Zechariah Lee carried Jiang Yi's corpse, trailing closely behind Furylo. As they passed by, Zechariah turned his head to look at Quinn Shepherd.
Quinn Shepherd was busy refining medicine, but managed a hurried, smiling nod in greeting. "Senior Brother Zechariah, let's meet again if we have the chance."
Zechariah's face remained expressionless as he followed Furylo away.
The Black Tiger God leapt down from the grand hall, glancing at Quinn and then at the Woodcutter Sage, who had turned around. The Woodcutter Sage, having stowed away his massive axe somewhere unknown, watched Quinn's pill-refining technique with keen interest.
Other gods also jumped down, gathering around them. Each had something to say and many questions to ask, but all hesitated, stopping short of speaking.
Since the Woodcutter Sage had yet to speak, none of them dared to be the first to ask.
God Sang Ye hurriedly pulled Sabrina over, clearly wanting to scold his daughter harshly. But with everyone silent, he held his tongue as well.
Quinn Shepherd was in the critical phase of refining a spirit pill, fully focused and undistracted, ignoring those around him. Yet, surrounded by gods whose divine eyes bore down on him, even he felt the pressure—beads of sweat formed evenly across his forehead.
After a while, Quinn finished refining the spirit pill. He gently crushed it, dissolved it in water, and dripped the solution into Rain He and Shu Yao's eyes and ear canals.
He carefully observed the growth of their eye and ear membranes, frowning slightly. Then he rummaged through his Glutton Dragon Pouch for a few herbs, refined a bit of ointment, and gently applied it to their eyes and ear canals.
"Why did you apply medicine twice?"
The Woodcutter Sage, puzzled, asked, "The first medicine was to regrow their eye and ear membranes, but the second one seemed to have some toxicity. Why is that?"
Quinn Shepherd examined Rain He and Shu Yao's eyes, then checked their ear canals. "That ointment isn't poison, but a spirit medicine to inhibit further growth. The first pill I refined was to regenerate their damaged membranes, but since it was my first time mixing this formula, I couldn't perfectly control the potency, so it ended up a bit too strong. If the growth continued, their membranes would become too thick, dulling their sight and hearing. That's why I needed the second medicine—to restrain the growth."
He stretched his back and smiled. "Now they're pretty much healed. Their eyesight and hearing won't be any worse than before."
All around, the gods of High-Emperor Heaven let out a sigh of relief. Rain He and Shu Yao were the strongest among the Seven Stars-realm cultivators of High-Emperor Heaven, and the most promising youths to become gods themselves. If they'd been left blind or deaf, it would have been a huge loss for High-Emperor Heaven.
With Royal Halberd and the others dead in the Sand-Table World, High-Emperor Heaven had already suffered heavy losses.
Quinn Shepherd bowed to the Woodcutter Sage. "Disciple Quinn Shepherd greets the Patriarch."
The Woodcutter Sage reached out with both hands to help him up, smiling. "You've already received my teachings. Since you're my direct disciple, there's no need to call me Patriarch."
Quinn was both surprised and delighted. If he became the Woodcutter Sage's disciple, his seniority would skyrocket—even if he met the former Cult Masters again, those old ghosts wouldn't be able to use their seniority to pressure him anymore!
He hesitated, then probed, "Master Sage, have you ever heard of the Cult of the Heavenly Saint?"