Color drained from Westley’s cheeks, then flooded back wine-red. “Nonsense! The method of resonating divine markings, as recorded in our texts, is the supreme technique for blending divine soul and spiritual energy. You clearly failed to comprehend a single glyph, how dare you judge it?” retorted.
“Oh? The method of resonating divine markings?” Jared lifted one brow, curiosity flickering like lamplight in his eyes. “Well… Let me guess… You disturb your own mental energy while inscribing divine markings, then push your spiritual energy to mimic that tremor. If that is the whole secret, the technique is antiquated beyond words.”
Jared paused before raising his voice. “A divine marking is nothing more than the laws of nature given shape. True resonance is never forced, your divine soul must dissolve into the pattern itself, the way water parts around a stone without command. Clinging to rigid diagrams only shackles spiritual energy. That is chasing the shadow and discarding the substance.”
The insight seemed almost casual, yet it pierced straight to the craft’s rotten core. Even Yuliana, watching from the stands, allowed a flicker of surprise to gleam behind lashes. Scarlet flushed beneath Westley’s cheekbones.
“Nonsense!” barked. “Celestia has guarded this magecraft for millennia. Who are you, an outsider, to slander it? If we are so ignorant, show us your superior wisdom!”
Jared chuckled, turning slowly in a full circle so every student felt his eye upon them. “Depth isn’t in memorizing many tomes, it lies in mastering a single truth…”
“A moment ago, I watched a student with divine power tear open space with brute strength, never considering the principle of folding. Set your divine soul as a mirror, reflect the wrinkle of the void, and a whisper of spiritual energy will pry open a massive corridor, far easier than ripping fabric with your fists.”
He stooped, snapped a dry twig, and traced a simple crease in the dust, a mark elegant as a moonlit origami fold.
“Study this contour,” said, straightening. “Let your divine soul brush it, then try again…”
The same student, who had used spatial energy and was still skeptical, mimicked the motion. Moments later, his eyes flew wide. “It’s true! The air around me feels soft, moves wherever I wish without any strain!”
A collective gasp rolled through the spectators. Even Westley blinked, stunned, himself knew no more than rumors of that advanced divine power related to the dimension, yet Jared had exposed it in a single sentence.
Westley then recovered, thumping an ancient record against his palm. “So you’ve gathered a few cultivation techniques. This is Heaven and Earth Divine Treatise, penned by our first ancestor. It holds the ultimate comprehension of the laws of nature, you, wandering cultivator from a lower level, could never fathom it.”
One glance told Jared had already perused the tome in the library earlier.
A faint smile curved his lips. “Interesting… The book declares that only celestials may rouse the runes, all others are insects. Yet every creature carries spirit, have you never seen an ant topple a seedling?”
“Bloodline proves nothing. Later, it instructs disciples to sip the spiritual energy of celestial ley lines in measured doses, yet ignores how one survives when the blessed springs run dry. Should these students ever leave your sheltered kingdom, what strength would remain?”
He spoke neither hastily nor slowly, each remark landing like a hammer on the ancient record’s weak joints.
Westley’s face burned crimson. He jabbed a trembling finger at Jared. “Twisted sophistry! Dare defame our ancestor and you will pay, unless you can justify every word this instant!”
Yuliana’s brows lifted higher. She had seen Jared flip through that ancient record only in passing, now quoted it verbatim and dismantled its doctrine with ease.
She stepped forward, voice calm as evening wind. “Since Mr. Gale is eager for discourse, why not let Jared speak? I, for one, would welcome a fresh perspective…”
Reinvigorated, Westley squared his shoulders. “Very well! Primordial Scripture states that divine markings mark the dawn of creation, and only a pure celestial bloodline can awaken them. Do you deny this?”
