"The War-Ox Palace should be one of the Thirty-Six Heaven Palaces of the old Kaihuang Heaven Court. Anyone able to command a Heaven Palace in that era was a truly formidable figure."
Quinn Shepherd followed the villagers into the War-Ox Palace. Compared to others, this Heaven Palace was remarkably intact, as if untouched by war.
By contrast, Jadebright Palace in the Human Emperor Hall and Visha Palace in Nether City were left in ruins by the wars that destroyed the Kaihuang era. As for the other Heaven Palaces, Quinn had yet to see them, but he imagined many must have been lost to the flames of war as well.
"Why was the War-Ox Palace able to remain intact all this time?"
He couldn’t help but wonder, "Did the Warfist Celestial Teacher become a deserter back then? Did he flee with the entire War-Ox Palace, preserving his strength as a result?"
The War-Ox Palace was unlike any Heaven Palace Quinn had seen before. Jadebright Palace in the Human Emperor Hall was steeped in scholarly atmosphere—a place for teaching and nurturing talent, where the disciples of the gods continued their lineages.
Though Quinn was the Human Emperor of the Hall, he hadn’t stayed there long—he’d only visited once with the First Human Emperor and never saw the whole palace.
Quinn had never entered Visha Palace either; it was hidden deep within Nether City by Lord Hades. He’d only glimpsed the distant, crumbling god-cities from afar.
Now, as they entered the heavens of War-Ox Palace, the palace gradually came into sharp focus, revealing itself in its entirety before their eyes.
Closest to them stood a towering gate; beyond it, through layers of palace halls and pavilions, lay a Jade Pool. Further ahead, two streams of blood-red baleful qi twisted through the air like twin dragons, endlessly spiraling.
Behind the Execution Platform stood a square, imposing divine city—likely Jade Capital. Within Jade Capital, the most magnificent palace was the High Heaven Hall.
Quinn Shepherd was dazed; the layout of War-Ox Palace's architecture was somewhat similar to the Heaven Palaces of gods and demons.
He narrowed his gaze toward the gate, where a long rainbow bridge linked the heavenly continent. The bridge floated alone in the sky—the only road leading to War-Ox Palace.
Quinn glanced again at the heavenly continent, his heart faintly shaken.
This heavenly continent was square and regular, with five mountain ranges running north to south, each crowned by towering peaks. Six great rivers crossed the land, some east-west, some north-south, but none emptied into any sea.
There was no ocean here; the six great rivers flowed underground, vanishing into a deep abyss.
At the center of the heavens lay an unfathomable abyss.
Quinn looked up again and saw the sun, moon, and stars beneath War-Ox Palace—moon rising, sun setting, day and night cycling.
He blinked; if the continent was the Spirit Platform, then the five mountain ranges were the Five Elements, the stars above were the Five Luminaries, the six rivers must be the Six Directions, the sun, moon, and stars were the Seven Stars, the abyss below was Youdu—the Netherworld—and the Life-and-Death Treasury, and that bridge was the Divine Bridge leading to the Heaven Palace.
So that means...
"Is this whole heaven—a continent—actually the flesh transformed from an Emperor's Throne-level expert?"
His gaze swept the surroundings. "There's still the Heaven-Man realm missing. The Heaven-Man stage refines the Primordial Spirit—if the Primordial Spirit enters the High Heaven Hall and ascends the Emperor's Throne, it doesn't need to remain on the continent itself. Could it be that an Emperor's Throne Primordial Spirit is sitting atop the throne in that High Heaven Hall? Or perhaps this entire heaven was constructed to the specifications of an Emperor's Throne expert's Divine Treasury and Heaven Palace. After all, there weren't many Emperor's Throne experts in the Pioneer Era; there couldn't have been so many during Kaihuang's time."
War-Ox Palace was one of the Thirty-Six Heaven Palaces of the Pioneer Era, but the most renowned among them were the Four Great Heaven Palaces, which housed the Four Heavenly Kings. War-Ox Palace was not among those.
Kaihuang couldn't possibly have killed an Emperor's Throne-level expert just to build War-Ox Palace, could he?
"You all go up and get ready."
The old farmer instructed the villagers, "Tell the children, War-Ox Palace opens today—let them come for training."
The villagers immediately leapt into action—some soared into War-Ox Palace, others into the heavenly continent below.
The old farmer led his ox, joining Quinn Shepherd and the Dragon-Qilin as they climbed onto the Divine Bridge. The bridge was narrow; Quinn felt fine standing on it, but the Dragon-Qilin looked a bit cramped.
The old farmer stopped, standing on the bridge and taking in the view.
Quinn also looked around; the magnificent landscape stretched out beneath him. The scenery here was truly refreshing to behold.
"Disciple of the Smelling Heaven Pavilion, are you at the Heaven-Man realm?"
The old farmer said unhurriedly, "Of the Four Celestial Teachers of the Kaihuang Heaven Court, Woodcutter is ranked first. I've never accepted that. What skills does he have to climb above me? Among the Four Celestial Teachers, he ranks first, I rank third, Scholar ranks second—him I respect—but what does Woodcutter have besides a glib tongue to get above me, Scholar, and Fisherman? That's why I don't accept him."
Quinn stood high above, looking down on the heavenly continent. He saw many robust youths rushing this way, leaping and flying at great speed.
"Scholar truly admires the Warfist Celestial Teacher."
Quinn said earnestly, "Teacher once mentioned you, saying your martial strength is number one—the strongest among the Four Celestial Teachers. This time, after the changes in Everpeace, Teacher set things up and, after rescuing Aurora Yates, immediately came to seek out the Warfist Celestial Teacher. It shows that in Teacher's mind, Warfist's status is no less than Aurora Yates, the Heavenly King."
"My skills are actually not much different from Aurora Yates."
The old farmer said calmly, "Twenty thousand years ago, Aurora Yates was slightly stronger than me. She was the head of the Four Heavenly Kings. I fought her and was convinced by her strength. But after twenty thousand years, who is higher and who is lower is hard to say. Even if she is revived, she's missed out on twenty thousand years of cultivation."
Quinn's heart skipped a beat, his scalp tingling: "The Warfist Celestial Teacher has already cultivated to Emperor's Throne realm! I really can't take his three punches, and I doubt my elder brother could either..."
The old farmer sneered, "I've fought Scholar before; his martial strength can't match mine, but he always manages to outsmart me, so I admire him. He's truly skilled. But Woodcutter, with just his glib tongue, somehow climbed above me, and that's what I can't accept. This time he came to invite me out of seclusion, and before I even made a move, he was already lying in the gutter."
Quinn forced a smile, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
He could well imagine how wretched the Woodcutter Sage must have looked at that moment.
When a scholar meets a soldier, even reason can't win the argument.
The supernatural beings from the heavenly continent drew near. Quinn was slightly startled—these people must be supernaturalists from the nations of the heavenly continent, but strangely, none of them were truly human.
Bird-headed bodies, beast-headed bodies, some with turtle shells on their backs, some covered in animal fur, some with three heads and six arms, others with many heads and eyes.
God-race of the Pioneer Era!
Quinn narrowed his eyes; he even saw a few supernaturalists from the White Bat God-race!
In this War-Ox Heaven Palace, they were all descendants of the Pioneer Era's god-races!
Cult Master, there are even women among the White Bat God-race!
The Dragon-Qilin lowered his voice and whispered, "Fu Yuqiu and Fu Yuchun from Mingdu Ravine will be overjoyed."
Quinn remembered those two White Bats from Mingdu Ravine and couldn't help but smile—then his smile turned to a frown.