Crimson Emperor paced back and forth, calculating: "He cultivated my Threefold Undying Mind, and with your and my help, he barely managed to suppress his elder brother from seizing the Netherworld Divine Son's identity and power. Now, with too much power given to him, his brother has been immobilized by Prince Umbral's Nether City Jade Specter Mirror. The only thing we can do is to plug the seal and prevent him from stealing any more of his brother's strength..."
Just as he finished speaking, Heaven Duke had already blocked the seal, stopping the giant baby’s power from leaking any further.
"And then?" Heaven Duke urged.
Crimson Emperor said, "Then we break Prince Umbral’s Nether City Jade Specter Mirror seal, let Qin Fengqing fight him for the Netherworld Demonic Will, and reclaim the Netherworld Divine Son’s identity."
Heaven Duke stepped forward to check on the giant baby’s condition. He saw that the butterfly-winged light in all three of his eyes was being suppressed by a strange force. In the pupils, a peculiar vortex seemed to spiral inward, sealing the giant infant’s consciousness.
Heaven Duke tried to break the seal, but Prince Umbral’s path differed from his own, and some of the runes were incomprehensible to him. He could only try brute force. But as he was just a ray-avatar, his power was limited, and he couldn’t erase Prince Umbral’s seal in such a short time.
"This path won’t work. Is there any other way?" Heaven Duke had no choice but to give up and asked.
Crimson Emperor looked up at the sky and said, "Wake Great Brahma King Buddha. The three of us will join forces to break Prince Umbral’s seal, wake Qin Fengqing, and together suppress Quinn Shepherd!"
Heaven Duke shook his head. "Waking the old Buddha isn’t so easy. That idea won’t work either."
Crimson Emperor sighed, "Then we can only leave it to fate. Let’s hope Quinn Shepherd still retains his own consciousness and doesn’t cause a catastrophe."
"Let’s hope so."
Outside, Quinn Shepherd manifested three heads and six arms. All six arms whirled, and his three heads let out short, excited cries as he ruthlessly attacked Lowell Yunch and Eamon Firth!
"Yayayayayaya!"
Countless divine arts instantly swamped Eamon Firth and Lowell Yunch. In that moment, the two felt as if countless Quinn Shepherds were crazily attacking them, sending chills down their spines.
Eamon Firth barely managed to block two divine arts before Quinn Shepherd smashed through his defensive arts by sheer force.
"One Finger Rends the Seven Souls!" he roared, thrusting his right hand forward. Only his thumb remained, and he pressed it down toward Quinn Shepherd.
Behind him, a shadowy world appeared—the phantom of Nether City. Seven distinct god-demon phantoms stood behind him, each with its own divine aspect.
These were the seven soul-gods: Corpse Dog, Shooting Arrow, Sparrow Shade, Devourer Thief, Non-Poison, Filth-Remover, and Stench Lung—each representing a soul aspect.
With the blessing of these seven gods, his strike carried the power to rend all seven souls.
Quinn Shepherd curled four fingers into a fist, leaving his thumb raised, and met the attack head-on with his own thumb. Eamon Firth heard the bone in his only remaining thumb shatter, and with a bang, it exploded apart.
The force traveled from his wrist bones up his arm, dislocating his elbow joint. He heard the sound of his forearm bone piercing through his own skin.
His forearm bone shot out from the elbow, completely separating from his body.
Agonizing pain hit him. Although he didn’t care about his flesh, the physical pain was still unbearably intense.
At that moment, Quinn Shepherd’s other five arms—five fists, five thumbs—pressed down in sequence on his brow, heart chamber, dantian, tailbone, and qi sea.
Eamon Firth spat blood, feeling his Primordial Spirit go numb. Quinn Shepherd had sealed his Primordial Spirit with Netherworld divine arts, sending chills down his spine. Terror welled up: "He didn’t even draw on the seven soul-gods’ power, but his mastery of soul-dao far surpasses mine!"
Quinn Shepherd’s six arms and three heads unleashed divine arts with incredible speed, like a raging storm. His attacks mixed countless punches and kicks—casting spell arts, sword arts, and body arts all at once!
Three heads and six arms—the ultimate skill of the Chiming Era. Before, the gap between Crimson Emperor and Bright Emperor left major flaws, but Quinn Shepherd mastered both their arts, patching every weakness.
With no more flaws, his three-heads-six-arms technique truly fought like three people—or even stronger. Eamon Firth couldn’t find a single opening, and Lowell Yunch couldn’t seize a chance to seriously wound him!
Eamon Firth’s cultivation was lower—still at the Jade Pool Stage. With his Primordial Spirit sealed, he was instantly overwhelmed, struck by countless divine arts and blows. Hundreds of sword and blade lights pierced his flesh, leaving him a bloody mess.
Even so, he acted decisively—suddenly retreating, vanishing from Everpeace, and slipping away into the darkness.
After all, he was a disciple of the Nether City Black Emperor. In that instant, he unleashed Nether City’s signature ultimate technique, merging his body into Nether City itself—becoming impervious to all spells.
But in the next moment, Quinn Shepherd charged into Nether City after him!
The two clashed in the darkness. When Lowell Yunch rushed in, Eamon Firth’s Primordial Spirit had already been blasted out of his body.
Quinn Shepherd reached out and grabbed his Primordial Spirit by the neck, while his other five arms blocked Lowell Yunch’s assault.
Eamon Firth’s flesh fell to the ground, still alive and ready to pounce. Suddenly, one of Quinn Shepherd’s heads shot out divine light from its eyes—three beams pinning him in place.
Quinn Shepherd twisted his neck, and another head shot divine light from its eyes, blasting Lowell Yunch away.
Lowell Yunch was powerful enough to withstand the attack, but Quinn Shepherd twisted his neck again—a third head turned, firing three more beams of divine light and blasting him away once more.
Lowell Yunch grew desperate. If Quinn Shepherd only killed Eamon Firth and Quinton Pei, it would be one thing—those two were disciples of the Nether City Black Emperor, and would be drawn back to Nether City, their Primordial Spirits returning there.
The Black Emperor ruled Nether City and could quickly reincarnate them, so they’d still be his disciples in their next lives.
Throughout history, they’d already been reincarnated many times. That’s why they didn’t fear death or the end of their path—they could always start over.
But this time was different.
Quinn Shepherd was the Nether City Divine Son—his fearsome reputation preceded him. Born in Nether City, he had devoured countless fierce ghosts and giants, and even Emperor’s Seat ghost souls had suffered at his hands.
If Quinn Shepherd devoured them, it would be a true and final death—no chance of reincarnation.
[Irrelevant system message skipped.]
Quinn Shepherd repelled Lowell Yunch, then opened his mouth, preparing to swallow Eamon Firth’s Primordial Spirit—his face alight with excitement.
Lowell Yunch gritted his teeth, his figure flickering in and out of reality, shuttling between Nether City and the real world. He dodged Quinn Shepherd’s eye-beams, attacking desperately to keep Quinn from devouring Eamon Firth.
Suddenly, he unleashed two divine arts in quick succession, shattering the bodies of Eamon Firth and Quinton Pei. The two corpses broke apart, erupting in a blood sacrifice and transforming into twin streams of blood-light.
Near Yongjiang Academy, a stone statue immediately awakened, flesh and blood rapidly sprouting.
Quinn Shepherd blocked Lowell Yunch’s attack, then fired several beams of divine light from his eyes, blasting Lowell out of Nether City. He seized Eamon Firth’s Primordial Spirit and brought it to his mouth.
Just then, he suddenly felt a shadow looming overhead. He dodged aside, and with a thunderous crash, the Heaven-Gazing Terrace shook violently—a colossal divine-demon Qu squatted at its center.
The divine-demon’s body was massive and imposing, slowly rising to its feet.
"Using the corpses of my two junior brothers, I’ve finally revived the Calamity God!"
Lowell Yunch was overjoyed and moved to join forces with the Calamity God against Quinn Shepherd. But suddenly, the Calamity God smashed a fist down—catching Lowell off guard and pounding him deep into the earth!
The ground caved in, forming a massive pit.
The Calamity God lifted its fist, blood dripping steadily from its knuckles.
Lowell Yunch lay sprawled in the pit, bones broken and tendons torn, bitterly regretting: "I forgot—these Calamity Gods acknowledge no kinship…"
He was miserable—his flesh nearly destroyed by a single punch. He had to abandon his body, letting his Primordial Spirit emerge. "Nether City disciples don’t rely on flesh—their fighting power barely drops at all."
His Primordial Spirit emerged, and he immediately saw the Calamity God locked in a fierce aerial battle with Quinn Shepherd.
At this moment, Quinn Shepherd was nearly berserk. He wielded all kinds of divine arts with ease—whether it was the Buddha Primordial Spirit from King Shakra Buddha’s Heavenly King Sutra, the Heaven-Earth Seal Technique from the First Ancestor Human Emperor, the Ancestral Dragon Supreme Profound Art from the True Dragon Nest, or the arts of the elders from Disabled Elder Village, or the skills of successive Human Emperors, or the techniques of Crimson Emperor and Bright Emperor—whether or not he had mastered them before, he now unleashed them all!
Though he hadn’t fully inherited the Nether City Divine Son’s power, he had borrowed a portion—his cultivation now rivaled Lowell Yunch’s.
With such immense mana, wielding these divine arts was effortless. Even when facing the Calamity God, he didn’t give an inch—sometimes defending, more often attacking.
He had no spiritual or divine weapons—he fought the Calamity God bare-handed. Whether up close or at range, his style was wild and direct, overwhelming his foe with sheer divine arts.
Lowell Yunch’s cultivation was deeper, but his divine arts were far less varied. Nether City’s arts mostly targeted the soul, so in terms of offensive means, he couldn’t compare to Quinn Shepherd.
"Just how many divine arts and techniques does this guy know?"
Lowell Yunch watched the aerial battle, shaken: "Is this the Nether City Divine Son’s full power? Incredible! No wonder Master wants him at all costs!"
He didn’t know that the power Quinn Shepherd had borrowed wasn’t even one percent of the Nether City Divine Son’s strength—Heaven Duke and Crimson Emperor had cut it off before it got out of hand.
The Calamity God’s might was boundless—a single divine art could force Quinn Shepherd back or even injure him. Yet Quinn had cultivated the creation arts of Crimson Emperor and Bright Emperor, and his recovery—both flesh and spirit—was monstrous. Any wound healed in moments; he was nearly impossible to kill.
Quinn Shepherd’s divine arts were short and explosive, erupting within tiny spaces and distances. He wielded no spiritual weapons, but transformed his vital energy into countless fine flying swords, darting around him with terrifying threat.
He’d learned this technique from his father, Qin Hanzhen. Qin Hanzhen’s arts could condense infinite power into a single, ordinary sword strike—its destructive force confined to the smallest space, yet unimaginably mighty.
Quinn Shepherd had trained with Qin Hanzhen for a time, learning some of his father’s arts. But because Qin Hanzhen followed the Founding Emperor’s lineage, Quinn had never mastered how to confine such power within an inch or a palm’s breadth.
But now, he could wield this combat technique with ease!
"I’ll kill you and eat you!"
Quinn Shepherd leapt high, wild with excitement, spinning madly around the Calamity God as a storm of divine arts battered his foe.
The Calamity God defended at incredible speed, but still took hit after hit. Suddenly, it let out a muffled roar, and the Five-Thunder Jar Quinn had left at Yongjiang Academy erupted with thunder and lightning.
The Five-Thunder Jar soared into the air, its lid popping open. Five great clouds of thunder spewed forth, mixed with countless Fire Bell Divine Weapons—fist-sized bells whose rolling sound was not a tinkling, but the thunderous peal of a mighty bell!
The Calamity God wielded the Five-Thunder Jar, sending clouds of thunder hurtling toward Quinn Shepherd. The cloud-thunder mingled and crashed, its power terrifying.
"Eat it!"
Quinn Shepherd opened his mouth wide, facing the cloud-thunder head-on. Like a whale swallowing a rainbow, he sucked the cloud-thunder and Fire Bell Divine Weapons into his belly.
"He can even eat the Northern Emperor’s divine arts?" Lowell Yunch was startled. He was about to ambush Quinn Shepherd from Nether City, but this scene made his heart race with fear.
In the next moment, Quinn Shepherd hugged the Five-Thunder Jar, opened his mouth, and drank from it as if it were a wine jug!
"This..."
Lowell Yunch felt a surge of fear. Drinking the Five clouds of thunder and Fire Bell Divine Weapons like fine wine—he knew he could never provoke such a being.
"Forget it!"
He shook his body violently, and a portal appeared behind him. He shouted, "Nether City Heavenly Gate! Demon gods of all Nether realms, heed my command—come forth and slay the enemy!"
Darkness surged behind him as a passage to another realm opened. A demon god, riding a bone horse and wreathed in netherfire, strode out from the portal.
Soon, a horde of Nether City demon gods charged out, rushing toward Quinn Shepherd!
Quinn Shepherd was still drinking from the Five-Thunder Jar when, in an instant, he was swallowed up by the demon gods of Nether City.
Within the Qin-character Continent, Heaven Duke and Crimson Emperor watched the battle outside with growing tension. Seeing this, Heaven Duke hesitated: "He’s borrowed less than one percent of the power—it looks like he’s losing. Should we give him more?"
Crimson Emperor replied coldly, "How much? And if things go wrong, how do we clean up the mess?"
— Chapter of 3,700 words. Happy birthday to lifestyle! I have no drafts left, really none~