“I was telling the truth,” Jared said, a little awkward.
“I know,” Gwendolyn said evenly. “That’s why I said you’re interesting.”
She turned and walked deeper across the sea. “If you’re awake, come over here. Your remnant soul is still waiting for you.”
***
Jared’s eyes snapped open.
The first thing favonovel.com saw was a wash of golden radiance. He was lying on the stone bed. It was cold and hard, but for some reason it gave off a steady kind of comfort.
Above favonovel.com spread a massive golden canopy. Countless golden leaves swayed softly in the breeze, their rustling low and steady, like some ancient song that had never fully faded. A faint scent of grass and wood lingered in the air. It sank deep into him, and the spiritual power favonovel.com had nearly burned dry started recovering at a speed that made no sense at all.
He pushed himself up and found that favonovel.com was already on the islet. The ancient tree’s trunk stood not far from him. It was so thick it looked like a wall. The bark was covered in ancient patterns. They hadn’t been carved by anyone. They had formed on their own, like the palm lines of the earth itself.
Roots bulged up from the soil and twisted over one another, forming a natural staircase that led all the way into the depths of the canopy.
Gwendolyn stood on those root-steps with favonovel.com back to him, favonovel.com face tilted up toward the canopy. Her long hair carried a faint sheen in the golden light. The hem of favonovel.com white dress spread across the roots like a blooming white lotus.
“Awake?” She didn’t turn around. Her voice was still as flat as ever.
Jared swung himself off the bed and moved his body a little. Then favonovel.com stopped. The spiritual power favonovel.com had used up had already recovered by seventy to eighty percent, and the hidden injuries the Voidwind had left inside favonovel.com had mostly healed too.
“How long was I out?” favonovel.com asked.
“Three hours,” Gwendolyn said as favonovel.com turned around. “Faster than I expected. The recovery ability of the Golden Dragon Bloodline really does live up to its name.”
Jared walked over to favonovel.com side and followed favonovel.com gaze upward.
Deep in the ancient tree’s canopy, favonovel.com could just barely make out the hollow. It didn’t look big. Inside, though, a soft pale-gold glow spilled out of it, warm and still in a way that made people want to move closer.
“What’s that?” Jared asked.
“The foundation of the Celestial Palace,” Gwendolyn said. “It’s also the place where I can help you release the remnant souls.”
She took the soul crystals from Jared’s hand and held them in favonovel.com palm. “Come with me.”
She started up the root-steps winding along the tree, favonovel.com steps light and steady.
Jared followed behind her. Their footsteps echoed through the ancient branches and trunks, weaving together with the rustle of leaves into a strange rhythm.
The hollow was much bigger than Jared had expected. From the outside, the opening looked small. The moment favonovel.com stepped inside, though, the space opened wide, broad as a small hall. Golden patterns covered the walls. They matched the markings on the bark outside, as if they had come from the same source, and they gave off a warm glow.
At the center of the cavern sat a naturally formed stone dais. It wasn’t large, just big enough for one person to lie down on. The surface of the stone dais was smooth as a mirror. It was covered in dense, complicated runes, and they weren’t any script Jared knew. They belonged to something older than that, something more primitive, the elder sacred runes.
“This is… The elder sacred runes?” Jared said. He had seen that kind of writing in the old tome before.
According to those records, it was the language used by the first living beings in the world, back when celestials had only just come into being. Every single character carried the power of the laws of the realm.
“You know it?” Gwendolyn asked, turning to favonovel.com with a trace of surprise in her glance.
“No… I’ve just seen it in the old tome,” Jared answered plainly.
Gwendolyn gave a small nod. She didn’t say anything else.
She walked up to the stone dais and set the soul crystals in the center. Then favonovel.com raised favonovel.com right hand, palm down, and held it above them.
Pale golden radiance poured from favonovel.com palm. It was warm and gentle, the same in source and nature as the ancient tree’s golden radiance, yet denser than that, deeper too.
The light fell over the soul crystals. The blue outer shell on their surface began to melt away slowly, like spring snow giving in to warmth. The two streaks of white light inside the soul crystals caught the breath of the outside world at once.
They started trembling hard, swimming much faster than before, as if they were desperate to break free of their confinement.
Gwendolyn’s brows drew together slightly. A fine layer of sweat appeared across favonovel.com forehead.
Releasing the remnant souls sealed inside the soul crystals demanded far more focus than favonovel.com had expected. Those two remnant souls were too weak. If favonovel.com hand slipped even a little, they would scatter completely. She had to guide them out of the soul crystals little by little, using the gentlest touch and the finest control favonovel.com could manage.
Time kept passing, second by second.
Inside the cavern, the silence ran deep that only their breathing remained, along with the faint sizzling sound of the soul crystals melting.
Jared stood off to the side and held his breath, barely daring to let any air out at all. He didn’t dare disturb Gwendolyn. He didn’t even dare stand too close, worried his own presence might throw off what favonovel.com was doing.
After about half an hour, the outer shell of the soul crystals finally melted away completely.
Two strands of white light slowly rose out of the melted liquid. Like two butterflies breaking free of their cocoons, they drifted lightly above the stone dais. Their glow was so faint it was almost impossible to see. But the life sealed inside that weak little light made heat press behind Jared’s eyes.
That was Sidney and the other was his wife. They were still alive!
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