Mchy looked at Jared, the corner of his mouth lifting just a little.


    "Jared." His voice came out low andzy, like a lion dozing in the afternoon sun. "I''ve heard your name for a long time."


    Jared walked to the foot of the tform and stopped.


    Then he lifted his head and looked straight at Mchy.


    "Lord of Shadow Hall, I''m here to take the Reincarnation Core."


    He went straight to the point.


    No pleasantries. No small talk.


    Mchy''s smile locked for a beat. He clearly hadn''t expected Jared toe at him that directly.


    The demonic cultivators in the pce froze too.


    They had seen countless peoplee to Shade Abyss to seek an audience with the Hall Master.


    Some came begging for mercy. Some came to pay their respects. Some came bearing gifts. Some came to talk alliance. Not one of them had ever dared to speak like this.


    He had just said, "I''m here to take the Reincarnation Core," as if the greatest treasure of the demon Shadow Hall were nothing more than a rock lying in his own rear court.


    Mchy Vane went quiet for a moment.


    Then he smiled.


    It was a faint smile, so faint it barely showed.


    But a trace of amusement flickered through his eyes.


    "The Reincarnation Core is the treasured relic of our demon Shadow Hall, and you think you can just take it because you said so?"


    Jared looked at him and said nothing.


    Mchy Vane rose from the throne and stepped down from the high tform.


    The way he moved carried an easy grace, like a stroll through his own garden. But every step held a terrifying weight of power.


    By the time he stopped in front of Jared, it seemed like the air around them had turned solid.


    The pressure of a True Immortal Realm Level Seven cultivator came down like a mountain.


    Jared did not give an inch.


    Chaotic force surged through his body.


    Violet radiance flowed over his skin and quietly dissolved that pressure away.


    His face stayed still, his gaze clear, as if Mchy Vane''s pressure was nothing more than a passing breeze.


    Mchy Vane''s eyes narrowed slightly.


    "Interesting," he murmured.


    He lifted a hand.


    A mass of ck radiance gathered in his palm.


    That radiance was not demonic aura.


    It was something older than that, purer than that.


    Chaotic demonic aura.


    Legend said the demon progenitor had cultivated this very power.


    It could devour anything, corrode anything, destroy anything.


    "Let me see what you''re really capable of."


    Mchy Vane struck out with his palm.


    The strike was slow.


    So slow Jared could see every line etched into his palm.


    But the power packed inside that one palm was enough to tten the mountain peak.


    Jared did not dodge.


    He raised his right hand and met it with a palm strike of his own.


    The violet chaotic force crashed into the ck chaotic demonic aura.


    There was no explosion. No thunderous st. Just one low, heavy hum.


    Between their palms, the two powers twisted tog ner.


    They devoured each other. Merged into each other.


    Violet radiance and ck radiance coiled around each other like two giant dragons locked in a fight.


    The space around them started to warp, and the air let out a sharp, tearing screech. The demonic cultivators inside the pce nched and stumbled back one after another.


    A full-force strike from a True Immortal Realm Level Seven was enough to tten the entire pce.


    But Jared had actually stopped it.


    With only Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Eight cultivation, he had actually blocked a full-force strike from a True Immortal Realm Level Seven.


    Mchy Vane''s eyes lit up.


    "Good!" he roared, pulling his palm back.


    Jared withdrew his hand too, his face still calm.


    Only his right hand gave a faint tremor.


    Mchy Vane''s power was the real thing. If chaotic force hadn''t held down all other


    power, that palm strike might have been more than Jared could take.


    Mchy Vane looked at him and said nothing for a long time.


    Then heughed.


    This time, the smile had lost that yful edge.


    What showed through now was in, open approval.


    "Jared, you''re stronger than the rumors said."


    He turned, walked back to the raised tform, and sat down on the ck throne


    again.


    "The Reincarnation Core... I can give it to you."


    Jared said nothing and waited for him to continue.


    Mchy Vane leaned back on the ck throne, his fingers tapping lightly against


    the armrest in a steady rhythm.


    "But I have one condition."


    Jared looked at him. "Say it."


    Mchy Vane''s fingers stopped.


    He looked at Jared, and something deeply hidden flickered through his eyes.


    "I want you to help me kill someone."


    Jared''s brows drew together a fraction. "Who?"


    By then, the answer had already started to take shape in Jared''s mind.


    Mchy didn''t answer right away.


    He rose from the throne and walked to the edge of the high tform.


    With his back to Jared, he looked up at the inverted starry sky overhead.


    "A True Immortal Realm Level Six cultivator."


    His voice dropped so low it almost blended into the air. "He''s my enemy. Five thousand years ago, he killed my wife. For five thousand years I''ve been waiting for a chance to settle that debt. Our cultivation levels may be higher than his, but the Celestial Tribunal stands behind him."


    He turned and looked at Jared.


    "But you''re different. Your chaotic force suppresses every kind of power, including


    his. If you kill him, it won''t be any trouble at all."


    Jared went still for a moment. "You''re talking about Magnus Storme?"


    Mchy froze.


    He clearly hadn''t expected Jared to know Magnus Storme''s name.


    "That''s right. He''s the current Deputy Hall Master of the Celestial Tribunal-Magnus


    Storme." Mchy gave a short nod.


    Jared''s eyes narrowed slightly.


    Deputy Hall Master of the Celestial Tribunal. True Immortal Realm Level Seven.


    The number one figure beneath the Tribunal Venerable.


    He cultivated a lightning discipline, and hisbat strength was terrifying. In the Fifteenth Firmament, his name carried a vicious weight.


    "Kill him, and the Reincarnation Core is yours," Mchy said. "And that''s not all.


    From this day on, Shadow Hall will be your ally. Whatever concerns you concerns


    me."


    Jared stayed silent for a long while.


    He had no intention of bing someone else''s de.


    But he needed the Reincarnation Core.


    The Ghost n''s hope rested on those three supreme treasures.


    "Fine." Jared nodded once. "I agree."


    Mchy smiled.


    He drew a ck token from his sleeve and held it out to Jared.


    "This is Magnus Storme''s trail. He goes to Thunderpeak on the fifteenth of every month to cultivate his thunder arts, Today is the thirteenth. Two days from now will be the fifteenth. You can wait for him at Thunderpeak."


    Jared took the token and nced at it.


    "After I kill him, how do I find you?"


    "You won''t need to find me," Mchy said. "Once Magnus Storme is dead, word will make way to me on its own when that happens, I''ll personally ce the Reincarnation Core in your hands."


    tom


    Jared gave a small nod and turned to leave.


    "Wait." Mchy stopped him.


    Jared halted.


    "You''re not worried I''ll go back on my word?" Mchy asked.


    "You can try."


    Then he left.


    Gwendolyn followed behind him.


    Mchy stood atop the high tform and watched the two of them disappear into


    the tunnel.


    He stayed there a long time without moving.


    "Interesting," he murmured. "Very interesting."