Chapter 1814: Chapter 1813 - A Single Thread can Bind it All
The Divine Realm was a different beast compared to the other major realms. The Body Refining through the Sky Realm was essentially refinement. Improve the quality of Qi, the body, and soul if necessary.
Even with tribulations and physiques, that was essentially true.
The Heaven Realm was about expanding the elements. The missing pieces had to be filled in and then once more refined but also improved understanding of how all 6 elements interact.
Essentially still refinement but also touching on higher order relationships to advance from the Star to the Sun Tier.
The Immortal Realm seemed like a bastard after that. A massive increase in lifespan but that was because refinement was no longer the main goal. Laws had to be grasped and incorporated into a transformed dantian.
The first 3 tiers from Sliver to Crystal were just that. The Radiant and Sovereign Tiers were massive steps forward. Not only grasping Laws but to begin touching on the Dao to advance.
It was not easy at all so the millions of years became more precious.
The Divine Realm took all those rules and tossed them aside. Lind had struggled just to start!
An entirely new process was begun!
Mysteries were called aptly as no one was entirely certain what would trigger condensing and merging. It took billions of years for the average cultivator to go from an Apprentice Tier to the peak.
A Journeyman Tier took tens of billions!
A Master Tier was just a distant horizon and shrouded in fog for everyone.
In that regard, the generation of the Final Fiend War were monsters without end!
Only a hundred thousand years and Master Tiers had appeared like blades of grass!
Still, the Divine Realm had rules once begun. Condensing a Mystery facet could easily lead to the next if they were very synergistic which was not that uncommon. The danger was what the Mysteries did to the cultivator.
A massive influx of wisdom, power, and a qualitative change were expected. The issue was if things came too fast, it could be lethal!
The Apprentice Tier was more forgiving. Too many Mysteries simply could not happen and came with harsh bottlenecks or some pain to prevent the cultivator from trying. The Journeyman Tier added some more debilitation and higher risk, yet still survivable.
The Master Tier was not so kind.
Each facet had to be condensed at the same time yet the rule still held. A Master Tier had to take a pause as they grasped the facets. The reason being was the extreme danger.
There had only been one exception.
Lind when he condensed his Time Layer. He had done it in record time. It had to have been risky but Lind never spoke of it. The truth was he suspected the nature of the layer saved him.
Now, he was unable to spare himself.
{A single thread can bind it all}
The words shook his very mind and soul. His body was being torn apart as too much power was flowing into him!
The second Mystery of a Master Tier was horrifying in power!
Lind knew there was only one way to save his life! If he kept it up, he was going to die!
He had to condense the Mystery in its entirety and fuse it to his harmony! The problem was the pain made it damned hard to think!
Blood spread from him and he was feeling a massive strain on his soul. Think damn it!
{All bonds weave the pattern}
{A single thread can bind it all}
He had 2 pieces, he just needed the third! He had to calm the storm in his existence!
He summoned everything he had! His harmony flared and even Haro appeared!
[I am sorry Master!] Elixir after elixir was shattered and forced into him. It helped a little.
It was enough to give him just a moment. That brief clarity made him look at the facets differently.
One was a part of him. Choice. Choice was what shaped the Tapestry, but Karu proved that pulling on a single piece could change it entirely. His existence was thanks to her and his alternate selves.
They had pulled on that single thread of possibility to open a new path forward. They changed the pattern and he bound it all up!
More elixirs and he even felt artifacts flare up. He thanked the ancestors for their wisdom of guardians. Divine and True Lords faced such harsh paths that a helper could be needed at any time.
The pain was still surging and his soul was starting to fracture. What else?! What was he missing?!
"ROAAARRRRRR!" A dragon’s pain had to be expressed and his flames shot skyward! His mind was getting dull but the flames helped. He could focus for just a moment.
Find it! Find it! The desperation was flooding him as he knew his life was slipping away.
The instability of 2 powerful facets was breaking him!
Suddenly, on the edge of life and death, 2 virulent yellow eyes appeared. A dark lavender narrow face with dark cobalt hair appeared. She was smiling at him and time seemed to freeze.
[Stop overthinking. You know what you want so choose it.]
Cyntilla always supported him. She had quietly been his pillar in the Lotus Empire when he was so alone. She had believed in him at his weakest and never gave up. She was the first to come kick his ass too.
What did he want? There was always one thing he wanted that was denied him!
[I WANT YOU BACK!] His words triggered something deep in him. His hands rose up and he touched something he was not allowed to. He was already in poor shape yet he no longer cared.
All his power was meaningless before that one single desire! It cleared the pain away and he grasped it. The final facet.
{A pattern can be damaged, but never destroyed}
The final piece fell into place and the world changed around him. He not only saw the connections of the present but the past and future as well! His body burst as bones shattered and his flesh was nearly blown open.
Still, he lived! The energy was now flowing to fill the second layer of his dantian near the core. The Tapestry Layer was many colors and always shifting. It held no constant shape in that regard but he did not care as his emerald eyes burned.
A possibility! A chance! All he wanted to find was that singular moment that the pure instant gave him!
Cyntilla was in Samsara. She was beyond his power even as a Master Tier due to the interference of Heaven and Earth. It was the bargain he struck.
Her soul would not be lost but it entered Samsara. He knew that yet he could not let go.
Was he any different than the Bastard at that moment? Yes! He was not breaking the world, he was looking for a path his new layer gave him!
Darkness was closing in when finally, he found it! It was so faint, so weak, that it was almost impossible but his power grabbed it and would not let it be buried in the streams of the pattern.
He began to laugh, or try to, but his body was too damaged. All he could do was smile!
Haro held him in a pool of his own blood as he passed out and the Mystery solidified in his dantian. There was a way! That was all that mattered and he would find it again! He had it burned into his mind!
⬧⬧⬧⬧
Haro was relieved as he saw Lind’s status stabilize. It had taken nearly half his elixirs and more than ⅔ of his artifacts to keep him alive! The clearing was now a pile of trash and broken vials.
Shockingly, Lind’s aura was growing at a startling pace as his body began to repair itself. Just what kind of Mystery had his Master condensed?!
He was sending out a signal for help when he froze. He felt a presence he had not felt in a very long time. Tears stung his eyes as he looked around.
"Lady Cyntilla?!" He called out but only the chittering of animals and insects answered him. It was impossible. She had to have been long since reborn and her memory wiped. She was gone.
So why? Why had he felt her so close?
The feeling vanished but he could not shake it. He looked down and noticed the strange smile on Lind’s face. It was serenity incarnate and tears fell from Haro.
Could it be? A Master Tier had many powers but a Divine Memory could not condense a living soul. Had he found a way?
He prayed to the spirits it was so as he reached out to Lady Ethry and Lady Shoti. Lind needed to recover and he wondered what his Master would reveal. He could only hope it would explain the feeling and the hope blossoming in his chest.
