Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 936 - 935 - The Final Trial

It was the 65th year.

Lind had made several large statements but kept to the rules. A Shard Tier attacked his son and he responded in kind. A single Shard Tier revealed the return of the White Tigers to the Celestial Fields.

They left the city of Rasker and the powers contributing to containing the Fiends but became a menace for all other races but one.

The Elementals were treated with great respect by them and left in peace.

The one thing that was still a thorn in his side was the party that attacked his son was missing. He had revisited the Silverthorn Fangs but found them beaten to within an inch of their lives before he laid a finger on them.

The only Shard Tier was a male that had all 4 limbs broken. He had stated they had been abandoned as too weak by their leader who would find Lind in their own time.

He had not been happy but if he tried anything, the tigers would die!

It was now 5 years later and not a peep had been heard from his target despite searching for them.

They had gone quiet which according to Feng was common. It meant he was acknowledged as worthy prey.

The issue could only be pushed aside as he focused on continuing his goal of finding an heir.

Four more were eliminated so it was down to 5 but he had finally found no more trials were needed. The last 5 were near a breaking point.

He had learned a great deal but now he had to change his tactics.

They had faced severe scenarios and lived lives out of his own memory. It was time for a dose of reality.

He was building a space for them to confront his idea.

It was a place of all elements but it was not for them. It was for him.

He was going to face the final 5 personally. It was the final step that he had chosen to decide his heir.

Illusions and deception would only go so far. He could not trick or disrupt them anymore. He had tested their abilities and their adaptability. He had pushed them to the brink of Qi deviation but 5 had persevered.

He had also found some interesting things in his descendants. They were mostly capable of explosive growth when pushed to the brink. They were incredibly powerful cultivators that sped through all realms as if others were standing still. They suffered unique issues few other cultivators would face due to sharing blood with him.

Unlike anyone else, his dragon blood complicated their lives in unexpected ways. The vast majority did not understand why they were so good at cultivating and his trials had revealed it to them.

They now questioned how far they had come and spent far more time in their current realms before advancing. It was a good thing but it was too easy to simply give the excuse of being related to him as the cause.

He had not appreciated that they took it for granted how easy their advancements were. It had caused a wave of re-evaluation of cultivation training for the entire Clan.

After all he had heard and seen, he had decided to face them directly. He had a firm idea of how they saw themselves but now it was time to face their Founder.

He had a firm idea what his heir would need to demonstrate but the surprises had him re-evaluating his original conditions as well. It had been a 2 way education process!

He had thought he understood how to create an Inheritance but the simple tests of his skills had revealed he had far to go. The ones he had experienced were far more intricate and planned out than any paltry attempt he had made.

Still, it was time to begin to pass on the torch so he had to find an heir.

"You look like you are going to war, my love." A voice broke his thoughts and he looked up to see Shoti leaning in the doorway. She was smiling as she looked at him.

"In a way, I am. A war to decide the future of the Clan." She giggled as she sauntered into the room. His eyes could not move away and knew he was in trouble.

She smirked at him before tapping him on the head.

"You have been working hard for too long, my love. Is it really that much of a rush to find an heir?" He then became grim.

"Despite our long lives, I have a goal that needs me to be assured the Clan will be safe in the future. I know you will all be here but I do not plan to be separated for a long time nor to act outside the rules as we have been forced to in the last few battles." His actions against the White Tigers were fully justified and in fact restrained.

It was confirmed that more than one Shard Tier had attacked the Clan and other attacks had been endured until the retaliation brought them to heel. Much like the other powers, Shard Tiers had been living fairly unrestricted lives in the Heaven Realm lands due to their rarity.

In the Celestial Fields they were becoming far more common. Their battles were devastating to the landscape so they had to be restricted to midair or even stopped entirely.

The White Tigers finally got that message but no one knew where they were exactly aside from the large clan Lind had suppressed like children.

"You are only a high Shard Tier and it took you thousands of years to get there. Are you saying that if you raise up an heir you can speed that up?" Lind stopped engraving the slip he was working on before setting it down.

He closed his eyes and Shoti was shocked at the storm of Qi and Laws flowing into her husband as if he was a dry sponge! She could feel his aura increase at a rate few could comprehend!

It stopped as quickly as it began but he opened his eyes and she saw how tired he was but also how much more powerful he had become!

"The time I spend keeping the Clan safe and running may not seem like much but without it I could reach the peak in less than a thousand years." Shoti felt shocked. Her cultivation speed was decent but compared to before it was a snail's pace!

Yet her husband showed no slowdown at all! How was that possible?!

"I have spent most of my life chasing down any scrap of knowledge I can to progress and explain how to advance 6 primary elements with my harmony. I have passed the point of struggling and now I am carving a path that makes sense for me. I will still face the battle of making the next step but inside a tier there is nothing to stop me anymore." His eyes felt ancient to her but he then smiled as he pulled her into an embrace.

"So how will you be testing them this time?" She decided to move on but noted to talk to her sisters later. She realized that the man they loved had become focused on the next step more than they realized.

He smirked as if he read her thoughts, but he then finished his engraving before handing her the slip.

She examined it and her eyes went wide!

"Are you serious?! They are not ready! The highest cultivation realm is only peak Sky Realm! They cannot withstand such a test!" He became serious as he brought up the 5 profiles for her but she dismissed them.

"You think I am not aware of my own great grandchildren! You think I am not aware how much you love them! Why do this?!" Lind sighed but then stood up before looking out at his courtyard.

The sunlight lit up a fine garden with a simple statue that only she and a few others were allowed to see. It was a growing family portrait. It had the face of every child, grandchild, and great grandchild. Lind made it himself and modified it with every birth.

He smiled as he looked down at it.

"I can't stay. Lanbao is not the only reason, nor is Hope. The Fiends are contained but they have 2 more facilities in the upper layers. What do we do if that creature finds a way to re-establish the Realm Refiner? They did it once, they could do it again." His words made her shiver.

He turned back to her and his eyes were firm.

"I must continue to be its enemy and I will draw all the attention to me. I will make every plan fail and I will crush all avenues until I have the power to stop him forever." The sky rumbled and she knew he was not only speaking from the heart. He had made an Oath.

"Sigh, I find you flummox my heart each time I forget what kind of man you are. You would love to spend your days watching them grow but there is a scythe over us all. You will dive into fire for us and make sure we are all safe so you can focus on it." She then summoned her whip and he had to dodge as a single crack told him she was serious.

"I take it I am in for some lecturing later?" She smirked but then put her weapon away.

"Just don't forget we are fighting next to you. The Clan will be safe but do not rush simply because you are impatient." He nodded but then became serious.

"The final trial is not just necessary, it has to make them accept it. The problem with a loving family is they rely on me. I have to take that away." Shoti slowly nodded but then left. He felt a tingle of fear for later but would face the gamut.

He was not the only one that cared for their descendants and it was arguably his wives that were more over-protective. He returned to finishing up his plans for the final trial and made a few adjustments.

He was not suicidal after all.