"Not saving you!"
Quinn hurled the sheepskin note to the ground, stomped on it twice, twisted his toe, and sneered, "Save you? Why should I? If you're so capable and stubborn, never listen to anyone, then save yourself!"
He turned to leave, but after a moment's thought, picked up the sheepskin note, dusted it off, and stuffed it into his Glutton Dragon Pouch, grumbling, "If you want me to save you, at least tell me where you're trapped. If you don't say, how am I supposed to help?" (Glutton Dragon Pouch: a bottomless storage artifact made from the hide of the mythical Taotie beast, famed for devouring anything placed inside.)
He walked out of the black palace into the Red Blossom World. Dragon-Qilin hurried over, craning his neck and peering at him, "Cult Master, where's that female corpse?"
"She just turned into a corpse-monster, so I tossed her to my big brother to look after."
Quinn glanced at the green sparrow perched atop Dragon-Qilin's head, noticing it had puffed up like a balloon. Once a cute little bird, it was now round and plump—but still adorable.
"Young Master, it's me—Annie." chirped the round, plump green sparrow.
Quinn grinned, "Of course I recognize you, Sister Annie. Did you eat the beauty-serpent?"
He looked out across the Red Blossom World; all the thick, straight stamens had vanished, pulled out clean. Quinn laughed, "Is it hard to digest an ancient god?"
"The big bug tasted amazing."
The plump green sparrow chirped brightly, sounding a bit embarrassed, "It took me ages to finish eating. I forgot to save you a taste, and Dragon-Qilin wouldn't touch it, so I ate it all myself."
Quinn's eyes widened. She ate it all?
The beauty-serpent was really the pistils of the flower-world, each one a towering column—and she ate every last one?
Dragon-Qilin muttered, "I'm not fat at all. It's you..."
Annie pecked his forehead, making a hollow knocking sound. Dragon-Qilin yelped in pain and quickly shut up.
Quinn glanced up at the sky. The dome of the Red Blossom World was still sealed; they were clearly still deep in the abyss. Only when the dark current erupted would they have a chance to leave.
He pulled out the maps he’d collected, spreading them all out. These were the charts Wayne Gale had left for him in the canyon outside the Other Shore Ark. Some he’d already visited.
For example, the Dragon Village map—he’d gotten the Feather-Guard command token from Azure Desolation Elder there (Azure Desolation Elder: ancient true dragon, present-day identity of the former Azure Emperor). The Alien Star map—on the Execution Platform, he met Chi Creek and obtained the God-Slaying Headsman’s Blade.
Then the Taeming Heaven desolate city map—underground, he encountered Gavin Zaro’s supreme god-brain and the blueprints for the Other Shore Ark.
And the Home’s End Abyss map—where he obtained Venerable Skysoar’s peach-wood hairpin.
In truth, it was First Senior Brother Wayne Gale’s maps that step by step led him here.
Quinn set aside the maps he’d already visited and studied the rest, trying to figure out where Wayne was actually trapped.
Annie and Dragon-Qilin whispered off to the side. "Young Master just said he handed the female corpse to his big brother. He has a big brother? How come I've never seen him?"
Dragon-Qilin glanced at Quinn, raised a paw to his head, and whispered, "Cult Master's big brother is actually just Cult Master himself. He always imagines he has a fierce, powerful older brother. Don't expose him."
Annie lifted a wing, tapping her own little head with the tip, incredulous. "You mean, Young Master is..."
Dragon-Qilin nodded.
Annie looked at Quinn, who was absorbed in his maps, her eyes full of sympathy. "Young Master must be so lonely he's started hallucinating."
Quinn studied the maps for a long while. Most were unfamiliar; he couldn't tell where Wayne was trapped, let alone how to find him.
"I showed these maps to the Woodcutter Sage before—he seemed to recognize many of them. Maybe I should go ask him. If he gets his lost first disciple back, he'll care even more."
Quinn put away the maps and took out Venerable Skysoar's peach-wood hairpin, examining it closely.
Venerable Skysoar’s hairpin looked utterly simple—just an ordinary peach-wood pin, nothing special, not a single rune inscribed. Quinn examined it but found no trace of any hidden divine art.
He pressed it gently, and the peach-wood hairpin bent a little, as if it might snap at any moment.
"There's no divine art from Venerable Skysoar in this hairpin either. How could a Heavenly Venerable’s treasure be so utterly ordinary?"
Quinn tried channeling his qi into the peach-wood hairpin. Still no reaction—yet he sensed a strange, immense power hidden deep inside.
He focused and used his Creation Art. The red hairpin revived in his hand, sprouting branches and leaves, rapidly growing into a peach tree.
Peach blossoms bloomed, fruit swelled, and the peaches ripened.
Quinn plucked a peach, brushed off the fuzz, and tasted it—sweet as anything.
"But I still haven't triggered the true power inside. Maybe it needs an even deeper Creation Art..."
Suddenly, the peach tree flashed with light and vanished. It turned back into a hairpin, dropping to the ground by his feet.
"Invariant matter!"
A thought struck Quinn. He picked up the hairpin. His Creation Art had altered its structure, made it grow, but some strange force inside instantly restored it to its original state.
That was the hallmark of invariant matter!
Not just the peach tree, but even the pit and the peach he’d eaten vanished—everything reverted to the original hairpin.
"This hairpin has become invariant matter—eternal, unchanging, utterly indestructible!"
Quinn tried his Creation Art again. Suddenly, a torrent burst from the hairpin—a mighty Celestial River, sweeping out with crushing force. Where it struck, even the flower-world rocked and trembled!
Not far off, Dragon-Qilin and Annie lost their footing. The Celestial River swept them up, flinging them all the way to the world's edge, where they slammed into the flower-wall with a crash.
The river’s pressure was overwhelming. Dragon-Qilin nearly crumpled under it; Annie hurriedly spread her wings, shielding him beneath her feathers.
Suddenly, the Celestial River snapped shut and vanished—every drop gone, as if it had never existed. Only Quinn remained, curiously examining the peach-wood hairpin and muttering to himself.
Dragon-Qilin and Annie tumbled down from the distant flower-wall, still dazed—when the Celestial River erupted again, slamming them right back into the wall!
Annie shielded Dragon-Qilin once more, feeling the pressure growing even stronger. Suddenly, the Celestial River vanished again, and the two of them crashed to the ground.
Annie shouted, her form swelling into a massive, plump Dragon-Sparrow. She raised two huge wings in front of herself, warily guarding against another attack.
Suddenly, the Celestial River surged again, nearly extinguishing her Vermilion Bird sacred flames and smashing them into the flower-wall at the world's edge once more.
"Strange... Where does all this Celestial River water come from?"
Quinn kept experimenting, while Annie and Dragon-Qilin were tossed about, battered nearly senseless.
Meanwhile, in the ruins of the Imperial Heaven Court above Fallen God Valley, the blind elder Yi Shisheng was dredging the Celestial River for Venerable Skysoar’s corpse. He’d been there over forty thousand years.
Suddenly, a look of surprise crossed the old man's face. He muttered, "The Celestial River's water is getting shallower... It’s never dropped before. Why now?"
He grew excited. "Could it be that Teacher is about to break free? About to escape endless death?"
After a while, the Celestial River returned to its usual level.
Yi Shisheng was stunned.
Soon after, the river dropped again, then rose, then fell once more.
Yi Shisheng stood by the Celestial River, bewildered, unable to make sense of what was happening.
Back in the flower-world of Home’s End Abyss, Quinn finally stopped experimenting. He scratched his head and muttered, "The hairpin’s power is strong enough, but that can’t be the only reason Venerable Skysoar gave it to me. She wouldn’t hand over such a treasure without a purpose. But how do I unlock its true power? Invariant matter... invariant matter..."
He paced back and forth, deep in thought. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "What if I use Venerable Skysoar’s own divine art to activate the hairpin? Invariant matter meeting invariant divine art—there must be a new reaction!"
He had studied Venerable Skysoar’s divine art aboard the ghost ship and gained some understanding, but he was still far from mastering it.
Back then, Venerable Skysoar’s divine art was only in its infancy—no wonder her invariant matter divine art was so complex.
Quinn gripped the peach-wood hairpin and tried to perform the incomplete version of Venerable Skysoar’s divine art.
Annie and Dragon-Qilin saw him grab the hairpin again and shuddered, quickly dodging out of the way.
This time, the Celestial River appeared again, but it wasn’t as terrifying as before. A stretch of river surfaced in the sky, as if far, far away.
Heavy mist shrouded the Celestial River, and on its surface stood a woman in a leopard skirt and straw sandals.
"Venerable Skysoar!" Quinn shouted.