"Mr. Jared!" Luther's cry quivered in the shaking fog.Inside the taotie remnant, Jared sat cross-legged and let the raging suction tear at his flesh like floodwater through clay.Yet the Chaos Genesis Seed inside him became a bottomless gulf, siphoning the taotie remnant's power back the other way.Inside the seething dark, Jared tasted an older, wider truth. Chaos had always been the beginning of all things, big enough to swallow even the Law of Devouring and grind it into something new.The soul remnant of the Ravenousor Wraith let out a knife-edged scream. Its towering shadow body shook, then burst apart, chunks of darkness breaking away like splintered glass.Every scrap of its power funneled straight into the Chaos Genesis Seed, which devoured without pause. The stolen strength condensed into the purest energy and rushed through Jared's meridians like liquid lightning.His cultivation flared. The numbers behind each realm marker flipped upward faster than he could track.He blasted past the Heavenly Immortal Realm Level Nine Pinnacle, a spot that had once looked unreachable.The boundary called Half-Step High Immortal Realm cracked in front of him like a thin shell.The bottleneck that had held him for so long loosened with an audible creak."Now!" The single word tore out of his throat, sharper than a sword strike.Jared threw his head back and let out a long, wild howl as he pulled the taotie remnant's last shred of power into himself.noveldrama"Boom!" The space around him trembled as the sound ripped through flesh and fog alike.A deafening crash burst inside his body, as though an invisible wall had shattered from end to end.Down in his energy center, the gray seed finally locked into its complete shape, no cracks, no loose edges.It looked like a pocket-sized chaotic world, life and death spinning, yin and yang trading places, every instant birthing and erasing all things.His aura surged again, each breath heavier and brighter than the one before.High Immortal Realm Level One-achieved. The title flashed across his mind like a brand.Early stage lasted no longer than a heartbeat before power piled higher.Middle stage followed, dense and roaring, yet it too fell behind almost instantly.Peak stage slammed into place, filling every corner of him with balanced, ringing strength.Only at the Top Level High Immortal Realm Level One did the rise slow and finally halt.Gray mist from the secret realm poured toward him in thick waves, welding the new realm solid in his core.When Jared opened his eyes again, swirling star-rivers and the first crack of newborn chaos seemed to dance inside them.He curled his fingers into a casual fist. The surrounding space groaned under the pressure, brittle sounds snapping out like ice under heavy boots."So this is the power of the High Immortal Realm..." The whisper carried more awe than volume.The chaos force inside him rolled and thundered, easily a hundred times stronger than before, impossible to mistake or suppress.He glanced at the place where the soul remnant of the Ravenousor Wraith had vanished. Without that ancient beast, this leap would have stayed a distant dream.For most cultivators, such gains might raise them three minor levels at once, but Jared's leap across a whole major realm was a bottomless sink for resources and strength.Reaching High Immortal Realm Level One peak left Jared thoroughly satisfied."Mr. Jared! Are you all right?"Luther raced toward him, worry scrawled across every line of his face.Jared answered with a small, steady smile. "Not only fine, but blessed by the disaster."He studied Luther and found the other man's aura thicker, steadier; somehow Luthernow sat at High Immortal Realm Level Six.Clearly, the secret realm had treated him well."You broke through too?" Jared asked.Luther nodded. "I found Nether Origin Qi. It repaired my foundation and pushed meto Level Six. Mr. Jared, what about you?""High Immortal Realm Level One peak," Jared said.Luther sucked in a hard breath. "You broke past the Heavenly Immortal Realm? That's ridiculous!""That's an entire major realm climb," he added, voice still tight.Jared let out a brief laugh. "Pure luck. Without the ancient beast's remnant, the advance would have taken ages.'His gaze swung toward the mist-filled depths. "How long until the exit opens?""Probably about one hundred days," Luther said.Chaos sparks flickered around Jaredas he lowered his arms. He metLuther's gaze and nodded. "Good.We have a hundred days-let's settle our realm and digest what we'gained." Without another word, both chose a shadowed corner of the cavern and dropped into a cross-legged posture.Pulses of sealing light closed over them like quiet petals, cutting the world away until only the churn of their own breath remained.Days rose and fell; within their private cocoons, neither bothered to count. Ripples of gray and violet power circled, grew dense, then thinned again.Before awareness could name the passage of time, the silence gathered a strange, expectant hum.A distant clang boomed like iron doors thrown wide, turquoise light flooding through new fissures- overhead. Jared's lashes fluttered then Luther's two sharpened gazes locked on the newly reformed exit. Jared rose without hurry. Power sheathed itself around him like a deep ocean atnight, concealing riptides capable of splitting ships.Inside his core, chaos energy cycled in an endless loop, never peaking, never draining.The newly forged Dao seed rotated in his energy center, each slow turn birthing and erasing specks of miniature worlds.Outwardly, he was only High Immortal Realm Level One peak, yet the weight behind every breath hinted he could already fight-even crush-those at Level Nine.He glanced at Luther, lips curving. "Time to head out."Jared straightened, eyes frosted. "Celestials," he murmured, each syllable cold as steel, "our account isn't settled yet."Side by side, they crossed the glowing threshold.Light folded over their figures, and the cavern held only echoing silence.Nether City, Altar FrontElder Gloam stood with the other high elders, robe hems brushing cold stone as they shifted, impatience leaking through composed faces.This was the thirtieth day since the secret realm opened the very day Jared and Luther were due to emerge.Morvane lowered her voice, tugging at her sleeve. "Grand Elder, do you think they've run into danger?"Elder Gloam kept his tone calm, though his gaze never left the dormant altar. "The realm is perilous, yet with young Jared's strength he should manage."His words barely settled when ghostly light flared across the altar slabs, bright enough to bleach the surrounding gloom.Within the pillar of brilliance, two silhouettes slowly rose, outlines sharpening with every heartbeat.When the glare faded, those gathered recognized Jared and Luther, flesh and blood, standing tall upon the platform.The instant they appeared, the city's native nether energy roared like boiling oil, surging toward them in worshipful currents.From every alley and rooftop, ghostfolk poured in, their hollow eyes wide as they stared at the pair on the altar steps.One elder gasped, voice cracking. "That aura—High Immortal Realm?!"Elder Gloam's pupils constricted. "High Immortal Realm tier one peak and Luther already at tier six? Impossible!"Thirty days ago Jared lay grievously wounded at Heavenly Immortal tier nine; now he stood a full realm higher.The sight shredded every rule of cultivation the elders had thought ironclad.A leap of one major realm usually demanded decades, if not centuries.Achieving it in mere weeks seemed flatly impossible to reason or instinct.Jared descended the stone stairs and clasped his fists toward Elder Gloam Thank you, Grand Elder, for granting us this chance I did not waste it I have broken into the High Immortal Realm." Elder Gloam drew a long breath, forced down his shock, and suddenly laughed three booming times."Good! Good! Good! Heaven blesses the ghostfolk and the Thirteen Heavenstoday!"Composure returned, he studied Jared with bright expectation. "Young friend Jared, what do you intend to do next?"Frost returned to Jared's eyes. "Return to the surface, free the beastfolk remnants,and then settle accounts with the celestials."Luther stepped forward, voice firm. "Count me in."Morvane lifted a hand of black mist. "And me."A young deacon added from the crowd, "I'm coming too!""Me as well!" shouted another, emboldened by the wave of pledges.For a heartbeat the plaza vibrated with roaring approval, voices stacking until theblack clouds overhead quivered.Elder Gloam raised his palm, and the commotion ebbed."Nether City will back you with everything we have," he said, tone grave. "But the celestials are vast. First rescue the beastfolk remnants, build strength, then plancarefully."