Quinn Shepherd stared at the inscription on the stone stele, his mind growing hazy.
Tomb of Venerable Skysoar.
Venerable Skysoar is dead?
His gaze was filled with confusion and disbelief. In his view, even if Heavenly Emperors died one after another, Venerable Skysoar would never perish. Yet here stood a tomb for Venerable Skysoar.
He hurried to the stone stele, about to take a closer look, when he suddenly froze.
Behind the stele was a simple stone coffin, set out flat on the ground. And just behind this plain grave was another stele, and behind that, another coffin.
His gaze drifted farther, and he saw even more steles and coffins—so many, packed tightly together, covering all of ancient Jade Capital City!
Quinn swept his eyes across the city. Jade Capital was filled to the brim with stone coffins and steles—there was nothing left of any other buildings!
Every stele bore the same words: "Tomb of Venerable Skysoar!"
Behind him, Lila Swallowfeather, Marcus Autumnwhite, the Heavenly Dragon King, and the so-called Heaven-Guide of the Heavenly Court hurried over, staring dumbstruck at the scene before them.
There were far too many Tombs of Venerable Skysoar here—so many it was almost obscene. Could it be that every single coffin held a Venerable Skysoar inside?
"Most of these coffins must be fakes. The real Venerable Skysoar should be buried in the High Heaven Hall!"
Marcus Autumnwhite suddenly spoke up: "As one of the Nine Heavenly Venerables, Venerable Skysoar is entitled to be interred in the High Heaven Hall!"
The Heavenly Dragon King charged ahead, heading straight for the hall. Lila Swallowfeather and Marcus Autumnwhite quickly followed, Xing'an and the so-called Heaven-Guide also darting away.
Only Quinn Shepherd remained, with Dragon-Qilin at his side and Annie, in the form of a blue sparrow, perched on his shoulder.
Quinn steadied himself, took out a stick of incense, lit it, and quietly placed it before a tombstone.
After a moment, he walked behind the stele, gripped the lid of a stone coffin, and opened it.
Inside was no corpse—just a shallow pool of clear water. Quinn paused, then closed the coffin.
He moved to another stone coffin, opened it, and found another pool of water.
Coffin after coffin, all he saw was water. No sign of Venerable Skysoar.
Quinn stubbornly opened coffin after coffin, but each one held only clear water.
Suddenly, violent tremors shook the High Heaven Hall. The Heavenly Dragon King's voice boomed: "No one will ever get Venerable Skysoar's treasure! That treasure belongs to Earth Mother Primordial Lady!"
Dragon-Qilin looked off into the distance and saw the Heavenly Dragon King transform into an ancient dragon, his massive body coiling around the High Heaven Hall. His demigod followers stood atop him, clashing with Lila Swallowfeather's maids.
Those maids were shockingly powerful, managing to hold back the Heavenly Dragon King.
Inside the hall, shadowy figures flashed about—Heaven-Guide, Lila Swallowfeather, Xing'an, and Marcus Autumnwhite were locked in fierce combat, all fighting for Venerable Skysoar's treasure.
"Cult Master."
Dragon-Qilin whispered, "Aren't we going over there? It looks like they've found something."
Quinn pried up another stone lid. The coffin held only a shallow, crystal-clear pool of water.
He stood there in a daze. Jade Capital City was filled with countless stone coffins for Venerable Skysoar—so many that checking them all would take years.
Xing'an, Lila Swallowfeather, and the others had chosen to head straight for the High Heaven Hall, which was indeed the best option. As a Heavenly Venerable, Venerable Skysoar's status was supreme; it was only natural for her to be buried there.
Most of the coffins in Jade Capital City were probably just empty decoys.
"Maybe we should go check the High Heaven Hall too. Perhaps she really is buried there."
Quinn Shepherd straightened up. Just then, he heard a steady clanging sound.
Quinn paused. The knocking wasn't some divine art, but sounded like someone chiseling stone.
Back at the High Heaven Hall, the others were still fighting, but Quinn followed the sound. After a while, he reached the outskirts of Jade Capital and saw an old man with white hair dismantling the palace buildings, taking the stone and splitting it with an axe and chisel to make stone coffins.
Quinn stood behind the old man, watching in silence. The elder worked quickly, soon finishing a coffin, then set to carving a stele, inscribing it with the words "Tomb of Venerable Skysoar."
The old man seemed not to notice Quinn's presence, just kept working quietly. Around him already stood many coffins and steles.
After a long while, the old man stopped to rest, looked up at him, and said, "Is that you, Shepherd Heavenly Venerable?"
Quinn saw that the man's eyes were completely white, without pupils—he was blind.
"How did you know it was me, elder?" Quinn asked.
"Quinn Heavenly Venerable has already been here—over thirty thousand years ago. It's been so long I can barely remember."
The old man set down his axe and chisel. "Quinn Heavenly Venerable came to pay his respects, then left. Venerable Skysoar asked me to build this grave-realm, and only two people can enter: Quinn Heavenly Venerable and Shepherd Heavenly Venerable. Both can use their Venerable tokens to get in. Since Quinn Heavenly Venerable has already come, you must be Shepherd Heavenly Venerable. Though, you seem to have brought some uninvited guests."
Quinn steadied himself. "Elder, did Venerable Skysoar truly die?"
The blind elder replied, "She died, but also still lives. She died while completing the divine art of 'immutability of matter,' but in doing so gained immortality."
Quinn was stunned.
The blind elder rose. "Quinn Heavenly Venerable came here to bury her and mourn her. Since you've come as well, Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, you should come too."
He dragged a string of stone coffins forward with chains, and Quinn followed behind, watching as the old man headed toward the Celestial River.
Before long, they reached the riverbank.
The blind elder set down a coffin. "She's almost here."
Quinn stood at the river's edge. The Celestial River shimmered in the light, and before long, a woman floated toward them over the water.
Suddenly, Quinn Shepherd felt his heart twist with inexplicable pain.
The woman drifting over the river wore a leopard skirt and straw sandals, her hair pinned with a peachwood stick—it was Venerable Skysoar, lifeless and still.
"Master, soul return—your disciple has come to lay you to rest!"
The blind elder waded into the water, stopping Venerable Skysoar's body. Quinn jumped in as well, and together they lifted her corpse onto the shore.
They placed Venerable Skysoar's body inside a stone coffin. After a moment, she dissolved into a pool of clear water.
Quinn stared in shock.
The blind elder seemed not to notice, closed the coffin, and sat again by the riverbank to wait.
After an unknown length of time, another Venerable Skysoar floated down the river, leopard skirt and straw sandals.
Quinn was stunned. The blind elder was already back in the river, calling, "Master, soul return—your disciple has come to lay you to rest!"
Quinn hurried into the river too. This Venerable Skysoar's corpse was placed in a coffin and again dissolved into water.
"What is going on?" he wondered, bewildered.
The blind elder sat silently. After another unknown span, yet another Venerable Skysoar floated down the river. They buried her again, and the same thing happened—she turned to water, as if what they retrieved was not her flesh, but a piece of the river itself.
They waited there for ages, each coffin holding a 'Venerable Skysoar.' The blind elder dragged the coffins back toward Jade Capital City.
The city was already filled with coffins and steles. The old man hauled the coffins outside the city, arranged them neatly, buried the steles deep, and set them upright.
Quinn followed, paying his respects to the empty coffins. Then he watched the old man return to his quarry, axe and chisel in hand, resuming his steady work.
After a while, Quinn couldn't help but ask, "Elder, what is all this?"
The blind elder set down his tools, his sightless eyes blank. After a moment, he said, "My master spent her life studying Dao and divine arts, always solitary, with few friends. She took me as her disciple mostly out of loneliness. I was born in the Supreme Sovereign Era, and after becoming her disciple, I followed her in cultivation. I knew she had few companions, but she often spoke of two people—two who appeared suddenly in the early Dragon-Han era and helped her."
Quinn felt a warmth in his heart.
Those two people were himself and the Pioneer Emperor.
"Quinn Heavenly Venerable and Shepherd Heavenly Venerable—she spoke of them often. She wanted to find them, but never could."
The blind elder picked up his axe and chisel again, resuming his steady work. "The Supreme Sovereign Era lasted a long time, but she never found those two Venerables in that age. She couldn't bear it any longer. Her divine art was nearly complete, and the Heaven Alliance-backed Supreme Heaven Court had just won its victory. I still remember that day—after Earth Mother Primordial Lady died, she cut off the Celestial River and unleashed her divine art. That day..."
The hammering stopped.
Quinn felt a chill run down his spine.
The Heaven Alliance-backed Supreme Heaven Court won?
What victory was that?
Was it the destruction of the Northern Supreme Heaven Court?
Was the Heaven Alliance-backed Heaven Court the Southern Supreme Heaven Court?
"That day, the Celestial River was severed. My master stood atop the Heaven Court, using her divine art to freeze the river's substance, even restoring it to its ancient state and projecting it into the future. I remember standing on the shore, watching as mist suddenly rose from the river, and my master became one with the fog."
That day, the Origin World was transformed.
The vast Celestial River was abruptly cut off—a huge section of the skyborne river vanished from the world.
And so the Southern Supreme Heaven Court became unstable, struck by the Outer Heaven Court—a devastating blow.
"So, is the Heaven Court we're in now the Southern Supreme Heaven Court?"
Quinn suddenly interrupted, asking, "Then, who is buried in the High Heaven Hall?"
"Naturally, the Supreme Sovereign Heavenly Emperor. He died protecting Venerable Skysoar, and I buried him in the High Heaven Hall."
The blind elder continued, "The Supreme Sovereign Heavenly Emperor was also of the Heaven Alliance, and a disciple of another Heavenly Venerable. Every Supreme Sovereign through the ages was a disciple of a Venerable. Yet the destruction of the Southern Supreme Heaven Court wasn't caused by my master's divine art, but by the Heaven Alliance's betrayal."
When Venerable Skysoar merged with the mist through her divine art, the Heaven Alliance's betrayal led to the Southern Supreme Heaven Court's fall. Darkness descended, and Venerable Skysoar reappeared from the fog.
Then, a terrifying power suddenly appeared—a towering figure burst into the mist, heading straight for Venerable Skysoar.
The Southern Supreme Heaven Court was defeated, leaving only ruins.
"Afterward, I saw my master's corpse float down the river."
The blind elder took out a token—it was Venerable Skysoar's token. His voice was hoarse: "I built this grave, leaving behind mechanisms that only Quinn Heavenly Venerable and Shepherd Heavenly Venerable can unlock."
Quinn looked at Venerable Skysoar's token. It was the same size as his own; the blind elder had designed the mechanisms based on this token.
"Then why did you say she still lives?" Quinn suddenly asked.
The blind elder put down his tools, dragging the coffin toward the shore with chains. "Quinn Heavenly Venerable came here and told me he'd met Venerable Skysoar. She came to find him and spoke of many things."
Quinn was stunned, quickly following. "What is the Outer Heaven Court? Who is its Heavenly Emperor? Others may not know, but Venerable Skysoar surely does!"
"The Heavenly Emperor of the Outer Heaven Court is..."
The blind elder turned, his wrinkled face twisted in a smile that was half laugh, half cry: "Heaven Alliance. Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, it was you who founded the Heaven Alliance—"