The three activated their teleportation treasures again. With three muffled pops, darkness swallowed their vision and their bodies were tightly bound. Realizing something was wrong, they urgently pulsed their yuanqi to shatter the restraints—only to discover that, following Quinn, they'd teleported themselves straight into the trunks of several massive trees.
"Where's the Holy Cult Master?" asked Heavenly King Shi.
No sooner had he spoken than they spotted Quinn: a head poked out from the trunk of a tree so large two people could barely wrap their arms around it, his body wedged deep inside, struggling to break free.
The tree was an iron tree, its wood tougher than steel.
Heavenly King Lu, quick-tempered as ever, barked, "Cult Master, why aren't you running now?"
"You three Heavenly Kings haven't left yet?"
Quinn flushed, saying, "I'm out of yuanqi, and this iron tree's got me trapped. I can't even lift my robes. Heavenly Kings, give me a hand."
The three Heavenly Kings couldn't help but laugh. Heavenly King Shi chopped down the iron tree and rescued Quinn, saying, "Cult Master, you are, after all, our Holy Cult Master—high status and authority. You can't just fool around here on Sacred Descent Mountain. Every building here is an ancient relic, full of meaning."
Heavenly King Lu said, "Cult Master, you're not a child anymore..."
But as he said it, he realized something was off—wasn't their Holy Cult Master actually just a kid?
Quinn was still not yet fifteen—barely a fraction of their ages.
Heavenly King Lu stammered, "When I was the Holy Cult Master's age, I was still playing with mud—no, I was already out harvesting rice. But Cult Master, teleportation is dangerous. One careless move and you could end up in a forbidden zone, where not even gods could save you! Sacred Descent Mountain has plenty of those!"
Quinn shuddered. If he teleported into a forbidden zone, he'd end up dead and unburied!
"Cult Master, every teleportation treasure needs to be precisely positioned. Getting the destination right is the key."
The three Heavenly Kings exchanged glances, suppressing their shock. Heavenly King Shi said, "Cult Master, you've forged a teleportation robe but haven't mastered accurate teleportation yet—it's extremely risky. First, you have to know exactly where you are, then where you want to go. As you're about to arrive, you must instantly cut off your yuanqi, or you'll crash into something. For your first try, don't go far—keep it close, so you can stop anytime."
Quinn's eyes lit up. "Let me try again!"
The three Heavenly Kings immediately looked stricken.
Heavenly King Yu hurriedly said, "Cult Master, you're out of yuanqi now. There's no need to rush. Besides, the Patriarch left you here not to practice teleportation, but to calm your mind and comprehend the Grand Unification Art. Sacred Descent Mountain is peaceful, free from worldly noise. If you leave now, you might not grasp the Grand Unification Art even in a year or two."
Quinn felt a chill in his heart.
The Young Patriarch had indeed left him here with deeper intentions.
For the past two days, he'd only thought about finishing the teleportation robe and leaving this place, never considering what the Young Patriarch truly intended.
"I was too impatient."
Quinn admitted frankly, bowing in thanks. "Thank you, Heavenly Kings, for guiding me through my confusion."
"We wouldn't dare!"
The three Heavenly Kings grew solemn, quickly returning the salute.
Heavenly King Shi said, "Cult Master, you're exceptionally gifted. If you stay here a few more days, you'll surely gain much."
Quinn calmed himself, walked over to the pine-cypress tree, and sat on the Sage's Rock, focusing intently on comprehending the Woodcutter Sage's stone-side sermon.
The three Heavenly Kings breathed a sigh of relief. Heavenly King Shi muttered, "The Patriarch left the Cult Master on Sacred Descent Mountain to temper his character. The Holy Cult Master's temperament is certainly unruly, but I doubt even the Patriarch expected him to master teleportation so quickly."
The other two Heavenly Kings also looked bemused. The Young Patriarch's plan was good, but no one imagined that as soon as he left, Quinn would realize he couldn't master teleportation yet without first mastering numerology.
What's more, the truly outrageous part was that Quinn immediately figured out he could just forge a teleportation treasure first.
And this was only the second day—he'd already tinkered up a teleportation robe, teleporting here and there, tormenting the three Heavenly Kings to exhaustion.
Heavenly King Lu shook his head. "The Patriarch is wise beyond measure—of course he saw this coming. He must have expected it, which is why he left the three of us here."
After a moment, all three Heavenly Kings sighed in unison, "No way the Patriarch saw this coming."
The three Heavenly Kings were troubled and uneasy. Their Holy Cult Master was incorrigibly unruly, but also so clever that even trying to temper his nature seemed hopeless.
At this rate, Quinn would master the teleportation robe after just a few more tries. How could they possibly keep him here and 'temper his unruly nature' then?
After a pause, Heavenly King Yu laughed. "Maybe we're just overthinking things."
The other two looked at him, puzzled. Heavenly King Yu said, "If the Holy Cult Master is this smart, let him mess around. If he's unruly, let him be unruly. He's the Cult Master, after all. Our job isn't to control him—it's to clean up after him. If we do that well, we've done our duty."
Heavenly King Shi said, "That's all we can do. Still, if the Cult Master's going to make trouble, maybe it's better to let him leave Sacred Descent Mountain early and go back to the Imperial Academy to make trouble there."
The three elders went to Phoenix-Landing Pavilion, playing the role of masons to repair it, then headed to the Three Kings Memorial Hall to patch up the roof.
Heavenly King Lu made a trip out of town. Two days later, he returned with the Book Hall Master, asking him to forge a replica—inscribing the Chronicle of the Phoenix's Perch on the wall inside Phoenix-Landing Pavilion.
Once everything was settled, the three Heavenly Kings breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged glances. "With the Holy Cult Master meditating this time, maybe we'll get half a year's peace?"
"With the Holy Cult Master's monstrous talent? Unlikely."
Beneath the pine-cypress, on the Sage's Rock, Quinn sat in meditation for days. Whenever he grew hungry or thirsty, Lina the Spirit Fox would scamper over, somehow finding a heap of fruit, and Quinn would eat with Lina.
Quinn pondered for over ten days, repeatedly reflecting on the Woodcutter Sage's teachings, but still found it impossible to comprehend the Grand Unification Art. Gradually, he grew restless.
"No fruit today. Eating fruit every day is getting bland."
Quinn got up from the Sage's Rock and said to Lina, "Let's have meat today. Lina, is there anything edible in the mountains?"
Lina cheered, "There are musk deer in the mountains! I've seen a whole herd—been wanting to catch one for ages, but this is Sacred Descent Mountain, so I didn't dare."
Quinn said excitedly, "Let's go hunt one!"
Soon after, boy and fox were roasting musk deer meat. Lina took out some salt and cumin from her little bundle and sprinkled it on—the aroma was mouthwatering.
They really gorged themselves, picking the musk deer clean. Lina lay on her back, rubbing her bulging little belly, utterly content. Quinn was stuffed too, so he got up and walked around, activating his Overlord Three-Core Art to speed up digestion.
His steps grew faster and faster, unconsciously slipping into the training methods he'd used back in Oldridge Village. Soon he was sprinting like the wind, then suddenly unleashed Thunder Chant Eight-Form—each punch and palm strike exploded through the air, thunder booming.
He turned his hands into hammers, performing Mute's Hammer Technique. Each strike made the air boom like a giant drum, and Quinn seemed to become a giant himself, the deep sound sending leaves rustling all through the woods.
Quinn's moves kept shifting—first leg techniques, then spear techniques, then sword, then saber.
He ran faster and faster, gathering yuanqi as a brush to paint in the air, wild and unrestrained, letting himself go.
Suddenly, he performed the Rain-Calling Art; lines of rain fell like swords and strings, the sound of rain mingling with faint music.
Then he switched to the Thunderbolt Flame Formula—flicking his fingers, thunder roared and balls of fire burst everywhere.
A fireball rose in Quinn's hand, glowing redder and redder, like the setting sun. Swords of flame shot out in all directions—he was using the Falling Sun Sword Art.
Then his yuanqi shifted again—his body moved like a rampaging White Tiger, claws and fangs tearing through mountain and stone.
Finally, he performed the Seven Creation Chapters: Creation Spirit Art shaped his form, Creation Heavenly God Art transformed his skill, Heaven-Forging Demon Art altered his appearance, Creation King Art turned him into a dragon, Creation Ghost Art refined his soul, Creation Earth Art forged his spirit, and Creation Innate Art formed his embryo.
He unleashed all sorts of techniques from the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra—different fist arts, sword arts, saber arts.
Unconsciously, he slipped into a wondrous state. In his mind, the Woodcutter Sage's voice echoed, sometimes clear, sometimes faint, sometimes booming, sometimes low.
All these mysteries flooded his mind, then flowed out through his hands, turning into marvelous moves.
Quinn felt nothing but joy, letting himself go, no longer caring what technique or spell he used—he just performed them all, in any order, without concern.
His heart felt wild. If the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra's arts ran rough, he changed them; if the Overlord Three-Core Art felt stuck, he let it be, adjusting the flow of yuanqi as needed.
Acting naturally, following pure instinct—that, he realized, was the Dao. In this moment, he finally understood what that meant.
He didn't care what the ancients left behind—whether it was the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra or the Overlord Three-Core Art. However his yuanqi flowed best, that was how he moved; whatever technique fit, he used it, regardless of correctness.
The more he did this, the more he grasped the mysteries in the Woodcutter Sage's sermon, comprehending ever deeper insights.
The three Heavenly Kings were startled and hurried outside. From the woods on Sacred Descent Mountain, lightning flashed, thunder roared, the ground heaved, air rippled, blades and swords shone, trees toppled, whole swathes of forest fell.
The three Heavenly Kings' faces changed. Heavenly King Shi cried, "This is bad—the Holy Cult Master is headed for the Sacred Tree!"
The three elders leapt into the air, landing beneath the pine-cypress. There they saw Quinn, wild and frenzied, unleashing all kinds of techniques and spells, his yuanqi manifesting all sorts of divine and demonic visions—righteous, demonic, Buddhist, he used them all.
Whether it was the unique powers of the White Tiger Spirit Body, the defensive arts of the Black Tortoise Spirit Body, the wind and thunder of the Azure Dragon Spirit Body, or the true fire of the Vermilion Bird Spirit Body, Quinn displayed them all. The three Heavenly Kings watched, utterly dumbfounded.
"Grand Unification Art…"
Heavenly King Shi murmured, "He's done it…he's comprehended it…"