"Arrogant!"


    The Beast-Quelling Venerable burst from the pce mouth and hovered above the za, robes billowing in the gust that followed him.


    King Silverserpent and King Ironhawk nked him at once, three High Immortal Realm Level Seven auras crashing down like tidal waves.


    "So you did break through." The Venerable''s tone chilled. "Yet a mere first-level High Immortal is still an ant beneath my heel."


    Hand seals shed. All around the za countless golden sigils red to life as the Heavenbound Beastlock Array roared awake.


    Pirs of gold surged skyward and folded over, shaping a colossal gleaming cage that mmed shut around the eight intruders.


    Inside the barrier, naturalws twisted, and raw spiritual energy drained away. Most cultivators trapped here could barely summon a third of their strength.


    Laughter rattled from the Venerable''s chest. "Jared, this array was designed to cripple the beast race-unexpected, isn''t it? Even you, a human, will find your power strangled here."


    "Tell me, do you still believe you can win?"


    Jared tested the invisible pressure and noted the ruthless squeeze of the array.


    An ordinary first-level High Immortal might indeed be throttled to half power or worse within this golden prison.


    But he was no ordinary cultivator.


    The chaotic force coursing through himy outside every writtenw; no seal could chain it.


    "So this is the trump card you cherish?"


    His voice stayed level, almost bored.


    The Venerable hesitated, pupils tightening. "You... you''re unaffected?"


    "Prepare for disappointment."


    Jared lifted Dragonyer Sword, its edge angling straight at the hovering Venerable. "Your array is useless against me."


    Thest syble had barely left his tongue before he moved.


    A streak of gray swordlight tore across the sky, velocity so fierce it shredded the night into ragged shadows.


    He registered only a gray gleam slicing through the darkness. Jared''s figure blurred beyond recognition, and before the Beast-Quelling Venerable could tense, the de''s re was already filling his vision.


    A stab of panic jolted the venerable. He shouted, "No!" and flung out a shimmering golden shield, desperate to wedge anything between that merciless sh and his own flesh.


    The collision rang out, a single metallic boom that echoed across the courtyard like a bell struck at close range.


    Sword light mmed into the barrier; the air quivered under a deafening st that rattled every bone within earshot.


    A jagged fissure carved itself across the shield''s gilded face. The shockwave hurled the venerable backward thirty yards as hot, metallic bitterness rushed up his throat.


    Disbelief twisted his features; the impossibility of it wrenched a hoarse gasp from his lungs.


    He clutched the golden shield—an upper-grade immortal artifact famed for its fortitude-only to feel it tremble like cracked porcin, one ruthless stroke from shattering.


    More frightening still was Jared''s speed; the human''s outline hadn''t finished resolving before another afterimage threatened to rece it.


    Voice cracking, the venerable roared, "Silverserpent! Ironhawk! Together!" Themand snapped through the night like a whip.


    King Silverserpent and King Ironhawk locked eyes, grim understanding passing between them, and lunged forward in perfect unison.


    Silverserpent''s body unfurled into a hundred-yard argent python, toxic mist pouring from serrated fangs, while Ironhawk burst into a colossal raptor, talons rending open the air.


    Jared did not bother to nce sideways. The Dragonyer Sword wheeled in his grip, another gray arc tearing outward.


    His voice, low and steady, cut through the din: "Chaos-sever."


    Twin streaks of ashen brilliance forked from the de, each homing unerringly toward a royal beast.


    The two Beast Kings rose to counter, yet the shes arrived with cruel immediacy, strengthpressed into blinding inevitability.


    The first beam sheared through silver miasma, its remaining force lopping the python cleanly at the vulnerable seventh-inch segment.


    The second beam met Ironhawk''s descending ws; brittle keratin burst apart, and


    the gray light bored straight through his armored chest.


    Blood fountained, a wet pop muffled by the night wind.


    Another spray followed, darker and heavier, sttering the gstones below.


    The two Beast Kings crashed backward, broken forms leaking life, breaths rasping nearer to silence with each heartbeat.


    One swing-two High Immortal Realm Level Seven monarchs reduced to ruins.


    Silence nketed the courtyard, thick and stunned.


    Ranks of celestial guards gaped, discipline dissolved; even Luther and the others carried identical astonishment across their faces.


    This, then, was the true face of a Top Level High Immortal Realm cultivator.


    This was the dread promised by the Chaos Grand Path.


    Jared''s outline flickered; in the next breath he loomed beside King Silverserpent.


    His words dropped like frost, "Traitor. Die."


    The de descended; the serpent''s head arced skyward, its soul-me snuffed mid- whirl.


    He pivoted smoothly; a mirrored stroke followed, and King Ironhawk met the same


    end.


    Two royal beasts gone-nothing left but cooling husks and drifting feathers.


    The entire exchange had consumed no more than three breaths.


    Color drained from the Beast-Quelling Venerable''s cheeks;prehension finally


    pierced his arrogance he had misjudged, and badly.


    One frantic instinct crystallized inside his skull: escape.


    Jared, however, had no intention of granting that mercy.


    "Beast-Quelling Venerable," Jared called, voice calm as cold steel, "now you."


    He stepped once and materialized before the venerable, Dragonyer''s tip lunging straight for the man''s brow.


    The venerable threw everything he owned into the gap-golden shield, talisman veils, swirling runic sigils—each trick ovepping the next in frantic session.


    Yet against that chaos-colored brilliance, every safeguard warped, buckled, and


    peeled away like paper scorched by me.


    A thin hiss split the night as steel found flesh.


    The beam bored through the final ward and buried itself between his brows, a pinpoint of ash-gray finality.


    His frame froze; disbelief and dread swam in his eyes. "You...you are—" the rest died on his tongue.


    Before meaning could form, his spirit winked out.


    Jared withdrew the de. The venerable''s corpse toppled, smashing into the za stones and throwing up a dirty cloud.


    Not a single throat dared stir.


    Three thousand celestial guards, scores of skyships, and the vaunted Heavenbound Beastlock Array now felt like stage props before a lone swordsman.


    Such was the yawning gulf between the High Immortal Realm and the Heavenly Immortal Realm.


    Such was the might of the Chaos Grand Path.


    Hanging above the square, Jared


    swept his gaze across the host. "Hear me, celestials: Beast-Quelling


    Venerable is dead. King


    Silverserpent and King Ironhawk are executed. Surrender and live resist and die."


    His words, quiet in volume, detonated like thunder inside every celestial chest.


    After a brittle pause, someone—no er could say who-thudded their weapon onto the gstones.


    ng! A single de struck the gstones, the sharp ring slicing through the smoky night like a hammer on an anvil.


    More metal followed, one weapon


    after another ttering onto store


    until the sound rolled over itself in waves. All three thousand celestial guards lowered their arms and surrendered on the spot.


    The Heavenbound Beastlock Array dimmed of its own ord. Above,


    the sky-ship blockade drifted downward and settled on the za. Every celestial guard dropped to both knees heads bowed toyield.


    Luther and the rest stared, frozen mid-breath, their shock so deep it left no room for


    words.


    One man and one sword had cut down three High Immortal Realm Level Seven


    foes and broken a force of three thousand. The fact mmed through every witness


    like a drumbeat.


    That man was Jared.


    He was the leader they had chosen to follow.


    Jared stepped onto the stones and spoke to Luther. "Get word to the outer ring. Tell


    the Nether City Guards and the Beastfolk Warriors to move in and take control of Beast-Quelling Hall."


    "Yes, sir!" Luther''s answer cracked like a spark, excitement spilling out with the


    word.


    Madam Nightfox moved closer, tears streaking the fur at the corner of her eyes. "Mr.


    Chance... Alpha Bear, Elder Hartcrest-did you see it? Mr. Chance has avenged


    you!"


    A flood of feelings surged through Jared, too many and too strong for any single breath to hold.


    King Ironhide, Elder Hartcrest, every fallen beastfolk brother and sister—were they watching now, somewhere beyond the veil?


    This victory was only the beginning.


    Every drop of blood the celestials had taken would be repaid, one debt at a time.


    News that Beast-Quelling Hall had fallen tore across Epea like a storm wind, impossible to stop or outrun.


    Celestial rule in Epea crumbled overnight, a castle made of dust meeting the first hard rain.


    All five Beast Kingsy dead, and the Beast-Quelling Venerable had perished as


    well.


    Oppressed beastfolk tribes rose almost in unison, throwing off celestial shackles and rallying to the Resistance.


    Within a single day Jaredmanded more than fifty thousand Beastfolk Warriors. Beast-Quelling Hall now served as the Resistance headquarters.


    On the za before the hall, Jared looked over the dark sea of beastfolk troops.


    Pride and fierce intent swelled inside his chest.


    Even so, the force was still not enough.


    He understood the celestials would never ept defeat quietly.