Jared paused, then started taking stock of everything he owned.


    He went through his Storage Ring and pulled the items out one by one.


    Spirit stones, healing elixirs, technique scrolls, a few fairly decent arcane implements, some forging materials... Jared took them out one by one until a whole pile was spread across the ground.


    Then he nced at the sleeping fire unicorn and stopped there. He didn''t take the fire unicorn out.


    If the fire unicorn ever found out Jared had actually considered treating it like something he could trade away, it would probably blow up on the spot.


    The woman gave the pile a single look, then lightly shook her head. "Celestial Pcecks none of this."


    Jared''s brows pulled together.


    She wasn''t wrong. He really didn''t have anything worth putting on the table.


    Everything he owned, added together, probably wouldn''t even measure up to what an ordinary wandering cultivator had in a ce like the Fourteenth Firmament.


    "Then what do you want?" he asked.


    The woman didn''t answer. Instead, she moved around Jared in a slow circle, her gaze traveling back and forth over him.


    Under that look, he got the clear sense that nothing could stay hidden from her, as if he had no secrets left in front of those eyes.


    "Golden Dragon Bloodline..." she murmured, so softly it almost sounded like she was speaking to herself. "And Royal Bloodline too... interesting."


    She stopped in front of Jared and looked straight into his eyes.


    "I want you."


    Jared said nothing.


    For a second, he seriously suspected he''d heard her wrong.


    "What?"


    The woman said, calm as ever, "I said I want you. You''ll stay in the Celestial Pce and do three things for me. In return, I''ll free those two remnant souls and remake their bodies for them."


    Jared went quiet for a moment.


    "What three things?"


    "Haven''t decided yet," the woman said, like there was nothing at all unreasonable about that. "I''ll tell you when I do."


    Jared fell silent.


    He drew in a deep breath and worked to keep his voice even.


    "So what you''re saying is, I sell myself to you without even knowing what I''ll be doing?"


    The woman gave it some thought, then said withplete seriousness, "You can understand it that way."


    At that point, Jared seriously suspected he''d run into a swindler.


    "How do I know you can actually do it?" He kept his eyes locked on hers. "How do I know you''re not lying to me?"


    The woman didn''t take offense.


    Instead, the corner of her mouth lifted just a little.


    The smile was faint, but it softened her whole face by a degree or two, turning her


    from a cold snow mountain into ake touched by spring wind.


    "If you don''t believe me, you can leave," she said lightly. "But those remnant souls of yours can only sit there and wait to die."


    Jared clenched his teeth.


    He knew he had no choice.


    Sidney and his wife''s remnant souls couldn''t hold on much longer.


    He didn''t have time to go looking for some other way.


    Forget three things in the Celestial Pce. Even if she had asked for half his life, Jared still could only agree.


    "Fine." Jared drew in a deep breath. "I agree."


    The woman gave a slight nod, like that answer had been exactly what she expected.


    "Come with me."


    She turned and started toward the islet in the middle of theke.


    Her steps were so light they made no sound at all on the ice.


    Her white dress stirred faintly in the wind, blending into the snow and ice around her until she looked like she belonged to this stretch of frozennd more than anything else in it.


    Jared stepped after her, but he had barely taken two steps when both legs gave out and he dropped straight to his knees on the ice.


    His spiritual power waspletely gone.


    Seven days and seven nights of nonstop flight, and forcing his way through the Voidwind, had drained everyst bit of strength from him.


    Now that the strain holding him up had loosened, his body quit on him at once.


    The woman stopped and nced back at him.


    There was a trace of helplessness in that look, and something softer mixed into it, something even she seemed not to notice.


    "Troublesome."


    She quietly dropped those two words, then walked back, bent down, hooked his arm over her shoulder, and pulled him to his feet.


    Her body was cold. Even through their clothes, that clear, chilling coolness came through.


    But the way she moved was light and steady, like she was helping up a child who had tripped and fallen.


    Jared tried to push her away, but his body had already stopped listening to him.


    "Don''t move," the woman said. Her voice stayed t, but there was no room to argue with it. "Move again, and I throw you into theke".


    He got the message and stayed still.


    Supporting him, the woman stepped onto theke''s surface.


    Strangely enough, the ice that looked so thin and fragile didn''t budge at all under their weight.


    There wasn''t even a single crack.


    Below the ice, the dark sapphireke dropped so deep he couldn''t see the bottom.


    Far down in the depths, something seemed to be swimming slowly.


    The islet in the middle of theke looked close, but the walk to it dragged on far longer than it should have.


    Jared''s awareness kept fading.


    The scene in front of him started to warp.


    All he could still make out was the shadowing figure beside him, and the faint scent


    on her, quiet and cold, like plum blossoms in winter.


    "What''s your name?" he asked, using thest of his strength.


    The woman fell silent for a moment.


    "Gwendolyn."


    Her voice was soft, so soft the wind almost swallowed it.


    Jared tried to say something, but right then, his consciousness dropped all the way


    into darkness.


    His body went ck and sank heavily against Gwendolyn''s shoulder.


    Gwendolyn lowered her eyes to the young man leaning against her and drew her brows together a little.


    "You''ve got some nerve," she muttered softly. "First time meeting me, and you already dare to lean on me."


    She didn''t push him away.


    She only adjusted her hold and let him rest against her a little morefortably.


    Then she kept walking toward the islet in the middle of theke.


    Her steps stayed steady. Her shadowing figure stayed just as cold and distant.


    Only the hand supporting Jared tightened a little.


    Jared had a very long dream.


    In the dream, he stood in a golden sea.


    Soft sandy under his feet, and a brilliant starry sky spread above him.


    Countless golden leaves floated on the surface of the sea, every one of them giving off a faint glow, like


    stars that had fallen into the


    им


    world.


    He looked down and found that the face reflected in the seawater wasn''t his own,


    but a stranger''s.


    That face was blurred and hard to make out. Only the eyes stood out with startling


    rity.


    Those eyes... looked a lot like Gwendolyn''s.


    They had the same depth. The same cold stillness. The same sense of endless


    years hidden underneath.


    "What did you see?"


    A voice came from behind him.


    Jared turned and saw Gwendolyn standing three steps behind him, watching him in


    silence.


    Her white clothes had been brushed with warmth by the golden radiance.


    She no longer looked as cold and far away as before. There was a faint touch of the


    ordinary world about her now.


    "A tree," Jared said. "A very big tree."


    "And?" Gwendolyn said, one brow lifting slightly.


    "A sea." Jared paused, then added, "And your eyes."


    Gwendolyn said nothing.


    She looked at Jared with a steady gaze.


    There was scrutiny in it, thought in it, and the faintest shift buried so deep it was


    almost impossible to catch.


    "You''re interesting," she said atst,


    her tone softer than before. "In 30 thousand years, you''re the first person who''s ever said something like that to me."