Jared stayed silent. If steered clear of Malevolent Path Hall, who would free the captive souls of Flaxseed’s kin?
Seeing the resolve in his eyes, Onneas said no more. With a flick of sleeve, opened a shimmering void passage. The Golden Armor Guards filed in behind her, armor glinting in the fractured sunlight.
The void passage snapped shut, and their presence was gone, leaving Celestia City unsettlingly quiet once more.
Jared stayed behind in level six, laboring beside Aurelius to raise Celestia City from its ruins, and retreating each night into the Pentacarna Tower to cultivate. Yet with every meditation, sensed the shadow of mightier foes, his current strength could no longer keep pace.
Whenever Artemis arrived with Herb Sect disciples, would guide Jared through another round of bloodline fusion. Yuliana surrendered completely, mind, body, and destiny, claiming place at Jared’s side.
Infinides often found tangled in silken sheets and female laughter, but the old man merely sighed, in this path, pleasure, too, was cultivation.
***
Days blurred into weeks, weeks into months, the river of time rushing past like silver rain.
Exactly three months had slipped away since that earth-shaking battle. High upon the Pentacarna Tower, Jared stood motionless, eyes shut, thick ribbons of spiritual aura spiraling around him.
Three months of grinding seclusion had forced a qualitative metamorphosis within his core.
Suddenly, a muffled thunder rolled from deep inside his chest. His aura erupted, yanking the surrounding essence toward in a raging tide.
“Earthly Immortal Realm Level Five at last!” Jared whispered, disbelief and triumph knotted in his throat. His eyes opened slowly, twin shards of starlight cutting through the dim chamber.
For these three months, had virtually lived within the tower’s shifting labyrinth of runes. Inside, one day equaled decades in the outside world. Had its reserves not run dry, would have gladly lingered longer. He knew remained unready for level nine, and even the chaos of level eight would press hard.
“And my fire fusion technique grows ever purer,” murmured, feeling heat pulse through his veins.
He lifted his right hand, a flame of interlaced black and white trembled above his palm, gentle in appearance yet coiling with world-breaking potential.
Just then a familiar voice rippled through his consciousness.
“Kid, you finally pushed into the Earthly Immortal Realm Level Five. Well done, well done,” the Vermilion Demon Lord chuckled inside his mind.
“Mr. Vermilion, you’re awake?” Jared cried, delight sparking across his face. During those three months, the Vermilion Demon Lord had slept so deeply that Jared feared something had gone terribly wrong.
“I have rested long enough. However, boy, tread carefully. Your strength has grown, yes, yet it is still far from enough to challenge the true giants waiting ahead.”
“I understand. The Fire Demon Lord and the Soul Devourer escaped, and Stebarin has vanished. Each of them has a dagger at my back.”
“They aren’t the only ones. This Pentacarna Tower alone will make countless predators circle you. Now that it is exposed, the road ahead will be brutal.”
“I know,” Jared said, eyes burning with resolve. “But I will never retreat. One day I’ll surpass them all and claim the throne of true dominion.”
Jared finished his final sentence, the echo still swirling through the stone corridors, then stepped out of the Pentacarna Tower and into the late-afternoon light.
Across Celestia City, the work of resurrection moved with clockwork precision. From the top of the crimson-streaked battlements, Aurelius watched the organized chaos below, a tide of scaffolds, carts, and chanting cultivators.
Three months earlier, a single cataclysm had hammered the capital flat, turning marble palaces into rubble and driving families into the roads. Now, through relentless labor and stubborn hope, the city was stitching its grandeur back together, block by patient block.
Aurelius swept his gaze over the reborn streets, a weary but genuine smile softening the steel in his eyes. “King Aurelius, the eastern rampart stands finished!” a robed cultivator reported, fist to chest.
“Good… Tell the crews perfection is non-negotiable, no shortcuts, no excuses,” Aurelius answered, his voice quiet but edged with iron.
“Yes, King Aurelius!”
