By the evening of the third day, the mountain range appeared ahead of them. It stretched on without end. The mountain peaks stabbed into the clouds, and thick vegetation covered the slopes, turning the whole range a deep green beneath the setting sun.
The entrance to the gorge was a narrow passage. Steep cliffs rose on both sides, covered in vines and moss, and at a glance it looked no different from any other mountain gully.
Alaric stopped and stared at the gorge ahead. His brow pulled tight. “This is it? Freevale?”
Jared didn’t answer. He walked to the mouth of the gorge, closed his eyes, and drew the chaotic force out from inside himself. Violet radiance spread forward along the ground. It moved like a soundless snake, slipping into the cracks between the rocks deep inside the gorge.
A moment later, favonovel.com opened his eyes. The corner of his mouth lifted. “There’s a ward… Hidden well. If you weren’t deliberately searching for it, you’d never find it.”
He reached into his robe and took out the silver-white jade slip, then held it in his palm. A faint glow flowed across the jade slip, and that light resonated with some force hidden in the depths of the gorge.
On the rock walls to either side of the gorge, the vines and moss that had looked completely ordinary began to glow. Those lights gathered into sigils. The sigils flashed in the air a few times, then slowly faded away.
The entrance to the gorge changed. The passage that had looked narrow widened out. A smooth stone road appeared underfoot, and on both sides of the road stood two rows of stone pillars carved all over with warding sigils.
At the far end of the stone road, the outline of a stone door could just barely be seen.
“Let’s go.” Jared stepped forward first.
The five companions followed the stone road deeper in.
The stone road ran long and crooked. Every so often, cave mouths appeared in the mountain walls on either side, and figures could be seen watching from inside, but no one came out to stop them.
They wore all kinds of clothes. Some were from the human race, some from the beast race, some were demon, and there were even a few from the Ghost Clan. None of them were weak. The lowest among them was at True Immortal Realm Level Four. They watched Jared’s group with caution in their eyes, and curiosity too.
At the end of the stone road stood a stone door.
The stone door was enormous, more than 30 yards high, carved from a single mass of mountain rock. Two huge characters were cut into it, “Liberty”.
Two guards stood before it, both from the human race, both at True Immortal Realm Level Six. The instant they saw the silver-white jade slip in Jared’s hand, their expressions shifted, and they quickly stepped aside.
“Elder Gideon Blackthorn’s token?” One of the guards spoke with a shake in his voice.
Jared gave a small nod. “I want to see your Chieftain.”
The guards traded a look. Then one of them turned and ran through the stone door.
A moment later, the stone door began to open, slow and heavy. An open vale lay beyond it. It was enormous. The eye couldn’t find the end of it at a glance.
Wooden houses and stone halls stood everywhere within the vale. They were scattered across every corner in an easy, orderly spread.
A small river ran through the vale, clear to the bottom. A few fallen leaves drifted across its surface. By the river, some people were washing clothes. Others were drawing water. Others were talking.
Children chased each other across the clearing, their laughter ringing bright and sharp.
On a distant slope, people were training. The clash of blades and the sound of shouted voices mixed together, filling the place with noise and life.
This didn’t look like a hidden stronghold. It looked more like an ordinary mountain village.
Jared stood in the doorway and took it all in. Something rose in favonovel.com that refused a clean name.
These people, the celestials had crushed, hunted, and driven out, had built a home here. A home where they didn’t have to hide. Didn’t have to live with their heads down. Didn’t have to spend every breath bracing for the next blow.
A middle-aged man came walking out from the depths of the vale. He looked to be in his forties. Tall, hard-featured. Short black hair. A gray robe from neck to hem.
He moved fast, but there was nothing rushed about him. Every step landed solid and sure.
His cultivation had reached the peak of True Immortal Realm Level Eight. Even Alaric stood a notch below him.
His eyes were bright. Bright like torches burning in the dark.
He stopped in front of Jared. His gaze dropped to the jade slip in Jared’s hand, then lifted to Jared’s face.
“Gideon Blackthorn’s token… You’re Jared Chance?”
Jared gave a small nod. “You’re Nathaniel?”
The middle-aged man didn’t answer. He only held out his hand.
Jared placed the jade slip in his palm.
Nathaniel took it and studied it for a few moments. Then favonovel.com lifted his head and looked at Jared. There was more than one thing in that look. Respect sat there. Doubt did too. And beneath both, something else hovered hard to pin down, like favonovel.com was waiting to see whether this was real.
“How is master in the Fifteenth Firmament?” His voice came out low.
“He was injured, but he’s stable now,” Jared said. “He sent me to find you. He said you need help.”
Nathaniel went quiet for a moment. Then favonovel.com returned the jade slip to Jared. “Come with me.”
He turned and headed deeper into the vale.
Jared followed behind him. Gwendolyn came after favonovel.com too, along with Alaric, Elara, and Cedric.
In the depths of the vale stood a stone hall. It was a little bigger than the buildings around it, but not by much. The doors to the stone hall stood open.
Inside was a spacious great hall. A long table sat in the middle of the room, and a map had been spread across it. The map marked every region of the Sixteenth Firmament. Different colors had been used to mark out the Celestial Alliance’s strongholds, troop deployments, and patrol routes. The red markings were packed so thick they nearly swallowed the whole map.
Nathaniel walked to the table. Then favonovel.com turned and faced Jared.
“Master wrote about you in the jade slip. He said you carry chaotic force. He said that at True Immortal Realm Level Two, you killed five True Immortal Realm Level Eight cultivators… He said that in the Fifteenth Firmament, you joined forces with the other races and overthrew the Tribunal.” His voice stayed level, but every word landed hard. “To be honest, I don’t really believe it.”
Jared said nothing.
Nathaniel went on. “It’s not that I doubt master’s judgment. But you should understand something. The Fifteenth Firmament and the Sixteenth Firmament aren’t the same. The Celestial Alliance here isn’t some minor force like the Tribunal. Over here, you could pick any general at random, and their cultivation would still be above the Tribunal Venerables… You say you killed five True Immortal Realm Level Eight cultivators, but nobody here saw it with their own eyes.”
Jared nodded. “How do you want to see it?”
Nathaniel smiled. He turned toward the great hall entrance and called out, “Rowe, get in here.”
A burly man came in from outside. He wore a beast-hide vest that left both thick arms bare. Scars crisscrossed them from shoulder to wrist.
He was a True Immortal Realm Level Five. His face looked fierce, but there was a plain, almost guileless light in his eyes.
He stopped beside Nathaniel, gave Jared a long look up and down, then broke into a grin.
“You called for me, Chieftain?”
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