On the Black Tiger God's back, Sabrina was utterly tense. This was the heart of enemy territory, and the Black Tiger God had brought them straight in—could it be he had already betrayed them?
But he is a true deity—there’s no need for him to trick us. If he wanted to kill us, he could just seize us or eat us outright.
The demon race had plagued High-Emperor Heaven for tens of thousands of years. In Sabrina’s memory, they were always cruel and vicious—falling into their hands, even death seemed a relief.
But now, they found themselves inside the enemy camp.
The demon race had been entrenched in High-Emperor Heaven for ten or twenty thousand years. In Sabrina’s memory, they were always vicious and depraved—falling into their hands, death was almost a mercy.
Her palms were slick with cold sweat, and her gaze locked onto a demon god, unable to look away.
She looked around—countless demons eyed them hungrily, and the sheer number of Skyfiends made her skin crawl. It felt like they were surrounded by lurking beasts, ready to pounce and tear them to shreds at any moment.
His eyes were bizarre as well—like twin flames leaping in his sockets. Catching her stare, he grinned: “Little girl, I remember you. Wasn’t it my hands that killed your family?”
That demon god was bare-chested, his skin marked not by normal lines but by swirling flame-patterns, coiling all over his body.
Sabrina clenched her fists at her sides, saying nothing.
That night was pure terror. Though he couldn’t see Sabrina’s face, he could sense the terror and rage of the braid-haired girl.
Quinn dodged through the chaos with her, helping her narrowly escape disaster.
Quinn had dodged around with her, helping her escape disaster.
Back then, Quinn and Sabrina were in two different worlds; he hadn’t seen the demon god’s face clearly. But now, reading Sabrina’s expression, he was certain—the bare-chested demon god before them was the one who massacred her family.
“The architecture here looks a lot like the Great Ruins. I’ve seen plenty of Pioneer Era relics there, and these palaces are pretty similar.”
Quinn suddenly smiled. “Sabrina, maybe your High-Emperor Heaven and our Great Ruins are connected. For example, this forging material—Cold-Iron Essence—ignites instantly in the Departure Fire here, becoming too hot to hold and melting into iron water in the blink of an eye.”
He was trying to distract her, but Sabrina was so lost in thought she barely heard.
The Black Tiger God chimed in: “High-Emperor Heaven was originally the Pioneer Emperor’s territory—first of the Thirty-Three Heavens. So it’s no wonder the buildings look alike.”
“High-Emperor Heaven was part of the Pioneer Era’s domain?”
Quinn’s heart lurched. He blurted out, “What are the Thirty-Three Heavens? Wasn’t the Pioneer Era already over?”
The Black Tiger God looked puzzled. “The Pioneer Era ended? When did that happen? As long as the Pioneer Emperor is alive, the Pioneer Era never ends!”
Quinn’s mind spun wildly, his heart pounding—so the Pioneer Era wasn’t over after all!
This news was almost too much to take in.
But then he remembered his past experiences in the Great Ruins and Nether City—the Heavenly King statue in the Temple of the Sea-Guarding King had acted on the Pioneer Emperor’s decree, riding the Dragon-Qilin to slay the Dragon King, and Lord Hades of Nether City had mentioned the Pioneer Emperor going to Carefree Haven.
Both incidents hinted that the Pioneer Era hadn’t truly ended.
But hearing it straight from the Black Tiger God’s mouth still left him reeling.
The Black Tiger God grew stern and barked, “Your mental discipline was never that strong to begin with. Pull yourself together!”
Quinn was dazed. “A fight? What fight?”
"We’re here!"
The Black Tiger God suddenly stopped, gave a shake, and tossed Quinn and Sabrina off his back. As they landed, he shifted into his tiger-headed, human-bodied deity form, looked them over, and frowned. Loudly, he called out, “My lord, these two are useless—their minds are a mess! Throw them into a fight and they’ll get trounced for sure!”
Sabrina was still reeling from seeing the demon god who nearly wiped out her whole family; she could barely keep it together. Quinn, shaken by the Black Tiger God’s revelation, was just as lost. Neither of them was in fighting shape.
But hearing the Black Tiger God’s words snapped them back to reality. They looked ahead, steeling themselves.
Ahead, palaces sprawled in intricate layers—strange and beautiful, all bathed in roaring fire yet utterly unharmed. The flames seemed to pour from the palaces themselves, burning them almost transparent so you could see straight inside.
It was the palaces themselves radiating fire—light blazing out to make the whole city shine like day.
Above the palaces, gods and demon gods faced off. Quinn immediately spotted the Woodcutter Sage, with a host of native gods behind him—including Sabrina’s father.
On the other side stood another demon god, but he looked nothing like a monster—in fact, he was almost refined, except he had no ears.
Where his left ear should’ve been, there was a face. Same for the right.
Quinn couldn’t see his back, so who knew if there was a face on the back of his head too.
Each great hall encircled a massive black pillar—like a tilted black tower driven into the vast plaza.
A ridiculously huge axe was embedded in the plaza, its handle nearly as thick as the black pillar.
Only then did Quinn realize—it wasn’t a pillar or a tower at all, but an enormous black spear.
The giant black spear and the Woodcutter Sage’s axe crossed, standing together in the plaza.
Both weapons were so heavy they’d cracked the ground beneath them.
"Enter the arena."
The Black Tiger God urged, “Once those ahead of you die, it’s your turn.”
Quinn and Sabrina walked to the edge of the plaza. All around, young divine-art wielders stood bloodied, catching their breath—still armored, clearly just off the battlefield.
Across from them, more young divine-art wielders waited—these were demons, fresh from battle too, wounded but fierce.
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