Where had these monsters come from?Why had they appeared inside the Luminous Sanctuary?And how had celestial and demon bloodlines been fused together?Evelyn stepped out from behind Jared and looked at the wreckage covering the ground. Her face was still pale, and she had to force down the urge to throw up."Young Lord... these... what are these things, exactly?"Jared didn't answer that. He only said, "Keep moving."Evelyn bit her lip, asked nothing more, and followed after him.The two of them continued deeper in.The farther they went into the thick forest, the more corpses there were on the ground, and the heavier the smell of blood became.Some of the bodies were whole. Some were mangled. Some had been reduced to nothing but heaps of shredded flesh.From the marks left behind, it was clear they had gone through a savage fight before they died here, tearing into each other and devouring one another until this was all that remained.Jared stopped walking.His gaze settled on one corpse.It was one of the more intact bodies. Even now, it still barely held a human shape. There was a huge bloody hole in its chest, its heart already dug out. Half an arm was still jammed in its mouth. Right up until it died, it had still been eating.The second Evelyn saw it, she couldn't hold it back anymore. She turned aside, bent over, and vomited hard.Jared didn't look at her. He only stood there, watching the corpse in silence.Then he closed his eyes and spread his spirit sense out, covering the whole forest.A moment later, his eyes opened again, and a chill passed through them. "There's a ward," he said.Evelyn threw up for quite a while before she finally straightened. Her voice came out weak. "What ward?"Jared said, "This entire forest is covered by a massive ward. Those monsters are trapped in here. They can't leave."noveldramaEvelyn froze.Then she lifted her head and looked up above the forest.Through the gaps in the branches and leaves, the sky showed a faint wash of blood- red light. It flickered in and out, like an invisible barrier sealing this forest away from everything outside."Th-this... who set up a ward like this?" Evelyn murmured.Jared didn't answer.But by then, his guess had already taken shape.Anyone who could put down a ward like this and trap so many celestial-demonic fusion monsters inside it was no ordinary person.There had to be some major power hiding behind this.And whatever this plot was, it very likely had something to do with those so-called righteous sects in the Luminous Sanctuary."Keep moving," Jared said again.Even with the pressure still sitting in her chest, Evelyn looked at how steady Jared was, and some of that strain loosened.She nodded and followed behind him as they kept going.The two of them walked for about 1 hour. Along the way, they ran into several more waves of monsters.Without a single exception, Jared killed them all with casual swings.At first, Evelyn had only been able to keep going through sheer strain. Then even that dulled. By the end,what filled her eyes, when she looked at Jared had changed into`something else entirely.Now when she looked at him, it wasn't just gratitude anymore. There was somethingclose to fervent reverence in it.This man was too strong.So strong people could hardly look straight at him.Right then, Jared suddenly stopped.Evelyn blinked and was just about to ask why when a terrifying pressure rolled out from deep in the forest.It was far stronger than every monster they'd met before, stronger by dozens of times over.Evelyn's face went white on the spot. Her legs gave way, and she nearly dropped to her knees."Yo-Young Lord..."Jared raised a hand, stopping her before she could say more.Then he lifted his head and looked into the depths of the forest.A massive silhouette slowly emerged from the depths of the forest.It was a hulking thing more than 30 feet tall, its whole body covered in black scales.Dark red light flowed across those scales like something alive.Its head looked like a giant evilghost, with scarlet eyes and fangs jutting from its mouth. Thick,fouling saliva kept drippingfrom between its teeth. At the same time, its body gave off the terrifying aura of both the celestials and the demon Those two auras twisted together and pressed down hard enough to make breathing feel impossible. Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Nine.Just one step more, and it would enter the True Immortal Realm.The moment Evelyn saw the monster, her vision nearly went black.A monster at the Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Nine, in a place like this, waspractically an unbeatable existence.She looked at Jared, and every trace of color drained from her eyes.She knew Jared was strong, but no matter how strong he was, he was only at theHigh Immortal Realm Level Three.How could he possibly beat something at the Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Nine?"Young Lord... we have to run!" she blurted out.Jared didn't move.He only looked at the monster in silence. Then the corner of his mouth lifted a little, drawing out a faint curve."Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Nine?"He repeated it softly. There was a trace of amusement in his voice. "Now this is interesting."