“Move aside! I am Kael Windham, young master of Sacred Sword Manor. Bring Jared Chance to me!” Swords clanged and disciples barked orders as the arrogant voice out through the commotion outside the gate.
Narrowing his eyes, Jared rose in unison with Lyra. At the entrance stood a silk-robed youth who had just kicked two Sword Sect disciples into the dust.
The man was Kael. A dozen guards in black hovered behind him, their auras sharp and disciplined. They were in the Earthly Immortal Realm.
Word of Jared and Corin’s injuries had emboldened Kael, and had come to challenge the Sword Sect.
“Where’s Jared? Hiding in like a coward?!” Kael sneered. His gaze finally landed on the approaching youth. “I thought you were dead,” chuckled. “I heard the beating you took was pretty severe.”
Jared stepped in front of Lyra, energy coiling silently within him. “You’ve broken into our compound. State your business.”
He could sense that, though Kael was only a Fourth-level Earth Immortal, the sword intent radiating from was razor-keen, the mark of countless hours of training.
Kael ignored Jared, eyes settling on Lyra with icy relish. “Lyra, we never settled our score. Care to duel now?”
“She will not duel!” Jared’s voice out across the courtyard. Kael looked up and down like inspecting an insect. “You’re half-dead and still think you have a say? You killed Jayson. I haven’t even avenged him.”
“Jayson died by my hand,” Jared said. “If you want vengeance, aim at me and see if you’re capable of earning it.”
“Sharp tongue, aren’t you?” Kael laughed, anger burning behind his smile.
“I didn’t come for wordplay today,” said, drawing his sword with a hiss that promised violence.
“No one in the Sword Sect will survive today! If you want me to spare you, Lyra can strip off naked and dance before me!” Kael sneered.
A hush snapped into fury. Every Sword Sect disciple snapped their gaze toward Kael, eyes blazing.
Corin and Flaxseed hobbled forward in angry, uneven strides, backs straight despite their wounds.
Corin’s voice quavered with rage, yet it carried like thunder. “Kael, enough! We may be weakened, but the Sword Sect will not be shamed by filth such as you!”
Kael lifted one brow, smirking. “Be smart… Have Lyra danced naked, or I will wreck the Sword Sect!”
Behind him, his armored guards stepped forward in unison. Their combined aura darkened the air like thunderheads rolling in. Several disciples turned pale as their cultivation level was lower.
Jared strode one step ahead of his comrades. The marked aura and the roaring pulse of the Power of Dragons cracked outward from his chest, tearing a visible gap through the oppressive cloud. “You really have a death wish, don’t you?”
Kael chuckled, eyes narrowing to cruel slits. “You?”
He let the word hang, mocking and razor-sharp. “You only beat Jayson because slipped! You thought you were that formidable?”
Slowly, drew his longsword. Pale-blue light rippled across the blade, a cold flame licking steel. “Allow me to demonstrate the Sacred Sword Manor’s sword technique!”
The instant steel cleared its sheath, a needle-thin wave of sword energy shrieked forward, aiming straight for Jared’s face.
That wave carried glacial energy so pure the very air froze, birthing a glittering mist of icy motes that drifted like winter ash.
Corin’s breath hitched. “Glacial Sword Art?”
He swallowed. “This technique is one of the Sacred Sword Manor’s ultimate skills. If you fully master it, you could freeze a cultivator’s spiritual energy!”
Jared’s answer was silent. Dragonslayer Sword vibrated in his grip, hungry for blood, its golden edge pulsing like a caged sunrise.
He sensed Kael’s sword technique was skilled, but it lacked the killing aura. It was weaker than Jayson and Hendrix’s sword technique.
“Enough talk! Fight!” Jared roared. Dragonslayer Sword flashed forward, a sliver of sun stabbing straight for Kael’s heart. Kael, startled that Jared attacked first, jerked his sword across his chest in a rushed block.
