Gwendolyn drew in a deep breath, formed a seal with both hands, then slowly raised them with her palms facing upward.


    The two strands of white light rose with her movement and floated to a point 3 feet above the stone dais.


    Gwendolyn''s hands moved softly through the air. Her ten fingers looked like they were ying a silent song, every motion precise down to the limit.


    The golden patterns along the cave walls began to light up, answering the glow in Gwendolyn''s palms from afar.


    Those ancient runes peeled away from the cave walls and turned into golden symbols. They spun and wheeled through the void, then one by one sank into the two strands of white light.


    With each symbol that merged into them, the two strands of white light grew a little more solid, and their glow brightened a little more.


    Jared could feel it clearly. The remnant souls of Sidney and his wife were bing more and moreplete, more and more solid with every passing moment.


    The process went on for a full 2 hours.


    When thest golden symbol sank into the remnant souls, the two streaks of white light finally settledpletely.


    They turned slowly above the stone dais, giving off a warm, quiet glow, like two tiny suns.


    Gwendolyn lowered her hands and took a step back.


    Her face had gone a shade paler.


    "The remnant souls are out now, and they''ve been stabilized."


    Her voice came out worn. "Next, they need new bodies. That will take even longer, at least seven days. And..."


    She stopped there and looked at Jared.


    "Rebuilding their bodies will need a huge amount of life force as material. My spiritual power can cover part of it, but not nearly enough. The rest... that has toe from you."


    "How much?" Jared asked without a second of hesitation.


    Gwendolyn looked at his eyes, not a trace of hesitation in them, and stayed quiet for a moment.


    "You''re not even going to ask what giving up your life force will do to you?"


    "No need." Jared shook his head. "As long as they can be saved, I''ll pay whatever price it takes."


    Gwendolyn looked at him in silence.


    Something in her eyes shifted,plicated and hard to read.


    "You really are..." she said softly, but the rest never came out.


    She turned away and faced the stone dais again.


    "Then let''s start. Hold out your hand."


    Jared held out his right hand.


    Gwendolyn took his wrist and lightly pressed her fingertips against his pulse.


    Her hand was cold, but a strange force moved at her fingertips.


    That force slipped through the meridians in his wrist and into his body.


    It circled once through his spirit well, then flowed back the way it hade.


    She let go of him.


    "The Golden Dragon Bloodline really is different," she said evenly. "Your life force is at least ten times stronger than a cultivator at the same cultivation level. With you here, these two bodies should be fine."


    She drew two golden seeds from her sleeve.


    They were no bigger than soybeans, but they carried the same aura as the ancient tree.


    "These are the Worldtree seeds. They''re also the key to reshaping their bodies."


    She ced the seeds on the stone dais, one to the left and one to the right, directly beneath the two white lights.


    "The Worldtree seeds will absorb life force and slowly grow into human shells. Once the shells are fully formed, the remnant souls will merge into them on their own andplete the rebirth."


    She looked at Jared.


    "This process has to continue for seven days and seven nights. It can''t be interrupted. You''ll need to keep pouring life force into the seeds the entire time, until the bodies arepletely formed."


    Jared nodded.


    "I understand."


    He sat cross-legged in front of the stone dais and ced a hand on each seed.


    The Golden Dragon Bloodline began to move inside him, and golden life force poured from his palms into the seeds.


    The seeds gave a faint tremble, then slowly began to swell.


    A thin little root pushed out through the seed coat and dug into a crack on the surface of the stone dais.


    Right after that, more roots pushed out and spread in every direction like a spiderweb.


    A crack split open at the top of each seed, and a tender green sprout pushed its way out. Bathed in the


    it swayed softly


    golden radianox


    The sprout grew fast enough to see with the naked eye.


    In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, it had already reached half a foot tall.


    Branches started splitting off from the stalk.


    More leaves unfurled along them, and every single one looked fresh enough to drip, full of raw life.


    Jared could clearly feel his life force draining away at a steady, constant pace.


    It didn''t hurt.


    +


    It just wore on him, like he''d been running for a very, very long time his


    body getting heavier and heavier, his steps slowing more and more.


    But he couldn''t stop.


    He gritted his teeth and held on.


    The Golden Dragon Bloodline inside him spun like mad, turning every bit of life force


    into nourishment for the growing seeds.


    Gwendolyn stood off to the side and watched him in silence.


    Her gaze moved from his face to his hands, then to the two sprouts thriving as they


    grew.


    "Is it worth it?" she asked all of a sudden, her voice quiet.


    "It is," Jared said tly without looking up.


    Gwendolyn said nothing.


    She had lived a long, long time.


    She had seen too many people, too much life and death, too many debts, grudges,


    and tangled ties.


    She had seen people sell out friends for profit.


    She had seen people throw away theirpanions just to stay alive.


    She had seen people swear promise after promise, then turn around and forget


    every word.


    But someone like Jared was rare even for her.


    For the sake of one promise, Jared


    hade all this way. He had crossed the Voidwind and walked straight into the risk ofplete annihtion, just to reach a ce he''d never seen before.


    And now, to save two people, he was burning his own life force as fuel without so


    much as blinking.


    "You..." Gwendolyn said those three words again.


    Then she shook her head and said nothing more.


    She turned and walked to the corner of the cavern.


    There, she sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes to regte her breathing.


    She had spent a good deal of her spiritual power too.


    She needed time to recover.


    The cavern went quiet.


    Only the soft rustle of the seedlings growing and Jared''s steady breathing remained.


    Golden radiance flowed through the cavern.


    It covered everything in a warmth so still it almost made the whole ce seem at


    peace.


    Outside the cavern, the huge Worldtree swayed gently in the wind.


    Its golden leaves rustled softly, like it was singing some ancient song.