Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1806 - 1805 - Not so Easy

There was an amusing contradiction about being too powerful. A Master Tier, facing the lack of an equal, could generally do what they wanted.

So long as they confined their actions to those powers without the protection of another Master Tier, it was possible to run riot without drawing ire. If there was good justification, they could even seem benevolent as they rained carnage on someone.

Yet, despite that carte blanche in such a circumstance, it had drawbacks. If it was an open fight, it was very effective but if something shady was going on in the background, it was quite possible that critical information could be lost.

Thus, going full boar and crushing a foe was not easy despite having the unquestioned upper hand.

Lind, thankfully, never planned on crushing the Veridian Bone Sect directly. They did not have the protection of a Master Tier yet they schemed to use a Fiend process to live longer. Even Sun, with his chaotic style, would know someone was using them.

He would not use his normal antics as they would all go running. Lind had killed a Journeyman Tier so he had no doubt the forces behind the conspiracy were worried. However, they likely thought they had years to prepare.

They also had no idea who had killed their elder.

Thus, Lind was not invading their territory in the southwestern territory. He was camped out on the main route towards the intercontinental teleportation array. Princess Bryth was safely relaxing in his home in the Blessed Crimson Range as Ryl was being spoiled by his wives.

It seemed Lysanna especially was taken by his soft fur and warm scales.

It was the first time Ryl had not insisted on coming with him.

Lind also took it as his good fortune as Ryl distracted his wives from coming too. They were likely ready to wipe out the Veridian Bone Sect to set an example. Sometimes he wondered why anyone thought wives were seen as weaker than their husbands.

How blind were people?

He had calmly been meditating on his new Mystery and starting to feel like one of the facets were getting clearer when his weavings reacted. Someone was shifting through space.

He smiled as he stood up in the dark forest he had taken as his base. The beasts in the area had no idea he was there yet the usual cut throat life and death had been reduced by his presence.

He found that odd as he was not actively trying to affect them. He had never seen it before and he wondered why it had turned out that way. He sighed as he could not examine it deeply but noted it for later.

His eyes glowed as his right arm shimmered. It seemed to reach into the very air before he smiled.

A frozen figure was extracted from nothing! She was a peak Journeyman Tier but she was not an elder of the Veridian Bone Sect! She had no identifying marks at all!

She was also much younger than the demon elder he had killed before. She was a beastial aura but mixed with a human scent. Her soul was definitely human yet her body seemed to have taken in something potent.

He frowned as it confused him. It was not a good idea to be half-hearted going down that path yet she was clearly not in harmony. Why was she like that?

She was currently in mid flight tearing through space yet he had laid a simple time trap. Past, present, and future were stuck in a small loop. So long as someone tore through space, they would be caught.

He wondered if he had caught someone not involved but he had to free her to find out. Her dark hair was stuck back flowing like she was in the wind while her teeth had a pair of fangs barely showing outside her lips.

He propped her up facing a tree and stepped back. He dissolved the trap and she shot forward like a cannon ball. The tree, despite being weaker than her, did not get a scratch as golden light shimmered around it.

He had anticipated someone in mid flight and prepared a simple target to stop them cold. She split her head open and began to bleed profusely.

He frowned even more. Such a thin skin? In a Divine Realm?

Even a mediocre Divine Realm should not bleed so easily.

"What is going on?! Why is this puppet not moving like I want?!" Instead of a female voice, a rough male one came from her throat. Lind stood calmly as the woman shook her head in disgust and confusion.

His eyes glowed as his harmony got to work. What he saw shocked him! There were traces of energy now flowing from her soul into the sky!

He followed it as far as he could until he detected arrays ahead. They were behind the sect wall!

Puppetry existed but it could not be used on living beings. It was not a question of taboo, it just did not work and certainly not on a Divine Realm!

The traces, however, were familiar if primitive. Thrall! They were similar to a thrall!

That went beyond trying to mimic a Fiend skill to live longer. He could grasp that as many have tried to cheat the limits of all realms. The Artificer that tried to claim his body was the most common method.

Yet, stealing a body had many demerits that spanned compatibility to potential. A soul could not transform a body beyond what Heaven and Earth allowed.

Karmic debt was the biggest risk as well, yet thralls bypassed that issue entirely. They became extensions of the Fiends and thus the actions were all put on the thrall and not the Fiend!

Lind had no idea how someone had recreated the effect no matter how crudely!

It only affirmed his suspicions. Someone, either by accident or intent, had retained a complete Fiend legacy. They were using the Veridian Bone Sect and the Kingdom of Blades as guinea pigs!

There was no way such a weak power could hide the research needed to pull off both attempts!

The woman seemed to be cursing how useless her own body was. Lind suspected it was not easy now that she was concussed as well as the limits of the crude connections.

Lind sneered as his harmony acted carefully before he found the dantian. He found an artifact was actually inserted in her dantian!

Anger rose as he realized her poor condition was intentional. She was a test subject!

All so someone could control her remotely from the safety of their walls and risk nothing! He analyzed the artifact with ease and traced it back much more easily than the strands.

It was like a tunnel was made for him to bypass the arrays!

His aura flowed and he saw dark tan walls surrounding dark, almost black, stone halls, dormitories, and other sect structures. He flew over 2 more walls until he came to a rather humble set of buildings.

They had no towers and they were not palaces but simple courtyards with a massive arena at the heart of the sect. If nothing else, the founders of the Veridian Bone Sect had been clear on their desire for powerful cultivators.

One of the larger courtyards was the source of the strand and he once more pierced the defenses without causing a ripple.

He found a robust human male. His hair was shaved off but his tanned skin and scars showed he had fought most of his life. His face was wrinkled but only just. He clearly was far from fading.

Lind found he was the source of the peak Journeyman Tier aura he had felt. Odd, Fiends could not do that so maybe they had overcome the control issue by true projection? How did they overcome the limitation of distance?

He pushed the questions aside as his aura slammed into the mind of the man. His amber eyes shot wide but he could no longer speak or move.

[Vice Sect Master Crusher. Such an inventive title. How does it feel? You cannot move or even speak unless I allow it!] Lind loathed the feeling but he was currently trying to distract the man from what he was really doing.

The artifact was essentially a bridge into the soul. It bypassed all defenses and he highly doubted the current user understood the implications. Nothing could be hidden from Lind at that moment no matter the Oath!

[What ant dares to interfere in my actions?! You will be broken beneath my fists and your life will nourish mine for eter–] Lind tuned him out. The man was a simpleton.

He had been born powerful and never gone into a fight he could not win. Even when locked inside his own body, he did not grasp what was happening.

Lind finally found answers but they were not good. Shadowy figures holding jade slips of research into what were clearly violations of the taboo. Yet, they were too imperfect.

Lind could see gaps had been left for their targets to find solutions but there was just enough to guide the target to make them work. It hid the origins even if discovered. It meant if the complete technique was revealed, it would lead to the source!

He sneered as such tactics were useless in front of him! He was a Transcendent! His skill left all in the dust as he quickly analyzed what was there and compared it to the Fiend origins.

He finally pieced it together and his anger rose.

Humans. They were humans and he knew their work well! They were survivors from the Glass Palace! They had enslaved the demon fox races and clearly had closer ties to the Fiends than he had realized!

They had bided their time and let the Divine Lands burn while working on the project of creating Fiend skills for themselves!

Could there be others? How many? It would take billions of years to squash them and their current tactic made perfect sense to him.

Disperse the skills in incomplete ways and make it impossible to find them once many powers secretly start to use them! If not for it being him, no one would know!

His emerald eyes flared as he focused on the man.

[Crusher. I am Lind Frey. Do you understand?] The man suddenly froze and he felt fear spike in the body. Lind did not care. [You have done the unforgivable. Heaven will now judge you.]

He exerted his Divine Authority enough to shatter all the defense. A potent storm gathered as massive black lightning bolts slammed into the sect.

Lind left that to the Heavens as he caught the girl in pure shock. A mortal! She was a mortal!