The nine-headed phoenix soared from the ship, its wings spanning the sky, shielding the entire vessel and forcefully withstanding the blow. This was Claudia Qi's divine power transmitted from the Origin World, saving them all.
Everyone who had been thrown from the ship crashed into the Ninefold Phoenix's wings. The feathers were soft, so nobody was hurt.
The shockwave from the Heavenly Bell grew even fiercer, making the Phoenix Ark unsteady as it careened through the Blood-Rust Belt.
The ship scraped past shattered continents, even crashing into broken stars and landmasses. Whenever it struck one, the ancient ruins scattered across the Blood-Rust Belt suddenly lit up, beams of light flashing—a scene so eerie it made everyone’s scalp tingle.
On each continent, countless ruins burst with light as terrifying ancient-god phantoms rose from the land!
The Blood-Rust Belt stretched on and on, a dark red expanse of broken stars and shattered continents. Now, though, tiny points of light illuminated the entire region.
The nine-headed phoenix phantom struggled to steer the Phoenix Ark, dodging one terrifying attack after another. From the mouth of one phoenix head came Claudia Qi’s furious voice: “Do you understand how dangerous the Blood-Rust Belt is? Even Heavenly Court treats it as a forbidden zone! Which one of you made this mess?”
More than six thousand gods and cultivators aboard the ship all turned to look at Quinn Shepherd, raising their arms in perfect unison to point straight at him.
Even Annie raised a wing and pointed at Quinn.
Dragon-Qilin hesitated for a moment and didn’t point at Quinn.
But from Dragon-Qilin’s ear, the tiny Tu Bo construct poked out, solemnly raised its hand to point at Quinn, and mooed, “Moo—”
Dragon-Qilin hurriedly whispered, “Don’t talk nonsense. All your spirit pills are made by the Cult Master—if you keep pointing like that, he’ll stop feeding you.”
The tiny Tu Bo lowered its hand, hung its head, and retreated into Dragon-Qilin’s ear like a child who’d made a mistake.
Quinn suddenly felt completely isolated. He stood there expressionless, but inside he was anxious, afraid the furious crowd might toss him off the ship.
“Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, I’ll help you just this once—don’t expect me to save you again!”
The nine-headed phoenix phantom pushed the Phoenix Ark to its absolute limit. The Blood-Rust Belt boiled like a cauldron, as countless beams of light revealed monstrous, ancient-god-like demons lashing out, making the entire region seethe and reaching for the ship!
Everyone aboard scrambled to grab hold of something, desperate not to be thrown off by the wildly rocking Phoenix Ark.
The nine-headed phoenix phantom raced the ship forward, but the Blood-Rust Belt was vast and the starry sky endless—they couldn’t escape in just a moment.
Meanwhile, the phantoms above the continental altars kept stirring up the Blood-Rust Belt, alarming even more altars in the ruins ahead. The number of ancient-god spirits flying out grew by the minute.
These ancient-god spirits wielded incredible power—their divine arts were all ancient-god Daos, each one terrifyingly strong.
If it were one-on-one, Claudia Qi could control the Phoenix Ark from the Origin World without fear—but there were simply too many ancient-god spirits here.
She could only steer the Phoenix Ark with all her strength, barely dodging the attacks of giant spirits, doing everything she could to keep everyone safe and escape this place.
The Phoenix Ark darted up and down; when there was no way to dodge, it shrank and barreled straight through the bodies of ancient-god spirits—fearless and bold.
But every collision left Claudia Qi struggling—after all, she wasn’t there in person. Controlling the Phoenix Ark from the Origin World strained her magic, and the nine-headed phoenix phantom grew dimmer and dimmer.
At last, just as her power was about to run out, the Phoenix Ark finally burst free of the terrifying Blood-Rust Belt. Everyone on board breathed a sigh of relief.
The nine-headed phoenix phantom almost vanished entirely—Claudia Qi was clearly exhausted, having spent nearly all her strength to save everyone.
“Take him to the Heavenly Court and dump him in front of the South Heaven Gate! Then turn the ship around and come back immediately—don’t let me see him again!” The nine-headed phoenix vanished after leaving these words.
Quinn said nothing, sulking.
Young Master Cyrus Qi glanced at him. "Cult Master Quinn, I warned you—the Blood-Rust Belt is extremely dangerous, but you wouldn’t listen. This is a forbidden zone; even Emperor’s Throne-level beings rarely dare enter, let alone us. Someone, help Cult Master Quinn to the cabin to rest!"
Several gods stepped forward. Two took Quinn by the arms, one on each side, while others followed behind, escorting him to the cabin.
Young Master Cyrus Qi was still uneasy, worried Quinn might escape, and ordered heavy seals placed. "Cult Master Quinn, there are more dangerous ruins ahead—be patient until we reach the Heavenly Court."
Annie asked curiously, "There are more dangerous places ahead? Worse than the Blood-Rust Belt?"
Young Master Cyrus Qi replied, "No less dangerous. Two days ahead is the Bright Emperor’s Fallen Battlefield, where the Bright Emperor died—it's even deadlier than this place."
Annie said seriously, "Then your gods can’t hold Young Master back. He’s an expert at breaking seals—no matter how strong your gods are, he’ll slip out easily. I’ll have to add my own seals, then he won’t be able to break them."
With that, she placed layer after layer of seals on the cabin door to keep Quinn from escaping and causing more trouble.
From inside the cabin, Quinn’s angry voice rang out: "Annie, you’ve betrayed me!"
Dragon-Qilin quickly said, "Cult Master, Annie’s just looking out for you—so you don’t cause any more trouble. Next time, if Red Emperor isn’t there to save you, you’ll really die!"
Quinn fumed, "Fat Dragon, you’ve betrayed me too—next New Year, I’ll serve you up for dinner!"
The Phoenix Ark picked up speed and pressed on.
Inside the cabin, Quinn took out the red Creation God-Stone. He hadn’t had the chance to examine this treasure until now.