Chapter 15 – The Temple of the Emerald Dragon of Space and Time

Feicui Long and Reiko finished breakfast at nine in the morning, after which they entered the room and sat on the now neatly made bed. It almost seemed as if nothing had happened here. They hugged in silence for a while, simply looking at each other.

It was then that Feicui Long wanted to reaffirm his words: "Don't worry, I will return with enough strength and take you with me. I will also take care of eliminating those bastards who hurt you."

This time, Reiko shook her head and said, "I'm more than happy to go with you, but I won't let you be the one to deal with them."

Feicui Long looked at her, confused, and asked, "Can I know why?"

Reiko looked at him with a gaze full of determination and responded with slight traces of anger in her voice: "Because I want to be the one to make them suffer."

She paused for a moment to calm her anger and then continued: "But more importantly, I don't want to keep depending on anyone else. I'm tired of relying on Amanitore or my father, of depending on other people. That's why I wanted that beast. I want to show this world that I, Reiko Kurogane, am not just the daughter of Masaki Kurogane, the leader of the union of summoners, tamers, necromancers, and creators of golems and puppets, but that I am also a tamer by my own merit."

Feicui Long looked at her and nodded happily: "That's good, I like women like that. But how are you going to do it now that you've lost the great stag of the deep forest?"

Reiko, a bit embarrassed, said, "Actually, I was thinking of asking you. After all, the sanctuary of all races specializes in tamers, summoners, necromancers, and creators of golems and puppets, so I thought you must have received a better education than me."

Feicui Long looked at her with a serious expression, but internally, he wanted to cry. He had certainly been taught about the four main specializations of the sanctuary, but his knowledge was purely theoretical, not practical. In reality, most of his experience came from his past lives, particularly his first life. Even though he didn't possess the taming ability or the others, he had seen their use, even from people close to him, like Marianne, who possessed the Sovereign's Quartet.

Reiko, thinking that she had made him angry, quickly said, "I'm sorry if I overstepped…"

Feicui Long told her, "Not at all. It's just that I found it curious that you would want my help and not someone else's with practical experience. But anyway, to begin with, tell me which creatures you have contracted."

Reiko's face lit up when she realized she hadn't upset him, and she began to show him and talk about her creatures: "The creatures I have with me are: a five-tailed elemental fox, a flashing plasma sparrow, a ten-flower blooming turtle, a moonlight bunny, a sleeping thorny rose, a legionary shadow mouse, an illusory dust butterfly, and an axolotl of the deep mud. They were ten in total with the great stag, but…"

Feicui Long looked at her, placed a hand on his face, and said, "No wonder you lost, aside from the issue with the traps."

Reiko looked at him with an innocent expression full of serious doubts and asked, "What's wrong with my beast team?"

Feicui Long looked at that face, similar to that of an innocent puppy, and couldn't be too harsh with her. He said, "Look, the thing is, while from a distance your team might seem well-constructed because you have creatures from three different categories—attack, support and control, and healing-support, you're missing defensive creatures or, failing that, mixed-category ones. While we could ignore this since it's possible to build a perfect team with only these three, we have more serious problems."

Feicui Long paused before continuing, "Starting with the fact that you chose your creatures based on them looking cute or pretty rather than fulfilling their function or being very strong. Besides that, why the hell are almost all your creatures female, except for the great stag?"

Reiko, a little embarrassed at being found out, corrected him, "Actually, it's a doe."

Feicui Long looked at her in disbelief. He wanted to say something about it, but he simply continued explaining, "Alright, let's continue. Now, let's go over the attackers. You should know that each category is divided into subcategories. Although the great stag was a very good attacker and a pure attacker, the other two beasts fall into different subcategories."

He paused before adding: "The sparrow, for example, is an attacker specialized in speed. It can reach great velocity, but it sacrifices a significant part of its attack power. On the other hand, the fox is even worse. It's designed for area attacks or crowd control. Its individual attack is weak and only truly shines when facing large groups of enemies."

Reiko interrupted him for a moment and said, "But the fox's seller told me it was a four-tailed elemental fox and that those were very good in individual attacks. That bastard tricked me."

Feicui Long looked at her and shook his head, "I don't think he tricked you. Let me explain. Each racial clan is divided into subclans. Some also simply call them races, but that's not entirely correct. In turn, these subclans can be classified in three ways: major clans or phylum, intermediate clans or class, and minor clans or families."

He paused to make sure Reiko was following and continued, "A major clan consists of many intermediate clans or sometimes just a specific race. Examples include the bird clan, the mammal clan, the dragon clan, etc. An intermediate clan is composed of minor clans, such as the canine clan, the arachnid clan, etc. Meanwhile, a minor clan includes only one specific race, for example, the wolf clan, the tiger clan, etc."

Feicui Long took a breath and continued, "Each minor clan or family is further composed of genera, and those, in turn, are made up of species and subspecies. Additionally, you have to consider their variants, mutations, and other factors. You should know this much by now, right?"

Reiko nodded, though she was still somewhat confused.

Feicui Long paused for a moment before continuing in more detail, "Alright, so the thing is, the five-tailed elemental fox, like many others, is a species with numerous subspecies. The one the seller mentioned is the common five-tailed elemental fox, which is the most common subspecies. However, the one you have is a five-tailed elemental fox with undulating tails, a completely different subspecies."

Feicui Long pointed out the differences in the image projection stone that Reiko used to show him the fox: "The problem is that the differences between them are very few, but these are the three main ones. The first is that the common one has smooth fur, whereas your fox's subspecies has wavy fur. The second is that while the common one has a circular boundary where its tails start being covered by the five elements, your fox instead has a pattern resembling hills. The third is that the common one has tails like a normal fox, with slightly reduced mobility, while the undulating one has extremely mobile tails that seem to 'wave,' hence its name, since they look like ripples. It's very likely that the seller wasn't able to tell them apart since the undulating ones are a rather rare subspecies."

Reiko then calmed down, though she felt a little sad for not having realized it earlier. Even so, she nodded at Feicui Long to continue.

Feicui Long understood and went on, "Now it's the turn of the healers-supporters. To begin with, the lunar light rabbit is a very good support and healing beast, as it can heal and enhance the light element. The problem is that in your team, you don't have any creature that uses the light element, so it can only heal."

Reiko made a slight frustrated grimace but remained silent as he continued. "Now let's move on to what would be the only beast in this category that was actually good for you, the ten-flower florid turtle. It's a high-defense beast, comparable to a defensive-type or mixed-type beast, even though it doesn't have any ability or trait that officially classifies it as one. Besides that, it can heal, provide support, and enhance several attributes with five of the types of its flowers, while the other five types have abilities that can hinder opponents in different ways."

Reiko, a bit happy that her beloved turtle had received Feicui Long's approval, made a small fist to congratulate herself for choosing it well.

Feicui Long noticed this, which made him pause for a moment before continuing, "Lastly, the dormant thorny rose is good for support and healing, but it has a similar issue to the rabbit, its support ability only works with creatures that use the wood element. That would only include the turtle, which isn't an attacker, the deer… and the fox, but it doesn't specialize in individual attacks or a single element. Besides that, the best thing about the rose is its thorns, which it can use as projectiles to put enemies to sleep. The problem is that it needs very strong protection, and while you could use the turtle, with your fragile attacking beasts, which also fight at a distance, it's almost a guaranteed death to move it in order to protect a support-healing beast that doesn't contribute much."

Feicui Long took another deep breath and said, "Lastly, the support-control types. There are hardly any problems here since two out of the three you have are good. The illusory butterfly is very useful for distracting, drawing attention, and creating opportunities for you, while the axolotl can regenerate, a huge advantage that many don't have. Besides that, it can use terrestrial swimming, a rather good ability that allows it to hide underground and avoid the opponent's lethal attacks while annoying them. Additionally, its ability to create mud pools that hinder enemy movement makes it very troublesome for others."

When Feicui Long was about to talk about the last creature, he sighed sigh and said, "The only problem is the shadow legionary rat. Its abilities shine in environments rich in shadows and darkness, as it can create shadow clones with offensive capabilities that grow stronger alongside her as more shadows and darkness accumulate, making her, in theory, a very good control support beast... But not only do you lack a creature that uses the darkness element, on the contrary, you have beasts that generate a lot of light, like the sparrow, and that makes her clones useful only as distractions, while she herself isn't of much use either."

...

A few minutes passed, and Reiko could only let out a sigh, looking at him with a defeated expression, like a scolded puppy.

Feicui Long placed a hand on her head and spoke in a gentler tone, "This doesn't mean all is lost. We just need to adjust your strategy and strengthen your team."

Reiko nodded up and down in confirmation. Feicui Long then said, "Alright, then tell me, you mentioned that you only carry ten in total. That means you have others you don't bring with you, and more specifically, there's another one you carry but don't use."

Reiko took a deep breath and explained, "I have four or five others. I bought them to replace part of my team, but they're still young, and now that you've told me all this, I think none of them might be useful to me. Maybe only the beast that was taken from me would be, and the other beast I carry with me is a forest anaconda, but right now, it's just at the peak of the earthly palace realm. I keep it because it's special to me, it was given to me as a gift, as it's a tradition in both my family and the kingdom I come from."

Feicui Long looked at her, resigned, and said, "Well, I more or less suspected the first part, but they're still young, so you could sell them to buy better ones. As for the forest anaconda, why haven't you nurtured it more? As far as I know, once they reach adulthood, they reach the peak of the earthly palace realm."

Reiko replied, "It's not that I haven't done it, on the contrary, I have, and I continue to do so. But for some reason, it still hasn't advanced."

Feicui Long then understood. "I see, it seems your forest anaconda doesn't have much talent, but I think there's another way to make it progress. I saw that you have a small bottle with a few drops of green dragon blood. You could use it to evolve it into a true oriental dragon."

Reiko asked in surprise. "But how? I've been saving up what I could to try to evolve it into a green oriental dragon, but with this amount, it's not enough. I'm not even sure if it would evolve into a flood dragon or a serpie, which is why I haven't tried."

Feicui Long, with a confident smile, told her. "With me here, I can ensure that it evolves with a 100% chance into a flood dragon or a serpie, and with a 95% chance of evolving into something even better than a green oriental dragon, a forest oriental dragon. Although, there is a way to make it 100%, but I'll tell you later."

With that, Feicui Long took an artifact similar to a pen and filled it with beast blood, though in reality, any blood from any energy creature would work. It was common for cultivators, especially those related to taming or inscriptions, among other close fields. He began writing on a sheet, a rune, then folded the paper and took the bottle of beast blood, pouring it into the bottle.

Reiko, confused, asked. "What are you doing? Is it necessary to throw a paper with a rune into the bottle? How would that change anything?" She wasn't worried about it contaminating or damaging the dragon blood. Dragons were the strongest race, and their blood was extremely powerful. Something like a piece of paper or even other things couldn't change its properties.

Feicui Long ignored her until the rune started glowing, and then, smiling, he said. "With this, if the anaconda drinks it, what I said will come true."

The rune glowed brighter and brighter. This rune was the same one he used in the alchemist evaluation, but it had a slightly different detail, something very special that would make Allearys, who was interested, or any inscription master, kill for it. The difference was that this was the core rune version, though it was also called a naked rune or rune essence. It had several names.

What set it apart was that all runes were normally inscribed with four components. The protection, the wrapping, the encryption, and the core. The core was the rune writing itself. The wrapping was a thin layer of energy that helped diffuse the rune and provided isolation from natural elements or the energy flowing through it. The encryption made the rune difficult to understand and prevented it from being easily learned, increasing its difficulty many, many times over, so it couldn't be mastered just by copying its shape or analyzing it. This was achieved through different means, like the illusion that Allearys saw when Feicui Long created it at its peak, which, by the way, if not for Feicui Long, would have left her either insane or dead. Finally, the protection, a layer composed of different types of energy, but which always included at least vital energy, spiritual energy, mental energy, and soul energy. Besides that, it was a thicker layer, and its purpose was to protect the other layers.

By the way, it should be clarified that this does not only apply to runes but to all inscriptions, including formations and the formation of lines or drawings. That being said, the rune that Feicui Long inserted was its core version, which meant that anyone could learn it simply by carefully observing how it was written. Normally, he would not risk someone unworthy learning it, but he needed the rune to come into direct contact with dragon blood to enhance it.

Reiko watched, slightly impressed, until the light went out and then said: "Well, I don't know what you did to it, but I suppose it's not something bad. Can you tell me the way to reach a 100% probability?"

Feicui Long felt a little embarrassed about what he was going to say, but he said it anyway: "If you take it to the temple of the emerald dragon god of space and time, which is in the city of Vienna, and make it take the blood, it is possible that the emerald dragon god of space and time will bless it. Well, more than 'possible,' it is guaranteed that he will bless it, and that will ensure the 100%."

Feicui Long felt that it was a bit shameless to ask a girl, who was currently his partner, to go and worship him, but he had no other choice. Although as a god with divine authority he did not depend on faith, it was still a boost that could help him in the future. Besides, both benefited from this.

Reiko, frowning, asked with many doubts: "It's not that I don't trust you, but the emerald dragon god of space and time... I don't see the point in asking things from a dead person. That's why I don't understand how they still worship the god of the victorious flame in the Habsburg Empire or the god of benevolent light in Great Mazovia."

Feicui Long wanted to cry. What great disrespect he had just received to his face, and from his own woman, but ignoring it, he acted like a true gentleman and said: "While it is true that he is dead, his divine will still exists. You see, I don't know if your father ever told you, but cultivators can leave behind their remnant will."

Reiko said to him: "But wasn't that exclusive to at least the astral anima realm? And wasn't it only in an object?"

Feicui Long looked at her and shook his head: "To understand it, what you say is true and at the same time not. Starting from the astral anima realm, a cultivator can leave their will even without leaving a part of their mind, body, spirit, or soul. At the beginning, in the astral anima, it can only be in objects no larger than small size, typically ranging from a ring to a small weapon. Then, in astral spirit, it increases to medium-sized objects, like large weapons or medium-sized statues. In astral soul, it extends to large statues, and so on, with an increasing area that can hold the will without weakening. For example, in the sacred realm, it can directly manifest in a room, in the earthly immortal realm in a building, in the true immortal realm in a small pocket dimension or an area like a forest or even a country, in the celestial immortal realm across an entire continent or a medium-sized dimension, and the strongest ones can even cover multiple continents."

Feicui Long paused and looked into her eyes: "A divine palace or demigod, whichever you prefer to call it, can extend it to an entire planet, a star system, or a very large dimension. The strongest ones can even extend it to multiple star systems. A terrestrial divine realm can cover multiple star systems up to half a galaxy. The strongest can cover an entire galaxy. Celestial divines can cover multiple galaxies or even entire small-sized planes, and it keeps increasing, as the area they cover with their strength expands."

Reiko was quite surprised by this fact. She had never heard anything like it before, or maybe her father had told her, but she hadn't paid attention.

Feicui Long hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should explain this, but he did so anyway: "Of course, this depends on the level of the universe. I know it may sound confusing, but universes are also classified in different ways. The main classification is based on who created them. From the terrestrial divine realm, or terrestrial god as you prefer to call it, it is possible to create a universe, and as one's strength increases, the universe or universes that are created will be stronger, larger, expand more rapidly, and have better resources, laws, and energy concentration, among other things. So, depending on who creates it, they are classified as follows."

Feicui Long walked a bit until he reached the bed and continued speaking: "If any divine realm creates it, it will be a mortal or inferior universe. If any universal realm creates it, it will be a normal universe or simply a universe, also called an intermediate universe. If a celestial realm creates it, it will be a superior universe. Some call them celestial, but that is incorrect and misleading, as they do not even come close to the true ones. Lastly, there are the supreme universes, created by any absolute realm."

Reiko watched him intently, though a shadow of confusion crossed her face.

Feicui Long then sat down and looked at her while continuing his explanation: "Of course, what I am telling you is a very simplified version, and I won't go into too many details. But the reason I am explaining this to you is that the one who creates a universe determines its maximum strength limit. It's not that surpassing it is impossible, but it will be many times harder compared to being in one with a higher limit. Additionally, a universe can increase its limit if someone surpasses it—it doesn't necessarily have to be its creator. All of this matters because the maximum reach depends on the maximum strength."

Feicui Long looked at her seriously as he finished his explanation: "For example, in a mortal universe created by a peak terrestrial divine realm, someone at the terrestrial divine realm can expand their will throughout the entire universe. Although many would not do so because their will would be weakened, there are some whose will would not weaken. These are those who are also at the peak of the terrestrial divine realm and, in addition to that, are at the pinnacle of strength in that universe. Although the Emerald Dragon God of Space and Time is countless realms higher than the terrestrial divine realm, this example applies to him, as it is no coincidence that he was the first among all supreme gods. Therefore, his will can cover this entire universe without weakening in the slightest."

Reiko then understood everything, yet she still did not seem convinced to go. It did not take her long to speak and explain to Feicui Long why: "Alright, I understand what you're saying, but even so, I wouldn't like to go ask a favor of a god I don't know much about, to be honest. Besides, it would feel like taking advantage since I'd be doing it without giving anything in return, like worshiping him or something."

Feicui Long understood that she did not want to feel like she was using him, so he said: "If that worries you, why don't you make a donation? You have money and resources, and your father has even more. You could leave them a donation, which would help them a lot since, ever since their god's fall, they have gone through a difficult situation and now have very few believers."

Reiko shook her head, and this time it was her turn to explain something to him: "It's true that the temple of the Emerald Dragon God of Space and Time has few believers in the Habsburg Empire, and therefore there are few temples, and the ones that exist are only in major cities and look quite poor. But we must take into account that the main god of the Habsburg Empire is the God of the Victorious Flame. However, in reality, the Emerald Dragon God of Space and Time is a god with many believers among mortal races. Throughout the direct territory of the union and the nations that comprise it, he is the third most worshiped god with the largest number of believers and temples, only behind the Supreme Goddess of Life, who is the first, and the Supreme Goddess of Mystical Energies, who is the second."

Reiko continued: "Moreover, three of the supreme forces have him as their sole and main god, and he is highly worshiped in small villages. Even the union itself protects him, and he is essentially the only religion protected by the union in a generalized and direct manner. The others are only protected because they have believers among the mortal races."

Feicui was very confused and surprised this time and said to her: "But why do they worship him so much?"

Reiko answered his question: "Because of all the protection he gave to the mortal races when he was alive. He was practically the only one who protected us and specifically favored us. It wasn't until his death that the mortal clan began to be persecuted with the intention of wiping it out throughout this universe. Besides that, specifically in this system, he created a protective formation that also suppresses and limits the cultivation of those who can enter to a high level in the Spiritual Palace Realm. So far, no one has been able to break it. That is one of the reasons we have not been exterminated in this world."

Feicui Long then understood. He found it curious since he had done it at the time because of a promise to his master that he would be the protector of mortals, as his master was precisely a mortal, an elf. And what he did for this world was purely by chance, as he simply wanted to protect the beloved world of his most precious younger brother, his best friend...

With that clarified, he said to Reiko: "Then, what do you think? That way, you won't feel like you owe him something or that you got it for free."

Reiko still did not look convinced and said: "That would seem fine to me, but even so, I am not entirely convinced. Honestly, I don't have a very good opinion of the Emerald Dragon God of Space and Time, because many people forget that he is also the god of power, which attracts people full of ambition, with evil intentions, who seek power without caring about anything else. Of course, I know that not all his believers are like that, but I wouldn't doubt that half of them are, and if half are, it must be because their god grants them that desire, as you say."

Feicui Long was screaming internally. He was being slandered and attacked again and again without having done anything to her. Calming himself down, he slowly explained: "It is true that he is the god of power, but he does not grant a blessing, a divine gift, divine grace, or power to just anyone, only to the worthy."

Reiko said to him: "But how do I know that to be 'worthy' they can't be like that?"

Feicui Long responded in defense of his honor: "The Emerald Dragon God of Space and Time, although he is not someone of the righteous path, is also not of the demonic path. He is more of a neutral path, slightly inclined towards righteousness. Moreover, there are only three ways to be considered worthy. The first is to obtain the blessing or whatever it may be through your own merits and abilities. For example, if you are going to take, let's say, a rune, you must understand it by yourself. Cheating, such as bringing objects or having someone else help you, is not tolerated. Or if you want power, you must fight and overcome yourself."

Feicui Long stopped for a moment and said, "The second way to be worthy is how much you are willing to sacrifice, but this sacrifice only applies to yourself. You cannot sacrifice someone else or your loved ones. It has to be something like your arms, eyes, an ability, among other things. The third is being willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to obtain power for others. This sacrifice can mean being willing to give your life for them or dedicating your entire life to the service of the god, whether to protect your family, a town, or whatever it may be, or also to avenge your parents, among other things."

Reiko replied, "But that doesn't eliminate the possibility of people with bad intentions."

Feicui Long patiently refuted her, "Although it may seem that way, he does not grant power to someone who comes with frivolous reasons, so they can't even get to test one of the three. People who come solely to obtain power or simply because they covet something without a purpose, in other words, not just anyone can come and obtain this. Especially those, as I said, who are crazy for power and desire it but will find nothing but his contempt. So, while it's true that he doesn't grant power only to the just, it doesn't mean he grants power to all evil people or to those who worship him just because they want power. Besides, what is right and what is wrong are both subjective."

Reiko finally couldn't find more words to refute him and said, "Alright, I'll go and do what you told me, including the donation. But I'm surprised that you know so much about him without being a believer. I've never seen you go to his temple."

Feicui Long didn't understand how she knew he had never gone to the temple in this life, but even so, he simply changed the conversation to divert the topic, "Alright. By the way, I also wrote this. It's for Amanitore. Although she hid it very well, I saw that she suffered severe soul damage. She's only in such good condition because of the crystal released by the spectral queen. This is a list of ingredients that don't require an alchemist. If they are eaten together in a soup, the entire soup must be consumed, it will allow her to fully recover, thanks to the crystal and her special general constitution."