A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5906

The three deputy leaders blinked, stunned. "What do you mean, Mr. Vayne?"

"Well, don't you think it's odd?" Malcolm replied, his tone dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Chaotic energy, Golden Dragon Bloodline, Earthfire True Scripture—each rules a different supreme law, yet Jared can bind them as one. If we sacrifice him to the Door, the one within it might attain immortality, and in turn, we'll also become immortal."

"What?" The shout tore from all three throats at once.

Fanatic light blazed in their eyes.

Immortality.

That was the dream every cultivator chased in sleepless nights.

Malcolm straightened, voice iron-hard. "Send the order. No one is to set foot on level eleven. Jared will come to us—and when he does, we make him bleed for eternity. Also, tell everyone in Malevolent Path Hall to accelerate their harvesting of souls. I intend to drag every supreme elder and ancestor our order has ever lost back into the realm of the living!"

The three subordinates answered as one, their pledge ringing like iron striking iron, "Yes, Mr. Vayne!"

Malcolm turned toward the Door of Reincarnation. The shifting gray light washed over his features, and for an instant, a tangle of hope, dread, and calculation flickered behind his eyes.

What exactly waits on the far side of that door? Does it truly grant eternity, or merely a different kind of cage?

He had no answer, and by now no retreat.

From the moment he first unlatched that cosmic door and bargained with the presence lurking beyond, his path had narrowed to a single, merciless line.

If he succeeded, he'd live forever.

If he failed, he'd be scattered to dust.

There was no third choice.

***

Back at Earthfire Pavilion's forbidden ground, Jared snapped awake, lungs dragging in heat-laden air. A ripple of unnamed terror shivered through his chest before fading, leaving his heart hammering against his ribs.

"What is it?" Lindsay asked, her ember-bright eyes tightening with concern.

Jared shook his head, forcing the unease down like smoldering ash beneath stone. "Nothing much. Just a sense that something awful has begun to stir."

He lifted his gaze to the looming Pentacarna Tower. "Great Elder Earthfire, what are some of the signs that indicate the Door of Reincarnation has been opened?"

Gerald's aged voice drifted from deep within the tower. "When that door yawns, every creature for leagues will feel its heart seize—a forewarning of catastrophe. And those dragged back from death carry the door's scent upon them, a pressure that crushes the living."

Jared's pulse quickened.

The jolt I felt a moment ago—was that due to the door's opening? Have those three deputy leaders truly been pulled back from the dead?

"Great Elder Earthfire, how long more do we have?"

"Three days at most," Gerald replied. "By then, my body shall be restored. I will stand at High Immortal Realm Level One—far from my prime, but it will be enough to hold Malcolm Vayne at bay."

Jared drew a steadying breath. "Three days, then. We'll work with that. Lindsay, in these three days, I will pour every scrap of my power into rebuilding Great Elder Earthfire's body. I'll leave Earthfire Pavilion's defenses in your hands—and Father's."

Lindsay nodded hard, copper hair dancing like sparks. "Don't worry. You can count on us. No one will breach these walls."

Jared turned to Vermilion Demon Lord, whose very presence seemed to stain the air with heat. The young cultivator's voice was low but steady. "Mr. Vermilion, I need you to hold the line for the next three days. No matter who comes, don't let a soul get through."

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