A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 6677

The wind never stopped blowing across the ice field.

It carried the bitter cold of the far north and scraped across every face like a blade.

Jared stood before nearly ten thousand demonic cultivators.

His gray robe snapped in the wind. His black hair streamed behind him.

He looked over the crowd in silence.

Most of the Southern Wasteland's surviving demonic cultivators were here now.

Several thousand from Inferno Devil Ridge.

Hundreds from Shadowfell City.

Scattered lone cultivators from the wilderness.

Survivors from small lineages and hidden settlements.

The ice field was packed with people. Under the moonlight, they looked like a dark forest standing in silence.

But Jared knew this safety would not last.

The bounty order still existed.

Celestial golden elixirs were still tempting enough to drive people mad.

Those hunters blinded by greed were like sharks following blood through water. Sooner or later, they would trace the survivors here.

Even the entrance to the Emperorfall Expanse would not stop everyone.

There would always be desperate men willing to gamble with their lives.

And the Celestial High Temple had already sent an elder from the Twentieth Firmament. They would not stop with a single bounty order.

They had another move prepared. Something even more vicious was already brewing.

"Mr. Chance."

Caiden walked over. His fresh bandages were clean, but his face was still pale. "When do you plan to enter the Emperorfall Expanse?"

Jared looked at the void rift hanging in the sky.

The spatial turbulence inside twisted and churned like a living storm.

After a moment, he said, "Now."

Caiden's brows tightened.

"Now? Everyone has only just arrived. Nothing is settled yet. If you leave at a time like this..."

"That is why I have to go now."

Jared turned back to him. "There may be resources inside the Emperorfall Expanse. Cultivation methods, pills, artifacts, anything that can help raise your strength quickly. If I find something useful, the people here will have a better chance of surviving what comes next."

He paused.

His gaze returned to the rift.

"And Josephine may be inside."

That was the real reason he could not wait.

Caiden understood.

He looked into Jared's eyes and swallowed the rest of his words.

"Then be careful. If there is anything we can do, tell us."

"Guard the outside."

Jared said, "Do not allow anyone to approach the rift. If a large group of hunters arrives, move everyone farther away and wait for me to come out."

Caiden nodded heavily.

"Understood."

Jared turned toward Gwendolyn.

She had been standing behind him the whole time, quiet but tense. Worry filled her icy-blue eyes.

She stepped forward and held his hand.

Her palm was cool.

But the warmth in that touch steadied him.

"Be careful," she said softly.

"I will."

Jared squeezed her hand. "Wait for me."

Then he let go.

He walked toward the void rift.

His steps were steady, without hesitation.

Chaotic force flowed from his body and wrapped around him in gray light.

Spatial turbulence surged from the rift like countless invisible blades, trying to tear him apart.

But chaotic force was the source of all laws.

Before it, the violent turbulence softened. It parted around Jared and let him pass.

His figure entered the rift.

A moment later, the churning light swallowed him completely.

It spread outward like countless invisible threads, covering hundreds of miles.

Many life auras moved through the void.

Some belonged to cultivators searching for treasure.

Some belonged to strange beings born from the fallen Immortal Emperor's lingering power.

Others were harder to identify, like old obsessions left behind in the void, bodiless yet cold enough to make the heart shrink.

Jared chose the direction with the densest auras.

His body turned into gray light and rushed forward.

About an hour later, a floating island appeared ahead.

It was enormous, hundreds of miles across, suspended in the void like a broken piece of a dead world.

Dark-gray rock and gravel covered its surface.

Transparent plants grew from cracks in the stone, glowing faint blue, like remnants of some ancient life.

Mist drifted over the island.

Within the mist, faint runes flickered. They were traces of the Immortal Emperor's lingering law resonance.

Jared landed at the edge of the island.

His boots scraped softly against the gray rock.

He looked around.

Broken tents.

Fragments of arcane implements.

Scattered scraps of pills.

Defensive formations carved into the ground.

This had been a temporary camp.

And from the traces, whoever built it had been here for some time.

A cold smile touched Jared's mouth.

Someone had gotten here first.

Before he could inspect the camp more closely, several figures rushed out from the tents.

They moved quickly and with practiced discipline.

In an instant, they surrounded him.

Arcane implements flashed coldly in the gray light, and every gaze carried hostility.