"If the ancient gods are wiped out, the Creator race will never have another chance to rise again."
Quinn Shepherd's gaze was distant. He said, "There's still a chance to turn things around now. But once the ancient gods are all dead, no one will have any hope of resisting Heavenly Court."
Langwo, the God-Queen, stood inside the carriage. Her divine sense pulsed outward, and the tens of thousands of White Tiger Palace gods and demons charging Sky-Bulwark City suddenly fell from the sky like rain.
The Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin drove straight in. Wherever it passed, gods and demons of Western Extremity Heaven tumbled down, but none of the fallen serpent demons were injured—their formations were simply thrown into chaos.
At the South Heaven Gate of White Tiger Palace, giant drummer-gods beat the war drums three times. Two golden-armored gods came to the gate, grasped the mouth of the hanging golden bell, and shook it. At the bell's signal, the soldiers at the gate lowered their banners.
At once, the White Tiger Palace's army of gods and demons halted their advance.
The giant drummer-gods at the South Heaven Gate beat the drums five times, and the entire White Tiger Palace host instantly reorganized their formations.
With a single drumbeat, all the gods and soldiers in place rearmed and readied themselves, perfectly synchronized.
When the drums fell silent, the endless army of Western Extremity Heaven gods and demons faced the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin. They stood motionless in midair, eyes fixed straight ahead, a chilling aura of death filling the world.
Seeing this, even the six Heavenly Dragons involuntarily stopped, not daring to charge forward.
Dragon-Qilin snapped, and only then did the Heavenly Dragons dare to move forward, though their pace slowed noticeably.
Quinn looked ahead and couldn’t help but praise: the gods and demons of White Tiger Palace moved in perfect unison, as if guided by a single will—such discipline was rare in any army. Of course, if it were Everpeace’s troops, using divine sense command arts and the Tri-Source Spirit Conference technique, they’d be even better than Western Extremity Heaven.
The Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin finally arrived outside the South Heaven Gate and came to a stop. Quinn stood atop the palanquin, quietly waiting. After a moment, a female general approached, bowed, and said, “Heavenly Venerable, Her Majesty invites you inside.”
Quinn replied with a half-smile, “When I visited Northern Extremity Heaven and Eastern Extremity Heaven, Northern Emperor Black Tortoise and Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon both came out to greet me. Yet Western Emperor sits up in her High Heaven Hall, expecting me to come pay respects—is she asking me to go and kowtow to her?”
The female general’s expression was solemn. “Her Majesty is armored and personally leading the campaign. It would be inappropriate for her to come out herself.”
Quinn gave a dry laugh. “In that case, I’ll take my leave. When Western Emperor has died once, I’ll come back to pay my respects and collect her corpse. Dragon-Qilin, turn the carriage around—we’re leaving.” With that, he turned and sat back down in the palanquin.
Dragon-Qilin hesitated for a moment, then ordered the six Heavenly Dragons to turn the carriage. Just then, a woman’s voice rang out, laughing: “Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, please wait.”
Dragon-Qilin reined in the carriage, glancing toward Quinn inside. But with the bead curtain in the way, he couldn’t read Quinn’s mood.
Quinn’s voice drifted out from inside the carriage, calm and indifferent: “Is that Western Emperor?”
A woman in full armor strode out from White Tiger Palace. Behind her, a colossal White Tiger’s head materialized, crouched and ready to pounce—ferocious beyond measure. Just the tiger’s head alone covered half the palace.
The woman was fully armored and strikingly heroic. She smiled, "Indeed. Heavenly Venerable, will you step out and meet me?"
"No."
Quinn’s voice came from behind the bead curtain, cool and detached: “I am a Heavenly Venerable, here to pay a visit, yet you want me to climb up to your High Heaven Hall and pay court? That’s a breach of etiquette. Today, I won’t step out of my carriage—wouldn’t want to dirty your Western Extremity Heaven. If you want to meet, come aboard.”
Western Emperor frowned slightly, glanced to either side, and swallowed her anger. "Don’t push your luck, Heavenly Venerable."
Quinn laughed heartily and said, “I’ve heard that in the western lands there are fierce tigers, wild and hard to tame. Tigers are cunning and suspicious, but when they spot prey, they become delighted and focused, ignoring their surroundings. So hunters catch tigers by putting a goat before them; the tiger pounces on the goat, and the hunter kills the tiger.”
Western Emperor flew into a rage, strode up, boarded the palanquin, lifted the bead curtain, and entered. “Heavenly Venerable, if you have something to say, speak plainly!”
Only then did she notice someone else in the carriage, her gaze landing on Langwo, puzzled: “Her Majesty the Empress?”
Her wariness intensified, armor clashing with a steely ring as she said coldly, “Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, have you come together with the Empress to kill me?”
Quinn gestured: “Please, Western Emperor, have a seat.”
Western Emperor snorted and sat down, her gaze still locked on Langwo. Suddenly, she said, “You’re not the Empress—you don’t have that scent.”
Langwo’s expression remained indifferent as she said softly, “Then who does Western Emperor think I am?”
Western Emperor kept her gaze fixed on Langwo, as if scrutinizing her origins.
“Western Emperor, do you know your time of death has arrived?”
Quinn chuckled, “Now that you’ve raised your army, as soon as you attack Sky-Bulwark City, the moment your troops clash, that’s when you’ll meet your end. Vastflood Heavenly Venerable has been plotting for ages, waiting for you to step into the trap. When your Western Extremity Heaven host reaches the city, Vastflood’s Primordial Spirit will possess the Heaven-Guide war-body. In just a few rounds, you’ll fall on the spot!”
Western Emperor shifted her gaze from Langwo, opened the carriage window, and gazed toward the Heaven-Guide war-body behind Sky-Bulwark City. “You mean to say Vastflood Heavenly Venerable is already here? That’s nonsense. My sources say all Ten Heavenly Venerables are still in Heavenly Court, locked in mutual rivalry. None of them can break free! As for you, coming here with this companion, you must be plotting something—hoping to use her to kill me!”
She sneered, “I can sense the killing intent from her.”
Quinn laughed, “Why would I want to kill you? I have no grudge against you. You want to use my strength to secure yourself an escape route, and I need your strength to oppose Heavenly Court. Together, we both benefit; divided, we both lose. I came to advise you not to seek your own death. In truth, it wasn’t me who saw through this trap against the ancient gods, but Northern Emperor Black Tortoise. He realized it was a ‘trap for the guest,’ and asked me to come warn you.”
Western Emperor, hearing that Northern Emperor Black Tortoise sent Quinn to warn her, finally set aside her doubts and asked tentatively, “Did Northern Emperor Black Tortoise really send you?”
Quinn nodded with a smile, “If Western Emperor doesn’t believe me, send someone to ask in Northern Extremity Heaven.”
Western Emperor, still skeptical, opened the carriage window and summoned a female general, giving her instructions.