"Since I left Everpeace and arrived at Heavenly Court, it's been five years without any real progress in reform."
Quinn Shepherd sighed and said, "And when I return to the past, this trend only becomes more obvious. Dragon-Qilin, Annie—I'll store you all inside my Vertical Demon Eye!"
Ever since he left the Origin World for Heavenly Court, his breakthroughs in Dao and divine arts had grown fewer and fewer. Every time he returned to Everpeace, he always learned something new.
That's the effect of having fertile soil.
Everpeace Reform was still ongoing, but each time he left that soil, he had to return to replenish his nutrients. Loren Shaw always said the real lessons come from Everpeace’s living Dao, not from Heavenly Court’s stagnant order.
Even in Heavenly Court, this was the case. If he stayed in the past, that era was still primitive and ignorant for him—Dao and divine arts were only just forming. Any divine art from later generations would be earth-shattering in this era, but what could Quinn rely on to grow? Venerable Vast-Sky’s own rise proved that era’s limits.
His goal was to surpass the ancients, not to become one of them. Wayne Gale always warned: don’t let Heavenly Court’s old ways become your ceiling.
Heavenly Court was getting closer and closer.
Meanwhile, the Twenty-Eight Constellation Ancient Gods were heading toward the heavens where Ugly Ox was, carrying the Execution Platform and God-Slaying Headsman’s Blade. Star Lord Kuimu Wolf said, "This time, it's inconvenient for us to appear directly. You take this divine blade and go slay him; we'll stay hidden in case anything goes wrong. Do well, and Crown Prince Qi will reward you handsomely!"
In that heaven, Ugly Ox had already reached the end of his road. Many demigods stood atop a high cliff, dangling Ugly Ox’s child, and called down to him: "Kneel!"
At this moment, in Heavenly Court’s Imperial Garden, Cloud-Venerable followed closely behind the Ancient-God Emperor. This time, after arriving at Heavenly Court, he had openly impeached Vast-Sky Venerable in court. After the assembly, the Emperor had kept him behind to stroll through the Imperial Garden and share some heartfelt words.
Cloud-Venerable smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I know it's not easy. Venerable Vast-Sky, after all, is..."
The Ancient-God Emperor glanced at him. Cloud-Venerable took the hint and said no more. Nether-Venerable’s silence in court was always ominous.
Cloud-Venerable smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I know it's not easy. Vast-Sky Venerable, after all, is..."
The Ancient-God Emperor glanced at him. Cloud-Venerable took the hint and said no more.
The Ancient-God Emperor frowned and scolded, "What do you mean, something terrible? The world is flourishing, all is peaceful, and the people live in harmony—what bad thing could there be?"
Great Sun Star Lord said anxiously, "The Twenty-Eight Constellation Ancient Gods have arrived and borrowed the Execution Platform from Heavenly Court. I'm afraid this will lead to disaster! By your command, I've been monitoring the heavens, and now I've found demigods acting suspiciously, seemingly conspiring with the Twenty-Eight Constellations. In all this, in all this..."
He gritted his teeth and mustered his courage: "I'm afraid this even involves Crown Prince Qi!"
The Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin was swept up too, flying over Vermilion Bird Palace and heading toward Jade Capital City.
"Your Majesty trusts me and has given me great responsibility. I had no choice but to speak—please forgive me!"
Great Sun Star Lord continued, "Tu Bo has already reincarnated. I suspect Crown Prince Qi has colluded with the Twenty-Eight Constellation Ancient Gods, and together with a group of ancient demigods, they plan to murder Tu Bo and seize Netherworld authority! Crown Prince Qi is ruthless—if he succeeds, his ambition will surely boil over, and one day he may challenge the throne itself and threaten Your Majesty!"
"How dare you!"
The Ancient-God Emperor shouted angrily, "Great Sun Star Lord, you're sowing discord between me and my son—you're far too insolent!"
Great Sun Star Lord trembled, but insisted, "I only have Your Majesty's kingdom in mind! Tu Bo is your loyal subject—half the credit for your empire belongs to him! If Crown Prince Qi tries to get rid of Tu Bo, he's cutting off Your Majesty's wings!"
"Get out!"
The Ancient-God Emperor pointed coldly, "Get out! Cloud, you leave too!"
Cloud-Venerable bowed and left together with Great Sun Star Lord.
Great Sun Star Lord was still indignant. "His Majesty doesn’t believe me. I fear one day disaster will erupt from the rear harem!"
Cloud-Venerable glanced at him and smiled, "Why wouldn’t His Majesty believe you? Star Lord, the real reason he’s angry is that you know too much."
Great Sun Star Lord was puzzled and asked sincerely, "Please enlighten me, Cloud-Venerable."
Cloud-Venerable said, "Star Lord, your duty is to monitor the heavens and report major events to the Emperor. But some things, you should just report—there’s no need to share your own conjectures. If you only observe and don’t speculate wildly, you’ll survive. If you do, I fear you’ll die inexplicably."
He walked ahead and said, "In Heavenly Court, the more you know, the more dangerous it is. You’re in the most dangerous position. Take care of yourself."
Great Sun Star Lord was stunned. He lifted his bird leg, scratched his chin, and said with a laugh, "Cloud-Venerable is a real rascal, always talking in riddles. I’m loyal to His Majesty—who would dare plot against me?"
The Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin finally reached South Heaven Gate. Just then, a world-shaking tremor swept through, and darkness engulfed the sky over the Origin World.
Quinn’s heart raced. He turned hurriedly to look back, and saw a heaven torn open—a giant with an ox head and tiger face roared skyward in fury.
That day, Youdu’s Great Dao invaded the Origin World, transforming into chains that bound the ox-headed giant, along with the shattered heaven.
At the same time, the Great Azure-Gold Bird took flight, carrying that palace toward Youdu.
The man bound to the pillar chuckled, "Exactly! That’s right, we’re going to Youdu to try and seize Tu Bo’s flesh! As long as we control Tu Bo, we control the fate of all postnatal beings and demigods!"
"Shut up! Say another word and I’ll tear you apart!"
At the same time, the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin charged toward South Heaven Gate. The Heavenly Court Grand Army guarding the gate was too busy to stop it, as even more gods and demons surged toward Heavenly Court. Chaos reigned everywhere, with cries and screams filling the air.
The Heavenly Court Grand Army stared blankly toward the Origin World.
Their gazes slowly lifted from below, watching in a daze as Tu Bo’s body, standing atop a colossal heaven, rose higher and higher—his form growing ever more immense.
A gigantic cauldron spun beneath his feet—the Execution Platform of Heavenly Court, fused with countless lives into one cauldron.
That cauldron had a name: Slaughter.
Countless demigods fled in madness, their cries echoing to the heavens as they rushed toward Heavenly Court.
At last, the Twenty-Seven Constellation Ancient Gods couldn’t help but reveal themselves. Facing Tu Bo, they shouted, "Tu Bo, they were just joking with you—why take it so seriously?"
Star Lord Kuimu Wolf called to the fleeing demigods, "Aren’t you going to come over and apologize?"
That day, the Twenty-Eight Constellation Ancient Gods who guarded the Four Extremity Heavens fell, becoming mere faces inside the Slaughter Cauldron.
Ugly Ox, burning with endless fury, arrived at South Heaven Gate of Heavenly Court.
The gods and demons of Heavenly Court’s Grand Army received orders to charge forward, rushing at the ever-growing, yet sorrowful, demon god. At the same time, Quinn’s Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin took advantage of the chaos to rush into Heavenly Court, heading straight for Southern Emperor Vermilion’s palace.
He glanced back—before the Grand Army could reach Ugly Ox, they all dropped dead.
That day felt like the apocalypse for the gods. Even the mightiest Ancient Gods and demigods, with boundless power, were instantly annihilated upon contact with Ugly Ox’s force!
Heavenly Court’s strength suffered an almost fatal blow.
That ugly man, wrapped in chains of Dao, dragged a heaven world turned to darkness into Heavenly Court. The world beneath his feet was tangled with magma and demonic energy, floating lava everywhere.
In the chaos, Quinn saw Ugly Ox’s massive fist smash toward South Heaven Gate. The gate collapsed under the blow.
Ahead, endless gods and demons surged toward South Heaven Gate, making it hard for the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin to advance. But in the next moment, the spatial storm unleashed by Tu Bo’s punch swept everyone up, palaces and all!
Countless people were torn apart in the spatial storm, their primordial spirits scattered, their souls sucked into the world’s most vicious weapon!
The Slaughter Cauldron’s power grew ever more terrifying!
The Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin was swept up too, flying over Southern Vermilion’s palace and heading toward Jade Capital City.
Annie shouted, unleashing her divine arts to shield the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin. The six Heavenly Dragons each flared with power, fighting desperately to defend it. The lanterns hanging from the palanquin—refined by Wayne Gale—flickered, on the verge of going out.
Quinn quickly reached out to shield Wayne Gale’s lantern.
Endless darkness surged into Heavenly Court, like a monstrous tide swallowing everything in its path. Even lanterns forged from the sun and pearls from the moon were snuffed out by the demonic darkness.
The demonic energy was so fierce that everyone engulfed by the darkness was instantly invaded and assimilated, then devoured by the Slaughter Cauldron—branded as screaming faces within its depths.
Quinn’s ears rang with roars of boundless fury—it was Ugly Ox’s roar.
The Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin crashed down, smashing into Jade Capital City, tumbling forward for a hundred miles before finally stopping.
Quinn was about to turn the palanquin back toward Vermilion Bird Palace, but saw that darkness had already swallowed it, chilling his heart. If he charged into the darkness now, Wayne Gale’s lantern would surely be unable to resist Ugly Ox’s demonic power and would go out.
If that happened, he’d have no way to meet Southern Emperor Vermilion!
The darkness surged like an angry ocean, engulfing everything. It crashed into Jade Capital City with a thunderous collision.
The imperial city of Heavenly Court erupted with dazzling light, so bright it blocked the demonic energy from Youdu.
Quinn breathed a sigh of relief and fled with the gods of Jade Capital City toward the Emperor’s harem.
The Slaughter Cauldron spun madly, crashing down from Ugly Ox’s hand and smashing the gates of Jade Capital City!
From within the cauldron, countless faces burst forth, shrieking in agony, flying through the sky and attacking those fleeing in terror.
Quinn drove the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin wildly, while some princes tried to leap aboard, begging for a ride to escape. Quinn drew his sword and cut down several princes.
Behind them, another terrifying spatial storm erupted—Ugly Ox’s next strike!
The Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin was swept up again, and countless palaces behind them were shattered in the storm.
When the palanquin finally landed, all was suddenly calm. Quinn looked back and saw the Lingxiao Hall behind them, where mighty Ancient Gods stood tall, blocking the storm unleashed by Ugly Ox.
Quinn’s pupils contracted—he saw the Ancient-God Emperor himself.
The Ancient-God Emperor radiated dazzling light, so brilliant that Ugly Ox’s demonic energy from Youdu could not invade.
"Wonderful! Soon, Ugly Ox will be banished to Youdu, and I can sneak into Southern Vermilion’s palace to meet the Southern Emperor."
Quinn breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "But this palanquin is probably unusable now—it's too conspicuous. And my own face isn’t convenient for moving about. I’ll have to change my appearance."
He jumped down from the palanquin, took the lantern, and said seriously, "Yan’er, Dragon Fat, this is Heavenly Court—too many people make it hard to move. I’ll put you all into my brow!"
Without waiting for a reply, his brow-eye opened and a beam of light swept over the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin.
Dragon-Qilin, Annie, and the six Heavenly Dragons vanished along with the palanquin—he had stored them inside the Keane-Sigil Continent within his brow-eye.
Quinn paused, activated the Creation Mystic Art, and his appearance gradually shifted into Loren Shaw’s likeness. He thought, "Third Brother, I’m borrowing your face—hope you don’t mind."
Just then, he suddenly saw Venerable Vast-Sky.
Quinn froze—he saw Hao-Venerable sneaking toward the harem.
"This is his own home—why is he acting so sneaky? Even Cloud-Venerable is following him, just as furtive. What are they really after in the harem?"
Quinn wondered, then spotted Cloud-Venerable.
Quinn brightened—Cloud-Venerable was sneaking after Venerable Vast-Sky, and the two slipped into the Emperor’s harem one after the other.
Quinn’s heart stirred. He tiptoed after them, just as sneaky.
Ahead, Hao-Venerable encountered palace maids guarding the harem. Suddenly, he sprang forward and shattered the two maids, then took out a white banner and waved it, collecting their souls.
Ahead, Venerable Vast-Sky encountered palace maids guarding the harem. Suddenly, he sprang forward and shattered the two maids, then took out a white soul-banner—Prince Umbral’s Netherworld treasure—and waved it, collecting their souls.
Cloud-Venerable, following Hao-Venerable, took out a yellow talisman and stuck it to himself, instantly changing his appearance.
Quinn blinked. "Nether-Venerable’s treasure! These two clearly came prepared for Ugly Ox’s rampage. Looks like they’re after some treasure in Heavenly Court! What exactly are they trying to steal?"