God-Queen Langwo was still reeling from shock. Quinn Shepherd had sliced open the Supreme Divine Sense Domain—a mystery that had confounded her for countless millennia—with a mere flick of the Peach-Wood Hairpin. She barely registered his words.
It was simply too astonishing. To outsiders, it seemed Quinn Shepherd had spent over a year breaking the Supreme Divine Sense Domain, but to her, he had solved it in just a brief moment of contemplation, then pierced this invincible domain with a single hairpin!
“Who killed Venerable Skysoar?”
She asked blankly, “And who is Venerable Skysoar?”
Quinn Shepherd paced excitedly atop the altar, laughing, “Supreme Emperor! It was Supreme Emperor! The one who controlled the Heavenly Emperor’s body to assassinate Venerable Skysoar was Supreme Emperor!”
God-Queen Langwo was still confused. “Who is the Heavenly Emperor?”
Quinn Shepherd was beside himself with excitement, sometimes clenching his fists, sometimes waving the Peach-Wood Hairpin, circling around her again and again. “Venerable Skysoar’s Invariant Divine Art happens to counter the Supreme Divine Sense Domain of Supreme Emperor—not just counter, but completely unravel it!”
“The Supreme Divine Sense Domain congeals time and space, causing everything outside to change while inside remains frozen. Anyone who enters his domain is nearly always immobilized. But Venerable Skysoar’s Invariant Divine Art negates the concept of time itself—what we perceive as the passage of time is just an illusion caused by changes in matter.”
“Their divine arts are polar opposites: one is ‘consciousness determines matter,’ the other is ‘matter determines consciousness.’ Two extremes.”
“Supreme Emperor seems to have mastered the Dao of controlling time, yet Venerable Skysoar’s divine art reveals that his most powerful technique is nothing but an illusion—a trick caused by shifts in matter!”
“His Supreme Divine Sense Domain is just a mirage, easily pierced by Venerable Skysoar’s Invariant Divine Art!”
“That’s why Venerable Skysoar had to die!”
“If Venerable Skysoar lived, Supreme Emperor could never be truly invincible!”
“Many of the Heaven Venerables in the Heaven Alliance had motives to kill Venerable Skysoar, but none were as urgent as his. So the one who murdered Venerable Skysoar and was trapped in the Heavenly Emperor’s body in the Celestial River must be Supreme Emperor!”
God-Queen Langwo shook her head, struggling to keep up with his logic.
Yet what Quinn Shepherd said about ‘consciousness determines matter’ was indeed the essence of the Creator race—a single phrase could describe the Creator’s divine arts and civilization.
And ‘matter determines consciousness’ struck her as something novel and intriguing.
Quinn Shepherd gazed skyward, eyes flickering, and murmured, “So why did Supreme Emperor need the Heavenly Emperor’s body to assassinate Venerable Skysoar? It means he couldn’t defeat Venerable Skysoar without it. It also means he’s hiding in Heavenly Court, one of the leaders of the Heaven Alliance. By killing Venerable Skysoar and destroying the Heavenly Emperor’s body, he eliminates the only weapon in Heavenly Court that could threaten him.”
God-Queen Langwo looked at this not-quite-two-year-old, and actually found him rather charming when he was unraveling mysteries.
“Just now, God-Queen Langwo said Supreme Emperor possesses eternal, indestructible divine sense, able to survive in any form. So I have a theory: the Supreme Emperor trapped inside the Heavenly Emperor’s body in the Celestial River isn’t his whole self—maybe just a fragment.”
Quinn Shepherd's heart was pounding wildly.
To instantly receive the accumulated wisdom of millions of years of Creator civilization?
Is there really such a wonderful thing?
Although the earlier achievements of Creator civilization seemed primitive and crude to him, the civilization the Creators built after incorporating the God-Treasury Heaven-Palace cultivation system was truly extraordinary!
Moreover, the Creators could create stars and worlds—their methods were truly awe-inspiring!
Shu Jun was deeply envious, thinking to himself, "If only I were the Saint Baby..."
God-Queen Langwo departed, her divine sense forming a voice in Quinn Shepherd's mind: "For now, I'll be staying in the Shaw Clan's Greenfeather Hall. If you have any questions or difficulties, you may come and ask me."
Quinn Shepherd agreed and watched her leave.
Shu Jun said, "God-Queen Langwo is truly remarkable. If it were me, I could never accept an outsider as my race's Saint Baby. But she has the magnanimity to acknowledge you—her courage is something I can't compare to."
"God-Queen Langwo is indeed astonishing, a heroine who rivals any man—perhaps even surpasses them."
Quinn Shepherd also couldn't help but admire her, but then shot Shu Jun a glance and snorted. Shu Jun chuckled awkwardly, saying, "There's a reason I don't teach you all my divine arts. You haven't restored my brain yet, so I have to keep some tricks to exchange for your divine sense and vitality. Otherwise, if I taught you everything, you'd probably refine me to death!"
Quinn Shepherd's anger faded, and the tension between them vanished. He laughed, "I can't blame the God-King for that."
That's just his personality.
His relationship with Shu Jun had always been one of mutual use and sabotage. Shu Jun, as a Creator God-King, didn't acknowledge him as the Saint Baby, so it was only natural he'd set a few obstacles.
Quinn Shepherd could accept that kind of attitude.
Soon, Creators from the Zi-Li, Pearl-Hill, Yan-Dragon, Summer-Terrace and other clans arrived at the Shaw Clan's territory. Under their clan chiefs' direction, they visualized and forged, constructing a colossal altar and preparing for the grand sacrificial rite.
Meanwhile, Quinn Shepherd and Shu Jun joined the young Creators. These 'children' were small in age but possessed vast knowledge, having received racial memory infusions at birth and inheriting the learning of adult Creators.
They knew much, but their divine sense wasn't strong enough yet. To truly master various divine sense arts, they needed constant practice and honing.
Quinn Shepherd's goal in mingling with these young Creators was to master the foundational divine sense arts of the Creator race.
Though he had bested many adult Creators in the four trials—and even defeated nine great Creators in divine sense arts—his foundation was still weak.
Shu Jun's giant head floated in the air, following closely and earnestly studying the basics as well.
Despite sometimes seeming stubborn and arrogant, Shu Jun possessed great wisdom and a generous spirit.
When Quinn Shepherd revised his Three-Yuan Divine Sense, Shu Jun realized that the ancient era's cultivation methods were outdated—they had to keep up with the times, or the Creator race would be left behind.
When Quinn Shepherd felt the Supreme Emperor's Grand-Luo Supreme Divine Sense, after being modified into the God-Treasury Heaven-Palace cultivation system, was useless to him, Shu Jun keenly sensed that the Creators' methods also needed revision—even his own arts were changing in that direction.
Watching the Creators of the Beyond-Shore World reform and cast away ancient traditions, he didn't get angry at their shift in cultivation systems.
He was angry because he thought the Beyond-Shore Creators had abandoned simplicity for empty show, believing that flashy arts were of little use to Creators.
But he had the qualities of a true leader.
"Why do you visualize such complicated things?"
Shu Jun saw a young Creator, about eight feet tall, visualizing the flame runes from the God-Treasury Heaven-Palace cultivation system on a stone wall. He couldn't help but ask, "Wouldn't it be simpler to just visualize pure fire? The stronger your divine sense, the stronger the fire—wouldn't that be more straightforward?"
The young Creator shook his head. "Visualizing these complex patterns strengthens our divine sense—its power, toughness, sensitivity, and reaction speed. It lets our divine sense change more subtly."
Shu Jun wanted to frown, but he had no eyebrows.
Quinn Shepherd gave him some vitality and divine sense, allowing him to grow two thick black eyebrows. Shu Jun frowned and asked, "Then, in battle, isn't a more streamlined divine sense art better?"
The young Creator shook his head again. "Using runes to construct fire forms is actually more powerful than visualizing fire directly. So we make the structures as intricate as possible."
Shu Jun's eyes popped out of their sockets in anger. "But that slows your reaction speed! Divine sense arts are all about speed—striking the enemy before they can react, killing them instantly! You're abandoning our race's traditions!"
Quinn Shepherd kindly gave him more vitality and divine sense, so he grew eyelids to keep his eyeballs from jumping out again.
The young Creator was puzzled, but smiled and explained, "As we keep visualizing, the runes become imprinted in our divine sense. There aren't that many basic runes—just over two hundred types of fire runes. We spend our days visualizing them so they're etched into our divine sense. Different combinations make different arts, and in battle, we can use different combinations for different effects. It's no slower than before."
Shu Jun was stunned.
After a long while, he sighed, "Langwo deserves to be God-Queen—I truly admire her. Brat, when will you help restore my brain? I really can't go on without it!"
Quinn Shepherd was about to reply when Shu Jun sighed, "I'm not following you anymore. The Primal Stone is yours, I won't fight you for it. I plan to stay here and study seriously, start my cultivation over from scratch. If I could become God-King in the ancient era, revered by all, I can do it again—I will become God-King once more!"
Quinn Shepherd breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "If the God-King has such ambition, of course I'll support you."
Suddenly, his expression shifted and his gaze fell on a distant 'toddler Creator'—the child looked only one or two years old, wearing a red bellyband.
"Shu Jun, wait for me a moment."
Quinn Shepherd's mind buzzed as he hurried toward the 'bellyband Creator.' Seeing him approach, the child panicked, turned around, and walked away, bare behind exposed.
Quinn Shepherd quickly caught up, and when they reached a secluded spot, he sneered, "I recognize you! Keane! A Heaven Venerable, dressing like this—how shameless!"