Three days after the alliance conclave, Jared sat cross-legged deep within Godsbane Hall, steadying his breath amid coils of faint golden mist. Hurried footsteps echoed; Luther entered first, his cloak still swirling, and Lord Jadeinfinity followed close behind.
“Mr. Chance…” Lord Jadeinfinity’s voice rang out through the stillness, respectful yet pressing, as though every heartbeat mattered. His face was grave as he balanced a white jade box in both palms. “There is something you should see…”
Jared’s lashes lifted. The golden light in his eyes dimmed. His gaze moved past Jadeinfinity’s tight grip and locked onto the box as though the object were already speaking to him. The container was milk-white from corner to corner. Faint sealing runes crawled across its polished surface, pulsing with a soft radiance Jared knew all too well from older battlefields.
His brows drew together. The room seemed to narrow.
“What is this?” His words were steady, but the pause between syllables hinted at unease he refused to name.
Lord Jadeinfinity set the box on the low table between them. Wood creaked under its weight. He exhaled once and declared, “It is a soul crystal.”
“A soul crystal?” The phrase left Jared’s mouth flat and cold. A streak of reflected torchlight flashed across his pupils, as though steel had met flint in the dark. An answer waited on the tip of his tongue, heavy as iron. The connection snapped into place inside his mind, and the small muscles at the hinge of his jaw locked tight.
For years he had watched celestials harvest living spirits, compressing screams into glittering stones. The memory rose now, harsh and uninvited, and sat behind his eyes like smoke. Every soul crystal hid a trail of torture and death. That knowledge slid beneath Jared’s ribs and pressed against his racing heart.
Jadeinfinity lowered his voice. “It contains the souls of the Morse couple you were seeking.” Jadeinfinity nodded and went on, “These two crystals are unusual. A seal was placed on them beforehand, so strict that even I cannot break it.”
“Give it to me.” Jared reached out.
Months ago, on the Celestial Grand Venerable’s order, Lord Jadeinfinity had his men execute the Morse couple and refine their spirits into soul crystals. But the Grand Venerable sealed them personally, beyond any subordinate’s power to undo. Because of that seal, even Lord Jadeinfinity could not open the box.
Jared pressed his palm gently against the jade box. A faint white radiance emanated from within, and rows of ancient runes began to shimmer across its surface. To a master of runes like Jared, that intricate defense felt as thin as tissue paper. He traced one glyph with a thumb, and the pattern shivered, ready to collapse.
Once the seal was dispelled, Jared opened the jade box. Inside rested two fist-sized soul crystals, each so pure the inner threads looked suspended in air rather than within stone. They were not the usual dull gray of slaughterhouses; a muted gold shimmered at their cores, catching torchlight and bending it into tiny halos. The aura rolling off those stones was painfully familiar—warm, trusting, unmistakably the Morse couple’s essence before death.
“Grand Venerable… Damn you!” Jared’s teeth ground together. The killing intent that poured from him pressed the air into a tangible, metallic sheet. Luther and Jadeinfinity staggered back several paces, throats tightening against a pressure that felt like knives suspended in the room.
Long moments passed before Jared forced the rage down his spine and spoke through a harsh whisper, “Lord Jadeinfinity… Is there any way to free the souls inside?”
Jadeinfinity considered carefully. “Once refinement is complete, a soul is permanently bound. In theory, release is impossible, but…”
“But what?” The words cracked across the silence like a whip.
“If the crystals are still young and the remnant consciousness remains, there exists a secret art that can draw out a single thread for rebirth.” Lord Jadeinfinity went on, “That method is rare. Only a handful of top celestials who specialize in the soul path have mastered it.”
A fragile hope flickered in Jared’s eyes. “Which celestials?”
“At minimum, someone at the Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Nine, wholly devoted to soul cultivation.” Jadeinfinity’s tone fell. “No one in level thirteen meets that mark. Unless…” He met Jared’s gaze. “Unless we venture to the Fourteenth Firmament…”
“The Fourteenth Firmament…” Jared mouthed the words, tasting equal parts challenge and promise.
Luther stepped forward, cloak sweeping behind him. “Mr. Chance, I will accompany you. The Ghost Clan feels the whisper of every soul; my senses may aid the search.”
Jared weighed the crystals in his hand, then looked at Luther and nodded once. “Good… But first, tasks remain here.” He closed the lid, eyes hard. “First, we raze every celestial root in level thirteen. Second, I master the balance between Golden Dragon Bloodline and chaotic force. Third, we prepare to climb to the Fourteenth.”
The following month blurred into sleepless motion for him. He personally led the Alliance Army across level thirteen, hunting down each lingering celestial outpost. Formerly arrogant celestial cultivators now fled like panicked animals; some surrendered, some died where they knelt, others vanished into forgotten caves.
In only twenty days, every marked celestial stronghold was leveled to bare earth. Yet satisfaction still eluded him. As long as the Skyreach Path endured, celestials from the Fourteenth could pour in again at will.
