Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1837: Chapter 1836 - Murky Feeling

Lind opened his eyes and felt whole. He had been in pain or had to hold back his full power until he was healed. He cracked his neck as he stood up and let his power flow.

He analyzed it and felt pleasantly surprised. He had been powerful before, but now he was at least 2 to 4 times as strong!

His harmony flowed like a river of unrivaled power throughout. He also felt his connections to others strengthened. He was shocked at one thing, though.

Through his Tapestry Layer, he could actually see Ryl and others if he wished! They were mostly doing well. Some were embroiled in fights or trying to make progress in their cultivation.

He pulled back his vision. He could no longer see into the lower worlds as he did before. It seemed that was only when he was healing and pulling on energies from everywhere.

He smiled to know his final act was to lay the foundation for the 6 elementals of the current world.

"How do you feel?" The kraken princess arrived with the 2 spirits in tow. Lind smiled and let his aura flow outward with ease.

All 3 were happy but Haro became shocked.

"Master?! You are stronger?!" Lind smiled wider and nodded. He had been powerful before yet now it was like he was a force of Heaven and Earth!

"That is not too surprising. You created a new Immortal World. Heaven and Earth are fair. The risk comes with reward." The trio turned to her and she was indeed not surprised.

"Creator! How are you now?" The little girl was no longer a toddler but still very young. He knelt down and patted her much more solidified head. He noticed it was blonde and emerald streaked.

Her skin was no longer translucent but nearing white jade. It showed her power and control had drastically improved. Her grass fan body was unchanged but he felt it was more durable.

"I am better, much better. Thank you for working so hard to get me help." The smile that spread on her face would melt any heart. "I want to check a few things but I want to clear one thing up. You can call me Father."

The instant the words left his mouth, he felt a tremor in his dantian.

It was not the loosening of a bottleneck. He felt like there was a thin film between his senses and the 9th layer. What did that mean? He had never heard of such a thing.

He pushed it aside as a small form had collided with him. He had wanted to tell her long ago but he knew it was what triggered his deviation. He still did not know why. He had been overwhelmed at that time.

It made no sense yet he knew that was the trigger. He also knew his final layer was related to his professions. Yet, he had made no progress despite his best work being done to the point was likely at the pinnacle of all 3.

"What happens now? Will the Divine Lands realize we are here?" He looked at the kraken princess and he frowned. The names of krakens and leviathans were impossible for even him to pronounce. Why did he not settle on a nickname?

He refrained as they seemed to hold great store by their titles. It might be that they did not want names given to them by others. He honestly did not know.

"There is some debate on this, so do not take my words as inviolable. When a Divine Realm causes a world to be born, there is a kind of grace period. So long as you were healing, no one could descend. Even Immortals coming down could cause dangers to you in that state." It made sense.

His deviation put his foundation in a fragile state. Isolation and seclusion were not the same. Seclusion was a choice and included steps to protect the cultivator as they focused on breaking through or resolving an issue.

Isolation, however, meant no contact at all. It was much harder. Seclusion could be interrupted, isolation was the extreme that could not be. He stretched out his aura and felt the flow of Divine Qi with other energies.

He eventually reached the limit and felt something he had never felt before. It was like his senses hit a kind of swamp. It swallowed his aura and left him blind.

Rather than a path back up, he felt like he would get lost with ease in the crossing.

If he ended up in the depths of the Void Ocean, he would be doomed.

The path was murky at best and he frowned as it felt familiar.

He sunk his senses into his dantian. The ninth layer was the same! He was healed but the current situation seemed to treat his condition as damaged!

"There may be a problem." He explained what he felt and the kraken princess became serious.

"We will not be able to leave until you resolve this then. We are stuck here." Lind understood. If he had resolved his issues, the path would have opened.

It seemed his 9th layer was there but it was not complete. His state reflected the current path.

He sighed as that would be difficult. He had not made any progress on his 9th layer and then suddenly had triggered a facet when he was at his weakest. He had missed it entirely.

Now, he had to start over but he had no resources and no way forward. A small tug on his robes had him look down. The concerned little face made him calm down.

It was related to her. It was related to all he had made. When he decided they could call him Father instead of Creator, it had triggered it. He had to figure out why.

He sat down and just reviewed all he had learned. The sensation when he created the Heart of Origins. It had been so clear that his final Mystery was related to his professions. Each one had caused a reaction.

Elixir master was a far cry from the other 2, but weaving acted as a bridge in both. Forging could also make profound tools for it. Yet, he realized he had overlooked something.

It was only when he reached out to the living spirits of his creations that he made actual progress.

It felt like looking in mud. He could see a shape but not what it was. Each question only led to more in a cycle that seemed without end.

The very problem that plagued all Master Tiers was now put in front of him. He had an inkling and that was all. He lacked the billions of years needed as the Original Bastard could come calling with more certainty as time passed.

It would be but a puff of breath to consume them all.

He continued to meditate but pure thought was not helping him. He opened his eyes to find Haro and the kraken princess gone. The little grass fan was laying on his lap sleeping peacefully.

It seemed his revelation had brought true peace to her.

He patted her head gently but did not wake her.

"You were the key but I fumbled the lock. Your Father is over thinking." He mumbled his words but basked in the warm sunlight as the wind gently made the bright green grass roll like a sea.

He extended his senses and was able to see that Crystal Tier Immortals were the majority now. They were far less than the Celestial Fields but he smiled as he saw something.

They were following a similarly flawed path that worked for the majority but left the 6 elementals behind. If his little intervention worked, that would change and there would be an explosion in cultivation after that.

Grasping the complete fundamentals opened so many doors for all cultivators back then that even he was surprised.

The instant he had that thought he froze. He resisted a strong urge to smack his forehead.

Of course! He had been so focused on pushing his professions to the limit, it never occurred to him to look back! He never looked back to see if there were new revelations!

He had been trained traditionally in all his professions and adjusted for his elemental theory but he had never really evaluated the foundation of each since he had very few issues compared to the rest of his cultivation!

They were part of his Sky Core way back then and that had been the hardest hurdle. He looked down at the little girl and the feeling of digging in mud decreased by a lot!

"Why do I make things?" A Mystery at the Master Tier need not be external like the Time and Tapestry layers, but it could be a wholly internal one. The question was the fundamental desire but as he beheld the small spirit his smile got wider.

He then began to shake as a laugh bubbled up that he could not stop! She woke up and saw he was laughing so smiled up at him and hugged him tight.

"It was you. It was all about you! I am such a foolish old man!" His body might be young but he had lived for a very long time now. He had thought he was not set in his ways but he had fallen into the same trap as generations of cultivators had on elemental theory!

She looked confused but he playfully poked her nose as he smiled.

"I was wrong. I was so wrong about my Mystery. It was not about my professions but about why I use them. It is about why I desire to make such free beings." Many refiners, Forgers, and other craftsmen would imbue spirits for specific needs.

An artifact or weapon could gain a spirit over time and would be different but all the creations from Lind were never tied to a single purpose. They could think, choose, and even evolve!

"I create to defy fate." The sound of glass shattering shook the world. The murky feeling in his dantian nearly vanished and the sun in the sky became brighter.

His harmony flared all around him and she danced around him in joy.

"It tickles." He laughed and fell back as he looked up. He had been so stubborn! It was not about surpassing the limits! It was about what he walked as his path. He created to follow the path of Defiance!

The reason the grass fan had triggered his enlightenment was because he did not treat his creations as tools! They were living beings! That subtle shift had been so close to some facet it brought on the storm!

He now had a true path forward! He knew what he was trying to condense.

The Mystery of Possibilities! He had Time, Tapestry, but he would be trapped on an unbreakable path if he did not shatter the shackles his entire life. What else could be the culmination of his cultivation but to find that chance no other could find?!