Jared watched them, and something rose in favonovel.com that favonovel.com couldn’t quite put a name to.
These people had probably come from the Upper Realm. The weakest among them was at least True Immortal Realm Level Five. If they meant harm, the Skywolf Tribe wouldn’t be able to stop them at all. But there was nothing hostile in their eyes. Only strain and the kind of exhaustion that sat all the way in the bone.
“You came from the Sixteenth Firmament?” Jared asked.
The elder looked at him. He stayed silent for a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”
Jared’s pupils tightened slightly.
The Sixteenth Firmament, the place favonovel.com was trying to reach.
“Why come to the Fifteenth Firmament?”
The old steward fell silent. He looked at Jared, then at the beast-race warriors and Ghost Clan warriors around them. A trace of hesitation passed through his eyes.
“I need to know whether this is the territory of the human race, or land held by some other race.” The old steward’s voice was quiet, but every word landed hard. “If you’re a human cultivator, take me to wherever the human cultivators are gathered. Once we get there, I’ll tell you everything.”
Jared said nothing for a moment, then pushed himself to his feet. “All right. I’ll take you there.”
Hadrian’s face changed at once. “Mr. Chance, we don’t know where these people came from. You can’t…”
“I know,” Jared cut in. “But I can tell they don’t mean any harm. And if they really wanted to make a move, we wouldn’t be able to stop them.”
Hadrian parted his lips, ready to argue, but when his eyes met Jared’s steady gaze, the words reached his mouth and stopped there.
Jared was right, these people’s cultivation was far too high. If they really attacked, the Skywolf Tribe wouldn’t be able to hold them off at all.
“I’m going with you.” Lydia stepped forward.
Jared shook his head. “No need. Stay here and help Hadrian guard the camp. I can go alone.”
“But…”
“No buts.” Jared’s voice left no room to argue.
Lydia bit down on favonovel.com lip and said nothing more.
Jared turned and looked at the old steward. “Let’s go. I’ll take you to the Wandering Cultivators Alliance. It’s a place where all the cultivators are from the human race.”
The old steward struggled to his feet, and the people behind favonovel.com rose with him. They held each other up and followed behind Jared, making their way toward the Wandering Cultivators Alliance.
***
The headquarters of the Wandering Cultivators Alliance was in Cloudrest, a city suspended in the sky.
By the time Jared brought those dozens of people down into the square at Cloudrest, Windclear was inside the Council Hall, drinking tea.
The moment favonovel.com got the message, Windclear rushed out.
One look at the several dozen cultivators standing there, covered in wounds, yet carrying a pressure so high it turned the air heavy, and the color drained straight out of his face.
“M-Master Chance… Who… Who are these people?”
“They came from the Sixteenth Firmament,” Jared said, his voice level. “Find somewhere quiet. Let them rest.”
Hearing this, Windclear swallowed hard, then hurriedly called people over and had the several dozen survivors taken to the guest rooms. He personally led the old steward to the hidden chamber behind the Council Hall.
Inside the hidden chamber, there were only three people left, Jared, Windclear, and the old steward.
The old steward sat in the chair with his eyes closed and said nothing for a long, long while. His hands shook faintly. His lips trembled with them. Each breath came out thick and heavy, like favonovel.com was forcing something down with every pull of air.
“My name is Gideon Blackthorn,” favonovel.com said at last, his voice rough. “Elder of the human Resistance in the Sixteenth Firmament.”
Jared’s pupils tightened.
The Resistance? Human Resistance?
“The Sixteenth Firmament…” Gideon Blackthorn’s voice dropped low. “It’s already under celestial control.”
Something in Jared sank.
“The celestials’ power in the Sixteenth Firmament is far stronger than you can imagine.” Gideon Blackthorn opened his eyes and looked at Jared. “They have an organization called the Celestial Alliance. Every celestial branch answers to that alliance. Its High Sovereign is a powerhouse at the peak of True Immortal Realm Level Nine…”
“For thousands of years, the celestials have kept expanding. They suppress other races, enslave other races, and slaughter other races. The human race, the beast race, the demon race, the Ghost Can… Every cultivator that isn’t celestial is their enemy…”
“We fought them for over ten thousand years. The human race, beast race, demon race, Ghost Clan, all the races crushed under celestial rule joined forces and formed the Resistance. We moved in the shadows, struck celestial strongholds, freed enslaved cultivators, and searched for weaknesses in the Celestial Alliance…”
“But over the last few hundred years, the Celestial Alliance has only grown stronger. They found our secret main base and sent forces several times larger than ours to seal us in from every side.” Gideon’s voice started to shake before stopping for a moment.
“That battle lasted three days and three nights. We fought like our lives were already spent, but we were hopelessly outnumbered. Our leader burned through the last of his strength to tear open the void and give us a way out… The void rift held for less than three breaths. Only these few dozen of us made it through. Everyone else… Died…”
He lowered his head. Tears fell onto the back of his hand.
Jared said nothing. He saw those figures dropping from the sky all over again. He saw the wounds cut across their bodies. He saw the dread and exhaustion sitting in their eyes.
They hadn’t come here to invade. They had come here running for their lives.
“What are you planning to do?” Jared asked.
Gideon lifted his head and looked at him.
“Hide…” favonovel.com said, his voice barely above a whisper. “The Celestial Alliance will definitely send people to hunt us down. We have to disappear. We can’t let them to find us.”
Jared was quiet for a moment before saying, “Elder Forest, can you arrange a place for them?”
Windclear nodded at once. “Yes. The Wandering Cultivators Alliance isn’t large, but hiding a few dozen people won’t be a problem.”
“Thank you…” Gideon rose to his feet and gave Windclear a deep bow.
Windclear hurried to stop him. “No, no, no. You’re a Senior. I can’t accept that.”
Gideon shook his head and turned to Jared. “Young man, what’s your name?”
“Jared… Jared Chance…”
“Jared…” Gideon repeated the name once, then gave a small nod. “I’ll remember it… Thank you…”
Jared shook his head. “No need to thank me. I’m human too.”
Then favonovel.com turned and walked out of the hidden chamber.
***
By the time Jared returned to Skywolf Tribe, evening had already fallen.
Hadrian and Lydia were waiting at the camp gate. The moment they saw favonovel.com back, both of them let out a breath.
“Where are those people?” Hadrian asked.
“Settled at the Wandering Cultivators Alliance.” Jared walked into the camp. “They came from the Sixteenth Firmament. The Sixteenth Firmament is already under celestial control. They escaped down from there.”
Hadrian’s face changed. “The Sixteenth Firmament… Is under celestial control?”
“Yes.” Jared sat down in the tent and told them everything Gideon had said, from beginning to end.
When favonovel.com finished, Hadrian sat there for a long while without saying a word. Lydia’s expression had turned grim too.
“If the celestials from the Sixteenth Firmament send people down…” Lydia’s voice tightened. “Then wiping out the Tribunal won’t be that easy.”
Jared nodded. “Then our plan changes.”
He got to his feet and walked over to the map. “Originally, we were going to strike the Tribunal first. But now we can’t move recklessly. If the celestials from the Sixteenth Firmament really do send pursuers down, then if we rush into an attack, we’ll only die faster…”
“Right now, we have to relocate at once. The Tribunal may already be on the way. We’ll go to the Wandering Cultivators Alliance and settle there for the time being… At the same time, I’ll notify Malachy and have favonovel.com bring his people to the Wandering Cultivators Alliance too…”
“Lydia, send word to your father. Moonshade Realm isn’t safe anymore either. Have favonovel.com bring every resource favonovel.com can and head to the Wandering Cultivators Alliance. We have to gather our forces in one place and hold the line at all costs. We can’t let the Tribunal pick us off one by one…” As favonovel.com said that, Jared’s face became tense.
If celestial pursuers really came down from the Sixteenth Firmament, then all of them were in real danger.
“Alright, we move now!” Hadrian and Lydia both nodded at the same time.
A lot of people in the Skywolf Tribe couldn’t bear to leave their homeland behind. But with life and death hanging over them, they still gathered every resource they had and left.
As soon as Alaric and Malachy got the news, they also immediately led their people toward the Wandering Cultivators Alliance.
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