Eternal Emerald Dragon

Lind had found the locus long ago.

His wives were confused as to why he was not getting them out but he was studying the crystal lattice. Something about it tugged at his memory. It was like he had seen something somewhere that was similar to the style or foundational idea.

A Myriad Maze was not some niche item barely anyone understood, it was a common tactic for a reason. It was a nice adaptable artifact that could be as profound as the one who refined it.

Even for the Bastard, it was a perfect tool that was how simple it was to use. However, the wax was a lethal trap and it was so easy, it was likely replicated but Lind found that annoying.

Resources did not just drop from the sky. The crumbling holds had been raided, clearly, for what made up the building they were in as well as anything the Bastard had squirreled away in his storage treasures.

The group had not been disturbed or confused that the Fiend had made such a massive thing but Lind was different. The history of the battles between times the Bastard was restrained by the reborn Divine World meant very little time to actually build.

There was no way it had been made openly like that or it would have been noticed. The far more likely method was the clear contact the original Bastard had to his reborn incarnations.

The Realm Refiner and other insane engines of soul refinement were only possible in that light. The nightmares Lind had to overcome as an Immortal were dictated by the original!

It would follow that over several iterations, the original set up the pieces and then integrated them later. It would be easy to have a storage treasure or to obtain one he could use to get everything ready.

There was even a possibility that just like he had done to the most recent one, he intentionally cut off one of his incarnations so they were not absorbed. They could quietly assemble things before they were discovered.

The thought that there might be more than one Bastard had never occurred to him yet it seemed unlikely. The rules of Heaven and Earth had been broken true, but some things could not be violated.

Karu's Talent reset existence at extreme cost. The cost was the entire sequence of events being erased. Only the Bastard and she retained the memories. Even then, she regained them once her dantian was reformed.

It was more like seeing the recording of a life if not for the pieces of his own Eternal Realm self and the souls the Bastard had swallowed into himself.

Such a disruption could not be missed no matter how uninvolved the other Eternal Realm cultivators were. If there was any sign of the Bastard multiplying, they would not let it stand.

It was far more likely he simply absorbed any version once their goals were complete or that they could only exist for a short time before being pulled into him.

Regardless of the truth, the fact remained that in either way a time limit was put on construction to not draw attention. If that was true, something like the Myriad Maze was not just a simple trap but necessary due to its simplicity.

The lattice locus core was so damned familiar until his eyes slowly went wide.

He had seen that before! He had seen it for centuries in his dreams in a much more primitive version! It was the weaving that had forced Delenn to live in the mortal realm as an Immortal!

It was a distortion space that isolated a given volume in a smaller space. Further, it explained the candles!

They were fueling the maze itself as well as the flames! It was an essential facet that left Delenn powerless to escape! Her own power fueled her cage!

"Just how much suffering are you the cause of?" He mumbled the words but his wives were mystified at his question. He waved it off as a slow smile tugged at his cheeks.

He had solved the problem once but that was not all. There was always the chance someone could do it to him so he had pondered how to overcome it if it did. The main issue was the hidden traps.

If he broke the weaving, it would simply expose him to the Wrath of Heaven and Earth. Regardless of why he was in a forbidden place would not matter but the greater issue was the ability of the weaving to repair itself if he did not have enough power to break it.

The current maze had similar issues. The lattice efficiently absorbed the excess energy from all the candles like the tributary waters feeding the main river. The closer to the river, the harder it is to resist the flow.

Yet, that same concept held the answer. Rather than trying to overload the artifact, he had to disrupt its balance. A flooding river has a lot of relief in all directions but a dammed river will cut off the downstream ecosystem very quickly.

He ignored the candles entirely and examined the stone beneath his feet. He was able to parse that it was essentially a pure Qi-less material. It made for the perfect foundation for the maze and prevented anyone infusing Qi into it.

There was nothing for Arts or skills to latch onto. It was a great insulator for the waxy material behind the walls as well. No bleed off or other issue but Lind smiled. The Bastard was clever but he had set up the perfect counter to his maze.

Lind summoned a blade. It was grade 9 in many respects except the most important. It had no connection to him at all. It was the perfect weapon to give to anyone to use without risking the Bastard using the normal connection to the cultivator wielding it.

He swung it in a blur as neat cubes were cut out of the floor. He made no attempt to protect it from the wear and tear of the process. Eventually, it snapped but he had enough.

"Lind, what are you–?" Annabelle was the first to speak but all of them became stunned as he Forged the stone.

The material that had previously seemed impervious to them was now like clay in his hands.

"Pure materials are often thought of as useless but it is simply a question of mass. Make it small enough, and they can be Forged in small ways. What I need right now, is to cause a loop." All 3 women stared at him as the stone became needles.

That was small?!

He smiled and began inserting needles into every candle in reach. It was just like normal wax so enough force easily pierced each one. Location was not important, just penetration.

He then stood back and waited.

At first, nothing seemed to change yet the flames began to glow brighter. Then the wax began to melt. What was going on?!

"It is no longer an insulator but a disperser. The candles are trying to absorb more energy while the stone needles scatter it. Instead of insulation, it is now making the wax work against itself." Lind spoke but his explanation made no sense!

He held out a stone needle and it easily pricked his skin! It was like his Qi did nothing to protect him! He got pale instantly until he dropped it. There was no blood at all around the stone needle!

"The wax absorbs but now it is being dispersed so these candles are pulling more to them harder and harder away from the source!" He smiled as Qing got it right. Chu then grinned viciously!

"It is eating itself with no way to stop it!" They did not have to lift a finger as the sconces began to melt! The stone needles would not leave the wax as they had been pulled deeper!

The cycle kept building until the walls shook and a strange sensation began to spread.

"Lind?" Annabelle spoke but Lind now had a wolfish smile on his face.

"The Bastard just made a critical mistake." The lattice construction was not just supporting the current maze but connected to the others. It allowed for any insane individual that seemed to have bottomless Qi could not simply break the maze by power alone.

They would always have to go to the center to break the connection and the maze would collapse. Yet, that was the most basic way to do it.

Lind was going for them all! The very foundation of the Myriad Maze was its simplicity and the Bastard had chained a bunch together to be a huge trap!

Now that mechanism was turned against him!

White cracks appeared in the walls as the sound of thunder seemed to suddenly appear and the hall shook until the sound of tearing was clear. Lind smiled as he could see other mazes in the cracks and those inside were in various states of exhaustion to simple frustration.

Then he saw it. Withered corpses crumbling to dust as a dark figure loomed over another prone person. Lind roared and emerald flames condensed until they were solid! A pure spear of harmonic Qi shot out and was weakened as it flew.

The Bastard whirled in shock before the sneer was clear on his shadowy face.

[Too lit–] The vile voice was cut off as a mental tsunami suddenly made the emerald spear vanish to all senses. Lind was instantly covered in sweat but his eyes were shining.

The spear appeared behind the Fiend before anyone registered it and struck true. The expected scream did not come but the Bastard did look irritated. Then, the smokey cover fell away to reveal a face of impossible beauty.

It was not the Bastard! It was a Fiend!

[Did you really think I would make it easy? You have only begun your descent. We are waiting for you!] The figure began to break down rather than being consumed. The connection had been severed and left nothing behind for the harmonic Qi to consume!

"Thralls, he has thralls." The chilling words came from Lind before he could stop them and the future of their fight had just gone from a single target to many! A bitter fight awaited once more.

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