If it were before, Crown Prince Yooming and Prince Umbral would have thought he was just bragging. But now that Dragon‑Qilin has effortlessly routed the Celestial River Fleet, they can’t help but believe he truly has this ability.
Dragon‑Qilin couldn’t help but puff up with pride, loudly declaring, “I’ve read countless books yet none know my worth; when I meet the storm, I transform into a dragon! Today is the day I finally show my fists!”
Crown Prince Yooming praised, “Brother, you truly are a genius! You’re worthy of being called Dragon‑Han’s number one Celestial Teacher!”
Annie looked at him with pure admiration.
Even Prince Umbral had to offer a few words of praise, though he felt bitter inside, thinking, 'Once this kid blocks Heavenly Court’s grand army, I’ll find a chance to steal the Glass Azure Firmament Banner and slip away!'
After the Heavenly Emperor trimmed the powers of the ancient gods, all four Directional Heavens fell under his control. The Four Directional Emperors were confined to Heavenly Court, stripped of their territories and armies, leaving only their children to guard their respective Heaven Palaces.
Dragon‑Qilin, with just the Glass Azure Firmament Banner and the Black Tortoise Palace’s Serpent‑Goddess and Black Tortoise guardians, managed to shatter the Celestial River Fleet—he truly deserves to be called a prodigy.
You have to realize, when the God‑Might Twin Guards and Celestial River Fleet join forces—not to mention Northfall Gate—they could flatten Black Tortoise Palace with ease. Even if all the Emperor’s‑Throne experts in the world teamed up, they’d be wiped out!
If he can withstand the combined assault of the Celestial River Fleet, God‑Might Twin Guards, and Northfall Gate, then the title of number one Celestial Teacher under heaven is truly his!
Three armies surrounded Black Tortoise Palace, trying to halt its northward flight. But stopping this palace was no easy feat—Crown Prince Yooming, son of the Northern Emperor, already possessed the power of an Emperor’s‑Throne.
On top of that, the Northern Emperor was born from the Celestial River itself, and with Black Tortoise Palace heading north along the river, surrounded by the Glass Azure Firmament Banner, it was impossible to block the palace with ships.
Any ship that tried to block it would simply be crushed by the palace.
Trying to lock down the palace with chains didn’t work either—the Glass Azure Firmament Banner contained countless treasures, each incredibly powerful. The moment a hook latched onto the palace, Black Tortoise disciples would activate their treasures and slice the chains apart.
Black Tortoise Palace wasn’t particularly fast, but stopping it was simply impossible.
“The one controlling the Glass Azure Firmament Banner must be a grandmaster of formations!”
The number one Celestial Teacher of Northfall Gate was named Sean Payne—a prodigy of the early Dragon‑Han era. His brilliance was overshadowed by the Nine Heavenly Venerables, but his skills in numerology were unmatched, and though not as famous as Dao Ancestor, he was no ordinary figure.
He was even more skilled in formations, having studied the bodies and Dao‑runes of ancient gods to invent countless arrays. All the Heavenly Court armies trained in his formations—he was truly the number one formation Celestial Teacher of the Dragon‑Han era.
It wasn’t until Dao Ancestor’s disciple, Yue Tingge, rose to prominence—Yue’s talent was unmatched—that Sean Payne was replaced.
Excitement surged through him; blood boiling, he laughed loudly, “Let me command the armies to break these formations and duel this master of arrays!”
His sleeves fluttered as he proclaimed passionately, “The most beautiful language in the world is numerology! Formations built from numerology are the grandest poems! To make friends through the art, with the finest words and most magnificent verses—what more could I ask for in this life?”
He laughed aloud and rallied all the armies, launching their formations into the Glass Azure Firmament Banner!
Black Tortoise Palace’s fighting force was negligible, and the disciples with Black Tortoise blood weren’t very high in cultivation. But with the number one treasure—the Glass Azure Firmament Banner—even millions of gods and demons couldn’t break inside.
Yet to fully unleash the power of this treasure required someone of extraordinary wisdom.
Under Quinn Shepherd’s guidance, Dragon‑Qilin immediately shifted the arrays, countering formation with formation.
Sean Payne, Heavenly Court’s number one Celestial Teacher, was burning with excitement. As the saying goes, when masters meet, the contest is fierce—this battle felt like finding a true soulmate. He commanded the Celestial River Fleet, Northfall Gate, and God‑Might Twin Guards, using formation against formation and pushing Dragon‑Han era arrays to their limit!
But Black Tortoise Palace was like a colossal spirit‑calc engine, its arrays interwoven and shifting, constantly changing. The master inside the palace was so formidable, so wise, that every formation Sean Payne threw at them was blocked and broken.
In the Heavenly Court armies, the strongest were the Ten Guards—any one of their gods or demons could serve as a commander anywhere. Yet even such a powerful force suffered horrific losses inside the Glass Azure Firmament Banner!
Sean Payne grew ever more excited, his spirits soaring, mind racing. He ignored the mounting casualties, focused only on challenging the master inside Black Tortoise Palace, eager to test and prove their cultivation against his own.
The waters of the Celestial River were stained red with the corpses of gods and demons, turning into a crimson river flowing through endless starry space. The slaughter lasted from morning till night, then from night through to the next day.
For several days and nights, Sean Payne remained feverishly excited, constantly shifting formations and urging the armies to storm the Glass Azure Firmament Banner.
His intellect was astonishing—he broke through layer after layer of heavens, fighting from the first all the way to the twenty-sixth, just about to breach the twenty-eight heavens of the Glass Azure Firmament Banner and invade Black Tortoise Palace!
By this point, more than half the armies had been killed or wounded.
The disciples inside Black Tortoise Palace also suffered heavy casualties. After all, Dragon‑Qilin wasn’t Quinn Shepherd—though he had Quinn’s guidance and adapted quickly, he was always a step behind.
And Quinn Shepherd’s divine sense was gravely injured, drifting in and out of consciousness, so even Black Tortoise’s descendants couldn’t avoid falling in battle.
Quinn Shepherd strained his divine sense, dueling Sean Payne—the number one Celestial Teacher of the Dragon‑Han era. The strain was immense, and his condition grew worse, risking total annihilation of his divine sense at any moment.
Even Crown Prince Yooming was sent into the fray, repeatedly clashing with the God‑Might Twin Guards and nearly being cut down several times.
“Bruno, let this number one Celestial Teacher taste despair.”
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Quinn Shepherd’s divine sense echoed, “Today, I’ll make your name famous. Activate the Glass Azure Firmament Banner—reverse the twenty-eight heavens!”
Bruno bowed deeply to the Glass Azure Firmament Banner. The twenty-eight layers of canopy folded inward, then unfurled again!
Sean Payne had already breached the twenty-sixth heaven, on the verge of storming Black Tortoise Palace—when suddenly, space shifted. Layer after layer of heavens expanded outward, turning the twenty-sixth heaven back into the first!
Countless Heavenly Court gods and demons saw victory within reach, only to find themselves suddenly returned to the outermost edge of the Glass Azure Firmament Banner. Inside, layer after layer of heavenly formations stood restored—every killing array they’d sacrificed lives to break was whole again, transformed back into lethal traps!
The Celestial River Fleet, God‑Might Twin Guards, and Northfall Gate’s soldiers collapsed in despair, their will to fight utterly broken. Hopelessness swept through every army.
“Waaah—”
Sean Payne’s face flushed red. Suddenly, he spat a mouthful of blood and fell to his knees on the river’s surface. His hair whitened before everyone’s eyes—black turning to white in moments, as if he’d aged decades.
His Dao-heart shattered, all desire to duel the master inside Black Tortoise Palace vanished. His fighting spirit was gone.
“Retreat!” he cried hoarsely, lifting his head.
Cheers rang out among the soldiers as the armies withdrew in all directions.
Sean Payne, now white-haired and haggard, coughed up blood again and again, kneeling in place. In a raspy voice, he asked, “Who is the master of these formations? Would you show yourself, so I can yield with true respect?”
Bruno stepped forward, standing outside Black Tortoise Palace’s gates. Meeting Sean Payne’s gaze, he declared in a clear voice, “It was I, Bruno.”