Landon came before Aria and gripped her wrist. His voice was low. "Miss, you brought me up the mountain, so it's not fair for you to leave me behind and walk away alone." He had forced his way into the manifestation, so he had no memory of what was outside. In his mind, the version of him inside the manifestation was the real one. But this made sense to Aria. It seemed like in every manifestation, he was trying to find a way to keep her there. Actually, so much time had passed that even he'd forgotten. Every fragment of his spiritual form was connected to manifestations she would enter. This really wasn't a coincidence—he knew she would come, so he waited for her to appear in each manifestation. He only showed up in ones related to her. This was what he'd figured out back then, which was something no one else could decode. All Earthbound Manifestations were connected, no matter how big or how long they lasted. It was just a group of people repeating the same obsession over and
Soon, Warren got to the hotel. Just as he walked into his room, the phone in his pocket started ringing. After sitting down, Warren pulled out his phone and looked at it—it was Patrick again. They had just separated, and yet he was already calling. Warren couldn't figure out why, but he answered anyway. He spoke first. "Is there something else?" Patrick's voice came through with a sinister tone. "Let me ask you one last time—do you not want to invest in Grindham?" Warren heard this and caught that something was wrong. He said in a low voice, "What if I say yes?" Patrick let out an eerie laugh. "I gave you a chance, and you didn't want it. I'm sure you already know Aria disappeared, right? Let me tell you the truth—she's never coming back. "If you keep acting so stubborn, everyone will know about it soon. Of course, it doesn't matter much for regular folks to find out, but what about the Chamber of Commerce and Carver Group?" When Warren heard news about Aria, something snap
Thayne's words hit exactly where it hurt most. This was Aria's weak spot. Thayne understood what Aria cared about most. Though she had always appeared expressionless on the surface, he knew that she was actually really loyal and good-hearted. When Thayne first brought her up the mountain, she never once asked him anything about her family abandoning her. When he gathered herbs, she would just follow behind, always keeping a respectful distance. At first, Thayne thought Aria might not like getting close to people. One day, a lightning tribulation came down from Avalon's direction. His arcane powers were damaged in the aftermath. But after watching him for a long while, she ran out alone into the storm. When she returned, Aria was soaked through with rain, clutching precious herbs in her small hands. At such a young age, she understood everything and never caused anyone worry. She said right away, "I don't want to return to Everlight Citadel. I'll only stay on Mount Hollowlight
Thayne had made it crystal clear. This was Aria's obsession. She convinced herself that the tragedies never happened, fantasizing about her getting there in the nick of time to save Thayne and Hollowlight Sect. These fantasies were transformed and twisted into obsessions. Thayne's words gave clarity to some of Aria's hazy memories. If she hadn't entered the manifestation, she still would have taken Landon into Hollowlight Sect and fallen in love with him, thereby incurring the other virtuous sects' displeasure.After all, she was the one who compromised their authority. She might've possessed the Allbeast Communion ability, but she refused to harvest animal cores for them. What was worse, she didn't swear allegiance to any one of them.Aria even demolished Suncrest Sect, which caused them to retaliate, launching a combined assault on Hollowlight Sect with the other virtuous sects under the pretense of suppressing Spectral Realm evil beings. Aria regained all of her memories. Sh
"Are you done talking?" Landon cut the guy off, his voice so cold and indifferent that it seemed like he didn't care at all. "If you are, get out of my way."The guy sighed and made way for Landon, but he couldn't be sure about Landon's situation right now. It would've been fine if things kept going the way they were. To the public, Aria had always had an unimpressive spiritual energy. Judging by her spiritual foundation, she wouldn't have made a competent arcane practitioner either. But things were different now. Almost all virtuous sects knew about her true power now. The Avalon royals would want to take her back. In the interest of stabilizing the country, the best move would be for Aria and Philip to get married. The royals had always wanted to unify the virtuous sects, after all. What was more, it was very obvious that she had feelings for him. All of these were what the guy would've said, but Landon shot him a piercing gaze that made him feel like he was seen through. The
James fell silent for a brief moment. "Mr. Carver Senior, you must've had your reasons for making this decision. Do you really want my take on the matter?"Warren's interest was piqued. "Let me hear it."James kept his eyes on the road, his lips moving gently. "If you ask me, the world belongs to the young generation now. They want to go out and make a name for themselves, instead of being kept in the house, protected but restrained."Take the other group company heirs and heiresses, for example. I believe you know that they had all lived a sheltered life. A lot of people secretly said that they were nothing without their family."Do you want Ms. Carver to be one of them or a person that you could be proud of?"Warren immediately fell silent. That was right. If Aria had lived a sheltered life, it would be far too easy for people to play her like a fiddle. He sighed at the thought of it and looked at James. "What you said hit home. If Aria had lived a sheltered life, she would ha