90 Chapter 90: Legacy
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"You sure you don't want to use a portal? You would be back to the Shire in an instant."
Bilbo smiled at Edward's proposition and replied, "Thank you for the offer, but I prefer to walk the way back to the Shire, I miss my home but I still want to discover a little more of this world. And it will be safe, Gandalf will be with me."
Gandalf nodded to the side, and added some wise words, "Sometimes, the journey itself is more important than the destination. Do make the effort to walk to place from time to time, it does wonder to the mind."
Edward smiled at the advice and nodded. With a wave, he watched them leave from the city's wall. He had already given Narya back to Gandalf as the ring would lose it's connection to the One Ring if it were to leave Ea, so it would be of no use to Edward.
A few days had passed since the creation of the Alliance, and quite a few things had happened. Thorin was officially crowned King under the Mountain, and was given the Arkenstone back.
Another coronation had also taken place, although this one much less grand, and that was Bard. The man was hesitant to become King of the Men of Dale, afraid it would remind people too much of the old greedy master, but Edward had pushed for it.
Edward had thought of introducing democracy to the people of the city, but realized it would be ill suited. They were a rather small community still, and it would be better for such a group to have a singular leader. Moreover, it was Bard's blood that sealed the Alliance, making it kind of sacred.
Speaking of sacred, the monument for the dead had officially been created, and was a simple triangular pillar, with the names of Dale, Erebor and the Forest Kingdom's dead on each side.
But that wasn't the initial design. Edward had gone to check on it, and was shocked to find out the crafters had almost created a statue of him standing on a pedestal, where the names of the dead would be written.
That was wrong on so many levels he had to explain to them for at least half an hour before stopping. First it was a monument dedicated to the dead, not him, and to put the name of the dead beneath his feet… It was just wrong, very wrong.
And so they had followed his advise and changed it to the current pillar. It was made of a see through crystal, which looked almost like glass but with a greenish tint to it, and at the base were the names of the dead, while at the top, in the center of the pillar, was the medallion, spinning slowly.
This was made thanks to the help of one of Edward's spells of course, and he made it spin so it wouldn't be directed to a single side. Also, because the material was a little brittle as it was crystal and this was a very important monument, Edward had put many arrays around it.
Some reinforced the monument, and others could even be used to attack whoever tried to harm the structure. But most of the time, only the defensive ones were in place, so that the people who lost someone in the war could come in peace.
As for the Alliance itself, it was only the first few days but things were going well, the dwarves provided precious metals, jewellery and weapons, men provided food, and elves provided teachings.
Speaking of teachings, Edward had decided to take his part for having killed the dragon. Thorin's face looked funny when he thought Edward wanted to take his gold, but all he was interested in was the knowledge of the dwarves.
Those past few days had been busy for Edward as he had spent the time to copy as many books on forging, enchantments, runes and magic from both the dwarves and the wooden elves.
Edward also got the time to learn a bit more about his new powers. The cyan crystal, or Freezing Crystal as he called it, was very interesting as it helped nourish his Spirit, as well as defend it and strengthen it.
His strengthened Spirit allowed him to create shapes, and he could even fill them with Chi. One of the simpler things he had done was to form a cubic meter, fill it with Chi, and smash things with it. In other words, he had gained the ability to use Chi outside of his body.
The last thing he learned to do with his Spirit was not combat related, but equally as interesting for Edward. The Astral Form allowed him to read book quickly, but that wasn't enough for him, so he came up with a rather ingenuous method. It felt like a cheat actually.
He had taken the concept of the copy and paste spell he had been using to copy books, and used it on his brain. His Spiritual Energy would scan a book, copy it's contents, and paste them into his mind, instantly giving him the knowledge.
Actually, all the books he had copied in the past few days were not copied physically, but in his mind. It gave quite the headache if overused, but other than that it was a great technique as it allowed Edward to turn into a master blacksmith in only a few days with minimal practical experience.
As for his Chi, it had now truly become boundless, even if he actively tried to do so, it would take him a while to empty his reserves. Moreover, he was absorbing Chi so fast that his core felt like a black hole.
And his physical body, with the opening of all seven Chakras, the refined blood and the dragon flesh, bones and skin… He was very strong.
Edward didn't have anything to measure his exact strength, but he knew that if he were to compare then he was stronger than Peter physically, and by quite a lot too. He wasn't at Diana or Thor's level of strength yet, but he estimated that he would be approaching their level by the time he reaches the peak of the realm.
He also had decided of a name for a the realm. He had almost decided to call it Greater Unity as he had opened his Seven Chakras to enter this realm, but that was his personal experience. After some inner debate, he had decided to go for the Revolving Core Realm.
The reason he chose this name was because his Core was spinning on itself, and he wasn't sure whether this was due to the Sacral Chakra or all Cores were supposed to be like that, but he liked the name.
Body Strengthening, Spirit Awakening, Unity and Revolving Core Realm, he had already reached the fourth cultivation realm.
To be honest, he was really proud of what he had done. Humans were stuck at the peak of the Body Strengthening Realm for centuries, possibly millenniums, and yet he had managed to not only break through that limit, but many others too, and that in about a year and a half.
For a long time now he had been thinking of passing down his knowledge, and while he had partially done it with Sue, she was only a single person.
And so that's what he had been teaching the people of Dale. He gave them the most efficient way to reach the peak of the Body Strengthening Realm, as well as the way to breakthrough to the Spirit Awakening Realm.
Speaking of which, he himself had to hold the Ebony Blade and challenge it's spirit to awaken his own, but with his strong Spirit now he had found ways to circumvent that.
When circulated through different meridians, Chi could have different effects, and Edward had been learning this recently. Of the circulation patterns Edward had discovered, most could accelerate the speed of cultivation, accelerating the rate at which the body and the spirit were strengthened.
So with what Edward had given them, the people of Laketown should be able to get to the peak of the Spirit Awakening Realm, and if some of them are particularly talented, maybe they would even be able to even reach the Unity Realm if a genius emerges and paves the way forward for the other, before his return that is.
Cultivation was about breaking through one's own limits, and the hardest was always to find the way to do so. Once someone finds it, then it would become easier for the others. Edward was pretty sure that if he were to mass spread the cultivation techniques he came up with, then in under ten years he could probably get the entire Earth to reach the peak of the Spirit Awakening Realm.
Of course he wouldn't do so, this would create far too much chaos. Giving too much power to the entire population would only result in chaos, as this world had taught Edward that power could corrupt anyone.
He had learned of Thorin's changed behaviour as he got the gold, he felt Bilbo's attachment to the ring, he felt Smaug's greed… He didn't want to be responsible for the end of the world.
That didn't mean he wouldn't share it though. He had just shared it with the people of Dale, not only so they would become a force worthy of standing alongside Erebor and the Forest Kingdom, but also because he was sure it wouldn't spread.
Humans were greedy, and they wouldn't share what they had with outsiders.
As for Earth, Edward intended to pass on the cultivation techniques to a few people, those close to him. He doubted it would be useful to Thor, Diana, Stephen or Peter, but his master Dragon, maybe Bruce, and Donna if needed… His parents also, although he doubted they would really be interested in this.
Of course, that was assuming he would be coming back from Hell alive. Edward had grown much stronger, but he would be fighting a god, and in his home ground at that.
