A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 6254

The moment he heard that, the Guardian Elder froze.

Still on his knees, he shook all over like he was being sifted through a screen.

Cold sweat rolled off his forehead, mixing with dust and dragging several black streaks down his face.

He was Cedric Vale, a Guardian Elder of the Celestial Basilica for 3 thousand years.

His cultivation had only barely touched the threshold of the True Immortal Realm, but in the Celestial Basilica, he had always counted as somebody with status.

But right then, he didn't even have the nerve to lift his head and look Jared in the eye.

He swallowed hard before he could stop himself.

The Celestial Basilica really did have such a secret art.

It was one of the core inheritances the Celestial Basilica had guarded for tens of thousands of years: the Rite of Returning Souls.

With special methods, it could release the remnant souls sealed inside a soul crystal.

Then, using the celestials' unique bloodline power, it could rebuild a physical body for them.

But the secret art was incredibly complicated.

It required a specific ritual array, rare materials, and at least three Elders above the True Immortal Realm working together to perform it.

And even then, the success rate wasn't high.

Still, he didn't dare deny it.

Jared's eyes made one thing plain.

If Cedric Vale said no, then in the very next breath, his head would part ways with his body.

"Y-yes... we do."

Cedric nodded over and over, his voice shaking. "The Celestial Basilica does have this secret art. It's called the Rite of Returning Souls. It's just... it's just that the ritual can only be performed in a specific place..."

"What place?" Jared pressed.

Cedric hesitated for a beat, then forced the words out through clenched teeth. "In the forbidden grounds on the rear mountain. There's an ancient soul-returning array there, passed down from long ago. It's the only place in the entire Luminous Sanctuary where the remnant souls inside a soul crystal can be released safely.

If you try to force them out with an ordinary ritual array, the remnant souls will scatter the instant they're released. Only that array can keep them whole..."

Jared tucked the soul crystal back into his robes and said coldly, "Lead the way."

Cedric's whole body jolted.

Something flashed through his eyes, so buried it could've been missed, but the panic on his face swallowed it up again a moment later.

"Yes, yes, yes... this way..."

He turned and headed toward the rear mountain behind Saintlight Peak.

His steps stumbled, and his back looked wretched.

Lydia moved up beside Jared and lowered her voice. "There's something off about him."

Jared gave a slight nod. "I know."

Of course he knew.

Cedric had agreed too fast.

And he had acted far too obedient.

A man who had served as an Elder in the Celestial Basilica for thousands of years shouldn't have sold out the sect's core secret that easily, no matter how badly he wanted to stay alive.

Unless he had something else in mind.

"Then why are you still following him?" Lydia asked, her brows drawing tight.

Jared watched Cedric's back and said, flat as ever, "He has his plan. I have my methods. My friends' remnant souls can't hold on much longer. I can't wait."

Lydia said nothing after that.

She only tightened her grip on her sword, and the watch in her eyes sharpened another step.

Luther walked at the very back with Grace's hand in his, the wraithblade already half an inch out of its sheath.

If anything happened, he was ready for it.

Evelyn stayed tight behind Jared.

Her small face had gone paper-white, but she bit down on her lip and didn't let a single sound out.

Six figures moved through the ruined buildings of Saintlight Peak and headed for the rear mountain.

The whole way there, collapsed palaces lay scattered everywhere, and Celestial Basilica disciples were running in all directions.

The moment those disciples saw Jared's group, they reacted like they'd seen ghosts.

They screamed and scattered, fleeing every which way. Not one of them dared step forward to block the path.

Aurelius, the Hall Master of the Celestial Basilica, was dead. The Mountain-Guarding Grand Array had already been broken. The Elders were either dead or gone.

This holy sanctuary had once shaken the whole Luminous Sanctuary for hundreds of thousands of years. Now it was nothing more than an old tiger with no teeth, all appearance and no bite.

Cedric led them across a stretch of wreckage, then through a dark tunnel cut into the mountain.

At the end of it, he brought them to the mouth of a vale wrapped in thick fog.

"It's here."

Cedric stopped and pointed into the vale. "The soul-returning array is deep inside. But this place stays covered by wards all year round. Outsiders can't get in. It takes my elder's token to open it..."

He pulled out a palm-sized golden token from his robe.

Dense runes were carved across its surface, and a faint glow leaked from it.

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