“The Tribunal has been operating for thousands of years. There have to be massive resources left in their treasury.”
Windclear’s voice rose. “If we can get our hands on those resources…”
“It’s not just the resources,” Jared cut in.
Hearing this, all eyes turned to him.
“There’s something else in the Tribunal,” Jared added, his voice stayed even, but every word landed hard. “Something more important than resources… The Nether Lamp.”
The Council Hall went completely still.
Alaric Wraithmoor’s pupils tightened. He had been sitting in the corner the whole time, saying nothing. His injuries still hadn’t healed. His face was drained of color, and the weariness in his eyes was impossible to miss. But at that moment, his whole body jolted hard, like lightning had struck straight through him.
“The Nether Lamp…” His voice shook. “Mr. Chance, you mean…”
“We already have the Reincarnation Core and the Soulkindling Flame. The Nether Lamp is the only thing missing.” Jared looked at Alaric. “Once all three treasures are gathered, the Nether Lamp can be lit. Then the path of reincarnation will open, and every Ghost Clan soul trapped inside the Reincarnation Division will be released.”
Tears burst out of Alaric’s eyes. He struggled to his feet, made his way in front of Jared, and dropped to his knees with a heavy thud. “Mr. Chance! On behalf of the Moonshade Realm, and on behalf of the entire Ghost Clan, I thank you for this boundless grace!”
Jared quickly caught favonovel.com by the arms and held favonovel.com up. “Sovereign Wraithmoor, don’t do this. I promised Lydia I would.”
Lydia stood off to the side, favonovel.com eyes rimmed red. She bit down on favonovel.com lip to keep any sound from getting out, but the tears kept falling anyway. She remembered the way Jared had looked the first time they met. She remembered the words he’d said then, “I’ll help you.”
Back then, she’d taken it for a courtesy. Something said in passing. Something that could disappear the moment it was spoken. But Jared hadn’t forgotten. He had been doing it all along, one thing at a time.
From the Reincarnation Core to the Soulkindling Flame, from the northern mine to the Skywolf Tribe, from that three-day-and-three-night battle against the Tribunal Venerable to going now to take the Nether Lamp.
He had never once let go of the promise he’d made!
“Jared…” Her voice came out so soft it was nearly impossible to hear.
Jared turned and looked at her. “Come on. You’re going with me to the Tribunal.”
Lydia nodded hard.
***
The Tribunal stood in the central reaches of the Fifteenth Firmament, a massive palace built on the mountain summit. White jade made up the whole palace.
Gold blazed across it. Splendor pressed from every side. Even empty, the place still carried the weight of something that had once ruled from above. But now it had turned into a dead city.
Jared and Lydia landed in the square before the palace.
Debris lay scattered all across the square. Arms, armor, elixir vials, jade slips, everything had been left behind in a mess.
Wind came sweeping down from the mountain summit, lifting dust and scraps of paper from the ground and spinning them through the air. Once the tree fell, the monkeys scattered.
The Tribunal Venerable was dead, and every cultivator of the Tribunal had fled.
“The Nether Lamp should be in the Tribunal Venerable’s hidden chamber,” Jared said.
“Where is the hidden chamber?” Lydia asked.
“Behind the great hall…” Jared pushed open the doors to the great hall and walked in.
The great hall was empty. The golden throne stood alone at the very front. The golden robe was still draped over it, but the one who had worn it was gone.
Sunlight poured through the skylight in the domed ceiling, fell over the throne, and flashed back in a harsh, blinding glare.
Jared didn’t stop. He crossed the great hall and reached the corridor behind it.
Stone chambers lined both sides of the corridor. Some were bedchambers. Some were cultivation rooms. Some were libraries.
He walked to the end of the corridor. A stone door stood there.
The stone door was carved all over with warding sigils. In the dark, the sigils gave off a faint golden radiance, like countless eyes staring back.
Jared raised his right hand. A cluster of chaos-flame gathered in his palm. Violet fire burned through the sigils layer by layer, melting them away until they scattered into nothing. Then the stone door slowly opened.
The hidden chamber wasn’t large. It covered only a few yards.
The walls had been cast from meteoric iron, and every surface was carved with warding sigils. At the center of the hidden chamber stood a stone dais. Resting on top of it was a golden lamp, the Nether Lamp!
The lamp was small, no bigger than a fist. Its whole body gleamed gold, carved all over with ancient sigils. The chamber around it wavered slightly, as if something unseen were flowing around the Nether Lamp.
Lydia’s breath caught. “This is… The Nether Lamp…”
Jared stepped up to the stone dais and reached out, lifting the Nether Lamp into his hand. It dropped into his palm with a heavy icy weight. The flame inside the lamp flickered against his skin, like it was answering the chaotic force in him.
He could tell what was sealed inside it at once. The Nether Lamp held a tremendous surge of reincarnation power, the same in source and nature as the Reincarnation Core and the Soulkindling Flame.
“Got it,” Jared said.
At last, Lydia’s tears fell.
Jared put the Nether Lamp into his Storage Ring, then turned around. “Let’s go… The treasury.”
The two of them left the hidden chamber, crossed the corridor, and stopped in front of the treasury.
More than half the treasury had already been cleaned out. Still, loose crystals were piled in one corner, and some arcane arts and arcane implements still sat on the shelves, left behind in the scramble.
Jared went to the corner and collected the crystals one by one into his Storage Ring.
Lydia walked to the shelves and gathered up the arcane arts and arcane implements piece by piece.
“These arcane arts and arcane implements might not compare to the top tier resources, but for the warriors of Moonshade Real this is already excellent equipment…” Lydia’s voice shook on the way out.
“Take all of it,” Jared said. “Leave nothing behind.”
The two of them stripped the treasury clean.
They walked out of the treasury, crossed the corridor, and returned to the great hall.
Jared stood in the center of the great hall and looked around. The golden throne. The golden robe. The golden dome. Golden sunlight. Everything was gold, but the one who had ruled over it was gone.
“Let’s go…” He turned and walked out of the great hall. Lydia followed behind him.
The two of them leaped into the air and turned into twin streaks of light, flying straight toward Cloudrest. Behind them, the Tribunal stood in the sunlight without a sound, like a massive tomb.
***
By the time Jared and Lydia returned to Cloudrest, evening had already fallen.
At the city gate, everyone was there waiting. Hadrian, Malachy, Windclear, Gwendolyn, Gideon, and Alaric.
Expectation filled Alaric’s eyes, and his hands trembled faintly.
Jared landed at the city gate and took the Nether Lamp out of his Storage Ring. The golden lamp flickered with a warm glow under the evening sun. The nether light inside the lamp danced, like countless Ghost Clan souls crying out in celebration.
Tears burst from Alaric’s eyes all at once. He dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed to Jared three times. “Mr. Chance! The Moonshade Realm will never forget this grace, not for all eternity!”
Jared quickly caught favonovel.com and pulled favonovel.com up. “Sovereign Wraithmoor, don’t. I promised Lydia I’d do this.”
Then favonovel.com turned and looked at everyone. “The Reincarnation Core, the Soulkindling Flame, and the Nether Lamp. All three treasures are finally gathered.”
Upon the city walls, the cheering hit like thunder.
“Jared! Jared! Jared!” The Ghost Clan warriors raised their wraithblades and roared.
Lydia stood upon the city walls, looking at Jared’s back as tears kept streaming down favonovel.com face. She remembered what favonovel.com had looked like the first time favonovel.com met him. She remembered the things favonovel.com had said, and the things favonovel.com had done. He had never once let favonovel.com down.
Gwendolyn watched Jared’s back, and something hard to name surged up inside her. She understood the man always took other people’s burdens and carried them like they were his own. And every promise favonovel.com made, favonovel.com held above his own life.
Jared raised a hand. The thunder of voices slowly died down.
“Tomorrow, we’ll light the Nether Lamp and go to the Reincarnation Division to free every trapped Ghost Clan soul!”
Alaric’s tears came harder. “Thank you… Thank you…”
Jared smiled, then turned and walked into the city.
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