"The second heaven of the Kaihuang Heaven Court..."
Quinn Shepherd looked around. What met his eyes was an endless expanse of ruins—collapsed city walls and palaces, broken flying cities hanging in the sky, devastated mountains and rivers, and a land strewn with corpses and bones.
The distant mountains were incomplete—each peak looked like a corncob gnawed on countless times, with even the core chewed away, teetering on the brink of collapse.
The cracked earth was riddled with volcanoes and lava; the rivers that once flowed across the land were now replaced by great rivers of molten rock—this world's blood was magma!
In the sky, there were bizarre fragments of stars and clouds of strange shapes—those clouds were likely traces left by divine arts.
Quinn stamped the ground beneath his feet. The soil here had hardened completely—no plant could grow. Suddenly, a wild gust of wind swept by, and he witnessed an unforgettable sight: countless human bones were caught up by the wind, swirling together into a white mass of bones that rolled past him with a rattling clatter.
Next, more and more giant balls of white bones were blown about by the gale, rolling chaotically across his path.
When the wind finally died down, those bone-balls scattered across the ground, coming to rest in a heap.
Then, from within the bones, remnant souls began to emerge—drifting like ghostly flames, flitting to and fro. In their flickering light, vague faces of many beings could be seen, but their bodies were tattered, missing arms and legs.
When the wind rose again, the ghostly will-o'-the-wisps in the air hurriedly dove back into the piles of bones. The skeletons scrambled to run, trying to escape the gale, but soon were blown head over heels. Once again, many skeletons linked hands and joined together, piling up into huge bone-balls that were sent rolling away by the wind.
This surreal spectacle was something Quinn Shepherd had never seen or even heard of before.
"These remnant souls must be the spirits of those who died here. Since they're incomplete, even Youdu refuses to accept them, leaving them to wander the world."
Quinn thought to himself, "They have nothing to anchor them, so they burrow into the bones. Only inside their skeletons can they feel alive, I suppose?"
"I think I'm about to die."
Behind him, Indra King Buddha's Buddha-light was as thin as a wisp. He slumped and said, "Claudia Qi, the Red Empress of the Southern Heavens, is far too powerful. She played a single melody, and it was enough to take my life. I feel like I'm dying. Young Quinn, you'll have to walk the rest of the road alone..."
"All right!"
Quinn replied with relish, "Once you're dead, I'll bury you and get on my way. Do you want a cremation or a burial, King Buddha?"
Indra King Buddha glared, furious: "I'm not even dead yet and you're already planning my cremation or burial?"
Quinn chuckled, "I haven't cultivated the Indra King Buddha Sutra for long, but I know how powerful it is. Your flesh and Primordial Spirit are both top-tier—almost indestructible. It's not quite Emperor's-Throne level, but close enough. After all these years, would a single melody really kill you?"
Indra King Buddha blinked, his face ashen. "To protect you, I had no choice but to take Claudia Qi's zither head-on. It's already severed my life force..."
"Claudia Qi's divine art chased us across space, first wiping out the energy driving our transit. Her power was already half-destroyed by that collision."
Quinn analyzed, "So King Buddha only had to withstand the remaining half of her power. That shouldn't be enough to kill you, right? Besides, I've heard her melody before—it's a famous zither piece called 'Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix.'"
Indra King Buddha kept blinking, weakly protesting, "Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix? Never heard of it..."
"There is a beauty—once seen, never forgotten. A day apart, and longing drives me mad. The phoenix soars, searching the four seas for its mate. Alas, my beloved is not behind the eastern wall. I use my zither to speak, pouring out my heart. When will you answer me and ease my wandering sorrow?"
Quinn sang the lyrics aloud, his hands moving in the air as if playing an invisible zither. Though he had no instrument, his vital energy turned into vibrating strings, producing music that matched Claudia Qi's pursuit exactly.
As the youth played and sang, his voice rang out unrestrained: "...If only fate would let us embrace as mandarin ducks, why must we struggle and soar apart? Phoenix, oh phoenix, perch with me! Let us be joined forever as mates. Our hearts and feelings in perfect harmony—who will know of our midnight tryst? Twin wings rise and fly high, yet your absence makes my longing all the more bitter—"
The lingering notes of the zither circled the two of them, lasting a long time before fading. Quinn's music and singing drew a crowd of skeletons, who ran over, gathered around, tilted their heads to listen, and some even danced clumsily to accompany him.
Quinn dispersed his vital energy and said, "'Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix' is a song a man wrote for a woman, urging her to elope with him. They had an intimate past, and he wants her to remember their bond and fly away together, leaving everything behind."
Indra King Buddha fell silent, then suddenly sat up, brushed the dirt off himself, and shooed away the skeletons eavesdropping on them. "What are you staring at? Nothing to see here! Go on, get out of here! Young Quinn, the Kaihuang Heaven Court has thirty-three layers of heavens. High-Emperor Heaven is the first, this place is the second—Taeming Heaven. The thirty-three heavens are all connected. Now that we've reached Taeming Heaven, we're not far from High-Emperor Heaven..."
Quinn continued, "I learned this song from Grandpa Deaf in my village—he's one of our wisest elders, so I trust his teaching. But Claudia Qi is a woman, and this song was composed by a man. Her playing it feels odd, and in her version there's obvious bitterness. It's not meant for killing, but for mockery—she's mocking the composer himself..."
Indra King Buddha's wounds seemed to heal instantly. He strode forward and said, "If you climb up from Taeming Heaven, you'll reach Clearbright Heaven, and above that is Mystic Womb Heaven. Back in the day, this place was unimaginably prosperous..."
The skeletons he shooed away soon clustered back around, like a herd of curious alpacas.
Quinn continued, "If a woman plays this song, and it's meant to mock the composer, then Claudia Qi must be mocking..."
Indra King Buddha suddenly turned and snapped, "What exactly are you getting at?"
Quinn jumped in surprise and quickly shut his mouth. The skeletons also scattered in a clattering rush.
Indra King Buddha snorted and stomped ahead, fuming, "I've let go of everything—emptied my heart, put the past behind me! There's no need to bring up old matters. I've moved on; she's the one who can't let go, clinging to her grudge and using it to hunt me down. Is that my fault?"
Quinn followed, smiling as he listened. Indra King Buddha sneered, "It's her own narrow-mindedness—don't blame me! In my youth, before I became a monk, I did have that green, innocent time. I thought we could be together, ignoring the struggle between the Heavenly Court and the Kaihuang Heaven Court. But she couldn't give up her rank, wouldn't run away with me. Later, on the battlefield, she killed countless of my brothers and sisters—so ruthless! That's when I cut ties with her for good."
Quinn shooed away the cluster of inquisitive skeletons. Indra King Buddha sighed, "The reason the Heavenly Court reacted so quickly this time is because she still resents me, believing I betrayed her. If her divine art had killed me, she would've stopped. But since I'm still alive, she'll keep chasing. Her speed is unmatched—if I take you with me, we'll never escape. That's why I pretended to be mortally wounded, hoping you'd leave alone. But you saw through it. Young Quinn, being too clever isn't always a good thing."
Quinn was silent for a moment, then asked, "Can you escape the Red Empress's pursuit?"
Indra King Buddha shook his head. "Her ship can cross worlds, ignoring all barriers. No one is faster. There's no escape. I'm going to climb up through all thirty-three heavens of the Kaihuang Heaven Court and hide there. If she can't find me, she'll give up. I can't take you with me—if I did, you'd surely die."
Some ships can travel between worlds—Quinn had seen such vessels before, like the Other Shore Ark of the Divine Artisan Clan, and his father Hansen Keane's ship, which sailed in from another world above the Great Ruins.
For Claudia Qi, the Red Empress of the Southern Heavens, having such a ship is no surprise.
Quinn nodded silently. "If you bring me along, I'll only drag you down. King Buddha, this is where we part."
Indra King Buddha nodded gently. "She'll be here soon—I have to split up with you. Do you have a way back to High-Emperor Heaven?"
Quinn grinned, "Worst case, I'll just build another Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge. Don't worry about me—I'm more worried about you."
Indra King Buddha picked up speed, pointing east as his voice faded into the distance: "Head that way and you should find the road to High-Emperor Heaven!"
His figure sped away, soon vanishing from sight.
Quinn opened his eyes, feeling his vision recover a bit. He pressed the Golden Willow Leaf back onto his third eye—exposing it made him wary of using the Overlord Three-Core Art, so he usually kept it sealed.
He walked eastward through the desolation. No living beings could be seen, only groups of bone-balls blown about by the wind. When the wind stopped, the skeleton creatures clustered around him like curious alpacas; the braver ones tugged his clothes and pinched his cheeks.
Quinn ignored the restless dead and kept heading east. Suddenly, he heard zither music drifting down from the sky.
It was the melody of 'Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix.' Though it was clearly a love song, it was laced with sorrow and resentment.
Suddenly, the dim sky brightened. A phoenix-winged tower ship sailed in from another world, appearing in the sky above Taeming Heaven. The zither music came from that ship.
Quinn listened, entranced. Then a terrifying psychic wave swept out, spreading across the desolate land of Taeming Heaven like a rising tide.
When the wave passed over Quinn, it hesitated for a moment, then moved on without harming him.
The ship's phoenix wings beat as it traced a graceful arc through the sky—not chasing Quinn, but pursuing Indra King Buddha.
Claudia Qi, the Red Empress, had little interest in capturing Quinn Shepherd; her only target was Indra King Buddha.
"What history do Indra King Buddha and Claudia Qi share? Perhaps they're the true protagonists of their own story..."
Quinn watched the tower ship recede and finally relaxed. He continued east, refining his cultivation as he walked. Behind him, the Demon Dao Divine Treasury appeared, as he tried to merge the Seven Stars Divine Treasury and the Six Directions Divine Treasury into one.
He walked for an unknown time, yet Taeming Heaven showed no end.
Suddenly, Quinn stopped. Ahead stood a magnificent divine city, bustling with people and gods and demons standing guard, watching the surroundings warily.
Quinn's body trembled as he looked around. The ruined Taeming Heaven had vanished, replaced by a pristine version untouched by war.
He studied the geography, stunned. The collapsed mountains had risen again, the destroyed divine city restored and shining. The land matched perfectly with a map left by the founding ancestor of the Celestial Holy Sect!
And that map pointed directly to this divine city!
"My Senior Brother lived after the Kaihuang Era ended—he couldn't have drawn a map of the land before its destruction, nor pointed out a city that no longer exists! Something's wrong here..." Quinn's mind was in turmoil.
——The green ox leaning against the wall with a flower in its mouth: Master planted a peony garden for me. When the flowers bloom, each one turns into a monthly ticket. I'll take these tickets and look for my beloved ox~