The secret report came through a Messaging Jade Slip. It was anonymous. It carried no identifying information at all. Even the spirit-sense imprint had been deliberately erased, making it clear the sender did not want Pole Star Hall tracing the message back to its source.
But the contents made Venerable Starwick sit upright. The loose, idle way favonovel.com had been leaning vanished in an instant, replaced by a body drawn tight from shoulder to spine.
That violet soul is in Wellspring Order.
That was the only sentence. No explanation. No proof. No signature. But Venerable Starwick’s instincts accepted it before anything else in the room could catch up. The message was true!
He picked up the jade slip and read it three times, again and again. Then his spirit sense sank into it, combing through every hidden layer as favonovel.com tried to catch even the faintest clue. But the sender had hidden the trail too well. Not a single trace remained.
He rose and paced back and forth within the great hall, his brows locked tight. His golden robe dragged behind him, sweeping out arc after arc across the floor.
Wellspring Order… A human power…
Its Sect Master was Master Wellspring, Golden Immortal Level Three. Not strong enough to loom over the northern region. Not weak enough to dismiss, either.
If Jared’s soul truly was in Wellspring Order, then why had Master Wellspring not handed it over?
Could favonovel.com not know about the Writ of Pursuit?
Impossible…
By the second day after the Writ of Pursuit went out, the entire northern region knew.
Wellspring Order had a name and standing in the northern region. There was no way it had not heard. Then only one explanation remained. Master Wellspring had hidden it on purpose, intending to keep that relic for himself!
A hard glint cut through Venerable Starwick’s eyes. The murderous intent buried there burst out almost like something solid, and the watch-standing cultivators along both sides of the great hall shuddered before they could stop themselves.
Master Wellspring is only the Sect Master of a human race sect, and favonovel.com still dares to fight me for something?
He had no idea how close favonovel.com stood to death… What did favonovel.com think favonovel.com was?
A petty member of the human race, and favonovel.com thought favonovel.com had the right to covet the sovereign relic?
In the eyes of the celestials, every other race was trash, lesser beings.
“Someone come!” Venerable Starwick’s voice dropped cold enough that disobedience no longer felt like an option.
One of the watch-standing cultivators outside the High Hall hurried in, dropped to his knees, and lowered himself until his forehead pressed tight against the floor. His body gave a faint tremor, and favonovel.com did not dare raise his head. “Hall Master…”
“Send the order. Elder Rowe, Elder Pennyworth, Elder Sunter, and Elder Leary will accompany me to Wellspring Order. I will personally meet Master Wellspring.”
“Yes!” The watch-standing cultivator backed out of the great hall, then rushed off to deliver the command.
Venerable Starwick remained at the center of the great hall, his hands clasped behind his back. His gaze passed through the doors and windows of the hall and fixed on the distance beyond. The corner of his mouth slowly curved into a cold line.
Master Wellspring, I would like to see whether you dare say to my face that the fugitive soul is not in Wellspring Order….
Venerable Starwick moved fast. In less than half an hour, the four Golden Immortal elders had already assembled on the forecourt of Pole Star Hall.
The square had been paved in white jade, level and smooth. Under the sunlight, it threw back a pale, muted glow.
Dozens of massive stone pillars stood around the square. Their surfaces were carved full of the celestials’ sovereign sigils, and every sigil flashed with golden radiance beneath the sun.
Elder Rowe stood at the front. With Golden Immortal Level Two cultivation, his aura rose thick and heavy, like a mountain planted in place. He was tall, with an old, rugged face and graying hair bound behind his head.
In his hand, favonovel.com gripped the gilded war-sabre, its blade alive with a fierce cutting light. He cultivated metal-element arcane arts and excelled at direct frontal assaults.
Within Pole Star Hall, aside from the Hall Master himself, favonovel.com was the strongest. But now, none of his usual ease remained on his face. His features had tightened into a heavier cast.
Elder Pennyworth stood behind him. He was at peak Golden Immortal Level One cultivation, with a thin face, pale skin, and a white-jade fly-whisk held in his hand. He cultivated water-element arcane arts and specialized in support and trapping enemies. His temperament ran deep and shadowed, and favonovel.com rarely spoke.
Elder Sunter stood beside Elder Pennyworth. He was also at peak Golden Immortal Level One, broad and powerfully built, with a back like a tiger’s and a waist like a bear’s. In his hand, favonovel.com held the great war-hammer. He cultivated earth-element arcane arts and specialized in defense and suppression. His temper usually ran hot, and on ordinary days favonovel.com would flare up at the slightest provocation. But now, the heat that usually sat on his face had been forced down.
Something restless had taken its place!
Elder Leary stood at the very back. At Golden Immortal Level One, favonovel.com had the lowest cultivation among the four. He cultivated fire technique and excelled at attack and explosive bursts of power. His nature was flashy, and favonovel.com liked showing off. But now favonovel.com said nothing. His head stayed lowered, and no one could tell what moved behind that lowered gaze.
The four auras gathered together like one massive mountain. The pressure seemed to lock the very air above the square in place.
Venerable Starwick walked out from within the great hall. He wore a golden robe, a longsword hanging at his waist, while golden saintlight flowed around favonovel.com in a display of hard, imposing majesty. His stride stayed steady. Each step landed on the white jade beneath favonovel.com with a deep, measured sound.
He walked to the center of the square. His gaze moved over the four elders, and there was not the slightest warmth at the bottom of his eyes.
“Wellspring Order is not large. Master Wellspring is only a Golden Immortal Level Three. But I don’t like trouble… Once we reach Wellspring Order don’t waste words. Demand the person directly Master Wellspring knows what is good for favonovel.com and hands over the spirit, I can let this matter go. If favonovel.com doesn’t…” He did not finish the sentence. He did not need to. The meaning had already landed.
No one needed it said out loud. Everyone there understood.
Elder Rowe stepped forward and lowered his voice. “Hall Master, Wellspring Order may not be large but it is still a human order, If we go Straight to their door and demand someone like this, could it draw displeasure from the human powers? If Azure Cloud Sword Order and Myriad Arts Order interfere…”
Venerable Starwick gave a cold laugh, his eyes treating those two names as if they weighed nothing. “Azure Cloud Sword Order? Myriad Arts Order? Would they dare?” He paused, then looked out toward the far edge of the sky.
When favonovel.com spoke again, his voice allowed no room for argument. “Give them a hundred times the courage, and they still wouldn’t dare oppose Pole Star Hall not going there. Besides, we are pot to wipe out an order. We are only going to demand one person. If Master Wellspring cannot hand favonovel.com over, that is his problem. If favonovel.com can, everyone stays in peace. I would like to see who dares tear relations with Pole Star Hall apart over one insignificant Wellspring Order.”
Elder Rowe said nothing more. He withdrew to the side.
The Hall Master was right… Wellspring Order may be a human power, but it has never stood at the heart of the human race… Azure Cloud Sword Order and Myriad Arts Order are the true backbone of the human race in the Seventeenth Firmament. What does Wellspring Order count for?
It is nothing more than a small branch of the human race. Useful or useless, its existence is almost meaningless. Those great human powers would not offend Pole Star Hall for the sake of Wellspring Order…
Venerable Starwick sprang into the air. His body turned into a streak of golden light and shot toward Wellspring Order. His speed reached an extreme. Only a faint golden afterimage remained behind him, and in the next instant, favonovel.com had vanished at the end of the world.
The four elders exchanged a glance, then hurried after him. Four streaks of golden radiance rose in his wake and followed close behind.
Five lines of golden radiance tore across the long sky. They moved so fast that, in the turn of a breath, they swept over a thousand miles of mountains and rivers.
High above them, three blazing suns hung in the sky. Gold, silver, and crimson light spilled down in woven bands, making the five streaks of golden radiance stand out all the more sharply.
Visit VIRTUAL NOVEL for more available chapters of this title!