Though Dragon-Qilin only uttered a single word—"Right"—Quinn Shepherd seemed to draw immense encouragement from it, his spirits instantly lifted.
Annie watched this scene, clicking her tongue in amazement, and slipped Dragon-Qilin a spirit pill.
The water kirin looked on enviously, thinking, "Next time my master is lost in doubt, I’ll say ‘right’ too—maybe I’ll score extra rations. Except, my master always seems confused..."
Lady Umbral personally escorted them out of the Umbral World. Just before parting, she whispered, "The Grand Archmage won’t be angry at me, will he? After all, the Heavenly Emperor is our ancient gods’ sovereign. He’s done plenty of terrible things to other ancient gods, but in the end, he’s not all bad. When Dao Ancestor came to me wanting Umbral World’s runes to gather His Majesty’s soul, I couldn’t refuse."
"You don’t need to explain, Lady," Quinn said gently. "I understand."
Quinn smiled. "You acted out of old loyalties, and that’s only natural. But Lady, you’re no longer a born ancient god. The ancient god you once were has died. Now, you’re a new life, a postnatal being—just like us."
Lady Umbral froze in surprise.
"You’re a simple person, Lady—so simple you let outsiders close, not knowing why you died, so simple you threw yourself right back under the ancient Heavenly Emperor’s command. But did you ever wonder? When you died, a wisp of the Emperor’s soul was already serving as a Heaven Alliance elder."
Quinn bowed deeply in farewell, his voice earnest: "He never stopped Yin Tianzi from striking you down. Nor did he stop the Heaven Alliance from targeting Earth Mother Primordial Lady. When your body was destroyed, I revived you with only your skin remaining. After your resurrection, you’re not the same as the Emperor—his ancient god’s body is intact, he can still be an ancient god. You and he are no longer the same species."
Lady Umbral watched them leave, dazed, Quinn’s words still echoing in her ears: "Lady, you can’t afford to be so naive anymore."
Dragon-Qilin carried a large mirror bound with his own vital energy on his back, but Quinn was nowhere to be seen atop his head. The water kirin trotted alongside, and Heaven-Guide Venerable was missing too—only Annie bounced around, busy feeding them spirit pills.
Occasionally, the girl would pinch a spirit pill, reach her hand into the mirror, and inside, Heaven-Guide Venerable would open his mouth to accept it.
Quinn was also inside the mirror-world, facing away from the jade slip, holding up a small mirror to examine the runes reflected from the slip.
He then took out a multitude of spirit-calc weapons, assembling them into a giant calculation engine. He kept working, trying to integrate Dao Lord Lucas Lin’s improved Grand Micro Numerology Canon and refine those runes.
Heaven-Guide Venerable sat nearby, lost in thought. He’d reached a bottleneck—already at the peak of the Spirit Embryo Realm—and was ready to make another breakthrough.
Quinn had never taught him how to open the Five Luminaries Treasury, nor any cultivation method, and Heaven-Guide never asked—because Quinn had told him, Overlord Bodies like theirs must forge their own path, invent their own arts.
So Heaven-Guide stubbornly chose to find his own way.
Dragon-Qilin raced east along the surface of the Yong River. Many sand-barges floated eastward on the current, and beneath them, Dragon-Keeper Lord and several dragon kings revealed their true forms, swimming in the Celestial River and using their power to speed the barges along.
Umbral Gold was common in the Umbral World, but rare outside. Plenty of robbers lurked along the way; even the Celestial River connected to many heavens, and gods and demons from other realms came to plunder—only to be driven off by Dragon-Keeper Lord and the dragon kings.
Quinn didn’t have Dragon-Qilin go full speed, so they weren’t much faster than the sand-barges below. The leisurely journey, with Annie feeding them spirit pills, was rather pleasant.