His consciousness brushed the obsidian walls of a distant black palace, and murderous intent snapped shut around like a steel trap.
“Intruder!” a voice thundered from the depths. instantly, several titanic energies rocketed Skyward, hurtling toward the fold of rock where and Flaxseed hid. “We’re blown,” Jared hissed, yanking Flaxseed by the collar. “Move!”
They leapt just as ebony bolts hammered the hollow they had occupied, pulverizing boulders into dust that blotched the sky.
“Seize them!”
“Spying outside Darkwind Gorge, court death!”
Dozens of cultivators swarmed from the valley mouth. Their leader, a snarling Earthly immortal demonic cultivator, closed the gap so fast the ground seemed to fold beneath his boots.
Jared and Flaxseed bolted toward Swordmaster City, every muscle burning as they poured speed into desperate flight.
Behind them howled curses, poison talismans, and razor-edged spells that carved furrows through cliff and shale, forcing last-second dives and pivots.
“These jerks sure run fast!” Flaxseed spat, flinging charms over his shoulder; blossoms of flame burst, buying a heartbeat of space.
Jared kept his senses locked on the pursuing auras, weaving through clefts and ridges.
Thank the heavens we never charged straight inside. We’d have been swallowed alive!
Familiar ridgelines finally yielded to Swordmaster City’s outer bulwark. Battered, scraped, and lightly wounded, the pair tumbled through the open gate.
The cultivators skidded to a halt at the threshold, constrained by whatever treaty, or fear, shielded the city. After a few frustrated curses, they turned back into the wasteland’s haze.
Jared and Flaxseed slumped against the granite wall, lungs heaving, sweat soaking every thread of cloth.
“D*mn,” Flaxseed wheezed, swiping soot from his face. “Another inch and we’d be fertilizer.”
Footsteps raced across the courtyard.
Lyra was shocked at their bedraggled state. “Jared, Mr. Flaxseed, what on earth happened to you?”
Between gulps of air, Jared sketched the chase in quick strokes. Lyra’s expression tightened. “At least you’re alive. Come! Master wishes to see you right away.”
They followed into Corin’s shaded courtyard. The elder sat beside a stone table, fingertips resting on a cooling cup of coffee. His gaze swept over the torn sleeves and singed boots with measured calm.
“You went to Darkwind Gorge, I presume?” said quietly.
“Yes, sir,” Jared answered, straightening despite the ache in his ribs. “Darkwind Gorge feels wrong, deeply wrong.”
Jared folded his arms in a respectful salute, then recounted every grim sign had sensed on that windswept path, the rolling demonic aura unlike anything Malevolent Path Hall used, the moment his presence was noticed, and the blood-chilling pursuit that followed.
Corin listened without interrupting. When Jared finished, gave a single, knowing nod. “Exactly as l feared. Darkwind Gorge could never be a branch of Malevolent Path Hall.”
“Why not?” Jared asked.
Corin’s tone turned sober. “The fiends nesting there belong to the Blood Demon lineage. Their art feeds on a victim’s blood-brutal, barbaric. Malevolent Path Hall devours souls, not veins. Blood Demons are vicious and vindictive…”
“The fact that you slipped from their talons is pure luck. Had you pressed deeper, Darkwind Gorge might have become your grave.” Jared met Flaxseed’s gaze. A shiver of dread passed between them, quickly melting into a flare of anger.
“Then Whispers Tower cheated us?” Flaxseed erupted. “We paid on million celestial gems and got a pack of lies!”
