The Artifact-Class Heaven-Guide Venerable was incomparably formidable, with streams of light swirling before and behind it like bright, floating ribbons.
It held its fingers in a lotus-plucking gesture, as if smiling gently while picking a flower. One toe touched the ground, the other leg lifted, its foot resting lightly on the knee of the opposite leg. This was why Quinn described its posture as coquettish.
Unlike the Heaven-Guide Venerable in Eastern Extremity Heaven, this one was surrounded by several floating continents. These lands drifted around the war-body, shrouded in clouds, with clear mountains and flowing waters. Gods and demons lived there, forming armies that trained day and night.
Quinn gazed into the distance. Northern Extremity Heaven looked somewhat gloomy, yet only after arriving here did he feel a touch of warmth.
In the distant mountains, peaks rose like pillars. Several green vines climbed and wound around the cliffs, adding a splash of color to the landscape.
God-Queen Langwo gazed at those vines, her face showing surprise.
"Sister, do you also want to inspect that Artifact-Class Heaven-Guide Venerable?" Quinn asked.
Langwo hesitated, then nodded lightly. "Those vines should also be relics from the Ancestral Court," she said.
In the next instant, she vanished from the imperial palanquin.
Quinn looked toward the green vines, thinking, "Everything that grows in the Creators' Ancestral Court is enormous."
The imperial palanquin continued forward, heading toward the green vines. After a long while, they arrived before the pillar-like peak. Quinn looked up and realized the vines were actually gourd vines, their enormous leaves sprawling over the mountain.
Hanging on the mountain were several jade-green gourds, each as tall as five or six zhang, their bodies glowing like green jade.
There weren't many gourds, and several women flitted back and forth among the vines, catching insects.
The insects on the gourds were bizarre and vicious, each two or three zhang long, their bodies bristling with spines, fanged mouths breathing thunder-fire. When overmatched, they would shake their bodies, launching their spines like razor-sharp steel spears!
The women darted among the vines, struggling to capture the insects, but repeatedly faced danger. Whenever threatened, they would transform into soaring serpents to dodge, flickering in and out with astonishing speed.
"Could it be that the Five-Thunder War Gourds are treasures grown from this vine, able to contain the Five Great Cloud-Thunders and refine bell-spirit weapons?"
Quinn clicked his tongue in amazement. "There are insects this huge in the world? Could they also be from the Ancestral Court?"
Suddenly, the mountain rumbled and shifted a hundred li or so. Quinn jumped in fright and focused his gaze, spotting an old tortoise beneath the peak.
The old tortoise was unimaginably huge, carrying an entire continent on its back as it walked. It moved so slowly that it took half a day to take a single step, but each step covered a hundred li!
He bore the mountains of the continent on his back, trudging through the vast marsh, panting and clearly struggling under the burden.
The Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin approached the old tortoise, who slowly turned his dragon head, his gaze blazing like twin suns as he stared at the palanquin.
Quinn stepped out of the palanquin and bowed. "Elder," he greeted.
The old tortoise's dragon head was adorned with snowy white whiskers, looking ancient indeed—even his eyebrows were white. "Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, forgive me for not returning your bow. My apologies," he said.
His voice rolled like thunder, resounding with great power.
Quinn was surprised. "You know me?" he asked.
"Who doesn't know Shepherd Heavenly Venerable of the Heaven Alliance?"
The old tortoise asked, "Is Shepherd Heavenly Venerable here to visit the Xuan-Emperor?"
Quinn nodded. "May I ask where the Xuan-Emperor is?"
The old tortoise chuckled. "There is no Northern Emperor Black Tortoise in this world, only the Xuan-Emperor and the Wu-Empress. Are you here to see the Xuan-Emperor or the Wu-Empress?"
Quinn blinked, his expression odd. He probed, "The Northern Emperor Black Tortoise is two people?"
The old tortoise gave a wry smile. "There are two divine rulers here: one governs the men's nation, called Xuan, and the other rules the women's nation, called Wu. If you head to Xuan Nation, you'll meet the Xuan-Emperor; if you go to Wu Nation, you'll meet the Wu-Empress. Only when they join together do they become the full Northern Emperor Black Tortoise."
Quinn bowed in thanks, then asked, "How should I address you, elder?"
"Please, don't call me elder. I'm just the son of the Xuan-Emperor and Wu-Empress. My name is Yooming. I made a mistake, and this is my punishment."
The old tortoise explained, "My parents sentenced me to carry this mountain across Northern Extremity Heaven. Only when every Five-Thunder War Gourd on this vine ripens will my punishment end. I've been trudging along for six hundred thousand years now."
Quinn blinked in disbelief. "Are those really Five-Thunder War Gourds growing on the vine? Shouldn't they ripen way faster than six hundred thousand years?"
Yooming replied, "These gourds bloom every three thousand years, fruit every three thousand, and ripen every three thousand. In six hundred thousand years, we've harvested sixty-six generations—almost six hundred gourds. But the vine is always flowering and fruiting, so there's never a moment when all the gourds are ripe at once. That's why my punishment never ends."
Yan, transformed into a little green sparrow, hopped energetically out of the imperial palanquin and landed on Quinn's shoulder, blurting, "What did you do to deserve punishment like this? That's brutal!"
Yooming shot her a look. "I was set up by a rotten pair—a boy and a girl. Six hundred thousand years ago, when the Four Emperors split from Heavenly Court, I was tasked with escorting the Black Tortoise Heaven Palace north. On the way, I met a young man and a girl who claimed to know me, got close to them, and let down my guard. But they snuck into Heavenly Court and stole the Glass Azure Firmament Banner my parents forged together!"
He ground his teeth, voice rising with bitter fury: "My parents flew into a rage and crushed me under this mountain. But those two—gone, vanished into thin air! The Glass Azure Firmament Banner was crafted from primordial treasures my parents spent eons collecting. Its power is monstrous, but now it's just...gone! My parents have hunted for it ever since. If I ever catch that bastard pair, I'll skin them alive, rip out their tendons, and grind their bones to dust!"
Quinn sighed repeatedly in his heart. He thought to himself, "The Northern Emperor Black Tortoise really is filthy rich—no wonder, living since primordial times, he'd have a hoard of rare treasures. Most ancient gods must be the same. They probably snatched half their treasures from the Creators' Ancestral Court. Maybe this green vine is actually a sacred relic visualized by the Creators themselves..."
Quinn Shepherd studied the green vine, attempting to link his divine sense to it, but the vine remained utterly unresponsive—like a sacred relic sealed off from all outside contact.
Meanwhile, Yooming was still hurling curses, each more colorful and venomous than the last. All trace of his earlier dignified bearing had vanished—he was consumed by bitter hatred for that 'dog-couple' who tricked him and stole the Glass Azure Firmament Banner.
Suddenly, a loud buzzing erupted overhead as a swarm of huge winged insects swooped down. They descended onto the mountain and scattered eggs everywhere among the vines and gourds.
The women tending the vine grew frantic and furious, leaping into the air to chase off the bugs. Yet plenty of eggs still landed, and when the wind touched them, they instantly hatched into fat, green larvae that latched onto the vine and began gnawing voraciously.
Once again, the women had no choice but to rush about catching bugs—an endless, exhausting cycle.
Quinn Shepherd glanced over and asked, "Where do these insects come from?"
Yooming replied, "Prince Umbral raises them. Ages ago, he somehow got ahold of a pouch of primordial insect eggs. He came to my parents asking for a Five-Thunder War Gourd, but when they refused, he turned spiteful and sowed the eggs over the vine."
Yooming continued, "Every time these bugs are wiped out, more flying insects show up and lay new eggs. This petty revenge has been going on for four or five hundred thousand years. That bastard's perseverance is honestly terrifying!"
Quinn Shepherd prepared to leave, but Yooming called out after him in a booming voice, "Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, your reputation carries weight! Please, when you see my parents the Xuan-Emperor and Wu-Empress, put in a good word for me—help me escape this endless punishment! After all, we did meet sixty thousand centuries ago!"
Quinn Shepherd turned back, startled. "You saw me sixty thousand centuries ago?"