A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 6371

Nathaniel pointed at Jared. "This is Jared. He's the man master found in the Fifteenth Firmament. He says he can help us overthrow the Celestial Alliance."

Rowe's mouth opened, then a laugh burst out of him. "Him? A True Immortal Realm Level Two?"

He turned to Nathaniel, wearing the kind of look a man gave a joke too ridiculous to believe. "Chieftain, you're not serious, are you? Pull anybody out of Freevale at random and they'll be stronger than him. What exactly can he help us with? Pouring tea? Running errands?"

Several more people followed him into the great hall.

They were all core figures in Freevale.

One was the lanky man, a True Immortal Realm Level Six in a gray cloth robe, holding a folding fan and looking every bit the bookish type.

Another was the middle-aged woman, a True Immortal Realm Level Five, with twin short blades hanging at her waist and a cutting look in her eyes.

The last was the old man. His hair had gone white, his cultivation was at the True Immortal Realm Level Seven, and he leaned against the doorframe with narrowed eyes fixed on Jared.

After hearing what Rowe said, they laughed too.

It wasn't the kind of laugh meant to wound.

It was the laugh people gave something too absurd to take straight.

A young man at True Immortal Realm Level Two had come all the way to the Sixteenth Firmament saying he was here to help them overthrow the Celestial Alliance.

To them, it sounded like an ant saying it would help an elephant move a mountain.

Jared didn't laugh.

He looked at Rowe. "You think a True Immortal Realm Level Five is impressive?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Jared crooked his fingers at him. "Make your move. Full strength."

The great hall went quiet for a beat.

Then Rowe's face darkened.

He had never been the kind of man who could stomach being looked down on.

And this time, it was coming from a green kid at True Immortal Realm Level Two.

He rolled up his sleeves.

His fist tightened until the joints cracked.

"Kid, if this punch lands, you'll probably be stuck in bed for three months."

"You won't hit me."

Rowe didn't waste another word.

He took a long step forward.

A layer of earthy yellow light wrapped around his fist as he drove it straight at Jared's chest.

His arcane arts were earth-aspected, heavy and steady.

When he threw a punch, it could blast straight through the city walls.

The wind off that punch churned the air in the great hall.

The map on the table rattled and flapped noisily.

Jared didn't dodge.

He didn't even raise a hand.

He only stood there and watched that fist rush closer and closer.

The fist stopped three inches from Jared's chest.

Rowe hadn't pulled it back.

It simply wouldn't go any farther.

It was like his fist had slammed into an invisible wall.

That wall was hard beyond reason, perfectly still, not moving even a hair.

The shock ran back through his wrist until it went numb.

The muscles in his arm quivered, but his fist couldn't push forward even the slightest bit.

Rowe's eyes went wide and round.

He clenched his teeth and forced in more power.

The earthy yellow light around his fist doubled in brightness.

The fist still didn't move at all.

"Th-this... that's impossible..."

Even his voice had started to shake.

Jared looked at him and said nothing.

He only took one light step forward.

Rowe had the wild, sickening sense that he’d just run headfirst into a mountain. His whole body flew backward. He flipped twice in the air, hit the floor on his ass, and skidded several yards before he slammed into a chair in the corner and sent it over.

The great hall went dead quiet.

The lanky man closed his folding fan. The smile had left his face.

The middle-aged woman's hand settled on the hilt of her blade, and the look in her eyes sharpened.

The old man leaning against the doorframe opened his eyes. He stopped squinting and stared straight at Jared.

Rowe climbed back to his feet and brushed the dust off his rear. The look on his face shifted from shock to plain disbelief.

He looked at his own fist, then at Jared. His mouth opened, closed, opened again, and at last he forced out, "Are you really fucking True Immortal Realm Level Two?"

Jared gave him nothing back.

He looked at the lanky man. "You want to try too?"

She took her hand off her weapon hilt and eased back half a step.

But the old man leaning against the doorframe straightened up.

He rolled his neck, and a string of cracks popped out.

Then he strolled over to Jared at an unhurried pace.

"Young man, they call me Vale. True Immortal Realm Level Seven."

His voice came out rough, like sandpaper grinding over wood.

"I cultivate a fire technique, and my temper isn't exactly gentle. If you can't hold up, say so."

Jared looked at him.

"Go ahead."

Vale didn't waste another word.

He raised his right hand, and a ball of crimson flame condensed in his palm.

Its heat was so fierce the air around it started to warp.

It was so hot even the edge of the map on the table began to curl.

Everyone in the great hall backed away.

Some fanned at the air with their hands. Others circulated their power to withstand the waves of heat.

"Watch yourself."

Vale drove his palm forward.

The crimson flame turned into a fire-serpent and lunged at Jared, fangs bared and claws spread.

Where the fire-serpent passed, the air itself ignited, setting off a string of sharp crackles.

The force in that strike was several times greater than what Rowe and the lanky man had brought together.

Jared watched the fire-serpent coming at him, and the corner of his mouth lifted a little.

He raised his right hand.

His five fingers spread wide, palm facing the fire-serpent.

The fire-serpent slammed straight into his palm.

Then it vanished.

It wasn't blocked. It wasn't shattered.

It was as if something had swallowed it whole, and without so much as a sound, it sank into Jared's palm.

That mass of crimson flame, along with every shred of spiritual power inside it, disappeared into Jared's hand.

Not even a single fire spark remained.