneuver did strain the harmonic crystal powersource. They had active discussions about the Dao and both Lind and Ilyria were finding their eyes opened to concepts they never considered.

The journey became about more than mapping and fulfilling their personal goals. Lind felt like his cultivation rose a bit just from the concepts Feng introduced.

She sped them up a few more times until the entirety of the outer lands was mapped out. He was shocked how few areas survived even in the relatively stable areas. Some villages and small kingdoms had been built but their level was only at the Sky Realm at best.

A few more years passed before they finally set sail for home but they took their time as they well knew the existence of a phoenix would cause ripples in the Alliance.

Lind did not push her to choose a path for her future but promised to let her have the time she needed to do it.

It was only as they were half way that Lind realized on a single vessel were 3 of the divine bloodlines in the entire Celestial Fields. All they were missing was the white tiger but there was still no sign of them.

He hoped to find clues but it would have to wait for more detailed expeditions.

As they flew back he began to study his professions with the new ideas Feng gave him. It was almost a decade since they left the Frey Clan when he made a breakthrough he had waited for for a long time.

He smiled wide as an old promise could finally be fulfilled.