Eternal Emerald Dragon

Lind was cultivating, or mastering would be a better word, while the trio of Eternal Realm cultivators continued to monitor both him and his hold. In a very short period of a few years his old friends had been able to set up crafting and support structures without disrupting the nurturing flow that existed,

He smiled as his lessons from the Blessed Crimson Range were employed before him. They were focused and clearly trying to get things ready for whenever he revealed himself.

"Why can't the Bastard get in here?" It was a question that had bothered him. Fiend Qi usually violated any standard defenses and while the hold was his, he did not understand enough to know why the message left was so sure.

The young woman turned to him. Lind smacked himself internally for not even asking their names. They knew other versions of him so they were comfortable just talking to him. It was a weird feeling now that he was conscious of it.

"Eternal Realm cultivators are the source but as individuals we retain a few weaknesses. We cannot constantly output power to maintain a normal life. We need to create something to allow us to rest and recover both mentally and physically. The Sea of Realms surrounds us but is cut off–normally." She glanced at the massive plateau at the heart of his hold.

They had told him he had done the impossible but Lind felt it made perfect sense. He had left pieces of his harmony literally imbued into a Divine Island, an Immortal World, and his homeworld.

He would be shocked if he could not bridge the gap. Besides, he began to grasp from what they taught what the problem was.

So many worlds and so many versions of elemental theory made a fragmented map of success and failure.

It was clear they could reach the Eternal Realm but it was part luck and part sheer stubbornness.

It was similar to Immortals rising up below the Celestial Fields. In the Celestials Fields, Immortality of the Sliver Tier was almost a given. The environment was just too good and shortened the time of the lower realms.

It made for far less innovation that could lead to obstacles later in cultivation the lower worlds had to do to advance. Their physical bodies were also naturally more inclined to cultivate so that compounded the advantage in the Celestial Fields.

They described similar worlds with a few variations but the broad strokes remained the same. They also confirmed they could not pass along his improved elemental theory to the lower worlds due to the golden barrier.

That made Lind frown. He had been able to touch on the Eternal Realm, the old man was proof but also his other selves too. Direct contact was impossible before, but an indirect message?

That should have been easy. So why did the barrier stop information flowing the other way?

{Heaven and Earth are fair.} An echo of the spirits' voices faintly reached him. He glanced at the ascension pool and realized they could hear them!

The words also triggered a thought. Maybe that was why he succeeded? His rapidly improving aura reached out and gently touched on it. He met a hard barrier.

Yet, he gently shifted his aura until it blended and then slipped through. He saw the Emerald Isle, as expected, and even the Immortal World he helped birth!

Fragile tendrils of connections flowed from there to other Immortal Worlds and the theory panned out.

All the Divine Realm cultivators that had spread his theory had tied to something fundamental. The golden barrier was unable to stop his senses via the pool but Lind wanted to test things.

He was about too when her voice snapped back to his original question.

"Because we are the source, the Hold forms a natural barrier made of both us and the space we live in. When that happens, it becomes a unique lock that only you can turn the key on. No one can enter another's hold no matter the animosity." Lind frowned deeply at that.

The Bastard was not one to quietly accept defeat. His aura shot up and out in a far more powerful fashion.

He saw the vast world still growing even now as they taught him, but he shot faster than it could expand. He suddenly saw darkness once more. Unlike the Sea of Realms, he had to fill in the darkness so he could see.

He quickly felt it. A complete absence of all vitality.

That did not match what the trio had told him. He tried to go farther but an instinct warned him to be still.

Suddenly, a burst of light from far off appeared. Something was being ripped apart from the inside as a massive figure shrouded in darkness appeared.

Screams shattered the silence and Lind recognized the horror in them. They were not just dying, but being consumed alive!

[I can feel you, little dragon. Found your home again, did you? It will not keep you safe! I am almost there. I have consumed the little worlds my other treats once ruled.] The white orbs looked righ at him but Lind sneered.

[You are afraid. Why? Why are you so afraid?] The normal arrogance was there but after confronting his last iteration for so long, Lind began to piece together that fear of death was his main driving force.

He was so close to success, so why was the fear even stronger than before? Something had changed! What was it?!

Lind could not get a full grasp but after all the life he consumed, he could not advance. They had both assumed the Divine Lands' existence still held him back but the sheer power of the Eternal Realm cultivators and their worlds should have long ago resolved it.

Could he be stuck? It would be both good and bad if true. Good that he would remain vulnerable but a cornered animal was the most dangerous thing alive.

[Fear? I fear the end of our little dance! Once I achieve my goal, I will play with so many others but they will never compare to you.]

Lind doubted it. His theory needed testing as well but the bravado was then followed by him losing the Bastard entirely! Where had he gone?!

He tried to find him but it was like he vanished into the ether! Lind then turned his senses to the external shell of his hold.

He could not be passive and had to understand how it worked! His aura washed over it and shock filled him!

It was not just a barrier or some kind of filter but an ever shifting flow of energy keyed to his harmonic signature. It was something no one could pass or harm without the same exact energy!

[Sun.] He spoke the name of his friend most likely to be making a nuisance of himself. As if a spell, the golden furred Journeyman Tier monkey appeared safely enveloped in the energy of his hold.

He was wailing around with his staff to no effect while tumbling over and over.

Amusing as it was, Lind revealed a projection.

[Calm yourself. Everything is fine.] Sun stared at him and the distress turned to joy then anger.

[You are using me as a test subject?!] Lind laughed for the first time but did not linger. He wanted them to be safe.

He pulled the yelling monkey True Lord back down into the barrier. As expected, he passed right through but it was like it was keyed to his soul.

So, he had to mark them or recognize them. He instantly understood a weakness to such a system. His aura flared and he began to weave. He was not making a barrier but adding to the energy flow.

He was laying a trap. It served but one purpose. Each soul that entered would be cleansed. It would be of a benefit to anyone yet to a Fiend, it would be lethal.

If the Bastard tried to force or sneak his way by, he would get a very nasty surprise.

It was obvious but it would work. His harmonic Qi was now on the same level so the Bastard could not just overpower it like before. He would have to pull back.

Still, Lind realized the proclamation of holds being safe was naive. The Bastard had lived for so long and consumed so many Eternal Realm cultivators, he had likely sussed out the same weakness Lind had.

Souls were the one thing Fiends excelled at manipulating over anyone else alive.

If the soul was the way to get inside a hold, all the Bastard had to do was find targets that were–!

His eyes went wide as he dove back to his body with Sun screaming all the way. The instant he appeared his arms transformed into claws and suppressed the old man.

The trio were shocked yet felt his power rise as emerald flames engulfed him. The old man started to scream as vile black streams rose from his body. Lind turned on the other 2 and they did not get a chance to object.

The younger woman had no reaction but the old woman also began to scream.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THEM?!" A red staff stopped the young woman in surprise. Sun was dead serious now.

"He is saving them, fool." Lind nodded in appreciation as his harmony spread across the hold. Thankfully, his harmony was everywhere so it seemed the Bastard really had not taken hold.

Still, he dove all the way down to the 7 centers of power. The instant he got there, his eyes narrowed.

There was a tiny flicker of vile Qi trying to hide. Shock filled him as he realized something he had never faced.

The Bastard had become a Divine Fiend. Even if he broke the rules of Heaven and Earth, the cultivation path of Fiends still paralleled everyone else.

The Bastard had a harmony! He squashed the flicker of harmonic Fiend Qi. He heard a scream of rage and it made him smile.

[I will find you later, Bastard.]

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