"What happened after that?" Jared asked.
"Later..."
Gwendolyn's voice paused for a beat.
"Later, too many things happened. Because of the pride buried in celestial blood, they could not engage in dual cultivation with bloodline adepts outside their own lines. So after hundreds of thousands of years of inheritance, their bloodlines grew weaker and weaker."
The second Jared heard that, he thought of the royal families in the mundane world.
Wasn't it the same thing? They couldn't marry outsiders, the odds of close-kin unions kept rising, and after enough time, the bloodline started mutating.
So the celestials were facing that same problem now.
No wonder both the Celestial Palace and the Celestial Basilica had been secretly pushing bloodline fusion.
She turned back and looked at Jared.
For the first time, something fragile showed in those deep eyes. It was only there for an instant, but Jared saw it clearly.
"Our Frost Deity Branch started as one of the noblest bloodlines, then slowly declined. Later, a female cultivator from our branch was chosen as the holy maiden, but she ran off with someone. In the end, the whole Frost Deity Branch was dragged down with her."
When Gwendolyn said that, something sharp flashed through her eyes, then vanished just as fast.
"The master of Northern Abyss Palace was that woman?" Jared froze for a beat.
"You're right. The master of Northern Abyss Palace should be that female cultivator who ran off back then. Because of her, our Frost Deity Branch was destroyed. Now only I am left as its heir." Gwendolyn gave a small nod.
"Do you hate her?" Jared asked.
"I do, and I don't. I used to hate her. But now... she only wanted to go after her own love. What was wrong with that?"
"It's the celestials' rotten system, their oppressive hierarchy, that caused all of this."
By then, her eyes had gone clear. Whatever had been there before seemed to have loosened and fallen away.
"Satisfied now?" Gwendolyn looked at Jared and gave him a bitter smile.
Jared said nothing.
He hadn't expected it. This woman who was strong enough to tear open the void with a casual hand, this palace master who had lived for who knew how many tens of thousands of years, was actually the last survivor of an entire race.
Alone, she had stayed here guarding this ancient tree, guarding this cold lake, guarding the last bit of glory from a race that had already vanished.
"I'm sorry," Jared said quietly. "I shouldn't have asked."
Gwendolyn shook her head. The bitterness in that smile slowly faded, and in its place came a kind of release.
"There's nothing you shouldn't have asked."
She said lightly, "Sooner or later, someone was going to find out about all this. Rather than let you hear it through some other channel, I'd rather have you ask me directly."
She paused, and her gaze stayed on Jared's face for a moment.
"You carry the Golden Dragon royal bloodline. You could produce the Northern Abyss token. You knew about the Frost Deity Branch. Most importantly, you're only in the High Immortal Realm... Jared, you're a lot more complicated than you think you are."
Jared gave a bitter smile. "I just got lucky, that's all."
"Lucky?"
Gwendolyn let out a soft laugh. It was quiet, but there was something teasing in it.
"You made it all the way to the Fourteenth Firmament, crossed the Voidwind of Return to the Void to find this isolated place, and you've got both the Golden Dragon royal bloodline and the blood of the human race in you. And you call that luck?"
Jared parted his lips, meaning to explain, but when the words reached his throat, nothing came out.
Gwendolyn didn't press him any further.
She turned and walked toward the Worldtree.
"Come on."
Her voice went flat again.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The King Of Warriors novel (Jared Chance)
Only 4 pages a day now. Some days nothing. Sad no one replyβs...
Hi why canβt I read 6051/6054 today itβs back to normal . π₯Ήπ₯Ήπ₯Ήπ₯Ή...
Unable to read above 6050. Why. πππππππππππππππππ I have added to Facebook and x still not letting me read...
Why am I not able to read past 6055 itβs covered in adds. ππππ...
They are ruining the read with adds shame...
5826???...
5670 available...
Nothing got 5 days πππ...
5476 is available...
Any updates on new chapters? Been few days without new chapters....