"Let me go! Let me go!"


    The little girl fought with everything she had, kicking and biting, twisting wildly in his grip.


    But in front of that celestial cultivator, her strength amounted to nothing.


    "Stop!"


    The old steward roared and tried to charge over and save her.


    Two celestial cultivators cut him off at the same time, one with a sword and one with


    a de, driving him back step after step.


    The middle-aged man at the front strolled over at an easy pace.


    He took the little girl from hispanion, pinched her chin between his fingers, and looked her up and down.


    "A Ghost n brat."


    "Pretty enough, I guess. Too bad. Blood like the Ghost n''s doesn''t deserve to live."


    He raised a hand.


    A ball of golden radiance gathered in his palm as he brought it down toward the little girl''s head.


    The little girl squeezed her eyes shut.


    Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.


    "Grandpa... save me..."


    "Xavier Hale, stop—" the old steward shouted at the celestial middle-aged man.


    But Xavier Hale acted as if he hadn''t heard a thing.


    Then, at that razor-edge instant, a streak of violet radiance tore through the darkness over the dry riverbed.


    Xavier Hale''s palm hadn''t evene down yet when a terrifying force mmed into him and sent his whole body flying.


    He tumbled through the air several times.


    Then he crashed hard into the riverbed''s rock wall, sting a huge crater into it.


    Golden blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.


    "Who?!"


    He barked it out and snapped his gaze toward the direction the light hade from.


    Jared stood on the hillock, slowly lowering his hand.


    His face was still a little pale, and the wounds on his body still hadn''t fully healed. But his eyes were cold as des.


    "A human cultivator?"


    Once Xavier Hale got a clear look at Jared, he paused for a beat, then let out a coldugh.


    "Human cultivator, you''ve got the nerve to stick your nose into celestial business? Do you even know who we are?"


    "No idea," Jared said as he came down from the hillock. Every step was steady. "And I don''t care to know."


    Xavier''s eyes narrowed.


    He caught it then. This human cultivator looked like he was only in the High Immortal Realm, but there was something on him that put a hard edge into the air.


    "I''m warning you. Stay out of this."


    Xavier lowered his voice.


    "The Celestial Tribunal is carrying out its judgment. Anyone not involved should back off. If you''re smart, you can still leave right now."


    Jared ignored him.


    He walked over to the little girl, crouched beside her, and asked quietly, "Are you okay?"


    The little girl opened her eyes. The second she saw Jared''s face, she broke into loud sobs and threw herself into his arms.


    "Don''t be scared." Jared patted her lightly on the back.


    Then he rose and moved her behind him.


    After that, he looked at Xavier.


    "Get lost."


    It was only one word, but the killing force packed inside it made the celestial


    cultivators behind Xavier take an involuntary step back.


    Xavier''s face turned a sickly iron blue.


    "You want to die!"


    He shed a hand forward.


    "Kill him."


    Thirty or forty celestial cultivators moved at the same time. Golden holy radiance surged at Jared like a rising tide.


    Jared raised his right hand, and purple chaotic force gathered into his palm.


    He did not draw the Dragonyer Sword. It had been damaged in the spatial storm,


    and he had no intention of putting any more strain on it.


    He only tightened his hand into a fist, then drove it forward.


    The purple force of that punch shot out like a meteor, dragging a long ming tail behind it as it mmed into the flood of golden holy radiance.


    Boom!


    In front of the purple chaotic force, the golden holy radiance might as well have been made of paper. Layer byyer, it was torn apart, swallowed up, and wiped from existence.


    Where the purple fist-force tore through, celestial cultivators dropped in rows like wheat under a de.


    Some were sted backward. Some had their protective holy radiance shattered apart. Some took the hit and cked out on the spot.


    In less than three breaths, all thirty or forty celestial cultivators were sprawled across the ground.


    Only then did Xavier''s face finally change.


    "You... who are you?"


    His voice shook. "High Immortal Realm... that''s impossible..."


    Jared gave him no answer.


    He stepped forward once.


    His body shed like a streak of purple lightning and appeared in front of Xavier in


    an instant.


    Xavier jolted and drove his holy radiance with everything he had. Golden light piled


    up in front of him and condensed into a thick, heavy shield.


    Jared mmed a punch into the shield.


    Crack!


    The shield shattered.


    The second punchnded in Xavier''s chest.


    "Pff"


    A mouthful of golden blood burst from Xavier''s lips, and his whole body was hammered backward again, smashing through a massive boulder in the riverbed.


    He struggled back to his feet, and the terror in his eyes no longer had any cover. "Retreat!" he screamed hoarsely. "Retreat, now!"


    The surviving celestial cultivators grabbed hold of him and fled in a scrambling mess, stumbling and crawling as they ran.


    Silence returned to the riverbed.


    Jared turned and looked at the Ghost n warriors, and at the old people, women, and children behind them.


    They were all looking at him with the same tangled expression.


    There was gratitude in it. There was surprise.


    But more than anything, there was a careful wariness, like something hurt too many times to trust kindness easily.


    They looked at him the way a little animal looked after being hurt too many times- wary, shrinking back, not daring to trust anyone''s kindness too easily.


    Edric, the one leading them, struggled to his feet.


    Then he made his way to Jared and bowed deeply.


    "Thank you for saving our lives, Jared," he said, his voice rough and worn thin. "My


    name is Edric. I serve the Moonshade Realm... as an old servant."


    Jared caught him before he could stay bent over. "No need for that. You''re hurt


    badly. Sit down first, then talk."


    Edric shook his head. "It''s nothing serious. Just flesh wounds. But you..."


    His eyes went to Jared''s pale face, then to the wounds on his body that still hadn''t closed.


    Something in his look tightened.


    "You made those injuries worse to save us, Jared. This old man..."


    "I said there''s no need for that," Jared cut in. "I was just passing by. I just couldn''t


    stand by and watch."


    He paused, then asked, "You''re from the Ghost n? And the ones hunting you


    were celestials?"


    Edric nodded. "Men from the


    Celestial Tribunal. They''ve been hunting the Ghost n for thousands of years. My nsmen the dead are dead, the scattered are scattered. At this point, all that''s left are the old, the weak, the sick, and the wounded."


    His voice kept dropping until thest few words were barely more than a murmur.


    Jared said nothing for a moment.


    He remembered what Lydia Wraithmoor had told him.


    Under the name of "purging evil," the celestials hadunched a ughter against


    the Ghost n.


    Not even one in ten had survived.


    The ones who did had been forced to hide in every direction.


    So these were Lydia Wraithmoor''s people.


    "Where are you trying to go?" Jared asked.


    "We''re heading back to the Moonshade Realm," Edric said. "It''s the Ghost n''s


    found it."


    He nced at the old people, the women, and the children behind him, then gave a bitter little smile. "We started with more than 300. Hunted all the way here, and now this is all that''s left."


    The little girl was still clinging to Jared''s leg.


    She refused to let go.


    Tear tracks still streaked her face, but she had stopped crying.


    She only looked up at Jared with those wide, glossy ck eyes, as if she was afraid


    he''d vanish the second she loosened her grip.


    Edric looked at the little girl and let out a long breath. "This is L. Her parents... in


    that fight just now..."


    He didn''t finish.


    He didn''t need to.


    Jared lowered his eyes to the little girl and reached out to gently pat her head.


    "Your name is L?"


    The little girl nodded.


    "Mm," she said in a tiny voice. "Where''s your grandpa?"


    L''s eyes turned red again.


    "Grandpa... Grandpa was protecting me..."


    She couldn''t get the rest out.


    She buried her face against Jared''s leg, her shoulders shaking in little jerks.


    Jared didn''t ask anything else.


    He went quiet for a moment.


    Then he looked at Edric and said, "I''ll take you back."


    Edric froze. "Jared, how could we ask that of you..."


    "Just call me Jared."


    Jared cut him off. "And I have a


    friend who''s from the Ghost n


    too. She got swept away in a spatial storm, and there''s a good chance. she''s somewhere nearby: IT


    chance


    you back, and while I''m at it, look


    for news of her too."


    Edric''s eyes suddenly lit up. "A friend? From the Ghost n too?"


    Jared nodded. "Her name is Lydia Wraithmoor."


    Edric''s whole body jolted.


    "Lydia... Princess Lydia?"


    Even his voice shook. "You know Princess Lydia?"


    "I do!" Jared said with a nod.


    Tears streamed down Edric''s face. "Princess Lydia is the princess of our


    Moonshade Realm! She''s Sovereign ric Wraithmoor''s daughter!"


    "A while back, Princess Lydia left, saying she was going to find the Door of


    Reincarnation. After that, there was no word from her at all. The Sovereign has been worrying about her ever since..."


    He grabbed Jared''s arm, his voice trembling. "Jared, the Princess... is she... is she


    still alive?"


    Jared nodded. "She''s alive. We got separated in the spatial storm, but she should be in no danger for now."


    Edric dropped to his knees, tears pouring down his face. "Heaven still has eyes...


    Heaven still has eyes..."


    Behind them, the Ghost n warriors and the old, the weak, the women, and the children all heard that Princess Lydia was still alive.


    One after another, they dropped to their knees. Some cried. Someughed. Some


    just kept muttering under their breath.


    Jared went to them and pulled them up one by one. "Get up. Don''t kneel. Once we


    get back to the Moonshade Realm, I''ll figure out a way to find her."


    Edric wiped at his tears and nodded again and again. "Good. Good. Benefactor... no, Mr. Jared, we''ll set out right away. The Moonshade


    Realm is deep in the twoel.ne


    Mountain Range it''s still two days away."


    Jared gave a small nod, then bent down and lifted L into his arms.


    Ly against his shoulder, her little hand clutching his clothes tight.


    It wasn''t long before she fell asleep.


    The group started toward the Nether Mountain Range.


    Behind them, the wind swept across the Wastnds and stirred up gray-ck sand.


    Little by little, it buried the blood on the dry riverbed and the traces of the battle.


    Under the purple sky, two suns shone side by side, stretching every shadow long, then longer still.