The Celestial Palace’s Sacred Mountain wasn’t some hidden secret. Plenty of people came to worship there, so it didn’t take them long to find one.
The group stepped into the Sacred Mountain and followed the winding mountain path deeper inside. The inside of the Sacred Mountain was a world of its own. Deep in the mountain’s belly, there was actually a massive underground palace. It was grand and overwhelming, and the walls all around it were carved full of ancient runic formations that gave off a faint golden radiance.
At the deepest end of the palace, a massive altar stood there. Above the altar, an enormous coffin hung suspended in midair. The whole coffin was pitch-black, and its surface was packed with sealing sigils, layer over layer, so dense they nearly covered every inch of it. Even from several hundred yards away, the thing pressed out a terrifying aura so heavy it was hard to breathe under it.
Lydia’s pupils tightened as she stared at the coffin. “It’s the Venerable’s body!”
Something stirred deep in her blood. It came from the instinctive pull the Ghost Clan’s descendants had toward their ancestor.
Jared said nothing. He only started walking toward the altar, one step at a time. Right then, blinding golden radiance burst to life around the altar. Lines of the formation surfaced all at once, then instantly turned into a huge dome of light that covered the coffin inside it.
“The warding array,” Luther said, his brow drawing tight. “The Celestial Palace really did leave something behind.”
Jared quietly watched the light barrier, weighing the terrifying power sealed inside it. “A True Immortal Realm formation,” he said evenly. “If this had been before, I really wouldn’t have had any way to deal with it.”
As he spoke, Jared lifted a hand and gave it a casual sweep. The Beast-Quelling Tower flew out of the Storage Ring and rose into the air, spilling down layer after layer of glowing light.
“But now…” With a shift of Jared’s will, the Beast-Quelling Tower suddenly swelled. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a giant tower 100 yards tall and came crashing down.
Boom!
The giant tower slammed into the barrier, and the impact broke out in a blast that shook the whole place. The entire underground palace shuddered violently. Countless chunks of rock broke loose from the ceiling and rained down.
A dim glow spilled from the Beast-Quelling Tower as it forced its way down, inch by inch, pressing against the barrier. The barrier was strong, but under the Beast-Quelling Tower’s crushing weight, it still couldn’t hold. Cracks began to split across it, one after another.
Crack!
The cracks spread wider and wider, growing thicker by the second. Then, with another thunderous blast, the barrier shattered completely.
Jared withdrew the Beast-Quelling Tower and slowly walked up the altar. He stopped in front of the coffin and looked at the dense layers of sealing sigils covering it. His face didn’t change.
“Venerable, forgive the offense…” He raised his hand and slammed a palm strike into the coffin.
Boom!
The coffin exploded, and that terrible presence burst out in an instant, sweeping through the hall. A huge phantom rose out of the shattered coffin. It was a broad-shouldered man in black armor. His face carried a hard, solemn authority. His eyes were shut, and the pressure pouring off him was enough to make breathing feel heavy.
This was the lingering aura of the Ghost Clan Venerable. The mark he had left behind before death. The phantom hung in the air, as if looking down on everyone below.
Lydia stared at the phantom. The rims of her eyes turned red, and then she slowly dropped to her knees. Luther went down on one knee too, his face set in grave silence. This was the Ghost Clan’s ancestor. The hero they had always looked up to.
Jared stood where he was and looked at the phantom without saying a word. The phantom stayed suspended there for a moment, then slowly opened its eyes. They were deep eyes, carrying the worn weight of endless years. His gaze swept across the people below and finally settled on Jared.
There was no anger in that look. No hatred either. Only a faint trace of release. The phantom parted his lips and a low, ancient voice came out. “Thank you…”
Just those two words, and even they sounded like the last of his strength had gone into them. As soon as the words fell, the phantom slowly faded apart, breaking into a sky full of drifting points of light before disappearing completely into nothing. At the same time, that enormous body began to break down as well. It crumbled into ash and scattered away on the wind.
Lydia was still kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her face. “Farewell, Venerable…”
Luther kept his head lowered. When he wanted to speak, his voice caught.
Jared stood there and watched it all in silence. Something heavy passed through him. An ancient powerhouse had just vanished from heaven and earth for good. There had been no grand spectacle. No world-shaking end. Just one quiet “thank you” had said everything that needed saying, all of it release, all of it freedom.
A long while passed before Lydia slowly rose to her feet. She wiped the tears from her face and looked at Jared. “Thank you…” Her voice came out rough, but there wasn’t a trace of anything false in it.
Jared shook his head. “You don’t need to thank me. Letting the Venerable rest was something that should’ve been done in the first place.”
Lydia looked at him, and something tangled flickered through her eyes. This man could have stayed out of it… He could have handled only his own business and walked away… But he still came. And he still helped. Not for any reward… Just because, in his eyes, it was something that ought to be done…
The way Lydia looked at Jared shifted again. There was more weight in it now than before.
“Let’s go…” Jared turned and walked out.
Over the next few days, he led the others through the remaining Sacred Mountains of the Celestial Palace and destroyed every last piece of the Ghost Clan Venerable’s body. The Celestial Palace was already a shell in name only. No one was left guarding it, and that made the destruction of the Ghost Clan Venerable’s body almost effortless for Jared and the others.
At that moment, Godric still knew nothing. He was still counting on the secret of the Sacred Mountains to turn everything around.
