Jared’s face changed at once. Something’s wrong! He snapped his eyes open and looked toward the edge of the ritual array. Elder Cillian had somehow come back inside. He stood outside the array, watching Jared with a smile on his face.
That smile held none of the respect he had shown before. There was malice in it, and smug satisfaction, like a fox admiring prey that had already stumbled into its snare, with mockery plain in its eyes.
“Mr. Chance, how does it feel?” He asked it with a smile, his voice dripping with ridicule. Jared looked at him coldly and said nothing. The killing intent in his eyes came off him like naked steel, as if he wanted to carve Elder Cillian into a thousand pieces.
Elder Cillian threw his head back and laughed. “No need to worry, Mr. Chance. This ritual array is only drawing out your bloodline. It won’t take your life. But the bowl of blood was a lie. What we really want is all of it.”
He took a few steps closer and looked down at Jared trapped inside the array, greed spilling across his face. “The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon Bloodline, the legendary blood of the Dragon Emperor… that’s a treasure that only appears once in ten thousand years…
as long as we get your bloodline, the Lord of the Basilica can break straight into True Immortal Realm Level Three, maybe even push for True Immortal Realm Level Four!”
“When that happens, the Celestial Basilica will become the number one power in the Luminous Sanctuary, and maybe even rule the entire Fourteenth Firmament!”
He paused, and the smile on his face turned even colder. “That so-called Rite of Reincarnant Passage was nothing but a lie to fool you. Those two friends of yours were already dead, and their souls won’t hold on much longer.”
A cold, cutting intent flashed through Jared’s eyes, and the fire in him surged harder. “You… lied to me?”
Elder Cillian threw his head back and laughed. “So what if we did? Did you really think the Celestial Basilica was some righteous holy land? Did you really think we were going to help you save anyone?
What a joke! In this world, only the strong get to live, and only profit lasts forever. Your bloodline is your greatest crime. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s you for being so naive you actually trusted hypocrites like us.”
Jared’s face went completely still. He’d been deceived. Played for a fool… From the very beginning, the Celestial Basilica had never planned to help him save anyone. What they wanted was his bloodline. Nothing else. All that so-called righteousness, all that talk of honor and mercy, had been nothing but a mask.
What burned in Jared wasn’t that he’d been tricked; it was that these so-called righteous men preached light and honor out loud while doing something this filthy behind closed doors. They carried the banner of saving the world while doing the work of destroying it. In the celestial realm, there wasn’t a single good person.
“Good…” Jared suddenly smiled. That smile was cold enough to freeze the room. It carried the kind of chill that crawled straight into the bones, like something that had climbed out of the Ninefold Hells. “I’ll remember all of you. The Celestial Basilica… Alaric Vale… Cillian, if I don’t avenge this debt, then I don’t deserve to call myself human…”
Jared’s smile made Elder Cillian stiffen for a split second. Then he let out a cold snort. “You’re about to die, and you’re still talking tough. Drain him! Speed up the ritual array!”
The light of the ritual array flared violently, and the pull turned even faster. Jared could feel the power in his bloodline rushing out of him. Bit by bit, his own strength went with it. His vision started to blur. His awareness grew heavier and heavier. He closed his eyes, and the pressure building inside him rose without end.
Is it really going to end like this? Am I going to fail to save Sidney, only to be buried here myself?
Just as Jared was about to black out, the doors to the side hall suddenly slammed open. A slender figure rushed inside. It was Evelyn Ashcroft!
The moment Evelyn saw Jared trapped in the formation, her face changed at once, and her eyes locked onto him.
“Young Lord!” She didn’t waste a single word. Her hand came up, and she slashed straight at the formation markings along the edge of the formation. The longsword in her hand burst with dazzling light as she tried to break the formation apart.
Elder Cillian’s expression changed, and he barked, “Where did this cheap servant come from?! How dare you ruin my great plan!”
He raised a hand and struck at Evelyn. The force of that palm tore through the air with a howl, carrying the crushing pressure of a True Immortal Realm Level One cultivator like a mountain dropping straight onto Evelyn.
Evelyn was only in the High Immortal Realm Level Eight. How could she possibly withstand a strike from a True Immortal?
Bang! The impact landed with a muffled blast. Evelyn was sent flying, crashed hard into the wall, and spat out a mouthful of blood. Her face turned paper-white on the spot, and her body slid weakly down to the floor.
But she didn’t stay down. And she didn’t give up. She struggled back to her feet, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and charged at the formation again.
“Young Lord, I’m here to save you!” Her gaze didn’t waver. Even knowing this was a rush toward death, she still didn’t hesitate.
