Lind was covered in sweat and topless as his forge fire blazed in front of him. A simple sword was floating in front of him but it was the peak of what he could do. He had Forged and woven at the sa ti and could only pray it was enough for what was to co.
The sword was barely considered a broadsword. It was too long to be a shortsword too. It was barely ?? the length of his body. It was, however, disturbing to every demon looking at it.
It looked like simple steel with a leather wrapped hilt. The counterweight was a small sphere of crimson tal. He grasped it in his hands and it was clear it was a bit larger than one handed hilt but only just.
"What have you done, Lord Erald Immortal?" The aether child Shard Tier looked in horror at the sword but Lind let his aura wash outward. Shock covered his face as he realized the soul power was as pure as ever!
"Get everyone in the deepest recesses of the tower. I have to face the wraiths alone. None of you can be protected while I fight the Divine Realm." The demon commander was in the crowd but he only kept the others in line.
"So you will wait for–" The aether child began to ask a question but Lind waved it off.
"Waiting is death. Go. Hide in the depths and pray. Pray to the spirits or any power you think will be rciful. This is a slim chance only, but it is a chance." It was a hail mary. There were no 2 ways about it.
The demon commander organized the forces but Lind ignored them all as he ascended back up the tower. It had been days but no attack had co. He was not sure why but he suspected the Divine Realm was gathering strength.
It would only have 1 shot.
The mont it exerted itself, it would be exiled from the Celestial Fields entirely. Likely, it had to actually plan how to breach the barrier and consu the peoples' spiritual power before that happened.
The Great One had been able to launch only a single attack and then he was impotent to do anything else.
It had called the other wraiths echoes as well. Was that how they saw the new generations or was it sothing else entirely?
He pushed it all aside as weakness suddenly washed over him. It was not like his cough, it was due to imdiately going from Forging at Law Grade to fighting. He had no elixirs to recover anymore so he could only absorb Qi at his own pace.
He swiftly steadied himself and erged into the star filled sky. It was the deepest part of the night and he actually took a mont to see the sa moons as he had on the 1st layer.
The feeling of wonder and horror in those early days ca back to him. It had been so many thousands of years since he beca an Immortal but he never felt like he was at peace for more than a few decades.
A mortal would find that acceptable but he truly realized he was sick of it all. The race to power, the constant need to crush enemies or even those that simply wanted to take what was not theirs at all.
"Why does any sane person want to beco a cultivator?" The question left his mouth but he wanted to brush aside the words when an unexpected answer ca.
[Fear, little dragon. Fear of death, fear of weakness, and so many fears. You little creatures born with such a limited lifespan have no choice but to risk the thorny path. Even the children of Qi or the breath of Qi given life struggle to live. Such a basic thing you do not understand?]
Lind was shocked. The Divine Realm wraith was still observing him. Did it not understand what he had done?!
A truly amused laugh filled his head and Lind felt a smile stretch across his own face. It was absurd to think he could hide anything.
[I was curious how you would choose but to fight and have hope surprised . It shows you are more than I thought but yet you still will die. Yet, that thing you created is a mystery to . I do not understand what you made but I know you cannot make anything worthy of harming .]
There was no arrogance or bragging. It was a reasonable fact. A Radiant Tier, even the best and most profound prodigy, would be an ant to the lowest Divine Realm cultivator. Even the massively powerful Sovereign Tiers were just larger ants to them.
"I am not giving up. You are directly above us, yes?" Lind felt surprise in his mind before an aura flared directly above. All the other wraiths were still around them but they ran. They were afraid.
[Good instincts, little dragon. I admire bravery. Co, let us decide the fate of all in this place.]
Lind did not need prompting as he grasped the sword and shot upward into the sky. The barrier felt like a warm breeze as he passed through it and then the harsh winds slamd into him.
He steadied his position and looked up at the sky, or he tried to.
There was a massive distortion that he could make out above him. The wraiths were large to begin with, usually between 9 to 15 ters in height, but the thing above him would give his dragon body a challenge.
[You will fight as a human?] Lind nodded before smiling.
"I was born human. I choose to die as one." He felt calm. Win or lose, he felt like he had made the right choice.
[Dragon soul, eh? I have even more respect for you then. Pity, my cowardly captor will get his wish but then I will go kill him. Take whatever solace you can from that.]
Lind frowned and suddenly a jade slip appeared in his hand. He tossed it up and the wraith caught it. The light of Qi vanished but he knew it was not simply consud.
[I see. That is helpful. You will die painlessly. I will also spare the tower.] Surprise blood on his face but then he smirked. He, alone, would be enough for the Divine Realm wraith to recover.
Brandishing the sword, Lind prepared himself. He felt the changes in the air pressure and beca a blur. Speed was the one area he exceeded the wraiths. They could use the wind but were just as affected by it.
Worse, they had no way to divert the winds as their bodies were not substantial enough to do so. The Whisper Peaks were a decent place to contain them.
The beginning was a silent battle of dodging and attacks. The wraith was testing him at first but its speed increased suddenly.
Lind tossed out a vial of Celestial Qi elixir which made the wraith back off. It was an elixir for Celestials and he had quite a few of them by pure chance and no need for them so they were all he had left!
They were now his only defense.
The battle shifted and the barrier lit up as the wraith used it as an anchor to better position itself against the wind! Lind never saw a chance to strike but then again, he had not expected to be that lucky.
The wraith finally touched his robes which instantly disintegrated. A single touch was all it took and not even a rumble from Heaven!
How terrifying that a natural touch had such power!
Lind beca grim as he knew it might be a pyrrhic victory but he might be able to pull it off. A part of him was tempted to let the wraith live but again, prey should not trust the predator.
Unlike when facing a Fiend, his harmony was silent. It was in fact suppressed just being outside near the wraith. He had wondered how Fiends felt when facing him and had a new appreciation for how terrifying he must be to them.
[You have done well, little dragon, but ti to end this and go to my new ho.] Confirmation it had advanced in the void was nice but the wind suddenly stopped!
All Laws, Qi, and even space itself froze! Lind could not move anything inside or outside him!
Black clouds instantly gathered but they were far too slow! It was clear the wraith was even holding back the punishnt from Heaven!
A cold feeling appeared near him and Lind raged. He refused to be killed like a bug! Dying in a fight was one thing but to be suppressed like nothing was unacceptable!
His harmony, the source of so much assurance in the past, was silent. It could do nothing to help him but he had not expected it to. He, instead, focused the one thing still working on the sword. His mind!
ntal power crawled along his body but it was the one thing he had built up against much stronger foes over his entire life. His will to think!
The wraith seed distracted at keeping Heaven at bay long enough to reach him. In that infinitesimal mont, his mind touched the sword. The spirit sleeping within it reacted to his will and lit up like a sun!
Surprise ca not only from the wraith but Lind as well. He had made it but the reaction was much more extre than he had anticipated.
His Qi, Laws, and even his soul were drained imnsely at that mont. He bet it all on a single creation as it was all he had.
Power unlike anything that should be allowed in the 3rd layer suddenly flooded from the sword. Cracking was heard but it held!
[Impos–] Lind felt his limbs free for just a mont and he disappeared. Waiting for words was death and he had only 1 chance.
The sword blazed as it finally pierced the wraith. The tal shattered but the light connected it spread with it! A roar shook his fragile soul and blood gushed from his body.
The once frozen world quickly resud as both wraith and man were struck by lightning. Branches of lightning blazed across the Whisper Peaks and all the wraiths were pulled upward.
The last thing anyone would have seen was a mass of lightning pulled into a tear in space. The land beyond it was impossibly solid yet painful for any Immortal to try and perceive.
The clouds parted and the starlit sky returned. The winds around Whisper Peak blew once more. The demons only appeared at sunrise but what they found was a bleeding and broken Lind.
He had slamd into the tower at full force and was barely alive. The important part, however, was the barrier was gone and no wraiths ca! They were free!
The demon commander quickly gave orders and the healers did what they could for the Erald Immortal. They had been isolated for over a month and needed to know what was going on outside the Whisper Peaks!
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