The trio moved south and quickly ca to the ocean. Lind felt odd seeing the endless ocean where Texas should be.
He had been there when he was 12 and recalled the Rio Grande being a mighty river in his mory at the ti.
The heat had been brutal in late July yet he had enjoyed that road trip a lot. They saw a lot of famous sites like the Alamo. It had been the late 90s so no smartphones but a lot of disposable cara pictures.
It was all gone.
The violet haired dragon man revealed he was not good with underwater exploration but he did study the beach quickly.
Lind tested the waters and found nothing odd in and of themselves.
The Shen dove into the waves without a word and vanished. It was clear she was superior in her elent compared to either man.
There was nothing too remarkable on the beach to draw his attention so he strained his vision to glance across to the other side if he could.
He just barely saw the tip of South Arica.
It was normally not possible given the curve of the Earth but it was clear the continents had been lifted. Mountains thus beca still visible over a great distance. Another factor of unnatural damage.
The day passed to night before the Shen returned. She looked a little pale before she gathered at the fire Lind had started.
The other dragon had been shocked as Lind used basic boyscout thods in front of him. Honestly, had none of the beasts ever been camping?
The trio sat for a ti to relax before the Shen reported her findings.
"I found many ruined cities below but with your information it was odd. The land was stable and should not have been sunken like it was. Yet, nothing else stood out to ." That only affird Lind's suspicions. While massive water disasters could bury the area like xico between them, the extensive destruction north and south were unnatural.
So areas were raised up but others fell below? He was not one to accept such a convenient thing.
While the other 2 slept, seemingly tired like mortals, Lind felt nothing. He began to suspect his harmony was still working perfectly despite all the restrictions.
He felt no hunger or thirst but the other 2 certainly did.
They had to cook up so fish and boil water for them to drink. Lind had also participated but he felt no drive to do so.
While they slept, he dove into the ocean.
The salty water barely registered as he quickly swam into the depths. The need to breathe never ca to confirm his theory. While the other beasts were clearly weakened, he was not!
He did have restrictions on him but nowhere near as many as them!
It was clear that Older Twin could not restrict his harmony! The erald fla at the core of his being worked perfectly well!
As he saw wreckages of both cities and submarines, he confird there were water disasters for certain. Still, he frowned as he examined the submarines. Theoretically, if they were deep enough, any disturbance on the surface would not reach them.
Yet, they were dead among the ruins.
He found a hatch and opened it. The once empty space filled with water as old skeletons erged. He moved past them until he ca to the bridge.
He looked at the analog readouts as the digital were obviously dead.
What he saw made him frown. Nothing was in the red nor any sign of reactor failure. While he was not a true expert, his vast knowledge let him draw parallels. He moved deeper into the vessel and saw nothing to indicate why the submarine died.
The weapons were perfectly functional as well. He saw they were disabled after a long ti abandoned but that was simply a failsafe.
He left the submarine in the wreckage of a city and dove deeper. He looked for anything to explain why the area sunk beneath the waves.
It was nearing midnight when his harmony suddenly flared up.
He swam deeper to the west following the feeling as his eyes narrowed. He knew what would make his harmony flare up.
Sure enough, he found vile Qi! It was laced in the western borders but his visage beca grim as he realized it was not random Fiend Qi.
It was the Bastard!
{Progress achieved! Discovery of Fiend Qi raises progress to 20%}
Lind found the sudden prompt foreboding. Simply finding the Fiend Qi was not enough?! What else could explain the path of desolation for the world?
Lind followed the feeling to find a massive trench of dark Qi embedded in the western region. Once he found that he quickly swam east and found another trench of the sa in the east!
The thrice damned Fiend Qi had eroded the entire area!
Yet, he wondered why it was there. Earth did not need Fiends for its doomsday scenarios. He tried to find the source but nothing was revealed.
It seed he had found only what had exacerbated the destruction but not the source.
He returned to the camp and let himself dry off. He contemplated what he had found and frowned.
Where did the Fiend Qi co from? Did it have anything to do with the teorite storm? Thoughts swirled but he had no answers.
Worse, he could not analyze the rift at all. His aura was sealed and he dared not tempt his harmony reacting.
The issue was that he was on a literal barren world. A whiff of his Divine Qi and the entire planet could pop like a bubble!
He noted so details but the most intriguing was the fact that the Fiend Qi was not actively consuming the world. It simply simred now that it was exposed.
He wondered what restrained it but he could not think of a safe way to test it. Still, he found a major clue for certain!
Fiend Qi explained the fragility of the land yet it did not answer all his questions.
He returned to the camp as the sun began to turn the eastern horizon purple and orange. The Shen and the dragon still slept but he narrowed his eyes at the surroundings.
The torn up surface was suspect and he pierced it with his long experience. He saw that the shockwaves were exacerbated now. Fiend Qi could not do that.
It could disrupt and weaken certainly, but not enhance a natural event.
There was still sothing else in play.
{Progress raised to 23%. Confirmation of external powers is correct!}
Lind felt his anger rise. It was not a ga! Earth had nearly co apart and now Divine Realm True Lords were using it as a trial!
He was deeply displeased!
Nevermind the total collapse of the world he once knew, the fact the True Lords had treated it as an illusion or trial space made him enraged!
How many innocents died?! He took a long ti to calm down as the sun crested the horizon.
The Shen and the dragon awoke with the sun but he did not inform them of his discovery. He doubted there was anything they all could do about it. Without their Qi, Laws, or even Daos to bring to bear, Fiend Qi was lethal.
They explored a few areas inland but aside from disrupted surface damage, no further clues were found.
Lind launched himself skyward purely by his muscles. The air roared in his ears but the vista gave him a clear view of what was once his ho.
What should have been sprawling plains, roads, and cities, was just empty dirt. Even animals were absent.
It was just too soon. The damage had been quick and devastating but nature had not had enough ti to even begin to recover.
He also was able to see the far shadow of the Rockies were still there. That was as far as he could get but he quickly looked east and nearly thought he was on an alien world.
He should have been able to see almost to the Atlantic but a dark gray fog covered everything.
It was entirely unnatural! His instincts also reacted strongly to it. The edges looked more like mist but the heart was pure darkness!
Why had they ignored it?! It was clear as day that–!
His head suddenly nearly burst apart but erald light flared. The pain vanished and his erald eyes were now cold.
"So, you don't want soone looking? It seems I owe a small apology. They were not ignorant, they were suppressed." Sothing had just tried to erase his mories and desire to go east in one go.
The fact he was a Divine Realm should have made that impossible save in one instance! A more powerful Divine Realm cultivator!
How was such a being on Earth?! More, why?
The souls of the entire planet at its height would not do a damned thing for their cultivation. They may not even aid the Fiend at all and actually cause deviation.
He was unclear on what refining lower quality souls would do to a Fiend. They always seed to aim for sa or higher level cultivators.
Still, it had been decades since the Shattering. Why had nothing changed? Why had no one–?!
He quickly brought out the strange tal as he began to fall back to the surface. He had no ti to waste!
He sliced his own hand and exposed his blood to the blade. Vile black smoke instantly erged!
Lies! It was all lies! The world had not been hit by a teor storm and neither had there been secret caches! It was a cultivator!
{Progress made: 45%}
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