Heads pivoted toward the entrance of the Myriad Beast Altar.
An azure-robed figure walked in at an unhurried pace, shadow pooling at his heels.
His gait was the picture of leisure, as though reputation and danger were idle gossip carried on a breeze.
Jared had finally appeared.
At his nk padded the fire unicorn, golden pupils aglow with childlike wonder as mes danced along the array''s boundary.
"He came? He actually dared toe?"
"Now? The trial''s nearly over!"
"Hah! He''s probably afraid he''d fail, so he came at thest minute, waiting for the array to tire itself out."
The jeers rose again, yet uncertainty now thinned their venom.
After all, he was here.
Gavin and Yvette exchanged startled grins, the weight on their hearts lifting halfway.
As expected, he does not shy away from battle.
Jared ignored every whisper, stopping before the altar. His eyes skimmed the crackling array, brow arching—almost disappointed.
He looked up at Paxton and the elders. "So this is the famed Threefold Beast-Soul Array you boasted about?"
Arden''s feathers bristled. "You''rete. Are you frightened, boy? Kneel, admit your bluster, and perhaps save a shred of dignity!"
Jared lifted his chin and gave the faintest shake of the head, as though brushing lint from a jacket. Instead of answering Arden''s barbed remark, he murmured to the empty air, voice soft, almost bored. "This array feels... child-simple. Facing something so elementary hardly qualifies as entertainment."
He paused, letting the hush deepen until every heartbeat on the terrace could be counted. "Myriad Beast Sect-surely you own an array with a bit more bite. Would you bring that out and let me y with it?"
nk stares answered him—a collective ellipsis of disbelief.
For one breath, the entire Myriad Beast Altary under a funeral hush.
Eyes widened as they looked at Jared as if looking at a crazy person.
Too simple? Boring? y with it?
He must be mad surely he did not grasp what he was saying.
The Threefold Beast-Soul Array had broken Level Four Heavenly Immortals with ease; its reputation was inked in blood.
Yet this Level Seven Human Immortal outsider dismissed it as a toy and asked for something fiercer.
Silence shattered like ss.
"Arrogant! Unbelievably arrogant!"
"I''ve never seen anyone court death with such enthusiasm!"
"Is he insane or here merely to mock our sect?"
Arden trembled with rage, the tip of his finger stabbing the air toward Jared. "Whelp, how dare you nder the Myriad Beast Sect! The
Beast Soul Array is sacred on
you''re so capable, break it first before bragging!"
On the tform, Paxton''s brows knitted; even he found the youth''s words indefensibly wild.
Beside him, Bartram''s eyes narrowed, recalcting the strength of the young man below.
Jared exhaled through his nose, like a patient teacher humoring unruly children. "Very well, if you insist..."
Under a spray of hostile, curious, and mocking gazes, he drifted forward-one unhurried step—and slipped into the notorious array like mist through keyholes.
"It''s active-he''s inside!"
"How many seconds before he crumples?"
"He asked for humiliation; let him have it."
The trio at the array''s core, stung by his arrogance, answered with everything they owned.
The Titanforce Ape bellowed, its phantom fist descending with mountain-splitting weight.
The Winsh Leopard shed into a silver streak, ws aimed at Jared''s throat, while the Obsidian-Armoured
Rhine locked the exits behind him with a walk of living stone Content Belongs
Strength, speed, and defense converged-heaven and earth rattled. Below the altar,
even seasoned disciples felt their hearts quake.
Jared stood utterly still at the center
of the Myriad Beast Altar. Around
him, three disciples fed their array with enough power to terrify a seasoned Level Five Heavenly Immortal, sending torrents of sayage force screaming toward his unguarded chest.
Just as that storm of violet ws, ear-splitting roars, and crushing pressure was
about to swallow him, Jared moved.