"You want Dragonmere''s treasure?"
A suddenugh rolled out of him.
"Thene and take it."
Before their robes could settle, he blurred, sprinting toward the thinnest segment of the encirclement.
That weak spoty where the white-haired elder was posted.
The elder gave a cold snort and thrust out a palm, raw force billowing ahead of the strike.
Jared chose not to dodge.
He took the blow on his chest and, at the same instant, hammered a fist straight for the elder''s face.
Bang!
The collision sted Jared backward; three ribs cracked with a sickening crunch.
Yet the white-haired elder staggered several steps, and a gap yawned open in the defensive ring.
Jared wheeled and shot through that slit like lightning, breaking clear of the elders'' formation.
"After him!"
Garrick barked the order, and the six elders vaulted after their quarry.
Jared poured every shred of spiritual power into his legs and raced for the mouth of the valley.
At his throat, the Binding Cor pulsed with sinister red glyphs, squeezing tighter on the flow of power inside him.
Each stride drained more of the energy coursing through his veins.
Stopping was not an option.
Hesitation meant a corpse on the road.
Beyond the ravine, thirty Janis Family guards waited in a solid battle line.
The moment Jared burst into view, they unleashed a storm of spells that came crashing down like a tidal wave.
His eyes narrowed; he clenched his jaw and drove straight into the barrage. Boom, boom, boom!
Explosions ripped at his flesh, spraying blood and shredded robes, but he never ckened his charge.
Through sheer momentum he smashed past the outer ring, forcing a path out of their formation.
"Jared!"
Vivian''s voice rang from behind, high and raw.
He didn''t look back; his feet kept pounding the earth.
A figure dropped from the sky andnded in front of him, blocking the road with a single step.
Garrick.
A True Immortal Realm master had finally decided to move.
Jared skidded to a halt, chest heaving for air.
Blood coated him from scalp to boots, and wounds striped every limb.
Yet he stayed on his feet.
Garrick studied him; a brief gleam crossed the patriarch''s eyes.
"Young Master Chance, you are impressive indeed. A High Immortal Realm Level Two cultivator breaking out while six Ninth Rank Elders closed in, then punching through thirty guards—skill and resolve like that, I have rarely seen."
He paused, and when he spoke again, the chill cut straight through the air:
"But this is where it ends."
He raised his palm and brought it crashing down.
That strike carried the full force of a True Immortal Realm expert.
Even before the wind of the blow arrived, Jared already felt a pressure fierce enough to tear the sky apart.
Blood thundered, bones grated, every joint straining as though the next heartbeat would grind him into pulp.
Still, he did not fall.
He forced his head up and watched the looming hand, an unbending light burning in his eyes.
The question hovered-was this really the end?
No.
He refused to let this valley be his grave.
There was far too much left undone.
Dawn waited somewhere, as did thepanions who still counted on him, and more beyond that.
"Stop!"
A sharp cry split the air, and a figure darted forward to shield Jared.
Vivian.
Garrick''s palm halted at thest inch, yet the leftover gust flung Vivian aside and mmed her to the ground.
"Vivian!" Garrick''s shout cracked. "Have you lost your mind?"
Vivian pushed herself up, blood beading at the corner of her mouth, and stood between the two men.
"Father, you can''t kill him!"
Garrick''s face darkened. "Move."
"I won''t!"
She shook her head, tears spilling.
"You lied to me and used meet
swallow that. But you cant kill
He''s done nothing
W
>
"Innocent?"
Garrick let out a lowugh. "The Celestial Pce has him on the wanted rolls-do
you still call that innocent?"
"That''s between him and the Pce!"
Her voice rang out. "It has nothing to
do with The Janis Family. He helped
us, and now we''re turning on
him how is that not betraying benefactor?"
Garrick drew a slow breath, voice held t. "Vivian, I''ll say it once more. Step aside."
Vivian shook her head again, slipped a short sword from her sleeve, and set the
de against her own throat.
"Father, take one more step and I die right here."
Garrick''s pupils tightened.
The six elders also froze.
"Vivian!" Garrick burst out. "What are you doing? Put the sword down!"
Tears streamed as she clutched the weapon; the edge had already nicked skin, and
fresh blood trickled down her neck.
Her voice trembled. "Since childhood
I obeyed every word-you told me to cultivate, I cultivated; you ordered me into the tournament marriage, went you told me to fool Jared and
I did."
"This time, please let him go. Think of it as thest request your daughter will ever
make."
Garrick stared at her; heat shed, cooled into hard tension, and something else made his shoulders sink.
After a long silence he finally spoke, each word weighed:
"Put the sword down and I''ll let him leave."
Vivian blinked. "Really?"
Garrick nodded. "I, Garrick, keep my word."
She hesitated, then slowly lowered the de.
In that exact instant Garrick moved.
A single finger jab sent a burst of force into Vivian''s wrist.
The sword spun free; she gasped as Garrick yanked her behind him.
"Seize him!" Garrick snapped.
The six elders stepped forward again.
In the very next heartbeat they closed ranks around Jared.
Jared watched them surround him, then, quite suddenly, heughed.
The smile that spread across his face dripped with mockery.
"Master Garrick, you really do keep your word."
Garrick''s expression did not shift. "All''s fair in war, Young Master Chance. ept your fate."
Jared gave no reply; he simply turned his eyes to Vivian.
Vivian was pinned in Garrick''s grip. She could not move, could only stare while fresh
tears streamed down.
"Young Master Chance... I''m sorry..."
Jared shook his head. "Miss Janis, save your apology. None of this is your doing."
He drew a deep breath, threw his head back, and let a long howl rip from his lungs.
"Roooaaar-"
A dragon''s roar burst from his mouth like a shockwave.
Its force dwarfed what he had shown during the trial; it was several times stronger.
Blinding gold light erupted from inside him.
Behind his back, the radiance gathered into the silhouette of the Five-wed
Golden Dragon.
The phantom lifted its head and answered with its own thunderous cry.
The sweeping draconic pressure rolled across the clearing.
The six elders halted mid-stride, bodies stiff under the sudden tide of dragon might.
Jared seized that sliver of time and poured every ounce of bloodline power through
his veins.
His aura surged, climbing higher and higher without pause.
"Break!"
His shout rang like thunder.
The Binding Cor at his throat cracked with a sharp snap, a jagged fissure splitting
the metal.
The unexpected leap in power tore through part of the cor''s suppression.
Garrick''s face tightened. "No! Stop him!"
The order came a heartbeat toote.
Jared blurred into a streak of gold light and shot toward the distant tree line.
He was gone.
He fled with wounds covering every inch of flesh and a white-hot fire roaring inside
him.
Garrick lunged to give chase, but the phantom Golden Dragon slid into his path and barred the way.
The phantom lingered for exactly three breaths before vanishing without a trace.
Three breaths were all it needed.
By the time Garrick tore through the fading light, Jared had already melted into the surrounding forest.