Jared chance novel Chapter 6464

"Aureate Heir!" Master Wellspring's voice tightened. He could not make himself stand there and watch Jared risk his life by accepting the Elder Soulborn Trial.

Morgana studied Jared's soul. In her amber eyes, a faint glint of approval passed, and she gave a small nod.

"Good. You have a backbone. No wonder my clansmen placed their hopes in you."

"Since that is settled, I will personally escort you to the entrance to the Elder Soulborn Forest at first light tomorrow. For today, remain at Beastmoor Ridge and rest. Nurture your soul properly, gather your strength, and be ready for the Elder Soulborn Trial tomorrow."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Jared's soul dipped slightly inside the jade vial, the closest thing to a bow he could manage, and every word carried his gratitude.

Jared understood one thing clearly. Morgana had set harsh terms before him, but those terms were still a chance.

Without Morgana making an exception, he would not even have the right to step into the Elder Soulborn Forest.

Morgana waved a hand and spoke to one of the beast-folk adepts at her side. "Take Master Wellspring and this young friend to a side hall to rest. Treat them well. There will be no neglect."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The beast-folk adept bowed, then turned to Master Wellspring. "Sect Master of the Wellspring Order, please follow me."

Master Wellspring bowed to Morgana once more. Then he carefully put away the jade vial and followed the beast-folk adept out of the great hall.

Inside the great hall, Morgana watched their departing backs. Something difficult to read passed through her amber eyes.

She let out a quiet sigh and murmured to herself, "Child, I hope you did not choose the wrong person."

"I hope this Jared can pass the Elder Soulborn Trial safely. I hope he can live through it."

That night, Jared was arranged to recuperate in a side hall of Thornwild Palace.

"The side hall was not large, but every part of it had been set with care. It was clean and orderly, with a faint beast-race aura lingering in the air.

That aura did not press down on anyone. Instead, it gave the room a strange, steady calm."

At the center of the side hall stood a sunstone couch. The whole couch was pure white and gave off a soft warmth, with supple beast hide spread across its surface.

The hide had been made from the fur of an ancient vulpine spirit. It was soft and comfortable, yielding underfoot like a cushion, and it could ease the strain on a soul remarkably well.

In one corner of the side hall sat a stone table and several stone chairs. On the stone table rested an incense burner, and a faint sandalwood fragrance burned inside it.

The sandalwood smoke curled upward and drifted through the entire side hall. Its clean scent sharpened the senses and settled the mind.

The windows of the side hall had been opened. Beyond them lay a dense bamboo grove, and moonlight slipped through the gaps between the stalks, spilling thin streams of silver across the sunstone couch.

There, the silver light mingled with the warmth of the sunstone couch, making the room seem especially gentle.

Master Wellspring gently placed the jade vial containing Jared's soul at the head of the sunstone couch. After that, he sat down on the stone chair beside the couch.

His face had gone heavy. His brows were pulled tight, and the worry on him was impossible to miss.

His thoughts kept circling back to Jared's Elder Soulborn Trial tomorrow. The longer he sat there, the less his mind would settle.

The Elder Soulborn Forest was far too dangerous, and the Elder Soulborn Trial would be even harder. Jared had only a wisp of soul left now; he had no real way to face those dangers head-on.

One possibility kept digging deeper into Master Wellspring's mind. During the Elder Soulborn Trial, something could happen to Jared.

Jared's soul hovered inside the jade vial. Through the wall of the vial, he saw the look on Master Wellspring's face, and the sight landed heavily in him.

There was no pretense in Master Wellspring's care for him. Every warning, every hesitation, had been for Jared's safety.

Jared slowly circulated the Aureate Codex's art and drew in the spiritual essence around him. At the same time, he spoke.

"Master Wellspring, you do not need to trouble yourself so much over this. I will pass the Elder Soulborn Trial safely."

Jared's voice was very soft, meant to steady him, yet it did not waver.

Master Wellspring lifted his head and fixed his gaze on Jared's soul inside the jade vial. His words came out tight around every syllable.

"Aureate Heir, are you truly going to take part in the Elder Soulborn Trial? I have been to the Elder Soulborn Forest once. I never reached the inner precincts, only circled the outskirts, but even the wards out there were already terrifying. One careless step, and a man could lose his life."

"You only have a wisp of soul left now. Without a physical body to support you, your spiritual power cannot circulate normally. Even with the Aureate Codex protecting you, it will be very hard to face the dangers inside the Elder Soulborn Trial."

"What if... what if something happens to you? How am I supposed to answer to the Wellspring Order? How am I supposed to answer to the disciples of the Aureate Way?"

"There is no what if." Jared cut Master Wellspring off before the words could go any further, his voice level and unshaken.

"Master Wellspring, do you know why I've survived until now?"

"Master Wellspring shook his head.

The look he gave the jade vial held only a waiting question."

"From the mundane world to the Ethereal Realm, then to the Seventeenth Firmament, I've passed through life-and-death moments more times than I can count. Trial after trial. Hardship after hardship. Every time, I came within a step of death, and every time, I made it through."

"It wasn't because luck favored me. It was because I never left myself a road to retreat down. Every fight, every ordeal, I treated it like the last one I would ever face, and I threw everything I had into it."

"It isn't that death means nothing. It's that I know shrinking back does nothing. Retreat only makes death come faster. Only by forcing your way forward is there even a thin chance to live."

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