According to the official historians, in the winter of the gengchen year, the capital was shaken by an earthquake: the Jade Mountain at the Imperial Academy sank seventeen zhang into the earth, and the Crimson Flame Chasm stretched for eight hundred li, a sight of breathtaking grandeur. Yet the cause of the quake was left unrecorded; the historians merely used the Spring and Autumn Annals style to note that Grand Rector Quinn Shepherd of Heavenly Saint Academy was negligent in teaching, and so the emperor docked his pay for two years and demoted him from fourth rank to fifth.
However, according to palace rumors, on that morning the emperor was jolted awake by a deafening boom and rushed out to investigate, only to find the epicenter at Jade Dragon Lake. The lake’s Crimson Dragon Carp had been blasted belly-up by the hundreds, the water’s surface turning white, and Jade Dragon Lake itself now several times larger and deeper than before. The emperor flew into a rage on the spot.
It’s said the emperor even injured his hand and began shouting to have someone’s head taken off.
At the time, the emperor stalked around the mountain with a saber in hand and bloodshot eyes, but found no sign of the culprit—only Bruno the Dragon-Qilin and the Taotie Bone Box napping nearby. So he stood guard by Bruno’s side, saber in hand, until noon passed and still no one appeared, at which point he finally gave up.
Some say the culprit fled a thousand li before dawn, and by noon, Bruno the Dragon-Qilin, having woken up, mounted the Taotie Bone Box and gave chase, pursuing for two days and nights before finally catching up.
Others claim the emperor went to the barracks and wandered around beside the Solar-Shooting God Cannon for half a day, then sighed, "His merits outweigh his faults; the crime is not capital. Demotion and a pay cut will suffice." With that, he set down his saber and left.
Of course, all these stories are just rumors and cannot be verified. The court historians do not record such unfounded gossip.
Ten days later, Quinn Shepherd raised Between Life and Death above Dragoncrest City in the Great Ruins—a luminous river spanning the void, making Dragoncrest the public gateway to Nether City. The place was instantly bustling beyond measure.
Dragoncrest City was originally a Keane family asset, with most shops belonging to the Heavenly Saint Cult. Everpeace goods were brought in for sale in the Great Ruins, and Ruins products shipped out to Everpeace.
This was the first stop for entering the Great Ruins. Every divine arts practitioner coming for training would settle here first, and in recent days, the number of practitioners in Dragoncrest City had surged, sending prices sky-high. Serena Yunxiang and Lina the Spirit Fox were both grinning from ear to ear.
A few days later, the Ministry of Revenue officials arrived in the Great Ruins, saying they wanted to collect taxes, but Quinn Shepherd drove them off. They went crying to Emperor Evan. Emperor Evan, half amused and half exasperated, said, "The Great Ruins aren’t part of Everpeace. If you go there to collect taxes and he doesn’t kill you, he’s already giving me face. By their rules, he ought to take your head. Don’t mess around—the Great Ruins isn’t our territory."
"Your Majesty, Grand Rector Quinn is making money hand over fist! The commerce in Dragoncrest City alone is the biggest chunk!"
The Minister of Revenue protested, "And now Your Majesty wants to build roads connecting the Western Lands and Everpeace, with the route passing through the Great Ruins and Dragoncrest City! Grand Rector Quinn has planned two roads, both running through Dragoncrest! Dragoncrest will become the Great Ruins’ number one stronghold, wealthier than anywhere! I believe Grand Rector Quinn has selfish motives, using state funds to pave roads for his own hometown!"
Emperor Evan could only sigh, giving the Minister a long, meaningful look. "The Western Lands—he conquered them. He saved us untold military expenses and spared countless soldiers’ lives."
The Minister of Revenue retorted, "But most of the divine arts practitioners going to Dragoncrest for training are our Everpeace people. If they spend money there and we don’t tax it, Dragoncrest will become a state within a state, and Everpeace’s wealth will drain away! If this goes on, what will we do when Everpeace runs out of money?"
Emperor Evan chuckled, "Daoist Yuanfeng, you’re a Dao Gate-trained master of arithmetic—how do you not get it?"
The Minister of Revenue was baffled. "Your servant is slow-witted; please enlighten me, Your Majesty."
Emperor Evan smiled, "The divine arts practitioners heading to Dragoncrest use Everpeace Coins. If they want to spend money, they have to buy Everpeace goods, and the money cycles back to Everpeace."
The Minister of Revenue frowned. "What if Everpeace Coins circulate in the Great Ruins and don’t return to Everpeace?"
Emperor Evan laughed, "If Everpeace Coins can replace gold and silver and circulate in the Great Ruins, even better! Because the court mints the currency, and the Great Ruins has no right to mint coins. That means the court controls the currency of the Great Ruins. However much wealth the Ruins has, it’s all at the court’s discretion. Once Everpeace Coins replace gold and silver, the court can use them to buy mines and rivers in the Great Ruins, and unify the Ruins with Everpeace. That day isn’t far off!"
The Minister of Revenue was left utterly speechless.
Emperor Evan tossed the memorial aside, rose to his feet, and gazed out with a faraway look. "Not a single soldier spent nor a drop of blood shed—just by using Everpeace Coins, we can acquire the riches of the Great Ruins. What a bargain! You’re still too rigid, thinking Everpeace’s money flowing into the Ruins is a bad thing, but you don’t realize that unifying with currency is the highest form of conquest. In statecraft, don’t fuss over trivial gains and losses; you have to look far ahead, decades or centuries down the line. Grand Rector Quinn wants to make money—that’s small change. I want to make money, and what I earn is rivers and mountains. Bloodless conquest, prosperity for the people, economic unification!"
The Minister of Revenue bowed in complete admiration. "Your Majesty’s words will serve as a warning to future generations."
Back in Dragoncrest City, Quinn Shepherd watched the throngs of divine arts practitioners and endless caravans. The Everpeace practitioners and merchant convoys made Dragoncrest livelier than ever.
"If the Imperial Preceptor leads the Western Lands’ female practitioners in paving the road all the way here, linking West and Everpeace, the people of the Great Ruins won’t have to live so bitterly anymore."
Quinn did some mental math: after a month or so, the Imperial Preceptor and the Ministry of Works teams from Heaven-Craft Hall would have gone to the Western Lands. By now, they should have nearly finished turning the desert into an oasis—using one of the Western Lands’ Four Great Spirit Treasures, the Azure Dragon Pearl, to make it happen.
By opening up rivers and channeling snowmelt from the mountains into the desert, the vegetation could flourish.
If Heaven-Craft Hall manages to carve open the southern mountains and draw South Sea vapors northward, the desert’s water supply will be endless—no need to worry about rain or snow anymore.
In just a few years, the Flame Desert will become history.
Once the roads are built, the Western Lands, Great Ruins, and Everpeace will be fully connected. With smooth trade routes and new towns along the way, the people of the Ruins will become prosperous.
"Divine Physician Quinn, I hear you’re a Ruins native."
Aiden Starr stood behind him, interrupting his thoughts. "You’re from the Great Ruins, yet you’ve brought Everpeace’s power inside. That makes you a traitor to the Ruins."
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"The Great Ruins has no state—so what’s a traitor?"
Quinn Shepherd was puzzled. "The people of the Ruins have always lived off the land—there’s no ruler here. Even if Everpeace comes, its people are just Ruins folk too. They won’t become masters; they’ll have to follow Ruins rules. Here, the local rules matter more than any emperor’s laws."
Aiden Starr shook his head. "I haven’t met Emperor Evan often, but even I can see his ambition. One day he’ll unify the Ruins. When his armies are at your gates, you’ll regret this."
Quinn laughed. "If the emperor tries to take the Ruins by force, his throne won’t last. You know how terrifying the Ruins are—these stone statues…"
He pointed at the temples scattered throughout Dragoncrest City, speaking calmly. "They’re waiting for the call to revive. If they come back, heaven and earth will be overturned. Everpeace will never truly own this land—the real master is someone else."
His eyes glinted as he smiled. "I chased off the Minister of Revenue, and the emperor didn’t come after me—because I know exactly what he’s planning. But his ideas are just empty talk. Unless he surpasses the achievements of the Pioneer Emperor, it’s all castles in the air. I was planning to visit my ancestors’ graves. Starr, are you coming too, senior brother?"
Aiden Starr glanced at the multi-legged chest scurrying by, then looked back. "Wherever you go, I go. When I find the person I’m searching for, I’ll leave you."
Quinn Shepherd frowned. "I’ll visit the graves once your business is settled."
The location of the Human Emperor Hall is a closely guarded secret, known only to successive Human Emperors. With Aiden Starr at his side, Quinn couldn’t go there—if Starr learned its whereabouts, it would bring endless trouble.
Besides, who knows if Aiden Starr might dig up the bones of past Human Emperors for his collection?
Another ten days passed. The court, Heavenly Saint Cult, Dao Gate, and Great Thunderclap Temple all sent in records of people born at midnight on the eighth day of the twelfth month, in the year of the jiazi cycle—thirty thousand in total.
The Ministry of Revenue official delivering the documents said, "We still haven’t finished tallying the records from the grasslands, the ice fields, and the Western Lands."
Aiden Starr stared at the dossiers for thirty thousand people, his head spinning. After a moment, he said, "The person I’m looking for is a man. Sort them by gender."
The official gave the order. Once the sorting was done, he reported, "There are seventeen thousand men, but only eight thousand are still alive—most died in wars and disasters."
After another moment, Aiden Starr said, "Remove everyone who isn’t a divine arts practitioner."
The official passed down the order, and after sorting, reported, "Four hundred practitioners remain."
Aiden Starr was silent for a while. "Now check whether any of these four hundred showed omens at birth, or wore a jade pendant when born."
The Ministry of Revenue official ordered another investigation into these four hundred.
Quinn Shepherd watched, growing suspicious. He thought to himself, "Every time Aiden Starr gives an order, he hesitates, as if he’s following someone else’s commands. That’s it—after jumping off the Bridge of Helplessness in Nether City, he ended up in Youdu, which is far more dangerous, filled with resentful demons. How did he escape Youdu? Could it be…"
His eyes flickered. Suddenly, a Gate of Heaven appeared behind him. Quinn’s body turned into a serpent-headed human, a vertical eye opening on his brow as he stared at Aiden Starr.
Aiden Starr instantly sensed it, turned, and his eyes glowed with divine light, blocking Quinn’s gaze. "Divine Physician Quinn, there are some things you’re better off not knowing."
Quinn Shepherd burst out laughing, reverting from his Star Lord form, though inwardly he was shaken—he’d used the Star Lord’s divine eye while Aiden Starr was off guard, and glimpsed a terrifying eye hidden in Starr’s Life-and-Death Divine Treasury!
That terrible eye had sensed his gaze and looked back at him, but Starr immediately cut off the connection!
Just then, the Ministry of Revenue official reported, "No practitioners were found wearing a jade pendant at birth. After all, being born with jade in one’s mouth is just a myth."
"He wasn’t born with jade."
Aiden Starr was silent for a while, then produced a drawing. "The jade pendant was used to suppress his demonic nature. Here’s the design. Since we haven’t found any practitioners born at that time, post the pattern in every city and county—find the pendant’s whereabouts! Divine Physician Quinn, have your people copy this image a thousand times!"
Quinn Shepherd took the drawing, his gaze falling on the pendant’s pattern.
"Have you seen this kind of pendant before, Divine Physician Quinn?" Starr asked, noticing how intently he stared.
Quinn Shepherd shook his head. "Never seen it."
Starr’s eyes glinted as he produced a mirror. "I’ve always forgotten to ask—how old are you, Divine Physician Quinn?"