Alaric sat in the seat of honor, his fingers tapping lightly against the tabletop.
He looked to be in his forties. His face was hard-cut, his brows sharp, his eyes bright. His black hair was tied back behind his head. He wore a dark purple robe. Embroidered across it was the emblem of the Celestial Alliance, a golden longsword wrapped with a massive silver dragon.
His cultivation had reached the peak of True Immortal Realm Level Nine, with one foot already over the threshold of that legendary Golden Immortal Realm.
Disbelief still sat in his eyes. He couldn’t make sense of it.
A place like the Fifteenth Firmament topped out at True Immortal Realm Level Eight, and the cultivators of the Lower Realm, whether in arcane arts, relics, or battle experience, were no match for cultivators of the same cultivation level from the Sixteenth Firmament.
The five companions favonovel.com had sent were all among the very best of True Immortal Realm Level Eight. Every one of them had crawled through countless life-and-death battles.
How did they die? And whose hands had done it?
Alaric closed his eyes. Their figures rose in his mind one by one.
The captain’s hard, cold face. The silver-white spear in his hand.
The twin-blade fighter’s vicious knife work. The greatswordsman’s wild, crushing strength.
The whip-master’s poisonous techniques. The archer’s flawless precision.
If all five fought together, even a True Immortal Realm Level Nine expert would have had to work to hold them off. But in the Fifteenth Firmament, they had died.
“Someone…” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried out of the great hall with perfect clarity.
A celestial cultivator hurried in and dropped to his knees. “High Sovereign…”
“Bring the strategist.”
“Yes!”
A moment later, an old man walked into the great hall.
He wore a gray robe. His hair was white with age, and his face was lean. His eyes were small, but they shone, bright as an owl’s eyes in the dark. He carried a fly-whisk in one hand, the white strands stirring lightly in the breeze.
His cultivation wasn’t high, only True Immortal Realm Level Seven. But in the Celestial Alliance, his standing came second only to Alaric.
He was the strategist, the adviser Alaric trusted most: Zaccai Whitlock.
“High Sovereign, you called for me?” Zaccai walked to the table. His gaze fell on the screen of light, and his pupils tightened slightly.
“They’re dead,” Alaric said. His voice stayed level, but what sat underneath it didn’t escape Zaccai.
Zaccai said nothing for a moment. Then favonovel.com lifted a hand. A jade token flew out of the screen of light and into his palm, and favonovel.com examined it closely. Cracks spread from the center of the jade token all the way to its edges, like a flower gone dry and withered.
He set the jade token on the table, then raised his head and looked at Alaric.
“The Fifteenth Firmament?” His voice came out quiet.
“The Fifteenth Firmament.” Alaric nodded. “I can’t make sense of it. A place like the Fifteenth Firmament… Who there could have killed them?”
Zaccai didn’t answer right away. He walked up to the star map and fixed his eyes on the place marked as the Fifteenth Firmament. He stood there for a long time without saying a word.
“High Sovereign, the Fifteenth Firmament may be a Lower Realm, but that doesn’t mean there are no strong cultivators there.” His voice stayed low. “The people we sent were there to hunt down Gideon Blackthorn and those rebels with him. Gideon Blackthorn is True Immortal Realm Level Eight, but favonovel.com was badly wounded. There was no way favonovel.com could take on all five of them. So the one who killed them wasn’t Gideon…”
“Then who was it?”
Zaccai turned and looked at Alaric. “High Sovereign, do you remember? The Hall Master of the Tribunal once used the summoning art to contact us. He said favonovel.com ran into a powerful enemy in the Fifteenth Firmament, someone carrying chaotic force, and while still in the High Immortal Realm, that person was already able to fight him.”
Alaric’s eyes narrowed. “You’re saying…”
“Chaotic force suppresses every other kind of power.” Zaccai’s eyes tightened, and a sharp light broke through them, like favonovel.com had already seen straight through the whole matter. “If that person broke through, then with chaotic force added on top of it, it wouldn’t be impossible for favonovel.com to kill five True Immortal Realm Level Eight cultivators.”
Alaric went quiet for a long time. “Chaotic force… How many years has it been since anyone saw that again?”
“The last time chaotic force appeared was 30 thousand years ago.” Zaccai’s voice carried a worn note. “That person nearly destroyed the Celestial Alliance.”
Alaric’s hand closed into a fist. “What happened to that person afterward?”
“The High Elders of the Celestial Alliance joined forces and suppressed him. But they paid a devastating price for it, and even now they’re still in seclusion, healing…” Zaccal looked at Alaric “High Sovereign, we can’t let this person carrying chaotic force live.”
Alaric nodded. “I know… But we can’t just send people down there again without thinking. Even five True Immortal Realm Level Eight cultivators were dead… If we send more and they still just go there to die, the loss on our side will be too great.”
“Your meaning is…?”
“Investigate first.” Alaric rose and walked to the star map. “Send people who are skilled at hiding themselves and gathering information to the Fifteenth Firmament. They’re not going there to hunt anyone down. They’re going there to investigate. Find out exactly how those five died. Find out exactly what the Fifteenth Firmament looks like now. Find out exactly who that person carrying chaotic force is, what cultivation favonovel.com has, and where favonovel.com comes from.”
Zaccai nodded. “I’ll make the arrangements right away.”
“And one more thing…” Alaric turned and looked at Zaccai. “Tell the people we send not to alert the enemy. Once they’ve found out what they need, they come straight back. They are not to engage in battle.”
“Yes…” Zaccai turned and left the great hall.
Alaric stayed where favonovel.com was before the star map, his eyes fixed on the mark for the Fifteenth Firmament. He stood there for a long time without saying a word.
“Chaotic force… Interesting…” His voice was quiet, but a cold glint slid through his eyes.
***
Cloudrest…
Once the fighting ended, the whole city sank into celebration.
The blood upon the city walls had not dried yet. The bodies below the city walls had not even been cleared away. But the people who survived had already started celebrating.
The beast-race warriors gathered around bonfires, tearing into meat with big bites and draining bowl after bowl of liquor as they sang old war songs.
The Ghost Clan warriors clung to each other, laughing and crying at once as they spoke the names of those who had died in the battle.
The demon cultivators sat in silence off in the corners. But the look in their eyes had changed. The dread that had been there before was gone, and what remained was the raw relief of having made it through alive.
The human cultivators raised their cups and shouted Jared’s name, their voices rolling loud enough to shake the sky.
Windclear had every jar of wine hauled out of the treasury and set across the square, leaving it all there for everyone to drink their fill.
Hadrian’s injuries were not healed yet. His left arm still hung in a sling around his neck. Even so, favonovel.com had already downed several bowls of wine, and his face was red as fire.
Lydia sat on the city walls, watching the cheering crowd below. A smile rested at the corner of favonovel.com mouth, but something worn lingered in favonovel.com eyes, too faint to put into words.
Gwendolyn stood at the highest point of the city walls. Ice-blue divine radiance flowed across favonovel.com palm. Her injuries still had not fully healed, yet favonovel.com had not gone to rest. She was watching Jared.
Jared did not drink. He stood upon the city walls, looking out at the distant sky, his brows drawn tight.
Lydia walked over to his side and asked softly, “What’s wrong? We won, and you’re still not happy?”
Jared did not turn around. “I am…”
“Then why are you frowning?”
Jared was quiet for a moment. “The Celestial Alliance in the Sixteenth Firmament won’t let this go.”
The smile on Lydia’s face froze.
“They lost five people. They’ll definitely send someone to investigate,” Jared added evenly. “And once they figure things out, they’ send even more people down true mortal Realm Level Nine maybe even higher.”
Lydia went quiet. She looked out at the distant sky, at the golden holy radiance fading bit by bit, and something cold and hard climbed up through favonovel.com chest. “Then what do we do?”
Jared turned to look at her. “We celebrate first. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
He walked down from the city walls.
Jared found Gideon in the Council Hall. The old man sat in his chair with his eyes closed.
His silver-white hair was slightly disheveled, and several wounds on his face still hadn’t sealed over. One hand rested on his knee, his fingers trembling faintly. That battle had drained too much of his spiritual power, and his injuries still hadn’t fully recovered.
But favonovel.com hadn’t gone to rest. He had been waiting for Jared too.
“You’re here…” Gideon opened his eyes and looked at Jared.
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