Eternal Emerald Dragon

Lind blinked as a smaller room appeared around him. He was sitting in a high backed wooden chair at a round table of dark stone. The dragon woman was there with anger etched in her features while the others from the stage sat around the table.

There were a few more humans as well. Once again, they ignored his addition to their world.

Had he replaced someone? Lind focused as the dragon woman's golden scaled fist cracked the table.

"We promised to tell the truth! You made it sound like some would survive when we know that is not possible." Lind did not fully agree. They had told the truth but not bothered to elaborate the details.

Some understood most likely but it meant they did not care one way or the other. It meant it had already started.

"We did. We just did not let the rabble peck us to death with every detail. Besides, the successful completion of Project Eternal's key steps means we are already committed. It is done." A sallow skinned man steepled his fingers and Lind felt a tremor in his spine.

The yellow eyes were so cold and empty of pity that he distrusted the man on sight!

Lind also frowned at how he talked about other people. It contradicted his own approach and it seemed the dragon woman agreed with him.

"You moved forward against orders! You put us in this bind!" Lind instantly felt a familiar feeling wash over him. He glanced between the 2 and saw the table was about evenly split.

A third were behind the sallow skinned man, a third behind the dragon woman, and a third who seemed to just accept arguing was pointless.

Lind then coughed and drew attention to himself.

"How long?" The simple question made even the sallow skinned man flinch. Silence stretched before he placed his palm on the armrest of his chair.

A small tablet appeared with a touchscreen. He manipulated something and just barely frowned. Lind saw it clearly but said nothing.

"A few years and it will be clear it has started." A lie. It was an absolute lie. Lind was unsure why but the man wanted to buy time.

He simply nodded and then placed his own palm on his armrest. A similar tablet appeared and he examined it as the argument resumed.

He smiled at familiar technology that was not cultivation based. He quickly understood the system but noticed a rather clumsy attempt to hide something in the folder setup.

To such a society, it would be likely overlooked, but to anyone that had to clean up their computer after a thrice cursed virus nearly took it down would easily find such a malicious piece of hiding.

It took Lind all of a few breaths to breach the pitiful decoys to open a folder.

{Timeline of Unraveling}

Most of it was theoretical but there were new parts. The new parts revealed a massive artificial creature. Its sole purpose was to break the balance of the universe and then control the collapse of matter and energy.

The nonchalance the writer used when saying that made Lind swallow hard. Just how advanced were they?!

The organism would then induce a stable system to the best of its ability until the cycle could work on its own.

Nothing seemed outside of the explanation until he realized there was another version of the same file. The creature had been modified! Rather, it was being modified.

It was having an area carved out that could hold a few people safely inside while the rest of the universe was turned into a lethal hell.

Lind could not affect events, he knew that but he could guess what happened.

"She found out he was going to abandon them all to die while he stayed safe." He spoke aloud and it silenced the table entirely.

"What–what did you just say?!" It was one of the spindly golden skinned aliens that stepped forward. Her loping form quickly took the tablet and then nearly shattered it as she handed it to the dragon woman.

The sallow skinned man sneered as he waved his hands.

"You are too–" Before he could finish his words, the whole room shook. Lind, who knew far more about the world to come, smiled. They had miscalculated.

They had misunderstood what they had started. The truth was that cultivation was possible in this world but they had somehow bypassed the process or skipped to the end with technology.

Yet, they could not tap into that power at all, just benefit from it. It would be like handing power plants to ancient humans.

They could shelter in the structures but without infrastructure to tap into the source, it would generate power without being able to be of use. Without machines to take it in, it would do no work.

The reason everything felt so wrong was they had tapped into Eternal Qi without understanding what they had done.

Thus, when they broke that balance, a violent and expected result was coming. Further, the creature was artificial but its function aligned with what he had lived under all his life.

Heaven and Earth. Lind then looked around the room and understood one more truth.

He knew what the spirits were.

{Yes. We are the fragmented souls of the original world. The Liar tried to break the rules without understanding and died screaming.}

Lind found that perfectly fair but he recalled the changes. The sallow skinned man had tried to change how the project would work.

The originally very solid and strict rules now had a flaw. A flaw that while very tiny, existed. A flaw that would take a very desperate and unrelenting selfish being to find.

Lind felt his blood rush from his face as he went pale.

"He made the Fiends possible?" Lind now looked at the terrified human as he screamed at the uncaring universe that he was too important to die. He had a destiny to live forever no matter what happened to others.

He moved before he really thought and had the man by the throat. Emerald scales flashed across his skin. His eyes turned reptilian as flames built in his throat.

"IT WAS YOU! YOU MADE ALL THAT MISERY POSSIBLE!" The terror in the man's face was clear but a gentle golden scaled had stopped him. He snapped his head up to see the dragon woman was as transformed as him but her eyes were different.

{It also made you possible. The change was not intentionally harmful, it is always how it is used as you would say.}

He looked around and none of the figures were acting naturally as the world collapsed around them.

"You–You are all still in there somewhere?" The woman shook her head.

{They are gone. We were born of the flesh and the loss. We were not the first but we are the Eternal of Beginning and we await the End.} The repeated words made far more sense.

They were not waiting for an Eternal. They were waiting for the process to finish!

The endless cycle went on and on but it was not perfect. It was intentionally meant to encourage Eternal Realm cultivators to be born as a new generation of people to take over!

A sudden shock went through him.

It couldn't be?! Old Earth was in the remains of the original universe or that universe was the left over dregs?! It was not part of his Divine World at all!

{The Liar ended the original world. The Liar died with it. Yet, his legacy has resulted in an unexpected threat. The Fiend will cause us to fail. Do you understand why you will die?}

Lind slowly sat down as the shaking got worse but it no longer mattered. He had pondered how the Bastard was going to ascend and now he realized it was far worse than that. The Bastard was entirely outside the rules!

Lind was free of the Divine World, but he was still operating by the rules set down by the original people.

If he tried to use his cultivation or any fancy tricks, he would not only fail, he would doom everyone. Lind froze.

He looked up and realized something.

"You couldn't punish me, could you?" The dragon woman's face smiled and nodded.

{You should have been dispersed but nothing happened. You have followed the path but you are not part of it. You must grasp that part to survive.}

Lind had been so focused on mastering his power that he had ignored the very thing his other selves had sacrificed themselves for. They did not want power, they wanted a version that could move beyond the restrictions that bound them in the fight!

{We can help you complete your Harmonic Core. The violation is looking for you. You need to be free of distraction. You have understood the trap.}

He was surprised but smiled as he took her hand. The world went white once more and he returned to the barren landscape with endless black clouds and lightning.

He had a new appreciation for what it was.

It was the lie laid bare. The safe haven was empty and not safe at all.

The spirit appeared before him and waved her hands. A space was created for him to assume a lotus position and be comfortable.

He bowed and sat down in front of her. It was time to complete his Demi Tier!

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