“Are you ready?” Aurelius asked, his voice clipped and urgent. Everyone answered with a silent nod. Aurelius’ chest expanded. Then, with a thunderous bark, shouted, “Move!”
Purple spiritual energy surged from Artemis, colliding with Aurelius’s blinding white spiritual energy. The two currents braided together, soaring outward to form a mountainous shield that slammed into the void ahead.
The moment the shield met the void, there was a hissing sound. Infinides whipped a wooden sword from his sleeve. Words tumbled from his lips. Runes flowed out from his lips and infused the spiritual energy shield. Light detonated across the shield. The Heavenly Law around them sagged.
“Jared, now!” Aurelius roared, every vein in his throat standing stark beneath the strain. Jared answered with action. He poured every shred of spiritual energy into the Dragonslayer Sword until the blade howled like a caged beast.
Golden sword energy geysered into the clouds as hacked downward, cleaving at the void.
Boom!
The void was torn open. A ragged black passage appeared before them. Violet lightning slithered around the rent, each arc carrying the cold aura of the Heavenly Law sharp enough to slice bone.
“Go!” Artemis screamed, voice frayed, core already flickering from the drain. She, Aurelius, and Infinides were ghost-pale, sweat freezing on skin, muscles shaking as they fought to keep the shield from collapsing into shards.
Jared spared them no delay. One breath, one leap, and the darkness swallowed whole.
The instant entered the passage, the spiritual energy shield behind him imploded. Heavenly Law, furious and unbound, surged after him.
“No! The Heavenly Law is lashing back!” Aurelius cried. He was horrified and wanted to rush forward to help, but Infinides stopped him.
“It’s no use. This is the Heavenly Law’s punishment for those who break the boundary. Outsiders can’t intervene. He can only rely on himself,” Infinides sighed, his eyes filled with worry.
Inside the passage, Jared was trapped in agony. Violet shards of Heavenly Law flew at like a cloud of blades, each edge keen enough to flay both flesh and soul.
His skin split in a thousand places. Blood streamed down his body, only to vanish into the passage’s darkness.
“Argh!” The cry tore from his throat, raw and ragged, while the meridians inside quivered as if stretched to snapping. He felt his cultivation deteriorating, as the merciless power of the law gnawed away the very roots of his soul.
No… I will not surrender now…
Jared gritted his teeth, recalling the tragic state of level six, the sacrifice of Rylan, and the expectations of Yuliana, Aurelius, and others. He took out the Focus Pill given to by Yuliana from his robe and put it into his mouth.
The pill dissolved instantly upon entering his mouth, and a cool, refreshing power surged through his entire body, protecting his soul and sharpening his consciousness.
Enduring the pain, circulated the remaining spiritual energy in his body while activating the power of his Draconian bloodline.
The golden power of his bloodline formed a faint protective shield around him. Though it couldn’t fully block the attack of the Heavenly Law’s power, it slightly alleviated some of the pain. Yet the Heavenly Law’s wrath in the passage only swelled.
Jared’s flesh became a blur of blood and exposed bone. His fingers could scarcely cling to the Dragonslayer Sword. Blackness seeped into the edges of his vision, and consciousness wavered like a candle in a gale.
The Celestial King Palace… I must reach the Celestial King Palace…
With a final, ragged breath, hurled himself toward the faint glimmer at the passage’s end. There was a light flickering at the end.
It was level eight!
Just as was about to reach the end of the passage, a more powerful force of the Heavenly Law suddenly struck, striking in the chest. Jared spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying toward the end of the passage like a kite with a broken string.
His consciousness completely blurred, and his body crashed heavily onto a patch of grass. The Dragonslayer Sword slipped from his hand, embedding itself in the soil nearby. After an unknown amount of time, Jared slowly opened his eyes.
He found himself lying on an unfamiliar grassland, with a light blue sky overhead and the air filled with rich spiritual energy, starkly contrasting the demonic aura on level six.
