The Jade Pool was as vast as the sea.
To the ancient gods with colossal bodies, this place was but a pond. But to humans, it stretched as wide as an ocean. In fact, the Jade Pool had another name—Jade Sea.
Within the sea, divine turtles carried sacred mountains on their backs, swimming leisurely. Giant lotus flowers bloomed, their petals towering like mountain peaks, dazzling in every color under the sun.
Anyone entering the Jade Pool wouldn’t think it was too large—they’d feel as if they themselves had shrunk countless times.
Ahead, Venerable Vast-Sky had already stopped walking. This place was far from the Jade Pool Little Lodge and Jade Pool Treasure Island. All around, demigods approached, some flying in the sky, others hidden among the clouds.
Some lurked beneath the sea. Quinn Shepherd walked on the water’s surface, spotting massive beasts swimming below, their scales blending perfectly with the blue waves.
"Heaven-Guide Venerable, is it really you?"
Venerable Vast-Sky watched him approach, then suddenly sighed, his expression bleak. "Strange as it sounds, I almost wish you truly were him. But I know you shouldn’t be. You’re dead—there’s no way you could have survived. In those circumstances, how could you possibly live? Yet here you stand before me, alive. It’s incomprehensible."
He looked bewildered. "I clearly killed you myself, shattered your soul completely—yet somehow you’re alive again. How did you do it?"
High above, an ancient god with enormous ears listened to every sound in the Jade Pool. Hearing Vast-Sky’s words, he suddenly shivered and turned to leave.
At the same time, deep beneath the Jade Pool, another ancient god with a single eye on his forehead turned pale and shot out from the depths into the sky.
The two ancient gods met, exchanged glances, and their faces grew odd.
They were Generals Listener and Watcher, sent by the Heavenly Emperor to investigate the Heaven-Guide case.
"Should we report this to His Majesty?" asked Listener.
Watcher shook his head and muttered, "You want to die? If we tell His Majesty, both of us are dead men."
Listener frowned, his huge ears curling inward. He whispered, "His Majesty ordered us to investigate this case. Heaven-Guide Venerable’s assassination is no small matter—he was the first Heavenly Venerable, the one all ancient gods prayed for and blessed. His death will surely cause chaos in the future!"
Watcher had only one eye in his brow. He closed it now and shook his head. "Even if we tell His Majesty, what difference does it make? He’ll just let it drop. Vast-Sky is too deeply connected, and his mother’s powers are vast. If His Majesty punishes Vast-Sky, the trouble will only get worse. At that point, His Majesty will silence us—kill us both."
Listener was at a loss. "Then what should we do?"
"See nothing, hear nothing."
Watcher said, "I’m blind, you’re deaf. That’s how we stay alive."
General Listener nodded. "That’s all we can do. But Heaven-Guide Venerable will likely die for nothing. Venerable Shepherd has taken on his form, preaching on his behalf and seeking vengeance for him—he’ll probably die for nothing too. What a pity, what a pity. Two Heavenly Venerables, both on the road to their deaths…"
General Watcher sighed. "When he took out Heaven-Guide Venerable’s bones, I was shocked. When he transformed into his likeness, I was shocked again. I didn’t know what he intended, but when I heard he was preaching on Heaven-Guide’s behalf, I found myself admiring him."
General Listener hesitated. "Then how do we explain all this?"
General Watcher also hesitated. "Hear nothing, see nothing—play deaf and blind. We never saw him, and we know nothing about him taking Heaven-Guide Venerable’s form."
"Exactly. Whatever happens here, we know nothing!"
The two ancient gods finished their discussion and immediately flew away.
On the sea’s surface, demigods soared through the air and drifted across the water, sealing off the area.
Around Venerable Vast-Sky, more demigods stood, forming a tight protective ring.
"Heaven-Guide Venerable, do you really want to tear things open?"
Venerable Vast-Sky sighed and smiled. "You know my background. You can’t touch me. You’re at a disadvantage, but you’ll just have to endure it."
"Heaven-Guide Venerable, just back off."
In front of him, a demigod with tiger whiskers and dragon scales shifted, revealing a half-human, half-god form. He said coolly, "You may have suffered a little, but you’re still alive. You’re a genius—you should be able to see the situation clearly."
"That’s right."
Another demigod transformed into a half-human, half-god shape and laughed. "Back when you died in the Serpentine Palace, you should have realized you couldn’t beat Venerable Vast-Sky. Don’t you remember why you could never escape the Serpentine Palace? Don’t you remember who sealed it with their magic?"
A third demigod, also half-human, half-god, laughed. "You may be a human genius, honored as a Heavenly Venerable, blessed by the ancient gods, but you’re still just human. It was that existence who ordered us to seal the Serpentine Palace, leaving you helpless and hopeless."
Another demigod stepped forward, smiling. "Humans are innately weak. Even if you’ve cultivated Heaven Palace, you can’t match a demigod. If you break the rules, you’ll just die here again! And this time, there’s no coming back!"
Venerable Vast-Sky smiled broadly. "Heaven-Guide Venerable…"
Quinn had been silent for a long time before suddenly interrupting, "Shouldn’t you call me father-brother?"
Venerable Vast-Sky burst out laughing. "Call you father-brother? You think you deserve it? Do you even know who my father is? Who my brother is…"
Boom!
Quinn took a single step forward—the sea exploded. Venerable Vast-Sky’s heart lurched, and suddenly everything went dark before his eyes. "So fast!"
He was surrounded by countless demigods, all handpicked followers. Each one was immensely powerful—some even stronger than him.
He himself was a demigod, his bloodline higher than the rest. Once grown, his power would far surpass any other demigod.
But for now, he was still young, and his followers were older—and stronger.
Yet Quinn’s step brought him ghost-like to Vast-Sky’s side, giving the other demigods no time to react!
The darkness wasn’t the sky turning dim—it was Quinn’s fist filling Vast-Sky’s vision!
Vast-Sky’s face twisted as Quinn’s punch smashed into him. He heard his nose break, his brow split, and then the crisp snap of his ribs.
That was the first rib.
Then the second, then the third!
As Quinn’s fist struck his face, his knee crashed hard into Vast-Sky’s ribs.
Both forces erupted at once—Vast-Sky was sent flying backward, still unable to see anything.
Smack.
He bounced high, landed on the water, bounced again, and fell once more.
"How dare you!"
Only now did the other demigods react. The tiger-whiskered, dragon-scaled demigod roared, his divine blood boiling, power surging explosively—his aura grew terrifying and violent!
But before his attack could land, a sword light pierced through his skull!
Quinn drew his sword, twisting his body in an uncanny way to dodge an attack from behind. His palm clamped down, grabbing another demigod’s arm—its scales flew off, spinning toward Quinn like blades.
Quinn’s sword suddenly turned into blade light, splitting in two. Twin blades crossed paths—blood surged so fiercely that the demigod’s head was blown skyward.
The remaining demigods surrounded Quinn, shouting in fury. Pillars of seawater shot up, their colossal forms launching a joint assault, crashing down on Quinn in the center!
"Heaven-Beyond Peaks!"
Shadows of Quinn’s form multiplied around him—countless afterimages suddenly converged.
"Thousand Palms Return!"
Boom!
He unleashed his ultimate martial technique—giant figures flew in all directions, crashing into the waves and sending the sea surging.
Quinn wiped the blood from his mouth and strode toward Vast-Sky, who’d crashed onto the sea.
Suddenly the sea split with a roar—a lurking demigod behemoth opened its maw wide to devour him.
Runes whirled around Quinn—his teleportation spell activated. In an instant, the demigod’s head was sent away, leaving a headless body to crash into the sea, divine blood staining the water red.
A moment later, Quinn reappeared, punching through another demigod’s skull. Not a drop of blood touched him—he kept moving forward.
Ahead, Vast-Sky’s face was unrecognizable. He forced down his injuries and turned to flee, shouting, "Stop him!"
A roar came from overhead—a demigod with wings swooped down at meteoric speed.
Demigods possessed the blood of ancient gods, each with unique skills and strengths. The closer they were to adulthood, the stronger they became.
Some demigods were nearly as powerful as ancient gods themselves.
Though Vast-Sky’s followers were all young, their power was formidable. But as the winged demigod swooped down, Quinn vanished from sight.
He felt a sudden chill at his neck—then saw his own headless body plunge into the sea.
"What kind of spell is this? I’ve never seen anything like it…"
Quinn pressed on, eyes locked on Vast-Sky’s staggering, fleeing form. The sea erupted ahead—a divine elephant, pure white, charged across the waves, splitting the water into two massive walls, each a hundred feet high.
The divine elephant bellowed, its voice deafening, charging at Quinn with terrifying speed.
Quinn raised both hands high—a blade light slashed down, splitting the elephant in two. Still, it kept running, each half racing past him.
Vast-Sky looked back and was utterly horrified by what he saw.
The sea surged—a giant fish leapt, controlling the water to rise skyward, crashing down on Quinn!
The sea shook violently, burying Quinn beneath the waves.
"He’s dead! He’s dead!" the demigod fish cried out in delight.
The other demigods flew over, landing on the surface, their eyes shooting divine light as they searched for any sign of Quinn.
Vast-Sky stopped, spitting out foul blood.
Suddenly, a pitch-black portal appeared on the sea, spinning and howling as it swept over the demigods. They screamed, trying to flee, but their souls were dragged into the Netherworld, their bodies sinking lifeless into the water.
Vast-Sky’s pupils contracted. Beneath the waves, Quinn’s head surfaced, his body slowly rising. Even underwater, he continued his slow, steady advance.
Quinn rose higher, reappearing above the sea.
"You’re not Heaven-Guide Venerable. He never had such astonishing techniques…"
Vast-Sky retreated, staring at Quinn. The other demigods attacked—some spat fire, some shot divine light, some used their feathers as swords. But to Quinn, these primitive techniques were laughably crude.
None of their spells reached him—their owners were already slain by Quinn’s blade or sword.
In this age, there was no technique worthy of his attention!
Even those with divine power—when they used their techniques, they were riddled with flaws. As soon as they made a move, death was certain!
He pressed on. Vast-Sky fled, gritting his teeth, shouting, "I know who you are! Venerable Shepherd…"
He ran to a sacred mountain, shouting, "Venerable Shepherd wants to kill me!"
A divine turtle carried the mountain, turning to face Quinn’s approach. It rumbled, "Heaven-Guide Venerable, your techniques are vast, but this is Jade Lake. Do you know who Vast-Sky’s mother is? If you did…"
Quinn raised his hand—countless sword lights raced beneath the sea. The old turtle roared in fury, sneering, "A grain of rice dares to shine before the sun…"
"Begin the Tribulation—"
A pillar of sword light, dozens of miles long, pierced the old turtle’s brow and shot out from behind the island.
The sacred mountain sank.
Quinn sheathed his sword—the sword light became a sphere, rolling rapidly across the surface of the sea.
As the sacred mountain sank, Vast-Sky leapt away, fleeing in panic.
Runes whirled around Quinn as he flashed forward, closing the distance.
Suddenly, an obscure aura swept through, making the very space around them tremble.
Vast-Sky rejoiced, shouting, "Mother!"
Quinn’s pupils contracted—he pointed, and the sword sphere’s speed multiplied tenfold. He poured all his mana, all his essence, into this single strike!
He had to kill Vast-Sky before that overwhelming presence could descend!
——A few minutes late, but this chapter is a bit longer, 3,700 words.