Prince Umbral sneered, waiting to see Dragon-Qilin make a fool of himself.
Just how terrifying is the power of the Celestial River Fleet's formations?
This fleet boasts countless ships—thousands upon thousands—and its formations are all designed by top array masters of the Heavenly Court, modeled on the flesh structures and rune‑Daos of ancient gods.
Even a powerhouse like Prince Umbral would be instantly crushed by the might of the Celestial River Fleet's formations—unable to withstand even a single blow.
That Dragon guy—with a qilin's head—just cobbles together formations at random. He's bound to suffer a huge loss!
Though Dragon-Qilin boasted loudly, he was actually feeling rather uneasy inside.
He wasn't much good at formations. He'd learned a lot following Quinn Shepherd, but Quinn's studies were so broad and varied that, while Quinn could master everything, Dragon-Qilin simply couldn't keep up.
"Cult Master, what do I do?" he secretly asked Quinn, who was hiding in the halo.
Quinn snapped to attention, using his remaining divine sense to instruct him on how to deploy the palace experts and unleash the full power of the Glass Azure Firmament Banner.
Though Dragon-Qilin knew little of the Dao of formations, he copied Quinn's instructions, dispatching the palace's serpent-goddesses and Black Tortoise guardians to the twenty-eight heavens within the Glass Azure Firmament Banner, arranging them into arrays to defend each of the unique treasures.
Their formations could fully unleash the power of these unique treasures, and the defenses were rock-solid.
Most crucially, the Glass Azure Firmament Banner was packed with countless treasures, and Dragon-Qilin’s formations could adapt to each treasure’s attributes, arranging a different formation for each one!
There were thousands of unique treasures from the Ancestral Court inside the Glass Azure Firmament Banner, and Dragon-Qilin actually managed to set up thousands of distinct formations for them!
Crown Prince Yooming was already in awe, utterly convinced. Even though Prince Umbral was annoyed with Dragon-Qilin, seeing his deployment methods, he couldn’t help but admire his talent.
Even he couldn’t make sense of the principles or structures of these formations—he was completely in the dark.
Just as Dragon-Qilin was arranging his formations, the Celestial River Fleet launched their attack.
Yet no matter which direction the Celestial River Fleet attacked from, Dragon-Qilin would calmly deploy palace guardians to set up formations and easily repel them.
The power of the Glass Azure Firmament Banner was overwhelming. Even though those in Black Tortoise Palace were no match for the Celestial River Fleet, whenever the Fleet’s tower-ships broke into the palace and charged through the layered heavens, each terrifying treasure would erupt with Dao patterns, blasting the tower-ships!
That dreadful shockwave would hit the tower-ships, shattering them to pieces. The gods aboard would die one after another—no one survived!
The Celestial River Fleet attacked again and again, losing ship after ship, but still couldn’t break into Black Tortoise Palace.
The Fleet Commander immediately shifted the formation and attacked again, leaving Dragon-Qilin flustered and unsure what to do.
"Pi, divide the twenty-eight heavens of the Glass Azure Firmament Banner's canopy so that each layer is split into three hundred sixty degree-ticks."
Quinn’s divine sense came through, instructing him: “Rotate the first heaven by eight ticks, the second heaven in reverse by three ticks, the third heaven by sixty-two ticks…”
Dragon-Qilin hurried to the base of the Glass Azure Firmament Banner, bowed deeply, and watched as each heaven began to rotate. The treasures inside and their serpent-goddess and Black Tortoise guardians all shifted positions, moving in different directions!
The Fleet Commander’s formation targeted the guardian arrays protecting each treasure, but now, with the formations changing and treasures switching places, the Fleet was thrown into chaos, suffering heavy casualties.
The commander came to fight in person, and Dragon-Qilin sent Crown Prince Yooming to meet him.
Though Crown Prince Yooming was honest and kind, his cultivation was rare even among Emperor’s Throne powerhouses. With the blood of the Xuan-Emperor and Wu-Empress, his combat strength was astonishing—he seriously wounded the Fleet Commander in just a few rounds.
The Fleet’s ships swarmed in, fighting desperately to block Crown Prince Yooming and finally managing to rescue their commander.
Dragon-Qilin sighed inwardly, thinking, "If Cult Master Quinn were personally controlling the Glass Azure Firmament Banner, he could probably wipe out the entire Celestial River Fleet with ease!"
Quinn guided him in arranging the formations, but he was still a step too slow.
Crown Prince Yooming returned victorious, overjoyed. He laughed, "Brother Long, you are truly a scholar among gods—your skills are astonishing! You’re qualified to be Celestial Teacher of the Heavenly Court!"
Dragon-Qilin hurried to demur, saying, "The Celestial River Fleet may have lost, but they won’t let this go. For now, only the Fleet is blocking our path north. The rest of the Heavenly Court’s armies haven’t arrived yet—it’s too soon to relax."
Crown Prince Yooming couldn’t stop praising him. Prince Umbral, though uncomfortable, had to admit this qilin-headed fellow was truly extraordinary.
"From the Eastern Emperor’s line? Strange—I’ve never seen him before."
Prince Umbral’s eyes flickered. He thought, "I know all the powerful princes and princesses under the Eastern Emperor, and I get along with most of them, but I’ve never met this guy. With skills like his, he shouldn’t be unknown in the Azure Dragon Palace… Yet he has no reputation. The Eastern Emperor must be a cunning old fox…"
With Dragon-Qilin here controlling the Glass Azure Firmament Banner, Prince Umbral was left with nothing to do. He hated it—he had no chance to steal the Banner.
That was the very treasure he’d come for.
Crown Prince Yooming was a straightforward man. The Northern Emperor Black Tortoise’s treasure was rarely shown to outsiders, but Yooming had brought many friends to see it several times. That’s why Yin Chaojin and Wei Suifeng had set their sights on it.
Black Tortoise Palace continued northward, but the Celestial River Fleet still shadowed them. They didn’t attack again—only some Fleet officers kept urging Crown Prince Yooming to stop and return to the Heavenly Court.
Suddenly, the Fleet’s ranks parted. A new army surged forward, bypassing the tower-ships to take the lead. Fierce gods and demons scrutinized the Banner’s formations.
Crown Prince Yooming’s face changed dramatically. He cried out, "The God-Might Two Guards of the Heavenly Court!"
Dragon-Qilin’s confidence vanished too. The Heavenly Court’s Ten Guards—the Left and Right Feather-Guard, God-Might, Dragon-Might, Divine-Strategy, and Divine-Might—were all filled with the most outstanding talents from every race. The lowest among them was at the Jade Capital Realm!
They were the Celestial Emperor’s imperial guards. Wei Suifeng himself had once been commander of the Feather-Guard Army, though only of the Right Feather-Guard!
Even just the Right Feather-Guard was enough to crush a great nation like Dragon Lord Nation from the Dragon-Han era!
With the God-Might Two Guards here, their strength likely surpassed even the Celestial River Fleet!
Suddenly, the war drums sounded. Another army broke through the Fleet’s formation, halted at the front, and raised their banners.
Crown Prince Yooming gazed into the distance and exclaimed, "Northfall Gate! The army led by the First Celestial Teacher! The First Celestial Teacher is formidable—a true master of formations!"
Dragon-Qilin’s heart pounded wildly. He sneaked a glance at the halo behind Yan’er’s head.
Prince Umbral noticed this too. He looked at Yan’er’s halo, but saw only an ancient tree within it—nothing else.
Quinn’s divine sense rippled, saying, "Long Pi, you needn’t worry. Today’s battle will surely make your name echo through the ages!"
Dragon-Qilin’s mind settled. He said to Crown Prince Yooming, "I see the God-Might Two Guards and Northfall Gate as clearly as fire in a cave or patterns on my palm—nothing escapes me. To me, they’re mere weeds for sale, easy prey, and can be swept aside with a flick!"