Jared chance novel Chapter 6574

The flagstone path wound deeper through the bamboo grove.

On both sides, green stalks swayed in the breeze, leaves whispering against each other like they were guarding some ancient secret.

Jared walked behind Adrian, his violet eyes sweeping the grove.

He could feel it immediately. Not a single stalk here was ordinary. Every piece of the bamboo forest belonged to a larger formation.

Beneath the ground, the bamboo roots braided together into a vast hidden web, drawing the spiritual essence of the entire vale into one place.

It formed a natural Spiritual Energy Convergence Array.

The method behind that arrangement was extraordinary.

This wasn't something built in a day, or even an age. It had taken tens of thousands—possibly hundreds of thousands—of years of accumulation and change to become what it was now.

The Aureate Way ran far deeper than Jared had imagined.

After the three companions followed the flagstone path for about half an hour, the bamboo began to thin.

Ahead, a flagstone archway came into view.

The archway stood about 3 yards tall, built from two massive stone pillars and a crossbeam.

The pillars were carved all over with sigils of the Aureate Way, and across the beam were four ancient characters:

"Ashford Hollow."

Beyond the archway stretched a broad flagstone avenue.

Rows of heartwood lined both sides, heavy with many-hued spirit fruit that gave off an irresistible sweetness.

At the end of the avenue stood a vast shrine-complex.

It had been built into the mountain itself—gray tiles, white walls, upturned eaves stacked layer upon layer.

From the mountain foot all the way to the summit, it rose as if it had grown straight out of the stone.

Every hall in the shrine-complex was wrapped in a faint wash of spiritual light.

That glow came from the hall-warding formation in motion.

Above the shrine-complex, cranes circled through the air while bright clouds drifted around the peaks.

A spirit spring spilled from the mountaintop in a roaring cascade, its thunderous rush echoing through the entire vale.

Adrian stopped in front of the archway and turned to face Jared.

"Mr. Chance, please wait here."

He bowed slightly.

"My master said you are an honored guest of the Aureate Way. You are to be received with the highest ceremony. I'll go announce your arrival now."

Jared nodded.

Adrian turned and headed up the flagstone avenue, moving much faster than before.

After about 100 steps, he suddenly stopped.

He drew a jade talisman from his sleeve and sent spiritual power into it. A clear, ringing note burst from the talisman and rolled through the vale, lingering for a long time before it faded.

The instant that note died away, bells and drums erupted from inside the shrine-complex.

The bells rang first—deep, steady, weighty.

Nine peals in all. Each one reverberated through the vale hard enough to numb the ears, yet carried a solemn grandeur that made the air itself feel sacred.

Then came the drums.

They thundered with fierce, vigorous force—also nine beats—interweaving with the bells like the opening of some ancient rite.

The main gate opened slowly.

Two lines of disciples of the Aureate Way stepped out in blue-green robes of the Way and took their places along both sides of the avenue. In every pair of hands was an azure lantern, its flame flickering in the breeze and casting the whole road in clear light.

None of those disciples were weak.

The lowest among them was True Immortal Realm Level Seven, and the strongest few had already reached the peak of True Immortal Realm Level Nine.

They stood in perfect order, every posture respectful.

Then, as one, their eyes settled on Jared, and the curiosity and expectation in them was impossible to hide.

Jared took in the scene, and a flicker of surprise crossed his violet eyes.

Nine bell peals. Nine drumbeats. Two ranks of disciples standing in formal reception.

In any order, that kind of ceremony was reserved for the most honored of guests.

And he—a youth at True Immortal Realm Level Eight, visiting Ashford Hollow for the first time—was being welcomed with exactly that treatment.

What exactly was Master Alaric trying to do?

The thought flashed through Jared's mind, but he had no chance to dwell on it.

A figure had already emerged from the shrine-complex.

Windows stood open on all four sides, framing green bamboo outside and mountain scenery in the distance.

The room was plain inside—a wooden table, a few wooden chairs, and a set of celadon tea ware resting on the tabletop.

Steam curled from the teapot, and the fragrance of tea filled the room, fresh and light enough to clear the mind with a single breath.

Alaric invited Jared to sit, then personally poured him a cup of tea.

"This is Ashford Hollow's own spirit tea, called Ashen Mist. It's picked from a thousand-year-old tea tree on the mountaintop, and we get only 3 pounds of it a year.

Please, Mr. Chance—have a taste."

Jared lifted the teacup and took a small sip.

The instant the tea touched his tongue, a warm current of spiritual power slid down his throat into his spirit well.

It circled once through his meridians, and his whole mind sharpened.

"Excellent tea." Jared set the teacup down and meant it.

Alaric smiled and took the seat across from him.

Gwendolyn and Adrian didn't sit.

They remained at the doorway, one on each side, like a pair of silent guardians.

That left only Jared and Alaric seated across from each other inside the tea room.

Silence settled between them for a moment.

Jared knew Alaric hadn't invited him here just to drink tea.

And Jared had far too many questions to keep sitting quietly.

"Master," Jared said at last, meeting Alaric's gaze with those violet eyes, "this junior has many questions. Would Master be willing to answer them?"

Alaric nodded. "Ask, Mr. Chance. I'll hold nothing back."

Jared took the black stone out of his Storage Ring and set it on the table.

In the light of the tea room, the black stone gave off a faint glow.

The sigil-lines across its surface shifted dimly, as if something inside it were asleep.

"What is this?"

Jared looked at Alaric. "Where did it come from? Why is it in my hands? And what does it have to do with the Chaos Sanctum?"