"Venerable Void is very dangerous?"
Quinn couldn't help but fall into thought. What exactly did Flame-Venerable mean by this?
Did he mean that Venerable Void herself is dangerous, or that there's something wrong with her as a person?
"Flame-Venerable is still as impatient as ever, and never says anything clearly."
Quinn couldn't help but shake his head. Flame-Venerable had always been hot-tempered; in the past, he'd once gotten into a big fight with Quinn over a trivial matter and ended up getting badly beaten. Now, he was still the same as ever.
"But he didn't try to kill me, and he even asked me to look after Cloud-Venerable's body. Back at Jade Pool, among the three Heavenly Venerables who protected me, was he one of them?"
Quinn sighed. He had also wanted to ask Flame-Venerable about the sword expert enemy he encountered in the Creator city—was it the Pioneer Emperor?—but Flame-Venerable left so quickly that he didn't get the chance.
If the Pioneer Emperor is also in the Grand Void, then that would mean Carefree Haven is here as well.
They walked out of the Supreme Divine Sense Domain, only to see a mass of Rootless Heavenly Flame burning fiercely ahead, its flames two or three zhang high, swelling and shrinking with the wind.
Atop the flames, a golden rope hung down, its end tied to a cloud in the sky. Dangling from the rope, hands and feet bound behind him, was a man suspended over the fire, screaming miserably as the Rootless Heavenly Flame roasted him.
Quinn and Logan Cross looked closely and saw that it was none other than Yue Tingge, Celestial Teacher Yue.
Upon seeing them, the Daoist quickly suppressed his pain and shouted, "Heavenly Venerable Shepherd! Little friend Logan! I offended Flame-Venerable and failed to escape. He holds grudges and captured me, hanging me here to roast for a few hundred years to avenge himself, and only then will he let me go! Please, you two, save me—Little Yue would be eternally grateful!"
Quinn acted as if he neither saw nor heard anything.
Logan Cross, soft-hearted, said, "Flame-Venerable hung you here instead of killing you; he must have his reasons. If we untie you without permission, wouldn't that offend Flame-Venerable? Celestial Teacher Yue, just burn the rope off and you'll be free. Try rubbing against the fire..."
Yue Tingge flew into a rage. "That rope is his refined treasure, and the fire is his too. How could I possibly burn through it? You're even worse than Heavenly Venerable Shepherd!"
The two were about to leave when Yue Tingge hurriedly said, "I know a secret!"
Quinn and Logan kept walking, and Yue Tingge shouted, "I know where the remaining Creators went!"
Quinn stopped in his tracks, turned around, and exclaimed in surprise, "Celestial Teacher Yue, how did you end up hanging here? Who would dare roast Celestial Teacher Yue over a fire? God-Knife Logan, hurry, give me a hand and help rescue Celestial Teacher Yue!"
Yue Tingge glared at him, eyes wide with fury, staring him down.
Quinn remained calm, activated a teleportation formation, and sent the mass of Rootless Heavenly Flame dozens of miles away. Logan Cross tried to untie the Golden Dragon Rope but couldn't; instead, the tiny dragon head at the rope's end bit his palm, drawing blood.
Leave the Grand Void and return to Heavenly Court?
Yue Tingge didn't look up, sneered, "Go back to Heavenly Court and die? If I leave the Grand Void, I'll die immediately. Someone won't let me leave..."
After finishing the map, he suddenly looked up warily at Quinn and Logan Cross. "Who are you?"
He went mad again.
Quinn put away the map. Yue Tingge chuckled, "Ah, I remember you now—you're Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, you're 'one hand.' Heavenly Court sent three Heavenly Venerables to kill me, huh? I must be important. I know a good place—I'll take you there..."
He hooked an arm around the golden dragon's head hanging from the sky and laughed, "Good brother, I finally found you! Shh, let's trick them and get them killed there. I've already tricked Flame-Venerable and Venerable Void into that place and killed two Venerables; killing one more is no big deal..."
Quinn stood up and said to Logan Cross, "Let's go."
Logan Cross quickly caught up, glancing back at the now-mad Yue Tingge, who was still chatting with the golden dragon as if they were old friends. He wondered aloud, "Quinn Overlord Body, is Celestial Teacher Yue truly mad or just pretending?"
Quinn shook his head. "I'm not sure. He might be truly mad, or he might be truly mad. He's always talking about a 'good brother'—maybe another Celestial Teacher who came here with him, his closest friend, who probably died in the Grand Void and he can't accept it."
Logan Cross thought for a moment. "Or maybe he's just pretending. He can't leave here—if he does, he'll die for sure. Heavenly Court wants to kill him, and the Pioneer Emperor's Heaven Court was destroyed by him, so he can't go to the Void Bridge to seek Carefree Haven. If the Pioneer Emperor sees him, he'll kill him too. He's trapped here forever."
Flame-Venerable's golden dragon left Yue Tingge, shrank its body, and vanished into the clouds.
Quinn looked back and saw Yue Tingge standing alone, indescribably desolate. Suddenly his face twisted into a fierce, hideous expression as he cursed heaven and earth.
He's too smart—not to go mad would be impossible.
Quinn smiled. "God-Knife Logan, are you planning to go mad and stay in the Grand Void, or go out to Everpeace?"
Logan Cross was briefly stunned.
"Your choices are running out," Quinn reminded him.
Logan Cross was silent for a moment, then sighed, "If I go back to Heavenly Court, I'll die—Empress and Madam Yuanmu won't let me live. If I stay in the Grand Void, I'm not as clever as Celestial Teacher Yue and won't survive long. But I've always had an obsession that keeps me going. Quinn Overlord Body, do you know what my wish is?"
Quinn smiled. "Your injuries are almost healed; you ran faster than me earlier."
Logan Cross walked alongside him, rarely smiling. "That's right. The Upper Emperor Overlord Body cut off one of my arms but also saved my life three times. I waited forty thousand years to repay the debt for my lost arm, to prove my saber to the Upper Emperor Overlord Body. But for those three lifesaving favors, I don't know how to repay."
The two walked side by side toward the Creators' last gathering place, their auras growing stronger. Ahead lay a vast golden desert, wind and sand stirring its golden dust.
Quinn stepped on the golden sand, leaving a trail of footprints. "Vengeance and gratitude are two different things. I took your arm, and you've spent forty thousand years training for revenge. I saved your life three times; you'll spend a hundred and twenty thousand years repaying that debt. Is that fair?"
Logan Cross, like a drawn divine blade, was sharp and resolute. "Yes."
His aura carved a deep scar across the golden desert ahead, the scar stretching forward, with swirling air currents forming tornadoes, sweeping golden sand into the sky.
Countless flashes of blade light darted through the tornadoes—that was his saber technique.
Quinn gazed at the desert, seeing crescent-shaped dunes all pointing in the same direction. "The Creators' craftsmanship is wondrous, creating this golden desert—truly spectacular."
His aura erupted, blood surging like an ocean, like oil set ablaze—burning youth and passion to the fullest!
Suddenly, his ocean of blood rose up, like a banner of iron and blood sweeping across the sky!
The Everpeace Reforms need to be forged with iron and blood!
Their auras collided—Logan Cross instantly felt the epoch-making, world-changing spirit in Quinn's aura!
That spirit didn't belong to Quinn, but to Everpeace, to the spirit of an era!
He wasn't stealing Everpeace's spirit, but was forged in the momentum of its reforms—revolutionary as fire, reforming as a river.
The river surged, rising when blocked, flooding all that was old.
The fire blazed, a spark could set the prairie alight, burning all that was rotten.
Upper Emperor Overlord Body, please!
Logan Cross fiercely drew his blade—amidst the desert sands, the blade flashed like a rainbow, opening a new sky and slashing at Quinn!
Quinn raised his hand and sword light rose—blade and sword clashed, their powers exploded, bodies collided, blades and swords rang out!
In the next instant, the power of blade and sword burst forth, sending them flying apart.
Logan Cross retreated, laughing, slashing at the retreating Quinn—no matter how grand Quinn's aura, Logan cleaved it apart!
Quinn thrust his sword, stirring a torrent in the golden desert—countless dunes swept up, forming a golden channel, with Logan Cross at its end, imposing.
Logan Cross's blade slashed into the golden channel—countless blades and swords collided, piercing the channel, turning into a rain of blades and swords.
Logan Cross charged through the rain of blades and swords, each slash forming a new blade path heaven. When he reached Quinn, fourteen blade path heavens formed supreme power, slashing down!
His saber technique was unmatched in Heavenly Court—the number one divine blade!
As his divine blade fell, suddenly the world grew silent—countless starlight appeared in the sky, the desert beneath Quinn's feet spun, turning into a black-and-white Taiji diagram.
Logan Cross's heart skipped—he saw a sun rise from the black-and-white desert, a moon set.
Behind Quinn, the Primordial Tree grew lush and ever taller.
"Divine flesh united—spirit and body as one?"
Logan Cross slashed and roared, "No matter how powerful your magic, you can't withstand my divine blade!"
Quinn raised his sword, piercing through layer after layer of blade path heavens, aiming for Logan's brow!
Their auras collided—Logan Cross instantly felt the epoch-making, world-changing spirit in Quinn's aura!
That spirit didn't belong to Quinn, but to Everpeace, to the spirit of an era!
He wasn't stealing Everpeace's spirit, but was forged in the momentum of its reforms—revolutionary as fire, reforming as a river.
The river surged, rising when blocked, flooding all that was old.
The fire blazed, a spark could set the prairie alight, burning all that was rotten.
Upper Emperor Overlord Body, please!
Logan Cross fiercely drew his blade—amidst the desert sands, the blade flashed like a rainbow, opening a new sky and slashing at Quinn!
Quinn raised his hand and sword light rose—blade and sword clashed, their powers exploded, bodies collided, blades and swords rang out!
In the next instant, the power of blade and sword burst forth, sending them flying apart.
Logan Cross retreated, laughing, slashing at the retreating Quinn—no matter how grand Quinn's aura, Logan cleaved it apart!
Quinn thrust his sword, stirring a torrent in the golden desert—countless dunes swept up, forming a golden channel, with Logan Cross at its end, imposing.
Logan Cross's blade slashed into the golden channel—countless blades and swords collided, piercing the channel, turning into a rain of blades and swords.
Logan Cross charged through the rain of blades and swords, each slash forming a new blade path heaven. When he reached Quinn, fourteen blade path heavens formed supreme power, slashing down!
His saber technique was unmatched in Heavenly Court—the number one divine blade!
As his divine blade fell, suddenly the world grew silent—countless starlight appeared in the sky, the desert beneath Quinn's feet spun, turning into a black-and-white Taiji diagram.
Logan Cross's heart skipped—he saw a sun rise from the black-and-white desert, a moon set.
Behind Quinn, the Primordial Tree grew lush and ever taller.
"Divine flesh united—spirit and body as one?"
Logan Cross slashed and roared, "No matter how powerful your magic, you can't withstand my divine blade!"
Quinn raised his sword, piercing through layer after layer of blade path heavens, aiming for Logan's brow!