At once, the remaining dozen Malevolent Path Hall disciples broke away from their skirmishes and converged on the screeching leader, planting their boots at precise, ghostly angles around him. Each cultivator bit through his own tongue and spat scarlet blood essence across the air before flashing complex hand seals and chanting in tones that rattled the walls.
A deep, metallic hum instantly rolled outward, as though the underworld itself had just drawn breath. A wave of murderous, carrion-cold aura erupted from their circle, foul enough to wrinkle reality. Thirteen streams of blood essence and celestial energy swiftly wove together overhead, coalescing into a black arcane array more than ninety feet across.
Within its heart, a three-headed, six-armed wraith rose like a nightmare given form. All six eyes kindled at once, spraying six crimson lances that locked onto Jared without mercy.
“With my blood essence, I feed the spell! With my soul, I guide the fiend! Rise, darkness of the netherworld, and claim that head!” The leader’s roar scraped raw throats and stone alike. His face blanched paper-white from the blood essence he had surrendered, but the madness in his gaze burned brighter than ever.
The Netherworld Triple-Slaughter Array was one of Malevolent Path Hall’s forbidden formations. It demanded at least three Heavenly Immortal Realm Level Seven cultivators at its core and ten Heavenly Immortal Realm Level Five cultivators as support, all willing to burn their own blood essences to activate it. Once unleashed, the array’s power could menace even a low-tier True Immortal Realm cultivator. Therefore, it was clear that in their bid to kill Jared, Malevolent Path Hall had gone for the jugular, sparing no cost.
“Jared, look out!” Vermilion Demon Lord shouted anxiously, but the moment he lunged forward, the array’s pressure slammed him back, step after sliding step. That same invisible weight, too, crushed Conrad and the others flat against the stone. Each of them lay prone, pinned to the cavern floor, despair painting their faces a lifeless gray.
Dustin collapsed in a quivering heap, a dark stain spreading across his trousers. His lips quivered around a single mantra: It’s over… It’s over… They even brought out the Netherworld Triple-Slaughter Array…
Having felt the array’s murderous tide batter his skin, nerves, and bones, Jared frowned ever so slightly, his pupils shrinking to slits of gold. The force pressing against him had long since stepped beyond the Heavenly Immortal Realm, brushing the door of the True Immortal Realm itself. If he chose simply to endure it, he would be torn apart. However, there was no retreat for him either.
The six blood-red beams lunged like venomous dragons, each wide as a man’s arm. They shredded pockets of space, then thundered straight for his heart. Where the rays passed, heat froze, stone hissed into poison mist, and the cavern floor sank into molten grooves.
There was no room left to dodge. Jared drew a single, icy breath. Gold fire flickered behind his eyes. If escape was impossible, he would meet the attack head-on and shatter it. He clenched both hands around the hilt of his Dragonslayer Sword. Whatever chaotic celestial energy remained inside him erupted, the Chaotic Fire Lotus in his core spinning like a cyclone. Even the faint trace of draconic energy hidden in his veins burst awake, roaring for release.
Jared raised the blade and bellowed, “Chaos Origin! Dragon Fire Thrust!”
With a roar that shook loose dust from the ceiling, he drove the Dragonslayer Sword straight into the stone floor, steel screeching against rock.
Boom! From the point of impact, an indescribable pulse of swirling chaos burst outward, rippling the air like heat over desert sand. Smoky strands of chaotic celestial energy braided themselves with dark-gold draconic flames, molding into a titanic fire dragon. The beast threw back its blazing head and bellowed at the ceiling, then lunged toward the six crimson beams that slashed down from above.
The fire dragon and blood-red radiance collided in mid-air with a crack that felt like the sky breaking apart. A rolling thunderclap followed, long and guttural, pounding through the cavern walls. Light so bright it turned everything white seared every eye, while the blast’s roar ruptured eardrums, leaving faces streaked with blood. The shock wave barreled out like a tidal bore, scraping a fresh layer from the cavern walls and splintering the floor into jagged plates.
Vermilion Demon Lord, Conrad, and the others were flung like dolls, each slamming hard into rock before coughing out bright arcs of blood. Dustin took the full brunt and dropped unconscious before he even hit the ground.
Of the thirteen black-clad Malevolent Path Hall cultivators, only the third leader, held upright by Level Seven strength, remained standing. The rest collapsed, blood leaking from every opening as the array shattered beneath them.
Dust settled in slow, ghostly curtains. At the center knelt Jared, one knee down, Dragonslayer Sword planted like a crutch while he dragged ragged breaths through blood-slick lips, his skin chalk-white. His teal combat jacket hung in tatters, revealing skin that flickered with faint golden light, his supposedly unbreakable body now spider-webbed with cracks. Despite all that, he was still alive.
Across from him, the surviving man in black stood glass-eyed, a bowl-sized hole punched clean through his chest where chaotic dragon fire had burned heart and viscera to ash. His lips twitched, as though searching for final words, but nothing came. The next second, he toppled like a felled tree and lay still.
Just like that, the Netherworld Triple-Slaughter Array was broken. Thirteen elite cultivators of Malevolent Path Hall, three of whom were Heavenly Immortal Realm Level Seven Ghostshades, were wiped out completely. A formation said to imprison even a Top Level Heavenly Immortal Realm Level Nine cultivator had failed to cage Jared.
He, however, paid dearly for the escape. With three Heavenly Immortal Realm Level Seven and ten Heavenly Immortal Realm Level Five elites, it was obvious Malevolent Path Hall had emptied half a nest just to set this trap. That meant Jared could no longer afford to underestimate them.
Dragging themselves upright, Conrad and the others stared at Jared as though beholding some god of war dredged up from antiquity—equal parts reverence, terror, and disbelief. Staggering over, Vermilion Demon Lord caught Jared’s shoulder. “Jared, talk to me! Are you all right?!”
“I’ll live… I’m just drained,” Jared rasped, the words sticking to his throat like gravel. He shoved a handful of pills past cracked lips, then pressed several more into Vermilion Demon Lord’s palm.
Turning to the remaining cultivators, Jared said, his voice low but unarguable, “I don’t want anyone to speak of what happened here today… You guys can leave now…”
Conrad and the rest bowed as if a noose had just been lifted from their necks. “Don’t worry!” they blurted, voices tripping over one another. “You saved our lives today, and that is something we will remember forever. Not a whisper of this shall ever leave our lips!”
Shoulders still touching, they half-dragged, half-carried one another toward the cave entrance. Boots skidded on loose gravel—the scramble frantic, desperate. None dared glance back, terrified Jared might reconsider and seal their fate before they reached open sky.
Only after the last echo of fleeing footsteps died did Jared allow himself to turn. His gaze settled on Dustin, sprawled unconscious on the blood-slick stone. Vermilion Demon Lord stepped forward, scarlet robes brushing corpses, and upended a brimming wooden bucket.
Cold water crashed over Dustin’s face with a slap like a whip crack. Dustin sputtered awake, eyes wide. Seeing Jared’s glacial stare and the corpses of Malevolent Path Hall’s cultivators, he collapsed to his knees, forehead striking rock again and again. “Spare me, Mr. Chance! Please spare me! I was forced into this. Malevolent Path Hall captured my family and made me work with them to set the trap. I had no choice!”
Alas, Jared remained unfazed. “Is the clue to the Jadeheart Marrow true or false?”
“It’s true! Every word of it is true!” Dustin hurriedly replied. “The Infernal Lava Abyss lies in the southern Blaze Region, and the Earthfire Pavilion truly holds several leads. I also know that every hundred years, they host an Earthfire Trial. Finish in the top ten, and you may search the abyss’ outer rim for fortune. The next trial is three months from now!”
“Earthfire Trial, huh…” Jared muttered as he filed the thought away. “How many bases does Malevolent Path Hall have in level eleven, and what’s their power like?”
“Uhm… I… I’m small fry. I only know of their bases in Sandrock City and a handful of nearby towns,” Dustin stammered before rattling off coordinates with frantic precision. Under the promise of life, he poured out everything he knew—alliances, rivalries, supply routes—until words became a waterfall and his throat burned raw.
At last, Jared straightened. “You aided Malevolent Path Hall in murdering innocents. By rights, you should die. Yet you have provided me with valuable information, so I will not kill you.”
Relief instantly washed over Dustin. “Thank you! Thank you!”
Jared’s next words, however, landed like an axe. “If someone else ends you… Will you object?”
Dustin’s jaw dropped. A single curse slipped out, then terror froze it on his tongue. Vermilion Demon Lord read the unspoken command and swiftly unleashed an attack. Dustin crumpled where he knelt, skull split, apology still wet on his lips.
