In the Nineteenth Void, the Void Behemoths chasing them all halted, none daring to enter. Instead, they lingered at the edge of the Eighteenth Void, peering in, their roars faintly echoing from afar.
Loren Shaw let out a breath of relief. "Looks like those Void Behemoths can't come in here. We've dodged a calamity. Are you all alright?"
Quinn Shepherd drove his divine sense to resist the assimilation of the Nineteenth Void, while his divine sense also shielded Annie, Dragon-Qilin, and the others. Without his protection, Dragon-Qilin and the rest would be utterly unable to withstand the assimilating force of the Void.
Even so, their physical bodies were already fading from view, and their Primordial Spirits were beginning to blur.
As for Grant and Noel, the two of them were naturally unharmed.
"Loren, your Void Behemoth can enter this place—why can't the others come into the Nineteenth Void?" Quinn asked.
Loren hesitated, then said, "Could it be that the Void Behemoth I control is simply too powerful—the strongest among them all?"
"I doubt that's the reason."
Quinn looked deeper into the Nineteenth Void, and his face changed dramatically. All around, white light filled the space—each beam shaped like a massive, round egg, more than ten zhang tall, neatly arranged throughout the void.
The Ancestral Court’s Nineteenth Void was actually packed with millions—perhaps even more—of these white eggs!
Each egg radiated white light, and inside every one, a huge eye and a slender, curled body could be faintly seen.
Dragon-Qilin hurriedly said, "Cult Master, these eggs..."
Quinn lowered his voice. "They should be Void Behemoth eggs. The Void Behemoths must treat this place as a breeding nest for their offspring. We barged into the nest of their next generation, so the adult Void Behemoths outside don’t dare chase us in—they’re afraid we’ll harm their young."
"Cult Master, what I mean is—who laid all these eggs so neatly?" Dragon-Qilin asked.
A chill crept through Quinn’s heart. Dragon-Qilin had hit on the key point: if none of the other Void Behemoths dared step into the Nineteenth Void, then who came here and laid all these eggs?
Just as Quinn thought of this, the rear of the Nineteenth Void suddenly split open like an immense canyon, and an unimaginably huge eye blanketed the entire Nineteenth Void!
As that eye opened, everyone felt the Void flip upside down—the owner of the eye was so colossal that just opening it overturned the Nineteenth Void of the Ancestral Court!
"Void Mother Behemoth..." Grant murmured, tilting his head up to stare at that impossibly vast eye.
"Run!" Loren Shaw exploded with divine sense, pouring it into the mind of the Void Behemoth he controlled, bellowing the command.
The Void Behemoth was so shaken by the Void Mother Behemoth that it crouched down, paralyzed, not daring to move.
Loren grew furious and was about to drive his divine sense again when the Void Behemoth abruptly stood up, leapt from the Nineteenth Void into the Eighteenth, and bounded away at breakneck speed!
In the Nineteenth Void, the gigantic Void Mother Behemoth finally awakened. A piercing, unbearable shriek stabbed out from the depths of the Void; Loren’s divine sense instantly spiraled into chaos, and the Void Behemoth staggered as if drunk.
Even Quinn’s divine sense collapsed in that instant, making it impossible to shield Annie and the others any longer.
Fortunately, the Void Mother Behemoth’s scream also stunned the pursuing Void Behemoths, leaving them dazed and muddled—only then did Quinn and his group survive.
As the Void Mother Behemoth’s shriek faded, Loren immediately drove the Void Behemoth to flee outward. Entering the Void is hard, but escaping is much easier—the beast dashed madly, bolting for the exit.
Suddenly, Quinn glanced back and saw a gigantic claw—half the size of the sky—sweeping toward them!
"I cannot die!"
Quinn suddenly shouted, "If I die, no one will be able to get out of here!"
Loren didn’t understand, but just as Quinn’s words fell, the Void Mother Behemoth’s enormous claw seemed to hit some invisible barrier, was knocked off course, and swept harmlessly overhead!
Layer after layer of Void was ripped open, terrifying to behold; if anyone in the Ancestral Court looked up, they’d see straight through all nineteen Voids and get a clear view of the giant beast!
Loren seized the moment, driving the Void Behemoth to dash outward before the Voids closed. Suddenly, the beast’s roar rang out, and countless pursuing Void Behemoths plummeted from the depths of the Void like rain!
The Void Mother Behemoth’s roar reached Quinn and the others, and on the altar, nearly everyone’s heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys shattered, blood pouring from their seven apertures. Their divine sense was shaken into a useless mess, impossible to gather!
Even the Void Behemoth beneath the altar began to collapse, its massive body crumbling—soon it would die from the mother’s scream!
"I cannot die!"
Quinn, dazed and half-conscious, forced himself to hold on and roared, "If I die..."
Before he could finish, the Void Mother Behemoth’s scream abruptly stopped, as if something had blocked its mouth.
The Void Behemoth blacked out, carrying the altar and everyone atop it plummeting from the sky. The group clung desperately to the altar, but were soon flung off, scrambling to grab onto the bony ridge at the back of the Void Behemoth’s head.
Quinn whipped his vital qi to scoop up Dragon-Qilin, while Annie shielded the six Heavenly Dragons, spreading her wings to protect the lantern from being snuffed out.
Loren, not far from Quinn, shouted, "Brother Quinn, what kind of spell was that?"
Quinn had no time to answer—the Void Behemoth had already crashed to the ground, tumbling and rolling, toppling several towering mountains.
The peaks of those mountains were snapped clean off, and dazzling divine-metal light burst skyward from the mountain cores, painting the sky in radiant clouds.
Quinn caught a glimpse of the scene and was shocked—the bodies of those mountains were pure divine-metal!
The Void Behemoth slid across the land, gouging deep furrows; blinding god-iron light erupted from the cracks, painfully bright.
Quinn squinted against the glare, but his eyes still stung from the god-iron light, tears streaming uncontrollably.
The soil churned up by the Void Behemoth flew into the sky, and as each clump soared, it suddenly swelled and transformed into floating landmasses.
(This chapter isn’t over yet—click next page for more!)
"Breath-Earth..."
Quinn forced his tear-filled eyes open, staring in awe—he’d never imagined the Ancestral Court could be so extravagant!
Suddenly, the Void Behemoth crashed into several mountains, tumbled and rolled, and fell into a giant pit. Its six legs sprawled at the bottom, unmoving for a moment.
Everyone struggled to their feet. Quinn activated his Overlord Three-Core Art, quickly restoring both body and Primordial Spirit to peak condition, his spirit reinvigorated.
He glanced at Dragon-Qilin, who was also using his Wule Creation Profound Art to heal his physical wounds, and was helping Annie treat hers as well.
Quinn helped Loren up. Loren raised his only arm, wiped blood from his mouth, and hurriedly asked, "Grant, Noel—are you two alright?"
Noel’s voice came from the altar: "We’re fine. We’re guarding the altar—this altar must not be lost."
Loren relaxed, scanning the surroundings. The area was like a vast basin, thousands of li across, ringed by towering mountains on every side.
Suddenly, Loren’s face lit up. "This is the Origin-Root Basin! That means the Jade Pool is nearby!"
"Origin-Root Basin?"
Quinn blinked and asked, "What does the Origin-Root Basin have to do with Earth Mother Primordial Lady?"
Loren roused his divine sense to wake the Void Behemoth, saying, "I’ve heard that Earth Mother Primordial Lady was originally an Origin-Root Tree here in the Ancestral Court. Creators often came to water her, using water from the Jade Pool. The Jade Pool’s water is remarkable—it can heal any injury, even regrow my severed arm. Since the Origin-Root Basin is here, the oldest divine-stone veins must be close by."
Quinn was shaken, his mind reeling: "Earth Mother Primordial Lady is an Origin-Root Tree here, and the water in the Jade Pool—is it actually Origin-Root Primordial Essence...?"
The Void Behemoth awakened, and Loren immediately drove it to race out of the Origin-Root Basin.
Before long, they really did see a vast, dried-up sea ahead.
This was the Ancient Jade Pool of the Ancestral Court.
The Origin-Root Primordial Essence in the Ancient Jade Pool had dried up. The Void Behemoth flew overhead as Loren scanned below, searching for any remnants. He explained to Quinn, "There used to be plenty of Jade Pool water, but then you took some, I took some, we used it to water our clans' sacred objects, and years of war consumed even more. When the Creators fled, they took the last of it. Who knows if new water has appeared since... There! There's still a bit left!"
His eyes lit up, and his divine sense swept out, drawing up the Origin-Root Primordial Essence from a hollow and drinking it down.
Quinn sighed in regret—Loren had just drunk more Origin-Root Primordial Essence than Earth Mother Primordial Lady had ever hoarded!
That big guy was truly wasting a priceless treasure!
After Loren drank the Origin-Root Primordial Essence, his severed arm began to grow back, soon forming a sturdy new limb.
"Noel, Grant—weren’t you two going to search for that vein?"
Loren pointed ahead, smiling, "The vein is right there!"
Noel and Grant both smiled. "Thanks for the tip, Loren!"
Loren laughed, "We’re sworn brothers—no need to be so formal!"
Ahead, radiant clouds and light billowed—the very divine-mountain vein Quinn had seen while controlling the Void Behemoth, stretching thousands of li.
Quinn felt a vague unease. If Noel and Grant were actually the Ancient-God Emperor and Supreme Emperor Taidi, their eagerness to come here was highly suspicious.
"They probably suspect each other is the one they’re looking for, so they had to come here to confirm it!"
Quinn’s unease grew. In the vein, eight ancient gods lay dead, bearing the Gold Coffin. Who was buried inside?
"And that Void Mother Behemoth just now—why did it stop chasing us once we escaped the Void?"
Sweat trickled down Quinn’s neck: "And with so many Void Behemoths in the Ancestral Court—beast mountains and beast seas—why have they all vanished now? Could it be...?"
Loren led them to the vein, where the Void Behemoth halted, unwilling to approach.
Noel and Grant carried the altar down. The two exchanged glances, silent.
Loren was beside himself with excitement: "This is the Firststone Clan’s territory! It was here they discovered the first Taichu God-Stone, and so began the Creator race! The Taichu Primal Stone was also found here—Supreme Emperor Taidi used it to defeat the Three Kings and become Supreme Emperor."
Quinn glanced at Noel and Grant, but they just exchanged smiles, as if they hadn't heard Loren at all.
Loren stared at the Taichu Divine-Stone Vein, suddenly stunned. "Why are there eight ancient gods here? Why are they carrying a coffin?"
He paused, then chuckled, "Why am I asking you? You wouldn’t know..."
"Maybe we do."
Grant chuckled, "Noel, what do you think?"
Noel neither confirmed nor denied, replying calmly, "Eight ancient gods bearing a coffin—it’s clearly for burying someone of great importance."
Grant sneered, "Or maybe they wanted to bury a history best left forgotten—a filthy, sordid history."
Noel simply grunted.
Grant suggested, "Since we’re here, why not take a look and see who’s inside that coffin?"
Loren quickly protested, "This vein is ancient—dangerous even for Creators! Only Creators dare mine here, and it’s nearly certain death! Look, even those eight ancient gods died..."
Quinn tugged Loren’s sleeve, "Brother Loren, whether we go in or not isn’t up to us."
Loren was puzzled. Quinn followed Noel and Grant forward, whispering, "Haven’t you noticed yet?"
"Noticed what?" Loren asked, baffled.
"You, of course—"
Dragon-Qilin sauntered over, shaking his head: "So clueless."