Celestial Palace, inside the towering main hall, Dominic stood with twelve elders, weighing how to leak news of the Golden Dragon Bloodline without leaving fingerprints.
“We must do this delicately…” Dominic lifted a jade cup, sipped celestial elixir, and spoke with unhurried calm. “Push too hard and the world grows suspicious. Better that the reclusive old monsters ‘discover’ it on their own, then send agents to the Lower Realm.”
Elder Redflame chuckled. “Rest easy, Hall Master. Everything is arranged. In three days, at the largest underground exchange in the northern region, a damaged jade slip hinting at the Golden Dragon Secret Realm will surface by accident… The slip is seventy percent truth, thirty percent artifice, enough to blur every line.”
Hearing that, Dominic nodded, pleased. “Jared is only High Immortal Realm Level One. Even with the Golden Dragon Bloodline, he can’t stir up a lasting storm… Once Fourteenth Firmament powerhouses flood the Lower Realm, not even three heads and six arms will save him.”
The white-haired elder hesitated, worry threading his voice. “Hall Master, Jared defeated Lucian and Lyria and slew a Grand Venerable. He may not be an ordinary Level One… If he slips into the Beastfolk Army or another void fissure, our people may find him hard to corner.”
“It makes no difference.” Dominic set the jade cup aside, his expression serene. “He can hide for a while, not forever. The Lower Realm is poor in resources and spirit energy; eventually he must surface. Besides…” He paused, a cold smile bending his lips. “If he truly has courage, he may decide to walk into the Fourteenth Firmament himself.”
At that, every elder froze, caught halfway between disbelief and awe. The white-haired elder shifted his weight, eyes flicking toward the golden throne.
“Hall Master, is that what you mean?” The question landed cautiously, as though one wrong syllable might snap the tension stretched across the chamber.
“Only a guess,” Dominic replied. His tone stayed mild, yet the stillness that followed made the jade tiles seem suddenly colder. Dominic let the words roll out at an unhurried pace. “That Jared paraded through level thirteen, shattering the Skyreach Path, cutting down a Grand Venerable.
A man who acts that loudly will never burrow underground for long. Once he learns what the Golden Dragon Bloodline is worth up here, he may gamble everything.”
His gaze swept the semicircle of Elders. “Pass the word… Every branch hall in every region is to watch for unfamiliar faces, especially young humans. The instant Jared appears, report to me. No one moves on him without orders.”
“Understood!” The answer rang out as a single, echoing shout from all twelve Elders.
At that very moment, the hush fractured. Rapid footsteps hammered the flagstones outside the main hall, drawing nearer like a drum of alarm. A gilded celestial general stumbled across the threshold, armor clanging. He dropped to both knees, forehead touching marble.
“Hall Master, urgent dispatch from the Sacred Mountain!” The words rushed out, half-choked with panic.
Seeing this, Dominic’s brow tightened by a hair’s breadth. He knew and believed affairs of the Sacred Mountain were normally handled by Venerable Goldcrown—steady, unflappable. Never once had that man allowed chaos to spill into the throne room.
“Speak,” Dominic said.
Cold sweat sheeted down the general’s temples. “The Grand Blood Sacrifice Array on the Sacred Mountain has been broken! Three altars destroyed, Lord Mournwright’s awakening severed… Venerable Goldcrown… He has fallen in the battle!”
Boom! A tidal wave of pressure burst from the throne, shaking jade beams and rattling lantern chains as though the sky itself cracked. Every Elder blanched; the general flattened, blood oozing from all seven orifices, yet he still dared not utter a groan. Dominic rose from the steps of the throne.
His face remained carved stone, but the power bleeding off his frame made the whole hall tremble. The stone carving of divine beasts on the nearest pillar vibrated, letting out a low metallic moan as if awakening to disaster.
“What did you say?” The question drifted across the hall. Calm, yes, but so cold it bit bone.
The general forced each syllable past tightening lungs. “Sacred Mountain… Was attacked… Three altars ruined… Venerable Goldcrown killed… The array… Broken…”
Dominic offered no reply. He merely stood there, silent. Yet everyone present felt rage coil tighter, dense enough to smother breath.
Elder Redflame shot upright, chair scraping. “Who? Who dares such madness? The Sacred Mountain is garrisoned by our elite. Which lunatic cut through to the peak and destroyed the altars?”
The general’s voice shook. “According to the surviving guards… The assailant was a young human wielding a gray longsword, terrifyingly strong. He named himself… Jared… Jared Chance…”
“Jared?!” The single name cracked like thunder. Even the white-haired elder lost composure, drawing a sharp breath.
Moments ago they had been devising snares for a Lower Realm upstart. Now that same upstart had slipped into the Fourteenth Firmament and gutted the Grand Blood Sacrifice, including the array they had tended on the mountain for three hundred years.
“Impossible!” Elder Redflame barked. His roar echoed off the dome. “The Skyreach Path lies in ruins. How could a mere High Immortal Level One cross the barrier between realms?”
The general kept his forehead to the floor. “This subordinate does not know. But the surviving sentries swear the attacker matched the likeness on the Divine Punishment Warrant, carried the Golden Dragon Bloodline and chaotic force…”
He swallowed, his voice dropping. “Envoy Lucian and Envoy Lyria were on routine patrol. They fought him directly. Both confirmed the man was Jared Chance.”
