A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5378

Yuliana's poison-blurred mind snapped awake the instant fragrant celestial energy rushed over her. Her eyelids flew open, breath catching at the sight that greeted her.

Instead of a dank prison for demonic creatures, she found herself standing upon boundless spiritual soil, awash in shimmering light.

In the distance, rolling hills rose like waves, each peak carved from flawless celestial gems Jared had hoarded from celestial gem mines and fallen cultivators alike.

Between those jeweled mounds a silver stream meandered, its waters nothing but liquefied celestial energy. Old-growth spiritual plants crowded the banks, including ten-thousand-year reishi mushroom and even a handful of Enlightenment Tea Trees, whose leaves wept spiritual dew that spun into tiny vortices before ever touching the grass.

Farther still, the nine-tier Pentacarna Tower floated in open sky, rune-etched walls blazing like starlight and illuminating the entire inner world with a calm, holy brilliance.

High above them, the void shimmered as if the hours themselves were turning like the pages of a luminous book. Between one heartbeat and the next, Jared watched rare herbs sprout, blossom, and wither, their life cycles racing forward at a pace both uncanny and strangely harmonious.

"W-Where are we?" Yuliana's voice quivered, the question escaping her in a breath that trembled as hard as her fingers.

She had toured royal treasure vaults and legendary mineral seams, yet none of those memories could stand beside this place.

The pile of celestial gems ahead radiated such concentrated power that her meridians throbbed, forcing the venom inside her to retreat inch by inch.

"Inside the Pentacarna Tower," Jared answered, his tone steady but edged with fatigue.

He eased her beneath an Enlightenment Tea Tree whose leaves glimmered like jade in moonlight. Resting one hand on the trunk for balance, he guided her down, then pressed a cool detoxification pill into her palm. "One day outside equals a hundred in here," he explained. "And the purity of these celestial gem mines will help us heal faster than anywhere else."

Yuliana swallowed the pill. Cool relief slid down her throat, mingling with the tower's abundant spiritual energy until a silvery sheath formed inside her, isolating the poison and beginning to pry it loose.

She lifted her gaze to the distant pile of celestial gems, then to Jared's face—pale, resolute, and unwilling to yield. An unspoken certainty bloomed in her chest. With this sanctuary and with him, they just might wrest back their fate.

"Ah—" A sudden spasm twisted through her. She clutched her robes, color draining as discomfort flared.

"What's wrong?" Jared asked, stepping closer, alarm sharpening his voice.

Hesitation lingered only a heartbeat before she nodded, surrendering pride to necessity.

Jared moved with gentle urgency, loosening the fabric at her waist. Lowering his head, he used the oldest, simplest method—drawing out the tainted energy with steady, measured breaths—each pull laced with healing aura rather than desire.

The effort drained her. Waves of lightness rolled through her body, as though the poison were being siphoned away along with her strength, leaving her floating between exhaustion and relief.

Time became a blur. When the task was finally done, Yuliana slipped into unconsciousness, a faint murmur of both pain and release escaping her lips while the tower's tranquil light closed around them like dawn.

Jared ran the tip of his tongue across parched lips, stole one last glance at the unconscious Yuliana, then laid her gently on a blanket of moss. Only when she breathed steadily did Jared turn away. He crossed to a waist-high pile of celestial gems that shimmered like frozen waterfalls, lowered himself into a lotus posture, and let the hush of the tower settle around him.

Drawing a breath as deep as a bellows, he summoned the Focus Technique. At once, spiritual energy ripped from the pile of celestial gems, flooding his meridians and plunging unrefined straight into his elixir field.

Inside this tower, the energy required no purification, and with time flowing a hundred times faster, every second of training multiplied into entire afternoons.