The Pioneer Emperor’s Sword and Quinn Shepherd’s Mouth

The Yong River is actually the Celestial River. The Celestial River flows out from the other heavens, descends to this place, and crashes onto the earth, its waters surging endlessly before finally pouring into the great sea of the Earth-Mother Origin World.

The Yong River is vast and majestic, its width rivaling the sea itself. If the river were drained, one could even glimpse countless aquatic heavens hidden within its depths.

At this moment, the mountains on both banks tremble like waves; those divine peaks, towering and imposing, seem to crest like the tips of waves—one can only imagine how terrifying the colossal being beneath the earth must be!

Elaina Cloud’s expression shifted slightly; she quietly hid behind Quinn Shepherd, muttering, "Earth Mother Primordial Lady... No, isn't she supposed to be dead?"

Shu Jun’s face also changed slightly as he watched the mountains along the Yong River’s banks heave and fall.

"Do not worry, God-King. As long as I am here, Earth Mother cannot see us." God-Queen Langwo transmitted quietly.

Shu Jun relaxed a little.

Even the nine Heavenly Dragons pulling the palanquin shuddered and quickly halted.

Waves roared in the river, the current almost coming to a standstill. Clearly, some enormous creature had slipped from the shore into the river—its body so massive it blocked the flow of the Yong River.

Boom!

A violent tremor shook the earth as a colossal stone coffin slowly rose from the heart of the river, blocking the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin’s path.

Quinn Shepherd stowed away the jade bottle, took up the Origin-Root Heartwood Staff as a walking stick, and stepped out of the palanquin. He looked up at the massive stone coffin, beneath which gigantic root tendrils writhed like tentacles under the river’s surface.

"Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, of our ten-year pact, five years remain!"

A hoarse roar echoed from within the coffin, corpse-qi rolling out in waves—truly shocking. It was the imperial corpse of Emperor Northcrest: "You return now—are you planning to resurrect Earth Mother Primordial Lady?"

On the river’s surface floated countless dead fish. After a moment, their corpses suddenly jerked to life, animated and transformed by the corpse-qi.

Quinn Shepherd smiled, "There are still five years—no need to be anxious, Northcrest."

"Then why have you awakened Earth Mother?" The imperial corpse in the stone coffin thundered, furious.

"I am in grave danger and need Earth Mother Primordial Lady’s help."

Quinn Shepherd’s expression grew solemn. "Does Earth Mother know that a Heavenly Venerable was once buried in the Earth-Mother Origin World?"

The imperial corpse in the stone coffin fell silent. From beneath the water, the voice of Earth Mother Primordial Lady drifted, ethereal and shifting: "A Heavenly Venerable buried in the Origin World? Do you mean the one buried in Venerable Ridge forty thousand years ago?"

Quinn smiled, "That's him. Earth Mother, this is the Supreme Emperor—he's come to kill me. I ask you to block him for me."

"He's the Supreme Emperor? The Supreme Emperor is still alive?" Earth Mother blurted out, utterly shocked.

Earth Mother Primordial Lady snorted, her anger barely contained. "Do you realize I'm already dead? You want me to block the Supreme Emperor—are you trying to get me killed for good? No one knows better than I how terrifying he is!"

Quinn replied patiently, "The Supreme Emperor is dead too, Earth Mother. His body is forty thousand years old—he can't be at full strength."

"Even so, he's much stronger than I am now!" Earth Mother snapped back, frustration clear in her voice.

Quinn glanced at the stone coffin and chuckled, "Besides, you have your son—the imperial corpse of Emperor Northcrest—to help. Together, you should be able to block the Supreme Emperor, right?"

The stone coffin shuddered violently, clearly showing that the imperial corpse of Emperor Northcrest was deeply afraid of the Supreme Emperor—or perhaps, any Heavenly Venerable-level foe.

Earth Mother gritted her teeth. "The Supreme Emperor is unmatched. Do you know how many ancient gods died trying to kill him?"

From below the water, Earth Mother's furious voice echoed, "You could've stayed quietly in the Origin World, cultivating in peace, but you just had to provoke him! Now you're doomed. Wait—I'm seeing him now. A horde of bone-gods are carrying his coffin this way, and they're fast..."

Quinn's heart stirred. Suddenly, the surface of Yong River flattened like a giant mirror, reflecting the eerie sight: countless skeletal gods and demons, bearing a massive bronze coffin, flying toward them at a speed nearly rivaling the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin.

"If I try to block him, I might truly die," Earth Mother admitted, her voice trembling.

She continued, "Back then, there were at least ten great wars just to try to kill the Supreme Emperor—even the final battle failed. He has ways to make sure I never resurrect. In my current state, I can't face him head-on unless you fully restore me..."

Quinn said coldly, "If I die here, you'll never be resurrected—ever."

The Yong River shook violently, its waters surging skyward—Earth Mother Primordial Lady was seething with rage.

Quinn Shepherd remained unmoved. "He’s a corpse now, just like you. I need you to block him—right here, don’t let him advance another step east. Earth Mother, can you do it?"

"You dare threaten me?"

Earth Mother grew even more enraged. From the imperial coffin came a series of soul-shaking howls, and the coffin lid opened, releasing foul corpse-qi.

"Son, come with me to intercept and kill Taidi!"

With a furious roar, Earth Mother Primordial Lady slammed the stone coffin shut and sent it flying into the air. At the same time, the ground trembled as her root tendrils shot underground, shaking both the earth and the Yong River.

Quinn Shepherd flipped back into the carriage. Elaina Cloud, trembling, clung to his sleeve and whispered, "My dear, when are we leaving this place?"

God-King Shu Jun was uneasy as well; Taidi had met him before, and Earth Mother had also seen him—it would be easy for his identity to be exposed.

God-Queen Langwo’s divine sense could shield them from Earth Mother Primordial Lady’s sight, but it couldn’t hide them from Taidi.

"Let’s wait a bit longer."

Quinn Shepherd opened the divine eye at his brow and gazed into the distance, his voice grave: "As long as Taidi lives, I cannot rest easy. I must not let him reach Everpeace."

He frowned. "Strange—why hasn’t Venerable Dawn intervened to stop Taidi? By all rights, he should have acted by now. If he hadn’t held back, I wouldn’t have called on Earth Mother Primordial Lady…"

His third divine eye looked out to the distant horizon, where Emperor Northcrest’s stone coffin was skimming along the ground, flying beside the Yong River as waves surged upstream.

At last, Quinn Shepherd saw the bronze coffin flying through the sky, borne by over a hundred skeletal gods and demons in tattered robes.

The stone coffin and bronze coffin were still a thousand li apart. Just then, Quinn Shepherd saw a middle-aged man and was momentarily stunned.

"Pioneer Emperor?"

The middle-aged man wore a sword at his waist, appearing like an ordinary traveler after a long journey, his bearing lonely and forlorn.

Ye Greenwood Keane’s steps were slow, yet he moved much faster than the skeletal gods and demons carrying the bronze coffin, quickly drawing close to it.

Suddenly, the bronze coffin and its bearers halted. The bronze lid whistled through the air, and a towering figure flew out from the coffin, dressed in regal robes now tattered by time, billowing as he covered the sky!

The figure emerging from the coffin was many times larger than the bronze coffin itself—his robes alone dwarfed the coffin by a thousandfold!

His aura was overwhelming, and behind him, layer upon layer of celestial palaces unfolded—palaces stacked atop each other, truly astonishing!

This was the corpse of a Heavenly Venerable, who had stolen earth-yin and earth-qi from Venerable Ridge for forty thousand years, long since transformed into a corpse demon.

His eyes were like twin moons in the sky—silent, haunting, and so cold that snow fell from the heavens and mist froze into frost.

For a moment, Quinn Shepherd saw all things wither, grass and trees shriveling—even the Yong River froze, the Celestial River iced over, and the frost spread swiftly into the distance.

"Ye Greenwood Keane, we meet again!"

The Heavenly Venerable’s corpse roared, its terrifying divine sense sweeping in all directions: "Back in the Pioneer Era, you entered Venerable Ridge time and again, seeking my treasures—several times you nearly died by my hand. Now, you appear once more!"

The Pioneer Emperor drew his sword.

Quinn Shepherd watched as the Worryfree Sword transformed into a sky full of sword-light, weaving thirty-four layers of intersecting heavens.

"It’s been a long time."

Ye Greenwood Keane sheathed his sword; the Worryfree Sword rang softly. The middle-aged man crossed his arms over his chest, as if feeling cold, and continued on his way.

Above him, the corpse of the Heavenly Venerable slowly split apart, sliced into countless pieces. The massive body collapsed, falling from the sky.

In the distance, the surging Yong River suddenly halted, and the flying stone coffin stopped abruptly as well.

Ye Greenwood Keane gazed at the stone coffin in the distance, puzzled. He shook his head, "Venerable Shepherd boasts so much about Everpeace’s achievements, yet why are there so many monsters and demons in this Origin World?"

He couldn’t help but shake his head.

The stone coffin crashed down, driving itself into the earth with a resounding thud. Countless root tendrils surged from the ground, swiftly wrapping around the coffin before retreating into the depths below.

Ye Greenwood Keane removed the sword from his waist, scabbard and all, and thrust it into the ground—the Worryfree Sword sank half a foot into the earth.

A violent tremor shook the earth below, deep ravines carved into the ground by sword-qi—sheer cliffs and barriers formed by the cutting force!

On the exposed faces of those cliffs, huge severed root tendrils appeared, still dripping divine blood, which flowed through the canyon as rivers of blood—a truly shocking sight!

"They fled quickly."

The middle-aged man furrowed his brow, arms folded, and kept walking east. The Worryfree Sword flew up and returned to his waist.

In the distance, on the Yong River, Quinn Shepherd closed the vertical eye at his brow. Suddenly, the river swelled—countless severed root tendrils burst from the water, weaving together to entangle the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin, their blood dyeing the Yong River red!

Earth Mother Primordial Lady’s voice echoed furiously from beneath the water, "Venerable Shepherd!"

Quinn Shepherd leapt to his feet atop the palanquin and shouted, "It’s not my fault!"

"Nonsense!"

Earth Mother’s voice grew even more furious: "Not your fault? Do you take me for a three-year-old? You sent me to block Taidi, fine—but you set up Ye Greenwood Keane to ambush me! Ye Greenwood Keane is your ancestor, you two ganged up to trick me! Today, I’ll make sure you die with no grave!"

Quinn Shepherd hurriedly replied, "It really wasn’t me! If I’d known Ye Greenwood Keane was coming, I’d never have asked you for help. Heaven is my witness! Earth Mother, you know me—I’ve always been honest, never tried to fool anyone! If I hadn’t been forced, would I have asked you to intervene?"

Earth Mother Primordial Lady grunted, still wanting to kill the brat, but she did need him to restore her soul. Yet swallowing this humiliation was hard for her to accept.

Quinn laughed, "Earth Mother, I asked you to block the Supreme Emperor for me, but you couldn't do it. Now you want to take it out on me—how is that fair? Don't leave yet, I still have one more thing I need you to do."

He reached out and grabbed Elaina Cloud by the back of her collar, lifting the girl high. "Earth Mother, do you recognize her?"

"Absolute Dust!"

The river roiled as a giant flower slowly rose, towering above the palanquin. The flower's petals unfolded, revealing a massive eye at its center, which rolled and fixed its gaze on Elaina. Earth Mother sneered, "Empress, it's been ages since we last met!"

Elaina's face went pale; she kicked her legs but couldn't break free from Quinn's grip. She glared at him angrily, then turned with a sweet smile. "Earth Mother Primordial Lady, to see you fallen to such a state is almost pitiful. Once the mighty sovereign who ruled the Origin World alone for three hundred thousand years against Heavenly Court, now reduced to a stray—so weak even the Pioneer Emperor could pick you off."

Quinn laughed, "Earth Mother, you've seen much, but you've guessed wrong. Absolute Dust isn't the Empress—she's Madam Yuanmu, the infamous younger sister, currently using the Elaina persona."

The river surged; it was clear Earth Mother was deeply shaken by this news.

She'd always thought Absolute Dust was the Empress—never imagined she was actually Madam Yuanmu.

Quinn said coolly, "Since you couldn't handle the Supreme Emperor, at least help me deal with her."

He added with a grin, "The Supreme Emperor is terrifying, but this Absolute Dust is just a Divine Bridge Realm cultivator. For you, handling her should be easy, right?"

A thick root-tendril whipped up, tightly wrapping Elaina. From within the flower, Earth Mother's laughter echoed, "Dealing with Madam Yuanmu? I'd be delighted. Yuanmu, we have old scores to settle..."

The giant flower slowly sank into Yong River, Earth Mother's laughter ringing out from below: "...This time, I'll settle the account properly!"

Elaina struggled desperately, dragged into the river, screaming, "Quinn Shepherd, this old lady will never let you off!"

Quinn let out a breath of relief, thinking, "At last I've sent away this walking calamity. With her gone, I can finally summon Cloud-Heaven Emperor's soul without interference..."