Jared and Flaxseed exchanged a final look, a shared spark of iron-coated resolve, then bowed to those they left behind. “Take care, everyone,” they said in unison. “Our journey begins now!”
Lyra kept gaze fixed on Jared. Liquid light pooled against lashes, and lips trembled with words could scarcely breathe. “Mr. Chance, promise me… Come back to me alive. Come back whole…”
Jared met the shimmer in eyes, and the iron inside melted for a heartbeat. He offered the smallest, quietest smile. “Wait for me.”
Spiritual energy surged around them in a sudden golden bloom. A single step became a flight as Sky Walk carried them upward. Two streaks of light, one silver, one amber, shot across the vault of morning like twin comets seeking the horizon.
Their silhouettes dwindled against the clouds, and only then did Lyra let the tears fall. She brushed a sleeve across cheeks, breathing hard against the ache.
Train, Lyra… Grow stronger. When Mr. Chance returns, meet without regret…
Behind her, Corin, Ararat, and Kishor stood shoulder to shoulder, their faces carved from storm-dark stone while the last echoes of flight faded into silence.
Each man knew the truth. The road to level six was a blade’s edge, and Malevolent Path Hall and Celestial Palace’s Sixth Hall were tricky opponents. Ararat exhaled, voice barely more than wind. “May fortune shield them…”
Corin nodded once. “Jared’s spirit is tempered steel, and destiny favors him. With Mr. Flaxseed at his side, I believe will carve a way through.”
Far from Swordmaster City, Jared and Flaxseed raced across empty sky, their robes snapping like banners in a gale as the compass of their hearts pointed unerringly toward the distant level six.
At the border of levels five and six rose Cloud Brecan Mountains, a saw-toothed spine of peaks eternally wrapped in churning mist.
That mist was no ordinary fog. It pulsed with raw spatial energy, tearing at weaker cultivators as easily as paper. Only cultivators of Earthly Immortal Realm Level Seven or higher could hope to endure its bite.
Flaxseed tipped his straw hat back, an eager grin splitting his weather-worn face. “There it is, Cloud Brecan Mountains…”
Jared pointed toward the rolling banks ahead. “Legends say the spatial energy inside is broken, swirling every which way. One careless step and you’re dust. Stay sharp…”
Flaxseed produced two mustard-yellow charms.
“Stabilization Charms,” said, pressing one into Jared’s palm. “They’ll calm the spatial energy around us-enough to keep our skins attached.”
Jared slapped the charm over his heart. Inked lines flashed, melted into light, and wrapped in a thin amber shell. Immediately, the air around eased, the invisible claws of the spatial energy dulling to a distant tug instead of a lethal yank.
Without another word, the pair leaned forward and dove into Cloud Brecan Mountains.
Pressure slammed them from every angle, an invisible tide intent on rendlng flesh from bone. Space twisted like warped glass. Spatial rifts yawned open and snapped shut, each one humming with the terrifying aura.
“Watch the spatial rifts!” Flaxseed bellowed, his voice torn ragged by the roaring wind.
He flung charm after charm. Each burst into spears of amber light that stitched the nearest spatial rifts closed for precious seconds.
Jared called up the Power of Dragons nestled in his core. Gold scales coursed down both arms, and a radiant shield erupted around him, turning the spatial energy aside.
At his hip, the Dragonslayer Sword thrummed, lashing out with arcs of sword energy that sheared any rift daring to drift too close.
They pushed onward, ears full of shrieking wind and sizzling space. Clouds and spatial rifts morphed, split, and re-formed ahead of every step, forcing them to carve a path inch by stubborn inch.
Time blurred, counted only in heartbeats and broken seals, until a thin shard of brightness gleamed ahead.
“That’s level six!” Flaxseed cried, excitement crackling across his words. He surged forward, feet skimming nothingness with renewed speed.
Together, they burst through the final veil. Light washed over them, and the world changed.
Above stretched an endless vault of deep, sapphire blue. Cotton-white clouds drifted at arm’s reach, breathing celestial energy into the air.
Below lay endless mountains wrapped in emerald forests. From that living sea of green rose the thunderous roars of demon beasts, each growl several times fiercer than anything prowling level five.
“Goodness… Feel how thick the celestial energy hangs here!” Flaxseed drew it deep into his lungs. “Triple the density of level five, at least! Cultivate beneath this sky and you’ll cut your cultivation time in half!”
Jared felt the spiritual energy in the air. Each particle sparked across his nerves like static, and the sheer volume of energy coiled around his heart in a slow, humming tide.
So this is level six… No wonder its practitioners stand leagues above those below…
He tried to picture levels nine, nineteen, and thirty-six. The vision swelled into something almost solid, a future realm where celestial energy might thicken until it poured like molten gold.
