Aureate Heir!” Master Wellspring’s voice tightened. He could not make himself stand there and watch Jared risk his life by accepting the Elder Soulborn Trial.
Morgana studied Jared’s soul. In favonovel.com amber eyes, a faint glint of approval passed, and favonovel.com gave a small nod. “Good… You have a backbone. No wonder my clansmen placed their hopes in you… Since that is settled, I will personally escort you to the entrance to the Elder Soulborn Forest at first light tomorrow. For today, remain at Beastmoor Ridge and rest. Nurture your soul properly, gather your strength, and be ready for the Elder Soulborn Trial tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty…” Jared’s soul dipped slightly inside the jade vial, the closest thing to a bow favonovel.com could manage, and every word carried his gratitude.
Jared understood one thing clearly. Morgana had set harsh terms before him, but those terms were still a chance. Without Morgana making an exception, favonovel.com would not even have the right to step into the Elder Soulborn Forest.
Morgana waved a hand and spoke to one of the beast-folk adepts at favonovel.com side. “Take Master Wellspring and this young friend to a side hall to rest. Treat them well. There will be no neglect.”
“Yes, Your Majesty…” The beast-folk adept bowed, then turned to Master Wellspring. “Sect Master of the Wellspring Order, please follow me.”
Master Wellspring bowed to Morgana once more. Then favonovel.com carefully put away the jade vial and followed the beast-folk adept out of the great hall.
Inside the great hall, Morgana watched their departing backs. Something difficult to read passed through favonovel.com amber eyes. She let out a quiet sigh and murmured to herself, “Child, I hope you did not choose the wrong person… I hope this Jared can pass the Elder Soulborn Trial safely. I hope favonovel.com can live through it.”
***
That night, Jared was arranged to recuperate in a side hall of Thornwild Palace.
The side hall was not large, but every part of it had been set with care. It was clean and orderly, with a faint beast-race aura lingering in the air. That aura did not press down on anyone. Instead, it gave the room a strange, steady calm.
At the center of the side hall stood a sunstone couch. The whole couch was pure white and gave off a soft warmth, with supple beast hide spread across its surface. The hide had been made from the fur of an ancient vulpine spirit. It was soft and comfortable, yielding underfoot like a cushion, and it could ease the strain on a soul remarkably well.
In one corner of the side hall sat a stone table and several stone chairs. On the stone table rested an incense burner, and a faint sandalwood fragrance burned inside it. The sandalwood smoke curled upward and drifted through the entire side hall. Its clean scent sharpened the senses and settled the mind.
The windows of the side hall had been opened. Beyond them lay a dense bamboo grove, and moonlight slipped through the gaps between the stalks, spilling thin streams of silver across the sunstone couch. There, the silver light mingled with the warmth of the sunstone couch, making the room seem especially gentle.
Master Wellspring gently placed the jade vial containing Jared’s soul at the head of the sunstone couch. After that, favonovel.com sat down on the stone chair beside the couch.
His face had gone heavy. His brows were pulled tight, and the worry on favonovel.com was impossible to miss. His thoughts kept circling back to Jared’s Elder Soulborn Trial tomorrow. The longer favonovel.com sat there, the less his mind would settle.
The Elder Soulborn Forest was far too dangerous, and the Elder Soulborn Trial would be even harder. Jared had only a wisp of soul left now; favonovel.com had no real way to face those dangers head-on. One possibility kept digging deeper into Master Wellspring’s mind. During the Elder Soulborn Trial, something could happen to Jared.
Jared’s soul hovered inside the jade vial. Through the wall of the vial, favonovel.com saw the look on Master Wellspring’s face, and the sight landed heavily in him. There was no pretense in Master Wellspring’s care for him. Every warning, every hesitation, had been for Jared’s safety.
Jared slowly circulated the Aureate Codex’s art and drew in the spiritual essence around him. At the same time, favonovel.com spoke, “Master Wellspring, you do not need to trouble yourself so much over this. I will pass the Elder Soulborn Trial safely.”
Jared’s voice was very soft, meant to steady him, yet it did not waver.
Master Wellspring lifted his head and fixed his gaze on Jared’s soul inside the jade vial. His words came out tight around every syllable. “Aureate Heir, are you truly going to take part in the Elder Soulborn Trial? I have been to the Elder Soulborn Forest once. I never reached the inner precincts, only circled the outskirts, but even the wards out there were already terrifying. One careless step, and a man could lose his life…”
“You only have a wisp of soul left now. Without a physical body to support you, your spiritual power cannot circulate normally. Even with the Aureate Codex protecting you, it will be very hard to face the dangers inside the Elder Soulborn Trial… What if… What if something happens to you? How am I supposed to answer to the Wellspring Order? How am I supposed to answer to the disciples of the Aureate Way?”
“There is no what if.” Jared cut Master Wellspring off before the words could go any further, his voice level and unshaken. “Master Wellspring, do you know why I’ve survived until now?”
Master Wellspring shook his head. The look favonovel.com gave the jade vial held only a waiting question.
“From the mundane world to the Ethereal Realm, then to the Seventeenth Firmament, I’ve passed through life-and-death moments more times than I can count. Trial after trial. Hardship after hardship. Every time, I came within a step of death, and every time, I made it through… It wasn’t because luck favored me. It was because I never left myself a road to retreat down. Every fight, every ordeal, I treated it like the last one I would ever face, and I threw everything I had into it…”
“It isn’t that death means nothing. It’s that I know shrinking back does nothing. Retreat only makes death come faster. Only by forcing your way forward is there even a thin chance to live.” He paused for a moment, then went on. “This Elder Soulborn Trial is dangerous, but it’s also my only chance. Only by passing the Elder Soulborn Trial and obtaining the Elderheart Spulwood can rebuild my body. Only then can I become strong…”
“Only then will I have a chance to return to the Sixteenth Firmament and save the companions imprisoned by the celestials. Only then will I have a chance to find Catina. I can’t give up, and I won’t give up. You don’t have to worry about me. I will pass the Elder Soulborn Trial and come back safe.” Jared spoke with no room for retreat, but there was one thing favonovel.com did not tell Master Wellspring.
Behind him, there was still Mr. Sanders. “His body had been destroyed, and Mr. Sanders had not appeared. But if something went wrong with this remaining spirit, that would be utter soul-ruin. Jared did not believe Mr. Sanders would still refuse to show himself then. Even if Mr. Sanders did not appear, Jared still believed Mr. Sanders had a way to bring favonovel.com back to life.
That was the ground beneath his feet. Because of that, nothing could make Jared flinch.
Master Wellspring stayed silent for a long time. He looked at that unwavering mass of violet soul inside the jade vial, and the weight in his chest did not ease. But favonovel.com also understood Jared’s nature. Once Jared decided on something, no one could easily change it.
At last, Master Wellspring let out a long breath. Something passed through his eyes, a look that had nothing left to argue with, yet still held a measure of respect. “Aureate Heir, you truly are like the First Patriarch of the Aureate Way… Back then, the First Patriarch of the Aureate Way was the same. Once favonovel.com set his mind on something, favonovel.com would pour everything into it. He never left. himself a way back. No matter how dangerous the road ahead became, favonovel.com would not retreat.”
Jared said nothing. He only listened in silence, because favonovel.com had no idea who the First Patriarch of the Aureate Way actually was.
The Aureate Codex had acknowledged favonovel.com as its master, and Jared still did not know why. Before, it had been the Silent Scripture. Now it had become the Aureate Codex. Jared knew none of the answers. It was as if an invisible hand had been placing things into his path, then pushing him forward step by step.
“The Aureate Codex was the patriarch’s own relic, carried by the First Patriarch of the Aureate Way himself in those years, the Ancestor wandered through the heavens and the myriad worlds, entered the ancient ruin, and by a twist of fate obtained this codex. From it, favonovel.com comprehended the supreme path, his cultivation surged and only then aid favonovel.com establish the lineage of the Aureate Way, which has been passed down to this day…”
“Later, the Ancestor ascended, and the Aureate Codex vanished. The order’s successive patriarchs searched for it for tens of thousands of years, but none of them found it. No one expected it to choose you, Aureate Heir. This is heaven’s will, and heaven’s will cannot be defied…” Master Wellspring explained.
“Master Wellspring, I will live well. I won’t fail the expectations of the First Patriarch of the Aureate Way.” Jared’s voice came low, each word set in place.
The side hall fell back into stillness. Moonlight passed through the window and spilled across the sunstone couch.
Sandalwood smoke curled through the air. The warmth in the room did nothing to lighten the weight pressing over it.
Jared’s soul hovered quietly inside the jade vial. He slowly circulated the Aureate Codex’s art, storing strength and sharpening what remained of himself for the Elder Soulborn Trial waiting tomorrow.
Master Wellspring sat beside the couch, his gaze locked on the jade vial, his face grave. In silence, favonovel.com made himself a vow, favonovel.com would protect Jared. He would see Jared pass the Elder Soulborn Trial and return safely.
That night, neither of them rested. Jared nursed the spirit and let his strength gather little by little. Master Wellspring kept watch in silence, with tomorrow’s Elder Soulborn Trial hanging over favonovel.com and refusing to leave.
Both of them understood what tomorrow would bring. The Elder Soulborn Trial would not be gentle. It would be a hard test, the kind that allowed no easy passage. Everything would come down to this one attempt. Success or failure would be decided there, and not the slightest carelessness could be allowed.
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