Quinn Shepherd returned to the Suspended Coffin, with Aiden Starr carrying his bone chest following close behind. He glanced at the figures leaping into the coffin—the artificial 'Heaven-Guide Venerable', Lila Swallowfeather, Marcus Autumnwhite, and the others.
The blind old craftsman had no patience for any of them, so they could only leave.
Suddenly, a blood-soaked dragon head surfaced from the water and leapt into the coffin—it was the Heavenly Dragon King, now reduced to just a head after being devoured by the corpse-fiend.
Yet, unbelievably, he wasn't dead—he was still clinging to life by a thread.
The Heavenly Dragon King glared at them viciously, huddling in a corner and gasping for breath, wary of everyone. Corpse-qi billowed across his face.
The corpse-fiend born from the emperor’s corpse unleashed a poison so fierce it was invading his brain, corrupting his Primordial Spirit.
With a dull thud, the Suspended Coffin slammed shut.
Outside came the sound of water. Earlier, many had entered the Suspended Coffin, but now only a handful survived. Most died trying to break the Fallen-God Valley’s seals, some killed each other, and others were eaten by the corpse-fiend.
Lila Swallowfeather had once been surrounded by maidservants, but now only one remained—and she was badly wounded.
Even so, this Suspended Coffin was still full of deadly peril.
The Heavenly Dragon King was being assimilated by the emperor corpse-fiend’s poison. Though only his head remained, he kept wheezing out clouds of corpse-qi.
"Heavenly Dragon King, you're about to corpse-transform."
Dragon-Qilin couldn't help himself and quietly reminded, "Cult Master is skilled in medicine—maybe he can drive out the corpse poison."
"Heh, trying to kill me?"
The Heavenly Dragon King's head kept wheezing, air sucking in through his mouth and spurting out from his neck, shrouding him in green corpse-qi.
The dragon was hyper-alert, sneering, "Can't kill me so now you want to poison me? Not that easy! Heh—hah—"
Dragon-Qilin frowned deeply and looked at Quinn.
Quinn shook his head. "There's no saving him. Even I can't cure emperor corpse poison. If my Grandpa Apothecary were here, maybe there'd be hope."
Dragon-Qilin was crestfallen. The Heavenly Dragon King had helped him master his cultivation arts, and he desperately wanted to save this dragon, but since Quinn couldn't, he certainly had no way.
The Heavenly Dragon King kept channeling his magic, trying to expel the corpse-qi, but everyone in the coffin could see his vital energy slowly curdling, turning into green slurry.
Even the divine rune-sets of his vital energy were corrupted by corpse poison, breaking apart one by one.
Aiden Starr shuddered, quietly slipped away with his bone chest, and vanished into the darkness.
The Heavenly Dragon King's huge dragon eyes had turned blank white, pupils gone, yet his eyelids still blinked as if he could see everything around him.
Lila Swallowfeather and Marcus Autumnwhite felt a chill and quietly backed away, disappearing into the gloom.
Quinn gestured to Dragon-Qilin, who quickly followed. Annie transformed into a blue sparrow and perched atop Dragon-Qilin's head, the three of them slipping soundlessly into the dark.
The artificial Heaven-Guide Venerable had left at some point, his whereabouts unknown.
"I see you!"
Corpse-water dripped from the Heavenly Dragon King's mouth as he glared with eyeless sockets, shouting, "I see you! None of you will harm me! Huff, huff... I see you..."
His breath stopped. After a moment, the massive dragon head floated up, shrouded in green mist, making bizarre noises and giggling, "I see you!"
He flew off into the darkness, cackling, "I see you! Where did you hide my body? Once I catch you and eat your flesh, I can regrow my own! Hehehe..."
The Suspended Coffin’s interior was incredibly vast. When they’d first fallen in, it seemed to take forever to hit bottom, but now, as Quinn groped his way through the darkness, he realized the space inside was even bigger than he’d imagined.
The coffin was just a transport vessel, meant to ferry Heavenly Venerables to Skysoar Venerable’s burial ground. But this one was built by the blind old craftsman, whose powers were unfathomable. He’d warped the interior with great magic, creating a colossal space. Quinn walked a long time in the dark and still hadn’t reached the edge.
"Fat Dragon?" Quinn whispered.
No reply came from behind.
Quinn’s heart lurched. He stopped abruptly and summoned a flare of vital energy, illuminating the area—only to find Dragon-Qilin and Annie had vanished into the darkness!
It was simply too dark—without any light, he hadn’t noticed when Dragon-Qilin disappeared!
Cold sweat broke out on Quinn’s forehead. He comforted himself, "With Annie perched on his head, Fat Dragon will be fine..."
Just then, the Heavenly Dragon King’s twisted, eerie laughter echoed from afar: "I see you—"
Quinn instantly snuffed out his flame, activated the Phantom Shadow Devil Art, and flattened himself into a shadow on the floor.
Whoosh—
The Heavenly Dragon King’s massive head drifted overhead, eyes glowing green, then floated away into the distance.
Quinn let out a breath, his shadow slowly rising and reshaping into a person. He gave himself a shake—his two-dimensional form suddenly expanded, returning to flesh.
"I see you—"
The dragon king’s warped laughter echoed from afar, then was abruptly cut off by a scream—someone else had fallen prey.
Quinn steadied himself as the dragon king’s head flew farther and farther away, until even his laughter faded from earshot.
All around was silence.
Quinn summoned his Sword Pill, which split apart into countless flying swords swirling silently around him, forming a protective array that covered a hundred-zhang radius.
He crept forward through the darkness, the flying swords shifting with him, their formation constantly changing as they darted up and down.
Just then, a figure stepped out from the pavilion—Marcus Autumnwhite glanced around, breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered, "The dragon king has corpse-transformed and is chasing my maidservant. He won’t be back for a while. This is the safest place... Who’s there?"
He spun around, face tense, staring into the darkness.
From the darkness came faint footsteps, and soon a youth carrying a bone chest appeared before him.
Marcus Autumnwhite breathed easier, smiled slightly, and said leisurely, "So you’re the expert at Cult Master Quinn’s side. Hiding here just like me—clearly you know the most dangerous place is the safest. You’ve got some brains."
"Your body’s excellent. I really like it."
Aiden Starr set down his chest, his gaze hot as he sized Marcus up and down, like admiring a work of art.
With a click, the chest opened by itself. Aiden kept tilting his head, studying Marcus, his gaze growing more intense.
Marcus felt deeply uncomfortable under his stare and sneered, "We’ve fought before in the High Heaven Hall, and I admit you’re strong. But you don’t realize I’m a disciple of the ancient Heavenly Emperor, trained from childhood in every Dao under Heaven. Challenging me is courting death."
Aiden kept observing, nodding repeatedly, muttering, "Heavenly Emperor’s disciple—no wonder your flesh is so refined and your Primordial Spirit so strong. To deal with you, I’ll have to use my best tricks... Cult Master Quinn always thought my path was wrong, stealing bodies for immortality, always hunted wherever I go, but nobody understands me."
There weren’t many treasures left in his chest—most had been lost in Fallen-God Valley. But now, a terrifying aura rose from within.
Aiden smiled, "They thought I sought immortality, but that was just my dream when I couldn’t become a god. Now I have a higher ideal."
From within the chest, a colossal figure slowly crawled out—a mass of dozens of true god arms, heads, and flesh, all fused together. Each head stared excitedly at Marcus Autumnwhite in the pavilion.
Aiden Starr stood atop the demon’s body, gazing at Marcus and murmured, "You—I’m adding you to my collection."
The monstrous creature sprang into the air, lunging at Marcus.
Marcus’s mind reeled: "What Dao is this? Even the Heavenly Emperor’s treasure vaults never recorded such a path!"
In the darkness, Quinn heard magical ripples from the pavilion’s direction and immediately headed toward them.
Suddenly, he halted—divine power erupted ahead, flooding the area with light.
"Earth Mother Primordial’s Dao Three?"
Lila Swallowfeather’s voice rang out: "Great Sun Star Lord’s Dao One! Empress’s Dao Two! Heaven’s Dao Sixteen! Who are you—how can you wield so many Dao rules?"
Beams of light ripped through the darkness. Quinn looked over and saw Lila Swallowfeather facing off against the artificial Heaven-Guide Venerable.
Lila’s cultivation was extraordinarily powerful—she nearly killed the artificial Heaven-Guide right then and there.
Lila Swallowfeather had trained under the ancient Heavenly Emperor, who received all the world’s Dao from the Dao Ancestor—so Lila was versed in countless divine arts.
More importantly, Lila inherited the emperor’s true legacy, mastering his Dao One—an awe-inspiring power!
Yet her opponent, the artificial Heaven-Guide Venerable, was even more terrifying. Lila knew many Dao arts, but he wielded them all with ease, each one exquisitely refined and powerful enough to rival ancient gods at the same realm!
Lila was forced onto the defensive, then suddenly unleashed the ancient Heavenly Emperor’s Dao One.
In that instant, Dao rules erupted as if the emperor himself had arrived. A terrifying wave crashed toward the artificial Heaven-Guide.
At the same moment, the artificial Heaven-Guide unleashed the same Dao One. In Lila’s shocked gaze, their powers collided, and the explosion of light illuminated hundreds of miles!
Lila coughed blood and tumbled backward, then her body shimmered and transformed into a black-and-white swallow, wings beating as she fled.
The artificial Heaven-Guide chased her for two steps, then abruptly stopped and turned to look at Quinn.
Quinn met his gaze, and it was as if two invisible fists smashed together in the air, stirring the space between them into a raging wind.
"I see you—hehehe..." A giant head streaked through the sky, speeding toward them.
Quinn gestured politely. The artificial Heaven-Guide smiled, and the two walked forward together.
The radiance of Dao One faded. Both vanished into the darkness, but kept pressing onward.
Foul corpse-qi surged in the dark as the Heavenly Dragon King’s giant head swooped down, giggling, "I see you..."
Quinn and the artificial Heaven-Guide kept walking. The Heaven-Guide, hands clasped behind his back, said, "Back at the Yaochi battle, you astounded the world with unmatched divine arts. Even now, your powers are impressive. I’ve met Qin Heavenly Venerable—he’s surpassed everyone, though he’s trained for far less time."
Quinn’s steps were steady as he replied, "You’re only here using an imperfect body. Your cultivation isn’t all that strong—killing you won’t be much trouble."
The artificial Heaven-Guide laughed, "Do you think Heaven Court’s divine arts have stood still? You’re naïve. They’ve advanced beyond imagination. A million years have passed since you dominated Yaochi. You can’t fathom how far magic has come."
He sneered, "You’re still lost in your ancient glory—a frog in a well, perfectly described."
A massive dragon head wedged between them, green corpse-qi swirling. Its eyes rolled left and right, mouth spilling foul corpse-water as it giggled, "I see you both..."
Quinn and the artificial Heaven-Guide erupted into action, attacking each other across the dragon’s giant corpse head!