"Mr. Chance, the Supreme has gone!"
The sudden voice skittered along Jared''s spine; he jerked around.
Several paces away, the man he had once called Lord of Reincarnation still knelt, forehead nearly touching the dust.
Jared''s fist found the Dragonyer Sword, and the de sang free, aimed squarely at the kneeling figure.
"Lord of Reincarnation, what are you nning?"
"Mr. Chance, I just realized—my legs are numb." The man''s voice trembled with equal parts pain and embarrassment.
"Then... then stand up!"
Jared eased backward, letting two cautious steps open the gap.
"Thank you, Mr. Chance." The kneeling man unfolded himself slowly. "My name is Luther, not any Lord. I merely stole my n''s Door of Reincarnation."
"I have offended you more than once. Please, ept my apology."
With a stiff ny-degree bend at the waist, Luther held the bow as if waiting for verdict.
The sincerity in that posture cooled Jared''s nerves; he slid the Dragonyer Sword back into its sheath.
"Tell me this-where exactly are we? And what is the Ghost n?"
The questions burst out before he could soften them.
With Mr. Sanders gone, Luther was the only thread left to pull.
Before Jared could form a question, Luther lowered his head in a formal bow. The gesture was crisp, almost soldierly, yet it carried a weary respect that made Jared''s palms suddenly conscious of their own emptiness.
Luther raised a gloved hand toward the shattered mountain chain squatting on the horizon.
"Mr. Chance, we stand on the edge of the North Abyss Wastnd, within level thirteen," he said, the title ringing like a verdict.
A sigh rasped behind his words, as though every syble had to pass through centuries of dust.
"Those ruins were once a main stronghold of our Ghost n."
"Level thirteen?"
The phrase hit him like the snap of an unexpected gate. He was still only in the Heavenly Immortal Realm; every manual swore the upper heavens demanded long rituals, tokens, trials.
He blinked, half expecting the scenery to shiver back into something lower, more believable. Nothing changed.
Gold-blooded Aurelian, crafty ine, proud Oswald-he had offered none of them a goodbye.
Vermilion Demon Lord was probably still pacing the border, waiting for word that he''d survived.
And the women who carried pieces of his heart—he hadn''t even started those farewells.
"Exactly," Luther confirmed.
He drew in a deliberate breath, thoughts arranging behind his eyes before he let them spill.
"The celestial realm is crowded-countless races, more than stories bother to count," he began, voice low.
“Humans, beasts, demons—everyone remembers their banners. But a few lines run older, stranger. My people belong there."
Jared caught a flicker in the man''s pupils, as if the memories themselves weighed more than the words.
"We aren''t born from wandering ghosts," Luther went on. "We arrive already tuned to soul, death, the turning wheel. From our first breath we can coax the border open, escort the lost, even hold a shard of the cycle''s authority."
His tone didn''t boast; it confessed.
"Back in the oldest days the Ghost n kept death''s ledger for all Three Realms, with sanctuaries on every sky. Souls came to us, and we sent them onward."
Jared''s gaze drifted again toward the fractured ridges. "Then what shattered all this?"
A crooked smile peeled across Luther''s face, pain threading it into something closer to a wince.
"Glory always breeds its own ruin," he said quietly, then shook his head. "But ours wasn''t a storm or quake. It was... hands."
The air seemed to thin while he searched for a starting point.
"Thirty thousand years ago," he began, “our Ghost King—people called him the Abyssal Ghost King—stood so tall the heavens heard him."
He studied reincarnation until a crack of dawning ran through the Law itself.
He decided the current cycle was rigged. The wicked hid behind strong souls or forbidden rites, slipped punishment, even carried their memories into the next life.
The gentle and the small, meanwhile, were ground thin until they vanished.
A low hum, maybe the memory of old chanting, vibrated in Luther''s throat.
So he vowed to forge a new wheel, one the Ghost n alone could keep bnced.
We poured everything into the attempt-blood, artifacts, years. That Door of Reincarnation you glimpsed was only the brightest piece.
Jared leaned in before he thought better of it. "That sounds noble. Why would it invite catastrophe?"
“Noble?” Luther echoed, a roughugh scraping out alongside the single word—as if the very idea tasted bitter.
Luther shook his head;mplight caught the mockery simmering behind his eyes. The dismissal slid under Jared''s ribs before the man even spoke.
"Mr. Chance, you''re far too na?ve. Tearing open a separate path means ripping a piece of the reincarnation principle out of the existing cosmic order and forcing it under your own hand."
The words hung between them, sour and electric.
Luther''s voice hardened. "Doing that is the same as carving up divine authority, a direct challenge to whatever power keeps the stars moving."
Jared''s throat tasted of metal; Luther pressed on as though lecturing a stubborn child.
"Think about the great ns, sects, even lone masters. Once they climb high enough, ordinary rebirth bores them. They want to reincarnate with memories intact, maybe even leap clear of the cycle altogether live forever."
A dull pulse started behind Jared''s eyes.
"For the Ghost n to build perfectly fair reincarnation," Luther said, "we''d have to
strip those giants of their private shortcuts."
The room seemed to shrink around the admission.
"That shes at too many vested interests. The cosmic order won''t permit open rebellion, and those powers certainly won''t watch their immortality schemes burn."
Jared pictured silent nods exchanged in dark halls.
"So an extermination campaign against the Ghost n began—everyone pretending they weren''t working together, yet striking in perfect rhythm."
Luther''s tone dipped, heavy as a funeral drum.
"First came bacsh from the cycle itself. Our people found their cultivation blocked; the n''s fortune withered."
He drew a slow breath, shoulders quivering once.
"Then the strongest celestials and Ancient n lords rallied dozens of forces. They branded us usurpers meddling with reincarnation andunched a full purge."
Luther''s next words crawled through Jared''s bones.
"That battle-sky torn, earth split, sun and moon erased. We were fierce, but how
do you stand against the cosmos and half the realm''s might?"
Images burst behind Jared''s eyes: burning citadels, falling spirits.
"Strongholds shattered, kin fell. To cover our retreat, the Ghost King ignited several supreme treasures with his own essence. The invaders bled, but the King''s soul scattered... one Sliver sealed deep within the Reincarnation Division, forever asleep."
Luther''s hands curled, nails whitening.
"After that, the n splintered. Survivors fled, hiding names, never daring to call
ourselves Ghost n again."
A faint tremor crossed his mouth.
"Most of our treasures were ruined or lost. My branch escaped with a damaged
Door of Reincarnation, burrowing into a secret corner of level thirteen to gasp for
breath."
Tears zed Luther''s eyes before he forced them back, lids blinking hard.
He steadied himself. "After ten thousand years of quiet recovery, we''ve yed back a fraction of our strength, yet our masters are gone and the lineages lie in tatters. Among my generation, I carry the sharpest spark. The elders pinned their hopes on me: repair the Door,
ve
wake the Ghost King, restore the n." Bitterness seeped into his
smile.
"Before I could mend the Door, enemies sniffed out our refuge. The devastation you
saw outside is rubble from that ancient war. My kin threw everything into spiriting me away otherwise, I''d be ash with the rest."
Heat pricked Jared''s brow; he finally found his voice. "So you dragged the Door
down to level twelve, put on the title of Lord of Reincarnation, and started harvesting souls to patch it?"