8,000 miles away, deep in the vast mountain range. Mountain after mountain rolled into the distance. Peaks rose over peaks. Ancient trees towered so high they blotted out the sky.
Sunlight pushed through the thick canopy in broken patches, spilling over the deep layer of fallen leaves and stirring a soft rustling sound. Mist wound through the mountains, and the air hung heavy with dampness.
A faint scent of grass and wood drifted everywhere. But mixed into that clean scent was something else, something so faint it almost hid itself. It carried a cold, wicked taint, sharp enough to crawl straight into the bones, along with a thick smell of blood and rot that made the skin tighten.
Jared and the other two hid inside the dense forest on one of the peaks. They pulled in every trace of their aura and crept forward like three shadows.
Jared’s eyes swept across the mountains ahead, sharp as a hawk’s. His spiritual soul spread out slowly, covering several hundred miles as it searched every movement in the area, not letting even the slightest clue slip by.
Luther pulled in his ghostly energy too, then lowered his voice and leaned close to Jared.
“Mr. Chance, that Ghost Clan aura is coming from the mountain up ahead. It’s getting thicker and thicker, and it’s still growing. Looks like their ritual to revive the Ghost Clan expert has already reached its critical stage.”
Jared looked in the direction Luther indicated. Not far ahead, a towering mountain stood among the clouds and mist. Its peak stabbed into the sky, its sides dropped away in steep black rock, and the whole mountain looked as if it had been soaked in blood, giving off a faint evil air.
At the very top of the mountain, a thick layer of blood-colored mist covered everything. Inside that mist, the outline of a massive altar could just barely be seen.
A blood-red beam rose from the altar and shot straight into the sky. The light tore through the clouds, and the evil power packed inside it was enough to make the chest go tight.
From a distance, it looked like a giant beast lying still in wait, jaws spread wide, fangs bared, pressing a suffocating weight over the whole place.
All around the altar, Celestial Palace soldiers moved in dense patrol lines. They wore black armor carved with strange runes, and a cold killing intent rolled off them. Every one of them kept sharp eyes on the surroundings, sweeping every direction and missing nothing unusual.
A rough glance was enough to tell there were at least a thousand of them. Among them were plenty at High Immortal Realm Level Eight, and even several High Immortal Realm Level Nine cultivators stood guard around the altar.
Their defense was airtight, like a wall of iron. Getting close to the altar would not be easy. At the center of the altar, a huge coffin floated silently in midair. It was pitch-black from end to end, its surface covered in dense layers of strange runes.
Ghostly energy and blood-red light seeped out from those runes. Across the coffin’s surface, dark red liquid flowed in thin streams, giving off a rotten stench strong enough to turn the stomach.
Inside the coffin, a massive figure could be seen through the gloom. It was curled up within, wrapped in thick ghostly energy. And buried in that energy was a trace of Sacred Paragon pressure. It was weak, but still enough to chill anyone who sensed it.
“So it really is Sacred Mountain…” A cold curve touched Jared’s mouth, and a hard glint flashed through his eyes. “The Celestial Palace really won’t give up. Even after I wrecked their scheme, they’re still trying to revive a Ghost Clan expert and turn him into their ghoul husk. They really don’t know when to stop courting death.”
Luther edged closer and dropped his voice even lower. “Mr. Chance, the one in that coffin should be the Ghost Clan expert they’re reviving. Judging by that aura, he’s at least a Sacred Paragon. And from the look of it, the ritual’s already more than halfway done. It won’t be long before he fully wakes up. Once that happens, we’re in trouble.”
Jared gave a slow nod. His eyes stayed locked on the coffin floating above the center of the altar.
He could feel it clearly. The ghostly energy inside the coffin was getting stronger without pause. That massive figure’s aura was waking up bit by bit, and the pressure around it kept climbing. The ritual had obviously reached its most critical moment.
If they waited any longer, that Ghost Clan Sacred Paragon would fully revive and become a ghoul husk under the Celestial Palace’s control. And once that happened, killing him would become far more difficult. Worse, it would bring massive disaster to the Fourteenth Firmament.
“We can’t let them succeed…” Jared spoke lightly, but there was no room in his voice for doubt. The aura around him sharpened further. Golden celestial radiance flowed over his body, as if it meant to wash this whole evil stretch of heaven and earth clean.
As soon as the words fell, jared rose to his feet. He stopped hiding himself. Golden light burst from him in an instant like a blazing sun lighting up the entire mountain range. The golden celestial radiance poured out with crushing pressure, twisting the air around him.
Then he moved. Without using any technique at all, he simply flew toward the summit of Sacred Mountain at an unhurried pace.
His steps were calm. His expression never changed. It looked less like he was heading into a life-and-death battle and more like he was going to an ordinary banquet.
