To activate the Solar-Shooting God Cannon, Quinn Shepherd needed the jade plate in his hand. The cannon was so enormous that direct operation was unwieldy, so Quinn forged a separate jade plate to link with the cannon, allowing him to control the entire weapon—point and fire with ease.
That jade plate served as the brain and central command of the Solar-Shooting God Cannon.
Quinn taught Emperor Evan how to operate the jade plate. The learning process was simple, and using it was even simpler. As a master smith, Quinn had a knack for turning complex tasks into pure simplicity—just this alone put him far above most other smithing masters.
Emperor Evan put away the jade plate, then after a moment took it out to fiddle with, put it away again, and soon enough took it out once more to play with.
Quinn kindly suggested, "Your Majesty, you could try firing a shot."
Emperor Evan glared at him and snapped, "Every time that cannon fires, the treasury bleeds dry! I'm not like you—throwing money around without a care."
Quinn said, "Didn't the crown prince just return from the snowfields? He should've brought back plenty of money."
"That doesn't mean I can fire the cannon at will! The treasury funds can't be touched lightly—the country is rebuilding, and there's money needed everywhere!"
Emperor Evan put the jade plate away again, but after a while, Quinn saw him sneak it out once more. Quinn could only shake his head—the emperor had never fired the cannon himself, so he was bound to eat and sleep poorly, dreaming day and night about letting off a shot just for the thrill.
But his reason would always remind him not to use the Solar-Shooting God Cannon lightly—so the emperor kept on agonizing.
"Let him be," Quinn thought to himself.
Suddenly, several officials from the Heaven-Watch Bureau approached, carrying thick dossiers. At their head was Commandant Huo, who saluted Quinn and said, "Overseer Quinn, just now you fired a shot into the sky. Our Heaven-Watch platform observed something strange above. Since you have many numerology experts here, we hoped you could help us calculate what happened."
Quinn was surprised. "What kind of strange phenomenon?" he asked.
"When the sky broke open, the celestial phenomena changed."
Commandant Jing of the Heaven-Watch Bureau added, "When the sky split, the celestial signs above shifted. Once the fissure closed, everything returned to normal. We've recorded the angles of deviation, but our numerology skills aren't deep enough to calculate exactly what happened. Lord Quinn, please take a look—these are star charts from every era."
He opened the star charts, flipping page after page. Quinn examined them—the Heaven-Watch Bureau recorded the sky's constellations every year, and the patterns were regular, with only subtle changes.
"This is the star chart after your cannon shot, Lord Quinn."
Commandant Jing flipped to the last page and pointed at the star chart. "After that shot, the sky went dark for a moment. The Heaven-Watch platform's Hun-Tian Instrument recorded the sun and stars. The sun shifted by one inch and seven fen, then returned after the fissure healed. Other stars also moved—some more, some less. But along the fissure, not a single star appeared, which is absolutely abnormal. There should have been one hundred and seven stars in that strip!"
Quinn was still puzzled. "Could it be that the cannon's power tore space, distorting our vision and causing the apparent shifts?"
"That's possible too."
Commandant Jing said, "But our Heaven-Watch Bureau observes celestial phenomena using the Hun-Tian Instrument, which is a heavy-grade spirit treasure. Our divine ability users' vision might be distorted, but the Hun-Tian Instrument won't be fooled. The stars and celestial signs on the instrument move in sync with those in the sky. If the instrument's stars moved, it means the actual stars above truly shifted. The key question is: why were there no stars at the fissure?"
Quinn's mind stirred and he probed, "So what are you suggesting?"
The Heaven-Watch Bureau officials exchanged glances. Commandant Huo coughed and said, "Until we finish our calculations, the Heaven-Watch Bureau will not speculate, nor will we endorse anyone else's guesses. We ask your understanding, Lord Quinn."
"These guys are so mysterious," Quinn thought.
Quinn frowned and said, "Most of my experts here are numerology masters from Dao Gate and Little Jade Capital Sect. They're about to leave and return to their sects, so I can't promise they'll help."
Victor Bloom stepped forward, eager to help. "I've studied numerology as well," he said.
Quinn laughed, "If Brother Bloom is willing to help, that's wonderful. I'll go invite Dao Lord Lucas Lin and Warren Moran."
Selena quickly said, "If my young master helps, what about the thousand coins we owe you...?"
Quinn replied without turning around, "If you don't help, I've got plenty of numerology experts here!"
Selena's face instantly darkened. "Cheapskate!"
Victor Bloom said, "Don't be upset, Selena. Actually, I'm curious too—after Cult Master Quinn fired that cannon, what really happened in the sky? And he's right, whether we help or not doesn't matter much to him; it's just a question of how long it takes."
Quinn gathered Dao Lord Lucas Lin, Warren Moran, Cindy Mu, and other young experts. Once everyone assembled, Warren Moran asked, "Cult Master Quinn, what do you want us to calculate?"
Quinn looked to Commandant Jing of the Heaven-Watch Bureau. Jing's eyes flickered. "Calculate the celestial phenomena," he said.
Dao Lord Lucas Lin laughed. "Celestial phenomena? Cult Master Quinn has trained in our Dao Gate's Dao Sword. The fourth chapter of the Dao Sword is all about celestial phenomena—if he's here, do you even need us?"
Quinn shook his head. "The fourth chapter of the Dao Sword only calculates normal celestial phenomena. What the Heaven-Watch Bureau wants us to calculate is something abnormal."
Dao Lord Lucas Lin and the other Dao Gate Daoists were all puzzled—celestial phenomena could be normal or abnormal?
Commandant Jing explained the Heaven-Watch Bureau's observations. "The stars moved, and those in the fissure vanished—this is definitely abnormal. It's like... it's like..."
Cindy Mu blurted out, "It's like all the stars are hung on a curtain!"
Commandant Jing clapped his hands. "Exactly! Like they're hung on a curtain, and Lord Quinn tore open that curtain with the cannon's light, splitting the sun, moon, and stars to either side!"
The young experts exchanged solemn looks.
Are the celestial phenomena just hanging on the sky?
Xusheng Hua looked up at the sky, steadied herself, and asked, "Cult Master Quinn, what exactly do you want us to calculate?"
"Based on the displacement of the stars caused by that shot, calculate the height and thickness of the sky!"
Quinn glanced at the various Heaven-Watch Bureau star officers. "Is that what you all mean?"
The star officers of the Heaven-Watch Bureau exchanged glances and slowly nodded.
"Master Quinn is astute."
Commandant Huo's voice was hoarse as he said, "We used to believe the sky was infinitely high and thick, but Master Quinn's cannon shot made our Heaven-Watch Bureau suspect that the sky might have limited height and thickness. The stars above may not be as massive or distant as we imagined, and the sun seems... also..."
He didn't dare continue.
Quinn looked around at everyone. "What do you all think?"
They were all young people, from different backgrounds, inheritances, factions, and philosophies, but each was curious and looked up at the sky.
Lucas Lin, the Dao Lord, withdrew his gaze and said, "Since Cult Master Quinn's cannon shot revealed the sky has height and thickness, why not calculate them?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Warren Moran said, "We'll need the exact displacement data for each star to calculate it."
Commandant Huo replied, "We have records for every star, including the sun, in our bureau."
"That makes things much easier!"
Everyone immediately got to work, measuring and calculating. After a long while, they compiled their results, and everyone's expression grew heavy and bewildered.
"I don't believe it!"
A Daoist disciple suddenly stood up, smashed his Eight Trigrams tablet on the ground with a crack, and shouted angrily, "I don't believe it!" Then he stormed off.
The other calculation experts were all silent. Ronnie Long muttered, "Impossible. We must have calculated wrong. There's no way..."
Several Dao Gate experts suffered a mental breakdown, laughing eerily. "It must be a mistake. The sky can't be that thin..."
"It's definitely wrong!" Commandant Huo declared flatly.
"Yes, it must be wrong!" many echoed.