In all the time Josephine had known Skr, she had never seen him put this much weight on any one person.
Who exactly was this man named Jared?
Why could someone make Skr, who was always so distant, care this much?
Could this be the same Jared they had met inside the Celestial Stairway?
Her lips parted, and she nearly asked. But when she saw howpletely Skr had sunk into his own silence, the words stopped at the edge of her mouth and stayed there. In the end, she swallowed them back down and pressed all of it into her chest.
Josephine was deeply puzzled. The name Jared felt familiar to her, and at the same timepletely strange.
Especially back on the Celestial Stairway, when they had tried to kill Jared, the way he had acted then had made it seem as if he knew her very well.
At that moment, Skr turned and nced at Josephine. Whatever had been in his eyes disappeared in an instant. He didn''t want her mind running too far.
Even though Josephine hadpletely lost her old memories, Skr still guarded against one thing above all else. He didn''t want her suddenly remembering anything.
After all, Josephine and Jared had once been lovers. The two of them had carried each other in their thoughts for far too long.
If even a sliver of that buried memory got stirred awake in Josephine''s heart, things would be troublesome.
Darian nced at Skr and knew it wasn''t right for him to keep standing there. He immediately bowed with tact and said, "If Senior has no other orders, then I''ll take my leave for now. I''ll personally go press my men to keep searching for news and make sure nothing dys your business."
Skr gave a small wave of his hand, telling him to leave.
Darian bowed again and slowly backed away. He didn''t dare turn around until he had retreated several yards out of the great hall. Only then did he leave. In the enormous main hall of the Demon Dragon Hall, only Skr and Josephine remained.
"Senior Josephine, rest for two days first. Your strength has risen too fasttely. Even with your fire-spirit constitution, pushing too hard too fast will do damage. Don''t let it hurt your body."
"Okay." Josephine nodded.
*****
Outside the Demon Dragon Hall.
On the white-jade square, Darian stood at the edge of the ward and let out a long breath.
He raised a hand and wiped the cold sweat beading at his temple. After forcing himself steady, Darian pushed down the clutter in his head and gave a light beckoning wave.
A Demon Dragon Elder in a gray robe, carrying a cold, shadowy presence, immediately hurried over and bowed. "Chieftain."
Darian''s face darkened, and his voice turned hard. "Pick the ten cleverest scouts in the hall at once, the ones best at hiding themselves, and send them to Cloudhaven City to investigate Jared''s whereabouts with everything they''ve got.
Remember this. They are to work in secret. They are not to expose their identities, and they are absolutely not to alert the enemy. If they ruin Senior''s business, they''ll answer with their heads!"
"Understood!"
The Demon Dragon Elder didn''t dare dy for even a moment. The instant he received the order, he turned and left at once.
Darian turned back and looked once more toward the Demon Dragon Hall. Something extremelyplicated passed through his cloudy eyes.
Just what kind of background did this grand-uncle master who had suddenly descended here have?
How powerful was he, really?
And why was he so interested in a nobody like Jared?
He couldn''t make sense of a single one of those questions.
But one thing was clear to him. From the moment that Senior stepped into the Demon Dragon Hall, the entire bnce of the Fourteenth Firmament would likely be thrown intoplete turmoil.
What came next was already far beyond what he, the Lord of the Demon Dragon Hall, could control on his own.
The only thing he could do now was try with everything he had to please that Senior, so that when theing storm arrived, the Demon Dragon Lineage might still survive it.
*****
At the same time, the Grand Basilica.
Inside, the atmosphere had grown so heavy it reached an extreme. Even the air seemed frozen in ce, pressing down so hard it was difficult to breathe.
But right then, his face looked as dark as the sky before a storm broke, and the space between his brows was packed with savage menace.
Below him, more than a dozen Celestial Pce elders stood in two rows along either side. Every one of them carried crushing strength. The weakest among them was at the Top Level High Immortal Realm and Several had already stepped into the True Immortal Realm.
Yet in that moment, every elder kept his head lowered and his mouth shut. The whole group stood there like men afraid to breathe, and not one of them dared speak first and break the dead silence.
Godric''s icy gaze swept slowly across the people below. Then his low,manding voice rolled through the great hall.
"The Draconians havee out of hiding. The entire Sky Dragon n has moved into Cloudhaven City. You should all know that by now."
The assembled elders all hurried to nod, not daring to show even the slightest objection.
Godric let out a cold snort. When he spoke again, the edge in his voice turned heavier.
"That Jared was gifted to begin with. His methods are strange, and he''s extremely hard to deal with. Now the entire Sky Dragon n is backing him with everything they have, and his power is rising like the midday sun.
If we let him keep growing like this, it won''t be long before he bes the greatest hidden threat to the Celestial Pce. He may even shake the Celestial Pce''s rule over the Fourteenth Firmament!"
He paused, then let his eyes settle on the Grand Elder standing in front. "Grand Elder, two days ago I ordered you to go to the Demon Dragon Lineage and speak with Darian about joining forces. How did it go?"
At that, the Grand Elder immediately stepped forward, bowed, and answered with full respect.
"Hall Master, this subordinate met
with Darian But his attitude was extremely slippery. He neither clearly agreed to join hands with the Celestial Pce nor directly refused. He only said the matter was too important to decide at once, that he needed time to consider it, and told this subordinate to wait for word."
Godric''s brows drew tight. A trace of scorn and heat shed through his eyes.
"Consider it? Darian is obviously stalling on purpose. He''s waiting for us to raise the price ourselves!"
He rose slowly to his feet and stood in front of the seat of honor with his hands behind his back. His eyes looked out toward the cloud sea beyond the hall, and when he spoke, his voice turned cold as iron.
"The Sky Dragon n has shown itself, and Jared is on the rise. That isn''t just a problem for the Celestial Pce. It''s also a mortal enemy for the Demon Dragon Lineage.
That old fox Darian knows it better than anyone. The Demon Dragon Lineage and the orthodox dragon bloodline are sworn enemies, and Jared carries the Dragon Sovereign Bloodline. He definitely won''t spare them.
He''s dragging this out because he wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. He''s waiting for us to offer even more before he''s willing to move."
The Grand Elder hurried to agree.
"Hall Master is absolutely right! Darian is sly and suspicious by nature. He never
acts until he sees real profit in front of him. Ordinary benefits won''t even catch his
eye.
If we want him to willingly join forces with the Celestial Pce this time, I''m afraid we''ll have to show enough sincerity."
Godric turned back around and fixed the Grand Elder with a burning stare.
"This time, take more men with you when you return to the Demon Dragon Hall.
Gather three True Immortal elders. Then pick out fifty elite High Immortal cultivators to go with you."
The Grand Elder stiffened and answered at once, "Understood!"
A harsh glint shed through Godric''s eyes.
"When you reach the Demon Dragon Hall, if Darian knows what''s good for him and agrees to work with the Celestial Pce to kill Jared then everything can still be discussed All the benefits we promised before will be doubled. But if he still refuses to appreciate the situation and keeps making excuses and dragging his feet..."
At that point, Godric''s voice dropped all at once, the killing intent in it turning razor-
sharp.
"Then make sure he gets a good look at the Celestial Pce''s authority. The Demon Dragon Lineage is nothing but a crooked demonic branch. It doesn''t get to provoke us whenever it pleases!"