Vivian stared at him for a long moment, then whispered, “Young Master Chance, you’re far more… Broad-minded than I expected.”
Jared waved a hand. “Don’t butter me up. The moment someone praises me, I float away, and once I’m floating I start doing stupid things.”
Vivian couldn’t keep the laugh inside. The smile that bloomed was more genuine than any she had shown before. “Young Master Chance, rest assured. When the business with Dragonmere is over, I will definitely…”
“All right, all right,” Jared cut her off. “You already said that. Let’s talk about Dragonmere instead. What’s the real situation in there? Your family has spent three months exploring, surely you’ve learned something.”
Vivian let the smile fade and answered in a formal tone. “During those three months, our family sent seventeen teams into the outskirts of Dragonmere, and every one of them was pushed back by the Draconian Ward. We still don’t know what lies beyond it.”
She drew a beast-hide map from her sleeve and spread it across the low table. The parchment showed the terrain north of the city, and one spot had been circled in red ink.
“This is the Dragonmere entrance, hidden in a secluded valley. Ancient wards cover the surrounding cliffs. It took the House of Chance two whole months to trace a safe route in.” Vivian tapped the red circle. “After we enter the valley we’ll see a stone gate. Past that gate is Dragonmere’s outer rim, and that is where we encountered the Draconian Ward.”
Jared studied the drawing, then suddenly asked, “Did you try forcing your way through?”
Vivian shook her head. “We did… Three High Immortal Realm Level Nine Elders joined forces to pound the barrier, and the rebound gravely injured them. One of them is still recovering.”
She looked at Jared, hope shining in her eyes. “The shield ignores pure Draconian Bloodline, but it unleashes thunder the moment anyone else gets close. Young Master Chance, you carry the Golden Dragon Bloodline; you should be able to pass safely.”
Jared gave a single nod and asked no further questions.
The beast-drawn carriages rolled northward, left Cloudhaven City behind, and climbed into an unbroken chain of mountains.
An hour later the convoy halted before a valley mouth.
Jared stepped down and saw a massive stone stele at the entrance. Four ancient characters were carved into its face, “Draconian Forbidden Zone”. The strokes were scarred and pitted, worn deep by time.
Garrick walked up beside Jared and said in a low voice, “Young Master Chance, we’re counting on you from here.”
Jared dipped his head and followed Vivian toward the depths of the valley.
The six elders trailed close behind, while the thirty guards stayed at the mouth to keep watch. They threaded a narrow ravine, and suddenly the view opened wide.
A clearing a hundred yards across lay ahead, and at its far edge rose a colossal stone gate. The gate towered nearly thirty feet high, hewn entirely from blue-gray stone blocks. A coiled relief of the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon covered the surface, and two fist- sized moon-pearls glimmered from its eyes.
In front of the gate floated a pale-gold light screen, thin veins of lightning swimming across it.
Vivian stopped and turned to Jared. “Young Master Chance, that is the Draconian Ward. You…”
She never finished. Jared was already striding toward the veil.
“Young Master Chance!” Vivian called, startled.
Without a backward glance, Jared stepped straight into the light. Ripples rolled across the pale-gold membrane, yet no attack followed. His figure vanished beyond the ward.
Vivian stared, frozen, an indescribable mix of feelings tumbling inside her.
He… He had actually gone in… No hesitation, no second thoughts… As though whatever lay beyond that screen held no danger for him at all.
***
On the far side of the veil stretched a completely different realm. The instant Jared entered Dragonmere, a tidal wave of draconic energy slammed into him.
The power was so dense it felt almost solid; every breath carried the weight of its vast pressure. Any ordinary cultivator would have collapsed to their knees the moment they stepped here. But Jared was not ordinary. With the Golden Dragon Bloodline running through him, the energy refreshed rather than crushed him, like a wanderer returning home.
He drew a long breath and looked around.
A cavernous underground expanse soared above him; the ceiling disappeared into darkness where faint lights glittered like distant stars. Below lay a broad lake, the water was crystal clear yet shimmered with a faint golden tint.
So this is Dragonmere?
Jared stepped forward, walking across the lake’s surface as if it were solid ground.
In the middle of the pool, nine towering stone columns thrust out of the shimmering water. Each end column was wrapped to end in dragon reliefs so vivid the carved scales seemed ready to slide free. Atop every column hovered a sphere of pale radiance, and inside each globe different treasures drifted in and out of view.
The Draconian Sovereign Relic!
Light flashed across Jared’s eyes and he shot forward, leaping toward the columns without a hint of hesitation.
On the first column the glow cradled a longsword plated from point to pommel in golden scales. A muted dragonsong vibrated along the blade. Two archaic characters, “Dragon’s Roar”, were etched deep into the hilt.
He wrapped his fingers around the hilt, and a flood of monumental sword intent poured straight into his meridians.
This blade was at the very least a True Immortal artifact. Without the slightest courtesy, he slipped the Dragonsong Blade into his Storage Ring.
The second column’s light held a suit of golden armor, each plate formed of tight overlapping scales, a fierce dragon head jutting from the breastplate.
He brushed a hand across the metal; the armor broke apart on its own and re-assembled around his frame, fitting as though it had always belonged there.
Now that was a prize indeed.
The third pillar offered a rolled-up jade slip whose markings recorded Draconian cultivation techniques.
The fourth pillar presented a vial of Dragon Essence Elixir, the pills inside flickering with faint dragon markings.
Then he hit the fifth pillar. Moving like a locust through grain, Jared cleared every treasure from all nine columns in the blink of an eye.
As he reached for the prize on the ninth pillar, the surroundings lurched with a sudden, jarring shift.
Roar! A cavern-shaking dragon roar rumbled up from the very bottom of the pool. Dragonmere heaved violently, walls of water rose in towering waves that slapped against the stone columns.
The light atop the nine pillars died at the same instant. In its place, an immense pair of eyes began to rise out of the depths. Golden slit pupils came into view cold, commanding, and crushing in their presence.
As the eyes climbed higher, the outline of a colossal creature surfaced from the poolbed.
A giant dragon more than 100 yards long emerged, its entire body armored in gold-bright scales. Its head loomed like a mountain, and every breath it drew kicked up savage whirlwinds across the water.
The dragon broke the surface completely and looked down at Jared from its towering height.
