Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 952 - 951 - No Immortals to Spare

Hei sat in his room in Rasker with frustration. His wife was currently working the administration of the city while he kept the defense up. Now, he could only look at the missives from his family and grind his knuckles at his inability to help.

He had received an encrypted message that only his blood could unlock. It was the most secure message that even if it fell into the hands of enemies, it would do them no good at all.

It had not been helpful to him really aside from as a warning.

Now that a new threat had been discovered, a rather worrying fact came to light. Despite there being far more Immortals compared to the Heaven Realm lands, the recent assassinations and need for constant guard against the known Fiends, left a severe shortage of Immortals!

In fact, the only power left with enough Immortals to spare was the Frey Clan and the Temple of Souls! The dragons would come to the aid of their True Lord but he doubted his Father would order them.

"My love?" Kyren's voice broke him out of his thoughts. He saw she looked tired but he smiled and pulled her into his arms. His wife, however, was not to be easily distracted. "What did your Father say?"

He sighed. He recalled his father warning him that only fools treat women as weaker or unreliable. The most dangerous being alive is a mother, according to him.

"The Frey Clan is going to war. The Shard Tiers and Sliver Tiers to the best they can spare are heading east. It took some hunting but your master did have records of possible Fiend ruins in that direction. An ancient power was once there but I found it lacking in details beyond that mention." Hei had done his best but old records were sparse in areas no power survived nearby.

Rasker Elders had focused more on their legacy and protecting the caskets they had sealed away.

She hugged him tighter.

"We will be here if they need us." He felt some tension drain at her words. She was right. He could not fight at the front but he could be there when they had to fall back and heal.

"You are so wise." He heard a laugh and they moved to their quarters to rest and recover for the days to come.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

A massive fleet of ships flew far above the clouds. Lind had seemingly produced a fleet from thin air but all knew he was always tinkering with his designs. The fact he succeeded in creating a ship others could mimic at last was no surprise.

The fact he had hid it from all until that moment was rather striking. He had been holding back one last secret to give the Clan for after he was gone!

"Lysanna and Sally will kill you once we get back." Lind winced as Shoti entered his rather cramped quarters. Compared to the Nautilus Class, the Skyseeker Class was much more compact inside.

He had to compensate for the flow of Laws and Qi but he did not want gargantuan ships. The trade off was acceptable aside from current circumstances.

"You left off a long list of names but I supposed they will be first in line." In truth, most of his children stayed back.

They had to defend their branches for one thing but also the most powerful weaving he had created hinged on a member of his direct family in each branch and the main Clan halls.

They just barely had enough.

Sora was incensed but understood the tactics at least. Miles had looked conflicted and the others were mixed as well.

Shoti's violet eyes narrowed at the voluptuous woman chained to the wall. She was not haggard nor petulant anymore, but her presence was a sore point.

"Why did you bring her?" Lind looked up and smirked at her.

"She has been sentenced to life imprisonment. She has been starving herself, or trying to, but I think it is time she fully grasps the current state of affairs." Shoti cocked her head to the side in confusion. What was the point of making the tigress watch their battle?

He was hiding something.

He did not do that to them usually so he suspected something too. What was it he was being careful of? It was only as she recalled Feng and Illyria were also on the same ship that she became more suspicious.

All 4 Divine Bloodlines on one ship? She stayed silent but felt like his emerald eyes sparked with approval of her revelation.

"We are working with what we have. Hei has to stay in Rasker due to a complete lack of spare Immortals. The other branches of that city have similar issues. The plain truth is, we came out the best in recent conflicts." He became grim at his words.

Both understood.

They were going to lose a lot of people in the coming battle. Fiend Immortals were far more terrifying enemies if they could fight freely as they all knew.

"How are you able to sense them now?" Shoti had been curious about that but too much had to be decided and implemented quickly before anyone noticed they were gone.

Lind sat back and closed his eyes. His crimson robes stood out on the dark wood of the floor but the window to the outside let the sunlight shine behind him without casting him in dark shadows.

"I think I was wrong." His words surprised her but not too much. Unlike many cultivators that reached Immortality, Lind valued accepting he could be wrong. His Dao was one thing, but anything else could be up for grabs.

"How so?" She assumed a lotus position as she was truly curious.

"I always assumed the Celestials long ago created demonic Qi by refining natural Qi, but that is wrong." He held up his hands and fire, blue flame, and Celestial Fire appeared. The 3 danced around each other but she was fascinated as rather than be consumed or repelled, they seemed to move in a pattern that drew her in.

Her mind was on the cusp of something when Lind spoke once more.

"The world is created by Heaven and Earth but I think it is more basic than that. I think Heaven and Earth is the source of Qi, all of it, but if there was only 1 kind it would never create anything. The elements would exist in a perfect balance if allowed to." He summoned all 6 natural elements in his left hand and nothing else.

They were isolated from all outside influence and she saw them happily combine easily with no issue. The only thing was, it did nothing.

It was just Qi combining in harmony.

Her shard suddenly improved! She realized what he was saying!

The Qi would never create anything without a counterforce!

"Well done. Yes, Celestial Qi is the counterpoint like in music. The contrast can make a song but that is not all there is. Life is about conflict. Think of demons. They are combative but also full of life!" Shoti felt shocked as she saw Celestial Qi enter the isolated sphere.

A small continent formed with water, forests, and a sun with moons! It was just acting on its own! It was only when demon Qi was added that life was born!

"But Celestial Qi has never existed in the mortal or Heaven Realms!" Lind smiled at her.

"Hasn't it?" She looked confused until a dawning realization came to her. It was horrific!

"Fiend Qi! Fiend Qi replaced it?!" He nodded at her whispered words.

"The Fiends need us as resources so supplanting what was needed became necessary but I still got it wrong. The balance between the 3 was what created all of us. Humans, for all their reliance on natural Qi are violent beings. Demons are inclined to fight but can also adhere to strict honor codes." His words opened her eyes!

How could no one have not grasped this before?!

"How could they control it?" He sneered as he dismissed the display he had created like mist in the morning.

"They couldn't. If I am right, they got lucky or perhaps the spirits did their best to save existence. We may never know, but the 3 sets of Qi make all of us possible. Now that I have a better grasp of Celestial Qi, I can feel the lack of it. I can feel where it is being dispersed by Fiend Qi." Shoti barely understood.

It was closer to like he felt where Celestial Qi was not rather than where Fiend Qi was.

"Can you stop them?" Lind wanted to smile so badly she could tell but he shook his head.

"All I have gained is a better sense of their interaction and the truth behind them. There is more, so much more to yet grasp. The Laws are but the foundation of the world. I can feel my harmony is leading me somewhere else. I still only just barely understand the start of it but it is also what is holding me back." She perked up at that.

"What do you mean?" He looked at her and she suddenly felt the full weight of his aura. It was oppressive but to her it was also invigorating!

"Laws are bottomless in many ways but I can at least follow the path to understand the deeper truths behind them. Gravity is a good example. I know it is more than just what keep things on the ground but what binds all things together." The instant he spoke, Shoti felt her own grasp of gravity increase immensely!

Just a few words and she felt like her understanding of Laws deepened 2 to 3 fold!

"Qi is different. I grasped more of the relationships but it is far more mysterious. It is a fundamental part of everything but now I see it is even more important than I realized." Lind seemed a bit lost in his own words but Shoti felt a vibration from her ring.

"I am sorry Lind. It is time." He shook himself out of his own enlightenment but smiled at her.

"So it is. Let us see if we can stop a greater war." He stood up and helped her stand as well. They moved to the control room to see the current situation and how the battle would unfold.