"You think you're granting it to me?"
Quinn Shepherd erupted in rage. His body flickered, and a cascade of starlight descended, making his flesh swell in segments, his brows and eyes turning snow-white and radiating endless starlight. He looked like a miniature Heaven Duke, raising his hand to shift stars and constellations, his voice booming like a great bell: "Every single chamber pot of blame I carry, I earned myself—who needs your charity?"
He descended like Heaven Duke himself, fists and feet sweeping wide, starlight erupting above his head and condensing into the Seventh Heavenly Principle—Heaven Firmament.
The Heaven Firmament stretched vast and blue, clean as if washed, enveloping a hundred-mile radius. Within this space, he felt like the invincible master of the Heavenly Principles themselves!
His palm manifested the Fourth Heavenly Principle—Heaven Seal.
Every blow landed like Heaven Duke delivering judgment, striking at Elaina Cloud's Dao-heart—hammering out her guilt, her softness, even her divinity, beating her down to a mortal, until she was left sobbing and broken!
Behind him, the Heavenly Net hung like a dipper, the Heavenly Mechanism spread like a parasol, the Heavenly Sun blazed as a great sun, and the Heavenly Yin shone as a bright moon.
Beneath his feet was the Heavenly Terrace, above his head a canopy of primordial qi; his eyes became Heavenly Eyes, shooting out the wrath of the Heavenly Principles.
Young Master Cyrus Qi glanced at Liam Cloud in surprise and whispered, "Cult Master Quinn's divine arts are a bit like your Cloud Clan's—ever-changing, conjuring all sorts of techniques at will."
Liam Cloud also looked surprised. He said, "They're still different. Shepherd Heavenly Venerable seems to have just figured out this method—he's not fully adept yet. It's not our Cloud Clan's style. I get it now!"
He whispered, "Shepherd Heavenly Venerable is a master of creation arts and deeply versed in the Heavenly Principles. That's how he can use methods so similar to our Cloud Clan's."
Elaina Cloud was forced back step by step, anger rising in her heart.
In her eyes, Quinn Shepherd really didn't know his place. His very life was something she had 'granted' him—if she hadn't appeared at Jade Pool to help Nether-Venerable block those two Heavenly Venerables, Quinn would already be a corpse.
So what if she pinned a big chamber pot of blame on him?
Yet Quinn's attacks only grew fiercer, casting all sorts of Heavenly Principles divine arts with wild abandon. Every move was monstrously powerful—his cultivation clearly far surpassed his peers.
Elaina Cloud grew vexed, but didn't dare unleash her true power.
She could sense many eyes watching the battlefield. Quinn Shepherd was reckless, but she knew those gazes belonged to the other Heavenly Venerables.
If she killed Quinn or revealed her true signature arts, the other Heavenly Venerables would seize on it instantly.
Especially her real signature arts.
Right now, all Ten Heavenly Venerables are trying to perfect the Heavenly Court Realm. But they're far less united than before—plagued by distrust, each groping forward alone.
Never have the Ten Heavenly Venerables come so close to the Heavenly Court Realm. Whoever completes it first will rule the world!
If you can steal another Heavenly Venerable's complete method, it's a huge boon—helps you perfect your own, and exposes their fatal flaws.
Heavenly Venerables scheme and infiltrate each other's sects, trying to steal techniques. Now, none of them dare teach disciples their true methods.
"This brat is a nightmare—without using my true arts, I can't beat him! But this body isn't the ancient corpse from the Ghost Ship; it's a new flesh-shell I forged with creation artifacts, and it can't hold much power yet..."
Elaina Cloud nearly got hurt several times, her anger mounting.
This flesh-shell is only at the Divine Bridge Realm, not yet ascended to the Heaven Palace. Earlier, when the Origin-Root Heartwood's power surged, it was her true body sending force through, just to suppress Venerable Jadecrest's faction.
With just this body's own power, without her true signature arts, it's hard to hold off Quinn Shepherd.
The duel sped up—Quinn tried to force out her true divine arts, but Elaina Cloud slipped away every time. No matter how fierce his assault, she could always parry.
Suddenly, a giant hand tore through space, pulverizing countless flying palaces of Jadecrest Divine Palace and smashing toward Quinn Shepherd!
Quinn's body shifted—he transformed into Tu Bo, the Earth Sovereign: bull-headed, tiger-faced, horns piercing the sky, magma-fire rivers trailing behind him like twin Yellow Springs. He traced a line at his brow; the vertical demon eye split open!
Sssht—
A beam of light slashed through, cleaving the giant hand in two. A muffled grunt echoed from the void, then divine blood spurted out, a severed arm tumbling from the sky.
It was a god-demon hidden deep in space, trying to ambush Quinn while he and Elaina Cloud fought. But Quinn, transformed as Tu Bo, used the Eye of the Earth Sovereign to slice off the attacker's arm!
The power of Quinn's vertical eye was terrifying. But that god-demon was no slouch—after losing its arm, it instantly withdrew, vanishing without a trace.
Elaina Cloud seized the chance to strike, flashing behind Quinn and slamming a palm at his back.
Bang!
Her palm landed on Quinn's back, force erupting—a Home's End Grand Abyss opened in her palm, warping Quinn's body and Primordial Spirit, dragging them into her hand!
Suddenly, her hand split open—a sword light shot out from the back of her hand, stabbing straight for her brow!
Elaina Cloud's heart lurched. She retreated at top speed, but Quinn seemed fused to the back of her hand, shrunk to just a foot tall, melded with her flesh. No matter how she fled, she couldn't shake him—or that sword!
Elaina clenched her fist and punched, shattering a ruined temple. Suddenly, a blade flashed from inside, slashing toward Quinn—a second god hidden there, lying in wait for a chance to strike.
Elaina Cloud had spotted his hiding place, so she punched him out to break her own deadlock.
Quinn vanished from her hand, and the god's blade now swung straight at Elaina Cloud.
Elaina frowned slightly and pointed. The god's eyes filled with terror as his body collapsed inward, crushed into a tiny ball of flesh—which burst with a pop!
(This chapter isn't over yet—click next page for more!)
At that moment, Quinn was already behind Elaina Cloud. She felt a chill—an ancient, majestic Dao surged from Quinn, as if he embodied the ancestor of all laws!
With eyes closed, you could sense a vast, mighty Heavenly Court bearing down—Quinn Shepherd seemed like its supreme ruler!
"Heavenly Emperor!"
Elaina Cloud bit down hard. "You dare use that adulterer's divine art against me? Against your Empress?"
Her aura changed completely—hair flying, sleeves billowing, a wholly different force erupted from her, instantly suppressing even Quinn's supreme Dao!
Elaina Cloud finally erupted in true fury—absolute, unrestrained rage. If Quinn hadn't used the Ancient-God Emperor's divine art, she might have kept her cool.
But Quinn just had to use the Ancient-God Emperor's Dao divine art, and that was the last straw for her.
Her hatred for that man was boundless. In this moment, she saw Quinn as the same heartless bastard, and her cultivation erupted in full—she spun and struck!
Her Dao roared—like billions of gods chanting at once, shaking the heavens!
Quinn felt over twenty distinct auras explode from her body at once, each like a different Emperor unleashing their own art.
It was uncanny—Elaina Cloud was just one person, yet her aura split into more than twenty, as if she were a fusion of over twenty Emperors!
She had mastered and fused more than twenty Emperor's Throne Arts!
That was nearly impossible. Quinn had fused Emperor's Throne Arts to create his own Overlord Three-Core Art—already a rare achievement.
But to merge over twenty Emperor's Throne Arts? Even if Quinn found that many, fusing them would be absurdly difficult.
Yet Elaina Cloud had done it—or rather, Her Majesty the Empress had.
Two terrifying divine arts erupted at once. Quinn felt their overwhelming power smash his Heavenly Emperor art to pieces—his so-called supreme Dao was utterly crushed!
Boom—
A huge swath of Jadecrest Divine Palace was swept clear—countless palaces tumbled through the air!
Quinn was blasted away, palace rubble and stones smashing into him, crushing him. Elaina Cloud's power was truly beyond imagination!
Once, Quinn was nearly destroyed by Lila Swallowfeather's Heavenly Emperor Dao art. Now, even after learning the Dao Ancestor's Ancient-God Emperor Dao runes and mastering the Heavenly Emperor's divine art, he still couldn't withstand a single blow from the Heavenly Court Realm!
Elaina Cloud roared, surging after him—her divine art erupted again, even more terrifying than before. She shrieked, "All heartless men must die!"
Bang—
The rubble and palace stones piled on Quinn were pulverized—halls and boulders exploded, turning to mist!
This woman, out of control, was terrifying beyond belief!
Just then, a sword light shot from the dust—hissing through her divine art! The next instant, it pierced Elaina Cloud's palm, even as her hand smashed into Quinn.
Bang bang.
Two thunderous blasts—Quinn's body exploded into a cloud of blood, while the sword light pierced Elaina Cloud's brow. Her beautiful head burst open, blooming like a flower!
Dragon Qilin, Calvin Hwa, and the others rushed over. Before they could reach him, the blood mist gathered and Quinn's body reformed!
Elaina Cloud's shattered head also reassembled—her face stunningly beautiful once more, not a wound in sight.
Dragon Qilin, Calvin Hwa, and the others halted, shocked and uncertain.
Quinn sheathed his sword, laughing heartily and smug: "Empress, your cultivation and divine arts are exposed! I've dumped a whole chamber pot of blame on your head—how does it feel?"
Elaina Cloud's face darkened, but suddenly she smiled, enchanting: "You've exposed your soul's recovery—you're not soulless anymore. That's a pretty big chamber pot too, isn't it?"
The two stared each other down. Suddenly Quinn laughed: "Jadecrest Divine Palace is finished. Where to next?"
Elaina Cloud cheered, grabbed his arm, gazing up at him sweetly: "Let's go see Galen, the Ancestral God-King. He's so much fun!"
(Third update! No midnight release—don't wait up. More chapters soon!)