Danger on level seven outstripped anything level six could offer, but choice had already turned to necessity.
Friendship, decided, was worth wagering his life. “Mr. Vermilion, do you think I should follow to level seven?” asked the Vermilion Demon Lord, voice low but steady.
“The decision is yours,” the Vermilion Demon Lord answered, words drifting like distant thunder. “Remember, level seven’s perils dwarf level six. Still, with your current cultivation, you should be able to carve out a place, so long as you don’t stumble into a true monster.”
Jared dipped his head. “Understood…”
He stood at Earthly Immortal Realm Level Five, untested in battle, yet confident could handle a Human Immortal Realm Level Three opponent
Most level-seven cultivators, reckoned, topped out around Human Immortal Realm Level Five. Unless fate hurled at a lunatic, could survive. And should press on to level eight, Onneas would be there, a hidden ace that let breathe easier at the thought of skies yet higher.
Aurelius’ brows knit with worry, the torchlight licking across his cheekbones as stopped in front of Jared. “Jared, tell me straight, are you really planning to march into level seven?”
Jared drew a long breath, the resolve already burning In his eyes. “Yes… I won’t stand by and let Mr. Flaxseed take that risk alone.”
Aurelius lowered his voice, the weight of command seeping through every syllable. “If you’ve truly decided, I won’t chain your feet. Just be careful. Level seven is deeper than it looks. One slip could cost everything.”
Jared nodded once, the motion firm, final. “I will…”
A golden light blossomed in Jared’s palm, swirling into a blazing sigil that tore open a shimmering void passage, the only road to level seven.
With his present Earthly Immortal cultivation, such a doorway yielded like silk beneath a blade. He gave Aurelius a quick, grateful wave, then stepped into the rolling passage without another glance back.
Jared hadn’t dared to bid farewell to Artemis or Yuliana, both women would have anchored with pleas, maybe chains. Knowing them, they’d have wrung one more promise, perhaps one more secret, from before letting go.
He already felt half-drained from their last round of persuasion.
Inside the void passage, his pulse steadied. At this power, the trek to level seven should have been routine, no lurking peril worth a second thought. Yet the instant crossed the threshold, the surrounding space warped, folding like molten glass around his limbs.
His Earthly Immortal Realm Level Five confidence had fooled him, had misread the void passage’s fickle mood.
Midway through, a murderous swell of chaotic void currents exploded, silent lightning tearing through fabric and bone alike.
“Not good!” Jared’s face blanched as hurled every drop of power into a frantic shield.
The storm hammered like an ocean possessed, its force sharp enough to rip worlds from their seams. Against such cosmic fury, even an Earthly Immortal Level Five cultivator felt no larger than dust on a gale.
Blood burst from his lips in a scarlet arc. Pain ripped through his torso; it felt as though his lungs and liver had traded places under the pressure.
The Dragon Bell shot from his sleeve, flooding with gold light, yet even the Pentacarna Tower rattled violently, ready to break apart.
“Hold tight, boy! That’s a full-blown void storm!” the Vermilion Demon Lord barked inside his skull, tone heavier than Jared had ever heard.
The ancient voice quivered with rare, solemn dread.
Jared clenched his teeth until blood touched enamel, fighting to keep his thoughts from splintering. He was a toy skiff on a wrathful sea, spun powerless toward some unseen hodzon.
Time, distance, every measure trusted-vanished. He had no idea how long tumbled, nor where the torrent aimed him. When awareness finally returned, lay flat on a stretch of desolate earth, dust caking his lips.
“Where… Am I?” whispered, voice ragged. Slowly pushed up, eyes sweeping the barren waste in stunned confusion.
He unleashed his divine sense, only to recoil in disbelief at what read. This world held not a whisper of celestial energy. Only the thinner pulse of ordinary spiritual energy stirred the air.
Impossible… How could this be?
This isn’t the Celestial Realm at all… Have I somehow been thrown back into the Ethereal Realm?
