Lind spent a week with the 2 won who had made his life literally possible. The change, from the very beginning, had altered his life every step of the way. Whether his previous selves knew what would take the place of Fusion was up for debate.
There was no way to know. All other versions were dead and beyond his reach now that he was settled into his own path.
He then t with the remaining leaders to finalize the plans for the upcoming assault. Lind was about to leave when he was reminded of one more duty before they could leave.
He ca to a tower that was heavily defended not only by cultivators, but so many formations, weavings, and artifacts, it was almost sothing that might be treated as an extre piece of art with how incongruous it appeared on the outside.
It was not set up to be pretty but impossible to overco from within or without. The reason being was a variation of enemies that were not directly connected to the Fiends but served them regardless.
The surviving traitors had been brought to the Blessed Crimson Range per his order. Lind took a deep sigh before proceeding ahead. The Harmonic Dragons guarding the tal door bowed low as he simply walked through it.
Only 6 elental beings could pass the barriers, thus eliminating a large concern of any lingering agents that may have been missed. If a 6 elental wanted to pass, they would be known to the dragons on sight.
Many demanded their deaths but Lind had another use for them. He just had to find his 'volunteers.'
The lower room was full of yet more guards composed of several forces and no one was below the peak of the Journeyman Tier.
If a Master Tier was caught betraying them, they would have been killed outright. Even the fence sitters had not stopped that. Even as he moved those Master Tiers he summoned were being evaluated for any possible threat.
Lind wanted to know how they killed them but the Master Tiers withheld that information for so reason. He really wanted to know for obvious reasons but they assured him it would not affect the Bastard as it had already been tried many tis.
The result was obvious.
Lind ascended up a shoot to the next available floor. There were no stairs and each entrance or exit had further defenses built into them. Even if a prisoner sohow escaped their cell, they were still trapped on the floor they were held on.
Lind truly applauded the design even if it was extre overkill. He went through the holding cells and could only see identities, cultivation realm, and confird collaboration with the Fiends.
Most of them had been outed as the final battle dragged them into the light. Even low level agents had nowhere to hide for the most part. He doubted they got them all but the ones that remained were now isolated plus severely out numbered.
His family and the Harmonic Dragons periodically swept all towers of the mountain range with harmonic Qi artifacts. It had caught a few at first but in the last few months there had been nothing.
The process was repeating with the Master Tiers still, yet they had found very few if any that were associated with the Fiends. It was not unusual for a Master Tier to be studying Fiend artifacts or other related relics to try and find a better way to kill them.
There were about a dozen cells yet they were all Immortals. They were of no use to him.
He moved up 3 more floors before he finally found an Apprentice Tier. It was a demon forrly of the Crag Blade Sect. A corrupted demon sect that was well known for causing bloody battles for their rituals and Arts.
Oddly, very few were associated with the Fiends but Lind knew why. The life force was needed for many of their Arts. It would actually be shockingly easy to discover if the demons had not been doing the rituals for real.
He was simply called Broken Rib. Lind sighed as he knew he was dealing with the worst match up for him. Still, he was long used to them.
He pushed his palm on a plate to the right of the cell door. It shimred before becoming translucent. He appreciated the excellent transition and still maintaining its strength.
A slim demon was revealed but his top was bare. His dark lavender skin was marked with bone decorations that Lind recognized as rib bones. So were normal but many were inscribed with dark formations.
They were able to draw on bloody sources to enhance the owner as if he was a living array once they were all working.
"Ah, so the great Erald Dragon has co! I am ready for my death!" Lind sighed. He had been right. A battle maniac. Corrupted or not, with his twisted partial horns and leathery useless wings, the demon still had the burning desire to die fighting.
"There will be no death for you, not yet. I have questions and I want answers. Brute force will only carry us so far and I know for a fact that every Divine Realm agent has t the Bastard." A slight widening of the dark red eyes was the only hint that he was right.
Lind had talked to Karu and they had learned a few secrets not well known to the wider world. So were useful and had been shared but so Lind kept close. The fact any Divine Realm cultivator was required to et the Bastard was one he hid.
The reason was the totally expected response to vaporize anyone that could have a tibomb going off at any ti from the strongest Fiend. Lind knew better. The Bastard had not planted bombs but seeds.
He sent out Divine Realm cultivators to infest the areas they lived in and as ti passed, the very continental land beca prepared for his consumption. Thus, it was not like a thrall or other bond.
There was no way for the Bastard to pull on the threat to take them or use them any further because he used them as a sort of tenderizer. The Divine Lands were heavily imbued by the most powerful energy of Heaven and Earth.
Even with his removal from most of those rules, the power was still on par with him and difficult to consu without so preparation.
Supposedly, while the last few tis had been fairly quick at the end, the first few tilines had taken far longer. So, Lind was looking for the seeds. Not all were seeds, but he hoped so would be. He had a use for them.
The demon beca silent so Lind simply touched the door. There was no warning as the demon lost his arms instantly from blades barely perceived. There was no blood as Lind had cauterized the wounds both to prevent a ss and healing.
There was no other reaction. It was a bust.
He was about to leave when the demon spoke up.
"You know?" Lind turned back and saw a strange look on the demon's face. Lind tilted his head before nodding. The demon sighed before a dark laugh left him. "I was not compatible with my Arts. Even for , it felt wrong. I kill for the glory of my path and power, but that thing–it made
want to foreswear my foundation."
Lind was surprised. A corrupted demon was unlikely to be introspective like he was hearing. It would take sothing extre.
"Do you have nas?" The demon shook his head.
"We were never ascending in such numbers. You should know that. Still, I know what kind of being you are looking for. You are looking for soone empathic and able to connect to others. It was important. I rember him speaking about it." Lind looked hard at the robust demon.
He did not look away and while he was mad, he was serious. Lind waved his hands and the arms were restored casually. Shock flooded the demon as they were as good as before despite missing the rib bones they once had.
Lind left him behind and moved on. Now that he had a lead, he filed it away. The next 3 were also duds but he noticed they begged to die. They pleaded for it hard.
He knew why but he only smiled and shook his head. It would not be so easy.
A woman begged to die if she revealed a na but her piercing violet eyes were nearly insane. It was clear she was losing touch soon. He sighed as he then reached the 9th floor.
It was there he found a na and group he had not expected.
{Shu Oda}
{Core Elder of Soothing Soul Sect}
The na was not entirely unknown to him. He was a mid Journeyman Tier part of a famously magnanimous healing focused sect. They treated all equally so long as they did not threaten their sect's interests.
The words of the demon echoed in his mind. It was the closest he had co to eting them and he made the door translucent.
An older man with a kind face was surrounded by a salt and pepper beard kept neatly trimd. His hair was held back by a silvery piece inlaid with no arrays at all. Lind narrowed his eyes at it but he found nothing odd about it.
The man was pale skinned confirming he did not spend much ti outside. His hands were not callused yet Lind recognized the work of an expert alchemist.
His robes had been taken and replaced by simple gray prisoner clothes. The demon's ribs were too difficult to remove and needed blood in such quantities even his own body could not make up for his needs, so he had been left alone.
The man before him had been stripped clean so leaving the hair clip stood out more.
As if reading his mind, the man touched it and flipped it over. An inscription was revealed and Lind understood many things.
{I am with you now and for eternity. LS}
"I have been expecting you. I assu you want sothing from us?" Lind did not answer but his harmony flooded the room. It was faint, but he finally felt a reaction. His reptilian eyes locked onto the man who did not seem surprised.
"Let's talk." Lind activated all the wards before he began to talk to the man once renowned as a legendary healer.
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