Lady Umbral looked around and praised, "Your intelligence and talent are rare in this world—who would have thought that six such people would appear all at once? What kind of era is this, that so many geniuses have suddenly emerged?"
Quinn smiled and said, "My lady, the six people before you are the wisest of the last twenty thousand years—far more than one in a hundred million! All the wisdom of these two millennia is now gathered before you."
The Woodcutter urged, "Stop boasting and quickly display the divine art you used to resurrect Her Ladyship. In the past twenty thousand years, there have only been five wise men—you're an Overlord Body, not a clever one."
Quinn sulked, activated his techniques, took out the Book of Youdu, and once again cast his improved Soul-Summoning divine art. The structure of the Gate of Bearing Heaven had been changed by him, and as the Youdu tongue sounded, everyone frowned deeply.
Quinn kept shifting the Gate of Youdu, stealing Heaven Duke's power, then Tu Bo's power, until at last he was drawing on both ancient gods at once.
Everyone was dazzled by the sight and left reeling by the sounds.
"That's the Youdu tongue—I can understand about eighty percent."
Lord Hades activated his techniques, a portal appearing behind him that resembled the Gate of Bearing Heaven. He said, "But I've never seen this scroll before, and stealing Heaven Duke's and Tu Bo's power is risky. Either of those beings is more than we can handle."
"I can understand about sixty percent of the Youdu tongue."
The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor said, "I studied it for a while under my teacher, but there are still many obscure parts I can't grasp. I'm afraid I won't be able to master it."
The Woodcutter Sage frowned and said, "I can't understand all of it either. Stealing Tu Bo's and Heaven Duke's power—if you only take a little, it's fine, but if you take too much, either of them will notice. Using their power to resurrect souls in the Umbral World will definitely anger them."
Victor Bloom and the First Human Emperor had never studied the Youdu tongue, so they were completely lost.
Victor Bloom ventured, "If we can't steal Tu Bo's and Heaven Duke's power, why not modify Cult Master Quinn's divine art and find another way?"
The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor said, "It's not about finding another way—Cult Master Quinn has already laid a solid foundation for us. My lady, the Umbral World doesn't have its own unique divine art system yet, does it?"
Lady Umbral nodded and said, "There used to be many divine art practitioners here, but they all came from outside, fleeing war and bringing their arts with them. In the past, I was the only one here—there were no divine art practitioners."
The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor smiled and said, "Then from now on, the Umbral World can have its own divine art system."
Victor Bloom's eyes lit up. He glanced at the Imperial Preceptor, thinking, "A sage who appears once every five hundred years is truly brilliant! But the reason the Woodcutter hasn't spoken is probably that he wants to see how clever his disciple really is."
The First Human Emperor and Lord Hades were suddenly enlightened. The First Human Emperor laughed, "With the Preceptor's guidance, we've finally found the path."
Lord Hades also let out a sigh of relief. "Quinn's divine art is the key to opening the Umbral World's divine art system."
The Woodcutter Sage looked at Quinn and said, "Disciple, explain your divine art to us."
Quinn carefully explained his divine art in detail. Everyone present was exceptionally intelligent; after hearing it once, they memorized it and began pacing back and forth, lost in thought.
The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor softly recited the Youdu tongue, and the soul-black-sand around them rippled with the sound of his voice.
Victor Bloom stopped and recited the Youdu tongue at the husk-ghost Quinn had captured. The ghost opened its mouth in a shrill scream, black sand pouring from its body while more black sand surged in from outside.
The First Human Emperor borrowed the Book of Youdu from Quinn, using his own vital energy to simulate Youdu characters, trying to refine Quinn's divine art.
Lord Hades, familiar with Youdu divine arts, directly modified Quinn's technique.
The Woodcutter Sage circled around Nate Jin, observing him closely without pause.
Each had their own thoughts and insights, all making changes to Quinn's divine art.
Only Crystal Blaze had no expertise in this area and could only watch these eccentrics quietly.
Quinn watched them with a dark expression. He was used to modifying others' divine arts, but now he finally understood what it was like to have his own art constantly altered.
A long time passed; some walked, some lay down, some sat, some paced, all deep in thought.
The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor drew strange runes in the sand by the sea, while the First Human Emperor wrote and drew in the air with vital energy. Victor Bloom took out a ruler and a numerology weapon, rapidly calculating and writing odd equations on the ground, trying to solve the puzzle.
Behind Lord Hades floated a massive metal ring, its surface flickering with various runes.
The Woodcutter Sage took off the necklace Quinn had refined for Nate Jin and then went to examine the Sky-Dipper Hourglass forged by Lady Umbral.
After an unknown length of coversation, everyone gathered around the Sky-Dipper Hourglass, each branding runes into the air with vital energy. Gorgeous symbols appeared, suspended in the air.
These were golden runes, each one emitting sand-like golden rays—like soul-black-sand, but not black.
"What are they doing?" Lady Umbral couldn't understand and quietly asked Quinn and Crystal Blaze.
Quinn's expression was grave as he whispered, "They're trying to extract the basic runes of the Umbral World's divine arts from my technique and Lady Umbral's Sky-Dipper Hourglass, then deduce the rest of the foundational runes."
Lady Umbral was slightly stunned. "The Umbral World's foundational runes? There are such things?"
"My lady, you've never been to the outside world, have you? You may not know, but most divine arts are constructed from basic runes."
Quinn explained, "Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, clouds, fog, stars, even creation itself—every type of divine art has its most basic structure, which is the foundational rune. For example, sword arts have eighteen basic sword forms. But the Umbral World is a realm different from the outside world, with its own rules—a unique system of divine arts and Dao methods."
Crystal Blaze had been forcibly elevated to the divine realm by the Solar Ship, so her foundation in Dao and divine arts was lacking. Now, she listened intently, trying to make up for her shortcomings.
"The divine art I used to resurrect Her Ladyship was derived from several major systems: Youdu, Nether City, Profound Capital, creation, god-path, demon-path, Buddhist dharma, Daoist arts—all these systems are involved. These are the major frameworks; there are countless minor ones. Only by fusing so many systems could I revive Her Ladyship."
Quinn continued, "However, I didn't use the Umbral World's actual foundational runes. I only used knowledge from those systems to imitate what I thought the Umbral World's runes should be."
Lady Umbral began to understand. "So they're using your divine art and the Sky-Dipper Hourglass, stripping away outside systems, and trying to create a set of foundational runes for the Umbral World. The more they deduce, the closer they get to the true base runes."
Quinn nodded, smiling. "Look at their runes—they look less and less like those from the outside world. Besides my divine art and the Sky-Dipper Hourglass, they also need to understand your divine power and the rune marks on your body."
The Woodcutter Sage and the others floated over, carefully examining the divine light on Lady Umbral and recording each natural rune. They also checked the rune marks she was born with—unique symbols imprinted on her since birth.
Lady Umbral had little contact with the outside world and knew little about the marks on her own body.
After who knows how long, the five of them landed and huddled together in low-voiced discussion.
"There are 108 rune marks on Her Ladyship's body. From the Cult Master's divine art and the Sky-Dipper Hourglass, we've deduced another 216."
Victor Bloom organized the runes and swept his hand through the air, golden-sand runes appearing wherever his palm passed.
"A total of 324 runes—these are the foundation of the Umbral World's divine art system."
Victor Bloom continued, "My lady, watch—different rune sequences can produce different divine art effects."
He manipulated his vital energy, combining dozens of runes into a divine art and blasted it at the husk-ghost Quinn had captured. The black sand inside the ghost vanished, dissipating into the world as spiritual qi.
The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor cast another divine art, also using the 324 base runes. "You can also re-gather the soul, drawing the original soul back to its rightful body."
After the husk-ghost died, only a human skin was left. The Imperial Preceptor activated his art, and black sand from the Umbral World flew in like smoke, burrowing into the skin.
Lord Hades activated another divine art. "You can also reshape soul-black-sand into a true soul."
His divine art acted on the black sand within the human skin, and the sand began to condense, showing signs of reforming into a complete soul.
The First Human Emperor also used a seal composed of these runes. "You can also suppress husk-ghosts and make them submit!"
His seal technique manifested as a king of husk-ghosts, making many husk-ghosts in the Umbral World tremble in fear.
The Woodcutter Sage laughed. "My lady, before, the Umbral World's base runes were incomplete. Now they're whole. You can command husk-ghosts to fight for you, punish them, or protect the people living here. Now you can rest easy."
Quinn sighed, "In the future, countless arts and divine techniques of the Umbral World will probably all be born from these 324 runes."
The Woodcutter Sage took out his chopping axe and began carving the runes into a cliff by the sea, one stroke at a time. "My lady, our work here is done. We take our leave."
Lady Umbral rose to see them off. "My talents are limited, so I must trouble you wise ones. If you ever need my help, just bring this token—I will surely assist!"
She drew a strand of divine radiance from her body, split it into seven, and refined them into seven bright pearls. She gifted them to the Woodcutter, the Imperial Preceptor, the First Human Emperor, Lord Hades, Victor Bloom, and also to Quinn and Crystal Blaze.
Crystal Blaze hurriedly declined, "I didn't do anything—I can't accept this."
Lady Umbral smiled, "It's for your little lover beside you. Keep it for him."
Crystal Blaze blushed and put away the divine pearl.
The group walked out of the Umbral World and into the sunlight, their spirits lifted.
"Disciple, now do you see what true cleverness looks like?" the Woodcutter Sage laughed.
Quinn laughed too. "That's because you were all standing on the shoulders of this giant. Without my resurrection art for Lady Umbral, you wouldn't have been able to deduce the Umbral World's foundational runes at all."
"The shoulders of a giant?"
The Woodcutter Sage roared with laughter, teleportation patterns swirling around him as he vanished with a whoosh.
"Farewell, Human Emperor Quinn." Lord Hades retreated into the darkness behind him and disappeared.
The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor said, "Cult Master, until we meet again in Everpeace." With that, he teleported away.
Quinn looked at the First Human Emperor, who shook his head, "I can't stay with you—I have urgent matters." With that, he rose into the air and vanished in a beam of divine light.
"Truly clever fellows."
Quinn sighed, not turning around. "Brother Bloom, I wasn't talking about you."
Victor Bloom burst out laughing, stepped into the air, his figure flickering as lotus flowers bloomed one after another in the sky.