"Shaw Chung's god-sense, approaching the level of the ancient Three Kings?" Quinn Shepherd was stunned, lost in thought.
The Creator civilization has gone through several purges. Logically, it should either be in decline, each generation weaker than the last, or on the verge of a transformation, developing rapidly.
But the Creator civilization is already mature, and any further transformation would be extremely difficult.
So how did Shaw Chung, a Creator, manage to cultivate to the height of the ancient Three Kings?
"The Creators of the Beyond-Shore have already betrayed the ancestral teachings!" Shu Jun fumed, unable to contain his anger.
Quinn gave a faint smile. Shu Jun was probably talking about this treasure carriage. In the Taichu era, Creators followed a philosophy of extreme simplicity—whether their architecture or their furnishings, everything was plain, with little ornamentation. Their artistic achievements were pitiful.
But the treasure carriage Shaw Chung visualized was the height of extravagance: triple jeweled canopies rising overhead, each canopy symbolizing a heaven; beneath them, sun, moon, and stars revolved around the center like the most beautiful gems—luxury beyond compare.
The edges of the canopy hung with strings of multicolored beads, each gem a different hue. If you looked closely, the details inside those stones were dazzling and intricate. You could study them for hours and still discover something new.
Even the carriage shaft, the body, the cloud couch, and the wheels—all were exquisitely carved. Even the reins binding the nine dragons were woven with delicate patterns. It was art, pure and simple!
To the Creators of the Taichu era, this was heresy!
Ancient Creators kept their visualizations simple for the sake of combat—only then could they conjure things quickly in battle.
If their visualizations had ornate patterns or complex veins, it would burden their god-sense, slowing down their conjuring. In battle, that was a fatal flaw—an opening for the enemy.
"This is a betrayal of tradition!"
Shu Jun raged to Quinn, "The worst kind of betrayal! The Creators are doomed!"
Quinn burst out laughing. "King Shu Jun, this is art. And art is a kind of power too."
"Bah!"
Shu Jun was so prejudiced that nothing pleased him. Everything Shaw Chung visualized was met with scorn and ridicule.
Fortunately, their conversation was happening inside Quinn's mind—just a fluctuation of god-sense in his brain, not enough to alert Shaw Chung.
Shaw Chung drove them for an unknown distance, leaving the continent behind and entering the starry sky. Ahead, star-rivers surged, and Quinn saw enormous Creators forging stars in the cosmic void.
They gathered around a patch of emptiness, the Taichu God-Stones in their brows blazing with light, as a rocky planet slowly took shape.
Quinn stared in disbelief at the Creators. Behind their heads floated one radiant Divine Treasury after another, shining with blinding light!
Spirit Embryo, Five Luminaries, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Heaven-Man, Life-and-Death, Divine Bridge—seven Divine Treasuries, not a single one missing!
What shocked him even more was that at the end of their Divine Bridge Treasury, there was a dazzling Heaven Palace—golden and resplendent, shining in the starry sky!
He was transfixed, watching the gigantic Primordial Spirits of these Creators stand tall inside their Heaven Palaces. Their visualization made star-forging incredibly fast!
"The Creators of the Beyond-Shore World have mastered the Divine Treasury–Heaven Palace system!"
He felt an overwhelming sense of absurdity—these Creators, survivors of disaster who had fled here, had actually adopted the cultivation system pioneered by humans: Divine Treasuries and Heaven Palaces. And they were doing it well!
"Could it be that the Creators of the Beyond-Shore World absorbed the cultivation methods of Carefree Haven and set out on the path of Divine Treasury cultivation?"
Quinn steadied himself. If the methods for cultivating god-sense evolved into a Divine Treasury system, and the techniques for cultivating yuan-qi were replaced by those for god-sense, then yes—it would make cultivation much faster!
Shu Jun had once said that, after being reborn, he would abandon the old god-sense cultivation and combine it with the Divine Treasury system, creating methods suited for this era.
If Shu Jun could see this, then the Creators of the Beyond-Shore must have seen it too—and already made the change.
In fact, Quinn himself had modified the Creators' cultivation methods—for example, Shu Jun's Three-Enclosure god-sense had been completely transformed by him.
Moreover, Supreme Emperor's Grand-Luo Supreme Divine Sense was itself a Divine Treasury–Heaven Palace technique. Supreme Emperor was the first Creator to absorb the Divine Treasury–Heaven Palace system.
Naturally, the Creators of the Beyond-Shore would realize these methods were easier to cultivate.
Shaw Chung's carriage passed through the star-forging region. The Creators there saluted him, but didn't speak—instead, their god-sense fluctuated, exchanging in an instant what words would take half a day to convey.
Quinn sensed their god-sense. His own god-sense brushed against theirs, and in a flash, countless messages were exchanged.
These Creators were the Shaw clan's star-makers, responsible for creating the starry sky.
Their plan was to forge hundreds or thousands of stars and bombard the territory of the 'evildoers' in Carefree Haven—smashing them to death with planets.
"Don't act rashly."
Shaw Chung finally spoke. His words weren't purely in the Creator language; many sentences were in the human tongue, a strange mix of ancient and modern languages.
Quinn turned to Shu Jun for guidance, and Shu Jun translated Shaw Chung's words into god-sense for him.
"Ye Greenwood Keane, the ringleader of those evildoers, is formidable. Bombarding them with planets won't work. If you provoke Ye Greenwood Keane, your lives are forfeit."
Shaw Chung said, "Keep creating the dead-star zone. Trap those evildoers inside Carefree Haven so they'll never escape."
The Creators acknowledged him, then looked at Quinn with curiosity.
"His name is Mu Qing, just two years old and always running around."
Shaw Chung explained, "His cultivation is remarkable—many adult Creators can't match him. Look at the eye in his brow."
The Creators all turned to look at the eye in Quinn's brow, their faces lighting up with shock and delight.
A group of Creators began dancing joyfully in the starry sky. Their movements were odd, but strangely beautiful.
"Wonderful! The Revelation of the Original Stone—our race is blessed!"
"A child born of the Primal Stone—the Saint Baby will save our people and lead us back to the Ancestral Court!"
"Ye Greenwood Keane is doomed!"
"That big-headed monster baby in Ye Greenwood Keane's house finally has a rival!"
...
Quinn was bewildered, unable to understand why the Creators were so excited.
"What is this Revelation of the Original Stone? What is the Saint Baby? And who is this monster baby in Ye Greenwood Keane's house?"
He looked completely lost. Shaw Chung noticed Quinn's expression and laughed, "That fool Shu Jun never told you?"
Quinn shook his head. "Teacher Shu Jun only taught me the Three-Enclosure god-sense method. He never mentioned anything else."
"That fool really keeps secrets well."
Shaw Chung laughed, "Actually, it doesn't matter if I tell you. A million years ago, our ancestors sent a young man from the Grand Void Expanse to the Ancestral Court. The Creators there had been slaughtered, but their ancestor-senses remained. Those ancestor-senses saw everything. The young man wandered the Ancestral Court for a long time before returning to the Grand Void, but Supreme Emperor hunted him down. He barely survived and soon died, but he brought back Supreme Emperor's gemstone—the Taichu Primal Stone."
Quinn's heart stirred.
Taichu Primal Stone?
The crystal in his brow—the third eye—was also a fragment of the Taichu Primal Stone. So the Beyond-Shore World must have fragments of the Taichu Primal Stone too!
"Though he died, he brought astonishing news—the Three Predictions, given to him by the ancestor-senses."
Shaw Chung clenched his massive fist. "The first prediction: our Grand Void Expanse would suffer a catastrophe, but a young person would come to help us survive. The disaster did come—Supreme Emperor found the Grand Void and brought ruin, almost wiping us out. But, just as prophesied, a youth arrived from the outside world, calling himself Cloud-Venerable."
Quinn trembled, whispering, "Cloud-Venerable!"
"He wasn't one of our race, but he helped us wholeheartedly. His wisdom was unmatched—he set a trap, used Grand Void heart-devils to suppress Supreme Emperor's cultivation, and led Supreme Emperor into the trap so we could destroy him."
Shaw Chung continued, "The second prediction was about the Beyond-Shore. We survivors followed the prophecy, used the Taichu Primal Stone to open the Beyond-Shore World, and fused the stone into it, creating this world. The third prediction was the Saint Baby!"
He looked at Quinn, unable to hide his excitement. "The third prediction says that one day, a Saint Baby born of the Taichu Primal Stone will appear and lead our people back to the Ancestral Court! The moment I saw you, I suspected you were the Saint Baby of prophecy. Now the elders agree. You might truly be the Original-Stone Saint Baby, sent to save us!"
Quinn's eyes widened, his mouth hung open—he was speechless.
"I'm really not..." he thought silently.
"God-King Shu Jun, I'm not the Saint Baby, am I?" he asked Shu Jun anxiously.
Shu Jun snorted, clearly displeased. "Of course you're not! If anyone is, it's me! That Primal Stone is mine—my body was destroyed, my cultivation wasted, and I was reborn from the Primal Stone. I'm the one who'll save the Creators! You're just a human spy!"
"Heh." Quinn chuckled awkwardly.
Shaw Chung said, "But whether you're the Saint Baby still needs confirmation from the ancestor-spirits. The youth who brought the Three Predictions created the Ancestor-Spirit Realm before dying, so the divine senses of dead Creators could dwell there, undisturbed. I'm taking you back to our homeland to notify the clans and prepare for entry. Before you enter, you'll have to pass several tests—simple ones..."
Quinn's face darkened. "Go to the Ancestor-Spirit Realm? Won't I be exposed? Aren't my parents coming to get me? Why haven't they appeared yet? Hurry up and rob me away—get me out of here!"
"I'm the real Saint Baby!"
Shu Jun was still indignant, fuming, "He's a fake—I'm the genuine Saint Baby!"
"Enough!"
Quinn snapped, uneasy inside: "You don't have the Taichu Primal Stone—the Primal Stone is embedded in my brow."
Shu Jun exploded, "You stole it from me! You and your senior brother took it! The Primal Stone was mine, your black-hearted senior brother snatched it, and now you've got it in your brow! I'm the Saint Baby..."
Quinn immediately activated Grand-Luo Supreme Divine Sense to seal off the inner space of the Primal Stone, preventing Shu Jun's god-sense from escaping and alerting Shaw Chung.
"My parents should be here by now," he thought silently.
Shaw Chung urged the treasure carriage forward. "As for that big-headed monster baby in Ye Greenwood Keane's house, that's another story. About a year ago, Ye Greenwood Keane's family suddenly produced a monster baby with a huge head—its body is no smaller than ours, and it's mastered all sorts of strange techniques. It has killed many of our Creators and is truly formidable. That bastard Ye Greenwood Keane even boasts it's his 107th-generation descendant, and claims it will one day devour us all."
He sneered, "But with the Saint Baby's arrival, that monster baby's good days are over!"
Quinn gave a dry laugh.
Elsewhere, a tower ship burst from the void and arrived before the three houses.
"Mu'er!"
Princess Zhen stepped out of the tower ship, delighted. "Mu'er, are you here? Come out quickly, let's go home!"
Qin Hanzhen leapt from the ship, still showing traces of petrification. He scanned the area, frowning. "He's not here—did he run off again? When I was captured by Umbral Venerable, I heard him say Mu'er is a restless child, never staying put for half a day and always causing trouble... Oh no!"
He looked toward the foot of the mountain, his face changing dramatically. "There are Creator tracks here!"
Princess Zhen's voice trembled. "You mean Mu'er fell into the hands of the Creators? He couldn't have..."
"Impossible!"
Qin Hanzhen quickly reassured her. "If the Creators know he's the Pioneer Emperor's descendant, they'll capture him and torture him, maybe even use him to threaten the Pioneer Emperor. He'll suffer, but we'll rescue him—no matter the cost! Let's go back first!"
Princess Zhen wept. "Mu'er is a child born to hardship—he's suffered so much already, and now even in Carefree Haven he has to suffer? Why is heaven so cruel to him..."
—— Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Many readers have sent me greetings on WeChat and QQ, wishing me a happy festival. I can't reply to each one, so here I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival and family reunion!