Jared glanced at him, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He stepped up to the crystal bed but paused, turning toward Vivian. “Miss Chance, I think I’ve figured out what this trial is really about.”
Vivian lifted an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“The illusion dredges up the deepest fear in a person’s heart…” Jared spoke slowly. “What you’re truly observing isn’t whether we can endure the fear, but whether we can stay true to ourselves and remain unmoved.”
He nodded toward the bed. “Lord Wagner‘s reaction showed that, inside, fear took over and his body lost control. In your view, someone like that isn’t worthy to be your cultivation partner.”
A brief shimmer flickered across Vivian’s eyes, a tiny ripple that hadn’t been there a heartbeat earlier.
Jared’s remark landed with perfect precision, not off by even half a word. She dipped her chin. “Master Chance, your eye is sharp.”
Jared let a small smile climb his lips, then swung himself onto the crystal bed and lay flat on his back. “Let’s get started.”
Vivian drew a long breath, green light welled in her palm again and she gave a gentle wave. The green glow unfurled and wrapped Jared from head to toe. He lowered his eyelids, sealing the world outside.
In the next instant the floor seemed to vanish and he plummeted into a bottomless void. All around stretched pitch, black nothingness, no light, no sound, not even a hint of direction.
His body kept dropping, and dropping, and dropping, as though the fall would never grant an end. This place was an illusion, a crafted dreamscape. Yet Jared sensed it wasn’t the ordinary kind meant just to startle a novice.
Something hideous lurked inside that. darkness, a nightmare buried deeper than memory itself. What form would it take? He waited in stillness, watching. Shadows thinned and images slowly bled through the dark.
Rania appeared first. She stood atop Starwatch Tower in Jade Immortal City, gazing to the horizon with hope shining in her eyes. Her outline turned glass-thin, then broke apart into countless sparks that drifted away on an unseen wind.
“Brother Jared… I’ll wait for you…” The words floated farther and softer until they dissolved altogether. A sharp pull knotted inside Jared’s chest.
The picture shattered and rebuilt itself. Now the Morse couple filled his view.
Iron chains speared their shoulders and left them dangling in a cavern inside Sacred Mountain while blood essence and soul were sucked from their bodies, drawing screams that clawed at stone.
“Jared… Save us…” Their pleas ricocheted through the dark, shrill enough to grate bone.
Jared’s brows pinched ever so slightly.
The scene cracked and shifted again. Luther came next.
Dozens of celestial cultivators swarmed him; drenched in his own blood, he took a blade straight through the chest and sagged toward the ground.
“Mr. Chance… Run…”
One of Jared’s fingers twitched against his thigh. The vision rolled over once more. Clara the Sword Spirit took shape.
Golden chains wrapped her in layer after layer; her pained cries thinned as her figure faded, until only a wisp of cyan smoke remained before that too dispersed.
A single breath caught in Jared’s throat, then even that stilled. He made no move at all. He recognized every frame for what it was, phantom pictures and nothing more.
They paraded the nightmare he least wished to face, watching helpless while every treasured face slipped beyond reach.
But must a nightmare steer him?
Jared kept his gaze on each dissolving face, unmoving. His brow stayed faintly furrowed, yet his eyes lay flat and quiet like an untouched lake.
So the darkness threatened, let it be… So loss hovered, let it be…
From plain mortal to this very moment, he had weathered storms and swallowed pains too many to count. Rania was waiting, he would return to her.
The Morse couple’s souls still lingered, he would pry them free. Luther had charged through death beside him; Jared would not allow that man to fall.
Clara was his sword spirit, fused to his very soul. No one could ever pry he away. An illusion, however elaborate, could never shake truths like these.
Jared shut his eyes and allowed his body to keep falling through the darkness. He had no idea how much time slipped by before the gloom finally started to thin.
Then he sensed someone ease onto him, settling lightly across his torso. A soft form pressed against him, carrying a faint, pleasant fragrance.
He felt the figure bend low, lips near his ear, and breathe a gentle puff of air.
Jared made no response.
The person, apparently surprised, slid a hand over his chest and brushed lightly. Still, Jared showed not the slightest reaction.
Her touch began to roam, each pass bolder than the last, openly teasing. Jared stayed utterly unmoved. His breathing stayed even, his pulse unhurried, and no part of him stirred.
Vivian straddled Jared and exhausted every trick she knew. She bent close, warm breath spilling beside his ear. Jared did not so much as twitch.
She traced slow circles on his chest with her fingertips. He remained stone-still. Biting her lip, she pushed further, her hips giving a subtle, sinuous twist. Yet Jared continued to show nothing.
At last, Vivian abandoned the effort. She straightened and stared at the man beneath her, eyes wide, brows knitting without a word.
In Cloudhaven City, her looks, figure, and charm had sent countless gifted youths reeling. Yet after everything she had just tried, this man still failed to react.
Was his self-control really this strong?
Or did she simply hold no appeal for him at all?
Vivian bit her lip once more, her shoulders tensed then loosened, as if pulled between retreat and a reluctant nod of approval. She withdrew her hand, and the cyan light in her palm faded out.
Jared opened his eyes and met the complexity washing through hers. The corner of his mouth lifted into a faint smile. “Miss Chance, have you played enough?”
Heat rushed into Vivian’s cheeks and she hurriedly dismounted. She smoothed her dress, took a steadying breath, and regained her usual cool composure.
“Master Chance truly has remarkable composure…” Her tone stayed even, though a faint quiver at the end betrayed the stir within. “You have passed the second trial, Master Chance.”
Dominic stood to the side, his expression dark beyond comparison. He had watched Vivian straddle Jared, using every seductive move she knew, while Jared remained unaffected. And he himself had been declared a failure for losing control for only a moment inside the illusion.
The gap between them could not have been more obvious. Grinding his teeth, Dominic fixed Jared with a glare that seemed to smolder.
Jared sat up on the crystal bed, straightened his robe, and looked over at Vivian. “Miss Chance, the second round is done. What comes next?”
Vivian held his gaze for a moment anti spoke softly, “Next…”
She paused, alight smile tugging at her lips. “Next, Master Chance and Iwill speak in private.”
