They marched onward for fifty or sixty thousand li, all the way in peace. By now, they'd already skirted around Luofu Heaven. Though Luofu Heaven loomed vast and upright in the center of Taeming Heaven, at this point it was nowhere to be seen, blocked by waves of molten rock and black winds. The only thing left to guide their direction was Quinn Shepherd's guide chariot.
Everyone was utterly exhausted—even the gods could barely hold on. If they only had to protect themselves, it would be one thing, but the real burden was guarding tens of thousands of divine-ability cultivators. The strain was immense; their vital energy kept draining away.
Their bellies were empty, their bodies gradually losing all strength.
Aiden Starr opened his chest and took out some dried meat, handing it to Quinn: "You're the leader—you distribute it."
Quinn's eye twitched. He hurriedly stuffed the dried meat into his Glutton Dragon Pouch and called out, "Village Chief, Butcher, come over here."
He had the Oldridge Village elders surround Butcher. After a moment's hesitation, Butcher drew his blade and asked, "Can kids even handle this kind of meat?"
Quinn said, "Dice it into tiny cubes—each person gets a piece about the size of a fingernail. The gods should get a bit more. Butcher, can you split it into tens of thousands of shares?"
"That's not hard. I'm just afraid they won't dare eat it."
Butcher's knife skills were superb; he quickly finished dividing the meat. Quinn set the cubes on a platter—a frighteningly heavy tray, radiating multicolored divine light. Even with all his strength, he struggled to lift it. Some of the cubes reeked with thick, oppressive demonic qi.
"Those cultivating the divine path, take the cubes glowing with divine light—one per person. Those on the demonic path, take the ones with demonic qi. Don't take more than your share."
Quinn handed out the cubes of dried meat. Victor Bloom hesitated, then picked up two pieces, passing one to Selena.
Selena looked uneasy and whispered, "Cult Master, what kind of meat is this, really?"
"It's not human meat."
Quinn hesitated, then muttered, "But it's not anything good either. Aiden Starr’s chest is stuffed with severed arms, legs, and heads—this is one of the rare batches cut from non-human gods and demons."
After distributing the meat, Apothecary called Quinn over. The two rushed back and forth, constantly refining spirit pills. Granny Sue used Creation-type divine arts to cultivate medicinal herbs; batch after batch of elixirs were produced and sent to the gods and exhausted cultivators.
Even so, they were burning through their stores—spirit pills alone couldn't fill their bellies or replenish water.
"Can Creation-type divine arts make water?" someone asked in a low voice.
Someone replied, "Stop talking. You're wasting what little moisture you have left."
Quinn rummaged through his Glutton Dragon Pouch, took out his stored water, and distributed it. Each person only got a tiny share.
Though he always liked to be prepared and kept some water in his Glutton Dragon Pouch, he hadn’t stored much.
Divine-ability cultivators have strong bodies; even dehydrated, they can survive for a long time. Right now, Quinn just needed to keep everyone hydrated enough to reach the border between High-Emperor Heaven and Taeming Heaven.
"To create real water with Creation-type divine arts requires altering the very foundation of matter—a near-miraculous feat. Only someone with absolute mastery of creation, like the First Human Emperor, could manage it. But he's badly wounded..."
Quinn moistened his parched lips and looked ahead. Everyone, gods included, was dehydrated and emaciated, while Bruno the Dragon-Qilin, who pulled the chariot, was still lively, trotting along.
Even his old rival, the elk, was now skin and bones, its strength nearly spent.
Only Bruno seemed full of energy—born to control fire, he was in his element here. Even the extreme heat felt like nothing more than a hot bath to him.
"Without water, we might not make it to Taeming Heaven..." Quinn’s throat felt like it was smoking; he tried to swallow, but found his mouth bone-dry, his parched throat cracking audibly.
Most divine arts can be classified by the five elements, but water-type arts usually just mix ambient moisture with the practitioner’s own water qi, creating the illusion of abundant water. In reality, it’s not true water—once the qi disperses, the water vanishes too.
Creation-type divine arts, on the other hand, can alter matter at its most basic level. Mastering them is incredibly demanding—it's true creation from nothing, conjuring things out of thin air.
None of them possessed such ability.
They trudged on, all vigor baked away by the heat, moving forward on sheer willpower alone.
The First Human Emperor had already awakened, but his wounds were severe. He still needed Pang Yu, True God, to carry him. Quinn could only hope Apothecary would rescue him from death soon, so the First Human Emperor could use his creation powers to conjure water from thin air.
Suddenly, a bright light streaked across the sky. The gods at the perimeter, resisting the shockwaves, all looked up: a scroll unfurled in the heavens, flying at high speed, its pages shining down on the magma sea.
The scroll opened like a mirror, with names flickering rapidly across its surface!
"The Book of Life and Death!"
Quinn’s heart lurched—the flying scroll was the Book of Life and Death, specifically the one wielded by Lowell Yunch and his group!
Lowell Yunch had relied on the Book of Life and Death to seize Luofu Heaven’s altars, blood-sacrifice the realm, and send Luofu crashing into High-Emperor Heaven!
Now the Book had reappeared, shining down on High-Emperor Heaven’s magma sea. What were Lowell Yunch and his group planning?
"If their goal was just to capture me, there’s no need to use the Book again. They must intend to wipe us all out!"
Quinn looked around; all he saw were exhausted survivors. No one—gods included—had the strength left for a fight.
"In a collapsing High-Emperor Heaven, Lowell Yunch should only be able to awaken a few god-demon corpses. But at least the number shouldn’t be too high..."