Vivian yanked her waist free and glowered at him. “What kind of rubbish were you spouting just now?”
Jared pulled his hand back and gave a little shrug. “Rubbish? I only told the truth. Aren’t you my Soulshare Consort?”
Color climbed up Vivian’s cheeks. She clicked her tongue. “Who said I was your Soulshare Consort? The trials aren’t finished!”
“Not finished?” Jared lifted a brow. “I cleared the second gate. You said we’d have a private talk next. Weren’t we about to discuss sharing a bed?”
“Stop that nonsense!” Vivian’s ears went pink. She still could not figure out why a man this capable opened his mouth and immediately talked about bedding women.
“Young Master Chance, the marriage tournament existed because I have other business to handle!” She laid it out without hiding anything.
Seeing this, Jared chuckled, he had suspected there was a trick behind this tournament, and now the cards were on the table.
“Miss Chance, I actually joined for one thing the celestial elixir…” Jared said it with an easy smile. Vivian froze for half a breath, then drew air slowly until her expression returned to its usual cool mask.
“Come with me!” She turned and headed deeper into the courtyard.
Jared followed close behind.
They passed through a moon-shaped doorway and entered an elegant side room. The room held only a low table and a couch. A tea set rested on the table, soft quilts padded the couch, and a stick of incense at the window sent a light fragrance curling through the air.
Vivian sat at the table and motioned for Jared to sit as well. Jared took the seat opposite, eyes on her face, waiting.
She stayed silent for a moment, then spoke slowly. “Young Master Chance, you said you came for celestial elixir?”
Jared nodded. “That’s right. I need three hundred sixty bottles so I can use a Teleportation Array to reach the Luminous Sanctuary.”
“Three hundred sixty bottles…” Vivian dipped her head. “For most wandering cultivators that’s sizable, but to the House of Chance it’s a drop in the bucket.”
She met his gaze without dodging. “If elixir is what you need, I can hand it over now. Anything under a thousand bottles is within my own reach.”
Jared arched an eyebrow. “Miss Chance is generous. What’s the price?”
A small curve touched her lips. “Young Master Chance truly is quick. Yes, I have a favor to ask.”
Jared leaned back against the chair, his tone unhurried. “Let’s hear it…”
Instead of answering, Vivian walked to the window. With her back to him she stayed wordless for a long while.
Only after that long silence did she speak again: “Young Master Chance, do you know why the Chance Family really held this tournament?”
Jared thought for a beat. “Wasn’t it because you’ve been stuck at High Immortal Realm Level Eight and want a cultivation partner to break through?”
She turned around, a faint self-mocking bend in her eyes.
“That was merely the story we fed the public. The true reason was…” She paused, then articulated every syllable, “It was to find someone carrying a Draconian Bloodline.”
Jared’s eyes narrowed, the focus in his gaze hardening. “Draconian bloodline?”
No wonder the trial had included that bloodline test…
Vivian went on, “Three months ago, the House of Chance located an entrance to the Primeval Dragonmere.”
“The Primeval Dragonmere?” Jared’s brow drew together.
“That’s right…” Vivian nodded. “Ancient records say that in the primeval era the Draconians gathered near Cloudhaven City. The Dragonmere was where they bathed, played and cultivated. After the war between celestials and demons, the Draconians vanished, and the Dragonmere hid with them. No one has found it since.”
She returned to the small table, sat across from Jared, and fixed an intent stare on him. “Three months ago an Elder of my clan was gathering herbs on Northridge Mountain. He accidentally triggered an ancient ward and discovered a hidden cave. Deep inside it lies the entrance to that Dragonmere…”
“We tried countless times to enter, but an invisible barrier threw us back each time. A Draconian seal rests on that barrier, without Draconian blood, no one may pass.”
Jared listened without a word.
Vivian’s eyes held a quiet eagerness. “Young Master Chance, you possess the Golden Dragon Bloodline, the royal line among Draconians. If anyone can enter that Dragonmere, it is you.”
Jared sat silent for a moment, then asked, “So the whole tournament marriage was meant to draw out someone with Draconian blood?”
“Yes…” Vivian did not deny it. “The Draconians disappeared millennia ago, and their bloodline should be extinct. I thought I would never find such a person in this lifetime, yet…”
Her bright gaze lingered on Jared. “Yet Young Master Chance walked right through my door.”
Jared offered no reply, he simply regarded her levelly.
Seeing him unmoved, Vivian bit her lip and continued, “Young Master Chance, know the request is bold but the Dragonmere may contain Draconian relics, Draconian legacies, even clues to the races whereabouts… You carry the Golden Dragon Bloodline, don’t you wish to know where it came from? Don’t you wish to learn why the Draconians disappeared?”
Jared finally spoke. “Miss Chance, what you say does interest me… However…”
He paused. “Have you considered my current situation?”
Vivian’s expression stalled for a beat. Jared continued, “The Celestial Palace has posted a reward of fifty-thousand bottles of celestial elixir for me. You heard Dominic’s parting words, he will report me. The Palace’s people will be here soon enough.”
He looked at her. “Miss Chance, the Chance Family has its heritage, but can you truly withstand the Celestial Palace?”
Hearing this explanation, Vivian fell silent. She knew Jared had voiced nothing but the truth. The Celestial Palace ranked among the three dominant powers of the Fourteenth Firmament, its reach running deep.
Though House of Chance held sway in Cloudhaven City, matching the Palace would be like smashing an egg against a boulder.
