The Young Heavenly Demon Patriarch also picked up a fishbone and drew on the ground the Five Luminaries Realm circulation diagram he’d seen in the ruins. But his version was incomplete as well. He said, “This is all I saw, since the diagram was so fragmentary I didn’t carve it into Azure Sun Hall.” If you wish to become the Holy Cult Master, you must have the vision to see a thousand miles.
Quinn Shepherd felt a stir in his heart and sketched out the fragmentary Five Luminaries diagram he’d seen in Calamity-Seal Palace, then compared it to the Young Heavenly Demon Patriarch’s. The missing sections in each diagram were mostly different; if overlaid, they could actually fill in some of the gaps! For Quinn, the most practical gain this time was the Five Luminaries Realm diagram for the Overlord Three-Core Art. With this diagram, he could continue cultivating; otherwise, his progress would be stuck in the Five Luminaries Realm.
Quinn then drew a new diagram beside them, and now only one section was missing—the left clavicle at the shoulder!
Still, even without the cultivation method for the left clavicle, he could fully activate the Overlord Three‑Core Art and keep training!
The Young Heavenly Demon Patriarch studied Quinn’s new diagram for a long moment, then used the fishbone to sketch several lines at the left shoulder. “Let me fill in this circulation route as best I understand it,” he said. “But what I add may not be correct—it’s sure to differ from the original. When you fight, as your yuanqi runs, there’ll likely still be a flaw at the left shoulder. If your opponent’s skills are average, they won’t spot it. But if their perception is keen, that spot could be your fatal weakness.”
Quinn’s heart tightened and he quickly asked, “Patriarch, how sharp would someone’s eyes have to be to spot this flaw?”
The Young Heavenly Demon Patriarch pondered for a moment. “Heaven-Man Realm, or Life-and-Death Realm.”
Quinn relaxed and laughed. “I wouldn’t go looking for trouble with experts like that.”
“There are also some young people whose realms aren’t high, but their perception is.”
The Young Heavenly Demon Patriarch said calmly, “For example, there are such youths in the Imperial Academy. Don’t think too highly of yourself—these days, you can’t dominate the world with just a couple of ancestral techniques. If your divine arts don’t keep advancing, if you only rely on what your ancestors handed down, well, sooner or later someone will wipe you out. Do you know why I became Grand Rector of the Imperial Academy? I did it to read all under heaven’s learning, to witness a new era.”
A trace of sorrow flickered in the Patriarch’s eyes as he murmured, “It’s a pity—I fear I will not live to see it…”
Though he was indifferent to life and death, and did not grieve his approaching end, what saddened him was being unable to witness the coming of a new era—a new age he himself had helped set in motion.
"It doesn’t matter if I can’t see it myself."
The Young Heavenly Demon Patriarch quickly brightened and laughed, “But you can see it. Young Cult Master, don’t get stuck in your ways—keep your eyes wide and your heart even wider!”
Quinn took his leave from the Patriarch, reflecting that this old man left a very different impression than the villagers back home.
The people of Oldridge Village always seemed like a bunch of kindly old men—though they looked fierce, anyone who spent time with them realized they were gentle at heart. They taught Quinn the ways of the world, and how to survive.
But the Young Patriarch hadn’t taught him those things. Instead, he guided Quinn with patient, strategic lessons, urging him to stand higher and see farther.
From different heights, the world looks different.
A chicken sees only coops and weeds, pecks at bugs and grains.
An eagle spreads its wings, surveys a thousand miles—every inch is its hunting ground.
To become Holy Cult Master, you must have the eagle’s thousand-mile vision.
For Quinn, the most practical gain this time was the Five Luminaries Realm diagram for the Overlord Three-Core Art. With this diagram, he could continue cultivating; otherwise, his progress would be stuck in the Five Luminaries Realm.
He returned to the Scholars’ Quarters and tried activating the Overlord Three‑Core Art, circulating his yuanqi according to the newly reconstructed diagram. The Five Luminaries route was far more complex than before—built atop the Guiding Art and Spirit Embryo Realm methods, it overlaid yet another layer of technique.
Quinn had studied all the techniques in the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra. Though that scripture contained countless marvelous arts, few could rival the Overlord Three‑Core Art’s Five Luminaries circulation route.
The Overlord Three‑Core Art’s Five Luminaries route felt like running three techniques at once: activating the basic Guiding Art, which drove the Spirit Embryo circulation, which in turn drove the Five Luminaries circulation. It was truly complex.
This time, as his vigorous yuanqi circulated according to the diagram, his consciousness suddenly split into five and surged with his qi into the Five Luminaries Treasury.
Inside the Five Luminaries Treasury, five great stars suddenly blazed forth!
But this time, the chaos of the five elements annihilating each other didn’t appear. Instead, a beam of starlight from the Gold Luminary shot down, fused with one strand of his consciousness, and formed a golden god: a snake hung from its left ear, twin dragons beneath its feet, white tiger claws, and a bronze axe in its hand.
Quinn carefully directed his yuanqi, letting the golden god phantom continuously absorb the Gold Luminary’s starlight.
The starlight formed the golden god phantom—this starlight was called star-power, the power of the stars.
At the same time, a beam of starlight shot down from the Wood Luminary, merging with another strand of his consciousness to form a wood god: human head, bird body and legs, twin dragons beneath its feet, and a willow whip in its hand.
Then a beam from the Water Luminary fell, fusing with his third strand of consciousness to form a water god phantom: human head, red-haired snake body, wielding a trident.
The Fire Luminary’s radiance fused with his fourth strand of consciousness, forming a fire god phantom: beast body, human face, twin dragons beneath its feet, holding a fire gourd.
The Earth Luminary’s light merged with his final strand of consciousness, forming an earth god phantom: human head, snake body, with two gates on its back—though the writing on those gates was blurred and unreadable, since it was only a phantom.
His yuanqi fused with the phantoms of these five gods, and yuanqi and star-power slowly began to transform into each other—a puzzling phenomenon.
“Yuanqi turning into star-power, star-power turning into yuanqi—does this mean something is changing?”
Quinn Shepherd pondered, feeling it out carefully, but noticed no real difference—except that when yuanqi turned into star-power, he faintly sensed some mysterious force stirring in the starry sky, though he couldn’t tell what it was.
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But when star-power turned back into yuanqi, he found his cultivation had improved a bit.
“That’s not a bad thing.”
He finally breathed a full sigh of relief. Though the Five Luminaries Realm diagram still had a flaw, at least he could train now without constantly risking a qi deviation.
“There’s still some time before classes begin at the Imperial Academy. I should head back to Listening Rain Pavilion and bring Lina the Spirit Fox here. I also promised to keep treating the people of Flower Lane.”
Quinn Shepherd left his quarters and headed out, soon encountering a group of fellow scholars coming his way.
His area was separated from the divine arts practitioners; it was reserved for scholars in the Spirit Embryo and Five Luminaries Realms. At the Imperial Academy, anyone below the Six Directions Realm lived here. Every year, returning scholars from earlier classes came back from other regions—though they’d entered earlier and had deeper cultivation, as long as they hadn’t broken through to the Six Directions Realm, they still stayed here.
Each year, the Academy allotted ten slots for junior scholars. It was very difficult for them to break through to the Six Directions Realm within three to five years, so the number of junior scholars here was always considerable.
As these scholars passed by Quinn, one of them glanced at him and asked, “Junior brother, I heard there’s a castaway from the Great Ruins in the Academy. Do you know where he lives?”
Quinn was taken aback. “Senior brother, what business do you have with that castaway?”
The scholar replied, “A castaway is fit only to be a slave—a base wretch. I can’t believe the emperor let one become an Academy scholar; it disgraces us all. We’re furious about it and plan to make him quit. If he stays, how can we hold our heads high?”
Quinn’s eyes flickered. “I see. I’ve met that castaway before—he lives nearby. Why don’t I take you to him?”
The dozen or so scholars were delighted, bowing and smiling. “Much obliged, junior brother!”
"You’re too polite, senior brothers."
Quinn said, “I’m from a noble family myself, and yet I have to study alongside a castaway—I’m so ashamed I wish I could crawl into a hole. By the way, my surname is Qin.”
"Qin?"
The scholars were all surprised. One said politely, “So you’re a Qin family brother! The Qin clan in the capital is indeed a noble house—studying alongside a castaway really is a disgrace. The Qin family has many fine generals, all loyal and righteous. I may have entered the Academy two years before you, but I wouldn’t dare call myself senior; let’s address each other as brothers.”
Another scholar laughed, “My father runs mines on Tiger-March Mountain, and every year he brings in hundreds of castaways from the border. Hundreds die each year, so we have to keep buying more. Heh, I never thought I’d be studying in the same academy as a castaway. If my father finds out, he’ll be furious—he’d say I’m keeping company with slaves.”
A young woman said coolly, “I’ve heard about this too. The emperor is using this to rebuke the ministers, so he let a castaway enter the Academy—he also means to swallow up the Great Ruins by admitting castaways as Everpeace subjects, which means treating the Ruins as imperial territory. But he didn’t think through how it would affect us scholars.”
Quinn led the scholars to the end of the Scholars’ Quarters, chatting along the way. The courtyard at the end was quiet and secluded, with only one residence. Quinn smiled, “Senior brothers, this is where the castaway lives. Wait here.”
He stepped up and knocked. After a moment, the gate opened and a round-faced scholar peered out, staring at Quinn in surprise. “Brother Qin…”
Quinn pushed open the door and entered, with the others filing in behind him, crowding the plump scholar into the center of the courtyard.
Quinn closed and barred the courtyard gate, his face expressionless. “By the way, senior brothers—does the Imperial Academy allow killing?”
The scholars were all taken aback. One laughed awkwardly, “Brother Qin, we just want to teach this castaway a lesson and drive him out of the Academy. As for killing—if we did that, we’d all be expelled. Beating him up is enough!”
Quinn looked dissatisfied and muttered, “There are so many rules in the capital—you can’t just kill people at will. In the Great Ruins, killing a dozen people wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow…”