A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 6356

"The Tribunal has been operating for thousands of years. There have to be massive resources left in their treasury."

Windclear's voice rose. "If we can get our hands on those resources..."

"It's not just the resources," Jared cut in.

All eyes turned to him.

"There's something else in the Tribunal," Jared said. His voice stayed even, but every word landed hard. "Something more important than resources. The Nether Lamp."

The Council Hall went completely still.

Alaric's pupils tightened.

He had been sitting in the corner the whole time, saying nothing.

His injuries still hadn't healed. His face was drained of color, and the weariness in his eyes was impossible to miss.

But at that moment, his whole body jolted hard, like lightning had struck straight through him.

"The Nether Lamp..." His voice shook. "Mr. Chance, you mean..."

"We already have the Reincarnation Core and the Soulkindling Flame. The Nether Lamp is the only thing missing."

Jared looked at Alaric.

"Once all three treasures are gathered, the Nether Lamp can be lit. Then the path of reincarnation will open, and every Ghost Clan soul trapped inside the Reincarnation Division will be released."

Tears burst out of Alaric's eyes.

He struggled to his feet, made his way in front of Jared, and dropped to his knees with a heavy thud.

"Mr. Chance! On behalf of the Moonshade Realm, and on behalf of the entire Ghost Clan, I thank you for this boundless grace!"

Jared quickly caught him by the arms and held him up.

"Sovereign Wraithmoor, don't do this. I promised Lydia I would."

Lydia stood off to the side, her eyes rimmed red.

She bit down on her lip to keep any sound from getting out, but the tears kept falling anyway.

She remembered the way Jared had looked the first time they met. She remembered the words he'd said then: "I'll help you."

Back then, she'd taken it for a courtesy. Something said in passing. Something that could disappear the moment it was spoken.

But Jared hadn't forgotten.

He had been doing it all along, one thing at a time.

From the Reincarnation Core to the Soulkindling Flame, from the northern mine to the Skywolf Tribe, from that three-day-and-three-night battle against the Tribunal Venerable to going now to take the Nether Lamp...

He had never once let go of the promise he'd made.

"Jared..." Her voice came out so soft it was nearly impossible to hear.

Jared turned and looked at her.

"Come on. You're going with me to the Tribunal."

Lydia nodded hard.

The Tribunal stood in the central reaches of the Fifteenth Firmament, a massive palace built on the mountain summit.

White jade made up the whole palace.

Gold blazed across it. Splendor pressed from every side. Even empty, the place still carried the weight of something that had once ruled from above.

But now it had turned into a dead city.

Jared and Lydia landed in the square before the palace.

Debris lay scattered all across the square.

Arms, armor, elixir vials, jade slips—everything had been left behind in a mess.

Wind came sweeping down from the mountain summit, lifting dust and scraps of paper from the ground and spinning them through the air.

Once the tree fell, the monkeys scattered.

The Tribunal Venerable was dead, and every cultivator of the Tribunal had fled.

"The Nether Lamp should be in the Tribunal Venerable's hidden chamber," Jared said.

"Where is the hidden chamber?" Lydia asked.

"Behind the great hall."

Jared pushed open the doors to the great hall and walked in.

The great hall was empty.

The golden throne stood alone at the very front. The golden robe was still draped over it, but the one who had worn it was gone.

Sunlight poured through the skylight in the domed ceiling, fell over the throne, and flashed back in a harsh, blinding glare.

Jared didn't stop.

He crossed the great hall and reached the corridor behind it.

Stone chambers lined both sides of the corridor.

Some were bedchambers. Some were cultivation rooms. Some were libraries.

He walked to the end of the corridor.

A stone door stood there.

The stone door was carved all over with warding sigils.

In the dark, the sigils gave off a faint golden radiance, like countless eyes staring back.

Jared raised his right hand.

A cluster of chaos-flame gathered in his palm. Violet fire burned through the sigils layer by layer, melting them away until they scattered into nothing. Then the stone door slowly opened.

The hidden chamber wasn't large.

The two of them leaped into the air and turned into twin streaks of light, flying straight toward Cloudrest.

Behind them, the Tribunal stood in the sunlight without a sound, like a massive tomb.

By the time Jared and Lydia returned to Cloudrest, evening had already fallen.

At the city gate, everyone was there waiting.

Hadrian, Malachy, Windclear, Gwendolyn, Gideon, and Alaric.

Expectation filled Alaric's eyes, and his hands trembled faintly.

Jared landed at the city gate and took the Nether Lamp out of his Storage Ring.

The golden lamp flickered with a warm glow under the evening sun.

The nether light inside the lamp danced, like countless Ghost Clan souls crying out in celebration.

Tears burst from Alaric's eyes all at once.

He dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed to Jared three times.

"Mr. Chance! The Moonshade Realm will never forget this grace, not for all eternity!"

Jared quickly caught him and pulled him up. "Sovereign Wraithmoor, don't. I promised Lydia I'd do this."

Then he turned and looked at everyone.

"The Reincarnation Core, the Soulkindling Flame, and the Nether Lamp. All three treasures are finally gathered."

Upon the city walls, the cheering hit like thunder.

"Jared! Jared! Jared!"

The Ghost Clan warriors raised their wraithblades and roared.

Lydia stood upon the city walls, looking at Jared's back as tears kept streaming down her face.

She remembered what he had looked like the first time she met him. She remembered the things he had said, and the things he had done.

He had never once let her down.

Gwendolyn watched Jared's back, and something hard to name surged up inside her.

This man always took other people's burdens and carried them like they were his own.

And every promise he made, he held above his own life.

Jared raised a hand.

The thunder of voices slowly died down.

"Tomorrow, we'll light the Nether Lamp and go to the Reincarnation Division to free every trapped Ghost Clan soul."

Alaric's tears came harder. "Thank you... thank you..."

Jared smiled, then turned and walked into the city.