The tower ship tossed and pitched like a tiny skiff in a raging ocean storm, battered up and down by huge waves. Suddenly, window frames exploded outward, whistling as they were swept off the ship.
Whoosh—a whole floor snapped clean off and flew flat through the air. Quinn Shepherd and Lynn Ling hurriedly clung to the pillars of the tower, only to hear the pillars creaking and cracking under the strain.
"Hold onto my waist!" Quinn shouted.
Lynn Ling didn’t catch it: "What?"
"Hold onto my waist—"
This time Lynn Ling finally heard him, immediately let go and wrapped her arms around his waist. Quinn felt two soft spots pressing against his back—pleasantly comfortable—but had no time to think about what they were, and decisively activated the Heaven–and–Earth Seal.
Heaven and Earth Spin, Heart Stays Still!
As this seal technique unfolded, the violent surges were drawn into his palms, spinning around him. Quinn grunted, feeling the pressure between his hands nearly snap his arms, but he could only keep holding on.
Suddenly, the pillar supporting the tower snapped with a crack, and the whole building shot up from the ground, flung into the starry sky.
Lynn Ling jumped in fright and clung tightly to Quinn.
Quinn Shepherd pushed the Heaven–and–Earth Seal to its limit, struggling against the ever-strengthening turbulence. The tower ship kept rolling madly; the phoenix-head prow had snapped off, planks shattered and flew away with loud cracks, and the hull was battered and torn.
Bang—
The cabin door burst open, and from inside came Ban Gongcuo’s startled scream. Lynn Ling heard it and thought, 'Ban Gongcuo really is clever—he slipped into the cabin early. Can he actually sense danger ahead of time?'
Ban Gongcuo tumbled and rolled inside the cabin, knocked around by the jolts. Suddenly, the turbulence subsided, but the battered ship kept spinning, with no sign of stopping.
Quinn crossed his hands and switched to 'Earth, Water, Wind, Fire—Fix the Five Elements,' another move from the Heaven–and–Earth Seal. The tower ship slowly stopped spinning. His face flushed red, his skin nearly splitting, but at last things stabilized.
Quinn let go of the Heaven–and–Earth Seal. His legs trembled, his hands twitched uncontrollably, and he couldn’t lift his arms. His lower back felt torn, pain making him suck in cold breaths.
The ship was a wreck—three pairs of its six wings were broken, the phoenix-head prow snapped off, the mast toppled, the sails riddled with holes, the tower missing, the hull leaking everywhere. Even the air inside was escaping fast; the ship’s qi-shield must have ruptured.
Quinn staggered to his feet, sprinting along the qi-shield to patch the cracks. After a while, he landed and breathed a sigh of relief: "It should hold for a while. No idea how the First Ancestor is doing... Lynn, you can let go now."
Lynn Ling quickly let go of his waist, her cheeks flushed red.
When Quinn ran along the qi-shield just now, she had clung to his waist, so he dragged her along for a whole lap.
Quinn endured the soreness in his body and tried to get his bearings, only to find himself in an unfamiliar starfield—no up or down, no sense of direction. Looking out, he couldn’t see the battlefield where the First Ancestor and the Great Sun Star Lord had been fighting!
Not only was the battlefield missing—even the sun the tower ship had circled earlier was nowhere to be seen!
Quinn’s heart went cold. He hurriedly grabbed the wisdom bead at his neck, tapped it twice, steadied himself, and said, "We shouldn’t wander around right now. It’s best to stay put and quietly wait for the First Ancestor or Chi Creek to find us."
Lynn Ling looked around and murmured, "What if they can’t find us? What if..."
"If they can’t, our air will run out before long."
Quinn took out a handful of medicinal seeds, dug up some soil from his Glutton Dragon Pouch, scattered the seeds, and activated Creation Earth Origin Art. The seeds rapidly sprouted and grew, turning the battered deck into a patch of herbs.
He spread his fingers, and a ball of fire rose from his palm—a tiny sun made of pure yang qi, bathing the green herbs in sunlight. His pure yang qi was much richer than most, thanks to the two divine energies—one pure yang, one pure yin—he’d received from ancient gods and demons forty thousand years ago.
With his other hand, Quinn conjured a miniature moon and whispered, "Let’s hope this keeps us going a while longer."
Ben Coates crawled out of the cabin and, seeing Quinn had even packed soil in his Glutton Dragon Pouch, blurted, "Cult Master Quinn, you even have dirt in there?"
"Better safe than sorry."
Quinn released his palm, letting the tiny sun and moon orbit the herb patch. "I was worried I couldn’t grow herbs in places like deserts, so I packed some just in case. Never thought I’d use them here."
Ben Coates gave him a strange look and sighed, "Now I know why I’ve never been able to kill you."
Quinn, still aching, grinned, "You’ve never beaten me, so how could you kill me?"
Ben’s face darkened. He didn’t reply—and didn’t dare make a move, either.
Quinn mused, "Three people use up air faster than two. So..."
Ben’s expression changed dramatically and he was about to slip away—when suddenly the tower ship lurched downward. The three of them looked back and went pale: the Great Sun Star Lord stood at the stern, battered and bloodied. His wings were broken, one leg was lame, his whole body was a mess, and two of his three eyes looked blinded—a pitiful sight.
"Cough, cough!"
He hacked violently, spat out a wad of flaming phlegm, which landed and kept burning—even setting part of the divine ship on fire.
"What a terrifying Kaihuang divine art—"
The Great Sun Star Lord sucked in a breath from the pain, blood pouring from his wounds. He gave a hoarse laugh: "That almost killed me, but not quite... What was I saying just now? Oh right, you’re already dead."