A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5864

The elder's brows pinched together, carving a fine line between his eyes. He weighed his words, then spoke with the care of a seasoned archivist—his voice little more than the hushed crackle of parchment. "Jadeheart Marrow... I recall seeing a fleeting reference to it buried in one of the oldest compendiums I ever handled. It is said to gather in the deepest fissures of the Infernal Lava Abyss, seeping drop by patient drop from the living veins of the planet's core. One drop takes ten millennia to form. And that single drop, legend claims, can fortify the body's root, bind the soul to its shell, and anchor the spirit against oblivion. Understand, though—these are only whispers handed down as myth. I have lived in level eleven for several thousand years, and in all that time I have never met anyone who has actually laid eyes on the thing."

Once again—the same hollow answer, echoing like a door that refused to open.

Jared masked his disappointment and forced his voice steady. "Then where, exactly, is this Infernal Lava Abyss?"

"South of here," the elder replied, lifting a finger as if tracing a distant horizon. "Deep inside the Blaze Region of level eleven—no less than a million miles away. The place is merciless. Earth-fire rages there without pause, rivers of molten stone cross the land like hungry serpents, and even those who stand firmly in the Heavenly Immortal Realm hesitate before stepping across its threshold. If you truly intend to venture there, young friend, you must prepare for every terror the abyss can conjure."

A million miles. At Jared's current top speed, even flying without pause he would need a full month just to arrive.

And that was only the travel. Surviving the Blaze Region itself would demand a plan far more intricate than anything he had sketched so far.

What Jared did not know—could not have known—was that the moment he and Vermilion had stepped through Sandrock City's gate, a silent pair of eyes had fixed on them and never once blinked.

News of their arrival had already streaked up to Malevolent Path Hall's headquarters in level twelve, riding the sect's lightning-swift channels of information.

Several streets away, inside the private loft of a three-story tea-house, a man in an unremarkable gray cloak watched the entrance of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion through a narrow window slit. In his palm glowed a dusky message token—its surface pulsing with cold, secret light.

"Target confirmed inside Sandrock City, currently asking about 'Jadeheart Marrow,'" he murmured to the token, his tone flat as winter stone. "Companion: one, a demon cultivator. Target's visible aura places him at Heavenly Immortal Realm Level One, but his composure suggests hidden depth."

A rasping voice bled from the token. "Maintain surveillance. Do not rattle the cage. The Master orders that this boy must die, but only after his movements become predictable. Also—discover why they seek the Jadeheart Marrow."

"Understood."

The watcher folded the token away and resumed his statue-still vigil. He employed no detectable spiritual sense, relying solely on keen mortal sight and an impeccable vantage—an observer carved from stone and shadow.

Jared prided himself on caution, yet fresh to level eleven, even he could not guard every blind spot. And who would imagine that within mere hours of arrival he would already sit beneath so tight a noose?

Such efficiency was common currency in Malevolent Path Hall's sprawling network—an empire of hidden shops, inns, and guild fronts embedded in every major sky-realm.

Sandrock City held one of the smallest of these towns, yet its importance as the lone supply oasis in the northern desert region of level eleven guaranteed Malevolent Path Hall agents a foothold here.

When Jared and Vermilion had paid their entrance fee, their faces and signatures of their auras were quietly etched onto a covert ledger and pulsed straight to the local node. Malevolent Path Hall had long since circulated Jared's likeness across every branch; the bounty promised for his head set greedy hearts pounding. The Sandrock overseer received the alert in less than a breath.

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