novelraw Chapter 989 - 988 - Goal of the Corruption
Chapter 989 - 988 - Goal of the Corruption
Delenn was currently under deep examination by Lind. He was floating as emerald light flew around and through her on a simple cot. After his confrontation with the sect master, he finished his sermons and returned to the Golden Vermillion Inn.
He had been left with more questions than answers but one was coming into shape as he compared Delenn to the locals.
His own body was useless as it was completely purged of the tainted Qi.
Delenn, however, retained issues that harmonic tempering did not fully solve.
He had repaired and worked on many disciples of the sect to give him a much better baseline. The demonic children and the 2 human girls were too small of a sample size as well as being very young so he could help them far more to advance.
His harmonic tempering also did wonders for them.
Now, he had a much better base of knowledge.
"So she remembers nothing about you being an ascender? How did that work?" Delenn could speak while being examined but Lind did not answer right away as he pondered how to explain.
"You could say it was an accident. I was trying to find a way to restore lost memories when I stumbled on a good synthesis of Laws and Nightless Lotus flowers. The flowers can induce illusions on their own but apparently they also have deep ties to memories. My mother had found a recipe for a pill that could induce a hallucination of vivid memory so I thought of making an elixir to take it farther." Instead he had made something very dangerous.
He had found an elixir to manipulate memory. It could accept intent from its user and the recipient could not resist at all! He had destroyed all his notes and the few elixirs were kept locked away in his ring.
If he died or the ring was about to be breached, Haro would destroy them.
Only 2 vials remained.
"She could recover the memory in time but it would take a direct effort from a specialist. Besides, part of why I helped them after that little confrontation was to give her a focus on that instead." It was only part of it.
He had looked into the dynamic of the sect and confirmed what he had been told. Advancing was like pulling teeth for all cultivators. He had not really appreciated it as the first exposure was the village that was suffering under far worse taint than Kun City.
Still, he realized that the Law Bindings were a bandaid at best.
The issue was much deeper.
He retracted his aura and techniques as he finally had a good baseline.
Delenn had already been Immortal when he met her but in perfect health despite her being trapped. Thus he had a good baseline in the first place from her time in the Frey Clan.
He now had her state with the tainted Qi as well with a healthy bit of data from the sect.
He imprinted it all into a jade slip and reviewed it. He hoped he was wrong but he was not.
"I know why Immortals lost the ability to fly. It is tied to why they can't tear through space. The Corruption's effects on aura is a side effect, not intended. It was all to lock this layer away. The Corruption attacks the soul." Lind saw it.
The soul was integral to all life. It existed for a fact in the cultivation world. The taint attacked that directly.
Whatever the Fiends had done locked down the layers but he only began to understand how.
"What good would that do other than threaten the Immortals? I mean it clearly has decimated the world but why do it at all? You said Fiend Qi had become useless just like your Celestial Qi." Lind nodded but he looked grim.
"You do not understand. The Realm Refiner was created to consume all of existence in the Celestial Fields. Each facility connected to it would serve that purpose. The lockdown was intentional to stop Immortals from interfering from the higher layers. The only way to do that was…to attack the foundation of the world." Delenn paled suddenly as she understood.
The Celestials were fascinating beings. They did not cultivate the same way as any being she had encountered. They had to experience the world and grasp it to advance but their advancement was also fixed.
They face no tribulations because of that too. Instead, they had to keep facing new experiences to advance at all until they reached the limit.
Yet she only now began to understand how it worked. They were cultivating the soul! They were directly connected to Heaven and Earth! She had fought with some and even as a Crystal Tier, she lost to them if they could get their Qi to interact with hers!
"Are you saying they somehow messed with the very foundation of the layer?" Lind nodded.
"The immediate effects were to cut off all travel from this layer to below or above. I suspect the final facility does something to keep the Radiant Tier Immortals tied up as well. They were all threats to the plan." Lind left off the final tier for an obvious reason.
No Sovereign Tier could descend. Once an Immortal reached that level, they had to be at the uppermost layer and could not go back.
He did not understand why but Delenn confirmed she had never met one. She had only been to the Radiant Tier layer once.
It was open skies and mountain peaks for the most part.
He had trouble wrapping his head around how people lived up there but it was not important at the moment.
What was important was that the Fiends did not have to worry about the most powerful tier because of that limitation imposed by Heaven and Earth.
Thus the rest served but 1 purpose: to ensure the refinement of the Celestial Fields.
Lind did not grasp the full principles behind it but the purpose was becoming clearer.
"The result is not intended as I think the sabotage of the Realm Refiner let this world become the result. The Fiend behind it all likely expected everyone to be his sustenance long ago." Lind's words made Delenn shiver.
She had been trapped in the mortal realm when it all happened but she now saw the true depth of the horror done to them.
She was not sure what could have stopped Radiant Tiers for so long but the fact she had not heard of a single one in their short time spoke volumes. Even the history they had dug up did not mention one once.
Her own empire had ties to such powerful beings so where were they?
"What about that Fiend lair you found?" He shook his head at her question.
"Still unknown. I need more information or something more complete to compare it to. We need to move on anyway. The Eternal Flame Sect is coming and I will not embroil innocents into this issue." The warning from the Eternal Blossom Sect made it clear their location was leaked.
Even if they were not sure who used the Fionan badge, they would come for them..
She nodded but another issue was currently facing them.
"We cannot take the girls with us." He nodded but disliked his options. Returning them home was not feasible and impossible for a few of them. He would take them with him but while he had strength, he had no doubts about his limits.
A single cultivator was not a God. Enough Crystal and Shard Tiers would get past him if they coordinated well or got lucky and the girls would die. They were only in World Realm at best!
"Sorcha and Belia could stay here, could they not?" Delenn was surprised but slowly nodded. If Lind made a request, the Golden Vermillion Inn would surely honor it.
Both frowned when they thought of the demonic children. They were so much happier now but both doubted the Golden Vermillion Inn would take them in.
There were very few demons in the entire city let alone the high society area the inn was set in.
"I will have to think on it. The Eternal Flame Sect will try to get them if they are not protected." He left the room and walked to their rooms.
The examination area was near the elixir facilities the inn provided but he hardly noticed it anymore until he heard laughter reach his ears.
He followed the sound and smiled as he saw the children relaxing together around the garden. They were much healthier and the smiles were reflected in their eyes. He still heard a few sniffles at night when they had bad dreams but they were improving.
He hated his limits at that moment.
He had become used to having the power to protect what he wanted yet now he could not even protect the innocent smiles in front of him.
He had options open to him if he revealed his status as a True Lord but that would invite a whole host of issues on top of it.
The dragons were already looking for him no doubt but they were too far away to be an issue.
"I am at the pinnacle of power in cultivation here but I am so weak I cannot even protect these children. I hate this." His fist cracked as he let anger flow in his heart.
He moved on to his room but he was thinking hard. His eyes had reverted to their natural state and his aura was much closer to the True Lord he tried to curtail.
He closed the door and looked above. He was never sure how much the Fiends could do but the deeper he looked, the darker the world he found. When would it end?