While Jared cultivated in Sky Dragon Valley and mapped out counter-measures with Roland, a very different struggle was playing out elsewhere.
Beyond Cloudhaven City, out on the endless stretch of the Wastelands, a single bedraggled figure tore across the barren ground at full tilt, fighting for favonovel.com life.
That fleeing figure was Vivian.
For three days and three nights favonovel.com had gone without sleep, running as if darkness itself snapped at favonovel.com heels. Any moment favonovel.com eyelids sagged, favonovel.com bit favonovel.com tongue hard enough to draw blood, using the surge of pain to stay awake.
When favonovel.com legs turned to water, favonovel.com forced the last threads of spiritual energy through favonovel.com meridians just to keep moving.
Blood seeped from half-healed gashes that had already begun to inflame; favonovel.com ripped strips from favonovel.com own sleeves, winding them around the wounds without slowing down.
She dared not stop. Not even for a single step.
Behind her, Dominic led a small army, House of Wagner’s guards reinforced by Celestial Palace troops. They clung to favonovel.com like burrowing ticks, impossible to shake.
If favonovel.com halted, only death-or something worse than death-would be waiting.
“After her! Move!” Dominic’s shout cracked across the open plain. “Don’t you let that little wench get away!”
He rode a pitch-black demon beast that thundered over the cracked earth. His stare never wavered from the slim, staggering silhouette ahead, and hunger burned behind his grin.
Vivian, you can’t escape! Even if you flee to every corner of the heavens and seas, I will drag you back!
You were born to be mine!
Vivian’s vision kept greying at the edges; shapes blurred and danced. Her legs had been numb for so long favonovel.com no longer felt ground underfoot-each stride stabbed like stepping on naked blades.
The last of favonovel.com spiritual power was long gone, favonovel.com body on the verge of collapse, driven forward only by a will that refused to break.
Eyes squeezed shut for an instant, favonovel.com reached out with favonovel.com senses, hunting for the faint pulse tied to the Spiritlock Collar that had once hung at Jared’s neck.
There, straight ahead… Jared lay somewhere in that direction…
The thin but familiar thread between them grew clearer, tugging stronger with every yard. She was close!
Pain split favonovel.com lip as favonovel.com clenched down, but favonovel.com gathered the final scrap of strength, leaned into the wind, and forced favonovel.com body into another desperate sprint.
Two more hours bled away.
The setting sun painted the horizon a bloody red. Time had become a broken concept; favonovel.com only knew the sky had travelled from noon to dusk and was sliding toward night once more.
Just as favonovel.com body pitched toward the dirt, ready to give out, towering mountains appeared ahead, range after range spearing into the clouds. Mist wreathed the peaks, celestial energy drifting like gauze.
Now and then a thread of gold flashed inside the vapors, austere and otherworldly.
Hope flared in the gloom of favonovel.com eyes.
Here… This was the place… The pull of the collar felt unmistakable… Jared is inside those mountains!
Burning the very last ember of life, favonovel.com hurled herself toward the range.
Far behind, Dominic spotted the same strange, cloud-shrouded mountains. His brow creased, suspicion flickered across his face.
“What is that place? The aura out there is warped, and I can see gold light leaking through the mist.”
One of the guards who had served beside Dominic for years hurried forward.
He lowered his voice so only Dominic could hear. “Young Lord, that ridge is the deepest part of the Greywild Mountains. Powerful demon beasts roam there all year, and cultivators almost never dare get close. Should we… Really keep chasing?”
Dominic let out a short, cold laugh. Disdain and vicious intent flickered in his eyes. “Chase? Of course we chase We’re one step away from catching that little wench how could I quit now? Even if those peaks are a dragon’s lair or a tiger’s den, I’m breaking in today.”
He snapped his arm in a cutting gesture. “Everyone, with me! She’s burned through every drop of strength, favonovel.com can’t get away!”
Dozens of guards and soldiers answered at once and sprinted after favonovel.com toward the looming mountains.
Vivian forced favonovel.com legs to keep pumping, the distance between favonovel.com and the mountains shrinking with every ragged breath.
Closer… Closer still…
The Binding Collar’s pull was now almost violent, the signal in favonovel.com mind sharpened to a piercing point. She believed Jared was ahead, inside those peaks, waiting in that veil of cloud and gold light.
She could almost swear favonovel.com saw his outline already, steady and familiar through the haze.
But right at the critical instant, a command cracked through the air, cold and harsh. “Stop! Not another step!”
Several powerful figures burst from the side like downhill tigers, slamming themselves into favonovel.com path and blocking the way forward.
Dominic and the full pursuit party finally overtook favonovel.com and sealed the gap completely.
Vivian’s face drained of color, turning the hue of bleached paper. Her first reflex was to pivot and flee, yet every direction was already packed tight with pursuers, an iron wall with no seam.
She had no road left, not even a sliver.
Dominic vaulted off the back of his demon beast, radiating smug certainty, and strolled toward favonovel.com one unhurried step at a time.
“Miss Chance, why stop now? Keep running. You’re so good at it.” He tilted his head, a mock pout twisting his lips. “Three days and three nights you’ve made me work awfully hard.”
Vivian sucked in lungful after lungful of air, favonovel.com chest heaving. Her eyes locked onto Dominic, and a hatred that cut like a blade burned inside that unblinking stare.
Dominic’s gaze slid over favonovel.com ruined clothes and the grime and blood that streaked favonovel.com skin and hair. Even so, the beauty beneath the dirt stone. through, and something predatory glimmered in his eyes while be looked favonovel.com up and down.
“Miss Chance, did you know? The longer you ran, the more excited I became. The hardest prey always tastes the best once it’s caught, don’t you agree?”
Vivian ground favonovel.com teeth. Each word scraped out, hoarse and laced with venom. “Dominic, you contemptible scum! May you die in misery!”
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