Jared chance novel Chapter 6575

Master Alaric Vale’s gaze settled on the black stone.

For the first time, the stillness in his eyes rippled.

He reached out and ran his fingertips across its surface with almost reverent care, as if he were touching something priceless that had finally found its way back to him.

"This black stone," Alaric said, his voice dropping, "is a key fragment to the Chaos Sanctum."

"A key fragment?" Jared’s brow tightened.

"The Chaos Sanctum isn’t an ordinary palace."

Alaric drew his hand back and lifted his teacup for a small sip.

"It was forged at the birth of chaos, when the world had only just begun to take shape. The forebears of the Aureate Way built it with supreme power. Inside it, they sealed the core inheritance of the Aureate Way—the 108 highest sacred scriptures, with the Aureate Codex among them, along with the forebears’ insights into the laws of the realm and their cultivation experience."

One hundred and eight supreme sacred scriptures.

The words hit Jared hard.

The Aureate Codex was only one of them?

Then what kind of arcane arts were the other 107?

"But the Aureate Codex stands at the head of those 108 scriptures," Alaric said. "Whoever possesses it holds the purest inheritance of the Aureate Way."

"Senior, which firmament is the Chaos Sanctum in?" Jared asked.

"It isn’t in any firmament of the celestial realm."

"It exists outside the laws of the world, in an independent realm untouched by the celestial realm’s restraints. That realm has no fixed coordinates, no fixed entrance, not even a fixed flow of time.

"To enter the Chaos Sanctum, you have to gather all three key fragments and make them whole. Only then can you open the spatial passage that leads there."

Three key fragments.

Jared lowered his eyes to the black stone on the table, thought flashing through those violet eyes.

"So there are two more stones like this?"

"That’s right."

Alaric nodded.

"The three key fragments are held by different powers. The one in your hand was left behind by the forebears of the Aureate Way. Later, during the war between the Aureate Way and the celestials, it was lost and eventually fell all the way to the Lower Realm. As for why it ended up with you..."

He paused, and a knowing smile touched his mouth.

"Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was arranged by the forebears of the Aureate Way. I wouldn’t dare make a reckless judgment."

Jared sat in silence for a moment, then put the black stone back into his Storage Ring.

"What exactly happened between the Aureate Way and the celestials?"

The smile vanished from Alaric’s face.

In its place came something deep and heavy, like an emotion that had been forced down for tens of thousands of years.

"The grudge between the Aureate Way and the celestials is a long story."

He set down his teacup and looked out through the window at the bamboo grove, as if his eyes had gone far beyond it, back into a past buried almost beyond recall.

"The Aureate Way and the celestials once came from the same root. In the primordial age, their forebears were part of the same group of cultivators seeking to comprehend the laws of the world. Later, because they understood those laws differently, they split into two factions.

"One side believed all things had spirit, that all living beings were equal, and that the path of cultivation should embrace everything and exclude no one. That became the Aureate Way. The other believed the celestials were the favored children of the world, born above all others and destined to rule the myriad worlds. That became the celestials."

"At first, it was only a conflict of ideals, and the two sides could still coexist in peace. But as time passed, the celestials grew more and more domineering. They began suppressing the Aureate Way and driving out anyone who didn’t belong.

"They claimed only the celestials were qualified to comprehend the highest laws, and that every other race was a lesser form of life, unworthy of cultivating profound arts. The Aureate Way preached equality for all beings, so of course it became a thorn in their side."

"The war lasted for hundreds of thousands of years. The Aureate Way was driven back step by step. The Aureate Codex was lost during that era, and the Chaos Sanctum was sealed away in an independent realm then as well."

A sorrow he couldn’t hide roughened Alaric’s voice.

"Then let me ask you something. Have you ever seen a true god?"

Jared froze for a beat.

A true god?

He had seen members of the celestials before—Venerable Starwick, Aurelius Embercrown, Venerable Clarendon. They were all celestials.

They called themselves celestials, possessed strength far beyond cultivators of equal rank, and wielded powers like holy radiance and divine fire.

But in Jared’s eyes, they were still just cultivators with higher realms than most.

They were a long, long way from deserving the word god.

"Of the celestials I’ve met, the strongest was only Golden Immortal Realm Level Five."

Jared answered honestly. "They’re stronger than ordinary cultivators, sure, but they’re nowhere near what I’d call true gods."

Alaric nodded.

A faint smile touched his mouth, carrying something hard to name—part approval that Jared hadn’t been fooled by appearances, part heaviness for what had to be said next.

"You’re right. Those so-called celestials you’ve seen don’t qualify as true gods."

Alaric’s voice dropped lower. "They’re only the outer forces of the celestials, tools used to rule the several firmaments. The true celestials have never been in the Twentieth Firmament."

Jared’s pupils tightened.

Not in the Twentieth Firmament?

Then where were they?

Alaric seemed to read the question straight from his face.

Slowly, he said, "Mr. Chance, do you know how many firmaments there are in the celestial realm?"