Cloudhaven City, outside the Teleportation Hall. The sunlight was bright, and the sky was a pure, washed blue. In the distance, dozens of giant dragons wheeled through the air. Their golden scales threw off dazzling flashes under the sun, and the low sound of dragon roars carried over, heavy with majesty.
Jared had only just helped Evelyn out of the Teleportation Hall when several figures came racing in from afar. At the front was Roland. Behind him came Luther, Grace, and Vivian.
“Your Majesty!” Roland dropped in front of Jared, surprise written all over his face. He was just about to bow when his expression suddenly changed. His gaze landed on Jared’s pale face, then on the weak rise and fall of his aura, then on the blood still left at the corner of his mouth.
“Your Majesty! You’re hurt?!” Roland’s voice came out tight with shock, with heat already rising underneath it. He could tell right away that Jared’s aura was far weaker than when he had left, and the power of the bloodline inside him had thinned by more than half.
Luther and Grace rushed over too. The moment they saw Jared like this, both of them stopped short. “Mr. Chance, you… what happened to you?” Luther asked the question in a rush, his eyes fixed on Jared. Grace didn’t speak, but the look in her eyes said enough.
Vivian stood off to the side. At first, seeing Jared return alive lit her face up, but the moment she noticed the unfamiliar woman in his arms, that change halted for a beat. The woman was stunning, with a cold, distant air about her. Right then, she was leaning weakly against Jared. She was covered in wounds, and her clothes were torn to pieces, but none of it could hide the way she carried herself.
Something sharp and sour rose in Vivian’s chest for no clear reason. She forced it down almost at once, then hurried forward and asked, “Jared, you’re hurt? How bad is it?”
Jared shook his head and managed a weak smile. “I’m fine. I’m not dying.” He paused, then looked at Roland. “Let’s get back first. We’ll talk there.”
Roland nodded at once and stepped up to support Jared himself. Then the group rose into the air and flew toward the city lord mansion. At the House of Chance Manor, in the main hall, Jared sat in the seat of honor, with Evelyn seated at his side. Roland, Luther, Grace, and Vivian sat on the left and right sides. Jared picked up his cup, took a sip of spirit tea, and slowly opened his mouth. “I was deceived in the Luminous Sanctuary…”
Then he laid out everything that had happened to him in the Celestial Basilica, point by point, without leaving anything out. He started with the bloodline test, then Alaric receiving him, then entering the ritual array, then Cillian turning on him, then Evelyn risking her life to save him, then the appearance of the mysterious woman Lydia, and finally the escape that followed. By the time they finished listening, every face in the room had turned dark.
“B*stards!” Luther slammed a hand on the table and shot to his feet. “What kind of holy land of the righteous path is that? They’re just beasts wearing human skin!” As a member of the Ghost Clan, he had never had much goodwill toward those so-called righteous cultivators to begin with. After hearing what the Celestial Basilica had done, he couldn’t hold anything back.
Grace was shaking all over too. “How could they do something like that?! They promised to save people, then turned around and tried to kill them! Are they even human?!”
Roland said nothing, but a cold killing intent flickered in those dragon eyes. Vivian’s eyes had already gone red. She kept looking at Jared’s pale face, and the way she held herself changed bit by bit. “Jared…” she murmured, but no other words came.
Jared lifted a hand, signaling everyone to calm down. “The reason I made it back alive this time is because of Evelyn Ashcroft and the girl named Lydia Wraithmoor…” He looked at Evelyn, and a trace of gratitude passed through his eyes. “If Evelyn hadn’t risked her life to save me, and if Lydia hadn’t shown up in time, I probably would’ve died in the Luminous Sanctuary.”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Evelyn. Evelyn quickly rose to her feet and gave the room a small bow. “Evelyn Ashcroft greets you all…”
Vivian looked at her, and that same sharp, sour feeling came back again. But she pressed it down just as quickly, stood up, walked over to Evelyn, and took her hand. “Miss Evelyn, thank you for saving Jared. I’ll remember this debt.”
Evelyn looked at her and caught the sincerity in her eyes. Some of the strain in her face eased as she shook her head. “You’re too kind, Sister. Young Lord saved me first. I only did what I should have done.” When Vivian heard the word “Sister,” the bitterness inside her eased by quite a bit, and a faint smile finally showed on her face.
Jared looked at Roland and asked, “Roland, while I was gone, was anything happening in Cloudhaven City?”
Roland quickly put away everything else and answered in a steady voice. “Reporting to Your Majesty, everything in Cloudhaven City has been peaceful. The Celestial Palace hasn’t come looking for trouble, and the Demon Dragon Lineage hasn’t made a move either. As for the forces that had been getting restless before, after we put pressure on them, they’ve all quieted down.” He paused, then went on. “But the scouts I sent out reported that the Celestial Palace seems to be gathering people in secret lately. We don’t know what they’re planning. The Demon Dragon Lineage has had some movement too. It looks like they’re waiting for something.”
Jared’s brows drew together slightly, and he nodded. “Keep watching them. If anything happens, report to me at once.”
“Yes!”
Jared turned to Luther and Grace after that. “What about you two? Did either of you find anything during this time?”
Luther shook his head. “Grace and I have been staying in the city the whole time, helping Roland handle some miscellaneous matters. We haven’t found anything special.” Grace nodded too.
Jared gave a quiet grunt, then looked at Evelyn and said to everyone, “Miss Evelyn is from the Luminous Sanctuary. The Hallowmere Order forced her into a corner and nearly made her cultivate with a man she didn’t love. I saved her, and she escaped with me after that. The only reason I made it back alive this time is because of her.”
The others all nodded to Evelyn in greeting. Evelyn lowered her eyes, and a light flush spread across her cheeks. Jared paused, then suddenly remembered something and turned to Luther. “Right, Luther, there’s something I need to ask you…”
Luther froze for a second. “Go ahead, Mr. Chance.”
Jared said, “Do you know anything about the Ghost Clan in the Fifteenth Firmament?”
Hearing that, Luther went still. “The Fifteenth Firmament?” His brows pulled tight, and he shook his head. “I don’t know. I may have come from the Ghost Clan, but I don’t know much about the situation in the Fifteenth Firmament.” He paused, then asked, “Why are you asking about that all of a sudden, Mr. Chance?”
Jared said, “The woman who saved me was named Lydia Wraithmoor. She said she was a Ghost Clan Princess from the Fifteenth Firmament, and that she only came to the Fourteenth Firmament because she sensed the aura of the Door of Reincarnation.”
Luther’s face changed. “The Door of Reincarnation?!” That thing was more familiar to him than almost anything else. He had relied on the Door of Reincarnation to pose as the Lord of Reincarnation back in level twelve.
He drew a long breath, forced the shock down, and said in a low voice, “Mr. Chance, then the Ghost Clan in the Fifteenth Firmament must be very strong. Even the tiny bit of the Door of Reincarnation’s aura still left on me was sensed.”
Jared nodded. “That’s right. Lydia looked like she was in the True Immortal Realm. If that’s the case, her clan’s strength definitely can’t be weak… that Miss Lydia saved my life, and I invited her to Cloudhaven City. If she comes here later, none of you are to neglect her.”
Everyone nodded at once. A flicker of expectation passed through Luther’s eyes. As a member of the Ghost Clan himself, he was full of curiosity about this princess from the Fifteenth Firmament.
