A Warrior Undefeatable

Saleto bit his lip and formed a rapid series of seals, barking with hollow bravado, "Hall Guardians, seize him!"

Before the echo of his shout faded, eight surging auras erupted from the four corners of the chamber. Eight Wandering Immortal Realm Level Eight guardians leapt forward, divine weapons gleaming, closing in on Jared in an eight-trigram formation. Their eyes were icy, their orders clear-kill all intruders.

"Eight small fry think they can stop me?" Jared chuckled softly; he could not even be bothered to draw his sword.noveldrama

He flickered through the formation like a wraith. With every casual lift of his hand, a guardian screamed, flew backward, weapon shattering, spiritual veins snapping, crashing to the marble floor-fate uncertain.

Within mere heartbeats, the eight guardians lay ruined in a heap, limbs askew.

Saleto's pupils contracted; all color drained from his face. How can anyone wield such terrifying might? Eight Wandering Immortal Realm Level Eight guardians- reduced to clay pigeons!

"W-Who are you really?" His voice quavered as he edged back, fingers sneaking toward the Storage Ring at his belt. "Do you understand the price of defying the Celestial Palace?"

"The price?" Jared advanced, eyes glittering like ice shards. "Ever since I crossed the Tenth Hall, I've understood the price."

merge "Your tiny Seventh Hall, the whole Celestial Palace, the entire celestial race-push me far enough and I'll erase every last one."

"Such arrogance!"

Saleto whipped out a small golden banner. Stars were embroidered across its surface, and the cloth radiated cosmic power. "Jared, don't overrate yourself. Taste my Stellar Banner!"

He swung the flag. Instantly, countless golden phantoms burst forth, howling as they flooded toward Jared. The very air thickened; heaven and earth changed color. This was Saleto's trump card, once used to slaughter peers of equal strength.

Jared only glanced at it, lifted one finger, and flicked.

Clang!

A pure, ringing sword cry split the hall. A thread-thin lance of golden sword energy shot from his fingertip, small as a hair, yet packed with the force of creation itself. The swarm of golden phantoms melted like frost in sunlight. Even the Stellar Banner wailed under the strain; its fabric split, dissolving into ash.

Saleto's hand shook violently around the bare flagpole. Terror-raw and absolute -filled his eyes. A thousand years of blood and effort refining that magical item... yet it was destroyed by a single flick of his finger?

"N-No... impossible!" he howled, and in desperation, he parted his lips, drawing a sharp breath. From the center of his brow spun out a tiny, spinning golden relic.

The relic flared with dazzling brilliance, and in the blink of an eye, it congealed before him as an enormous golden shield. Ancient characters crawled across the surface like living fire, releasing a solemn, boundless holiness that seemed to fill the entire hall.

Saleto roared, half-mad, as though

he had seized the very last straw that could save his life. "This is the Indestructible Golden Relic I wrested from the Western Holy Kingdom! Even a Top Level Wanderingo Immortal Realm Level Nine

cultivator can't break it. Jared, what

do you possibly have that can shatter my defense?"

He looked deranged, bellowing as if the shout itself might hold death at bay.

Jared studied the glittering shield, the corner of his mouth lifting in a faintly amused arc.

He took no weapon from his Storage Ring. He merely extended his right hand, palm up, and pressed forward toward the glowing barrier.

The instant his palm touched the shield, there was no earth-shaking thunder- only a muted crack, deep and final.

The so-called Indestructible Golden Relic that even Top Level Wandering Immortal Realm Level Nine cultivators could not break splintered like glass. From the point of contact, hairline fractures spider-webbed outward; one heartbeat later, the whole thing exploded with a brittle bang!

With a mournful cry, the golden relic dimmed and shot back into Saleto's brow, its light on the verge of collapsing altogether.