Eternal Emerald Dragon

Moons hung in the sky of the hold as a small torch burned near a figure seated near a barrel. It was a rather primitive setup for the old man seated there but he felt like going back to his origins.

He had been a poor man at one time and his friends had gathered after missions to use their meager coin to down ale and maybe find company for the evening.

It was their senseless slaughter by more powerful cultivators that led him down his current path. He gently touched the curled and twisted horns rising from his head.

The corrupted bath was a bloody one, without doubt, yet there are reasons many could understand. Bloodsight was not one to join cutthroat sects or empires. Those that stated they pursued ultimate power but wasted time as politicians or playing games were disgusting to him.

There was nothing wrong with bashing open the skull of one that offends you yet he saw no need to make them suffer. Blood was the key to the corrupt path but it was not the only thing involved.

Compared to many, he was far more vicious when fighting, but he had a far lower body count than many imagined. His tattered wings were more functional than most because of that. He had learned there was a fine line between the madness of the Blood Fog and sanity.

Cruelty did not gain any more power, it just made it easier. The harsh karmic tribulations were unavoidable as well which many corrupted demons ran from. He had not.

Bloodsight remembered the terror and his complete lack of fear. He had known where he was going and did not care about the price. He would accept it all so long as he could get stronger.

The strong scent of wine drew him out of his reverie to find an unexpected guest. His emerald eyes seemed to glow just like his hair under the moonlight.

An urge to fight rose but then it died. The revelations brought forth by Lind Frey had seemed to drain his usual instincts.

He disliked the feeling but it was hard to push aside that harsh truth. Some of them in the group wanted to deny it but Goldthorn and he accepted it immediately.

It made far more sense that there was a limit to how many Eternal Realm cultivators could exist. There was no way to stop the process either as the golden barrier stopped them all.

Only that putrid creature had been able to breach it previously.

Lind produced a simple stool and sat next to him. The flickering torch did a shadow play but then a new scent filled the air. Bloodsight felt his demonic body respond. He glanced over and saw a wooden tankard bubbling with a dark violet wine.

"Try it." He needed no further invitation. Just the scent made Bloodsight's heart rejoice. His dantian stirred and a sip made his mind blank!

His Path was unaffected but his body rejoiced as energy flowed along his meridians and cleansed him of impurities long fused into his flesh. His horns, wings, and hooves shifted. It was immensely painful yet welcome.

His power felt like it hummed closer in harmony with his body. Once the pain passed, he realized he had drained the tankard entirely! He had not even noticed!

"What is this?!" His eyes were no doubt sparkling but Lind Frey smirked at him. Such a result was not something he cared about regardless.

"Akashic Essence Wine. Only corrupted demons can drink it. It will not give you the physique but will resolve a lot of body issues for demons." Bloodsight knew it was not so simple but would not pry further. Some things could not be revealed.

"Why?" Lind pointed up at the sky to his question.

"You need to get stronger. We all do. Now that we know there is a deadline, the selfishness has to stop, even from me." Bloodsight blinked as he thought Lind Frey had been rather free with letting people invade his hold.

He knew the Immortal and Divine Realm cultivators had no say, yet they could exert his influence to stop them. Eternal Realm cultivators would respect that.

Yet, upon awakening, Lind Frey instead requested knowledge. He requested their help improving his control and understanding of intent, Path, and the realm in general.

The 5 aether children revealed his bottom line. Bloodsight had thought he would see the 5 transgressors die but Lind Frey had done something worse.

He let them live with the realization they had been left in the dark. They stood alone where they could have freely asked for help.

"You are a very strange dragon. Anyone else would be covered in the aura of all they had killed but you seem so naive until you are angry." The words left the demon before he realized it.

Lind Frey smiled as he looked up at the sky and drank a more common spirit wine.

"I have a really pushy friend from a long time ago. He did not like reality much but loved people. He loved dragging others to gatherings with people like him. It was not always welcome but he made it hard to say no." Bloodsight had no idea where it was going but then the emerald eyes glowed with something he could not name.

A spark of jealousy actually flared in his bloodthirsty heart.

"One of those times I met a very enthusiastic young woman who made my friend look calm and composed, but I recall something she said that stuck with me. She was quoting a story, something I could never get into no matter how much my friend asked me to try again, yet I could not deny them." When Lind Frey turned to him, Bloodsight felt his instincts flare.

A story had such a strong effect after untold millions of years later? What could it have been?

"There is some missing context but the most terrifying phrase she had ever heard was to fear when a 'good man goes to war.'" It was silly but as Bloodsight recalled his own history and looked down at his now better formed hooves, it resonated.

"How did you know?" A small smile spread on the jade-like face.

"There was a time I tried to walk alone and I knew what I was becoming. I had people smack me down and pull me out, but I assume you did not. The way you fight gives you away too." The words made his old desire to strike out yet at that moment, Bloodsight recalled those he had lost.

He would never be called a good man, even when they were alive, but loyal and reliable would have been. He was one of the stronger fighters. He had helped the weaker ones get away after they had taken some food or killed a beast.

He was the first to find a place to celebrate and enjoy the story of what they had just pulled off or reminisce over older ones.

He had thought those times would extend to the end of his days, but then it was ripped away. It unleashed a level of death and destruction that now made those words fall into place.

Bloodsight downed the strong wine once more and the silence of the night seemed to deepen.

"I thought I would carry their memory forever, but the deadline never disappeared, did it? It has just moved to a different point in the future." Lind nodded at his words.

"The truth is the Bastard was right about one thing. Death is always coming. No matter how much we think we have left the fear behind or escaped its final grasp, it returns to remind us we are not gods." Bloodsight smirked at that.

He had killed many arrogant bastards that thought their destiny was undeniable. They had always screamed at him that they were not allowed to die yet or that Heaven and Earth would always preserve them.

Nothing ever stopped him. He had eviscerated them, beheaded them, or killed them in all manner of horrific fashion but Heaven and Earth never struck him down for that.

He had become just like them at the end. The title of being Eternal Realm had gone to his head. He had believed he had thumbed his nose at all those that looked down on him and nothing could touch him.

He could fight forever and there was nothing to stop him ever again.

The revelations from that record shattered that naive dream. All being an Eternal Realm cultivator meant was that time no longer held direct sway in their lives. They were extremely hard to kill. Unchanging and unbending, yet there was nothing in the agreement that one day some greater force would not come for them.

They were crops being raised for the slaughter.

"Where do you think they go?" Bloodsight did not need to elaborate on who he was talking about. Eternal Realm cultivators were already rare. Compared to the sheer scale of the Sea of Realms, they were a relative drop in the bucket.

So the fact that the Full Tier was rare to them meant it was even less likely for many of those to exist.

Lind Frey was quiet for a long time before he sighed.

"There are 3 possibilities. If we are in a truly closed system, then I suspect the complete Eternal Realm is a horrifying existence that has no further connection to what we understand as life. Rather, we become a kind of force or blend into the force. We might retain a sense of self but no longer exist as independent beings." The first option made Bloodsight frown.

He would rather die if that was the case. At least that way he would die as he lived, fighting and covered in blood.

"Another option is they are the missing piece of what happens to us down here when we go through that collapse. They take the energies unleashed by us and regulate it to create the foundation of Heaven and Earth in the Divine Worlds." That made a lot of sense in some regards.

It was still not pleasant as it felt like they lost autonomy if it was forced on them to live like that forever.

Lind Frey then paused as he swirled his wine. The moons were setting and the horizon was starting to brighten. The sun was rising in the hold soon.

Bloodsight glanced at his current companion in silence, waiting for the last possible option.

"And the last?" Lind looked up and seemed very grave.

"An open system. In other words, we are but a drop in a larger world as we have experienced before. A world we cannot fathom awaiting us that feeds into but one of many Sea of Realms like this one." It was vague and a bit wishful thinking, yet Bloodsight preferred it.

It was the least likely of the 3, obviously, but why make a goal that was unpalatable? He downed the last of his wine and snuffed out the torch.

"Let us live to see which is right. Let us get you ready for war." His violence stirred and his calm faded. It was time to fight!

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