Outside the shimmering barrier, Vivian paced, worry shadowing each step. Three hours had crawled by. Jared had already been inside for three whole hours. Through all that time, the faint golden barrier stayed exactly the same, and not a single sound leaked out.
Vivian had no way of knowing what was happening in there, no clue whether Jared was still breathing or already gone. Waiting was all she could do.
“Vivian, there’s no need to worry…” Garrick walked up beside her and said in a steady voice, “Because that barrier is still intact, the restriction clearly hasn’t been triggered. Jared should be fine.”
Vivian nodded, yet the tight line of her lips gave her away. A tiny crease formed between her brows, she couldn’t tell why the knot inside kept tightening like this.
They had known each other for less than a day. She had even ordered him to wear the Binding Collar precisely to guard against him. Yet the instant he strode into the light without hesitating, something hard to name had swept through her chest.
Was it because what I had done still stung somewhere deep?
Because the sight of her walking away had stirred me?
Or was it something else entirely?
She couldn’t pin it down. She only knew that the tightening wouldn’t stop. Right then, ripples suddenly spread across the barrier. A lone silhouette stepped through that shimmering veil.
Jared is back!
Vivian’s eyes lit up and she moved to greet him, then stopped in her tracks. The aura wrapping around Jared had changed.
Three hours earlier, he had stood at the very top of High Immortal Realm Level One. Now, he carried the power of the Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Two. He had vaulted an entire minor realm in one sweep.
Vivian could only stare, mouth half-open. Garrick and the six elders traded looks, each with widened eyes.
What in the world had taken place inside Dragonmere?
Jared closed the distance to Vivian, noted her frozen stare, and suddenly chuckled. “Miss Chance, why the blank look? Don’t recognize me anymore?”
Vivian blinked hard, drew a deep breath, and forced down the tremor in her chest before speaking softly, “Y-Young Master Jared, you… You advanced?”
Jared nodded. “Luck was good. Picked up a few things in there.”
Pick up a few things?
Vivian’s mouth twitched at the corners. Just by picking things up, he could jump an entire realm?
She almost wanted to rush in and do her own scavenging, yet she knew such fortune only answered the Golden Dragon Bloodline.
For anyone else, stepping into Dragonmere wouldn’t guarantee this kind of chance. Garrick stepped forward and cupped his fists. “Young Master Jared, congratulations on the breakthrough.”
Jared waved him off. “Master Garrick, you’re too polite. I’ll explain what I found in Dragonmere in detail later. For now…”
He glanced at Vivian and tapped the collar circling his neck. “Miss Chance, shouldn’t this thing come off now?”
Vivian blinked, then hurried closer and pressed her palm against the collar. She poured spiritual power into the seal, ready to unlock it.
The very next instant, the look on her face shifted. The restrictions etched into the collar didn’t move an inch. She tried once more, and again, nothing budged. The blood drained from Vivian’s face.
Jared asked, “What’s wrong?”
Vivian lifted her head and stared at Jared. A thin layer of panic flickered behind her eyes, and she finally opened her mouth to speak. “Y-Young Master Chance, the Binding Collar… It… It won’t open.”
The Binding Collar refused to release; it sat around his neck like welded iron.
Jared’s smile stiffened in place, the curve of his lips turning rigid in an instant. He lowered his gaze to the silver band around his throat. The runes that had flowed quietly moments ago now pulsed with an eerie red light.
A faint yet unmistakable pressure leaked from the collar, several times stronger than when it had first been clasped on him.
“Miss Chance, this joke isn’t funny in the slightest.” He raised his head, locking his gaze on Vivian. His voice had turned flat and frigid.
Vivian shook her head again and again, words tumbling out in a rush. “Young Master Chance, I’m not joking! It really won’t open! I… I have no idea why this is happening!”
She pushed her energy through her palms and pressed them against the collar once more, sweat was already breaking across her brow. The metal band did not budge. Instead, the runes along its surface flashed even more violently.
Jared kept his eyes fixed on her, a hard glint flaring in his pupils.
“Miss Chance, I went into Dragonmere for your family’s sake. I never planned to hog the treasures, and I walked out ready to share. Yet this is how you repay me?” He tapped the collar and let out a short, cold laugh. “This thing clearly isn’t just for protection. First the Soulshackle Seal, then the Tracker’s Mark and now you’ve layered on a Binding Seal. Is this your family’s idea of sincerity?”
Vivian’s face turned ghost-white, her eyes rimmed red. “Young Master Chance, please believe me! I truly didn’t know! The Elders told me to give it to you, and I never guessed it wouldn’t come off!”
“Enough!” The sharp bark cut straight through her explanation. Garrick strode forward, the six elders filing in behind him.
The courtesy that had warmed their faces earlier was gone, replaced by a distant coolness no one bothered to hide. Vivian froze in place, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Father?”
Garrick didn’t even glance her way. His eyes locked on Jared as he began to speak. “Young Master Chance, since the collar won’t open, let’s stop pretending.”
Jared studied the patriarch and suddenly chuckled. The laugh carried not a shred of warmth. “Master Garrick… Finally, you dropping the mask?”
Garrick’s expression didn’t flicker. “You’re a smart man, so I’ll be blunt. Yes, I had the collar tampered with.”
Vivian looked as though lightning had struck her; she stared at her father in utter disbelief. “Father! What is the meaning of this?!”
Garrick still ignored her, his focus never leaving Jared. “Hand over whatever you brought out of Dragonmere.”
Jared arched an eyebrow. “Hand it over?”
Garrick gave a single nod. “Dragonmere was discovered by my family. Everything within it rightfully belongs to us. We appreciate you retrieving the items, but you cannot walk away with them.”
“Surrender them,” he went on, voice steady yet carrying unmistakable authority, “And I will remove the collar pay you 360 bottles of celestial elixir, and escort you out of Cloudhaven City. After that, we’re even.”
Hearing this, Jared laughed aloud. “Master Garrick, your abacus really does click loudly.”
He tapped the collar once more. “With this thing suppressing thirty percent of my strength, you expect me to hand over the Dragonmere spoils and then trust you to let me, leave? Do look that gullible?”
