Vivian stared at him for a long moment, then whispered, "Young Master Chance, you''re far more... broad-minded than I expected."
Jared waved a hand. "Don''t butter me up. The moment someone praises me, I float away, and once I''m floating I start doing stupid things."
Vivian couldn''t keep theugh inside.
The smile that bloomed was more genuine than any she had shown before.
"Young Master Chance, rest assured. When the business with Dragonmere is over, I will definitely—"
"All right, all right,"
Jared cut her off. "You already said that. Let''s talk about Dragonmere instead. What''s the real situation in there? The Janis Family has spent three months exploring—surely you''ve learned something."
Vivian let the smile fade and answered in a formal tone. "During those three months The Janis Family sent seventeen teams into the outskirts of Dragonmere, and every one of them was pushed back by the Draconian Ward. We still don''t know what lies beyond it."
She drew a beast-hide map from her sleeve and spread it across the low table.
The parchment showed the terrain north of the city, and one spot had been circled in red ink.
"This is the Dragonmere entrance, hidden in a secluded valley. Ancient wards cover the surrounding cliffs. It took The Janis Family two whole months to trace a safe route in."
Vivian tapped the red circle. "After we enter the valley we''ll see a stone gate. Past that gate is Dragonmere''s outer rim, and that is where we encountered the Draconian Ward."
Jared studied the drawing, then suddenly asked, "Did you try forcing your way through?"
Vivian shook her head. "We did. Three High Immortal Realm Level Nine Elders joined forces to pound the barrier, and the rebound gravely injured them. One of them is still recovering."
She looked at Jared, hope shining in her eyes. "The shield ignores pure Draconian Bloodline, but it unleashes thunder the moment anyone else gets close. Young Master Chance, you carry the Golden Dragon Bloodline; you should be able to pass safely."
Jared gave a single nod and asked no further questions.
The beast-drawn carriages rolled northward, left Cloudhaven City behind, and climbed into an unbroken chain of mountains.
An hourter the convoy halted before a valley mouth.
Jared stepped down and saw a massive stone stele at the entrance. Four ancient characters were carved into its face:
"Draconian Forbidden Zone."
The strokes were scarred and pitted, worn deep by time.
Garrick walked up beside Jared and said in a low voice, "Young Master Chance, we''re counting on you from here."
Jared dipped his head and followed Vivian toward the depths of the valley.
The six elders trailed close behind, while the thirty guards stayed at the mouth to keep watch.
They threaded a narrow ravine, and suddenly the view opened wide.
A clearing a hundred yards acrossy ahead, and at its far edge rose a colossal stone gate.
The gate towered nearly thirty feet high, hewn entirely from blue-gray stone blocks.
A coiled relief of the Five-wed Golden Dragon covered the surface, and two fist- sized moon-pearls glimmered from its eyes.
In front of the gate floated a pale-gold light screen, thin veins of lightning swimming across it.
Vivian stopped and turned to Jared. "Young Master Chance, that is the Draconian Ward. You-"
She never finished. Jared was already striding toward the veil.
"Young Master Chance!" Vivian called, startled.
Without a backward nce, Jared stepped straight into the light.
Ripples rolled across the pale-gold membrane, yet no attack followed.
His figure vanished beyond the ward.
Vivian stared, frozen, an indescribable mix of feelings tumbling inside her.
He... had actually gone in.
No hesitation, no second thoughts.
As though whatevery beyond that screen held no danger for him at all.
*****
On the far side of the veil stretched apletely different realm.
The instant Jared entered Dragonmere, a tidal wave of draconic energy mmed into him.
The power was so dense it felt almost solid; every breath carried the weight of its vast pressure.
Any ordinary cultivator would have copsed to their knees the moment they stepped here.
But Jared was not ordinary.
With the Golden Dragon Bloodline running through him, the energy refreshed rather than crushed him, like a wanderer returning home.
He drew a long breath and looked around.
A cavernous underground expanse soared above him; the ceiling disappeared into
darkness where faint lights glittered like distant stars.
Belowy a broadke; the water was crystal clear yet shimmered with a faint golden tint.
So this was Dragonmere?
Jared stepped forward, walking across theke''s surface as if it were solid ground.
In the middle of the pool, nine
towering stone columns thrust out
of the shimmering water. Each
end
column was wrapped to
end in dragon reliefs so vivid the carved scales seemed ready to slide free.
Atop every column hovered a sphere of pale radiance, and inside each globe different treasures drifted in and out of view.
The Draconian Sovereign Relic!
Light shed across Jared''s eyes and he shot forward, leaping toward the columns without a hint of hesitation.
On the first column the glow cradled a longsword ted from point to pommel in golden scales. A muted dragonsong vibrated along the de.
Two archaic characters-"Dragon''s Roar"-were etched deep into the hilt.
He wrapped his fingers around the hilt, and a flood of monumental sword intent poured straight into his meridians.
This de was at the very least a True Immortal artifact.
Without the slightest courtesy, he slipped the Dragonsong de into his Storage Ring.
The second column''s light held a suit of golden armor, each te
scales a
formed of tight oveppin te
flerce dragon head jutting from the breastte.
framer
He brushed a hand across the metal; the armor broke apart on its own and reassembled around his f fitting as though it had always belonged there.
Now that was a prize indeed.
The third pir offered a rolled-up jade slip whose markings recorded Draconian cultivation techniques.
The fourth pir presented a vial of Dragon Essence Elixir, the pills inside flickering with faint dragon markings.
The fifth-
Moving like a locust through grain, Jared cleared every treasure from all nine columns in the blink of an eye.
As he reached for the prize on the ninth pir, the surroundings lurched with a sudden, jarring shift.
"ROAR-"
A cavern-shaking dragon roar rumbled up from the very bottom of the pool.
Dragonmere heaved violently; walls of water rose in towering waves that pped against the stone columns.
The light atop the nine pirs died at the same instant. In its ce, an immense pair
of eyes began to rise out of the depths.
Golden slit pupils came into view cold,manding, and crushing in their
presence.
As the eyes climbed higher, the outline of a colossal creature surfaced from the
poolbed.
A giant dragon more than 100 yards long emerged, its entire body armored in gold-
bright scales.
Its head loomed like a mountain, and every breath it drew kicked up savage whirlwinds across the water.
The dragon broke the surfacepletely and looked down at Jared from its
towering height.