Heads pivoted toward the entrance of the Myriad Beast Altar. An azure-robed figure walked in at an unhurried pace, shadow pooling at his heels. His gait was the picture of leisure, as though reputation and danger were idle gossip carried on a breeze.
Jared had finally appeared. At his flank padded the Fire Unicorn, golden pupils aglow with childlike wonder as flames danced along the array’s boundary. “He came? He actually dared to come?”
“Now? The trial’s nearly over!” “Hah! He’s probably afraid he’d fall, so he came at the last minute, waiting for the array to tire itself out.”
The jeers rose again, yet uncertainty now thinned their venom. After all, he was here. Gavin and Yvette exchanged startled grins, the weight on their hearts lifting halfway. As expected, he does not shy away from battle!
Jared ignored every whisper, stopping before the altar. His eyes skimmed the crackling array, brow arching, almost disappointed.
He looked up at Paxton and the elders. “So this is the famed Threefold Beast-Soul Array you boasted about?”
Arden’s feathers bristled. “You’re late. Are you frightened, boy? Kneel, admit your bluster, and perhaps save a shred of dignity!”
Jared lifted his chin and gave the faintest shake of the head, as though brushing lint from a jacket. Instead of answering Arden’s barbed remark, he murmured to the empty air, voice soft, almost bored. “This array feels… child-simple. Facing something so elementary hardly qualifies as entertainment.”
He paused, letting the hush deepen until every heartbeat on the terrace could be counted. “Myriad Beast Sect, surely you own an array with a bit more bite. Would you bring that out and let me play with it?”
Blank stares answered him, a collective ellipsis of disbelief. For one breath, the entire Myriad Beast Altar lay under a funeral hush.
Eyes widened as they looked at Jared as if looking at a crazy person.
Too simple? Boring? Play with it?
He must be mad; surely he did not grasp what he was saying!
The Threefold Beast-Soul Array had broken Level Four Heavenly Immortals with ease; its reputation was inked in blood. Yet this Level Seven Human Immortal outsider dismissed it as a toy and asked for something fiercer.
Silence shattered like glass.
“Arrogant! Unbelievably arrogant!”
“I’ve never seen anyone court death with such enthusiasm!”
“Is he insane or here merely to mock our sect?”
Arden trembled with rage, the tip of his finger stabbing the air toward Jared. “Whelp, how dare you slander the Myriad Beast Sect! The Beast-Soul Array is sacred lore! If you’re so capable, break it first before bragging!”
On the platform, Paxton’s brows knitted; even he found the youth’s words indefensibly wild. Beside him, Bartram’s eyes narrowed, recalculating the strength of the young man below.
Jared exhaled through his nose, like a patient teacher humoring unruly children. “Very well, if you insist…”
Under a spray of hostile, curious, and mocking gazes, he drifted forward, one unhurried step, and slipped into the notorious array like mist through keyholes.
“It’s active; he’s inside!”
“How many seconds before he crumples?”
“He asked for humiliation, let him have it!”
The trio at the array’s core, stung by his arrogance, answered with everything they owned.
The Titan-Force Ape bellowed, its phantom fist descending with mountain-splitting weight.
The Windlash Leopard flashed into a silver streak, claws aimed at Jared’s throat, while the Obsidian-Armored Rhino locked the exits behind him with a wall of living stone.
Strength, speed, and defense converged; heaven and earth rattled. Below the altar, even seasoned disciples felt their hearts quake.
Jared stood utterly still at the center of the Myriad Beast Altar. Around him, three disciples fed their array with enough power to terrify a seasoned Level Five Heavenly Immortal, sending torrents of savage force screaming toward his unguarded chest.
Just as that storm of violet claws, ear-splitting roars, and crushing pressure was about to swallow him, Jared moved.
