Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1789 - 1788 - Duty of a Divine Lord

He should have left. He should have woken up, collected Ryl, and flown far far away!

He sighed as he looked at the group around him. Despite the radical words from Luxor, neither Xuye or the snow dragon man looked surprised. They did, however, feel sad.

They tried to hide it but a dragon’s senses were not to be underestimated.

Further, Qing’s teachings let him read beasts or people with equal ease. He might not be on par with her for healing, but he could still gauge emotions fairly easily.

"I just saved your life and while Qi deviation is not a pleasant way to die, you could still have millions of years before you start to decline." There was no rush. Deviation was bad but it was not instant.

There was even a chance she could break through and the deviation could be resolved in that intense condensation of a Mystery. He was unsure but given the dramatic changes to his own foundation, he believed it was a possibility.

It could also make things much worse as well but that would be up to her.

Luxor nodded at his words with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

"Long life does not mean I will be able to enjoy it. Also, you underestimate what my defiance cost me. How long do you think you were asleep?" Lind let his aura stretch out and quickly compared the growth of the plants from what he saw last time.

"I was unconscious for 7 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days." His precise answer left all 3 surprised but Luxor broke out in laughter shortly.

"I do not know how you did that but it should be–" Her words froze as Lind casually held out his hands. The steam rising from the tea set stopped in place entirely.

Shock flooded all their faces as they looked at him in awe. Time! They had never considered he was a master of time!

While the legend of his battle against the final Fiend had spread far and wide, it had not really included his full abilities. The fact his wives were also fearsome experts in their own right meant Lind could have combined anything they had with his own skills.

The Goddess of Illusions, for instance, was able to make reality bend to her will so if she gave him a formation plate, there was no telling what he could do!

"It is also how I can tell how well the recovery is going. My Life Layer and Time Layer complement each other well in the current circumstance." His explanation left pindrop silence for a moment.

"Pardon, Divine Lord, but did you say you combine layers?" The snow dragon man was nearly standing up but Lind looked at them in confusion. They were all Master Tiers, no matter how recently, surely they must have experienced the fusion of the harmony into–!

Lind smiled as he did something he had not done since leaving the Blessed Crimson Range. He gave a lecture on the Dao.

The 3 were rapt, unable to even blink as they absorbed his words. The snow dragon suddenly took off to a corner of the valley that had an icy cave. It was clear he had struck enlightenment.

Xuye was not far behind him as she headed for a massive nest deep into the valley.

Luxor quietly sipped at her tea as she absorbed her words. Of the 3 of them, Lind knew she had already achieved the ability to mix layers, yet never had.

"Viera has done what you described. Her Earth Layer and Life Layer often mingle via her harmony. She is a powerful predator thanks to that ever sense she ascended." Beasts would have that possible instinctual advantage.

He noticed Luxor did not mention any Master Tier Mysteries. He left it alone as the pair quietly drank tea and took in the atmosphere.

Lind, finally, sighed and broached the original topic.

"Violating your nature is worse than I thought?" Luxor nodded. She looked very tired all of a sudden.

"It is not just Qi deviation, I can feel my stamina waning even as I sit here. A few months at most more and I will be unable to move easily." He had overlooked that possibility.

The Qi deviation would grow with time but a Divine Realm was not so easy to kill. The sheer power and vitality at their command would slow the process by millions of years. Normally, that meant the cultivator could find a method or treasure that could possibly stop or reverse the process.

Luxor, however, did not even have that time. Her need to hibernate was not gone, just delayed. She would go to sleep and never wake up even as pain ate away at her mind.

Her fate was unavoidable.

Lind frowned deeply. While Luxor was technically stronger than him in cultivation, her Mysteries were nothing to his. He would trounce her with ease. It was no more than an execution she was asking for.

He would not do it.

As if reading his mind, Luxor held up her clawed hand to stop him from rejecting her.

"I mean a fight when I say one. I am more than aware from the war how terrifyingly powerful you are going all out. Yet, I recall your physical abilities are only on par with high dragons." Lind nearly spit out his tea.

Anyone else would consider high blood dragons as nearly undefeatable save by Divine Dragons. Luxor made them sound like school children pretending to fight!

He transformed his right arm and held it out palm open. He had no need to explain.

Luxor grinned and her fist slammed into his palm. He slid slightly back but Luxor was now looking shocked. Her fist was a bloody mess while only a few scratches were on his scales.

"For the record, I have fought far more powerful beings and learned that underestimating someone can be deadly. I have not slacked off once on my training on any level." Not an ounce of Qi or other power had been used, just raw strength.

He then switched back to a fully human limb and stood up. Luxor healed in that time and she struck again. Lind crossed his arms in front of him, just human flesh without scales but the result was the same!

His jade-like skin was as good as scales! The result was clear.

Lind was a tank even without extra powers. His body in human or dragon form could not be hurt by Luxor.

A sudden smile crossed Luxor’s face as her hair suddenly grew and expanded like a wave at him.

Lind did not even break eye contact as his own emerald hair moved. A rather strange fight ensued yet the emerald strands far outnumbered hers.

He was a massive dragon, the number of hairs on his man would leave even the full furred races in the dust one on one.

"Satisfied that fighting me is just an execution?" Luxor was not even winded but she was heaving up and down as her battlelust was clearly rising.

Lind, in contrast, did not even look bothered at all. He was a statue so far as his reactions were concerned.

"It only makes me want to fight you more! What better way to die than at the hands of a strong foe?!" A twitch formed on his forehead. How could he have forgotten?

He may as well have set out her favorite desert and promised there was more where that came from with his demonstrations.

Battle maniacs were insane!

Lind snapped his fingers and Luxor suddenly was restrained by bands of light. She tried to break free but then became serious.

"These are not Qi?" She was not sure but Lind nodded.

"I have spent the last few thousand years mastering my new layer. I have found a lot of applications but the most effective is distorting small streams of time. If I focus on an area, I can effectively isolate and use the new flow of time like a restraint, barrier, or anything I want." Essentially, it was a much smaller use of the trap he used on the Bastard.

The difference, however, was it was not stagnant anymore. Rather than set a limit and let it go, he could alter the flow at a whim and in any direction he chose. In the case of Luxor, he made it such that time flowed backwards as restraints.

The result was any attempt to shatter them was unraveled by Time. It was cost intensive for someone as powerful as Luxor, yet Lind could maintain it more than long enough for her to go back to sleep.

"HA HA HA! YOU ARE THE BEST!" Lind suddenly felt pain in his mind. Luxor transformed back to her bear form despite being restrained! The bands distorted and snapped in 2!

The backlash made Lind cough up blood! He had been totally caught off guard. How?!

It was only then that he realized what he was feeling from Luxor. Of course, how else would they combat their hibernation period unless she too condensed a layer of Time?!

[After you put me back together, I did advance! I was able to make a new layer yet I never expected you truly are my perfect foe!] Lind finally took her seriously and realized something at the same time.

Her eyes were begging him. She wanted to fight someone powerful before the end. Overwhelming odds were exactly what she wanted because the other foe she fought was death itself.

She could not win in either path but the former at least was what she lived for. He was a Divine Lord. He had a duty to enable the beasts to live the lives they wished for while keeping things in balance.

He sighed as he gave up. There was no choice.

"Fine, it will be short, but let’s fight to the death." His skin took on the sheen of scales as his reptilian eyes had horns appear above them. His tail appeared and his hair grew longer.

It was his show of respect to restrain his full dragon body and fight at that same level of power.

He roared into the sky as Luxor roared at him. The battle to the death began.