Elder Cillian no longer offered even half a refusal. He accepted on the spot and immediately summoned the 300 elite Sylvan warriors under his command. Once the ranks were assembled, they followed Jared in orderly formation and stepped into Pentacarna Tower’s inner sanctum.
Within the tower, the view opened all at once. A pure white silence stretched before them, vast and without end.
The world’s spiritual essence came rushing toward them, pure and dense, so thick it had nearly condensed into liquid spiritual mist. Thread by thread, it slipped into the cultivators’ meridians and pores, nourishing them with a gentle touch, silent as rain soaking into the earth.
The 300 Sylvan warriors needed no orders. As if they had moved through this exact drill a thousand times, they dropped into place where they stood, folded their legs beneath them, closed their eyes, and gathered their focus. One after another, they began circulating the innate arcane arts of the Sylvan Kin.
They drew in the surging spiritual essence around them in deep, almost hungry pulls. That power poured through their bodies, tending to damaged meridians and steadying the cultivation they had fought so hard to preserve.
Elder Cillian stopped at the center of the sanctum. He settled his mind and began circulating his own arcane arts in silence.
The changes inside favonovel.com came fast enough to be undeniable. His drained spiritual power surged back in a rush. Damaged meridians knit themselves together with startling speed. His nascence lifeblood filled out little by little, steady and strong, until the weight that had clung to his entire body was swept clean away.
The look in his eyes deepened by the moment, and when favonovel.com spoke, every word came from somewhere solid. “One day outside, 100 days inside the tower. The gap between time and space is enormous… With this sovereign relic supporting us, it won’t take more than a few days for the whole Sylvan Kin to recover all battle strength and return to Top Level. Our cultivation may even advance across the board. When the time comes to face the Celestial Army, the Sylvan lineage will not drag anyone down.”
Jared gave a faint, easy smile, his voice level enough to settle the matter. “Elder, remain here with your people and focus on cultivation and recovery. Outside the vale, all defense, scouting, and preparations for war will be handled under my command. None of you need to divide your attention over it.”
Once favonovel.com finished speaking, Jared turned and slowly withdrew from Pentacarna Tower.
With a lift of his hand, favonovel.com cast the necessary spell and placed the ancient tower firmly in the very center of Freevale’s central square. The black tower stood quietly over the square. It did not flaunt its power. It did not radiate sharpness. A soft, warm warding radiance drifted from it instead, spreading in a calm cover over the entire vale and sheltering every cultivator within it.
Nathaniel strode over quickly. His gaze fixed on Pentacarna Tower where it stood, and the weight behind his words came out low and steady. “With this sovereign relic holding the vale, every one of our warriors can recover battle strength at speed. Our preparations will move far faster now. Against the celestials, we finally have enough ground under our feet.”
Jared nodded with care. His eyes shifted toward the distant direction of the Celestial Alliance, and the edge in them stayed buried deep. “This isn’t only about recovering battle strength. The time inside the tower is enough for every warrior to enter secluded cultivation, temper their foundations, and break through their current bottlenecks. Only by raising the entire force’s level can we face the high-ranking celestial adepts head-on with full certainty.”
From that day on, all Freevale warriors and the rescued cultivators took turns entering Pentacarna Tower’s inner sanctum in orderly groups for secluded cultivation.
Each day, the cultivators who emerged from inside the tower carried a denser, stronger aura than when they had gone in. Their foundations grew more solid. Their states of mind settled into something steadier, harder to shake.
Across the vale, figures could be seen everywhere. Some paired off to spar and refine their combat skills. Some quietly polished their techniques. Others focused on stabilizing their cultivation.
The entire place rose with momentum, bright with morale, every corner showing the same thriving sight of people throwing everything they had into preparation for war.
***
At the same time, 1,000 miles away, within the High Hall of the Celestial Alliance, the air sat heavy and dead. Frost energy seemed to bite through the hall itself, a world from the warmth gathering over Freevale.
The High Sovereign of the Alliance, Alaric, sat high upon the gilded throne. His ornate gold robe sharpened the cold authority around him. Long fingers tapped the icy armrest again and again, neither hard nor soft, each slow beat pressing down on the hall.
At the exact center of the hall, a low-ranking celestial cultivator knelt hard against the floor. His whole body shook. His clothes hung in disarray, and his face had gone drained and tight. His forehead stayed pressed to the cold surface of the hall.
Cold sweat ran over favonovel.com without stopping. He did not dare lift his head toward Alaric on the throne, and every inch of favonovel.com seemed pinned there by the terror of what waited above.
“Say that again… Marshal Vale… He truly died in Blackstone Gaol’s Third Depth?” Alaric’s voice carried no ripple at all. Not the slightest trace of pleasure or displeasure could be heard in it. Yet every celestial adept standing guard within the High Hall felt something clamp around the heart.
Everyone knew what hid beneath that stillness. A storm vast enough to roll over the world was being held under the surface, and one careless move would be enough to draw it onto oneself.
“Y-Yes, High Sovereign. It is absolutely true!” The kneeling cultivator’s teeth clicked against each other, his voice breaking so badly it nearly lost its shape as favonovel.com forced out every word of the report.
“Jared led Freevale’s assembled fighting force and joined hands with elite Sylvan cultivators. Together, they broke through Ashenbrand Gaol’s full defensive perimeter by force and advanced without anyone able to stop them!”
“Lord Marshal Vale personally held the line to stop them. After a long, brutal fight, Jared killed favonovel.com with his own hands in the end. Not even his remains were left behind! The 50 elite celestial guards traveling with favonovel.com were wiped out to the last man. Not one survived! Blackstone Gaol and Ashenbrand Gaol, the two Dreadholds, have both fallen. Every condemned felon and afflicted cultivator imprisoned there was rescued by Jared’s company The celestials have lost all face, and our defensive lines have collapsed!”
The report lasted only a few sentences. Every word landed like a blade.
The High Hall dropped at once into a silence so complete it seemed dead. A fallen needle would have sounded loud. Every high-ranking celestial adept held their breath, kept their mouths shut, and did not dare make even the smallest sound.
Alaric’s fingers stopped against the armrest. The motion cut off all at once. In the next instant, the chill around favonovel.com exploded outward, pressing the air so hard that breathing became difficult.
A long, suffocating silence covered the High Hall for what felt like an age.
A long while passed before Alaric finally rose from the black throne. His gilded robe dragged across the floor behind him, the hem whispering over the stone in a low, dry rasp.
Step by step, favonovel.com crossed to the great astral war-table at the center of the hall. His gaze fixed on the two dimmed points marking Ashenbrand Gaol in Epea and Blackstone Gaol, and a cold edge surfaced in his eyes as killing intent rolled beneath the silence.
“Of the celestials’ three Dreadholds of Woe, Blackstone Gaol is gone. Now Ashenbrand Gaol is gone as well…” His voice cut through the hall, cold enough to sink into bone, each word falling with deliberate weight. “Across all of Epea, only one final barrier remains, Northern Abyss Gaol…”
He turned slowly. His cold gaze swept over the powerful adepts within the High Hall, over every drawn face that dared not lift too high, and when favonovel.com spoke again, the order left no room for refusal.
“Send the order across the entire domain at once! Marshal Stone, Marshal Grey… Hear my command!”
Two ninth-rank grand adepts, utterly different in build and bearing, stood at once. They bowed and clasped their fists, their posture lowered to the utmost respect. “Your servants are here!”
“You two will immediately lead the three thousand celestial elites and rush at full speed to Northern Abyss Gaol. Hold it under double guard. Lock it down completely. Not the slightest gap is permitted! Without my personal command, neither of you may leave the prison zone by even half a step. Hold it to the end. Jared is not to come within half a step of Northern Abyss Gaol!” Alaric’s command cracked through the hall, sharp and hard, carrying a killing intent that left the air tight.
“Your servants obey! We swear to defend Northern Abyss Gaol to the death and will not fail the High Sovereign’s trust!” the two marshals answered in one voice.
Their battle will rose like drawn steel, and they withdrew at once to prepare the defenses.
Alaric’s gaze shifted and landed on Zaccai beside him. His eyes narrowed slightly, the chill in them held just beneath the surface. “The scout reported that the Sylvan Kin openly involved themselves in this matter as well. They have chosen Freevale’s side and made enemies of the celestials?”
Zaccai stepped forward quickly and bowed in salute, his expression grave as favonovel.com reported, “In answer to the High Sovereign, that is exactly so…. Sylvan elder Cillian personally led three hundred elites of his race and assisted Jared’s forces throughout the entire battle, attacking our celestial prison defenses head-on. They have formed a real offensive and defensive alliance with Freevale, openly rebelled against the Celestial Alliance, and challenged the High Sovereign’s authority.”
“The Sylvan Kin… What a fine little race, hiding in one corner and not knowing how close death stands…” Alaric gave a low, cold laugh, killing intent heavy in his eyes, his patience stripped thin. “Pass down the order! Send more clandestine agents immediately. Watch every movement across Evershade for twenty-four hour straight. Every action from all the Sylvan Kin, every shift of a single soldier, must be reported back to the great hall in real time. No delays!”
He returned to the black throne and sat. His fingers began tapping the armrest again, the rhythm cold and measured.
“For now, concentrate every force on eliminating Jared and flattening Freevale. Once the disturbance is settled, the army will march on Evershade at once and wipe out the whole Sylvan Kin! I want the Kindreds beneath the heavens to see this clearly. Anyone who dares oppose the celestials, anyone who defies me, will end with their race exterminated, their people dead, and not even bones left behind!”
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