"The woman in the coffin is indeed Absolute Dust!"
Quinn Shepherd's heart stirred slightly, and he asked Heaven Duke via divine sense, "Then is the other woman in the coffin Her Majesty the Empress?"
His gaze fell upon the other woman. Her body was perfectly formed, born of the Dao itself; though not as dazzlingly beautiful as Absolute Dust, she was still a rare beauty.
She possessed an air befitting the mother of all under heaven. Her garments were woven from the finest divine gold, her head adorned with a phoenix crown, a cinnabar mark at her brow, powdered cheeks, and red lips.
She bore severe wounds; in Quinn's view, they weren't necessarily fatal and could still be healed.
But in ancient times, without the resources available today, these injuries would have been fatal for her.
After all, the Dao of Medicine is not a natural law of the world, but a path pioneered by later generations. In ancient times, medicine had only just begun to emerge and was not advanced enough to treat such wounds.
Likewise, the Dao of Creation was also founded by later beings, and in that era, it was not yet capable of defying fate to save Her Majesty the Empress.
"She is Her Majesty the Empress."
Heaven Duke, borrowing Quinn's eyes to examine the two female corpses in the coffin, sighed, "Her Majesty the Empress truly is dead. This woman is also extraordinarily sacred—who would have thought she too would end up a corpse? I always believed the first ancient god leader to fall was Lady Umbral, but it turns out it was her. So, who is the Empress currently in the Heavenly Court? Could it be..."
"Heaven Duke, can you confirm that she truly is the Empress?"
Quinn suddenly said, "Heaven Duke, I've heard the Empress Sisters look exactly alike. Perhaps the one in the coffin is the Empress's younger sister."
"It can't be her. Though they were the twin beauties of Home's End Abyss, there are still differences between them."
Heaven Duke patiently explained, "The elder sister is pure and dignified, exuding an untouchable sacredness—hence she became Empress. The younger sister is much livelier and more mischievous. Their most obvious difference is the mark at their brow: the elder bears a red cinnabar mark, gentle and feminine; the younger, a black mark, sinister and enchanting."
Quinn studied the cinnabar mark at the Empress's brow closely. He realized it wasn't painted on with ordinary pigment; within it seemed to lie endless patterns, deep and mysterious.
Heaven Duke sighed, "For the Heavenly Emperor, the sisters turned against each other—what a bitter fate. But why did Absolute Dust die as well? She seduced the Heavenly Emperor into reincarnation, then ambushed and killed him; truly ruthless and formidable. Why is her corpse here? Who killed her and placed her in this coffin?"
Quinn was just as bewildered by these questions; they were exactly what he wanted to ask. But clearly, Heaven Duke didn't know the answers either, which was why he asked Quinn.
"Don't close your eyes!"
Seeing Quinn pick up the willow leaf, Heaven Duke quickly said, "This is getting interesting—let us see as well."
Quinn had no choice but to put away the willow leaf. Then he heard Crimson Emperor's voice: "So this is Absolute Dust? What a beauty—my heart aches for her. If only I were still alive..."
"You'll die a terrible death."
Tu Bo's voice sounded: "Even Heaven Duke and the Heavenly Emperor couldn't resist her allure. If the Heavenly Emperor hadn't gone to his doom, Heaven Duke would surely have reincarnated to pursue this woman—and died for it. Old Buddha, have you felt mortal desire?"
Great Brahma King Buddha replied, "Beauty is just bones beneath the powder—nothing more to me."
"The key is, gods don't age or die. All beauty, no bones."
Heaven Duke said, "Old Buddha, your Dharma still has flaws. Be careful not to suffer for it. Great Sun Star Lord, what do you know about this woman?"
Great Sun Star Lord replied gloomily, "What could I possibly know? You already wrung everything out of me. Absolute Dust died after me, and I never dared harbor any thoughts about her."
...
"She truly is a peerless beauty. If only I could spend just one night with her... Wait, that's odd—she has no visible wounds!" Chiming Divine Son exclaimed, suddenly noticing something.
Everyone hurried to examine her closely. Indeed, Absolute Dust in the coffin bore no wounds. She lay there quietly, as if asleep, her fair face tinged with a faint blush—only, she was not breathing.
"Could someone have used Netherworld arts to forcibly strip away her soul?"
No one could bear to leave the coffin; they'd completely forgotten their real purpose was to verify the Empress's identity, not to obsess over the woman inside.
Autumn Cloud Phoenix suddenly sneered, "Men are all the same—so much for calling yourselves heroes! It's just a woman, and a corpse at that, yet you fools are bewitched and beside yourselves. Pathetic."
Quinn said happily, "Sister Qiuyun, I'm not bewitched at all—I'm perfectly clear-headed. Village Chief, you too, right?"
The Village Chief's old face flushed a little. He chuckled, "I've long grown used to Granny Si's beauty, so my self-control is well-honed."
Autumn Cloud Phoenix snorted and turned to Prince Autumnshade. "Upworld bumpkin prince, we came to inspect the Empress's coffin and find out if it's really her inside. Now that we've seen, do you have your answer?"
Prince Autumnshade withdrew his gaze and said gravely, "It is indeed Her Majesty the Empress in the coffin."
Everyone felt a chill in their hearts—even Logan Cross was deeply shaken.
Autumn Cloud Phoenix asked, "Then who is the Empress in the Heavenly Court?"
Prince Autumnshade shook his head. "I don't know. Suddenly, I don't want to know anymore. The more you know, the sooner you die. I don't want to die. I just want this Ghost Ship. The rest of you may leave."
Yet all the men kept their eyes fixed on Absolute Dust in the Empress's coffin. No one moved; the Ghost Ship itself was forgotten. They just wanted to stay and keep her company.
The Village Chief sighed, withdrew his gaze, and gently pulled Quinn back. "We have no interest in the Ghost Ship, nor in the woman in the coffin... not at all! We'll be leaving now!"
He nudged the Dragon-Keeper Lord, who managed to stand and followed them as they retreated.
Just then, a sudden radiance appeared from nowhere, turning everything blindingly white. Quinn and the Village Chief tensed—"The Ghost Ship is resetting time again!"
[SKIPPED: System/author note. Not part of the story.]
Inside the hall, dragon roars echoed as terrifying auras erupted. Quinn immediately sensed the eight petrified guardian dragons awakening in the light, sending chills down his spine. He rushed to escape the hall.
Dragon cries shook the hall, followed by a wave of dread—blades flashed, swords clashed, even imperial might surged. The hall was vast, but it couldn't withstand the onslaught of so many masters' divine arts, let alone the emperor's corpse and throne-level god-weapons!
"Hurry, get out—reset incoming!" Lin Hawk's lantern voice cried in panic.
The Village Chief drew his sword at once, sword-light flashing. In terms of sword technique, Quinn had surpassed him, but in sword-Dao, he was still Everpeace's number one—far ahead even of the Imperial Preceptor!
Back in the Divine Bridge Realm, he'd created the Nine-Form Sword Diagram—each form a sword-Dao 'heaven.' Even then, he was a master of the ninth heaven of sword-Dao!
No matter the path to Dao, entry is hard; going further is even harder. Even someone like Master Zixi spent a lifetime reaching only the thirteenth heaven of sword-Dao.
But Master Zixi reached the Jadebright Palace Realm; thirteen heavens was her limit, the sword-Dao she forged at that level.
The Village Chief was different. Back then, he was stuck at Divine Bridge, with no access to higher methods or realms.
It was purely through talent and effort that he created the Nine-Form Sword Diagram.
The Nine-Form Sword Diagram corresponded to the True God Realm. That is, even at Divine Bridge, his sword-Dao had reached the level of True God.
Later, Quinn spread the Magpie Bridge Art and other techniques to repair Divine Bridge, linking life and death to Nether City, connecting Qianqiao to Taemperor Heaven—countless divine and demonic arts, even Emperor's Throne techniques, broadened the Chief's horizons.
While Quinn was out adventuring, the Chief wasn't idle; he'd mastered every sword-Dao technique in Jadebright Palace and made astonishing breakthroughs.
Sword in hand, the Village Chief cut through the aftermath of countless divine arts, leading Quinn and Dragon-Keeper Lord out.
Ahead was nothing but radiance; he could only rely on instinct to move forward. Suddenly, his sword struck a divine blade, ringing out with a metallic clash.
That divine blade flowed like mercury, slipping through every gap. The Chief's sword technique blocked it, and he said gravely, "Logan Cross's divine knife?"
"Everpeace Sword God?"
The divine knife swept across the floor, its blade-Dao clashing violently with the sword-Dao. The Village Chief parried with his sword, startled—the knife's power was no stronger than his own.
"Logan Cross is suppressing his realm to duel me? He wants to test my sword-Dao!"
Suddenly, the blade-light withdrew. Logan Cross retreated, and in the radiance, a divine dragon burst through the clash of blades and swords, sending the Village Chief, Quinn, and the Dragon-Keeper Lord flying. No one could tell if it was a Drakebar dragon or the Ancestral Dragon King himself.
More people rushed from the hall; a deafening crash signaled the collapse. Amid the flames, Autumn Cloud Phoenix opened the imperial coffin—an emperor's corpse rose, roaring in fury and shattering the hall!
"Autumn Cloud Phoenix, have you lost your mind!" Chiming Divine Son turned into a streak of light, fleeing past Quinn and the others.
At that moment, the radiance abruptly faded, and their vision cleared.
The Village Chief shielded Quinn and Dragon-Keeper Lord, his sword flashing as he cut through lingering divine arts. He landed lightly, grunting as blood trickled from his mouth.
Quinn hurried over. "Village Chief, are you hurt?"
"I'm fine."
The Village Chief said calmly, "The dragon only grazed me as it passed—I'm not dying yet. Logan Cross's blade-Dao is truly formidable, almost at the thirteenth heaven. But just in terms of Dao entry, my sword-Dao is not inferior."
Quinn swiftly used creation arts to heal him.
Dragon-Keeper Lord murmured in a daze, "Master, wasn't the hall destroyed just now?"
Quinn was stunned. He looked back and saw the hall standing perfectly intact, no sign of collapse—just as it was before, not a single crack.
Inside, the eight dragons still coiled around the hall, guarding the Empress's coffin.
Beside the coffin stood another, the stone imperial coffin Autumn Cloud Phoenix had brought. Half-buried in the ground, half exposed, the emperor's corpse inside had fused with the earth and stone lid—its zombie-like blue face pressed to the cover, gray-white eyes rolling.
Many of the Ancestral Dragon King's demigods had half their bodies grown into the walls or pillars, some with their backsides sticking out, others sunk into the floor—faces seeming to sprout from the ground.
Yet they were all still alive.
It was as if, when the radiance burst forth, they'd been reassembled—but in the wrong way, fused with the hall itself.
[SKIPPED: Author note. Not part of the story.]