“They‘re here…” Jared’s voice was soft, yet it detonated in every ear like thunder. Even before the echo faded, the entire Seventh Hall shuddered violently, as though a thousand cavalry horses pounded the ground.
A shriek of air split the night. Outside, countless black figures fell like a torrential rain, blanketing the Seventh Hall and sealing every exit. Hovering above them all, a single black-robed man, Dioz, floated in mid-air, nine soul banners snapping in the wind behind him.
The faces sewn into the soul-banner screamed with gathering frenzy, rot and fresh blood blending into a visible gray shockwave that surged straight toward the Seventh Hall.
“Jared, crawl out here and die!” Dioz’s voice sliced across the plaza like a wind from hell, so cold and venomous it bit to the bone.
In an instant, the blue-gray flagstones glazed with thick white frost, and the few hardy spiritual plants that had forced their way through the cracks shriveled to dust.
The Seventh Hall’s Mountain Defense Formation flared wildly beneath the pressure, filaments of light cracking its surface until it looked ready to shatter at any moment.
Inside, low-ranked disciples had already collapsed, trembling too hard even to lift their heads.
Saleto turned chalk-white and edged instinctively toward Jared, voice cracking with tears. “J-Jared, that… That‘s Dioz Underwood, an Earthly Immortal! We…”
Jared cut off with a look as sharp as steel. “Back away. This fight is mine…”
He stepped outside; the stone doors boomed shut behind him.
High above the plaza, Dioz peered down, a cruel smile curving beneath his black cloak. “You? A Level Six Wandering Immortal ant dares murder members of my Malevolent Path Hall?”
The Eight Shadow Pavilion Devotees and Twelve Blood Guards fanned out into a half-moon, sealing Jared inside their ring.
Each Shadow Pavilion Devotee exuded the heavy aura of one foot already in the Earthly Immortal Realm, while the Blood Guards boiled with bloodlust, eyes crimson like beasts scenting prey.
Jared’s tone was casual. “Dioz, is it?”
He spared no more words. Fingers twitching, drew the Dragonslayer Sword, a column of dazzling gold slashed the clouds apart. “The Nether Duo and Ghostmask died by my hand. If you want revenge, come get it…”
“Insolent brat!”
A towering Shadow Pavilion Devotee roared, conjuring a huge bone hammer bristling with reversed spikes and stinking of decay. “Let me ferry you to the grave!”
Before the words died, vaulted Skyward, hammer falling with mountain-crushing force, the air imploded into a shrieking vacuum.
Jared did not retreat. Sword whirling into a blossoming arc, sent tidal waves of golden sword energy crashing into the hammer.
Clang!
Thunder cracked. Light flared where the sword energy met the bone hammer, the shockwave flinging nearby Underworld Shadow Guards like leaves and gouging a crater dozens of meters across the plaza.
The Shadow Pavilion Devotee staggered back, palms split and bleeding, disbelief twisting his face. “How can you possibly…”
He never finished his words. Jared ghosted forward, a single thrust punched the Dragonslayer Sword through his throat.
Squelch!
Blood sprayed. The Shadow Pavilion Devotee crumpled, eyes still frozen In shock even as life left him.
One strike!
With a single strike, Jared had slain a man half a step into the Earthly Immortal Realm. Silence swallowed the plaza, even the wind dared not stir.
The smile on Dioz’s face froze, pupils contracting beneath the hood.
The Twelve Blood Guards and the remaining seven Shadow Pavilion Devotees looked thunder-struck, terror written clear across their faces.
