ric paused, then went on. "Still, the Celestial Basilica does have a secret method that can awaken sleeping soul and sense. It''s called the Rite of Reincarnant Passage, and it''s one of the Celestial Basilica''s guarded secrets. It''s just..."


    He stopped there and didn''t finish. His eyes flickered as he watched Jared''s reaction.


    Jared said, "Just what? Whatever price this takes, Hall Master ric, you can say it inly."


    ric looked at him and spoke slowly. "It''s just that this method requires a huge amount of bloodline power. And to awaken soul and sense that have been asleep this long, the amount needed is even greater."


    He paused, then pressed the point harder. "Jared, you possess the Five-wed Golden Dragon Bloodline. It''s a peerless bloodline, one in ten thousand. If you''re willing to offer a portion of that bloodline as the spark to awaken them, then this matter will have a seventy percent chance of seeding."


    Jared''s brow lifted slightly.


    Offer up his bloodline?


    He looked at ric and said, "How much?"


    ric raised two fingers and gestured lightly. "Not much. Just one bowl. With your cultivation, if you give up one bowl of bloodline, a few months of recovery will be enough to restore you. But your two friends will get a new life because of it. Looking at it that way, Jared, this isn''t a losing deal for you."


    One bowl of blood?


    A coldugh rose inside him.


    The Five-wed Golden Dragon Bloodline made every drop priceless. Each drop carried huge life essence and the power ofw within it.


    One bowl was enough to remake an ordinary person from the ground up. It could even help a cultivator break through a bottleneck and extend their life.


    ric made it sound easy.


    But the value hidden inside that was far beyond anything normal standards could


    measure.


    Still, Jared had no reason to refuse.


    For Sidney and his wife, let alone giving blood, he would have given his life without hesitation.


    Jared stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Alright."


    A trace of delight shed through ric''s eyes. It vanished almost at once, but Jared still caught it.


    ric quickly said, "Jared, you''re truly loyal. I admire that. In that case, I''ll go prepare the ritual right now. Please wait here for a moment. We''ll begin shortly."


    He rose to his feet and turned to leave.


    Jared remained seated in the hidden chamber, watching ric''s back as he walked away. Something unreadable moved through his eyes.


    What ric had shown when he heard the words "a bowl of blood" had been far too obvious.


    That sh in his eyes had stood out too clearly for Jared to ignore.


    It hadn''t looked like a man who had just found help.


    It had looked like a hunter spotting prey already caught in the trap, with greed and anticipationid bare in his gaze.


    "Is it really just a bowl of blood?"


    The question turned over in Jared''s mind.


    The Celestial Basilica imed to be a holynd of the righteous path, so why were they this fixated on his bloodline? There had to be something else buried underneath it.


    But at this point, he had no other choice.


    Sidney and his wife were hanging by a thread.


    All he could do was gamble once.


    If Sidney and his wife''s soul and sense were truly gone, then no method in the world would be able to restore them.


    So he could only gamble that the Celestial Basilica would keep its word, and gamble that ric really was a respected Senior of the righteous path.


    Even if he knew perfectly well there was a pit of fire in front of him, he still had to jump for his brother''s sake.


    A short whileter, the door to the hidden chamber opened again.


    Elder Cillian walked in.


    Two Basilica disciples followed behind him, each carrying ritual tools in their hands.


    There was a bronze handbell shining


    with golden light, a jade te giving off frost energy, and an ancient


    parchment scroll covered in symbols no one could make sense of.


    Elder Cillian smiled. "Mr. Chance, the ritual is ready. Come with me."


    Jared rose and followed him out of the hidden chamber.


    After passing through severalyers of halls, the three of them arrived in front of a side hall.


    The side hall sat on the western side of the Celestial Pce.


    It was tucked away in a remote spot, dead quiet all around. There wasn''t even a


    birdcall to be heard, and the whole ce carried a barren stillness.


    The doors to the side hall were shut tight.


    Strange runes covered them from top to bottom, each one giving off a faint red glow The sight of them carried something foul and ominous, as if something wicked had been sealed inside.


    Elder Cillian pushed the door open.


    An old, stale smell rushed out at them, mixed with a faint trace of blood.


    Inside the side hall, a massive ritual array had beenid out.


    It covered the entire floor of the great hall. Dense lines crisscrossed over one


    another like a giant spiderweb.


    Those array lines gave off a dim golden glow.


    But deep inside that light, there seemed to be a thread of ck mist hidden away,


    enough to send a chill through anyone who looked too long.


    At the center of the ritual array sat a jade bowl.


    Its opening was as wide as washbasin, pure white from edge to base, with intricate dragon carvings worked across its surface, as if it


    had been waiting for fresh blood fillt.


    "Mr. Chance, step into the array."


    Elder Cillian pointed at the center of the ritual array as he spoke.


    There was a hard edge in his tone that left no room for refusal.


    Jared stepped into the array.


    His pace stayed steady, without the slightest hesitation, as if he had already made peace with walking straight into death.


    Elder Cillian and the two disciples withdrew from the side hall and shut the doors behind them.


    Click.


    The sound of the lock falling into ce rang out through the silent great hall with a harshness that scraped at the ear, like the start of a death count.


    A warning red through Jared''s mind.


    And right then, the ritual array began to stir.


    The golden light grew brighter and brighter until it swallowed him whole.


    A strange force began pulling the power of his bloodline out from inside him.


    At first, that force had been gentle, almost as if it were guiding the flow.


    But very quickly, it turned overbearing.


    It was like countless greedy hands tearing through his meridians and wrenching his


    blood away in a frenzy.


    Jared''s brow tightened slightly.


    He could tell that force was far more brutal than he had expected.


    And the speed of the extraction was nowhere near just "one bowl."


    At this rate, it wouldn''t even take half an hour before every drop of blood in his body


    was drained dry!


    He tried to resist, only to discover that his body wouldn''t move at all!


    At some point, an invisible restraint had appeared inside the ritual array, locking his


    limbs in ce so tightly he couldn''t shift them.


    No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn''t break free in the slightest.